Windows 7: HOSTS File

When you type in a Web address such as www.example.com into a browser, the application contacts a DNS (Domain Name Services) server looks up the DNS name and translates it in to a numeric IP address. When Windows does a DNS lookup it first checks a file called HOSTS which is like a mini-DNS server before it checks the regular DNS server.  This file is a legacy technology from the past, but its left in the OS for backwards compatibility.

This file is a popular target of malware, which tries to use it redirect traffic from real sites to phishing sites to steal your personal information. The file is located in the following directory C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC, and the file name is HOSTS with no file extension.

Note: Lines with pound signs (#) are comments.

# Copyright (c) 1993-2009 Microsoft Corp.

#

# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

#

# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each

# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should

# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.

# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one

# space.

#

# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual

# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.

#

# For example:

#

# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server

# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handled within DNS itself.

# 127.0.0.1 localhost

# ::1 localhost

Introducing Tracking Protection

Internet Explorer 9's (currently in Beta) includes a new feature called Tracking Protection, that enables visitors to control a third-party web sites ability can track their surfing. The technology uses a combination of consumer opt-in and Tracking Protection Lists (TPLs) to balance between a visitor's privacy rights while still trying to meet the needs of the online industry.

Video: QR Codes

QR Codes seem to be everywhere these days, and each has a unique destination. Ellie gives you a look at some of the most popular QR code reading apps for your mobile device and where to find these elusive codes!

Resources:

• Google URL Shortener
• ScanLife
• QuickMark
• Mirascape
• QR Code Reader and Scanner

Software: Comodo System-Cleaner

Are you running low on disk space, and want a tool that clears your the file history from popular applications.  Check out Comodo System-Cleaner its a free a file, registry and privacy cleaner. 

Some of the feature include:

• Deletes cookies, cache, history, and usage records.
• Removes corrupt or unnecessary registry entries.
• Delete duplicate and needless files.
• And more.

Top 10 Holiday tips & tricks with Office 2010

From The Microsoft Office Blog: "The holiday season is upon us! Looking for creative, thoughtful, and inexpensive ways to make friends and loved ones feel special? Want to kick the New Year off with a new job? Here are 10 ways to Do-It-Yourself this holiday season with Office 2010."

Windows 7: Checking USB Device Power Usage

Did you know that there's preset limit on the available amount of power on a USB bus? If you have several USB devices plugged into your computer's USB ports, you need to be aware there is only a small amount power available for them.  Most computers have multiple what are known 'USB root hubs', and each hub can  deliver a maximum of 500 milliamps of power to attached devices. If the energy demands of the connected USB devices exceeds that limit, the USB bus can shutdown.

To check power draw of the USB devices connected to your computer:

• In the Start menu search field, type: Device Manager and press the Enter key
• In the Device Manager window, expand the node Universal Serial Bus controllers
• Double-click on one of the USB Root Hub entries.
• Click the Power tab. 

This tab displays a listing of attached USB devices, how much power they use and how much is available.  If you have more USB devices then you have available ports or power.  Consider buying a power USB hub that uses energy from the wall socket and not your computer's motherboard.

Software: Adobe Reader X

Over the last few years the Adobe Reader has been plagued with several security exploits. To address this problem, Adobe has released an upgrade called 'Reader X'. This update includes a sandbox design (called 'Protected Mode') to guard users from PDF attacks.

For those that don't know about the security term 'sandbox', it's a technology that tries to isolate system processes, and prevent malware from breaking out and exploiting malicious code.

Windows 7: Windows Explorer - Changing the Icon Views

In Windows Explorer you can quickly change the file and folder icons size and appearance by using the slider in the Views drop-down menu in the toolbar. For example, some of the View menu options include extra large to small icons sizes (from 16x16 to 256x256 pixels), as well List, Details, Tiles, and content views.

Another way to achive the same results is by holding down the CTRL key, then use the scroll wheel on your mouse wheel to resize the icons or change the icon views by moving it up or down.

Windows 7: Resizing Desktop Icons

Want to easily change the size (larger or smaller) of the icons on the desktop? All you have to do is click on an empty part of the desktop, hold down the CTRL key, then using the scroll wheel on your mouse, scroll up or down to re-size the icons.

Firefox: Moving Your Cache to RAM (Performance Tip)

For a long time browsers have kept local copies of web page objects (such as HTML files, graphics, flash, and other files) on the hard drive. This allows the browser to access these files much more quickly if they're needed again without having to download them from the Internet.

Firefox has a setting that allows the browser's cache to be moved to RAM instead of the hard drive. Since RAM can be access much faster then the hard drive, this means that you can see much faster returns on any cache hits from your browser.

Warnings: 

• This tip may cause problems with browser plug-ins.
• Follow the advice of this tip at you're own risk, if implemented incorrectly it could disable the browser until its reversed.

• Luanch Firefox
• In the address bar type: about:config
• Type browser.cache into the filter bar at the top.
• Search for: browser.cache.disk.enable and set it to false (double-click it).
• Search for: browser.cache.memory.enable and set it to true (double-click it).
• Right-click anywhere, in the menu select New > Integer.
• For the preference name, type: browser.cache.memory.capacity and press OK button.
• In the next window, enter the size you want the cache in kilobytes (for example, typing 200000 would create a cache of 200,000 kilobytes or about 200 megabytes). A value of -1 forces Firefox to dynamically determine the cache size depending on the available system RAM.

Note: Since files are no longer stored on the disk, Firefox start-up can take longer. Also fewer objects are generally cached in RAM because of limited available system resources.

Dell Inspiron duo coming soon

A sneak peek at the new Inspiron duo, Dell's first convertible tablet, from touch to type in seconds. It should be available on Dell.com before the end of the year.

Internet: Using Windows Explorer to Manage Your SkyDrive Files

Microsoft Windows Live SkyDrive offers 25GB of free Internet based storage.  However, uploading files via a web browser can be cumbersome.  Without any extra software, there's a way to connect SkyDrive via Windows Explorer. 

Follow the steps below to map a network drive (e.g. X:\ drive) to a SkyDrive folder.

• Go to http://skydrive.live.com/ in your web browser.
• Sign in to the Live.com site with your Windows Live ID.
• Copy the UID (highlighted in red) from the displayed URL, e.g.: https://cid-1234567890abcdef.skydrive.live.com/.
• Open Windows Explorer, in the left sidebar, right-click on Network, and select Map network drive...
• Enter the following UNC: \\cdckda.docs.live.net@SSL\1234567890abcdef\Document
• Notes:  
• Replace highlight the UID in the UNC with the UID from step 3.
• Replace “Documents” with the folder name with as appropriate.
• Choose a drive letter, check Connect using different credentials, and press the Finish button
• You will be prompted for your Windows Live ID.

Note: I am finding you connect and browse the files on the SkyDrive, but I am not finding you can upload to the drive from the Windows Explorer.  Although, I still find this a cool tip.

Software: Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition

Paragon is offering a free edition of their backup and recovery software for Windows.  Some of the features included are:

• Supports Windows 7
• Any backup destination (including external storage, CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs, network as well as the secured hidden partition (Backup Capsule))
• For a complete feature list

Free Online Image and Photo Editing Services

Are you looking for a free online image or photo editing services? Check out the sites below. All of them allow you to upload and manipulate your images and photos.

• Sumo Paint
• Pixlr
• LunaPic
• Picnik

Web Site: Prezi - Web-based Presentation Application

Prezi is a web-based presentation application and storytelling tool that uses a single canvas instead of traditional slides. Text, images, videos and other presentation objects are placed on the infinite canvas and grouped together in frames.

Change to 'Bios' will make for PCs that boot in seconds

BBC News reports: "New PCs could start in just seconds, thanks to an update to one of the oldest parts of desktop computers.

The upgrade will spell the end for the 25-year-old PC start-up software known as Bios that initialises a machine so its operating system can get going."

Windows 7: Unlocking a File

Is there a file you can't delete because some application has it open, below are some suggestions for unlocking a file.  Be aware that some systems files can be locked down by operating system security or can be locked by a system process.

• Close all open applications.
• Temporarily disable your anti-malware software.
• Temporarily disable file sharing.
• To the available file shares on your system.
• From the Start menu, right-click Computer and select Manage.
• Under Systems Tools, expand Shared Folders
• Expand Shares, from here you can see folders being shared
• Note: Don't delete any default shares.
• Turning off file sharing
• From the Start menu, type "file sharing" in the search field, and then press Enter.
• Under File and printer sharing, select Turn off file and printer sharing.
• Under Public Folder Sharing, select Turn off public folder sharing.
• Press the Save changes button.
• Temporarily disable file indexing
• From the search box under the start menu type "Indexing"
• Use Process Explorer and OpenedFilesView to see if you can identify the application or processing locking the file.
• Run CHKDSK /R (will require reboot).  This checks the MFT (Master File Table) and make makes sure it's not corrupted.  If there is corruption, it will try to repair it.
• Reset file permission on the file.  Under certain circumstances file permissions or ownership information can be altered or corrupted.
• Use caution when using this tip, it requires an understanding of NTFS file permissions and ownership: right-click on the file, select Properties, select the Security tab, press the Advanced button, from here you can try reset file security or file owner.
• Reboot in Safe Mode.  This will disable all third party and non-essential services.
• Press F8 before the Windows load screen, then select "Safe Mode"
• Reboot in System Recovery Command Prompt 
• Press F8 before the Windows load screen, then select "Repair Your Computer"
• You will be prompted for selecting a language and keyboard type
• You will be prompted for a local administrator password
• Select Command Prompt, from here you should be able to delete just about any file without restriction so be careful.

Top free troubleshooting tools for Windows

InfoWorld report: "No computer runs perfectly forever. Somewhere along the line, something will go wrong. While each successive version of Windows has been that much more reliable and self-healing, that's never been an argument to forgo a good collection of software tools."

Top 10 Windows tools for IT pros

InfoWorld report: "To help you make a good first impression and to cement your reputation as a seasoned troubleshooting guru, I offer the following list of my top 10 must-have Windows utilities for PC support professionals. Some you probably already know. Others you may have heard of only in passing. But all deserve your consideration for a place in your PC support and diagnostics toolkit."

Microsoft's IE 9 Beta Offers Speed, Windows 7 Integration

eWeek reports: "Microsoft unveiled the beta version of Internet Explorer 9, the next release in its long-running browser franchise, during a high-profile Sept. 15 event in San Francisco. In addition to some key interface tweaks—the browser is now streamlined, with translucent elements designed to bring actual Web content front-and-center—IE 9 supposedly offers users greater speed and integration with Windows 7. Features include extensive support for HTML5, the ability to 'pin' Web pages to the taskbar and a 'Popular Sites' area that consolidates your most-visited pages in one place. Although Internet Explorer continues to hold a double-digit market share lead in the United States, it's faced a challenge in recent times from the likes of Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. By offering shiny new features, hand-in-hand with various security and privacy controls, Microsoft doubtlessly hopes that users potentially on the fence about other browsers will fall back into the IE camp. Time will tell, though, whether users and developers find IE 9 compelling to the exclusion of its competitors."

Check out eWeek's slide show for more information and screen shots of the new features.