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Is Google Chrome OS Virus Free? A Review

July 15, 2009July 15, 2009 by dennis

It has been a very exciting news for all of us with the announcement of the Google’s first Desktop Operating System last week. This has been filling up good hopes for all of us as this OS is said to be free, I mean Open source. Moreover the Google Chrome team has claimed it as virus free. We will check the validity of their claim and will this OS will be a hit or will be lost in the air in the near future.

Google has already launched the light weight Chrome Browser nine months ago. They have claimed that already 30 million people are regularly using it. Google Chrome OS will be an open source OS which will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. But they have not made the code open source yet. It seems the code will be available for us later this year.

Well coming to the point we will have a brief discussion whether it is going to be possible to make a virus-free Operating System. Well we have different views over this one. Some say that this claim is idiotic and it is not possible to make a virus-free OS. Others claim that it may be possible that if we take into account the various security concerns in the developing stages.

In my opinion, if Google has been redesigning an operating system from scratch, taking security into account all the way bottom up, they could make for a more secure OS than ones that have been developed so far. As they have promised that users won’t have to deal with viruses or malware, we have to assume that they have addressed all the security concerns. Anyhow we have to hope for the best. Well nothing can be labelled virus proof but lets hope that the Chrome team is making the OS more tougher to be attacked.

Another thing is that this will be available for free to everyone and everyone can take part in the development process. The Chrome team has intimated that after the release of the source code later this year they are looking forward to work with the Open Source community and make the OS better to be used. We have been told that the Google Chrome OS team is currently working with a number of technology companies like Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.

Well talking about the coming OS and its future, there are a lot of tough competitions to be taken care of. The OS giant Microsoft had already seen Google as a potential threat when it emerged a decade ago. They have been trying to beat Google and introduced Live search, now Bing! In order to survive in the market they need to make better products, name and provide better services than others. Seeing the current condition like Google had recently taken off their Beta tag off the Non search services, the OS will also be available to us for testing like Beta. But testing an Operating System in the Beta format is not an easy job over web services.

To summarize, there are a lot that can be done in an OS to reduce the threat of viruses and malwares. If the Chrome team started from scratch and took security seriously all through the design and development process, they have to potential to develop something really secure. And if they have done so, and they have developed a n OS really secure then I am sure that their effort will never go to vain whether the competition is tough or not.

NVIDIA GeForce Windows 7 Drivers Download

July 9, 2009July 9, 2009 by dennis

The Windows Aero experience you expect in Windows 7 is definitely not going to work if you are not installing the right drivers for your NVIDIA GeForce Graphics present in your computer. For this purpose NVIDIA has released a driver for your GeForce. The released Driver is GeForce Driver Release 181 Beta released on March 02, 2009. This is expected to work well for Windows 7 Beta. But some people are facing some problems with the Windows 7 RC (Release Candidate). Moreover the GeForce Versions for Laptops and Tablet PCs are not supported by this 181 driver, like the GeForce 7400. Anyhow I am going to address the solution below.

If you want to download the GeForce Driver 181 Beta, then you can see the link below. But before see the Products Supported list to know whether your product is included or not.

Download windows 7 nVidia 181.71 driver

Anyhow even if you have installed the driver or not, please perform the steps below to update the driver you are using.

Step 1: Go to start, type Update in the Search box and open Windows Update.

Step 2: In the Windows Update page click the optional Update link.

Step 3: Now select the nVidia Driver update available and click OK to download.

If the Update is not shown then you can click Check For Update in the Windows Update page.

After downloading install the updates. You may need to restart the system for it to work. Hope this solves the problems for your graphics in Windows 7.

Intel Processor Identification Utility – Know Your Intel Processor

June 27, 2009June 27, 2009 by dennis

How much do you know about the Intel processor you are using in your computer? Well here I am suggesting a useful utility software from Intel itself which will help you find out the properties of your processor and its capabilities. Just download the software from the Intel website given below. Install it to your system and start the program. http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/

The first thing it shows is the frequency test. In the above image I have used a sample T2250 processor. The expected frequencies are the ideally laboratory tested ones. The reported ones are the currently operating ones. Sometimes we can find that the expected and the reported may differ in some points. If the difference is more then you need to go for servicing.

The next tab will show you the advanced technologies that are integrated to your CPU. The Intel Virtualization technology is needed for running virtual Operating systems. Well if you are planning to install Windows 7 RC version and running Virtual XP then this technology is needed. It also shows the total number of streams of Simple Instruction Multiple Data extensions present in your CPU. The last tab shows you the details and features of your CPU. The capacity of your Level 1 and Level 2 Cache are shown. The other details can also be noted. At last you can even save the details of your CPU to a text file. The thing why I thought of writing this post is that many of us are naive about our processors and expected it to run in the expected details. But we can find out more like the CPU BUS speed, Virtualization and HT technologies which are very much required when some critical operations are to be done.

Install Windows XP in Vista Installed Computers

April 14, 2009April 14, 2009 by dennis

Installing Windows XP in a computer which is installed with Windows Vista has been an issue. Some of the laptops which are pre-installed with Vista have problems downgrading to Windows XP. As many users are familiar with Windows XP and prefer XP to Vista, downgrading is needed.

If we simply insert the Windows XP Installation CD and try to install Windows, we get this error:

Setup did not find any hard disk in your computer.

This error is due to the AHCI Sata drivers which are not present in the Windows XP Setup CD.

This problem can be solved in two ways:

Method 1: (Disable Sata Native Support )

If your BIOS Setup has the Disable Sata Native Support option then it can be solved easily by disabling the feature. You can follow the Guide given here for performing this procedure:

How to install your own Windows XP in Laptops

Method 2: (Using nLited Installation)

Some of the laptops do not have the Disable Sata Native Support option. In that case the only way to install is to integrate the AHCI Sata drivers to your Windows XP installation disk. For this you need a freeware called nLite to integrate the components The full procedure and the sata drivers are given here:

Integrate your own drivers in the Windows installation CD using nLite

Once you have nLited your XP CD then it can be used for Computers which may be having sata support or not.

Enable Hide Inactive Icons Tray Using Registry in Windows

April 4, 2009April 4, 2009 by dennis

Many of the Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 users usually find that the Auto Hide Inactive Icons tray from the taskbar has stopped working or it is missing inspite of enabling it from the control panel or the taskbar properties. This problem is very common. May be after reboot it may work again, but for some systems the tray may never come up. This tray will hide the inactive and unnecessary icons from the taskbar. So many people like this feature. Making it work again is what we are talking about here.

See the images below where one is not having hide inactive Icon tray and another one is having it:

Enabling the Inactive icon tray consists of changing only a single registry. Its an easy process. There are two methods given below. Both the methods needs registry editing to be enabled. If your Registry editing has been disabled by the administrator then visit: How to enable Registry Editor (REGEDIT) to enable it.

Method 1: Using Elevated Command Prompt

Step1: Copy the whole command from the table below:

REG ADD HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer /t REG_DWORD /v EnableAutoTray /d 1 /f

Step 2: Open a Command Prompt (Press Start + R, type cmd and Enter). Paste the command you had copied into the Command Prompt. In order to paste in Command Prompt right click and select paste.

Step 3: Press Enter to execute the command. It should execute successfully.

Step 4: Log Off your computer and Log On again. Now your Hidden Icon tray will be working.

Method 2: Using Registry Editor

Step 1: Open a Registry Editor(Press Start + R, type regedit and Enter)

Step 2: Go to the registry key path given below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current\Version\Explorer

Step 3: In the Right Side of the registry editor see for the value EnableAutoTray. [If you are not able to find it, create a new value with the same name. To create a, value right click anywhere on the right pane and select New DWORD. Change the Name to EnableAutoTray(Press F2 for name change)]. Double click on EnableAutoTray and change the value to 1.

Step 4: Now close the editor and log off your computer. Log On and you will find your tray is working.

Congratulations you have enabled your Auto Hide Inactive Icons.

Note:

1. Log Off means complete logging off the computer not Locking the computer like pressing Start+L.

2. Restarting the computer will also work after the performing the procedure.

3. If you change the Value as 0 the it will disable the Tray.

4. This method works for windows XP, Vista and 7.

Create Shutdown Shortcut for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 on Desktop

March 16, 2010April 4, 2009 by bharath

Learn How to add/create a desktop Shortcut to Shutdown / Turn off your Windows computer.

Shortcuts are meant for making life easier. We all know how to add shortcuts to our favorite programs on desktop.Now let’s see how to add a desktop shortcut for “Shutdown”, which when double clicked will shutdown your system.

Important: For those who are using Windows 7 please refer the NOTE given below (Please Scroll Down)

Steps:

1.Right Click on your desktop select New>>Short cut

2.Now a “Create Shortcut” window pops out which will ask you to type the location of the item (in our case it is “shutdown.exe”).

3.Type the following code :%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe –s in the textbox.

[As you can see we are trying to locate an .exe file called shutdown.exe which when executed will shutdown the computer].

After entering the above code, click Next

4.Now the window will ask you to select a title for the program give it a name whatever you like “Shutdown Shortcut” and click on the Finish button

5.The new shortcut will appear on your desktop.

You may change the icon of the shortcut so that it’s easier for you to identify the shortcut.[In the image, I’ve used a “Power Off” icon for the same ]

You are done now. You may also go for advanced options like adding –f or –t after –s in the textbox area.

If you use –f it’ll immedialtely closes all running applications and shutdown without any warning

if you use –t you can specify the time after which you want your system to be Turned off.

for example you may give like %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s -t 100 which will trun off your system after 100 seconds.[a message will appear as shown].

Note:You may also use command prompt to shutdown your system.The same code as in the above can be typed as shutdown.exe -s -t 100 and you’ll still get the same turning off message.Once it has started the only way to stop it is using the command prompt again.Use shutdown.exe –a to stop your scheduled turn off.

The above process has been posted with the Windows XP as the base OS, the same process can also be applied to Windows Vista based systems.

NOTE: For those who are using Windows 7 download the zip file below which contains the shortcut to Shutdown. Extract the file and place the shortcut where ever you want.

Download: Windows 7 Shutdown Shortcut.zip

Size: 850 Bytes

Contains 1 file: Shut Down Windows.lnk

Reset Windows XP, Vista, 7 Password Using USB Drive or CD

November 3, 2012March 29, 2009 by dennis

A lot of methods are available to recover or reset the Windows password. The famous Ophcrack is used for recovering the password. Even i have posted about using Ophcrack. But the problem is that its bulky in size. We need to download a file of size 500MB to recover the password. So I thought why to recover a lost password, instead why cant we simply reset or delete the password using a 3 MB file open source program. That is what this post is about. I have not found any other method simpler than this one, it resets your password in the blink of an eye.

The method uses an open source program called Offline NT Password & Registry Editor. We can use a USB Disk Drive (Pen Drive) or burn a bootable CD for this method.

Follow the Steps below:

Step 1: Download the cd080802.zip file from the link below and extract it. It contains an ISO file.

Size: 3.15 MB

http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/cd080802.zip (Updated Working Link 13-01-10)

Step 2: Burn the ISO file to a CD. If you are using a USB drive, then mount the cd080802.iso file to a virtual drive. Open the Virtual Drive and Copy all the contents to your USB disk. If any error comes while copying just skip the file. Now to make the USB Drive Bootable open a Command Prompt(Press Start + R, Type cmd and enter) and type the following commands:

Sl. No.	Command:	Action:
1	j:	Enter
2	syslinux.exe –ma j:	Enter

Here j is my drive letter, you should enter your own drive letter.

Step 3: Now start the System which you want to reset the password by putting the CD or the USB in the Computer. While start up you have to make sure that it boots up from the correct device i.e. from the CD or the USB. In order to do this go to your BIOS settings and change the boot order as CD or the USB drive as the first option. Or if you know the Boot menu key then press it and Boot from the correct device.

Note: Step 4 to Step 8 takes a very less amount of time. No need to worry!

Step 4: After booting from the CD or the USB, press enter to continue the boot process. In the first step it will automatically select the disk where your windows is installed. Simply press enter to continue. In the Second Step it Will select the path and registry files. Select 1 for password reset (It will select 1 by default, just enter).

Step 5: Now after selecting the paths, It will ask “What to do?” Simply press enter as it will automatically select 1 for Edit User Password.

Step 6: It will show a list your system usernames and their password status. Now enter the username whose password you want to reset. It is case sensitive so, be careful and type what you see in the users list. (If the user is Administrator just press enter as it has already selected Administrator by default otherwise enter the correct username)

Step 7: It will show you User Edit Menu. Select 1 to clear the user password.

Step 8: It will clear the password. Now Enter “!” to quit from the User select menu. It will again ask “What to do?”. enter “q” to quit. Now in step four it will ask you to write the files or not. Enter “y” to write the files. It will write the files back. Now Simply press enter when it asks for “New run?” as it has selected no by default. The password reset has been successfully completed. Press the power button.

Now start the computer and you will find that it is not asking for password for the user you had selected. That’s it, you are done.

Important:

1. This method will remove your password not recover. If you do not want to reset the password, you can recover it. Visit: http://techrena.blogspot.com/2009/03/windows-password-recoverycrack-windows.html for password recovery.

2. The method has been tested for windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 and all resulted in success.

3. This is for information purposes only. We are not responsible for any damages or illegal acts resulting from this information.

4. The information provided here should be used for legal purposes only.

5. USB Disk method will not work if your motherboard or BIOS does not support USB booting.

How to Download Windows 8 Pro ISO from Microsoft and Install it to any computer with Upgrade key

Download the newly released Windows 8 Pro 32 or 64-bit version from Microsoft

Missing Folder, File Names in Windows Explorer | Enable it in Single Step.

March 31, 2009March 28, 2009 by dennis

Have you ever faced any problem like if you view your folders in Thumbnail Mode then your Folder or file Names are missing and are not displayed. This is a very common problem for Windows Users. When I encountered this problem first I thought some virus has infected my system. But after finding the solution I laughed at myself. You can enable or disable it in a single step.

The missing Folder Names Window looks like as in the image below:

Note: This problem is different from Missing Folders in Explorer where hidden files and folders cannot be seen. To solve this problem See How to Show Hidden Files and Folders

Step 1: Now Go Up or back to the parent folder which contains the folders or files that does not display names. Select the parent folder, hold down Shift key and open the folder.

For my case the parent folder is English.

Now you will see the folder and file names. Its that easy.

By performing the same process again you can disable the Folder or file names in Thumbnails View.

Hope this Solves the Missing Folder and file Name problem in thumbnail view.

Important:

1. This is a functionality of Windows to given more Space to the Thumb images instead of the Folder or file names.

2. This method works in Windows XP and Windows Vista. I don’t think this problem is seen in Windows 7

Change MAC Address or Physical Address Using Registry Editor (regedit) in Windows

April 6, 2009March 28, 2009 by dennis

Many people have a wrong conception that changing MAC Address of a computer is not possible or it requires a complex software. But it is not true. Changing MAC or Physical address of your computer is very simple. MAC (Media Access Control) address, Ethernet Hardware Address (EHA), hardware address, adapter address or physical address is a quasi-unique identifier assigned to most network adapters or network interface cards (NICs) by the manufacturer for identification. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer’s registered identification number. Although intended to be a permanent and globally unique identification, it is possible to change the MAC address on most of today’s hardware, an action often referred to as MAC spoofing.

Now getting to the point we can change MAC by using your Windows Registry Editor. The method has been successfully tested in different Wired Ethernet Adapters, Wireless Adapters etc.

Follow the steps below and your MAC will be changed in seconds:

Step 1: Open Registry Editor (Press Start + R, Type regedit and Enter). If you get a message like “Your Registry Editor Has Been Disabled By Your Administrator” then you need to enable it. To Enable Registry Editor Visit: How to enable registry Editor

Step 2: After opening Registry Editor successfully, see the left pane of your registry editor. You can find a series of registry keys. You have to follow the path as:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-xxxx}

For the last key search for the red highlighted part in your Editor. You can refer the image below:

Step 3: After opening the last Key you will see a set of keys like 0000, 0001, 0002 etc. You have to open each key and search for values which corresponds to your network adapter. For example, I have an Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection. So in the right side of the editor i found a value which is containing this name. This is how we identify the key for the network adapter. For me i got the key in 0007.

Step 4: Now search for the value NetworkAddress inside the key you have found. If you cant find it right click and create a new String Value of the name NetworkAddress.

Step 5: Now change the value as your MAC Address. After Changing the value you can close Registry Editor.

Step 6: Now Go to Network Connections and Disable your Adapter. Right Click and select Disable

After it is disabled Double click on the Network Adapter and it will Enable it.

Step 7: Now go to status of the Adapter and Check The MAC address.

You will find your desired MAC Address. Now you have changed your Physical Address successfully.

Important:

1. This method Will not work for Windows Network Bridges.

2. If you keep an invalid MAC address value then your Adapter will not function properly.

Install Windows XP from USB Disk Drive

February 11, 2010March 27, 2009 by dennis

Installing Windows XP from a USB drive(pen Drive) has been an issue with less number of ideal solutions available. Here we have given a solution which is easy to follow and which works. The reason why should anybody want to install Windows from a USB drive is that using a bootable CD is always been a problem. Sometimes our CD ROM may not work. Some mini laptops like Asus Eee PC may not have CD ROMs where installation is possible only through USB or an external Drive. One of the main reason why we were interested in this topic is that in the current trend Using a CD is considered primitive. A USB drive is much more easy and more portable. Hence why should anybody not want to carry their Installation files in a bootable USB drive and why would anybody rely on a CD which is easily damageable by rough handling.

The method given here is tested successfully for Windows XP 32 bit installation with SP2 and SP3. It may work with other versions of Windows like Vista and Windows 7 but we have not tested it yet.

[Update: Refer to this guide on How To Install Windows 7 or Vista Using Bootable USB Disk]

Requirements:

1. A USB Drive of minimum 2GB

2. Windows XP installation CD (Back Up will also do)

The method consists of two parts and one file download (around 499KB). We will have touse tools like PeToUSB to format your pen drive and copy the Windows XP installation files to the USB Disk using usb_prep8.cmd. Then we will boot up from the USB Drive and prepare for installation. After the process is completed your XP install is ready for the process.

Now we will start the process:

Step 1: Download the File from the link given below:

Size: 499KB

Name: usb_boot_prep_xp.zip

http://www.techrena.net/downloads/usb_boot_prep_xp.zip

Password: techrena.net

Step 2: Extract the usb_boot_prep_xp.zip file in your C drive. It will give you two folders named bootsect and usb_prep8. Plug in your USB drive to your computer and put the Windows XP CD also.

Step 3: Go to the usb-prep8 folder and double click usb_prep8.cmd file. Press any key to continue.

Step 4: Now it will open PeToUSB. Format your USB drive using it. Select the options as in the image below. Note that after formatting do not close the PeToUSB or the cmd console.

Step 5: Now open a new cmd console manually (press Start+L, type cmd and enter). And type the following command in the commands prompt. Note that you should type your own USB drive letter instead of ‘h’.

Sl. No.	Command:	Action:
1	cd\	Enter
2	cd bootsect	Enter
3	bootsect.exe /nt52 h:	Enter

I had copied the folder in D drive. So the image will be somewhat different with the actual display of your console. Don’t worry copy the folder in your C drive only. Now close this cmd console but not the other one.

Step 6. Close PeToUSB. Now the usb_prep8.cmd console will continue. Select 1 to set the source location. Select the CD ROM containing the XP CD.

Step 7: If you have a drive called T in your computer then check option 2 to change it to any letter which is not present. Otherwise no need to change. Select 3 to set the destination drive. Enter your USB Drive letter as shown below:

Step 8: Now select choice 4 as we don’t have any Tempimage previously. It may ask you to delete the existing tempimage. select Yes.

Step 9: It will ask you to format the T drive. Enter y and it will format your temp drive. Press any key to continue. Now it will start copying the XP files to the tempdrive.

Step 10: After the completion of the file copy process Press any key to continue. Now it will ask you to copy the files to your USB drive or not. Select Yes.

Step 11: During the copy process it will ask whether to change migrate.inf file or not. Is you are using a USB stick then Select Yes. If you are using a USB hard drive then Select No.

Step 12: After the successful completion of copying the files to your USB drive it will ask whether to unmount the Virtual temp drive or not. As you do not need it Select Yes.

Step 13: After the successful completion of the process close the cmd console. Now your pen drive is ready for the installation process.

Step 14: Plug in the USB drive to the computer you want to install XP. While start up make sure that you set the first boot choice as your USB drive. To do this you have to enter to the bios and change the boot order to USB Disk as the first choice. For entering to BIOS press the BIOS setup key while start up. This key is usually seen in the screen in the boot screen. For most of the systems it is DEL key. For HP and Compaq it is F10 etc. Go to the boot configuration tab and change the boot order.

Step 15: While booting up from the USB it will ask you to choose between GUI and TXT mode of setup. Select TXT mode for now.

Step 16: Follow the onscreen instructions. It is same as the usual setup process. In the partition selection screen do not select you USB drive for install. And if you are installing in a new RAW hard disk then your USB Drive will be the C drive. Now first create a new partition and format your HDD using the setup. And again restart the process from step 15 by Quitting the current Install(Press F3). Then you should get your HDD partition as C drive. Continue your installation.

Step 17: Now it will copy a set of files to the hard disk. It usually takes lesser time than a CD ROM installation. After the process it will ask for reboot. Press Enter to reboot immediately.

Step 18: Now while start up select the GUI mode of setup to continue setup.

Now you can continue your usual setup process. Follow the onscreen instructions carefully. After the setup process which usually takes 39 minutes, it will restart. Now boot from your Hard drive not the USB drive. Again use BIOS settings to make this happen.

Congratulations you have successfully installed Windows XP via a USB Drive.

Important:

1. You can copy the contents of your pen drive if you want for future use. To use in future just format your USB drive with FAT, run the commands given in Step 5 and simply copy paste the files you had saved earlier. No need to run the whole process again.

2. While unmounting the Virtual Temp Drive T, it may fail and ask you to try again. Select No. And when it asks you to Force unmount select yes.

3. This Method is for informational purpose only and should not be used for Software Piracy and illegal practices.

4. We are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from this information.

5. This method will not work if your motherboard or your BIOS does not support USB booting.

6. This method is an implementation of the guide given in http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20089. And PeToUSB is a property of http://gocoding.com/page.php?al=petousb

Install Windows 7 or Vista Using Bootable USB Disk Drive

Install Windows 7 or Vista to your computer using a flash drive easily following the guide given here in few minutes. No download or software required and clear steps are given.

Is Google Chrome OS Virus Free? A Review

NVIDIA GeForce Windows 7 Drivers Download

Intel Processor Identification Utility – Know Your Intel Processor

Install Windows XP in Vista Installed Computers

How to install your own Windows XP in Laptops

Integrate your own drivers in the Windows installation CD using nLite

Enable Hide Inactive Icons Tray Using Registry in Windows

Method 1: Using Elevated Command Prompt

Method 2: Using Registry Editor

Create Shutdown Shortcut for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 on Desktop

Reset Windows XP, Vista, 7 Password Using USB Drive or CD

Sl. No.

Command:

Action:

1

j:

Enter

2

syslinux.exe –ma j:

Enter

Important:

Featured Post:

How to Download Windows 8 Pro ISO from Microsoft and Install it to any computer with Upgrade key

Missing Folder, File Names in Windows Explorer | Enable it in Single Step.

Important:

Change MAC Address or Physical Address Using Registry Editor (regedit) in Windows

Install Windows XP from USB Disk Drive

Important:

Featured Post:

Install Windows 7 or Vista Using Bootable USB Disk Drive