Viber: Free Calls, Messaging and Sharing on Your Cellphone

Make free calls and send free messages to any device that has Viber, on any network! Viber is a proprietary cross-platform instant messaging voice-over-Internet Protocol application for smartphones. In addition to text messaging, users can send each other images, video and audio media messages. The client software is available for Android, BlackBerry OS, iOS, Series 40, Symbian, Bada and Windows Phone.Viber works on both 3G and WiFi networks. All you need is a 3G or WiFi connection and you can connect with other Viber users anywhere! You can call your friends and family in the U.S. or anywhere else too.

For Android Phones:
http://www.viber.com/#android
http://www.viber.com/products/android/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.viber.voip

For Windows Phones:
http://www.viber.com/#windowsphone
http://www.viber.com/products/windowsphone/
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/viber-messenger/f4631757-d1f6-4727-bd65-e6bc6c8e35da

For Nokia Phones:

http://www.viber.com/#nokia

For Blackberry Phones:
http://www.viber.com/#blackberry

For iOS Phones:

http://www.viber.com/#iphone

For Bada Phones:
http://www.viber.com/#bada

How to get started with Viber video:

Viber looks and feels just like your regular phone, so you won’t have to waste any time figuring it out. The sound quality though is much better than a regular call. Viber uses your phone number as your "identity" and lets you make free Viber phone calls to any of your friends that have Viber - using THEIR phone number. Once you've downloaded Viber, you will receive an Access Code via SMS or via callback to activate Viber. The Access Code ensures that you are the real owner of the cellphone number you have registered and prevents others from obtaining your Access Code and placing calls with your caller ID. Viber uses your device's address book to automatically tag who has Viber in your contact list and it's always synced. If you don't have 3G you can still use Viber via WiFi. 

Viber works on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices, with some exceptions. They've tested Viber for Android on various devices. The complete list can be found here:

http://helpme.viber.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/45/10/is-your-android-compatible-with-viber-system-requirements

The following is from http://www.viberfaq.com/what-devices-are-not-supported/:

Here is a list of currently not supported devices or systems by Viber.

iPhone 2g - Probably because of Edge only internet connection.

Android OS less than 2.0

Android Tablets - They are not supported but a friend of mine has a Samsung Galaxy Tab with WI-FI only and Viber works just fine on this device. I’m sure that in the near future we will have a list of tablet devices on which Viber works OK.

Motorola Flipout - Although it comes with Android 2.1, it is not officially supported, and judging by users’ reports, it seems that it doesn’t work.

HTC Wildfire, HTC Hero - For some time, Viber was unavailable for download from Market for those two devices. Now they are available, but still known as problematic.

Note on Jailbroken iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch - They are supported, but the Jailbreak interferes with Push Notifications mechanism and this causes problems in terms of Viber’s functionality.

Note on Android devices which can not download Viber from Market - If you cannot download Viber from Android Market (e.g. HTC Hero), you can try to download and install it directly from viber.com. You can find more info and a guide here: http://helpme.viber.com/index.php/Knowledgebase/Article/View/100/16/cant-download-from-android-market

The following is from http://helpme.viber.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/18/6/iphone-what-is-viber-and-is-viber-really-free:

Viber to Viber calls or messages are absolutely free when selecting the Viber badge in your Viber contact list or the button which says 'Free Call' or 'Free Message' within the contact info of your Viber contact list. Viber does not charge your carrier nor Viber users.  Calls or messages placed from Viber to "non Viber users" will go through your local cell phone provider like a regular cell call. Once you and your friends download Viber you can talk freely, locally and internationally, and these calls will not show up on your phone bill.
All you need is an Internet connection: 3G or WiFi wherever available (3G may incur operator data charges or internet access fees. Check with your 3G provider to see your 3G plan). The bandwidth rate during a Viber call is approximately 240 KB per minute / 14 MB per hour.
If the party you are calling doesn't have an active internet connection or has their Viber application turned off when you call, the call will time out, and once the person reconnects to the internet, or once the person opens the Viber application, they will receive your missed call notification or the text message you've sent.  Viber will not automatically divert to your regular GSM (cell phone provider) service.
If you try to place a Viber call to a user who doesn’t yet have Viber, you will receive a warning message that the call is going to be placed as a regular paid call, or you can choose to invite the contact. This way, you can choose if you still want to place a paid call through your device's phone application or not.  Always use your Viber contact list to see who has Viber...

There is also a Viber for PC:
http://www.viberforpc.com/

Download it here:
http://www.viberforpc.com/viber-for-pc-give-viber-free-calls/

Go here on more instructions on how to download it:
http://www.freecallshub.com/2012/09/video-tutorial-download-viber-phone-app-windows-pc/


Viber doesn't contain any annoying ads.

Socware: Facebook Malware Alert

Be very careful when you are on Facebook. Danger lurks there. Let the article below serves as a warning to you:

How To Fight "Socware" - Malware On Facebook And Other Social Networks

DAVE COPELAND

OCTOBER 16TH, 2012

From: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how-to-fight-socware-malware-on-facebook-and-other-social-networks.php

Engineering professors and graduate students at University of California-Riverside have coined a new term to describe malware distributed on social networks, but they didn't stop there: They also developed an app to fight it.
"Socware" – pronounced "sock-where" - describes all criminal and parasitic behavior on Facebook and other online social networks (SOCial-WARE, get it?). But the term may be secondary news compared to the researchers released, which they claim stopped 97% of all socware while blocking legitimate messages only 0.005% of the time. 

A white paper outlines the study, which included 12,000 people who had installed the MyPageKeeper app and their collective 2.4 million friends. All-in-all, the study analyzed more than 40 million messages sent on Facebook.

The researchers, who described socware as an escalating arms race between scam artists and Internet security firms, said traditional blacklists, which have been used to block malware in email, have become ineffective as more communication has moved onto platforms like Facebook. They also found an increase in malware programs that hijacked accounts for the paid liking services I wrote about last month.

"Facebook is becoming the new epicenter of the Web, and we showed that hackers are adapting to this change by designing new types of malware suited to this platform, which we call socware," they wrote.

A Sucker Born Every Minute

Seasoned and even ordinary Internet users are often left wondering "Who the hell would fall for that?" For example, MyPageKeeper researchers analyzed the data in their study and found:

• Only 54% of socware messages included URLs that had been shortened using a link shortener. The researchers had expected the number to be higher, as shortened links can hide suspicious-looking URLs - but apparaently suspicious URLs don't bother some users.

• Of the un-shortened URLs, the scammers often used what the researchers called "obviously fake domain names," including  http://iphonefree5.com and http://nfljerseyfree.com.

• Certain words should be warning signs for users: "OMG," for example, was 332 times more likely to appear in a socware status update, while the word "bank" was 56 more times likely to appear in socware messages.

Anyone who clicks on a suspect link is vulnerable, but Facebook seems to be the chosen stomping ground for socware criminals. About one in five of the socware links were hosted on Facebook itself, and thousands of socware messages were sent through the network everyday.

Facebook declined comment, saying it does not comment on third-party reports and papers.

"Malware on Facebook seems to be hosted and enabled by Facebook itself," Michalis Faloutsos, a professor of computer science and engineering, said in a statement "It's a classic parasitic kind of behavior. It is fascinating and sad at the same time." 

OMG! You can take this to the bank anytime!...Oh wait this is NOT a prank even though I used the words "OMG" and "bank". :). It isn't unusual to spot at least one Facebook post in your feed that goes "OMG OMG see this video.. WOW!" Does this fake excitement statement trick fool anyone anymore? A little common sense with a hint of awareness is enough to tell you that the content is malware-ridden. When I see a statement like that my first reaction is to delete the post or the email. I guess I've been a moderator and owner of forums and Yahoo groups too long. I take statements like that with a healthy dose of skepticism.

MyPageKeeper is a free application that detects spam and malware on users’ Facebook walls. It is highly accurate, cheap (FREE!!) and fast. In the future, the researchers are considering allowing MyPageKeeper to remove malicious posts automatically.

Changing your Windows password

Click Start and in the Start Search (bottom entry box) type cmd.
On top of the menu, rightclick cmd.exe and choose "Run as administrator."

Then write this command:
net user
The command will display a list of usernames which can access the computer.
Then type this command using the username whose password you want to change or bypass:
net user username *
Make sure you put a space between the star and username.
You will be prompted to enter a new password. If you leave it blank the command will erase your current password.
Then hit Enter twice to remove or change your password.

Accessing System Setup (BIOS) and Backdoor Passwords - Part 2

You can try some methods suggested here:

Click on the link below and try the method mentioned under section “By Using MS DOS Command”:
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-reset-remove-bypass-a-bios-or-cmos-password/

BIOS/CMOS Password Recovery Tool ($24.95)
http://www.biospasswordrecovery.com/

CmosPwd tool (freeware)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/CmosPwd_d239.html
CmosPwd is a CMOS BIOS password recovery tool.

Use Hiren’s Boot CD
http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/
You need to burn it on CD or you can create a bootable USB flash drive of this tool.
This video shows how to use it Hiren's Boot CD:
How to remove a Bios Password using the Hiren’s BootCD 15.1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uY0wZMqNzmw

Accessing System Setup (BIOS) and Backdoor Passwords - PART 1

The BIOS/CMOS password can be reset most of the time by just taking out the battery from the motherboard for a few hours, sometimes only 15 mins. This can be a bit tricky on a laptop, so be careful.

If you bought a used computer chances you do not know the password to your system setup or to your BIOS. Many BIOS makers include a backdoor password that can let you get in. This list has some of the most common backdoor passwords to the BIOS and is intended for legitimate use only:

NOTE: Do not try to guess the password on a passworded Hard Drive. 3 wrong guesses will often result in the information on the hard drive being lost forever.

BACKDOOR PASSWORDS

Award BIOS
ALFAROME
ALLy
aLLy
aLLY
ALLY
aPAf
_award
AWARD_SW
AWARD?SW
AWARD SW
AWARD PW
AWKWARD
awkward

BIOSTAR
CONCAT
CONDO
Condo
d8on
djonet
HLT
J64
J256
J262
j332
j322

KDD
Lkwpeter
LKWPETER
PINT
pint
SER
SKY_FOX
SYXZ
syxz
shift + syxz
TTPTHA
ZAAADA
ZBAAACA
ZJAAADC
01322222
589589
589721
595595
598598

AMI BIOS
AMI
AAAMMMIII
BIOS
PASSWORD
HEWITT RAND
AMI?SW
AMI_SW
LKWPETER
A.M.I.
CONDO
PHOENIX BIOS
phoenix
PHOENIX
CMOS
BIOS

MISC. COMMON PASSWORDS
ALFAROME
BIOSTAR
biostar
biosstar
CMOS
cmos
LKWPETER
lkwpeter
setup
SETUP
Syxz
Wodj

OTHER BIOS PASSWORDS BY MANUFACTURER

TOSHIBA BIOS

Most Toshiba laptops and some desktop systems will bypass the BIOS password if the left shift key is held down during boot

IBM APTIVA BIOS

Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot

Here are some more:

VOBIS & IBM

merlin

Dell

Dell

Biostar

Biostar

Compaq

Compaq

Enox

xo11nE

Epox

central

Freetech

Posterie

IWill

iwill

Jetway

spooml

Packard Bell

bell9

QDI

QDI

Siemens

SKY_FOX

TMC

BIGO

Toshiba

Toshiba

There are other backdoor passwords listed here and they also suggest some software solution:
http://www.technibble.com/how-to-bypass-or-remove-a-bios-password/

NOTE
Most laptops cannot have its BIOS password bypassed with any of the above backdoor passwords. The laptop passwords are stored in a separate chip, and clearing CMOS or removing the battery will not work to get rid of them.

A good article to read about this topic can be read here:
Removing a Bios - CMOS Password
http://www.dewassoc.com/support/bios/bios_password.htm

The CMOS jumper referred to in the two articles I mentioned above is almost always near the battery of the motherboard. Use the jumper by moving it over for about five seconds. Then move it back (release it). By doing that most BIOS will be reset. This is much faster than waiting for all the power to drain. Some newer boards even have a button instead of a jumper.



SOURCES:
Overclock.net
Technibble.com

How to Unplug Java from the Browser

Java is a huge backdoor to anybody's system.

How to Unplug Java from the Browser  

From: http://krebsonsecurity.com/how-to-unplug-java-from-the-browser/ 

Below are instructions for unplugging Java from whatever Web browser you may use to surf the Web. These instructions were originally posted as a how-to in response to this piece: Attackers Pounce on Zero-Day Java Exploit. 

For Windows users: 

Mozilla Firefox: From the main menu select Add-ons, and then disable any plugins with the word "Java" in them. Restart the browser.

Google Chrome: Click the wrench icon in the upper right corner of the browser window, then select Settings. In the search results box to the right in the next screen, type "Java". A box labeled "Content settings" should be highlighted. Click that, and then scroll down to the Plug-ins section. Click the "Disable individual plug-ins" link, find Java in the list, and click the disable link next to it.

Internet Explorer: Apparently, getting Java unplugged from Internet Explorer is not straightforward. The U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (USCERT) lists the following steps, which may or may not completely remove Java from IE:

In the Windows Control panel, open the Java item. Select the "Java" tab and click the "View" button. Uncheck "enabled" for any JRE version listed. Note that this method may not work on Vista or newer systems. As an alternative, you may use one of the following techniques:

Click the start key and type "regedit" in the search box. Double-click the regedit program file when it appears.

- Change the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Plug-in\\UseJava2IExplorer registry value to 0, where is any version of Java on your system. 10.6.2, for example. 

If you are running a 32-bit version of Java on a 64-bit platform, you should set the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\JavaSoft\Java Plug-in\\UseJava2IExplorer registry value to 0. 

- Run javacpl.exe as administrator, click the "Advanced" tab, select "Microsoft Internet Explorer" in the "Default Java for browsers" section, and press the space bar to uncheck it. This will properly set the above registry value, despite the option being greyed out. 

For Mac users: 

Safari: Click Preferences, and then the Security tab (uncheck "Enable Java").

Google Chrome: Open Preferences, and then type "Java" in the search box. Scroll down to the Plug-ins section, and click the link that says "Disable individual plug-ins." If you have Java installed, you should see a "disable" link underneath its listing.

Firefox: Click Tools, Add-ons, and disable the Java plugin(s). 

Mozilla has taken the bold step of telling all Firefox users to disable Java while Oracle casually develops its fix, with the Firefox maker working on adapting its code so that all users running the exploitable version of Java will have the plugin automatically disabled for them.

By default, Firefox allows Java applets to launch automatically. However, you may decide that you do not want Java applets to run. To disable Java applets in Firefox:

At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button (Tools menu in Windows XP), and then click Add-ons. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.

In the Add-ons Manager tab, select the Plugins panel.

Click on the Java (TM) Platform plugin to select it.

Click on the Disable button (if the button says Enable, Java is already disabled).

Java applets will no longer be permitted to launch in Firefox.

You can go to http://www.isjavaexploitable.com/ to see if Java is enabled in your browser. And to test what version of Java you are using, you can go here:
http://javatester.org/version.html

There is one other way to insulate your computer from this Java exploit not mentioned in the article above. You can use HIPS programs like DeepFreeze (not a freeware) and Sandboxie (a freeware).

In Chrome you can also make it "click to play", meaning when a website wants to use Java (you can also do it for Flash) it just displays a grey box where it says "Click to run plugin". So if you are on a trustworthy site that requires Java you can just click and use it. To enable "click to play" go to chrome://plugins/ and uncheck "Always allowed" but don't disable Java.


If you are really security-conscious, you can set your web browser to only run plugins on your click.
In Firefox: Open a new tab, type this into address bar:

about:config?filter=plugins.click_to_play

Click "I'll be careful, I promise!"...
Double click the line to set the value to TRUE.
NOTE: If you want to automatically enable plugins for a certain domain (such as http://youtube.com ), follow this.

In Chrome: Open a new tab, type this into address bar:
chrome://chrome/settings/content
Scroll down to the bottom and click on "Show advanced settings".
Go to Privacy -> Content Settings button.
Scroll down to Plug-ins and select "Click to play" radio button and press OK.
In Opera: Press CTRL + F12
Go to Advanced -> Content.
Tick the box that says "Enable plug-ins only on demand" and press OK.

You could use NoScript extension for Firefox or similar addons and block Java on every site except the sites that you trust. OR...you can install the QuickJava extension to quickly enable Java when you want to go to a trusted site that uses Java or play RuneScape and disable it when you are done. A caveat on using NoScript -- it also blocks Javascript.

This solution was also suggested in Krebs on Security: 

If you primarily use Java because some Web site, or program you have on your system — such as OpenOffice or Freemind — requires it, you can still dramatically reduce the risk from Java attacks just by disabling the plugin in your Web browser. In this case, I  would suggest a two-browser approach. If you normally browse the Web with Firefox, for example, consider disabling the Java plugin in Firefox, and then using an alternative browser (Chrome, IE9, Safari, etc.) with Java enabled to browse only the site that requires it.

Chrome has a builtin sandbox. However Chrome's sandbox does not stop this Java exploit.

Java is very widely used on the server side by tech companies like Google, Linkedin, Twitter as well as for web-facing business applications. Google does not use Java exclusively, in fact, every one of their services uses different tools to tackle the purpose. When you're a huge company, you have that luxury. Twitter is actually transitioning to Java. 

Java applications have the ability to examine and change properties about itself. If you load a page that uses a java app, it is installed on your system. You think it has limited access and no ability to alter or create important files. A baddy app can change its permissions so that it can write, create and delete files. And that means all files on all the drives you can connect to.

Javascript isn't Java. One is a browser scripting language while the other is a programming language which can be used within the browser when enabled with a plugin. You need Javascript for many websites to function properly. Java is used less frequently now and so it is safe to block it. The main idea behind Java was to create a language that would be "portable". In other words, a program written in Java can be distributed to people running different operating systems including Mac OS, Windows, Linux and others. It does this because another piece of software, known as the Java Virtual Machine, or JVM for short, sits between your operating system and the application. JRE stands for Java Runtime Environment and includes the JVM. The vulnerability in question seems to concern the Java applets. An applet is a Java program that runs in your browser to make web pages interactive. You need the Java plugin enabled in your browser for it to work. There have been many security complaints about them over the years. I hope I'm not wrong on this. But if I am do correct me for everyone's benefit. 

Multifox

Official Site - http://br.mozdev.org/multifox/


Multifox is an extension that allows Firefox to connect to websites using different user names. Simultaneously! For example, if you have multiple Yahoo accounts, you can open them all at the same time. Each Firefox window, managed by Multifox, accesses an account without interfering with each other.


Multifox creates commands in context menus (right-click) of links, bookmarks and even your browser tabs (Open in a New Identity Profile) and in File menu (New Identity Profile). Select the command. A new window will open. Your logins in this window are independent of other Firefox windows.

Namebench

Works with: Windows 7, Vista

Read more about Namebench here:
http://code.google.com/p/namebench/

One way to speed up your Internet browsing experience is using a faster DNS server. If you’re looking for a tool to help find a faster DNS server for your system, Namebench is your answer. This small, free utility performs benchmark tests on multiple DNS servers, reports back on which are the fastest, which the most secure, and so on, and recommends which DNS servers you should use. Once you get that recommendation, it's up to you to configure your PC to use the fastest DNS servers.

Chrome Plus: CoolNovo

I like to inform everyone about what others refer to as Chrome Plus browser but actually named CoolNovo. For more details on this browser:

http://coolnovo.com/ 

According to the site:

"CoolNovo has all the functionalities that Google Chrome has. More, CoolNovo added some useful features such as Mouse gesture, Super drag, IE tab, etc. Meanwhile, CoolNovo is free with no function limitation and you can use CoolNovo to surf the internet in any case."

The differences between CoolNovo and Google Chrome in Privacy Policy can be read here:
http://coolnovo.com/compare.html?hl=en

If you have Vidalia or Tor Bundle installed and running it adopts the proxy settings automatically set in Tor.

Fixing Google Chrome Intermittent Lags & Freezes

Many people are experiencing temporary lags and freezes while browsing with Google Chrome. Consider the following suggestions:

1. As I suggested in a previous post try disabling the builtin Flash Player and Shockwave of Chrome. Then install Adobe Flash Player while all browsers are closed.

2.  AUTO DISCOVERING PROXY: The "auto detect proxy" function of Win 7 may be causing lag for some users. To disable it, go to Wrench icon in Chrome -> Options -> Under the Hood -> Change Proxy Settings. Click "LAN settings" and uncheck "automatically detect settings". Alternatively click Wrench -> Settings (if it's not grayed out) -> Show advanced settings... -> (Network) Change proxy settings button -> (Connections tab) LAN settings button -> uncheck "Automatically detect settings.". Hit OK until you get back to the browser. Test to see if the problem has gone away. You may also have to re-start Chrome.

3.  TABLET DRIVER/LOW LEVEL MOUSE HOOKS: This problem appears to be connected to "low level mouse hooks" causing problems in Win 7. Click the Start button, type 'services' and pick the Services item from the list. Scroll down to the Tablet PC Input Service and double click it. Click Stop, then change the 'Startup type' setting to "Disabled". Hit OK. If you run any other applications which change how your mouse functions (e.g. AutoHotKey), also kill those programs. Test to see if the problem has gone away. 

4.  Alternatively, instead of futzing with the Services, you can simply turn off Tablet PC Components as a Windows feature:

A.  If viewing the Control Panel by category: 

Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off (under Programs and Features) 

B.  If viewing the Control Panel by icons: 

Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off (left side panel) 

In the list of Windows features that pops up, simply uncheck "Tablet PC Components" and hit OK. 

5.  Clear the Chrome browsing history, cache, etc. You may use CCleaner and Glary Utilities for thorough cleanup.

6.  I think Chrome, during those temporary lags and freezes, is trying to use memory that Microsoft is busy loading with random crap. Super Fetch is a random crap loader. It isn't a virus or malware; it's one of those problematic features that attempts to load things you MIGHT need before you actually need them based on what you needed yesterday. A feature that front loads more and more overtime? Super Fetch service is a memory drain too that seems to slow down Chrome browsing. Look in the Task Manager for svcHost that has 100MB+ memory usage. Right-click it, go to Services. Turn off and then disable Super Fetch.

7. I also noticed after installing the Adblock extension that it's causing some lags to Chrome. Seems like disabling the AdBlock extension makes things smoother (not perfect, but better) for me.

8.  A.  Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Accessories. 

B.  Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. 

C.  In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the following command, and then press ENTER: 

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=highlyrestricted 

D.  Reboot computer. 

The problem is described in Microsoft KB Article 929868: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929868

9.  One more thing you should try. Defrag your hard drive. I know it sounds simple, but Nike said, "Just do it!" (hehe... hopefully). In Cmd prompt, enter this command:

defrag c: /U /V 

10.  Back up your files that you can't afford to lose in your Documents and Settings account folders. Then re-install Chrome using RevoUninstaller. Give the hidden folders a clean out before re-install. Make sure Google Chrome is closed and none of its components are running in your Task Manager. If there are some stragglers there, END TASK them at once.

For Windows Vista - C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome

For Windows XP - C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome

Sorry, I don't have Windows 7 here.

11.  This site suggests deleting the Local State File and renaming the Default folder in the Google Application Data folder:

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/google-chrome-crashing-freezing-windows-computer

Minimizing Shockwave and Flash Crashes in Google Chrome

Most of the time Google Chrome crash due to Flash or Shockwave specially after not viewing a webpage for a while or just leaving it idle without doing anything to it. Chrome is differently built from other internet browsers in that it has its own built-in Flash Player and Shockwave plugin. Other browsers need the users to install Flash and Shockwave to make use of Flash/Shockwave-based media contents to work.

To reduce such crashes, you can try disabling Flash and Shockwave in Google Chrome. While in Chrome, enter this in the Address/URL box:
about:plugins
Then hit the Enter key. On the upper right-hand side of the page, click the plus (+) sign before the word "Details". Under Shockwave or Flash Player that includes this in its Location or file path, click the Disable link:
...Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\...
There might be 2 or 3 Flash/Shockwave entries in your plugin list. Do NOT disable the item that does not include the file path I mentioned above. When you're done just close the Plugins page. After a while of using Chrome, you may be prompted to install Flash Player. Go ahead and do it. Or you can just go directly to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?no_redirect to install Flash Player. To install Shockwave Player, just go to http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/?promoid=JOPDF. To test your Flash Player, proceed to http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/. To test your Shockwave Player, go to http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/authorwareonly.html.

You're DONE!

SpotFlux: Connection Anonymizing Service (and Alternatives)

Official Site - http://www.spotflux.com/
Platform: For all versions of Windows and Mac OS X; iOS and Android apps are in development

You can keep your data private while you browse, stop malware, block IP address snoopers and keep ad networks at bay by using the new privacy service SpotFlux at no cost to you. This easy-to-use program encrypts your Internet connection using VPN to SpotFlux cloud, anonymizes your IP address, and reduces your risk of infection while you surf. This amounts to fewer irritating ads and as a result your bandwidth consumption will be reduced, a great consequence of filtering out unwanted ads. With SpotFlux tracking you will be difficult because of the use of random IP and DNS addresses by the software and also, your ISP and other agencies cannot track you on the Internet as you now belong to a different country altogether. This means, any sites blocked by your ISP will now be accessible.

If you open Device Manager and expand "Network adapters" you will see a new entry: Spotflux Network Device Driver. You can also see a new network connection in your list of networks. To view the connection details in Windows 7, click on the network icon in the System Tray and choose Open Networking and Sharing Center. In the window that appears, click Manage Network Adaptors. It does not add any extension to Google Chrome or an addon to IE. Check your IP address before and after you install SpotFlux using ipchicken.com in ALL your internet browsers. You will see that they will all use the new IP address used by SpotFlux. The new IP address is supported by every application that connects to the Internet.

It can be configured to start together with Windows.

NOTE: You can use IPCONFIG /ALL command in the Command Prompt to view your TCP/IP info. To open the Command Prompt, press Windows Key + R. The Run dialog box should appear. Type CMD and press Enter. You will get the Command window where you can type IPCONFIG /ALL to view your current TCP/IP info.

Another excellent feature of SpotFlux is its ability to block Flash ads and popups. Go to one of those websites that run Flash ads. Many of the blogs on blogspot.com run such ads. With SpotFlux enabled, the same websites will fail to launch any popup window or popup banner – especially Flash-based. There are some sites such as popupcheck.com and popuptest.com that run popup blocker tests. Go there to see how effective SpotFlux is at blocking those ads and popups. By the way, when you’re done, check out this Anonymous Surfing test to see if you’re being tracked when surfing the net, regardless of what software you might be using:
http://www.auditmypc.com/digital-footprint.asp

Another advantage of using SpotFlux is that it keeps on scanning the incoming traffic for malware and destroys them if found.

All the above is achieved by creating an encrypted connection (using 128-bit SSL encryption) where your IP address and DNS are changed so that people do not know who you are and where you are located. Spotflux kinda works like a faster, simpler version of the Tor Network. Installation is easy, and you can set the app to access a proxy server for added safety (or to ensure that you can reach region-restricted sites after your IP address becomes anonymous).

Using SpotFlux requires a certain level of trust, since the Spotflux servers are privy to everything you do. The payoff is the assurance that your activities are anonymized and protected.

Spotflux will install Java if you don't have it because SpotFlux requires it.

If you are concerned about their privacy policy head on to this page for more detailed info:
http://www.spotflux.com/privacy.htm

Here are some comments from early testers:

Fannet (a PCWorld.com member):
"... they also change your IP like a "VPN". I tried it and was pretty impressed and did not notice any performance hit. Your ISP already "has all your traffic in their hands" and so does the N$A if you live in the US, so I guess if I was really concerned about any of that I'd rather trust a small startup who's passionate about what they do than some large company or government."

1maddog (another PCWorld member):
"...Don't know how it worked before July 2012, but it installed and ran seamlessly on my XP laptop. Only downside: big hit on speed. But no more than, and usually less any other "free" VPN I've tried. Upload speeds remain pretty fast, and seem to be unaffected. My main interest is for Bittorrent, and anonymizing my IP address, which SpotFlux does just fine. Easy to use, or disable and finally there is no bandwidth or data used limitations. No other free VPN I've tried does that."

Some Drawbacks

Since your traffic goes through the Spotflux servers twice, you will see a slight performance hit. Certain applications, such as torrent clients, may not work correctly with the new IP address. But SpotFlux is very easy to disable. Since your DNS is changed, your Google, Facebook and certain other services will say they don’t recognize the computer you are using and may ask you to perform additional steps for login. Some sites, such as Facebook, give you the option to save the ‘new device’ while others will keep on asking you to perform additional info every time you log in.

Session timeouts is another annoyance. Browsing with SpotFlux enabled may cause delays due to which, timeouts may happen.

Alternatives


DNSCrypt coupled with OpenDNS to stop DNS snooping/spoofing are other programs that will add security to your connection.

From DadWhiskers (posted in TechCrunch):

For total obscurity in security critical situaltion, use Ultrasurf. Ultrasurf and its services are free. Norton Antivirus, McAfee SiteAdvisor, and perhaps others, will tell you the Ultrasurf site is a malware site, but it is not. Also, Ultrasurf may be falsely recognized as malware, but it is not. 

If you are in a restrictive country, you can surf anonymously and securely if you use Ultrasurf correctly and wisely. No government will be unable to find out what you are doing online, though you should carefully consider if you actually want to risk breaking the laws of your country. That is your choice alone. There will always be some risk of problems if you do. 

Ultrasurf MUST be used with Internet Explorer as the browser to work properly. No other browser can provide full anonymity. Ultrasurf is designed to be used only with Internet Explorer. 

When running Ultrasurf, all surfing goes through the Ultrasurf servers in the U.S., and so, that will be the IP address all sites see. You will appear to all sites to be surfing from the U.S. All data streams - both ways - between your system and the Ultrasurf servers are encrypted. 

Ultrasurf is a portable app, so it does not install, and may be kept on a pen drive, so it isn't on your system. Keep the pen drive absolutely secure. Ultrasurf leaves no traces of having been used on your system, except for what may be in your paging file. I would recommend turning off the paging file before using Ultrasurf each time, if your security situation is critical. I.e., your system may be confiscated for forensic investigation, and prosecution is at all possible. If you turn off the paging file, your system may become very slow if you have less than 4 GB of memory, though safety would be a more important consideration than speed in critical situations. 

Use portable Truecrypt to encrypt anything on your system you want to be absolutely inaccessible by others. Read about portable Truecrypt here. You could safely keep Ultrasurf and anything else in the Truecrypt vault. You can keep portable Truecrypt on your pen drive along with the Truecrypt vault. See the Truecrypt site for full information about how to use it, especially about using the "hidden" vault. The U.S. government, and almost certainly anyone else, can not crack Truecrypt.

I believe use of these suggestions will provide total anonymity as to your location, sites and data being accessed, though circumstances can change. Always be extremely careful in security critical situations.

Privacy Protector is another alternative to SpotFlux:
http://privacyprotector.eu/en/

Windows 7: Hiding Drives

Hide A Specific Drive in Window 7

Follow the steps given below:

1. Go to Start menu and type "gpedit.msc" (no quotes) in the Search box.
2. Click on User configuration>Administrative templates>windows components>Windows Explorer.
3. On the right pane search for Hide these specified drives in my computer and double click on it (a new window should appear).
4. In that new window click on "Enable" and choose any of the hiding options as per your requirement.

To un-hide the drive just click on disable.

Speeding Up Facebook

Upload Pictures Faster to Facebook

Follow the Steps Below:

1. Visit http://www.Facebook.com. Login to Your Facebook Account.

2. Open a new tab. Navigate to http://m.facebook.com/upload.php.

3. Upload your pictures.

4. Now go back to http://www.Facebook.com.

Using the Faster Facebook

Going to Facebook.com can often be a pain because it loads slowly specially when your connection is slow. An easy way to load Facebook faster is to replace http://touch.facebook.com, instead of using http://www.facebook.com. You can also use http://m.facebook.com.

So what's the difference between http://m.facebook.com and http://touch.facebook.com?

touch.facebook.com is more sophisticated and has more features. It is made mainly for smartphones and touch-screen devices. It allows viewing of feeds, friends' profiles, images, commenting and more. The feed in touch.facebook.com can show both most recent and top news views like in the full version of facebook.com.

m.facebook.com is styleless version of the site with limited capabilities. It is intended for those with older phones and less powerful mobile browsers. It allows just viewing of feeds and commenting on posts. m.facebook.com was showing only most recent views before. Now it shows similar visual views like touch.facebook.com, but with less functionality.

Having said all of that (m.facebook.com for less feature-rich mobile devices and touch.facebook.com for touch devices), I just like to say that was then. It is no longer the case. With the new m.facebook.com, users with high-end touch devices will see a rich touch-friendly interface; for users with feature phones, the site will look and work great. There will no longer be a difference between m.facebook.com and touch.facebook.com. The page will automatically serve you the best version of the site for your specific device.

Windows XP: How To Change Admin Password

How To Change Admin Password in Windows XP
From: http://www.techmix.in/2012/08/how-to-hack-admin-password-in-windows-xp.html

The need of this hack is when you are installing a software from regular account and the system asks you to enter your admin password.

Try this method.

PROCEDURE :
1.  Open the command prompt.
2.  Type the following code in command prompt

                        cd\
                        cd\windows\system32
                        mkdir temphack
                        copy logon.scr temphack\logon.scr
                        copy cmd.exe temphack\cmd.exe
                       del logon.scr
                       rename cmd.exe logon.scr
                       exit

This tells the computer to backup the command program and the screen saver file, then edits the settings so when the machine boots the screen saver you will get is an unprotected DOS prompt without logging into XP.

3. Once this happens enter this command:
net user <admin account name here> password
If the Administrator Account is called "techmix" and you want the password to be "blogger" enter this command:
net user techmix blogger
This changes the password on techmix machine to "blogger" and your in.

Programs we install on new PCs or freshly installed Windows: Part 2

Part 2

Deep Freeze

Official Site - http://www.faronics.com/standard/deep-freeze-2/
This is the most important program that you need to install. It is NOT FREE but it is worth every penny.

An OUNCE of prevention is worth a POUND of cure. If you don't know what "Virtual Machines, and "Sandboxes" are I suggest you look them up. Returnil is an elite sandbox application that deletes EVERY CHANGE MADE TO YOUR COMPUTER and contains changes within a sandbox. However it's a PARTIAL pay application i.e. there is a free version and a paid version. The free version is fine though.

Next up Sandboxie. You can use it while you browse the world wide web.

If you want a virtual machine that you don't have to pay for use VirtualBox.

From: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread615375/pg1

If you don't already know VirtualBox is a virtual PC that runs on your current operating system. If you are running on Windows you can install VirtualBox and run any other operating system in a window as if it were any other application running in Windows. The OS running in VirtualBox is called a guest OS and your main OS is called your host OS. Basically the guest OS thinks it is running on it's own PC when it is in fact just running off of a file on your hard drive. Any files you save on your guest OS will be stored in a file on your hard drive.  

Download an operating system, I recommend a Linux distribution such as Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com 

Here's the deal. You'll need a firewall installed, if you're on Windows the Windows Firewall will work fine. Setup all of your firewall profiles to block all inbound and outbound connections that do not match a rule specifically setup to allow the connection. If you're using Windows Firewall a few rules are already setup to allow certain connections, go into the advanced settings and disable all rules except for those related to core networking. This will block all applications from accessing the internet, including internet explorer or any web browsers you have installed. Now setup an inbound and outbound rule to allow only VirtualBox access to the internet.
Startup your VirtualBox system and do all of your web browsing and internet activity through your guest OS. Any spyware, malware, virii downloaded will think that is has infected your system, but it has actually only infected one file on your hard drive, it will not be able to spread to your host OS because it does not even know there is a host OS. 

I forgot to mention that VirtualBox allows you to setup a 'network' folder with your host OS so you can transfer files between the two. I recommend NOT setting up networking between your host and guest operating systems, this would allow any software or hacker access to your host OS through your guest OS. If you need to transfer files between the two use a USB disk or something of the like.

Trustware.com has a sandboxing software called BufferZone Pro. In a nutshell, you install it, then reboot. Anything that comes into your computer from the browser, Limewire, Media Player, or whatever (custom programs) can be undone with six mouse clicks. In six clicks everything will be back as it was when you first installed the program. This WILL include anything you want to keep also, so you have to learn to use it and move things in/out of the bufferzone as you see fit. You can use it on your PC to protect against flash drive infections, where it buffers then entire drive when I plug it in. I just have to be sure to move everything out of the zone that I want to have saved on the drive.

Calibre

Official Site - http://calibre-ebook.com/
Calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. It has a cornucopia of features divided into the following main categories:

• Library Management
• E-book conversion
• Syncing to e-book reader devices
• Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form
• Comprehensive e-book viewer
• Content server for online access to your book collection

If you like reading ebooks Calibre is almost all that you need to read and convert ebooks.

Download link
http://calibre-ebook.com/download

Calibre supports the conversion of many input formats to many output formats. It can convert every input format in the following list, to every output format.

Input Formats: CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, DJVU, EPUB, FB2, HTML, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ

Output Formats: AZW3, EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, HTMLZ, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ



OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Always opt for CUSTOM INSTALLATION so you can opt out of installing foistware like toolbars, search engines, and trial utilities.

2. As no single antimalware/antivirus program is 100% effective consider Malwarebytes Antimalware Free Edition for weekly second opinion on-demand scanning and to assist with security updates consider using Secunia PSI. CCleaner is often suggested as more convenience than anything but avoid the temptation to use the registry function, besides if you have Revo there enough cleanup tools included.

3. Always install any anti-virus, anti-malware and firewalls first, then fully update Windows. Only after that should you download anything (hell, you shouldn't even be connected to the Internet while you install your anti-virus/firewall programs, since unpatched Windows, regardless of the version, is simply BEGGING to be invaded).

4. Only download programs from known safe sources like CNet, Majorgeeks and the official websites of the software you are interested in.

5. The best defense is a layered defense plus common sense.