Hide your computer in the Network

(Hide computer in the Network)
"I want to hide my computer in the network neighborhood, also I don't want them to discover me...Please help me. Thanks." This is a message from an anonymous computer user.

Network Places in Windows XP na Network Explorer in Windows Vista

I will give two solutions in your requested topic. I hope you'll always be a fan of this site and please support us.

Using my Software WinBubble: Go to specific Tab > Tweaking Toolbox > Hide your Computer

That's it! This is great, if you don't want to memorize lot's of commands...

Learn How to do it Manually:

First, go to Start Menu->Run window. type: "cmd". In the command prompt enter the following commands:

Net config server /hidden:yes

This command will hide you from the Network neighborhood but your shared folders can still be access.

Note: in Windows Vista, you need to open the command Prompt as Administrator: Start Menu > type "cmd" > CTRL+Shift+Enter and hit Continue.

or else you’ll get this message:                              

System error 5 has occurred.

Access is denied.

So how about my IP address? what if they have an ip-scanner, still they can find me?

They can find you by using an ipscanner. The solution for this problem is by using a Firewall. Upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2, there is a free inbound protection firewall. For Windows Vista users, there is an inbound and outbound firewall protection by default.

To check if your computer is hidden in the network neighborhood type this in the command prompt

Net config server


Server Name \\MyPc
Server Comment

Software version Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate
Server is active on
NetbiosSmb (MyPC)
NetBT_Tcpip_{4365E532-AF25-4C8E-C31E-5D3BG50F7043} (MyPC)

Server hidden Yes
Maximum Logged On Users 10
Maximum open files per session 16384

Idle session time (min) 15
The command completed successfully.

How to Show your Computer Again inside the Network Neighborhood

Net config server /hidden:no
Basic For Windows

Google sidewiki disable in Internet Explorer 8

Today I find a Sidewiki is currently available in Internet Explorer 8. I had installed Google Toolbar in Windows 7. Because I don't want to use the feature, try to disable google sidewiki by the following steps:

Open your Internet Explorer --> Click the Google Toolbar's wrench icon to adjust the options --> deselect the 'Sidewiki' checkbox on the Tools tab -->
Click Save --> Now you have remove google sidewiki.
Basic For Windows

How To Block Websites Without Software

Steps:

1] Browse C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
2] Find the file named "HOSTS"
3] Open it in notepad
4] Under "127.0.0.1 localhost" Add 127.0.0.2 www.sitenameyouwantblocked.com , and that site will no longer be accessible.
5] Done!

-So-

127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.2 www.blockedsite.com

-->www.blockedsite.com is now unaccessible<--


For every site after that you want to add, just add "1" to the last number in the internal ip (127.0.0.2) and then the add like before.

IE: 127.0.0.3 www.yahoo.com
127.0.0.4 www.google.com
127.0.0.5 www.hotmail.com

etc...

Enjoy----------------
Basic For Windows

What is Your IP address

 You would like to know what is your IP address when you are connected on the Internet? You can get your answer on several different ways. You can go to whatismyipaddress.com and you'll see your IP and where are you on Google map. But if you need more information you can go to Start - Run, than type CMD and press ENTER. There, just type
"ipconfig/all" (without quotes) and press ENTER.
You will get more than IP address, you'll see full profile of your connection like on image bellow:

Basic For Windows

Increase Internet Download Connections

This trick increase Simultaneous Internet Download Connections
and increases the number of allowed simultaneous connections to a higher number. The
default value is only five connections.
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings.
Right click on the window pane and create a DWord key with the name
“MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server” as it is without quotes. Set the value to a higher number
like 0000000a. Note that they are zeros and not alphabet ‘O’.
Right click on the window pane and create another DWord key with the name
“MaxConnectionsPerServer”. No quotes please. Set the value to a higher number like
0000000a. Note that they are zeros and not alphabet ‘O’.
***===***

Protect your computer from hackers

Learn how to prevent yourself from being a victim and a distributor of computer email viruses and worms. Take these simple precautions...And Protect Your Computer !

   1. NEVER open an attachment in an email UNLESS you are sure you understand what it is and why it’s been sent to you. When in doubt, delete. You can always write back to the person who sent it and ask if they intended to send an attachment and to please explain what it was and then resend it. Most viruses are triggered by unwitting victims opening an attachment.
        
   2. INSTALL PROTECTION SOFTWARE — NOW! Once you have it, you will help stop the spread of viruses. If you don’t have it, you will sooner or later regret leaving yourself so vulnerable. It is absolutely worth the money spent for it! (See the list of anti-virus software on the right.)
        
   3. BLOCK PORN and other spam, as well as viruses, with a program called MailWasher Pro. For a very low price, MailWasher will look inside your mailbox before you run your email program, identify the porn and spam and viruses, and delete it for you. It will even help you fight back by sending a bounce message that tells the spammer that your address is invalid (so that it’s removed from their mailing list). Then you can safely open your email.
       
   4. Find out what’s NOT a virus and don’t clog up the internet spreading false alarms. When you get word of a virus, take a minute to check it out first, before forwarding the message to others and embarrassing yourself. Here’s a great site for this research:
      urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
        
   5. BEWARE OF SPIES, HACKERS & KEY LOGGERS!
      There are programs that can spy into your computer. It happens when people download a program (such as a game) that comes bundled with “Sputnik” or “VX2″ or another brand of spyware. It installs itself silently on your computer and then monitors your “clickstream” as you navigate around the web, sending information about your activities (including credit card numbers!), back to the originator. Disclaimers claim that credit card info will not be used (sooo — why get it then?)

      To make matters worse, there seems to be a connection between this and an increase of popup ads while surfing the Internet!

   6. Always be careful about what you download. Is it from a trustworthy software manufacturer? But since “trust” is only a guess, the best advice is to extend your anti-virus protection to include anti-spyware (to block your personal information from being taken without your permission), anti-hacker-tools (to prevent hijackers from accessing your PC), anti-key-loggers (to safeguard your passwords and other private stuff) and anti-worms (to hack away at hacker tools that can exploit your computer even after they’re gone).
***===***

Repair your Windows Operating System Online with Reimage

Most Windows XP users will notice their system seems to get slower and slower compared to when they first installed the operating system. As the time passes, we installed a lot of programs and stored a lot of files, causing the operating system used more system resources and makes your computer slower. Besides that, with the emergence of internet and file sharing, users can unknowingly install what is known as spyware or malware. These malwares, spywares and viruses damaging your operating system and degrading its health.

What is Reimage?
Reimage is a web-based service runs via ActiveX that repairs damaged Windows XP systems so that your operating system will run like it first installed. Reimage repairs Windows XP PCs remotely over the network or internet and specialized in Windows XP PCs that won’t reboot.
Reimage performs its works by applying a set of predefined actions according to the problem in the XP systems. By referencing with over 4 million registry and components repository, Reimage looking for components or objects that are missing, new objects or changed by viruses, malware or other malicious software. Then, Reimage will replace the missing objects with the repository databases and restore the services or components to its original state. For the new components or objects, Reimage will disable them so they can’t do harm anymore. Unlike built-in Windows XP system restore, Reimage doesn’t affect user data or applications on the operating system.

Here are some features of Reimage:

1. Reduce repair time – Save time because Reimage is easy to use and there is no need to call your technician each time you have PC problems.
2. Optimize your Windows XP machine – Reimage will provide diagnosis for your PC, including processor usage, memory usage, hard disk usage, Windows Paging usage. Then provide you with a set of recommendation for your PC.
3. Repairs all kind of problems on your Windows XP PC – This is including registry fixes, driver fixes, check for security issues, and disable all kind of malicious programs on your PC.
4. No installation required – Because Reimage used web-based ActiveX, you can run it anywhere as long as Internet Explorer is installed.

For Reimage Home Edition, it also comes with a Free PC booster which capable to speed up most common programs on your PC. Unfortunately, Reimage only available for Windows XP.
You can check out more about Reimage at Reimage blog or you can view the company video: How the technology works.

Reduce Spam Emails

All of us use emails for communication and thus each one of us must have come across some spam mails every day. No one like Spam Messages and thus in this....
Here are 10 top tips to reduce spam in your email in-box.

1. Delete/turn off your catch-all

   Catch-all’s are generic mail boxes that collect all email not being sent to a named account. The up-side of catch-alls is that if someone spells an email address correctly then you still have a chance to access the message. The down side is that automated mailers send emails to randomuser@yourdomain.com. So by removing your catch-all email account you will stop a majority of junk messages.
   

2. Make sure that you dont publish personal email addresses on your website.

   Automated systems ‘trawl’ websites looking for email addresses, adding them to lists without your permission. If you do want to publish a personal email address disguise it using javascript or as an image (these will be inaccessible and stop some disabled viewers from emailing you), or even better, replace the email address with a contact form allowing you to pre-qualify enquiries by asking detailed questions or giving a choice of specific variables.
   

3. Set up a generic email address for use on forums, registration pages and other situations where you know that you may be opening yourself up to receiving spam email.

   We use sam@ (that’s spam@ without the p) and all emails from such sites are collected centrally where they can be reviewed and acted upon e.g. To validate your registration etc.
   

4. Don’t use single names i.e. fred@ for your email address.

   Again, these addresses can be guessed and within a few minutes a flood of spam begins to arrive. Instead opt for firstname.surname@. An added benefit is that it makes sure your contacts really know who you are.
   

5. Don’t use sales@ support@ or any other guessable addresses for the same reason as above.

   Instead come up with your own codes for online contact forms etc. As they’re being accessed through a form and don’t need to be entered manually – you can really go wild with these.
   

6. Register a dedicated email domain.

   It may be a bit extreme, but if spam becomes so unmanageable, it may be worthwhile registering a completely different address to email from. This could be name@emailcompanyname.com.
   

7. Use an email program with integrated spam filtering.

   Outlook (not express) has limited in-built spam filtering. A better option would be to use Mozilla’s free email program Thunderbird, which automatically tags possible spam for you. A great feature of Thunderbird is you can set the default view to show all messages marked as not-spam, which dramatically reduces the amount of clutter and enables you to toggle between spammy and non spammy views.
   

8. Ask your host what spam filtering packages they offer.

   With our Fasthosts accounts, the email server can* automatically catch and label potential spam as spam. It doesn’t stop the messages from being delivered, but by setting up message rules, you can easily drop these out of the main view, into a folder, for later review.
   * Extra charges apply.
   

9. Subscribe to a mailing preference service.

   There are a number of mailing preference services out there that operate as closed email networks. In order to send a message to a member of these systems, you have to register on the website and provide proof that you are who you say you are. As someone who wants to send a simple message, this can be pretty hard going, with lots of forms to fill in; but as a recipient, you know that all messages being delivered are from authentic sources.
   

10. Don’t send bulk emails using TO or CC.

    If you’re sending the latest Friday Funny, or a quick promotional offer to friends and/or colleagues, don’t use TO or CC. These types of email have tendancy to be passed on to persons unknown, the result is that everyone you’ve listed as an original recipient could be easily added to a list by an unscrupulous individual. What makes this worse is that not only are the original recipients easily visible, but also the subsequent chain(s) of people.
    

Scan Links for Malware Infection with VTChromizer before Clicking

Before clicking the link and starting the download, wouldn’t it be great if you can get to know the origin of the link or how trustworthy it is? VirusTotal which is one of the good scanners available has released an extension called as VTChromizer for the Chrome browser to scan the link before you hit download.
Just use the right click context menu in the Chrome browser after installing this extension, and select the option of “Scan with VirusTotal” to get the link analyzed with the database available with VirusTotal.
Thus if you are not sure of the genuineness of the content before downloading then it is always better to get the link scanned before downloading.
Download VTChromizer

Reduce Your Temporary Internet File Space

The temporary internet files clutter your hard drive with

copies of each page visited.These can build up over time

and take up disk Deep space. Evenmore bothersome is that instead

of getting new pages each timeIE often takes the page out the

temp internet files. This can be a problem if you are viewing a

website that is updated all thetime. If you are on a slow

connection such as a 56K orlower then this can be good but

if you are on a fast broadband connection, like me, then you

can get away with decreasingthe size of your temp internet

files to just one meg without any performance decrease.

Lets Go!

Launch Internet Explorer.Select the Tools from the menubar.
Then select Internet Options...from the drop down menu.
Once the internet options has loaded click on the general tab.
Under the temporary internet files section click the settings button.
A settings window will load. Slide the slider all the way to the
left so the size indicated in the text box on the right is one.
      Click OK
      Click Ok

Increase Internet Connection Speed

By default microsoft reserves 20% of bandwidtth for windows update. You can increase overall bandwidtth by 20% by setting in to 0% for windows update.
Do the following steps.
1) Goto Start->Run
2) type gpedit.msc and press ENTER
3) You will get a window "Group Policy"
4) Goto Administrative Templets->Network->QoS Packet sheduler.
5) Select and double click on "Limit Reservable Bandwidtth" option in right panel.
6) Then click on Enable and change reservalble bandwidtth to "0%". THEN MAKE FUN WITH 20% MORE SPEED.

Note: Even it is by default disabled but still it reserve 20% bandwidtth. So you have to enable it and set to 0%.
Finaly !
 Test Your 'Internet Connection Speed'

Install NetMeeting

Wondering how to install Netmeeting on Windows XP? Well you don't have to install it! Why? It is already pre-installed with Windows XP, but (by design they say) it isn't linked to anywhere on your programs menu. Here is how to load it:

1: Click START then RUN
2: Enter "conf" without the quotes

That's it.............
( now you can Netmeet to your hearts content.)
Basic For Windows 

Use the Internet Connection Firewall to Secure Small Network

A firewall is a security system that acts as a protective boundary between a network and the outside world. Windows XP includes Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) software you can use to restrict what information is communicated between the Internet and your home or small office network. ICF also protects a single computer connected to the Internet with a cable modem, a DSL modem, or a dial–up modem.

If your network uses Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to provide Internet access to multiple computers, you should use ICF on the shared Internet connection. However, ICS and ICF can be enabled separately. You should not enable the firewall on any connection that does not directly connect to the Internet, and ICF is not needed if your network already has a firewall or proxy server.

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to complete this procedure. You should not enable Internet Connection Firewall on virtual private networking (VPN) connections or on client computers because ICF will interfere with file and printer sharing. ICF cannot be enabled on the private connections of the Internet Connection Sharing host computer.


To enable or disable Internet Connection Firewall

Open Network Connections (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double–click Network Connections.)

Click the Dial–up, LAN or High–Speed Internet connection that you want to protect, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.

On the Advanced tab, under Internet Connection Firewall, select one of the following:

To enable Internet Connection Firewall (ICF), select the Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet check box.

To disable Internet Connection Firewall, clear the Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet check box. This disables the firewall, your computer and network are then vulnerable to intrusions

Script copied from the link below

http://www.freepctech.com/pc/xp/xp00057.shtml
Basic For Windows

Provide Remote Assistance When Using a NAT Device

You can provide Remote Assistance to a friend who uses a Network Address Translation (NAT) device by modifying the Remote Assistance invitation using XML. Network Address Translation is used to allow multiple computers to share the same outbound Internet connection. To open a Remote Assistance session with a friend who uses a NAT device:

• 1. Ask your friend to send you a Remote Assistance invitation by e–mail.
• 2. Save the invitation file to your desktop.
• 3. Right–click the file, and then click Open With Notepad. You'll see that the file is a simple XML file.
• 4.Under the RCTICKET attribute is a private IP address, such as 192.168.1.100.
• 5. Over–write this IP address with your friend's public IP address. Your friend must send you his or her public IP address: they can find out what it is by going to a Web site that will return the public IP address, such as http://www.dslreports.com/ip.
• 6. Save the file, and then double–click it to open the Remote Assistance session.

    Now, you'll be able to connect and provide them with the help they need. So that your inbound IP connection is routed to the correct computer, the NAT must be configured to route that inbound traffic. To do so, make sure your friend forwards port 3389 to the computer they want help from.

How to Remove Windows XP's Messenger

The oretically, you can get rid of it (as well as a few other things). Windows 2000 power users should already be familiar with this tweak..........

Fire up the Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the %SYSTEMROOT% \ INF folder. What the heck is that thingy with the percentage signs? It's a variable. For most people, %SYSTEMROOT% is C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it? Okay, on with the hack! In the INF folder, open sysoc.inf (but not before making a BACKUP copy first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing "msmsgs" in it. Near the end of that particular line, you'll notice that the word "hide" is not so hidden. Go ahead and delete "hide" (so that the flanking commas are left sitting next to one another). Save the file and close it. Now, open the Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add / Remove Windows Components icon. You should see "Windows Messenger" in that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set. NOTE: there are other hidden system components in that sysoc.inf file, too. Remove "hide" and the subsequent programs at your own risk
***===***

Install/Enable NetBEUI Under WinXP

If for some reason you need to install NetBEUI then follow these instructions.
Note: You will need the WinXP CD in order to to this!

Support for the NetBIOS Extended User Interface protocols (also called NetBEUI or NBF) in Windows XP has been discontinued. If your configuration requires temporary use of NetBEUI for Windows XP, follow these steps:

To install the NETBEUI protocol:

- Locate the Valueadd/msft/net/netbeui directory on your Windows XP CD.Copy nbf.sys into the %SYSTEMROOT%SYSTEM32DRIVERS directory.

- Copy netnbf.inf into the %SYSTEMROOT%INF directory.

- In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections and then click Network Connections.

- Right-click the connection you want to configure, and then click Properties.

- On the General tab, click the INSTALL button to add the NetBEUI protocol.

Speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines

Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines. Its actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improve significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore. Here's how :

    Open up the Registry and go to :

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under that branch, select the key :

    {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

and delete it.

This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary.

 This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a (reboot) and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing  processes.