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Windows And Software Installation Automation In An Enterprise

IT department automation in an enterprise.

Recommended: for the heads of enterprises, IT departments, system administrators

This article will tell you:

How to quickly install Windows on all computers of an enterprise.

How to quickly upgrade software on all enterprise computers without losing any data.

How to automate all kinds of routine processes in an enterprise.

How to increase the productivity of system administrators in an enterprise.

Any company faces the problem of timely software update on all computers as well as the problem of the quick recovery and configuration of an employee's working environment. To solve this problem we offer our product: Almeza MultiSet.

A company before using MultiSet:

The software is installed/configured manually with the employee working with this computer being idle at this time.

Databases are updated, computers are configured, software is set up - all that is also done manually and requires the administrator to be present at every computer.

Every remote office requires system administrators to be employed

The IT staff has to be arranged to be on duty 24 hours a day.

Expenses on business trips made by technical specialists are necessary.

You get the following benefits after you deploy MultiSet in your company:

You will need only 1 administrator at any point on the network to update any amount of software on any number of computers. Note that the time needed to update software on all computers will be approximately equal to the time needed for one computer!

It is possible to quickly change the configuration on multiple or separate computers throughout the entire network. Note that the administrator has to be physically present at one computer only.

It is possible to quickly and safely reinstall WindowsXP without losing any current data!

It is possible to create a master disk for the standard automatic installation of a set of software on any number of computers.

It is possible to automatically install Windows together with drivers, service packs, any types of tools and applications.

It is possible to quickly update databases, configuration files on client computers.

Using MultiSet dramatically increases the effectiveness of using the office hours of the IT administration department.

Why particularly MultiSet?

Reliability. MultiSet reliably runs on any type of Windows operating system.

Quickness. Due to its innovational algorithm, MultiSet performs its functions fast, exactly and, which is most important, reliably.

Trustworthiness.. Among our clients there are banks, government organizations, customer support services, large corporations, which proves the actual usefulness of MultiSet in practice.

Flexible pricing policy. We offer a very flexible pricing policy that allows you to cover a large number of computers at minimum cost.

Low system requirements. MultiSet has minimum system requirement for its work. MultiSet supports the following operating systems: Windows Vista/XP/2003/2000 (32-bit) and Windows Vista/XP/2003 (64-bit).

SOLUTIONS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Small organizations often do not have enough funds to employ an administrator and it often happens that regular employees have to update and configure software.

MultiSet will allow you to reduce expenses on calling administrators for every client computer, save a lot of time for everyone and therefore provide more time for employees to spend on their direct duties.

Download Free 30-day Trial:
http://www.almeza.com/download/multiset.exe

Web:
http://www.almeza.com

What Is A Fiber Optic Continuity Tester Fiber Optic Technology Tutorial Series Two

What is a fiber optic continuity tester?

Fiber continuity tester is also called fiber optic continuity checker. It is the simplest visual test of a fiber optic cable link.

To function properly, a fiber optic cable link must be "continuous", meaning no breakage, either within the fiber cable or in the fiber connectors, should exist. The simplest and least expensive way to check is to inject some visual light into one fiber end and check the light coming out from the other end.

To perform this task, two types of fiber testers are available: a fiber optic continuity tester or a laser visual fault locator.

Differences between a fiber continuity tester and a laser visual fault locator

The most important difference is their light source. A fiber continuity tester typically uses a red or green color high intensity LED while a laser visual fault locator uses red color semiconductor laser.

Visible lasers produce a more powerful light and can provide more information to the technician than a LED light. By coupling the fiber link to a visible laser, problems with connectors, breaks in the fiber near connectors or splices, and some bend radius violations can be located.

On the other hand, LED powered fiber continuity tester can only verify that light can travel through the fiber link and no more information is obtained. Fiber continuity tester simply yields a "no go" result. If the light isn't visible at the other end of the fiber link, then the fiber is unusable in its present state and requires further testing and repair.

Applications of a fiber continuity tester

Its best application is testing fiber on a reel before you pull it to make sure it hasn't been damaged during shipment. Look for visible signs of damage (like cracked or broken reels, kinks in the cable, etc.)

The other good application is to check fiber patch cables at patch panels. When connecting fiber cables at patch panels, use the fiber optic continuity tester to make sure each connection is the right two fibers!

And to make certain the proper fibers are connected to the transmitter and receiver, use the continuity tester in place of the transmitter and your eye instead of the receiver.

Understanding the features of a fiber continuity tester

1.Fiber mode compatibility

Some fiber continuity testers only support multimode fibers while the others support both single mode fibers and multimode fibers. So it's best to check the spec sheet from manufacturers to choose the type you need.

2.Fiber connectors supported

Most fiber continuity testers have adapters available for testing 2.5mm ferrule connectors such as ST, SC and FC, 1.25mm ferrule connectors such as LC, MU and special types such as SMA connectors.

3.Fiber distance

Most fiber continuity testers have enough light power to support 2km on multimode fibers.

The fiber optic continuity tester makes it easy to trace fiber optic cable runs.

Compared to laser and incandescent light source testers, this low-cost unit is safer to use and easier for the eye to locate.

This unit has bright red light source which is focused into the fiber optic cable. A multi-use coupler enables connection to ST, SC, FC, RSD and FSD without additional adapters or cables.

Website Sales Purpose

When designing a website, it is important that webmasters ask some general questions before they begin the design process...

What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?

Many companies use websites to establish their brand. Others use websites as a communication tool. Some companies see websites as sales vehicles and "billboards". Still others use their website as an educational tool. And some may be any combination of the above. The website must have a purpose in order for it to be effective.

What Is It That You Are Trying To Accomplish With The Website?

A strong understanding of the website will allow a webmaster to emphasize the action they want the website visitor to take on the website. By defining and understanding the purpose of the website, webmasters and publishers can better structure the information on the website. Information can be provided with the appropriate emphasis and navigation. An ideal website will lead the web visitor to take the action the webmaster wants.

Who Is Your Audience?

You must identify and understand your target audience. Understanding your demographic will allow you to cater content specific to that group.

What Are The Objectives Of The Website?

You also need to determine what the objective of your website is. What are you attempting to accomplish? Are you trying to sell something? Are you looking for downloads, or is sales your real objective? Is your website trying to promote a specific product or service? Do you want your visitors to take a specific action? Is the intent to profit from ad space in general or to have website visitor's click on specific ads? Are you trying to build a brand? Do you want visitors to purchase a product, or provide an email address?

When attempting to solicit a specific action, there are some general guidelines that you should follow. Your website should be designed to solicit the action you desire, so the navigation should intuitively lead the visitor to take the desired action. If clicking a link is the goal, then that link should be clearly indicated and prominent on the page. This will not only help insure that the maximum number of visitors will be able to adequately view and navigate your content, but it will also help prompt those visitors to take the action you wish to have occur.

For example: Many software companies struggle with the action they wish to solicit from the website visitor. Software companies and eBook publishers are often guilty of pushing users to download, at the expense of the actual sale. Some companies prefer to have users download prior to making a purchase decision, while others lose impulse purchasers by only pushing the download rather than the sale.

In Order To Maximize The Websites Sales Purpose And Objectives, Follow These Simple Steps...

Address Compatibility Issues

If a website visitor is unable to view the website's content, they are obviously going to be unable to complete the desired action. The compatibility issues could be related to technology or usability. Avoid using technologies that require the website visitor to download a plug-in before they can view the website content. If providing content using flash is important to you, you should also provide a flash-free version as well. Also, do not alienate website visitors who might have a disability -- use proper web construct, provide alt tags for images, and avoid using a color scheme that will cause confusion.

Define A Clear Navigation Path

A website's navigation should provide the visitor with a clear path. Information architecture is the organization and categorization of online content -- the process of creating clarity and organizing online information in a purposeful, and logical way. Prioritize and emphasize the most important items on the website. Give visitors a clear path to what they are seeking. Each and every page should intuitively provide them links to additional information and purchase options.

Minimize Distractions

Minimize choices and other website distractions. Website visitors should be provided a clear path of action. Do not provide the website visitor an abundance of choices -- studies show that a large number of choices often puts the consumer off. It is generally recommended that you provide no more than 3 choices. Keep your message concise and on-topic. Website visitors will often just scan a webpage rather than reading it, so bulleted lists and headlines might be used to emphasize your message.

It may sound like a cliche, but it's the little things that can make the biggest difference. Pay attention to all aspects of your website. Defining the specific website objectives and purpose will help to encourage the desired action or behavior from your website visitors.

Understanding the Components of a Home Network

Home networks are becoming more common. People want to be able to share a single broadband Internet connection to several computers in the house. There are many different devices that you can use to make up your home network. If you have never heard network terminology device names like router, hub, etc may seem confusing.

The purpose of most of these devices is to control how the network passes around information. This information is sent in the form of "packets". I will refer to the term packet several times in this article. It simply means the data that the network is transporting. I will now explain the purpose of the major components of a home network.

What is a Hub

A hub is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of these ports will likely be labeled ?Uplink?. This port allows you to connect multiple hubs together, if you run out of ports on your hub. If you do not have an uplink port on your hub, the hub cannot be easily extended if you run out of ports.

A hub is a device that attaches multiple computers on an Ethernet network. If you have a number different computers that you want to connect together, you could connect each to the hub. Any packet that is sent out by any computer on the network will immediately be transmitted to the other computers. Each computer will determine if the packet was really intended for it, and filter out packets that were intended for other computers.

You really should not use a hub in a modern home network. You should always use a switch in place of a hub. Switches will be discussed in the next section.

What is a Switch

A switch is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of these ports will likely be labeled ?Uplink?. This port allows you to connect multiple switches together, if you run out of ports on your switch. If you do not have an uplink port on your switch, the switch cannot be easily extended if you run out of ports.

A switch serves the same function as a hub. It allows you to connect multiple computers together, so that they can exchange packets. However, a switch is much more efficient than a hub. A switch will only send Ethernet packets to the computer that the packet was intended for. Because of this you should always use a switch in place of a hub.

What is a Router

A router is a device that has several Ethernet ports on the back of the device. One of the connectors will be labeled WAN. You should connect the WAN port to the Ethernet connection on a broadband source, such as a cable or DSL modem. The other ports on the router can be connected other computers or switches/hubs that will share the WAN connection.

Routers allow you to share your broadband connection with multiple computers in your house. Rather than connecting your computer directly into your cable or DSL modem you connect the router to the cable or DSL modem. Now any computer that you connect to the router will have access to the Internet.

If you run out of ports on your router you can always connect an additional switch to the router. To connect a switch to a router simply connects the switch?s "uplink" port to one of the routers Ethernet ports. Of course, don?t connect to the router?s WAN port. The WAN port should only be connected to something such as a cable or DSL router.

Some routers come with additional features installed. Most routers also include a firewall. Firewalls are discussed in the next section. Some routers will also include a wireless access point (WAP). The WAP allows you to use wireless devices, such as wireless laptops, with the Internet.

What is a Firewall

A firewall controls traffic flow between your network and the Internet. A firewall can be either hardware or software. Windows XP SP2 or higher includes a software firewall. A hardware firewall is included with most routers.

A firewall is a very good idea. It can protect you from inbound virus attempts. By inbound virus attempt I mean other computers that will connect to your computer and attempt to infect your computer. You do not want to run a computer directly connected to the Internet, without a firewall. There are just too many other computers out there that can connect and infect you without you even noticing.

What is a Network Attached Storage (NAS)

A network attached storage device is a device that allows a hard drive to be shared across the network. This hard drive is NOT attached to any of your computers. It is simply made available by the NAS. This can be a convent way to add a hard drive that can be accessed by several computers on your network. The other common way to add a network hard drive is to simply share a folder on one of your computers. However, with the NAS, you do not need to keep one of your computers on at all times.

There are two types of NAS commonly available. The first type comes with a build in hard drive. The second accepts a USB or Fire wire external hard drive. The advantage to using a USB or Fire wire hard drive is that you can upgrade the hard drive if it ever were to become too small.

What is a Print Server

Just like you can buy a device to allow you to share a hard drive, you can do the same with a printer. A print server connects directly to your printer. Your printer is then shared to all of your computers on the network. This is convent because you do not need to leave the printer hooked to a computer, which must be turned on to print.

Conclusions

As you can see there are many different components. Perhaps the final component that I ave yet to mention is the cable. These components are connected together with CAT5 Ethernet cable.

The Different Between One Registry Cleaner Software And Another

Here?s a fact: 92% of computers run on Windows, and every 32-bit edition of Windows has a storage sector where options and settings are saved. This sector is called the registry, and it is one of the busiest databases in a computer. As such, it is one of the databases that are most susceptible to corruption and breakage. This is why the demand for an efficient registry fix is consistently high.

But there are many options on the internet when it comes to a quick registry fix.

Which is the best one? Which registry fix is worth the download? Which registry fix will provide the best results?

In this article, we will review five of the most popular registry cleaners available on the World Wide Web today. It is hoped that you, the reader, will be guided properly on how to choose the best registry fix for your needs.

Registry Fix No. 1: Stompsoft Registry Repair

Stomp is known as the most thorough and most aggressive registry fix in the market today. Where other registry fixers can only diagnose 50 to 70 registry-related errors, Stomp can pinpoint more than 700.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Some say that Stomp merely counts errors in the registry that Windows will auto-correct eventually. Some say that Stomp merely looks for errors in places where files don?t really have a bearing on the processes conducted by the system.

Regardless, Stomp?s aggressiveness wouldn?t hurt, and at the end of the day, it?s still about how well the registry is fixed, and on this, Stomp has a pretty good record.

Registry Fix No. 2: CCleaner

Being a free registry cleaner, CCleaner has built a huge and solid following, with most of its patrons claiming that they have been using this registry fix as soon as it was released almost 5 years ago, and they have never looked for any other reg cleaner since then.

For a free registry fix, CCleaner?s features are simply amazing. CCleaner does things right. It erases the useless and redundant files in the registry, and it never meddles with files that may affect the performance of Windows.

And it is constantly updated! This is something that free registry fixes can seldom afford.

Registry Fix No. 3: Registry Mechanic

Registry Mechanic is likewise a stable registry fix. With the newest update, Version 6.0, Registry Mechanic is now capable of recognizing previously unrecognizable errors, and correcting the same, resulting in a cleaner, better performance for your Windows-based PC.

Many online authorities attest to the integrity of Registry Mechanic, mainly because of the aforementioned stability and consistency of this registry fix. This has created a wave of acclaim for the program, which has been translated to many downloads for the same.

Registry Fix No. 4: Registry First Aid

Speaking of acclaims, if the number of awards is to be used as gauge, then Registry First Aid should top this list.

Registry First Aid is a registry fix that boasts of a seamless cleaning process for your Windows operating system. It promises a stable program that will provide the registry fix you need fast and easy.

Registry Fix No. 5: Registry Medic

Registry Medic?s claim to fame, on the other hand, lies in three things: its amazing user-friendly interface, its powerful scan engine, and its ability to remove and immunize your system from spyware and malware infestation.

Registry medic is indeed more than just a mere registry fix. It aims to be a spyware cure and prevention solution as well, making it one of the top downloads of people who wish to speed up and protect the integrity of their PCs.

The Cheaters Guide To Choosing Fiber Optic Patch Cables

What is a fiber optic patch cable

Fiber optic patch cable, often called fiber optic patch cord or fiber jumper cable, is a optical cable terminated with connectors on both ends. It has two major application areas: computer work station to outlet and patch panels or optical cross connect distribution center. They are for indoor applications only.

Common types

Fiber patch cables can be divided into different types based on cable mode, cable structure, connector types, connector polishing types and cable sizes.

Cable Mode:

1. Single mode:

Single mode patch cables use 9/125 micron bulk cable and single mode connectors on both ends. Single mode fiber jacket is usually yellow.

2. Multimode:

Multimode patch cables use 62.5/125 micron or 50/125 micron bulk multimode fiber and are terminated with multimode connectors on both ends. Multimode fiber jacket is usually orange.

3. 10gig multimode:

10Gig multimode fibers are specially designed 50/125 micron fibers optimized for 850nm VCSEL laser based 10Gig Ethernet. They are backward compatible with existing network equipment and provide close to three times the bandwidth of traditional 62.5/125 multimode fibers. 10Gig fiber cable jacket is usually aqua.

Cable Structure:

1. Simplex patch cables:

Simplex patch cable has one fiber and one connector on each end.

2. Duplex patch cables:

Duplex patch cable has two fibers and two connectors on each end. Each fiber is marked "A" or "B" or different colored connector boots are used to mark polarity.

3. Ribbon fan-out cable assembly:

For ribbon fan-out cable assembly, one end is ribbon fiber and ribbon connector such as MTP connector (12 fibers), the other end are multiple fibers with connectors such as ST, SC, LC, etc.

Connector Types:

1. Same connector type:

This type has the same type of connector on both ends, such as ST, SC, LC, FC, etc.

2. Hybrid:

This type has different connectors on each end. One end can be SC and the other end can be LC, ST, FC, etc.

Connector Polishing Types

Optical connectors are designed and polished to different shapes to minimize back reflection. This is particularly important in single mode applications. Typical back reflection grades are -30dB, -40dB, -50dB and -60dB.

1. PC (Physical Contact): Typical back reflection is less than -40dB, for single mode and multimode applications.

2. UPC (Ultra Physical Contact): Typical back reflection is less than -50dB, for single mode applications.

3. APC (Angled Physical Contact): Typical back reflection is less than -60dB, for single mode applications.

Special types of patch cables

1. Mode conditioning patch cable

In some cases such as for long wave laser modules used in Gigabit Ethernet, modules need to operate for both single mode and multimode fibers, the mode conditioning fiber optic patch cables will fit for such situations.

By allowing the single mode laser launch to be offset away from the center of the multi mode fiber the mode conditioning fiber optic patch cable reduces the effect of such differential mode delay.These cables are usually duplex type.

2. Polarization maintaining patch cable

Polarization maintaining fiber optic cables are made with a special fiber that maintains the polarization of light waves. They are used where high stability is required, not withstanding fiber and stress movements.

These cables are mainly used in instrumentation, measurement and in some applications where stability is required at speeds above 10Gbps.

Oracle 11Gs Strong Verifier and Case Sensitive Password

As an Oracle DBA, you probably have heard a lot about the new security features in Oracle 11G such as database vault, audit vault, strong verifier, enhanced ASO, etc. But with a busy schedule, how do you find the time to study all the topics in depth? Are all of them going to affect your daily DBA operations? What should you know first and foremost? Of course, depending on the particular database you are administering, you will have your unique need. But as a rule of thumb, what tends to affect you the most is almost never those cool new features. The reason is simple: if you don't use them, they won't affect you. What tends to affect you is the change in the existing features that might lead to compatibility or interoperability issues. When that script you have used for years suddenly stops working, you will be disappointed. When your boss or above calls to ask what happened, you could feel terrible.

In this article, we discuss the new password case sensitivity feature in 11G. Every Oracle session starts with authentication. If the authentication fails at the beginning of your script, everything that follows will almost certainly be broken. So what was changed, why, and what should you know?

A Primer on Verifier

I'll start with a primer on password verifier. As you probably know, for security reasons, Oracle user's passwords are never stored as clear text. Instead, they are stored as a "verifier", a one-way hash value calculated from the clear text password. Hash verifier has a few unique features. One, it is "one-way": It is easy to calculate the hash value from a clear text password, but it is nearly impossible to figure out the clear text password from a hash value. Two, different clear texts almost never yield the same hash value (called collision). These features allow Oracle database to store the hash value of a user's password as a surrogate for the clear text password. When a user provides a password to logon, Oracle calculates the hash value from that password, and allows the user to logon if it matches the hash value that is stored in the database. To get a feel what an Oracle verifier looks like, take a look at the PASSWORD column in the user$ table in SYS schema (of course, you will need SYSDBA privilege to do that).

SELECT NAME,PASSWORD FROM SYS.USER$ ORDER BY NAME;

What Was Changed

Prior to 11G, Oracle passwords were case insensitive. "foobar", "FOOBAR", and "FoOBaR" are identical when used as an Oracle password. They yield the same hash value. If a user could log in with password "foobar", he could log in with "FOOBAR" as well. In 11G, however, when you create or modify user accounts, by default passwords are case sensitive. 11G also introduces a "salt" in the hash value generation so that even two users have identical passwords, their verifiers would still be different.

Oracle allows to you to control password case sensitivity for backward compatibility by setting the SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON initialization parameter. Only users who have the ALTER SYSTEM privilege can set the SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON parameter. Set it to TRUE to enable case sensitivity or FALSE to disable case sensitivity.

ALTER SYSTEM SET SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON = TRUE | FALSE;

How Case Sensitivity Affects Password Files

As you may remember, Oracle stores the passwords (again in the form of verifiers) of users with SYSDBA and SYSOPER privileges in a "password file" on the server, rather than in the database. You can enable or disable case sensitivity for password files by using the ignorecase argument in the ORAPWD command line utility. The default value for ignorecase is n (no), which enforces case sensitivity.

Here is an example of how to enable password case sensitivity for SYSDBA and SYSOPER users

orapwd file=orapw entries=100 ignorecase=n
Enter password for SYS: password

This creates a password file called orapwd. Since ignorecase is set to n (no), the password entered for the password parameter will be case sensitive. Afterwards, if you connect using this password, it succeeds(as long as you enter the password using the exact same characters with the exact same case as created). If you enter the same password with different case, it will fail
If you, the DBA, sets the system to ignorecase to y, then the passwords in the password file are case insensitive, and this means that you can enter the password using any capitalization that you want.

It is important to note that given the way it is controlled, within one Oracle system, the password's case sensitivity of a regular user and a SYSDBA/SYSOPER user can be independent.

How Password Case Sensitivity Affects Import and Upgrade

What happens when you export some users from a previous database where the password is case insensitive into 11G? The case-insensitive passwords in these accounts remain case insensitive, even if the 11G system has turned on password case sensitivity. This makes sense because otherwise old users may not be able to log on from a previously working script or client program. This, however, will change when the user changes his or her password.

You can find users who have case sensitive or case insensitive passwords by querying the DBA_USERS view. The PASSWORD_VERSIONS column in this view indicates the release in which the password was created. For example:

SELECT USERNAME, PASSWORD_VERSIONS FROM DBA_USERS;

USERNAME PASSWORD_VERSIONS
------------------------------ -----------------
JONES 10G 11G
ADAMS 10G 11G
CLARK 10G 11G
PRESTON 11G
BLAKE 10G

The passwords for accounts jones, adams, and clark were originally created in Release 10g and then reset in Release 11g. Their passwords, assuming case sensitivity has been enabled, are now case sensitive, as is the password for preston. However, the account for blake is still using the Release 10g standard, so it is case insensitive. Once he changes his password, it will become case sensitive and more secure.

Conclusion

Users' passwords in Oracle 11G database become case sensitive by default. Regular user and SYSDBA/SYSOPER user's password case sensitivity can be controlled independently. If you have a script with inconsistent password cases, the script may stop working with 11G even though it works fine with previous releases. To learn more about this topic, read "Security Guide" (Oracle Part Number B28531-03).

How to Clean Disc Drives

When your CD or DVD (disc) drive starts giving you problems, your first thought may be to replace it or take it to the repair shop, but a good cleaning may be all it needs.

Below are three methods to clean the disc drive. The easiest method is the least effective. The hardest method is the most effective. Since the hardest method takes some time to do, I recommend that you start with the easiest method. If it solves your problems, congratulations. If not, try the next method.

The Cleaner Disc method - this, the easiest method, uses a special cleaner disc which can be purchased in computer stores. The disc usually comes with a little bottle of cleaner solution. Apply a few drops of the solution to the disc and insert it in the disc drawer (be sure to read and follow the instructions that come with the cleaner disc). The drive will turn the disc and clean the lens. Unfortunately, this only works adequately about half the time.

The Cleaning Stick method - this is what I do in desperation when the cleaner disc does not work and I don't want to disassemble the drive. Since all that is needed (at least in my mind this is true) is a little more pressure applied to the lens, I start out in search of a thin, flexible stick of some type which is at least six inches long. It should not have sharp or rough edges that would scratch the lens. Next, get a soft, thin cloth and put water or rubbing alcohol in the middle of it. Place one end of the stick under the wet part of the cloth and slide it into the opened disc drawer. The goal is to rub the wet cloth on the lens to clean it. Do not apply so much pressure that you will scratch and ruin the lens. Also try blowing into the disc drive to remove any dirt that may have accommulated in it. If you do not succeed at this, proceed to the next method.

The Disassembly method - this method should work but it requires you to disassemble the drive. So if you are not comfortable with taking the drive apart, please take it to a computer repair shop and let them do it.

Take the cover off your computer, unplug the cords from the back of the disc drive, remove any screws holding it in, and slide it out (you may need to remove the face plate on the end of the drawer to get the drive out). Remove the screws in the drive housing and take the cover off. The bottom side of the drive is a circuit board, so if that is what you see when you take the cover off, figure out how to access the other side. On the correct side, you should see a lens that runs on a track (there is no harm in moving the lens along the track but do not touch the lens itself). Use a wet, soft cloth to clean the lens.

Sometimes a disc drive malfunctions because there is too much dust or debris in it, so be sure to clean out the inside with either compressed air, a soft cloth, or a cotton swab. Reassemble the disc drive, put it back in the computer case, and cross your fingers. Hopefully, it will work when you turn on the computer.

If these methods work, you just saved yourself some money. If not, you needed a better disc drive anyway.

Enabling High Quality CC Software AutomaticallyCoverity Prevent

What Is It?

Coverity Prevent SQS? is the market-leading automated approach to identify and resolve the most critical defects in C, C++, and Java source code. By providing a complete understanding of your build environment, source code, and development process, Prevent SQS sets the standard in enabling high-quality software across organizations worldwide.

Prevent SQS for C/C++ automatically analyzes large, complex C and C++ code bases and detects critical, must-fix defects that could lead to system crashes, memory corruption, security vulnerabilities, unpredictable behavior, and performance degradation.

Prevent SQS features:

? 100% path coverage: Prevent SQS for C/C++ analyzes 100% of the paths through your source code, ensuring that all possible execution branches are followed, while avoiding impossible paths to maintain fast execution.

? Low false positive rate: Prevent SQS for C/C++ maintains a very low false positive rate , ensuring that developers? time spent inspecting defects will result in noticeable quality improvements.

? Highly scalable: Prevent SQS for C/C++ analyzes millions of lines of code in a matter of hours, easily integrating into your regular build process with little or no additional hardware and no disruption to your development process.

What Makes It Great?

Unlike other C/C++ analysis tools that focus on programming style and syntax-based checks, Prevent SQS for C/C++ performs deep, interprocedural analysis to uncover the critical, must-fix defects that matter most to developers. Prevent SQS for C/C++ leverages multiple analysis engines to uncover hard-to-find defects including:

? Path Flow Engine understands the control flow through each function in your code base, allowing Prevent SQS to analyze 100% of the paths through your code.

? Statistical Engine tracks behavioral patterns throughout your entire code base, allowing Prevent SQS to infer correct behavior based on previously observed behavior.

? Interprocedural Summary Engine enables Prevent SQS to perform a whole program analysis of complex call chains at any depth across files and modules in a form that is most similar to the eventual executing Binary. This result in the highest-fidelity results available.

? False Path Engine solves each branch condition to determine if it will be true, false, or unknown on the current path. This allows Prevent SQS to efficiently remove obvious false positives from the set of defects reported.

A sample of the critical defects reported by Prevent SQS for C/C++ include:

Concurrency Issues

? Double locks, missing locks.

? Locks acquired in incorrect order.

? Locks held by blocking functions.

Memory Corruption and
Mismanagement

? Resource leaks.

? Calls to freeing functions using invalid arguments.

? Excessive stack use in memory constrained systems.

Crash-causing pointer errors

? Dereference of null pointers.

? Failure to check for null return values.

? Misuse of data contained within wrapper data types.

C++ Specific Errors

? Misuse of STL iterators.

? Failure to de-allocate memory by destructors.

? Incorrect override of virtual functions.

? Uncaught exceptions.

Window/COM Specific Errors

? Incorrect memory allocation with COM interfaces.

? Incorrect type conversions.

Security Vulnerabilities

? Buffer overruns.

? SQL injection.

? Cross-site scripting.

? Integer overflows.

About Coverity

Coverity (http://www.coverity.com) is the market leader in improving software quality and security. Coverity?s groundbreaking technology automates the approach to identifying and resolving critical defects and security vulnerabilities in C/C++ and Java source code. More than 300 leading companies have chosen Coverity Prevent SQS because it scales to tens of millions of lines of code, has the lowest false positive rate in the industry and provides total path coverage. Companies like Ericsson, HP, Samsung, EMC, and Symantec work with Coverity to eliminate security and quality defects from their mission-critical systems.
Coverity also has customers like Symbian, RIM (Blackberry), Juniper networks, Cisco, Texas instruments and is also used by the Department of Homeland security to scan lots of open source projects.

Free trial

Coverity offers a free trial of Prevent SQS that will detect a wide range of crash-causing defects in your code base within hours. No changes to your code are necessary, there are no limitations on code size, and you will receive a complimentary report detailing actionable analysis results. Register for the on-site evaluation at: http://www.coverity.com .

Check Your Fiber Optic Connectors Like A Professional Installer

What are Fiber Optic Inspection Microscopes?

Fiber optic inspection microscopes are used to inspect the end face of a optical connector or cleaved fiber.

Two types of fiber optic microscopes are popular on the market: fiber optic connector termination inspection and fiber patch panel ferrule inspection.

Magnification levels of fiber scope are available at 200X or 400X for single mode fiber applications, 100X low cost type for multimode applications. The latter is often included in many fiber optic termination tool kits.

What types of flaws or contamination can the microscope see?

With at least 200X magnification you can clearly see scratches, dig, dirt deposit, debris and other contamination on a fiber optic connector.

Desktop video fiber microscope

The typical desktop fiber optic video inspection microscope has a 9" black and white monitor attached to the scope with a 4 feet video cable. So you can place the monitor where it is convenient. Because of its bulk volume, this type of fiber microscope is typically used in production environments and labs. Both 200X and 400X versions are available.

Portable optical fiber scope

This type of microscope with universal adapter is a versatile instrument to inspect fiber optic connectors. They can be used for both multimode and single mode applications. Connectors slide into scope adapter, providing ease of use with or without tripod. 8 degree angle adapter can be used for inspecting angled connectors such as FC/APC, SC/APC, etc. Both 200X and 400X versions are available.

Coaxial Illuminated handheld fiber inspection scope

These low cost microscopes are available in 200x or 400x magnification, and utilize white LED light to provide coaxial illumination to connector end-faces. This method of illumination produces high resolution detail of end face scratches, defects and contamination. It is provided with a universal 2.5mm adapter, with other common connector styles available. These are the natural choice for fiber installation contractors.

Ferrule inspection microscopes

All aforementioned four types of microscopes are for standalone fiber connector inspection. But what about the connectors already installed on patch panels and hardware devices? The ferrule inspection microscopes are the solution.

These video fiber optic microscopes include a handheld LCD display unit and a small, lightweight probe that contains a long-life LED light source and CCD video camera. The probe adapter tip mates with the connector and projects a crisp, clear image of microscopic debris and end-face damage on the LCD display.

Zoom levels of different optical fiber optic microscopes

* 100X
* 150X
* 200X
* 400X

Warnings

* Do not look into a fiber while the system laser is on

* Do not connect a fiberscope while the system laser is on

* Do not touch the end face of the fiber connector

* Lasers used in telecommunication systems are powerful enough to burn contaminants into the fiber end face. Always ensure the laser is turned off while performing the cleaning procedure.

Other special features of popular handheld fiber micrscopes

1. 100X magnification for viewing multimode connectors
2. Includes 2.5 mm connector "Universal Adapter" for FC, ST and SC style connectors
3. Oblique illumination provides good view of ferrule cleanliness and core condition
4. White LED illumination delivers long working life

Windows Password Loophole

I wish i'd quit finding these !!



a. ok now, what you need to do is to run compmgmt.msc

b. and click on local users and groups.

c. once you've gotten here you need to open up the 'users' folder.


at this point i am walking along with you and notice that there are several
major security holes dealing specifically with the password:
1. double clicking on the any user name allows you a list that looks
something like this:
"user name"

full name: -----------------------
|__________________|

description: -----------------------
|__________________|
--
|_| user must change password at next logon

--
|_| user cannot change password

--
|/| password never expires

--
|_| account is disabled

--
|_| account is locked out


"ok" "cancel" "apply"

ok if you can get past my cheesy drawing, i must ask, did you notice that
the "password never expires" box is checked? if you did, then you may have
realized that this means that you can also uncheck it!

2. if ure paying attention, you'll see that the 'user must change password
at next logon' box is unchecked. if you put a check in this box of course,
when you shut down the system will prompt for a new password!

3. going back to step c.,
right click on any account and notice the dialoge that appears:
set password...
all tasks
delete
rename
properties
help

i think you can handle it from here

ps. i wonder if you can access this data if this stuff is locked to the user
by the admin by going in through the command prompt. i doubt it but if neone
finds a way let me know.

Port Knocking

According To Wikipedia


Related Article : All Bout Port Knocking


In computing, port knocking is a method of externally opening ports on a firewall by generating a connection attempt on a set of prespecified closed ports. Once a correct sequence of connection attempts is received the firewall rules are dynamically modified to allow the host which sent the connection attempts to connect over specified port(s).


This is usually implemented by configuring a daemon to watch the firewall log file for said connection attempts then modify the firewall configuration accordingly. It can also be performed by a process examining packets at a higher level (using packet capture interfaces such as Pcap), allowing the use of already "open" TCP ports to be used within the knock sequence. Port knocking is most often used to determine access to port 22, the Secure Shell (SSH) port. The port "knock" itself is similar to a secret handshake and can consist of any number of TCP, UDP or even sometimes ICMP and other protocol packets to numbered ports on the destination machine. The complexity of the knock can be anything from a simple ordered list (e.g. TCP port 1000, TCP port 2000, UDP port 3000) to a complex time-dependent, source-IP-based and other-factor-based encrypted hash.


A port knock setup takes next to no resources and very simple software to implement. A portknock daemon on the firewall machine listens for packets on certain ports (either via the firewall log or by packet capture). The client user would carry an extra utility, which could be as simple as netcat or a modified ping program or as complicated as a full hash-generator, and use that before they attempted to connect to the machine in the usual way.

Most portknocks are stateful systems in that if the first part of the "knock" has been received successfully, an incorrect second part would not allow the remote user to continue and, indeed, would give the remote user no clue as to how far through the sequence they failed. Usually the only indication of failure is that, at the end of the knock sequence, the port expected to be open is not opened. No packets are sent to the remote user at any time.
While this technique for securing access to remote network daemons has not yet been widely adopted by the security community, it has been integrated in newer rootkits.

Step 3
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Step 3
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Step 4

How Port knocking works in theory



Step 1 (A) Client cannot connect to application listening on port n; (B) Client cannot establish connection to any port.

Step 2 (1,2,3,4) Client tries to connect to a well-defined set of ports in sequence by sending certain packets; Client has prior knowledge of the port knocking daemon and its configuration, but receives no acknowledgement during this phase because firewall rules preclude any response.

Step 3 (A) Server process (a port knocking daemon) intercepts connection attempts and interprets (decrypts and decodes) them as comprising an authentic "port knock"; server carries out specific task based on content of port knock, such as opening port n to the client.

Step 4 (A) Client connects to port n and authenticates using application’s regular mechanism.


Benefits of port knocking




Consider that, if an external attacker did not know the port knock sequence, even the simplest of sequences would require a massive brute force effort in order to be discovered. A three-knock simple TCP sequence (e.g. port 1000, 2000, 3000) would require an attacker without prior knowledge of the sequence to test every combination of three ports in the range 1-65535, and then to scan each port in between to see if anything had opened. As a stateful system, the port would not open until after the correct three-digit sequence had been received in order, without other packets in between.

That equates to approximately 655354 packets in order to obtain and detect a single successful opening. That's approximately 18,445,618,199,572,250,625 or 18 million million million packets. On the average attempt it would take approximately 9 million million million packets to successfully open a single, simple three-port TCP-only knock by brute force. This is made even more impractical when knock attempt-limiting is used to stop brute force attacks, longer and more complex sequences are used and cryptographic hashes are used as part of the knock.

When a port knock is successfully used to open a port, the firewall rules are generally only opened to the IP address that supplied the correct knock. This is similar to only allowing a certain IP whitelist to access a service but is also more dynamic. An authorised user situated anywhere in the world would be able to open the port he is interested in to only the IP that he is using without needing help from the server administrator. He would also be able to "close" the port once he had finished, or the system could be set up to use a timeout mechanism, to ensure that once he changes IP's, only the IP's necessary are left able to contact the server. Because of port knocking's stateful behaviour, several users from different source IP addresses can simultaneously be at varying levels of the port knock. Thus it is possible to have a genuine user with the correct knock let through the firewall even in the middle of a port attack from multiple IP's (assuming the bandwidth of the firewall is not completely swamped). To all other IP addresses, the ports still appear closed and there is no indication that there are other users who have successfully opened ports and are using them.

Using cryptographic hashes inside the port knock sequence can mean that even sniffing the network traffic in and out of the source and target machines is ineffective against discovering the port knock sequence or using traffic replay attacks to repeat prior port knock sequences. Even if somebody did manage to guess, steal or sniff the port knock and successfully use it to gain access to a port, the usual port security mechanisms are still in place, along with whatever service authentication was running on the opened ports.

The software required, either at the server or client end, is minimal and can in fact be implemented as simply as a shell script for the server or a Windows batch file and a standard Windows command line utility for the client. Overhead in terms of traffic, CPU and memory consumption is at an absolute minimum. Port knock daemons also tend to be so simple that any sort of vulnerability is obvious and the code is very easily auditable. With a portknock system in place on ports such as the SSH port, it can prevent brute force password attacks on logins. The SSH daemon need not even wake up as any attempt that is made without the correct portknock will bounce harmlessly off the TCP/IP stack rather than the SSH authentication. As far as any attacker is concerned, there is no daemon running on that port at all until he manages to correctly knock on the port. The system is completely customisable and not limited to opening specific ports or, indeed, opening ports at all. Usually a knock sequence description is tied with an action, such as running a shell script, so when a specific sequence is detected by the port knock daemon, the relevant shell script is run. This could add firewall rules to open ports or do anything else that was possible in a shell script. Many portknocks can be used on a single machine to perform many different actions, such as opening or closing different ports.

Due to the fact that the ports appear closed at all times until a user knowing the correct knock uses it, port knocking can help cut down not only on brute force password attacks and their associated log spam but also protocol vulnerability exploits. If an exploit was discovered that could compromise SSH daemons in their default configuration, having a port knock on that SSH port could mean that the SSH daemon may not be compromised in the time before it was updated. Only authorised users would have the knock and therefore only authorised users would be able to contact the SSH server in any way. Thus, random attempts on SSH servers by worms and viruses trying to exploit the vulnerability would not reach the vulnerable SSH server at all, giving the administrator a chance to update or patch the software. Although not a complete protection, port knocking would certainly be another level of defense against random attacks and, properly implemented, could even stop determined, targeted attacks.

Port knocking generally has some disregard in the security world, given that early implementations basically consisted of a number of ports that had to be hit in order. However, the best of modern portknock systems are much more complex, some using highly secure cryptographic hashes in order to defeat the most common attacks (such as packet sniffing and packet replay). Additionally, portknock systems can include blacklists, whitelists and dynamic attack responses as can any internet service, however, even the simplest of port knocks controls access to a system before attackers are able to hit a service that allocates memory, CPU time or other significant resources and also acts as a barrier against brute-force attempts, automated vulnerability exploits, etc. Also, port knocking does not generally lower the security of a system overall. Indeed, it provides another layer of security for minimal overhead. In a worst case scenario however, the port knocking software introduced a new security problem or lowers security due to risk compensation.


i liked to share this information its really Knowledgeable

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_knocking

How Not To Get Hacked

A Good Hacker Is Never Hacked



Protect Urself !

Follow These Simple Guidelines n u are done


As email providers give away more and more storage space, more and more personal information is being stored in those accounts. People are increasingly using their email accounts for more than just email - it has become their online document storage area with backup documents such as passwords, bank account numbers, account usernames, scans of correspondence and much more. Even if you don’t use your email for this purpose, you may still be inadvertantly revealing personal information in general conversation emails to family and close friends. A 6GB Gmail account or an unlimited space Yahoo account is potentially an information bonanza source for identity thieves who manage to figure out your email password and then go snooping. But if someone HAS cracked your email password, it may not be apparent to you. A snooper can easily read an email then mark it as unread again. So the best thing to do would be to set up an “electronic tripwire” so if someone breaks into your account, you’ll know about it. Here’s how to do it :
    1. Sign up for a website hit counter at www.onestatfree.com. You can leave a fake name and whatever URL you want (I used Google.com for mine). 2. You will then receive a welcome email from OneStat with a text attachment called OneStatScript.txt. Download this attachment to your computer and then delete the email (you don’t want any email snoopers finding it later). But before deleting the email, write down your OneStat account number as you will need it later.3. Change the name of the text document to something that will make the email snooper salivate such as passwordlist. Also change the file format from a text document to a website page. So make it something like passwordlist.htm .4. Email this newly-renamed file as an attachment to the email account you want to monitor. Make sure the email subject title also lures the snooper in (maybe something like List of Passwords. You get the idea :).5. The trap is now set. Basically if someone opens the email and opens the attachment, OneStat will record a hit. If you then log into your OneStat account say once a day, you will see how many hits you have had to your attachment.onestat.png
The OneStat account page then gives you details on each “visitor” including the date and time they accessed the web document and more importantly their location and IP address! onestatipaddress.png So how does having this information help you? Well first of all, it will alert you to change your password to something stronger. Secondly, if you see the snooper’s location and you only know one or two people there then it narrows down your list of potential suspects. By the way, I recommended signing up for One Stat because the author of the original idea mentioned them. But if you know of any other hit counter services that send text documents to your email address, then please mention them in the comments. I don’t have any financial advantage recommending One Stat so I am perfectly happy to consider alternative companies.

1. Stop using Internet Explorer and make the switch to Opera, it's more secure, plain and simple.

2. Get Spybot Search and Destroy or Spyware Doctor and immediately update it.

3. Get Adaware SE and immediately update it.
(Use both as a 1-2 punch on infected client computers and between the two there's not much they won't kill)

4. Update your anti virus

5. Boot into safe mode and run all three scans

6. While the scans are going check your registry (Click start --> Run and type regedit to get intot he registry) and look in HKEY_CurrentUser/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/run & HKEY_Local_Machine/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/run. Verify that all programs listed are legitimate and wanted.

7. If or when your antivirus scan comes across anything, search for that file name in your registry and delete it.

8. Use explorer to go to the windows/system32 folder and sort by date. If you haven't already done so, make sure you can see the entire file names. click Tools --> Folder Options and unclick the box labeled "Hide extensions for known file types" and under Hidden files and folders click "Show hidden files and folders." However, make sure you choose "Hide protected operating system files" so you don't accidentally remove anything that would cripple your computer.. You are looking for recent files with names ending with .exe and .dll that look suspicious. Major culprits will have gibberish names such as alkjdlkjfa.exe.

9. Once you can get clean scans in safe mode, reboot in normal mode and scan all over again. If you can't get a clean scan in regular mode then you have something more persistant that could take more research.

10. Make sure your firewall doesn't have strange exceptions.

11. If you suspect anything that is going wrong with your computer is the action of a stalker, on a more secure system change all your passwords.

12. If your system has been specifically targeted and hacked you can never be 100% sure that your system is no longer compromised so start with 11, make backups of personal files on the infected system and format and re-install Windows.

Good luck!

Hacking your School, College

getting over the blocked sites


u can try google translator .. or one proxy which i found intresting was greenpips.com try that or . try this http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&langpair=de%7Cen&u=http://www.your website.com/ change the last part to the website you like to access

contributed by
Muhajir.K.M

Hacking at school


This tutorial is aimed at school servers running Windows underneath (most of them do). It works definitely with Windows 98, 2000, Me, and XP. never tried it with 95, but it should work anyway. However, schools can stop Batch files from working, but it is very uncommon for them to be that switched on.


There are problems with school servers, and they mostly come back to the basic architecture of the system - so the admins are unlikely to do anything about it! In this article I will discuss how to bypass web filtering software at school, send messages everywhere you want, create admin accounts, modify others' accounts, and generally cause havok. Please note that I ahve refrained from giving away information that will actually screw up your school server, though intelligent thinkers will work it out. THis is because, for god sakes, this is a school! Don't screw them up!


How to get it all moving



An MS-DOS prompt is the best way to do stuff, because most admins don't think its possible to get them and, if they do, they just can't do anything much about it.

First, open a notepad file (if your school blocks notepad, open a webpage, right click and go to view source. hey presto, notepad!). Now, write

command.com

and save the file as batch.bat, or anything with the extension .bat . Open this file and it will give you a command prompt:) (for more information on why this works, look to the end of the article). REMEMBER TO DELETE THIS FILE ONCE YOU'VE FINISHED!!! if the admins see it, they will kill you;)


Bypassing that pesky web filtering



Well, now you've got a command prompt, it's time to visit whatever site you want. Now, there are plenty of ways to bypass poorly constructed filtering, but I'm going to take it for granted that your school has stopped these. This one, as far as I know, will never be stopped.

in your command prompt, type

ping hackthissite.org

or anything else you wanna visit. Now you should have a load of info, including delay times and, most importantly, an IP address for the website. Simply type this IP address into the address bar, preceded by http://, and you'll be able to access the page!

For example: http://197.57.189.10 etc.

Now, I've noticed a lot of people have been saying that there are other ways to bypass web filtering, and there are. I am only mentioning the best method I know. Others you might want to try are:

1) Using a translator, like Altavista's Babel fish, to translate the page from japanese of something to english. This will bypass the filtering and won't translate the page, since it's already in English.

2) When you search up the site on Google, there will be a link saying 'Cache'. Click that and you should be on.

3) Use a proxy. I recommend Proxify.com. If your school has blocked it, search it up on Google and do the above. Then you can search to your heart's content:)



Sending messages out over the network




Okay, here's how to send crazy messages to everyone in your school on a computer. In your command prompt, type

Net Send * "The server is h4x0r3d"

*Note: may not be necessary, depending on how many your school has access too. If it's just one, you can leave it out*

Where is, replace it with the domain name of your school. For instance, when you log on to the network, you should have a choice of where to log on, either to your school, or to just the local machine. It tends to be called the same as your school, or something like it. So, at my school, I use

Net Send Varndean * "The server is h4x0r3d"

The asterisk denotes wildcard sending, or sending to every computer in the domain. You can swap this for people's accounts, for example

NetSend Varndean dan,jimmy,admin "The server is h4x0r3d"

use commas to divide the names and NO SPACES between them.



Adding/modifying user accounts




Now that you have a command prompt, you can add a new user (ie yourself) like so

C:>net user username /ADD

where username is the name of your new account. And remember, try and make it look inconspicuous, then they'll just think its a student who really is at school, when really, the person doesn't EXIST! IF you wanna have a password, use this instead:

C:>net user username password /ADD

where password is the password you want to have. So for instance the above would create an account called 'username', with the password being 'password'. The below would have a username of 'JohnSmith' and a password of 'fruity'

C:>net user JohnSmith fruity /ADD

Right then, now that we can create accounts, let's delete them:)

C:>net user JohnSmith /DELETE

This will delete poor liddle JohnSmith's account. Awww. Do it to you enemies:P no only joking becuase they could have important work... well okay only if you REALLY hate them:)

Let's give you admin priveleges:)

C:>net localgroup administrator JohnSmith /ADD

This will make JohnSmith an admin. Remember that some schools may not call their admins 'adminstrator' and so you need to find out the name of the local group they belong to.

You can list all the localgroups by typing

C:>net localgroup

Running .exe files you can't usually run

In the command prompt, use cd (change directory) to go to where the file is, use DIR to get the name of it, and put a shortcut of it on to a floppy. Run the program off the floppy disk.

Well, I hope this article helped a bit. Please vote for me if you liked it:) Also, please don't go round screwing up your school servers, they are providing them free to you to help your learning.

I will add more as I learn more and remember stuff (I think I've left some stuff out - this article could get very long...)

Clear BIOS Password, All tricks !

**** New Trick ****


At command prompt type debug
you will get a - prompt where you can type the fallowing ( means hit enter, not type enter*)

A
MOV AX,0
MOV AX,CX
OUT 70,AL
MOV AX,0
OUT 71,AL
INC CX
CMP CX,100
JB 103
INT 20
just hit enter on this line
G
Q


Basic BIOS password crack - works 9.9 times out of ten


This is a password hack but it clears the BIOS such that the next time you start the PC, the CMOS does not ask for any password. Now if you are able to bring the DOS prompt up, then you will be able to change the BIOS setting to the default. To clear the CMOS do the following:
Get DOS prompt and type:
DEBUG hit enter
-o 70 2e hit enter
-o 71 ff hit enter
-q hit enter
exit hit enter
Restart the computer. It works on most versions of the AWARD BIOS.



Accessing information on the hard disk




When you turn on the host machine, enter the CMOS setup menu (usually you have to press F2, or DEL, or CTRL+ALT+S during the boot sequence) and go to STANDARD CMOS SETUP, and set the channel to which you have put the hard disk as TYPE=Auto, MODE=AUTO, then SAVE & EXIT SETUP. Now you have access to the hard disk.



Standard BIOS backdoor passwords



The first, less invasive, attempt to bypass a BIOS password is to try on of these standard manufacturer's backdoor passwords:
AWARD BIOS
AWARD SW, AWARD_SW, Award SW, AWARD PW, _award, awkward, J64, j256, j262, j332, j322, 01322222, 589589, 589721, 595595, 598598, HLT, SER, SKY_FOX, aLLy, aLLY, Condo, CONCAT, TTPTHA, aPAf, HLT, KDD, ZBAAACA, ZAAADA, ZJAAADC, djonet, %øåñòü ïpîáåëîâ%, %äåâÿòü ïpîáåëîâ%
AMI BIOS
AMI, A.M.I., AMI SW, AMI_SW, BIOS, PASSWORD, HEWITT RAND, Oder
Other passwords you may try (for AMI/AWARD or other BIOSes)
LKWPETER, lkwpeter, BIOSTAR, biostar, BIOSSTAR, biosstar, ALFAROME, Syxz, Wodj
Note that the key associated to "_" in the US keyboard corresponds to "?" in some European keyboards (such as Italian and German ones), so -- for example -- you should type AWARD?SW when using those keyboards. Also remember that passwords are Case Sensitive. The last two passwords in the AWARD BIOS list are in Russian.



Flashing BIOS via software



If you have access to the computer when it's turned on, you could try one of those programs that remove the password from the BIOS, by invalidating its memory.
However, it might happen you don't have one of those programs when you have access to the computer, so you'd better learn how to do manually what they do. You can reset the BIOS to its default values using the MS-DOS tool DEBUG (type DEBUG at the command prompt. You'd better do it in pure MS-DOS mode, not from a MS-DOS shell window in Windows). Once you are in the debug environment enter the following commands:
AMI/AWARD BIOS
O 70 17
O 71 17
Q
PHOENIX BIOS
O 70 FF
O 71 17
Q
GENERIC
Invalidates CMOS RAM.
Should work on all AT motherboards
(XT motherboards don't have CMOS)
O 70 2E
O 71 FF
Q
Note that the first letter is a "O" not the number "0". The numbers which follow are two bytes in hex format.


Flashing BIOS via hardware



If you can't access the computer when it's on, and the standard backdoor passwords didn't work, you'll have to flash the BIOS via hardware. Please read the important notes at the end of this section before to try any of these methods.


Using the jumpers


The canonical way to flash the BIOS via hardware is to plug, unplug, or switch a jumper on the motherboard (for "switching a jumper" I mean that you find a jumper that joins the central pin and a side pin of a group of three pins, you should then unplug the jumper and then plug it to the central pin and to the pin on the opposite side, so if the jumper is normally on position 1-2, you have to put it on position 2-3, or vice versa). This jumper is not always located near to the BIOS, but could be anywhere on the motherboard.

To find the correct jumper you should read the motherboard's manual.
Once you've located the correct jumper, switch it (or plug or unplug it, depending from what the manual says) while the computer is turned OFF. Wait a couple of seconds then put the jumper back to its original position. In some motherboards it may happen that the computer will automatically turn itself on, after flashing the BIOS. In this case, turn it off, and put the jumper back to its original position, then turn it on again. Other motherboards require you turn the computer on for a few seconds to flash the BIOS.

If you don't have the motherboard's manual, you'll have to "brute force" it... trying out all the jumpers. In this case, try first the isolated ones (not in a group), the ones near to the BIOS, and the ones you can switch (as I explained before). If all them fail, try all the others. However, you must modify the status of only one jumper per attempt, otherwise you could damage the motherboard (since you don't know what the jumper you modified is actually meant for). If the password request screen still appear, try another one.

If after flashing the BIOS, the computer won't boot when you turn it on, turn it off, and wait some seconds before to retry.

Removing the battery


If you can't find the jumper to flash the BIOS or if such jumper doesn't exist, you can remove the battery that keeps the BIOS memory alive. It's a button-size battery somewhere on the motherboard (on elder computers the battery could be a small, typically blue, cylinder soldered to the motherboard, but usually has a jumper on its side to disconnect it, otherwise you'll have to unsolder it and then solder it back). Take it away for 15-30 minutes or more, then put it back and the data contained into the BIOS memory should be volatilized. I'd suggest you to remove it for about one hour to be sure, because if you put it back when the data aren't erased yet you'll have to wait more time, as you've never removed it. If at first it doesn't work, try to remove the battery overnight.

Important note: in laptop and notebooks you don't have to remove the computer's power batteries (which would be useless), but you should open your computer and remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard.
Short-circuiting the chip
Another way to clear the CMOS RAM is to reset it by short circuiting two pins of the BIOS chip for a few seconds. You can do that with a small piece of electric wire or with a bent paper clip. Always make sure that the computer is turned OFF before to try this operation.


Here is a list of EPROM chips that are commonly used in the BIOS industry. You may find similar chips with different names if they are compatible chips made by another brand. If you find the BIOS chip you are working on matches with one of the following you can try to short-circuit the appropriate pins. Be careful, because this operation may damage the chip.
CHIPS P82C206 (square)


Short together pins 12 and 32 (the first and the last pins on the bottom edge of the chip) or pins 74 and 75 (the two pins on the upper left corner).
gnd
74
|__________________
5v 75--| |
| |
| |
| CHIPS |
1 * | |
| P82C206 |
| |
| |
|___________________|
| |
| gnd | 5v
12 32
OPTi F82C206 (rectangular)
Short together pins 3 and 26 (third pin from left side and fifth pin from right side on the bottom edge).
80 51
|______________|
81 -| |- 50
| |
| |
| OPTi |
| |
| F82C206 |
| |
100-|________________|-31
|| | |
1 || | | 30
3 26


Dallas DS1287, DS1287A
Benchmarq bp3287MT, bq3287AMT
The Dallas DS1287 and DS1287A, and the compatible Benchmarq bp3287MT and bq3287AMT chips have a built-in battery. This battery should last up to ten years. Any motherboard using these chips should not have an additional battery (this means you can't flash the BIOS by removing a battery). When the battery fails, the RTC chip would be replaced.
CMOS RAM can be cleared on the 1287A and 3287AMT chips by shorting pins 12 and 21.

The 1287 (and 3287MT) differ from the 1287A in that the CMOS RAM can't be cleared. If there is a problem such as a forgotten password, the chip must be replaced. (In this case it is recommended to replace the 1287 with a 1287A). Also the Dallas 12887 and 12887A are similar but contain twice as much CMOS RAM storage.
__________
1 -| * U |- 24 5v
2 -| |- 23
3 -| |- 22
4 -| |- 21 RCL (RAM Clear)
5 -| |- 20
6 -| |- 19
7 -| |- 18
8 -| |- 17
9 -| |- 16
10 -| |- 15
11 -| |- 14
gnd 12 -|__________|- 13

NOTE: Although these are 24-pin chips,
the Dallas chips may be missing 5 pins,
these are unused pins.
Most chips have unused pins,
though usually they are still present.


Dallas DS12885S
Benchmarq bq3258S
Hitachi HD146818AP
Samsung KS82C6818A
This is a rectangular 24-pin DIP chip, usually in a socket. The number on the chip should end in 6818.
Although this chip is pin-compatible with the Dallas 1287/1287A, there is no built-in battery.
Short together pins 12 and 24.
5v
24 20 13
|___________|____________________|
| |
| DALLAS |
|> |
| DS12885S |
| |
|__________________________________|
| |
1 12
gnd


Motorola MC146818AP
Short pins 12 and 24. These are the pins on diagonally opposite corners - lower left and upper right. You might also try pins 12 and 20.
__________
1 -| * U |- 24 5v
2 -| |- 23
3 -| |- 22
4 -| |- 21
5 -| |- 20
6 -| |- 19
7 -| |- 18
8 -| |- 17
9 -| |- 16
10 -| |- 15
11 -| |- 14
gnd 12 -|__________|- 13



Replacing the chip



If nothing works, you could replace the existing BIOS chip with a new one you can buy from your specialized electronic shop or your computer supplier. It's a quick operation if the chip is inserted on a base and not soldered to the motherboard, otherwise you'll have to unsolder it and then put the new one. In this case would be more convenient to solder a base on which you'll then plug the new chip, in the eventuality that you'll have to change it again. If you can't find the BIOS chip specifically made for your motherboard, you should buy one of the same type (probably one of the ones shown above) and look in your motherboard manufacturer's website to see if there's the BIOS image to download. Then you should copy that image on the chip you bought with an EPROM programmer.


Important
Whether is the method you use, when you flash the BIOS not only the password, but also all the other configuration data will be reset to the factory defaults, so when you are booting for the first time after a BIOS flash, you should enter the CMOS configuration menu (as explained before) and fix up some things.
Also, when you boot Windows, it may happen that it finds some new device, because of the new configuration of the BIOS, in this case you'll probably need the Windows installation CD because Windows may ask you for some external files. If Windows doesn't see the CD-ROM try to eject and re-insert the CD-ROM again. If Windows can't find the CD-ROM drive and you set it properly from the BIOS config, just reboot with the reset key, and in the next run Windows should find it. However most files needed by the system while installing new hardware could also be found in C:WINDOWS, C:WINDOWSSYSTEM, or C:WINDOWSINF .



Key Disk for Toshiba laptops



Some Toshiba notebooks allow to bypass BIOS by inserting a "key-disk" in the floppy disk drive while booting. To create a Toshiba Keydisk, take a 720Kb or 1.44Mb floppy disk, format it (if it's not formatted yet), then use a hex editor such as Hex Workshop to change the first five bytes of the second sector (the one after the boot sector) and set them to 4B 45 59 00 00 (note that the first three bytes are the ASCII for "KEY" followed by two zeroes). Once you have created the key disk put it into the notebook's drive and turn it on, then push the reset button and when asked for password, press Enter. You will be asked to Set Password again. Press Y and Enter. You'll enter the BIOS configuration where you can set a new password.


Key protected cases



A final note about those old computers (up to 486 and early Pentiums) protected with a key that prevented the use of the mouse and the keyboard or the power button. All you have to do with them is to follow the wires connected to the key hole, locate the jumper to which they are connected and unplug it.

That's all.

Clear Cmos, jumper.That is the way how I solve problem when customer forgets password.


More


There are a few different ways to reset the cmos, here's a few:

1. there are many default common passwords,
such as:

At boot-up note the BIOS provider (Award, AMI, Phoenix, IBM, etc.)

For Award BIOS' try these backdoor passwords:

AWARD_SW
j262
HLT
SER
SKY_FOX
BIOSTAR
ALFAROME
Lkwpeter
j256
AWARD?SW
LKWPETER
syxz
ALLy
589589
589721
awkward
CONCAT
d8on
CONDO
j64
szyx

For AMI BIOS' try these backdoor passwords:

AMI
BIOS
PASSWORD
HEWITT RAND
AMI?SW
AMI_SW
LKWPETER
A.M.I.
CONDO


For PHOENIX BIOS' try this backdoor password:

phoenix

there are too many to count here's a list
http://www.phenoelit.de/dpl/dpl.html
(search for PC BIOS)


2. On some older PC's pressing the insert key upon startup will clear
the CMOS, make sure you hold it down till it's done booting.

3. Another way which we pretty much already covered, was to pull the
metallic nickel looking battery that supplies power to the CMOS.

4. Some times there is a small three pin jumper used to reset the bios,
just move the black little pin cover to the opposite two pins.
(Make sure to read the motherboards manual before this)

5. If the battery is soldered in you can take a soldering iron to it but
I don't recommend it unless you are a professional.

6. there are a few programs out on the net which are made to crack
certain types of bios passwords, I have one for award BIOS's here's a
couple:

http://www.11a.nu/ibios.htm

http://natan.zejn.si/rempass.html

Good reading:
http://www.astalavista.com/library/...ios_hacking.txt


http://www.virtualplastic.net/html/misc_bios.html


Tools:
http://www.red-demon.com/pwrecovery.htm
l


A CMOS password, if present, is one that you must enter when the computer is booting up. It comes before a network or operating system password. You will not be able to run any programs, view files or even enter the operating system if you do not enter this password. If you find you'd like to change the password, this can be done by restarting your computer and entering the CMOS setup. CMOS setup is usually entered by typing a certain key or combination of keys as your computer is booting up. The DEL (delete) key or Ctrl/Enter are common ones. However, your BIOS should show a line explaining which key(s) to type to enter SETUP, BIOS SETUP, OR CMOS SETUP. There should be a password option in the setup program. If you are not able to find this option you will need to consult the manual that came with the computer or motherboard. If you have forgotten your password you will need to clear it by physically changing jumpers on your motherboard to short out certain pins, thereby erasing the password. The location of these pins varies from motherboard to motherboard, so you will need to refer to your computer or motherboard's manual. Some motherboards have a default password. For example, the AMI BIOS default password is "AMI". Check your computer or motherboard manual for the default password. It's worth trying this password if you don't know, or have forgotten the CMOS password. Some older computers required you to have a "reference disk" in order to make changes to the CMOS settings, which would include the password.


Anonymizers and Remailers !! What n How

Anonymizers and Remailers !! What n How



Anonymizers are online services that eliminate the trail of information that you leave behind, whilst surfing, so that your online activities cannot be traced back to you. The anonymizers vary in sophistication depending on the level of security and number of features that you require. Some anonymizers require the use of client software and others only require that you log onto their website before browsing other sites*.


How do Anonymizers work?



You essentially surf the Web through the anonymizer site, going to that site first and then routing all your pages from there. When you send a page request through the anonymizer, it acts like a super-proxy server, stripping off the header of each data packet, thus making your request anonymous. The requested page is then fed through the anonymizer back to your Web browser**.



In order to avoid being tracked, one can use an anonymous proxy to surf the web. An anonymous proxy makes sure your IP address does not get stored on the web server logs. Web servers log every ?GET? request made, together with date, hour, and IP. But if you are accessing the Internet through a proxy server, then the IP of the proxy is logged and not yours.
In case you do not go through an anonymous proxy, then you are actually risking vital information that belongs to you. For example, a hacker can easily find out your IP Address, your web browser, your Operating System and even the previous URL that you have visited. You can also be easily located geographically (provided one has the necessary software tools) because people can find out a whole lot of things that give your location. Like your hostname, your continent, your country, your city and even your Internet Service Provider.
Consider the scenario where a hacker gets access to your computer, he can find out your name, email address, telephone number, various user ID's and passwords, details about software you use and your preferences, locations of files and folders, the search strings that you used and literally hundreds of other personal things. All this information is stored in files like SYSTEM.ini, USER.dat, SYSTEM.dat etc. One very important file is the nsform??.TMP which stores all the data inside every Netscape form you've ever submitted, with and without SSL, when the submission failed or was cancelled.


What are Re-mailers?



Anonymous Re-mailers are services used to send e-mail messages, so that the recipient of the e-mail cannot determine the identity of the sender. Re-mailers strip off header information leading to the identity of the sender and often route a message through a chain of re-mailers before reaching the recipient. Many re-mailers also include some sort of message based encryption. Re-mailers are commonly used to protect the anonymity if the sender from the recipient, to prevent eavesdropping by a third party, or to post anonymously to newsgroups*.

How do Re-mailers Work?



An anonymous re-mailer is simply a computer connected to the Internet that forwards electronic mail or files to other addresses on the network. It also strips off the "header" part of the messages, which shows where they came from and who sent them. All the receiver can tell about a message's origin is that it passed through the re-mailer. Some re-mailers also allocate each sender an "anonymous ID", rather like a PO Box number, which it stores with the sender's address so that any replies reach them.***


All re-mailers are fairly effective at what they do and some even take an extra step and add encryption to all outgoing messages. In order to view header information sent via email messages in Outlook Express, select a message in your inbox, then select File | Properties | Details.
To view header information in m*c*s*t Outlook, right-click a message in your inbox and select Options; the header information is displayed in the Internet Headers area of the Message Options dialog box.

Anonymous re-mailers were invented by security experts interested to know whether it was possible to send a message on the Internet which could not be traced back to its source. As soon as the first ones were built, though, people found a more pragmatic use for them: to send messages to bulletin boards about subjects so sensitive that they did not want their names known.

Speed up Booting Xp by 61 Times

run -> msconfig - Hit Enter


Awesome tricks Explained here for u Free!




Whenever you start your computer, you are faced with a few moments of thumb twiddling while Windows XP boots and prompts you to log on. Although you should expect to wait for a few moments, sometimes Windows XP seems to boot rather slowly. In fact, you may notice that over a period of time the PC that used to roar to life seems a bit sluggish instead. Fortunately, you can perform several techniques that help Windows XP get the bootup speed you want. This Article explores how to put these techniques to work.


Stopping Unneeded Startup Services !



Along with the core operating system and programs that Windows XP runs when it starts, there is also a host of services involved. Many of these services are necessary for Windows XP to operate correctly. However, many of them are for features in Windows XP that you may not use at all. You can peruse the services and disable any service that you do not want to run. The fewer services that run, the more quickly Windows XP will boot.

Caution:


Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it.


To reduce the number of services that start on bootup, you can access two different areas of Windows XP. The first is the System Configuration Utility. The Services tab shows you the services that start when the computer boots.
You can stop a service from starting by simply clearing the check box next to the service and clicking OK. However, before you do so, there is another way to disable services that you may prefer because the interface gives you more information about the service in question.


Open Control Panel/Administrative ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console.
I prefer to use the Services console instead of the System Configuration Utility because it describes what the service does. Additionally, you can double-click a service and examine its properties.

Notice the Startup Type column in Figure 4-2. This information lists whether the service is automatic or manual. Manual services are only started in Windows XP when you start a process that requires the service. Some other process may require the service that has a "dependency" relationship with it; in this case, the dependency service will start, as well. Because these services do not start automatically when you boot Windows XP, you do not need to do anything with manual services.


However, all services listed as automatic start when Windows XP boots. These are the services that increase boot time. As I have mentioned, many of them are necessary and important, so you should not stop automatic services from booting unless you are sure of the ramifications. You can get this information by looking at the Description column. Here's a quick look at common services you may want to live without:


SPEED UP BOOT BY DISABLING UNUSED PORTS.!!



You may have tried many tweaks like modifying windowsXP start-up applications, prefetches, unload DLLs method,etc. And yes those methods do work for me.
I have just accidentally found out another way to give you an extra boost in windowsXP's boot performance. This is done by disabling your unused devices in
Device Manager. for example, if you don't have input devices that are connected to one of your USBs or COM ports, disabling them will give you an extra perfromance boost in booting. Go to Control Panel -> System -> Hardware tab -> device manager Disable devices that you don't use for your PC and then restar
t.


Do Dis !!


1.Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).

2.Locate the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\MemoryManagement\PrefetchParameters

3.Make sure you backup the keys by exporting them to a .reg file.

4.On the EnablePrefetcher value, change the setting from 3 to 5 (decimal).

5.Close the registry editor.

6.Restart your computer



Automatic Updates !


This service enables Windows XP to check the Web automatically for updates. If you don't want to use Automatic Updates, you can disable the service. You can always check for updates manually at the Windows Update Web site.

Computer Browser: If your computer is not on a network, you don't need this service. If you are on a network, leave it alone.

DHCP Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are on a small workgroup, you can still increase boot time by configuring manual IP addresses (which I explore later in this chapter).

DNS Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are, leave it alone.

Error Reporting and Event Log: You don't have to use these services but they can be very helpful, so I would leave them configured as automatic.

Fax: If you don't use your computer for fax services, you can disable this one.

Help and Support: If you never use the Windows XP Help and Support Center (found on the Start menu), you can disable this service.

IMAPI CD-Burning COM: This service enables you to burn CDs on your computer. If you never burn CDs, you can disable the service.

Indexing Service: Your computer keeps an index of files but if you rarely search for files, the service is just a resource hog. You can stop it and turn the service to manual.

Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing: If you do not use these features, you can disable them.

Infrared Monitor: If you do not use infrared devices, you can disable this service.

Messenger: This service sends alert messages on a local area network (it is not the same as Windows Messenger). If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.

Print Spooler: If you do not do any printing from the computer, you can disable this service. If you print, make sure you leave it as automatic.

Remote Registry: This service allows remote users to modify the Registry on your computer. If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.

System Restore Service: This service allows you to use System Restore. If you have turned off System Restore anyway, you do not need to turn off the service. If you do, you turn off System Restore.

Themes: If you do not use themes, you can disable this service.

Windows Image Acquisition: If you do not use scanners or digital cameras, you can disable this service.

Wireless Zero Configuration: If do not use wireless networking devices, you can disable this service.




You may have a number of other automatic services, depending on software and other configurations on your computer. So it's a good idea to look through the services and learn more about them. If you double-click a service, a Properties dialog box appears
Notice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it. However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time.
However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab (see Figure 4-4). This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing.
Keep in mind that services are necessary for the vast functionality you get with Windows XP. Change only those services that you understand and do not use. How you use your Windows XP computer should be the best guide in terms of optional startup services.


Tip !



The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board. You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore.


Speed Tips and Tricks for Windows XP Startup
Aside from startup programs, services, and the Prefetch folder, there are a number of other startup procedures and issues you can modify to help Windows XP start faster. The following sections explore those tips and tricks.


Manual IP Addressing on Small Office/Home Networks
Windows XP is configured to help you take care of networking. It uses the TCP/IP protocol for networking in workgroups, or what you might call small office or home networks that do not use a dedicated server.

The problem is that automatic IP addressing can be slow. When your computer boots, it has to query the network to see what IP addresses are already in use and then assign itself one. If you want to speed up the boot time a bit, consider manually assigning IP addresses to all computers on the network. This way, the network computers do not have to worry about locating an automatic IP address. Because one is manually configured, the operating system doesn't have to spend time solving this problem.

This isn't a networking book, however, so I won't delve into the implications of using a manual IP address, but if you are using a computer that functions as a host computer to the Internet (using Internet Connection Sharing [ICS]), you can get into connectivity problems if you change the configuration of the IP address. However, you can still work around this problem by starting with the ICS host computer.

Select Start/Connect To/Show All Connections. Right-click your network adapter card and click Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP in the list of services and click the Properties button.

In the TCP/IP properties, you can see if you use an automatic or manual IP address. In the example in Figure 4-5, I have configured a manual IP address of 90.0.0.1 and a default subnet mask. The other computers on my office network each use a different IP address in the same class, such as 90.0.0.2, 90.0.0.3, 90.0.0.4, and so on. This way, each computer has a permanent IP address, which helps increase boot time. Note that if you change the IP addresses of your computers, they must all use the same subnet mask. A default subject mask of 255.255.255.0 will keep you in good shape.

Make sure you understand the implications of changing IP addresses on your network. If you have no networking experience at all, you may be wiser to leave the automatic IP addressing as is and try to gain some speed using the additional suggestions in this chapter.


Disabling Recent Documents History !



Windows XP includes a feature that keeps track of all recent documents you have opened or used. The idea is that you can select Start/Recent Documents History and quickly reopen any document you have recently used. I use many documents each day and never use the feature myself. In my opinion, I can keep up with what I want to use without Windows XP doing it for me.
The bad thing about Recent Documents History is that Windows XP has to calculate what should be put there each time you boot Windows, which can slow things down. So, if you never use the Recent Documents History, it's a good idea to disable it. Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.
4. Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.
5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.


Disabling the Boot Logo !



You can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little tweak probably shaves only a few seconds off your boot time but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk. (But if you are not having problems with your computer, this isn't such a big deal.)
To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:
1. Select Start/Run, type msconfig, and click OK.
2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.
3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK.



Removing Unwanted Fonts !



One trick that increases your boot time a bit is to lose any fonts in the Fonts folder in Control Panel that you never use. The more fonts you have, the more processing Windows XP has to do to prep all of those fonts for use. You must be a bit careful here to not remove fonts that you might want, but there is a good chance that you can live without many of them. For instance, you may have foreign language fonts and other symbol fonts (such as Wingdings) that you never use.
To delete unneeded fonts, follow these steps:
1. Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel.
2. Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy.
3. Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste.
4. In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want.
5. Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete.
6. Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All.
7. Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder.



Tip:



You can directly delete fonts from the Fonts folder without creating the secondary folder. However, I recommend the preceding steps to help ensure that you do not make a mistake in the deletion process.


Stopping Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing !



In Windows XP Professional, you have two remote networking features called Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing. These remote networking features are very helpful in a variety of situations but if you don't use them, it is good idea to disable them to save boot time. You can always enable them later if you want to use them.
Note:
If you are interested in using Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance, see my book Windows XP for Power Users: Power Pack published by John Wiley & Sons.

1. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and choose Properties.
2. Click the Remote Tab.
3. Clear both check boxes to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop.



Speeding Up the Dual-Boot Timeout !



If you dual-boot your computer with Windows XP and another operating system, you see an operating system selection menu on startup. If you typically boot into Windows XP and not the other operating system, you can speed up the dual-boot timeout value so that you do not wait so long for the boot process to select your default operating system and continue with the boot process. The default timeout value is 30 seconds but you can change this setting to 10. This gives you enough time to select the alternate operating system if you want but also speeds up the boot process. You can skip this section if you do not use a dual-boot configuration.
Follow these steps:
1. Locate the boot.ini file on your computer. It is a hidden file by default; mine is located in C:\boot.ini.
2. Open the file with Notepad (which is what opens it by default).
3. Change the Timeout value to 10 (see Figure 4-11).
4. Select File/Save and close Notepad.


Speeding Up Your PPPoE Connection !



If you use a Point-to-Point Protocol connection over Ethernet (PPPoE), you may notice a delay in using the PPPoE connection after startup. By default, there is a 120 second delay but you can stop this behavior by manually configuring an IP address for the network adapter card. If you do not use a PPPoE connection, you can skip this section.
1. Select Start/Connect to/Show All Connections.
2. Open the TCP/IP properties for your LAN network interface card.
3. Manually set the IP address on the TCP/IP properties to an appropriate IP address and subnet mask for your network.


Reducing the Wait Time



When you start to shut down Windows XP, it has to quit, or "kill," any live applications or processes that are currently running. So close all applications first. However, some applications and processes are always running in the background. You can reduce the amount of time that Windows XP waits for those applications and processes to close before Windows XP kills them. Edit three different Registry settings to change this:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000.
3. Select the HungAppTimeout value and set it to 1000 as well.
4. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. Select the HungAppTimeout \newline value and set it to 1000 as well.
5. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control. Select the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value and set it to 1000.
6. Close the Registry Editor.

Automatically Killing Tasks on Shutdown !



You know the drill. You start to shut down the computer, you wait a few moments, and then you see a dialog box asking if you want to kill an application or service that is running. Instead of prompting you, you can make Windows XP take care of the kill task automatically. Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Highlight the value AutoEndTasks and change the value to 1.
4. Close the Registry Editor.

More


Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines. Its actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improve significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore. Here's how :

Open up the Registry and go to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace Under that branch, select the key : {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} and delete it. This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary. This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing processes.


Do post your Comments here: please