Script & Macro Viruses

Script Viruses - Types and Habitats

Script viruses (sometimes called macro viruses) generally travel embedded in email and office automation documents, although they can be found in web pages as well.

Old fashioned program viruses are usually implemented in executable system code, whereas script viruses are usually written in a powerful high-level language that is compiled and run on the fly. They often have sophisticated functionality and direct interfaces to high level applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, email, and web programs, and can wreak considerable havoc. Since they first surfaced in office automation programs, they are sometimes also called "macro" viruses. Script viruses can also propagate through IRC protocols.

On Microsoft computers, turning on your script checking virus protection is essential. However, keep in mind that there may be an associated performance hit for some applications. Many applications on Windows are written in Visual Basic, and real-time script virus checking can double the time it takes for their usual functions to run. If you find that ordinary functions take an inordinate length of time to complete, you can try temporarily turning this feature off in your anti-virus checker -- but don't forget to turn it back on afterwards!

Active threats. The following types of script viruses are currently the most active and dangerous, on the Windows platform:

Visual Basic is a flexible and powerful programming environment for Microsoft Windows, Office, and Internet applications. Script viruses written in Visual Basic can run throughout the Microsoft architecture, giving them considerable reach and power, and making them the primary virus threat today.

The first widespread Visual Basic script virus was Melissa, which brought down several of the large international corporations for several days in March 1999. Melissa traveled in a Microsoft Word document and ran when the document was opened, then opened the associated Microsoft Outlook email program, read the user's email address book, and then sent email copies of itself to the first fifty names it found. It spread very quickly.

The Melissa virus architecture was quickly followed by many similar variants programmed by hackers around the world, including the ground breaking KAK, the first Visual Basic script virus that triggered as soon as an email was opened. KAK was then followed by BubbleBoy, which triggered if an email was even viewed in the preview pane. A steady stream of Visual Basic script viruses continue to circulate to this day. There are even automated, point and click programs like VBS Love Generator to help hackers produce additional variants. Script viruses which use email to send themselves to others are also a form of worm.

The term "macro virus" is used less often, and generally refers to a virus in an office automation application macro, most commonly a Visual Basic macro in a Microsoft Word or Excel document. Macro viruses can cross system boundaries from Windows to Macintosh computers with MS Office documents. Current versions of Microsoft Office contain strong anti-macro protections to guard against known attacks.
ActiveX is one of Microsoft's distributed application technologies that enable web pages to download programs on the fly with the full power of any executable running on your machine. This makes ActiveX modules especially efficient and powerful, but also a security risk since they can create, change, and delete files, add system programming code, or take any other action your user account is allowed on your computer.

To help mitigate the risk, Microsoft provides a network architecture of encrypted security certificates for ActiveX modules. This network gives you the option of refusing the download of unsigned ActiveX modules from unknown authors, and at least disclosing the signed identity of those modules that you do accept in case they later cause problems. However, this approach is not universally accepted by the general user and professional security communities, and is sometimes called "trust me now, try to catch me later". Users running Internet Explorer on Windows machines should make sure that their browser security settings are set to "disable" for unsigned ActiveX applets, and to "prompt" for signed applets.
Hypothetical threats. The following script viruses are largely theoretical, but illustrate that they can turn up wherever there is scripting code:

Java is a standard cross platform development environment, and is often used to download scripts to add functionality like a clock or chat room interface to a web page. Java was written with a strong security model which protects your computer's data and resources, and it has so far proved remarkably resistant to script virus infection. You can turn Java off in your browser if you want to be extra careful, but it will disable some useful functionality on some web pages.
JavaScript is the standard web programming language. JavaScript also has a well-defined security model that protects data and resources, and the few JavaScript viruses that have been discovered have been mainly theoretical in nature. You can turn JavaScript off in your browser settings if you want to be extra careful, but it will disable functionality on many web pages.
MIME. The first script virus that triggered as soon as an email was opened was a MIME virus that applied to older versions of Netscape Mail, Microsoft Outlook, and Eudora Mail. In a variation on an old hacker technique, the attached MIME file was given a very long name that triggered a bug which allowed the end of the name to be run as a series of instructions, which could then be written to run the virus. However, a fix for the bug was quickly developed for each vulnerable email program, and MIME viruses have so far remained hypothetical.
Others. Several other scripting environments have also had viruses, including Corel Draw, Hypertext Preprocessor, Windows Help, Windows installation files, and Windows registry files. Anywhere there is a script interpreter there is an opportunity for a script virus to run.

Boot & Program Viruses

Boot & Program Viruses - Types and Habitats

Boot and program viruses were the first viruses. They are generally made of executable code that hides inside device boot programs and application programs, and are usually targeted for a specific computer operating system. These were the earliest types of computer viruses, and remained relatively common in the wild until overtaken in 1998 by script and macro viruses.
Boot viruses. Boot viruses hide in the boot code for a media device, such as a disk or CD, and run automatically when the media is loaded since boot programs are always the first code loaded from any device. Boot viruses proliferated on floppy disks and even CD's into the late 1990's, but aren't seen as often these days with the decline in importance of transferable, bootable media.
The first computer boot virus was built by a 15 year old kid namedRich Skrenta in 1982 for Apple II computers. Called “Elk Cloner”, it would activate whenever a floppy disk was booted on a computer, install itself on the computer, and then infect other disks used later. Once every 50 times an infected floppy was inserted in a computer it would display the following message.

Elk Cloner: The program with a personality

It will get on all your disks
It will infiltrate your chips
Yes it's Cloner!

It will stick to you like glue
It will modify ram too
Send in the Cloner!

Skrenta launched the virus into the wild in early 1982 by infecting his school’s computer and giving out disks at a computer club. Since viruses were not yet known and there were no safegaurds, it spread around the country and continued to pop up on Apple II computers for years afterwards.
The first boot virus to infect Microsoft computers was called Brain, created in 1986 by two Pakistani brothers, and displayed the phone number of their computer repair business.
Program viruses. Program viruses can travel on media like a CD or across the Internet by email attachment. They hide in an apparently useful program and then run when the program is opened. They are often called trojan horse viruses, after the hollow wooden horse containing soldiers that Ulysses and the Greeks gave to Minerva during the Trojan war, and from which the soldiers emerged that night to open the gates of the city of Troy to the Greek armies, thereby causing the city's downfall.

Program viruses may be deliberately hidden in a program by the developer, or surreptitiously attached after the fact at some point along its travels from computer to computer. Program viruses are also sometimes the vector of infection for boot viruses and worms.
Virus infection. A greeting card program emailed to you from a friend might display a holiday animation and song, while at the same time installing a remote access virus program that gives a distant hacker control over your computer whenever you're connected to the Internet. Similarly, a shareware program downloaded and emailed to you by another friend might have been infected with a virus on his computer or the server where it was stored.

The first thing a boot or program virus often does is insert commands and settings in the operating system so that they can operate freely, undetected, and unaudited, without warning messages or access log records. Some of them even change the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) that interfaces between the computer's hardware and software to help mask their activities.

The most sophisticated program viruses include "stealth viruses", which encrypt their contents to try and avoid detection by virus protection software, and "polymorphic viruses", which alter their content every time they replicate to try and avoid detection, which exhibits behavior just like real viruses. Most anti-virus programs can still catch most of these types of viruses.

Which Internet Connection plan to choose?

Internet has become part and parcel of our lives. Not only for individuals but even for a country’s economic growth, scientific growth, organizations’ success, Internet is very essential. The companies that offer these internet connections are called ISPs (Internet Service Providers). These ISPs offer many different internet connection plans. How to select the best connection plan for home use or for offices? The following tips will give you an overview of different types of internet connections, their advantages and disadvantages.

PSTN Dialup

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) dialup uses your phone connection to connect your computer to the internet. You need a modem, phone line and a computer for a PSTN dial up connection.

Advantages of PSTN dial up

1. This is the basic internet connection and all the ISPs provide this type of dial up.
2. To install PSTN dialup and to use it is very cheap and affordable.

Disadvantages of PSTN dial up

1. The speed of a typical PSTN modem is 56KBPS. Therefore the speed of the internet connection will be slower than this.
2. During the time you are connected to the internet, you have to pay the telephone charges.
3. While you are connected to the internet you cannot use your telephone to call anyone because you are using that phone line for connecting to the internet. You also will not receive any calls from outside during this time.

ISDN dialup

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) dialup uses a higher end digital telephone line to dial up. To use this type of connection you need ISDN telephone line, computer and a ‘Terminal Adapter’.

Advantages of an ISDN dialup

1. While you are connected to internet using ISDN dialup connection you can use your ISDN phone to make phone calls simultaneously.
2. When you are making phone calls while connected to the internet then the speed of internet will be 64KBPS.
3. If you are using the ISDN phone line just for internet then the speed of internet will be 128KBPS.

Disadvantages of ISDN dialup

1. Not every place has ISDN connection.
2. Even if your place has this facility, it is expensive to get an ISDN dialup connection from your ISP.
3. Not all the ISPs provide ISDN dialup plan.

Leased Line Internet Plan

In both ISDN dialup and PSTN dialup you need to dial up from your computer before getting connected to the internet. And you close this connection when you no longer need internet connection. If you need a continuous connection 24 hours of the day and 7 days a week then you need a ‘Leased Line’ also known as ‘dedicated line’. This type of permanent connection is called ‘Always On’.

Advantages of Leased Line

1. You get ‘Always on’ connection 24 hours every day.
2. The speed of the internet ranges from 2.4 KBPS to 2G based on your subscription.

Disadvantages of Leased Line

1. The disadvantages of a leased line is that it is very expensive.
2. Since your computer is always connected to the internet your computer is exposed to many vulnerabilities such as viruses and spywares. So you may need to secure your computer using firewall and Antivirus software

DSL

1. Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) also uses a normal PSTN phone line. But using DSL you can use both internet and phone simultaneously. Therefore many prefer DSL to PSTN dial up.

Advantages of DSL

1. The speed of DSL connection is fast. 64 KBPS, 512 KBPS, 1.5MBPS and higher speed can be achieved in DSL connections.
2. DSL also provides ‘Always On’ connection 24 hours a day always.
3. You can also use your phone while using internet

Disadvantages of DSL

1. More expensive
2. You need an ADSL modem to connect but the distance between this modem and your computer cannot be more than 18,000 feet

Calculator in Google

If you are an Internet user, then you may have already used Google search engine. Google is not a mere search engine any more. Google provides many services free of charge to its users. In addition to being a search engine it provides many solutions and answers to many questions. One such value added service is the calculator in google.

You may have used your windows calculator from ‘Accessories’ for your calculations. This windows calculator can be used to solve simple arithmetic problems. In this calculator you can select ‘View->Scientific’ option to perform more complex operations such as log, sin, sum etc. But if you have questions such as 1 mile equals how many kilometers, 10 KG equals how many pounds or what is the celcius value of 18.6 Farenheit then, even this scientific calculator will not be of any help.

You can use google’s calculator to answer these questions mentioned above as well as any other similar questions. Google’s calculator can be used for simple, scientific calculations as well as for convertions.

Here are some examples and tips on how to use the google’s calculator. First of all open the homepage of google.http://www.google.com/ . You can get the answers for your mathematical equations in the search box.

1. Type 3+4 in the search box and click on ‘Search’ button. Immediately you will see a calculator icon and the answer 3+4=7
2. +,-,/ and * keys represent addition, subtraction, division and multiplication respectively. For example you can key in 5+2*3 and click on search button to get the answer as 11.
3. You can also use the ^ key as the power symbol and the % symbol for percentage. If you type 2^10 then the answer will be 1024 which is number 2 multiplied ten times.
4. You can also use sqrt, sin, cos, tan, log, lm etc in google calculator search box. For example try the following log(200),sqrt(4),sin(45 degrees) etc.
5. You can also convert a number from one numbering format to another. Some of the the numbering formats are binary, decimal, octal and hexadecimal. As far as google is concerned binary is represented by 0b, octal is represented by 0o and hexa decimal is represented by 0x. If you remember these then you can easily convert from one format to another. You can test this using the following examples. 54 to binary, 123 to hex, 0b110010 to octal,0×789 to binary, 0×1234 in roman numerals.
6. You can also do conversions. For example, try the following phrases. 5 kilometers in miles, “2 miles in kilometers”,”100 degrees f in celcius”, “One hour in seconds”, “One decade in minutes”.

You can get more details about google’s calculator at http://www.google.com.sg/help/features.html#calculator

Google Chrome is now ahead of Safari

Two weeks earlier Google launched the Google Chrome for the Mac and Linux platforms. After this the uptake of Google Chrome has increased quite extensively. Google Chrome has now taken the 3rd place in the Browser rankings overtaking Safari which was the third largest browser so far. IE and Firefox is still hold first and second place with 64% and 25% of the market share respectively.

For Chrome, this is an important milestone with 4.4% of the market share today. This is especially an accomplishment considering the fact that it is just one year since it was launched. It took five years for firefox to reach its 25%.

All online dictionaries in one

There are many online dictionaries available in the internet today. These online dictionaries on top of providing the meaning of the words, also provide synonyms and antonyms. Most people would like to check these individual online dictionaries one by one for the same word and compare the meanings to get a better understanding of the word.

There is a better option available to get the meanings provided by all these dictionaries in a single page using google. For example you want to find the meaning of the word ‘tips’, follow the below steps.

1. Goto google.com in your browser
2. type-> definition:tips and press enter
3. google will return all the different definitions available for that word.
4. In addition, google will let you choose different languages. You can choose different language to find the meaning in the chosen language.
5. In additio google will show different phrases that can be used with that word. You can click them to find the meaning.

A new keyboard for GMAIL

In Google’s Gmail website there are many short cut keys. But it is difficult to remember all these short cut keys. To solve this issue a new keyboard is now commercially available. This keyboard costs 19.99 USD.

There are 19 keys in this keyboard and looks like a number keypad. Each key represents a shortcut key. For example to mark a message with a star (favourites), or to initiate a search, to go inside the message threads etc can be achieved by just a click of a button. This keyboard can be connected to your laptop or PC via USB ports. There is no drivers required for this keyboard. You can just connect and start using it. But before you start using it, you will have to goto your Gmail account and enable the ‘Short cut keys’ in your settings.

This keyboard was not designed by Google. A film producer, Charlie Mason created this keyboard. If you already use shortcut keys in Gmail this could be a thing to consider. If you have not started using Gmail shortcut keys then this is the right time to try.

Difference between Google Chrome OS and Chromium OS

Google Chrome OS is to Chromium OS what Google Chrome browser is to Chromium.

Chromium OS is the open source project, used primarily by developers, with code that is available for anyone to checkout, modify and build their own version with. Meanwhile, Google Chrome OS is the Google product that OEMs will ship on Netbooks next year.

Therefore Chromium OS is the source code released by Google which can be used by any developers to build and create their own OS. Chrome OS is a end product that will be released by Google and developed from this Chromium OS as the base

Firefox getting better

Firefox is continuously getting more and more users. Mozilla has announced more features in future versions of firefox. These changes will be done in two phases. In first phase the changes will be done in version 3.7 which will happen in the beginning of 2010.

Mozilla feels that the front page of the firefox browser is a bit dull. In line with the Vista style firefox broswer’s front page will be modified. Only two menu items with Page and Tools will be provided. Stop and reload buttons will be merged. Address bar and search bar will be merged into a single bar. Status bar will be removed. Some said that these changes were much in line with Google’s chrome browser. But Mozilla said firefox will always be unique.

Since all the browsers do the same thing, comparisons are inevitable. However there are always unique features in every browser. As of today, there are more users using firefox than users with IE 6.

The main reason for most users to switch to firefox was because of the complaint that IE 6 has issues with Adware and spyware. But a recent research done by Sensic shows that firefox browser is more prone to hackers than IE. According to this report, firefox is 44%, Safari is 35% and IE is 15% prone to hackers. Though the accuracy of this report is in question now, firefox’s plugins are still a question mark. The plugins are more prone to hackers.

Firefox version 3.7 is supposed to be released in early 2010 and version 4 is to be released roughly in a year from now. Hopefully all the problems will be solved and new features will be added in the newer versions.

The latest buzzword – Google Buzz

What is Google Buzz? Well it is definitely a threat to the likes of facebook and twitter.

As far as searching is concerned, Google is the defacto standard for internet users. But when it comes to social networking to keep in touch with friends and family, usually sites like facebook, myspace, twitter etc are used.

Google Buzz may change this.  Google Buzz adds social networking functions such as the ability to share links, photos, videos and status updates with friends from GMAIL. So Google has finally extended the gmail users with the social networking tools to keep in touch with their contacts who are already in gmail.

Google Buzz is also accessible from smartphones. That makes it even more interesting. Though it is officially launched some gmail users still do not have buzz enabled for their account. As google is enabling buzz for gmail users in steps. So if you are a gmail user and you don’t have the BUZZ yet, not to worry. When it is avaiable you will automatically see it when you login

Think Point – Fake security software attacking the web

If you’ve come across Think Point antispyware software – be aware. It is a fake program created with intention to trick scared computer users into purchasing a useless full version.

The infection sources may vary, but most popular ones include installing a video codec on an untrustworthy site, opening an e-mail attachment from a falsified e-mail named after a courier company (such as DHL, or FedEx), pop-up’s, or as even some users reported, while playing a game on Facebook.

After clicking on fake warning messages, a Trojan is installed which opens up a “backdoor” to internet. An automated script does a series of instructions hijacking your browser and changing registry entries that result in an unusable computer – desktop icons are removed, task manager and internet connection is disabled.

Some users may be presented with a Microsoft Security Essentials Alert which is actually created by the Think Point infection. This alert promotes five security programs, including Think Point. While one is given a choice to select, Think Pont will be installed no matter what you choose.

Think Point will perform a computer scan which generates a false report including massive amounts of Trojans, viruses and spyware being found your machine. It is also impossible to run any executable application, because all is blocked by Think Point – a message will be popped up stating that executable file is already infected.

All this is done in order to scare an amateur computer user and force him into purchasing a full version, which costs 90$.

Please print these instructions:

1.       As ThinkPoint infection is not giving any access to the Desktop you must restart Windows. Just after Windows boots up, press CTRL + ALT & DEL on your keyboard at once. This should bring up the Windows Task Manager.

2.       In the Task Manager window select the Processes tab on the top.

3.       Look through the list of processes until you find the hotfix.exe process.

4.       Click left mouse button on it and press END PROCESS button situated at the bottom of the Task manager. Windows should ask you to confirm killing the process, select Yes to terminate hotfix.exe .

5.       Now ThinkPoint was disabled, and you should restore a normal desktop by clicking File menu on the Task manager, select New Task (Run) and type iexplorer.exe in the OPEN field. This will grant you access to the Internet Explorer.

6.       After this you must search and delete the hotfix.exe file on your computer which may be hidden.

7.       If after deleting the file and rebooting the pc you’re still left with a blank desktop repeat step 5. You will need to fix various registry settings or use a popular and trustworthy security program.

Download free Desktop Security software

When you are not near your computer other people can enter and read your files in your computer. They may edit them or even delete them. They can read you emails. They can format your hard disk. They can do anything they want with your computer.

In an office environment, this type of computer sabotage is possible. There are many software and applications related to ‘Desktop Security’. If you install a ‘Desktop security’ application in your computer, then you can prevent others from using your computer. If you require you can give permissions for a few.

Here are some of the desktop security software that you can use:

1. Access Denied
   Users of Windows 95/98/ME can use this application. You can install it and be sure that your computer is safe from strangers. When you boot your computer, it will prompt for the username and password. So only you can login to the computer.
   With ‘Access Denied’ you can give a unique username, passwords to your friends to access your computer. Later you can see the log file and see the time logged in and logged out by these users. So you will know exactly who used your computer.
   Another feature in Access Denied software is to block the F4 and F8 keys while the computer is booting. You can do this by choosing ‘Security->No Book Keys’ option.
   Another feature in Access Denied is the ‘Screen Guard’. This ‘Screen Guard’ feature is very handy. You can configure ‘mouse click’ or ‘hot key’ to hide the desktop whenever you want. If anybody tries to access, it will prompt for the username and password.
   Access Denied will also deny booting from floppy or CD.
   You can download ‘Access Denied’ fromhttp://www.johnru.com/accessdenied
2. Lock Out Desktop Security
   Lockout Desktop Security can be used to create policies and permissions for groups and users. You can block access to certain applications. You can block access to CD Drive. You can specify time period when people can access and when they cannot.
   You can download Lockout Desktop security software fromhttp://www.soft32.com/
3. Desktop Lock
   You can download Desktop lock fromhttp://www.toplang.com/desktoplock.htm
   Like other Desktop security applications desktop lock allows you to prevent access to specific applications, documents etc.
4. Mouse Trap
   To lock the desktop and to allow access only by logging in using username/password you can use the ‘Mouse Trap’ application. Mouse Trap also prevents the use of ‘Ctrl+Alt+Del’ and ‘Alt+Tab’ and any other system keys. You can download Mouse Trap from http://www.hotwww.com/
5. Boot Locker
   You can download Boot Locker from http://www.bootlocker.com/bl . You can use boot locker to create many users and groups. You can use this to disable and change password compulsary at frequent intervals.
   To find the latest available free desktop security software search google with the following search term http://www.google.com/search?q=%22desktop+security%22+download

How to remove hijack virus?

You may have read news about planes being hijacked. For example a passenger plane which is supposed to go to London may be hijacked by terrorists and flown to Turkey. The hijack virus does just that. If you key in a website address in your browser’s address bar and press ‘Enter’ then instead of going to that website the browser may open some other website such as an adult website or an advertisement website or a search engine website. If this happens in your computer then your browser has been infected by a hijack virus.

Why does this happen, you may wonder? This means a hijack virus has entered your computer without your knowledge and is working at its will. You can remove hijack virus and prevent it from happening using some software.

Process Guard is one such software. Just search for this software athttp://www.download.com/ and install it in your computer. This program will guard your computer against these hijack viruses

What is ‘Safe Mode’ booting?

While your computing is booting, you can instruct the computer to boot in ‘safe mode’. Safe mode refers to secure mode. You may then ask, is our computer not secure when we boot normally. Let us see how is safe mode more secure than the normal booting.

When your computer gives problems and you want to identify where is the problem, then you can use the safe mode for this. In safe mode, only limited number of driver programs are enabled. Therefore you cannot use CD drive. You cannot use the printer. And many other unnecessary drivers are not enabled.

While in Safe Mode, you can use the ScanDisk, defrag and other utility programs to repair your computer. You may wonder how to bring the computer to safe mode. When Windows boots up, you have to press the F8 key. You should press the F8 key before the windows screen appears. Then you can choose the safe mode option to boot.

Some Anti virus software will tell you that some viruses can only be removed in safe mode, therefore the antivirus software will automatically start in safe mode or you may have to goto safe mode and then run the virus removal utility to remove the virus.

Free Password Management software

To keep computer files, internet connections and other resources just to ourselves, we use passwords. Some people use the same password for everything. This is a very bad practice. Because if someone comes to know about this password then they will get access to all your resources. There fore it is essential to have different passwords for different purposes. But this poses another problem. It becomes very difficult to remember all these passwords. Some write these passwords in their diary or write on a small paper and keep it on their table. This too is a bad practice. Because it is easy for other people to get hold of this information when you are not around.

If you could keep all your password in a database and then encrypt this database and protect it with a password then all your passwords will be safe. Then you just need to remember this one password, so even if you forget other passwords you can still use this password to open the database and check the password.

You can use a free password management software such as ‘Password Safe‘. You can download password safe from http://sourceforge.net/ and install it in your computer. Then you will never have to remember many passwords.

To create a master password

When you open Password safe for the first time it will ask you for the ‘Safe combination’ which is nothing but the master password for your password database. The safe combination password should be long and contain both numbers and alphabets so that it is difficult to guess. If you give a simple and easy to guess password then password safe will warn you. Now key in the same password again in the ‘Verify’ box and click on ‘OK’.

To add passwords to Password Safe

Click on the ‘Add Entry’ button in Password Safe. In the new dialog box give ‘group name’ (optional) and the title name and then key in your username and password. In the ‘Notes’ section write anything you want to write about the account. Now click on ‘OK’ to add this information to password safe.

As mentioned in the above paragraph add all your passwords one by one. When you close password safe program it will ask you where you want to save this password database in your hard disk. This is only for the first time.

To retrieve the password

If you forgot the password for any file or program and you want to retrive the password from password safe then password safe will first ask you for the ‘master password’. After you give the master password the database will open.

Then click on the ‘title’ for which you want to know the password. Now click on the ‘Copy password to clipboard’ button. Now the password will be copied to the clip board. You can use Ctrl + V to paste it anywhere you want.

When you exit the password safe program, it will automatically clear the password from the clipboard for security reasons.

You can also edit the password if you want.

3outube – Download youtube videos

Even wondered how to download youtube videos to your computer hard disk? If you did a search on google to find out free applications that can download youtube videos, there are quite a few of them available.

But some of them add advertisement, or only download 60 to 70 % of the video, and if you want to download the 100% video, you may have to buy it.

Here is a free 100% online download site which enables you to download in two different formats. MPEG4 and FLA formats. All you need to do is goto youtube.com and find your favourite video.

Eg. http ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY9793NCGxI

Now replace y in youtube with 3

So the URL now becomes

http://www.3outube.com/watch?v=yY9793NCGxI

This will bring you to a page where you can select which file format you want to download. MPEG4 or FLA.

Just click on the file format you want and the youtube video will be downloaded to your hard disk. It is that simple.

Easy Duplicate Binder

While working with computer files we take copies of them and use them. But most of the times we forget to delete duplicate copies. Sometimes we save the file in the desktop or temp folders and backup folders. So multiple copies of the same file exists in the hard disk. This takes up hard disk space.

Only when we reach the hard disk space limit we realize this. But it will be too late to find the duplicate files. Fortunately there are some utilities available that can find duplicate files automatically and remove them. “Easy Duplicate Finder” is one such useful utility available from the internet.

You can find the file to download at http://www.easyduplicatefinder.com/. This program does not affect system files and folders. Then it will show you a list of duplicate files and let you decide which ones to delete.

Shortcut function keys in excel

Here is a list of shortcut keys in Microsoft Excel.

1. F1: Opens a help task pane
2. F1 + Ctrl: Opens or closes the help window
3. F2: To edit the text in the active cell
4. F2 + Shift: To write a comment in the active cell
5. F2 + Alt: Opens the save as dialog box
6. F3 + Shift: opens the insert dialog box
7. F3 + Ctrl: Opens the define name dialog box
8. F3 + Shift + Ctrl:  Opens the create name dialog box
9. F4:  To redo the last command
10. F4 + Ctrl: To close the workbook window
11. F4 + Alt: To close the excel program
12. F5: Opens the Goto dialog box
13. F5 + Ctrl: brings back to the first level of workbook
14. F6: To shift between help taskbar and the excel window
15. F6 + Shift: To goto the previous square in the open worksheet
16. F6 + Ctrl: If more than one workbook is open to switch between them
17. F7: To open spelling correction window
18. F7 + Ctrl: When workbook window is not maximised it will move the window
19. F8: To activate / deactivate extended mode
20. F9: Will calculate all the worksheets in all open workbooks
21. F9 + Shift: Will calculate the active worksheet
22. F9 + Ctrl: To Minimise the workbook window
23. F10: Will select the menu bar
24. F10 + Ctrl: To open minimised window
25. F11: Will create a chart using the current range
26. F11 + Shift: To select a new worksheet
27. F11 + Alt: To switch between visual basic editor and the worksheet
28. F11 + Alt + Shift: Opens microsoft script editor
29. F12: Opens save as dialog box
30. F12 + Shift: Saves the active workbook
31. F12 + Ctrl: To open the Open dialog box
32. F12 + Ctrl + Shift: Opens the print dialog box

How to burn an iso file in mac?

So you downloaded an .iso or .dmg file, and now you want to burn it to CD or DVD on your Mac. Fear not! No extra software is required.

The delightfully useful Disk Utility built into OS X can burn disk images to optical media in a few easy steps. Read on for how to go about burning your new disc.

Windows users: You should check out the free ISO Recorder for similar functionality.

Launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities).
Insert your blank DVD or CD.
Drag and drop your .dmg or .iso file to the left pane in Disk Utility. Now both the blank disk and the .iso/.dmg should be listed.
Select the .iso/.dmg file you want to burn to disc, and click on the Burn button. A dialog box confirming the destination (your blank CD/DVD) will appear.

Sit back and wait while your new disc gets written!
All discs burned on the Mac work across platforms; you’ll notice in the screenshot that I’m burning the Ophcrack Live CD, which is obviously for use on Windows. This is a great way to back up software installation .dmg’s to optical disk to free up space on your Mac’s hard drive

Installing Windows XP Using A USB Flash Drive

Removable flash memory sticks are pretty much one of the most handy little pieces of technology to come along in the last couple of years. They come in various shapes and their storage size can range from a measly 128 MB to a whopping 32 GB. And you’re not restricted by what you are able to put onto these devices either. Which got me thinking today. I am regularly installing fresh copies of Windows onto new built PCs, so I look for any way to increase the speed at which my work gets done without compromising quality, of course.

So I thought, with the speed of flash drives today, it could be possible to install Windows XP onto those PCs in a much faster time than with optical media (CD/DVD). Plus with all the motherboards I use, I always make sure that the motherboards support booting from USB as it’s a very handy feature. So I decided to look into the various guides that can be found on the Internet. Originally meant for the EEEPC, I found a guide that I was able to understand. Because of the way it was written it took me longer than 10 minutes to understand the whole procedure and I’m sure the average geek would be completely confused before they had reached the second line, simply because of the total lack of explanation on the part of the guide’s creator for those who do not usually do this kind of thing.

Anyway, as with all guides, you have to realize that there is a certain amount of risk involved with the procedures I am about to give you details for and that you use this guide at your own risk; I will not be held accountable for any damages done to your hardware if something should go wrong. It will involve the use of the command prompt and it has the possibility of damaging your flash drive. Although I believe that the chances of that happening are quite slim, there is always the possibility, so I thought I would warn you before you decide if you’re going to use my guide. Now with the pleasantries out of the way, let’s get down to business. There is some preparation needed before we can start this procedure. First off you need to make sure you have the following available to you:

1. An unmodified, legal copy of Windows XP Home or XP Professional
2. USB memory stick (2 GB recommended – 1 GB minimum)
3. A motherboard that is capable of booting from a USB drive (check your motherboard manual if not sure)

As long as you have all three points above met, then you are ready to start. Just so you know, in this process your USB flash drive will be formatted, so do not use a USB that contains data vital to you. As for a motherboard that is capable of booting from a USB drive, most modern motherboards offer this as a standard feature. If your motherboard is less than two years old, chances are that the motherboard you have supports this feature.

Okay, now we have made sure that your computer is capable of installing XP from a USB disk. The next thing we need to do is to download and extract three tools that are going to help us in this procedure. You can find download links to these files below:

1. USB_Prep8
2. PEtoUSB
3. Bootsect

I suggest you download these files directly to the root of your hard drive. In other words save them to a folder on the same drive that contains your operating system — for most people this will be the C: drive. Once they are all downloaded, go ahead and extract PEtoUSB and USB_Prep8 to separate folders. Once this is done you should take the contents of the PEtoUSB folder and copy them into the USB_Prep8 folder. Once this is done, you should go back to the root of your drive and extract Bootsect to the root of the drive (program files and Windows folder is stored in this area). We do not need to worry about the Bootsect program for now, however that is simply preparation for later. And as another matter of preparation I suggest you insert your Windows XP CD, create a folder on the root of your drive, name it XP, and then copy the contents of your Windows XP CD into that folder as you will need these files soon.

Okay, now that all the preparation is out of the way, we’ll start the process. It will take on average about 20-25 minutes to complete this process depending, of course, on the speed of your PC and of the USB stick you are going to be using. I must warn you now that you should NOT close any of the windows generated by the programs I am showing you how to use until you reach the point in this guide when I tell you to do so. This is quite important because, if you happen to close any of the following windows, it is possible that you can screw up the procedure and you will have to start again. With that out of the way, as long as you follow the instructions below, everything will run smoothly.

1. Go into the folder named USB_Prep8 and double-click the following: (usb_prep8.cmd)
2. Make sure you select the newly created command prompt window and click any key to continue
3. A new program is started (PeToUSB). Do not change any of the settings; just click start and let it run
4. Once PeToUSB is finished, DO NOT CLOSE any of the windows the program created
5. Go to your start menu and click run if you’re using the classic start menu
6. Enter the following command into your run window: (CMD)]
7. Once you have run that command, a new window will appear with the words command prompt
8. Provided that you have used the file setup I suggested, input the following: ( cd \bootsect )
9. Type in the following: ( bootsect /nt52 :R ) Replace R with the drive letter of your USB drive
10. You will see the message (Bootcode was successfully updated on targeted volume) if it worked right
11. You may NOW close all the windows except for the window that was created when you ran USB_Prep8
12. Providing you closed all the right windows, the USB_Prep8 Window will now contain seven options
13. Press 1 on your keyboard — this will bring up a window. Locate your XP folder and highlight it. Click OK
14. Press 2 on your keyboard — the program will ask for a unused drive letter (example: T or Z)
15. Press 3 on your keyboard — the program will ask for your USB Stick drive letter; enter it now.
16. Press 4 on your keyboard to start the USB_Prep8 process
17. The program will ask you if it is OK to format a drive contained in the letter you gave in #14; click yes
18. The program will start to copy the needed files; be patient
19. The program will then ask you if you wish to copy these files to the USB stick; click yes.
20. Finally, once it has finished copying the files, it will ask you if you want to make the stick the preferred boot drive. Click yes, after which it will ask if you wish to un-mount the USB stick. Click yes

And that’s all there is to it. The USB flash drive is now ready to install XP to any hardware that is supported by the Windows XP CD. However there are some minor differences to installing Windows XP this way than if you would with an optical drive, which I am going to go into. Of course, as I have said before, the speed at which Windows XP installs is MUCH faster when installing using a USB stick than if you were using an optical drive (CD/DVD). But the speed comes at the price of you needing to pay a little more attention to the install itself. Now from this point on, I am going to assume that your motherboard does in fact support booting from USB and that you have gone into your BIOS and have set the USB flash drive as the first drive to be booted from (make sure the flash drive is connected before you turn power on — it helps). I cannot give a generic answer to where that option is in your BIOS; I suggest you look up in your motherboard’s documentation.

Providing it boots from the USB flash drive, you will now be shown two options. One with the words GUI and one with the words Text Mode. Choose the Text Mode option first. Now you will see what you normally would see during a CD install of XP. Just follow the on-screen instructions as always. One note is that, if you need to create a new partition for your new Windows XP installation, once the partition is fully formatted, instantly turn off the PC as the install will need to be restarted so the flash drive can recognize the layout of your partitions correctly. Follow the instructions below:

1. Create a new partition and format it as normal
2. Once the partition is formatted, restart your PC and when the options come up again choose Text Mode
3. Highlight the newly formatted partition, press enter, move down to make no changes, and press enter

Okay, now after that all goes through and the PC restarts, simply chose the GUI option on the menu and let the Windows XPinstall go along as it would normally do. I must advise that you DO NOT REMOVE the USB stick until you’re actually past the setup stage. Once you have just booted into Windows XP for the first time, you can go ahead and remove the USB stick. Congratulations! You have just installed Windows XP without the need for a CD/DVD drive.

The benefits of installing from USB are plentiful and, providing you take the time to follow the instructions above, you need never worry about scratching your Windows XP CD again. I hope that the time I spent writing this guide will help you all to decrease the amount of time you spend having to install Windows XP when you have to. Peace!