Whatever security measures you implement, some viruses do manage to sneak in an bite you in the ass. Even if you manage to remove them later using a better AV software, some leave lasting damage usually to the system registry. Examples are the inability to show hidden files, disabled task manager, disabled firewall and the list goes on. Of course a system reinstall will solve the problems but that is a painstakingly long process. This is where Remove Restrictions Tool (RRT) can help. RRT includes options to undo over 35 common changes caused by viruses.

The following problems can be resolved using RRT

1. Disable Folder Options >> so the user can't set the option to show hidden files!
2. Disable Registry Tools >> so the user can't see what is going on during system startup!
3. Disable Ctrl+Alt+Del >> so the user can't see the virus and the other applications running!
4. Disable Show hidden files & folders >> so the user can't see the malware bodies which always come with hidden attribute set to true!
5. Disable Run Command >> so the user can't use it to run some tools to track the virus activites of remove it.
6. Disable Windows Firewall (SharedAccess) >> so the virus can send & receive any data through the network without the attention of the user!
7. Disable Windows Firewall (Wscsvc) >> so the virus can send & receive any data through the network without the attention of the user!
8. Disable Windows Firewall (Wuauserv) >> so the virus can send & receive any data through the network without the attention of the user!
9. Restrict Internet Explorer Home Page Changing >> so the user can't change the malicious web page set by the malware!
10. Restrict Internet Explorer Closing >> so the user can't close the pops up windows that appear when visiting the malicious web page or any other website!
11. Hide Internet Options >> so the user can't change any setting set by the malware!
12. Hide Internet Explorer Address Bar >> so the user can't see what web page being visited and what scripts being executed!
13. Restrict Internet Explorer Right Click >> so the user can't view the source of the page being visited and other useful things.
14. Hide Internet Explorer Navigation Buttons >> so the user will be forced to user the keyboard shortcuts to navigate through the web sites!
15. Hide Internet Explorer Context Menu >> so the user can't access this menu which make him able to select some useful settings.
16. Hide Internet Explorer Toolbar >> so the user can't use it to remove some unwanted toolbars made by the malware.
17. Disable Command Prompt (cmd.exe) >> so the user cannot run any console programs like command prompt removal tools...
18. Disable Control Panel >> so the user cannot use the control panel applets.
19. Hide system files/folders >> so the user can't see the malware bodies which usually come with system attribute set to true!
20. Change Show Hidden files option button >> So even if you select "Show hidden files and folders from folder options these files & folder will not be shown!
21. Disable Show System files check box >> So even if you unchecked "Hide protected operating system files" these files & folder will not be shown!
22. Disable Show all files/folders check >> So changing this from folder options will be ignored!
23. Hide Desktop items to prevent the user from accessing My Computer and other desktop shortcuts!
24. Hide files extensions: This is commonly used by malware to trick the user. By hiding file extension, a user doesn't know whether a file with folder icon is an exe file or just an ordinary folder.
25. Disable File Extentions Check >> So changing this from folder options will be ignored!
26. Restrict Windows Update >> So the user cannot download security patches from Microsoft.
27. Disable Shut Down Command >> So the user cannot shut down the system normally.
28. Restrict Settings Folders >> Just imagine when you all items under Start menu>Settings wont run!
29. Disable Taskbar context menu >> You right click your taskbar.. Oops; nothing happens!
30. Disable Logoff Command >> So the user cannot logoff and use another profile.
31. Hide Start Menu Logoff >> So the user cannot use this shortcut to logoff!
32. Restrict Add/Remove Programs >> So the user cannot see what applications and windows components are installed or uninstall/reinstall any application.
33. File Extention Default >> So the user cannot select "Hide extensions for known file types".
34. No Windows Update >> So the user cannot download security updates and other fixes for windows.
35. R-Media Malware >> This item is indicating that a malicious object is trying to invade your computer through removable media, please see the details below.
36. Hidden Drives >> So the user cannot see any of the storage drives but they still can use RUN to access and explore them.
37. Restricted Drives >> So the user can see the drives but cannot access them even when using RUN command.
38. No Search >> So the user cannot search the file system using the start menu item for any file.

Download

[Click Here] to download Remove Restrictions Tool 4.8.0.3

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This feature will be useful for those who suspect their account is hacked. Gmail now displays the date and time your account was last accessed as well as the IP address that was used to login to the account.

Clicking on the 'Details' button will display a table of what protocols (POP3, IMAP, etc) were used to access the account and includes a button which you can use to sign out all other login sessions of your account (if any). 

[Click Here] to visit Gmail.

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Our previous post was about a site which you can use to view International Magazines via the Internet, free of charge. This post is about sites which allow you to download Electronic books of various categories right into your computer, free of charge. Please note that this is not a complete list; these are only the sites I have used and verified that the downloads they offer are reliable and what they claim to be. There may be plenty of other sites and if you know any such, feel free to share them by dropping a comment.

1. FreeBookSpot

This is one of my favorite sites. FreeBookSpot has nearly 5000 Electronic Books in its index belonging to various categories. Unlike most sites, it is not limited to programming/tech books. FreeBookSpot also indexes novels, fiction and even waay cooler stuff such as Star Wars novels packs!

Most of the books are in either Adobe PDF format or MS Reader .LIT format. FBS does not host every book in their servers. Most of the time they offer links to one click hosting sites such as RapidShare. It should not be a problem since most Ebooks are small in file size.

[Click Here] to visit FreeBookSpot.

2. MSLIT - Microsoft Reader Catalogue of EBooks

MSLIT is a site dedicated to indexing Microsoft Reader .LIT format Electronic books. They have e-books related a wide variety of categories ranging from action/adventure/detective novels to programming and IT related stuff.

As mentioned above, the site only indexes books in .LIT format. You need Microsoft Reader (Freely downloadable) to view them. Although the site bears the Microsoft logo actually it has no official affiliation with Microsoft.

[Click Here] to visit MSLIT.

3. Knowledge is Free

Knowledge is Free is another excellent source of information which indexes more than 2500 e-books mostly related to tech/business and programming categories. This site is very useful if you are a student or is studying for examinations such as CCNA or SCJP. In addition to E-books, Knowledge is Free also offers links to several video tutorials and nearly 500 issues of international magazines.

Like FreeBookSpot, Knowledge Is Free also offers download links from one click hosting services to indexed content.

[Click Here] to visit Knowledge is Free.

4. eBookShare

ebookshare.net is one of the first sites I used to download books from. It mainly indexes IT and Business Development related E-books but has a significant number of Magazines indexed as well.

Unlike the sites mentioned before, eBookShare does not offer HTTP downloading links. Instead, it offers links to .torrent files so the users may download the book with the help of a bittorrent client. Majority of the books indexed are tracked by the Pirate Bay public tracker so additional registration is not needed.

[Click Here] to visit eBookShare

5. FullBooks

FullBooks.com is another free e-Book hosting site which I found useful. It does not have a categorized index like most sites but indexes the hosted books in Alphabetical order. FullBooks hosts both fiction and tech related books.

All of the indexed books are hosted on the site itself. Longer books are divided into parts and each part is a .html file which you can view using the web browser. If you want to download the book into hard disk, just save the .html files.

[Click Here] to visit FullBooks.

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Although i've managed to find many Magazines in E-Learning and E-Book torrent trackers and web sites, i had never really come across a site dedicated to hosting international magazines. Mygazines.com is one such site which hosts a huge archive of Magazines belonging to many categories ranging from Information Technology to sports.

Initially i though this was just another one of those sites which hosted a bunch of useless free magazines but boy was i wrong. Mygazines.com hosts even the most reputed Magazines such as PC World and Computer Power User. Another good thing about the site is that there are even older issues available, in addition to the latest ones. The site is set to grow at a rapid rate with it already having a user base in excess of 15000. Even the site's users are allowed to upload and this will ensure new content being added to the site all the time.

The only minor drawback i found with the site was that it did not offer direct download links to hosted magazines. Magazines will open in an internal viewer instead of being downloaded to the user's computer in a single file. Anyway the viewer is user friendly, has a lot of features and renders the pages neatly and quickly.

If you are used to reading International Magazines, you should definitely check this site. There is a good chance of this hosting the latest copy of your favorite magazine, in electronic form!

[Click Here] to visit Mygazines.com

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Have you ever felt the need to create a PDF file using a word document you just finished working on Microsoft Office 2007? There is no need to install several converters to do this job for you. Microsoft themselves have developed an add-in for Office 2007 that would do the trick just fine.

Once installed, the save as PDF add in will insert an additional menu item into the 'Office button" menu. Through this, users will be able to instantly save Word 2007 documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel worksheets, etc as PDF format.

[Click here] to download Save as PDF add in for Microsoft Office 2007 via the Microsoft Download Center.

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When it comes to viewing .PDF files, adobe reader is probably the most used application. Adobe Reader evolved over the years with many new features being added after each revision. Since version 8, Adobe Reader comes with the Adobe Updater, a feature which I hated since the day I saw it.

Adobe Updater would check and download updates for Adobe Reader whenever the application is launched. This is good if you have a broadband connection but will simply suck if your computer does not have access to the Internet or if you are using a dial up connection. You can manually force it shut every time it runs but I found that pretty annoying. I've trying disabling Updating through preferences but this did not work. So here is what I did to kill the Adobe Updater for good.

Warning: The process below may disable updating of other Adobe products present in your system. If you choose to update any of the products at a later stage, you will have to download the setup files from Adobe site manually.

1. Browse to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe

2. Locate the Updater directory. This directory will be named Updater5 or Updater6, depending on the version of adobe products you have installed on your system.

3. Remove the directory (Updater5, Updater6, etc).

That should do it.

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Yesterday, we talked about how to install Windows Vista alongside Windows XP in a dual boot configuration. But what if you began hating Vista and wanted it out of your system for good? Booting to Windows XP and simply formatting the partition that Windows Vista is installed on will not work. Once Vista is installed, the default boot loader will be Vista's Boot Manager, not the boot.ini file of Windows XP. So if you screw Vista, you risk not being able to access Windows XP installation as well. So is there a way to remove Vista without harming your XP installation? Fortunately, there is.

1. First of all, make sure you have a working Vista installation DVD or an image of it so that you can mount it using a DVD emulation software such as Daemon Tools.

2. Boot to Windows XP and insert or mount the Vista installation DVD. Close any Autorun Windows that appear.

3.Type the following command in the run prompt:

 x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force

(Where x is the drive letter of your DVD-ROM drive or virtual drive)

4. Now reboot the computer. You will notice the Windows Boot Manager no longer present at startup. Windows XP will boot automatically.

5. In XP environment, format the partition to which you installed Vista.

6. Now browse to the partition where Windows XP is installed on. Delete the files Boot.BAK and Bootsect.BAK in the root folder.

Windows Vista is now completely removed from your system and Windows XP is once again your default operating system.

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It's been ages since Vista was released and I'm still having second thoughts on fully migrating to Vista. Thankfully, Vista can be installed on top of an existing Windows XP installation in a dual boot configuration. This is a great way to try out the new features of Vista while still having your good old XP installation at the ready in case something went wrong or if you simply prefer XP over Vista.

The process is fairly straightforward:

You will need a separate partition (or another hard drive if you have one) other than the one on which XP is installed. Technically it's possible to install both OS on the same partition but it will surely bite you in the ass once you install several software. So make sure you have a separate primary partition ready to install vista on and make sure you have at least 10GB free space available on it. Hint: Use a 3rd party utility such as GParted Live CD or Norton Partition Magic to create and resize partitions.

Now insert your Windows Vista DVD into the drive. There are two possible ways to run setup:

1. Boot to Windows XP and run Vista setup from DVD
2. Boot directly from the Windows Vista DVD

I would suggest you go for the second option. Whichever on you choose, make sure you choose the 'Custom (Advanced)' mode in Vista setup.

Once you reach the step where you need to select the drive to install Vista on, carefully select the partition you created earlier (You can create and delete partitions even in Vista setup but resizing will not be an option as with 3rd party tools). Do not select the partition on which Windows XP is installed.

Allow the installation to complete. Now, every time you boot the machine, you will be taken to the Windows Boot Manager.

This is where you choose the Windows version you want to boot up. Choosing Microsoft Windows Vista will launch Windows Vista and choosing 'Earlier version of Windows' will launch Windows XP.

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Sooner or later, we'll all have to come across one of these missing .DLL files errors. This may be due to existing files being corrupted, deleted or modified by various causes such as system crashes, virus infections or even by accident. Additionally, some programs require the use of .dll files that do not come with the OS by default.

This is when DLL-files come in. It's a large repository of .dll files which contains thousands of such files which are required by various operating systems and software.

It's all free and you don't even have to register. As a long time user of this site (It's been around since 1998), i can guarantee about hte reliability and security of the site's content. Now you should know where to head the next time you receive '*****.dll missing' error message.

[Click here] to visit DLL-files

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How many times have you wished your limited user account at workplace or your university to have administrator rights so that you could install [insert_program_name_here]? You wish might just come true, if the computer has a CD-ROM drive and if you can boot the machine with a bootable CD once. PCLoginNow 2.0 is a software that lets you either reset the administrator password on a computer or even gain administrator rights to your limited user account.

PCLoginNow  is an easy-to-use tool to reset local administrator and other accounts passwords on Windows system. No need to reinstall the system. It resets Windows passwords and Windows security settings instantly. All version of Windows are completely supported. It's an incredible CD for Home users and Businesses. And most of all, it's the most popular and safe solution for removing your Windows password until now.

Besides the abilities of resetting passwords, PCLoginNow can also help you maintain, change accounts policy setting and properties. You can easily upgrades an general account to administrator level, lock or unlock those accounts you don't need anymore, And moreover, all of these are done without booting your tedious, time-comsuming Windows System.

Key Features:

• 100% recovery rate: PCLoginNow resets any passwords on ANY Windows with 100% successful rate.
• Support Syskey : PCLoginNow can easily bypass Syskey mechanism and reset the Windows passwords.
• Offline running PCLoginNow runs on Linux Live CD.
• Securest technique: PCLoginNow uses the securest way to reset passwords and other settings. You don't have to worry about System corruption after using PCLoginNow.
• Supported Filesystems PCLoginNow supports all Windows filesystems including NTFS, FAT16, FAT32.
• Supported Operating Systems PCLoginNow is able to handle all popular Windows operating systems. Including Windows Vista, Windows XP/XP with SP2, Windows 2003 server , Windows 2000/NT.
• Supported Hardwares PCLoginNow runs on Linux CD which indicates most of the new Hardwares are supported by PCLoginNow. Computers with IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB or Firewire(IEEE 1394) Hard Disks as well as a wide range of PCI PCI-EX card are completely supported.
• Easy to Use PCLoginNow is designed for non-professionals, which means everyone can access their computer in no more than 5 minutes.

[Click Here] to download PCLoginNow 2.0 from SourceForge.

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How many times have you got roiyally screwed by viruses that leave autorun.inf files in your USB flash drives and root drives? These, viruses, although somewhat easier to clean, are still a pain in the ass. This little software will allow you to stay clear of such pests.

Please note that this software is good against viruses that leave autorun.inf files only. It should not be considered as a fully featured anti virus application or a security suite.

Read comments for more information.

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As you may already know, most of the pirated content on the Internet originate from the scene. When a scene group releases something (let it be a movie, game or an app) the release is usually announced to other members of the scene through IRC announce bots (Pre channels). It is a well known fact that it is not easy to have access to a pre channel. So how do we know which stuff is released by the scene?

Luckily, there are publicly accessible HTTP sites that index latest scene releases, Nuke information as well as .NFOs. We have presented several such sites we have used below. If you know others, fell free drop in a comment.

Dupecheck Project - Probably the best and the most frequently updated. Obtains info from multiple pre bots. Does not have .NFO information.

NFOhump - Another decent indexer. Updates sometimes slow. Clean interface. This was formerly known as Nforce.

VCD Quality - Exclusive movie release index site. Includes sample screens, .NFO and IMDB links for almost every release.

xREL - Contains .NFOs and has a ratings system. Frequent updates.

ORLY PreDB - Another excellent scene release index site. Currently down due to a DDOS attack.

PAJRAT - Update speeds somewhat similar to that of NFOrce. Automatically generates links to search for the release on popular bittorrent sites and other potential download locations.

NfoDB - Another indexing site. Update intervals are long.

Logic-Sunrise - Console and PC game releases indexing site.

As you may notice, these sites do not carry a download link to indexed scene releases. But once you know that the release is out there, just search for it on your favorite bit torrent tracker (or E2DK server, FTP site, Newsgroup or whatever) :p

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A game rip is a stripped down version of a PC game with reduced file size. The reduced size is achieved by some method such as by re encoding/removing movies, removing music,extra languages etc. The smaller size facilitated ease of transmission and storage, both of which were valuable resources back at the time. Back in the late 1990s these rips were common as this was the time scene groups CLASS/BACKLASH and MYTH was active. Rips became a rarity when CLASS shut down operations after their 1234th release.

 

Image: CLASS logo drawn using ASCII art. Good old days! 

Are rips a thing of the past?

Now in 2008 transmission bandwidth and storage space are no more serious constraints for the average Internet user. Maybe because of this, game rips have become a rarity. However, there still are a lot of people out there with low speed Internet connections and who still seek a ripped game for a quick download without having to waste days downloading the full version.

So are game rips a thing of the past? Not really. There are still non scene individuals who rip modern PC games and release them on P2P mediums such as Bit torrent. If you know the dudes, you can get ripped versions of even newest titles such as Turok (Full - 12GB, Rip - 5.5GB) and Assassin's Creed (Full - 7GB, Rip - 3GB).

Modern game rippers

Over the past year, i have come across at least two (reliable) releasers of ripped games. These are Dopeman and Skullptura. Out of these two, Dopeman stopped releasing games since December 2007. Skullptura is more active nowadays.

Dopeman rips are uploaded to The Pirate Bay (I haven't found these rips on a private tracker yet) by a user account '420Dopeman". Skullptura rips are uploaded by account "gizmolio". You can search and download the entire release collections using the following links.

• A list of game rips released by Skullptura.
• A list of game rips released by Dopeman.

The best thing about these rips is that they dont rip movies or music (except sometimes re-encode the movies) off the games. What is usually removed are extra language streams. Check them out. One even ripped the crappy Iron Man game to 220MB :D

Also, if you know more such game rip releasers, please post here and share the knowledge.

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This simple freebie lets you customize many of Vista's features.
Ignore this program's name, because if you're a true Vista expert, you don't need it. But if you're like most people --- not tried-and-true Vista pros --- and don't know how to disable User Account Control, customize the menu power button, or disable or enable the Aero interface, then you'll want this program.

Vista4Experts is kind of a treat for computer experts who don't want security center notifications, User Account Control dialogs, automatic Windows Defender scannings, automatic update installations (which cause you to reboot your system if you don't react quickly enough). People who want MSDN (or google) set as default search engine in the Internet Explorer search bar, who want the start menu power button to shut down the system instead of hibernating it, etc. These and many more fixes are included in Vista4Experts. All of these changes can be discarded, enabled or reversed. Vista4Experts is the first expert utility of its kind and works on every platform.

Download Vista4Experts (Direct Download)

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Almost all of us use antivirus software. Unlike normal application software, antivirus software require constant virus definition updates to provide maximum protection. This requires the computer needing access to Internet. But what if you don't have an Internet connection? Don't worry. Use the links below to download offline definition update setup files and run them on the computer which does not have Internet access.

• avast! 4 Offline Virus Definition (VPS)
  Download vpsupd.exe
• AVG 7.5 Updates (AVI)
  Download
• AVG 8.0 Updates (AVI)
  Download
• Avira Offline Virus Definition File (VDF)
  Download ivdf_fusebundle_nt_en.zip
• BitDefender Product Updates
  Download
• Clam AntiVirus (ClamAV) Virus Database
  Download main.cvd and daily.cvd
• F-Secure Virus Definition Databases
  Download latest.zip
• Kaspersky Antivirus Database Updates
  Download
• McAfee Virus Definition Updates (DATs)
  Download
• Norton / Symantec Virus Definition File (VDF)
  Download
• Panda Virus Signature File
  Download
• Sophos Virus Identify Files (IDE)
  Download
• Trend Micro Offline Pattern Files
  Download

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When you cant access your favorites site, how many times have you wondered if its a problem at your end or if the site is really down? Downforeveryoneorjustme is a site that lets you actually check this.

It's really simple. You just have to type in the site address.

Press enter and you will have the result within seconds.

 

It's a cool site. Really. Check it out.

Visit Downforeveryoneorjustme

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No more fax machines, or expensive online fax services. Faxing just shouldn’t be that hard - and it should be free. With drop.io it is both easy and free.

First you have to create a drop:

A drop is a chunk of space you can use to store and share anything privately (pictures, videos, audio, documents, etc.), without accounts, registration, or an email address. Drops are not "searchable" and not "networked;" they just exist online as private points for exchange between individuals or groups.

To send a fax from your drop to a recipient:

1. Click on ‘send' and then select 'fax' next to any document (.doc) or PDF
2. Enter the 10 digit fax number of the recipient (our service is US only)
3. Your fax is sent, end of story
   Note: you can only fax out documents up to 20 pages.. Certain word documents with embedded charts, or other OLE objects PDF files made with Postscript 3 will not work.

To receive a fax into your drop:

1. Go to your drop and click ‘receive a fax’
2. Email the cover sheet to the person sending the fax to your drop OR click ‘this coversheet’ and send the custom drop.io cover sheet to the person sending the fax
3. The sender must put the drop.io cover-page on top of the fax.
4. The fax will appear in your drop as a .PDF
   Note: So, the basic idea, to fax a document into a drop you must use the drop’s custom ‘cover page’ – give the cover page to the fax sender and you are in good shape (email it to them, print it and send it to them, whatever you want)
   If you are having trouble please make sure that the sending fax is set on 'high' resolution. Faxes sent with very low resolution will not work.

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Ever had the problem of having a computer without a floppy drive and needing to boot into DOS? This file will turn a USB Storage device into the equivalent of a bootable floppy, with also the added extra of having the DOS interactive version of Norton Ghost.

Install Notes:

1. Download required files from here.
2. Please note that when extracting files from the zip to make sure you have the "Use Folder Names" option Checked
3. Install SP27213.exe
4. Run the installed application
5. Select appropriate device, file system and volume label
6. Check Create DOS Startup Disc and then click sub option of "Using Dos System Files Located at"
7. Select the folder DOS System Files (These are for Win XP Only, for all other OS you will need to download the files from somewhere)you just extracted from the zip
8. Click Start
9. Copy Folder GBDF over to USB Device To have Norton Ghost Installed

Warning: This Process will format your USB Device

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This is a problem most newcomers to the torrent scene face. You may have downloaded movie torrents for days, only to be disappointed by the low video quality. This is when TorrentScreens comes in.

 

TorrentScreens is a service that allows you to view screenshots of popular movies leaked on bittorrent. The site indexes screenshots by release name (usually scene release name). You only have to match the release name in torrent site with that of TorrentScreen's and you'll get to see the movie quality for yourself. Make sure that the torrent is not fake as anti piracy outfits are known to upload fakes with names similar to that of scene releases.

Click here to visit TorrentScreens.

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There are a lot of folks among us who use bit torrent (and other means) to download TV Shows. If the show is not in your language, you may feel the need for good old subtitles. But where can you find them? Most subtitle sites host subtitles for movies but are there sites dedicated to providing tv series subs? Fortunately, the answer is yes.

TVsubtitles.net is one such site. As the name suggests, its main focus is on subtitles for tv shows. As of 3/4/2008, the site index stats are as follows:

• Total subtitles: 11702
• TV Shows: 157
• TV Episodes: 8537
• Downloads: 2714866

Go check it out now.

So i got the subtitle, how do i use it with my favorite show?

This is a question most of you know the answer to. But if you don't, that's ok; everybody's gotta learn.

Lets assume that your movie (or tvshow or whatever) file is mymov.avi and the subtitle file you just downloaded for this movie is mysubtitle.srt.

First of all you need to place these two files in the same directory.

Then you need to rename the files so that the file names look similar (Do not rename the file extensions).

Example- If you choose to rename the subtitle file:

Rename mysubtitle.srt to mymov.srt

Now you will have two files mymov.avi and mymov.srt

Place these two in the same folder and if you use even a half decent media player it should play the movie with subs just fine.

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