My Tech Fundas: Tips and Techniques

The July 2009 Security Release ISO Image is now available for download from Microsoft, having been offered concomitantly with the company’s monthly patch cycle releases. In addition to serving each month’s security bulletins through Windows Update, the software giant is also packaging the patches aimed for the supported Windows client and server operating system as an ISO image. In this context, customers can now access Windows-related security updates, including for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows XP SP3 that went live on July 14, 2009, through the DVD5 ISO image package.

“This month we are releasing six bulletins. Three of those affect Windows and are rated Critical. All three of those also have an Exploitability Index rating of ‘1’ which means that we believe that consistent exploit code in the wild is highly likely within the first 30 days,” revealed Jerry Bryant, Microsoft security

It is important to note that the ISO image contains only patches for vulnerabilities that affect Windows. In this regard, the package brings to the table MS09-028 and MS09-029 patching five Critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft DirectShow and the Embedded OpenType Font Engine that could allow for remote code execution in the eventuality of a successful exploit.

Microsoft enumerated the patched security flaws in MS09-028:

DirectX NULL Byte Overwrite Vulnerability – CVE-2009-1537 – a remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft DirectShow parses QuickTime media files.

DirectX Pointer Validation Vulnerability – CVE-2009-1538 – a remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft DirectShow validates certain values when updating a pointer.

DirectX Size Validation Vulnerability - CVE-2009-1539 – a remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft DirectShow validates specific fields in QuickTime media files.”

MS09-029 is designed to resolve these issues:

Embedded OpenType Font Heap Overflow Vulnerability – CVE-2009-0231 – a remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Windows Embedded OpenType (EOT) font technology parses data records in specially crafted embedded fonts.

Embedded OpenType Font Integer Overflow Vulnerability - CVE-2009-0232 – a remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Windows Embedded OpenType (EOT) font technology parses name tables in specially crafted embedded fonts.

The time it takes for your computer to start up and run has been massively improved under Windows Vista. One of the reasons older versions of Windows, such as Windows 95 and Windows 98, took so long to boot up was because those versions of Windows were running on top of another operating system MSDOS.

With Windows Vista this is no longer the case, so start-up times are a lot faster. If you have a brand new computer or a fresh installation of Windows Vista, it will take no time at all for your PC to start up, so you can begin using your favourite programs at once. Unfortunately, after a while, with the more programs you install and the more files you have on your PC, you may begin to notice that your computer takes longer and longer to start up. Before you know it, you’ll be able to get up, make a cup of tea and drink it while waiting for Windows Vista to load. When things get this bad, you know you have to do something about it.

We recently asked visitors to the pctipsbox.com website how long it took for their PCs to start. The results varied from less than a minute to over ten!

There are plenty of factors that could make your PC startup grind to a halt, so there are plenty of tweaks to try to get your PC starting up in a flash. It’s all very well listing these tweaks, but do they work?

We have a PC at home packed with so much stuff that it takes an age to load Windows Vista, so we decided to test the tweaks to find out how much time we could save.

First things first – Start-up slow-down

We knew that our PC was slow to start, but when we timed it and saw that it took nearly six and a half minutes from the moment we pressed the on button to when the computer had loaded all the start-up programs and was actually usable, we knew that something needed to be done.

Our first port of call was to check out the Startup folder by going to Start > All Programs > Startup. The Startup folder can be a really useful feature of Windows Vista because you can place shortcuts to your favourite programs in there and they will load up when Windows Vista starts.

The problem is, if there are too many programs in there, it will slow down your computer’s startup as your computer loads them all. Deleting the shortcuts from this folder (don’t worry, it won’t delete the actual programs) will certainly help speed things up. Not all programs that load themselves when your computer starts appear in the Startup folder, however.

Take a look at the Notification area of your Taskbar, which is on the bottom right-hand corner of your desktop next to the clock, to see if there are a lot of icons there. Most of these icons are for programs that run in background, and with all of them starting up when you turn on your computer, it will definitely slow it down.

Many of these programs can be safely prevented from starting up automatically, so you only load them as and when you need to. Most of the time you can right-click the icon and either open the program or go straight to the program’s options or preferences, and from there clear a box that says something like ‘Run this program when Windows starts’.

If there are any programs that you don’t need any more at all, go ahead and uninstall them to get an extra speed boost.

Result: After deleting four shortcuts from the Startup folder and cutting down the Notification icons from a massive 19 down to seven, we saw a huge improvement in the computer’s start-up speed.

Going in deeper

Not all programs give the option to prevent them from automatically starting up. To disable more stubborn programs, we went in to the powerful Msconfig utility. Before using this you should create a Restore point so you can revert your PC back to its former settings should anything go wrong.

Click Start and type msconfig. Click the Startup tab and you’ll see a list of programs, the name of the manufacturer of each program, and the program’s path (where it’s kept on your hard drive). Using all this information you can tell whether these programs are essential to making your PC run properly.

As a general rule, don’t disable any programs from Microsoft

If there are any problems or error messages, make a note and go back into Msconfig and check the boxes of the problem programs. You can also stop some services running on startup. Only stop them if you’re sure that you don’t need them. Again, no Microsoft services should be turned off.

If there are any services you want to stop, it’s a good idea to search for the service on the internet to make sure it’s okay to do so. Once again, if there are any problems, open Msconfig again and restart the services.

Use Msconfig to disable more programs at startup

1. LAUNCH MSCONFIG Msconfig is a powerful application that’s usually only used by advanced computer users. This is why it doesn’t have a snazzy name, and why you won’t find it in the Start Menu. To launch it click Start and type msconfig into the search box.

2. TICK THE BOXES Click the Startup tab and then in the Startup Item column clear the boxes of the programs you wish to prevent from loading on startup. Be careful which programs you deselect, however…

3. RESTART YOUR PC For these changes to take effect you’ll need to restart your PC. Make sure you have saved all your work, and then click Restart. This is a good opportunity to examine the improvements that your changes have made so far.

Result: We found a number of programs that didn’t need to load on startup, so we unchecked them. We also found a couple of services that ran on startup that were used by old programs we had long ago uninstalled, so we safely stopped them.

The process of installing Windows 7 involves a stage in which end users need to Set a Network Location. The SNL dialog window can be revisited after deployment, and the settings altered. In this context, location is key. In order to simplify the network configuration, Windows 7, just as Windows Vista

User interaction is only necessary when choosing among Home, Work or Public locations, as Windows 7 does all the heavy lifting. But you can’t even tell there’s any heavy lifting involved as the configuration process is extremely fast, and I for example, have yet to see it fail even once, after countless installs of the platform in pre-Beta, Beta, RC and pre-RTM stages.

In all fairness, the Windows 7 client comes with an additional option for network location, namely Domain. However, Domain is reserved for enterprise environments and is out of the reach of end users. The option is controlled entirely by a network administrator, users cannot opt to take advantage of Domain by themselves or alter the configuration.

“The first time that you connect to a network, you must choose a network location. This automatically sets the appropriate firewall and security

Network locations

It is important to understand that the location options are in direct correlation with network categories in Windows 7. The next iteration of the Windows client is associated with the following network categories: Public; Private and Domain-authenticated. Work and Home are Private, Domain networks belong to the Domain Authenticated category, and Public networks are intimately connected with the homonymous category.

“The Private category is split into Work and Home locations for internal Windows configuration. Some Windows 7 features behave differently depending on the Work or Home location. For example, HomeGroup – can only create or join while on a Home network; can only access other homegroup members if on a Home network. Remote Media Streaming (RMS): cannot act as content sources (RMS server) a server while on a Public network; can only act as content receivers (RMS client),” Microsoft stated.

In my experience, the difference between Public and Private networks, especially with Windows Vista, managed to confuse some users. I had to deal with people looking to share both folders and devices on their machine with other computers on the network. In attempting to do so, they set their PC to a Public connection, as they thought that Private would have the opposite result and close down access to their computer altogether. Indeed, the two options functioned vice-versa. So, if you want to share as much as your Windows machine as possible with other computers, Home and Private connections are the way to go. Want as much security as possible and no intrusions from the network? Then go with the Public option.

“Network Location and Windows Firewall are independent of each other, but the configuration of Windows Firewall is based on the current network category or categories (Windows Firewall supports multiple active firewall profiles). By default, if connected to a Public network, only Core Networking rules are enabled. By default, if connected to a Private network, Core Networking, Network Discovery, and Remote Assistance rules are enabled. Windows Firewall has no effect on the SNL dialog. The SNL dialog will display whether Windows Firewall is enabled or disabled,” the Redmond-based company revealed.

The labels used for the network locations are pretty much self-explanatory. The Home option doesn’t necessarily need to be used for a home network, but rather when users can trust the computers and devices the machine will connect to. This is also the only option that will allow for the Windows 7 computer to create a HomeGroup, a feature designed to allow users to seamlessly share and access content among computers running the successor of Windows Vista.

A Work network is by definition a tad more limited than a home network. In this regard, although network discovery is enabled by default and computers and devices are visible among all users, a HomeGroup cannot be created.

“Choose Public network for networks in public places (such as coffee shops or airports). This location is designed to keep your computer from being visible to other computers around you and to help protect your computer from any malicious software from the Internet. HomeGroup is not available on public networks, and network discovery is turned off. You should also choose this option if you’re connected directly to the Internet without using a router, or if you have a mobile broadband connection,” Microsoft stated.

Users will also notice that, at the very bottom of the SNL dialog, they have the option to “treat all future networks that I connect to as public, and don’t as me again.” If this option is selected, network location will default to Public.

The Network and Sharing Center

The Network and Sharing Center has undoubtedly evolved in comparison to the feature introduced in Windows Vista. While in Windows XP’s successor the focus was on Sharing and discovery settings, in Windows 7, the Network and Sharing Center brings to the foreground options related to setting up and connecting to a network, defining a HomeGroup and troubleshooting eventual problems.

By default, users will need to do nothing more than select a network location and Windows 7 will take care of the rest. “Client computers running Windows7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP are configured by default as DHCP clients, which obtain IP addresses and DHCP options automatically from the DHCP server,” Microsoft explained.

There is, however, one configuration aspect that I’d like to touch. As do its precursors, Windows 7 allows end users to configure a static IP address. The procedure is rather simple. Here is what users need to do. Click Start, and then navigate to Control Panel, Network and Internet, Network and Sharing Center. Network, and Change adapter settings in the left had side pane. Right click the Network Connection you want to change and select Properties. In Local Area Connection Properties, click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), and then Properties. In Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties, the General tab will permit you to enter a specific IP address, Subnet mask and Default gateway. You will also have to specify the IP address of the DNS server (or you can use the IP address of the local computer if it is the machine in use as a DNS server.

Domain join for Windows 7

I have also mentioned that Windows 7 has a fourth location option: Domain. “Connecting to a domain network automatically sets the network category to domain authenticated. Some Windows 7 features behave differently depending on the domain-joined status of the computer. For example, HomeGroup: domain-joined computers cannot create a homegroup; can only join a homegroup; cannot share files or printers with a homegroup (cannot push content); can access other homegroup members’ files and printers (can pull content). Remote Media Streaming (RMS): domain-joined computers cannot act as content sources (RMS server); can only act as content receivers (RMS client),” Microsoft revealed.

As I’ve said before, the Domain location for Windows 7 clients is the responsibility of a network admin. To join a specific domain, users will need appropriate credentials, namely an account and a password. These can only be created by the network administrator and supplied to end users. Still, users can join a Domain with their Windows 7 machine.

Right-click on Computer and select Properties. Under the Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings section, go for Change settings, and again for Change under Computer Name tab, the last option at the bottom. Next, enter the Computer Name, the Domain name supplied by the network admin. In the Windows Security dialog > Computer Name/Domain Changes, enter the User name, and the Password. All you need to do now is restart the computer as indicated for the new settings to come into effect.

I was searching for way on how to install windows 7 on a net book which does not have a dvd drive, and I have the windows 7 dvd. After some googling I found out a way on how to install windows 7 from a USB drive but the overall process is quite geeky in the end so my layman friend cannot follow this method.

Then I came across a free tool being developed by one the readers at AskVG this free app is called A Bootable USB It lets you create a bootable USB drive to install windows 7, vista or even windows server 2008 directly from a USB Drive.

Here is how you can create a bootable USB Drive with windows 7 setup on it.

Follow are some requirements in order to use this tool

1. You will need a USB Drive ( Size 4GB or more )

2. You will need Windows 7, Vista or Server 2008 DVD Drive or ISO Image

3. You will need Windows Vista or Server 2008 or Windows 7 to run this tool

Either select the DVD Drive option or ISO Image option depending on your requirement and once the process is complete, you can use the bootable USB Drive t install windows 7 or Vista or Server 2008 but you will need to make sure that the computer or laptop on which you want to install windows 7 should support booting with a USB Drive, you can check the same in BOIS settings.

Literally, a 'Cookie' is referred to biscuits. But in computers, a Cookie has a different meaning. Even those who know about it, think that cookies cause damage to the computer. In this article let us learn about cookies and their usage.

What is a Cookie?

Cookie is a text file created by the webserver and stored in our computer. Let us see what is the purpose of this text file.

Generally when a client computer connects to a server they both get introduced and start sharing information. The server will identify the computer and this relationship will continue until the connection gets discontinued.

But the connection between the web server and a client computer is 'stateless'. After serving the information that the web client requested, if the same client sends another request, then the web server will not know that it is the same person. Instead it will treat is as a new person and serve the information. Cookie is used to change this 'statelessness' in the web server.

With the use of cookies, when a web client connects to a web server, the web server will create a cookie file and write some information about the web client and store it in the web client computer itself. When the same web client connects to the web server next time, the web server will see the cookie file in that computer and will know about the client.

Why to use a cookie?

Personally there is no use of storing the cookie in our computer. But it helps the web server a lot. Web servers creates cookies for two main reasons.

• To identify the visitors
  
  A server will normally write details like when did the visitor visit the website, which are the pages he viewed, what is his name etc in a cookie. When the same person visits the same website again, the server will display his name and welcome him, and show those webpages related to his previous visit and also show the changes since his last visit to the website. In short, cookies are used to personalize the website for the visitors.
  
• To record activities
  
  Cookie is also used to record the activities between the web client and the web server and used to rectify problems that may occur during the session. For example, imagine that you are filling out a form with many fields. After filling the first page and moving to the second page if the computer hangs and you had to restart the computer. Then if you restart and go back to the same webpage, the webserver will know the details that you already entered from the cookie and hence will just show the second page directly. If there was no cookie then you will have to type from the first page again.

Common Myths about cookies.

1. Cookies spread viruses. This is a false statement. Cookie is a text file, therefore virus cannot spread through viruses.
   
2. Cookies get stored in any folder in the computer. This is also false. Cookies are also stored in a specific folder only. For example in c:\windows\profiles\yourname\cookies folder, Internet Explorer creates one text file for each cookie. Netscape navigator will store all cookies in c:\Program files\netscape\users 50\default\cookies.txt file.
   
3. Using cookies, the other files in your computer can be read. This also is false. Websites just read their own cookies and do not read other cookies or other files.
   
4. From other cookies webserver will know which websites you visit. This is also false. A website will only open its own cookies. It will not read other cookies.
   
5. You can't read a cookie. This is also false. Cookie is just a text file. You can read cookies using any text editor like notepad.

How to read a cookie file?

You can use a software like 'Cookies Cruncher' to read cookies. You can download cookies cruncher from www.rbaworld.com

In Netscape navigator all the cookies are stored in a single file. You can read it using Netscape navigator. Select 'Edit->Preferences' and click on 'Privacy & Security' and select 'Cookies'. Now click on 'Manage Stored Cookies'.

You can become a great artist by using computer. The computer provides paint, brush, and canvas to create an image based on your imagination. It makes not only pictures and also makes map, logo wallpaper, and letterhead as you like. For this, you use Photoshop, Corel draw painting software’s. You will buy these software’s or to use equaling share ware programs like paint shop pro etc. For compare to this the free painting programs have less facilities. You can download these free painting programs from Internet.

If you enter Crayola websites you can draw the pictures and enjoy it. Windows operating system have free painting program. That is MS Paint. You can use this to draw the pictures. To open the MS Paint click Start => Programs => Accessories => Paint. Now we have a paint program. The Canvas placed center in this. You are drawing in this canvas. The Toolbox is left side in this canvas. Toolbox has more tools for drawing. Below in the canvas have more colors part. That is a Color Palette. The Menu Bar is above in the canvas.

To Change Canvas Size:

You decide that can you draw the picture in displaying canvas. If you cannot draw that, change the canvas size for any unit like inches, centimeter, and pixel. To change the canvas size click Image Attribute. Type length and width then click OK.

We can use two colors at a time in MS painting program. One is background color another one color is to use drawing in foreground. These two colors are in color palette starting. To change the foreground colors to left click any color in color palette. Now you can see color changed in color palette starting. To change background color to right clicks any color in color palette. If you draw to pressing left click the drawing have background color. If you draw to pressing right click the drawing have background.

Now the canvas and colors are ready then we start to draw the picture. For using in this, the MS Paint gives more tools. If you place mouse in any tool that give a tool name. The MS Paint gives more tools to use drawing. These are Pencil, Brush, Air Brush, Line Curve, Rectangle, Polygon, Ellipse and Rounded Rectangle. If you click one tool more sub tools display below in that tool. It denotes that tools size. For example if you clock Line tool, we have different lines depends upon width to use drawing. We can change the tool that tool size at any time. If you draw wrongly, you can erase that to use Eraser tool. It’s had some different sizes. If you want to type Text in picture to click Text tool and make a rectangle in canvas. Then you can type letter in that rectangle. You can change letter font, size and style.

If you use Rectangle and Ellipse tools, to press these tools with shift key we get square, rectangle respectively. Same as that to press shift key with Rounded Rectangle tool we get rounded square. We want to fill the color in closed object to use Fill with Color tool.

If you want only one part to maximize for painting, you click Magnifier tool then click that part. Now that part is to maximized. If you want to change part size to normal to click Magnifier tool than click that part. The MS Paint gives Free Form Select and Rectangle Select tools to select one part in picture. The Rectangle Select tool used to select square/Rectangle, the Free Form Select to use select other shapes. Then give Edit Copy command, now that part is copy to clipboard. After that you can paste this in any place. If you want to change foreground color to a particular color then click Pick Color tool and then click particular part. This tool is also called as Eye Dropper.

To save the Picture:

We can save the picture to BMP format in MS Paint. BMP means Bitmap. The windows 98-second edition and other edition released after that have BMP, GIF, and JPEG Formats.

To give special effects:

If you click Image menu you got a more commands. We can rotate the pictures, invert the picture, and enlarge the picture like rubber, to slope the picture. You can use this facility for your drawing and became a great artist.

You would have come across a Drawing canvas while trying to paste a picture in a word file. This will be available even before you ask. On that only your picture will be pasted. After that only you move that picture from these to the destination you desire. Do you feel it so difficult and irritating? Do you feel why this canvas is there unnecessarily? Follow the steps below to fulfill your wish.


First go to Tools menu in that select Options, in the following list of tabs you click the General tab. In the various features tack the tick near ”Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting Auto shapes” then click ok and exit. After this action canvas will not function while you paste a picture in word document? If you feel you need the canvas, follow the same steps and select table from the same option.

MS-Office clipboard is used to copy and past the text, pictures and graphics. The copy of the text or picture is getting stored in clipboard. We can past that in any windows application. When coping any text it will overwrite that previous text. What can we do for copy more than on text in MS-Office? Answer this please.

It’s totally different from clipboard in windows operating system.

In MS-Office all the application software contains office clipboard. We will see the facility in this. If work based on cut, copy, paste command. We can store 24 items in this clipboard. While trying to copy the 25th item in the clipboard it will replace the first item from the clipboard.

Due to the following option the menu will automatically open.

1. When you cut or copy more than 2 items in a program
2. In a same program copy one text and past after that copy a text.
3. When you past the same item twice.

When office clipboard started the icon is displayed in the left side of status bar. To show the number of text you can go to edit menu and active it. In that it shows more facilities. To get that facility put tick mark in the facility.

1. To display the clipboard automatically. (No need to go edit menu)
2. When we press the Ctrl + c twice, it shows clipboard.
3. To get the facility even though it does not display.
4. To display the icon in the task bar.
5. To show the copy clipboard it display the status of copied item.

When we active Office clipboard in on office program it does not show other office program. The items are in office clipboard until the entire office programs are closed. Or we can delete it by clicking delete in the menu. We can delete the item selected from text. We can paste or delete the file by left click the item. If we press delete it will delete the item. If we select the past it will paste the item where the cursor is placed. If we paste all, it will paste all the items to the document.

Some times we create and use big files in Excel. It becomes difficult to search for the cell we want to work on. So we cannot use Go To features. Not only this we also get confused for go to new cell, print the new cell, create the print settings and make the builders.

Can we create and go to most used cells list. Yes we can. This depends on how do you see the Excel work sheet. The custom view feature gives the solution for this. First you decide the workbook view or printing view then you can save that. This makes some changes but this is to create your favorite views and settings. If you create the print setting for particular view that also gets saved in view setting. We can save and retrieve as many cells we want in a worksheet and hide others. This saves time and energy. Ways to creating the view setting.

1. First open your large workbook.
2. Then go to the place you are using.
3. Now make the changes you want. For example create print area, hide rows, filters, subtotals. Then create the view settings.
4. Go to view menu and select the custom view there. Now open the custom view window.
5. Press the Add button to create new view. The opened window gives the feature of decide the name of the new view. Select the view name that is used to identify easily.

You can also decide the new view print settings. After doing that give the name for view then click ok. This is a method for creating your favorite views and save these views. Now you return to the workbook and drop it there. Then you can retrieve the saved view. For that go to view menu then select custom views there. Select the wanted view in select the name of the view at the window and click show. Now you got a workbook with selected cells and settings. If you want delete the view setting go to custom views then press the delete button.

Majority of the Internet users use Microsoft's Internet Explorer to browse the web. Internet Explorer (IE) is the entry point to most of the security problems in Windows. There are many security holes in IE, therefore Microsoft releases security patches evey now and then to fix these security holes.

Consider you are entering any website using IE. Even without clicking on any link or image on that webpage it is possible that your computer is infected by a spyware. Hackers can use these security holes to install vspyware in the computer without you doing anything on the webpage.

Not only spyware, Pop up Adware, Home Page Hijacking are some of the other common problems in Internet Explorer. It is true that if you update your windows frequently, you can fix these holes and keep your computer safe.

To escape from all the problems identified above, you can start using the free Firefox browser. Another reason for using Firefox is that Microsoft has announced it will not release any security patches for Internet explorer for Windows 95, 98, 98 SE and ME users. Security patches for Internet explorer will be released only for the Windows XP users.

Firefox is a free internet browser provided by Mozilla, which can be downloaded from here.

How to install Firefox browser?

As mentioned above, download the installation file. Close all the windows applications especially the Internet Explorer windows. Now locate the downloaded firefox executable file and double click. The Firefox installation wizard will run. Just follow the steps and install the Firefox browser.

You can also import all your preferences and favourites from your Internet explorer settings to your Firefox browser. The 'favourites' in IE is called as 'Bookmarks' in Firefox.

Not only favourites, you can also bring History, Passwords etc from your Internet explorer to your firefox. For this, during the installation of Firefox, the 'Import Wizard' will ask you whether you want to import all your IE settings to firefox, if you choose 'Yes' then just follow what the wizard shows.

How to use Firefox?

Just like Internet Explorer, Firfox is a web browser. Hence you can use it very easily. However there are some differences between internet explorer and firefox. To read more about firefox you can access this page www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/index.html .

To download IE View software in Firefox

With firefox you can enter any website in the Internet. However some websites are specifically created for IE and support only Internet Explorer. Especially, Microsoft's 'Windows Update' or 'Encarta' sites support Internet Explorer browser only. You cannot do windows update using Firefox browser unless you download IE View software.

There is a way to cheat websites that need Internet Explorer browser. We can make firefox show itself as IE to these websites and access them successfully. IE View software developed by Paul Roub can do this. You can download IE View freely at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/35/

Now to use IE View, just view the webpage normally in firefox. Right click on that page and select 'View this page in IE' option for IE targeted sites.