Windows XP: Ways to Install New Device Drivers

Anytime that you install a peripheral on your computer, the operating system (OS) will need a device driver to know how to use it. Windows has four different ways that it handles detecting and installing new device drivers into the OS:

• Setup Program: This is software that comes with your new device. To install this software, generally requires putting a CD/DVD in your computer or downloading the setup application from the device manufacturer's web site.
  
• Note: Some devices require that the installation software is installed first before you hook the hardware up to your computer. This is done to make sure the device is properly detected.
  
• Booting Your Computer: Every time Windows starts it scans the system for new hardware that might have been added or removed since it was last on. After the system is fully booted, if new hardware is detected it will check if the system already has the appropriate driver for it. If not, it will request that you provide the location of the driver it needs.
• New Hardware Scans: Sometimes after you boot Windows, you may not have the right drivers for new hardware that was added at that moment. After you get the right driver, you use the Add Hardware Wizard (select the Add Hardware icon in the control panel) to manually perform the hardware-detection and installation process to install the appropriate device driver.
• Manual Installation: Sometimes device drivers don't come with an installation program, but instead they come with .INF files. You can right-click these files and choose Install to add these new drivers.

Security: Simplifying Web Site Logins

About a year ago, I wrote an article about how to create a strong password. In this article I discussed some of the techniques needed to create a password that someone can't easily guess or break. I also recommend that you don't use the same password for every web site that requires authentication.

I recently came across a very cool browser-based utility that simplifies using, creating and remembering strong passwords across any web site. All you have to do is create a master password that only you know, and give the site a URL (such as: http://www.google.com), it will then create a unique password for that web site. You can also create a bookmarklet (JavaScript embedded in to a bookmark) that you can store in your browser links bar, that can automatically generate a password for a site that your visiting based on your master password.

The way this utility works is by using JavaScript on a local web page loaded in your browser (no information is sent to the remote server). The script then uses MD5 to create a one-way hash based on your master password and the domain of the web site that you're going to use it for. Only the first eight (or more) characters of the hash are selected, so its impossible to break the hash because not all the information is used.

Windows XP: Turning Off the Language Bar

Do you have the Language bar taking up real estate on your screen, or in your taskbar and you want to get rid of it? Follow the procedure below to turn off this feature.

• Open the Control Panel folder.
  
• Double-click 'Regional and Language Options' applet.
• Click the Languages tab.
• Under 'Text services and input languages', press the Details button.
• Under Preferences, press the 'Language Bar' button.
• Uncheck the 'Show the Language bar on the desktop' checkbox.
• Press the OK button twice.
  

Note: By following this procedure you will be turning off handwriting recognition, speech recognition, and some other accessibility features.

Security: Internet Privacy is an Oxymoron

Sun Microsystems Inc. Chairman of the Board of Directors Scott McNealy once said, "You have no privacy, get over it." That statement is more true today, then when it was originally said. Everyday, we are losing more of our ability and rights to protect our privacy.

Did you know that there is no such thing as true anonymity or privacy on the Internet? All you can do is mask your identity, and make it difficult for someone to know who you are. Although, in most cases its still possible for someone to track and identify you with enough work.

There is a lot of information about you that is leaked by your own personal Internet activities (such as surfing a web site, posting on forums, etc.). Then your computer and its applications (such as your browser, IM client, etc.) are doing their own fair share to help leak more information.

Anything that contains your name, address, etc. Is known as 'personally-identifiable information' (PII), because it can personally identify you directly. This information is generally provided by you to some web site or service (such as Amazon, eBay, etc.) that you may use regularly.

Any of the information (PII or not) is used to profile how you surf the web, what you buy, and other types of demographic analysis. All most all of this tracking is perfectly legal, and you even grant companies permission to do this when you agree to use a web site through its 'terms of service' or 'privacy policy' that you don't read.

Information Leaked by your Applications
As I said earlier, when you visit a web site there is certain types of information about you that is revealed by your computers applications. A lot of this information (such as your browser cookies) are needed by web-based applications to be able to customize your experience.

Below is a brief list of some of the information a web site can know about you, just by visiting it with a regular browser and Internet connection:

• The type of browser you're using, a long with information about its features. For example: what version of: Java, JavaScript, Flash and other applications you have installed (see: BroswerSpy).
• This doesn't include the information in the HTTP header, which includes information about your browser and the web page you requested from a web site (see the following article for more information).
• There is information in the HTTP header called the 'referer', that also gives the web site your visiting, the last URL of the web site you're coming from. Here is an example, of some of the information a site can see about you.
• Browser cookies and web beacons (an invisible 1x1 graphic on a web page with a unique id embedded in to its name), which can be used identify your computer across different web sites. This technology is generally used by advertising and marketing companies to track and profile your browsing activity to better serve you ads.
• As more web sites become interactive, browser cookies are used to track your web site session information. If you turn off the cookie feature, you can prevent certain web sites from working properly for you.
• Web beacons have been used by spammers to track if you open up an email message, and to see if a email address is valid. Although, most modern email clients prevent images from being downloaded automatically which help prevent information about you from being leaked.
• Your browser keeps local copies of all the web pages you visited in its cache, along with a history of all the URLs you visited. Some browser's like Firefox keep track of the files you downloaded, and the keywords you typed into the search toolbar. Then there is the saved forms information (known as AutoComplete in IE), and saved password feature. This information is used to improve the broswer's user experience, but also can become a privacy issue in some cases.

Then there is all your other Internet applications such as your e-mail client, instant message client, VoIP client, etc. Each of these programs have their own type of logging or privacy issues, that you might be or might not be aware of.

For example, your instant message client may keep logs of all your conversations. Your e-mail client, keeps all the messages that you received and sent. Your VoIP client keeps a log of all the calls that you make.

Even if you clean all this information off your local computer, your application's service provider has logs and/or copies of it in their servers and databases. Its not uncommon for them to use this information to profile usage habits of their users. All this information is also available to local and federal law enforcement generally with the use of a search warrant.

Generally, no matter what network enabled application your using, the following information is always going to be left about you on some server somewhere.

• Once someone knows your computer's IP address, its possible to isolate the ISP, and therefore the city, state/province, and country your computer's from (see: IP Address Locator).
• Local and federal law enforcement with the use of a search warrant can force the ISP to release your identity, based on your computer's IP address.
• When you visit a web site, information is stored in the web server logs of the time you visited the site, your IP address, which pages you viewed, and sometimes what you searched for on that site (see: Omniture).
• Think about this, all your favorite search engines keep all the information that you searched. If you have a personal account on a site like Google, Yahoo, etc., they can directly tie this information back to you.
• For example: "On August 4, 2006, AOL released three months of search history for 650,000 users to the public. Although the searchers were only identified by a numeric ID, the New York Times discovered the identity of several searchers." (excerpt from the Wikipedia)
• Anytime you visit a web site using it's domain name your computer needs to lookup the IP address of the remote server through some DNS server request. This information is then logged on that computer.
• When you're at work, and you search the Internet your companies web proxies and firewall can track all types of Internet activity. Plus in the U.S.A. any information on your computer, or in your e-mail is property of the company.

Digital Forensics
With all the data stored on computers these days, a new area of computer criminal science has been created called 'digital forensics'. These are law enforcement personnel specially trained to find and retrieve specific information off a computer.

The tools that these people use are good at extracting the data they want. Generally the programs we use everyday are really good at leaving digital bread crumbs all over your computer's hard drive about everything that you do. These digital forensics tools are designed to leverage this information

On a side note, about digital forensics tools. Did you know that by using a pattern analysis program you can predict if something was written by a man or a women with almost 70% accuracy.

The way this technology works is by analyzing the words used in a message and assigns different values to them to determine if the text was written by a man or women. More information can also be determined by your writing style beside gender, such as your nationality based on the words that you use.

To see this tool in action, check out Gender Guesser or Gender Genie. With technology like this, it means that any of those anonymous posting or e-mail you might have created are becoming a lot less anonymous.

Note: This technology was created by Dr. Neal Krawetz of Hacker Factor Solutions.

Article: Firefox Zero-Day Code Execution Hoax?

eWeek reports: "A public claim by hackers that Mozilla's Firefox browser is vulnerable to multiple code execution vulnerabilities may be an overblown hoax."

Windows XP: Accessing the Windows Update Catalog

Do you need to download specific updates from Microsoft without using the Windows/Microsoft update site (i.e.: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/)?

There can be several reasons why you would want to do this, for example: you have a slow modem at home and you want to get your updates from a faster computer. Or, if you're a systems administrator at a company, and you need to update Windows clients or servers.

Whatever the reason, here is how you can do it.

• Open Internet Explorer (this won't work from Firefox), and go to "http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/catalog"
• Click the link "Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems" or "Find driver updates for hardware devices"
• If you selected the find updates for operating system, you will need to select the OS which you're looking for the updates. Press the Search button to continue.
• Select the category, and then select updates that you want to get.
• Click the "Go to Download Basket" link.
  
• Press the Browse... button to select the download location on your local computer.
• Press the 'Download Now' button.
• Choose if you want to accept the licensing agreement, then press the appropriate button.
  

After the files finish downloading, they will be available in the location that you selected.

Firefox: Open Multiple Home Pages

Just about anyone who uses a browser, generally has a favorite web page selected as their default home page when they open up this application. Firefox has a cool little trick that you might not know about. It can open multiple default home pages when the browser is first opened, all you have to do is separate each URL with a pipe ("|").

For example:
http://www.google.com | http://yahoo.com

To set the home page in Firefox (I am assuming you already have it open):

• From the Tools menu, select Options...
• In the Location(s) field, enter the URLs you want to use and separate them with a "|" (no quotes).
• Press the OK button when done
  

Security: Patch Your System Now

Microsoft recently released a new out-of-band patch (which means its out of their normal release cycle), that fixes a serious exploit in the Internet Explorer browser. This exploit allows a web site to execute code on your computer without your permission. This means if you visit the wrong web site you can have your computer infected with some type of malware.

If you have not patched your system, do it now at Microsoft Update. If you have the Windows Automatic Update feature enabled to download and install the patch, you should have it by now. If you don't have this Automatic Update feature enabled on your computer and want it, the instructions for setting it up are available in this article.

For more information on the patch see the following page.

Windows XP: Microsoft Guided Help

Microsoft has added a new feature to some of its Knowledge Base articles (MSKB), its called Guided Help. Basically its an application that you download and execute on your local computer that will walk you through the steps outlined in the instructions.

Note: Currently there only about 20+ MSKB articles that support this feature, although I hope more will be added soon. Look for the following icon: in the search results to find articles that contain this feature.

If you're an advanced user, this feature will not be too helpful. These tutorials are targeted at the novice user who wants some one to show them what to do, and how to do it. Although if you know someone who can benefit from this feature, I would email them the link to the article.

When you find an MSKB article that contains the Guided Help feature. All you have to do is download the program from the article and then execute it. After accepting the licensing agreement, the program will give you screen clues on what to do and what to click.

For more information about Guided Help check out this MSKB page.

Software: Sophos Anti-Rootkit

Here is another tool in the ongoing battle to fight rootkits and other types of malware. If you don't know what a rootkit is, its a program that tries to hide its presence (i.e.: files, processes, registry keys, and network port) and tries to gain administrator access to your computer. Generally a rootkit will contain a malicious payload like some type of spyware that it will try to install in your system.

Sophos is offering a free Anti-Rootkit scanner, that will seek out and try to remove this software if its installed on your computer. The Sophos Anti-Rootkit scanner can be run from the GUI (Graphical User Interface), or the command line.

Reference: Types of Memory card

Are you confused by all the different types of media cards currently available for your camera, cell phone, PDA, etc? I wanted to provide a quick reference to all the media card form factors that are out there. Every card type has its advantages and disadvantages.

For example the SD form factor is the most popular, while the CF-II allows you to use Microdrives. Some media card types such as SmartMedia never took off.

Personally, one of my selection factors for buying new electronics is that the device needs to support SD cards. I hate having devices that can't support the same type of removable media. This is handy when you need to be able to off load the media to another device quickly.

Below is an excerpt from an Wikipedia article on the different type of media cards available. You might notice some media card form factors that you may never have heard of before, I know I did. If you want more information on any of them just click the link.

Name	Acronym	DRM
CompactFlash I	CF-I	None
CompactFlash II	CF-II	None
SmartMedia	SM / SMC	None
Memory Stick	MS	MagicGate
Memory Stick Duo	MSD	MagicGate
Memory Stick Micro M2	M2	MagicGate
Multimedia Card	MMC	None
Reduced Size Multimedia Card	RS-MMC	None
MMCmicro Card	MMCmicro	None
Secure Digital Card	SD	CPRM
miniSD Card	miniSD	CPRM
microSD Card	microSD	CPRM
xD-Picture Card	xD	None
Intelligent Stick	iStick	None

Windows Vista: All Vista versions to ship on single disc (article)

CNET News.com reports: "Microsoft has confirmed that all versions of Vista will be shipped on a single DVD, in a feature called Windows Anytime Upgrade. ... The idea, said a company representative, is to let customers more easily and directly upgrade to a higher edition of Windows Vista from within their current edition. Vista is scheduled to reach consumers in January."

Personally I think this is a great idea. I don't know how many times I had to search for the right CD (i.e. Windows XP: Home, Professional, Media Center, Tablet, x64) when I needed to build a system, add a new component, etc.

Plus the idea of 'Windows Anytime Upgrade' will definitely be a welcome feature. For example, lets say you just bought that new PC, and it comes with Windows Vista Home edition, but you really wanted Ultimate edition. You don't have to buy a new copy of the OS (which can be expensive), you just have to pay for the upgrade price (which is cheaper then a full copy).

Windows XP: Windows File Systems

Windows XP supports several different file system, from FAT16 which was used by MS-DOS to NTFS which was first available as part of Windows NT. FAT16 only supports the most basic features, such as short file names (i.e.: FILENAME.EXT), and a maximum file partition size of 2GB. FAT32 was Microsoft's next file system to address the need for larger hard drive support, and added support for longer file names (255 characters).

Then when Windows NT (I believe it was version 3.51) was released, NTFS was made available. NTFS is the most secure, feature rich, and fault tolerant file system Microsoft has ever created. It can support a partition size up 2 terabytes, and also supports long file names.

• FAT16: Used primarily with Windows 3.1 and earlier versions of MS-DOS. This file system type is also used by most USB flash drives for storing files. FAT16 can not read or write files on FAT32 and NTFS formatted partition.
• Maximum
• Partition size: 2GB
  
• File name length: 8.3 characters (i.e.: FILENAME.EXT)
  
• FAT32: Used by Windows 95, 98, and ME primarily. FAT32 can not read or write files in an NTFS formatted partition, but is backwards compatible with FAT16.
• Maximum
• Partition size: 32GB
  
• File name length: 255 characters
  
• NTFS: Used by the NT based versions of Windows, including NT, 2000, XP, and 2003.
• Maximum
• Partition size: 2TB
  
• File name length: 255 characters
• additional features: file/directory security, fault tolerant, disk quotas, encryption, and more.
  

Windows XP: Setting the User Password

There are times that you need to change your password or the password of another user on your computer. If your one of the administrators of the system, you can change other people's password on the computer for them.

To change a users password:

• Open the Control Panel folder from under the Start menu
  
• Double-click on the 'User Accounts' control panel.
• Click on the account you want to change.
• Click the 'Change my password' link. If the user never had a password you will need to click the 'Create a password' link.
  
• If its your account you will be prompted to enter your current password. If its someone else's account you won't see this field.
• Enter the new password you want to assign to that user, then re-type the new password you just entered in the confirmation field.
• There is an option at the bottom of the window to leave a 'password hint' that can help the person remember their password just in case they forget it.
• Press the 'Change Password' button when done.
  

Windows XP: Using the 'My Pictures Slideshow' Screen Saver

Did you know that you can use your photos to create a custom screen saver? Windows XP includes a screen saver that can randomly display your digital photos that you have taken that are stored in the 'My Pictures' folder.

To set up a 'My Pictures Slideshow' screen saver, follow the instructions below:

• Right-click on the desktop, and then click Properties.
• In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Screen Saver tab.
• Click the Screen saver drop-down list, and select 'My Pictures Slideshow'.
• Note: You can press the Settings button to set different options, such as the delay, how big the pictures are displayed, etc.
  
• Press the OK button.

Then the next time your screen saver starts, a slide show of your pictures from your 'My Pictures' folder will be displayed.

Windows XP: Web Image as your Desktop Background

Did you know that you can use images from the web as your desktop background? If you're using Internet Explorer, and you find a picture that you want to use as your desktop background. All you have to do is right-click on the picture, and then select 'Set as Background' in the menu.

If you minimize all the windows, you should now see the image that you selected as your desktop background. For the best results, use the largest image that you can find that comes close to matching the resolution of your monitor.

Security: Upgrade Your Firefox (v1.5.0.7 is now available)

This has been a crazy week of patching applications and the OS. First there was Microsoft's Patch Tuesday, then there was the Apple Quicktime update, and now Firefox. We are now in the age of zero-day exploits, so you need to move fast to protect yourself.

If you're using Firefox 1.5.x (and you have it automatically set to check for updates), then you should know by now that Firefox v1.5.0.7 has been released. If you have not upgraded already, then you should do it soon.

Here is a list of the fixes that are in this release. There are some features fixes, but most of them are security related.

Article: Yahoo Messenger offers free group conference calls

Yahoo! News reports: "Yahoo Inc. is offering free group conference calling services from Vapps Inc. to the roughly 80 million users of Yahoo's instant-message and Web telephone-calling service, ... The service, called ConFreeCall, will be available for download through Yahoo Messenger with Voice service, allowing friends or families to hold free conference calls to complement Yahoo's existing text, voice and photo-sharing services."

After reading this article, you will be left asking yourself some questions (well at least I did)?

• Does the service require Yahoo! Messenger with Voice service?
  
• Yes, only if you want to take advantage of the plug-in. Otherwise this service is also directly available from Vapps at http://www.confreecall.com, and doesn't require the plug-in .
• Does everyone in the conference need a computer to use this service, or can you use a regular phone participate?
• No, but they will be required to call a non-800 phone number, so toll charges can apply. Although if you already have a VoIP service like Vonage (or whoever else you may use) with unlimited calling in the US, or a cell phone that doesn't charge for long distance calls and you have the available airtime then your in good shape.
  

Security: Update QuickTime Now!

The QuickTime media player has multiple security flaws that is putting your Windows computer (and if you have a Mac) at risk for malicious attack according to Apple. Hackers can create maliciously crafted movie and image files that could be used to execute harmful code on vulnerable machines by utilizing a buffer overflow error.

QuickTime 7.1.3 has been released as a high-priority update. This update fixes all the recent known vulnerabilities. If you have not already updated your computer, I would highly recommend that you download it and update it now.

Bonus Tip: If you select the 'QuickTime 7.1.3 for Windows 2000/XP' option on the download page, you can get Quicktime without iTunes.

Security: Another Microsoft Patch Tuesday

We just had another Patch Tuesday, which means that Microsoft just published another round of security fixes for Windows and its applications. This date is meant to be a predictable date (the second Tuesday of the month) so that companies only have to patch their computers once a month. If you have never been apart of a corporate IT security update before this regular patch cycle, when a new critical update was released then all the fun would begin (think chickens with their heads cut off).

For the average user, if you have Automatic Updates enabled your computer will download these updates automatically for you in the background. Then when you shutdown these patches will be installed, or if you leave your computer on overnight it will automatically be installed and your system rebooted. Then any unsaved work will be lost...

To keep your computer updated, if you don't have 'Automatic Updates' turned on I would recommend that you enable it as soon as possible. Also if you have enabled this feature, and you leave your computer on overnight I would save all your work before you leave it for the day.

To enable automatic updates:

• From the Start menu, select the Control Panel folder.
  
• Double-click the System applet in the control panel folder.
• Click the 'Automatic Updates' tab.
• Check the 'Automatic (recommended)' option. (optional: also from your if you don't like this feature, you can set it to download but not install the update, just notify you, or disable this feature altogether [not recommended])
  
• Press the OK button when done.
  

If you don't want to enable Automatic Updates, you can update your computer by visiting the Windows Update site and downloading and installing the patches manually.

Note: For the latest Microsoft Security Bulletins, check out this site.

Networking: Setting up Wireless Ad-Hoc Network

Did you know two or more Wi-Fi enable computers can talk to each other over a wireless ad-hoc network without a Wireless Access Point (WAP)? You can share resources, like :printers, files, and even an Internet connection.

The great news is most computers and devices, already support the peer-to-peer wireless ad-hoc networking. This means that no extra software is required to be installed on your computer.

To setup a wireless ad-hoc network, you need a computer that has a 802.11B or 802.11G wireless card. Most modern laptops come with this hardware by default. On the computer that has the resources you want to share, you need to setup ad-hoc networking, then the clients only need to connect to it.

• Double-click the Wireless Network Connection icon in the notification area (bottom right of your screen).
• Press the Properties button, then click the 'Wireless Networks' tab.
• Press the Add button, you should now be on the Association tab.
• Type a name for your network in the SSID box (like: Bob's computer).
• Check 'This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used.' checkbox (look at the bottom of the screen).
• If you're not going using data encryption to protect the traffic on your network, choose Disabled from the 'Data encryption' drop-down menu.
• Press the OK buttons, and your done.

Windows XP: Windows Registry Editor (Advanced)

Warning: Modify the registry at your own risk. By making an incorrect change to the registy you can prevent your applications and/or the operating system from working correctly.

The Registry is a very critical part of the Windows operating system (OS). Its basically a database that contains all the configuration settings for the OS and its applications. By modifying it, you can customize the OS to work the way you want by turning on or off certain features.

Note: Before modifying the registry always make a backup of it. You can do this with the Backup utility that comes with Windows. All you have to do use 'System State data' option. To backup individual keys you can use the Registry Editor's 'Export...' command under the File menu. For more information, see the MSKB 322756.

Modifying the Registry
To modify the registry, you need to use the Windows Registry Editor. This tool is used for reading and writing data to this system area. The Registry Editor displays registry entries in a hierarchical tree structure, similar to the Windows Explorer metaphor for displaying files and folders.

Each node of the registry structure is called a 'key' (similar to a folder), and each key generally holds one or more different settings called 'values'. Each value can contain information stored in one of a few different data types. Below is a list of the registry data types:

• Binary (REG_BINARY): Holds binary data displayed in hexadecimal format.
• DWord (REG_DWORD): Data represented by a number that is 4 bytes long.
  
• Expandable String (REG_EXPAND_SZ): A variable-length data string.
• Multi-String (REG_MULTI_SZ): A list of multiple string values.
• String (REG_SZ): Holds a fixed length string.
  

In the Registry Editor, keys are displayed in the right pane and values are displayed in the left pane. There are five main registry hives (these are top level keys), each containing settings for different parts of the system. Below is a list of the main registry hives:

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT: stores information about the different file types (such as .MP3, .BMP, .TXT, etc...).
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER: stores settings from the HKEY_USERS key which contains information about the current logged in user.
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE: stores global system setting, if you make a change here it effects all users..
• HKEY_USERS: stores information about all the system's user accounts.
• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG: contains a copy of the information from all the other root keys that in referent to the current running sessions.

Using the Windows Registry Editor

• From the Start menu, select Run..., type "regedit" and press the OK button.
• In the left pane, navigate to the registry key or area you want to modify. You do this by opening each folder and drilling down deeper into the registry structure.
  
• From here you can create, modify or delete a registry key.
• To create it: right-click a registry key, and select New > Key.
  
• To rename it: right-click it, and select Rename. Give it a new name, and then press the Enter key.
  
• To delete it: right-click it, and select Delete.
  
• After you find the registry key you're looking for, in the right pane you can create, delete, or modify the registry value.
  
• To create it: right-click a registry key, and select New, then select a value type (i.e.: DWord, String, Binary, etc.). Give the value a name, then press the Enter key. Double-click the value, enter the data, and then press the OK button.
  
• To modify it: double-click on it, and enter a new data value.
  
• To delete it: right-click it, and select Delete.
• Press OK button, and close the Registry Editor.

Depending on which registry value you create, change, or delete, you may need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.



Registry File Information
For thoses people who like to know everything, below is a list of files that are used for storing the differnent registry hives (i.e.: a group of keys, subkeys, and values). These files are stored in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config folder.

Note: The HKEY_CURRENT_USER (i.e.: Ntuser.dat, Ntuser.dat.log, Ntuser.bak) hive is stored in the %UserProfile% folder.

Registry hive	Supporting files
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM	Sam, Sam.Log, Sam.bak
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Security	Security, Security.log, Security.bak
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software	Software, Software.log, Software.bak
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System	System, System.log, System.bak
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG	System, System.log, System.bak, Ntuser.dat, Ntuser.dat.log, Ntuser.bak
HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT	Default, Default.log, Default.bak

Software: Windows Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool

Are you getting and error message ("0x80070005") when you're trying to run Windows Update because the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation tool fails to install. This problem is occurring because the appropriate permissions were not detected.

Microsoft has created a tool called 'MGADiag.exe' (formerly known as 'WGADiag2.exe') that can fix this problem. All you have to do to correct the is download the MGADiag.exe tool, and then run it.

Software: Yahoo Widgets Engine

The Yahoo Widget Engine (formerly known as Konfabulator) lets you run all sorts of fun and useful mini-apps known as Widgets anywhere on your desktop. There are thousands of widgets already available from Yahoo!, and if you don't like those you can also build your own.

Some of the more useful Widgets that are available are: clocks, calculators, calendars, day planners, etc. There are also several useless widgets that are really fun too. Check out the gallery to see what is available.

Windows XP: Edit Local Computer Settings (GPEDIT)

Note: This tip only works with Windows XP Professional Edition
Warning: This is an advanced tip, and should only be used by someone who understands what they're modifying. If you're not careful, you can disable your operating system and/or applications by modifying the wrong setting(s). Use this tip at your own risk.

Most changes to your system configuration can be made through the control panel folder. Although there are some advanced changes to your computer settings that are only available via the Group Policy or Windows Registry editor.

In this tip I am going to cover the basics of the Group Policy editor. To access this MMC (Microsoft Management Console), from the Start menu select the Run... command. Then type "GPEDIT.MSC" and press the OK button.

The policies are divided into two groups, Computer Configuration settings and User Configuration settings. The Computer configuration options change the way Windows operates. The User configuration options change the way users can interact with the operating system. Its important to note that when you modify any of these settings the changes can effect all users on your computer.

As I warned you earlier, explore these configuration options with caution. I would suggest making one change at a time then testing it, I would also note somewhere any changes that I made. Most configuration changes should take place right away, but some may require a reboot.

Windows XP: Enabling Desktop Icons

To provide a cleaner looking desktop in Windows XP, by default the desktop icons were hidden. These icons are: My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, Internet Explorer.

To restore these desktop icons, follow the instructions below:

• Right-click an empty area of the desktop and select Properties.
• Click the Desktop tab.
• Press the 'Customize Desktop' button.
• Select the icons you want to add back to your desktop.
• Press the two OK buttons to close the Desktop Properties windows.

Windows XP: Removing Fonts

Overtime as you install new programs on your computer new fonts can be installed without your knowledge. As more fonts are added, finding the right font for your documents will get harder and harder. Another result of having too many fonts installed in Windows is that it can increase the boot time of the OS.

Warning: Be careful which fonts you delete, some of these fonts are required by the OS or certain applications. By deleting certain fonts it might cause some problems, so use care.

To remove fonts from Windows, just follow the instructions below:

• Under the Start menu, Open Control Panel folder.
• Open the Fonts folder.
• Select the font(s) you want to remove, from the Edit menu select Copy.
  
• Create a new folder on the desktop.
• Open new the folder and right-click an empty area in the window and select Paste. This will make a backup copy of the fonts that you're going to delete.
  
• Return to the Fonts folder, right-click the selected fonts and then click Delete.

If you experience a problem with your OS or application, you will need to reinstall the fonts from the backup folder that you created on your desktop. See the following article on how to reinstall the fonts back into your OS.

Windows XP: Disabling Devices

There are times that you may need to disable a device driver for diagnostic or performance reasons. For example, if you think a device driver is preventing your computer from working properly, you can disable it to see if it fixes the problem. Also, by disabling unused drivers you may help decrease boot time of your computer because it doesn't have to load them.

To disable a device driver, follow the instructions below:

• From the Start menu, right-click My Computer and select Properties.
• Click the Hardware tab and press the 'Device Manager' button.
• Expand the category that contains the device that you want to disable.
• Right-click on the device and select Disable.

The device should now be disabled and should remain that way until you re-enable it. To re-enable it use the same instructions above, except select Enable instead of Disable.

Windows XP: Professional x64 Edition

x64 Computing History in brief: First Intel created a 64-bit processor called Itanium. The processor's cost and slow adoption led AMD to create a x86-64 hybrid CPU. This was popular solution among end users, and was adopted by Microsoft in Windows XP and Vista x64 editions. Intel soon follow suit; first reluctantly, then full-bore. The newer Core 2 CPUs, including the mobile versions, are true 64-bit processors, as are AMD's Athlon 64 and Turion 64 lines.

When the first x64 processors were initially released Windows could not take advantage of the extended 64-bit instructions. Then several months later Microsoft released the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. (Note: there's very little functionality difference between Windows XP Professional 32-bit and 64-bit editions.)

The two biggest problems with transitioning to the x64 platform are two things, 32-bit application compatibility, and 64-bit driver support. When the Windows x64 edition first showed up, there was little software that could run natively in 64-bit mode, and since then more and more software has been making the transition.

Advantages of 64-Bit Processors
There are two advantages of using a 64-bit processor. One, it can handle twice as much information in the same clock cycle as a 32-bit processor. This is useful for data intensive applications (such as scientific applications, databases, etc.).

Two, these processors can also handle a lot more memory then their predecessors. For example, Windows XP x64 is currently limited to 128GB of physical memory and 16TB of virtual memory. This is an artificial limit that could be increased if Microsoft wants.

Application Compatibility
The Windows XP x64 edition was the first major processor platform transition since Windows 95. Windows 95 was the first version of Windows to fully support 32-bit applications, but it also remained backwards compatible with the older 16-bit applications. The Windows XP x64 edition is Microsoft pushing the Windows platform to the next level again.

Most 32-bit applications should be able to work with the Windows x64 edition, but there are some exceptions. Windows x64 has to use a 32-bit emulation layer to run older 32-bit applications (AKA Windows on Windows 64 or WOW64). This is because the newer 64-bit processor can only run in one of two modes 32 or 64-bit. When its in 64-bit mode, it needs to use the 32-bit emulation layer to run 32-bit software. This also means that 32-bit applications will run slower in 64-bit mode.

There are two types of applications that won't run in Windows x64, they're 16-bit and 32-bit apps running in kernel mode. There are not a lot of 16-bit applications that are still around, so this should not be an issue. Although, there is still a chance that some modern applications can still contain older 16-bit code, so you will need to test them.

Drivers Support
When Windows XP x64 edition first hit the market, there was limited hardware driver support from manufactures. Although over time that has changed, but you still need to validate that there are 64-bit versions of drivers available for the hardware that you want to use. The main thing holding back the development of these drivers is the device manufactures have been slow to update or create these drivers for their hardware.

Firefox: Secure Password Manager

Do you rely on Firefox's integrated password manager to remember the passwords for all the different web sites that you visit? This is a great feature, although by default its not password protected, which means that anyone using your account on your computer can then access all your secure online accounts.

To prevent this from happening, you can set a master password so that anyone using your account in Firefox can't just use your web site passwords without knowing it. Follow the instructions below to set a master password:

• Launch the Firefox browser.
  
• From the Tools menu, select Options...
• Click on the Privacy tab, and click on the Passwords sub-tab
• Press the 'Change Master Password' button.
• Enter a strong password (see the following article for creating a strong password)
• Press the OK button

Restart Firefox, then go to a web site that requires you to enter a password. A dialog will pop-up asking you to enter your master password, enter it then press the OK button. From then on until you close Firefox all your passwords will be available to you.

Windows XP: Security Center Control Panel

In Windows XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft introduced a great utility called the Security Center. Its a control panel that you can go to check the status of your computer's defenses. This control panel displays the status of your Firewall, automatic updates, and anti-virus protection.

If you want to quickly assess the level of your computer's protection this is the place to start. Next to each of the security services, there should be a green light icon. This indicates that the security service is operational and recognized by the Security Center. If a service has been turned off for some reason, or it can't detect the status of this service then you will be notified.

Note: Most third party firewalls and anti-virus applications have been updated to take advantage of this feature. If you're running an older version of these security services, contact the company that makes this software and check if they have any updates available to rectify this problem.

If these notifications are bothering you because one of your services is not being recognized by the Security Center, there is a way to disable this feature. In the Resources pane click the 'Change the way Security Center alerts me' link. From here you can disable or enable any of these notifications.

Windows XP: Tool To Help Fix Network Connection Problems

Microsoft has created a network diagnostic tool that can help you fix network connection problems with your cable or DSL broadband connection. After you install the tool, it can be run from within Internet Explorer.

When it runs its tests, it uses the MICROSOFT.COM sites, and will report back what it finds. This tool can perform the following tests:

• IP configuration
  
• Default gateway
• Winsock
  
• DNS
  
• Firewall
• Internet connectivity validation

To use the tool, open Internet Explorer and select 'Diagnose Connection Problems' from the Tools menu. You can also run it from the Run... command, type "%WINDIR%\NETWORK DIAGNOSTIC\XPNETDIAG.EXE", and then press the OK button.

This tool is not designed to be sophisticated and return detailed results that might be expected by someone who knows something about TCP/IP. If you want more detailed results use some of the MS-DOS command line tools.

Diagnostics: Get Back Your Lost Files: File Recovery Software (article)

ExtremeTech reports: "Of course, prevention (in this case read "backup") is the best medicine when it comes to lost files, whether as a result of disk malfunctions or your mistakenly deleting them. But for those of us with less foresight, there's utility software that can save our skins when it comes disappeared files. Today, we investigate three leading software products that claim to be able to find and recover files you've deleted or lost to a bad disk drive or media: iolo technologies' Search and Recover 4, Executive Software's Undelete 5, and Digital Photo Recovery 2.0.3 from Galaxy."

Every now and then you or someone you know may lose a file or a whole drive and want to recover the lost data. ExtremeTech wrote a very good article on three different file recovery software packages that are currently available. If you have never used this type of software before, this article provides some background on the current generation of these utilities.

Security: Using a Rootkit Detection Tool

Rootkits are becoming an increasingly dangerous problem for networked computers, they're constantly becoming more sophisticated, and getting better at evading detection software. This means that your detection methods and tools have to become more effective in order to find and remove this software.

Sysinternals is offering a freeware tool called RootkitRevealer, that can detect some rootkits. Used in conjunction with good anti-virus and malware detection tool you should be able to detect most rootkits if they have invaded your system.

If you don't know what a rootkit is, here is a definition: A rootkit is a collection of tools used by a hacker or a malicious program to try to gain administrator access to your computer. If a hacker is using a rootkit to take advantage of your system, he will generally do this to steal data or cause damage. If a malicious program is trying to break into your system, it will generally open a backdoor for a hacker to take over your system or monitor your keystrokes so it can steal your passwords. Rootkits will also generally modify your computer system files to avoid detection.

Windows XP: Font Properties Extension

If you right-click on any font in Windows you will get some basic information about that font. Although if you want more detailed information Microsoft offers the Font Properties Extension that displays information such as the font origination and copyright, the type sizes to which hinting and smoothing are applied, and the code pages supported by extended character sets.

To install the program download it from the web page, then run it, and follow the prompts.

All you have to do is open the Fonts folder (in the Control Panel folder), then right-click on the font (TrueType or OpenType) you want to get information about, and select Properties. A font dialog will display with a lot of extra tabs.

Windows XP: Change the Print Spooler Folder Location

The print spool folder on your hard drive is used to queue print jobs until they are ready to be printed. Without this feature you'd have to wait until a print job was finished before you use other programs on your computer.

The spool folder is generally located on the same partition where the Windows system files are installed. If that partition starts getting low on free space, you can move this folder to a different location.

Follow the instruction below to move this folder:

• Open the Windows Explorer (from the Start menu, select 'My Computer').
• Create a new folder on a different drive that you want to use for your new print spool folder. Click the 'Make a new folder' link under 'File and Folder Tasks' in the left pane, then give the folder a name.
• From the Start menu, select 'Printers and Faxes'.
• From the File menu, click 'Server Properties'.
  
• Click the Advanced tab.
• In the 'Spool folder' field, enter the path for the new folder you created earlier.
• Press the OK button
  
• When the 'Printer Server Properties' dialog displays, press the Yes button.

Live.com: The Windows Portal (Updated)

In November of last year Microsoft released their Live.com site, with a few basic services. Since then they really expanded their offering with several new web applications and services (for example: domain name and web site hosting). The site also offers really nice downloadable applications as well (see the list below).

I really like the consistent interface across most of the applications, and how some of them are integrated together. I hope to continue to see more of this in the future as they release new services.

If you're curious about the difference between Live.com and MSN.com. From my understanding, Live.com will host all the web applications and services, and MSN will continue to be the content, news and information provider.

Below is a brief summary of all the Live.com applications and services:

• Live.com: Create a customized home page, and add content you want to see (such as your message in your inbox, RSS feeds, and more).
• Windows Live Search: Search the Web, news articles, images, local business (maps) and more.
• Windows Live Expo: Place an ad, find something you want to buy, or post information for an event.
• Windows Live Mail: Has a new drop and drag interface, spam blocker, virus scanning, and 2GB of storage.
• Microsoft Office Live: Get a web site, 50 e-mail accounts, web traffic reports, and more
• Windows Live Gallery: Get add-ins and gadgets for your toolbar, Messenger Live, Live.com home page, and more.
• Windows Live Favorites: Get instant access to your Web favorites anywhere.
• Windows Live Custom Domains: Free web based e-mail for your Internet domain.
• Windows Live Spaces: Add photos, network, find new friends, create a blog. Has a lot more features then Blogger.
• Windows Live Shopping: Find clothes, computers, electronics, furniture and more.
• Windows Live Product Search: Search and compare products from several merchants across the Web.
• Windows Live Academic: Search articles from thousands of academic and research journals.
• Windows Live Local: Find businesses, get driving directions, and view satellite photos of where you're going to go.
• Windows Live Safety Center: Check your computer for viruses, tune-up your PC, and get rid of junk.

Downloadable Applications

The software listed below are applications that you download and install on your local computer.

• Windows Live Writer: This program was just released today, its WYSIWYG blog authoring tool that allows you to compose blog entries for Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress (and many others).
• Windows Live Messenger: Microsoft's next generation instant messaging client. Now includes VoIP and video conferencing.
• Windows Live Toolbar: Search the web, protect yourself against fraud, find files on your local computer.
• Windows Live OneCare: Microsoft's new anti-malware (virus, spyware, and more.), firewall, tune-up, and more.

Coming Soon to Live.com

Below is a list of applications that Microsoft is getting ready to release.

• Windows Live Book Search: Microsoft's online books searching service
• Windows Live QnA: Ask any question and get an answer.
• Windows Live Mail Desktop: Check and manage your online mail, including AOL, and GMail.
• Windows Live Search - Mobile: Search for a business, see maps and driving directions all from your mobile device

For the latest information, on new or updated applications and services check out the Windows Live Ideas page. This is where they post all the latest updates to the site.

Software: CDBurnerXP Pro

Recently one of my readers requested a free program for burning CDs for Windows. I turned him on to a program called CDBurnerXP Pro. This is one of the better free CD/DVD burning applications out there.

With this software you can burn CD-R, CD-RW DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW discs. Below is a list of some of the features of this program:

• Burns audio-CDs with and without gaps between tracks.
• Supports most IDE, USB, Firewire and SCSI drives.
• Burn and create ISO-files.
• Creates bootable discs.
• BIN/NRG to ISO converter, simple cover printing.
• Supports: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003 Server.
• And more.

Software: Zapr (Simple File Sharing)

Zapr is an application that you download and install, that allows you share specific files (only the ones you select) on your computer with other people across the Internet. All you have to do is make the URL available to the people whom you want to have access to the files.

You can post the URL in a blog, or send it via e-mail or IM. Here is an example of what the URL looks like: http://zapr.net/userName/computerName/xxxxxx

The advantage to using Zapr, is that theres no file size restrictions, no need to upload the file somewhere, no sending an attachments, and finally its free. There is also no need for recipients to download and install the Zapr application or register themselves with the service to access the files.

Note: Zapr requires Windows XP with .Net Framework 2.0

Windows XP: Removing Unused Device Drivers

When you install a new piece of hardware on your computer, you generally install a device driver that tells the OS how to access the new device. Later, if you remove the hardware from your system, the device drivers will still remain installed. These drivers will continue to be loaded even though they're not being used, and consume system resources.

To find and remove these unnecessary drivers follow the instructions below:

• From the Start Menu, open the Control Panel folder.
• Double-click the System control panel.
• Click the Hardware tab, and press the 'Device Manager' button.
• In the 'Device Manager' window, from the View menu, select 'Show Hidden Devices'.
• Expand the various nodes of the device tree and search for the grayed out icons, which indicate unused device drivers.
• To remove an unused device driver, right-click the icon and select Uninstall.

Internet: Test Your VoIP Connection

Do you use a Voice over IP (VoIP) provider such as Skype or Vonage to make long-distance phone calls to your friends, family, or colleagues? If you do, you might want to test your Internet connection's ability to handle this type of traffic.

TestYourVoIP.com will load a Java VoIP client and make a call from your computer to one of their Brix's U.S. or international test location and report the results back to you. This is a free service.

Note: This site requires that Java be installed on your local computer to perform the test.

Software: Save time with click-free browsing (video)

CNET News.com reports: "CNET's Rafe Needleman talks to executives from Browster and Cooliris about their respective products and what the future holds for click-free browsing."

Downloads (Note: Both of these downloads work with Internet Explorer and Firefox):

• Browster
• Cooliris

Windows XP: Updating Device Drivers

Peripheral manufactures regularly update the device drivers for their hardware (such as: video cards, printers, etc.) . They generally will do this to fix known problems or add new features. Device drivers are programs that tell the OS how to use a device that is attached to it.

These updated drivers are generally available on the manufacturer or Microsoft's web site for download (Note: it's always best to start at the manufacturer's web site first). After you download the updated drivers, you will generally have to extract the file from a compressed archive to install them. It is always a good idea to read the drivers installation instructions before installing it.

Another way to update the device driver is to use the 'Update Driver' button for the peripheral in the 'Device Manager' console.

• From the Start menu, right-click on 'My Computer' and select Manage.
  
• From the 'Computer Management' console select the 'Device Manager'
• Find the of the device you want to update, and , double-click on it.
• Click the Driver tab.
• Press the 'Update Driver' button to open the Hardware Update Wizard
• Select if the system can connect to Windows Update to search for the driver, and then press the Next button. (Select Yes if you want to check Windows Update, select No if you already have the driver)
  
• Select 'Install the software automatically' if you want the system to make its best guess on how to update the driver or choose 'Install from a list or specific location' if you already have the updated driver. Then press the Next button.
• Windows will then search for an updated driver and notify you if the updated driver has been found.
• Press the Finish button when done.

Create a Virtual Office (on the Cheap)

Do you need setup a home office to run a small business or work from home, and don't want to spend a lot of money? Using your computer, and a high speed Internet connection you can replace a lot of older technologies.

Making/Receiving Phone Calls & Voicemails
Did you know that you can use Skype as a low-cost way of making and receiving calls from your computer. You can also receive voicemail when you're busy or off-line. All you need to get started is a headset with a microphone. There are no setup fees, monthly fees, or the need to purchase additional hardware to use it. You only pay for the phone calls you make or receive.

Below is a list of services that Skype offers:

• SkypeIn: Receive calls via your computer from a personal phone number
• SkypeOut: Make calls from your computer to other phones and mobiles, all over the world.
• Voicemail Skype: Receive voicemail messages when you're busy or offline.

If you don't want to use your computer to make phone calls, consider using a VoIP service like Vonage. It allows you to use your regular phones that are already in your house. Although you will have a setup fee, monthly fees, and new hardware costs for going this route. Contact the VoIP provide that you want to use for more information about their service.

There are several VoIP service providers, I only touched the surface of this subject with the most popular ones. I encourage you to shop around for the best deal and services that you want. If you just need a public phone number to receive voicemail, there's a service called PrivatePhone that offers a free voice mailbox.

Web and E-mail Services
There are several free e-mail and web hosting providers, but it doesn't look professional to have your business email address look like: johndoe2016@aol.com. If you want a web site, I would also not recommend using free web hosting services. You don't want your web site URL looking like: http://www.geocities.com/samswidgets1980/. No one will believe that you're a legitimate business.

Domain registers like GoDaddy offers low cost web hosting and domain registration, you can also get a personalized e-mail address. For example, if your business name was Sam's Widgets, and you purchased a domain like samswidgets.com you could create an e-mail address like sam@samswidgets.com. You can also use the domain for your web site, like www.samswidgets.com

For a list of available services and fees, check out the following page.

Sending and Receiving Faxes
Being able to send faxes these days has become less important when e-mail is so readily available. Although it's still a popular technology option for sending certain types of business documents especially if they have a signature on it.

My computer has a Fax modem, but I still need access to an analog phone to use it. Then if I need to capture image of a document, I will need a scanner. Scanners are cheap these days, but if you don't have a need for one too often then they're not really worth it. There are also several good multi-function printers available, you might want to consider getting one of these if you want to save space and are only going to use it once in a while.

If you don't have an analog phone line, but have a need to send and receive faxes there is a service called eFax. They allow you to send and receive faxes for a fee. They also offer a free service which allows you to receive faxes for free via email, from a personal non-local number.

There is another service called faxZERO that allows you to send a fax for free to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

Postal Services
If you need to send packages, all the major package carriers offer free home and business pickup services, including the US Postal service (USPS). The USPS offers a service called Click-N-Ship for printing postage and labels, then you can request a pickup for the following day. You also might want to consider purchasing a scale to avoid overpaying postage.

If you want a special address to have all your business mail sent, you have one of two choices. You can purchase a P.O. Box from the local USPS office, or you can use a private mailbox from one of the many businesses that offer this service (such as: Mailboxes Etc.).

There are a few advantages to having a private mailbox vs. P.O. Box. One, you can get packages delivered to a P.O. Box. Two, the address looks like an actual street address rather then some postal box number.

Best Free Online Storage Sites (1GB and More)

There are literally hundreds of storage sites out on the Internet that offer capacities that range from a few megabytes to a few gigabytes. I have visited a lot of them, and created a list of the best sites.

Only sites that offered 1GB or more of storage were listed, anything less was too small. If you need more storage (and fewer restrictions) many of these sites offer premium plans for a fee.

The sites are placed into two categories based on the type of storage they offer:

Temporary Hosting Sites
Are you looking for a place to temporarily hold a large file so that you can email it, or to host content (such as media) for your web site or blog. Then check out the list of sites below, they allow you to quickly upload just about any file where it can be access by people whom you make its link available to. The file you upload will generally automatically be deleted after a specific amount of time has passed.
Note: The amount of storage, and how long the file can be stored will vary, check the site's storage policy for specific details.

• SendOver - 2GB Storage
• MegaShares - 1.5GB Storage
• Badongo - 1GB Storage
• BIGfileupload - 1GB Storage
• TrasferBigFiles - 1GB Storage
• YouSendIt - 1GB Storage

Online File Storage
Are you looking for a site that specializes in online file storage, and won't automatically delete your files if you have not used them in a while. These sites are great for holding backups of your files, or acting as a transfer point for moving data from one computer to another computer (such as from home to work and back).
Note: Most of these sites have some type of transfer limits (i.e.: how much you can upload or download) which vary from site to site.

• Streamload MediaMax - 25GB Storage
• Inbox.com - 5GB Storage
• Mozy - 2GB Storage
• Box.net - 1GB Storage
• eSnips - 1GB Storage
• Openomy - 1GB Storage
• Orbitfiles - 1GB Storage

Software: Mounting ISO Images Using a Virtual CD-ROM Drive

Have you ever had the need to burn an ISO image to a CD disk? If you don't know what an ISO image is, its an exact copy of a CD-ROM that is stored in a file so that it can be put on a hard drive, or transmitted across a network to another computer.

To turn an ISO image back into a CD, you need a blank CD-ROM disk, a CD-Writer drive, and a program that can read the ISO image and burn it to the drive. This process is not complex, but I will save it for another article.

Well if you're like me I generally won't burn a CD-ROM unless I have to, and if I do I use CD-RW so I don't have a million half used CDs sitting around the house. Although, if you have an ISO file that you need to get a file off, or a program to install check out Microsoft's Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel.

This control panel allow you to mount the ISO image by creating a virtual CD-ROM Drive. As far as the operating system is concerned this will look like a real CD-ROM drive. Although in reality its just the ISO image that is being treated like a real disk.

Notes:

• This program only runs under Windows XP
  
• This software is unsupported by Microsoft, and contains no setup file.
  
• The interface is very basic, so don't expect a polished tool.
  
• Make sure to read the README.TXT

Windows XP: Enabling Remote Desktop (Advanced)

Note: This tip will only work on Windows XP Professional and not the Home edition.

Using Remote Desktop, you can take control over your local Windows system from a remote computer. To get this to work for you need the following things:

• The computer you're going to take over has to have Windows XP Professional installed on it with Remote Desktop enabled, and must be attached to a network. You will also need the local computer's IP address (i.e.: 192.168.1.100) or its network computer name (i.e.: \\computer01). You can use the 'IPCONFIG /ALL' to get this information.
  
• You need a local account with a password on the computer you're going to take over.
• On the remote computer you need the Remote Desktop Connection software installed (check: Start menu | All Programs | Accessories | Communications), and to be able to make a network connection to the computer you want to take over.

Follow the instructions below to enable Remote Desktop:

• Under the Start menu, right-click 'My Computer' and select Properties.
• Click the Remote tab, then check the 'Allow users to connect remotely to this computer' check box.
• Press the 'Select Remote Users' button, and then press the Add button.
• In the 'Select Users' dialog box, enter the name of the user you want to be able to connect to this computer and then press the OK button.
• Press the OK buttons to close the rest of the dialogs.

Note: If you're having problem connecting to the computer with the remote desktop enabled, your firewall is probably preventing the connection. If you're using the Windows Firewall, check to see if you have the 'Remote Desktop' exception under the Exception tab in the Windows Firewall control panel. Otherwise follow the instructions on in this article.

Windows XP: Scheduling Disk Defragmentation

You should consider running the Disk Defragmenter utility on a regular basis to keep your system running efficiently. If you don't know what disk fragmentation is, it's when parts of a file get scattered over the hard drive over time, which in theory will take longer for them to be retrieved when they're requested by the file system.

The Disk Defragmenter utility re-organizes the files on the drive in a more linear order so that they can be accessed more quickly. Although running this utility can take a long time to complete. There should also be no other programs executing while this process is happening.

To have this utility run automatically, you can use the Windows Task Scheduler to run this program at a time when the computer is not going to be in use.

To schedule this program to run as a task follow the instructions below:

• Under the Start menu, open the 'Control Panel' folder (or select 'All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Scheduled Tasks')
  
• Double-click the 'Scheduled Tasks' applet.
• Double-click the 'Add Scheduled Task' icon.
• Right-click the folder, and select 'New > Scheduled Task'
• Click on the icon that says 'New Task', and press F2, then give the icon a name like "Defragment Disk" and press Enter.
• Double-click the icon, it will open up the task dialog window.
• In the Run field, type "defrag.exe c: -v".
• In the 'Start in' field, type "C:\".
• In the 'Run as' field, enter a user account (i.e. ComputerName\UserName) with administrator access. Press the 'Set password' button, and enter a password for the account.
• Click the Schedule tab to select the time and date(s) to want to run the task.
• Press the OK button when done.
  

Security: Testing Your Browser Pop-Up Blocker

If you ever run your browser without its pop-up blocker enabled, you could get inundated with a lot of pop-up window SPAM. Most browsers do a reasonable job of blocking this garbage, but you may still get a few that will show up every once in a while.

To test how go your browsers pop-up blocker is working, go to this site and put your browser through its paces. You may be surprised (or not) how many different techniques people have developed to display pop-up windows on your screen.

Software: ZoneAlarm (Firewall Protection)

The Windows Firewall is only a one-way firewall, which means that it can only protect you from external network based malicious attacks from viruses, worms, and hackers. The problem with this type of firewall is it can't be used for protecting you against malicious software already installed on your computer.

ZoneAlarm is a two-way firewall which not only will protect you from external threats, but also from internal ones. Before any program can communicate with the Internet it must be authorized through the firewall. This is a great way to tell if there is malicious software (such as spyware) installed on your computer that you may not be aware of.

ZoneAlarm also includes an Internet lock feature which blocks Internet traffic while your computer is unattended. This feature can be activated automatically when your computer's screensaver comes on or after a set period of inactivity.

Note: ZoneAlarm is free for individuals and non-profit charitable organizations (excluding government entities and educational institutions).

Windows XP: Adding Toolbars to your Taskbar

The taskbar by default will generally contain the Start button, the Quick Launch toolbar, and the Notification Area. You can customize the taskbar, with additional toolbars such as the: Address, Windows Media Player, Links, Language Bar, and Desktop.

To add a toolbars:

• Right-click the Taskbar, and select Toolbars, then select the toolbar you want to add.

To remove a toolbars:

• Right-click the Taskbar, and select Toolbars, then select the toolbar you want to close.

Software: Creating PDF Documents for Free

In an earlier article, I showed you a free/low cost program for making PDF documents. If you wanted to use the free version of the program you had to view ads in the program, or you had to buy it for about $10 if you didn't want to see the ads.

I recently found a new solution that is open source that is free for private or commercial use. The program is called PDFCreator, and its featured packed. Below is a brief list of some of the key features:

• Create PDFs from any program that is able to print.
• Encrypt PDFs and protect them from being opened, printed etc.
• Send generated files via e-mail.
• Create more than just PDFs, you can also make: PNG, JPG, TIFF, BMP, PCX, PS, EPS
• Merge multiple files into one PDF

Software: Pando (Send Large Files to Anyone)

Sending large files (such as: videos, pictures, presentations, etc.) over the Internet can be difficult at times, especially if you're trying to use e-mail to do it. Most e-mail services limit the size of the attachments that you can send or receive to about 10MB.

I recently found a new piece of software that allows you to send files of any size to your family, friends, and other people. The software is called Pando. In order to send these files, you and the person that is receiving the files must install the Pando software client.

Firefox: Helping Speed Up Your Browser (FasterFox)

FasterFox can tweak Firefox to help speed-up your browsing experience. This program enables special Firefox features, such as web page pre-fetching that can make web pages load faster by retrieving them before you select them. This program can also tweak other browser settings to make your browsing faster.

When you first open up the extension, you will get three basic options to choose from to increase the speed of the browser: courteous, optimized, and turbo charged. You can also tweak these settings individually if you want more control.

As a bonus feature you can enable the page load timer that displays how long it took to load the page you're currently viewing in Firefox's status bar. There is also an option that will allow you to block popups from plug-ins.

Windows XP: Delete A User Profile

Every user that logs into Windows XP gets a profile created for them. In this profile, the user's application and system settings are stored, along with their files. Each user profile can consume a lot of space on your computer, mostly depending how much information is stored in them.

If you have user profiles on your computer that you no longer need, and you need to free up disk space on your hard drive. Then you might consider deleting these unused profiles.

Warning: User profiles can contain valuable files that you may need one day, you might want to backup and/or review the files in this directory before you delete it.

• Right-click 'My Computer' and select Properties. This will display the System Properties control panel.
  
• Click the Advanced tab and click the Settings button in the User Profiles area.

The 'User Profile' dialog will display showing all the individual profiles on your local computer and the size of each profile. From here you can select the individual profile you want to delete, press the Delete button, confirm your action and then your done.

Downloading Movies and Burning them to DVD (Legally)

CinemaNow is now offering the ability to download movies to your computer and watch them. You also have the option to burn the movie to a DVD disc that can be played in a standard DVD player. Then if want to you can also download and a label and cover art for that movie.

The movies cost between $9 to $14 each, and right now the selection of movies is limited (about 100+ movies). Hopefully if the service takes off, they will continue to expand their collection.

Spy Sweeper 5.0 (review)

Are you looking for a good anti-spyware program, but are not sure which one to use? Spy Sweeper 5.0, recently received PC Magazine's Editor Choice award. Check out the article for a full review.

Software: Free Antivirus Software (for one year)

If you're looking for just anti-virus software and not a complete 'security suite', then you might want to check out Computer Associates' eTrust EZ Antivirus software. Their now offering a one year trial version of it. If you want the two year subscription it only costs $19.95.

Here's the catch, this offer is for Microsoft Windows users, new customers only, and limited 1 per household.

Firefox Version 2.0 Beta Candidate Released (article)

PC Magazine reports: "The browser wars are heating up, as the first beta of Firefox 2.0 is due on Tuesday July 11th, and Internet Explorer version 7.0 is now on it's third beta release. ... Firefox fans, and browser junkies have an opportunity to get a jump on Tuesday's beta, as a public "release candidate" has been posted on the Mozilla FTP site. This nightly build is finally feature complete, although it's still not completely ready for mass consumption."

Software: Private Folder 1.0

Microsoft recently released Private Folder 1.0, this is a free program that lets you store your sensitive data on your computer in a password-protected folder. This tool is designed for the person who wants to protect their private data on a shared computer.

Note: This application requires you validate your computers with the Windows Genuine Advantage to make sure your copy of Microsoft Windows is legitimate before you can install it.

Software: Remote Disable USB Drives

IntelliAdmin Remote USB Disabler allows you to remotely disable USB storage device on the local or a remote computer on your network. This program does effect USB Mice, keyboards, scanners, etc.

This program is a stand-alone application, so it doesn't required being installed on your local computer in order to run.

Juice (Listen to Pod Casts)

Do you like to listen to podcasts? There is a great free program called Juice (formerly know iPodder) that allows you to download, listen, and manage the podcasts that you want to hear.

Some of the main features of Juice include:

• A built-in directory with thousands of podcast feeds.
• An auto-cleanup, authentication, centralized feed management and much more.
• Accessible for visually impaired users (Windows only)
• Supports for more than 15 languages.
• Supports for multiple media players.
• Multiple-platform support (Windows, Mac, and Linux [soon]).

Internet Explorer: Stop Remembering Passwords

Internet Explorer can save and re-enter your passwords from different web sites for you. If you're using a shared computer you might want to disable this feature to prevent people from using your accounts.

To disable this feature:

• Open Internet Explorer.
• From the Tools menu, select 'Internet Options...'.
• Select the Content tab.
• Press the AutoComplete... button
• Uncheck the 'User names and passwords on forms' checkbox.
• Press the 'Clear Passwords' button.
• Press the 'OK' buttons (three times).

Windows XP: Renable File and Folder Tasks Panes

In the Windows Explorer you can enable the left-hand task pane to provide quick access to several different operations that can be performed against a file or folder.



This feature can sometimes be disabled, so if you want to enable it you need to follow the instructions below:

• Open Windows Explorer
• From the Tools menu select 'Folder Options...'
• Click the General tab.
• Click the 'Show common tasks in folders.' radio button.
• Press the OK button.

Security: Beating Keyboard Loggers

Public Internet kiosks have been known to have keyboard loggers installed on them. These loggers are used to capture the passwords you enter to access different secure sites. The problem is there's not an easy way to detect if a system has a logger installed on it.

There are two types of keyboard loggers, software or hardware based. The hardware based ones are the hardest to detect, because they can be hidden inside the keyboard itself.

There is one trick that you can use to help protect your password. What you need to do is add extra characters to the passwords you type. Then highlight the extra characters you added, and delete them before you press a button to submit the password. This can prevent your password from being properly recorded.

Note: beware of copying your password to the clipboard, some keyboard loggers can capture this information.

Here is an example:

This is the real password without the extra characters:

• P@ssW0rd

Here is the password with extra characters added. Highlight and delete the extra characters:

• P1@2s3s4W506r8d9

Creating PDF Documents

Do you want to know how to create PDF documents? To be honest its as easy as printing the document you want to create. If you don't already know what PDF documents are, its an application independent file format that allows the document to be read without the original application it was created with.

There is an application called PDF995, that is basically a printer driver that captures the output from almost any application and converts it into a non-editable PDF document. This applications comes in two versions, free or paid. The paid version only costs $9.95, and the free version requires you to view advertisements each time you use it.

Sending Large Email Attachments

Do you need to send someone a large file, and you're email provider won't allow you to send it because the file is too large. Below are two web sites that can help you send these large files. The only catch is that the file must be retrieved within seven days, or it will be deleted off the server.

• Dropload:Temporarily place a file up to a 100MB.
• YouSendIt: Temporarily place a file up to a 1GB.

O'Reilly Open Books (Free Computer Books)

O'Reilly is making a number of its computer books available for free, under a concept they call 'Open Books'. These books are out of print or the author has requested that they be distributed for free. All the books are being published under what they call an 'open' copyright.

O'Reilly has partnered with Creative Commons and the Internet Archive, to address the licensing and digitizing challenges involved in bringing the Open Books to readers. They have also adopted the Creative Commons Founders' Copyright, which they're applying to hundreds of titles pending the author's approval.

More Free Online Storage

Are you looking for free online storage to store and share your photos, videos, and other large files with your friends and family. These sites are great for sending large files that email services won't send, and backing up your data.

Box.net is offering 1GB of free storage, if you need more they have fee-based plans for 5GB to 15GB of storage. As far as free online storage goes, this is a pretty good deal.

Windows XP: Slide Show Feature

I only recently discovered this feature, but I really like it. Windows XP has a built-in slide show folder function that doesn't require extra software to use it.

If you have a folder full of pictures, in the left task pane under 'Picture Tasks', click the 'View as a slide show' link. If you only want to see certain picture, just highlight them before you click the link.



When the slide show as activated, you can use the buttons in the toolbar to play, pause, move to the previous or next picture, or go to the end if the set of pictures. There are also some keyboard shortcuts that allows you to perform some more viewing functions:

• SPACEBAR: Pauses or starts the slide show.
• TAB: Turns on or off the slide show toolbar.
• ESC: Exits the slide show.
• Left Arrow, PAGE UP, or Up Arrow: Displays the previous picture in the folder.
• Right Arrow, PAGE DOWN, or Down Arrow: Displays the next picture in the folder.
• ENTER: Takes to you the next picture in the folder.
• CTRL+K: Will rotate the image 90 degrees to the left.
• CTRL+L: Will rotate the image 90 degrees to the right.