Hacking Manual

PCWorld Reports that AV-Test.Org has put Microsoft’s New Anti Virus to the test.

Microsoft Security Essentials Detected 98.44 percent of viruses out of 545,034. However it wasn’t that great at detecting Spyware and Ad-ware only detecting 90.95 percent.  In my opinion not many AV programs are.  Two programs I recommend for spyware and adware are Spyware Doctor Starter Edition, and Malware Bytes Anti Malware, Both are Free and Deathly effective.

Overall, Microsoft Security Essentials did better than I expected, However I’m not ready to switch from my current AV which is Avira Free Edition. However If you are a corporation or small business it could be very cost effective since most AV Free editions cannot be used for businesses.

Microsoft’s Free AV Looks Good in New Test Results [Via PCWorld]

How to stop VMWare Server from crashing/Freezing Vista.

If you install VMWare Server 1.09 or below your computer will freeze up when you start your virtual machine. To fix that first go to

Host—Host Settings—Fit all host memory into reserved host ram.

The second thing you want to do is make sure your virtual machine has a low spec of memory, so I you have 2GB of ram, and vista is using 1GB, then use 512MB for you virtual machine.

Vista doesn’t play well with VMWare Server1.09 and below, to resolve that you could always upgrade to VMWare Server 2 and above. Although I have noticed VMWare Server 2 is wierd and difficult to use compare to version 1.

Another option is that you can run VMWare Server on XP. It runs much better and smoother. I wonder if this issue will be fixed in Windows 7

In the event that vista crashes you will need a vista recovery disk. If you purchased computer didn’t come with a copy of vista you can download the vista recovery disk from NeoSmart. This won’t install vista, but it will provide you with the repair option.

http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

I orginally discovered this problem after Ghosting my laptop to upgrade my hard drive.  It dispayed a white – and wouldn’t boot.

Solution: Pop in your vista recovery disk and do a start up repair. In the event that doesn’t do the trick.

Go to CMD line.

Type C:/

Bootrec.exe /fixmbr

bootrec.exe /fixboot

and just restart your computer. This fixes the master boot record and allows your drive to boot.

Add Items to the Send To List- Ever wanted to customize the send to list when you right click on a file? Open windows explorer and type %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo and add the shortcuts to that folder.

Start Programs Automatically-Do you want certain programs or websites to startup automatically when you turn on your computer? If so Here’s how. Add a shortcut to the following folder. Start—All Programs–Startup.

Vista Task Manager Shortcut-No longer are the days when pressing Ctrl Alt Del will take you directly to the Task Manager.Instead Try Pressing Ctrl Alt Esc.
Using the Windows Key:
Windows Key + D = Show Desktop
Windows Key + E  = Windows Explorer
Windows Key + F = Search
Windows Key + L= Lock your computer
Windows Key + R = Run

Using Start Search
CMD = Command Prompt
DEV = Device Manager
SYS=  System Restore
UPD= Windows Update
PROG= Set Program Defaults
EVE= Event Viewer
MSTSC= Remote Desktop
MSCONFIG= Control Startup Programs and Services

Web Browser Shortcuts (Firefox and Internet Explorer)
Ctrl + F = Search Webpage
Ctrl + T = Open New Tab

Restore Your Recycle Bin- Did you accidentally delete the Recycle bin? So did I . To Restore it Right Click on My Computer—Properties—Change Desktop Icons

Chat with people on your local area network still using XP. Using the hidden chat program WinChat.exe. It’s a shame it’s not in vista because it looks like a useful tool. More documentation can be found http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308232

Click  Start—Run—Type Winchat.exe

Update: The service that runs this program has been disabled in recent service packs of XP due to a security risk.

Until Vista came along there was no built in way to back up your entire computer including your operating system, registry and installed programs. Previously if you wanted to make an image of your hard drive you had to use programs like Norton Ghost or Clone Zilla. Now with Most flavors of vista there is a feature called Windows Complete PC Backup. You should make an image as soon as you buy your computer or install windows, or install a lot of software. This way if a virus hits your machine or it’s just a few years old and the registry is all bogged down, you can restore your computer when it was running at it’s peek.

Click the start Bar
Type Backup and restore into the start search bar
Hit Enter
Click Backup Computer

You can either backup to a DVD or a Another Hard Drive besides The Drive you OS is running on

The administrator account is disabled and Hidden by defualt in Vista. Even if your account is an administrator account you will still get UAC warnings and Warnings like this command requires elevation.

To Enable the Administrator Account Right click on My Computer, Click Manage, Go to local Users and Groups, and uncheck the account is disabled box. Make sure to set a password though.

Or if you prefer the Command Line  enter  Net user administrator /active:yes

The 2 Errors you might see are “Windows could not determine if this computer contains a valid system volume” or “There are too few disks on this computer or one or more disks is too small.

To fix this go into bios and make sure USB hard drive is not selected to boot before your main hard drive. If your not sure reset to defaults.  Try recovery or installation again.

Windows Speech Recognition- Control your computer and type documents with your microphone.

Windows Calandar- It was really hard to find a nice free calendar program that worked the way I wanted it too. I really like windows calendar.

Complete PC Backup- In previous versions of windows if you needed to restore the entire computer including the operating system you would need to use norton ghost and create an image. Now you can truly back up your entire computer.

Previous Versions- If you accidentally delete a document or make changes to it you can right click on the folder and select restore previous versions. Although I do admit this is a security threat because you could delete sensitive data that can be easily recovered.

Windows Meeting Space- Share your desktop and have virtual meetings over the network.