And, when all else fails?

Finally, as drastic as it seems, if your computer has been infected with a large number of spyware programs, the only solution you may have is backing up your data, and performing a complete reinstall of the operating system.

So what do you do about it?

No spyware program seems to do everything, but there are a lot of goods solutions out there that can help. Here is a list of some of the top Spyware tools to look at:

1) Try Ad-Aware 6.0 Professional from LavaSoft (there is also a free version with less functionality)

2) Spybot Search & Destroy from PepiMK Software

3) Xoftspy form Pareto Logic

5) Spyware Guard from Javacool Software is a free program

4) Pest Patrol (now part of Computer Associates by acquisition)

5) McAfee Anti-Spyware

One thing is for certain: you do need to take spyware seriously. For some reason, too many people out there think anti-virus solutions are the end-all solution. They are not.

What is Spyware?

Butte College (www.bctv.butte.edu/support/spyware.html) offers this definition:

“The term ‘spyware’ is broadly defined as any program that gets into your computer without permission and hides in the background while it makes unwanted changes to your user experience.

Spyware is generally not designed to damage your computer. The damage it does is more a by-product of its main mission, which is to serve you targeted advertisements or make your browser display certain sites or search results.

At present, most spyware targets only the Windows operating system (Internet Explorer).”

To be fair, spyware can be harmless, for example tracking cookies don’t do much. While such things infringe on your privacy, they don't really harm anything. Others, however, are extremely dangerous.

How many spyware items are infecting your computer?

I just had, by mistake, a plug-in called Intelligent Explorer attach to my browser. What a nightmare! I have another article on this topic, but this brings home a point. Spyware or adware items are continually infecting computers. Most computers have no protection from them. Most frightening is the frequency of them. From the InfosecWriters web site, "According to a 2004 survey by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance, 91% of users questioned were familiar with the term spyware. Only 53% believed their computers were infected, but a scan found that 80% of their PCs had some type of spyware installed on them." It goes on to say, "...The average number of spyware components per computer was 93 with one computer having well over a thousand."

Trojan Horse….Greek Myth or Computer Nemesis?

We have all heard the term Trojan Horse, but what exactly is it? A Trojan Horse is a destructive program that masquerades as a harmless application. Unlike viruses, Trojan Horses do not replicate themselves, but they can be just as destructive. One of the most dangerous examples of a Trojan is a program that promises to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses into your computer.

The Trojan can be tricky. Who hasn’t been online and had an advertisement pop up claiming to be able to rid your computer of some nasty virus? Or, even more frightening, you receive an email that claims to be alerting you to a new virus that can threaten your computer. The sender promises to quickly eradicate, or protect, your computer from viruses if you simply download their “free”, attached software into your computer. You may be skeptical but the software looks legitimate and the company sounds reputable. You proceed to take them up on their offer and download the software. In doing so, you have just potentially exposed yourself to a massive headache and your computer to a laundry list of ailments.

When a Trojan is activated, numerous things can happen. Some Trojans are more annoying than malicious. Some of the less annoying Trojans may choose to change your desktop settings or add silly desktop icons. The more serious Trojans can erase or overwrite data on your computer, corrupt files, spread other malware such as viruses, spy on the user of a computer and secretly report data like browsing habits to other people, log keystrokes to steal information such as passwords and credit card numbers, phish for bank account details (which can be used for criminal activities), and even install a backdoor into your computer system so that they can come and go as they please.

To increase your odds of not encountering a Trojan, follow these guidelines.

1. Remain diligent
Trojans can infect your computer through rogue websites, instant messaging, and emails with attachments. Do not download anything into your computer unless you are 100 percent sure of its sender or source.

2. Ensure that your operating system is always up-to-date. If you are running a Microsoft Windows operating system, this is essential.

3. Install reliable anti-virus software. It is also important that you download any updates frequently to catch all new Trojan Horses, viruses, and worms. Be sure that the anti-virus program that you choose can also scan e-mails and files downloaded through the internet.

4. Consider installing a firewall. A firewall is a system that prevents unauthorized use and access to your computer. A firewall is not going to eliminate your computer virus problems, but when used in conjunction with regular operating system updates and reliable anti-virus software, it can provide additional security and protection for your computer.

Nothing can guarantee the security of your computer 100 percent. However, you can continue to improve your computer's security and decrease the possibility of infection by consistently following these guidelines.

Retrieve Your Lost Windows XP Product Key

Some people says that if you lose your Box or sticker that contains your Windows XP Product Key, there's no way you can use your CD. They're wrong. There's always Magic Jelly Bean Keyfinder to detect your Product Key. What if there's no Keyfinder and other third party programs that detects your Product Key? Is there any other way to find your Product Key? You're lucky you found this blog. Here's the way to find your Product Key without using any third party programs. Insert your installation CD on your CD/DVD ROM, Go to My Computer. Right Click on your CD/DVD Drive and click EXPLORE. Go to the I386 Folder, Inside that Folder there's a text file that contain your Product Key, Its called Unattend.txt. Double Click it and scroll down until you see your product key:
"Product Key: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx". Well if you can't find the Unattend.txt don't cry there's always another way to find out. On the same folder I386 there's a .SIF file that contains your Product Key. Its called WINNT.SIF. Right Click on it and select Open With... Notepad. Scroll down until you see this:
[UserData]
ProductKey = "xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx"
FullName = "Administrator"

Cheers!

Decrease your application start up

By default, Microsoft includes the /prefetch:1 switch to speed up it's Windows Media Player application start time. This switch can be used for other Windows applications and also many third party programs.

Example #1

You have AOL 8.0 installed on the computer. Complete the steps outlined bewlo to add the /prefetch:1 switch to AOL's Target path.

1. Right click on the AOL shortcut and select properties from the menu.

2. In the Target: Field add the /prefetch:1 switch to the very end of the path, like this: "C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe" /prefetch:1 and then click ok.

Now start AOL. It would load at least 50 times faster than ever before.

Example #2

1, Go to the Start button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools

2. Right click on System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the /prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.

Now System Restore will start immediately when executed.

Note: This switch will only work with some programs. Others will return a message saying the program in the target box is invalid. Just remove the switch

Adjust Graphics For Speed

Windows XP has a lot of new cool looking visual elements, however, those new elements take up more RAM and cause your computer to be less responsive. By tweaking your graphics settings, you can increase the performance of your computer.

To get started, Let's reduce the color quality. This setting determines how many colors are displayed on your screen.

1. Right click on your desktop and select properties.
2. Click on the settings tab and adjust the color quality drop down box to Medium (16 Bit).
3. Click OK.

Next, let's use the windows performance settings to optimize your computer for performance. This will revert back to the old Windows 2000 look as well as take away a lot of the fancy graphics effects. However, if you are really into performance, this is the price you have to pay.

1. Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop or in your start panel and select properties.
2. Next, Click on the Advanced tab and hit the setting button under performance.
3. On the visual effects tab, select Adjust for Best Performance and hit OK.
4. Hit OK once more to exit system properties.

Now your computer will run slightly faster!

Speed Up your Firefox

Here's how to tweak Firefox:

1. Open your Firefox browser.

2. In the address bar, replace the web address with about:config as shown in the screenie.

3. Input the following by:

- double clicking the preference if it is present by default

- right clicking anywhere in the browser then go to New then Integer or Boolean if the preference is absent by default

Remember: if the value is a number, it’s an “Integer”. If it is either True or False, it’s “Boolean”. (Please click the word for the complete definition.)

Input without the comma.

browser.cache.disk.capacity, 15000
browser.cache.disk.enable, true
browser.cache.memory.capacity, 65536
browser.cache.memory.enable, true
browser.search.openintab, true
browser.tabs.loadFolderAndReplace, false
browser.urlbar.hideGoButton, true
config.trim_on_minimize, true
content.interrupt.parsing, true
content.max.tokenizing.time, 2250000
content.notify.backoffcount, 5
content.notify.interval, 750000
content.notify.ontimer, true
content.switch.threshold, 750000
network.http.max-connections, 48
network.http.max-connections-per-server, 16
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy, 16
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server, 8
network.http.pipelining, true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests, 8
network.http.proxy.pipelining, true
network.http.request.max-start-delay, 0
nglayout.initialpaint.delay, 0
plugin.expose_full_path, true
ui.scrollToClick, true
ui.submenuDelay, 0

Double check, then close Firefox.

Open the bowser again. Firefox must speed up now.

Increase Your Hard Disk Speed

To speed up your hard disk speed we need to configure a special buffer in the computer's memory in order to enable it to better deal with interrupts made from the disk.
This tip is only recommended if you have 256MB RAM or higher.
Follow these steps:

Run SYSEDIT.EXE from the Run command.

Expand the system.ini file window.

Scroll down almost to the end of the file till you find a line called [386enh].

Press Enter to make one blank line, and in that line type

Irq14=4096

Note: This line IS CASE SENSITIVE!!!

Click on the File menu, then choose Save.

Close SYSEDIT and reboot your computer.

Done. Speed improvement will be noticed after the computer reboots.
Update: The most speed improvement is visible with IDE drives, however there are reports that this tweak also does good for SCSI disks. In any case, it won't harm your system, so why not try it yourself.

Useful Yahoo Commands

/help calls up the help file
/cls clears the screen
/save saves the current chat session transcript
/leave exits current room
/join roomname joins roomname
/goto username joins the chat room that username is currently in
/follow username user will follows username whenever the user changes rooms
/think text posts text in this format "oO(text)"
/tell username text -- allows you to send a text to username with opening a window
/invite username invites username to the current room
/webcam starts your webcam
/version displays the program version
/version username sends the program version to username
/time shows the time
/roll number rolls the number of dice
/logoff closes the client
/ignore add username will add username to your ignore list
/ignore remove username will remove username from your ignore list

End Task Is not Fast Enough

have you ever encountered na nagstuck up ang application na gamit mo then end task mo pero stuck up pa rin? instead of using end task use end process instead. its more faster that ending the task.

Control Your System's Behavior

Warning: This trick will affect your computer’s behavior. If something goes wrong you can contact me at pinoy design forum, just give me a PM.

Ok let’s get started.

Preventing access to the command prompt

Click start > run and type gpedit.msc

Select the User Configuration.
On the right panel double click the Administrative Templates folder.
Now you should have at least 7 folders on the right panel including the System folder.
Open up the System folder on the right panel.

I think you’re starting to figure out which one are we going to select. Yes! You’re right it’s the Prevent access to the command prompt. Double click it and it will give you 3 radio buttons.
1. Not configured
2. Enable
3. Disable
Select/check the enable button (this will enable the Disable the command prompt script processing also? drop down list)
Go the drop down list and choose Yes. Click apply or OK. Don’t leave the GPEDITOR yet. To Undo the changes just select the Not configured button.
Let’s test it.
Click start > run and type cmd
You should see something like this:
“The command prompt has been disabled by your administrator

Press any key to continue…”

Some system might not show anything at all. Some will see a messagebox saying “blah blah blah has been disabled your blah blah blah”

Go back to the GPEDITOR.
You can change the other but make sure you know what you’re doing. And don’t blame me for teaching you about group policy. There are a lot of stuff you can disable and enable using group policy.

(PHOTOS/SCREENSHOTS are available at Pinoy Design E-book vol.1) which can be found at http://pinoydesign.co.cc/ and go to forums you'll find tons of free softwares, tutorials, artworks and media files.

The Power of RUN

Go to Start > then Run> and start typing

Accessibility Controls
access.cpl

Add Hardware Wizard
hdwwiz.cpl

Add/Remove Programs
appwiz.cpl

Administrative Tools
control admintools

Automatic Updates
wuaucpl.cpl

Bluetooth Transfer Wizard
fsquirt

Calculator
calc

Certificate Manager
certmgr.msc

Character Map
charmap

Check Disk Utility
chkdsk

Clipboard Viewer
clipbrd

Command Prompt
cmd

Component Services
dcomcnfg

Computer Management
compmgmt.msc

Date and Time Properties
timedate.cpl

DDE Shares
ddeshare

Device Manager
devmgmt.msc

Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)*
directx.cpl

Direct X Troubleshooter
dxdiag

Disk Cleanup Utility
cleanmgr

Disk Defragment
dfrg.msc

Disk Management
diskmgmt.msc

Disk Partition Manager
diskpart

Display Properties
control desktop

Display Properties
desk.cpl

Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected)
control color

Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility
drwtsn32

Driver Verifier Utility
verifier

Event Viewer
eventvwr.msc

File Signature Verification Tool
sigverif

Findfast
findfast.cpl

Folders Properties
control folders

Fonts
control fonts

Fonts Folder
fonts

Free Cell Card Game
freecell

Game Controllers
joy.cpl

Group Policy Editor (XP Prof)
gpedit.msc

Hearts Card Game
mshearts

Iexpress Wizard
iexpress

Indexing Service
ciadv.msc

Internet Properties
inetcpl.cpl

IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Release All Connections) ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed)
jpicpl32.cpl

Java Control Panel (If Installed)
javaws

Keyboard Properties
control keyboard

Local Security Settings
secpol.msc

Local Users and Groups
lusrmgr.msc

Logs You Out Of Windows
logoff

Mcft Chat
winchat

Minesweeper Game
winmine

Mouse Properties
control mouse

Mouse Properties
main.cpl

Network Connections
control netconnections

Network Connections
ncpa.cpl

Network Setup Wizard
netsetup.cpl

Notepad notepad
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed)
nvtuicpl.cpl

Object Packager
packager

ODBC Data Source Administrator
odbccp32.cpl

On Screen Keyboard
osk

Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed)
ac3filter.cpl

Password Properties
password.cpl

Performance Monitor
perfmon.msc

Performance Monitor
perfmon

Phone and Modem Options
telephon.cpl

Power Configuration
powercfg.cpl

Printers and Faxes
control printers

Printers Folder
printers

Private Character Editor
eudcedit

Quicktime (If Installed)
QuickTime.cpl

Regional Settings
intl.cpl

Registry Editor
regedit

Registry Editor
regedit32

Remote Desktop mstsc
Removable Storage
ntmsmgr.msc

Removable Storage Operator Requests
ntmsoprq.msc

Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof)
rsop.msc

Scanners and Cameras
sticpl.cpl

Scheduled Tasks
control schedtasks

Security Center
wscui.cpl

Services
services.msc

Shared Folders
fsmgmt.msc

Shuts Down Windows
shutdown

Sounds and Audio
mmsys.cpl

Spider Solitare Card Game
spider

SQL Client Configuration
cliconfg

System Configuration Editor
sysedit

System Configuration Utility
msconfig

System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x)
sfc /cachesize=x

System Properties
sysdm.cpl

Task Manager
taskmgr

Telnet Client
telnet

User Account Management
nusrmgr.cpl

Utility Manager
utilman

Windows Firewall
firewall.cpl

Windows Magnifier
magnify

Windows Management Infrastructure
wmimgmt.msc

Windows System Security Tool
syskey

Windows Update Launches
wupdmgr

How to download Video in Youtube and other video hosting site

Thanks to chiphead.

There's a lot of ways on how to STEAL(joke) or download videos on youtube and other video hosting sites. But this is the easiest way.

1. you have to have Real Player 11.

Don't worry if you don't have one you can get it here: http://www.realplayer.com.au/freerp11.html?&rsrc=rp_au#

Make sure you get the 11 not 10.5

2. Go to any video hosting site like youtube.com point or hover your mouse to the video you're planning to steal until you see THIS:

Oh sweet! Look at this: (You're now stealing the video, I mean i'm now stealing it)


when it's done. open your real player and go to > View > My Library or simply click the View my library button.

Right click on the video and click Locate file.

There you have it! Enjoy stealing videos!

Another Way to download flash video is to download and install Mozilla Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/download.html. and install this firefox extension called Downloaderhelper: http://www.downloadhelper.net/