Monday, August 27, 2007

What next after Windows Vista?


Now that Vista is on the shelves, Microsoft is focusing on its next major operating system release, Windows Vienna. Even though Windows Vienna is going to be a major release with a totally revised GUI, Microsoft made a bold statement: by the end of 2009 Vienna will hit the shelves.


However, Microsoft needs to keep the buzz on Windows Vista for now and so they are not releasing any Windows Vienna official information to the public yet, expect for the fact that they are working on it.
In the past 20 years, the Microsoft Windows operating system has accumulated old code libraries that brought it to the size it has today, 2.5 GB and about 50 million lines of code (Windows Vista). These old code libraries consume resources and are often the targets of security exploits. The best way to avoid such problems, is to start from scratch, which is close to what Microsoft plans to do with Windows Vienna. Windows Vienna will represent the start of a different generation of operating systems, bringing in new concepts and support for new types of hardware, along with a better security and a modular approach, which will allow future versions of Windows to be built more easily on Windows Vienna's engine.


It is also likely that the future success of Microsoft's products will be strongly decided by the success of the new generation operating system.

20 Google secrets you must know

Google is clearly the best general-purpose search engine on the Web (see

www.pcmag.com/search engines

But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number.

But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options.

Syntax Search Tricks

Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at

www.google.com/help/operators.html

. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.

Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.

Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as

www.mysite.com/index.html

, you can enter intext:html.

Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in

link:http://www.pcmag.com


Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.

Swiss Army Google

Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature

(www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator)

lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything."

Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary.

Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search

(www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml).




Extended Googling

Google offers several services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups

(http://groups.google.com)

indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on Usenet. Google even helps you with your shopping via two tools: Froogle
CODE

(http://froogle.google.com),

which indexes products from online stores, and Google Catalogs
CODE
(http://catalogs.google.com),

which features products from more 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only scratches the surface. You can get a complete list of Google's tools and services at

www.google.com/options/index.html

You're probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google outside your browser?

Google Alert

(www.googlealert.com)

monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web index. (Google Alert is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google's Web services API to perform its searches.) If you're more interested in news stories than general Web content, check out the beta version of Google News Alerts

(www.google.com/newsalerts).

This service (which is affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail address and send you information about news stories that match your query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.)

Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs

(http://labs.google.com),

a place for experimental Google ideas and features (which may come and go, so what's there at this writing might not be there when you decide to check it out). With Google Voice Search

(http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html),

you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then click on the indicated link. Every time you say a new search term, the results page will refresh with your new query (you must have JavaScript enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an experimental phase, so don't expect 100 percent success.

In 2002, Google released the Google API (application programming interface), a way for programmers to access Google's search engine results without violating the Google Terms of Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally not-so-useful but interesting) applications not available from Google itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you'll need an API key, which is available free from
CODE
www.google.com/apis

. See the figures for two more examples, and visit

www.pcmag.com/solutions

for more.

Thanks to its many different search properties, Google goes far beyond a regular search engine. Give the tricks in this article a try. You'll be amazed at how many different ways Google can improve your Internet searching.


Online Extra: More Google Tips


Here are a few more clever ways to tweak your Google searches.

Search Within a Timeframe

Daterange: (start date–end date). You can restrict your searches to pages that were indexed within a certain time period. Daterange: searches by when Google indexed a page, not when the page itself was created. This operator can help you ensure that results will have fresh content (by using recent dates), or you can use it to avoid a topic's current-news blizzard and concentrate only on older results. Daterange: is actually more useful if you go elsewhere to take advantage of it, because daterange: requires Julian dates, not standard Gregorian dates. You can find converters on the Web (such as

CODE
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif


), but an easier way is to do a Google daterange: search by filling in a form at

www.researchbuzz.com/toolbox/goofresh.shtml or www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml

. If one special syntax element is good, two must be better, right? Sometimes. Though some operators can't be mixed (you can't use the link: operator with anything else) many can be, quickly narrowing your results to a less overwhelming number.

More Google API Applications

Staggernation.com offers three tools based on the Google API. The Google API Web Search by Host (GAWSH) lists the Web hosts of the results for a given query

(www.staggernation.com/gawsh/).

When you click on the triangle next to each host, you get a list of results for that host. The Google API Relation Browsing Outliner (GARBO) is a little more complicated: You enter a URL and choose whether you want pages that related to the URL or linked to the URL

(www.staggernation.com/garbo/).

Click on the triangle next to an URL to get a list of pages linked or related to that particular URL. Cape Mail is an e-mail search application that allows you to send an e-mail to google@capeclear.com with the text of your query in the subject line and get the first ten results for that query back. Maybe it's not something you'd do every day, but if your cell phone does e-mail and doesn't do Web browsing, this is a very handy address to know.

How to change IP in less than a minute?

How To: Change Your Ip In Less Then 1 Minute

1. Click on "Start" in the bottom left hand corner of screen
2. Click on "Run"
3. Type in "command" and hit ok

You should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.

4. Type "ipconfig /release" just like that, and hit "enter"
5. Type "exit" and leave the prompt
6. Right-click on "Network Places" or "My Network Places" on your desktop.
7. Click on "properties"

You should now be on a screen with something titled "Local Area Connection", or something close to that, and, if you have a network hooked up, all of your other networks.

8. Right click on "Local Area Connection" and click "properties"
9. Double-click on the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list under the "General" tab
10. Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab
11. Create an IP address (It doesn't matter what it is. I just type 1 and 2 until i fill the area up).
12. Press "Tab" and it should automatically fill in the "Subnet Mask" section with default numbers.
13. Hit the "Ok" button here
14. Hit the "Ok" button again

You should now be back to the "Local Area Connection" screen.

15. Right-click back on "Local Area Connection" and go to properties again.
16. Go back to the "TCP/IP" settings
17. This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"
tongue.gif 18. Hit "Ok"
19. Hit "Ok" again
20. You now have a new IP address

With a little practice, you can easily get this process down to 15 seconds.

P.S:
This only changes your dynamic IP address, not your ISP/IP address. If you plan on hacking a website with this trick be extremely careful, because if they try a little, they can trace it back

Very useful keyboard shortcuts

Getting used to using your keyboard exclusively and leaving your mouse behind will make you much more efficient at performing any task on any Windows system. I use the following keyboard shortcuts every day:

Windows key + R - Run menu

This is usually followed by:
cmd - Command Prompt
iexplore + "web address" - Internet Explorer
compmgmt.msc - Computer Management
dhcpmgmt.msc - DHCP Management
dnsmgmt.msc - DNS Management
services.msc - Services
eventvwr - Event Viewer
dsa.msc - Active Directory Users and Computers
dssite.msc - Active Directory Sites and Services
Windows key + E - Explorer

ALT + Tab - Switch between windows
ALT, Space, X - Maximize window
CTRL + Shift + Esc - Task Manager
Windows key + Break - System properties
Windows key + F - Search
Windows key + D - Hide/Display all windows
CTRL + C - copy
CTRL + X - cut
CTRL + V - paste
Also don't forget about the "Right-click" key next to the right Windows key on your keyboard. Using the arrows and that key can get just about anything done once you've opened up any program.


Keyboard Shortcuts

[Alt] and [Esc] Switch between running applications
[Alt] and letter Select menu item by underlined letter
[Ctrl] and [Esc] Open Program Menu
[Ctrl] and [F4] Close active document or group windows (does not work with some applications)
[Alt] and [F4] Quit active application or close current window
[Alt] and [-] Open Control menu for active document
[Ctrl] Lft., Rt. arrow Move cursor forward or back one word
[Ctrl] Up, Down arrow Move cursor forward or back one paragraph
[F1] Open Help for active application
Windows+M Minimize all open windows
Shift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open windows
Windows+F1 Open Windows Help
Windows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttons
Windows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box


Acessability shortcuts

Right SHIFT for eight seconds........ Switch FilterKeys on and off.
Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN....... Switch High Contrast on and off.
Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK....... Switch MouseKeys on and off.
SHIFT....... five times Switch StickyKeys on and off.
NUM LOCK...... for five seconds Switch ToggleKeys on and off.

Explorer Shortcuts

END....... Display the bottom of the active window.
HOME....... Display the top of the active window.
NUM LOCK+ASTERISK....... on numeric keypad (*) Display all subfolders under the selected folder.
NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (+) Display the contents of the selected folder
NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (-) Collapse the selected folder.
LEFT ARROW...... Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.
RIGHT ARROW....... Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.



Type the following commands in your Run Box (Windows Key + R) or Start Run

devmgmt.msc - Device Manager
msinfo32 - System Information
cleanmgr - Disk Cleanup
ntbackup - Backup or Restore Wizard (Windows Backup Utility)
mmc - Microsoft Management Console
excel - Microsoft Excel (If Installed)
msaccess - Microsoft Access (If Installed)
powerpnt - Microsoft PowerPoint (If Installed)
winword - Microsoft Word (If Installed)
frontpg - Microsoft FrontPage (If Installed)
notepad - Notepad
wordpad - WordPad
calc - Calculator
msmsgs - Windows Messenger
mspaint - Microsoft Paint
wmplayer - Windows Media Player
rstrui - System Restore
netscp6 - Netscape 6.x
netscp - Netscape 7.x
netscape - Netscape 4.x
waol - America Online
control - Opens the Control Panel
control printers - Opens the Printers Dialog


Internet browser (auto complete)

type in u're address "Google", then press [Right CTRL] and [Enter]
add www. and .com to word and go to it


Basic Windows Shortcuts

Copy. CTRL+C
Cut. CTRL+X
Paste. CTRL+V
Undo. CTRL+Z
Delete. DELETE
Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE
Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item
Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item
Rename selected item. F2
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW
Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select all. CTRL+A
Search for a file or folder. F3
View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER
Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4
Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4
Switch between open items. ALT+TAB
Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6
Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10
Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC
Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name
Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu
Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW
Refresh the active window. F5
View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task. ESC
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.

Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes:


To Press
Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB
Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move forward through options. TAB
Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB
Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter
Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER
Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys
Display Help. F1
Display the items in the active list. F4
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE

If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key , you can use these keyboard shortcuts:


Display or hide the Start menu. WIN Key
Display the System Properties dialog box. WIN Key+BREAK
Show the desktop. WIN Key+D
Minimize all windows. WIN Key+M
Restores minimized windows. WIN Key+Shift+M
Open My Computer. WIN Key+E
Search for a file or folder. WIN Key+F
Search for computers. CTRL+WIN Key+F
Display Windows Help. WIN Key+F1
Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain. WIN Key+ L
Open the Run dialog box. WIN Key+R
Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U

Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts:

Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN
Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds
Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U


Shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:

Display the bottom of the active window. END
Display the top of the active window. HOME
Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)
Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first sub folder. RIGHT ARROW

Now leave your mouse behind to make you much more efficient.

All about FTP

Well, since many of us have always wondered this, here it is. Long and drawn out. Also, before attempting this, realize one thing; You will have to give up your time, effort, bandwidth, and security to have a quality ftp server.
That being said, here it goes. First of all, find out if your IP (Internet Protocol) is static (not changing) or dynamic (changes everytime you log on). To do this, first consider the fact if you have a dial up modem. If you do, chances are about 999 999 out of 1 000 000 that your IP is dynamic. To make it static, just go to a place like h*tp://www.myftp.org/ to register for a static ip address.

You'll then need to get your IP. This can be done by doing this:
Going to Start -> Run -> winipcfg or www.ask.com and asking 'What is my IP?'

After doing so, you'll need to download an FTP server client. Personally, I'd recommend G6 FTP Server, Serv-U FTPor Bullitproof v2.15 all three of which are extremely reliable, and the norm of the ftp world.
You can download them on this site: h*tp://www.liaokai.com/softw_en/d_index.htm

First, you'll have to set up your ftp. For this guide, I will use step-by-step instructions for G6. First, you'll have to go into 'Setup -> General'. From here, type in your port # (default is 21). I recommend something unique, or something a bit larger (ex: 3069). If you want to, check the number of max users (this sets the amount of simultaneous maximum users on your server at once performing actions - The more on at once, the slower the connection and vice versa).

The below options are then chooseable:
-Launch with windows
-Activate FTP Server on Start-up
-Put into tray on startup
-Allow multiple instances
-Show "Loading..." status at startup
-Scan drive(s) at startup
-Confirm exit

You can do what you want with these, as they are pretty self explanatory. The scan drive feature is nice, as is the 2nd and the last option. From here, click the 'options' text on the left column.

To protect your server, you should check 'login check' and 'password check', 'Show relative path (a must!)', and any other options you feel you'll need. After doing so, click the 'advanced' text in the left column. You should then leave the buffer size on the default (unless of course you know what you're doing ), and then allow the type of ftp you want.

Uploading and downloading is usually good, but it's up to you if you want to allow uploads and/or downloads. For the server priority, that will determine how much conventional memory will be used and how much 'effort' will go into making your server run smoothly.

Anti-hammering is also good, as it prevents people from slowing down your speed. From here, click 'Log Options' from the left column. If you would like to see and record every single command and clutter up your screen, leave the defaults.

But, if you would like to see what is going on with the lowest possible space taken, click 'Screen' in the top column. You should then check off 'Log successful logins', and all of the options in the client directry, except 'Log directory changes'. After doing so, click 'Ok' in the bottom left corner.

You will then have to go into 'Setup -> User Accounts' (or ctrl & u). From here, you should click on the right most column, and right click. Choose 'Add', and choose the username(s) you would like people to have access to.

After giving a name (ex: themoonlanding), you will have to give them a set password in the bottom column (ex: wasfaked). For the 'Home IP' directory, (if you registered with a static server, check 'All IP Homes'. If your IP is static by default, choose your IP from the list. You will then have to right click in the very center column, and choose 'Add'.

From here, you will have to set the directory you want the people to have access to. After choosing the directory, I suggest you choose the options 'Read', 'List', and 'Subdirs', unless of course you know what you're doing . After doing so, make an 'upload' folder in the directory, and choose to 'add' this folder seperately to the center column. Choose 'write', 'append', 'make', 'list', and 'subdirs'. This will allow them to upload only to specific folders (your upload folder).

Now click on 'Miscellaneous' from the left column. Choose 'enable account', your time-out (how long it takes for people to remain idle before you automatically kick them off), the maximum number of users for this name, the maximum number of connections allowed simultaneously for one ip address, show relative path (a must!), and any other things at the bottom you'd like to have. Now click 'Ok'.
**Requested**


From this main menu, click the little boxing glove icon in the top corner, and right click and unchoose the hit-o-meter for both uploads and downloads (with this you can monitor IP activity). Now click the lightning bolt, and your server is now up and running.

Post your ftp info, like this:

213.10.93.141 (or something else, such as: 'f*p://example.getmyip.com')

User: *** (The username of the client)

Pass: *** (The password)

Port: *** (The port number you chose)

So make a FTP and join the FTP section


Listing The Contents Of A Ftp:

Listing the content of a FTP is very simple.
You will need FTP Content Maker, which can be downloaded from here:
ht*p://www.etplanet.com/download/application/FTP%20Content%20Maker%201.02.zip

1. Put in the IP of the server. Do not put "ftp://" or a "/" because it will not work if you do so.
2. Put in the port. If the port is the default number, 21, you do not have to enter it.
3. Put in the username and password in the appropriate fields. If the login is anonymous, you do not have to enter it.
4. If you want to list a specific directory of the FTP, place it in the directory field. Otherwise, do not enter anything in the directory field.
5. Click "Take the List!"
6. After the list has been taken, click the UBB output tab, and copy and paste to wherever you want it.


If FTP Content Maker is not working, it is probably because the server does not utilize Serv-U Software.

If you get this error message:
StatusCode = 550
LastResponse was : 'Unable to open local file test-ftp'
Error = 550 (Unable to open local file test-ftp)
Error = Unable to open local file test-ftp = 550
Close and restart FTP Content Maker, then try again.




error messages:

110 Restart marker reply. In this case, the text is exact and not left to the particular implementation; it must read: MARK yyyy = mmmm Where yyyy is User-process data stream marker, and mmmm server's equivalent marker (note the spaces between markers and "=").
120 Service ready in nnn minutes.
125 Data connection already open; transfer starting.
150 File status okay; about to open data connection.
200 Command okay.
202 Command not implemented, superfluous at this site.
211 System status, or system help reply.
212 Directory status.
213 File status.
214 Help message. On how to use the server or the meaning of a particular non-standard command. This reply is useful only to the human user.
215 NAME system type. Where NAME is an official system name from the list in the Assigned Numbers document.
220 Service ready for new user.
221 Service closing control connection. Logged out if appropriate.
225 Data connection open; no transfer in progress.
226 Closing data connection. Requested file action successful (for example, file transfer or file abort).
227 Entering Passive Mode (h1,h2,h3,h4,p1,p2).
230 User logged in, proceed.
250 Requested file action okay, completed.
257 "PATHNAME" created.
331 User name okay, need password.
332 Need account for login.
350 Requested file action pending further information.
421 Too many users logged to the same account
425 Can't open data connection.
426 Connection closed; transfer aborted.
450 Requested file action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file busy).
451 Requested action aborted: local error in processing.
452 Requested action not taken. Insufficient storage space in system.
500 Syntax error, command unrecognized. This may include errors such as command line too long.
501 Syntax error in parameters or arguments.
502 Command not implemented.
503 Bad sequence of commands.
504 Command not implemented for that parameter.
530 Not logged in.
532 Need account for storing files.
550 Requested action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).
551 Requested action aborted: page type unknown.
552 Requested file action aborted. Exceeded storage allocation (for current directory or dataset).
553 Requested action not taken. File name not allowed.


Active FTP vs. Passive FTP, a Definitive Explanation

Introduction
One of the most commonly seen questions when dealing with firewalls and other Internet connectivity issues is the difference between active and passive FTP and how best to support either or both of them. Hopefully the following text will help to clear up some of the confusion over how to support FTP in a firewalled environment.

This may not be the definitive explanation, as the title claims, however, I've heard enough good feedback and seen this document linked in enough places to know that quite a few people have found it to be useful. I am always looking for ways to improve things though, and if you find something that is not quite clear or needs more explanation, please let me know! Recent additions to this document include the examples of both active and passive command line FTP sessions. These session examples should help make things a bit clearer. They also provide a nice picture into what goes on behind the scenes during an FTP session. Now, on to the information...



The Basics
FTP is a TCP based service exclusively. There is no UDP component to FTP. FTP is an unusual service in that it utilizes two ports, a 'data' port and a 'command' port (also known as the control port). Traditionally these are port 21 for the command port and port 20 for the data port. The confusion begins however, when we find that depending on the mode, the data port is not always on port 20.



Active FTP
In active mode FTP the client connects from a random unprivileged port (N > 1024) to the FTP server's command port, port 21. Then, the client starts listening to port N+1 and sends the FTP command PORT N+1 to the FTP server. The server will then connect back to the client's specified data port from its local data port, which is port 20.

From the server-side firewall's standpoint, to support active mode FTP the following communication channels need to be opened:

FTP server's port 21 from anywhere (Client initiates connection)
FTP server's port 21 to ports > 1024 (Server responds to client's control port)
FTP server's port 20 to ports > 1024 (Server initiates data connection to client's data port)
FTP server's port 20 from ports > 1024 (Client sends ACKs to server's data port)


In step 1, the client's command port contacts the server's command port and sends the command PORT 1027. The server then sends an ACK back to the client's command port in step 2. In step 3 the server initiates a connection on its local data port to the data port the client specified earlier. Finally, the client sends an ACK back as shown in step 4.

The main problem with active mode FTP actually falls on the client side. The FTP client doesn't make the actual connection to the data port of the server--it simply tells the server what port it is listening on and the server connects back to the specified port on the client. From the client side firewall this appears to be an outside system initiating a connection to an internal client--something that is usually blocked.



Active FTP Example
Below is an actual example of an active FTP session. The only things that have been changed are the server names, IP addresses, and user names. In this example an FTP session is initiated from testbox1.slacksite.com (192.168.150.80), a linux box running the standard FTP command line client, to testbox2.slacksite.com (192.168.150.90), a linux box running ProFTPd 1.2.2RC2. The debugging (-d) flag is used with the FTP client to show what is going on behind the scenes. Everything in red is the debugging output which shows the actual FTP commands being sent to the server and the responses generated from those commands. Normal server output is shown in black, and user input is in bold.

There are a few interesting things to consider about this dialog. Notice that when the PORT command is issued, it specifies a port on the client (192.168.150.80) system, rather than the server. We will see the opposite behavior when we use passive FTP. While we are on the subject, a quick note about the format of the PORT command. As you can see in the example below it is formatted as a series of six numbers separated by commas. The first four octets are the IP address while the second two octets comprise the port that will be used for the data connection. To find the actual port multiply the fifth octet by 256 and then add the sixth octet to the total. Thus in the example below the port number is ( (14*256) + 178), or 3762. A quick check with netstat should confirm this information.

testbox1: {/home/p-t/slacker/public_html} % ftp -d testbox2
Connected to testbox2.slacksite.com.
220 testbox2.slacksite.com FTP server ready.
Name (testbox2:slacker): slacker
---> USER slacker
331 Password required for slacker.
Password: TmpPass
---> PASS XXXX
230 User slacker logged in.
---> SYST
215 UNIX Type: L8
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> ls
ftp: setsockopt (ignored): Permission denied
---> PORT 192,168,150,80,14,178
200 PORT command successful.
---> LIST
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list.
drwx------ 3 slacker users 104 Jul 27 01:45 public_html
226 Transfer complete.
ftp> quit
---> QUIT
221 Goodbye.


Passive FTP
In order to resolve the issue of the server initiating the connection to the client a different method for FTP connections was developed. This was known as passive mode, or PASV, after the command used by the client to tell the server it is in passive mode.

In passive mode FTP the client initiates both connections to the server, solving the problem of firewalls filtering the incoming data port connection to the client from the server. When opening an FTP connection, the client opens two random unprivileged ports locally (N > 1024 and N+1). The first port contacts the server on port 21, but instead of then issuing a PORT command and allowing the server to connect back to its data port, the client will issue the PASV command. The result of this is that the server then opens a random unprivileged port (P > 1024) and sends the PORT P command back to the client. The client then initiates the connection from port N+1 to port P on the server to transfer data.

From the server-side firewall's standpoint, to support passive mode FTP the following communication channels need to be opened:

FTP server's port 21 from anywhere (Client initiates connection)
FTP server's port 21 to ports > 1024 (Server responds to client's control port)
FTP server's ports > 1024 from anywhere (Client initiates data connection to random port specified by server)
FTP server's ports > 1024 to remote ports > 1024 (Server sends ACKs (and data) to client's data port)



In step 1, the client contacts the server on the command port and issues the PASV command. The server then replies in step 2 with PORT 2024, telling the client which port it is listening to for the data connection. In step 3 the client then initiates the data connection from its data port to the specified server data port. Finally, the server sends back an ACK in step 4 to the client's data port.

While passive mode FTP solves many of the problems from the client side, it opens up a whole range of problems on the server side. The biggest issue is the need to allow any remote connection to high numbered ports on the server. Fortunately, many FTP daemons, including the popular WU-FTPD allow the administrator to specify a range of ports which the FTP server will use. See Appendix 1 for more information.

The second issue involves supporting and troubleshooting clients which do (or do not) support passive mode. As an example, the command line FTP utility provided with Solaris does not support passive mode, necessitating a third-party FTP client, such as ncftp.

With the massive popularity of the World Wide Web, many people prefer to use their web browser as an FTP client. Most browsers only support passive mode when accessing ftp:// URLs. This can either be good or bad depending on what the servers and firewalls are configured to support.



Passive FTP Example
Below is an actual example of a passive FTP session. The only things that have been changed are the server names, IP addresses, and user names. In this example an FTP session is initiated from testbox1.slacksite.com (192.168.150.80), a linux box running the standard FTP command line client, to testbox2.slacksite.com (192.168.150.90), a linux box running ProFTPd 1.2.2RC2. The debugging (-d) flag is used with the FTP client to show what is going on behind the scenes. Everything in red is the debugging output which shows the actual FTP commands being sent to the server and the responses generated from those commands. Normal server output is shown in black, and user input is in bold.

Notice the difference in the PORT command in this example as opposed to the active FTP example. Here, we see a port being opened on the server (192.168.150.90) system, rather than the client. See the discussion about the format of the PORT command above, in the Active FTP Example section.

testbox1: {/home/p-t/slacker/public_html} % ftp -d testbox2
Connected to testbox2.slacksite.com.
220 testbox2.slacksite.com FTP server ready.
Name (testbox2:slacker): slacker
---> USER slacker
331 Password required for slacker.
Password: TmpPass
---> PASS XXXX
230 User slacker logged in.
---> SYST
215 UNIX Type: L8
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> passive
Passive mode on.
ftp> ls
ftp: setsockopt (ignored): Permission denied
---> PASV
227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,150,90,195,149).
---> LIST
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list
drwx------ 3 slacker users 104 Jul 27 01:45 public_html
226 Transfer complete.
ftp> quit
---> QUIT
221 Goodbye.


Summary
The following chart should help admins remember how each FTP mode works:

Active FTP :
command : client >1024 -> server 21
data : client >1024 <- server 20 Passive FTP : command : client >1024 -> server 21
data : client >1024 -> server >1024

A quick summary of the pros and cons of active vs. passive FTP is also in order:

Active FTP is beneficial to the FTP server admin, but detrimental to the client side admin. The FTP server attempts to make connections to random high ports on the client, which would almost certainly be blocked by a firewall on the client side. Passive FTP is beneficial to the client, but detrimental to the FTP server admin. The client will make both connections to the server, but one of them will be to a random high port, which would almost certainly be blocked by a firewall on the server side.

Luckily, there is somewhat of a compromise. Since admins running FTP servers will need to make their servers accessible to the greatest number of clients, they will almost certainly need to support passive FTP. The exposure of high level ports on the server can be minimized by specifying a limited port range for the FTP server to use. Thus, everything except for this range of ports can be firewalled on the server side. While this doesn't eliminate all risk to the server, it decreases it tremendously.

All MS-DOS Commands

Below is a listing of each of the MS-DOS commands currently listed on Computer Hope and a brief explanation of what each of the commands do. The below commands are all MS-DOS commands, which means not all the below commands will work in your version of MS-DOS and/or Windows command line. Clicking on the command will open the help page for that command with full details about it.

COMMAND

DESCRIPTION
ANSI.SYS Defines functions that change display graphics, control cursor movement, and reassign keys.
APPEND Causes MS-DOS to look in other directories when editing a file or running a command.
ARP Displays, adds, and removes arp information from network devices.
ASSIGN Assign a drive letter to an alternate letter.
ASSOC View the file associations.
AT Schedule a time to execute commands or programs.
ATMADM Lists connections and addresses seen by Windows ATM call manager.
ATTRIB Display and change file attributes.
BATCH Recovery console command that executes a series of commands in a file.
BOOTCFG Recovery console command that allows a user to view, modify, and rebuild the boot.ini
BREAK Enable / disable CTRL + C feature.
CACLS View and modify file ACL's.
CALL Calls a batch file from another batch file.
CD Changes directories.
CHCP Supplement the International keyboard and character set information.
CHDIR Changes directories.
CHKDSK Check the hard disk drive running FAT for errors.
CHKNTFS Check the hard disk drive running NTFS for errors.
CHOICE Specify a listing of multiple options within a batch file.
CLS Clears the screen.
CMD Opens the command interpreter.
COLOR Easily change the foreground and background color of the MS-DOS window.
COMMAND Opens the command interpreter.
COMP Compares files.
COMPACT Compresses and uncompress files.
CONTROL Open Control Panel icons from the MS-DOS prompt.
CONVERT Convert FAT to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to an alternate location.
CTTY Change the computers input/output devices.
DATE View or change the systems date.
DEBUG Debug utility to create assembly programs to modify hardware settings.
DEFRAG Re-arrange the hard disk drive to help with loading programs.
DEL Deletes one or more files.
DELETE Recovery console command that deletes a file.
DELTREE Deletes one or more files and/or directories.
DIR List the contents of one or more directory.
DISABLE Recovery console command that disables Windows system services or drivers.
DISKCOMP Compare a disk with another disk.
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one disk and place them on another disk.
DOSKEY Command to view and execute commands that have been run in the past.
DOSSHELL A GUI to help with early MS-DOS users.
DRIVPARM Enables overwrite of original device drivers.
ECHO Displays messages and enables and disables echo.
EDIT View and edit files.
EDLIN View and edit files.
EMM386 Load extended Memory Manager.
ENABLE Recovery console command to enable a disable service or driver.
ENDLOCAL Stops the localization of the environment changes enabled by the setlocal command.
ERASE Erase files from computer.
EXIT Exit from the command interpreter.
EXPAND Expand a Microsoft Windows file back to it's original format.
EXTRACT Extract files from the Microsoft Windows cabinets.
FASTHELP Displays a listing of MS-DOS commands and information about them.
FC Compare files.
FDISK Utility used to create partitions on the hard disk drive.
FIND Search for text within a file.
FINDSTR Searches for a string of text within a file.
FIXBOOT Writes a new boot sector.
FIXMBR Writes a new boot record to a disk drive.
FOR Boolean used in batch files.
FORMAT Command to erase and prepare a disk drive.
FTP Command to connect and operate on a FTP server.
FTYPE Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations.
GOTO Moves a batch file to a specific label or location.
GRAFTABL Show extended characters in graphics mode.
HELP Display a listing of commands and brief explanation.
IF Allows for batch files to perform conditional processing.
IFSHLP.SYS 32-bit file manager.
IPCONFIG Network command to view network adapter settings and assigned values.
KEYB Change layout of keyboard.
LABEL Change the label of a disk drive.
LH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LISTSVC Recovery console command that displays the services and drivers.
LOADFIX Load a program above the first 64k.
LOADHIGH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LOCK Lock the hard disk drive.
LOGON Recovery console command to list installations and enable administrator login.
MAP Displays the device name of a drive.
MD Command to create a new directory.
MEM Display memory on system.
MKDIR Command to create a new directory.
MODE Modify the port or display settings.
MORE Display one page at a time.
MOVE Move one or more files from one directory to another directory.
MSAV Early Microsoft Virus scanner.
MSD Diagnostics utility.
MSCDEX Utility used to load and provide access to the CD-ROM.
NBTSTAT Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT
NET Update, fix, or view the network or network settings
NETSH Configure dynamic and static network information from MS-DOS.
NETSTAT Display the TCP/IP network protocol statistics and information.
NLSFUNC Load country specific information.
NSLOOKUP Look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network.
PATH View and modify the computers path location.
PATHPING View and locate locations of network latency.
PAUSE Command used in batch files to stop the processing of a command.
PING Test / send information to another network computer or network device.
POPD Changes to the directory or network path stored by the pushd command.
POWER Conserve power with computer portables.
PRINT Prints data to a printer port.
PROMPT View and change the MS-DOS prompt.
PUSHD Stores a directory or network path in memory so it can be returned to at any time.
QBASIC Open the QBasic.
RD Removes an empty directory.
REN Renames a file or directory.
RENAME Renames a file or directory.
RMDIR Removes an empty directory.
ROUTE View and configure windows network route tables.
RUNAS Enables a user to execute a program on another computer.
SCANDISK Run the scandisk utility.
SCANREG Scan registry and recover registry from errors.
SET Change one variable or string to another.
SETLOCAL Enables local environments to be changed without affecting anything else.
SETVER Change MS-DOS version to trick older MS-DOS programs.
SHARE Installs support for file sharing and locking capabilities.
SHIFT Changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program.
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer from the MS-DOS prompt.
SMARTDRV Create a disk cache in conventional memory or extended memory.
SORT Sorts the input and displays the output to the screen.
START Start a separate window in Windows from the MS-DOS prompt.
SUBST Substitute a folder on your computer for another drive letter.
SWITCHES Remove add functions from MS-DOS.
SYS Transfer system files to disk drive.
TELNET Telnet to another computer / device from the prompt.
TIME View or modify the system time.
TITLE Change the title of their MS-DOS window.
TRACERT Visually view a network packets route across a network.
TREE View a visual tree of the hard disk drive.
TYPE Display the contents of a file.
UNDELETE Undelete a file that has been deleted.
UNFORMAT Unformat a hard disk drive.
UNLOCK Unlock a disk drive.
VER Display the version information.
VERIFY Enables or disables the feature to determine if files have been written properly.
VOL Displays the volume information about the designated drive.
XCOPY Copy multiple files, directories, and/or drives from one location to another.

More about Windows Vienna

Windows "Vienna" (formerly known as Blackcomb) is a codename for a future version of Microsoft Windows, originally announced in February 2000, that has been subject to major delays and rescheduling. It is expected to be the successor to both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Microsoft has announced it will be released in 2009, and according to "Smart Computing In Plain English", a technology magazine, work on it began right after Windows Vista was released. As of February 2007, the name of the operating system used internally is undisclosed and is not used publicly by Microsoft, though "Windows 7" has been noted in job postings as a working name for the project.

Microsoft has refrained from discussing the details about "Vienna" publicly as they focus on the release and marketing of Windows Vista, though some early details of various core operating system features have emerged at developer conferences such as Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in 2006.

The code name "Blackcomb" was originally assigned to Windows NT 6, an operating system that was planned to follow both the desktop/workstation-oriented Windows XP (Windows NT 5.1, codenamed "Whistler"; both named after the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) and the server-oriented Windows Server 2003 (Windows NT 5.2). In late 2001 the release of Blackcomb was being scheduled for 2005 and in August it was announced that a minor intermediate release, Vista (codenamed "Longhorn" after a bar in the Whistler Blackcomb Resort), would ship in 2002 to update the Windows NT 5.x line. Over the following years Longhorn morphed in fits, starts, and delays to incorporate many of the features promised for Blackcomb and was eventually designated as Windows NT 6. The status of the operating system dubbed "Blackcomb," however, was shrouded in confusion with some reports suggesting that plans for Blackcomb were scrapped while others claiming that it would be the moniker for a server-only Windows 6.x release. More likely, the codename "Blackcomb" was discarded as no longer being in the spirit of its original intent (i.e., to describe Windows NT 6). At the present, it is believed that Windows "Vienna" is being planned as both a client and server release with a current release estimate of late 2009, although no firm date or year has yet been publicized.



At first, internal sources pitched Blackcomb as being not just a major revision of Windows, but a complete departure from the way users today typically think about interacting with a computer.[citation needed] For instance, the "Start" philosophy, introduced in Windows 95, may be replaced by the "new interface" which was said in 1999 to be scheduled for "Vienna". While Windows Vista was intended to be an evolutionary release, Vienna is targeted directly at revolutionizing the way users of the product interact with their PCs.

On February 9, 2007, Microsoft's Ben Fathi claimed that the focus on the operating system was still being worked out, and could merely hint at some possibilities:
“ "We're going to look at a fundamental piece of enabling technology. Maybe it's hypervisors. I don't know what it is" "Maybe it's a new user interface paradigm for consumers." ”

Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, also suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric." When asked to clarify what he meant, Gates said:
“ "That means that right now when you move from one PC to another, you've got to install apps on each one, do upgrades on each one. Moving information between them is very painful. We can use Live Services to know what you're interested in. So even if you drop by a [public] kiosk or somebody else's PC, we can bring down your home page, your files, your fonts, your favorites and those things. So that's kind of the user-centric thing that Live Services can enable. [Also,] in Vista, things got a lot better with [digital] ink and speech, but by the next release there will be a much bigger bet. Students won't need textbooks; they can just use these tablet devices. Parallel computing is pretty important for the next release. We'll make it so that a lot of the high-level graphics will be just built into the operating system. So we've got a pretty good outline." ”


Several other features originally planned for Windows Vista may be part of "Vienna", depending on when they are finished.

"Vienna" will also feature the sandboxed approach discussed during the Alpha/White Box development phase for Longhorn. All non-managed code will run in a sandboxed environment where access to the "outside world" is restricted by the operating system. Access to raw sockets will be disabled from within the sandbox, as will direct access to the file system, hardware abstraction layer (HAL), and complete memory addressing.[citation needed] All access to outside applications, files, and protocols will be regulated by the operating system, and any malicious activity will be halted immediately.[citation needed] If this approach is successful, it bodes very well for security and safety, as it is virtually impossible for a malicious application to cause any damage to the system if it is locked inside a metaphorical 'glass box.' As well, this sand boxed environment will be able to adapt itself to the code base it was written for. This will alleviate most problems that arise from back compatibility when a new operating system is made.

Another feature mentioned by Bill Gates is "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in." The implications of this could be as simple as a "complete as you type" function as found in most modern search engines, (e.g. Google Suggest), ENSO, or as complex as being able to give verbal commands to the PC without any concern for syntax. The former has been incorporated to an extent in Windows Vista.

Microsoft recently confirmed at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC 2007) in Los Angeles, that Windows Server 2008 would be the last 32-bit release of Windows Server that Microsoft develops. This would assume that all Windows Server releases after this will be exclusively 64-bit.

Paul Thurrott states in his Supersite for Windows, that according to Microsoft's x64 migration schedule, Windows Vienna will almost certainly only ship in 64-bit editions.

This means that, although there will be continued backward compatibility with 32-bit applications, 16-bit Windows and MS-DOS applications will not be supported, as is the case in the existing x64 versions of Windows.

DOS Restrictions

There are restrictions you can make to the ability to execute DOS programs

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_Current_User / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies
3. Create a new key under Policies called WinOldApp
4. You can then add DWORD values set to 1 in the appropriate keys
5. To re-enable them, either delete the key or set the value to 0

* Disabled - Disable MS-DOS Prompt
* NoRealMode - Disables Single-Mode MS-DOS

List of Search Engines

Many people think there are not more than one dozen serch engines.but the blowing fact see below
Open source search engines

* DataparkSearch
* Egothor
* Gonzui
* Ht://dig
* Lucene
* Lemur Toolkit & Indri Search Engine
* mnoGoSearch
* Namazu
* Nutch
* OpenFTS
* SWISH-E
* Terrier Search Engine
* Wikiasari
* Xapian
* YaCy
* Zettair



Metasearch engines

* Bioinformatic_Harvester
* Brainboost
* Clusty
* Dogpile
* Excite
* HotBot
* Info.com
* Ixquick
* Mamma
* Metacrawler
* MetaLib
* Myriad Search
* SideStep
* Turbo10
* WebCrawler



Regional search engines

* Accoona, China/US
* Alleba, Philippines
* Ansearch, Australia/US/UK/NZ
* Araby, Middle East
* Baidu, China
* Daum, Korea
* In.gr, Greece
* Najdi.si, Slovenia
* Naver, Korea
* Rambler, Russia
* Rediff, India
* SAPO, Portugal
* Search.ch, Switzerland
* Walla!, Israel
* Yandex, Russia



People search engines

* Zoominfo



Email-based search engines

* TEK



Visual search engines

* Grokker
* Kartoo
* Quintura



Answer-based search engines

* Answers.com
* AskMeNow
* BrainBoost
* Google Answers
* Lexxe
* Lycos iQ
* Windows Live QnA
* Yahoo! Answers



Google-based search engines

* AOL Search
* MySpace Search
* Netscape



Yahoo!-based search engines

* AltaVista
* AlltheWeb
* GoodSearch



Windows-Live-based search engines

* A9.com
* Lycos
* Cialiseo



Job search engines

* Naukri.com (India)
* Bixee.com (India)
* Craigslist (by city)
* Eluta.ca (Canada)
* CareerBuilder.com (USA)
* Hotjobs.com (USA)
* Indeed.com (USA)
* Monster.com (USA)
* Recruit.net (International)
* SimplyHired.com (USA)



Forum search engines

* Omgili



Blog search engines

* Amatomu
* Bloglines
* IceRocket
* Sphere
* Technorati



News search engines

* Google News
* MagPortal
* Newslookup
* Nexis (Lexis Nexis)
* Topix.net
* Yahoo! News



Multimedia search engines

* blinkx
* Picsearch
* Podscope



Code search engines

* Google Code Search
* JExamples
* Krugle
* Koders



BitTorrent search engines


* Isohunt
* Mininova
* The Pirate Bay
* TorrentSpy
* FlixFlux
* pointblank

Prevent changes to start menu

To prevent any changes to the Start Menu, even a right click:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
3. Add a DWORD called NoChangeStartMenu
4. Give it a value of 1

Disabling drives in My Computer

To turn off the display of local or networked drives when you click on My Computer:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer
3. Add a New DWORD item and name it NoDrives
4. Give it a value of 3FFFFFF
5. Now when you click on My Computer, none of your drives will show

Preparing Hard drive to move to another computer

To remove the devices from device manager when taking a HD from one computer to another,
simply:

1. Run Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ and delete the Enum section
3. This removes all of the hardware specific settings

Deleting specific registry key

If you want to simply remove a specific value within a key, use the syntax below:

[Registry Key]
"value"=-

For example:

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"MSConfig"=-

would delete the value MSCONFIG.

Changing location of special folders

You can modify the registry to change the location of special folders like:

* My Documents
* Favorites
* My Pictures
* Personal

1. Start Regedit
2. Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Explorer \User Shell Folders
3. Double click on any locations you want to change and alter the path
4. Logoff or restart for the changes to go into effect

Preventing changes to file associations

You can prevent users from changing associations via Windows Explorer's Tools / Folder Options / File Types tab.

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explore
3. Create REG_DWORD data type NoFileAssociate
4. Give it a value of 1

Disabling F3 search key

If you want to disable the ability to use the F3 key from either the Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions
3. Create a Dword value called NoFindFiles
4. Give it a value of 1
5. Reboot

Dual booting XP and Linux

# First, start off with a machine with XP already installed on it.

# Next, download a Linux distro.

# Burn a CD of the ISO you downloaded and pop it into the drive and boot up off of it.

# Start the install process. This will take you through the Welcome screen, the Where are you? screen and the Keyboard layout screen.

# Now you’ll come to the disk partitioner. Choose the Resize [main partition] and use freed space option. This is where you find out if you have enough free space to do the job. The default recommendation for the new partition size will be ideal, but you can move the slider along to change the values to suit. When you’re done, click Forward.

# Now you can go away and leave the install to churn away until it’s done. It shouldn’t take all that long.

# When the install is complete the system will reboot.

# When the system boot up, now you’ll be greeted by the GRUB boot menu. From here you can choose which OS to boot into. In my case Ubuntu will be the default and will start automatically in 10 seconds.

# The first time that you reboot into Windows the OS will more than likely want to check the disk since the partition has changed size since Windows was last running. XP will also likely want to re-detect hardware and such and probably reboot.

# That’s it!

PCs with Windows XP only until January 2008

Microsoft wants to only offer OEM versions of Windows XP by 31 January 2008. There is to be system Builder versions of Windows XP still to 2009.

The support for the old XP-version runs out according to Microsoft only 2014. Since at the end of January 2007 offers the manufacturer the XP-successor to Windows Vista.

Windows XP service pack 3 in 2008

To all appearances Microsoft wants to make available next Service Pack for Windows XP only to in the middle of 2008 for the Download. Thus there would be nearly four years break between SP2 and SP3.

Second shift

Already at the beginning of this yearly had Microsoft admits given to actually shift for center 2006 planned service luggage 3 on 2007. The recent change of date increases the delay on full two years. The software producer did not call concrete reasons for it however.

Microsoft patents vs. open source

Microsoft high officials did announce that they will request from developers and users of open-source software to pay Microsoft for royalty. According to Microsoft, open-source software, including Linux, uses 235 patents without Microsoft permission. That can’t pass without punishment and Microsoft wants’ that developers and users of open-source programs start to pay license for software that they use. According to their words only Linux kernel use 42 Microsoft patents, and user interface 65. Open Office also use 45 Microsoft patents, and open source email applications 15 patents. Other Open-source programs do have 65 more Microsoft patents.

Microsoft Office gets VoIP

The Microsoft Office package is supplemented around VoIP functions. The software “Office Communications server 2007” and “Unified Communications Clients Office Communicator 2007” will be published in March as beta versions. With new applications the user can telephone directly from Office applications. For example is sufficient click on a name in a Word document or an Excel table and the software makes the connection.

Beta version of Windows Vista at mid of July

The contents of the first Service Pack dedicated to Windows Vista should give the blow of sending of the real deployment of the last born of the OS made in Microsoft in the companies in October/November 2007. It is what Paul Otellini had announced, the chairman of Intel in April; an error of communication according to Microsoft.

Confirmation as of the next week Nevertheless, the statements of Otellini seem to have to be confirmed today following information obtained sure sources by our fellow-members of ZDNet, whereas the last rumors on this subject let forecast for this period, of the publication of a first version beta and a final version for the middle of the year 2008.

RedHat will open a store online of programs of open code

The company has predicted to announce its strategy the week that comes, when it presents the first important update in two years his central operating system based on Linux. Network Hat did not want to comment out. Linux is the program of more popular open code and was developed like an alternative to another one like the Windows of Microsoft.

Windows server 2008

Windows Server 2008 will be launched in February 2008, and not this year as it was hoped for a time. The next OS of Microsoft was indeed awaited for this November and one feared delays then. However, according to Microsoft, the code will be finalized since 2007. All should thus be officially announced at the time of a conference in Los Angeles, on February 27, 2008. To stick to this new calendar, Microsoft installed a meter on its dedicated site. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 should them also stick to this expiry.

Since April, Longhorn server, version of Vista directed waiters, is available in version beta 3, freely accessible to the remote loading in a multitude from editions (standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web server, Server Core).

Mandriva 2008 -- The new Linux

Mandriva announces the color for its distribution Mandriva Linux 2008 to leave on September 27, 2007.

According to the official calendar, the final version of the distribution Linux Mandriva 2008 should be born on September 27, 2007 after in particular the publication of a first version beta between the 2 and August 16. In short Based on the very recent core Linux 2.6.22, Mandriva Linux 2008 will integrate its batch of traditional updates with the graphic waiter X.org 7.3, the last stable versions of the environments of Bureau XFCE 4.4.1 and KDE 3.5.7 as GNOME in its grinding 2.20 which will be available next September

Microsoft silverlight

Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of Microsoft .NET–based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.

Silverlight, the technology of Microsoft intended to compete with, inter alia, the Flash of Adobe, will be finalized soon in its version 1.00. First release Candidate will be indeed available before the end of the month after a phase of tests which will have been less long than other products, but which will have profited from an enormous return of the testers.

Silverlight is brought to be useful in many projects of Microsoft. Plug-in reading can for the moment being installed under Internet Explorer 6 and 7, like Firefox 1.5 and 2 for Windows, but also under Safari and Firefox 1.5 and 2 for Mac OS X. other navigators and other operating systems are being studied, in particular Opera and the Linux platform, without more details on the subject.

The developers which have been tested with technology for several months should be directed towards a specific SDK created to help them to maintain their code for not that their Web pages are posted differently with the final version.


It will be noted that a version 1.1 alpha exists and that it brings already a number much more significant of functionalities by supporting ASP.NET, AJAX, LINQ (Language-Integrated Query), Javascript, of Visual BASIC, of C#, Python or of Ruby. This version alpha also integrates Common Language Runtime.

Something about registry

The Windows Registry is a database where all the information about your computer is stored. Everything from colors, installed applications, or changes you make in Control Panel, are included in the Registry database.

If you want to extend the customization of Windows, you'll need to understand the Registry, and how it works.

It is possible to break Windows by changing the Registry. Any changes you make should be done with caution. If you take the simple step of making a backup copy of the Registry, you virtually eliminate the possibility of disaster. This is explained in detail in another chapter. Users of Windows for Newbies will find this a very simple operation to perform

Trick to find IP Address of sender in Hotmail

When you receive an email, you receive more than just the message. The email comes with headers that carry important information that can tell where the email was sent from and possibly who sent it. For that, you would need to find the IP address of the sender. The tutorial below can help you find the IP address of the sender. Note that this will not work if the sender uses anonymous proxy servers.
Finding IP address in Hotmail
1. Log into your Hotmail account with your username and password.
2. Click on the Mail tab on the top.
3. Open the mail.
4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
* Click on Options on the top-right corner
* In the Mail Options page, click on Mail Display Settings
* In Message Headers, make sure Advanced option is checked
* Click on Ok button
* Go back to the mails and open that mail.

5. If you find a header with X-Originating-IP: followed by an IP address, that is the sender's IP addressHotmail headers : name ,In this case the IP address of the sender is [68.34.60.59]. Jump to step 9.
6. If you find a header with Received: from followed by a Gmail proxy like thisHotmail headers : nameLook for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].In this case, the IP address of the sender is [69.140.7.58]. Jump to step 9.
7. Or else if you have headers like thisHotmail headers : nameLook for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].In this case, the IP address of the sender is [61.83.145.129] (Spam mail). Jump to step 9.
8. * If you have multiple Received: from headers, eliminate the ones that have proxy.anyknownserver.com.
9. Track the IP address of the sender

Trick to find IP Address of sender in Yahoo mail

In you receive an email, you receive more than just the message. The email comes with headers that carry important information that can tell where the email was sent from and possibly who sent it. For that, you would need to find the IP address of the sender. The tutorial below can help you find the IP address of the sender. Note that this will not work if the sender uses anonymous proxy servers.

Finding IP address in Yahoo! Mail

1. Log into your Yahoo! mail with your username and password.
2. Click on Inbox or whichever folder you have stored your mail.
3. Open the mail.
4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
* Click on Options on the top-right corner
* In the Mail Options page, click on General Preferences
* Scroll down to Messages where you have the Headers option
* Make sure that Show all headers on incoming messages is selected
* Click on the Save button
* Go back to the mails and open that mail.
5. You should see similar headers like this:Yahoo! headers : nameLook for Received: from followed by the IP address between square brackets [ ]. Here, it is 202.65.138.109.That is be the IP address of the sender!
6. Track the IP address of the sender

Recover lost administrator's password in Windows XP

Slightly more work needed if you lose or forget the Windows XP administrator password.

1.First reboot Windows XP in safe mode by re-starting the computer and pressing F8 repeated as the computer starts up.

2.Then (in safe mode) click Start and then click Run. In the open box type "control userpasswords2" without the quotes - I have just used quotes to differentiate what you have to type.

3.You will now have access to all the user accounts, including the administrators account and will be able to reset the lost password.

4.Just click the administrators user account, and then click Reset Password.

5.You will need to add a new password in the New password and the Confirm new password boxes, and confirm by clicking OK.


All done, you have recovered the lost adminitrators password!

Keeping the Windows XP Core on the CD-ROM

If you have 512 MB or more of RAM, you can increase system performance by having the Windows XP 'Core' kept in the RAM instead of paged on the hard disk.

Go to Start -> Run - Type regedit and press enter - On the left hand side tree, navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\

- On the list on the right side, look for an entry called 'DisablePagingExecutive'
- Double click it
- Press 1 on your keyboard
- Click OK
- Exit regedit and reboot the computer

To revert to the default setting, follow the same steps as above, but this time, press 0(zero) instead of 1 on the keyboard.

Trick to show your name after time in taskbar

Here is a trick to add up ur name in place of AM and PM beside time and make urself to feel proud among ur group of friends.Its simple.

Start -> Control Pannel -> Regional and LAnguage option -> Customize (beside English US) -> Go to TIME tab -> Change AM symbol and PM symbol from AM and PM to ur name -> Apply -> Ok ...
IS it changed ??? Might be not ...Now go to time in taskbar and Double Click it to open "Date and time property" ...Look place where time chnges in digital form i.e. 02:47:52 AM , click to arrow to cnage the AM or PM by selecting and press arrow. It will Show ur name or name that was entered by u, Apply -> OK.

What can VoIP do for you?

Who wouldn't want to pay less for their phone service? That's just one of the advantages VoIP can offer. It helps to understand what the technology is, how it works and how proper planning makes all the difference between success and failure.

According to a recent study only 12 percent of the people surveyed were familiar with the concept of VoIP. Of those that knew it related to some type of phone service, even fewer understood how it actually worked. Given those statistics, now seems like good time for a quick overview of VoIP and how it relates to your network.

In this article we'll focus more on VoIP in a small business environment as opposed to those specific to a home user. However, the majority of this discussion applies to both.

Let's begin with something important to all small business owner — money. Consider this, a report published by TeleNomic Research reports that small businesses (companies with fewer than 500 employees) spend on average $543.17 per month for telecommunications services; 89 percent of which are for local, long distance and wireless telephone services.

Yet high telephone bills are only one aspect of the expenses small business owners face when it comes to their telecommunication systems. Traditional telephone systems are typically difficult to manage and support. They require their own communication lines, custom hardware, and usually a special support team. Just adding or removing a single user could cost hundreds of dollars. Not to mention the cost of adding additional extensions.

There was a time when you had no choice but to pay these prices simply because you couldn't get these services anywhere else. Today, though, you have more options. Imagine a local phone number that followed you anywhere. Take a VoIP phone on the road, and you can place or receive calls from almost anywhere as if you were sitting at your desk. Since your phone number is mobile you can make "local" calls back home or call around the globe without worrying about cell phone roaming or hotel surcharges.
Key Terms To Understanding VoIP for Business:

VoIP
Short for Voice over Internet Protocol, a category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls.

TCP/IP
Short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet.

PSTN
Short for Public Switched Telephone Network, which refers to the international telephone system based on copper wires carrying analog voice data.

telephony
The science of translating sound into electrical signals, transmitting them, and then converting them back to sound; that is, the science of telephones.

Also, imagine getting your phone messages forwarded to your notebook as e-mail attachments. Think of how helpful it would he to archive phone messages and conversations (with the other party's consent, of course) as electronic files on your computer. And consider if this came with great features like call waiting/forwarding, voicemail and three-way calling at no extra charge. That is what VoIP can do for you.

VoIP allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of using a regular analog phone line. Some services using VoIP may allow you to call only other people using the same service, but other services will allow you to call anyone who has a telephone number — including local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers. Also, while some services work only over your computer or a special VoIP phone, still, other services allow you to use a traditional phone through an adaptor.

How VoIP Works
VoIP is a collection of digitally encrypted voice transmissions that are carried over a network based on a single common language, or protocol — in this case, the Internet Protocol TCP/IP. VoIP converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the Internet and is then converted back at the other end, so you can speak to anyone with a regular phone number. When placing a VoIP call using a phone with an adapter, you'll hear a dial tone and dial just as you always have. VoIP may also allow you to make a call directly from a computer using a conventional telephone or a microphone.

VoIP works as a peer-to-peer application, entailing handshaking and direct media exchange between two IP devices,. To call someone, the user dials the telephone number, the handset translates that number into IP address format (e.g., 123.456.11.22), and the device sends encrypted data packets whose payloads contain messages conforming to a particular call-setup protocol between the two devices. They then establish a common connection for voice exchange. Their device rings, they pick up, and media packets flow in both directions.

To better understand how VoIP works, it's helpful to compare it to how conventional phone calls operate. When you place a "regular" phone call using the Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN (also known as POTS, for Plain Old Telephone Service) it's known as a circuit-switched telephony, because it sets up a dedicated connection between two points for the duration of the call.

VoIP, on the other hand, is known as packet-switched telephony, because the voice information travels to its destination in countless individual network packets across the Internet. This type of communication presents special TCP/IP challenges because the Internet wasn't really designed for the kind of real-time communication a phone call represents. Individual packets may — and almost always do — take different paths to the same place. It's not enough to simply get VoIP packets to their destination. The packets must arrive in a fairly narrow time window and be assembled in the correct order to be intelligible to the recipient.

To improve performance, VoIP employs encoding schemes and compression technology to reduce the size of the voice packets so they can be transmitted more efficiently. Audio signals are also digitally processed in order to accentuate the voice information and suppress background noise. To conserve bandwidth, VoIP systems stop transmitting during lulls in a conversation and even generate some "comfort noise" to forestall the eerie silence that might make you think the call was disconnected.

VoIP uses a number of compression standards that offer different balances between packet size and audio quality. Generally speaking, the higher the compression the more simultaneous calls you can have, but the lower voice quality will be.

Despite all of the advantages of a VoIP system, it does have its drawbacks. For instance, some VoIP services will not work during power outages and the service provider may not offer any type of back-up power solution. Many VoIP providers may not offer directory assistance or white pages listings which is essential to the small business.

Preparing for VoIP
The key to success with VoIP ultimately comes down to proper planning. The scope of a VoIP implementation can vary according to an organization's needs and desires, ranging from the relatively straightforward - using VoIP for local and long-distance calls or to communicate between a company's multiple offices - to more complex deployments like call centers.

In most cases, saving money immediately with VoIP won't require you to purchase any additional phone equipment or jettison what you already have, because devices called media gateways let conventional phone equipment (ranging from individual phones to an entire PBX) interface with your Internet connection. Taking advantage of VoIP's most cutting-edge features (like the ability to have your calls follow you as you travel) typically require specialized VoIP phones or other equipment and/or a hosted PBX service.

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