Tutorials:
1.
Make windows XP better
2. What is Resource
Hacker?
3. How to add
keys to registry?
4. How to Boost
your PC with TuneUp Utilities?
5. How to use
cracks or Keygens?
1. Make windows
XP better
Here, I list some of the utilities which
will boost up your system performance and
internet surfing. I will also provide the
software links to download that software.
Let me start with the necessary and sufficient
things that you should do right from the
installation of windows XP.
Choosing Your Partition
Type:
You might have surely encountered this
option while formatting your partition.
Always format your partition before installing
the windows into that partition. Before
formatting a volume or partition, consider
the file system with which to format it.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP support the
NTFS file system, File Allocation Table
(FAT), and FAT32. NTFS is the recommended
file system for Windows 2000 and Windows
XP because it supports several features
that the other file systems do not, such
as file and folder permissions, encryption,
large volume support, and sparse file management.
However, you must format the volume or
partition as FAT if you plan to access files
on that volume or partition from other operating
systems, including MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows
98, Windows Millennium Edition, and Windows
NT 4.0 or LINUX.
Important: You can apply an NTFS patch
for Linux if you want complete access to
your partition
Choose NTFS only if you are running Windows
XP and you want to take advantage of NTFS
features.
The following features are unique to NTFS:
• Compression
• Disk quotas
• Encryption
• Mount points
• Remote storage
Choosing Your Antivirus
Software
The biggest threat to a Windows system
is a virus. How or why a virus attacks and
how it spreads, I am not going to go into
here. Usually a virus spreads through one
of these mediums:
a) an infected floppy or CD
b) an infected file over the network
c) an infected file from the Internet
d) an infected file you received via e-mail
or instant messenger.
An antivirus program is a third party solution
that runs all the time in your system and
monitors and protects your system from viruses
and maybe, other threats, depending on the
product and its version. It includes a scanning
engine and a list of signatures of known
viruses that it compares to files staying
in your computer's memory and hard disk
as well as the ones coming in and going
out. If it detects a virus, it immediately
stops the activity of the file and informs
you about the virus' presence and prompts
you to either clean the file or delete it.
It should be noted that the major antivirus
vendors, McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro,
Kaspersky, etc. release newer versions of
their antivirus programs at least once each
year in addition to releasing "updates"
for the antivirus program every week.
You should have the latest version of the
antivirus programs running at all times,
and should also make sure its updated every
week with the latest virus "signatures."
Failure to do any of these two steps may
mean an immediate infection. All antivirus
programs come with an Automatic Update feature
built in that will automatically contact
its server and look for available updates
and then download and install them automatically.
It is recommended that you leave this feature
turned on.
Here are a list of instructions that you
should actively follow to prevent an infection:
a) Make sure you use the latest version
of your antivirus and keep it updated weekly
and make sure its auto-update feature is
turned on.
b) Never use a CD or a floppy without scanning
it for viruses.
c) Do not open files from the Internet without
scanning them with the antivirus. Most download
managers can integrate with the antivirus
program to automatically scan the downloaded
files. Turn this feature on.
d) Do not accept and download files from
an Instant Messenger conversation if you
do not know what it is. Also, all instant
messengers can integrate with the antivirus.
Turn this feature on.
e) Never open an attachment from an email,
no matter what extension it is, without
first scanning it with an antivirus. Again,
all email clients can integrate with your
antivirus solution to automatically scan
for viruses in your emails.
Trial Software:
Norton
Antivirus 2005
Kaspersky
Antivirus 5.0 Personal
McAfee VirusScan
Trend Micro PC-Cillin 2005
Free Antivirus Software:
AVG
Antivirus v7.308
avast!
4 Home Edition
Choosing your system firewall
In this day, when broadband and LAN/Cable
Internet access is rampant, there is always
a chance that somemay may break into your
computer, gain access and control your computer
to do malicious acts without your permission.
A firewall acts like a filter for the data
that's going in and out of your computer.
If it detects that a program is trying to
access the Internet or your local network
without your permission, it will stop such
activity. Also, if a hacker or any other
user tries to gain access to your computer
without your permission, it will block all
such activity too. The Windows Firewall
that comes bundled along with Windows XP
SP2 is woefully inadequate when it comes
to protecting your computer.
The key to running a firewall efficiently
is to configure it right. When it comes
to configuring, the key steps to remember
are these:
a) If you do not know the program, deny
it access to the Internet and the local
network.
b) Never allow the software to "remember"
the access rights for a program, that is,
do not wantonly check the "I know this
program. Do not ask me again" for programs
that you are not absolutely sure about.
c) Some Windows processes need access to
the Internet or your local network to work
the way its supposed to. Make sure you check
the name of the program and its use before
you allow or deny access.
d) Unless you run a server or play/host
online or network multiplayer games, go
ahead and deny inbound access to all programs
except your mail clients, browsers, etc.
e) Do not allow programs to connect to the
Internet unless they absolutely need to.
So while Adobe Acrobat checks for an update
with its servers when you start it up, thats
OK. But when you are planning to play Quake
3 Arena offline and it tries to connect
to the Internet, go ahead and deny it access
this time around.
Good firewalls include;
ZoneAlarm
(Free) (The best among them all)
Norton
Personal Firewall 2005 (Trial)
McAfee
Personal Firewall Plus (Trial)
Choosing your Spyware
Chances are that you're probably using
the default Internet Explorer browser that
came along with your OS. The browser is
literally the weakest link in the Microsoft
OS and is a very popular target for people
that write software to either attack your
computer, or as in most cases, just increase
their revenue. People write code called
spyware/adware/malware that hijack your
browser settings or install software that
track your movements online or in some cases,
totally prevent you from getting any work
done and steal your Internet passwords.
And if you're using Internet Explorer, you're
their favorite snack.
To test the "integrity" of your
browser and whether it is vulnerable to
spyware and being hijacked and exploited,
run the Browser Security Check
here. Chances
are, yes, you're very vulnerable. Fortunately,
we have software just like antivirus programs
- antispyware programs that prevent and
clean attacks on your system. As with antivirus,
the key to a good antispyware program is
to leave its protection system running at
all times and to update them regularly with
the "signature libraries" of spyware.
Some of the well known products are:
SpyBot
- Search and Destroy 1.3 (The best,
in my opinion)
Microsoft Defender (free but lot of pre-requisites
required)
Boosting up your PC Performance
One of the most common issues for hating
Windows is that our PC performance degrades
with time nevertheless utmost care is taken.
First and foremost software required is
Windows Optimizer software which modifies
the settings of windows for optimization
and keeps track of registry and hard disk
for errors and remove thrash.
Some of the windows Optimizers are
Tune
Up Utilities
.Ashampoo Windows Optimizer
I prefer Tune Up Utilities because, you
can have many features like Shredding(permanent
deleting) and File Recovery, Visual Styles,
Boot Screen changer etc.
The common features that one may expect
for a system optimizer are
1. Registry Cleaner
2. System Disk cleaner
3. Internet Optimization etc…
Choosing Your Browser
Many free web browsers are available for
free download on web. Out of them, some
of the popular ones are
1. Mozilla firefox
2. Opera
3. Netscape
Opera is fastest. But, opera fails to
perform to its best while accessing SSL
encrypted sites. For Orkut and gmail users
I suggest not to use Opera. Mozilla has
good plugins to include which improves browser's
versetality.
Internet Download Accelerators
Normal Browser downloads are very slow
and we cannot avail so much time for them.
The Internet download accelerators do our
job faster. They actually split-up the file
into several threads and download them independently,
finally merging all of them to remake the
original file.One more outstanding feature
of these softwares is Browser Integration.
You need not copy the anywhere. The download
requests are automatically sensed and caught.
Several free and trial versions of Download
managers are available.
1.
Internet Download Manager
2. Mass Downloader
3. Flash Get
4. Free download Manager ( Free)
Note: You can find serials/cracks to some
of these softwares listed above in downloads
section.
[Index]
2. What
is Resource Hacker?
Resource
Hacker is a free software to edit windows
files (DLL, EXE, CPL, and many other). U
can add modify or delete the existing resources
of all the windows files using this software.
For eg, if you wanna make your google talk
or IP messenger with ur desired strings
or icon, you can easily replace them using
Resource Hacker.
How
to use it?
First
download the zip file from this link
and extract it to a folder. Resource hacker
need not be installed. It is just a program
that can be executed directly. Let me demonstrate
how to change the icons or strings using
resource hacker opening Google Talk.
First open the google talk file from its
installed folder ( generally on c:\program
files\google\google talk\googletalk.exe).
You
will find the following columns in the left
pane.
Gif
PNG
Registry
Bitmap
Icon
Menu
Dialog
Icon group
U
can view any resource embedded in the file.
Simply expand the directory and click on
the name of the resource. Each resource
has three parts/components.
Resource
Type : Indicates whether the resource
is a/an AVI/Bitmap/Menu/Cursor/Icon/String/etc.
Resource Name : It describes
the name of a resource, no 2 resource can
hv the same name.
Resource Language : Its
the language used in the file. For ENGLISH
its 1033.
How
to change the Resources?
For
Icon/Cursor/Bitmap, follow the same way
1.)
Select the resource ( e.g. Icon Group >
111 > 0 ).
2.) Click on Action ->
Replace Resource (here
icon....)
3.) It'll open a new window, click on Open
file with new Icon/Cursor/Bitmap button.
4.) Select the desired resource in the OPEN
dialog box and click on Open button and
then Replace.
Note
: For a bitmap image, the extension should
be .bmp. If u have a jpg file, then convert
it into bitmap by opening it in mspaint
and save as bitmap.
Adding
your own Resources
For adding new Bitmaps/Icons/Cursors
1.)
Click on Action -> Add
a new Resource....
2.) Click on Open file
with new resource button.
3.) Select the desired resource and click
on Open button.
4.) Give Resource Type/Name/Language. (Remember:
Resource Name should be different than the
existing resources.)
5.) Click on Add Resource
button.
Now
that you have learnt how to add/ modify
resources, we 'll now go through how to
change the appearance of the window, Add
resources into dialog box and stuff !!
Add
new Resources in Dialog Boxes
The
dialog boxes are windows that you see when
an application is running. For example,
When you first run googletalk.exe, a logon
screen is displayed. This is a dialog box
and so on.. If you wanna add a resource
( say Ur Image) on the logon screen of gtalk,
then follow the steps.
1.)
Goto the desired dialog box, in which u
want to add ur own resource ( in this case,
dialog box no.130)
2.) Right-click on the dialog box and select
Insert Control option.
3.) It'll open a new window, where u'll
see many controls, like BITMAP, LABEL, ICON,
BUTTON, SysAnimate32 (for AVIs), etc.
4.) Simply click on the desired control,
like to use ur own added Bitmap click on
the BITMAP control or to use ur own added
AVI click on SysAnimate32 control. U can
also add Date/Time control by clicking on
SysDateTimePick32 control.
5.) Don't forget to fill the Caption entry.
Actually we hv to enter the resource name
in Caption so that our added resource can
be displayed on that place! e.g., if u hv
added a Bitmap and gave it name as 401,
then give 401 in Caption.
6.) Finally click on OK button & Compile
the script.
7.) U can change its position on the dialog
box by simply dragging it to ur desired
position.
List
of System files that can be hacked using
Resource Hacker
%windir%\System32\NToskrnl.exe
: To change the Boot screen
%windir%\System32\Logonui.exe : To change
Login Screen
%windir%\System32\MSgina.dll : To change
the text & background of Shutdown dialog
box
%windir%\System32\Shell32.dll : A lot of
things, like Progress dialog box (copying,
deleting, etc.), Run dialog box, Context
menu items, and many other things (As much
as u'll go thru the items, u'll know what
I'm talking about)
%windir%\System32\Sysdm.cpl : To change
the System Properties window look
%windir%\System32\Winlogon.exe : To change
the text, which u see in Login Screen, like
applying user settings, logginf off, shutting
down, etc.
%windir%\Explorer.exe : To change Start
button text, Programs Menu text (like Programs,
Favorites, Documents, etc.)
%windir%\System32\browselc.dll : To change
the Menu names in Windows Explorer as well
as Internet Explorer
PS
: Editing system files may cause your system
to crash!! So, do not touch system files
until you become good at editing things..
[Index]
3.
How to add keys to registry?
This tutorial
is for newbies who still dont know how to
use registry. After reading this tutorial,
you should be able to add/delete keys from
the registry by opening the registry editor
or remotely.
What is
registry?
Windows stores
its configuration information in a database
called the registry. (The registry editor
that ships with Windows is regedit.exe.)
The registry contains profiles for each
user of the computer and information about
system hardware, installed programs, and
property settings. Windows continually references
this information during its operation.
Registry editors are available that enable
you to inspect and modify the registry.
However, you should not need to do so. Instead,
allow Windows programs to modify the system
registry as needed.
Registry Editor
is an advanced tool for viewing and changing
settings in your system registry, which
contains information about how your computer
runs. Windows stores its configuration information
in a database (the registry) that is organized
in a tree format. Although Registry Editor
enables you to inspect and modify the registry,
normally you do not need to do so, and making
incorrect changes can break your system.
An advanced user who is prepared to both
edit and restore the registry can safely
use Registry Editor for such tasks as eliminating
duplicate entries or deleting entries for
programs that have been uninstalled or deleted.
Folders represent keys in the registry
and are shown in the navigation area on
the left side of the Registry Editor window.
In the topic area on the right, the entries
in a key are displayed. When you double-click
a entry, it opens an editing dialog box.
You should not edit your registry unless
it is absolutely necessary. If there is
an error in your registry, your computer
may not function properly. If this happens,
you can restore the registry to the same
version you were using when you last successfully
started your computer. For instructions,
see Related Topics.
Registry Editor
Keys
The navigation area of the Registry Editor
displays folders, each of which represents
a predefined key on the local computer.
When accessing the registry of a remote
computer, only two predefined keys, HKEY_USERS
and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, appear.
Folder/predefined
key Description
HKEY_CURRENT_USER Contains
the root of the configuration information
for the user who is currently logged on.
The user's folders, screen colors, and Control
Panel settings are stored here. This information
is referred to as a user's profile.
HKEY_USERS Contains the
root of all user profiles on the computer.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER is a subkey of HKEY_USERS.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Contains
configuration information particular to
the computer (for any user).
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Is a
subkey of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software. The
information stored here ensures that the
correct program opens when you open a file
by using Windows Explorer.
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG Contains
information about the hardware profile used
by the local computer at system startup.
The following table lists the data types
currently defined and used by the system.
Data type Description
REG_BINARY Raw binary data.
Most hardware component information is stored
as binary data and is displayed in Registry
Editor in hexadecimal format.
REG_DWORD Data represented
by a number that is 4 bytes long. Many parameters
for device drivers and services are this
type and are displayed in Registry Editor
in binary, hexadecimal, or decimal format.
REG_EXPAND_SZ A variable-length
data string. This data type includes variables
that are resolved when a program or service
uses the data.
REG_MULTI_SZ A multiple
string. Values that contain lists or multiple
values in a form that people can read are
usually this type. Entries are separated
by spaces, commas, or other marks.
REG_SZ A fixed-length text
string.
REG_FULL_RESOURCE_DESCRIPTOR
A series of nested arrays designed to store
a resource list for a hardware component
or driver.
Note : Incorrectly editing the registry
may severely damage your system. Before
making changes to the registry, you should
back up any valued data on your computer.
To open Registry Editor, click Start, click
Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
To safely use Registry Editor for such tasks
as eliminating duplicate entries or deleting
entries for programs that have been uninstalled
or deleted, you should be prepared to both
edit and restore the registry.
To add a key
In the registry tree (on the left), click
the registry key under which you would like
to add a new key.
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then
click Key.
Type a name for the new key, and then press
ENTER.
To change a value
Select the entry you want to change.
On the Edit menu, click Modify.
In Value data, type the new data for the
value, and then click OK.
To add a value
Click the key or entry where you want to
add the new value.
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then
click the type of value you want to add:
String Value, Binary Value, DWORD Value,
Multi-String Value, or Expandable String
Value.
Type a name for the new value, then press
ENTER.
To restore the registry
Click Start, and then click Shut Down.
In the list, click Restart, and then click
OK.
When you see the message Please select the
operating system to start, press F8.
Use the arrow keys to highlight Last Known
Good Configuration, and then press ENTER.
NUM LOCK must be off before the arrow keys
on the numeric keypad will function.
Use the arrow keys to highlight an operating
system, and then press ENTER.
To Backup the registry
To Backup the registry to a file, click
on FILE -> Export. Make sure you select
"all" option at the bottom. Save
the registry as a file in the known path.
If you want to restore it, just double click
on it and the old registry is restored.
[Index]
4.How
to Boost your PC with TuneUp Utilities?
This is just
another small tutorial on how to setup basic
settings in tuneup for Newbies to TuneUp.
Download the software from this location
Download
TuneUp Utilities
Now let me introduce its features:
It hv following 5 categories:
1.) Customize & Analyze
2.) Clean up & Repair
3.) Optimize & Improve
4.) Administer & Control
5.) File Recovery & Destruction
Now let we look upon the categories on
by one!
1. Optimise and Improve:
It contains following 3 items:
a.) TuneUp MemOptimizer
b.) TuneUp RegistryDefrag
c.) TuneUp System Optimizer
First click on TuneUp System
Optimizer, and then, in the task list, click
on Optimize your computer configuration.
Visual Effects: Set this
to Maximum Performance
Use of the Computer: Computer
with Network or Internet connection (coz
u are reading this post)
Now, click next. You will then be shown
No. of recommended Optimizations. Just Click
on the visual effects link, Most of them
can be checked. But be sure not to check
the below because those options spoils your
desktop look.
“Disable Use drop shadows for Icon Labels
in Desktop”
“Disable smooth edges of screen fonts”
Now, click next to perform
the optimization.
Similarly, click on Accelerate Downloads
and internet surfing and select your Internet
Connection and proceed to optimize.
TuneUp will automatically schedule One
Click Maintenance once a week. So, you don’t
need to worry about that.
Come Back to main window and don’t click
on TuneUp Registry Defrag now because it
needs a system restart. So, we will come
back again later.
Use Memory Optimizer to clear your memory
whenever you need more memory to run some
big application. (Not frequently used)
2. Clean Up and Repair
It contains following 2 options:
a.) TuneUp DiskCleaner
b.) TuneUp RegistryCleaner
a.) TuneUp DiskCleaner allows u to cleanup
ur HDD by deleting temporary files, log
files and many other files, that can be
deleted safely to increase the disk space.
U can select the drive and file types which
u want to clean...
b.) TuneUp RegistryCleaner removes invalid
registry entries, which might remain in
registry after uninstalling a s/w, to improve
the system performance!
3. Customize and Analyze:
As u can see in the above
image, It hv 4 options:
a.) TuneUp SystemControl
b.) TuneUp StartUp Manager
c.) TuneUp System Information
d.) TuneUp Styler2
Tune Up Startup Manager:
You can remove several programs that run
at startup. Open the Start Up manager. Some
of the programs that you can safely uncheck
are
Adobe Reader quick launch
Ahead nero Driver conflict Recognition (For
nero 7+)
Realtek sound manager
HotKeysCmds
Igfx tray module
Hkcmd module
You can also prevent other programs like
yahoo messenger to prevent running at startup
here.
Now, the crucial part is setting up TuneUp
System Control
TuneUp System Control:
Animations and effects :
$ Effects Tab
Make sure all boxes are unchecked except
the following
1. Use dropdown shadows for icon labels
in desktop
2. Show common tasks in folders
3. Show tool tips on title bar buttons.
$Animation Tab
Uncheck all the checkboxes. This would drastically
improve your system response.
$Menu appearance
Uncheck all the checkboxes.
$Font smoothing
Select Clear type. Though this effect do
not optimize things, the look and feel of
desktop would be good. Click on Clear type
settings and select the one which looks
best for you and proceed. Here is the screenshot.
File Types:
Just browse through the settings and select
which options you want to have.
Folder Options:
$Thumbnails
You can decrease the thumbnail picture size
and quality for faster display. Also, checking
the option cache thumbnails for faster loading
will show files in thumbnail view quickly.
Start Menu:
$Behavior
Open menus after indicated delay : Decrease
it to 100. This make our computer to respond
quickly when hovering through right click
menus. If you want to make out a difference,
just right click on the desktop and hover
on Arrange Icons by. You will know the difference.
Note : zero value is not advisible.
Privacy:
$Advanced
In the Paging file option, click on memory
management, make sure that the option Always
keep in memory is selected if you have memory
of 256MB+.
now, come back to main window.
Tune Up styler:
TuneUp website has got many visual screens,
welcome screens and boot screens to download
from its site.
4.) Administer & Control
It contains following 3 items, which r
alternatives to windows default components:
a.) TuneUp Process Manager
b.) TuneUp Registry Editor
c.) TuneUp Uninstall Manager
a.) TuneUp Process Manager is an alternative
for Windows default Task Manager. U can
also replace windows task manager to TuneUp
Process Manager by going to: File ->
Replace Task Manager.
b.) TuneUp Registry Editor is an alternative
to Windows default Registry Editor.
c.) TuenUp Uninstall Manager is an alternative
to windows default Add/Remove Programs.
U can also remove desired entry from the
list without uninstalling it from the system!
5.) File Recovery &
Destruction
It hv following 2 items:
a.) TuneUp Shredder
b.) TuneUp Undelete
a.) TuneUp Shredder deletes files securely
so that they can't be recovered later!
b.) TuneUp Undelete recovers files that
hv been deleted permanently from the system!
[Index]
5.
How to use Cracks or Keygens
I will describe here how to use cracks.
Using cracks is the simplest thing. The
hard thing is to create them.
What you need to crack
a software:
1. Internet Connection
2 . Web Browser (MS Internet Explorer, FireFox,
Opera, etc.)
3. The URL of a crack searcher engine (download-crack-serial.com,
clean-cracks.com, etc.)
4. WinZip and WinRar installed on your system.
(download them: http://www.winzip.com, http://www.rarlab.com)
That's all for now, lets start with the
lesson.
Cracks are distributed in winzip or winrar
archive. A crack comes in several categories:
Patch - This is a little
program that reverse the protection of the
target software. Patches are often named:
"crack.exe", "patch.exe",
"softwarename_patch.exe" or "teamname.exe".
The patch aims to the main *.EXE of the
target software or a *.DLL. You should know
that the patch have to be applied to the
exact software version it have been created
for. The patch will force you to apply it
to the file it aims. Note that patch.exe
is to be placed in the directory in which
the software that you need to patch is present.
Keygen - A little program
that generates valid serial numbers under
your name. What to say more on keygens?
Just download the same version it have been
build for. Keygens are often named: "keygen.exe"
or "softwarename_keygen.exe".
Serial Inside The *.NFO
- One or more serial keys inside *.NFO file.
For more info on NFO files read below.
Already Cracked File -
A cracked file that you should replace with
the original one inside target installation
directory. After replacing, the software
should be registered. This kind of crack
is named: "softwarename.exe".
Loader - This runs the
target software as registered copy or stops
the trial time. You should always put this
file inside the target installation directory.
This crack is often named: "loader.exe"
or "softwarename_loader.exe".
Registry Entry *.REG -
Adds registration information to your windows
registry and register automatically the
target software. Double ckick on it and
accept to add the info.
Note: I recommend extracting
crack archives inside the target software
installation directory.
About *.NFO files - An important thing
to know is how to use the *.NFO file. Inside
any crack archive you will find a file with
the *.NFO extension. This file is often
named "teamname.NFO". How to use
it? You should not double click on it coz
this will open the system info utility.
To view this file contents, drag and drop
it inside a Notepad blank file or rename
the file from NFO to TXT and double click
on it. To view the NFO as it is supposed
to be viewed download a NFO viewer. On a
crack searcher engine search for "Damn
NFO viewer" (without the quotes) download
and run it and accept to associate file
extension. Doing this you will open NFO
files with double click. Inside *.nfo file
you will find the crack release information
and how to apply that crack.
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