Windows 7: Manage User Stored Credentials (User Names and Passwords)

When your computer tries to connect to other devices on your local network that requires a username and password.  Windows will attempt to use the currently logged on user credentials to authenticate that connection. If that username and password doesn't work, it will attempt to find one in the stored credentials. If these credentials are not available on the local system, you will be prompted with a username and password dialog box with a check box titled Remember My Password.

If you checked the Remember My Password check box, the information will be saved to the stored credentials area of your user profile. Then, when you connect to the same resource at a future date, Windows will be able to use these credentials to automatically authenticate your connection.

If you wish to view or change any of the user information in the stored credentials, you can do so by accessing the Stored User Names and Passwords tool.

• Open the Run dialog, press the WinKey+R.
• Type "rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr" and press the Enter button.  

Once the dialog is displayed you can change or delete any of the stored credential information.

Optimizing Your Network Connection Speed

The Jason Chronicles reports: "The speed of your network is determined by three key factors, the speed of your equipment, Internet connection, and network configuration. Your network equipment is made up the NIC (e.g. the network port) on the computer, the router/switch, and the cabling you use to hook it together. If you're using wireless, there are different factors for this technology. The Internet connection is only as good as the provider you're using. While your system's network configuration is entirely up to you." (read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Program Access and Computer Defaults

In Windows 7 you can set the program defaults (e.g. browser, email, media player, instant messaging, and Java VM) for the computer (which means this applies to all users), in the Program Access and Computer Defaults control panel.

If you choose the Microsoft Windows option, it will make Microsoft applications the default program that is open for specific file types (e.g. a browser shortcut will cause Internet Explorer to be utilized).  If you choose the Non-Microsoft options, it will hide certain Microsoft applications (e.g. Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, etc).  By selecting the Custom option, you can choose your own default programs.

• From the Start menu, open the Control Panel.
• Under Programs, select Program Defaults
• Open the Program Access and Computer Defaults control panel

Taking Control of your Data on Google

Are you worried that Google knows too much about you?  With the tools below you can take control of your account and data stored in Google's cloud.  For example, you can download your data using Google Takeout, or you can control certain aspects of the data that the company stores about you.

• Google Takeout: Allows you to download a copy of your data stored within different services. 
• Google Dashboard: Shows you what information is stored in your account.
• Privacy Center: In the tools section, there links to different privacy tools available on the site.  There are a variety of links on this page from Google Dashboard to Controlling Your Location in Google Latitude.

10 cool technologies to look for in your next PC

TechRepublic reports: "It’s an exciting time for PC enthusiasts. I can’t remember a period when so many existing technologies were being upgraded to the next generation and new technologies were being introduced. Even non-enthusiasts need to know about the changes that are happening to the desktop PC." (Read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Shrinking a Partition

It use to be if you had a formatted hard drive with existing partitions, and you wanted to add or shrink one of them you needed a special utility called a disk partitioning tools such as Partition Magic.  The Windows 7 Disk Management console has disk partitioning functionality built into it.

Warning: Make a good backup of your drive before proceeding with the instructions below.

• To open the Disk Management console from the Start menu, in the Search field type DISKMGMT.MSC, and press Enter. Press the YES button if prompted by the UAC (User Account Control).
• Right-click a drive that you want to shrink and choose Shrink Volume... from the menu.
• A dialog will display showing you how much space is available you can shrink the drive by. Specify an amount, then press the Shrink button.  
• Right-click the newly available partition and choose New Simple Volume. Follow the steps in the wizard to specify the size and assign a letter to the new drive, and format the new drive.

Firefox ABOUT Pages (Hidden Features)

Notes:

• This article covers a semi-advanced topic, and is not recommended for those that don't understand technical information about applications, network and system information. 

• Use these features at your own risk, some of them are for debug web page or the browser and can intentionally cause the tab or browser to crash.

Want to enable experimental features in Mozilla's Firefox browser, get diagnostic data, or see hidden information and features. Then you want to check out the Firefox's ABOUT pages, to access them in the address bar type "about:about" to see a list of available pages.

• about: - Displays basic information about Firefox
• about:about -  Lists the available “about” pages
• about:addons - Displays information about installed add-ons, extensions, plugins, and themes
• about:buildconfig - List the Firefox source and build information.
• about:cache - Displays information about memory, disk and offline caches
• about:config - Allows the enable or modification of application features.
• about:crashes - Lists crash reports on your local system.
• about:credits - Displays a list of contributors who helped create the Firefox browser.
• about:home - Displays a built-in home page
• about:license - List information about different licenses used by Firefox for different parts of its source code.
• about:logo - Shows the Firefox logo.
• about:memory - Shows the memory allocation for different firefox processes.
• about:mozilla - Displays a passage from The Book of Mozilla
• about:permissions - View or change web site permission (e.g. store password, set cookies, etc.) for different sites
• about:plugins - List technical information about each plug-in installed in browser.
• about:privatebrowsing - If you create a link to this page when clicked it the browser enter into its private browsing mode
• about:rights - Displays a page titled: "About Your Rights" (includes links to licence, privacy policy and service terms)
• about:robots - Displays a page titled: "Welcome Humans!" (displays bulleted items about robots)
• about:sessionrestore - Displays a session restore tab
• about:support - This page contains technical information that might be useful when you're trying to solve a problem
• about:sync-log - Displays the synchronization logs.
• about:sync-tabs - Displays the synchronization tabs from other computers.

Software: BlueStacks Android OS Emulator for Windows

BlueStacks allows you to run Android OS applications on a Windows PC. Video below offers a visual tour of the software.  To get more information or to download the application, check out the following web site.  This application is currently in Alpha as of this writing, so it might not be ready for prime time.

Windows 7: Installing IIS

Internet Information Services (IIS) is Microsoft's web server software can be installed on a Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate edition.

It is not installed by default, so you will have to follow the steps below to enable it.

• Log on to the computer with an account that has Administrators privileges. 
• From the Start menu select the Control Panel, click Programs. 
• Click the link Turn Windows features on or off. 
• Check Internet Information Services. 
• Press the OK button when finished. 

By default it will install a minimal set of features, if you need additional functionality, you'll need to check the appropriate boxes within the Windows Features dialog box (e.g. Web Management tools).

Windows 7: Scheduling Your Computer to Shut Down Automatically

Do you leave your computer on for extended periods of time, and would like it if your computer would automatically shut down at a specific time of day.  Follow the instructions below.

• Click the Start button, in the search box, type "scheduled tasks" then click the item in the search results.
• In the Task Scheduler console, in the Actions pane on the right, click "Create Basic Task ...".
• In the Basic Task Wizard dialog, enter a name for task, such as "Shutdown Computer" and include a optional description such as "Shuts down computer at 12:00 a.m. everyday", press the Next button.
• On the Task Trigger page, select "Daily" and press the Next button.
• On the Daily page, enter a start date and time that you want the task to first begin (e.g. 12/1/11 and 12:00 a.m.) and press the Next button.
• On the Action page, select the "Start a Program" and press the Next button.
• On the Start a Program page, in the Program/script field, type:  %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\SHUTDOWN.EXE
• Press the Next button, review the Summary page and press the Finish button.

Based on the task that was defined above Windows will now automatically shut down at 12:00 a.m. each day. Although before it does the system will display a pop-up notification, "Windows will shut down in less than a minute."

Troubleshooting Sound Problems

Are you having problems with the audio or speakers on your computer? Here are some troubleshooting techniques to help you diagnose most problems. (Read the rest of the article)

Windows 7: Disabling System Protection

Sometimes there's a need to turn off the System Restore feature (e.g. such as recovering free space on a drive).  By disabling the System Restore functionality, note it will be permanently deleting all existing restore points from the drive.

Below are the instructions on how to perform this action:

• From the Start menu, select Control Panel
• Select System and Security, and open the System control panel
• In the left pane, click System Protection
• If the UAC is enabled, the administrator credentials will be required.
• Select the drive to disable the System Protection feature.
• Generally feature is enabled on Windows system drive, which in most cases is the C: drive.
• Press the Configure... button, when the System Protection dialog displays, select the Turn off system protection radio button, then press the OK button.
• Press the OK button again to close the last dialog.

Mikko Hypponen: Fighting viruses, defending the net

This video is a great introduction to modern day malware (e.g. viruses, worms, Trojan horses, etc.).



It's been 25 years since the first PC virus (Brain A) hit the net, and what was once an annoyance has become a sophisticated tool for crime and espionage. Computer security expert Mikko Hyppönen tells us how we can stop these new viruses from threatening the internet as we know it.

If you want to know more about how to protect yourself and your family on the Internet from fraud, scams, and malware, check out my book "Avoiding Information Insecurity: Fighting Modern Day Cyber-Threats (2011 Edition)" (ISBN 978-1-4580-2920-1) [For my blog readers I am offering a limited time [October 14, 2011] special deal of 75% off the cover price of the book, use the coupon code TL78X at checkout].

Google Flight Search

Flight search is a feature that helps you explore air travel options for a number of cities, and plan your trip with just a few clicks of the mouse.

The Rasterbator - Make a Poster from any Image

The Rasterbator allows you to creates large posters (up to 20 meters [or 65 feet] in size) from just about any image. All you have to do is upload a picture (from your computer or from a URL), print the resulting multi-page PDF file and assemble the pages into a poster.

The Rasterbate service is available in two versions, online (which requires that you have Adobe Flash Player 7 and PDF viewer) and an off-line downloadable executable. Its pretty easy to use, after you have cropped the image and selected a size, the "rasterbated" image will be sent to you as a PDF file.

HTTPS Everywhere Firefox extension

I am a big believer in all types of encryption, to protect yourself and your data while utilizing the Internet you need to encrypt everything.

Many sites on the web offer encryption over HTTPS, but default to unencrypted HTTP communication when you visit their site. HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox extension from the Electronic Frontier Foundation that forces encrypted  communications with a number of major websites (if this option is available). The HTTPS Everywhere extension works by trying to rewrite all requests on a site to utilize HTTPS.

Note: if the site your visiting is not enable in the extension or site doesn't support HTTPS this browser extension will not work.

Online Monitor Test

Need to test your monitor's image quality, check out the online monitor test at http://tft.vanity.dk.

The monitor tests can be run directly in 3 different modes:

• Ordinary HTML window (press F11 to maximize the image)
• Full screen HTML (opens in 1280x1024 but can be re-sized to fit any resolution)
• Executable full-screen program for any resolution (no installation required)

Hidden Feature: Chrome ABOUT Pages

Notes:

• This article covers a semi-advanced topic, and is not recommended for those that don't understand technical information about applications, network and system information.
• Use these features at your own risk, some of them are for debug web page or the browser and can intentionally cause the tab or browser to crash.

Want to enable experimental features in Google's Chrome browser, get diagnostic data, or see hidden information and features. Then you want to check out the Chrome's ABOUT pages, to access them in the address bar type "about:about" to see a list of available pages.

• about:about: Lists available Chrome About pages.
• about:appcache-internals:  Displays information about the  HTML 5 AppCache manifests.
• about:blank: Displays a blank page.
• about:cache: Displays a list of cached URLs.
• about:crash: Displays a crash page in the active tab.
• about:view-http-cache: Displays a blank page.
• about:credits: Displays credit information about different browser features.
• about:conflicts: Lists all modules loaded into the main process.
• about:dns: Displays browser DNS preresolution information.
• about:flags: Allows the enabling and disabling of experimental features.
• about:flash: Lists information about Flash.
• about:gpu: Displays informaton about the GPU charactoristics.
• about:histograms: Lists histogram about different browser features.
• about:inducebrowsercrashforrealz - Crashes the Google Chrome browser.
• about:kill: Displays a generic error message when a webpage crashes unexpectedly
• about:memory: Displays processor and memory data.
• about:net-internals:  Lists internal network and cache information.
• about:plugins: Displays informaton about the installed plug-ins.
• about:stats: Displays a blank page.
• about:sync-internals: Displays the browser sync information.
• about:tcmalloc: Lists memory and processor information for the browser.
• about:terms: Displays information about Google Chrome Terms of Service.
• about:version: Lists version information for the Chrome browser.

Security: Avoid Cybercriminal Tech Support Scam

Microsoft.com reports: "Cybercriminals don't just send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might also call you on the telephone and claim to be from Microsoft. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

• Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software. 
• Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
• Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

(Finish reading the rest of the article)

Network: Diagnostics and Performance Web Sites

Here are some useful web sites that  may come in handy from time to time to perform some network diagnostics:

• Need a second opinion if a web site is really down?
• http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/
• Do you need an easy way to find out your IP address on the Internet?  
• http://www.whatismyip.com/
• Are you having problems watching YouTube videos, you can check the download speed here?
• http://www.youtube.com/my_speed
• Find out how fast your Internet connection really is, or if your ISP is providing the speed you pay for.
• http://speedtest.net/