Great IIS Resources- IIS 7.0- Windows Server 2008

Hello,

I have found a great resource for IIS 7.0 Server. Includes troubleshooting, installation, and many other topics.

Please head to:

http://iis70.blogspot.com

Thanks,

Admin.

Howto: Enable remote desktop on a windows xp machine - remotely

Howto: Enable remote desktop on a windows xp machine - remotely

 

I've been configuring my LAN for spiceworks this afternoon. The Windows XP firewall is enabled on most of our PCs, and I didn't want to visit each station to configure it to allow spiceworks to inventory the machine. I'm also not big into group policy here at the office (what the saying about the cobbler's son's shoes?) so I didn't want to make the setting change that way.

My first idea was to use remote desktop to access the computers from my machine. That worked fine, since I have local administrator access on each machine… but I'd have to interrupt each user's work, log them off, make my firewall adjustments, then tell them it's okay to log on now… assuming that I could even get into their machines remotely.

I needed a solution for users with remote desktop disabled. If your remote user has administrator access to their machine, have them click on Start - Run and type:

netsh firewall set service remoteadmin enable

netsh firewall set service remotedesktop enable

[note: remoteadmin = remote administration, while remotedesktop = remote assistance and remote desktop]

You can also enable remote desktop over the network via regedit if you have administrator rights to the remote machine:

1. Run Regedit
   
2. Select File –> Connect Network registry
   
3. Enter the name of the remote computer and select Check Name
   
4. At the bottom of the registry tree you will see 2 Hives appear Hkey_Local_Machine and
   Hkey_Users (under the remote computer's name)
   
5. Goto hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\terminal server\FdenyTSConnections=1
   
6. Change the FdenyTSConnections to 0
   
7. Attempt to Re-Login
   

This worked okay, but I like to implement the most elegant solution possible.

So I fired up the command line on my local machine, and used psexec to configure the firewall service on the remote machine via netsh. The users never even knew I was working on their computer, which is fine by me.

To enable remote access to a machine via the command line, type:

psexec \\remotecomputername netsh firewall set service remoteadmin enable

psexec \\remotecomputername netsh firewall set service remotedesktop enable

If you aren't familiar with the PStools suite of utilities, and you like administration from the command line, you need to check out the Sysinternals web site. Too bad they were acquired by Microsoft in 2006.

SIW Review

Review- Software- SIW* Plus -FREE Download.

What is SIW?

 SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.

  SIW can create a report file (CVS,HTML,TXT or XML ), and is able to run in batch mode (for Asset

  The system information is divided into few major categories:

• Software Inventory: Operating System, Installed Software and Hotfixes, Processes, Services, Users, Open Files, System Uptime, Installed Codecs, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers / CD Key), Secrets (Password Recovery).
  
• Hardware Inventory: Motherboard, Sensors, BIOS, CPU, chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, Memory, Video Card, Monitor, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Printers.
  
• Network Information: Network Cards, Network Shares, currently active Network Connections, Open Ports.
  
• Network Tools: MAC Address Changer, Neighborhood Scan, Ping, Trace, Statistics
  
• Miscellaneous Tools: Eureka! (Reveal lost passwords hidden behind asterisks), Monitor Test, Shutdown / Restart.
  
• Real-time monitors: CPU, Memory, Page File usage and Network Traffic.
  

Well Until recently, this amazing software used to be free. Now, it seems like gtopola software is charging money for this great utility. Well, if you are new to this software then what you don't know is that this software used to be completely free of charge, there is still a freeware version on gtopola's site, however, they have greatly reduced the functionality of this software. Now, I did some research on the previous versions and I was amazed to find (what a lot of people don't know) that the previous FREE versions do almost all the functions of the NEW PAID version. And it's FREELY available on the NET you just have to look in the RIGHT places.

Below I have listed the features of the FREE VS PAID versions if you download it today from gtopala.com. Look at it carefully to see how many features have been blocked.

 

This is just a way of making money, I don't blame them, they made the product, but what I do want to inform the ill informed public that just download one of the previous versions of the software and you'll get all these features for FREE. The software is still 100% original, no cracks, illegal registrations, warez, or such ways have been applied as I don't believe in piracy of software. It's 100% original software as it was built.

To download this previous version please go to

http://SIWFREE.blogspot.com

Open Source Programs

Best List of Freeware and Open Source Programs

For this and more cool links goto:

http://greatbookmarks.blogspot.com

3D Graphics

3Delight Free - http://www.3delight.com/index.htm
Anim8or - http://www.anim8or.com/
Aqsis - http://www.aqsis.com/
Blender - http://www.blender3d.org/
gmax - http://www.discreet.com/products/gmax/
Houdini (Free Edition) - http://www.sidefx.com/apprentice/index.html
Maya Personal Learning Ed. - http://www.alias.com/eng/products-services..._maya_ple.shtml
Now3D - http://digilander.libero.it/giulios/Eng/homepage.htm
OpenFX - http://www.openfx.org
POV-Ray - http://www.povray.org/
SOFTIMAGE|XSI EXP - http://www.softimage.com/products/exp/v3/
Terragen - http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/
Toxic - http://www.toxicengine.org/
Wings 3D - http://www.wings3d.com/

Anti-Virus

AntiVir - http://www.free-av.com/
Avast - http://www.avast.com/i_idt_1018.html
AVG - http://free.grisoft.com/
BitDefender - http://www.bitdefender.com
ClamWin - http://www.clamwin.com/

Anti Spyware

Ad-aware - http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/
Bazooka - http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html
CWShredder -http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshr...r_download.html
Hijackthis - http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
Mcft AntiSpyware -http://www.Mcft.com/athome/security/s...re/default.mspx
SpyBot Search & Destroy - http://spybot.safer-networking.de/
SpywareBlaster -http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
SpywareGuard - http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareguard.html
WinPatrol - http://www.winpatrol.com/

Audio Creation

Gungirl Sequencer -http://ggseq.sourceforge.net/pmwiki.php/Main/HomePage
Jesusonic - http://www.jesusonic.com/soft.php
KRISTAL Audio Engine - http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/index.php
orDrumbox - http://ordrumbox.sourceforge.net/
Tu2 - http://www.brambos.com/news.html

Audio Players

1by1 - http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~pesch
Billy - http://www.sheepfriends.com/?page=billy
CoolPlayer - http://coolplayer.sourceforge.net/
DeliPlayer. http://www.deliplayer.com/
Foobar 2000 - http://www.foobar2000.org/
iTunes - http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Jet Audio Basic - http://www.jetaudio.com/
Musik - http://musik.berlios.de/
musikCube - http://www.musikcube.com/
QCD Player - http://www.quinnware.com/
Sonique - http://sonique.lycos.com/
Winamp - http://www.winamp.com/
XMPlay - http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html
Zinf - http://www.zinf.org/

Audio Tools

Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
AudioShell - http://www.softpointer.com/AudioShell.htm
CDex - http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/
dBpowerAMP Music Converter - http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm
EAC - http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
Encounter 2003 - http://www.waschbusch.com/
GermaniXEncoder - http://www.germanixsoft.de/
K-MP3 - http://www.katarncorp.com/
KraMixer - http://www.kramware.com/
MP3 Book Helper - http://mp3bookhelper.sourceforge.net/
MP3 Tag - http://www.mp3tag.de/
mp3DirectCut - http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~pesch/
MP3Gain - http://www.geocities.com/mp3gain/
mp3Trim - http://www.logiccell.com/~mp3trim/
MusicBrainz - http://musicbrainz.org/
Rarewares - http://rarewares.hydrogenaudio.org/
SoundEngine Free - http://www.cycleof5th.com/en/index.htm
TagScanner - http://xdev.narod.ru/tagscan_e.htm
The GodFather - http://users.otenet.gr/~jtcliper/tgf/
TigoTago - http://www.tigotago.com/

CD/DVD Burning

Burn4Free - http://www.burn4free.com/
Burnatonce - http://www.burnatonce.com/
Burrrn - http://www.burrrn.net/
CDBurnerXP - http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
CDRDAO - http://cdrdao.sourceforge.net/
CDR Tools Frontend - http://demosten.com/cdrfe/
Deepburner - http://www.deepburner.com/
DVD Decrypter: http://www.dvddecrypter.com/
Easy Burning, DropCD & Audio CD - http://www.paehl.de/cdr

Compression / Decompression

7-zip - http://www.7-zip.org/
bzip2 - http://sources.redhat.com/bzip2/index.html
ExtractNow - http://www.extractnow.com/
FilZip - http://www.filzip.com/
Info-Zip - http://www.info-zip.org/
IZArc - http://www.florida.plus.com/izarc/
QuickZip - http://www.quickzip.org/
TUGZip - http://www.tugzip.com/
UPX - http://upx.sourceforge.net/
Zip&Go - http://www.handybits.com/zipngo.htm
Zipgenius - http://www.zipgenius.it/

Defrag Software

DIRMS & Buzzsaw - http://www.dirms.com/
OpenVMS - http://www.execsoft.com/freeware/freeware.asp

Desktop Enhancements:
AveDesk - http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/showthread.php?t=17372
CursorXP -http://www.stardock.com/products/cursorxp/download.html
Desktop Sidebar - http://www.desktopsidebar.com/
Glass2k - http://www.chime.tv/products/glass2k.shtml
Kapsules - http://kapsules.shellscape.org/
Konfabulator - http://www.konfabulator.com/info
MobyDock - http://www.mobydock.com/
Panorama - http://www.ivory.org/panorama.html
Rainlendar - http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=proj...ject=rainlendar
Samurize - http://www.samurize.com/
SlickRun - http://www.bayden.com/SlickRun/
TaskSwitchXP Pro - http://www.ntwind.com/taskswitchxp/
tclock2 - http://home.inreach.com/2tone/tclock2/tclock2.htm
Weather Watcher - http://www.singerscreations.com/
WinRoll - http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/

Download managers

Free Download Manager - http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/
Fresh Download - http://www.freshdevices.com/freshdown.html
LeechGet - http://www.leechget.net/en/
Star Downloader - http://www.stardownloader.com/downloads.php
Sun Download Manager -http://www.sun.com/download/sdm/index.xml
wackget - http://millweed.com/projects/wackget/
wget - http://xoomer.virgilio.it/hherold/
WellGet - http://www.wellget.com/

Encryption and data security

Axcrypt - http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net/
Blowfish Advanced CS- http://web.bsn.ch/lasse/bfacs.htm
Eraser - http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/default.php
File Shredder - http://www.sys-shield.com/fileshredder.htm
KeePass - http://keepass.sourceforge.net/
GnuPG - http://www.gnupg.org/
PGP Freeware - http://www.pgp.com/products/freeware.html
PicoCrypt - http://picofactory.com/picocrypt.html
TrueCrypt - http://www.truecrypt.org/
WindowsCleaner - http://www.winnowsoft.com/internet-eraser.htm

File Managers

2xExplorer - http://netez.com/2xExplorer/
A43 - http://www.shawneelink.net/~bgmiller/
ExplorerXP - http://www.explorerxp.com
Gyula's Navigator - http://www.wanari.com/
JExplorer - http://home.megapass.co.kr/~woosjung/
MeeSoft Commander - http://meesoft.logicnet.dk/

File repair and recovery

PC Inspector File Recovery -http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm

Firewalls

Jetico Personal Firewall -http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/jpfirewall.htm
Kerio (Kerio Personal Firewall is FREE for home and personal use) -http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html
Outpost Firewall (version 1 is free) -http://www.agnitum.com/download/outpost1.html
SoftPerfect Personal Firewall -http://www.softperfect.com/products/firewall/
Sygate - http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm
Wyvern Firewall 2004 - http://www.wyvernworks.com/firewall.html
Zonealarm Basic firewall -http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/comp...reeDownload.jsp

FTP Clients

CoreFTP - http://www.coreftp.com/
Filezilla - http://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla
miFiles - http://www.simdata.com.au/mifiles.html
SmartFTP - http://www.smartftp.com/
TYPSoft FTP Server - http://en.typsoft.com/

FTP Servers

FileZilla - http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
Golden FTP Server - http://www.goldenftpserver.com
GuildFTPD -http://www.totalshareware.com/asp/detail_v...pplication=8334
Quick 'n Easy FTP Server -http://www.pablovandermeer.nl/ftp_server.html
SlimFTPd - http://www.whitsoftdev.com/slimftpd
WarFTPD - http://www.jgaa.com/

HTML Editors

1st page 2000 - http://www.evrsoft.com/download.shtml
AceHTML - http://freeware.acehtml.com/download.html
Aracnophilia - http://www.arachnoid.com/arachnophilia/
HTML-Kit - http://www.chami.com/html-kit/
NVU - http://www.nvu.com/index.html
Selida - http://www.amaryllis.8m.com/
Trellian webPAGE - http://webpage.vendercom.com/
TSW WebCoder - http://www.tsware.net/
WYSIWYG Web Builder -http://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/html...eb_builder.html

Image viewers

Ahaview - http://www.aha-soft.com/ahaview/ahaviewfree.exe
FastStone Image Viewer -http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm
Irfanview - http://www.irfanview.com/
Picasa - http://www.picasa.com/content/download.php
SlowView - http://www.slowview.at/
XNView - http://www.xnview.com/

Instant Messenger

AMSN - http://amsn.sourceforge.net/index.php
Gaim - http://gaim.sourceforge.net/
IM2: http://www.im2.com
Mercury Messenger - http://www.mercury.to/
Miranda IM - http://www.miranda-im.org/
Pandion - http://www.pandion.be/
PSI - http://psi.affinix.com/
qip - http://www.qip.ru/
Skype - http://www.skype.com/
SIM - http://sim-icq.sourceforge.net/
TerraIM - http://terraim.sourceforge.net/
Trillian Basic - http://trillian.cc/downloads

Internet Explorer Front-Ends

AM Browser - http://www.ambrowser.com/
AOL Browser - http://beta.aol.com/projects/aolbrowser/
Avantbrowser - http://www.avantbrowser.com/
Maxthon - http://www.maxthon.com/
SlimBrowser - http://www.flashpeak.com/sbrowser/sbrowser.htm

IRC Clients

BersIRC - http://www.bersirc.com/
BitchX - http://bitchx.org/download.php
HydraIRC - http://www.hydrairc.com/
NodeIRC - http://node.sourceforge.net/
TinyIRC - http://www.tinyirc.net/
XChat - http://www.silverex.org/news/

Mail programs

Foxmail - http://fox.foxmail.com.cn/english/
i.Scribe - http://www.memecode.com/
Mahogany Mail - http://mahogany.sourceforge.net/
Pegasus Mail - http://www.pmail.com/
PopTray - http://www.poptray.org/
Thunderbird - http://www.mozilla.org/projects/thunderbird/

Anti-spam programs

K9 - http://www.keir.net/k9.html
MailWasher- http://www.mailwasher.net/
POPFile - http://popfile.sourceforge.net/
SpamBayes - http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/
SpamPal - http://www.spampal.org/

Network Tools

CMDTime NTP Utility - http://www.softshape.com/download/
Ethereal Protocol Analyzer - http://www.ethereal.com/
Gencontrol - http://www.gensortium.com/products/gencontrol.html
hamachi - http://www.hamachi.cc/
NetMeter - http://readerror.gmxhome.de/
NetProfiles - http://netprofiles.danielmilner.com/
NMap - http://www.insecure.org/nmap/
Ntop - http://www.ntop.org
PingPlotter - http://www.pingplotter.com
PuTTY - http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty
RAS Graph & Stats - http://forum.flashfxp.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2400
RealVNC - http://www.realvnc.com/
TightVNC - http://www.tightvnc.org/
Ultr@VNC - http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/
WinSCP - http://www.winscp.com/

Office Suite

602PC Suite free edition -http://www.software602.com/products/pcs/download.html
AbiWord - http://www.abiword.com/
OpenOffice.org - http://www.openoffice.org/
qjot - http://www.xtort.net/xtort/qjot.php

Partition Managers

Partition Resizer - http://zeleps.com/
Ranish Partition Manager - http://www.ranish.com/part/
TestDisk - http://www.cgsecurity.org/index.html?testdisk.html

PDF Utilities

CutePDF - http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
Foxit PDF Reader - http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
Free PDF - http://www.webxd.com/zipguy/frpdfdl.htm
Ghostscript/GSView - http://www.ghostscript.com/
PDF 995 - http://www.pdf995.com/
PDFCreator - http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
PrimoPDF - http://www.primopdf.com/

Photo manipulation and image design

ArtRage - http://www.ambientdesign.com/artrage.html
ColorPic - http://www.iconico.com/colorpic/
Deep Paint - http://www.download.com/Deep-Paint/3000-21...tml?tag=lst-2-7
Delineate - http://delineate.sourceforge.net/
iIco - http://www.mintrasystems.com/world/product...duct.php?p=iico
JPEGCrops - http://ekot.dk/programmer/JPEGCrops/
Paint .NET - http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/
Pixia - http://www.ab.wakwak.com/~knight/
Pixie - http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.html
PhotoFiltre - http://www.photofiltre.com/
Sodipodi - http://www.sodipodi.com/
The Gimp - http://www.gimp.org/
Tuxpaint - http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint

Programming

ActivePerl - http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl
Crimson Editor - http://www.crimsoneditor.com/
Code::Blocks - http://www.codeblocks.org/
Context - http://www.context.cx/
Dev C++ - http://www.bloodshed.net/
Dev Pascal - http://www.bloodshed.net/
Digital Mars C++ -http://www.digitalmars.com/download/freecompiler.html
Eclipse - http://www.eclipse.org/
ExamDiff - http://www.prestosoft.com/ps.asp?page=edp_examdiff
Freepascal - http://www.freepascal.org/
JCreator LE - http://www.jcreator.com/download.htm
jEdit - http://www.jedit.org/
Metapad - http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/
Notepad++ - http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
Notepad2 - http://www.flos-freeware.ch/
Open Watcom - http://www.openwatcom.org/
Pelles C - http://www.smorgasbordet.com/pellesc/index.htm
PHP Hypertext Parser - http://www.php.net/
Programmer's Notepad - http://www.pnotepad.org/
PSPad - http://www.pspad.com/
Python - http://www.python.org/
Ruby - http://www.dm4lab.to/~usa/ruby/index_en.html
SharpDevelop - http://www.icsharpcode.net/opensource/sd/
WinMerge - http://winmerge.org/

Pop-up Blockers

Google Toolbar - http://www.google.com/
NoAds - http://www.southbaypc.com/NoAds/
PopUp Stopper - http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html
Privoxy - http://www.privoxy.org/
Proxomitron - http://www.proxomitron.info/

RSS Readers

Ablion - http://www.fileheaven.com/Abilon/download/14059.htm
Feedreader - http://www.feedreader.com/
FireANT - http://www.antisnottv.net/
GreatNews - http://www.curiostudio.com/
RssBandit - http://www.rssbandit.org/
RSSOwl - http://www.rssowl.org/
RssReader - http://www.rssreader.com/
RSS Xpress - http://rssxpress.free.fr/en/?page=&idNews=
SharpReader - http://www.sharpreader.net/

System Information and monitoring

CPU-Z - http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
Everest -http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.p...ang=en&pageid=1
Gkrellm - http://bill.nalens.com/
Motherboard monitor - http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311
SpeedFan - http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php
Sysmetrix - http://www.xymantix.com
WCPUID - http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002374/src/download.html

Video codecs

DivX Codec - http://www.divx.com/divx/?src=toptab_divx_from_/index.php
FFDSHOW - http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow
XviD - http://www.xvid.org/

Video players

AC3Filter - http://sourceforge.net/projects/ac3filter
BsPlayer - http://www.bsplayer.org/
Crystal Player - http://www.crystalplayer.com/index.php?page=downloads
Cygwin MPlayer - http://armory.nicewarrior.org/projects/cygmp/
DivX Player - http://www.divx.com/
MaximusDVD - http://www.maximusdvd.com/
Media Player Classic - http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=82303
VideoLan - http://www.videolan.org/

Video tools

DVD Shrink - http://www.dvdshrink.org/
DScaler - http://deinterlace.sourceforge.net/
FlasKMPEG - http://www.flaskmpeg.net
GSpot - http://www.headbands.com/gspot/
VirtualDub - http://www.virtualdub.org/
VirtualDubMod - http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=65889
Zwei-Stein Video Editor -http://www.thugsatbay.com/software/index.html

Web browsers

Firefox - http://www.getfirefox.com
K-Meleon - http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/
Mozilla - http://www.mozilla.org/
Netscape - http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/default.jsp
Opera - http://www.opera.com

Web servers

Abyss - http://abyss.sourceforge.net/
Apache - http://httpd.apache.org/
Sambar - http://www.sambar.com/
Savant - http://savant.sourceforge.net/
SimpleServer:WWW -http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/sswww.htm
TinyWeb - http://www.ritlabs.com/tinyweb/index.html
Xitami - http://www.xitami.com/

Webcam Software

booruWebCam - http://www.booru.net/
Pryme - http://www.hilo.dk/pryme/

Checksum Utilities

fsum - http://www.slavasoft.com/fsum/
hksfv - http://www.big-o-software.com/products/hksfv/
md5sum - http://www.etree.org/md5com.html
md5summer - http://www.md5summer.org/

General Utilities And Other Applications

AdShield -http://www.lossepladsen.dk/all4you/TheLostWorld/AdShield.php
AnalogX - http://www.analogx.com/
AppRocket - http://www.candylabs.com/approcket/
Celestia - http://www.shatters.net/celestia
CCleaner - http://www.ccleaner.com
Contact - http://www.isaacboy.com/contact.htm
Cygwin - http://www.cygwin.com
Dirkey - http://www.protonfx.com/dirkey/
EditPad Lite - http://www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html
EssentialPIM - http://www.essentialpim.com/
Folder Size Extension - http://foldersize.sourceforge.net/
HTTrack - http://www.httrack.com/
Inno Setup - http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
KeyNote - http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html
Memtest-86 - http://www.memtest86.com
Money Manager -http://www.thezeal.com/software/manager/default.asp
MWSnap - http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html
NetTime - http://nettime.sourceforge.net
Nullsoft Installer - http://www.nullsoft.com/free/nsis
Open Subfolder -http://www.bubblepop.com/opensubfolder/index.html
Peerguardian - http://www.methlabs.org/
Process Explorer (aka ProcessXP) -http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/procexp.shtml
QuickPar - http://www.quickpar.org.uk/
QuickSFV - http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Mouse/4668/
png2ico - http://winterdrache.de/freeware/png2ico
Restoration - http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
Stickies - http://finiteloop.org/~btaylor/software/stickies/
Sysinternals - http://www.sysinternals.com/
Toolbox - http://www.sil.org/computing/toolbox/
TreeSize - http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml
TuneXP - http://www.driverheaven.net/dforce/showdoc.php?doc=txp_about
Turbo Pad - http://turbopad.sourceforge.net/
Unlocker - http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
Vim - http://vim.sourceforge.net
WeathAlert - http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/stu/msowul/?page=weathermain
YourDir - http://www.primeoption.com.au/FreewareYourDir.htm

HOW TO CLEAN AN INFECTED COMPUTER

HOW TO CLEAN AN INFECTED COMPUTER..

Date: November 26, 2008 12:00 PM

 

How To Clean An Infected Computer 2^ND EDITION.


http://www.newsmartcool.com/

Cleaning an infected computer today has become harder than ever. To effectively clean your system you must first learn a little about what you are trying to get rid of and what tools you need to get the job done. I'm going to try to give you some of the background, followed by the basics of getting rid of these pests.

Today there are a variety of things that can infect your computer such as viruses, worms, trojans and spyware. I refer to all of them as malware since that word seems to best describe them and covers both viral and spyware related issues. I find it best to use a multi-pronged approach to fighting malware, so I use several software programs to find and get rid of them. Hopefully, by giving you a little of the background, you will be able to learn what tools to use and when to use them so that you may clean your computer of the malware you may encounter.

Viruses were the first computer bugs, and anti-virus (AV) software was made specifically to detect and get rid of these. Worms are a little different than viruses, which is one reason why AV software has had a harder time catching them. Next came trojan horses, usually just called trojans. These are very different than both viruses and worms. They actually take advantage of the weaknesses that are inherent in AV software. For one, most trojans actually try to hide from being detected by AV software. They also work "smarter" by creating hidden copies of themselves so that when they do get detected and cleaned, they can re-infect the computer with the hidden copy right after the AV software cleans the original infection. Basically, trojans are AV software's worst nightmare simply because AV software wasn't designed to specifically go after this type of threat. Today, AV software is much better at detecting all types of malware. With the release of AVG 8.x.xxx... it now combines both an antivirus with an antispyware scan to help users fight both viral and spyware related issues.

Spyware isn't a new breed of malware. It is simply a combination of various computer exploits and they utilize various combinations of scripts, trojans and worms. Currently they take advantage of trojans the most since they are harder to detect and clean properly. Anti-spyware (AS) software was created specifically for detecting and cleaning this type of malware, so when it comes to trojans and some worms, AS or a combined AV/AS software is much better equipped to fight these than the AV only types of software such as the earlier versions of AVG.

A new varient of spyware is the Rogue type of malware software. This type of software pretends to be useful utils like antispyware, antivirus, hard drive and/or registry cleaning utilities but really their only goal is to sell you their useless software or to install other spyware onto your system. They do this by falsely stating you are infected by something or have other issues that could affect the performance of your system. They usually are installed using the "drive by installation" method that happens when you may visit various malicious websites, often installing without your knowledge.

There is also another type of detection that AVG and most good AS softwares will detect and they are only detected because of their potential security risk if a user was unaware of their existence. AVG calls this type of software Potentially Unwanted Programs ( PUPs )... others may refer to them as hacktools, riskware, or simply "not-a-virus". These are normally very useful utilities.. but since they can also be used for harm, AVG and other utils will detect them so the user is aware of their existance. Examples of these are utilities to recover forgotten passwords, forgotten software keys ( like the Windows install key ), IP scanners, remote control software and a variety of similar utils. If you have any of these installed or on your system, you will want to exclude them from detection with whichever utility you are scanning for malware with... or at the very least do not have them removed when you are cleaning the system up. Remember that these are not malware and do not do damage to your system BUT if you are unaware of their existance, it could be a sign that a hacker may have placed them on your system to do harm. A quick rule of thumb, if you are aware of their existence leave them on your system... if not quarantine them and check out what they really are later.

I suppose I should also cover one last subject before moving on to the cleanup steps... Tracking Cookies. AVG as well as most antispyware utils do detect these and each has a specific but different list of the ones they will find. These ARE NOT MALWARE.. they can do no harm or damage to your system. They do however represent a potential invasion of your privacy since they can be used to track your internet browsing habits. So unless you have setup your browser to block them or use a specialized utility to do that... you will always find these detected. So do not be alarmed by their presence.. clear them if you want ( I always clear mine )... but also understand that they will likely return the next time you happen to visit a website that may use them.

First, you will need to get some software programs to help you. The following programs are what I use personally. Not only do I trust them, but they are also free for personal use. The companies that provide the free software, also provide software that they sell for use in a commercial environment. Usually, the free versions are just as good but simply don't have as many of the extra features which make the commercial versions even more attractive to use.

 

Tools, ComboFix your First Bet!

 

ComboFix: http://bleepingcomputer.com

 

ComboFix is a program, created by sUBs, that scans your computer for known malware, and when found, attempts to clean these infections automatically. In addition to being able to remove a large amount of the most common and current malware, ComboFix also displays a log when it is finished that contains a great deal of information that an experienced helper can use to diagnose, retrieve samples of, and remove infections that are not automatically removed.

Due to the power of this tool it is strongly advised that you do not attempt to act upon any of the information displayed by ComboFix without supervision from someone who has been properly trained. If you do so, it may lead to problems with the normal functionality of your computer.

Please note that this guide is the only authorized guide for the use of ComboFix and cannot be copied without permissions from BleepingComputer.com and sUBs

Download here: http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/sUBs/ComboFix.exe

Anti-Spyware Software


For Windows 98 & later


• Spybot S&D - You can find it at [www.spybot.info] Latest version is v1.6.0.30


( NOTE: When installing Spybot, I recommend that you disable the option for TeaTimer which is enabled by default so it doesn't affect your cleaning efforts. If you wish you can enable it later but do so only after you finish cleaning the system. )

For Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP & Vista only


• MalwareByte's Anti-Malware - You can find it at [www.malwarebytes.org] Latest version is v1.25


Anti-Virus Software


For Windows 2000, Windows XP (inc. 64bit version) & Vista (inc. 64bit version)


• AVG Technologies Free Edition - You can find it at [free.grisoft.com] - English version, [gratis.avg.it] - Italian version, [free.avg.de] - German version, [gratuit.avg.fr] - French version, [free.avg.com] - Japanese version, [free.avg.com] - Brazilian Portuguese version & [free.avg.com] - Dutch version Latest version is v8.0.175


First you will want to download each of the above programs and then install them. After you install them, you MUST update them so you will have the latest protection. If you don't update these programs and you are infected with the latest parasites, you will not be able to effectively detect and clean them from your computer, so remember to update, update, update. Most if not all of the definition files for these utils are now updated daily.

Now that you have downloaded, installed and updated all of the above utils... Print this article so you can refer to it later and disconnect your computer from the internet. This is an important step and will remove one way that a malware may use to re-infect your computer.

With the release of AVG 8.x now combining both antivirus and antispyware into one product, I have now switched from scanning with it last, to scanning with it first since it now detects more malware than any of the others. I also use the different AS software packages in a specific order so that I go after the tougher problems first and the easiest ones last.

Turn off System Restore


• WinME and WinXP have a cool feature called System Restore. It is used to restore your computer to an earlier configuration in case of a problem. The only problem is that it wasn't made with malware in mind, and often it can't tell the difference between an infected file and a good file, so it can as easily restore an infected file if it had been in a protected area, effectively re-infecting your computer right after you have cleaned it. Because of this, it is recommended to turn off System Restore before you test, and when you're done, turn it back on so you are still protected from standard computer problems.

• For WindowsME

Click Start, Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog box appears.

NOTE: If the System icon is not visible, click "View all Control Panel options" to display it.

Click the Performance tab, and then click File System.
Click the Troubleshooting tab, and then check Disable System Restore.
Click OK. Click Yes, when you are prompted to restart Windows.

• For WindowsXP

Click Start.
Right-click the My Computer icon, and then click Properties.
Click the System Restore tab.
Check "Turn off System Restore" or "Turn off System Restore on all drives."
Click Apply.
When turning off System Restore, the existing restore points will be deleted. Click Yes to do this.
Click OK.

• For Win Vista

1. Open System by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking System.
2. In the left pane, click System Protection. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. To turn on System Protection for a hard disk, select the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.


Carefully Look at Windows Add/Remove programs for suspicious programs


• Many of the spyware threats actually install into your system just like a regular program. Many may appear to be utilities that you may think are helpful but in reality aren't. Look for add-an toolbars, while toolbars like those provided by Google, MSN, Yahoo and other are great utils, there are many more that aren't and if in doubt check it out to see if ones you have are parasitic. Another common exploit are the Search helpers, WinTools, Gator products, IE Helper, Comet Cursor and many others just to name a very few. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) programs are another common source for these and even the ones that doen't come with spyware themselves are a high security risk that may lead to your system being infected or to spread infections like these. Remove all suspicious programs, if you accidentaly remove the wrong item, you may always re-install them later.

Run Disk Clean-Up


• This actually comes with Windows and has been installed by default since Windows 98. You can find it by clicking the Start Button and then going to Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Clean-up. I recommend selecting all of its options except the ones for Office Setup Files and Compress Old Files if you have them. While you may select those if you wish, they aren't as important. This will clean up all of the temporary files so your testing will go faster, and may also delete any spyware that may hiding there if the spyware isn't already running. To clear systems that have System Restore you will need to select the second tab and click the button for clearing this.

Run AVG 8.x.xxx


• Most antivirus programs, including AVG, by default have their settings to only scan executable files in an attempt to speed up looking for infections. While most of the time this is just fine, the newest threats that can infect your computer have started getting sneaky on how they hide their files making it easier for them to reinfect your system if your antivirus program detected and removed their executable file. To help also detect these "backup" files that the infection leaves on your system, you should in my opinion, make a couple of changes to what your AVG scans during these tests from just executable files to all files.

• To change AVG's settings during a scan, open AVG's User Interface.
Click the Computer scanner tab, then under the Scan whole computer area, select Change scan settings. Unselect Scan infectable files only and select all other checkmarks with the Automatically heal/remove infections and Scan for Tracking Cookies as options I'll let you decide if you want enabled or not.

• Now AVG will scan all of the files when you scan your computer. This will take longer to complete, but I feel it is a small price to pay for the added security it provides.

Run MalwareByte's Anti-Malware


• Select to perform a Full Scan and then click the Scan button. This is another specialized util that not only targets Rogue spyware but other malware as well. This currently targets malware and rogues from 931+ vendors ( the malware authors ). The malware that is targeted in this category is very actively being updated by their authors because of the potential they have for making money. As with all antispyware utils, update this often and before each use to help give you the edge in fighting these malware.

Run Spybot Searh and Destroy


• When you run it, it will automatically select all the spyware that it finds, if there is something you don't want to get rid of for some reason, deselect it and then let Spybot fix all of the rest of the problems that it finds. This program also will ask to restart your computer so it can test again if it has problems removing something, so let it.

• Run the scans again in Safe Mode. This will keep many of the parasites from loading and being able to hide from your protection software. To access Safe Mode on most versions of Windows, start tapping the [F8] key after you first start or restart your system, start tapping it before you ever see a Windows Splash Screen and continue until you get the Menu where you may select it from the list. On WinNT, this is called VGA mode and on Win2k you actually start tapping just after the first splash screen shows. For Detailed instructions see Restarting Your Computer in Safe Mode


These procedures should have cleaned most cases of infection that you will find. Yes I said MOST because there are some infections that are very hard to detect and remove. Generally, if you have one of these, you will need the assistance of an expert to help you get rid of it.

When you believe you are finished, remember to turn System Restore back on if you had turned it off.

I recommend testing for parasites as often as you can, probably at least once a month if not more. The sooner you catch them, the less damage they can do to your computer, and the less chance of a hacker finding your sensitive information such as checking account info, passwords, etc.

Windows Tip


Windows itself, by default, hides certain files, system folders or file extentions from the user to make it easier to navigate. If you are having to find an infected file or just one you are looking for, this can cause you to not find it. If you wish you may change this to show all of the files on your computer.

Open your My Computer icon (Either from your desktop or the Start Menu)
Click the Tools menu and select Folder Options(on older systems it may be in the View menu)
Select the View tab and scroll through the Advanced settings

Enable or disable the following (using a checkmark to enable)

enable - Show hidden files and folders
disable - Hide extentions for known file types
disable - Hide protected operating system files (WinME and WinXP only)

Now click Apply and Ok


For Win Vista info. see this link [www.howtogeek.com].

How to find an embedded infection


AVG 7 Free now detects infections in areas that it was unable to before. The most notable are ones embedded inside of archives. Since AVG can't determine if you created the archive or if it was a parasite that created it, they leave these alone so you may have a chance to recover uninfected files from the archive and then you simply delete the archive when done. Infections that are inside of an archive aren't a direct threat to your system unless the file gets extracted to allow it to run. Grisoft has chose this method because it is safer for your data that the archive may contain.

For someone that is new to looking for these embedded infections, it can be a little confusing with the way that AVG will list the file because it also must include the archive file name that contains it in the full path/filename. The following is an example that I made up to highlight the info so you will know which filename to look for so you may either extract files and or delete the correct file. I will color code these for you, but AVG will not.

AVG will give you a name like...

C:\Windows\Temp\InfectedArchive.cab:\InfectedFile.exe


The location of the file is in C:\Windows\Temp
The archive that contains the infection is InfectedArchive.cab

And the actual infected file inside of the archive is InfectedFile.exe


Note the ":\" that seperates the archive from the file it contains.
After you have recovered any files inside of the archive that you may want to keep (other than the infected one that is) just simple delete the whole archive.. in this example the file to delete would be InfectedArchive.cab


It looks harder than it really is.. just remember the file you want to look for is named just before the last ":\"

Most of the time, you won't have any files to recover inside of the archives. The only time this isn't true is if it is an archive that you had created yourself. If you didn't create it.. just delete and move on.