Usefull applications for Windows

After a clean install of win7 on your PC/Laptop there are some post install configuration that can be performed to optimize the OS. I am providing a list of some applications that will help you to optimize and secure your OS to a great extent.

·         Service Packs

All the Microsoft Service Packs can be found collectively at:

 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/service-packs-download#sptabs=xp

1.       Windows 7 Service Pack 1

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5842

windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe                       64 bit

windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe                                32  bit

2.       Windows Xp Service Pack 2

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24

WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

For installing Service Pack 2, Service Pack 1 should be installed first.

3.       Windows Vista Service Pack 2

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16468

Windows6.0-KB948465-X86.exe                                   32 bit

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17669

Windows6.0-KB948465-X64.exe                                   64 bit

For installing Service Pack 2, Service Pack 1 should be installed first.

After installing OS Service Packs you can also install Office Service packs

4.       Office 2007 Service Pack 3

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27838

office2007sp3-kb2526086-fullfile-en-us.exe

5.       Office 2003 Service Pack 3

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=8

Office2003SP3-KB923618-FullFile-ENU.exe

If we have got Office 2003 installed, still we can access files created by Office 2007 or above (.docx,.xlsx,.pptx) we can install a Compatibility Pack from Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=3

FileFormatConverters.exe

·         Auslogics Disk Defrag Screen Saver

This is not just a screen saver but a UTILITY screen saver which automatically defrag your harddisk when your screensaver is activated. You don’t have to monitor it or perform any action for its operation. It is very light weight unlike other defragmentation tools.

http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag-screen-saver/download/

disk-defrag-screen-saver-setup.exe

·         Panda USB Vaccine

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Panda-USB-Vaccine-Download-122684.html

http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/downloads/usbvaccine/

·         Autorun Eater

http://oldmcdonald.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/autorun-eater-v26/

·         Avast Home Edition antivirus with free 1 year Home License

http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe

http://www.avast.com/en-in/download-thank-you.php?product=FA-AVAST&locale=en-in

·         K-Lite Codec Pack

http://www.filehippo.com/download_klite_codec_pack/

·         CCleaner

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

·         Plugins - Flash Player, Java Runtime Environment, Shockwave Player, Silverlight

http://www.filehippo.com/download_flashplayer/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_jre/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_shockwave/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_silverlight/

·         .Net framework

http://www.filehippo.com/download_dotnet_framework/

·         DirectX

http://www.filehippo.com/download_directx/

·         Teracopy OR Supercopier OR Ultracopier

http://www.filehippo.com/download_teracopy/

http://ultracopier.first-world.info/supercopier.html

http://ultracopier.first-world.info/download.html

·         Download Managers – Internet Download Manager (IDM) OR Free Download Manager (FDM)

http://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm

http://www.filehippo.com/download_flashget/

·         Pdf - Foxit Reader OR Adobe Reader

http://www.filehippo.com/download_foxit/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_adobe_reader/

·         MS Office alternatives

http://openoffice.org/

http://www.libreoffice.org/

·         Online Cloud Storage

https://skydrive.live.com/ - Microsoft – 25GB Free

https://drive.google.com/ - Google – 5GB Free

·         Some useful links :

http://wordweb.info/free/

http://portableapps.com/

https://www.virtualbox.org/

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

http://livecdlist.com/

http://www.liberkey.com/en.html

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

http://wintoflash.com/download/en/

http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/System/System-Enhancements/WinSetupFromUSB.shtml

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanagers.html

http://www.plop.at/en/winusbinstall.html

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

https://www.soluto.com/

http://www.filehippo.com/download_pdfcreator/

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/pc-wizard.html

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

http://www.themudcrab.com/acronis_grub4dos.php

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd-on-usb-disk

http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/

http://www.dailycupoftech.com/usb-drive-autoruninf-tweaking/

http://ldc.mx/descargar.php?des=usbdoctor

http://www.pcrx.com/system_protect/

http://www.zbigz.com/

USB Tethering for Android Devices on Windows XP

USB Tethering with Windows XP : Android Devices

If your computer is running Windows 7 or a recent distribution of some flavors of Linux (such as 

Ubuntu), you typically don’t need to prepare your computer for tethering. But if you’re running an earlier version of Windows or another operating system, you may need to prepare your computer to establish a network connection via USB.

If you want to tether your Android device via USB to a computer running Windows XP, you must prepare your computer as described in this article.

Windows XP contains the drivers you need to take advantage of USB tethering, but you must install a configuration file before connecting your phone to your Windows XP computer, to instruct Windows XP how to configure itself to use those drivers.

1. Download the following configuration file (tetherxp.inf) to your Windows XP computer. Typically, you can right click on the link and choose "Save As". (If your browser appends .html to the file name, you will need to edit the name to remove the .html extension.)
2. Use the USB cable that came with your phone to connect your phone to your computer.
3. On the Android phone, press Home, press Menu, and touch Settings to open the Settings application.
4. Touch Wireless & networks > Tethering & portable hotspot.
5. Check USB tethering.
6. When Windows XP’s New Hardware Wizard opens, select No, not at this time and click Next.
7. Select Install from a list or specific location and click Next.
8. Click Browse to browse to the directory where you installed the configuration file you downloaded in Step 1 and click Next. Windows XP uses the configuration file to configure itself to support USB tethering with the Android phone.
9. When Windows XP finishes installing the software for Android USB Ethernet/RNDIS, click Finish.

You can now use the new Windows XP local area network connection provided by your phone via USB tethering. For more information about configuring networks in Windows XP, see the documentation that comes with Windows.

SATA Drivers - Slipstream into Windows XP CD

How to slipstream SATA drivers into Windows XP setup CD, on your dual boot PC with Windows 7 or Vista

When you install Win XP, setup can not find your Hard Drive.





1) Download & Install nLite
nLite - Deployment Tool for the bootable Unattended Windows installation

2) Make a new folder for your Windows XP image.
Note: for this example, I am using the name Win XP Sata.

3) Insert XP CD & start nLite

4) Click Next.

5) Choose your Windows XP image folder, & Click Next, than OK.
Note: nLite will put the image into your folder.

6) Click Next.

7) Click Next.

8) Choose Integrate Drivers & Create Bootable ISO

9) Click Next.

10) Copy & Paste your Sata Driver to your image folder.
Note: for this example, I am using Promise Fastrak 376.

11) Click Insect, than Single Driver.

12) Locate your Sata Setup Inf file.
Click Open, than OK.

Note: for this example the file is called fasttx2k.
Note: for this example, I am using Promise Fastrak 376.

13) Click Next.

14) Click Yes, than Next.

15) Choose Direct Burn.
Click Burn, than Yes.
Note: nLite will now burn your new CD.

16) Click Next.

17) Click Finish.

Your Sata drive will now show up in setup.

 

Intel GMA3600 Driver for RHEL/CENTOS 5.x/6.x needed

Hi friends,
Intel GMA 3600 Driver for RHEL/CENTOS 5.x/6.x is required for Intel Atom N2600 processor.
Please help me guys if you have any link for downloading this driver.
You can paste your link in the comment section of this post or can mail me on averma18jan82@gmail.com.
Waiting for your response.
Thanks in advance.

ThinClient concepts - some queries about Thin Client technology

ThinClient concepts - some queries about Thin Client technology

Q1.     What are Thin Clients?

A1.     Typically, thin Clients are low powered computers that (strictly speaking) do not have a hard disk

          drive. Since there is no hard  disk drive, there is also no operating system.  And since these are 

          low powered systems, all processing is done on the server instead of the thin client itself. Certain

          types of thin clients (running on embedded XP or embedded Linux) may have full fledged OS

          capabilities complete with installed applications such as Micorsoft or Open Office and browsers such

          as Internet Explorer and/or Mozilla Firefox.

Q2.     If there is no hard disk drive and no operating system, how does it work? How does it boot up?

A2.     All Thin Clients boot up directly from a server which is running the operating system (Windows 

          2003 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server or even Linux).

          Thin Clients may boot either directly from the server via PXE boot and then connect to it or boot up

          from locally installed mini disk running Windows XP embedded (Win XPe), Windows CE embedded 

          (Win CEe) or Linux embedded (Le) and then connect to the server. Once connected to the server, the

          user gets the log in screen of the operating system running on the server.

          Please bear in mind that booting from a server and connecting to a server are two different

          processes, since you can have more than one server - one simply for booting up and the second

          or even a third or more for connecting to (where the applications are installed and processing

          takes place) depending upon architecture. If required, an enterprise can also go in for a hybrid

          architecture consisting of both Windows and Linux Terminal servers.

Q3.     Where are the various applications installed and user data stored?

A3.     All applications are installed on the connecting server and every user has his own "My

          Documents" folder created where his profile, documents, etc. are stored.

Q4.     If all files and documents of all users are stored on the same server on the same storage device,

          can one user not access or read the files of another user?

A4.     As stated above, every user has his own "My Documents" folder created. No user can access or

          even get into another user's "My Documents" folder unless specifically permitted to do so. This,

          of course, will require an NTFS file storge system and not the FAT32.

Q5.     What kind of applications and software can one install and run in a Thin Client environment?

A5.     All programs of everyday life can be used with Thin Clients...to name a few MS Office; various

          various browsers for surfing; e-mail clients like Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook, etc.; ERP

          packages - including SAP; Coreldraw, Adobe Photoshop, Pagemaker, Tally, MS SQL based

          packages, chatting (using keyboard) programs and even open source and customized packages.

Q6.     Which software packages cannot be used?

A6.     Heavy graphical games, animation packages like Maya and such others that require a very fast

          screen refresh cannot be used.

Q7.    How many Thin Clients can be made to run on a single server?

A7.    This depends upon the server hardware configuration, the choice of operting system and the

         programs/applications that are installed on that particular server. Typically, a small office with

         10 Thin Clients can be well served by a P-IV machine with 1GB of RAM with Windows Server 2003

         Standard edition (that supports up to 4GB of RAM. Enterprise edition + SP2 supports upto 64GB.

         For increased RAM support, 64 bit versions are apt wherein the Standard edition + SP2 can support

         32GB while Enterprise + SP2 can support 2TB ). Increase the RAM to 2GB and the users to 20 to

         25 without any problem.

         For users on an enterprise level, a Xeon based server with dual or more processors, a minimum

         of 4GB RAM and redundancy on storage devices by way of RAID, network adaptors and power

         supply unit is recommended. Load balancing technology with additional servers prevents any

         single server from reaching critical levels.

         These are of course, broad guidelines. Actual server hardware and architecture will most

         definitely vary from case to case.

Q8.    Won't running so many Thin Clients on one server slow it down or kill it altogether?

A8.    No. This will not happen since the server hardware is sized taking into account the number of

         Thin Clients that are to be run and the software/applications to be installed on it.

         Besides, all processing is taking place electronically without any moving parts except the hard

         disk drive. Load balancing technology is employed to prevent server crashes.

Q9.    Can one install a printer on a Thin Client node?

A9.    Yes. Most printers can be installed on a Thin Client node either on a parallel port or USB port. The

         printer is physically installed on the Thin Client node but in configured on the server as a local printer

         printing to a TCP/IP port. In case of embedded systems, the printer in configured locally on the Thin

         Client itself.

Q10.  What devices can a Thin Client access locally?

A10.   Most devices like local hard disk drives, pen drives, floppy disk drives and optical drives can be

          accessed by the Thin Client without any problem.  For other devices like scanners, multi function

          devices and CD/DVD writer, if required on a Thin Client, our embedded systems are recommended,

          one that is running Win XPe.

Q11.  Will 'Touch Screens' work with Thin Clients?

A11.  Yes, very much with our Win XPe range.

Q12.  What about Thin Clients and Citrix?

A12.  Citrix metaframe server installed on the Remote Server will enable the Thin Clients to work across

            a relatively slow WAN link also by using the ICA protocol instead of Remote Desktop (RDP).

Q13.  What about DOS? Can I run DOS progams on my Thin Clients?

A13.  Most definitely, yes!! You can run DOS programs in FULL SCREEN.

Q14.  Can I have a hard disk on my Thin Client?

A14.  Of course!!! Though not required, but if you do have or want a hard disk, you have a dual boot system,

         whereby you can work either on the server or on the local hard disk.

 

A universal primer for rooting concepts on Android devices

A universal primer for rooting concepts on Android devices

WHO SHOULD READ THIS
If you don't know what rooting an Android phone means, and/or you want a clear understanding of the concepts of rooting, read on. My goal is to help you understand what rooting is, why you might consider rooting, and the potential risks it carries. This guide isnot intended to be a "how to root YOUR phone" guide, nor does it cover all the things you can do once rooted.


BACKGROUND:
Android is an operating system that runs on Linux. Linux is a UNIX-like operating system, and in the UNIX world, the administrator account is called "root." This root account has full admin access over the entire system. That system in the Android world is located in a partition on your phone's internal memory called /system.

When you turn on your phone, a program called the bootloader, a.k.a. HBOOT, is run. By default, one of the tasks of the bootloader is to protect certain partitions on your internal memory from being tampered with, either accidentally or intentionally. This protection is sometimes referred to as NAND* protection, NAND lock, S-ON (an HTC-specific term), or "locked bootloader." The aforementioned /system is one of the partitions that is protected by the bootloader.

* NAND refers to the type of flash memory used in the phone.

In a normal startup, the bootloader kicks off the operating system, and the result is Android loading up and presenting you with your phone's user interface. But the bootloader also has the ability to load a special program called recovery instead of the operating system. The name of this program suggests that its purpose is to provide tools that help you recover your phone should the internal memory contents get damaged. The recovery program can replace the contents of /system entirely, and it can also make backups of your entire internal memory. The recovery program lives in a partition called /recovery. This partition is also write-protected by the bootloader.


WHAT IS ROOTING
In the most literal definition of the word, rooting is giving your phone the ability to be granted root (admin) access to the system. To do this, a special program called su (a.k.a superuser) is called, and its job is to grant a user or application root access when requested. The su program is not factory-installed on your phone. The process of adding su to your system is what is known as rooting.

However, when most people refer to rooting, they are not necessarily referring to the literal definition of the word. Implicit in the rooting process is removing the NAND protection being enforced by the bootloader. The reason the bootloader aspect is significant in the rooting process is that without write access to the /system partition, much of the post-root functionality is still unavailable. In fact, to place su onto the /system partition, NAND protection must be disabled; otherwise the bootloader will prohibit the attempt to write the su program to /system. Removing this bootloader protection, a.k.a. NAND unlock, S-OFF, "unlocking the bootloader," allows for the modification of the /recovery partition, the /boot partition where the Linux kernel is stored, and the /hboot partition, where the bootloader program itself is stored. Rooting stands for freedom and openness. Once this security is removed, only then do you have full access to your phone.

In some devices, it's possible to add su to the system but not remove the NAND protection of the bootloader. This scenario is often referred to as a half-root. A full-root, therefore, is a phone where the NAND protection is removed, and su has been added to /system. Typically, a custom recovery program also replaces the stock recovery program as part of a full root.


HOW A PHONE GETS ROOTED
There is no single rooting method that works with all Android devices. Because each manufacturer uses its own bootloader program, which comes with its own unique security measures, a root exploit is often specific to a given device. Even within a given phone, there could be variations in the version of the firmware and operating system, which may require a unique exploit for each version. Therefore, when a phone is released or updated, there may be no known method of obtaining root. The process of rooting a phone is typically started when a phone hacker starts to analyze the components of the phone (both hardware and firmware) and starts to test for weaknesses or exploits that might disable the bootloader security, or grant temporary root privileges. There's never a guarantee that a phone can be cracked, but if an exploit is found, the person or team who discovered the exploit may create a rooting package or procedure and share with the rest of the community. For most people, rooting their phone is simply following in the footsteps of the pioneer(s) who have cleared the path already.

Not all phones can be fully rooted. Again, it comes down to the hardware/firmware used by the manufacturer. Motorola and HTC have released phones with additional security measures that make them very difficult to crack. While it appears that hackers have overcome HTC's latest defenses, the bootloader protection of some Motorola phones have yet to fall as of this writing. On the other hand, some manufacturers like Samsung and Sony are trending toward a more relaxed bootloader protection policy. And due to community pressure, HTC and Motorola have both issued statements that they plan to "unlock their bootloaders" in the near future.


A TYPICAL PROCESS FOR FULL-ROOT
The hallmark of a full-root is the removal of the bootloader's NAND protection. Therefore, this is typically the first objective of the root exploit. Once the NAND protection is gone, a custom recovery program is written to the /recovery partition, overwriting the default recovery program.

The custom recovery program contains more functionality than what is provided with the stock recovery program, and this is the reason it is included as part of the root exploit. The recovery program (sometimes referred to as the recovery image) will be an essential tool for the user once the phone is rooted. Not only can it be used to recover from bad configurations, it can also flash custom operating systems, allowing the user to customize their phone to a very high degree.

The final step is adding the su program to the /system partition. Two programs are added: the Linux-executable file called su, and an Android app called superuser. Android applications that request root privileges will present the request to the superuser app, and that app will call su only if the phone's user approves. You can think of the superuser app as a security guard between an Android app and su, and the guard will want authorization from the phone's user before allowing the app to obtain root privileges.


RISKS OF ROOTING
When a root exploit is initially found, it may or may not be stable. What this means is that it may not work reliably, or worse, it may cause a permanent failure of the phone, preventing it from booting up. A responsible phone hacker will therefore test the exploit extensively across many phones and modify the exploit as needed to make it stable. When the exploit has been proven to work safely and reliably, it is released to the public. However, this does not guarantee that the exploit will work with every single phone that it targets. The person or team that releases the exploit will make it clear that the exploit is "use at your own risk." Each person considering rooting their phone needs to understand this risk and decide whether it's worth proceeding or not.

Once the exploit has removed the NAND protection, the risk of permanently damaging your phone becomes very, very low. That's not to say that you can't get yourself into a bind, but with a little bit of know-how, rarely does a bad situation mean a bricked phone. If you haven't guessed already, a bricked phone is a phone that shares the qualities of a brick: it can look rectangular and do nothing.As a preemptive safety measure, the custom recovery program installed as part of the root exploit contains a very useful tool called a NANDroid backup/restore. This utility backs up your internal memory and essentially is a save-state. No matter how you change your phone in the future, you can always bring your phone back to the state it was in at the time of the backup. It is highly recommended to make a NANDroid backup before flashing anything.