|
|
|
Disable Java Quick Starter (JQS) 6.0
-
Read more...
Disable Java Quick Starter (JQS)
This article applies to: Windows 2000 (SP4+), Windows XP (SP1 SP2)
Browser(s): Internet Explorer 6.x, Internet Explorer 7.x, Mozilla 1.4+, Firefox
JRE version(s): 6.0
Java Quick Starter (JQS) improves initial startup time for most Java applets and applications. This feature was added to Java in release Java SE 6 update 10 (6u10) and will be available in all future releases.
JQS is enabled by default in Windows XP and Windows 2000 operating systems and is not necessary on Windows Vista as Vista offers its own pre-loading mechanisms. A process called jqs.exe will run in the background in order to allow quick statup. jqs.exe will be loaded after a Windows restart. Instructions on how to disable the JQS and the jqs.exe process are below.
The startup performance improvement is achieved by periodically pre-fetching some of the most heavily used Java files into memory (occupying no more than 20Mb of RAM). Later, when Java is launched, much less disk I/O is required which makes startup much snappier and noticeably faster.
Note: JQS service will perform runtime checks and stop running when a laptop is running on batteries. JQS service will resume when the power cord is plugged in, as performance benefit of JQS is largely dependent on overall system configuration.
Steps to disable Java Quick Starter:
Click Start.
Click Control Panel.
Double click on Java Control Panel.
Click Advance tab in Java Control Panel.
Scroll to Miscellaneous entry and Expand.
Uncheck the check box for Java Quick Starter.
Click Apply, close the Java Control Panel and restart the system.
Read Full Article
Vista - Restore default shell folder icons
-
Read more...
The Problem
Some users noticed that when they opened Windows Explorer, the shell folders, such as the Documents or Pictures folders, displayed a standard folder icon rather than the special/default Vista folder icons.
The Fix
This behavior can occur when the desktop.ini file in the shell folder is missing or incorrect, or it has no attributes set. The default contents of the desktop.ini file for various shell folders in Windows Vista are given below. In each shell folder that's missing the special icon, create a file named desktop.ini and paste the content corresponding to the shell folder.Then right-click the file desktop.ini and choose Properties. Place a checkmark near Hiddenattribute, and click OK. Logoff and login again for the changes to take effect.
Enjoy!
Below are the Desktop.ini contents for some of the shell folders in Windows Vista
Documents
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21770
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-112
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-235
Pictures
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21779
InfoTip=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12688
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-113
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-236
[LocalizedFileNames]
Sample Pictures.lnk=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21805
Music
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21790
InfoTip=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12689
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-108
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-237
[LocalizedFileNames]
Sample Music.lnk=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21806
Videos
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21791
InfoTip=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-12690
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-189
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-238
[LocalizedFileNames]
Sample Videos.lnk=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21807
Searches
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-9031
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-18
[LocalizedFileNames]
Indexed Locations.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32811
Everywhere.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32814
Shared By Me.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32802
Recent Music.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32803
Recent Documents.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32804
Recent Pictures and Videos.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32806
Recent E-mail.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32807
Recently Changed.search-ms=@shell32.dll,-32813
Downloads
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21798
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-184
Favorites
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21796
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-115
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-173
Contacts
[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%CommonProgramFiles%\system\wab32res.dll,-10100
InfoTip=@%CommonProgramFiles%\system\wab32res.dll,-10200
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-181
Read Full Article
Visio template help pane - how to turn it off permanently
-
Read more...
Some users have noted that every time they open Visio, the template help bar always appears on the right side of the screen.
How do we turn template help bar off permanently to avoid extra keystrokes and the wait while this screen re-sizes?
Here's how...
The control for the template help bar it well hidden. Go to menu:
Tools -> Options > General tab
and at the bottom of the General Tabclick on
Service Options
Once the Service Options window opens you can turn off the template help bar as well as other online options.
Read Full Article
etilqs_ files: Firefox 3.01 and newer
-
Read more...
Recently I discovered that some client machines were collecting files that began with etilqs_ like this:
etilqs_dtZ0s0aDwdHfzB4x1Ru1
in the
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp
directory. Some machines had tens of these files while other machines only had one or two. These files are created by versions of Firefox 3.01 or newer upon launch. These newer versions of Firefox use SQLite to create temporary session files that store information about passwords, phishing sites, certificates, and other browser related issues.
These files are not malicious, and at this point, are not reported to be of any concern. They are deleted by Firefox when Firefox is closed.
On some Firefox builds, this file creation can be turned off or can be greatly reduced by selecting:
Tools | Options | Security and then unchecking everything
But note that unchecking everything will also disable some of the advanced notification features of Firefox.
Enjoy.
Read Full Article
Internet Explorer shuts down by itself
-
Read more...
Internet Explorer shuts down by itself
Recently a user’s XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) machine started experiencing unexpected behavior. The user shuts his machine down every night and restarts it in the morning. Last night, as usual, he shut his machine down and went home. When he returned to his office the next morning and re-started his machine, all appeared fine until he opened / started Internet Explorer Version 7 (IE or IE7) . It opened to the web sites he added and uses as his default websites and then abruptly shut down. He tried again, and got the same results. This went on for a few minutes with the same results. He rebooted a few times and tried to run IE after each reboot but it exhibited the same behavior; he would open IE up, and it would abruptly shut down.
He called me. I tried IE and found the same behavior. I then opened the Internet Explorer instance without tools also known as Internet Explorer (no Ad-ons) that can usually be found under one of the main menus on XP. This instance opened up and did not shut down immediately, but depending upon which web site I sent it to, it would still shut down abruptly for no apparent reason after it had loaded certain web sites. Hum...we could navigate to some web sites and IE worked as expected but when we went to other websites, IE loaded the web site and abruptly shut down.
I checked the event logs; no reported errors.
Next, I looked at what was installed on his machine and decided to uninstall Java. This was a safe bet as it could be easily installed again, and with Java running in a windows environment, sometimes it acts up and does not always report errors to the event log. So the absence of errors in the event log and the fact that IE worked on some sites and not others pointed to Java as a possible culprit
I uninstalled Java, restarted the machine and IE worked again as expected. No more abrupt shut downs, but some web sites did not function as expected which was to be expected, because Java has become an integral part of many if not most web sites and Java was no longer installed on the machine.
When one of the sites prompted us to install Java, I said yes. Java was re-installed and even after a re-boot, IE worked fine, so at this point, it appears that Java was the culprit responsible for shutting IE down abruptly and unexpectedly.
Some other things to try if this doesn’t work for you...
You could try to run the IE repair option under Tools - Repair Browser.
Or, you could see if one of the pop up blockers on your machine is causing the shut down. Some pop up blockers will block windows that are behind the browser and this can be hard to diagnose unless you shut the pop up blocker off.
August 2008
Read Full Article
Migrate DotNetNuke Blog Entries to Ventrian News Articles
-
Read more...
Uninstall ZoneAlarm
-
Read more...
DNS-323 / DNS 323 Resources
-
Read more...
Here are some useful Dlink DNS-323 / DSN 323 resources:
Forums and other information:
http://forum.dsmg600.info/f3-DNS-323-General-Discussion.html
http://wiki.dns323.info/
Here is the list of drives recommended/tested by Dlink:
http://support.dlink.com/supportfaq/DisplayTemplate.aspx?TemplateId=1443933
Also, if any of your desktops have been upgraded to XP SP3, they may need a patch to work with the 323.
Here is link to find the latest updated software and firmware for your D Link drive:
http://www.dlink.com/products/winXPsp3/
and
http://support.dlink.com/downloads/
select: DNS (or your drive model)
Select: 323 (or your drive model)
Go...
Enjoy!
Read Full Article
How to find available SQL Servers on the network
-
Read more...
This script will only find those servers (and instances) that are broadcasting their existence, and requires execute permissions on XP_CMDShell.:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.ListLocalServers
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON
CREATE TABLE #servers(sname VARCHAR(255))
INSERT #servers EXEC master..XP_CMDShell 'OSQL -L'
-- play with ISQL -L too, results differ slightly
DELETE #servers WHERE sname='Servers:'
SELECT LTRIM(sname) FROM #servers WHERE sname != 'NULL'
DROP TABLE #servers
END
---
So from ASP, you could do this:
<%
set conn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
conn.open "<connection string>"
set rs = conn.execute("EXEC ListLocalServers")
do while not rs.eof
response.write rs(0) & "<br>"
rs.movenext
loop
rs.close
set rs = nothing
%> |
---
This code is not mine, and comes from another posting:
To enumerate all network-visible SQL servers using SQL-DMO objects, create a new standard EXE project and add a reference to sqldmo.rll. This file
can be found in \Binn\Resources\1033\sqldmo.rll under the SqlServer70 directory. Now add this code and declaration in your form's code:
Private Function GetAllSqlServerCollection(colSqlServers As Collection)
As
Boolean
Dim intIndex As Integer
Dim oApplication As SQLDMO.Application
Dim oNameList As SQLDMO.NameList
Set oApplication = New Application
With oApplication
Set oNameList = .ListAvailableSQLServers
With oNameList
For intIndex = 1 To .Count
colSqlServers.Add (oNameList.Item(intIndex))
Next
End With
End With
Set oApplication = Nothing
GetAllSqlServerCollection = True
End Function
This code will return a list of SQL servers and can be put inside a combo box's drop-down event to always get a refreshed list of SQL servers on your form.
Read Full Article
Cisco IOS Rootkit Demonstrated, May 21, 2008
-
Read more...
May 21, 2008 - London. While rootkits for computer operating systems, like Windows, are well known, they haven't been a serious concern for the Cisco IOS.
At the EUSecWest Confernce in London May 21 and 22, 2008, Sebastian Muniz offered a presentation called "Killing the myth of Cisco IOS rootkits: DIK (Da Ios rootKit)" where he claimed that the public rootkit implementations for Cisco IOS have not been seen and system administrators tend to think that this is not possible or that even being possible, a generic method could not be created and that a skilled attacker is needed to target them. He presented the DIK (Da Ios rootKit), a real multi-architecture rootkit to show that real threats exist and that advanced IOS forensics are probably not enought to detect them. Sebastion noted that no public IOS rootkit implementation has been publicly presented before and the techniques employed are generic, and could be easiy used to implement other closed-source OS rootkits.
An interview with Sebastion Muniz: http://eusecwest.com/sebastian-muniz-da-ios-rootkit.html
For more information see the EUSecWest site here: http://eusecwest.com/speakers.html#Cisco
Read Full Article
List of the most useful MSC files
-
Read more...
Here's a list of useful MSC files on a Windows Server 2003 machine. Some of the tools might not be available until you have installed the corresponding service.
appsrv.msc - Application Server
azman.msc - Authorization Manager
certmgr.msc - Certificates snap-in
certsrv.msc - Certificate Services
certtmpl.msc - Certificate Templates
ciadv.msc - Indexing Service
compmgmt.msc - Computer Management
dcpol.msc - Domain Controller Security Policy
devmgmt.msc - Device Manager
dfrg.msc - Disk Defragmenter
dfsgui.msc - Distributed File System
dhcpmgmt.msc - DHCP Manager
diskmgmt.msc - Disk Management
dnsmgmt.msc - DNS Manager
domain.msc - Active Directory Domains & Trusts
dompol.msc - Domain Security Policy
dsa.msc - Active Directory Users & Computers
dssite.msc - Active Directory Sites & Services
eventvwr.msc - Event Viewer
fxsadmin.msc - Fax Service Manager
filesvr.msc - File Server Management
fsmgmt.msc - Shared Folders
gpedit.msc - Group Policy Editor
ias.msc - Internet Authentication Service
iis.msc - Internet Information Services
lusrmgr.msc - Local Users & Groups
ntmsmgr.msc - Removable Storage Manager
ntmsoprq.msc - Removable Storage Operator Requests
perfmon.msc - Performance Monitor
rrasmgmt.msc - Routing and Remote Access
rsop.msc - Resultant Set of Policy
secpol.msc - Local Security Policy
services.msc - Services Configuration
tapimgmt.msc - Telephony
tscc.msc - Terminal Services
tsmmc.msc - Remote Desktop
wmimgmt.msc - Windows Management Instrumentation
Note: Not all of these files are in the Windows\system32 folder. This means that they will not be accessible from Start->Run unless you include the path.
Read Full Article
Two great free utilitites: EasyBCD Dual Boot and CHMOD-Win 3.0 for Windows
-
Read more...
Two great free utilities: EasyBCD Dual Boot utility for all operating systems and CHMOD-Win 3.0 for Windows from NeoSmart Technologies.
Main page:
http://neosmart.net/gallery/v/neosmart/
EasyBCD Dual Boot utility download:
http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1
CHMOD – Win 3.0 download:
http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=4
Here is the Wikipedia Guide on Dual Boot and Dual Boot Utilities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_boot
CHMOD Examples:
chmod +r file – read is added for all
chmod -x file – execute permission is removed for all
chmod u=rw,go= file – read and write is set for the owner, all permissions are cleared for the group and others
chmod +rw file – change the permissions of the file file to read and write for all.
chmod -R u+w,go-w docs/ – change the permissions of the directory docs and all its contents to add write access for the user, and deny write access for everybody else.
chmod 0 file – removes all privileges for all
chmod 666 file – sets read and write access for the owner, the group, and all others.
chmod 0755 file – equivalent to u=rwx (4+2+1),go=rx (4+1 & 4+1). The 0 specifies no special modes.
chmod 4755 file – the 4 specifies set user ID.
find path/ -type d -exec chmod a-x {} \; – sets a-x for all directories in tree starting from path/ (use '-type f' to match files only).
find path/ -type d -exec chmod 777 {} \; allows directory browsing ls for example if you've reset permissions for Samba write access.
chmod -R u+rwX,g-rwx,o-rwx <directory> – set a directory tree to rwx for owner directories, rw for owner files, --- for group and all.
chmod -R a-x+X <directory> – remove the execute permission to all files in a directory tree, while allowing for directory browsing.
Read Full Article
Computer Virus/Trojan from China - the gift that keeps on giving; copyright The San Francisco Chronicle
-
Read more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/02/15/BU47V0VOH.DTL
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, February 15, 2008 (SF Chronicle) Virus from China the gift that keeps on giving Deborah Gage, Chronicle Staff Writer
An insidious computer virus recently discovered on digital photo frames has been identified as a powerful new Trojan Horse from China that collects passwords for online games - and its designers might have larger targets in mind.
"It is a nasty worm that has a great deal of intelligence," said Brian Grayek, who heads product development at Computer Associates, a security vendor that analyzed the Trojan Horse.
The virus, which Computer Associates calls Mocmex, recognizes and blocks antivirus protection from more than 100 security vendors, as well as the security and firewall built into Microsoft Windows. It downloads files from remote locations and hides files, which it names randomly, on any PC it infects, making itself very difficult to remove. It spreads by hiding itself on photo frames and any other portable storage device that happens to be plugged into an infected PC.
The authors of the new Trojan Horse are well-funded professionals whose malware has "specific designs to capture something and not leave traces,"
Grayek said. "This would be a nuclear bomb" of malware.
By studying how the code is constructed and how it's propagated, Computer Associates has traced the Trojan to a specific group in China, Grayek said. He would not name the group.
The strength of the malware shows how skilled hackers have become and how serious they are about targeting digital devices, which provide a new frontier for stealing information from vast numbers of unwary PC owners.
More than 2.26 million digital frames were sold in 2007, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, and it expects sales to grow to 3.26 million in 2008.
The new Trojan also has been spotted in Singapore and the Russian Federation and has 67,500 variants, according to Prevx, a security vendor headquartered in England.
Grayek said Mocmex might be a test for some bigger attack, because it's designed to capture any personal, private or financial information, yet so far it's only stealing passwords for online games.
"If I send you a package but it doesn't explode, why did I send it?" he said. "Maybe I want to see if I can get it out to you and how you open it."
The initial reports of infected frames came from people who had bought them over the holidays from Sam's Club and Best Buy. New reports involve frames sold at Target and Costco, according to SANS, a group of security researchers in Bethesda, Md., who began asking for accounts of infected devices on Christmas Day. So far the group has collected more than a dozen complaints from people across the country.
The new Trojan isn't the only piece of malware involved. Deborah Hale of Sans said the researchers also found four other, older Trojans on each frame, which may serve as markers for botnets - networks of infected PCs that are remotely controlled by hackers.
There is W32.Rajump, which deposits the same piece of malware that infected some of Apple's video iPods during manufacturing in October 2006.
It gathers Internet Protocol addresses and port numbers from infected PCs and ships them out, according to Symantec. One destination is registered to a service in China that allows people to conceal their own IP addresses.
Then there is a generic Trojan; a Trojan that opens a back door on PCs and displays pop-up ads; and a Trojan that spreads itself through portable devices like Mocmex does.
How all this malware got onto the photo frames and what it's doing there is unclear. Trojans can download other Trojans, which is part of how botnets are controlled.
While SANS is investigating the infections, the retailers are saying little.
Sam's Club said it has found no infected frames, and its distributor, Advanced Design Systems, did not return calls seeking comment.
A few Target customers complained about frames distributed by Uniek, a store spokesman confirmed. Target is no longer selling those frames, but that's because the frames didn't sell well over the holidays, he said.
Target has found no infections, he said, but is watching for them.
Best Buy said one line of its Insignia frames - also now discontinued - was infected during manufacturing but would not provide details.
Costco did not return calls seeking comment. How to avoid problems
Protecting against these new computer viruses, which so far are aimed at PCs running Windows, is hard - and sometimes impossible.
Updated antivirus software works unless the malware writers get ahead of the antivirus vendors, which is what happened with the new Trojan.
Computer Associates, for example, just began protecting against it last week.
While some advise disabling Autorun in Windows, which allows devices to run automatically when they're plugged into a USB port, it's not a failsafe. Doing so requires some computer expertise, and this Trojan re-enables Autorun if it's turned off, according to Brian Grayek of Computer Associates. "If you plug in (the frame), you're already infected," he said.
Deborah Hale at SANS suggested that PC users find friends with Macintosh or Linux machines and have them check for malware before plugging any device into a PC.
She also recommended backing up data with an online service such as Mozy.com that offers free backup for home users with less than 2 gigabytes of data. But it does not back up the operating system, she warned. If you're attacked and your PC fails, you'll have to reformat and reload all of the programs.
If you think bought an infected device, e-mail SANS at info@sans.org and call your retailer.
-- Best Buy: (877) 467-4289
-- Sam's Club: (888) 746-7726
-- Target: (800) 591-3869
-- Costco: (800) 955-2292
E-mail Deborah Gage at dgage@sfchronicle.com. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2008 SF Chronicle
Read Full Article
Ibanez Thermion TN120 Schematics
-
Read more...
For those Ibanez Thermion appreciators out there, you can scroll to the bottom of the "Hints and Tips" page and download the Thermion TN120 Schematics in PDF for the Ibanez Thermion TN120 from the Documents section at the bottom of that page.
I find that the Ibanez Thermions are totally under rated, so if you get a chance to try one out or buy one, do it! These Thermions will do everything from Fender like clean to singing leads to thumping metal. Enjoy.
Read Full Article
Earthlink issues; Error 1709 – cannot find Accelerator.msi
-
Read more...
One user accesses their Earthlink Total Access mail via a Comcast high speed connection. After they acquised to an Earthlink Total Access update notice that updated their Earthlink Total Access software to the latest version of Earthlink Total Access and the Earthlink mail box, the computer started to misbehave. When ever they opened Earthlink Total access or when ever they opened up Internet Explorer version 7.x, a pop up install box would appear, and then re-appear several more times, that prompted them to install / reinstall the Earthlink Accelerator.
After selecting “Cancel” to cancel this install window over and over and over, a non descriptive error was displayed that was similar to this:
Error 1709 – "No valid source could be found for product Earthlink Accelerator. The windows installer cannot continue".
A Google search provided little information on this error.
This installer appears to be looking for the Accelerator.msi file.
After some experimentation, I discovered that this this annoying behavior could best be removed by installing and utilizing the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility that can be explained and downloaded here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
One you download and install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility, run it, and look for the Earthlink Accelerator. When you find it, highlight it, and select "Remove".
Close the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.
Reboot.
Hopefully, this will solve your problem with the poorly crafted Earthlink Total Access software as it has for others.
Bill
Read Full Article
Previous Page | Next Page