Posts by Michael_Knight

How long before Skype Ltd. ends up as an item for bid on eBay? Ever since its acquisition by the Internet auction site, Skype has been a rudderless boat — and without a captain, following the departure of cofounder Niklas Zennstrom, who took £2.8 billion of Skype’s £5.2 billion value with him. Now, after a wave of complaints regarding Skype’s complete lack of real-time customer service, comes a new trend: Skype spam.

There’s always been some spam on Skype. Beyond VoIP blogger Marc Robins identified Skype spam as “an alarming trend” nearly a year ago. Skype user message boards devoted to spam go back well into 2006; the spammers back then ranged from online casinos to Chinese jibberish.

Robins suggested in February 2007 that Skype should create a Do Not Spam list with heavily sanctioned fines for offenders, in the model of the national Do Not Call list for telemarketers. Instead, it seems the opposite has happened. Skype’s user database has been mined and turned into a To Call list that includes you.

Perhaps it was a desperate gambit by eBay to squeeze some blood from its costly turnip, or possibly lazy oversight by Skype’s corporate overlord that’s now damaging its product’s good standing in the wired marketplace. What one blogger noted as an “alarming trend” a year ago is now taking sharper focus, and more people are paying attention.

Meet Veronica

In December Jeremy Wagstaff, a tech columnist for The …

The Internet has shown that reputations are important but don't have to be tied to specific real individuals. The entire banking system is built on top of the idea of reputation, but tries hard to tie them to real identities. The problem of identity theft is likely to break this connection. We will see a greater disconnect between individuals and their reputations.

Identity theft has been a big hit with the purveyors of fear in recent years. We all now live in terror of waking up one morning and finding that someone has stolen our identity, and we can’t even remember who we are.

Well, maybe not. But identity theft is a real problem. If someone manages to construct a copy of your identity, you don’t stop being you, you just stop being the owner of all of your money (unless you can persuade your bank it’s their fault). You might get back from vacation to find that your house has been stolen...

Identity is closely tied to the concept of reputation. We are now trying to apply ideas from villages of a few hundred people to a global scale and (not surprisingly) finding that they don’t quite work.

In a small community, everyone knows—or knows of—everyone else. Reputations are very important. If you want to borrow something from a neighbour, or ask them for a favour, then you will have some idea of how much you trust them.

When banks started, they would use …

Every year sees a fresh crop of security breaches. Most go unreported, unless they involve consumers' personal data, at which point companies are required to give timely public notice of security breaches. The following list of 2007's worst security breaches consists mainly of such reportable incidents. The incidents are sorted in descending order of severity based on how many individuals were potentially affected.

Note: That remote hackers played a role in a small minority of cases. Most data losses occurred because laptops, tapes or disks were not properly secured. It is a never-ending struggle to get users to adhere to physical security protocols.

Jan 17, 2007: The TJX Companies Inc. (which operates T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and other stores) announced that it suffered an “unauthorized intrusion” into its computer systems that process customer transactions. The company subsequently revealed that the hackers had access to between 46 million and 215 million customer records for 17 months. The costs of this breach have reportedly reached $216/£432 million, and the lawsuits are still flying.

July 3, 2007: Some 8.5 million customer records were stolen by a database analyst employed by Certegy Check Services Inc., a subsidiary of Fidelity National Information Services. The theft included credit card and bank account data, as well as other personal information. In November 2007, the employee pled guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges. A California class-action lawsuit against the company and its parent alleging negligence remains pending.

Sept. 15, 2007: Online stockbroker TD AMERITRADE’s computer …

For many people, the word "encryption" invokes images of spies, clandestine operations and World War II, or NSA code breakers feverishly working to decipher enemy messages. Actually, encryption is a priceless security tool that any business can easily use to keep sensitive information confidential and safe from prying eyes.

Unfortunately, many businesses fail to take advantage of encryption technology, fearing that it's 'too complex' and 'difficult to use' on a routine basis. In reality, encrypting vital data isn't much more difficult than running a virus scanner or a data-backup program. Here's how to get started.

The Basics

There are two basic ways to encrypt data. One approach is to use asymmetric PKI (public-key infrastructure) encryption. PKI cryptography is based on a pair of cryptographic keys: One is private and known only to the user, while the other is public and known to the opposite party in any exchange.

PKI technology provides privacy and confidentiality, access control, proof of document transmission, and document archiving and retrieval support. While most security vendors currently incorporate some type of PKI technology into their software, differences in design and implementation prevent interoperability between products.

The other method of encrypting data is symmetric key protection, also known as "secret-key" encryption. Generally speedier yet less secure than PKI, symmetric encryption uses the same key to both encrypt and decrypt messages. Symmetric technology works best when key distribution is restricted to a limited number of trusted individuals. …

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it could also hide something more treacherous.

Today, businesses wanting to guard against the potentially ultra-serious hazard of vitally important data being deliberately leaked to unauthorised people outside or even inside the organisation, need to get to grips with an alarming reality: a picture can also conceal a thousand words.

Or in some cases even up to around 5,000 words. More than enough to betray all your most precious and commercially sensitive data: locations of newly-discovered oil fields; formulae for synthesising newly-discovered molecules of breakthrough drugs costing millions or even billions to develop; designs of revolutionary products you're planning on being the first to bring to market; ultra-sensitive lists of hard-won customers; you name it.

Data concealed in pictures? It may sound like the basis for a plot sequence in the next Mission Impossible movie, but it isn't. It's real. And unless you are prepared to let any Tom, Dick or Harry cruise around your precious data, you need to be aware of the threat it poses.

The technique is called steganography, from Ancient Greek words meaning hidden or covered writing, just as that lumbering dinosaur the stegosaurus is so named because its back was covered in those large bony plates whose real purpose is a mystery even today.

But steganography wasn't a mystery to the Ancient Greeks; indeed they most likely invented it. The Greek historian Herodotus records that in 312 BC, …

Rumors and speculation about why five undersea cables to the Middle East have been severed — and what it means for IT security.

Since Jan. 30, 2008, there has been a troubling pattern of underwater anarchy. At first, it was reported that two, then three, then five undersea fiber-optic cables in key bottlenecks global undersea Internet connection — off the coast of Egypt and in the Persian Gulf — had been severed. Initially, reports claimed that the two Egyptian cuts were due to a ship’s dragging anchor during inclement weather — an explanation that has since been discounted. In the meantime, three more cables appear to have been severed, (for a total of five), all with direct connections to the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia.

With no official account that would sufficiently explain why so many cable disruptions could occur in such a short period of time, rumors and speculation have swirled across blogs, offering explanations from the tongue-in-cheek to the telltale signs of imminent warfare.
What Happened, and When?

On Jan. 30 — five miles north of Alexandria, Egypt and deep in the Mediterranean Sea — two cables 400 yards apart were cut. One of the cables is owned by Indian company FLAG Telecom, a subsidiary of Reliance Communications Ltd.; the other, SEA-ME-WE 4, is owned by a consortium of 16 telecoms and connects 16 cities between Singapore and Marseille, France.

With the cuts, Egypt lost 70 percent of …

When you think of security, it's a good bet that some of your thinking drifts to hackers and crackers. These are both security threats that you have to take into account. But do you know the difference? Well, some people do, and although many of them don't want their names bandied about, as is the case with the author of this tip, they can tell us much about the shadowy hacker community, and other security threats as well. This tip defines the difference between hackers and crackers, and discusses some simple things they can do to get inside your systems.

To understand the methodology of a hacker or cracker, one must understand what a hacker or a cracker is. Internet enthusiasts have argued the difference between hackers and crackers for many years. [Here's] my contribution to that debate.

If I were forced to define the terms hacker and cracker, my bottom line would probably be this:

• A hacker is a person intensely interested in the arcane and recondite workings of any computer operating system. Hackers are most often programmers. As such, hackers obtain advanced knowledge of operating systems and programming languages. They might discover holes within systems and the reasons for such holes. Hackers constantly seek further knowledge, freely share what they have discovered, and never intentionally damage data.
• A cracker is one who breaks into or otherwise violates the system integrity of remote machines with malicious intent. Having gained unauthorized access, crackers destroy vital data, deny …

Nicodemo Scarfo Jr, a well-connected member of the New York and Philadelphia organised crime families, knows all about keylogging. But rather than using the technique to steal or launder money, he was brought down by the Magic Lantern keylogger that the FBI installed on his computer via a Trojan.

It might not be the typical bullets and bloodshed picture of gangland America, but it was enough to indict him for running an illegal gambling ring and loan sharking. The Magic Lantern recorded every keystroke made and sent the information to the Feds - who were then able to piece together the evidence.

At the time the story raised a number of concerns about computer privacy. Now it serves as a useful reminder that there is a positive side to keylogging.

As well as serving the interests of law enforcement agents, keyloggers can help employers maintain productivity, protect valuable bandwidth and ensure optimum use of networked resources by monitoring employee activity online. Parents can even use them to check their children's computer activities.

But it is the darker side to these surveillance technologies that is more familiar to the majority of IT and security professionals.

By discovering user names, passwords and encryption codes from innocent users, keyloggers open up a whole world of extremely valuable information to thieves, who can plunder at will with very little chance of detection. Email addresses, instant messaging usernames, financial data and other sensitive details …

If we're honest every one of us imagine what we'd do with a few million in the bank. The yacht in Cannes, the private jet in Nice, possibly our own football team, and maybe a few other high maintenance accessories top our list of must-haves.

But of course the question is how to get there. Working till I'm too old to enjoy it is one option but of course there is an alternative; the lottery, online poker, a rich widow, stocks and shares - increasingly risky these days - or why not simply help myself to something very valuable.

After all if I'm working in IT I probably have access to the corporate crown jewels. And that could be anything; source code for the next money spinning application that will be released, credit card details for thousands of customers, even the recipes for KFC or Coca Cola. Just a few years ago, a Coca-Cola employee and two accomplices were arrested in Atlanta for allegedly stealing confidential information from Coca-Cola and trying to sell it to PepsiCo.

In fact it's actually quite easy because if I'm working in IT I have access to systems with all kinds of privileged information. Here is my employer thinking that his Company Data is safe and I'm allowed 'free access' to the servers storing the data. I can help myself to whatever I want and no one will ever know.

And of course it's much easier now than it …

The Problem

With the availability of chat rooms and groups on Internet Web sites, the temptation to meet new people online increases, according to research. Online relationships provide individuals with an outlet to tell secrets and express themselves to a stranger anonymously, while allowing for the creation of another persona.

Men often create a well-groomed, professional, athletic persona, while women create a thin, beautiful and adventurous alter ego. When online, people create fictitious, seemingly perfect personalities that are desirable to others to fill social and psychological needs.Though, most come clean after a short period when it becomes time to meet the other person. In 40% of the cases, online cheating is with someone the person already knows.

Why it happens

Once the honeymoon phase of marriage or a courtship is over, couples sometimes get bored, begin to take each other for granted and stop doing the nice things they did for one another before getting married or involved. When that happens, (spouses or partners) are vulnerable and may seek affection and attention from someone else. Men are goal oriented. They can’t read (women’s) minds. Women should tell their husbands what they need. Most of the time, men just want to do what their wives need them to do. If a woman needs attention, she should tell her husband exactly what she wants.

Warning signs, consequences and recovery

There are warning signs that an individual might be having an online relationship such as an increase …

Over time, spammers have changed their spamming tactics in their bid to gain access to people's mailboxes. The latest tactic is to use the common PDF file format to send image spam.

By using PDF attachments to send images instead of embedding them in the body of the email message, spammers have taken the cat-and-mouse game with anti-spam software developers to a new level.

Introduction

At one point or another, we have all received emails that promise business deals worth millions of pounds, that try to sell products to improve our appearance or that try to convince us why it's worth investing our money in a particular company.

Dealing with spam (unsolicited email that is not targeted at specific individuals), is one problem that all email users share in common. Research shows that up to 75.6 per cent of email messages are spam; with the average somewhere around the 55 per cent mark. Other email services have reported even higher figures, some averaging over 90 per cent.

On an individual user basis, spam is annoying; a waste of time and often it contains spyware, malware and even pornography. However, spam also entails a cost for all those companies whose employees have to process all the spam email that they receive on a daily basis.

The evolution of spam

Up to a few months ago, spam was the domain of text- or html-based emails. For anonymous delivery, these messages traditionally relied on abusing open …

In today's heightened threat environment, it is a constant battle for IT security departments to stay on top of all possible attacks and vulnerabilities they could encounter.

With insider threats on the rise and the continuous danger posed by external hackers, coupled with the alarmingly quick development of stronger and new forms of attack, it has never been more important for organizations to make sure that they have water-tight security systems and policies.

Hackers and in particular organized crime groups, are now of the firm realization that rather than just causing disruption, there is a great deal of money to be made from cybercrime.

As a result these groups seem to be pulling out all the stops to infiltrate organizations, develop more targeted attacks and further close ever-shrinking vulnerability windows (the time between the discovery of a vulnerability and an exploit being written). And, the most recent addition to the arsenal of the cyber-criminal is a process we usually associate with security and protection - encryption.

Held to ransom

The latest attack to make the news is Ransomware. Ransomware is yet another form of malware that is in effect cyber-kidnapping, as it encrypts information on a target machine then extorts payment from the victim. It isn’t a new form of attack, but with more attacks being geared towards financial gain, it has recently received a boost in popularity.

A user will be tricked into executing malicious code that encrypts files, then a message left …

What is Malware? Malware, is short for MALicious softWARE and is a term used to broadly classify a form of software which is installed in a computer system mostly without the owners permission with malicious intentions. It includes Trojans, viruses, key loggers, malicious active content, rogue programs and diallers among others.

There is another form of software which may be termed as "Trackware", -because they track, store and analyse your browsing patterns thereby compromising your privacy on the World Wide Web. They are probably less malicious, but unwanted at the same time. It includes Spyware, Web bugs, tracking cookies, and "forced" adware.

Quick Definitions

Following is some basic information about some of the main Malware types:

Spyware

Spyware is defined loosely as any program that secretly gathers information about you and or your computer use through your Internet connection. Typically, a Spyware program gathers information about you by monitoring your computing activities and then transmits it across the Internet to a central server for onward distribution to interested parties for advertising purposes. These programs can also download files, run other programs in the background, and change your system settings.

In addition to violating your privacy and potentially damaging your system, Spyware can slow your computer down by stealing processing time from the CPU. Even though the name may indicate so, Spyware is not an illegal type of software in any way as yet. However there are certain issues that a privacy oriented user may …

Overview:

The lack of sensory information on the Internet (like too many teenagers and younger kids with a Facebook or Myspace page) may have a significant impact on cyberstalkers, as described by Meloy ("The Psychology of Stalking," Meloy, J.R) "The absence of sensory-perceptual stimuli from a real person means that fantasy can play an even more expansive role as the genesis of behavior in the stalker." The victim becomes an easy target for the stalker's projections, and narcissistic fantasies, that can lead to a real world rejection, humiliation and rage.

One of the most prominent features of stalking behavior is fixation on victims. Their obsession can drive stalkers to extremes that make this type of investigation challenging and potentially dangerous. Although stalkers who use the Internet to target victims may attempt to conceal their identities, their obsession with a victim often causes them to expose themselves. For instance, they may say things that reveal their relationship with or knowledge of the victim, or they may take risks that enable investigators to locate and identify them. However, even when stalkers have been identified, attempts to discourage them can have the opposite effect, potentially angering them and putting victims at greater risk.

In 1990, after five women were murdered by stalkers, California became the first state in the US to enact a law to deal with this specific problem. Then, in 1998, California explicitly included electronic communications in their anti-stalking law. The relevant sections of …

Data is used in almost everything we do these days, there are many more ways for companies, people at home or the government to lose data. But it keeps happening.

Banks, the 100+ departments of local councils, (including libraries) and every website you buy or register on. The list is endless, and like this case, Data can be held on laptops, PDA’s and Smartphones, memory sticks, CD/DVD's, flash cards and USB Drives. All this data should be protected. There’s no excuse for the MOD, Inland Revenue, the DVLA and Banks not to encrypt data.

I don’t blame the PM or the politicians, I blame the education of simple IT skills and common sense of companies and individuals.

The MOD and the government has the funds and resources to keep equipment up to date and train staff in the proper use of encryption or data security & distribution. The problem here though is that they don’t keep things up to date. My local library in Norwich has only just upgraded the computers from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. Windows 2000 was released in 1999, almost 10 years ago. The Department of Social Security only upgraded theirs in 2006. Barclays Bank, still uses Windows 2000... Why?

If they upgraded to Windows Vista for example (and I don’t want posts moaning about Microsoft or how crap vista is, get a life). For the Business and Ultimate editions, the IT guys can deploy Bitlocker [ http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/bitlocker.mspx ] to …

Interesting post.

Hi Sherri

Why wouldn't they replace it? Do you have a receipt? This is proof of purchase.

If you bought it legally, then you should contact Microsoft. Try this Q & A here: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/content.aspx?displaylang=en-gb&pg=faq

If you would like to buy Vista online, go here: http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/

Let me know if I can help further.

Mike

This password will be the password for that computer or user.

All Network passwords are based on user groups and permissions.

You will need to create a user group and add users to this group. Then assign the C:\ drive or whatever folder you want permission for that particular user group.

The entries are programs that have kow spyware embeded in them.

D:\Y'z Shadow\YzShadow.exe is the most dangerous out of them all.

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/startup/YzShadow.exe.php

The items marked for deletion are all known programs that infect your PC.

You can carry on using them, but I wouldn't recommend it. And if possible, try and find a legitimate replacement for them.

You can also encrypt the folders, they will see the contents, but not be able to open them.

Which address book?

Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail or another program?

Try and post as much info as possible.

Are you using Windows Vista or XP or another Operating System?

If suggest going to the manufacturers website and download the latest drivers for your Mouse and Keyboard. These get updated frequently.

HI. Rerun Hijack this and fix the following entries:

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery\Blank.htm

O8 - Extra context menu item: &Search - ?p=ZUxdm082YYUS

Then reboot.

Hi

Rerun Hijack this and remove the following entries:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\gdi++\gditray.exe

C:\Program Files\RK Launcher\RK Launcher 0.41 Beta Nightly\RKLauncher.exe

D:\Apps\ObjectBar\ObjectBar.exe

D:\Y'z Shadow\YzShadow.exe

O2 - BHO: (no name) - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - (no file)

O2 - BHO: Google Update Class - {ADD57508-1A52-4FAA-A7B3-A3ADE8FAEFEC} - C:\Program Files\Google\Update\1.1.17.0\GoopdateBho.dll

O3 - Toolbar: QT TabBar - {d2bf470e-ed1c-487f-a333-2bd8835eb6ce} - mscoree.dll (file missing)

O3 - Toolbar: QT Tab Standard Buttons - {D2BF470E-ED1C-487F-A666-2BD8835EB6CE} - mscoree.dll (file missing)

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [3RVX.exe] C:\Program Files\3RVX\3RVX.exe

O4 - HKCU..Run: [GDI++] C:\WINDOWS\system32\gdi++\gditray.exe -on

O4 - Startup: gditray.lnk = C:\WINDOWS\system32\gdi++\gditray.exe

O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - (no file)

O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: OLE Object - {D9E0368F-201B-46CF-AA60-B9C513E67847} - (no file)

Once removed reboot. :)

Hi

Run HijackThis again and remove the following:

O3 - Toolbar: Zango - {90B8B761-DF2B-48AC-BBE0-BCC03A819B3B} - C:\Program Files\Zango\bin\10.2.191.0\HostIE.dll

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [LowTek CopyFaster] "C:\Program Files\LowTek CopyFaster\copyfast.exe" /startup

O9 - Extra button: ShopperReports - Compare product prices - {C5428486-50A0-4a02-9D20-520B59A9F9B2} - C:\Program Files\ShoppingReport\Bin\2.5.0\ShoppingReport.dll

O9 - Extra button: ShopperReports - Compare travel rates - {C5428486-50A0-4a02-9D20-520B59A9F9B3} - C:\Program Files\ShoppingReport\Bin\2.5.0\ShoppingReport.dll

Remove all these and reboot.

Here's a free one, also works as a download manager and with Firefox: http://www.orbitdownloader.com/

Thanks.

I still agree, it won't be stored on the computer. Also, using Help > About, some programs only say Registered to: or the Key is a hash of the original.

Try Help > About on Microsoft Office, It will say Product ID. You can't use that as a key.

I've seen this program before and it would not have fixed the issue here.

Also, that's a paid product. Not many people who post on forums want to pay for a product to fix one problem, and there are free open source programs that do the same as your recommended program.

What's the make and model of your bluetooth Adaptor?

Here's another: http://www.everystockphoto.com/

Id suggest getting http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/announcements.php

Or if you don't want to buy a product, create a shortcut on the server with this path SHUTDOWN /L /R /T:10 /Y /C - then on the other machine, map a network drive to that shourcut on the server. When you want to reboot, just double click the shortcut.

The server will reboot in 10 seconds, for a longer time change T:10 to T:30 for 20 seconds. You might want to create another shortcut to cancel the reboot too, same steps as above except the shortcut path will be SHUTDOWN /A.

To create a shortcut, right click the desktop and select New > Shortcut. Path SHUTDOWN /L /R /T:10 /Y /C click Next > Finish.

Or the easiest way...

1. Right-click My Computer and select Manage.

2. On the Action menu, press Connect to another computer ....

3. Double-click a computer in the list or enter IP address (you will need to log in when prompted)

4. Right-click Computer Management (<Name>) and press Properties.

5. On the Advanced tab, press Startup and Recovery.

6. Press the Shut Down button.

7. Select an Action:

Log off Current User

Shut Down

Restart

Power down (if supported)

8. Select a Force Apps Closed action and press OK.

If you bought it, you can contact the manufacturer and they will give you a new key.

If the PC is asking for the key, then its no longer stored on the system, in the registry, or in a activation file.

A couple of solutions.

The files on your friends PC are either hidden, encrypted or are FAT32 files instead of NTFS.

You might want to try Here.

Hi again

Download the latest drivers for your monitor here: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Any problems, PM me and i'll help you.

Thanks for the reply and the info.

A couple more questions:

1. How do you have your monitors set? Do you have the taskbar on one screen, or stretched across both monitors?

2. Have you got the nVidia control panel installed for the monitors (allows you to control how windows and applications are displayed, plus loads of other settings)?

If you do, you will find a 'Per Application' setting that allows you to set how an individual application works with your monitors. You will be able to set this to display the application (in your case, media centre) in any way you want.

Have a look in the settings for this, you should have an icon in the System Tray to launch the nVidia settings.

Great article.

Although, I use Virtual PC rather than an Emulator, as you can install anything on one OS. I have every OS installed from Win 3.1 to Vista and 2007 Server. Also Mac/Linux installed.

Only Emulator I use is this one: http://www.michaelmknight.co.uk/c64

Hi Katherine

Your issue is probably due to the configeration of your graphics card and how it manages each monitor.

What Graphics card are you running? Id it Dual Head? or do you have 2 different cards installed?

HI again Cheri.

Anytime. Let us know if you get stuck or need a hand. I'm glad its been a good computer for you. Most people complain about theirs lol.

HI Cheri

Welcome to Daniweb.

This link: http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/ToshibaA45/Satellite-A45-remove-hinges-1.htm should help you. Sounds like your hinges are broken. This site will take you through a step-by-step guide on how to replace and fix them.

Any problems, let us know.

This should help: http://corz.org/serv/tricks/htaccess2.php

This may help with Icals:

http://sandbox.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=36#post36

Yes, you almost always get that error in Vista, So you use the Icals instead.

To change an owner using Icals is as follows:

[B]C:\>icacls c:\test /setowner knight[/B]
processed file: c:\test
Successfully processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

You could also then use the same command to do the entire HDD:

C:\>icacls c:\ /setowner knight

Though I would be really careful with ownership and permissions.

Permissions can be a huge nightmare, if your not careful, you will deny access to the original owner, causing loads if issues. I would use Vista's Audit/XP's own permissions and give yourself full access to the files.

You can also use a group policy to do this too, but that's a different tutorial.

I can explain all about Icals if you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt1bgsvsWms

That video gave me an idea:

I made a wave that had 5 minutes of silence and then a loud scream. Set it as the startup sound on a co-worker's computer and watched him :)

Hahah Thats funny

Post code using the Code option on the advanced edit looks like #

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"

Glad you found the post useful, will post some more later for you.

Have you just upgraded from Office 2003? If so, reinstall Office 2007 over the top of your current installation.

Once done, download and install the Office 2007 Service Pack 1

Glad we could help.

lol that's a good one, and you say im Evil. Might be worth writing something new. Might become really big.

I still disagree, that article was written way back in 2005.

Microsoft, 2007: [ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263455 ] F-Protect 2007: Turn Off System Restore.

Windows Protection, will replace a file as soon as its deleted, some of these come from protected storage, others from the _restore files. So if you clean your PC whilst infected, as soon as an infected system file is deleted, its restored, in its infected glory. You will never get rid of it otherwise, but I must state, not all infections get caught in the restore files.

No matter what Anti-Virus program you use, it will not clean anything from the System Restore folder.

Advice from Eset, ZoneLabs, Symantic, MaCafee F-Secure, Computer Associates, Trend and more Still advise (with articles dated 2007/8) to turn off system restore before you clean your system.

The point here though, is that Susan has a recurring infection, that is most likely from the _restore folder. We know that when she cleans her system that it is fine, so we know by turning off System Restore will do no damage. And, as soon as its switched back on again, another (clean) restore point will be created.

Any virus/malware should be cleaned immediately to prevent further infection and spread. The article you posted above is also wrong, you can restore your PC if there is no restore point by doing a repair install.

As long as System Restore (Windows ME and above) has …

Tropical42

Have you checked to see if the config file is writeable? I.e. chmod (permissions) set to 0777