we are in the process of hack the hackers....

we will get the full fledged web-site ASAP...all you need is patience.....




we are in the process of hack the hackers....

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hi dudes...been a long time....we went for a knowledge trip to share the new infos

dudes... u can find the galaxy of techies to teach u every topic in-depth......we people are experts at galaxy of operating systems and databases, programming .languages ...just keep in touch with us.....

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Total dos commands (including hidden) [A-Z]

A

Arp
Assoc
At
Atmadm
Attrib

B

Batch files
Bootcfg
Break

C

Cacls
Call
Change
Chcp
Chdir
Chkdsk
Chkntfs
Cipher
Cls
Cmd
Cmstp
Color
Command shell overview
Comp
Compact
Convert
Copy
Cprofile
CScript overview

D

Date
Defrag
Del
Dir
Diskcomp
Diskcopy
DiskPart
Doskey
Driverquery

E

Echo
Endlocal
Eventcreate
Eventquery
Eventtriggers
Evntcmd
Exit
Expand

F

Fc
Filter commands
Find
Findstr
Finger
Flattemp
For
Format
Fsutil
Ftp
Ftp subcommands
Ftype

G

Getmac
Goto
Gpresult
Gpupdate
Graftabl

H

Help
Helpctr
Hostname
Top of pageTop of page

I

If
Ipconfig
Ipseccmd
Ipxroute
Irftp

L

Label
Lodctr
Logman
Lpq
Lpr

M

Macfile
Mkdir (md)
Mmc
Mode
More
Mountvol
Move
MS-DOS subsystem configuration commands
Msiexec
Msinfo32

N

Nbtstat
Net services overview
Net services commands
Netsh command overview
Netsh commands for AAAA
Netsh commands for DHCP
Netsh diagnostic (diag) commands
Netsh commands for Interface IP
Netsh commands for RAS
Netsh commands for Routing
Netsh commands for WINS
Netstat
Nslookup
Nslookup subcommands
Ntbackup
Ntcmdprompt
Ntsd

O

Openfiles
Top of pageTop of page

P

Pagefileconfig
Path
Pathping
Pause
Pbadmin
Pentnt
Perfmon
Ping
Popd
Print
Prncnfg
Prndrvr
Prnjobs
Prnmngr
Prnport
Prnqctl
Prompt
Pushd

Q

Query

R

Rasdial
Rcp
Recover
Redirection operators
Reg
Regsvr32
Relog
Rem
Rename
Replace
Reset session
Rexec
Rmdir
Route
Rsm
Runas

S

Sc
Schtasks
Secedit
Set
Setlocal
Shift
Shutdown
Sort
Start
Subst
Systeminfo
System File Checker (sfc)

T

Taskkill
Tasklist
Tcmsetup
TCP/IP utilities and services
Telnet commands
Terminal Services commands
Tftp
Time
Title
Tracerpt
Tracert
Tree
Type
Typeperf

U

Unlodctr

V

Ver
Verify
Vol
Vssadmin

W

W32tm
Winnt
Winnt32
WMIC overview

X

Xcopy

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Google’s Advance Search Query Syntaxes

Below discussed are various Google’s special commands and I shall be explaining each command in brief and will show how it can be used for critical information digging.

[ intitle: ]

The “intitle:” syntax helps Google restrict the search results to pages containing that word in the title. For example, “intitle: login password” (without quotes) will return links to those pages that has the word "login" in their title, and the word "password" anywhere in the page.

Similarly, if one has to query for more than one word in the page title then in that case “allintitle:” can be used instead of “intitle” to get the list of pages containing all those words in its title. For example using “intitle: login intitle: password” is same as querying “allintitle: login password”.

[ inurl: ]

The “inurl:” syntax restricts the search results to those URLs containing the search keyword. For example: “inurl: passwd” (without quotes) will return only links to those pages that have "passwd" in the URL.

Similarly, if one has to query for more than one word in an URL then in that case “allinurl:” can be used instead of “inurl” to get the list of URLs containing all those search keywords in it. For example: “allinurl: etc/passwd“ will look for the URLs containing “etc” and “passwd”. The slash (“/”) between the words will be ignored by Google.

[ site: ]

The “site:” syntax restricts Google to query for certain keywords in a particular site or domain. For example: “exploits site:hackingspirits.com” (without quotes) will look for the keyword “exploits” in those pages present in all the links of the domain “hackingspirits.com”. There should not be any space between “site:” and the “domain name”.

[ filetype: ]

This “filetype:” syntax restricts Google search for files on internet with particular extensions (i.e. doc, pdf or ppt etc). For example: “filetype:doc site:gov confidential” (without quotes) will look for files with “.doc” extension in all government domains with “.gov” extension and containing the word “confidential” either in the pages or in the “.doc” file. i.e. the result will contain the links to all confidential word document files on the government sites.

[ link: ]

“link:” syntax will list down webpages that have links to the specified webpage. For Example: “link:www.securityfocus.com” will list webpages that have links pointing to the SecurityFocus homepage. Note there can be no space between the "link:" and the web page url.

[ related: ]

The “related:” will list web pages that are "similar" to a specified web page. For Example: “related:www.securityfocus.com” will list web pages that are similar to the Securityfocus homepage. Note there can be no space between the "related:" and the web page url.

[ cache: ]

The query “cache:” will show the version of the web page that Google has in its cache. For Example: “cache:www.hackingspirits.com” will show Google's cache of the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the "cache:" and the web page url.

If you include other words in the query, Google will highlight those words within the cached document. For Example: “cache:www.hackingspirits.com guest” will show the cached content with the word "guest" highlighted.

[ intext: ]

The “intext:” syntax searches for words in a particular website. It ignores links or URLs and page titles. For example: “intext:exploits” (without quotes) will return only links to those web pages that has the search keyword "exploits" in its webpage.

[ phonebook: ]

“phonebook” searches for U.S. street address and phone number information. For Example:  “phonebook:Lisa+CA” will list down all names of person having “Lisa” in their names and located in “California (CA)”. This can be used as a great tool for hackers incase someone want to do dig personal information for social engineering. 

Querying for vulnerable sites or servers using Google’s advance syntaxes

Well, the Google’s query syntaxes discussed above can really help people to precise their search and get what they are exactly looking for.

Now Google being so intelligent search engine, malicious users don’t mind exploiting its ability to dig confidential and secret information from internet which has got restricted access. Now I shall discuss those techniques in details how malicious user dig information from internet using Google as a tool.

Using “Index of ” syntax to find sites enabled with Index browsing

A webserver with Index browsing enabled means anyone can browse the webserver directories like ordinary local directories. Here I shall discuss how one can use “index of” syntax to get a list links to webserver which has got directory browsing enabled. This becomes an easy source for information gathering for a hacker. Imagine if the get hold of password files or others sensitive files which are not normally visible to the internet. Below given are few examples using which one can get access to many sensitive information much easily.

Index of /admin

Index of /passwd

Index of /password

Index of /mail

"Index of /" +passwd

"Index of /" +password.txt

"Index of /" +.htaccess

"Index of /secret"

"Index of /confidential"

"Index of /root"

"Index of /cgi-bin"

"Index of /credit-card"

"Index of /logs"

"Index of /config"

Looking for vulnerable sites or servers using “inurl:” or “allinurl:”

a. Using “allinurl:winnt/system32/” (without quotes) will list down all the links to the server which gives access to restricted directories like “system32” through web. If you are lucky enough then you might get access to the cmd.exe in the “system32” directory. Once you have the access to “cmd.exe” and are able to execute it then you can go ahead in further escalating your privileges over the server and compromise it.

b. Using “allinurl:wwwboard/passwd.txt”(without quotes) in the Google search will list down all the links to the server which are vulnerable to “WWWBoard Password vulnerability”. To know more about this vulnerability you can have a look at the following link:

http://www.securiteam.com/exploits/2BUQ4S0SAW.html

c. Using “inurl:.bash_history” (without quotes) will list down all the links to the server which gives access to “.bash_history” file through web. This is a command history file. This file includes the list of command executed by the administrator, and sometimes includes sensitive information such as password typed in by the administrator. If this file is compromised and if contains the encrypted unix (or *nix) password then it can be easily cracked using “John The Ripper”.

d.     Using “inurl:config.txt” (without quotes) will list down all the links to the servers which gives access to “config.txt” file through web. This file contains sensitive information, including the hash value of the administrative password and database authentication credentials. For Example: Ingenium Learning Management System is a Web-based application for Windows based systems developed by Click2learn, Inc. Ingenium Learning Management System versions 5.1 and 6.1 stores sensitive information insecurely in the config.txt file. For more information refer the following links:

http://www.securiteam.com/securitynews/6M00H2K5PG.html

Other similar search using “inurl:” or “allinurl:” combined with other syntaxs

inurl:admin filetype:txt

inurl:admin filetype:db

inurl:admin filetype:cfg

inurl:mysql filetype:cfg

inurl:passwd filetype:txt

inurl:iisadmin
inurl:auth_user_file.txt

inurl:orders.txt

inurl:"wwwroot/*."

inurl:adpassword.txt

inurl:webeditor.php

inurl:file_upload.php

inurl:gov filetype:xls "restricted"

index of ftp +.mdb allinurl:/cgi-bin/ +mailto

Looking for vulnerable sites or servers using “intitle:” or “allintitle:”

a. Using [allintitle: "index of /root”] (without brackets) will list down the links to the web server which gives access to restricted directories like “root” through web. This directory sometimes contains sensitive information which can be easily retrieved through simple web requests.

b. Using [allintitle: "index of /admin”] (without brackets) will list down the links to the websites which has got index browsing enabled for restricted directories like “admin” through web. Most of the web application sometimes uses names like “admin” to store admin credentials in it. This directory sometimes contains sensitive information which can be easily retrieved through simple web requests.

Other similar search using “intitle:” or “allintitle:” combined with other syntaxs

intitle:"Index of" .sh_history

intitle:"Index of" .bash_history

intitle:"index of" passwd

intitle:"index of" people.lst

intitle:"index of" pwd.db

intitle:"index of" etc/shadow

intitle:"index of" spwd

intitle:"index of" master.passwd

intitle:"index of" htpasswd

intitle:"index of" members OR accounts

intitle:"index of" user_carts OR user_cart

allintitle: sensitive filetype:doc

allintitle: restricted filetype :mail

allintitle: restricted filetype:doc site:gov

Other interesting Search Queries

      To search for sites vulnerable to Cross-Sites Scripting (XSS) attacks:

allinurl:/scripts/cart32.exe

allinurl:/CuteNews/show_archives.php

allinurl:/phpinfo.php

      To search for sites vulnerable to SQL Injection attacks:

allinurl:/privmsg.php

allinurl:/privmsg.php

Securing servers or sites from Google’s invasion

Below given are the security measures which system administrators and security professionals must take into account to secure critical information available online, falling into wrong hands:

-        Install latest security patches available till date for the applications and as well as the operating system running on the servers.

-        Don’t put critical and sensitive information on servers without any proper authentication system which can be directly accessible to anyone on internet.

-        Disable directory browsing on the webserver. Directory browsing should be enabled for those web-folders for which you want to give access to anyone on internet.

-        If you find any links to your restricted server or sites in Google search result then it should be removed. Visit the following link for more details:

http://www.google.com/remove.html

-        Disable anonymous access in the webserver through internet to restricted systems directory.

-        Install filtering tools like URLScan for servers running IIS as webserver.

Conclusion

Sometimes increase in sophistication in the systems creates new problems. Google being so sophisticated can be used by any Tom, Dick & Harry on internet to dig sensitive information which is normally neither visible nor reachable to anyone.

The only options left for the security professionals and systems administrators are to secure and harden their systems from such un-authorized invasion.

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WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS

To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name (ie charmap).

WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS:
=========================================

1) Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters)

2) Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe

3) Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard)

4) Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool)

5) DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards)

6) Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters)

7) IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package)

8) Microsoft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented).

9) Windows Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic).

10) ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases)

11) Object Packager = packager.exe (to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files).

12) System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only )

13) Program Manager = progman.exe (Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell).

14) Remote Access phone book = rasphone.exe (documentation is virtually non-existant).

15) Registry Editor = regedt32.exe [also regedit.exe] (for hacking the Windows Registry).

16) Network shared folder wizard = shrpubw.exe (creates shared folders on network).

17) File siganture verification tool = sigverif.exe

18) Volume Contro = sndvol32.exe (I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area).

19) System Configuration Editor = sysedit.exe (modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! ).

20) Syskey = syskey.exe (Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications).

21) Microsoft Telnet Client = telnet.exe

22) Driver Verifier Manager = verifier.exe (seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented).

23) Windows for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available).

24) System configuration = msconfig.exe (can use to control starup programs)

25) gpedit.msc used to manage group policies, and permissions

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Your Home Page Nevr Being Changed

Some websites illegally modify your registry editor and set their website as default home page, for stop this,

1. Right-click on the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop and select "Properties".

2. In the "Target" box you will see "C:\Program Files\Internet

Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE".

3. Now by adding the URL of the site to the end of this it overrides any
Homepage setting in internet options:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" www.pcscraps.com

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Hide the file behind an Image (hacking)

The hackers intention is to catch the passwords and to play with the clients, that i have done
One trick among them is hiding the content(software/virus/sfx) behind the image
open the command.com and type the following

copy \b sourceimage.jpg + sourcefile.zip destination.jpg

copy: a cmd line command
\b: binary conversion.
source image: u r source image. (should be in .jpg)
dest image : u r destinatin image. (should be in .jpg)
source zip file: compress any-thing in a zip file.

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To Change The attributes of a File

Open the Command Prompt

Type:  attrib -s -h -a -r <filename>

 -s:   system file
-h:    hidden file
-a :  archive file
-r:    Read Only file

we can use "+" symbol to add the attributes to a file

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How To See Hidden Files, Using Dos

at command prompt just type
dir /a;
if the list is too long u can use
dir /ah /p /w;

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Create Bootable XP SP integrated CD

 Slipstreaming Windows XP Service Pack 1a and Create Bootable CD

Slipstreaming a Service Pack, is the process to integrate the Service Pack into the installation so that with every new installation the Operating System and Service Pack are installed at the same time.

Slipstreaming is usually done on network shares on corporate systems. But with the advent of CD burners, it does actually make some sense for the home user or small business user to do the same.

Microsoft added the ability to Slipstream a Service Pack to Windows 2000 and Windows XP. It not only has the advantage that when you (re)install your OS, you don't have to apply the Service Pack later, also if you update any Windows component later, you'll be sure that you get the correct installation files if Windows needs any.


Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 1a:
CODE
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/4/f/54f8bcf8-bb4d-4613-8ee7-db69d01735ed/xpsp1a_en_x86.exe


Download the (full) "Network Install" of the Service Pack (English version [125 MB]), and save it to a directory (folder) on your hard drive (in my case D:\XP-SP1). Other languages can be downloaded from the Windows XP Web site.

Microsoft recently released Windows XP SP1a. The only difference is that this Service Pack does no longer include Microsoft's dated Java version. If you have already installed Windows XP SP1, there is no reason to install SP1a, but the "older" SP1 (with MS Java) is no longer available for download.

Next copy your Windows XP CD to your hard drive. Just create a folder (I used \XP-CD), and copy all the contents of your Windows XP CD in that folder.

Now create a folder to hold the Service Pack 1a (SP1a) files you are about to extract. I named it \XP-SP1. Next, open a Command Prompt (Start > Run > cmd), and go to the folder where you downloaded SP1a (cd \foldername). Type the command: servicepack filename -x. A small window will appear, and you need to point it to the folder where you want to extract the SP1 files. Click Ok to start extracting the SP1a files.

Once the SP1a files are extracted, change to the update folder of the SP1a files (cd update), and type the following command: update /s:path to WinXP CD files. In my example the command is update /s:D:\XP-CD).

Windows XP Update will do its thing:

When ready, you should get a confirmation. Windows XP Service Pack 1a has now been Slipstreamed into your original Windows XP files.

It is also possible to add the Windows XP Rollup 1 Update. For instructions, please read Adding Windows XP Rollup 1 Hotfix.


Creating a Bootable CD
For this part I used ISO Buster
CODE
http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/

and Nero Burning.

Start to extract the boot loader from the original Windows XP CD. Using ISO Buster, select the "folder" Bootable CD, and right-click Microsoft Corporation.img. From the menu choose Extract Microsoft Corporation.img, and extract it to the folder on your hard drive where you have your Windows XP files (D:\XP-CD in my case).

Next, start Nero Burning ROM, and choose CD-ROM (Boot) in the New Compilation window. On the Boot tab, select Image file under Source of boot image data, and browse to the location of the Microsoft Corporation.img file. Also enable Expert Settings, choosing No Emulation, and changing the Number of loaded sectors to 4 (otherwise it won't boot!)


If you have an older version of Nero you won't have the option Do Not Add ";1" ISO file version extention under Relax ISO Restrictions. You won't be able to boot your new CD, so update Nero!
You can configure the Label tab to your liking, I would however recommend that you keep the Volume Label the same as on your original Windows XP CD.

Next press New, and drag & drop the files and folders from your Windows XP hard drive location into Nero.

Next, burn your new CD.

You now have a Bootable, Slipstreamed Windows XP Service Pack 1a CD!

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Dual Boot After The Fact

Dual Boot After The Fact

I want to run both Windows 2000 Pro and Windows 98 SE on my computer. When I bought a new hard drive, I installed Windows 2000 on it first. But my subsequent research seems to indicate that I should have installed Windows 98 SE first and then Windows 2000 on a separate partition. How do I remove Windows 2000 from the drive so I can partition it and then install Windows 98 SE first and reinstall Windows 2000?



You don't have to remove Windows 2000. Start by installing Windows 98 SE in a different partition. When you're done, insert the Windows 2000 CD and reboot to start Windows 2000 setup. On the Welcome to Setup page, press R (for Repair). When you reach the Windows 2000 Repair Options page, press R again.

You'll then be prompted to select a repair option. Press M for Manual. Then press the Up Arrow until Verify Windows 2000 system files is highlighted; press Enter to clear this selection. Press the Down Arrow to select Continue (perform selected tasks), and then press Enter.

The system will ask whether you have an emergency repair disk. Press L, indicating it should Locate your existing installation. Once it does so, press Enter to complete the repairs. This will establish dual boot for you. (This procedure also works for Windows XP.)


*NOTE:

Don't know if this will also work for Linux. If anyone does try it, please let me know.

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Beep Codes Error Codes

After repeated requests for beep codes i have decided to post them here maybe they could be pinned

Standard Original IBM POST Error Codes
Code Description

1 short beep System is OK
2 short beeps POST Error - error code shown on screen No beep Power supply or system board problem Continuous beep Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem Repeating short beeps Power supply or system board problem
1 long, 1 short beep System board problem
1 long, 2 short beeps Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA)
1 long, 3 short beeps Display adapter problem (EGA)
3 long beeps 3270 keyboard card
IBM POST Diagnostic Code Descriptions
Code Description
100 - 199 System Board
200 - 299 Memory
300 - 399 Keyboard
400 - 499 Monochrome Display
500 - 599 Colour/Graphics Display
600 - 699 Floppy-disk drive and/or Adapter
700 - 799 Math Coprocessor
900 - 999 Parallel Printer Port
1000 - 1099 Alternate Printer Adapter
1100 - 1299 Asynchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1300 - 1399 Game Port
1400 - 1499 Colour/Graphics Printer
1500 - 1599 Synchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1700 - 1799 Hard Drive and/or Adapter
1800 - 1899 Expansion Unit (XT)
2000 - 2199 Bisynchronous Communication Adapter
2400 - 2599 EGA system-board Video (MCA)
3000 - 3199 LAN Adapter
4800 - 4999 Internal Modem
7000 - 7099 Phoenix BIOS Chips
7300 - 7399 3.5" Disk Drive
8900 - 8999 MIDI Adapter
11200 - 11299 SCSI Adapter
21000 - 21099 SCSI Fixed Disk and Controller
21500 - 21599 SCSI CD-ROM System

AMI BIOS Beep Codes
Code Description

1 Short Beep System OK
2 Short Beeps Parity error in the first 64 KB of memory
3 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB
4 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB Operational of memory
or Timer 1 on the motherboard is not functioning
5 Short Beeps The CPU on the motherboard generated an error
6 Short Beeps The keyboard controller may be bad. The BIOS cannot switch to protected mode
7 Short Beeps The CPU generated an exception interrupt
8 Short Beeps The system video adapter is either missing, or its memory is faulty
9 Short Beeps The ROM checksum value does not match the value encoded in the BIOS
10 Short Beeps The shutdown register for CMOS RAM failed
11 Short Beeps The external cache is faulty
1 Long, 3 Short Beeps Memory Problems
1 Long, 8 Short Beeps Video Card Problems

Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes
Note - Phoenix BIOS emits three sets of beeps, separated by a brief pause.

Code Description
1-1-3 CMOS read/write failure
1-1-4 ROM BIOS checksum error
1-2-1 Programmable interval timer failure
1-2-2 DMA initialisation failure
1-2-3 DMA page register read/write failure
1-3-1 RAM refresh verification failure
1-3-3 First 64k RAM chip or data line failure
1-3-4 First 64k RAM odd/even logic failure
1-4-1 Address line failure first 64k RAM
1-4-2 Parity failure first 64k RAM
2-_-_ Faulty Memory
3-1-_ Faulty Motherboard
3-2-4 Keyboard controller Test failure
3-3-4 Screen initialisation failure
3-4-1 Screen retrace test failure
3-4-2 Search for video ROM in progress
4-2-1 Timer tick interrupt in progress or failure
4-2-2 Shutdown test in progress or failure
4-2-3 Gate A20 failure
4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode
4-3-1 RAM test in progress or failure>ffffh
4-3-2 Faulty Motherboard
4-3-3 Interval timer channel 2 test or failure
4-3-4 Time of Day clock test failure
4-4-1 Serial port test or failure
4-4-2 Parallel port test or failure
4-4-3 Math coprocessor test or failure
Low 1-1-2 System Board select failure
Low 1-1-3 Extended CMOS RAM failure

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Change Text on XP Start Button

Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

get this from h**p://delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.

The category we are going to be using is "String Table". Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!

You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.

Step 2 – Modify the Registry

!!!make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.[/b]

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20 Great Google Secrets

Google is clearly the best general-purpose search engine on the Web (see

www.pcmag.com/searchengines

But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number.

But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options.

Syntax Search Tricks

Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at

www.google.com/help/operators.html

. Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results.

Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.

Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as

www.mysite.com/index.html

, you can enter intext:html.

Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in

link:http://www.pcmag.com


Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.

Swiss Army Google

Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature

(www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator)

lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything."

Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary.

Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search

(www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml).




Extended Googling

Google offers several services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups

(http://groups.google.com)

indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on Usenet. Google even helps you with your shopping via two tools: Froogle
CODE
(http://froogle.google.com),

which indexes products from online stores, and Google Catalogs
CODE
(http://catalogs.google.com),

which features products from more 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only scratches the surface. You can get a complete list of Google's tools and services at

www.google.com/options/index.html

You're probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google outside your browser?

Google Alert

(www.googlealert.com)

monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web index. (Google Alert is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google's Web services API to perform its searches.) If you're more interested in news stories than general Web content, check out the beta version of Google News Alerts

(www.google.com/newsalerts).

This service (which is affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail address and send you information about news stories that match your query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.)

Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs

(http://labs.google.com),

a place for experimental Google ideas and features (which may come and go, so what's there at this writing might not be there when you decide to check it out). With Google Voice Search

(http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html),

you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then click on the indicated link. Every time you say a new search term, the results page will refresh with your new query (you must have JavaScript enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an experimental phase, so don't expect 100 percent success.

In 2002, Google released the Google API (application programming interface), a way for programmers to access Google's search engine results without violating the Google Terms of Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally not-so-useful but interesting) applications not available from Google itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you'll need an API key, which is available free from
CODE
www.google.com/apis

. See the figures for two more examples, and visit

www.pcmag.com/solutions

for more.

Thanks to its many different search properties, Google goes far beyond a regular search engine. Give the tricks in this article a try. You'll be amazed at how many different ways Google can improve your Internet searching.


Online Extra: More Google Tips


Here are a few more clever ways to tweak your Google searches.

Search Within a Timeframe

Daterange: (start date–end date). You can restrict your searches to pages that were indexed within a certain time period. Daterange: searches by when Google indexed a page, not when the page itself was created. This operator can help you ensure that results will have fresh content (by using recent dates), or you can use it to avoid a topic's current-news blizzard and concentrate only on older results. Daterange: is actually more useful if you go elsewhere to take advantage of it, because daterange: requires Julian dates, not standard Gregorian dates. You can find converters on the Web (such as

CODE
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html

excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif


), but an easier way is to do a Google daterange: search by filling in a form at

www.researchbuzz.com/toolbox/goofresh.shtml or www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml

. If one special syntax element is good, two must be better, right? Sometimes. Though some operators can't be mixed (you can't use the link: operator with anything else) many can be, quickly narrowing your results to a less overwhelming number.

More Google API Applications

Staggernation.com offers three tools based on the Google API. The Google API Web Search by Host (GAWSH) lists the Web hosts of the results for a given query

(www.staggernation.com/gawsh/).

When you click on the triangle next to each host, you get a list of results for that host. The Google API Relation Browsing Outliner (GARBO) is a little more complicated: You enter a URL and choose whether you want pages that related to the URL or linked to the URL

(www.staggernation.com/garbo/).

Click on the triangle next to an URL to get a list of pages linked or related to that particular URL. CapeMail is an e-mail search application that allows you to send an e-mail to google@capeclear.com with the text of your query in the subject line and get the first ten results for that query back. Maybe it's not something you'd do every day, but if your cell phone does e-mail and doesn't do Web browsing, this is a very handy address to know.

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10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (_http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.


3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."

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10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

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