Tech-Hut : Extreme

Cell Phone Technology Helps Decrease Isolation, Alleviate Poverty

2011-10-19T07:33:00.000+05:30

Cell phones, in many respects, are having their greatest impact in an area of the world they took longest to penetrate: rural sub-Saharan Africa. Cell phone use tripled over the last five years in the developing world, and the biggest jump occurred in Africa, where phones are being used to integrate peoples and communities that were once plagued by isolation.
For people who live in rural African villages, isolation is factors directly into a situation of poverty. Cut off from the rest of the world, they don’t know how much goods are selling for and where to sell them. They also cannot easily communicate with relatives or to receive medical help, instead needing to travel long distances to accomplish this goal and hurting their productivity as a result.
Cell phones, while certainly not a cure-all, have helped changed many of these problems caused by isolation. With a cell phone, now in widespread use across the African subcontinent, users can place calls to family members and doctors; they can figure out the best nearby markets to conduct their business; and they can open a savings account that can be checked through their phone. In fact, many businesses in the region allow people to swipe their phone in order to process payment, a technology that is currently more advanced in Africa than in the developed world.
Phones are cheaper than ever before. Providers in the region offer Prepaid Cell Phones, plans that can be paid by the second for frugal users, and devices that are incredibly cheap and accessible in the first place. It is also very cheap to build reception towers, and many of the most isolated areas still have access to coverage.
Humanitarian agencies have been working to make cell phones an even more powerful force for good in sub-Saharan Africa. They are teaching people how to use online banking services, they are using phones to stock medicine in rural villages, and they building electricity payment plans off of the successful prepaid phone model. But on its most basic level – as a means of communication – cells phones are already making a valuable impact in the world’s most isolated areas.

How will iOS 5 hold up against Windows and Android?

2011-09-24T18:24:00.001+05:30

Apple has never been under such pressure to pull out an innovative and amazing iPhone. The company has attacks on both sides coming from Windows Phone 7 and Google’s Android. In just a few weeks iPhone 5 contract will become available across the globe. So, what can iOS 5 offer us to ensure the iPhone 5 is the best of all?

Operating Systems make a phone, no matter what anyone says. You can have all the power and software in the world, but if the operating system is not intuitive then the product will be poorly received.
Apple got it right with iOS in the past and it has been one of the main reasons for the success of the iPhone. iOS 5 comes about with a number of new and excellent features, many of which have been seen in both Windows Phone 7 and Android in the past.

The new iOS5 operating system includes a number of excellent innovations, including compatibility with all the previous iPhones. This makes it faster to update and ensures it will be faster to upgrade than Android products which have lagged in the area. Over half of Android phones run Android 2.2 Froyo at the moment even though Android 2.3 Gingerbread has been released for over 6 months.

Apple have also included a BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) like feature with iOS 5 in the form of iMessage. This is a great way to ensure the company gets a grasp of the youth market as it offers free messages on a string style messaging system. BBM is one of the main reasons that BlackBerry phones have become extremely popular with younger phone users in recent years and iMessage should have a similar effect.

The Apple iOS 5 will also include a gaming portal, meaning you can get your games downloaded now without having to enter iTunes – a big bonus for mobile gamers. Game Center also allows you to play multiplayer games against friends or strangers over the internet.

iOS 5 allows the phone to be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot, ensuring it is up with the Android and Windows Phone offerings in this area. Apple have also ensured that there will be a notification menu instead of the old fashioned messages the device sends whenever it goes out of network.

Most importantly the phone will include complete access to the iCloud, meaning access to all the songs on your iTunes on the move as well as extremely easy downloads to upgrade the system. This completely reduces the need for wires and all the problems and complex issues that go with them.

As is obvious iOS 5 is one of the phones strongest attributes and will push the Apple iPhone 5 to the fore of the mobile market again. For the first time Apple is starting to show signs of keeping up with the competition in terms of new feature additions, but these will only serve to make a great interface even greater.

5 Great Applications Available on Android and iOS

2011-08-14T09:38:00.002+05:30

Most mobile phone users find themselves strongly favoring either Android or iOS as their operating system of choice. Fortunately, because of the proliferation of mobile applications that work on both platforms, switching between them has gotten progressively easier. Companies that offer their application on multiple operating systems typically have ample resources and a proven product, so selecting great applications that are available on both Android and iOS is not a difficult task.

Around Me

This popular application allows users to quickly find out information about their immediate surroundings. Extensive data on restaurants, hotels, theaters, gas stations, and more is organized and accessible to users. After finding a location or business that looks attractive, users can click to access more information about the item including its address, phone number, and it even integrates with Google Maps to provide detailed driving directions from your current location. Around Me is free to purchase and use.

Layar

Layar is an innovative 'reality browser' that displays realtime data and information about the locations being viewed through the camera of your phone. This application uses a clever combination of GPS and camera data to quickly identify the items being viewed. Once a location has been identified, relevant information populates your screen and allows for interaction with this 'digital layer.' This function is available on several other applications but Layar's augmented reality technology is considerably more polished that its competitors. Layar is also free to purchase and use.

Documents To Go

This business application lets users use their phones to view, edit, and create Microsoft Office files and then sync them with their home computers. This application won “Productivity App of the Year” in 2009 from TheiPhoneBlog.com and has continued to expand its feature set. By allowing business users and ordinary consumers to open and edit their Office documents, Documents To Go has made mobile phones a critical tool to any on-the-go worker. Priced at $9.99, this application is more expensive than a few of the others we have reviewed, but Documents To Go is well worth it.

Tripit

Tripit allows users mobile access to Tripit's robust trip planning software. This software allows travellers to compile all of their relevant travel documentation and then easily access it from their mobile phone. From maps and itineraries to hotel links and flight alerts, Tripit is an invaluable hub for all information pertaining to your upcoming trip. It's user interface is clear and well laid out. With a rating in both application stores of over four stars, Tripit is safe purchase. It is available for free.

Waze

Waze is one of the more unique applications released to the public this year. It collects, organizes, and distributes information shared between drivers. In short, Waze is a social network for drivers looking for realtime information on roads and travel conditions. While Waze has quickly become a crowd favorite among our staff, it requires constant use of your phone's GPS thus dramatically decreasing battery life. Aside from that minor flaw, Waze is a useful and practical application for the frequent traveller that is available for free for purchase and use.

Steven Farrell is the administrator of ReversePhoneLookup.org, a site where you can perform a reverse phone lookup for as little as $1.

Dumb, Odd and Just Plain Weird Uses of Technology

2011-08-13T20:37:00.001+05:30

For good, for bad or for just a laugh, the human mind is capable of dreaming up so very much, and technological advances and their uses are not immune to our creative bent. Some of the ways we humans use or want to use technology are pretty cool, innovative and beneficial. At other times, however, they're really dumb, odd and, yes, just plain weird.

Social Network Stupidity

Take Craig “Lazie” Lynch, for example. Craig was serving time in a British prison for burglary when he escaped on September 23, 2009. For months, he evaded police and was heartily enjoying his freedom. He enjoyed it so much that he began taunting police—on Facebook. Yes, he “socially networked” with the best of them—pictures, signs and almost illiterate content messages that flaunted his “free as a bird” status. He posted a Thanksgiving picture that offered more birds than just the turkey—mainly the one on his right hand, flying 'freely' as he held up the turkey in his left. Craig even posted a pic there that showed him smiling as he held up a sign that read, “Wanted: Craig Lynch. If found, call 999,” which is the UK equivalent to 911. Apparently, someone took his advice, for Scotland Yard apprehended the idiot on January 12, 2010. Odds were pretty good that if Lynch hadn't posted on Facebook and created such a hula-ba-loo, he probably wouldn't have been recognized and turned in quite so quickly.

Medicus Rex Machina?

Most healthcare services are expensive, there's no doubt. While the current government administration attempts to solidify its national healthcare plan, science looks to other methods to enjoin medical proficiency and factory-line cost-effectiveness using the infamous Watson computer technology from Jeopardy fame. You remember, don't you? A computer played the game against humans? No? Okay, well Watson did. Won't explain further, but Watson's technology is what's important here.

Voice recognition experts joined forces with a technology giant to create doctor's assistants with Watson technology. The robo-docs would be capable of sorting through kazillions of bytes of medical data to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

Just think: If the contraption gets sick, it can order, perform and interpret self-diagnostic tests, then cure itself of the virus it caught when the last patient sneezed in its sensors.

CurseBird, Indeed

An app for Twitter, the micro-blogging platform that flies high on the wind beneath its tweets, CurseBird lists all tweets by anyone in which profanity is used. Whether you're a sociologist researching how often drunk or high, laid-off cement truck drivers curse or are compiling data for a book entitled The World's First Encyclopedia on Creative Cursing—and Probably Only One, Too,” or you're just a sick [bleep] who uses [censored] so [expletive deleted] often that it's an obsession, CurseBird tracks all of it for you.

Wow. And to think people actually use it. Really.

And finally, in homage to wise government spending, a tribute to...

Laundry-Folding Robots

No, these are not the automated machines found in dry cleaning shops. Yes, the government did actually fund the research and development of robots that fold your laundry for you. Seriously.

The robot uses visual input from cameras and sensors to detect seams, determine up from down and inside from outside. Neat creases and precise dimensions are yours to claim once your laundro-bot sorts your socks.

I just cannot imagine what the government was thinking. But then again, they funded research into what tomato ketchup, or catsup to some, was actually the thickest and poured the slowest.

Spending crisis? What spending crisis?

This article was contributed by Sara Woods from Coupon Croc, where you can save on the gadgets and technology you really want with a Littlewoods discount code.

An Introduction to Electronic Spreadsheets

2010-11-12T19:08:00.000+05:30

Excel is one of the most versatile and popular spreadsheet programs in use today. It serves as an electronic pad for accountants. It can be used to perform simple as well as complex mathematical and statistical operations. It is also used for statistical, engineering and financial purposes.
A spreadsheet is a simple worksheet consisting of rows and columns in which any data can be entered. For example a paper report card of a student or the ledger that we create for maintaining bank accounts can be termed as a spreadsheet. Paper report cards of students are manual spreadsheets.
An electronic spreadsheet is just like a paper spreadsheet and consists of rows and columns. The only difference is that instead of being on paper, it is on the computer screen. A spreadsheet consists of rows and columns which combine to form cell. A cell is a box where you can enter data such as numbers or words. Columns form the vertical lines of cells while rows form the horizontal lines of cells. A cell is an intersection of rows and columns. In an excel workbook by default 3 sheets are there, but a user can add or delete more.
Electronic spreadsheets are extremely versatile. They can be used for performing calculations, recalculating results if any data stored in them is changed, creating financial reports and comparing reports. A very useful feature of a spreadsheet is its ability to create groups. It helps you establish relationships between two or more sets of data and easily understand the trends of data changes.
Formulas which are present within the spreadsheet itself are called functions. Lots of mathematical and statistical functions are available to calculate and analyze data. Once one has learned the effective use of these functions, the calculation and manipulation of data can be very efficient and fast.
This software is very helpful tool that helps people to analyze information, to store, manipulate and graph data. In Excel the user can creates professional-looking charts and graphs with 3-D effects and shadowing. In Office Excel 2007 the user can create and share analysis with their coworkers, customers, and partners with greater ease. You can save your Excel spreadsheet as an HTML file so that anyone can view the data through the use of a web browser. The prevalence of use of Excel has made it the more commonly used spreadsheet file format in use today.
About the author:
Claire Jarrett is writing for Computer Training Solutions, who offer Excel courses in 5 different locations, as well as PowerPoint courses

Corporate Videos in the Workplace

2010-10-25T04:15:00.002+05:30

Traditional marketing and training methods employed by businesses have changed dramatically since the arrival of audiovisual technologies and Internet. Marketing is no longer confined to advertising in newspapers, or jingles on radios. Now the business enterprise can advertise its products through commercials on television channels. The Internet has also given business enterprises an access to larger customer base. These prospective customers can learn about the business and what it sells through websites. One of the popular marketing methods used by business enterprises is company video or corporate video.
When used for marketing, such a video is as effective as a commercial, as well as a website. A website introduces a business in greater detail to outsiders. A corporate video does that on a smaller scale. Corporate video, therefore, briefly outlines the activities of the business, without going into depth, and comes straight to the product that is to be sold. A corporate video may contain in-depth information about a product, or service, which may not be available on the website.
Corporate videos are also effective tools for training staff members. Newly recruited personnel need to be taught how to do some tasks, for example such recruits may have to be taught how to index any content. This training may be common or repetitive for subsequent batches. Any such training can therefore be imparted through corporate videos, instead of using the time of a staff member for training. Effectively, the business can save money on a staff member. Likewise, instructions for using any new accounting software or other programs can also be recorded as a corporate video, and these can be used for training purposes.
At times, a business enterprise may need to convince partners or prospective partners on the feasibility of any project. A corporate video helps in presenting details to such audience, especially if lenders also attend such a meeting. A lot of information in such meetings is private and confidential. If the services of a highly skilled professional, who is good with such presentations, are used to develop the company video then it becomes easier for business owners to convince the people in the room, and raise the required finance for the project, or acquisition.
One of the greatest advantages of corporate videos is that there can be a narrator. Therefore, such videos become very effective in large seminars, and large conferences. The content of such video is very important, because the narrator will be reading this content. By using the services of a professional, the business enterprise can ensure that right type of content is developed without any misrepresentation.
Traditionally, slides were used to explain things in large seminars, and large meetings, especially to stockholders and visiting dignitaries. These gave way to power point presentations. A blend of slides, animated images, real life videos, and power point presentations can be developed into a corporate video to generate a greater impact of what is being stated or to explain things more lucidly.

Computer Maintenance 101, Part II

2010-10-12T22:31:00.003+05:30

Part II: Protection and Making an Image

The Healthy Drive

By healthy I mean clean and mean. Every one knows the damage computer viruses can do. It’s said that without a good anti-virus program, you won’t last twenty minutes on the Internet. Not much of an exaggeration. A virus filter is essential. Many still use Norton. I don’t for three reasons. It’s expensive. It’s bloated with unneeded features and just plain BIG. And it’s not as effective as the newer programs. One such program that is free, quite popular, and gets job done is Avast Home Edition. It can be downloaded from www.download.com . I’ve used it for several years with great results..
For general cleaning here are some great applications, all free:

CCleaner-- for getting rid of useless temp files
Eusing Registry Cleaner -- to keep your registry in shape
Zappit -- a lighter, faster alternative to CCleaner
Ad-Aware -- the free version, for security from spyware, trojans, and hijacking

As to the “mean” part, do defragment your computer on a regular basis. The systems folder on every PC has such a program. If you want to go a more sophisticated route, I suggest Perfect Disk from Raxco. It’s fast and easy to schedule.

Imaging your C: Drive for Backups

Once your computer is in good shape, it’s time to save it. This is where imaging comes in. I’ve made many mistakes since I first began using computers on a regular basis in the late 1980’s, mostly in the form of lost data. I began backing up files and folders, but somehow these became so disorganized as to be nearly useless. Then, a few years back, the thought of copying the entire hard drive occurred to me, making an image of it.
What is an “image”? It is an exact copy of the whole C: drive, email for email, and document for document. Even the desktop is reproduced down to icon placement. In our maintenance scheme, an image becomes the perfect solution for minimum down time. Instead of a week in the shop, it’s 15 minutes in the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. How is this possible? By simply putting a good image back on the drive. Of course, you need a program for such an operation. Without qualification I will recommend Acronis True Image. It works with all PC versions through Windows 7 and includes a host of useful features.

Creating the Image

Making an image of your drive is the backup strategy. The procedure is simple. In spite of the amenities within Acronis, only two areas need be used: Backup and Restore, which do just what they say. After you’ve cleaned the C: drive, run Acronis, and make an image of the C:. Where will you store this image? On that neat new hard drive, of course. Keep a couple back-up images you’ve made periodically. These take up a lot of space so at some point you’ll be deleting the older ones.
When that terrible time comes when, despite your best efforts, your main drive becomes overrun with viruses or becomes unusable in one of a dozen other ways. At that juncture, run Acronis and restore that clean image you’ve saved. Before you do, be sure to copy the few files that you didn’t store in that original image, the ones from that back up on. Email and your address book need saving. Find where files are and copy them to a temporary area on the second drive. If you don’t know their location, Google the topic to find out. Also you don’t want to lose all those new Internet Favorites or Bookmarks. These folders, along with your email, are located in Documents and Settings. Again, if unsure, Google. Now, Restore the clean image and simply copy these new emails and bookmarks back to the newly restored C: drive.
A final word. Yes, there are two purchase costs in this maintenance scheme. The drive will set you back a hundred dollars (or less) and Acronis is not free, but compared to the cost of a commercial repair shop and the lost work and out-of-the-loop time, you will thank yourself over the years. Take it from this software junkie and turn your computer desk from an emergency room to a carefree, working enterprise.

This guest post is by Mike Carter a freelance writer with his own site, Artist Inlet Press

Computer Maintenance 101, Part I

2010-10-12T22:29:00.001+05:30

Part I: Buying a Second Drive and Storage

Maintaining the use of a computer means more than running one of those ubiquitous PC Tune up programs found on nearly every file-related site across the Internet. Everyone using a computer on a daily basis should think in very practical terms. For me this means not having to ship my computer off to an expensive shop every few months to clean viruses or restore lost folders of valuable documents and photos. With the advice below, that “computer in the shop” situation will be a thing of the past. Here are the steps I took toward a disaster-free computer experience.

Buy a good hard drive

This means two things: quality and size. Whenever I buy any piece of electronic equipment I look at user reviews. This means reading what people have to say who own what you’re about to purchase. Forget Consumer Reports and the proselytizing raves from the manufacturers. Look to the customers. The folks who own the drives and DVD players don’t pull any punches. For this purpose, go to Amazon.com. The user base is huge and you’re bound to find dozens of owners with something to say. Read the Pros and Cons. If the reviews don’t contain mostly four or five-star ratings, move on.
As to size, the thought that “I’ll never use that much space” leaves out the most important element in maintenance: back-ups, and notice the plural. Assuming you’re an average user with your main drive, the C:, full of programs like a word processor and spreadsheet, Photoshop, various utilities, documents, music downloads, and pictures, that drive might contain anywhere from ten to thirty or so gigabytes. Add movie downloads and you’re way beyond that.
To back up this much space, common sense says you need another area large enough to hold the whole C: drive; in other words, you need double its space. Internet wisdom (from we poor people who’ve lost our entire stash of programs and documents) dictates a second back up as well. Now we’re talking triple the main drive space. Meaning? These days, with larger programs and movie and music files, a minimum of a 250 gigabyte, and preferably a 500 gigabyte, hard drive. And make it external. External drives are plug and play and come with a standard USB connector.

Store Nothing on the Main C: Drive

The only use you have for the main drive, the one that runs your programs, is just that. The C: drive is the engine, not the passenger compartment. It’s where viruses will find a home, from downloads and emails, and where problems will arise from adding and deleting programs and personal documents. This leads to the second step in our Computer Maintenance regimen, E: drive storage.
You’re asking, if I don’t store anything on my computer, where do I store it, on discs? No. First, DVD discs only hold about 4.7 gigabytes. It would take dozens for the kind of back up and storage we’re talk about. Second, disc disintegrate, become scratched, and worse, lost. The best method I’ve found for storage is a second hard drive. Assuming you have a CD or DVD drive installed, your computer would have three drives: C:, the main and original; D:, your disc drive; and now E:, the new external drive.

Organization

The common practice is to stuff everything into the My Documents folder. I’ve found this to be messy and quite confusing. My advice is to create a few basic folders on that new hard drive. Being an avid downloader of utilities and programs, I made a folder for that. Have a lot of music? Another one, there. And don’t forget documents. Here are folders you should consider creating on the E: drive: (the “My” prefix is cosmetic)

MyDownloads – Put any programs you download from the Internet here
MyMusic – Including CD’s transfers or songs from various sources
MyDocuments – A broad category which will hold all word/text files, spreadsheet saves, databases, etc.
MyPictures – Your family photos, graphics from Photoshop you’re working on, images you’ve downloaded from the internet

This short list is necessarily very general to give you the idea that some sort of organization is needed.

NEXT>> Computer Mainenance 101, Part II

This guest post is by Mike Carter a freelance writer with his own site, Artist Inlet Press

7 DIY Tips to Strengthen Your Wireless Network

2010-10-12T10:15:00.001+05:30

7 DIY Tips to Strengthen Your Wireless Network

Wireless networks are convenient for users because they require no messy cables and users can work anywhere within range. The only problem is that these same advantages help hackers to gain unauthorized access to your Internet account, allowing them to steal your private information or launch malicious attacks under your name. These problems can lead to identity theft, blackmail, and account closures that are often difficult to reverse.

Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to improve your security. Here you will find 7 DIY tips to strengthen your wireless network.

Change your router password: When you buy a wireless router, it comes preconfigured with a default password such as “admin” or “password” so you can easily gain access to it and configure it for their needs. They can even lock you out by changing the password themselves. Hackers know this and scour neighborhoods and small businesses for routers that are easy targets. Be sure to change your router’s password (and user name if possible) to something that only you know and that is hard to guess.
Place your router in the center of your residence or business: Because most routers transmit in a circular pattern, placing your router in the middle of your building will provide for the best network coverage for your use, but it will also help minimize the amount of coverage your neighbors next door or hackers on the street get from your router.
Turn on wireless security: Now that you have secured your router by changing its login credentials, you need to enable security for your wireless protocols. By default, your network may be left wide open so anyone can access it without doing anything special. When you turn on WEP or WPA, you assign your router an encryption key that must be matched by wireless adapters on the network. Make sure you set the key to something that is hard to guess.
Turn off your SSID: By default, most routers broadcast the name of your network so wireless devices in the area can know that it is available. This broadcast makes it easy for you to point and click your way to a network connection, but it does the same for hackers as well. Write down your network name first and then tell your router to stop advertising by turning off the SSID transmission in your router’s configuration screen. This way you can tell devices on your network what name to look for without telling everyone in the neighborhood.
Turn your router off: Most people seem content to leave their wireless routers and access points turned on all the time. You can make it harder for hackers to abuse your network by pulling the plug on these devices when you aren’t using them. If you have a business, you should turn off your wireless network at the end of the day. If you have a job, you should turn off your wireless network while you are away from home.
Use the MAC filter on your router: Most routers have an option to restrict access to your network based on MAC address, a unique number assigned to every network adapter. When you use this option you can tell the router which addresses to allow on your network, leaving all other devices out in the cold.
Control your transmission: You have already moved your router to the center of your building, now it’s time to direct your signal by using a high gain directional antenna. You can also switch to a different wireless protocol such as 802.11a that has a shorter transmission range.

Use these 7 DIY tips to strengthen your wireless network to reduce your vulnerability to hackers while preserving the convenience of wireless networking in your home or business.

Thanks for this great guest post Kip.
Kip writes about broadband providers for BroadbandCompare.com.au, a leading Australian broadband comparison website.

How To Block Websites: Tricks | Step By Step Instructions

2010-10-05T09:19:00.003+05:30

HOW TO BLOCK WEBSITE

Intro
This tutorial covers on how to block website on a local computer .
Going from simplest to more complex ways , we'll demonstrate how you can block a website(s).

Simple Way
You can use internet explorer's inbuilt Content supervisor to block website that you deem inappropriate. However the amount of safety provided by this is least and you can expect it to be broken by anyone who knows 6 letter golden word namely, google . I myself have written a post on how easily it can be done "Breaking Internet explorer's content supervisor". However if just the small kids you are concerned about to block website, that the simplest and easiest way.

A-Little-Not-So-Simple Way To Block Website

The intermediate way, its suitable for most kids and non-techie (you have the privilege to decide). I hope you already remember that i am writing this article for the n0n-techie folks. if you are ahead and feel embarrassed by these kiddo talk go down to the end, we have DNS settings for you. Everyone else, just follow along(You can't beat the us nerds other than in sports, girls, beer pong etc..., gotta admit that)
The Next best thing you can do to block a certain website on the computer/laptop (which you can access yourself)....
Its called editing the host file to block website.
As per the traditions of Tech-Hut, we must give the essential details i.e

Host File(Quoting Wikipedia):The hosts file is a computer file used in an operating system to map hostnames to IP addresses. This method is one of several system facilities to address network nodes on a computer network. On some operating systems, the host file content is used preferentially over other methods, such as the Domain Name System (DNS), but many systems implement name service switches to provide customization. Unlike DNS, the hosts file is under the control of the local computer's administrator.^[1]
The hosts file is a plain-text file and is traditionally named hosts. we are going to use this one to block website

Now That the time has changed so dramatically, with so much Operating systems around, this way of blocking the access is still the same. here are some detailed tables regarding the device or operating system you use.

Operating System

Version(s)

Location

Windows

95, 98, Me

%WinDir%\

NT, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7

%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\ (see note)

Windows Mobile

Registry key under \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\Tcpip\Hosts

Macintosh

9 and earlier

System Folder: Preferences or System folder

Mac OS X, iPhoneOS

/private/etc/hosts or /etc/hosts (/etc on Mac OS X is a symbolic link to /private/etc)

Most Unix and Unix-like OSes POSIX

/etc/hosts^[3]

Novell NetWare

SYS:etc\hosts

OS/2 & eComStation

"bootdrive":\mptn\etc\

Symbian

Symbian OS 6.1-9.0

C:\system\data\hosts

Symbian OS 9.1+

C:\private\10000882\hosts (AllFiles capable only)

Android

/system/etc/hosts

Even for 64 bit windows OS the directory name system32 is continued to be used, don't confuse over that.
Now that you are all ready with opened Host files, lets get on with how to block website using the host file editing,

STEPS:
*.Now that we have located the host file, Open it in notepad(right click and use "open with", if not automatically opens)

*.You will see entries like this

127.0.0.1 localhost

*. Say we want to block website www.xyz.com and www.uvw.com

All we have to do is add two entries of these site addresses below the first line(localhost)
The Host file now looks like this-

127.0.0.1 localhost

127.0.0.1 www.xyz.com
127.0.0.1 www.uvw.com

*

In the similar way we can keep op adding web addresses after 127.0.0.1 to block website of those addresses.

How Does editing this host file block website?

What really happens is the computer looks up in the file to determine the local computer address 127.0.0.1

We are just telling the computer that those addresses to be looked in local computer rather than their respective servers. Hence it never opens and we succeed in blocking the website

Using DNS Based Blocking:

What is DNS?
If you really want to get to the bottom of how this works, i would recommend having a read on how Internet works, web specifically. Here is a nice article about DNS.(Close the browser window to come back to this page)

Page 2>>How to Use OpenDNS to block website or use as a content filtering

Bom Sabado! orkut scrap virus | What is Bom Sabado! orkut scrap virus | What does it infect | How to disable Bom Sabado! orkut scrap virus |

2010-09-26T00:08:00.004+05:30

UPDATE: The Orkut has blocked the script from running. Its safe to open the scrapbook even with infected scrap. However for future cases of infection like this, you should always follow the Guidelines as posted below.

Seems like its a season for new new infections after zeus.zbot.aoaq banking trojan infection

Thanks to one of our readers who reported this to us, we heard the issue about this orkut Bom Sabado!, a orkut scrap based virus.

The report below is generated and edited as we work, please follow the guidelines posted,

What We Already know

You get a scrap from one of your friend written "Bom Sabado!"
You open orkut and see the scrap, or reply to that friend asking what it means or visit their profile
Your profile is automatically joined to some communities example http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community?cmm=106691341

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community?cmm=106698628

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community?cmm=558494

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community?cmm=6

http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community?cmm=106698808
Your friends receive the same scrap saying "Bom Sabado!" from YOU
The same chain repeats with anyone receiving the Orkut scrap.

Guidelines

If not really necessary, don't login to orkut atleast for a day , particularly not into your scrapbook (As far as we can tell, the script( Bom Sabado! orkut virus ) runs when you open your orkut scrapbook , steals cookies(hypothesis, but most probable), uses your credentials and spreads the same malicious scripts to your friends list..
Be specially cautious about clicking the links(Loosely translated: DON'T CLICK ANY LINKS) in email coming from orkut, no matter if it comes from a trusted friend. Their account might be compromised as well.
Check Back this page for future updates: As we are working hard on this and as promised to deliver the solution within 24 hrs. we strongly recommend checking this page regularly, We know you are short on time, Therefore we recommend you subscribe for updates. You will receive mails in your email inbox when we publish anything new on this(THE OPTION TO SUBSCRIBE FOR UPDATES IS IN TOP-RIGHT CORNER OF THIS PAGE)
Change the Google Account password ASAP
Check to see any changes made in your account like new friend added, communities joined etc.
Unjoin the new communities added, if you are not able to, please comment below with the community name or ID.
Give us a hard time, comment below to ask questions, post updates about whats happening to you. That would help us
In case of this or future cases of infection try viewing the scrapbook using the mobile version of orkut(Yes, it will open even on computers) http://m.orkut.com It stops any third party scripts from running.

All about ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq | How To Detect Remove ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq Banking Trojan | Is ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq Real Or Fake | Infected by ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq Banking Trojan

2010-09-18T17:15:00.006+05:30

All You want to know about ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq trojan
This article aims to answer some of these questions and possible more that are yet to come

1.What is ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq warning from zone alarm?

2. What is this pop-up anyway?

3.Has the zone alarm detected ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq in my computer?

4. Is it real or a scareware(trick to scare people to buy things)?

5.Do i really need to buy antivirus?

6.Will other antivirus softwares like avast , AVG , Norton, quick heal , etc be able to detect ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq?

7.What is ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq , really?
8.How to detect if i am infected by ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq baking Trojan?

This article is more of a self rescue than really wanting to write this at 1:00 am. I was just expecting a mail from a friend, but a look on my inbox said that was going to a bit tricky. So guys please stop bombarding me with all those mails, i will try to answer and help about this ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq trojan in this post. Use comments to ask questions. the questions you see above are generic form of things that you've been asking me in mail.

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Okay so, like everybody else i got this pop up from zone alarm

1.What is ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq warning from zone alarm?

(THIS IS JUST WHAT ZONE ALARM SAYS,NOT ME...... KEEP ON READING)

The Zone Alarm says that there is a massive outbreak of ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq trojan which is capable of stealing whatever you type through your keyboard (keylogger, just a little advanced). Its reported to have infected millions of Computers already. It targets mainly on the data related to financial gains( credit card, internet banking), logins to social networking etc.. You get the picture.

2. What is this pop-up anyway?

The message you are seeing is not a "scan result" or "detection warning" , its just an advertisement. Its just saying that a threat named ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq trojan exists worldwide and the free version of zone alarm firewall will not be able to secure you from it. While a paid version of their antivirus will. They just want you to buy it.

3.Has the zone alarm detected ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq in my computer?

Nope. I know thats a confusing part but as said above its just an advertisement not a scan result for ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq or detection. It does not really meant that you are infected. You might be or not.

4. Is ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq real or a scareware(trick to scare people to buy things)?

As you have been searching the web for possible answer to this question you might have seen a mixed reaction from people , some claiming it to be real while some a hoax by Zone Alarm to boost up sale.

Zone Alarm shows THIS page where it declares to be the only one able to detect and neutralize. However one this i noticed here is that there claim was based on earlier versions of antivirus program they compare to. Like for example they say Avast Free 4.8.1351.0 will not detect while in fact the latest avast version is 5.0.677. thats a questionable point

In Another thread the avast guys even suggested its a scare-ware and the information is false, see HERE.

However Trendmicro has a report on ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq which they have been tracking for some time, see

HERE.

I know you are already confused might me saying that i am not really helping. But the thing is i was out of loop for past few months so before i say something i have to do some homework. But by the looks of it, it looks real,

What i can advise is that why not be on safe side, Just wait till things get sorted out. Till then be safe, avoid using credit cards or internet banking unless its really necessary, Specially on public computer.

5.Do i really need to buy antivirus?

I personally am not going to fall for we-only-can-save-you from ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq crap. Its a competitive market out there and its not like no one else except ZoneAlarm guys will come up with solution. But the decision rests in your hands you may buy or not.

6.Will other antivirus softwares like avast , AVG , Norton, quick heal , etc be able to detect ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq?

Its already confusing if the threat of ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq banking trojan is real or just a hoax.

The confusion gets worst when i tried to ask Avast people if Avast detects it or not. The answer was a diplomatic "Avast detects a various number of trojans", they steadily avoided directly answering Yes Or No. Here is a sample from avast forum, see HERE .

So at the moment we can't say for sure, but its a fact that they will eventually come up with, if they don't already.

7.What is ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq , really?

This is what malwarehelp.org has to say

The Zeus banking trojan is also known as Zbot, WSNPOEM, NTOS and PRG. It steals credentials for various online services like social networks, online banking accounts, ftp and email accounts. It spreads via email and Drive-by-Downloads.
Prevx, an internet security company states in their blog “The criminals are careful to infect just a few PCs with each copy of the Trojan, thereby avoiding detection by honepots/nets and subsequent researcher attention in security labs. By the time each copy of a ZEUS Trojan is identified by security researchers it’s job is done and a new fresh version will be dispatched to takeover its role.”
8.How to detect if i am infected by ZeuS.Zbot.aoaq baking Trojan?
The Prevx also briefs on what to look for in a PC that may reveal a Zeus infection:
The ZEUS trojan will commonly use names like NTOS.EXE, LD08.EXE, LD12.EXE,PP06.EXE, PP08.EXE, LDnn.EXE and PPnn.EXE etc, so search your PCs for files with names like this. The ZEUS Trojan will typically be between 40KBytes and 150Kbytes in size.

Also look for a folder with the name WSNPOEM, this is also a common sign of infection for the ZEUS Trojan.

Finally, check the Registry lloking for RUN keys referencing any of these names.

Citing Malwarehelp.org

The known locations of various versions of Zeus on a Windows system as follows:

Variant 1

C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntos.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsnpoem\audio.dll
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsnpoem\video.dll

Variant 2
C:\WINDOWS\system32\oembios.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\sysproc64\sysproc86.sys
C:\WINDOWS\system32\sysproc64\sysproc32.sys

Variant 3
C:\WINDOWS\system32\twext.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\twain_32\local.ds
C:\WINDOWS\system32\twain_32\user.ds

Variant 4
C:\WINDOWS\system32\sdra64.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lowsec\local.ds
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lowsec\user.ds

Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer for the SANS Institute says “for more technically savvy users” is to check their computer’s registry key, which lists software that will start as a user logs in. The registry key can be found by following this path, he said:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\UserInit
“ZeuS will add itself to the list, typically as ‘ntos.’ But this name may, of course, change at any time. Some anti-spyware will monitor this key for changes. Whenever anti-malware alerts the user about a change, the user should be highly suspect. But frequently, the alert is quite cryptic.”
There are other “less technical ways” to detect the botnet, he said. “For example, the bot may inject additional pages into online banking login screens. If the user is all of a sudden asked for a secret question, Social Security number or other unusual items during the login process, abort the login, and call your bank or try the login from another computer.”
SecureWorks further reveals that “the location depends on whether the victim has Administrator rights. The files will most likely have the HIDDEN attribute set to hide them from casual inspection.

With Administrator rights:
%systemroot%\system32\sdra64.ex
%systemroot%\system32\lowsec
%systemroot%\system32\lowsec\user.ds
%systemroot%\system32\lowsec\user.ds.lll %systemroot%\system32\lowsec\local.ds

Without Administrator rights:
%appdata%\sdra64.exe
%appdata%\lowsec
%appdata%\lowsec\user.ds
%appdata%\lowsec\user.ds.lll
%appdata%\lowsec\local.ds

ZeuS also makes registry changes to ensure that it starts up with Administrator privileges:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
From:
“Userinit” = “C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe”
To:
“Userinit” = “C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,C:\WINDOWS\system32\sdra64.exe”

Without Administrator rights:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Add:
“Userinit” = “C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\sdra64.exe”

MMPC weighs in with a way to check for the existence of Win32/Zbot infection manually using Windows command prompt:
“A clean system by default should not have any unique ID made by the malware, so if you run the following:
REG QUERY “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Network” /v UID
– or –
REG QUERY “HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Network” /v UID
an infected machine would return the following data in the following format:
_ (for example, COMP1_00038EB9)
The userinit startup key specifies what program should be launched right after a user logs on to Windows. Win32/Zbot adds its path into the data value and protects that value from being changed while it is active. Running the following query returns the Zbot program:
REG QUERY “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon” /v userinit
Trend Micro blogs that the recent variants (as of 26 Apr 2010), use random names for files and directories in a major change. The eariler variants used fixed file names. In addition this trojan now inject themselves into ctfmon.exe, explorer.exe, rdpclip.exe, taskeng.exe, taskhost.exe and wscntfy.exe.
“From this list, we can see that the new ZBOT version now “features” support for both Windows Vista and Windows 7. Taskeng.exe and Taskhost.exe are processes both found in Windows Vista and Windows 7 though neither were found in older versions such as Windows XP.”
Symantec confirms that the new variant “is now known as version 2.0 (named after the Trojan builder kit version).
Version 2.0 adds the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\”{[VOL_GUID]}” = “%User Profile%\Application Data\\.exe”
(Where [VOL_GUID] is the volume GUID of WINDOWS mount point. And , is generated based on Mersenne’s Pseudo random number generator.)”

How to Crack Winzip's Password Protected Zip Files

2010-07-26T13:43:00.001+05:30

How To Crack Winzip Password Protected Zip Files

In this Tutorial we will see how to crack winzip password protected zip files. We will be using a software named FZC. to open files that are password-protected (which means you're gonna need a password to open the zip file and extract files out of it). You can get it anywhere - just use a search engine..

FZC uses multiple methods of cracking zip password - bruteforce (guessing passwords systematically until the program gets it) or wordlist attacks (otherwise known as dictionary attacks. Instead of just guessing passwords systematically, the program takes passwords out of a "wordlist", which is a text file that contains possible passwords. You can get lots of wordlist just google for wordlist generator .).

FZC can be used in order to achieve two different goals: you can either use it to recover a lost zip password which you used to remember but somehow forgot, or to crack zip passwords which you're not supposed to have(we don't recommend doing it). So like every tool, this one can be used for good and for evil.

The first thing I want to say is that reading this tutorial... is the easy way to learn how to use this program, but after reading this part of how to use the FZC you should go and check the texts that come with that program and read them all. You are also going to see the phrase "check name.txt" often in this text. These files should be in FZC's directory. They contain more information about FZC.

FZC is a good password recovery tool, because it's very fast and also support resuming so you don't have to keep the computer turned on until you get the password, like it used to be some years ago with older cracking programs. You would probably always get the password unless the password is longer than 32 chars (a char is a character, which can be anything - a number, a lowercase or undercase letter or a symbol such as ! or &) because 32 chars is the maximum value that FZC will accept, but it doesn't really matter, because in order to bruteforce a password with 32 chars you'll need to be at least immortal..heehhe.. to see the time that FZC takes with bruteforce just open the Bforce.txt file, which contains such information.
FZC supports brute-force attacks, as well as wordlist attacks. While brute-force attacks don't require you to have anything, wordlist attacks require you to have wordlists, which you can get from searching any search engine. There are wordlists in various languages, various topics or just miscellaneous wordlists. The bigger the wordlist is, the more chances you have to crack the password.
Now that you have a good wordlist, just get FZC working on the locked zip file, grab a drink, lie down and wait... and wait... and wait...and have good thoughts like "In wordlist mode I'm gonna get the password in minutes" or something like this...

We need to keep in mind that are some people might choose some really weird passwords (for example: 'e8t7@$^%*gfh), which are harder to crack and are certainly impossible to crack zip password (unless you have some weird wordlist). If you have a bad luck and you got such a file, having a 200MB list won't help you anymore. Instead, you'll have to use a different type of attack. If you are a person that gives up at the first sign of failure, stop being like that or you won't get anywhere. What you need to do in such a situation is to put aside your sweet xxx MB's list and start using the Brute Force attack.
If you have some sort of a really fast and new computer and you're afraid that you won't be able to use your computer's power to the fullest because the zip cracker doesn't support this kind of technology, it's your lucky day! FZC has multiple settings for all sorts of hardware, and will automatically select the best method.

Now that we've gone through all the theoretical stuff, let's get to the actual commands.

Bruteforce Attack to crack zip password

The command line you'll need to use for using brute force to crack zip password is:

fzc -mb -nzFile.zip -lChr Lenght -cType of chars

Now if you read the bforce.txt that comes with fzc you'll find the description of how works Chr Lenght and the Type of chars, but hey, I'm gonna explain this too. Why not, right?... (but remember look at the bforce.txt too)

For Chr Lenght you can use 4 kind of switches...

-> You can use range -> 4-6 :it would brute force from 4 Chr passwors to 6 chr passwords
-> You can use just one lenght -> 5 :it would just brute force using passwords with 5 chars
-> You can use also the all number -> 0 :it would start brute forcing from passwords with lenght 0 to lenght 32, even if you are crazy i don't think that you would do this.... if you are thinking in doing this get a live...
-> You can use the + sign with a number -> 3+ :in this case it would brute force from passwords with lenght 3 to passwords with 32 chars of lenght, almost like the last option...

For the Type of chars we have 5 switches they are:

-> a for using lowercase letters
-> A for using uppercase letters
-> ! for using simbols (check the Bforce.txt if you want to see what simbols)
-> s for using space
-> 1 for using numbers

Example:
If you want to find a password with lowercase and numbers by brute force you would just do something like:

fzc -mb -nzTest.zip -l4-7 -ca1

This would try all combinations from passwords with 4 chars of lenght till 7 chars, but just using numbers and lowercase.

HINT :You should never start the first brute force attack to a file using all the chars switches, first just try lowercase, then uppercase, then uppercase with number then lowercase with numbers, just do like this because you can get lucky and find the password much faster, if this doesn't work just prepare your brain and start with a brute force that would take a lot of time. With a combination like lowercase, uppercase, special chars and numbers.

WORDLIST attack to crack zip password

Like I said in the bottom and like you should be thinking now, the wordlist is the most powerfull mode in this program to crack zip password file. Using this mode, you can choose between 3 modes, where each one do some changes to the text that is in the wordlist, I'm not going to say what each mode does to the words, for knowing that just check the file wlist.txt, the only thing I'm going to tell you is that the best mode to get passwords is mode 3, but it takes longer time too.
To start a wordlist attak you'll do something like.

fzc -mwMode number -nzFile.zip -nwWordlist

Where:

Mode number is 1, 2 or 3 just check wlist.txt to see the changes in each mode.
File.zip is the filename and Wordlist is the name of the wordlist that you want to use. Remember that if the file or the wordlist isn't in the same directory of FZC you'll need to give the all path.

You can add other switches to that line like -fLine where you define in which line will FZC start reading, and the -lChar Length where it will just be read the words in that char length, the switche works like in bruteforce mode.
So if you something like

fzc -mw1 -nztest.zip -nwMywordlist.txt -f50 -l9+

FZC would just start reading at line 50 and would just read with length >= to 9.

Example:

If you want to crack a file called myfile.zip using the "word.txt" wordlist, selecting mode 3, and you wanted FZC to start reading at line 50 you would do:

fzc -mw3 -nzmyfile.zip -nwword.txt -f50

RESUME FUNCTION

Other good feature in FZC is that FZC supports resuming. If you need to shutdown your computer and FZC is running you just need to press the ESC key, and fzc will stop. Now if you are using a brute force attack the current status will be saved in a file called resume.fzc but if you are using a wordlist it will say to you in what line it ended (you can find the line in the file fzc.log too).
To resume the bruteforce attack you just need to do:

fzc -mr

And the bruteforce attack will start from the place where it stopped when you pressed the ESC key.
But if you want to resume a wordlist attack you'll need to start a new wordlist attack, saying where it's gonna start. So if you ended the attack to the file.zip in line 100 using wordlist.txt in mode 3 to resume you'll type

fzc -mw3 -nzfile.zip -nwwordlist.txt -f100

Doing this FZC would start in line 100, since the others 99 lines where already checked in an earlier FZC session.

Why Is My Computer Crashing - Blue Screen Of Death

2010-07-26T13:09:00.001+05:30

WHY IS MY COMPUTER CRASHING? WHY AM I SEEING THIS BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH?
These are some of the questions that we'll try to answer in this post.
As with anything else the first step of troubleshooting begins with "Understanding the problem". Here we will see some common issues that lead to computer crashing windows.

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy,

Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications.

The screen above is known as Blue Screen Of Death . You will get to see this every time the computer crashing windows. Anyone who uses Microsoft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do after you computer crashes? More importantly, how can you prevent computer crash?
The Top Ten Reasons To answer why is your computer crashing

Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

Bad RAM

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

How To Break Administrator Password : Administrator Password Forgot

2010-06-18T10:02:00.005+05:30

HOW TO BREAK ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD - ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD FORGOT
Did you say "Administrator password forgot?" This is just the article you need. In this article we will see how to break administrator password. I've seen many people searching for some way out to break the administrator password, either they forgot their own password or they want to hack into someone else's computer (which we don't encourage, Breaching other's privacy is something we consider unethical) .
As a matter of fact doing this is not as hard as it seems. In this article i'll talk about different ways in different scenario and what to do to break administrator password.

CASE 1: You've Forgot and want to break Administrator password with you already having access to a administrator account.

In case you have forgot administrator password but still have access it(like already logged in) or some other administrator privileged account, then you can use this method. A piece of cake

*Go to run, type command cmd to open command prompt

*At the prompt type command net user

*This will get you the list of all the user accounts on that system, note down the name of account that you want the password reseted.

Now you can use two ways to break administrator password

1. type command net user username * .
(where username is the name of account whose password you want to reset it will ask for new password. type it(remember you won't see anything you typed but its still there in invisible) and you have the password reseted.

or

2. type command controluserpasswords2 . this will open up a new box. there select that account and click reset password button

But as we earlier talked... this way to break administrator password works if you already have access to any administrator account.

CASE 2: Okay now you've forgot, don't have access to any account and want to break administrator password.

The first and most obvious attempt in any password cracking is Guessing. So First try to guess the obvious.

On the Login screen of windows where you enter the password for different accounts Press CTRL+ALT+DEL Twice . This will take you to an advanced login box where you have to enter the username and password Both . In the username field type Administrator. Now we have to do some hit-and-trial.

Username: Administrator

now for password first try these
1. blank password i.e leave the password field blank
2. administrator
3. Administrator
4. Admin
5. admin

You might be thinking of these as childish but believe me they DO work. i am talking about it here bcoz they are based on basic human nature. In the time of windows installation many people leave the field blank for password. some choose administrator or admin

If this thing Is not working for you, here is the FULL-AND-FINAL

Case 3: You for forgot administrator password and have no access but still inclined to break administrator password

1. Download this zip file.
Download Link 1 Click Here To Download
Download Link 2 Click Here to Download

2. It has an .iso image of a bootable CD. Extract the image and burn it on a CD. The password is tech-hut . you can use nero.

3. Now go to the BIOS settings(press DEL on the very beginning of booting) . there set the first boot device as CD ROM. Save it and exit

4. Now your computer will boot on the CD.

Now Follow these Steps.....

1. After booting the first option you'll get is to select the partition. By default it has [1] selected so, just press enter

2. Next it will ask for the path to the registry file. By default it has the path so, Just press enter

3. Next it will ask to select the part of registry. Type 1 and press enter.

4. You will now get the main menu. here you have to select the task. To change password Just press enter key

5. Now you have to select the account. I recommend you go for the administrator account rather than any other. By default it has administrator selected. Just Press Enter key

6. Its time to change the password. When it asks for new password just type * and press enter key. it will delete the previous password of administrator account.

7. Now it will ask " do you really wish to change it?". type y and press enter

8. In the next part type ! and press enter. to get back to the main menu.

9. In the main menu type q and press enter

10. It will say "About to write files back". Type y and hit enter key

11. Now it will ask if you want a new run. Type n and hit enter key.

12. Now restart your computer manually.

Now again change the boot priority back to Hard disk as First and CD ROM as second as you did in step 3. earlier.

When you get to the login window, press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice to get to the advanced login box. There in the Username field type Administrator and leave the password Field blank. Hit Enter. This way you can break administrator password even without any access.

YOU ARE IN!!!

P.S- If somehow the administrator password is not removed, don't give up. Do these steps all over again... i assure you, it works! There might have been some mistakes that you made. But remember to make a proper shutdown just before your next attempt.

HP Laptop Not Charging By Charger/Adapter - Battery Check Shows Battery Broken And Asks To Replace

2009-10-28T08:07:00.010+05:30

Question:
(HP laptop Problem "Plugged in , not charging")
I have a HP laptop problem (DV5), Recently i am facing this problem. When i plug the charger i shows plugged icon in battery, but it would stop charging after some time. "Clicking on the battery icon shows plugged in , Not Charging" why is that? No matter how long i keep it plugged in laptop is not charging. It runs good on AC power. Is the problem with my hp charger ? or my battery ? should i replace my battery ? it is new !!

ADDITIONAL INFO:
HP battery check shows my battery is broken and i should get it replaced!!! But i bought it monts ago !!

Answer:
" HP laptops Not Charging " Is one thing i hear most these days and clearly most common HP laptop problem. Here is a trick you can try . Hopefully it will sort your problem.

#Its possible that Laptop not charging due to dust at the contact points of laptop battery, or adapter plug. First thing is to make sure all the contact points are clean and properly connected, take your battery out , clean the metal contact points well with dry clean cloths (Don't use cleaning solvents) . Same thing goes with the charger plug. Make sure none of the contacts are loose including the AC cable going into the Adapter.

# Now don't plug in the AC power and continue to use your laptop till the battery is completely discharged. After that plug in the AC and let it charge for whatever time it takes to get fully charged

This should Sort your problem.
If not please reply back

Funny Side Of Linus Torvalds : Linus Says...

2009-10-20T12:23:00.003+05:30

Being bored and having nothing to do, i thought of writing this...
Hey, we might aswell give this thread space for that great man. If you have anything to share about him, Please leave Comments!
Linus Torvalds writes the Linux kernel, he also likes a good mailing list flamewar, not least because he has a very sarcasatic wit. Here he is, writing about various topics.

On fair use:

>When you start thinking that you have absolute control over the content or
programs you produce, and that the rest of the worlds opinions doesn't matter,
you're just _wrong_.

>Me, personally, I think the RIAA and the MPAA is a shithouse. They are
immoral.

On virtualization:

>I think what you're seeing is virtualization proponents being absolutely
_desperate_ for any reason to use virtualization.

On userspace binary drivers:

>No user-space ass-hattery here.

On turning off interrupt requests:

You cannot have a generic kernel driver that doesn't know about the low-
level hardware (not with current hardware - you could make the "shut the
f*ck up" a generic thing if you designed hardware properly, but that simply
does not exist in general right now).

On those arguing for userpace interrupt request handlers:

You may be a bit simple. But I think it's more polite to call you "special". Or
maybe just not very used to how hardware works.

On C++ :
>In fact, in Linux we did try C++ once already, back in 1992. It sucks. Trust
me...

>C++ is a horrible language. It's made more horrible by the fact that a lot of
substandard programmers use it, to the point where it's much much easier to
generate total and utter crap with it. Quite frankly, even if the choice of
C
were to do nothing but keep the C++ programmers out, that in itself would
be a
huge reason to use C.

>So I'm sorry, but for something like git, where efficiency was a primary
objective, the "advantages" of C++ is just a huge mistake. The fact that we also
piss off people who cannot see that is just a big additional advantage.

On Linux Kernel version 2.6.19:

> It's one of those rare "perfect" kernels. So if it doesn't happen to
compile with your config, you can rest easy knowing that it's all your own d*mn
fault, and you should just fix your evil ways.

On Intel's inventions:
> The fact that ACPI was designed by a group of monkeys high on LSD, and is
some of the worst designs in the industry obviously makes running it at _any_
point pretty damn ugly. And the fact that MB vendors don't test it with anything
else than Windows (and sometimes you wonder whether they do even that) doesn't
help.

> EFI is this other Intel brain-damage (the first one being ACPI). It's
totally different from a normal BIOS, and was brought on by ia64, which never
had a BIOS, of course. Sadly, Apple bought into the whole "BIOS bad, EFI good"
hype, so we now have x86 machines with EFI as the native boot protocol.

On Apple OS X:

> OS X in some ways is actually worse than Windows to program for. Their file
system is complete and utter crap, which is scary.

AND IF YOU THINK THIS IS NOT ENOUGH, HERE IS A MAILING LIST FLAMEWAR BETWEEN Linus AND Andy Tanenbaum .

Useful Linux / Unix Commands: Learning Linux

2009-10-20T12:19:00.005+05:30

Learning Linux is essentially mastering set of Linux commands, you can find commands everywhere, but there are few that are uncommon but still very useful

While a few linux / unix commands, such as 'cd' are built directly into bash; many of the most important commands come from coreutils, a GNU package containing over a hundred commands.
Some are the well known commands such as 'ls', 'mv' and 'cat'. While there are some more obscure ones that are not always discovered because there are also more modern programs that can do similar jobs.

These less well known Unix/ Linux commands often reflect the history of computing where once upon a time you would do everything possible in the Bourne or Bash shell, rather than waiting a long time for program such as emacs or vi to start, which at the time were considered to be memory intensive but now seem lightning fast (now you can even run them from a mobile phone).
Here we will look at 10 USEFUL UNIX / LINUX COMMANDS that might come in handy one day.

1. tac
One of the key linux commands is 'cat' one of the few, one will encounter in basic stages of learning linux , short for concatenate, which you can use to add the contents of one file to another, or just to print a file or set of files out to the screen.
cat 1.txt 2.txt > 3.txt # Adds 1 and 2 together as a new file 3.
cat 3.txt # Prints file 3 out to the screen.
However, tac is cat backwards, This Linux command lets you concatenate and print files in reverse. It could come in very handy for some uses, for example if you want to reverse a list or a log file.
tac 1.txt > 2.txt # 2 is a reversed copy of 1

2. tee
Often you will pipe the output of one program as the input of another:
ps -e grep apache
This command will feed to grep the output of ps, thus showing what apache processes are currently running.
Or you may redirect the output of a command to a file:
ps -e grep apache > apache-processes.txt
However, what if you want to see the results and write the file or files? This is where the tee linux command is useful:
ps -e grep bash tee bash-processes.txt # Print the results to the screen but also to a file.
You can enter more than one filename if you want multiple copies.

3. pr
Most printers these days will attempt to print out anything that you throw at them. However, you still may want to format a file in a certain way before sending it to the printer. For example, you may regularly discuss a log or some records at a meeting and want them to look the same every week.
The pr command gets a text file ready for the printer. For example you may want a set page or column format.
pr +10 -h"Apache Errors" -l25 error_log lpr -# 5
Reading the pr command from left to right, the options are to start from page 10, then add a header to each page, make each page 25 lines long and lastly the filename. The result is then piped to lpr which will submit the file to the printer with a request for 5 copies.

4. stat
Using 'ls -l' will give a lot of information about a file, enough for me at least. If you are a glutten for punishment, you can use the 'stat' command to get more information:
$ stat statFile: `stat'Size: 34684 Blocks: 72 IO Block: 4096 regular fileDevice: 302h/770d Inode: 7586763 Links: 1Access: (0755/-rwxr-xr-x) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)Access: 2007-01-06 00:35:15.000000000 +0000Modify: 2006-09-18 09:50:24.000000000 +0100Change: 2007-01-04 14:51:47.000000000 +00005. yes
'yes' is one of those strange legacy commands, the most comic featured here. 'yes' prints a string and a newline and then repeats until interrupted.
As dumb as it sounds, it does have a couple of uses. Firstly, if you want to turn an interactive command into a non-interactive one.
There are some linux command line programs which you run and then it asks something like "Are you sure?". For example:
yes 5 command
This will run command then send the string 5 and a newline (i.e. as if you had pressed return).
It almost goes without saying that you can also use yes to turn your processor up to 100% usage, for example if you are testing some fans or cooling system or if you otherwise want to punish your machine.

6. expand
So you wrote lots of nice Python files, indenting them with tabs. But shock horror, you found out that the current fashion is to use four spaces not tabs!
No problem, the expand command converts tabs to spaces, here we have chosen to use 4 spaces:
expand -4 uncoolscript.py > coolerscript.py
To go from spaces to tabs, you can use 'unexpand' linux command.

7. split
'split' takes a file and splits it into chunks for you. For example:
split -l 20 access_log part
This linux command will split the file access_log into chunks of 20 lines each, the name of each file will begin with part.

8. uniq
Sometimes you will have a file that is a long list of items and you want to remove all the repeated lines, or possibly you want to group the items into sets with a number of occurrences.
So to remove all repeated lines:
uniq file.txt
You can also use the output of another command:
cat file.txt uniq
To include the occurrence count:
uniq -c file.txt

9. wc (i know u already know this, probably first thing when you started learning linux, but still)
wc allows you to count words, lines and bytes. The default is to show all three:
wc ulyss12.txt
32758 267235 1561677 ulyss12.txt
[lines] [words] [bytes]
Using -l just gives you lines:
wc -l ulyss12.txt32758 ulyss12.txtUsing -w just gives you words:
wc -w ulyss12.txt267235 ulyss12.txt

10. shred
'rm', the remove linux command, unlinks a file so the space can be reused. However, files deleted can sometimes be recovered with a bit of persistence and luck.
Our final command is shred. 'shred' overwrites a file repeatedly, making it much harder to recover. This can be useful for personal financial information such as your credit card details.
shred -u mastercard.txt
You can even use shred on a device such as a partition. If you want to completely clear your home partition which happens to be stored on /dev/sda6. Then you would use:
shred /dev/sda6
Alert readers will note that I used -u in the first example but not the second. This because you want to unlink (i.e. rm) a file but not a device - you will want empty the /dev/sda6 to exist.
Now there are some complications to this. Firstly, a complex RAID setup might interpret this as hardware failure and replace the data. Likewise some corporate setups will sync the files with a server. Shred will not remove these copies.
Lastly, some fancy modern journaled filesystems such as reiserfs will have a backup in the journal, you will need to mount the partition in a non- journaled mode for shred to work completely.

There we go, ten commands that you may not have heard of, I hope you can find at least one that is useful in your computing activities or help you in learning linux

Fun In UNIX - Funny Linux Tricks For Unix/Linux

2009-10-20T12:07:00.004+05:30

Who says Linux is not fun???
These are 13 Linux tricks for command line fun!

(Some of them will apply to UNIX only)

try them and post if you find something new and fun

LINUX TRICK #1:
% cat "food in cans"

cat: can't open food in cans

LINUX TRICK #2:
% nice man woman

No manual entry for woman.

LINUX TRICK #3:
% rm God

rm: God nonexistent

LINUX TRICKS #4:
% ar t God

ar: God does not exist

LINUX TRICKS #5:
% ar r God

ar: creating God

LINUX TRICKS #6:
% "How would you rate Quayle's incompetence?

Unmatched ".

LINUX TRICKS #7:
% [Where is Jimmy Hoffa?

Missing ].

LINUX TRICKS #8:
% If I had a ( for every $ the Congress spent, what would I have?

Too many ('s.

LINUX TRICKS #9:
% got a light?

No match.

LINUX TRICKS #10
% man: why did you get a divorce? man::

Too many arguments.

LINUX TRICK #11
% !:say, what is saccharine?

Bad substitute.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/* not csh but sh */
LINUX TRICK #12
$ PATH=pretending!/usr/ucb/which sense no

sense in pretending!

LINUX TRICK#13
$ drink bottle: cannot open

opener: not found

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christmas song in UNIX

A Christmas song, in everyone's favourite language:

Sing

better !pout !cry

better watchout

telnet why

santa claus <> town

cat/etc/passwd > list

ncheck list

ncheck list

cat list grep naughty > no_gift_list

cat list grep nice > gift_list

santa claus <> town

who grep sleeping

who awake

who egrep 'badgood'

for ( goodness sake) {

be good

}

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2009-09-03T04:13:00.000+05:30

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Link Exchange Partners

2009-07-29T07:57:00.025+05:30

If you want to share links with Tech-Hut Kindly Use the Following Details To link To Us And Then Let Us Know . We'll Do The Same

Anchor/Title Text: "Tech-Hut:Extreme | Computer Windows Tips And Tricks | Hacking Articles | Linux & Unix | Windows Troubleshooting Help And Support"

URL: http://www.techhut.in

A BETTER APPROACH:

The Old fashioned way ,In my view, getting a link to main page from a page full of links is good but not as effective, i don't think google likes it much either.

If you are interested we can built focused linking from page to page basis by inserting related references that would help our viewers and us as well.

For example if i am writing about certain article on troubleshooting a laptop battery issue i have to concentrate my article on "Troubleshooting" part, while the visitor may want to know more other battery options, so in my post i can post a reference to a particular page on your site dealing with "Which battery would be best to buy" or "Hardware review of that laptop model" or "Buy replacement battery", ofcourse the page has to be worth referring (We can't let the greed eat out reputations, can we?) .

This would help both visitor and us, as

1.we get the concentrated anchored link to specific pages and not just the one link to home page.

2.We get not just the link but targeted visitor

3.Google love anchored keywords leading to page.

4.Visitor is presented with more information options.

CHOOSE

you can exchange link in old fashioned way or choose to be friends and grow mutually. Just let me know whats in your mind.

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Techtitude

Tracking What Users Are Doing- Whats Going On In Your Computer

2009-07-25T13:43:00.007+05:30

Personal Conputers may not be so personal afterall. Many a times the computer is shared by many people I can bet people would die to know what happens in their computer when ther are not around? What the other person using my computer doing? How do i know who typed what, like usernames or passwords on your computers ? What programs were run by other users ? You might just want to keep tab what your kids are upto, or you might just want to spy as a "Big Brother", I'd better not get into the applications of this knowledge, if you know what i mean.

We will try to answer these in this article. Let me tell you its all possible, depending upon the situation, some through simple legal means and some through ummm... not-so-legal means!

Simplest Way:

By far, Vista is the only operating system to think on this topic. It provided with inbuilt parental control features. The earlier version like XP had small things like Windows Content Supervisor through which the access to specified sites could be resticted, But it proved to be total failure. I've already written a post demonstrationg how content supervisor's password could be easil broken you can refer to this article " Breaking internet explorer's content supervisor ". Close that window to get back to this page.

Talking about parental control feature you can restrict users in a number of ways, like when they can use the computer, what programs they can run, which sites they can view etc. You can even do a silent watch, give them all the freedom and get reports on what they were doing like which programs were run, which sites visited etc.

Keyloggers

Keyloggers are the programs that track the keyboard strokes(They will be classified as hack tools by your anti-virus, provided they are able to detect), they remain silent in the background of the unsuspecting user and listen to everything the user types like typed text, URL's, username, password etc and they provide this record to one who put them in, either locally if he has access to the computer or else by mailing it to predefined email. Thats the reason you should not be using net banking, stocks or other such tasks in internet cafe.

Keyloggers come in veriety of types, todays keylogger go a step furter and can even log the mouse activity, where you clicked , what opened.... getting that log would be like sitting just beside the user and seeing what he is doing.

If you require more information regarding this topic, feel free to comment we will be more than happy to help.

2008-04-12T13:03:00.000+05:30

Hard Drive Not Recognized After Format When Installing Windows - "No Hard Disk Detected"

2008-04-07T09:32:00.006+05:30

Question:
Hard Drive Not Recognized-:
"My computer is not recognizing my SATA Hard disk after formatting through windows installation disk. It Gives an error message "No Hard Disk Detected". Why is my hard disk not detected ?
The connection cable is all intact, and Hard disk is detected when i boot from a live Linux CD. "

Solution:
This is a general problem with SATA HDD when used with windows XP.
The problem is that windows XP does not provide necessary RAID drivers for SATA HDD. Thats why these is no hard disk detected. You need to rely on the RAID drivers provided by your hard disk manufacturer.

First get a floppy of RAID driver of your SATA HDD.

Now when to boot from windows intallation disk, in the start of installation when the windows loads necesaary drivers, in the bottom of screen you can see the message " Press F6 If You Need To Install Third Party Raid Driver".
At that very moment press F6 and insert your disk containing RAID drivers.
Follow the instructions and install the driver.
Now windows will recognize your SATA HDD and you can procced to install windows.
This is a general instruction(since you have not specified the make of broad hard disk etc) if no hard disk detected during XP instalation, Please comment back if you are still having problems.

HelpDesk : Answered Question List

2008-04-05T18:20:00.008+05:30

ANSWERED QUESTIONS

(Asked By Sujit Kumar)
Question:(Asked By: Sujit Kumar)

(HP laptop Problem "Plugged in , not charging")I have a HP laptop problem (DV5), Recently i am facing this problem. When i plug the charger i shows plugged icon in battery, but it would stop charging after some time. "Clicking on the battery icon shows plugged in , Not Charging" why is that? No matter how long i keep it plugged in laptop is not charging. It runs good on AC power. Is the problem with my hp charger ? or my battery ? should i replace my battery ? it is new !

HP battery check shows my battery is broken and i should get it replaced!!! But i bought it monts ago !!

........ Click
Here To Read More

Question:(Asked By: Swami)
When i double click on C drive or d drive , it pops up Open with, i just removed the Amvo / Nsanti virus. where should we make change in Registry to enable the defaults....

........ Click
Here To Read More

Question:My computer is not recognizing my SATA HDD after formatting through windows installation disk. It Gives an error message "No Hard Disk Detected".The connection cable is all intact, and Hard disk is detected when i boot from a live Linux CD.

...... Click
Here To Read More

Operating System	Version(s)	Location
Windows	95, 98, Me	%WinDir%\
	NT, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7	%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\ (see note)
	Windows Mobile	Registry key under \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\Tcpip\Hosts
Macintosh	9 and earlier	System Folder: Preferences or System folder
Mac OS X, iPhoneOS		/private/etc/hosts or /etc/hosts (/etc on Mac OS X is a symbolic link to /private/etc)
Most Unix and Unix-like OSes POSIX		/etc/hosts^[3]
Novell NetWare		SYS:etc\hosts
OS/2 & eComStation		"bootdrive":\mptn\etc\
Symbian	Symbian OS 6.1-9.0	C:\system\data\hosts
Symbian	Symbian OS 9.1+	C:\private\10000882\hosts (AllFiles capable only)
Android		/system/etc/hosts