EFFECTIVE APPROACH FOR SUCCESS IN CISA EXAM
CISA Exam consists of 200 questions from 7 domains as detailed in the Candidates Guide to the CISA Exam. The CISA Exam tests minimum level of competence for conducting Information Systems Audit.
Understanding of IT
CISA Candidates are expected to have working knowledge of Information Technology. The basic understanding of Information Technology should cover key concepts of various components of Information Technology in their practical deployment. The IT knowledge should encompass overall understanding of IT Infrastructure, IT Facilities, various types of Computer hardware, Systems Software (Operating System, Database, Networking, Multimedia, etc), Business Application software, Office Automation Software and Audit Software. Further, candidates are expected to know concepts and practice of Management as relevant to IT deployment in enterprises.
CRM – only theoretical training
The CISA Review Technical Information Manual (CRM) is not meant for teaching the fundamental concepts of Information Technology. However, IT components are explained only to the extent required. The candidates guide to CISA exam provides the broad range of topics covered and CRM provides the details of concepts of practice of IS Audit as per IS Auditors’ Tasks and Knowledge requirements. Candidates are advised to use the CRM as the basic guide for learning and use additional material as required based on their assessment of gaps and individual competency areas.
IT – Practical Training
Candidates who are not well conversant with IT are advised to do a practical course on IT covering hardware, systems software, office automation, business applications and audit software.
Getting CISA Perspective – practical approach
The overall understanding of a CISA candidate is expected to cover the related domains as per the objectives, tasks and knowledge statements given in the Candidates Guide to CISA Exam. Primarily it encompasses three major disciplines - Information Technology, Management and Auditing. The CISA candidates may follow the following approach for getting the perspective of a CISA:
• Obtain overall understanding of Information Technology – concepts and practice
• Understand the Risks of deployment of relevant IT Component
• Know the features and functionalities of Security and controls of IT Component
• Understand how controls could be implemented using the security features and functionalities so as to mitigate the risks in the relevant IT Component
• Learn how to identify the risks, review the related security, evaluate the implemented controls and identify areas of weaknesses.
Conceptual Clarity
CISA Candidates need to have conceptual clarity in the following key areas:
The inherent risks of Implementing Information Technology
Appropriate risk management strategy for mitigating these risks.
Security and controls, which need to be implanted for, risk mitigation.
Practical Tips for CISA Exam
Exam details
1. The exam is objective (multiple-choice). The answer is available in the choices. Hence, the approach to studies should not be from the perspective of remembering but more from perspective of understanding.
2. The CISA Exam Questions could be broadly categorized into 2 categories:
• Based on Facts – technology, auditing standards
• Based on Analysis – context and decision oriented
3. There are 200 questions to be answered in four hours. This would mean that approx. 70 seconds per question. Some of the questions may be answerable within 30 seconds and some may take more time. Further, in some cases, if you get lost in too much thinking, you may lose track of time and may not have time to answer all questions. Hence, it is essential to manage based on a slot of one hour or for a block of 50 questions. Depending on the progress, you can increase or decrease the pace as required.
4. As there is no negative marking, you must answer all questions. Even in case of questions, where you are not sure of right answer, you may guess intelligently.
5. Do not attempt to read through the question paper fully. You may lose time and may not have time to answer all the questions. The ideal method is to take up one question at a time and answer them one by one.
6. You may decide on which order you want to answer the questions. Some tend to start from question no. 50 or 100 as it gives them confidence they are progressing and come back. However, the ideal approach is to answer sequentially one at a time.
7. There may be questions for which you may not be able to strike the right answer straight away. You may skip, but mark it in the questions paper so that it is identifiable and come back to it later. However, the best approach is to take a DECISION and answer it then and there. You may not have time to come back to the question again. Further, there may always be lurking feeling that you have
left some questions unanswered. This will be at the back of your mind always. However, if you do have to change, please ensure that you erase the previous answer carefully and fully.
8. Please do not think of coming back to the answers for corrections later on. You may change if and only if you are additional insights or data, which necessitates that your previous answer was incorrect.
9. If you have to modify your answers for any reason, please ensure that you erase the previous choice properly so that there is no trace of marking else it may be construed as multiple marking and your answer ignored for valuation.
10. You need to compartmentalize your mind and take one question at a time. Think and decide on the right answer. Once you have answered, forget it and go ahead and tackle the next one and so on. Don’t carry your doubts of the previous question to the next.
11. You may mark the answers in your question paper and transfer it periodically or mark your answer for every question directly in the answer sheet.
12. Get the fundamentals very clearly. Read the IS Auditing standards and guidelines and COBIT Control objectives to get the thinking of an IS Auditor. Put on the cap of the global IS Auditor. Don’t bring in your personal experience and answer questions from your past data unless it is in line with ISACA’s thinking. The questions will not be technology specific or industry specific. Hence, don’t think what is practiced in your technology platform or industry as the most relevant or applicable. It may not be.
13. Take one question at a time. Read it fully and carefully. Identify the stem, the key concept that is being tested. Underline the core concept, which is being tested. Read all the choices even if you have think you have the right answer in the first or second or third choice.
14. You may encounter some questions, which are familiar to you, which you have answered in the CISA review manual or in the test questions. Don’t be prejudiced by your past answers. Read the question fully, understand it, and look at the choices and then answer. It may be possible that the questions may have been rephrased or re-worded and may have a different answer to what you have seen in the tests or the choices may be re-arranged or rephrased.
15. In the choices, when there are two choices which are similar. Pick the one which is more macro and bigger in nature. Remember the context of the situation as given in the question and the available choices have to be considered to arrive at the best choice.
16. For choosing the right answer, you may be able to identify the right answer straight away. You may also adapt the process of elimination by ruling out the apparently incorrect choices one by one so as to narrow down your choices and pick up the right choice.
17. Every question will have one of the choices framed as a distracter. The distracter may attract those with incomplete knowledge or attempting to answer the question with just common sense. It is essential to be able to eliminate the distracter.
18. You may need probably of all of four hours to answer 200 questions. Hence, it is essential that you practice sitting at one place and practicing answering the mock tests so that you get practice of sitting for four to five hours at a stretch.
19. Your concentration level may come down after an hour or so. It is important that you have a little break by having a sip of water and looking away from the question paper and get back your concentration before you start answering again. Take a few deep breaths, stretch yourself if required and then get back to the task. Consistent concentration is important.
20. If you have any medical problems, which hinder your sitting for long stretch of time, or you need regular medication, inform the proctor in advance and take necessary precaution.
21. Don’t stress yourself physically before or during the exam. You need to be fully relaxed so as to have maximum concentration. Avoid last minute reading and late night reading before the exam day. It may not really help.
22. The Questions and choices are straightforward and simple. They are meant for testing your understanding of concepts and practice of IS Audit. They are not meant to test your grammar or proficiency in English. Hence, do not try to analyse the question and answers too much. Don’t try to read between the lines and find hidden meaning. There may not be any.
23. The pass % is normally about 55% globally and varies from centre to centre. However, passing the exam is primarily dependent on your ability to concentrate during your exams and picking up the right choice. Our Analysis reveals that most of the students who fail tend to get around 70% which means that another 5 to 10 questions answered correctly would have got them through. Hence, it is very important that you are able to devote proper time for each of the question and concentrate throughout the exam.
24. The exam consists of one paper, which has all 200 questions. The questions are not in a particular order of domains or chapters but are usually mixed up at random. It is not worthwhile trying to figure out to which domain a questions belongs. What is most important is how well you are able to answer the questions in the exam.
25. Practice the questions and get the reasoning and choice correctly. Remember, the exam is not expected to test your memory but your understanding. Hence, there is no need to cram any definitions or concepts except the most fundamental ones and that too for understanding.
26. Don’t sit up late day before the exam trying to read and catch up on lost time. Remember, the principle of farming, you need to sow in time and take care on
regular basis so as to reap in time. Last minute preparations may result in lack of concentration on the exam day.
27. The questions are not directly picked up from any text book or reading material but are prepared by Practicing CISAs and are aimed to test your understanding of the concepts and practice of IS Audit.
28. Practice, practice and practice questions available with you. But remember the standard of the questions in the exam is much higher than what you have practiced. Be mentally prepared. If you have conceptual clarity and apply your thinking as an IS Auditor, you should be able to pick up the right answer.
29. The exam is based on percentile. The lowest score among all the candidates is converted to 25 percentile and the highest score is converted to 99 percentile. Your raw score is then converted accordingly to a percentile. Hence, depending on the overall performance of the candidates, the number of questions you have to get right to get 75 percentile is dependent on overall performance of all the candidates. However, it is preferable not to worry too much about the percentile but focus on getting the maximum questions right.
30. Ensure that you are marking the answers exactly. Cross-check regularly to ensure this. You have to be extra careful if have skipped any questions to be answered later. It is important to ensure that you skip marking the answers for that question. You may use a ruler for ensuring you are marking the required choice for the appropriate question.
31. As part of preparation, do discuss the questions and answers with an open mind. If you are auditor, get the technology perspective and if you are from IT, get the Audit perspective. Remember as an IS Auditor, you are expected to be auditing Technology as deployed in the organization.
32. The key ideas to be remembered as an IS Auditor are IS Risks, IS Security, IS Control and IS Audit. You need to be well versed with these concepts. The questions may require you to grade the risks in terms of highest or lowest. In terms of security and controls, you may be required to pick up the best or least effective controls in the context of the question. An IS Audit question may require your judgement in terms of concepts, practical procedures or risk ranking or presenting the findings to the management. There may be few questions, which tests your understanding of core technology. For example, encryption, EDI, Internet Security, Telecommunications control, etc.
33. Familiarize yourself with the test. Know the tasks, knowledge and scope of the subject, the type of questions and proposed answers.
34. The Exam is not Technology or platform specific. Hence, do not get too engrossed with technology details and reading of technology.
35. Make a time plan of what you need to read and prioritize. Deal with unread materials concisely. Formulate a reading strategy in advance with a time table and study plan.
36. Form a small study group or e-group for studies and discussions. Review your preparation actively alone and also with group on a regular basis. Review and discuss with group your logic and reasoning and get other perspective also.
37. Prepare yourself emotionally and physically to take the exam.
38. Take your family and friends into confidence so that you are able to sacrifice your social commitments and focus on the exam.
39. Motivation is an important aspect of preparation for the exam. Motivation will help you concentrate and be focused on the task on hand. Self Motivation is the best motivation. Remember, you are taking a prestigious and global recognized exam, which will make a significant difference to your career, earnings and your self-esteem.
40. Visualize receiving the Congratulations letter from ISACA and CISA Certification. See yourself being congratulated by your peers and colleagues.
Exam Venue
41. Visit the venue in advance before the exam and know the route, parking facility and exact place of exam. Reach the exam half an hour before the scheduled time so that you are not running to the venue in a hurry. Do come to the exam to the venue before time and use the time for relaxing.
42. Carry your identification cards, admission tickets, 3-4 pencils sharpened, 2-3 erasers, water bottle. Don’t carry any books. You may not get time to read and it may not be worthwhile trying to read in the last minute. Remember the questions don’t test your memory but are more a test of your judgemental ability as an IS Auditor.
43. The admission ticket is expected to be received by the candidate 2-3 weeks before the exam. It is sent both by email and by post. You can bring printout of email copy to the exam if you don’t receive the hard copy by post. However, if you don’t receive hard copy also, you may contact the chapter office to confirm your name is in the candidates list. The chapter gets a copy of all the candidates writing exam from the test centre. They are authorized to identify candidates who have not received the admission ticket. Hence, please don’t panic if you don’t receive the admission ticket but contact the chapter president or CISA Coordinator of your test centre who would have the complete list of candidates taking the exam from that test centre.
44. The proctor will start reading instructions of the exam 30 minutes before the exam time. You are expected to be in the hall before proctor commences reading the instructions. Proctor may not allow you inside once he starts reading the instructions.
45. The instructions relate to signing of forms and filling up your registration particulars. Clarify your doubts about any procedures you have. Follow the proctor’s instructions carefully and write down the details as per instructions. You
can use pen or pencil for writing the registration no. and other details. However, answers are to be marked only in pencil.
46. The proctor will not answer any questions pertaining to the questions or answers.
47. You can go out of the exam hall for answering nature’s call with permission of proctor. You have to hand over your questions and answer paper before going out of the hall and collect it back on arrival.
48. No additional papers or sheets will be provided. You may use the question papers or its back side for making any rough notes. It is advisable not to make any notes or marking on the answer sheet except for marking the circles for the right choice.
49. The CISA Exam is a closed Exam which means neither the question paper or answer papers are released. You are not expected to discuss the questions or answers with anyone.
50. After completing the exam, leave the venue silently. Don’t discuss your answers with the other candidates to confirm the answers. You may only get confused.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
how to Auto DELETE temporary folder ?
what we used to prefer is, type "%temp% " {without quotes} in Start -> Run.
This opens your temporary folder and then you can erase it easily, but still try dis one too..
First go into gpedit.msc
Next select -> Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Terminal Services/Temporary Folder
Then right click "Do Not Delete Temp Folder Upon Exit"
Go to properties and hit disable. Now next time Windows puts a temp file in that folder it will automatically delete it when its done!
Note : Remember, GPEDIT (Group Policy Editor) is only available in XP Pro.
what is a spyware ?
Do you know what is running on your computer? What it is doing? Who put it there? Why did they put it there? and do they have the right to put it there?
First seen on
Spyware is often downloaded onto your PC when you download other free software.
Most spyware does not collect information about you; it is not stealing your name, credit cards or other personal information, however spyware has the ability to do this. The term spyware suggests your behaviour is being monitored but spyware often goes beyond forwarding information about your browsing and spending habits. Spyware can collect various types of information and interfere with user’s control of the computer in other ways such as; installing addit software, redirecting your homepage and messing with your web browser activity. Spyware can cause harmful viruses and even change your computer settings creating a slow connection and loss of internet as well as other programmes.
Internet cookies can also be considered spyware. If a web site stores information about you in a cookie that you didn’t know about; this could be classed as spyware. Also some music CD’s allow you to get extra content if you put the CD in your computer and download extra features. This is great but what you don’t realise is that you could also be downloading spyware. Although the desirable software itself may do no harm, the bundled spyware does.
You should always read license agreements when downloading software to minimise your risk of downloading harmful spyware. It is also advised to get an anti-spyware programme on your computer as you probably already have spyware present.
How to ShutDown system Quickly
To shut down immediatly
open task manager (Ctr+Alt+
Select shut down tab. and press ' Ctrl ' key while select Turn Off from dis tab.
wow!!!.... U r window will rapidly shut down.
enjoy....
How to reduce your BOOT time
IMPROVE BOOT TIMES
A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.
Go to Start Menu and Click Run
Type in "Regedit" then click ok
Find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction"
Select "Enable" from the list on the right
Right on it and select "Modify"
Change the value to "Y to enable"
Reboot
How to hide 'User Accounts' from users
Go to Start/Run, and type:
GPEDIT.MSC
Open the path
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"
click Add button,
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box
How to measure computer performance
One of the most overlooked IT disciplines is that of computer measurement and testing. How can you compare different parts of your IT infrastructure if you’re not using a sound testing methodology to ensure that you’re truly comparing apples to apples?
That’s where an organisation like the Computer Measurement Group (CMG) enters the picture. In their own words, the CMG is a “not for profit, worldwide organization of data processing professionals committed to the measurement and management of computer systems.” CMG was founded in 1974, and has been active in advancing knowledge of computer measurement tools and techniques ever since.
According to Director Dr. Michael Salsburg, the organization and its members has been primarily concerned with performance evaluation of existing systems in an effort to maximise performance and optimise capacity management. “We currently have a strong interest in measuring server virtualisation, and also in exploring the advantages of the ITIL standard,” says Salsburg. “I think the adoption of ITIL really does have a payback for the organizations that adopt it.”
Another area that the CMG is exploring is the realm of business performance management (BPM) and how effective standards and measurement criteria can help define that growing segment of the IT infrastructure.
According to CMG spokesperson Lana Torres, the CMG will also be holding their 33rd Computer Measurement Group 2007 annual conference on December 2 -7 in
Salsburg explains that the conference would be a good fit for anyone who is tasked with the responsibility of acquiring computer equipment. “We have some people who’ve come to this conference year in and year out,” says Salsburg. “Many of them work at some of the world’s largest IT infrastructures, places where performance testing and capacity planning are vitally important.”
Locking computers
To lock a computer in XP, as you probably know, you press "L" while holding down "Windows Logo" key on your keyboard.
However, if you would like to lock a computer remotely, for example via "Remote Administrator", you don't have this ability. What you can do instead, is to create a shortcut on remote computer's desktop where Target %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation Start In %windir%
However, if you would like to lock a computer remotely, for example via "Remote Administrator", you don't have this ability. What you can do instead, is to create a shortcut on remote computer's desktop where Target %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation Start In %windir%
how to display message on start-up ?
Start regedit, if you are unfamiliar with regedit please see our FAQ.Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinlogonModify the key legalnoticecaption with what you want to name the window.Modify the key legalnoticetext with what you want the window to say. Restart.
How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent?
Go to control Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"
What is Malware ?
Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. Many normal computer users are however still unfamiliar with the term, and most never use it. Instead, "computer virus" is used in common parlance and often in the general media to describe all kinds of malware, though not all malware are viruses. The most costly form of malware in terms of time and money spent in recovery has been the broad category known as spy ware. Spy ware programs are commercially produced for the purpose of gathering information about computer users, showing them pop-up ads, or altering web-browser behavior for the financial benefit of the spy ware creator. For instance, some spy ware programs redirect search engine results to paid advertisements.
How to de-crypt the encrypted files on XP
1. Login as Administrator
2. Go to Start/Run and type in cmd and click OK.At the prompt type cipher /r:Eagent and press enterThis prompt will then display:Please type in the password to protect your .PFX file:Type in your Administrator passwordRe-confirm your Administrator passwordThe prompt will then displayYour .CER file was created successfully.Your .PFX file was created successfully.The Eagent.cer and Eagent.pfx files will be saved in the current directory that is shown at the command prompt. Example: The command prompt displaysC:\Documents and Settings\admin> the two files are saved in the admin folder. (For security concerns, you should house the two files in your Administrator folder or on a floppy disk).
3. Go to Start/Run and type in certmgr.msc and click OK. This will launch the Certificates Manager. Navigate to Personal and right click on the folder and select All Tasks/Import. The Certificate Import Wizard will appear. Click Next. Browse to the C:\Documents and Settings\admin folder. In the Open dialog box, change the Files of Type (at the bottom) to personal Information Exchange (*.pfx,*.P12). Select the file Eagent.pfx and click Open. Click Next. Type in your Administrator password (leave the two checkboxes blank) and click Next. Make sure the Radio button is active for the first option (Automatically select the certificate store based on the type of certifcate). Click Next. Click Finish. (You'll receive a message that the import was successful). To confirm the import, close Certificates Manager and re-open it. Expand the Personal folder and you will see a new subfolder labeled Certificates. Expand that folder and you will see the new entry in the right side column. Close Certificate Manager.
4. Go to Start/Run and type in secpol.msc and click OK. This will launch the Local Security Policy. Expand the Public Key Policies folder and then right click on the Encrypted File System subfolder and select Add Data Recovery Agent... The Wizard will then display. Click Next. Click the Browse Folders... button. Browse to the C:\Documents and Settings\admin folder. Select the Eagent.cer file and click Open. (The wizard will display the status User_Unknown. That's ok). Click Next. Click Finish. You will see a new entry in the right side column. Close the Local Security Policy.You, the Administrator are now configured as the default Recovery Agent for All Encrypted files on the Local Machine.To Recover Encrypted files: Scenario #1If you have completed the above steps BEFORE an existing user encrypted his/her files, you can log in to your Administrator account and navigate to the encrypted file(s). Double click on the file(s) to view the contents.Scenario #2If you have completed the above steps AFTER an existing user has already encrypted his/her files, you must login to the applicable User's User Account and then immediately logout. Next, login to your Administrator account and navigate to the encrypted file(s). Double click on the file(s) to view the contents.*Warning Do not Delete or Rename a User's account from which will want to Recover the Encrypted Files. You will not be able to de-crypt the files using the steps outlined above.
2. Go to Start/Run and type in cmd and click OK.At the prompt type cipher /r:Eagent and press enterThis prompt will then display:Please type in the password to protect your .PFX file:Type in your Administrator passwordRe-confirm your Administrator passwordThe prompt will then displayYour .CER file was created successfully.Your .PFX file was created successfully.The Eagent.cer and Eagent.pfx files will be saved in the current directory that is shown at the command prompt. Example: The command prompt displaysC:\Documents and Settings\admin> the two files are saved in the admin folder. (For security concerns, you should house the two files in your Administrator folder or on a floppy disk).
3. Go to Start/Run and type in certmgr.msc and click OK. This will launch the Certificates Manager. Navigate to Personal and right click on the folder and select All Tasks/Import. The Certificate Import Wizard will appear. Click Next. Browse to the C:\Documents and Settings\admin folder. In the Open dialog box, change the Files of Type (at the bottom) to personal Information Exchange (*.pfx,*.P12). Select the file Eagent.pfx and click Open. Click Next. Type in your Administrator password (leave the two checkboxes blank) and click Next. Make sure the Radio button is active for the first option (Automatically select the certificate store based on the type of certifcate). Click Next. Click Finish. (You'll receive a message that the import was successful). To confirm the import, close Certificates Manager and re-open it. Expand the Personal folder and you will see a new subfolder labeled Certificates. Expand that folder and you will see the new entry in the right side column. Close Certificate Manager.
4. Go to Start/Run and type in secpol.msc and click OK. This will launch the Local Security Policy. Expand the Public Key Policies folder and then right click on the Encrypted File System subfolder and select Add Data Recovery Agent... The Wizard will then display. Click Next. Click the Browse Folders... button. Browse to the C:\Documents and Settings\admin folder. Select the Eagent.cer file and click Open. (The wizard will display the status User_Unknown. That's ok). Click Next. Click Finish. You will see a new entry in the right side column. Close the Local Security Policy.You, the Administrator are now configured as the default Recovery Agent for All Encrypted files on the Local Machine.To Recover Encrypted files: Scenario #1If you have completed the above steps BEFORE an existing user encrypted his/her files, you can log in to your Administrator account and navigate to the encrypted file(s). Double click on the file(s) to view the contents.Scenario #2If you have completed the above steps AFTER an existing user has already encrypted his/her files, you must login to the applicable User's User Account and then immediately logout. Next, login to your Administrator account and navigate to the encrypted file(s). Double click on the file(s) to view the contents.*Warning Do not Delete or Rename a User's account from which will want to Recover the Encrypted Files. You will not be able to de-crypt the files using the steps outlined above.
Win RAR crystal 2008
WinRAR is a 32-bit Windows version of RAR Archiver, an archiver and archive manager. RAR files can usually compress content by 8 percent to 15 percent more than ZIP files can. WinRAR's main features include strong general and multimedia compression, the ability to process non-RAR archive formats, ZIP compression and decompression, support for long filenames, programmable self-extracting archives (SFX), repair of damaged archives, authenticity verification, embedded file comments, and encryption. Unicode is supported in archive filenames, allowing non-English filenames to be handled painlessly. You can manipulate the parameters of many archives at once and view a volume sequence as a single archive. WinRAR can convert other archive formats to RAR and search for specified text and files in archives.
Download Link:
http://www.4shared.com/file/35857692/f683942/WinRARCrystal.html?s=1
Download Link:
http://www.4shared.com/file/35857692/f683942/WinRARCrystal.html?s=1
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Disable Error reporting in your Computer
Many times we get message like "Do you want to send this error report to Microsoft?" and we usually give NO. To disable this follow the steps given below..
1.Right click My Computer and select Properties .
2.Select the advance tab from Properties.
3.Click on Error reporting Button at the last and select Disable option there
1.Right click My Computer and select Properties .
2.Select the advance tab from Properties.
3.Click on Error reporting Button at the last and select Disable option there
Have your PC on track
Do these regularly to make pc fast
follow these things step by step and restart your system after each step
1. Use Add/Remove Programs and uninstall useless software’s loaded in your system
2. In the current Windows drive make 15% minimum free space.
3. Use Disk Cleanup to remove temporary and useless files and use Scan
Disk to manage your allocation table
4.i.Defragment your system when needed
Click 'start' and go to 'run' and type 'msconfig' (without quotes), in
there click on the startup tab and check out any programs which you
think u dont need them to start at ur windows startup, for e.g. MSN,
Yahoo Messenger, ICQ.... but be careful dont uncheck those important
files and the files which you dont understand otherwise ur windows
wont work properly.
ii.Secondly turn off your hibernation...to do this go to:
Control Panel>Power Options>Hibernate Tab>uncheck Enable Hibernation
This thing will save alot of your hard disk space.
take the above mentioned steps whenever necessary and put your PC on Track.
Shortcut to Safely Remove Hardware
To create a new shortcut
1. Right click on your desktop and select New->Shortcut
2.In the location of the item paste
RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll. and click next and then
give a Name to your shortcut and click finish.
You are done with a new shortcut in your desktop now :)
Enabling Remote Desktop in Windows XP
To enable Remote Desktop Connections in Windows XP just follow the below steps..
1. Click on Start button in your desktop.
2. Right-click on "My Computer" and select Properties.
3. Click on the "Remote" tab.
4. Under "Remote Desktop" (the bottom section), check the box labeled "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer".
If you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2, you will need to make sure Remote Desktop isn't being blocked by Windows Firewall:
1. Go to the Start button and then type control in run command box.
2. Open the "Windows Firewall" control panel. If you don't see Windows Firewall listed, make sure that you're looking at the control panels in "Classic View".
3. On the "Exceptions" tab, make sure "Remote Desktop" is checked.
4. On the "Advanced" tab, select "Local Area Connection" and press the Settings button.
5. In the new window that opens ("Advanced Settings"), make sure that the Remote Desktop is checked.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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http://www.privatizer.net/
http://www.secure-tunnel.com/
http://www.spiderproxy.com/
http://thestrongestlinks.com/
http://www.unipeak.com/
http://betaproxy.com/
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http://webwarper.net/
http://www.chronicpulse.net/
http://www.proxyking.net/
http://w3privacy.com/
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Increasing Menu Show Delay
Start menu/RUN/regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/CONTOL PANEL/DESKTOP/MenuShowDelay
change the value to zero "0"
and than Restart your Computer,
Try click on the Desktop "How Fast when you Click at menu?"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/CONTOL PANEL/DESKTOP/MenuShowDelay
change the value to zero "0"
and than Restart your Computer,
Try click on the Desktop "How Fast when you Click at menu?"
Monday, March 31, 2008
Fast Firefox
This tricks will improve the speed & load time of firefox. And you will be able to surf faster.
Type about:config in the address bar, Then look for the following entries, and make the corresponding changes.
1. network.http.max-connections-per-server =32
2. network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy =16
3. network.http.max-connections = 64
4. network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server = 10
5. network.http.pipelining = true
6. network.http.pipelining.maxrequests = 200
7. network.http.request.max-start-delay = 0
8. network.http.proxy.pipelining = true
9. network.http.proxy.version = 1.0
.
Converting FAT to NTFS
If you have any FAT or FAT32 partitions, these can be converted to NTFS using the Convert.exe command line utility. To convert a partition to NTFS, open a command prompt. Type in “convert drive-letter: /fs:ntfs” (without the quotes) to convert
“drive-letter” to NTFS. For example, if you want to convert drive F to NTFS, you would type in “convert f: /fs:ntfs”. Convert your FAT or FAT32 drives to the NTFS file system If you wish to see the details of the conversion process, turn on verbose mode using the /v switch. Note that this is a one-way conversion: you cannot undo the conversion once it has been done. Also, data loss is unlikely when you convert a FAT volume to NTFS, but it’s still a good idea to take a backup before you convert.
Clear Your Memory Without Restarting
If you run a windows computer you’ll know like many others than after a while your system will in doubt start running slow. Most people will restart their computer to remove and idle processes. But if there’s a simpler way, why restart every time windows decides it doesn’t like you today?
1. Right click on an empty spot on your desktop and select New - Shortcut.
2. Type %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks in the box.
3. Click Next.
4. Give your shortcut a nice name like “Clear Memory”.
5. Click Finish and you’re done.
Now whenever your computer starts running slow click this shortcut to clear out your memory and get your computer running at a normal pace again
Friday, March 28, 2008
Basic Computer Security
This is going to be a basic guide to computer security for home users including the use of applications and common sense Its not foolproof but no security is and if ive missed anything then add it in!
First is first, understand the threats.
Some people, understandably, think that adware, spyware, worms and virusses are the same and this can lead to bad security so first we have to know what each is and what they do.
Adware is basically a small program that sits on your computer and brings adverts to you usually as popups in a web browser, they are very very annoying but usually a low risk threat as they normally do nothing but give you adverts.
Spyware is a program that spies on you and your computer, you might think so what? but a lot of the time they send detailed logs of anything you do to the maker of the program and this will almost always have usernames and passwords to email accounts, website accounts and sometimes to banking accounts and even contain credit card details, obviously thats not good!
Worms are a little like earthworms, well except they travel through computer networks and they contain a "warhead" if you like which is usually another program which will get saved onto your computer, then the worm will carry on its merry way through the network saving this program to everything it finds, the program wuill probably be a virus, spyware or adware so these worms can do a lot of damage to a network! and they dont need a person telling them what to do, they already know what to do!
A virus is similar to a biological virus that attacks an animal by invading and hijacking its cells. A computer virus will get onto a computer and once there it will find a program you already have, possibly an internet browser, once found the virus inserts itself into the programmed code of the browser and whenever that internet browser is used the virus will also start, the virus cannot start on its own so it needs to "infect" another program. They are capable of basically anything, including creating any of the above programs and taking control of the computer and deleting data.
Of course the programs i mentioned can always come together, eg you could have a worm that saves a virus to a computer containing adware and spyware!
Now we know what these things are we can hopefully try to stop them getting onto our computers.
There are a lot of programs on the market saying they will make you safe, which in most cases they will do but the thing to understand is every day, probably every hour a new virus is created, we might never hear about it because it might not do much damage but that doesnt mean its not there ready to hit you and the reason i mention this is that unlike humans computers cant actually think, the way that a program like norton anti-virus works is by comparison. Every day or few days it gets sent a big list and it will look at every program and compare it to this list, now the question is, if the list is sent at 10am and a new virus is made at 11am what happens? Well the anti virus checks this virus but doesnt find it on the list so lets it through and thats where the problem starts. The only way you can do anything about this is by making sure you update your AntiVirus and other security programs as soon as possible every time. It might sound difficult but its really not, no matter what program you use there will be an option of how long to wait before updating and you should set this to the shortest time possible to make sure you are as safe as you can be.
The most basic programs any computer should have are a firewall and antivirus, many programs are a combination of both, which is usefull and easy to manage. You can also get anti-spyware and anti-adware which of course combat adware and spyware, again some programs do include these also.
Some people might think that by having just a firewall they are safe, but they arent, a firewall can only TRY to stop something entering the computer, once its in, the firewall is usless and not a single firewall will stop everything (unless you tell it not to let anything in of course but then you cant use the internet or a network!) And some people think a good anti-virus will keep them safe but it cannot stop anything entering the computer, it can only find it once its in and has probably done damage and again it probably wont find EVERY adware/spyware/virus there is. So you can see the problem and probably you can see the best solution is to have both, An antivirus including anti-spyware and anti-adware and also a firewall and keep them all updated to the max!
Prevention and cure are only two thirds of this tutorial though because at some point something will get in and do damage, its a certainty, how much damage might vary from your home page changing to your computer not starting up at all. When something like that happens you have to have a plan.
The best plan is to have several backups, not just one. you should make one shortly after you get the machine, then another once you have installed all the applications you want and then every few months. In windows XP there is the handy "system restore" which has saved me a lot of hassle but it doesnt always work so you cant rely on it especialy if the computer is really damamge and does not start up. So you should always have backups on removable disks, nowadays a DVD is the best solution as cds could take up at the least 3Cds possibly up to 7 or 8 if you have a lot of games or music on the computer. The dvds should all be labbelled according to the date they were done and stored safely. But before you whack a DVD in and copy your hard drive to it you must know that this wont work. You will need the installation disks of the operating system you have installed for re-installing the operating system and a small program to load the backups onto the computer. There are several programs that will do this including Norton ghost and several freeware equivalents for unix/linux windows and i presume, mac. They will usually come on a disk and this disk will boot your computer into a special mode where you can easilly use the backup disks, and it will guide you through this process. the most important thing is to continually save all work and special data onto 2 or 3 DIFFERENT disks, such as a flash disk the hard drive and a CD/DVD this will make it very hard for you to loose it.
but also remember that if you do have any virusses etc.. on your computer these will be backed up also so you should do a full system wide anti-virus anti-adware and anti-spyware scan before the backup to minimise this threat.Always remember at some point you will get one of these programs but its definately not the end of the world as everyone gets it and as a home user you have less to worry about, simply follow the steps and you shouldnt be too badly affected, but spare a thought for network technicians dealing with 500 computers all being attacked at the same time! Poor fellows!
First is first, understand the threats.
Some people, understandably, think that adware, spyware, worms and virusses are the same and this can lead to bad security so first we have to know what each is and what they do.
Adware is basically a small program that sits on your computer and brings adverts to you usually as popups in a web browser, they are very very annoying but usually a low risk threat as they normally do nothing but give you adverts.
Spyware is a program that spies on you and your computer, you might think so what? but a lot of the time they send detailed logs of anything you do to the maker of the program and this will almost always have usernames and passwords to email accounts, website accounts and sometimes to banking accounts and even contain credit card details, obviously thats not good!
Worms are a little like earthworms, well except they travel through computer networks and they contain a "warhead" if you like which is usually another program which will get saved onto your computer, then the worm will carry on its merry way through the network saving this program to everything it finds, the program wuill probably be a virus, spyware or adware so these worms can do a lot of damage to a network! and they dont need a person telling them what to do, they already know what to do!
A virus is similar to a biological virus that attacks an animal by invading and hijacking its cells. A computer virus will get onto a computer and once there it will find a program you already have, possibly an internet browser, once found the virus inserts itself into the programmed code of the browser and whenever that internet browser is used the virus will also start, the virus cannot start on its own so it needs to "infect" another program. They are capable of basically anything, including creating any of the above programs and taking control of the computer and deleting data.
Of course the programs i mentioned can always come together, eg you could have a worm that saves a virus to a computer containing adware and spyware!
Now we know what these things are we can hopefully try to stop them getting onto our computers.
There are a lot of programs on the market saying they will make you safe, which in most cases they will do but the thing to understand is every day, probably every hour a new virus is created, we might never hear about it because it might not do much damage but that doesnt mean its not there ready to hit you and the reason i mention this is that unlike humans computers cant actually think, the way that a program like norton anti-virus works is by comparison. Every day or few days it gets sent a big list and it will look at every program and compare it to this list, now the question is, if the list is sent at 10am and a new virus is made at 11am what happens? Well the anti virus checks this virus but doesnt find it on the list so lets it through and thats where the problem starts. The only way you can do anything about this is by making sure you update your AntiVirus and other security programs as soon as possible every time. It might sound difficult but its really not, no matter what program you use there will be an option of how long to wait before updating and you should set this to the shortest time possible to make sure you are as safe as you can be.
The most basic programs any computer should have are a firewall and antivirus, many programs are a combination of both, which is usefull and easy to manage. You can also get anti-spyware and anti-adware which of course combat adware and spyware, again some programs do include these also.
Some people might think that by having just a firewall they are safe, but they arent, a firewall can only TRY to stop something entering the computer, once its in, the firewall is usless and not a single firewall will stop everything (unless you tell it not to let anything in of course but then you cant use the internet or a network!) And some people think a good anti-virus will keep them safe but it cannot stop anything entering the computer, it can only find it once its in and has probably done damage and again it probably wont find EVERY adware/spyware/virus there is. So you can see the problem and probably you can see the best solution is to have both, An antivirus including anti-spyware and anti-adware and also a firewall and keep them all updated to the max!
Prevention and cure are only two thirds of this tutorial though because at some point something will get in and do damage, its a certainty, how much damage might vary from your home page changing to your computer not starting up at all. When something like that happens you have to have a plan.
The best plan is to have several backups, not just one. you should make one shortly after you get the machine, then another once you have installed all the applications you want and then every few months. In windows XP there is the handy "system restore" which has saved me a lot of hassle but it doesnt always work so you cant rely on it especialy if the computer is really damamge and does not start up. So you should always have backups on removable disks, nowadays a DVD is the best solution as cds could take up at the least 3Cds possibly up to 7 or 8 if you have a lot of games or music on the computer. The dvds should all be labbelled according to the date they were done and stored safely. But before you whack a DVD in and copy your hard drive to it you must know that this wont work. You will need the installation disks of the operating system you have installed for re-installing the operating system and a small program to load the backups onto the computer. There are several programs that will do this including Norton ghost and several freeware equivalents for unix/linux windows and i presume, mac. They will usually come on a disk and this disk will boot your computer into a special mode where you can easilly use the backup disks, and it will guide you through this process. the most important thing is to continually save all work and special data onto 2 or 3 DIFFERENT disks, such as a flash disk the hard drive and a CD/DVD this will make it very hard for you to loose it.
but also remember that if you do have any virusses etc.. on your computer these will be backed up also so you should do a full system wide anti-virus anti-adware and anti-spyware scan before the backup to minimise this threat.Always remember at some point you will get one of these programs but its definately not the end of the world as everyone gets it and as a home user you have less to worry about, simply follow the steps and you shouldnt be too badly affected, but spare a thought for network technicians dealing with 500 computers all being attacked at the same time! Poor fellows!
Automatic Window Refresh
Normally, there is a small delay after some information changesbefore it reflects in the GUI. If you need to see the informationright away, you would need to press [F5]. The following will enablethe system to do faster updates.Navigate to:HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\UpdateFor faster updates, change the DWORD value calledUpdateMode to 0. The default is 1.A reboot will be required for the changes to take effect. Notethat there is a likelihood of conflict if this setting is applied withsystem policies running: the UpdateMode value is used by systempolicies to Disable, Automatically or Manually check for a con-nection to the NETLOGON share of a domain controller. Changeit back to the default if you are running system policies or areconnected to a domain controller.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
IncreasingInternet Bandwith up 20%
Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes like Windows Updates and interrogating your PC etc
To get it back:
Click Start then Run and type ” gpedit.msc” without quotes.This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:
Local Computer Policy /Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates / Network / QOS Packet Scheduler/ Limit Reservable Bandwidth.
Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the ‘Explain’ tab i.e.”By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default.”
So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.It works on Win 2000 as well.
Shut Down XP Fast
If Ur Computer Takes Too Long to Shutdown - Here is what to do - For XP
Isn't it really annoying when your computer takes too much time to turn off?
Heres a great tip to turn ur pc off soooo quick u dont need a software at all! Its a tip, so do as it says:
Click: Start
Then Click: Run (In Start Menu)
There Type: Regedit
So as u can see the registery editor find the Path
Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
click on the desktop and find the keys: HungApp TimeOut
Double Click on it
Change The Current Value To:4000
its current value maybe :5000 or 20000
okay well done now lets move to the next step
go to the path: HKEY_LOCAL_MECHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\
now, after that, find the at the left side find : WaitToKillServiceTimeOut
now edit this n change its value to: 4000
OK here u have done it now
exit the registery editor and shut down ur pc for a check n see what happens
Good luck!!
22 ways of speeding Up xp
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.
Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit Mcft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.
Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit Mcft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
Shut Down XP Fast
If Ur Computer Takes Too Long to Shutdown - Here is what to do - For XP
Isn't it really annoying when your computer takes too much time to turn off?
Heres a great tip to turn
Click: Start
Then Click: Run (In Start Menu)
There Type: Regedit
So as u can see the registery editor find the Path
Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
click on the desktop and find the keys: HungApp TimeOut
Double Click on it
Change The Current Value To:4000
its current value maybe :5000 or 20000
okay well done now lets move to the next step
go to the path: HKEY_LOCAL_MECHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\
now, after that, find the at the left side find : WaitToKillServiceTimeOut
now edit this n change its value to: 4000
OK here u have done it now
exit the registery editor and shut down ur pc for a check n see what happens
Good luck!!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
MASTER RUN COMMANDS
You can Access these commands from run option in the start menu or just press window key+r(WIndow key is Generally between Alt & ctrl key on the keyboard) & there you go to unleash these commands...
For sure these are gonna give you more Professional look & Ofcourse will make you more Swift Exclamation
Accessibility Controls "access.cpl"
Add Hardware Wizard "hdwwiz.cpl"
Add/Remove Programs "ppwiz.cpl "
Administrative Tools "control admintools"
Automatic Updates "wuaucpl.cp"
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard "fsquirt"
Calculator "calc"
Certificate Manager "certmgr.msc"
Character Map "charmap"
Check Disk Utility "chkdsk"
Clipboard Viewer "clipbrd"
Command Prompt "cmd"
Component Services "dcomcnfg"
Computer Management "compmgmt.msc"
Date and Time Properties "timedate.cpl"
DDE Shares "ddeshare"
Device Manager "devmgmt.msc"
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* "directx.cpl"
Direct X Troubleshooter "dxdiag"
Disk Cleanup Utility "cleanmgr"
Disk Defragment "dfrg.msc"
Disk Management "diskmgmt.msc"
Disk Partition Manager "diskpart"
Display Properties "control desktop"
Display Properties "desk.cpl"
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) "control color"
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility "drwtsn32"
Driver Verifier Utility "verifier"
Event Viewer "eventvwr.msc"
File Signature Verification Tool "sigverif"
Findfast "findfast.cpl"
Folders Properties "control folders"
Fonts "control fonts"
Fonts Folder "fonts"
Free Cell Card Game "freecell"
Game Controllers "joy.cpl"
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) "gpedit.msc"
Hearts Card Game "mshearts"
Iexpress Wizard "iexpress"
Indexing Service "ciadv.msc"
Internet Properties "inetcpl.cpl"
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) "ipconfig /all"
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) "ipconfig /displaydns"
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) "ipconfig /flushdns"
IP Configuration (Release All Connections) "ipconfig /release"
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) "ipconfig /renew"
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) "ipconfig /registerdns"
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) "ipconfig /showclassid"
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) "ipconfig /setclassid"
Java Control Panel (If Installed) "jpicpl32.cpl"
Java Control Panel (If Installed) "javaws"
Keyboard Properties "control keyboard"
Local Security Settings "secpol.msc"
Local Users and Groups "lusrmgr.msc"
Logs You Out Of W*NDOW$ "logoff"
Mic*ft Chat "winchat"
Minesweeper Game "winmine"
Mouse Properties "control mouse"
Mouse Properties "main.cpl"
Network Connections "control netconnections"
Network Connections "ncpa.cpl"
Network Setup Wizard "netsetup.cpl"
Notepad "notepad"
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) "nvtuicpl.cpl"
Object Packager "packager"
ODBC Data Source Administrator "odbccp32.cpl"
On Screen Keyboard "osk"
Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) "ac3filter.cpl"
Password Properties "password.cpl"
Performance Monitor "perfmon.msc"
Performance Monitor "perfmon"
Phone and Modem Options "telephon.cpl"
Power Configuration "powercfg.cpl"
Printers and Faxes "control printers"
Printers Folder "printers"
Private Character Editor "eudcedit"
Quicktime (If Installed) "QuickTime.cpl"
Regional Settings "intl.cpl"
Registry Editor "regedit"
Registry Editor "regedit32"
Remote Desktop "mstsc"
Removable Storage "ntmsmgr.msc"
Removable Storage Operator Requests "ntmsoprq.msc"
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) "rsop.msc"
Scanners and Cameras "sticpl.cpl"
Scheduled Tasks "control schedtasks"
Security Center "wscui.cpl"
Services "services.msc"
Shared Folders "fsmgmt.msc"
Shuts Down W*NDOW$ "shutdown"
Sounds and Audio "mmsys.cpl"
Spider Solitare Card Game "spider"
SQL Client Configuration "cliconfg"
System Configuration Editor "sysedit"
System Configuration Utility "sconfig"
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) "sfc /scannow"
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) "sfc /scanonce"
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) "sfc /scanboot"
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) "sfc /revert"
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) "sfc /purgecache"
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) "sfc /cachesize=x"
System Properties "sysdm.cpl"
Task Manager "taskmgr"
Telnet Client "telnet"
User Account Management "nusrmgr.cpl"
Utility Manager "utilman"
W*NDOW$ Firewall "firewall.cpl"
W*NDOW$ Magnifier "magnify"
W*NDOW$ Management Infrastructure "wmimgmt.msc"
W*NDOW$ System Security Tool "syskey"
W*NDOW$ Update Launches "wupdmgr"
W*NDOW$ XP Tour Wizard "tourstart"
Wordpad "write"
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
How do I reset a BIOS password?
The best method to reset a BIOS password depends on what BIOS the computer has. Common BIOS’s include AMI, Award, IBM and Phoenix. Numerous other BIOS’s do exist, but these are the most common.
Some BIOS’s allow you to require a password be entered before the system will boot. Some BIOS’s allow you to require a password to be entered before the BIOS setup may be accessed.
The general categories of solutions to reset a BIOS password are:
- Using a Backdoor BIOS Password
- Resetting the BIOS Password using Software
- Resetting the BIOS Password using Hardware
- Vendor Specific Solutions for resetting the BIOS Password
Using a Backdoor BIOS Password
Some BIOS manufacturers implement a backdoor password. The backdoor password is a BIOS password that works, no matter what the user sets the BIOS password to. These passwords are typically used for testing and maintenance. Manufacturers typically change the backdoor BIOS passwords from time to time.
AMI Backdoor BIOS Passwords
Reported AMI backdoor BIOS passwords include A.M.I., AAAMMMIII, AMI?SW , AMI_SW, BIOS, CONDO, HEWITT RAND, LKWPETER, MI, and PASSWORD.
Award Backdoor BIOS Passwords
One reported Award backdoor BIOS password is eight spaces. Other reported Award backdoor BIOS passwords include 01322222, 589589, 589721, 595595, 598598 , ALFAROME, ALLY, ALLy, aLLY, aLLy, aPAf, award, AWARD PW, AWARD SW, AWARD?SW, AWARD_PW, AWARD_SW, AWKWARD, awkward, BIOSTAR, CONCAT, CONDO, Condo, condo, d8on, djonet, HLT, J256, J262, j262, j322, j332, J64, KDD, LKWPETER, Lkwpeter, PINT, pint, SER, SKY_FOX, SYXZ, syxz, TTPTHA, ZAAAADA, ZAAADA, ZBAAACA, and ZJAAADC.
Phoenix Backdoor BIOS Passwords
Reported Phoenix BIOS backdoor passwords include BIOS, CMOS, phoenix, and PHOENIX.
Backdoor BIOS Passwords from Other Manufacturers
Remember that what you see listed may not be the actual backdoor BIOS password, this BIOS password may simply have the same checksum as the real backdoor BIOS password. For Award BIOS, this checksum is stored at F000:EC60.
Resetting the BIOS Password using Software
Every system must store the BIOS password information somewhere. If you are able to access the machine after it has been booted successfully, you may be able to view the BIOS password. You must know the memory address where the BIOS password is stored, and the format in which the BIOS password is stored. Or, you must have a program that knows these things.
You can write your own program to read the BIOS password from the CMOS memory on a PC by writing the address of the byte of CMOS memory that you wish to read in port 0×370, and then reading the contents of port 0×371.
!BIOS will recover the BIOS password for most common BIOS versions, including IBM, American Megatrends Inc, Award and Phoenix.
CmosPwd will recover the BIOS password for the following BIOS versions:
- ACER/IBM BIOS
- AMI BIOS
- AMI WinBIOS 2.5
- Award 4.5x/4.6x/6.0
- Compaq (1992)
- Compaq (New version)
- IBM (PS/2, Activa, Thinkpad)
- Packard Bell
- Phoenix 1.00.09.AC0 (1994), a486 1.03, 1.04, 1.10 A03, 4.05 rev 1.02.943, 4.06 rev 1.13.1107
- Phoenix 4 release 6 (User)
- Gateway Solo - Phoenix 4.0 release 6
- Toshiba
- Zenith AMI
Friday, February 29, 2008
Slax 6.0 has been Released Linux Mini Easy, Light and Small Linux
What’s new on this release? First, Slax is officially released in two forms, ISO and TAR. As you surely know, the iso format (labeled as “Slax for CD”) is to be burnt to a CD (preferably a miniCD medium). But nowadays, CDs are pretty obsolete, so the TAR format (labeled as “Slax for USB”) is for all the other people who need to run Slax directly from USB media or from a disk. Simply unzip (extract) the tar archive directly to your device (to it’s root directory, it will create ‘boot’ and ’slax’ subdirectories). That’s almost all; you only need to make it bootable. For that purpose, navigate to the ‘boot’ directory and find bootinst.sh (if you are in Linux) or bootinst.bat (if you are in Windows). Run it. Linux users will need to use root account for that. The script will setup the device to be bootable.
If you are using “Slax for USB”, you will notice that all the changes you made are PERMANENT. Yes, even if you’re running Slax from a VFAT filesystem (thanks to posixovl). But a native Linux filesystem is always prefered, of course. In that case, you won’t be able to use bootinst.sh/bat, you’ll have to try liloinst.sh
Despite its small size, Slax provides a wide collection of pre-installed software for daily use, including a well organized graphical user interface and useful recovery tools for system administrators.
The modular approach gives you the ability to include any other software in Slax easily. If you're missing your favourite text editor, networking tool or game, simply download a module with the software and copy it to Slax, no need to install, no need to configure.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Ten tips to increase your Windows security
1- Always protect your Administrator account by creating password, just go to Control Panel > User Accounts, select your account and the click on “create a password for your account”.
2- Protect your account by Password protect your screen saver, go to Control Panel > Display, Click on the Screen Saver tab and then check on resume password protect.
3- Setup a BIOS Password to protect your PC Setup application.
4- Always force you windows automatic update on, go to Control Panel > Automatic Updates and then Select the first option to have each update download and install automatically.
5- Install an Internet Security Suite such as “Kaspersky Internet Security”, “Norton Internet Security” or “Mcafee Internet Security”. And turn on software automatic update.
6- If you don’t have enough budgets to buy an Internet Security Suite, Turn on the Windows Firewall. Go to > Control Panel > Windows Firewall and click on under the General tab. And Install an antivirus program, turn on automatic updates, and set up a regular scanning schedule.
7- Never use same username and/or password for all of your accounts in Internet.
8- Turn off file sharing in Windows Explorer. Open Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options >View. Then Scroll to the bottom, uncheck Use simple file sharing, and click Apply.
9- Increase your Internet Explorer security settings. Click Tools > Internet Options> Privacy and move the slider to High.
10- Turn on your Internet Explorer’s pop-up blocker. Click Tools > Internet Options > Popup Blocker Settings > and then choose default
2- Protect your account by Password protect your screen saver, go to Control Panel > Display, Click on the Screen Saver tab and then check on resume password protect.
3- Setup a BIOS Password to protect your PC Setup application.
4- Always force you windows automatic update on, go to Control Panel > Automatic Updates and then Select the first option to have each update download and install automatically.
5- Install an Internet Security Suite such as “Kaspersky Internet Security”, “Norton Internet Security” or “Mcafee Internet Security”. And turn on software automatic update.
6- If you don’t have enough budgets to buy an Internet Security Suite, Turn on the Windows Firewall. Go to > Control Panel > Windows Firewall and click on under the General tab. And Install an antivirus program, turn on automatic updates, and set up a regular scanning schedule.
7- Never use same username and/or password for all of your accounts in Internet.
8- Turn off file sharing in Windows Explorer. Open Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options >View. Then Scroll to the bottom, uncheck Use simple file sharing, and click Apply.
9- Increase your Internet Explorer security settings. Click Tools > Internet Options> Privacy and move the slider to High.
10- Turn on your Internet Explorer’s pop-up blocker. Click Tools > Internet Options > Popup Blocker Settings > and then choose default
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