Low Hard Drive Space warning messages

In windows XP, when you’re hard disk space of any drive left 200 MB or less than 200 MB, it begins you a alerting message “You are running out of disk space on drive C or D. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary file, click here.” May be this warning message is useful for the maintenance of your hard disk space, and remind you to uninstalling unnecessary programs and deleting temporary files. But some time this message annoying, especially once you well aware about this situation. To disable this warnings message permanently, you have to edit the computer registry. But the best technique to edit the windows registry keys, always export or backup the whole windows registry keys on backup drive before editing. Because any mistake in Registry can cause problem in your computer to run properly.

Follow the given steps to disable the warning message.

• First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
• In Registry Editor panel go to the path:
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ Explorer.
• Here in right hand side panel, create the new DWORD value, Value name “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks”.
• Now double click on that value, now set its value 1 and press OK.
• Now restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.

Useful tip to Hide drives and Partitions

You can hide your system partitions or drives from other users. This tip is very useful if different type of users are using same computer then you can safe your important drives with this trick from any illegal action. You can use windows XP TweakUI utility or registry editor to hide drives. To work with windows XP TweakUI go to Run and type tweakui then press enter. A small TweakUI interface will open with options to uncheck drives that you want hidden. Click OK to finish it.

You can also use registry editor to edit the computer registry to turn off the display of drives, but be careful to work with computer registry.

Follow the given steps to hide computer drives:

• First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
• Here locate the location to:

        HKey_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows

        \ Current Version \ Policies \ Explorer

• Here right click on right side of Registry editor panel and add new DWORD then put its value 3FFFFFF.
• Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.

How to Secure a Wireless Network from Hackers?

The reason we secure a wireless network is to stop people from using the services of our network who don't have permission to utilize them. It is harder to secure a wireless network from hackers as compared to a classic wired network. This is due to the fact that a wireless network can be accessed anywhere inside the range of its antenna.

In order to secure a wireless network from hackers, we should take proper steps to save ourselves against security issues. If you don't secure a wireless network from hackers, you might end up without its service. The consequence might also include the utilization of our network to attack further networks. To secure a wireless network from hackers, you should follow these simple wireless networking tips:

1.       Strategic antenna placement:

The first thing you have to do is to position the access point's antenna in a place which restricts the range of its signal to go further than the required area. You should not put the antenna close to a window because glass can't obstruct its signals. Place it in a central location of the building.

2.       Use WEP:

WEP stands for Wireless encryption protocol.  It's a customary technique for encrypting traffic on a wireless network. You should never skip it as that will allow hackers to get instant access to the traffic over a wireless network.

3.       Change the SSID, disable the broadcast of SSID:

SSID stands for service set identifier.  It is the recognition thread utilized by the wireless access point due to which the customers are capable of starting connections. For every wireless access point arranged, select an exclusive as well as unique SSID. Also, if it's attainable, hold back the broadcast of the SSID out over the antenna. It won\t appear in the listing of offered networks, while being able to provide services as usual.

4.       Disable DHCP:

By doing this, the hackers will have to decode the TCP/IP parameters, subnet mask as well as the IP address in order to hack your wireless network.

5.       Disable or modify SNMP settings:

Change the private as well as public community settings of SNMP. You can also just disable it. Otherwise the hackers will be able to utilize SNMP to get significant info regarding your wireless network.

6.       Utilize access lists:

For additional security of your wireless network, and if your access point support this feature, employ an access list. An access list lets us determine precisely which machinery is permitted to attach to an access point. The access points which include the access list can employ trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) now and then in order to download modernized lists to steer clear of hackers.

Install windows 2000 after you have installed windows XP

If you want to install two windows (windows 2000 and XP) on the same computer then the sequence is that first install windows 2000 then windows XP. But if you have already installed windows XP on your computer and now want to install the windows 2000 on the same computer then after windows 2000 setup your XP windows will create problem. Follow the given steps how to install windows 2000 after you have installed windows XP.

First backup the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files in windows XP, locate these files NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM in the boot drive (normally in C drive root directory). Usually these files are hidden files but you can locate to adjust your explorer options to show them. You can search these files on your computer C drive.

Now copy these files on USB drive or write on black CD. But you can also save these files on other hard disk drives like D or E drive.

After backup these files, boot your computer from bootable windows 2000 CD and run the windows 2000 setup.

Try to install the windows 2000 to a different partition that XP is installed. After complete the windows 2000 setup, boot your computer into windows 2000.

When your computer boot into windows 2000, attach the backup drive that you used earlier for backup, now copy back NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM to the root directory of your boot drive.

Now, you'll be able to restart your computer and boot into windows 2000 or windows XP. 

How to install FreeNX on Suse 10.0?

NoMachine NX is a Terminal Server and remote access solution based on a comprising set of enterprise class open source technologies. NX makes it possible to run any graphical application on any operating system across any network connection at incredible speed.

FreeNX application/thin-client server is based on NoMachine’s NX technology. It can operate remote X11 sessions over 56k modem dialup links or anything better. FreeNX package contains a free (GPL) implementation of the nxserver component. The following workshop describes the FreeNX installation on a Linux Suse 10.0 server.
In the workshop setup the NX server is running behind a firewall. You can access it from outside your environment (i.e. the Internet) via an analog or ISDN MODEM or from inside you LAN.

NOTE: Please make sure to configure your firewall correctly to allow SSH connections (Port 22) from both sides.
You also need to allow inbound traffic TCP to port 5000.

The workshop setup could look like this:

Backup and Restore MBR

Backing up Master Boot Record (MBR)
The MBR  is a 512 byte segment on the very first sector of your hard drive composed of three parts: 1) the boot code which is 446 bytes long, 2) the partiton table which is 64 btyes long, and 3) the boot code signature which is 2 bytes long. The core of the backup command is dd—which will be familiar to every system administrator, especially to those who intend to clone an entire hard disk. To see all the options type man dd. As we want to back up only the first 512 bytes we need to append some arguments to it. Here is the full command you need (and remember to run it as the root user, su (and sudo for Ubuntu users):

dd if=/dev/hda of=/home/richmondg/mbr_backup bs=512 count=1

Restoring the MBR

You can use a live CD to access your hard drive and read the backup off any removable media such as a USB stick. Here is the command:

dd if=/dev/sda/mbr_backup of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1

Again, amend sda to read where you saved the MBR and run the command as root. If you wish to kill the MBR altogether, including the partition table, then you can overwrite it with a series of zeros:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 count=1

If you want to kill the MBR but leave the partition table intact then simply change 512 to 446.

Another way to repair the mbr of your HDD device is install LILO then type (replacing x with the letter of your HDDdevice) :

lilo -M /dev/sdx

Most commonly used Security Techniques against viruses.

Virus detection and its removal are mode through an antivirus or with some other security program. Different antivirus programs are available in the market and over Internet. The most common and famous security technique against viruses is as under: 

Virus Signature/ Virus Definition

Virus signature is a known pattern of code of a code of a virus program; this pattern is used by antivirus program to detect viruses and then to remove these viruses. You should update virus definition continuously by downloading updates from Internet. This ensures that your antivirus is always able to detect changing viruses. 

Inoculation

Inoculation file is separate file created and maintained by antivirus program to record information like file size and file creation date. This information later on is used for virus detection and removal.
 

Quarantine

Quarantine is a separate area on a hard disk. It contains the infected files and folders that cannot be cleared or deleted by antivirus due to some reason, for example sharing violation or unknown virus for that antivirus. 

Recovery Disk

Recovery disk is a removable disk that holds un-infected system commands and startup information. In case the boot record of actual hard disk fails, this recovery disk can be used to start the computer. Afterwards an antivirus program can be used to remove the virus. 

Un-authorized access

Accessing a computer system without the knowledge or permission of its user is called unauthorized access. It is always recommended to restrict computer resources with the help of usernames and passwords. These are unique combination of characters to identify users and their secret codes respectively. 

Firewall

Firewall is a security system consisting of hardware and software to prevent unauthorized access of a network or computer. Big companies use a separate computer firewall software or hardware to protect their date from unauthorized access. Firewall check outgoing and incoming traffic and manage data access to the authorized users only. 

Biometric Devices

A biometric device reads personal characteristics like fingerprints hand structure, facial features, and voice recognition to authenticate a user for any further access to a computer system or other peripheral devices. A biometric device translates the personal characteristics into digital code that is matched to already store user data in that system. If the digital data matches with any of the stored data, it gives access to the person. In case of no match, the access is denied.

Turn on a screensaver with adding a shortcut

• You can run screensaver on your system with a single click, If you have any screensaver file like .scr extension, or first download it using Internet, there are many free sites for screensaver downloading.
• If you have not any .scr file then please go to Start button, and click on Search button. Here in search windows type *.scr and search all screen saver file from your hard disk.
• Here you will find a list of screensavers in the results. Pick a screensaver you want. You can preview it by double-clicking it.
• Right click on the file, choose Send To, and then click Desktop (create shortcut).
• To activate the screensaver, double-click the icon on your desktop.

Remove or uninstall Windows XP SP2

Windows XP service pack 2 is a powerful tool to fight against malicious intrusion, but if you are experiencing problem with SP2, you can uninstall or remove it. There are many methods to remove it, but a simple one to remove using “Add or Remove Programs tool in Control Panel”. 

Follow the given steps to remove windows XP SP2:

• First click on Start button then open Run on Popup menu.
• In Run dialog box type appwiz.cpl and press Ok button. 
• Here Add or Remove Programs dialog box, select the Show Updates check box on the top of that dialog box.

• Now select Windows XP Service Pack 2 program then click on remove button.
• At the end Removal Wizard will start, click Next to finish it.

    

Trick: The Perfect Server - Fedora 9

This is a detailed description about how to set up a Fedora 9 server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable) with PHP5 and Ruby, Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Dovecot POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. This tutorial is written for the 32-bit version of Fedora 9, but should apply to the 64-bit version with very little modifications as well.

I will use the following software:

• Web Server: Apache 2.2.8
• PHP 5.2.5
• Ruby
• Database Server: MySQL 5.0.51
• Mail Server: Postfix
• DNS Server: BIND9 (chrooted)
• FTP Server: proftpd
• POP3/IMAP server: Dovecot
• Webalizer for web site statistics

In the end you should have a system that works reliably, and if you like you can install the free webhosting control panel ISPConfig (i.e., ISPConfig runs on it out of the box).

Read more at Howtoforge.com 

Increase the speed of your slow internet connection

Today broadband internet connection is available in all the major cities, but in some area people are still using slow dial-up internet connection. So don’t worry, you can enjoy your dial-up internet connection faster than its normal speed using internet accelerator. The Web Accelerator application designed to provide the full acceleration for your routine web sites browsing. With the help of Web Accelerator you can browse your internet 4 to 6 times faster than normal dial-up connection. Basically this services compressing the website text data, images and heavy graphics to open or download this data with high speed.

This technique is more useful for static websites and for email applications but don't accelerate with secure and downloading audio or video files. Some good web accelerator retains your system cache to reuse websites with faster speed and can also block windows pop-up. If you are using FTP sites and downloading any program using dial-up, then web accelerator is not for you. There are various web accelerator software are free available on internet, visit and download it to enjoy your connection.

Windows common shortcut keys

The most important shortcut keys that are used in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. 

Action                                                             Shortcut keys

 

Change the font                                  CTRL+SHIFT+F

Change the size of font                        CTRL+SHIFT+P

Increase the Font Size                          CTRL+SHIFT+>

Decrease the font size                          CTRL+SHIFT+<

Increase the font size by 1-point            CTRL+]

Decrease the font size by 1-point           CTRL+[

Change the case of letters                    SHIFT+F3

Close the active item                            ALT+F4

Format letters as all capitals                   CTRL+SHIFT+A

Apply or remove bold formatting              CTRL+B

Apply or remove underline                      CTRL+U

Minimize all windows                             Windows logo key+M

Underline single word                            CTRL+SHIFT+W

Double underline text                            CTRL+SHIFT+D

Apply or remove hidden text                  CTRL+SHIFT+H

Find Files or Folders                             WINDOWS+F

Apply italic formatting                          CTRL+I

Format letters as small capitals              CTRL+SHIFT+K

Apply automatic spacing                       CTRL+=

Remote formatting in plain text              CTRL+SHIFT+Z

Cancel the current task                        ESC

Change the selection to symbol font       CTRL+SHIFT+Q

Display nonprinting characters               CTRL+SHIFT+*

Windows Repair Installation

Some time windows missing the startup files due to the power failure, virus's attack and any illegal action by user. You can solve the windows startup problem with running the windows repair installation. Almost all windows serious problem can be solved using windows repair function. For repair windows XP, you should have the bootable windows CD.

First boot your computer using bootable windows XP, CD. To boot from CD, first change the booting order setting in your system BIOS.

When first blue screen will appear, do not choose any option here; simply press the Enter button to go for next option.

Next you will get "Windows License agreement" page, simply press F8 button to accept this agreement.

Now in second blue screen press the R on your keyboard to repair the windows XP installation. This recovery function repaired the all-missing windows features.

In half an hour windows will complete all recovery process. This recovery process will not disturbed your Desktop and My Document data. May be your some windows sitting will change after completing process.

Battle of the Elite: openSUSE vs. Mandriva

Mandriva and openSUSE are two well-established Linux distributions worthy to be considered elite. Both have successfully conquered the hearts of many Linux enthusiasts long before Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS took the stage. With their latest releases namely Mandriva Linux 2008 and openSUSE 10.3, they remained a force to be reckoned with.

Conclusion:
Mandriva Linux 2008 may have convincingly won the battle against openSUSE 10.3 but not unanimously because there’s only one judge and that is me :) So, to those who have experienced using these two distros and can compare which of them is better, feel free to give us some feedback.

Read more at TechSource

Testing Web application security using Google's ratproxy

To help developers audit Web application security, Google has released an open source tool called ratproxy. It is a non-disruptive tool designed for Web 2.0 and AJAX applications that produces an easy-to-read report of potential exploits.

Ratproxy is a local program designed to sit between your Web browser and the application you want to test. It logs outgoing requests and responses from the application, and can generate its own modified transactions to determine how an application responds to common attacks.

The list of low-level tests it runs is extensive, and includes:

• potentially unsafe JSON-like responses
• bad caching headers on sensitive content
• suspicious cross-domain trust relationships
• queries with insufficient XSRF defenses
• suspected or confirmed XSS and data injection vectors

Read more at Linux.com