If a Device Doesn’t Work, Try Updating Its Driver

When installing a new device, and it doesn’t work, don’t automatically assume that the device is defective. The problem is more likely to be a driver issue, especially if you are running a different Windows version than the driver was specifically written for.

Visit the device manufacturer’s Web site and download any updated drivers or patches and install them. Only after you have installed the most recent driver and software versions should you seriously suspect a physical problem with the hardware.

If you can’t make a new device work, don’t be shy about calling the toll-free support line for the hardware manufacturer. Their telephone support technicians will be aware of any late-breaking issues with the device, and if they can’t help you make it work they can direct you to the Returns department.

Use MSCONFIG To Turn Off Drivers and Applications that Load at Startup

If you are able to identify the driver or application that’s causing a startup problem, the obvious solution is to remove it or turn it off. Unfortunately, it is not always obvious how to do that. Programs that load at startup can be called from Win.ini, from the Startup program group, or directly from the Registry itself; drivers that load are called from the device’s properties in the Registry, and it’s not easy or safe for a beginning technician to edit the Registry directly.

For example, suppose a user had a scanner with a driver that loaded at startup, but then he removed the scanner and its software. However, for some reason the Registry never got the message and still tries to load the scanner driver at startup. You could look in the Startup folder on the Start menu, and if a utility for the scanner appears there, remove it. You could also look in Add/Remove Programs to see whether the driver can be uninstalled that way. But failing those two, the only thing left to do is edit the Registry to get rid of it.

Most versions of Windows come with a utility called the System Configuration Utility, also known by the name of the executable that starts it: MSCONFIG. This is a handy, safer way of editing the startup options in the Registry; you can turn individual items on or off freely, trying various combinations until you narrow down the problem.

To run it use Start/Run and type MSCONFIG. You can access this utility from Safe Mode, so you can use it to troubleshoot problems that prevent Windows from starting normally as well.

Each of the tabs enables you to deselect individual lines in the startup routine. For example, the Startup tab lists all the programs and utilities that are set to automatically load at startup. You can deselect a line and then try restarting Windows again to see whether that line was the root of the problem. If it wasn’t, come back to MSCONFIG, re-select it, and try deselecting something else.

Try Safe Mode and Step-by-Step Confirmation to Troubleshoot Windows Startup Issues

Suppose you get video, and can get into the BIOS, but Windows won’t start. If it doesn’t even attempt to start — for example, if a hard disk error crops up before you see the Windows splash screen — then you’re probably looking at a hard disk problem. But if the Windows startup process begins and then aborts, a faulty or conflicting device driver is probably the cause. This can occur because of a FAT error, or after upgrading to a new Windows version, after installing a new driver for an existing device, or after installing an entirely new device.

If Windows locks up during startup, the next time you start it, a Windows Startup menu appears offering to allow you to start in Safe Mode. (You can also call up this Windows Startup menu by pressing F8 when you see the message “Starting Windows.”) Safe Mode loads only a minimal set of drivers, so it will probably exclude the driver that is causing you problems and allow Windows to load. If you can get into Windows through Safe Mode but not through a normal boot, it means that the problem is software-related — more specifically, that it’s related to a driver or program that is loading at startup.

The most common driver to cause problems is the video driver. If Windows locks up at the point where the chosen video mode kicks in (that is, after the splash screen but before you see the mouse pointer), an invalid video mode has probably been chosen. Start in Safe Mode and change the video to a relatively conservative setting, such as 256-color 800×600 with Adapter Default for the refresh rate.

In a situation like the one described above — where Windows boots in Safe Mode but not in normal mode — the obvious solution is to find the item that’s causing the problem and eliminate it. This is often easier said than done, however.

One effective way of doing it is to use the Step-by-step Confirmation option on the Windows Startup menu. Press F8 as the PC is booting to display it; if you see the splash screen, you’ve missed the F8 opportunity; reboot and try again. From that Startup menu, choose Step-by-step Conformation. Then press the Y key to step through each line of the startup. When the line executes that is causing the problem, the PC will lock up, and all you have to do is look at the last text that appeared on the screen to see which driver or program did it.

This doesn’t always work because sometimes an item that’s causing a problem will not have its own separate step in Step-by-step Confirmation. However, it can catch many driver-related errors.

Proxifier v2.6

Bypass firewall, tunnel connections through HTTP and SOCKS proxy servers.Work in school to bypass damn firewalls too

http://rapidshare.com/files/32019580/Proxifierv2.6.zip

Personal PC Spy v1.8

Personal PC Spy is the most powerful stealth keylogger software. Personal PC Spy runs silently at the lowest level of windows capturing every keystroke typed including usernames and windows log-on passwords. Personal PC Spy can also capture active window text, text typed in all popular instant messengers including AOL, YAHOO, ICQ, MSN AND AIM. All Desktop activity will be recorded through Personal PC Spy's secret! Personal PC Spy can capture websites which can be visited on your computer, keylogger can capture all text sent to clipboard and record more computer activity . Have reports sent to your email address at anytime secretly! Personal PC Spy is so stealth and hides so well not even a computer technician with years of experience could detect it running! The most powerful stealth program at the most affordable price! Easy to use stealth solution for PC and Internet surveillance. Purchase your copy today and feel safe and secure that if you can detect it running once placed it stealth mode.

Personal PC Spy Features:
Completely invisible and undetectable in Windows - Configure Keylogger to hide during monitoring sessions and impossible to detect. Keylogger will not be listed in the task manager and also gives you the option to remove it from the uninstall list.

Windows Startup - Keylogger can be configured to load on windows startup, or not.

E-mail Log Delivery - Keylogger can deliver reports of recorded activity secretly at set intervals. All logs can be sent by email secretly for you to read at anytime.

Keystrokes Capture - Keylogger can record all keystrokes typed in any application window, such as user name, password, e-mail, chat, instant message (MSN/AOL/ICQ/AIM ), etc. The records are time stamped and categorized by the window title they belong to, so you can tell when and what do*****ents were being typed.

Application Monitoring - Keylogger can record all applications ran and the text typed in these applications.

Website Capture - Keylogger will record and time stamp all websites visited. If a user is surfing inappropriate content on your computer or business computers, Personal PC Spy will record this content. You may re-visit all websites directly inside the Keylogger log viewer.

ScreenShots Capture - Keylogger can take picture of the Windows Desktop just like a automatic surveillance camera! It will capture images at set intervals. You have the option of taking pictures of the entire screen or just of active window, and saving the pictures in high quality or low quality JPEG format. Keylogger will also log the active window name and the time stamp when the screen shot was taken.

Automatic Log Clearing - Keylogger can be configured to clear all logs at set intervals as an added security measure. You may also clear logs at anytime and completely remove them from your computer!

Log Exporting - Keylogger recorded logs into an easy to read html do*****ent for later viewing or record keeping. The log files are stored by date and time enabling to go find the information you need quickly.

Startup Alert - Would you like to inform the user they are being monitored? Personal PC Spy offers you the ability display a custom message informing the user they are being monitored.

Download:

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Start Menu Add-on: Start++

Every Windows power user knows the command line is “the place” to get serious work done. The new Start Menu search box in Windows Vista opens the door to a whole new level of command line possibilities. One utility called Start++ extends the Start Menu search box to add even more features allowing you to use shortcuts to launch web sites and processes.

Would you like to search Google from your start menu search box? Just type g followed by your query such as “g tweak vista”. How about doing a quick search on Wikipedia? Type w and your query in the search box. The possibilities are endless because you can create custom shortcuts just like the examples above.

On top of web shortcuts, you can also create application links that will launch an app and open a file. Almost anything is possible with a little customization of the Start++ utility shown below.

Download Start Menu Add-on: Start++

Learning Linux Commands

If you are a complete newbie to Linux, or if you “know enough to be dangerous,” then here are some pointers that may help.

One of the great things about Linux is that, even though the operating system is extensible through the addition of arbitrary commands, there are standards for documenting such commands. Because of these standards, not only is it easy to find out what a command does and how it works, but it’s easy to find out that these commands exist in the first place, even if you don’t know their names.

Commands About Commands:

- man — Display the manual for a command
- whatis — Display a summary of a command (rather than the entire manual)
- apropos — Display a list of commands that pertain to (are apropos to) a keyword
- whereis — Display information about the location of a command: the executable, the source code (if any), and the man pages.
- which — Display which version of a command will execute (for when there are two, or more, commands with the same name installed on the system).

MAN — In previous tips, we mentioned the MAN command. MAN stands for manual. It is the main resource for displaying the documentation (a.k.a. “man pages”) for any particular command. For example, to find out how the LS command works, you would enter

man ls

The man command brings up the first page of the manual, and then waits for navigation keystrokes. The three most commonly used navigation controls are PageUp, PageDown and the letter q (quit). Of course, man has its own man pages.

man man

WHATIS — The whatis command is actually an alias for using the man command with the -f switch (and -f is shorthand for –whatis). So, all of the following are equivalent.

whatis ls
man -f ls
man –whatis ls