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Right-click this link and 'Add to Favorites': Scan for Privacy
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Windows 7 god mode List

Here is how you should set the God Mode:

Create a new folder anywhere.

Rename the folder by pasting the string below

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Double click then have a look and tell me what you think.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did you know that you can grab the title bar of any window and shake it from side to side quickly and all other open items will minimize?

What good is it – dunno?

Before You Read On I Did This With A Wired Connection Not Wireless

Well if you have been running wmc thru you xbox360 with xp or vista then you would know that it was simple to set up and worked instantly for most people, but if you have just installed or upgraded to win7 then you have prob been scratching your head and goggle'ing for hours and as yet have seen many people with the same issues but not really any explanation as to how to fix it.

I was invthe same boat myself and was getting really annyoned that i couldnt get it working, but because i wouldnt give in i managed to slove it, although i will say im not impressed.

ok well before on vista all i did was plug in the ethernet cable to my xbox and it just picked up my network and i accessed the shared (public) folders that was it, But with win7 its not so simple so here goes.

Firstly plug your ethernet cable into your xbox, then plug the other end into the pc or laptop you wish to stream from.

Now open up windows media centre on your pc/laptop and scroll up to tasks, then choose the add extender option. Click next on the following page untill you reach a screen that is asking you to input a set up key

Next Turn on your xbox360, once on press the middle button on your control pad, then go right once, on that page scroll down and select "windows media centre". It will try to find your pc but it will fail so just choose start new setup, then it will try to obtain a network key but this will fail also but dont worry just choose continue and you will be presented with a 8 digit set up key

You should now leave the xbox360 as it is and then enter the setup key you just got into the boxes in windows media centre on your pc/laptop. enter the key then just hit next and the setup should then start working its magic and wmc will start running automaticly on your xbox.

Once it is all loaded and its working on your xbox, you will need to go back to your pc/laptop still with wmc open and click finish on the setup page, then go back into the tasks menu and choose settings then choose extender then choose your settings like the folders you can access and stuff.

Everything should now be working and you should be smiling once more , but wait its not that simple because once you turn off your xbox guess what? you have to do it all again thats right you will have to run the set up all over again the next time you wanna stream the only thing you wont have to do again is your settings for the extender

anyway i hope this helps, enjoy

Underrated computing threats you need to know about
Your PC may be protected from all the well-known dangers, but there are some you may not have thought of.

There's the danger you know, and then there's the danger you don't know.

Most of us are rightfully wary of downloading and running programs that have no pedigree, or of performing day-to-day operations as an administrative user. But with each passing year, new security threats march in to eclipse the old — many of them not getting their share of attention until it's too late.

Threats go unappreciated for various reasons. Some seem too obscure or unlikely to be valid until they actually materialize in the wild (such as the .PDF exploits I document later on). Others are overshadowed by more widely publicized problems (e.g., the way Firefox's issues take a backseat to Internet Explorer's).

Here I'll be giving a tour of a number of lesser-advertised security issues that can bite you when you least expect it, and offering some advice on how to defend yourself.

Adobe's vulnerabilities
The threat
Apart from Microsoft, Adobe may well be the one software maker whose programs run on every Windows-based PC out there. Nearly everyone has Flash, Acrobat Reader and/or Shockwave — and they are used by malware as delivery mechanisms. (Of course, Adobe's applications run on other operating systems as well, but it's the Windows PCs that are being targeted.) The danger comes when you use outdated versions of those programs, or current versions with unpatched bugs that are exploited as security holes.

The mechanism
One common manifestation — one I've been hit with personally a few times now — comes when the user visits a Web site with a Flash-powered banner ad. No clicking required: as soon as the ad comes up, it delivers its payload. Sometimes it also comes in the form of one of Adobe's other products — for example, an infected .PDF document, which opens spontaneously upon visiting an ad. (I've been hit with this one many times, too.)

The prevention
Keep Adobe products updated and don't run your system as Administrator or root if you can possibly help it — that gives malware possible access to your system settings. (Not running as an admin for day-to-day work in Windows is good advice anyway, and could easily be appended to any of the other threats listed in this article.)

Adobe does have an auto-updater for its products, but its behavior is weirdly spotty; it tends to only report updates for whatever product is currently active. If you run the updater within Acrobat, for instance, you aren't informed about updates to other Adobe products, so a certain amount of manual research is needed to make sure Flash, for instance, is current.

Another possible safety measure: Disable thumbnail previews for Acrobat documents. The thumbnail previews in Explorer generated by Acrobat were part of how one proof-of-concept exploit worked, so turning off that functionality or upgrading to a version known to be safe removes another potential source of attacks.

I would like to say that moderating one's browsing habits or visiting only "known good" sites (via mechanisms like Web of Trust) is a good idea, but I'm not sure anymore. The syndication systems that serve up these types of infected ads now run on all sorts of sites. I've been hit with drive-by malware from sites that I visit regularly and which have good ratings from site-review services, so it's no longer a question of simply keeping away from the Web's poorly-lit side streets.

Some people take additional steps, such as blocking ads entirely by running a plugin like Adblock Plus, or selectively disabling scripting for sites they're dubious about by using the NoScript plugin.

Firefox's underbelly
The threat
Firefox add-ons are a potential security hazard — not as bad as IE ActiveX plug-ins, but still a potential threat. Many Web-based attacks that target Firefox don't aim for the program executable itself. Rather, they seek to undermine add-ons — files which may not be binaries and so may not be assumed to be at risk — and the support structure for the program.

The mechanism
Most of the danger comes from add-ons that pretend to be legitimate. For example, one add-on pretended to be the Adobe Flash Player, insisted on "updating" itself and dropped malware into the system.

Attacking Firefox through its supporting files is not as well understood, though, and for that reason it's that much more dangerous. Some of the files that Firefox uses to render elements in the browser's GUI are plain-text JavaScript files, so they can be edited by any program with write access to those files. One recent hijack in this vein edits the overlay.xul file to force Web searches to be redirected.

The prevention

One would think that antivirus programs would be a good first line of defense, but they have a spotty record of detecting things like this. For instance, the overlay.xul attack described above was still being ignored by many prominent antivirus engines (Symantec, Panda, Kaspersky, Trend Micro) even after a month of being in the wild. The SANS researchers who examined this threat ran it through an online virus-scanning service and were dismayed at how few applications flagged it as malicious.

One possible workaround is to use a non-installed version of Firefox such as Mozilla Firefox Portable Edition, which can run in any directory or even from a removable drive. If the program becomes infected, it can be kept segregated from the rest of your applications, and is easier to clean up and reset without damaging your user data. (Another possible workaround is to use a different browser entirely, but that might be more effort than it's worth.)

Mac hacks
The threat

Many people switch to the Macintosh out of a sense that the Mac's a safer platform. By and large, it is, but threats do exist in the wild, whether piggybacked on pirated software or as the result of vulnerabilities in the platform itself. Most dangerous of all, though, is a false sense of security: users can be duped no matter what they're running.

The mechanism
Mac security-product creators Intego released a report (PDF) in 2009 that examined Mac malware and kernel vulnerabilities. There's not a lot of Mac malware in the wild — Intego found most of it in pirated copies of commercial applications (iWork '09, Adobe Photoshop) available on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

The kernel issues are also worth noting (the report notes that one was discovered in April 2009), but more worrisome are vulnerabilities in Safari. The browser has been shown time and again to be a weak link in OS X's security chain. Debates rage on about whether Macs are attacked less because of their minority share or because they are less vulnerable, but that doesn't make any attack on the platform less troublesome.

Most important of all, though, is the user at the keyboard. Mac users are no less vulnerable to social engineering — and no less apt to download pirated software that turns out to be loaded with Trojans — than those using other platforms.

The prevention

A false sense of security is a bad habit to cultivate, especially if Mac adoption continues to climb. What's crucial is that users not assume that simply changing platforms is by itself a defense mechanism. It can stave off some obvious problems, but it won't eliminate all of them for all time.

To that end, Mac users need to keep apps updated (not too hard by itself), but also stay conscious of their security as a platform-neutral issue. Rip-off artists are loyal to no OS, and a bug in Safari can be just as problematic as a bug in IE. (The same goes for Linux as well: A scam run past someone using Firefox in Ubuntu is still a scam by any other name.)

Users should also stay informed about threats in the wild that might not seem like any of their concern at first. Malware is not just becoming more aggressive, it's jumping platforms and diversifying across them, targeting the user rather than the platform. Consider the Firefox XUL hijack described earlier: that was an attack that could be staged on multiple editions of Firefox, since the files attacked were not platform-specific.

And Mac users should avoid pirated software, for security (as well as ethical) reasons. The threat from such things may be marginal now, but that doesn't mean it'll always be that way.

(For some additional tips, you might want to check out this article: 15 easy fixes for Mac security risks.)

QuickTime concerns
The threat
We sometimes forget that there are Apple products on the Windows PC — and those need to be regarded with the same sort of scrutiny as any other application. A big part of the concern is, again, ubiquity: Many PCs have QuickTime or iTunes installed, and most of us don't think of those things as potential security holes. However, various exploits have been documented in both the Mac and PC versions of QuickTime.

The mechanism
Two examples: In 2007, a nasty buffer overflow exploit affected just about every extant version of QuickTime in both Windows and Mac machines. And another bug was found in 2008 with similar properties. (Want more examples? Search US-CERT using the keyword "QuickTime" to see many more such exploits.)

The prevention
Apple does have an automatic updater for its software in Windows, so PC users should keep QuickTime updated. Also, keep the number of file types associated with QuickTime itself to a minimum — most people just use it to play QuickTime files and nothing else anyway, so this helps limit the available attack surface.

Obfuscated URLs
The threat
URL-shortening services like bit.ly or is.gd have become all the rage with the rise of Twitter and Facebook. They're also a great way to slip someone a digital Mickey Finn: What better way to hide an attack than to not even let people know the actual URL they're clicking on?

The mechanism
URL shorteners generally perform no safety checking on the links they process. Also, shortened URLs tend to be passed around from user to user without much thought for whether or not they've been sanitized. Consequently, someone can pass you a direct link to malware or to an infected site, and folks with a blind click-first reflex may end up taken somewhere they don't want to go.

The prevention
LongURL is a site that lets you paste in a short URL and expand it to see if you're dealing with something malicious. If copy-and-paste is too much hassle, they also provide an add-on version of the service for Firefox, which shows you the long version of the URL when you hover over a shortened link. LongURL also offers a set of APIs that can be integrated with things like jQuery, so people who integrate link-shortening tools into their own sites or programs can make use of such tools, too.

In addition, many Twitter clients — such as TweetDeck and Mixero, to name two — have a preview function that shows the long form of a shortened URL so that you can see what you're about to click on.

DNS poisoning
The threat
DNS servers translate raw Internet addresses (such as 12.94.65.175) into human-friendly domain names (www.myfunsite.com). With a little work, the information provided by some DNS servers can be hijacked or misdirected — "poisoned" — allowing an attacker to send someone to any Web site they choose.

The mechanism
The most common DNS poisoning attacks exploit flaws in DNS server software to allow fake name-resolution data to be sent to clients. One of the worst examples of DNS poisoning surfaced in 2008, when computer researcher Dan Kaminsky demonstrated how domains could be redirected with the then-current version of BIND, the software that most servers use to perform DNS resolution. The end result: You can hijack an entire domain — including its subdomains, its mail servers (MX entries), its SPF records and everything else that can be stuffed into its DNS resources.

The prevention
In this case, prevention is mostly up to the people running domain name services. Admins should update to the most recent version of BIND, which is much more skeptical about the data it receives and performs more thorough cross-checking to prevent poisoning.

If you have doubts about the validity of your DNS hosting, you can test it through the DNSStuff.com toolset. Its DNSreport Demo (free for regular users; the full non-demo version is for-pay) lets you check the results of DNS resolution for common domain names from your servers. If you suspect your DNS servers are dodgy or compromised, you can always use a different one by editing your TCP/IP settings or by setting your in-house router (if you use one) to resolve to another server. The Google Public DNS service might come in handy here, since Google claims its DNS is less vulnerable to poisoning.

In-house router attacks
The threat
Attacks on home networking hardware have been rare, but are garnering more attention. Back in 2006, a couple of Indiana University researchers talked about how home routers could be attacked and used to steal personal information. Since then, the attack they described has shown up in the wild.

A simple attack might consist of nothing more than changing the DNS server used by the router — which in itself can be used to leverage a whole slew of other attacks. A more complex attack could involve modifying the programming in the router to forward encrypted traffic, log passwords or make changes to the machines attached to the router by exploiting known security issues there.

The mechanism
Home routers are designed to be plugged in and used with minimal interaction. That makes any bugs in their design less obvious to casual users — and all the more enticing to crackers, who pound on such devices constantly to find ways in.

The most malicious home router attacks require some degree of user participation to be pulled off — for example, the British Telecom Home Hub exploit. Here, a piece of home-router hardware provided by BT was shown to have enough weaknesses that an attacker could do everything from remotely control the router to steal wireless encryption keys.

The word "participation" in this context simply means all a user has to do is be tricked into clicking on the wrong link. Other attacks may be much simpler — e.g., guessing the router's password or forcing a denial-of-service attack that knocks the user offline.

Other network devices can also be vulnerable. Joshua Wright, senior security analyst with InGuardians, recently wrote about the Verizon MiFi, a battery-powered 802.11b/g access point that lets you share an EV-DO connection across Wi-Fi-enabled devices. He was able to crack the device's security with the same gamut of tools used for conventional Wi-Fi cracking, provided the device's default password hadn't been changed. (Another reason to do exactly that.)

The prevention
When you set up a new router, do four things:


1.Reset it to its factory state, even if you think it's fresh out of the box.
2.Update it with the latest firmware available for the device.
3.Reset the default password (and use a secure password that doesn't just consist of a single word that can be found in the dictionary or easily guessed).
4.Turn off all features that allow the device to be administered from anything other than another device plugged directly into the router.

The above advice goes double if you pick up a used router from someone else — those should be flushed and reconfigured from scratch. Also, any wireless router that doesn't support WPA or WPA2 should be taken out of service if at all possible, or used for wired connections only. WEP passwords can be cracked in minutes; full tutorials for how to do this are readily available. WPA should also be toughened by setting the key interval to a relatively short period of time (20 minutes or less).

Finally, bear in mind that your router's firmware should be checked for updates the same as any other piece of software. And because this typically isn't something that can be automated, end users have to make the time to do it themselves. It's a good idea to set a reminder in your calendar to check for updates every three or four months.

In the end, computer security is an arms race. No matter what operating system, browser, or applications you run, you're always going to find some new danger nipping at your heels. The best weapon in such an arms race is a little knowledge, which can go a long way.

Serdar Yegulalp has been writing about computers and information technology for over 15 years for a variety of publications, including InformationWeek and Windows Magazine.

The Most Common Mistakes in Email Security
Properly managing your email accounts

1. Using just one email account.
Individuals new to email often think about their email account like they do their home address, you only have one home address, so you should only have one email. Instead, you should think about your email address like you do your keys; while it may be OK to use the same key for your front and your back door, having a single key open everything is both impractical and unsafe.
A good rule of thumb for the average email user is to keep a minimum of three email accounts. Your work account should be used exclusively for work-related conversations. Your second email account should be used for personal conversations and contacts, and your third email account should be used as a general catch-all for all hazardous behavior. That means that you should always sign up for newsletters and contests only through your third email account. Similarly, if you have to post your email account online, such as for your personal blog, you should only use your third email account (and post a web friendly form of it at that).
While your first and second email accounts can be paid or freebie, your third 'catch-all' account should always be a freebie account such as those offered by Gmail or Yahoo!. You should plan on having to dump and change out this account every six months, as the catch-all account will eventually become spammed when a newsletter manager decides to sell your name or a spammer steals your email address off a Web site.

2. Holding onto spammed-out accounts too long.
It is simply a fact of life that email accounts will accumulate spam over time. This is especially true of the account you use to sign up for newsletters and that you post online (which as stated above should not be your main email account). When this happens, it is best to simply dump the email account and start afresh. Unfortunately, however, many new email users get very attached to their email accounts and instead just wade through dozens of pieces of spam every day. To avoid the problem, prepare yourself mentally ahead of time for the idea that you will have to dump your 'catch all' account every six months.

3. Not closing the browser after logging out.
When you are checking your email at a library or cybercafé you not only need to log out of your email when you are done, but you also need to make sure to close the browser window completely. Some email services display your username (but not your password) even after you have logged out. While the service does this for your convenience, it compromises your email security.

4. Forgetting to delete browser cache, history and passwords.
After using a public terminal, it is important that you remember to delete the browser cache, history, and passwords. Most browsers automatically keep track of all the web pages that you have visited, and some keep track of any passwords and personal information that you enter in order to help you fill out similar forms in the future.
If this information falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to identity theft and stolen bank and email information. Because the stakes are so high, it is important that new internet users be aware of how to clear a public computers browser cache so that they can delete private information before lurking hackers can get a hold of it.
For those of you using Mozilla's Firefox, simply press Ctrl+Shift+Del. Opera users need go to Tools>>Delete Private Data. And users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer need to go to Tools>>Internet Options then click the 'Clear History', 'Delete Cookies', and 'Delete Files' buttons.

5. Using unsecure email accounts to send and receive sensitive corporate information.
Large corporations invest huge amounts of money to ensure that their computer networks and email remain secure. Despite their efforts, careless employees using personal email accounts to conduct company business and pass along sensitive data can undermine the security measures in place. So make sure that you don't risk your company's security, and your job, by transmitting sensitive company data via your own personal computer or email address.

6. Forgetting the telephone option
One of the most important lessons about email security is that no matter how many steps you take to secure your email, it will never be foolproof. This is never truer than when using a public computer. So unless you need a written record of something or are communicating across the globe, consider whether a simple phone call rather than an email is a better option. While a phone conversation may require a few extra minutes, when compared with accessing email through a public computer, a phone call is a far more secure option and it does not leave a paper trail.

Emailing the right people
7. Not using the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) option.
When you put a person's email addresses in the BCC: rather than the CC: window, none of the recipients can see the addresses of the other email recipients.
New email users often rely too much on the TO: because it is the default way of sending emails. That is fine as long as you are writing to just one person or a few family members. But if you are sending mail out to a diverse group of people, confusing BCC: and CC: raises some serious privacy and security concerns. It takes just one spammer to get a hold of the email and immediately everyone on your email list gets spammed.
Even if the honesty of the group isn't in question, many email programs are setup to automatically add to the address books any incoming email addresses. That means that some people in the group will inadvertently have added the entire list to their address book, and as a result, if one of their computers is infected with "Zombie" malware and silently sends out spam emails, you will have just caused the entire list to get spammed.

8. Being trigger happy with the "Reply All" button.
Sometimes the mistake isn't in deciding between CC: and BCC: but between hitting Reply All instead of Reply. When you hit Reply All, your email message is sent to everyone included on the original email, and if you didn't intend to include them, the information can be disastrous from both a security and personal humiliation perspective:
Example 1: "A very successful salesman at our networking company had a large email address book filled with his best customers, including some very important and conservative government contacts. With a single click, he accidentally sent a file chock-full of his favorite pornographic cartoons and jokes to everyone on his special customer list. His subject line: 'Special deals for my best customers!' Needless to say, he's cutting deals for another company these days."
Example 2: "A woman was in torment over a busted romance. She wrote a lengthy, detailed message to a girlfriend, adding that her ex-boyfriend preferred men to women. But instead of hitting Reply to a previous message from her girlfriend, she hit Reply All. Her secret was sent to dozens of people she didn't even know (including me), plus the aforementioned ex and his new boyfriend. As if that weren't bad enough, she did this two more times in quick succession!

9. Spamming as a result of forwarding email.
Forwarding emails can be a great way to quickly bring someone up to speed on a subject without having to write up a summary email, but if you aren't careful, forwarding emails can create a significant security threat for yourself and the earlier recipients of the email. As an email is forwarded, the recipients of the mail (until that point in time) are automatically listed in the body of the email. As the chain keeps moving forward, more and more recipient ids are placed on the list.
Unfortunately, if a spammer or someone just looking to make a quick buck gets a hold of the email, they can then sell the entire list of email ids and then everyone will start to get spammed. It only takes a few seconds to delete all the previous recipient ids before forwarding a piece of mail, and it can avoid the terrible situation of you being the cause of all your friends or coworkers getting spammed.

Making backups and keeping records
10. Failing to back up emails.
Emails are not just for idle chatting, but can also be used to make legally binding contracts, major financial decisions, and conduct professional meetings. Just as you would keep a hard copy of other important business and personal documents, it is important that you regularly back up your email to preserve a record if your email client crashes and loses data (It happened to Gmail as recently)
Thankfully, most email providers make it rather simple to back up your email by allowing you to export emails to a particular folder and then just creating a copy of the folder and storing it onto a writeable CD, DVD, removable disk, or any other type of media. If that simple exporting process sounds too complicated, you can just buy automated backup software that will take care of the whole thing for you. Whether you purchase the software or decide to back up manually, it is important that you make and follow a regular backup schedule, as this is the sort of thing that new email users tend to just put off. The frequency of backups necessary for you will of course depend on your email usage, but under no circumstances should it be done less frequently than every 3 months.

11. Mobile access: Presuming a backup exists.
Mobile email access, such as through BlackBerry, has revolutionized the way we think about email; no longer is it tied to a PC, but rather it can be checked on-the-go anywhere. Most new BlackBerry users simply assume that a copy of the emails they check and delete off the BlackBerry will still be available on their home or office computer.
It is important to keep in mind, however, that some email servers and client software download emails to the Blackberry device and then delete them from the server. Thus, for some mobile email access devices, if you delete it from the device, you have deleted it from your Inbox.
Just be aware of the default settings of your email client and make sure that if you want a copy of the email retained, you have adjusted the email client's settings to make it happen. And preferably make sure of this before you decide to delete that important email.

12. Thinking that an erased email is gone forever.
We've all sent an embarrassing or unfortunate email and sighed relief when it was finally deleted, thinking the whole episode was behind us. Think again. Just because you delete an email message from your inbox and the sender deletes it from their 'Sent' inbox, does not mean that the email is lost forever. In fact, messages that are deleted often still exist in backup folders on remote servers for years, and can be retrieved by skilled professionals.
So start to think of what you write in an email as a permanent document. Be careful about what you put into writing, because it can come back to haunt you many years after you assumed it was gone forever.

Avoiding fraudulent email
13. Believing you won the lottery … and other scam titles.
Spammers use a wide variety of clever titles to get you to open emails which they fill with all sorts of bad things. New email users often make the mistake of opening these emails. So in an effort to bring you up to speed, let me tell you quickly:
• You have not won the Irish Lotto, the Yahoo Lottery, or any other big cash prize.
• There is no actual Nigerian King or Prince trying to send you $10 million.
• Your Bank Account Details do not need to be reconfirmed immediately.
• You do not have an unclaimed inheritance.
• You never actually sent that "Returned Mail".
• The News Headline email is not just someone informing you about the daily news.
• You have not won an iPod Nano.

14. Not recognizing phishing attacks in email content.
While never opening a phishing email is the best way to secure your computer, even the most experienced email user will occasionally accidentally open up a phishing email. At this point, the key to limiting your damage is recognizing the phishing email for what it is.
Phishing is a type of online fraud wherein the sender of the email tries to trick you into giving out personal passwords or banking information. The sender will typically steal the logo from a well-known bank or PayPal and try to format the email to look like it comes from the bank. Usually the phishing email asks for you to click on a link in order to confirm your banking information or password, but it may just ask you to reply to the email with your personal information.
Whatever form the phishing attempt takes, the goal is to fool you into entering your information into something which appears to be safe and secure, but in fact is just a dummy site set up by the scammer. If you provide the phisher with personal information, he will use that information to try to steal your identity and your money.
Signs of phishing include:
• A logo that looks distorted or stretched.
• Email that refers to you as "Dear Customer" or "Dear User" rather than including your actual name.
• Email that warns you that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information immediately.
• An email threatening legal action.
• Email which comes from an account similar, but different from, the one the company usually uses.
• An email that claims 'Security Compromises' or 'Security Threats' and requires immediate action.
If you suspect that an email is a phishing attempt, the best defense is to never open the email in the first place. But assuming you have already opened it, do not reply or click on the link in the email. If you want to verify the message, manually type in the URL of the company into your browser instead of clicking on the embedded link.

15. Sending personal and financial information via email.
Banks and online stores provide, almost without exception, a secured section on their website where you can input your personal and financial information. They do this precisely because email, no matter how well protected, is more easily hacked than well secured sites. Consequently, you should avoid writing to your bank via email and consider any online store that requests that you send them private information via email suspect.
This same rule of avoiding placing financial information in emails to online businesses also holds true for personal emails. If, for example, you need to give your credit card information to your college student child, it is far more secure to do so over the phone than via email.

16. Unsubscribing to newsletters you never subscribed to.
A common technique used by spammers is to send out thousands of fake newsletters from organizations with an "unsubscribe" link on the bottom of the newsletter. Email users who then enter their email into the supposed "unsubscribe" list are then sent loads of spam. So if you don't specifically remember subscribing to the newsletter, you are better off just blacklisting the email address, rather than following the link and possibly picking up a Trojan horse or unknowingly signing yourself up for yet more spam.

Avoiding malware
17. Trusting your friends email.
Most new internet users are very careful when it comes to emails from senders they don't recognize. But when a friend sends an email, all caution goes out the window as they just assume it is safe because they know that the sender wouldn't intend to hurt them. The truth is, an email from a friend's ID is just as likely to contain a virus or malware as a stranger's. The reason is that most malware is circulated by people who have no idea they are sending it, because hackers are using their computer as a zombie.
It is important to maintain and keep updated email scanning and Anti-virus software, and to use it to scan ALL incoming emails.

18. Deleting spam instead of blacklisting it.
An email blacklist is a user created list of email accounts that are labeled as spammers. When you 'blacklist' an email sender, you tell your email client to stop trusting emails from this particular sender and to start assuming that they are spam.
Unfortunately, new internet users are often timid to use the blacklist feature on their email client, and instead just delete spam emails. While not every piece of spam is from repeat senders, a surprising amount of it is. So by training yourself to hit the blacklist button instead of the delete button when confronted with spam, you can, in the course of a few months, drastically limit the amount of spam that reaches your Inbox.

19. Disabling the email spam filter.
New email users typically do not start out with a lot of spam in their email account and thus do not value the help that an email spam filter can provide at the beginning of their email usage. Because no spam filter is perfect, initially the hassle of having to look through one's spam box looking for wrongly blocked emails leads many new email users to instead just disable their email spam filter altogether.
However, as an email account gets older it tends to pick up more spam, and without the spam filter an email account can quickly become unwieldy. So instead of disabling their filter early on, new internet users should take the time to whitelist emails from friends that get caught up in the spam filter. Then, when the levels of spam start to pick up, the email account will remain useful and fewer and fewer friends will get caught up in the filter.

20. Failing to scan all email attachments.
Nine out of every ten viruses that infect a computer reach it through an email attachment. Yet despite this ratio, many people still do not scan all incoming email attachments. Maybe it is our experience with snail mail, but often when we see an email with an attachment from someone we know, we just assume that the mail and its attachment are safe. Of course that assumption is wrong, as most email viruses are sent by 'Zombies' which have infected a computer and caused it to send out viruses without the owner even knowing.
What makes this oversight even more scandalous is the fact that a number of free email clients provide an email attachment scanner built-in. For example, if you use Gmail or Yahoo! for your email, every email and attachment you send or receive is automatically scanned. So if you do not want to invest in a third-party scanner and your email provider does not provide attachment scanning built-in, you should access your attachments through an email provider that offers free virus scanning by first forwarding your attachments to that account before opening them.

Keeping hackers at bay
21. Sharing your account information with others.
We've all done it – we need an urgent mail checked, and we call up our spouse or friend and request them to check our email on our behalf. Of course, we trust these people, but once the password is known to anybody other than you, your account is no longer as secure as it was.
The real problem is that your friend might not use the same security measures that you do. Your friend might be accessing his email through an unsecured wireless account, he may not keep his anti-virus software up to date, or he might be infected with a keylogger virus that automatically steals your password once he enters it. So ensure that you are the only person that knows your personal access information, and if you write it down, make sure to do so in a way that outsiders won't be able to understand easily what they are looking at if they happen to find your records.

22. Using simple and easy-to-guess passwords.
Hackers use computer programs that scroll through common names to compile possible user names, and then send spam emails to those usernames. When you open that spam email, a little hidden piece of code in the email sends a message back to the hacker letting him know that the account is valid, at which point they turn to the task of trying to guess your password.
Hackers often create programs which cycle through common English words and number combinations in order to try to guess a password. As a consequence, passwords that consist of a single word, a name, or a date are frequently "guessed" by hackers. So when creating a password use uncommon number and letter combinations which do not form a word found in a dictionary. A strong password should have a minimum of eight characters, be as meaningless as possible, as well as use both upper and lowercase letters. Creating a tough password means that the hacker's computer program will have to scroll through tens of thousands of options before guessing your password, and in that time most hackers simply give up.

23. Failing to encrypt your important emails.
No matter how many steps you take to minimize the chance that your email is being monitored by hackers, you should always assume that someone else is watching whatever comes in and out of your computer. Given this assumption, it is important to encrypt your emails to make sure that if someone is monitoring your account, at least they can't understand what you're saying.
While there are some top-of-the-line email encryption services for those with a big budget, if you are new to email and just want a simple and cheap but effective solution, you can follow these step-by-step 20 minute instructions to install PGP, the most common email encryption standard. Encrypting all your email may be unrealistic, but some mail is too sensitive to send in the clear, and for those emails, PGP is an important email security step.

24. Not encrypting your wireless connection.
While encrypting your important emails makes it hard for hackers who have access to your email to understand what they say, it is even better to keep hackers from getting access to your emails in the first place.
One of the most vulnerable points in an emails trip from you to the email recipient is the point between your laptop and the wireless router that you use to connect to the internet. Consequently, it is important that you encrypt your wifi network with the WPA2 encryption standard. The upgrade process is relatively simple and straightforward, even for the newest internet user, and the fifteen minutes it takes are well worth the step up in email security.

25. Failing to use digital signatures.
The law now recognizes email as an important form of communication for major undertakings such as signing a contract or entering into a financial agreement. While the ability to enter into these contracts online has made all of our lives easier, it has also created the added concern of someone forging your emails and entering into agreements on your behalf without your consent.
One way to combat email forgery is to use a digital signature whenever you sign an important email. A digital signature will help prove who and from what computer an email comes from, and that the email has not been altered in transit. By establishing the habit of using an email signature whenever you sign important emails, you will not only make it harder for the other party to those agreements to try to modify the email when they want to get out of it, but it will also give you extra credibility when someone tries to claim that you have agreed to a contract via email that you never did.
For a quick primer on digital signatures, you can read YoudZone and Wikipedia's articles on the subject.
This article is intended to provide you with the basic information you need to avoid many of the email security pitfalls that frequently trip up new email users. While no single article can cover even the basics of email security, avoiding the 25 common mistakes listed in this article will make a dramatic difference in improving the safety and security of your computer, your personal information, and your emails.

Ever wonder what process a file is on your computer listed on task manager.

You can look it up at one of these sites....

• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
• http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
• http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
• http://www.processlist.com/
• http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
• http://www.windowsstartup.com/wso/search.php
• http://www.systemlookup.com/
• http://www.spywaredata.com/spyware/spyware...s/1/results.php
• http://www.colba.net/~hlebo49/runproc.php
• http://samspade.org/
• http://www.malwaredomainlist.com/mdl.php
• http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/encyclopedia.aspx
• http://www.pcprocesses.org/
• http://www.fileresearchcenter.com/
• http://www.tallemu.com/oasis2/
• http://www.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/
• http://www.processlibrary.com

15 easy fixes for Mac security risks
How safe is your Mac? Maybe not as safe as you think. Here are some quick ways to beef up its security.

One of the commonly touted advantages to using a Mac is that it's more secure and less prone to malware than a PC running Windows. It's easy to see where this attitude comes from: The prevalence of viruses and network attacks against Windows machines is greater by several orders of magnitude.

In fact, a recent Trojan horse virus hidden in a pirated copy of iWork '09 that circulated on peer-to-peer file-sharing sites was big news because it was the first Macintosh virus to be widely circulated on the Internet (though there have been a handful of proof-of-concept malware iterations over the past few years). But the much lower rate of malware and network attacks isn't proof that the Mac is immune to such things.

Indeed, there has been an ongoing debate over the years as to whether Mac users truly have more-secure machines or simply enjoy "security through obscurity" because they represent a relatively modest fraction of all computer users. While this debate will continue -- and there are valid arguments on both sides -- this article isn't about that debate; it's about a pair of simple questions: "How safe is your Mac?" and "How can you make it safer?"

The truth is that Apple Inc. does provide a pretty safe platform. The company leverages a number of advanced technologies to keep users and their data safe from harm. For a detailed list, see this Apple white paper (download PDF). But no system is perfect, and there are a number of security holes -- many of them easily closed -- that are common on Mac OS X systems. Here are 15 ways to fix the most frequently exploited security risks and protect your Mac.

Note: Unless we specifically say a tip applies only to Leopard, it should work with most recent versions of OS X, though the actual steps involved might vary somewhat.

Disable automatic opening of "safe" downloads in Safari
Probably one of the biggest Mac holes is in Apple's Safari Web browser, which downloads files that you click on or that are embedded in a Web page. That presents a problem because, by default, Safari is designed to open "safe" files as soon as they've been downloaded. Unfortunately, the definition of "safe" includes package-installer and disk image files, which can contain malware. If the malware files are embedded in a Web site, they could be downloaded and opened automatically.

Apple has done a good job of combating the potential damage in Mac OS X Leopard, which automatically detects disk images and applications that have been downloaded from the Internet via Apple's applications (Safari, Mail and iChat). However, to be truly safe, one of the best and easiest things you can do is disable the automatic opening of such files in the Safari preferences.

From the Safari menu in the menu bar, select Preferences, click the General tab, and uncheck "Open 'safe' files after downloading." From now on, you'll need to manually open downloaded files by double-clicking them in your Downloads folder or in Safari's list of downloaded items.



Make sure not to click the "Do not show" option in the warning dialogs that Leopard displays when you open downloaded files; that way, you'll always be warned the first time each downloaded item is opened.

(Note: This tagged file feature was introduced in Leopard and doesn't apply to earlier versions of Mac OS X.)

A similar security feature in Leopard is support for code signing, which places a digital signature in application files; your Mac checks them at launch to be sure that they haven't changed and alerts you if they have. Although many third-party applications don't yet support this, it is a powerful feature, and you should pay attention to any such warning. As with the tagging of downloaded files, do not click the "Do not show option" if you do see one of these alerts.

Install antivirus software
The limited number of viruses that target Mac OS X often leads Mac users into a false sense of security. Although there are few Mac viruses out there now, that doesn't mean there will never be a virulent form of malware that threatens the Mac. And the lackadaisical approach of assuming that Macs can't be infected by a virus increases the chances of widespread infection and damage when (not if) such a virus is developed and released into the wild of the Internet.

Besides, even if it doesn't affect you directly, you might receive and inadvertently pass on a Windows-specific virus. The most common of these are macro viruses found inside Office documents -- some of which have a limited ability to affect machines with a version of Office for Mac that has macro support enabled.

Finally, if you are running Windows -- either in a dual-boot configuration with Apple's Boot Camp or under a virtualization tool such as Parallels Desktop -- your Mac is just as susceptible to viruses as any PC. In fact, if you have a Windows operating system on your Mac, you should really consider virus protection for both Mac OS X and Windows.

When it comes to antivirus programs for the Mac, a good open-source option is the Unix-based ClamAV (which works with Mac OS X but is command-line based) and its Mac graphical user interface port ClamXav.

If you want a more full-featured commercial offering that provides constantly running protection, check out Intego Systems Inc.'s VirusBarrier ($70 for one device; $200 for up to five devices), Sophos Anti-Virus SBE (variable pricing depending on number of users and years of service, beginning around $45 for a single license or $190 for five users), Norton AntiVirus from Symantec Corp. ($50 for one user) or McAfee Inc.'s VirusScan ($37 per device for up to 25 devices).

Don't allow remote guest access or enable Leopard's guest account
Macs have always supported guest access for file sharing, in which a remote user can connect to a Mac without providing a username, password or other identifying information. The idea of allowing remote access to your Mac has always been fraught with potential for security compromises. It should never be allowed because it presents a grave security threat that could prevent you from easily tracking the source of a breach.

In Leopard, Apple extended guest access to the local level: Users can log in and use a Mac with a guest account that requires no username or password. The idea of a guest account is a convenient one. If you have friends or family visiting, you can let them use your Mac without allowing them access to your user account or files. When they log out as a guest, their home folder and any files they created are automatically deleted.

There are, however, some system directories, such as the Unix /tmp directory, that the guest account can write data to that may or may not be deleted at logout (or forced restart). The guest also has access to any installed applications, which could be used to perform malicious actions from your computer. If you must use the guest account, limit its access using Parental Controls.

You can turn off both the guest account and remote guest access in the Accounts pane of System Preferences in Leopard. Select Guest Account on the left, then uncheck both "Allow guests to log into this computer" and "Allow guests to connect to shared folders."



If you'd rather keep the guest account but limit its access to files and apps, keep "Allow guests to log into this computer" checked and click the Open Parental Controls button for options.

Use secure passwords
User passwords are one of the foundations of security. If you use a password that is simple or easy to guess, you're just asking for someone to break into your computer or user account.

Mac OS X includes a password assistant that automatically generates random passwords according a specified level of complexity; it also checks the complexity of passwords that you create. Make use of this feature whenever you need to generate a password -- for Web sites or other services as well as for your Mac OS X user account.

To get to the password assistant, go to the Accounts pane in System Preferences, select a user account, click the Change Password option, and then click the button with a key icon next to the New Password field.



Even the most complex password can be cracked, however, so remember to change your password frequently. If you don't trust yourself to remember, try setting a monthly reminder in iCal.

Disable automatic log-in
As part of the Setup Assistant that runs when you install Mac OS X or start up a new Mac, Mac OS X enables automatic log-in for the first user account that you create -- which means you can log in without providing a username and password whenever you start up.

While automatic log-in is convenient, particularly if you're the only user of your Mac, it also means that anyone who has physical access to your Mac can simply restart it to gain full access to your account and your files. This is a particularly significant risk for Mac laptop users.



You can disable automatic log-in in the Accounts pane of System Preferences by clicking the Login Options button at the bottom of the user accounts list on the left. The automatic log-in option appears at the top of the area on the right; select Disabled from its pop-up menu.

Don't display usernames or password hints at log-in
By default, Mac OS X's log-in window displays a list of all users on a Mac (or all users who can access a Mac in a network). This makes it easier for anyone who has physical access to a Mac to gain access to it, since they need only guess a password. Disabling the display of users adds another layer of security because it requires that a malicious user know the username associated with an account.

Another simple act to help secure an account is to disable password hints (which Mac OS X will normally display to help you remember your password after three failed log-in attempts). This significantly undermines the security of using a password and should always be disabled.

Both of these options can be configured in the same Accounts pane where you disabled automatic log-in. To disable password hints, simply uncheck the box next to "Show password hints." To choose not to display usernames in the log-in window, select the "Name and password" radio button next to "Display log-in window as," which means users will have to type both a username and its password to log in.

Set a firmware password
The biggest security risks occur if your Mac is stolen or physically compromised. Even if thieves can't log into your account, they can gain access to the data on your Mac using one of the many special start-up modes built into all Macs, such as booting from an install DVD and resetting your password, using Target Disk Mode to make your Mac act as an external hard drive, or booting into the Unix-style Single User Mode.

You can, however, place a firmware password on your Mac. This password is written into the firmware chips on the Mac's motherboard using either the Open Firmware standard on PowerPC Macs or Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) on Intel Macs. Regardless of platform, the free tool from Apple for implementing a firmware password is called the Open Firmware Password Utility. Apple provides complete steps for setting a firmware password on its support site.

If you or anyone else tries to use a special start-up mode, the user will be required to enter the firmware password. This can significantly secure personal, business or educational Macs against tampering. However, be warned that if you forget a firmware password, there is no way to reset or remove it.

Use the Security pane options in System Preferences
The Security pane in System Preferences offers Mac users a number of simple but powerful options for securing their systems -- requiring a password for waking from sleep or a screensaver, disabling automatic log-in (and thus requiring authentication at start-up), requiring an admin account username and password to modify settings in System Preferences, automatically logging out after a period of inactivity, and disabling the use of Apple's infrared remotes with the computer or pairing the computer to only one specific remote.

Each of these can go a long way to securing access to your data if someone has physical access to your Mac. This is particularly important if you have a Mac laptop or are working with a Mac that offers any form of public access.



The option to use secure virtual memory is also located here. When secure virtual memory is enabled, the swap file that a Mac uses to store running data if it begins to run short of RAM will be encrypted. This drastically reduces the chance that if a Mac is physically compromised, any data for active applications or processes will be retrievable. This is important because virtual memory may contain sensitive information that can be used to compromise a Mac even if data on a drive is secure.

Disable unused network interfaces
If you look in the Network pane of System Preferences, you'll notice that most Macs include multiple network interfaces, such as Ethernet, AirPort/802.11, FireWire and Bluetooth. In theory, any active network interface could be used to access your Mac in a remote attack -- particularly wireless technologies, which don't require a physical connection to a network.

For this reason, it's a good idea to disable any interfaces you're not using to connect to a network or the Internet. To do so, launch System Preferences, and select the Network pane. Select each interface you want to disable, and for each one, select the button that looks like a gear at the bottom of the interface list, and choose Make Inactive from the pop-up menu.



This disables the interface, but doesn't delete it -- so you can easily change it back to Make Active to restore access to the interface.

Make use of encryption options
Mac OS X offers a number of options for encrypting your data to prevent access to it if your Mac is lost or stolen. I've already touched on a couple of these, but the biggest example is FileVault, which can also be activated and managed from the Security pane in System Preferences.

FileVault converts your entire home folder into an encrypted disk image. The image is mounted and accessible only when you are logged in. At all other times, it is unreadable. FileVault uses industry-standard encryption, and if you use Time Machine, any backups of your home folder's contents are equally encrypted.

Note: FileVault must be enabled by each user who wants to have an encrypted home directory. Each home directory will be encrypted as a separate disk image file.

FileVault supports the use of a master password as a safety net that can be used to reset user passwords and access encrypted home folders if users forget their passwords. If both a user password and a master password are lost or forgotten, however, there is no way to retrieve data from the encrypted home folder.

To enable FileVault, launch System Preferences, select the Security pane, and then select the FileVault tab. You can set or change a master password using the Change button next to the master password description. (You must be an administrative user of the computer to do this, and you must know the current master password if one is already set.)

Next, click the Turn On FileVault button. Enabling FileVault for the first time can take a significant amount of time because the entire contents of your home folder are copied into a newly created encrypted disk image. If you have tens or hundreds of gigabytes of data, this could take hours or even days (much like an initial Time Machine backup).

For this reason, it's easiest to set up FileVault when you first create a user account (and thus there is little data in the home folder). During this initial copy, you will also need to ensure that you have at least as much free space on your hard drive as the size of your home folder, since all the data will be copied. Once enabled, FileVault encrypts and decrypts items on the fly when you log in or log out, and it generally won't slow down performance significantly.



Disk Utility also lets you create encrypted disk images. Disk images look and act like virtual hard drives and can be created as blank images or copies of existing disks or folders. Mounting an encrypted disk image and accessing the contents requires a password. This makes encrypted disk images helpful if you want to secure only a portion of your files, if you need to securely store files outside your home folder, or if you need to securely share files by e-mail or other mechanisms.

To create an encrypted disk image, launch Disk Utility, and click the New Image button in the tool bar. You can select the size, name (which will be displayed as a disk/volume name when image is mounted), file name and location of the image file itself, and various other disk format options (which can typically be left as their default selections). To enable encryption, choose 128-bit or 256-bit AES encryption from the Encryption pop-up menu.



After you've made your selections, click the Create button. When Disk Utility creates the image, it will prompt you to enter and verify a password that will be required to open the disk image file. The password assistant is available in this prompt (in the form of a button with a key icon, just as when changing a user account password).

Use Keychains wisely
The Mac OS X Keychain is a feature that securely collects passwords for a vast number of functions -- including e-mail and instant messaging accounts, Web services, Wi-Fi networks and file servers. The Keychain stores this information in encrypted format and is decrypted only when you provide a master password.

Keychains can also contain encrypted notes (such as bank account information) and security certificates, all of which can be accessed and managed from the Keychain Access application in the Utilities folder on your Mac. In the Keychain Access window, right-click or control-click on an available Keychain to change the password, lock the keychain or alter settings that will cause the keychain to lock automatically. You can also create or delete Keychains here.



By default, each user account has a Keychain associated with it that is unlocked with the user's password at log-in. If a user's password is reset through a method other than the Accounts pane in System Preferences (such as by an administrator account or from the Mac OS X Install DVD), the account and Keychain passwords will become out of sync. You can fix this by manually changing the Keychain password to match your log-in password, or you can reset the Keychain using Apple's Keychain First Aid feature, which can also help troubleshoot other types of Keychain problems.

Keychains offer both security and convenience. You can improve security by using multiple Keychains (each of which contains different information) with different passwords or by simply changing your account's Keychain password. This ensures that even if your user account password is compromised, the data in your Keychain(s) -- including passwords to other services -- will remain securely encrypted. As with a firmware password, if you forget a Keychain's password, its contents will be irretrievable.

Get the most out of Leopard's firewall
Mac OS X has included an optional firewall for some time, traditionally based on the open-source Unix ipfw firewall. Leopard introduced a newer, dynamic firewall option. This new firewall (click the Firewall tab in the Security pane in System Preferences) is straightforward, which is helpful for users who simply want their computers protected without having to create and manage complex firewall rules.

You can choose to block all incoming traffic, which prevents your Mac from accepting any data that it didn't explicitly request, such as a Web page. You can also allow only core system services to accept incoming data or allow access based on specific applications or system processes.



This last option is the most commonly used, and it will cause Leopard to alert you any time an application wants to accept nonrequested incoming data. If you allow incoming data for an application, it gets added to the list of allowed applications. Applications such as iChat require incoming connections to function properly.

You can use the list in System Preferences to selectively remove applications from the allowed list or even just as a quick way of verifying which applications are on the list. You can also change an allow rule into a block rule, which will prevent an application from receiving incoming data or asking you to allow access.

Two other options -- enable logging and enable stealth mode -- are available via the Advanced button. Logging, as you might guess, logs all traffic that is received by your Mac and how that traffic is filtered.

Stealth mode will cause your Mac to ignore ping requests from other computers and prevent outside users from easily detecting your Mac on a network. This increases security but can also limit the effectiveness of remote troubleshooting of network problems.

Leopard's new dynamic firewall interface is really a simple way to establish basic firewall rules. Connections are still evaluated based on the network port numbers used by each request, but the firewall has been made much simpler for everyday users to enable and configure. For power users, the full ipfw suite, which lets you develop much more complex firewall rules, is still included as part of Leopard and can be accessed via the Terminal. And as with any computer, you can use port-scanning tools to verify the effectiveness of your firewall configuration in shielding your Mac.

One reason to understand and use the firewall is the common use of public Wi-Fi networks. Such networks are often unprotected, meaning that any data you exchange over the network can easily be snooped on. However, it also means that any malicious user connected to the same network has the capacity to port-scan your Mac and attempt to determine vulnerabilities. Working with the firewall and enabling stealth mode are two good ways to protect your Mac in these situations.

Delete files and erase disks securely
While you may think that you're permanently deleting files when you empty the Trash or erase a disk using Disk Utility, the truth is that you aren't. You're really just marking the disk sectors where files were stored as available to store new data. Until the disk space occupied by the "deleted" files is overwritten at least once, many hard drive recovery and forensic tools can recover deleted files.

Fortunately, Macs offer a couple of ways to ensure that deleted data stays deleted. First up and simplest is the Secure Empty Trash command, located just under the normal Empty Trash command in the Finder's File menu. This performs a simple overwrite of the disk sectors containing any files being trashed. In some instances, serious forensic investigators could reconstruct files that have been overwritten with a single pass, but for most users, this option offers ample security by preventing easy recovery of deleted items.

If you really want to ensure that items can't be recovered, Disk Utility's secure-erase features allow you to erase an entire disk or the free space of a disk, which includes both disk space that was never used and space where files had existed before being deleted.



Whether you're erasing the entire disk or just the free space, you can choose to securely erase data with a single pass of blank data (also known as zeroing out a disk), seven passes or 35 passes. A seven-pass erase meets U.S. Department of Defense standards for secure data removal; a 35-pass erase typically takes hours or days to complete but will ensure that nothing is recoverable. When erasing an entire disk, click the Security Options button to choose the number of passes; when erasing free space, click the Erase Free Space button to see these options.

To use either feature, select the hard drive or volume that contains data you want to erase securely in the list to the left of the Disk Utility window, then select the Erase tab on the right side. If you want to erase only free space, click the Erase Free Space button.



To erase an entire disk/volume, click the Security Options button, select the number of passes to be made, and choose the appropriate disk format and the name for the newly erased disk. Then click Erase to erase the disk. (Note: You can't erase the start-up disk that a Mac is using -- if you want to securely erase the primary/startup drive, you'll need to boot from an alternate disk, such as an external hard drive or the Mac OS X Install DVD.)

Don't share anything you don't have to
Macs offer users a lot of ways to share information. The Sharing pane in Leopard's System Preferences offers 11 different choices (though one them, Xgrid computational cluster sharing, isn't likely to be used by the majority of people).

The list ranges from general file and printer sharing to remote log-in and control of your Mac using Leopard's screen sharing, Apple Remote Desktop, and secure shell (SSH) command-line access. Even personal Web site hosting (Internet sharing) and Bluetooth sharing are supported, as are Remote Apple Events, which allow applications on one Mac to trigger actions on another.

The simple advice here is "Don't enable any type of sharing you're not actively using." Every time you enable sharing of any service, it opens up an avenue for someone to remotely access and/or manipulate your Mac. This could mean accessing shared files or taking complete control of the computer. If you need to share something, then by all means do so -- but if not, keep everything as locked down as you can.

Another danger is the Back to My Mac service offered by Apple's MobileMe, which lets your MobileMe account automatically connect you to your Mac using file, printer or screen sharing over the Internet. This is a highly convenient feature, but not only does it rely on leaving sharing services running and open; it also relies on making those services accessible from the Internet at large. If your MobileMe account is compromised, then so is your entire Mac.

If you need to enable sharing, and chances are that you will at some point, do it in as restrictive a manner as possible. Virtually every sharing service offers at least minimal controls. In the case of DVD and CD sharing, you can opt to have your Mac ask you before allowing remote access. In the case of many services that are user-based, you can choose which users are allowed to access the service remotely.

Most importantly, in the case of file sharing, you can designate both which folders are shared and who has access to those folders. Even though the default setting is to allow all users access to the general Shared folder and to allow everyone access to the Public folder inside each user's home folder, you can add and remove specific folders from the list of those being shared. Share only what is needed, and limit access to as few users as possible.



Also, keep in mind that anyone connecting to a remote Mac using an administrative account will be able to mount not just the explicitly shared folders, but any connected hard drive. This is another reason to disable file sharing if it isn't needed and to be sure you use good password policies for admin users. (It's also a good reason to create administrative accounts with names other than "admin" or "administrator.")

On a final note about file sharing, Mac OS X supports file sharing with three different protocols: AFP (the native file-sharing protocol for Macs), SMB (the native protocol for Windows) and FTP. You can select which ones to enable using the Options button in the Sharing pane in System Preferences.

SMB must be enabled for individual users because it stores passwords in less secure form on your Mac (though it still encrypts their transmission over the network). FTP should be avoided because it offers no encryption whatsoever. Again, limit the protocols to those you need, and leave the others disabled.

Disable Bonjour
Bonjour is Apple's zero-configuration networking system that allows Macs (and PCs and iPhones) to automatically broadcast resources they are sharing over a network and to discover resources shared by other devices. Bonjour can be used for file sharing, printing (many printers ship with Bonjour built in), sharing of iTunes libraries, instant messaging without the use of an IM service, and many other things.

Since Bonjour works by your Mac broadcasting its presence and its available shared resources, it can easily alert malicious users not only to its location, but also to vectors that can be used to target it for attack. Most applications that support Bonjour also allow you to disable Bonjour broadcasting, though you may need to dig around in their Preferences to find the option.

As with sharing services, if you don't need Bonjour for an application, turn it off. If you want to see which applications on your Mac are actively advertising themselves using Bonjour, check out the open-source Bonjour Browser, which lists the various Bonjour services actively running at any one time. You can use this to determine which applications to disable Bonjour support in. (One of the most common is iTunes, which uses Bonjour to share libraries, locate/sync to Apple TVs, and remotely control Apple's Remote application for the iPhone and iPod Touch.)

You can even go a step further from the command line, where you can disable Bonjour as a whole. Ali Karbassi provides instructions on his blog.

Keep your software up to date
The most important security option available to Mac users is keeping software up to date. This applies to Mac OS X itself, Apple-branded applications and any third-party apps on your system. Maintaining an up-to-date operating system and application set means that publicly known vulnerabilities are more likely to have been patched in the software on your system.

The Mac's built-in Software Update feature checks for updates to OS X and Apple applications on a weekly basis by default, and it notifies you when updates are available -- which lets you choose whether to download and install them all immediately or to wait until a later time.

You can also choose to check monthly or daily, or disable automatic checking altogether (not recommended), using the Startup Disk pane in System Preferences. Another option is to have critical updates such as security updates downloaded automatically; you'll be informed when the download has been completed and is ready for installation.



The Software Update pane also lets you check for updates at any time (which can also be done via the Apple menu) and view a list of updates that have been installed on your Mac.

Most third-party apps include an option to check for updates each time they are launched. This should be left enabled because updates often improve performance, stability and security. VersionTracker Pro ($30 for up to three Macs) and the free App Update Dashboard widget are two utilities that can help ensure that all applications on your Mac are up to date.

Additional resources
Although this article covers the most common ways in which Macs are left vulnerable, it is by no means a complete guide to Mac security. More information is available from the following sources:
• Corsaire Ltd.'s "Securing Mac OS X Leopard" white paper (download PDF)
• Apple's Mac OS X Security Configuration Guides
• Mac OS X Security Updates
• SecureMac.com
Home PC Firewall Guide's Macintosh Security Guide
• Intego's Mac Security Blog
• Macworld's Mac Security SuperGuide ($9.99 for PDF)

<strong id="TBC">Table Of Contents</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="#Shake your desktop free of clutter">Shake your desktop free of clutter</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Kill the Send Feedback link">Kill the Send Feedback link</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Get a power efficiency report">Get a power efficiency report</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Set a new Windows Explorer launch folder">Set a new Windows Explorer launch folder</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Show all your drives in Windows Explorer">Show all your drives in Windows Explorer</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Protect the privacy of your Explorer searches">Protect the privacy of your Explorer searches</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Build your own Internet Search Connector">Build your own Internet Search Connector</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Modify UAC">Modify UAC</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Take control of the taskbar notification area">Take control of the taskbar notification area</a> </li>
<li><a href="#Run multiple copies of Windows Explorer from the taskbar">Run multiple copies of Windows Explorer from the taskbar</a> </li>
<li><a href="#More nifty taskbar tips">More nifty taskbar tips</a> </li>
</ul>
<a id="Shake your desktop free of clutter"><strong>Shake your desktop free of clutter</strong></a>


If you frequently run multiple programs simultaneously, your desktop can get extremely cluttered. This can get annoying if you're working on one program and want to minimize all the other windows -- you'll have to minimize them individually.

With Windows 7's new "shake" feature, though, you can minimize every window except the one in which you're currently working in a single step. Click and hold the title bar of the window you want to remain on the desktop; while still holding the title bar, shake it quickly back and forth until all of the other windows minimize to the taskbar. Then let go. To make them return, shake the title bar again.

You can accomplish the same thing by pressing the Window key-Home key combination -- although doing that is not nearly as much fun.


<a id="Kill the Send Feedback link"><strong>Kill the Send Feedback link</strong></a>

The beta of Windows 7 includes a "Send Feedback" link at various places throughout Windows 7, including at the top of Internet Explorer and on top of dialog boxes. Don't like the link? You can easily get rid of it, using a Registry hack.

(Important: Always create a Restore Point before editing the Windows Registry.)

1. Launch the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Search box and pressing Enter.

2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, and double-click the FeedbackToolEnabled entry.

3. Change the value to 0, exit the Registry and restart your PC. The feedback link will now be gone. To turn the link back on again, change FeedbackToolEnabled to 3 and restart.


<a id="Get a power efficiency report"><strong>Get a power efficiency report</strong></a>

Have a laptop and want to get more battery life out of it? Windows 7 includes a hidden, built-in tool that will examine your laptop's energy use and make recommendations on how to improve it. To do it:



1. First, run a command prompt as an administrator. To do this, type cmd in the search box, and when the cmd icon appears, right-click it and choose "Run as administrator."

2. At the command line, type in the following:

powercfg -energy -output \Folder\En Energy_Report.html

where \Folder represents the folder where you want the report to be placed.

3. For the next minute, Windows 7 will examine the behavior of your laptop, and will then analyze it and create a report in HTML format in the folder you specified. Double-click the file, and you'll get a report -- follow its recommendations for ways to improve power performance.

So many worksheets, so little space

Have you ever had an Excel workbook with multiple sheets, those sheets having names other than the proverbial Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3? My wife's business has many great examples of this, where business data is being kept in various workbooks, where tabs are corresponding to months, from January to December:





Rather quickly, you get to the point where you no longer can see all the tabs in one view. Of course, you can use the built-in tabs navigation buttons, and go the next, previous, first, or last sheet, but wouldn't it be great if there was a way to see all the sheets and be able to click on the one you want to work on? Well, there is one, and it has been there since Excel 4 (I think). Simply right-click the tabs navigation buttons and a floating list of all the worksheets in the workbook will appear, as pictured below. It is especially useful when sheet names are long. I use this time and time again, and find it the best way to navigate complex spreadsheets. Now seems just the perfect time to also remind you of two great keyboard shortcuts: CTRL+PageUp activates the previous sheet in your workbook, while CTRL+PageDown activates the next one.

What is the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows?
The terms 32-bit and 64-bit refer to the way a computer's processor (also called a CPU), handles information.

The 64-bit versions of Windows can utilize more memory than 32-bit versions of Windows. This helps minimize the time spent swapping processes in and out of memory by storing more of those processes in Random access memory (RAM) rather than on the hard disk. This, in turn, can increase overall program performance. For more details, go to A description of the differences between 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista online.

How can I tell if my computer is running a 32-bit or a 64-bit version of Windows?
To see if your computer is running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows, do the following:


1. Open System by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking System.

2. Under System, you can view the system type.



Can my computer run a 64-bit version of Windows?
To run a 64-bit version of Windows, your computer must have a 64-bit processor. To take advantage of the additional capability to utilize memory on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista, you should have at least 4 GB of RAM installed on your computer.

Additionally, you will need to make sure that you have 64-bit drivers for your hardware and that your programs will run in a 64-bit Windows environment. Device drivers that are 32-bit do not work on computers running 64-bit versions of Windows. If you are trying to install hardware that only has 32-bit drivers available, that hardware will not work correctly on 64-bit versions of Windows. Also, programs that try to install 32-bit device drivers on 64-bit versions of Windows will encounter errors. For information about updating drivers and troubleshooting issues with device drivers for 64-bit versions of Windows, contact the manufacturer of the hardware or software.

To find your computer's processor speed, do the following:


1. Open System by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking System.

2. Under System, you can view the processor type and speed.



Can I upgrade from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows?
No. If you are currently running a 32-bit version of Windows, you can only perform an upgrade to another 32-bit version of Windows. Similarly, if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, you can only perform an upgrade to another 64-bit version of Windows Vista.

For detailed information about installing and upgrading 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, go to Installation choices for Windows Vista (32-bit) or Installation choices for Windows Vista (64-bit) online.

If you want to move from a 32-bit version of Windows to a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, back up your files and perform a clean installation of the 64-bit version of Windows Vista.

Can I run 32-bit programs on a 64-bit computer?
Many programs designed for a computer running a 32-bit version of Windows will work on a computer running 64-bit versions of Windows without any changes.

Would I benefit from using a 64-bit computer?
Yes. A 64-bit computer can process twice as much information as a 32-bit computer, and can have significantly more random access memory (RAM). The 64-bit versions of Windows Vista on computers with at least 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM can be more responsive when you are running many programs at once. They are usually compatible with hardware devices and programs you might currently be using, and can help ready your computer for the next generation of performance improvements. This makes a 64-bit computer a good choice whether you're editing family photos and video, playing games, or using other programs that require complex calculations and a lot of memory, such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. A 32-bit computer still works very well for most programs, however. For example, spreadsheet programs, web browsers, and word processing programs will run at about the same speed on either a 32-bit or a 64-bit computer. For more information about the benefits of running 64-bit computers, see Understanding 64-bit PCs online. Programs running on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista perform better if both hardware drivers and 64-bit programs are available.

If I'm running a 64-bit version of Windows, do I need 64-bit drivers for my devices?
Yes, all hardware devices need 64-bit drivers to work on a 64-bit version of Windows. To learn how to check for drivers, see Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properly or go to the device manufacturer's website. You can also get information about drivers by going to the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor website.

Additionally, some 32-bit programs might use embedded 32-bit drivers, which might make the programs work improperly.

Opera Customizations:

<strong id="TBC">Table Of Contents</strong>
<ul>
<li><a href="#1">How to edit menu.ini</a> </li>
<li><a href="#2">How to edit skin.ini</a> </li>
<li><a href="#3">How to upload to ImageShack from context menu</a> </li>
<li><a href="#4">How to open links in FireFox from context menu</a> </li>
<li><a href="#5">How to open links in Internet Explorer from context menu</a> </li>
<li><a href="#6">How to open links in Flashget from context menu</a> </li>
<li><a href="#7">How to open page in bugmenot from context menu</a> </li>
<li><a href="#8">How to copy text to Notepade from context menu</a> </li>
</ul>

<h1><a name="wp1043338"></a> Adding and Replacing Parts </h1>


<div class="title">Dell™ Inspiron™ 1720 Owner's Manual </div></br>
<table width="60%" border="0">
<tr>
<td valign="top">

<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1103007">Before You Begin
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1115893">Hard Drive
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1076794">Optical Drive
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1131600">Hinge Cover
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1132059">Keyboard
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1116017">Memory
</A></div></br>
</td>

<td valign="top">


<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1118441">Subscriber Identity Module
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1111062">Wireless Mini Cards
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1116994">Flash Cache Module
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1116542">Internal Card With Bluetooth® Wireless
Technology
</A></div></br>
<div class="minitoc"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/bullet.gif" border="0">  <A HREF="#wp1066505">Coin-Cell Battery
</A></div></br>
</td>
</tr>
</table>


<br>
<hr noshade size="1"><h2><a name="wp1103007"></a>Before You Begin
</h2>





<div>This chapter provides procedures for removing and installing the components in your computer. Unless otherwise noted, each procedure assumes that the following conditions exist:</div></br>


<ul><li><a name="1058236"></a>You have performed the steps in <a href="#wp1115808">Turning Off Your Computer</a> and <a href="#wp1052402">Before Working Inside Your Computer</a>.<br><br></li><li><a name="1052378"></a>You have read the safety information in your Dell <i>Product Information Guide.</i><br><br></li><li><a name="1052379"></a>A component can be replaced—or if purchased separately—installed by performing the removal procedure in reverse order.<br><br></li></ul><a name="wp1052384"></a>
<h3>Recommended Tools</h3>



<div>The procedures in this document may require the following tools:</div></br>


<ul><li><a name="1052386"></a>Small flat-blade screwdriver<br><br></li><li><a name="1052387"></a>Phillips screwdriver<br><br></li><li><a name="1052388"></a>Small plastic scribe<br><br></li><li><a name="1052389"></a>Flash BIOS update <br><br></li></ul><a name="wp1115808"></a>
<h3>Turning Off Your Computer</h3>


<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To avoid losing data, save and close any open files and exit any open programs before you turn off your computer.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1117498"></a>

<li value="1">Save and close any open files and exit any open programs.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1117952"></a>

<li value="2">Click <b>Start <img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/parts75.jpg" height="20" width="20" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</b>, click the arrow <span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/parts66.jpg" height="20" width="20" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</span>, and then click <b>Shut Down</b>.
<br><br>
</ol>

<div class="indent">The computer turns off after the operating system shutdown process finishes.</div></br>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1117531"></a>

<li value="3">Ensure that the computer and any attached devices are turned off. If your
computer and attached devices did not automatically turn off when you shut
down your operating system, press and hold the power button for at least 8 to
10 seconds until the computer turns off.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1052402"></a>
<h3>Before Working Inside Your Computer</h3>



<div>Use the following safety guidelines to help protect your computer from potential damage and to help ensure your own personal safety.</div></br>


<a name="1052408"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/caution.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<span class="notes">
CAUTION: </span> <b>Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the <i>Product Information Guide</i>.</b></td>
</tr>
</table><a name="1052413"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/caution.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<span class="notes">
CAUTION: </span> <b>Handle components and cards with care. Do not touch the components or contacts on a card. Hold a card by its edges or by its metal mounting bracket. Hold a component such as a processor by its edges, not by its pins.</b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>Only a certified service technician should perform repairs on your computer. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not covered by your warranty.</td>
</tr>
</table>



<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>When you disconnect a cable, pull on its connector or on its strain-relief loop, not on the cable itself. Some cables have a connector with locking tabs; if you are disconnecting this type of cable, press in on the locking tabs before you disconnect the cable. As you pull connectors apart, keep them evenly aligned to avoid bending any connector pins. Also, before you connect a cable, ensure that both connectors are correctly oriented and aligned. </td>
</tr>
</table>



<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).</td>
</tr>
</table>



<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To help prevent damage to the computer, perform the following steps before you begin working inside the computer. </td>
</tr>
</table>


<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1052429"></a>

<li value="1">Ensure that the work surface is flat and clean to prevent the computer cover
from being scratched.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1053196"></a>

<li value="2">Turn off your computer (see <a href="#wp1115808">Turning Off Your Computer</a>).
<br><br>
</ol>

<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To disconnect a network cable, first unplug the cable from your computer, and then unplug it from the network wall jack.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1052438"></a>

<li value="3">Disconnect any telephone or network cables from the computer.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1115833"></a>

<li value="4">Disconnect your computer and all attached devices from their electrical
outlets.
<br><br>
</ol>

<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you service the computer. </td>
</tr>
</table>


<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/note.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTE: </SPAN>To avoid damage to the computer, use only the battery designed for this particular Dell computer. Do not use batteries designed for other Dell computers.</td>
</tr>
</table><ol type="1">
<a name="wp1117956"></a>

<li value="5">Turn the computer over.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1117957"></a>

<li value="6">Slide and click the battery release latches.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1117958"></a>

<li value="7">Slide the battery out of the battery bay.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1135984"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/gillig62.jpg" height="222" width="424" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1135994"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>battery</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>battery release latch (2)</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>








</div></br>
<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1135995"></a>

<li value="8">Turn the computer top-side up, open the display, and press the power button
to ground the system board.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1052457"></a>

<li value="9">Remove any installed cards from the ExpressCard slot (see <a href="#wp1057598">Removing an
ExpressCard or Blank</a>) and the 8-in-1 memory card reader (see <a href="#wp1055554">Removing a
Memory Card or Blank</a>).
<br><br>
</ol>

<hr noshade size="1"><h2><a name="wp1115893"></a>Hard Drive
</h2>





<div>Depending on the configuration you ordered, your computer may have two hard drives: a primary hard drive and an optional secondary hard drive.</div></br>


<a name="1115898"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/caution.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<span class="notes">
CAUTION: </span> <b>If you remove the hard drive from the computer when the drive is hot, <span style="font-style: oblique; font-weight: normal">do not touch</span> the metal housing of the hard drive.</b></td>
</tr>
</table><a name="1115903"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/caution.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<span class="notes">
CAUTION: </span> <b>Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the <i>Product Information Guide</i>.</b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To prevent data loss, turn off your computer (see <a href="#wp1115808">Turning Off Your Computer</a>) before removing the hard drive. Do not remove the hard drive while the computer is on or in Sleep state.</td>
</tr>
</table>



<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>Hard drives are extremely fragile. Exercise care when handling the hard drive.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/note.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTE: </SPAN>Dell does not guarantee compatibility or provide support for hard drives from sources other than Dell.</td>
</tr>
</table><table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/note.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTE: </SPAN>If you are installing a hard drive from a source other than Dell, you need to install an operating system, drivers, and utilities on the new hard drive (see <a href="#wp1063103">Restoring Your Operating System</a> and <a href="#wp1062125">Reinstalling Drivers and Utilities</a>).</td>
</tr>
</table><a name="wp1115933"></a>
<h3>Removing the Hard Drive</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1115937"></a>

<li value="1">Follow the procedures in <a href="#wp1103007">Before You Begin</a>.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1117705"></a>

<li value="2">Turn the computer over.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1129940"></a>

<li value="3">Loosen the two captive screws and remove the cover on the hard drive bay.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1136049"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/gilligai.jpg" height="274" width="421" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1136059"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>captive screws (2)</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>hard drive cover</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>








</div></br>

<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>When the hard drive is not in the computer, store it in protective antistatic packaging (see "Protecting Against Electrostatic Discharge" in the <span style="font-style: oblique; font-weight: normal"><i>Product Information Guide</i></span>).</td>
</tr>
</table>


<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1118144"></a>

<li value="4">Using the pull-tab on the hard drive, pull the hard drive out of the hard drive
bay.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1129826"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/gillig13.jpg" height="301" width="421" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1129803"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>secondary hard drive bay</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>screws (3)</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>3</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>primary hard drive</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>4</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>pull-tab</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>








</div></br>
<a name="wp1131527"></a>
<h3>Replacing the Hard Drive</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1118054"></a>

<li value="1">Remove the new drive from its packaging.
<br><br>
</ol>

<div class="indent">Save the original packaging for storing or shipping the hard drive.</div></br>


<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>Use firm and even pressure to slide the drive into place. If you use excessive force, you may damage the connector.</td>
</tr>
</table>



<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>If you are installing only one hard drive, ensure you install the new drive in the primary hard drive bay.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/note.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTE: </SPAN>The secondary hard drive is optional.</td>
</tr>
</table><ol type="1">
<a name="wp1131581"></a>

<li value="2">Place the hard drive into the bay and press down to fully seat it.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1115958"></a>

<li value="3">Replace and tighten the screws on the hard drive.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1117747"></a>

<li value="4">Replace the hard drive cover and tighten the screws.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1115962"></a>

<li value="5">Install the operating system for your computer, as needed (see <a href="#wp1063103">Restoring
Your Operating System</a>).
<br><br>
<a name="wp1115966"></a>

<li value="6">Install the drivers and utilities for your computer, as needed (see <a href="#wp1062125">Reinstalling
Drivers and Utilities</a>).
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1115968"></a>
<h3>Returning a Hard Drive to Dell</h3>



<div>Return your old hard drive to Dell in its original, or comparable, foam packaging. Otherwise, the hard drive may be damaged in transit.</div></br>


<a name="wp1115989"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/parts22.jpg" height="259" width="194" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1116000"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>foam packaging</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>hard drive</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>








</div></br>

<hr noshade size="1"><h2><a name="wp1076794"></a>Optical Drive
</h2>



<a name="1115778"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/caution.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<span class="notes">
CAUTION: </span> <b>Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the <i>Product Information Guide</i>.</b></td>
</tr>
</table><a name="wp1131593"></a>
<h3>Removing the Optical Drive</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1115765"></a>

<li value="1">Follow the procedures in <a href="#wp1103007">Before You Begin</a>.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1133089"></a>

<li value="2">Turn the computer over.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1076801"></a>

<li value="3">Remove the locking screw from the optical drive.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1133097"></a>

<li value="4">Using a plastic scribe, push the notch to release the optical drive from the
bay.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1076825"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/gillig39.jpg" height="338" width="425" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1076826"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>optical drive</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>notch</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>3</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>locking screw</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div> </div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div> </div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>








</div></br>
<a name="wp1131602"></a>
<h3>Replacing the Optical Drive</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1131609"></a>

<li value="1">Slide the optical drive into the bay.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1131620"></a>

<li value="2">Replace and tighten the locking screw.
<br><br>
</ol>

<hr noshade size="1"><h2><a name="wp1131600"></a>Hinge Cover
</h2>



<a name="1076936"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/caution.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<span class="notes">
CAUTION: </span> <b>Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the <i>Product Information Guide</i>.</b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).</td>
</tr>
</table>



<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<a name="wp1076950">;</a>
<h3>Removing the Hinge Cover</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1132017"></a>

<li value="1">Follow the procedures in "Before You Begin" on <a href="#wp1103007">page 139</a>.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1132026"></a>

<li value="2">Open the display as far as it will open.
<br><br>
</ol>

<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To avoid damage to the hinge cover, do not lift the cover on both sides simultaneously.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1076958"></a>

<li value="3">Insert a plastic scribe into the indent to lift the hinge cover on the right side.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1076959"></a>

<li value="4">Ease the hinge cover up, moving from right to left, and remove it.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1076975"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/gillig15.jpg" height="320" width="463" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1132054"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>hinge cover</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>scribe</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>








</div></br>
<a name="wp1132055"></a>
<h3>Replacing the Hinge Cover</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1132056"></a>

<li value="1">Insert the left edge of the hinge cover.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1132073"></a>

<li value="2">Press from left to right until the cover snaps into place.
<br><br>
</ol>

<hr noshade size="1"><h2><a name="wp1132059"></a>Keyboard
</h2>





<div>For more information about the keyboard, see <a href="#wp1056321">Using the Keyboard and Touchpad</a>.</div></br>


<a name="1076844"></a>
<table border="0" cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left"><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/caution.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<span class="notes">
CAUTION: </span> <b>Before you begin any of the procedures in this section, follow the safety instructions in the <i>Product Information Guide</i>.</b></td>
</tr>
</table>
<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touching an unpainted metal surface (such as a connector on the back of the computer).</td>
</tr>
</table>



<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>To help prevent damage to the system board, you must remove the battery from the battery bay before you begin working inside the computer.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<a name="wp1132084"></a>
<h3>Removing the Keyboard</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1132080"></a>

<li value="1">Follow the procedures in <a href="#wp1103007">Before You Begin</a>.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1117790"></a>

<li value="2">Remove the hinge cover (see <a href="#wp1131600">Hinge Cover</a>).
<br><br>
<a name="wp1117791"></a>

<li value="3">Remove the four screws at the top of the keyboard.
<br><br>
</ol>

<table border=0 cellpadding="4">
<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">
<img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/notice.gif" align="top">
</td>
<td valign="top" align="left"><span class="notes">NOTICE: </SPAN>The keycaps on the keyboard are fragile, easily dislodged, and time-consuming to replace. Be careful when removing and handling the keyboard.</td>
</tr>
</table>


<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1076871"></a>

<li value="4">Slide the keyboard toward the back of the computer to disengage the notch
on the keyboard from the tab on the base of the computer.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1133239"></a>

<li value="5">Lift and remove the keyboard.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1076907"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/gillig33.jpg" height="320" width="459" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1083526"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>keyboard</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>screws (4)</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>3</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>notch on keyboard</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>4</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>tab on computer base</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>








</div></br>
<a name="wp1130612"></a>
<h3>Replacing the Keyboard</h3>

<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1130613"></a>

<li value="1">Hook the tabs and the keyboard connector along the front edge of the
keyboard into the palmrest, and place the notch on the top of the keyboard on
the tab on the base of the computer.
<br><br>
<a name="wp1131414"></a>

<li value="2">Keeping the keyboard flat against the computer base, slide the tabs on the
bottom of the keyboard under the palmrest, and ensure the tab on the
computer base slides into the notch on the top of the keyboard.
<br><br>
</ol>
<a name="wp1134090"> </a><div>
</div></br><div><img src="http://www.kltforums.com/hosted/images/gillia36.jpg" height="312" width="467" border="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"/>
</div></br><div>

</div></br>
<a name="wp1134116"> </a><div>

<table border=1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="500">

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>1</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>tabs (7)</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>2</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>keyboard connector</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>3</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>notch on keyboard</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>4</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>tab on computer base</div></br>


</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>5</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div>palmrest</div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div> </div></br>


</td>

<td valign="top" align="left">

<div> </div></br>


</td>
</tr>

</table>

</div></br>
<ol type="1">
<a name="wp1131385"></a>

<li value="3">Replace the four screws on the top of the keyboard.
<br><br>
</ol> </li>

Seems like everyone was waiting for my reply.

If your mother board will support the faster processor you can do it. You may have to go to dell to get it, but you may be able to buy it elsewhere, just make sure you tell them the processor is going into a motherboard on a laptop.

As far as changeing the processor. Well let me see, I take laptops apart all the time. Some are a bit more trouble some to take apart. But it can be done. Especially on the Dells. They have made it easy to get to the parts.

What is this laptop, Inspiron, Latitude, XPS?

Lets see if I can explain this where we can all understand.

Make sure you keep the screws in a safe place, and sorted according to what you remove so you can put it back together. You can clean up your table in the kitchen for room if you need to.

On one of my Latitudes for example. To get to the processor I have to do this.

1. Remove pop off cover where the on/off switch is above the keyboard. If you look close on one of the sides you will see a small indentation where you can insert a screew driver and pop it up.



Access cover removed.



Now remove the two screws that hold down the keyboard, and then pull up on the keyboard carefully because there will also be a cable attached to it, that you can pull off.



Keyboard removed



Processor Location and Video card location (on my laptop)



To get to the processor on this computer you will have to gain access to it buy removing a few things, like the lcd and covers.

To remove the LCD you have to remove 4 screws and disconnect the cable and any wireless antenna and the grounding cable with screw.



LCD Removed



To remove the cover where the touch pad is you have to remove a couple screws on top and then some on the bottom. In my case I remove the batter too, and the two screws that hold the hard drive and I remove the hard drive to make it easier. Once you take out all the screws pry it apart carefully because you will have to disconnet the touchpad cable, also this will help you to check to make sure you got all the screws off.



With cover off.



Almost done. Now we have to gain access to all screws on the heat sinks. Remove the on/off switch by taking off the two screws.




Now loosen all the screws holding down the heat sinks. I did both heat sinks on mine because it makes it easier and gives you more room. Once you loosen the screws pull up on them and they will come off, be careful not to remove the material on the heatsinks that help transfer the heat from the processor to the heatsink.



Heat sinks removed.



Now that you have the processor exposed, you will see a silver screw there. Turn the screw only about 1/8 turn. This screw does not come out, it is like a lock, do not force it, you will notice the processor get loose. Once it does that remove it buy carefully grabbing it from two sides and lift straight up.




Now install the new one and reverse the order you did to remove it. Now I got to put this thing back together.

Hope this helps you and I hope I met your expectations.

Hacking Firefox: The secrets of about:config
Discover more than 20 behind-the-scenes tweaks for speeding up page loads, reducing memory drain and making the interface behave the way you want it to

Ever since its debut, Firefox has garnered a reputation for being an enormously customizable program, both through its add-on architecture and its internal settings. In fact, many of Firefox's settings aren't exposed through the Tools > Options menu; the only way to change them is to edit them manually. In this article, we'll explore some of the most useful Firefox settings that you can change on your own, and that aren't normally available through the program's graphical interface.

The closest analogy to how Firefox manages its internal settings is the Windows Registry. Each setting, or preference, is given a name and stored as a string (text), integer (number) or Boolean (true/false) value. However, Firefox doesn't keep its settings in the registry, but in a file called prefs.js. You can edit prefs.js directly, but it's often easier to change the settings through the browser window.

Type about:config in the address bar and press Enter, and you'll see all the settings currently enumerated in prefs.js, listed in alphabetical order. To narrow down the hundreds of configuration preferences to just the few you need, type a search term into the Filter: bar. (Click the Show All button or just clear the Filter: bar to get the full list back again.)


The about:config page.

To edit a preference, double-click on the name and you'll be prompted for the new value. If you double-click on an entry that has a Boolean value, it'll just switch from true to false or vice versa; double-click again to revert to the original setting. Not all changes take effect immediately, so if you want to be absolutely certain a given change is in effect, be sure to close and reopen Firefox after making a change.


Editing a preference.

Note that not every setting in about:config exists by default. Some of them have to be created manually. If you want to add a new preference, right-click somewhere on the page and select New, then select the type of item to create (String, Integer or Boolean) and supply the name and value.


Before you begin

Here are a few caveats to keep in mind as you explore and tweak:

Not everyone will get the same benefits by enabling these tweaks. This is especially true for changing the network settings. If you habitually visit sites that don't allow a large number of connections per client, for instance, you won't see much benefit from raising the number of connections per server.

Some hacks may have a limited shelf life. With each successive release of Firefox, the need for tweaking any of the performance-related config settings (like the network settings) may dwindle as Firefox becomes more self-tuning based on feedback from real-world usage scenarios. In short, what works now may not always work in the future -- and that might not be a bad thing.

Keep a log of everything you change, or make backups. If you tweak something now and notice bizarre activity in a week, you'll want to be able to track back to what was altered and undo it. Firefox does show which about:config changes have been set manually, but this isn't always the most accurate way to find out what you changed.

To make a backup of your preferences in Firefox, just make a copy of the file prefs.js, which is kept in your Firefox profile folder. If you mess something up, you can always copy this file back in. (Be sure to shut down Firefox before making a copy of prefs.js or moving a copy back into the profile folder!)

In Windows XP, the profile folder is
\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile ID>.default\

In Windows Vista, this folder is
\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile ID>.default\

Note that Application Data and AppData are hidden folders by default, so they may not show up unless you force Explorer to show hidden objects. (Open the Control Panel, double-click Folder Options, select the View tab, select "Show hidden files and folders" and click OK.)

In Mac OS X, the profile folder is
/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/<profile ID>.default/

and in Linux it's
~/.mozilla/firefox/<profile ID>.default/

but on those platforms it's usually quicker simply to search for prefs.js.

Alternatively, you can use the handy Firefox Extension Backup Extension (FEBE). It backs up not only the prefs.js file but just about every other thing in Firefox -- extensions, themes, cookies, form history and so on.


Speed up page display

Some of the more recent Firefox customizations I've examined are ways to speed up the rendering of Web pages. The settings to do this are a little arcane and not terribly self-explanatory, but with a little tinkering, you can often get pages to pop up faster and waste less time redrawing themselves.

Start rendering pages faster
Creating an nglayout.initialpaint.delay integer preference lets you control how long Firefox waits before starting to render a page. If this value isn't set, Firefox defaults to 250 milliseconds, or .25 of a second. Some people report that setting it to 0 -- i.e., forcing Firefox to begin rendering immediately -- causes almost all pages to show up faster. Values as high as 50 are also pretty snappy.

Reduce the number of reflows
When Firefox is actively loading a page, it periodically reformats or "reflows" the page as it loads, based on what data has been received. Create a content.notify.interval integer preference to control the minimum number of microseconds (millionths of a second) that elapse between reflows. If it's not explicitly set, it defaults to 120000 (.12 of a second).

Too many reflows may make the browser feel sluggish, so you can increase the interval between reflows by raising this to 500000 (500,000, or 1/2 second) or even to 1000000 (1 million, or 1 second). If you set this value, be sure to also create a Boolean value called content.notify.ontimer and set it to true.

Control Firefox's 'unresponsive' time
When rendering a page, Firefox periodically runs a little faster internally to speed up the rendering process (a method Mozilla calls "tokenizing"), but at the expense of being unresponsive to user input for that length of time. If you want to set the maximum length of time any one of these unresponsive periods can be, create an integer preference called content.max.tokenizing.time.

Set this to a multiple of content.notify.interval's value, or even the same value (but higher is probably better). If you set this to something lower than content.notify.interval, the browser may respond more often to user input while pages are being rendered, but the page itself will render that much more slowly.

If you set a value for content.max.tokenizing.time, you also need to create two more Boolean values -- content.notify.ontimer and content.interrupt.parsing -- and set them both to true.

Control Firefox's 'highly responsive' time
If Firefox is rendering a page and the user performs some kind of command, like scrolling through a still-loading page, Firefox will remain more responsive to user input for a period of time. To control how long this interval is, create an integer preference called content.switch.threshold.

This is normally triple the value of content.notify.interval, but I typically set it to be the same as that value. Set it to something very low -- say, 10000 (10,000 microseconds) -- and the browser may not respond as snappily, but it may cause the rendering to complete more quickly.

If you haven't already created the Boolean values content.notify.ontimer and content.interrupt.parsing and set them both to true in conjunction with content.max.tokenizing.time, you'll need to do so to make content.switch.threshold work properly.

If you are more inclined to wait for a page to finish loading before attempting to do anything with it (like scroll through it), you can set content.max.tokenizing.time to a higher value and content.switch.threshold to a lower value to allow Firefox to finish rendering a page faster at the expense of processing user commands. On the other hand, if you're the kind of person who likes to scroll through a page and start reading it before it's done loading, you can set content.max.tokenizing.time to a lower value and content.switch.threshold to a higher one, to give you back that much more responsiveness at the cost of page-rendering speed.

Have tabbed browsing your way

Right from the start, one of Firefox's strengths has been tabbed browsing. But if the tabs don't behave quite the way you want them to by default, or you hate the way the default behaviors have changed since Firefox 1.x, the following changes will bring them in line.

Corral close buttons
The integer preference browser.tabs.closeButtons controls how the close buttons (the "X" icons) are rendered on tabs:

0: Display a close button only on the currently active tab. This is a nice way to keep from accidentally smacking into a close button for the wrong tab.

(You can press Ctrl-F4 to close only the current tab, but many mouse-centric people never bother to do this.)

1: Display close buttons on all tabs (default).

2: Don't display any close buttons; the only way to close a tab is by pressing Ctrl-F4.

3: Display one close button at the end of the tab bar (Firefox 1.x's default).


A close button on just one tab.

Open search results in a new tab
This one is a favorite of mine. When browser.search.openintab (a Boolean preference) is set to true, any searches launched from the Search tool bar are opened in a new tab instead of overwriting the contents of the current one. I can't tell you the number of times I mistakenly wiped out my current page before I started using this.

Note that if you launch a new browser window with Ctrl-N and perform a search there, you'll see the search results and the default home page for the new browser instance loading in separate tabs.

Open bookmark groups in new tabsIf you open a group of bookmarks at once, Firefox's default behavior is to replace any existing tabs with the newly opened pages. Set browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace (Boolean) to false, and opening groups of bookmarks will append new tabs to the existing window instead of overwriting existing ones.

Squeeze more tabs into the tab bar
The integer preference browser.tabs.tabMinWidth controls how narrow, in pixels, tabs can be shrunk down before scroll arrows appear on the left and right edges of the tab bar.

The default is 100, but you can set this to something smaller so you can fit more tabs in the bar at once. Note, however, that you might find the shortened titles harder to read.



The tab bar before and after reducing the minimum tab width.


Make the user interface behave

Another big reason people hack Firefox's settings is to modify the user interface -- either to make it a little easier to do something, or to revert to a behavior that was prevalent in Version 1.x but changed in 2.0.

Get case-sensitive, in-page searches
The integer preference accessibility.typeaheadfind.casesensitive controls how Firefox's "Find as You Type" feature behaves. The default is 0 for case-insensitive searches; set it to 1 for case-sensitive matching.

Control address bar searches
You may have noticed that if you type something into Firefox's address bar that's not an address (a "keyword"), Firefox typically passes it on to Google as an "I'm Feeling Lucky" search term. The exact search engine string to use is defined in the string preference keyword.URL; if you want to change it to something else, you can simply edit this string.

For instance, to make Microsoft's Live.com the default keyword search, set this string to
http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=

For a Yahoo search, it would be
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=

If you want to restore the default search, use
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=
UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=

Finally, if you want to turn this address-bar keyword functionality off altogether, set the Boolean preference keyword.enabled to false.

Note that with Google, the more generic the keyword, the less likely it is to be used as an "I'm Feeling Lucky" search -- although what constitutes "generic" isn't always clear. For instance, typing "clean" into the address bar returns a generic Google search page, but "sideways" takes me to the Internet Movie Database entry for the movie of that name (the "I'm Feeling Lucky" result). Your mileage will almost certainly vary.

Select just a word
The Boolean preference layout.word_select.eat_space_to_next_word governs one of Firefox's tiny, but for me incredibly annoying, little behaviors. When you double-click on a word in a Web page to select it, Firefox automatically includes the space after the word. Most of the time I don't want that; I just want the selection to stop at the end of the word. Setting this to false will defeat that behavior.

Select a word and its punctuation
Somewhat contrarily, if you double-click a word that's next to any kind of punctuation mark, Firefox defaults to selecting only the word itself, not its adjacent punctuation. Set the Boolean preference layout.word_select.stop_at_punctuation to false to select the word and its adjacent punctuation.

Get Alt-hotkey shortcuts back
One minor change in Firefox 2 was the way in which form elements on a Web page had hotkey bindings assigned to them. In Firefox 1.x, when a Web page assigned a hotkey to a form element, you pressed Alt-hotkey to access it. In Version 2.x, this was changed to Alt-Shift-hotkey. To revert to the original 1.x behavior, set the integer preference ui.key.contentAccess to 4. This is useful if you have, for instance, a Web-based interface you spend a lot of time in, and use Alt-key bindings to do things quickly in that particular page.

Note that one possible consequence of setting this back to the old behavior is that Alt-key bindings on a Web page can now override the default key sequences for the program itself (such as Alt-S for History), but you can always get around this by tapping Alt to activate the menu and then tapping the program hotkey in question.

Change scrollbar behavior
By default, clicking in the empty areas of the Firefox window's scrollbar will simply cause the view to move up or down one page. You can change this behavior by creating a Boolean preference called ui.scrollToClick and setting its value to true. Now clicking in a scrollbar will cause the view to jump directly to that point in the page (basically the same as dragging the scrollbar to that position).

Get click-and-hold context menus back (for Macs only)
If you want to restore the classic click-and-hold context-menu behavior on the Macintosh, edit or create the Boolean preference ui.click_hold_context_menus and set it to true.


Hack network connections

The very first batch of Firefox hacks I learned about was how to override its network defaults. Some of Firefox's out-of-the-box settings for how it deals with network connections are fairly conservative, probably because Firefox has no way of knowing what kind of network it's using (dial-up vs. broadband, etc.). If you have a network that readily supports multiple simultaneous connections, you can make a number of changes to Firefox to take advantage of that.

But proceed with caution. If Firefox's network settings are set too aggressively, they can lead you to being blacklisted for a short time by a given remote server. And you should certainly get permission from the IT department before attempting this kind of hack in a corporate environment. Regardless, moderation is the key. For the most part, I find that setting the network settings to absurdly high numbers does not accomplish much of anything; it helps to ramp them up a bit, but generally not much more than that.

Maximize connections to multiple servers
The integer preference network.http.max-connections controls how many simultaneous network connections Firefox will make at any one time to any number of Web servers. One typical way this pays off is if you have Firefox set to load multiple home pages in different tabs at once, or if you access pages that aggregate contents from several different servers (for instance, multiple advertising systems).

By default, this is set to 24, which should work well for most network connections, but you can raise it to 32 and see if that has any effect. (I've seen people raise this as high as 64, but anything above 32 doesn't seem to provide much discernible payoff.)

Maximize connections to the same server
The integer preference network.http.max-connections-per-server controls how many separate connections Firefox makes to the same server, which allows multiple elements in a page to be downloaded in parallel. Normally, this is set to 8, but some people choose to set it as high as 16.

Note, however, that some Web servers will block you if you try to establish more than 8 inbound connections, typically as a bandwidth-protection or antileeching measure -- this is the kind of behavior also exhibited by download managers that try to use as many "slots" as possible to speed things up, and many server admins hate that sort of thing. Also, if you're on a connection that's not fast to begin with (e.g., slow ISDN or dial-up), changing this setting will have no discernible effect, and may in fact slow things down.

Bump up persistent connections per server
Firefox keeps persistent connections to a server "alive" to improve performance: Instead of simply sending the results of one request and then closing, they're held open so that multiple requests can pass back and forth. This means a little less network traffic overall, since a connection to a given server has to be set up only once, instead of once for each separate piece of content; it also means successive connections to the same server go through faster.

The integer preference network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server controls the number of persistent connections allowed per server. By default, this is set to 2, although some servers will honor a higher number of persistent connections (for instance, if there's a lot of content from their site that loads in parallel, like images or the contents of frames). You probably only want to go as high as 8 with this; more than that may cause a server to temporarily blacklist your IP address depending on how it's configured. (If you're going through a proxy defined by Firefox, use network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy instead of this setting.)

Reduce the interval between persistent connections
If you've already used up all the persistent server connections described in the above setting and Firefox needs to make more connections, the integer setting network.http.request.max-start-delay governs how long to wait before attempting to open new connections. This helps if Firefox's persistent-connection limit has been used up by a number of long downloads, and the browser needs to queue a shorter download on top of that.

Most people set this to 0 (in seconds), with the default being 10. Note that this does not override connection limits imposed by remote hosts, so its usefulness is limited by the whim of the server you're connecting to.

Turn on pipelining
The Boolean preference network.http.pipelining enables an experimental acceleration technique called "pipelining," which speeds up the loading of most Web pages. A browser normally waits for some acknowledgment of a given request from a server before attempting to send another one to that server; pipelining sends multiple requests at once without waiting for responses one at a time.

If you turn this on (that is, set its value to true), also be sure to create or edit the integer preference network.http.pipelining.maxrequests, which controls the maximum number of requests that can be pipelined at once. 16 should do it; some people go as high as 128 but there's not much evidence it'll help. (If you use a proxy, set network.http.proxy.pipelining to true as well.)

Note that not every Web server honors pipelining requests correctly, which is why this feature is turned off by default and still considered experimental. Some sites may behave strangely if you submit pipelined requests.

Stop memory hogging

The default way the Windows version of Firefox consumes memory can be alarming if you don't know what's really going on. People routinely report a memory "footprint" of 75MB to 100MB or more with only a few windows or tabs open, and they assume a memory leak is to blame. While earlier versions of Firefox did have memory leak bugs, they're not the reason for this kind of memory consumption in Firefox 2.x.

Here's what's happening: Firefox caches recently used objects -- Web pages, images -- in memory so that they can be re-rendered on-screen quickly, which drives up memory usage. The following tweaks can make Firefox stake out memory less aggressively. (Note, however, that lightening the memory load might make your pages load a bit more slowly than you're used to.)

Reduce graphics caching
When the Boolean preference browser.cache.memory.enable is enabled (the default), Firefox keeps copies of all graphical elements from the current browsing session in memory for faster rendering. You can set this to false to free up more memory, but pages in your history will reload less quickly when you revisit them.

Another option: Set the value to true and create a new integer preference called browser.cache.memory.capacity. Then specify, in kilobytes, how much memory to set aside for graphics caching. That way you get some of the speed benefits that graphics caching provides without taking a huge memory hit. If you use -1 as the memory value, Firefox will size the memory cache based on how much physical RAM is present.

Reduce Web page caching
Firefox caches several recently visited Web pages in memory so they don't have to be regenerated when you press Back or Forward. The integer setting browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers determines how many individual Web pages to store in the back/forward cache; each page takes about 4MB (or 4,000KB) of RAM.

By default, however, this value is set to -1, which determines how many pages to cache from the amount of available physical memory; the maximum number of pages stored when you use -1 is 8. Set this value to 0 to disable page caching entirely. That will save some memory, but will also cause Back and Forward navigation to slow down a bit.

Note that this caching is not the same as browser.cache.memory.enable: That setting is for rendering elements on pages like graphics and buttons, and the contents of https-encoded pages, while this setting is for caching the text content of Web pages that have already been rendered or "tokenized."

Swap out to disk memory when minimized (Windows only)
A little-known feature in Firefox allows the Windows memory manager to swap out some of Firefox's physical memory space to disk when Firefox is minimized but not closed. This allows other programs to use the physical memory that Firefox was previously monopolizing.

By default, this feature is turned off, for two reasons: 1) PC memory is generally more plentiful than it used to be, so it makes sense to use it if it's available, and 2) swapping Firefox's memory out to disk will slow the program down when it's restored.

That said, if you run Firefox side by side with other memory-hungry applications, it might help keep them from competing with each other. To enable this feature, create a new Boolean preference called config.trim_on_minimize and set its value to true.



Firefox's minimized memory usage with (top) and without (bottom) config.trim_on_minimize.

<h1 id='sm_logo'><a href='/'></a>Repairing Windows XP in Recovery Console</h1>

<div>Most of us have seen it at one time or another; perhaps on our own PC, the PC of a loved one, or perhaps a PC at your place of employment. The system spends weeks or months operating in a smooth fashion, taking you to the far reaches of the wide, wibbly web, and after one particularly late evening of browsing and gaming, you shut your PC off and go to bed. Millions of people across the globe do just this every night, but a few of us have turned our PCs on the next day not to the standard Windows XP loading screen, but instead this dreaded error:</div></br>
<div><strong>Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: </strong></div></br>
<div><strong>\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CONFIG\\SYSTEM<br>
<br>
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup<br>
using the original Setup CD-ROM.<br>
<div> Select 'R' at the first screen to start repair. </div></br></strong>
<div>Which renders your PC inaccessible from the standard boot procedures of Windows XP. You try safe mode, to no avail. You're particularly savvy and try issuing the <strong>FIXBOOT </strong>and <strong>FIXMBR</strong> commands in the Windows recovery console, but after each reboot, you're merely greeted with the same obnoxious and terrifying blue screen of death that's preventing you from accessing your precious data.</div></br>
<div>Perhaps you've also seen these error screens:</div></br>
<div><strong>Windows NT could not start because the below file is missing or corrupt: </strong></div></br>
<div><strong>X:\\WINNT\\System32\\Ntoskrnl.exe <br>
</strong><strong>_________________ </strong></div></br>
<div><strong>Windows NT could not start because the below file is missing or corrupt: </strong></div></br>
<div><strong>X:\\WINNT\\System32\\HAL.dll <br>
</strong><strong>_________________ </strong></div></br>
<div><strong>NTLDR is Missing<br>
Press any key to restart <br>
</strong><strong>_________________ </strong></div></br>
<div><strong>Invalid boot.ini<br>
Press any key to restart </strong></div></br>
<div>Allow me to build tension by prefacing the end-all/be-all solution with my background: Having worked for the now-incorporated Geek Squad branch of Best Buy Corporation for the better part of eight months, I have seen dozens upon dozens of systems come through our department with any one of these errors, brought in by customers who are afraid they did something, have a virus, or are in jeopardy of losing their data. Prior to my discovery of an invaluable sequence of commands, our standard procedure was to hook the afflicted drive to an external enclosure, back up a customer's data and then restore the PC with the customer's restore discs or an identical copy of Windows with the customer's OEM license key. If the customer wasn't keen on the applicable charges for the data backup, we informed them of the potential risks for a Windows repair installation (Let's face it, they don't always work right), had them sign a waiver, and we did our best.</div></br>
<div>Neither of these procedures are cheap in the realm of commercial PC repair, nor do they inspire a tremendous level of confidence in the technician or the hopeful client. </div></br>


<div>In an effort to expedite our repair time <em>and </em>retain the sanity of myself and other technicians, I received permission to undertake a case study on a variety of PCs currently in service that exhibited any of the aforementioned symptoms, and I took it upon myself to find a better solution. After crawling through the MSKB, Experts Exchange, MSDN and sundry websites all extolling the virtues of a solution to these problems, I only found one that worked, and it has been reliably serving me for the better part of two weeks on seventeen PCs to date.</div></br>
<div>The process is simple: Get to the Windows Recovery Console for your particular Windows installation, navigate to the root letter of your installation (<strong>C:</strong> in most cases), issue eight commands, and reboot. The cornerstone of this process is a command called "<strong>BOOTCFG /Rebuild</strong>" which is a complete diagnostic of the operating system loaded into the recovery console; the purpose of the command is to remove/replace/repair any <em>system</em> files that were preventing the operating system from loading correctly. Amongst the files it fixes are:<br>
</div></br>
<ul>
<li>Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)</li>
<li>Corrupt registry hives (\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM32\\CONFIG\\xxxxxx)</li>
<li>Invalid BOOT.INI files</li>
<li>A corrupt NTOSKRNL.EXE</li>
<li>A missing NT Loader (NTLDR)</li>
</ul>

<div>The command process may apply to other types of blue screens or Hive/HAL/INI/EXE/DLL-related stop errors, but I have not had the luxury of computers in this type of disrepair. The process I am about to outline is virtually harmless, and if you feel you may be able to correct your PC's boot-time blue screens and stop errors with the sequence, feel free to try.</div></br>
<div>Let us now begin with a step-by-step instruction for correcting these issues. </div></br>
<h2> Getting to the Windows Recovery Console </h2>

<ol>
<li>Insert your Windows XP CD into your CD and assure that your CD-ROM drive is capable of booting the CD. Configuring your computer to boot from CD is outside of the scope of this document, but if you are having trouble, <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=booting+from+CD&btnG=Google+Search">consult Google for assistance</a>.</li>
<li>Once you have booted from CD, do <strong>not</strong> select the option that states: "Press F2 to initiate the Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool." You're going to proceed until you see the following screen, at which point you will press the "<strong>R"</strong> key to enter the recovery console:</li>
</ol>


<div class='image_block' id='xp_src_welcome'><table class='image_container' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'>
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<img src='hosted/images/xp_src_welcome.gif' alt='xp_src_welcome' title='xp_src_welcome' />
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<ul>
<li>After you have selected the appropriate option from step two, you will be prompted to select a valid Windows installation (Typically number "<strong>1"</strong>). Select the installation number, (As mentioned, "<strong>1"</strong> in most cases), and hit enter. If there is an administrator password for the administrator account, enter it and hit enter. You will be greeted with this screen, which indicates a recovery console at the ready:</li>
</ul>

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<img src='hosted/images/xp_src_console.gif' alt='xp_src_console' title='xp_src_console' />
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<div><em>Continue to page 2 to proceed with the repair functions. </em></div></br>

<h2> Proceeding With the Repair Functions </h2>

<ul>
<li>There are eight commands you must enter in sequence to repair any of the issues I noted in the opening of this guide. I will introduce them here, and then show the results graphically in the next six steps. These commands are as follows:</li>
<ul>
<li>C: CD ..</li>
<li>C: ATTRIB -H C:\\boot.ini</li>
<li>C:ATTRIB -S C:\\boot.ini</li>
<li>C:ATRIB -R C:\\boot.ini</li>
<li>C: del boot.ini</li>
<li>C: BOOTCFG /Rebuild</li>
<li>C: CHKDSK /R /F</li>
<li>C: FIXBOOT</li>
</ul>
<li>To "Go up a directory" in computing is to revert back to the directory above the current folder you're operating in. If, for example, I'm in the C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32 directory, and I want to get at a file in the WINDOWS directory, I would merely type <strong>CD ..</strong> and I would be taken out of the SYSTEM32 folder and up one level to WINDOWS. We're going to do the same thing here from the WINDOWS folder to get to the basic root of <strong>C:</strong></li>
</ul>

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<div>Now that we are at <strong>C: </strong>we can begin the process of repairing the operating system
and that begins with modifying the attributes of the BOOT.INI file. Briefly, BOOT.INI controls what operating systems the Windows boot process can see, how to load them, and where they're located on your disk. We're going to make sure the file is no longer hidden from our prying eyes, remove the flag that sets it as an undeletable system file, and remove the flag that sets it as a file we can only read, but not write to. To do this, we will issue <strong>three commands in this step:</strong></div></br>

<ul>
<li><strong>C:ATTRIB -H C:\\BOOT.INI</strong></li>
<li><strong>C:ATTRIB -R C:\\BOOT.INI</strong></li>
<li><strong>C:ATTRIB -S C:\\BOOT.INI</strong></li>
</ul>

<div>to remove the Hidden, System and Read Only flags.</div></br>

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<img src='hosted/images/xp_src_attributes.gif' alt='xp_src_attributes' title='xp_src_attributes' />
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<div>Now that we've modified the attributes for the BOOT.INI file, it's up for deletion. The syntax for it is simple: { DEL | FILE NAME }, e.g., C:DEL BOOT.INI deletes the BOOT.INI file.</div></br>

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<img src='hosted/images/xp_src_delete.gif' alt='xp_src_delete' title='xp_src_delete' />
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<div>Now for the most important step of our process, the <strong>BOOTCFG /REBUILD</strong> command which searches for pre-existing installations of Windows XP and rebuilds sundry essential components of the Windows operating system, recompiles the BOOT.INI file and corrects a litany of common Windows errors. It is <strong>very important that you do one or both of the following two things</strong>: First, every Windows XP owner must use <strong>/FASTDETECT</strong> as an OS Load Option when the rebuild process is finalizing. Secondly, if you are the owner of a CPU featuring <strong>Intel's XD </strong>or <strong>AMD's NX</strong> buffer overflow protection, you must also use <strong>/NOEXECUTE=OPTIN </strong>as an OS Load Option. I will demonstrate both commands for the purpose of this guide, but <strong>do not set NOEXECUTE as a load option if you do not own one of these CPUs. </strong>For the "<strong>Enter Load Identifier</strong>" portion of this command, you should enter the name of the operating system you have installed. If, for example, you are using Windows XP Home, you could type "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" for the identifier. This gives the process some authenticity, if you're keen on being a perfectionist.</div></br>

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<img src='hosted/images/xp_src_rebuild.gif' alt='xp_src_rebuild' title='xp_src_rebuild' />
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<div>This step verifies the integrity of the hard drive containing the Windows XP installation. While this step is not an <em>essential </em>function in our process, it's still good to be sure that the drive is physically capable of running windows, in that it contains no bad sectors or other corruptions that might be the culprit. No screenshot necessary here! Just type <strong>CHKDSK /R /F </strong>at the <strong>C:></strong> prompt. Let it proceed; it could take in excess of 30 minutes on slower computers, when this is finished move on to the seventh and final step.</div></br>


<div>This last step also requires no screenshot. When you are at the <strong>C:> </strong>prompt,
simply type <strong>FIXBOOT</strong>. This writes a new boot sector to the hard drive and cleans up all the loose ends we created by rebuilding the BOOT.INI file and the system files. When the Windows Recovery Console asks you if you are "<strong>Sure you want to write a new bootsector to the partition C: ?"</strong> just hit "<strong>Y," </strong>then enter to confirm your decision.</div></br>

<h2>Results and Wrap-Up </h2>
<div>It's time to reboot your PC by typing <strong>EXIT</strong> in the Windows Recovery Console and confirming the command with a stroke of the enter key. With any luck, your PC will boot successfully into Windows XP as if your various DLL, Hive, EXE and NTLDR errors never existed. You've just saved yourself from many hours of work, frustration, potential data loss and shelling out your hard-earned greenbacks at a brick'n'mortar operation.</div></br>

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