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Windows Tips

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

If you want to integrate the Service Packs with the Operating System, here are a few steps to do that in a easy way :

Minimum requirements:

1. XP bootable CD.

2. Service Pack CD.

3. Free space in C: to copy two CD contents (1.5 Gb approx).

4. CD/DVD writer.

5. IsoBuster software. Which can be downloaded from the following Web site :

http://www.isobuster.com/

Primary steps before starting with the integration :

1. Create a folder with the name "XP" in C:.

2. Create another folder with the name "SP" (Service Pack).

Starting with the process :

1. Copy the entire Operating System CD contents of the XP folder that is created in C:.

2. Copy the "XPSP2.exe" in the "SP" folder that is created in C:.

3. Open the command prompt by clicking on Start -> Run and type command.

4. Check whether the command prompt shows c:\documents and settings\yourname.

5. Now, type the following commands to extract the service pack file:

cd \ (press Enter/Return key)

cd sp (press Enter/Return key)

xpsp2.exe -x:c:\sp (press Enter/Return key)

Note: This will take a few minutes to extract all the service pack files into the specified folder.
After that you'll get a prompt saying "! Extraction Complete". Say Ok in that window.

6. After extraction, follow these steps to integrate the service pack with the operating system files that you have copied and pasted in C:\XP folder:

cd i386 (press Enter/Return key)

cd update (press Enter/Return key)

update -s:c:\xp (press Enter/Return key)

Note: After this you'll see a window that will start to update the window share, which is nothing but your C:\XP folder. After the updating is complete you'll get another window with "Integrated install has completed successfully" message. Say Ok in this window.

Now, the XP is integrated with the Service Pack and ready to burn in a new CD.

Extracting "img" file from the XP CD :

1. Install the IsoBuster software.

2. Insert the XP bootable CD in the drive.

3. Close the installation screen and open the IsoBuster software.

4. In that it wil automatically select the drive and will show the content.

5. Select the "Bootable CD" from the left pane.

6. Right-click on the "Microsoft Corporation.img" file which is in the right pane and click on

Extract and Run and save it in C:.

7. Remove the CD from the drive and close the IsoBuster software.

Burning the CD:

Here I have chosen Nero Express burning software. Open the software which you have and select the CD-ROM(Boot) or Bootable CD that is given in your CD.

1. Open Nero Express and click on the Nero button which is near More button to switch to the

other format which will be easy to burn.

2. Select CD-ROM(Boot) from the left pane.

3. Click on the "Boot" tab and select the Image file and give the path "C:\Microsoft

Corporation.img"

4. Below that select the option "No Emulation" in the kind of Emulation type.

5. Click on the Label tab and provide a comfortable name for that CD and click New button.

6. In the right side open the "C:\XP" folder.

7. Select all files in that folder and drag it to the left side.

8. Click on the burn button to start burning the CD.

Hope you'd have enjoyed with the integration of Service Pack with the OS!!!!!!

You may also follow the same procedure to integrate the Windows 2000 CD with its service

packs.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Office XP integration procedure with Service Packs

Procedure to integrate Office XP with its Service packs :

Requirements :

1. Office XP CD.
2. Service Packs.
3. Around 650MB of free space on one of your hard drives.
4. A CDR/CDRW drive, CD burning software.

Procedure starts here :-

1. Create folders with the names "OfficeXP" and "Officesp3".

2. Insert the Office XP Cd and click on Start-Run and type the following command to do an administrative installation which will only copy the contents of the Cd to the path we give.
"x:\setup /a"

Where "X" is the Cd drive of your computer.

Note : There is a space before "/a".

When prompted for the path locate the "OfficeXP" folder so that the files get copied there.

3. Either download the Service pack 3 or copy it from where you've downloaded to "Officesp3" folder.

4. Right click on the downloaded service pack file and Using either Winzip or Winrar extract the service pack files in the same folder.

5. Open Start-Run and type the following command to integrate the service pack with the copied files :

"msiexec /p c:\OfficeXPSP3\MAINSP3FF.MSP /a H:\OfficeXP\proplus.msi shortfilenames=true /qb"

Note : If you don't have "MainSP3FF.MSP", you'll have "MainSP3.MSP" try to use that file in that command. You won't get any completion message.

Also, type the following command to integrate the web components to the installation folder ; "msiexec /p c:\OfficeXPSP3\OWC10SP3FF.MSP /a H:\OfficeXP\owc10.msi shortfilenames=true /qb"

Note : If you don't have "OWC10SP3FF.MSP", you'll have "OWC10SP3.MSP" try to use that file in that command. You won't get any completion message.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Manually update Trend Micro

1. Right click on Taskbar and select "Task Manager"

2. Click on the "Processes" tab.

3. See for the below given process, select them and click on "End Process" one by one :

"TMPROXY.EXE"

"PccGuide.exe"

"TmPfw.exe"

"Tmntsrv.exe"

"PcCtlcom.exe"

4. Open "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security XXXX" (Default path), if you have installed the program anywhere, please open the respective folder.

5. Follow the link to download the latest pattern files to a new folder in Desktop for easy update for Trend Micro :

Link : http://www.trendmicro.com/download/pattern.asp

In the above link, download the "Virus Pattern File (Official Pattern Release) - X.XXX.XX" which is under "Virus Pattern Files / Cleanup Templates".

Also download "Spyware Pattern File (Official Pattern Release) - X.XXX.XX" which is under "Spyware Pattern Files / Cleanup Templates",

"Network Virus Pattern - XXXXX" which is under "Network Virus Pattern",

"Vulnerability Assessment (VA) Pattern - XXX" which is under "Vulnerability Assessment (VA) Pattern".

You may also download "Wireless Pattern" if you have any wireless devices with Trend Micro installed.

6. After you download all the pattern files, extract all the files to "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Internet Security XXXX" (Default path), if you have installed the program anywhere, please extract the files to the respective folder.

7. After extracting, double click on "Patch.exe" which helps us to patch the extracted files with the main file.

Note : This will open a window and patches the latest extracted files within 1 to 2 seconds and the window disappears. It is a normal process.

8. After Patch window disappears, double click on "Tsc.exe". This will open a new window and starts extracting the latest updates and patching it to the main program.

Note : This will extract and update according to the files that the pattern file has in it which will take at the maximum of 5 minutes.

9. After the "Tsc.exe" window disappears, double click on the "pccmain.exe" file to launch Trend Micro.

In the "Updates and Registration" section, you may see the "Manual Update" option. Click on the Manual Update link, which will bring the status of the Trend Micro's updates in which you can see that the latest pattern files updated to your Anti-virus. If you still see the old pattern file number in that session, try to restart the computer and check for the latest pattern file number displayed there after the restart.

Enjoy with the latest updated pattern files on your computer, scan and keep your computer free from Viruses and Spywares.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Viruses and Spywares Removal Procedures

Here are some procedures to scan and remove Viruses & Spywares from your computer :

Visit the following link :


http://www.trendmicro.com/download/dcs.asp

Download : "Damage Cleanup Engine / Template" to your Desktop.

Also Download : "Sysclean Package" from the same page to your Desktop.

Create a separate folder in your Desktop and put the above downloaded files to that folder.

After that visit the following link :


http://www.trendmicro.com/download/pattern.asp

Download : "Virus Pattern File (Official Pattern Release)" to the same folder in your Desktop.


Also Download : "Virus Cleanup Template - xxx" to the same folder in your Desktop.



Also Download : "Spyware Pattern File (Official Pattern Release)" to the same folder in your Desktop.


Also Download : "Spyware Cleanup Template - xxx" to the same folder in your Desktop.

After downloading the above mentioned things, open the folder and unzip the pattern files to the same folder for easy process for the engines.

Double click on "Tsc.exe" to make ready the latest viruses updated then double-click on "Sysclean.com".

The Sysclean.com will extract some files and it will automatically combine the latest virus pattern with it and start the scanning process.

After the scan is complete follow the link to do an on-line scan (This is for extra confirmation):



http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

and click on the "Scan Now. It's Free!" link and proceed with the on-screen instructions to complete the on-line scan.

After the on-line scan is over try to download Spybot from the following link :





http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

and click on "Download here" button to download the Spybot spyware removal tool to your Desktop.

After performing the above things, you may also with Stinger from McAfee with the following link :


http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

and download "Download stngxxx.exe" link and save it to your Desktop and start the scan.

The above mentioned will remove all the viruses and spywares in your computer but for the most latest ones.

Windows Picture and Fax Viewer

Details:

This Trojan is a .WMF file that takes advantage of an unpatched vulnerability found in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
The Windows Picture and Fax Viewer vulnerability is a zero-day exploit that is capable of remote code execution.
Zero-day exploits are termed as such because the unpatched vulnerability and its corresponding exploit code are released within the same day.
This may pose as a dangerous situation in which a lot of systems may be affected due to the availability of exploit code, and the fact that the vendor has not been given enough time to patch it.
Once this malicious .WMF file is opened, it proceeds to launch a denial of service attack in an attempt to restart or terminate the legitimate system process EXPLORER.EXE. The said action leaves an affected user unable to navigate through Windows.
After performing its routine, this Trojan eventually terminates itself.
It runs on Windows XP and Server 2003.

Solution :

http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=TROJ%5FWMFCRASH%2EB&VSect=Sn

Force 9x users for password to login

Make Windows 9X users to force password while login :

Click Start->Settings->ControlPanel->User Accounts.

In that User Accounts, delete the old user and create a new user with passwords.

Click Start->Run and type "Regedit" without quotes and press Ok.

Click on the File menu and click on the Export option and give a file name and click on the Save button.

Click on the + near HKEY_USERS
Click on the + near DEFAULT
Click on the + near Software
Click on the + near Microsoft
Click on the + near Windows
Click on the + near CurrentVersion
Click on folder Run.

Here are the steps to create the file to force the user to enter password :

1. Click on the Edit menu.
2. Click on New option.
3. Click on the String Value.
4. A new file will be created on the right side of the window with an icon "ab".
5. Right-click on the icon and click on Rename option.
6. Enter "NoLogon" without the quotation mark.

Note : The "N" and "L" should be in Caps and the other characters must be in lower case for "NoLogon".

7. Press Enter key.
8. Double-click on the NoLogon key and type "RUNDLL32 shell32,SHExitWindowsEx 0" without the quotation mark in the "Value data:" and click on Ok button.

Click on the File menu and click on the Exit option and restart the computer.

To set the password :

1. Enter the password and click Ok.
2. Restart the computer.

Note: If any user tries to by-pass the login screen the computer will automatically restart and will not allow the user to login to Windows.

It is back

Thanks to the indian govt for bringing back the blogger site.
i am really happy about it, folks it is good to share that the site is working fine,
DEXTER.................

Indian Govt to block Bloggers.com and few others

Indian Govt blocks blogspot, typepad and geocities
Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Govt of India has banned blogs that are hosted at blogger.com's service (blogspot.com).
Two more services Typepad.com and Geocities.com are also blocked by the Indian Govt.

India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) passed an order to ISPs Friday to block several websites.

An Indian political blog is reporting that the ban was initiated by the Indian intelligence service to stop terrorism. According totheir source, the terrorists are using blogs to communicate. It ia useless (because the terrorists can simply use proxies),and it's similar to shutting off the country's telephone service because terrorists talk to each other through phones.

So, whats the solution now?
For serious users of blogger.com, i suggest moving your website to some other server instead of hosting at blogspot.com
Here's the procedure (its what i did minutes back)

1.Log in into " blogger.com "
2.Go to your blog's settings
3.Select "Publishing"
4.Click on a small link called "Switch To: FTP "
5.Enter FTP details of your website there and click on "Save Settings"
6.Republish your Entire Blog
7.Your blog will be hosted on the server of your choice now.

Thats for users with access to a FTP server, for others, create a FTP account in any of the freely available webhosting solutions such as www.50webs.com
50webs provides free FTP access and subdomain based hosting, so you can have
http://yourblogname.50webs.com instead of http://yourblogname.blogspot.com

If any users want detailed information about hosting with 50webs or with configuring blogger, submit comment on my site, so that i can put up an elaborate tutorial on my site.

Lets hope that Indian Govt doesn't block blogger.com and 50webs.com !
Tutorials over, now for the technical part.
The Indian Govt is not correct on its part to block these websites.
If India is worried about terrorists, let it track suspicious blogs or block selective blogs.
Its insane to block out such premiere websites such as blogger and geocities.
Technically, terrorists can have thousands of ways to communicate online, if so, will the Indian Govt block the entire Internet?
So much for all the speeches about India shining in IT sector.
Setbacks such as these can have the potential to erase the IT future of India and spoil the reputation of Indians online.

All said, is the Govt Listening???

Working at US

I came across a super story, that really bangs ppl who are looking for a job in US. Please read this story.

Don't forget to read the moral of the story.

This one really cracked me up!

In a poor zoo of India, a lion was frustrated as he was offered not more
than 1 kg meat a day. The lion thought its prayers were answered when one US
Zoo Manager visited the zoo and requested the zoo management to shift the
lion to the US Zoo.

The lion was so happy and started thinking of a central A/c environment, a
goat or two every day and a US Green Card also.

On its first day after arrival, the lion was offered a big bag, sealed very
nicely for breakfast. The lion opened it quickly but was shocked to see that
it contained few bananas. Then the lion thought that may be they cared too
much for him as they were worried about his stomach as he had recently
shifted from India. The next day the same thing happened. On the third day
again the same food bag of bananas was delivered.

The lion was so furious, he blasted at delivery boy, 'Don't you know I am
the Lion...king of the Jungle..., what's wrong with your management?, what
nonsense is this?, why are you delivering bananas to me?'

The delivery boy politely said, 'Sir, I know you are the king of the jungle
....but you have been brought here on a monkey's visa!!!

Moral of the story : Better to be a Lion in India than a Monkey
elsewhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leadership

What Every Company Should Know
by Ram Charan

The 10 Qualities of Great Growth Leaders
by Ram Charan

Thursday, July 6, 2006
[Ram Charan]

Are you a growth leader? This isn't a question that's just for CEOs and business-unit presidents, and making sure you can answer "yes" to it is vitally important to your career advancement.

Every company needs to grow, and it takes leaders at many organizational levels to achieve it -- no matter what department you're in. In the years ahead, leaders who can truly help their organizations produce profitable growth are the ones who will find themselves moving up the corporate ladder. You can propel your career forward by adopting the skills and habits growth leaders possess, thus making growth part of your personal brand.

Over many years, I've observed leaders who are great at creating profitable growth. As a result, I've identified certain skills and habits that contribute to the creation, development, and implementation of ideas to help their organizations grow. They fall into two categories: What growth leaders do personally, and what they accomplish through others.

What the Best Growth Leaders Do Personally

* Gain first-hand knowledge. They get out of their office and are keen observers of consumers. They pay special attention to the moments of truth, when a customer either makes a purchase (or repeat purchase) or walks away. But they do more than just observe. They talk to these customers to find out why they did or didn't make a purchase.

Sam Walton built the Wal-Mart empire this way. Even as the company became huge, he stayed close to customers and made sure other leaders were exercising the same observational acuity. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is another leader who stays closely attuned to consumer behavior. Growth leaders supplement this first-hand knowledge with other tools, such as market research and focus groups, but seeing for themselves what's going on is essential.

* Head a growth project. Growth projects are different. They require a different orientation and different kinds of information. Leading one hones your mental faculties to be alert to new opportunities and issues.

But there's another key reason for being involved personally. All growth projects require interaction between departments. Do the departments cooperate, or does infighting slow progress? Are certain individuals or departments unresponsive to growth initiatives? The easiest way to find out about such issues is by running or participating in a growth project yourself. Sure, we're all busy. But being involved in a growth project should be part of your job. If you don't have the opportunity to lead one, at least be a participant.

* Are Focused. You have only a finite amount of time and resources. The best leaders concentrate them on a limited number of growth targets.

* Have a handle on risk. Good leaders realize that growth projects have much higher levels of uncertainty compared to cost-cutting initiatives. Customers may not like your new offering; the competition can come out of left field with a product that makes yours obsolete. In short, there's no guarantee that a growth project will work.

Not only have good leaders developed a methodology for evaluating risk, they have accepted the possibility that failure can occur -- even when everyone has made their best efforts. Still, growth initiators are more than willing to take calculated risks, and they have the psychology and temperament to deal with this uncertainty.

* Are Clear. They can articulate in plain, unambiguous language what the final user of the new product needs and really wants. They're also very specific as to what's to be done to create such an offering. And these leaders present this information from the consumer's perspective, not the company's. Clarity is important because their direct reports can't buy into a plan unless they understand it.

Often, growth leaders are visionaries, but if they cannot explain their vision, the people who work for them end up wasting time, money, and resources. Clarity creates accomplishment.

Getting It Done Through Others

As you can see, growth leaders are personally committed to profitably increasing the company's revenues. With that as the base, they then get their direct reports as engaged about growth as they are.

To do that they are:

* Realistic. If an objective appears unobtainable, many of your direct reports will disengage and simply go through the motions.

While the best leaders often establish challenging goals, those objectives are obtainable. Invariably, people committed to a growth project will exceed even optimistic expectations by a wide margin. For example, Motorola charged one team with developing the thinnest cell phone ever, and to do so within a year. The team not only met the deadline but created the must-have RAZR.

Your direct reports need to believe in the destination you have in mind, and you should work with your team members to bring the destination into clearer focus for them, helping them see it more clearly.

* Are extremely good listeners. Both in staff meetings and in one-on-one conversations, growth leaders detect ideas they've never heard before. The idea may not be fully formed, but they sense the kernel of something new, and then help its creator to both shape and implement it.

For example, according to a source at Time Inc., managers within the magazine group heard their direct reports say women readers were constantly complaining about how they were under extreme time pressure trying to balance their jobs and family. This insight led to a magazine, now in development, called Simplicity.

* Make sure their people are in some way participating in a growth project. No matter what the employee's job description is, the best leaders make sure each of their direct reports is also doing something that will help the company grow. This is possible no matter where you work in the organization.

For example, someone from the human resources department working in a growth project can help that team by contributing his or her specialized set of skills, assessing team members' growth mindset and helping them think out of the box. The HR staffer can also boost the growth team by assessing how creative the members are and what tools are needed for brainstorming. This results in the team being strengthened -- as well as the HR staffer's skills and knowledge growing through his or her participation in the key project.

* Celebrate failures. It's one thing to know intellectually that a certain percentage of growth initiatives won't work out, it's quite another to hold a party when a project fails. This counter-intuitive move sends a message to your direct reports that risk-taking is to be encouraged, even when it doesn't work out sometimes.

But these leaders do more than celebrate failures. They learn from them by conducting extensive post-mortems to discover what worked, what didn't, and why.

* Take risks on people. Good managers are willing to take some chances with people. They put them in stretch assignments and then help them implement the ideas they come up with. This nurturing fosters creativity and inspires their people. Who wouldn't want to see one of their ideas implemented company-wide?

And that underscores an important point. The best growth leaders work through their people. While they're personally leading or participating in a growth project, they're also leveraging themselves by having each of their direct reports involved in such key projects as well. Your Nobel Prize as a manager will come from how well you turn your direct reports into growth leaders in their own right.

Build your track record as someone who generates profitable growth. Be a leader.

A man dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a
different hell for each country. He goes to the German hell and
asks " What do they do here ?" He was told, " First they put you
in an electric chair for an hour. Then they lay you on a bed of
nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and
beats you for the rest of the day "

The man does not like the sound of that at all, so he moves on
and checks out the USA hell as well as the Russian hell and many
more countries...

He discovers that they are all more or less the
same as the German hell...
Then he comes to the Indian hell and finds that there is a long
line of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, " What do
they do here ?"{

He was told, " First they put you in an electric chair for an
hour..Then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour.
Then the Indian devil comes and beats you for the rest of the
day."
" But that is exactly the same as all the other hells---so why are
so many people waiting to get in here ?" asked the man.
" Because maintenance is so bad that the electric chair does not
work,,--someone has stolen all the nails from the bed-- and the
Indian devil is a former Govt. servant, so he comes in and signs
the register and then goes to the canteen !

Firefox VoIP client - Is this legal in India???

Posted: Today at 1:07 pm Post subject: Firefox VoIP client - Is this legal in India???

Firefox VoIP Firefox has now his VoIP client. Abbeynet Labs released today the first version of a Firefox VoIP extension, that means that you can now have a full featured SIP user agent directly into Firefox. This is a very useful tool to enhance the VOW experience. It is still not an official product from Abbeynet, but you can try it out anyway. * You don't need any other desktop software, all VoIP functionality is built in the extension. * One-click call feature to dial a number straight from the web page you are browsing. * SMS sending * Just sign up for a valid account at abbeyphone provider. * Internet calls are FREE. PSTN call rates can be found on Abbeyphone's web site. After the installation and restarting Firefox, you will find the extension on the lower right side of the Firefox's status bar. Anyway, you can change the position if needed (you can place it on the Menù Bar or Navigation Bar). You can see your SIP number, your credit, a edit box where you can insert the number you want to call then three buttons (make call, stop call and menù). Full Article here.