Comparison charts with IE 9 vs Others, IE9 vs IE (old version)

Above is a chart released by NSS Labs some time back where-in they found IE9 to be blocking 99% of socially-engineered malware [Read Full Report]

Some salient features;-

• First of all, it is fast!
• Support for HTML5 (Hardware accelerated support).
• Native download manager integration.
• Tracking protection (the user is in control to share information with the web sites while browsing).
• Smartscreen (intelligently follows the action taken on similar items).

So if you’re on Windows 7, head over and download to see it for yourselves. This one seems to be good

Might be interested in these as well;

Download O&O Defrag Free Edition

How often do you update the drivers for the computer/notebook? I did a Google search of this and found out 2 interesting things about it;

1. Users prefer not to update their drivers and the main reason is they are vary of issues that might happen once the new drivers are installed.

2. Users think of driver update the same way as Windows Update, in fact; I saw couple of forum comments mentioning about windows update can break system since M$ releases unstable stuff, so you have to wait.

Pretty much this seems to be the mindset for a lot of folks. Well, I’m a strong believer of update everything when an update is available. So I use for most purpose an aggregate updater service for my software/hardware.

I use Windows Update regularly.

I use 3rd party software upgrade aggregator like the one ‘filehippo.com’ provides. Also use the ‘Secunia PSI’ software – the use of this helps me in 2 ways. If there are instability in the programs, that is why the update is appearing in the first place (for example, take the adobe reader update to patch the vulnerability which was hot couple of weeks back. Secunia PSI helps identify outdated/old program files and helps us derive a score of the machine and helps finding out a download link for the updated software as well.

Now, when it comes to hardware drivers, I do the same thing. Had evaluated a lot of auto updaters/aggregators but seems most of them are paid versions (this is one area where there is not much choice), else it’d be requiring a lot of registration and uploading of your current drivers to that the database can be build (which I guess is good).

Recently I found out something good in this front too and from 2 days of evaluation, it looks like I’m going to keep it.

It is called SlimDrivers, tried it on both my home PC and laptop, it detected most of the drivers and above all, without any mistakes! My laptop is a standard Thinkpad T series and I have the nVidia Quadro NVS 140M. It is a pain to find an updated drivers for this from nVidia’s site itself, and filehippo.com updater makes mistake when it detects this too, after download – you may not be able to install it. However this time, with SlimDrivers; it was a breeze. It is still in beta and I hope they keep it free for ever. Try this out, it is cool.

They do have computer cleaner as well (pretty similar to CCleaner, looks almost the same).

First create a custom service to address the PPTP requirement (This is Microsoft windows specific);

set service CustomPPTP group "other" 47 src 2048-2048 dst 2048-2048

set service CustomPPTP + tcp src 0-65535 dst 1723-1723

The first line above creates a custom service named “CustomPPTP” with protocol number 47 (GRE) with source/destination port as 2048.

The second line adds to the same service for PPTP (port 1723 TCP).

Then the next step would be to NAT the internal PPTP server to publically accessible server using a public ip address. Here we’d use the same address assigned on the untrust interface (single public ip available scenario);

set vip multi-port

set interface ethernet0/0 vip 2048 CustomPPTP 10.1.1.10

The first line above states that it is a multi-port VIP. Normally a VIP listens only on a single port, if a single ip address is used and you want to have multiple ports forwarded, multi-port VIP is needed.

The second line above sets a VIP for port 2048 for the internal server (PPTP Server) 10.1.1.10 (assuming the ip of the internal PPTP server to be this).

almost done; the only thing pending is a policy to allow traffic to pass through this condition;

set policy from untrust to trust "any" "VIP::1" "CustomPPTP" permit

The above policy allows any machine from untrust zone (internet) to connect to VIP address (trust zone) for the service “CustomPPTP”.

Just save the configuration and you should have it working just fine…

Juniper KB Link

Been quite busy with the project almost over and swamped with the exit process! Life seems hell…

During the course, I screwed up my laptop and had to have IT reimage it, one of the worst things that happened was, the image they loaded on my lappy had Windows Desktop Search installed – Oh man, it was taking up memory/CPU and slogging my machine. So thought it’d be easy to uninstall it, but hell no – it just wouldn’t go.

So decided to Google on it, but guess what – there are different threads speaking about the same thing and they differ based on the version installed. Mine in question was Windows Desktop Search 4.0

Ideally, it should show up in Add/Remove programs and should be just one click to get it uninstalled but then it would be too easy, wouldn’t it be LOL.

So finally uninstalled it by looking into a lot of other blogs and stuff, so here is what worked.

You need the uninstaller like any other program but which gets installed like a service pack/KB format – pretty much you’re done if you don’t have those folders under the %systemroot% and I didn’t have it.

%systemroot%\$NtUninstallKB917013$\spuninst\spuninst.exe

The above is what we’re looking at which is not present in my machine; Worse still, even if you install it again, it doesn’t create this uninstall path.

So opened the registry using regedit and deleted 2 of the keys.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Windows XP\SP3\

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

and delete the key folder KB940157 from there.

Then install Windows Desktop Search 4.0 again from downloading it from Microsoft site. Voila, the uninstall folder is created…

Then just run this “C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB940157$\spuninst”

It’ll uninstall it completely and you are back with your laptop without performance hog.

As much as I like Microsoft products, these folks tend to bring some of these annoyances once it a while – Well, I’m perfectly fine with it considering the useful stuff they make.

It sure did take some of my time.

Menu options:

Browsing Options - This menu option helps you to quickly turn off/on the following:

Smooth Scrolling, Clear type font, Animation, Sounds, Picture Display, Automatic Image resizing

Clear Junk Files – This option will help you to quickly remove all the temporary IE files, cookies, history, passwords, and AutoComplete data.

Tweak IE – Tweak IE menu has the following tabs:

Basic Tweaks - Offers you the basic tweaks such as Turn off/on Menu bar, Favorite bar, Tabbed browsing, Full screen mode, Caret Browsing support etc.,

Browser Menus - Helps you to disable/enable the Browser Menus

Toolbars – Helps you to hide/unhide the various options on the bars and also the bars itself such as Status bar, command bar etc

Control Panel - Helps you to hide/unhide the various tabs in Tools -> Internet Options.

Advanced – Helps you to Turn off/on various options such as Compatibity view etc., and also allows you to change the IE Title, and Default download directory options.

Restrictions - This menu option has the following tabs:

- Restrictions – Provides you various restriction optionss such as Changing default search provider, Add-ons management, Autocomplete features etc.,

- Settings - Restricts the users to change various settings.

- Security - Allows you to enable/disable options such as InPrivate Browsing, Filtering etc.,

Repair - Repair menu option provides you various options to repair/fix various issues that you have with Internet Explorer.

In addition to it we have also provided desktop Shortcuts for various modes of Internet Explorer in Shortcuts Folder.

To download visit {Here}

I started with our expert for everything, Mr. Google. Then I came across a lot of pages describing a lot of solutions and finally worked out with something where one can enable the password to be saved if you want, of course in the registry. So here it is;

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security]
"EnableRememberPwd"=dword:00000001

You set this key to 1 and then the password box was up and usable. Thought it’d help others. Now remember that this is one of the case where it is done like this and if you’re trying to do this on a AD managed network, then your Network Admin might have tweaked some settings for the Org. sake. Well, I did this on an AD managed laptop, and it worked for me. So there is no harm in giving it a try!

Quite often when you’re infected with a Virus, the virus does diligently disable a lot of functions in Windows (Like disable the task manager, Disable registry editor etc).

So either you’re stuck at different Google searches in search for fixes to these individual problems or you really start thinking of re-loading the OS itself. Situations like that can be pretty annoying. This is one nice tool with about 25 quick fixes put together in an UI.

Some of fixes that can be done using this little tool are;

• Enable Command Prompt
• Enable Task Manager
• Enable Folder Options
• Enable Registry Editor
• Restore missing Run dialog box
• Stop My Documents open at startup
• Fix right-click error
• Fix slow network file/shared/remote
• Restore Network icon to system tray
• Fix slow hotkeys
• Fix CD/DVD drive is missing or not recognized
• Fix CD auto play
• Restore My Computer (Computer) properties
• Restore Device Manager
• Fix delay in opening Explorer
• Restore grayed Explorer and Taskbar toolbars
• Restore My Documents properties
• Remove OEM splash and wallpaper
• Restore My Network Places to Desktop
• Enable Recovery Console
• Restore grayed file associations
• Restore “Send To” context menu item
• Restore the native ZIP file integration
• Error when trying to access Add or Remove/ Program and Features program

You can read about & download this awesome little portable lifesaver from HERE

I just looked at the comments on one of the post on dual-boot on Windows 7 and XP/Vista, it is really funny to see the comments there;

Anybody wishing to try out the beta software should know how that level of things work, well my opinion.

Check it out [ Here ]

My experience, I got it from my work and have already turned my test machine into a dual boot machine. The install was a breeze and startup/shutdown times are pretty impressive. But I can sense high about the Vista on 7 (though 7 is an improvisation of Vista, expected something different). Haven’t yet put through all the tests that I normally like to do on a OS. But initial impression is full of ‘eye candy’ stuff and some usability enhancements which matter a lot!

Visit the Windows 7 page on Microsoft’s website for the link.

Source [ Wired.com ]

It will only be made available to the first 2.5 million people to download the code. Demand will be huge, so prepare to act quickly.

Microsoft has not announced a specific time on Friday for the release, but we can expect it will be later in the day so the west coast of North America isn’t left out.

Windows 7 Beta 1 will be offered as an ISO image. It’s around 2.5 or 3 gigabytes, so you will need a DVD burner if you want to install it.

You will be required to register before downloading so Microsoft can give you a product key.

It will be build 7000.

The beta will only support Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7 upgrades. If you’re not running Vista SP1 right now, upgrade before you try to install the Windows 7 beta.

There is also a clean install option for the Win7 beta.

There is no upgrade path from XP.

There’s only one version of the beta, which Microsoft says "is roughly equivalent the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista."

The Windows 7 Beta will expire on August 1. You will probably be forced to go back to using Vista SP1 on August 1 (or maybe upgrade to Win7 Beta 2?).

English, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Hindi versions will be available Friday.

Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions will be available (except for Hindi, which only gets a 32-bit version).

If you’re upgrading, remember to back up your PC. It’s a beta, stupid!

It is like another Armageddon Microsoft is doing a public release of Windows 7 beta on Friday (9th of January) and seems that it will be available only for a limited period of time.

While it looks like mostly targeted towards US market, if you’re lucky to download the 2.5 Gig of data, then it is worth a try. There are ground rules for this download and usage, read this for further;

I’m a great fan of visual themes, may it be for the computer of the PDA. I keep changing them and like a new look every now and then. One such that caught my eye during my browsing session is ‘Windows 7 theme for Windows XP’ by Vishal Gupta. Below is how my XP on a Thinkpad looks like;

The fonts, sounds, iconized big task bar buttons everything go hand in hand and looks great. Get a taste of it, visit Vishal’s site and try it for yourselves.

Update:- For full customization including boot screens, login/logout screens, follow this;

Some time back I had written on there is no load balancing concept in Windows XP. However with 2 internet connections which is kinda normal for guys like me (I have a broadband connection over WiMAX as well as an EVDO connection from BSNL).

So I can’t load balance theoretically, however I was looking for a way to kind of have Windows select both connections randomly or in a round robin fashion. This way I get both connections utilized. So again Google helped me, following is the DWORD that can be used to set Windows to choose internet connections randomly;

Open Registry Editor and go to;

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\MSTCP]

Create a DWORD entry named ‘RandomAdaptor’ and set the value to 1.

Keeping it to 1 enables random selection of adaptors and keep it to 0 disables it.

Try it out and see for yourselves.

As Microsoft says;

Account Lockout Status (LockoutStatus.exe) is a combination command-line and graphical tool that displays lockout information about a particular user account.

[Follow it to Microsoft]

Not an option visible in XP by default; Somebody had a question regarding this and I found out a comprehensive answer (better than what I’d have written), so here it is;

• Make sure you’re logged onto your PC as Administrator or as a user with Administrator rights.
• You can check the status of your user account by going to Start | Control Panel and selecting the User Account icon.
• Your account should be listed there.
• If it says Computer Administrator you have the rights to make this change.
• To show the Hibernate option under shutdown, select Start | Control Panel, and select the Performance and Maintenance icon.
• Select the Power Options icon under "or pick a Control Panel Icon."
• Select the Hibernate tab, and click on the Enable Hibernation box.
• If Hibernate still doesn’t appear, it may be because your PC is fairly new and supports the Stand By low-power shut-down option.
• To make Hibernate appear in the Turn Off Your Computer dialogue, simply hold down the Shift key and Stand By will switch to Hibernate.
• You need to hold down the Shift key to see and use the Hibernate shut-down option

Source :: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2554,00.asp

   You think of Microsoft, it is Bill Gates. Regardless of all the crap I hear about Microsoft/Windows from friends, colleagues, it was one Vision and completed successfully, for every PC at an average home now has Windows on it.

– Indeed a vision.

More

Some time back I had written about moving the document and settings folder in Windows to a bigger location (for want of size or backup of some data in there, in the event of machine crash). That was a manual process, by there is good news, there is a tool which can move almost all system folders to where you want – getting still better, it is FREE!

{Go Grab}

So I recently found in one of the blogs on how you put your machine to automatically defragment when your machine is idle. So here is how you do it;

Note : Incorrect editing on registry may render your machine unusable and so should be at your own risk.

1. Open Registry Editor (Start->Run->regedit.exe)

2. Go to the node HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ OptimalLayout

3. See if you have a Dword entry named ‘EnableAutoLayout’, if it is not there create a new DWORD and set it to “1″ (watch the capital letters)

Done, that should take care of defragmenting your machine when it is idle.

First of all, Windows is not made to make intelligent decisions if it is done intending to do failover/load balancing. So to say, it is an Operating System developed to make your experience better while working and not as a routing device.

The only time you can have 2 default gateway’s on any windows machine is when both the NIC’s are in the same network, otherwise you might see it working if you’re that lucky but it is unpredicted as to what’ll happen when.

So take the advise in Microsoft’s own words;

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/159168

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0903.mspx#E3F

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q262397&ID=KB;EN-US;Q262397

Want more supporting info ? Just google for ‘Windows and 2 default gateways’ !

Let networking to be left with networking devices which are made for it and quit complaining about Windows not able to do it

It is nice to use the RDP to be on a different port for security purposes. If a firewall scanner finds out that port 3389 is allowed then it is pretty obvious that it is an RDP hole in the firewall punched in.

So how about port 12345 ?

2 options;

1. Change the port on the windows itself to custom port.

  Lets assume you want it on port 12345, This case you change it to;

static (inside,outside) <Public_IP> <Private_IP>netmask 255.255.255.255
access-list 102 permit tcp any host <Public_IP>eq 12345
access-group 102 in interface outside

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306759

The link above would show you how to change the port in windows.

2. Change the port on the static nat statement so that you connect to a random port but pix would route it to default  rdp port.

static (inside,outside) tcp <Public_IP> 12345 <Private_IP>3389 netmask 255.255.255.255
access-list 102 permit tcp any host <Public_IP>eq 12345
access-group 102 in interface outside

Then launch Remote Desktop Client and then type in address as <Public_IP>:12345  Kewl…

For example, if we want to do this with the ip assigned on the outside interface, we’d do it this way;

static (inside,outside) tcp interface 3389 <PrivateIP_Internal_Desktop> 3389
access-list <Name> permit tcp any interface outside eq 3389
access-group <Name> in interface outside

Where <Name> would be replaced by the acl which you already would be having and in the acl, you can replace ‘any’ with ‘host x.x.x.x’ if you want to allow access from a specific ip in the internet.

The same if you want to do using an available public ip address which is not assigned on the outside interface then you do it this way;

static (inside,outside) tcp <Public_IP> 3389 <Private_IP> 3389
access-list <Name> permit tcp any host <Public_IP> eq 3389
access-group <Name> in interface outside

So here is the solution for creating a FAT32 partition in Windows XP which is greater than 32GB.

Thanks to Tom@RidgeCrop who created a tool for the community to do this;

So how to you proceed doing this;

1. Install XP on a partition of your choice.

2. Go to DiskManagement snap-in, and create a Primary or Extended partition of the size you want (but do not format it there).

3. Then download the tool at link [ Tom@RidgeCrop ], open command prompt and just run the tool as ‘fat32format <driveletter>;

Voila, there you go!

Now, I like the part being included in Vista (no more partition magic!), You can just launch the disk management snap-in, extend the partition or shrink the partition. Cool Stuff.

Unfortunately, Adobe seems to be providing only browser based plugins! So I downloaded flash player from here (standalone version)

I installed it and that seems to have taken care of the problem.

Say; You want to map;

1.1.1.1 -> 10.20.30.40

2.2.2.2 -> 10.20.30.40

On a PIX/ASA firewall this would not be allowed to be configured, so how do you overcome this restriction ?

Assuming that 10.20.30.40 is a windows machine, you could assign more than 1 ip address (upto 5) on a same interface card. So assign one more ip address on the NIC, call it 10.20.30.50 and map it to the other public ip address.

How to add this into a windows machine ? Read Here….

Then go on to the PIX, add these;

static (inside,outside) 1.1.1.1 10.20.30.40 netmask 255.255.255.255

static (inside,outside) 2.2.2.2 10.20.30.50 netmask 255.255.255.255

So I’ll share my experience about 3 browsers.

I’ve been using 3 browsers (Well, I don’t like Internet Explorer )

• Avant Internet Browser
• Firefox 2.x
• Opera 9.x

I liked all the three of them for the normal day to day operations I do, but however the way things work, I love Opera the best.

The aspects that got me into it and conclude to it is the speed of launching pages using Opera, it supports the multiple tabs, an RSS aggregation facility as well as the add-on support. While firefox is fast enough, one thing I’ve noticed is that the more and more plugins/extensions you add, the more it becomes slow. As well, at one point (may be even now), the only browser that had ZERO bugs was Opera.

Now you also need to consider the fact that I am an avid lover of Windows Operating System and do not have much experience with Linux. So these products how do they perform while on Linux is something I do not know.

So on a PC running Windows XP SP2, how do you disable the USB sticks??? Questions come this way quite often since it poses the threat as these things fit in to your pocket and nobody would even notice it!

A simple way of doing this is to disable it in registry and how? Here is how;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR

Under this key, if you set the ‘Start’ key’s value to 4, then the USB drives won’t entertain the sticks. Quite easy to do that. Now if you want to enable it again then set the ‘Start’ key’s value to 3 – Done!

This applies to ;

• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition