Dumpprep.exe is system process that records the system errors .when ever a error occurs it stores the details in a text file and asks us to send to microsoft option
its not a virus.
start-> run->msconfig->startup->Dumpprep.exe
it is always runs after desabling it also
what is config.msi
config.msi is folder that is present in hidden format
when ever we install or update some files their backup copies are stored in the config.msi folder
automatically they them self deleted ,if not there is no problem t\regarding this
when ever we install or update some files their backup copies are stored in the config.msi folder
automatically they them self deleted ,if not there is no problem t\regarding this
Disk partitioning divides the data storage space of a hard disk into separate areas referred to as 'partitions'. Partitions are usually created when the hard disk is first being prepared for usage. Once a disk is divided into partitions, directories and files may be stored on them. Because of later changes on the computer and operating system, often an administrator or power user will be faced with the need to resize partitions, create new partitions in the unallocated space, and sometimes even undelete partitions that were previously removed or deleted.
Hard disk partitioning tools will allow you to create additional partitions from existing ones by resizing the existing partitions and creating empty, un-used space on which you can create new partitions. The most important aspect of such tools is their ability to do this without losing your data that is currently on your existing partitions. Such tools allow you to create and format these new partitions.
Hard Drive Partitioning: Use Caution!
Most tools will let you convert a partition from one file type to another, i.e. from NTFS to FAT/FAT32 or vice versa. Needless to say that in most cases, such a conversion, especially from NTFS to FAT/FAT32 will cause the files to lose their NTFS permissions (ACLs), and in some cases where EFS was used to encrypt the files, it will actually cause you to lose access to these files. So beware!
Some of these tools may be able to help you recover deleted partitions, and if data on that disk was un-damaged, actually help you gain access to that data. Some, but not all of the tools may have the ability to move existing partitions from one location on the disk to another location, again, without losing data.
Note: We've tried to make this guide as definitive as possible, there are always changes in the software world that we're not aware of. We would gladly accept your feedback, comments and tool recommendations. Please limit your feedback to freeware utilities.
Disclaimer: The author of this article cannot be held responsible for any data loss or computer malfunction due to using any of the tools listed in this article. Please carefully read the software creators’ read-me files and manuals, and always test before using any tool on a computer or hard disk that holds critical information. Remember as well that free products rarely, if ever, provide any kind of end user support other than forum or community support. If you're unsure of what you're doing, or need technical support, it's best to go with a paid product.
10 Free Partition Tools
1 . Ultimate Boot CD
The Ultimate Boot CD is a bootable CD containing tools that allow you to:
* Run floppy-based diagnostic tools from CDROM drives. More and more PCs are shipped without floppy drives these days, and it is such a royal pain when you need to run diagnostic tools on them.
* Free yourself from the slow loading speed of the floppy drive. Even if you do have a floppy drive, it is still much much faster to run your diagnostic tools from the CDROM drive, rather than wait for the tool to load from the floppy drive.
* Consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD.
* Run Ultimate Boot CD from your USB memory stick. A script on the CD prepares your USB memory stick so that it can be used on newer machines that supports booting from USB devices. You can access the same tools as you would from the CD version.
When you boot up from the CD, a text-based menu will be displayed, and you will be able to select the tool you want to run. The selected tool actually boots off a virtual floppy disk created in memory.
UBCD contains a ton of tools including: CPU Tests, Memory Tests, Peripherals Tools, CPU Information, System Information, Benchmark Tools, BIOS Tools, Hard Disk Installation Tools, Hard Disk Diagnostic Tools, Hard Disk Device Management Tools, Hard Disk Wiping Tools, Hard Disk Cloning Tools, Hard Disk Low-Level Editing Tools, Partition Tools, Boot Managers, File Tools, NTFS Tools, Anti-Virus/Malware Tools, Network Tools, DOS Boot Disks and Linux Boot Disks.
ubcd
Get your copy here
2. GParted Live
The purpose of GParted is to allow the individual to take a hard disk and change the partition organization therein, while preserving the partition contents. GParted is an industrial-strength package for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging). GParted Live is a small bootable GNU/Linux distribution for x86 machine. It enables you to use all the features of the latest versions of GParted. GParted Live can be installed on CD, USB, PXE server, and Hard Disk then run on an x86 machine.
Note: Take care when using GParted on Windows XP/Vista installations. Read here for more information:
Update to "resize-windows.txt" - Draft to discuss (Page 1) - Documentation - GParted forum
Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition The How-To Geek
You can also get GParted on various distributions such as the SystemRescueCD, listed below.
gparted
Get your copy of GParted here
3. System RescueCD
SystemRescueCd is a Linux system on a bootable CD-ROM for repairing your system and recovering your data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system tools (parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic tools (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It is very easy to use: just boot the CDROM. The kernel supports most of the important file systems (ext2/ext3/ext4, reiserfs, reiser4, btrfs, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs, iso9660), as well as network filesystems (samba and nfs).
System tools included with SystemRescueCd
* GNU Parted creates, resizes, moves, copies partitions, and filesystems (and more).
* GParted GUI implementation using the GNU Parted library (see previous post).
* Partimage saves / restores partitions to an image file on another partition or to another system.
* FSArchiver flexible tool to save/restore a filesystem to a compressed archive.
* File systems tools (for Linux and Windows filesystems): format, resize, and debug an existing partition of a hard disk
* Ntfs3g: enables read/write access to MS Windows NTFS partitions.
* sfdisk saves / restores partition table (and more).
* Test-disk tool to check and undelete partition, supports reiserfs, ntfs, fat32, ext2/3 and many others
* Memtest+ to test the memory of your computer (first thing to test when you have a crash or unexpected problems)
* Network tools (Samba, NFS, ping, nslookup, ...) to backup your data across the network
Get your copy SystemRescueCD
4. TestDisk
TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy. TestDisk has features for both novices and experts. For those who know little or nothing about data recovery techniques, TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. Those more familiar with such procedures should find TestDisk a handy tool in performing onsite recovery.
TestDisk can:
* Fix partition table, recover deleted partition
* Recover FAT32 boot sector from its backup
* Rebuild FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector
* Fix FAT tables
* Rebuild NTFS boot sector
* Recover NTFS boot sector from its backup
* Fix MFT using MFT mirror
* Locate ext2/ext3 Backup SuperBlock
* Undelete files from FAT, NTFS and ext2 filesystem
* Copy files from deleted FAT, NTFS and ext2/ext3 partitions.
Get your copy of TestDisk here.
5. Ranish Partition Manager
Ranish Partition Manager is a powerful hard disk partitioning tool. It gives users high level of control for running multiple operating systems, such as Linux, Windows 98/XP, FreeDOS, and FreeBSD on a single disk. Partition Manager can create, copy, and resize primary and extended partitions. It includes command line interface and simulation mode that works with large files so you can safely experiment before working on the real hard drive partition tables.
ranish
Get your copy of Ranish here.
6. Partition Logic
Partition Logic is a free hard disk partitioning and data management tool. It can create, delete, format, defragment, resize, and move partitions and modify their attributes. One cool feature about it is that it can copy entire hard disks from one to another. Partition Logic is free software, based on the Visopsys operating system. It boots from a CD or floppy disk and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating system. It is intended to become a free alternative to such commercial programs.
It’s worth noting that the current (as of March 2009) version of Partition logic has the following limitations:
* Does not work with some SATA hard disks, no hardware support for non-USB SCSI hard disks
* Supports only DOS/Windows-style MBR partition tables (used on nearly all IBM PC-compatibles)
* No support for Sun or BSD disk labels, or EFI/GPT tables used on Itanium and Intel Mac platforms
* Most important: Cannot format partitions as NTFS (however, it can resize NTFS)
* Cannot resize FAT or EXT filesystems
* No hardware support for serial mice or for PCMCIA
partition-logic
Get Partition Logic here
7. SwissKnife
SwissKnife allows you to create, delete and format partitions on your hard disk drives in one smooth, simple process. While the product has been tested up to 400GB, it should support hard disks of up to 2048GB. SwissKnife allows creation of FAT32 & NTFS partitions. FAT16 option is provided for compatibility. Supports Internal interfaces such as IDE and SCSI and External interfaces such as Hi-Speed USB, Parallel port, PCMCIA, USB On-The-Go, Firewire, SATA interfaces etc. Creates Fixed and Removable Disk Format types. Latest version adds support for NTFS and features resizable windows. Upon completion, the drive icons will be dynamically updated on your computer.
Key Features:
* Formats faster than the OS (click on chart for details)
* Allows change of cluster size during Full format or Quick Format
* Divides a single hard drive into one or more partitions
* Supports Hi-Speed USB, PCMCIA, SATA, SCSI, USB 1.1, and FireWire® external drives
* Supports Fixed and Removable disk formats
* Supports FAT, FAT32 & NTFS systems
* Allows creation of a single partition of up to 2048GB of FAT32 or NTFS file systems.
* Full format or Quick Format of existing partitions
* Selective partitions can be modified for optimum flexibility
swissknife
Get your copy of Swiss Knife here:
8. Cute Partition Manager (CPM)
Cute Partition Manager is a free advanced hard disk partition management utility that allows you to easily add, edit, delete and manage the partitions in your computer. Cute Partition Manager is very easy to use, and one of the best features about it is that It lets you preview the changes before you save them. It lets you edit the boot flag, partition type and other advanced parameters. It gives you total control of your system during the partition process. For example, it lets you edit all existing partitions. It even lets you install all the operating systems from scratch. It supports all versions of Windows (9x,ME,NT,2K,XP,Vista), DOS, Linux, etc.
Some features include:
* Lets you create more than 100 partitions per hard disk.
* Lets you preview changes before you can save them.
* Lets you edit advanced partition parameters such as boot flag, partition type, etc.
* Lets you remove every single partition in your system.
* Does not require an operating system to run (everything is built-in).
* Can be booted from CD, DVD, Blank Floppy, DOS Boot Floppy, etc.
cute-partition-manager
Get your copy of CPM here.
9. EaseUs Partition Manager
EaseUs Partition Master Home Edition is a FREE disk partitioning utility that offers a powerful range of functions such as resizing partitions, formatting partitions, copying partitions, creating new partitions, deleting partitions, hiding partitions, changing drive letters, setting active partitions, and a handful other functions. Some of the main characteristics of EaseUs Partition Manager are:
* Material support for RAID
* Re-size and move partitions without losing data
* Create and delete partitions with a simple stage
* Allocated in a partition to make easier recognition
* Format of partitions by simple click
* Partition of ownership of every partition
* Conceal and to show partitions - to protect important data
* Specify a boot partition
* Outline of the effects of partitioning of a hard disk before applying
* Works on hard disks of 20GB to 800GB
Easeus Partition Manager Screenshot
Note: EaseUs Partition Master Home Edition ONLY supports 32 bit Windows systems. If your computer is running 64 bit Windows systems, please check the Professional or Server editions which are not free.
Get your copy here:.
10. eXtended FDisk
eXtended FDisk, or short XFDisk, is a free DOS FDISK replacement that offers more comfort and comes with a bootmanager that allows you to have more than one operating system installed on your hard disk. With XFDisk you can partition your hard disk or install and configure the bootmanager, which will be located in the first 17 sectors of your first hard disk. The bootmanager will not occupy an own partition, so you can fully use the four available primary partitions per hard disk. If you choose to have an extended partition with logical drives on your hard disk, XFDisk transparently manages the extended partition for you. So you don't need to worry about the size of the extended partition any more. Of course, XFDisk and the bootmanager support more than one hard disk and even booting from logical drives.
xfdisk
Get eXtended FDisk here.
Hard disk partitioning tools will allow you to create additional partitions from existing ones by resizing the existing partitions and creating empty, un-used space on which you can create new partitions. The most important aspect of such tools is their ability to do this without losing your data that is currently on your existing partitions. Such tools allow you to create and format these new partitions.
Hard Drive Partitioning: Use Caution!
Most tools will let you convert a partition from one file type to another, i.e. from NTFS to FAT/FAT32 or vice versa. Needless to say that in most cases, such a conversion, especially from NTFS to FAT/FAT32 will cause the files to lose their NTFS permissions (ACLs), and in some cases where EFS was used to encrypt the files, it will actually cause you to lose access to these files. So beware!
Some of these tools may be able to help you recover deleted partitions, and if data on that disk was un-damaged, actually help you gain access to that data. Some, but not all of the tools may have the ability to move existing partitions from one location on the disk to another location, again, without losing data.
Note: We've tried to make this guide as definitive as possible, there are always changes in the software world that we're not aware of. We would gladly accept your feedback, comments and tool recommendations. Please limit your feedback to freeware utilities.
Disclaimer: The author of this article cannot be held responsible for any data loss or computer malfunction due to using any of the tools listed in this article. Please carefully read the software creators’ read-me files and manuals, and always test before using any tool on a computer or hard disk that holds critical information. Remember as well that free products rarely, if ever, provide any kind of end user support other than forum or community support. If you're unsure of what you're doing, or need technical support, it's best to go with a paid product.
10 Free Partition Tools
1 . Ultimate Boot CD
The Ultimate Boot CD is a bootable CD containing tools that allow you to:
* Run floppy-based diagnostic tools from CDROM drives. More and more PCs are shipped without floppy drives these days, and it is such a royal pain when you need to run diagnostic tools on them.
* Free yourself from the slow loading speed of the floppy drive. Even if you do have a floppy drive, it is still much much faster to run your diagnostic tools from the CDROM drive, rather than wait for the tool to load from the floppy drive.
* Consolidate as many diagnostic tools as possible into one bootable CD.
* Run Ultimate Boot CD from your USB memory stick. A script on the CD prepares your USB memory stick so that it can be used on newer machines that supports booting from USB devices. You can access the same tools as you would from the CD version.
When you boot up from the CD, a text-based menu will be displayed, and you will be able to select the tool you want to run. The selected tool actually boots off a virtual floppy disk created in memory.
UBCD contains a ton of tools including: CPU Tests, Memory Tests, Peripherals Tools, CPU Information, System Information, Benchmark Tools, BIOS Tools, Hard Disk Installation Tools, Hard Disk Diagnostic Tools, Hard Disk Device Management Tools, Hard Disk Wiping Tools, Hard Disk Cloning Tools, Hard Disk Low-Level Editing Tools, Partition Tools, Boot Managers, File Tools, NTFS Tools, Anti-Virus/Malware Tools, Network Tools, DOS Boot Disks and Linux Boot Disks.
ubcd
Get your copy here
2. GParted Live
The purpose of GParted is to allow the individual to take a hard disk and change the partition organization therein, while preserving the partition contents. GParted is an industrial-strength package for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the file systems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging). GParted Live is a small bootable GNU/Linux distribution for x86 machine. It enables you to use all the features of the latest versions of GParted. GParted Live can be installed on CD, USB, PXE server, and Hard Disk then run on an x86 machine.
Note: Take care when using GParted on Windows XP/Vista installations. Read here for more information:
Update to "resize-windows.txt" - Draft to discuss (Page 1) - Documentation - GParted forum
Using GParted to Resize Your Windows Vista Partition The How-To Geek
You can also get GParted on various distributions such as the SystemRescueCD, listed below.
gparted
Get your copy of GParted here
3. System RescueCD
SystemRescueCd is a Linux system on a bootable CD-ROM for repairing your system and recovering your data after a crash. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system tools (parted, partimage, fstools, ...) and basic tools (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It is very easy to use: just boot the CDROM. The kernel supports most of the important file systems (ext2/ext3/ext4, reiserfs, reiser4, btrfs, xfs, jfs, vfat, ntfs, iso9660), as well as network filesystems (samba and nfs).
System tools included with SystemRescueCd
* GNU Parted creates, resizes, moves, copies partitions, and filesystems (and more).
* GParted GUI implementation using the GNU Parted library (see previous post).
* Partimage saves / restores partitions to an image file on another partition or to another system.
* FSArchiver flexible tool to save/restore a filesystem to a compressed archive.
* File systems tools (for Linux and Windows filesystems): format, resize, and debug an existing partition of a hard disk
* Ntfs3g: enables read/write access to MS Windows NTFS partitions.
* sfdisk saves / restores partition table (and more).
* Test-disk tool to check and undelete partition, supports reiserfs, ntfs, fat32, ext2/3 and many others
* Memtest+ to test the memory of your computer (first thing to test when you have a crash or unexpected problems)
* Network tools (Samba, NFS, ping, nslookup, ...) to backup your data across the network
Get your copy SystemRescueCD
4. TestDisk
TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy. TestDisk has features for both novices and experts. For those who know little or nothing about data recovery techniques, TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. Those more familiar with such procedures should find TestDisk a handy tool in performing onsite recovery.
TestDisk can:
* Fix partition table, recover deleted partition
* Recover FAT32 boot sector from its backup
* Rebuild FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector
* Fix FAT tables
* Rebuild NTFS boot sector
* Recover NTFS boot sector from its backup
* Fix MFT using MFT mirror
* Locate ext2/ext3 Backup SuperBlock
* Undelete files from FAT, NTFS and ext2 filesystem
* Copy files from deleted FAT, NTFS and ext2/ext3 partitions.
Get your copy of TestDisk here.
5. Ranish Partition Manager
Ranish Partition Manager is a powerful hard disk partitioning tool. It gives users high level of control for running multiple operating systems, such as Linux, Windows 98/XP, FreeDOS, and FreeBSD on a single disk. Partition Manager can create, copy, and resize primary and extended partitions. It includes command line interface and simulation mode that works with large files so you can safely experiment before working on the real hard drive partition tables.
ranish
Get your copy of Ranish here.
6. Partition Logic
Partition Logic is a free hard disk partitioning and data management tool. It can create, delete, format, defragment, resize, and move partitions and modify their attributes. One cool feature about it is that it can copy entire hard disks from one to another. Partition Logic is free software, based on the Visopsys operating system. It boots from a CD or floppy disk and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular operating system. It is intended to become a free alternative to such commercial programs.
It’s worth noting that the current (as of March 2009) version of Partition logic has the following limitations:
* Does not work with some SATA hard disks, no hardware support for non-USB SCSI hard disks
* Supports only DOS/Windows-style MBR partition tables (used on nearly all IBM PC-compatibles)
* No support for Sun or BSD disk labels, or EFI/GPT tables used on Itanium and Intel Mac platforms
* Most important: Cannot format partitions as NTFS (however, it can resize NTFS)
* Cannot resize FAT or EXT filesystems
* No hardware support for serial mice or for PCMCIA
partition-logic
Get Partition Logic here
7. SwissKnife
SwissKnife allows you to create, delete and format partitions on your hard disk drives in one smooth, simple process. While the product has been tested up to 400GB, it should support hard disks of up to 2048GB. SwissKnife allows creation of FAT32 & NTFS partitions. FAT16 option is provided for compatibility. Supports Internal interfaces such as IDE and SCSI and External interfaces such as Hi-Speed USB, Parallel port, PCMCIA, USB On-The-Go, Firewire, SATA interfaces etc. Creates Fixed and Removable Disk Format types. Latest version adds support for NTFS and features resizable windows. Upon completion, the drive icons will be dynamically updated on your computer.
Key Features:
* Formats faster than the OS (click on chart for details)
* Allows change of cluster size during Full format or Quick Format
* Divides a single hard drive into one or more partitions
* Supports Hi-Speed USB, PCMCIA, SATA, SCSI, USB 1.1, and FireWire® external drives
* Supports Fixed and Removable disk formats
* Supports FAT, FAT32 & NTFS systems
* Allows creation of a single partition of up to 2048GB of FAT32 or NTFS file systems.
* Full format or Quick Format of existing partitions
* Selective partitions can be modified for optimum flexibility
swissknife
Get your copy of Swiss Knife here:
8. Cute Partition Manager (CPM)
Cute Partition Manager is a free advanced hard disk partition management utility that allows you to easily add, edit, delete and manage the partitions in your computer. Cute Partition Manager is very easy to use, and one of the best features about it is that It lets you preview the changes before you save them. It lets you edit the boot flag, partition type and other advanced parameters. It gives you total control of your system during the partition process. For example, it lets you edit all existing partitions. It even lets you install all the operating systems from scratch. It supports all versions of Windows (9x,ME,NT,2K,XP,Vista), DOS, Linux, etc.
Some features include:
* Lets you create more than 100 partitions per hard disk.
* Lets you preview changes before you can save them.
* Lets you edit advanced partition parameters such as boot flag, partition type, etc.
* Lets you remove every single partition in your system.
* Does not require an operating system to run (everything is built-in).
* Can be booted from CD, DVD, Blank Floppy, DOS Boot Floppy, etc.
cute-partition-manager
Get your copy of CPM here.
9. EaseUs Partition Manager
EaseUs Partition Master Home Edition is a FREE disk partitioning utility that offers a powerful range of functions such as resizing partitions, formatting partitions, copying partitions, creating new partitions, deleting partitions, hiding partitions, changing drive letters, setting active partitions, and a handful other functions. Some of the main characteristics of EaseUs Partition Manager are:
* Material support for RAID
* Re-size and move partitions without losing data
* Create and delete partitions with a simple stage
* Allocated in a partition to make easier recognition
* Format of partitions by simple click
* Partition of ownership of every partition
* Conceal and to show partitions - to protect important data
* Specify a boot partition
* Outline of the effects of partitioning of a hard disk before applying
* Works on hard disks of 20GB to 800GB
Easeus Partition Manager Screenshot
Note: EaseUs Partition Master Home Edition ONLY supports 32 bit Windows systems. If your computer is running 64 bit Windows systems, please check the Professional or Server editions which are not free.
Get your copy here:.
10. eXtended FDisk
eXtended FDisk, or short XFDisk, is a free DOS FDISK replacement that offers more comfort and comes with a bootmanager that allows you to have more than one operating system installed on your hard disk. With XFDisk you can partition your hard disk or install and configure the bootmanager, which will be located in the first 17 sectors of your first hard disk. The bootmanager will not occupy an own partition, so you can fully use the four available primary partitions per hard disk. If you choose to have an extended partition with logical drives on your hard disk, XFDisk transparently manages the extended partition for you. So you don't need to worry about the size of the extended partition any more. Of course, XFDisk and the bootmanager support more than one hard disk and even booting from logical drives.
xfdisk
Get eXtended FDisk here.
Major blunder: virus mailed to Google Video blog subscribers
Google made itself a target for criticism this week by sending out a well-known email worm to more than 50,000 users of its Google Video service who were members of a related discussion blog group. The Kama Sutra worm was contained in several messages, which were distributed by Google to these users late on Tuesday. According to the Internet giant, “three posts were made to the Google Video blog that should not have been posted.” The problem has since been addressed and the offending messages removed. However, users who have received an email containing the Kama Sutra virus from Google have been recommended to run their antivirus software in order to remove the worm.
The Google Video blog is a free information service used by Google to notify its users about new “interesting and fun” videos from Google Video. It currently has 50,112 members, who receive daily updates from Google about new content on its video uploading service directly to their email. The company’s Video Team is responsible for posting new content, and it is precisely that team of Google employees that was responsible for sending out the email containing malicious content, a spokesperson has admitted. However, according to Google sources, new protocols have been put in place to make a repeat of this blunder impossible in the future.
The question remains open, however, about how the company had managed to send out messages infected with the Kama Sutra worm (also widely known as Nyxem) in the first place. This worm first reached the news at the beginning of the year, when it began circulating in the wild, luring users with supposed offerings of pornography or pictures from the Kama Sutra. It was seen as an “old style” type of virus that required significant user interaction in order to infect victim computers, and was intended to wipe certain types of files on infected machines, starting on 3 February 2006 and the third of each month thereafter. At its height as many as 600,000 computers across the world were thought to have been infected, but the worm itself can be easily removed by antivirus software.
The Google Video blog is a free information service used by Google to notify its users about new “interesting and fun” videos from Google Video. It currently has 50,112 members, who receive daily updates from Google about new content on its video uploading service directly to their email. The company’s Video Team is responsible for posting new content, and it is precisely that team of Google employees that was responsible for sending out the email containing malicious content, a spokesperson has admitted. However, according to Google sources, new protocols have been put in place to make a repeat of this blunder impossible in the future.
The question remains open, however, about how the company had managed to send out messages infected with the Kama Sutra worm (also widely known as Nyxem) in the first place. This worm first reached the news at the beginning of the year, when it began circulating in the wild, luring users with supposed offerings of pornography or pictures from the Kama Sutra. It was seen as an “old style” type of virus that required significant user interaction in order to infect victim computers, and was intended to wipe certain types of files on infected machines, starting on 3 February 2006 and the third of each month thereafter. At its height as many as 600,000 computers across the world were thought to have been infected, but the worm itself can be easily removed by antivirus software.
what is PCI?
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is a computer bus used for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. It is the most popular local I/O bus used in today. PCI provides a shared data path between the CPU and peripheral controllers in every computer models, from laptops to mainframes. Developed by the Intel Corporation, PCI first appeared in computers in 1993 and co-existed with the ISA bus for several years. It soon displaced the ISA and VESA local bus and became the standard expansion bus used in PCs. Today, most computers have only PCI slots and one AGP slot for a display adapter.
PCI supports both 32-bit and 64-bit data paths and can run at clock speeds of 33MHz or 66MHz. When implemented at 32 bits and 33 MHz, PCI yields a throughput rate of 133 MBps. PCI also has the ability to support bus mastering. The PCI specification covers the physical size of the bus, including wire spacing, bus timing, electrical characteristics, and protocols. The specification can be purchased from the PCISIG also known as the PCI Special Interest Group.
PCI Configuration
PCI devices are plug and play devices, meaning they load automatically when you connect them. Generally, the system firmware inspects each device's PCI Configuration Space and distributes resources accordingly. A device can request up to six areas of I/O port space or memory space. Each device can also have an additional ROM which can include executable x86 or PA-RISC code, an EFI driver, or an Open Firmware.
While configuring PCI, interrupts are usually allocated to the device by firmware rather than using jumpers on the card. System software tries to assign specific interrupts to each device to boost their performance. Most PCI devices require special hardware to support sharing an interrupt port because it needs a method to inform if an interrupt is for itself or for a specific device sharing the IO port.
History of PCI
Intel Corporation started the work on Peripheral Component Interconnect or PCI in 1990. On June 22 1992, PCI 1.0 was introduced in the computer world. PCI 1.0 was just a component-level specification. PCI 2.0, released in the next year, was the first to establish standards for the connector and motherboard slot. PCI was implemented in servers and eventually it replaced the MCA and EISA and became the server expansion bus of choice.
However, PCI took some time to supercede VESA Local Bus, commonly known as VLB; it also took some time to become the basic I/O bus standard in second-generation Pentium computers. By 1996 VESA Local Bus become extinct and PCI was adopted by almost all manufactures, even in 486 computers. But EISA survived a bit longer, until 2000. PCI was also adopted by Apple Computer for their professional Power Macintosh computers in mid 1995. The consumer Performa product line also adopted PCI in mid-1996, replacing LC PDS.
PCI added several new features and performance improvements in its latest versions. This includes a 66 MHz 3.3 V standard and 133 MHz PCI-X. Another improvement is the adaptation of PCI signaling to other form factors. The serial PCI Express standard, introduced in 2004, is the latest release in the computer market and has been well received.
PCI Express
PCI Express, formerly 3GIO/Arapaho, is a brand new interface developed using PCI programming concepts. PCI Express features a serial physical-layer protocol and various connectors. PCI Express is expected to replace the PCI and PCI derived AGP buses in the future.
Fire wire details
Firewire, also known as IEEE 1394 and i.Link, is a high speed serial bus developed by Texas Instruments and Apple computers in the mid 1990s. Firewire is compatible with more than 63 electronic and digital devices, which makes it a great choice for many people. Technically speaking, Firewire is a PC serial bus interface standard that offers isochronous data services and high-speed communications between digital devices. Basically, Firewire facilitates faster data transfer rates and usability across multiple devices.
Firewire is similar to Universal Serial Bus (USB), but it has a higher data transfer capacity - up to 800 Mbps, compared to the USB's 480 Mbps. This makes it ideal for peripherals that require high-speed data transfer, such as digital camcorders, DVD players and digital audio equipment.
Originally developed as a serial replacement for the SCSI Bus, Firewire was proposed to the IEEE by Apple computers in 1995. Sony has an implementation of the same standard known as i.Link, which is a four pin design as opposed to the original six pin model, which was made exclusively for Sony i.Link products.
Firewire 400, the first model to be introduced, had data transfer speeds of 100, 200, and 400 Mbps. Firewire 800 was introduced in 2003 and has a transfer rate of 800 Mbps, it also comes with a six pin connector that makes it compatible with the earlier Firewire 400. Thanks to the low start up costs and more adaptable cabling system, Firewire has successfully replaced SCSI in many applications. Firewire is widely used in situations where there is simply a need for data transfer at the highest speeds possible. Most personal computers come in with a built in Firewire port, as do many MP3 players.
Firewire gets a lot of positive recognition because it provides high speed, better power distribution, and does not require a computer host for its functioning. Firewire also gets a lot of attention because it outdoes SCSI capabilities in the way of higher sustained data transfer rates, which audio and video editors require. Most would also agree that the Firewire is advantageous because it can be daisy chained to extend it to many times a single cable length.
Compared to SCSI or USB, it can be seen that Firewire easily outperforms the other technologies because it is more robust, efficient, and has some great features. Some of the great things are that Firewire can be used to connect 63 peripherals in a cyclic network structure where SCSI follows a linear structure. Firewire also facilitates peer-to-peer device communications without using PC memory. Firewire also permits multiple hosts per bus, without the aid of an additional chip set like a USB cable. Firewire also supports plug and play and acts as a useful power cord for moderately power consuming devices.
Firewire Features
FireWire can connect up to 63 devices together, and allows peer-to-peer connectivity (i.e., between a camera and printer). It also uses isochronous real time data services which allows for real-time data transfer between a peripheral (i.e., a camcorder) and a host computer or device, with guaranteed bandwidth and no error correction.
This allows users to edit and create custom video projects with fast hard drives, a digital camcorder and a computer. Given the right software, a computer can download material from the camera automatically and with perfect digital clarity. Since the content is digital from start to finish, there is no loss of quality as you work on successive generations using the same material.
How FireWire Works
When you turn on a computer, it automatically queries all peripherals attached to it, and assigns each one an address in a process called enumeration. FireWire makes use of 64-bit fixed addressing, based on the IEEE 1212 standard. Each packet of information sent by a peripheral over FireWire has three parts:
* A 10-bit bus ID, to determine which FireWire bus generated the data,
* A 6-bit physical ID to identify the device which sent the data, and
* A 48-bit storage area capable of addressing 256 terabytes of information for each node.
The bus and physical ID comprise the 16-bit node ID, which allows for 64,000 nodes on a system. Data can be sent through up to 16 hops (device to device). Hops take place when a series of devices are connected.
For example, a camcorder is connected to an external hard drive attached to Computer A. The latter is then linked to Computer B, which is in turn coupled to Computer C. All devices can then access and make use of the camcorder; Computer C, however, requires four hops to access the camera. If all of the devices in this setup are equipped with FireWire 800, the camcorder can be up to 400 meters from Computer C (given 100 meters of cable between each device).
FireWire devices can be powered or un-powered; two power conductors built into the cable can supply power (8 to 30 volts, 1.5 amps maximum) from the computer to an un-powered device. Two twisted pair sets carry the data in a FireWire 400 cable using a 6-pin configuration. Some smaller FireWire-enabled devices use 4-pin connectors to save space, omitting the two pins used to supply power.
upgrading motherboards
Motherboards hold all the pieces that make up your computer. It supplies all the wiring and connections needed to make your computer run. However, you may feel that need to upgrade or replace your motherboard.
Before anything can be done, you need to be absolutely sure that you have to upgrade your motherboard. As a stand-alone part, motherboards are probably the part that would least likely need an upgrade. Some reasons for having to upgrade would be:
* Not enough space for an adequate amount of RAM
* No slot for an adequate graphics card
* Damage to the actual motherboard
You then need to decide whether you want to keep the current parts of your computer, or buy completely new ones along with your motherboard.
Keeping the Same Parts
If you want to keep the same parts in you computer after purchasing a new motherboard, you need to start by looking at the parts you already have. In this way, you need to look for a motherboard that is compatible with your existing computer parts. This is essential because you do not want to buy a motherboard that is not compatible with any of the parts you already have.
You may not know what parts your computer consists of. To find this out:
* Right click on 'My Computer'
* Go to Properties
* Go under Hardware
* Click Device Manager
You can now see all the parts that your computer has. Remember to write these down for future reference.
After doing this, you can start looking for a motherboard. Sites such as Newegg are a great way to compare and contrast different models.
When looking for a motherboard, make sure that it has the following:
* Enough RAM slots
* A PCI slot that is compatible with your graphics card
* A CPU Socket that is compatible with your CPU
* Enough USB drives to comfortably fit everything you may want to plug in
* Optional: Onboard sound to save some money and have a spare PCI slot
Once you have chosen a motherboard, be sure to double check that all existing parts fit.
Buying New Parts
If you want to completely upgrade your PC and buy new components along with you motherboard, you are effectively building a new computer.
All the parts that you choose must be based from your motherboard. Each part must be compatible with the motherboard you choose in order for your computer to run.
When buying a brand new motherboard, look for:
* Enough RAM slots
* A PCI Express slot for a good graphics card
* A widely accepted CPU slot to increase your CPU model options
* Optional: Onboard sound
Once you have purchased your motherboard, you are ready to install it.
Taking out the Motherboard
You will need just a screwdriver for the entire process
1. First, disconnect all the wires behind your computer
2. Start by taking out the largest wire that connects the power supply to the motherboard
3. Move onto the smaller wires that are used for processes such as LED, Power Switch and Reset Button
4. Take the larger ones out next: the wires running from the read/write drive and hard drive.
5. Open the case - you may need to use a screwdriver for this
6. 'Ground' yourself by touching the large metal bar across the computer towards the top. Static electricity can completely destroy parts. Doing this gets rid of the static electricity in your body
7. Start by taking off all the wires that are connected into the motherboard. You can move these wires to the side.
8. The graphics card is located towards the bottom of the motherboard. There will most likely be a switch or latch where the graphics card extends to the back of the computer. Lift or switch this latch.
9. Very gently, begin by pulling up the end of the graphics card is closest to the back of the computer. This side should lift up.
10. There is a hook on the other end of the graphics card. Be aware of this when fully detaching the card. Lay the card to the side when you are done.
11. You now have to take off the heat sink and fan located on the CPU.
12. Detach the wire from the heat sink and fan from the motherboard.
13. Depending on what model of CPU you have, you need to take off the heat sink and fan first. There should be a latch that you lift that will release both the heat sink and fan.
14. You now need to take out the actual motherboard.
15. There will be screw all around your motherboard. Unscrew these and you should be able to lift it up out of the computer relatively easy.
16. Once you have the motherboard out, you need to take off the RAM and actual CPU.
17. Lift the metal latch located above the CPU socket.
18. Gently lift the CPU up and off the motherboard. You may need to move it from side to side a little to loosen it.
19. On either side of the RAM will be some handles. Push these down and the RAM card should pop right out. Be careful to not use too much force.
Remember:
* No water or food anywhere near where you are working
* Never use force if something is not going right
Re-Attaching the New Motherboard
Once you have successfully taken out your old motherboard, you can now proceed to install the new one. The steps taken here are basically the same as detaching the motherboard, but in the opposite way.
1. First, put the CPU onto the motherboard and close the metal latch.
2. Open the handles on the RAM slots and push the RAM into it. There are corresponding holes on the RAM cards so make sure these are aligned.
3. You should here a click with the RAM is attached properly.
4. Take the motherboard and place it in the computer.
5. Depending on the two types of motherboard you have, you may need to realign the 'legs' that the motherboard is screwed onto. In this case, take out the legs and screw them back in the corresponding shape to the larger holes on the motherboard.
6. After doing this, screw in the motherboard.
7. Plug the power supply into the motherboard.
8. As before, you now need to replace the heat sink and fan on the motherboard. Place them onto the CPU and latch it in.
9. Remember to plug the wire leading out of the fan into the motherboard for power.
10. You now need to install your graphics card.
11. Sliding in the end of the graphics card that has the hook first, slowly lower the other end until it fits nicely onto the motherboard. You may need to lift or switch a handle to secure it in place.
12. You now have to reattach all the wires you took out.
13. Start with the larger ones. Since you should not have removed the read/write drive and hard drive when taking out your motherboard, they should still be in place. Plug these into the respective slots.
14. Now plug the rest of the wires in.
Remember:
In doubt, always refer to the motherboard manual.
Testing the new Motherboard
After installing your new motherboard, you are ready to test it out. Reconnect all the wires you had into their respective slots on the back panel.
Turn the computer on. If you hear a beep, that is the sound of the motherboard detecting the hard drive. This is perfectly normal.
Changing your motherboard should not result in any major changes to the software on your computer. Make sure that everything still runs smoothly.
No "Starting Windows 98" Message at Startup
when you start Windows 98 you do not see a "Starting Windows 98" message, and you cannot tell when to press the CTRL key to display the Windows 98 Startup menu.
The prompt has been removed to allow for a faster start of Windows 98
To display the Startup menu, press and hold down the CTRL key when your computer starts.
NOTE: If you press and hold down the CTRL key when your computer starts, you may receive a keyboard error message. If this occurs, you may safely ignore the keyboard error message.
If you want the Windows 98 Startup menu to appear each time you start your computer, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type the following command in the Open box, and then press ENTER:
msconfig
2. Click Advanced on the General tab, and then click the Enable Startup Menu check box to select it.
3. Click OK, click OK, and then click Yes.
APPLIES TO
* Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
The prompt has been removed to allow for a faster start of Windows 98
To display the Startup menu, press and hold down the CTRL key when your computer starts.
NOTE: If you press and hold down the CTRL key when your computer starts, you may receive a keyboard error message. If this occurs, you may safely ignore the keyboard error message.
If you want the Windows 98 Startup menu to appear each time you start your computer, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type the following command in the Open box, and then press ENTER:
msconfig
2. Click Advanced on the General tab, and then click the Enable Startup Menu check box to select it.
3. Click OK, click OK, and then click Yes.
APPLIES TO
* Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition
Multiple IP adressess
If your ISP offers the option of purchasing multiple IP addresses (CablemodemHelp.com lists some that do), you may want to consider this as the way to connect multiple computers to one cable modem.
To help you decide, here are the Pros and Cons of this method.
Be sure to go to the "Configure Client" page to setup your client computers.
The wiring setup is very simple as shown in the diagram below.
If you compare the diagram above to the diagram below, you should note the following differences:
There is no longer a "Sharing" computer, so each computer's Internet access is independent of the other's.
There is only one NIC per computer.
Both the cable modem and the computers are plugged into the hub, so there is not a separate LAN created that keeps your local network traffic off the ISP's network.
All wiring is done with UTP cable (normal 10baseT cable), with the possible exception of the cable that connects the cable modem to the hub.
If your hub has an "expansion" or "uplink" port, then you can use a normal UTP cable. If your hub does not have this capability, or if the green "Link" light on the cable modem and the hub port that the cable modem is plugged into do not light up when have the cable plugged in at both ends, you will need to use a "crossover" cable. (Note for some hubs you may have to set a switch to convert a port to "uplink" mode.) See this page for more information on crossover cables.
Having trouble with Multiple purchased IP addresses?
I get many emails from people who have purchased additional IP addresses from their cable ISP and who can't get both computers to properly share the connection. A common problem is that only one computer will connect at a time.
In other cases, they get a proper Internet connection, but can't get File and Printer sharing to work.
Many people assume that they are doing something wrong when they can't get this option to work properly, but sometimes the fault lies with the cable ISP!
Helpful reader Adrian Neilson couldn't get the second IP address that he purchased to work. It took multiple calls to his cable ISP, and escalation to a service manager, but the problem was found to be the Flash ROM on his cable modem wasn't changed to allow more than one IP address to connect.
If you choose the multiple option, you are paying for a product/service, and your ISP is obligated to install it or help you install it. You may need to be persistent and escalate the problem to the second or third level or tech support.
If they will not provide assistance (or are unable to get it working), cancel the service!
What they can refuse to do is help you with any File or Printer sharing problems, since they are in most cases selling you only shared Internet access.
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If you are having trouble getting File and Printer sharing to work and have multiple IP addresses from your ISP:
In some cases, the second IP address that they provide to you will look different than the first one.
(Example: 172.24.33.45 and 172.24.29.2).
In the example above, the two addresses are in a "Class B" subnet, so a "normal" "Class C" TCP/IP subnet mask setting of 255.255.255.0 won't work.
(If you'd like to learn more about IP Addressing and what "Classes" are, 3com's 1996 whitepaper called "Understanding IP Addressing" -- in PDF format -- will tell you more than you probably want to know!)
The easiest way to fix this is to add the NetBeui or IPX/SPX protocol (make sure you enable NetBIOS over IPX/SPX) to all your computers and make sure it is bound to Client for Microsoft Networks and File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. This will set up File and Printer sharing independently from TCP/IP, so it won't matter what the TCP/IP settings are! Make sure you unbind these from TCP/IP.
You can also try using a Class B subnet mask if your ISP gave you one along with the IP addresses (it will be something other than 255.255.255.0) Make sure you do this on all computers that are connected into the hub. Depending on your ISP's DNS and gateway server IP addresses, however, this might not work.
network troubleshooting in windows
Windows XP Network Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting TCP/IP - Detailed Steps
This article shows how to troubleshoot TCP/IP connectivity between computers on a Windows network. If you haven’t already done so, disable XP’s Internet Connection Firewall on all local area network connections, and remove all firewall programs on the network. Improperly configured firewalls are the most common cause of TCP/IP problems.
Open a Command Prompt Window
For many of these steps, you’ll be typing at the command prompt. To open a command prompt window in Windows 2000 or XP, click Start | Run, type cmd in the box, and click OK. To open a command prompt window in Windows 95, 98, or Me, click Start | Run, type command in the box, and click OK. Type one command per line, and press Enter after each one to execute it. To close the command prompt window, use the exit command.
Determine the TCP/IP Settings
Determine the TCP/IP settings of each computer on the local area network. In XP, open the Network Connections folder, right click the LAN connection, and click Status | Support | Details. For example, here are the Status and Details views for the LAN connection on an Internet Connection Sharing host.
In Windows 95/98/Me, click Start | Run, type winipcfg in the box, and click OK. Select the LAN adapter from the menu, and click More Info. Here’s the winipcfg view for an ICS client running Windows Me.
You can also see the TCP/IP settings from the command prompt. This is especially convenient if a computer has more than one network adapter. Use the ipconfig /all command, which is available in all versions except Windows 95. The output from this command can be long, so it’s best to write it to a file. Specify the file name in the command this way:
ipconfig /all >ipconfig.txt
Here’s the output for a Windows XP ICS host that’s sharing its cable modem connection:
Description of TCP/IP Settings
Here are the TCP/IP settings that are used in network troubleshooting:
IP Address – Unique address assigned to a network adapter. A computer with multiple network adapters has an IP address for each one, and each one must be in a different subnet.
Subnet Mask – Used in conjunction with the IP address to determine which subnet an adapter belongs to. At the simplest level, communication is only possible between two network adapters when they’re in the same subnet.
Default Gateway - IP address of a computer or router, on one of this computer’s local area networks, that knows how to communicate with subnets not present on this computer. For an Internet connection, the default gateway is a router belonging to your Internet service provider, and all access to sites on the Internet goes through it. For an ICS client, the default gateway is the ICS host. If you use a hardware router, it serves as the default gateway.
DHCP Server – If an adapter is configured to obtain an IP address automatically, this is the address of the server that provides it. It could be your ISP, an ICS host, or a hardware router.
DNS Servers – IP address of one or more Domain Name Server computers. DNS servers translate Internet names (like www.xyz.com) to their IP addresses (like 63.146.109.111).
Subnets
See our article on subnets for a brief description of how they work. For more details, see this Microsoft Knowledge Base article.
If two computers are supposed to be on the same subnet, but aren’t, something is wrong with the network hardware or software configuration. This is most likely to happen when one of them receives an IP address of 169.254.x.x, which indicates that:
It’s configured to obtain an IP address automatically.
It couldn’t find a DHPC server on the network to make the assignment.
Windows assigned it an Automatic Private IP Address.
See our article on Specific Networking Problems and Their Solutions for more information.
Pinging
The ping command is the basic tool for testing TCP/IP connectivity. It sends a special packet (called ICMP Echo) to a particular IP address and looks for a reply. If everything is working right, the reply comes back. If not, the ping times out in a few seconds. By default, the ping command repeats the process four times. Here’s an example of an ICS client computer pinging a Windows XP Home Edition ICS host, using the host’s IP address and its computer name.
When ping fails, you’ll see one of these error messages:
Request timed out - The IP address is valid, but there’s no reply from it. If the IP address is on a local area network, the most likely cause is a firewall program blocking the ping.
Unknown host
Destination host unreachable – The IP address isn’t on a local area network, and the default gateway can’t access it. Either there’s no default gateway, its address is wrong, or it isn’t functioning.
Pinging the Local Area Network
Here is a series of ping commands to use in finding where a problem occurs on a local area network. Run them in the order shown, and don’t go on to the next command until all of the previous commands work properly. In this example:
The computer being tested is named Winxp, with IP address 192.168.1.101.
There’s another computer on the network, named Win98, with IP address 192.168.1.123
Substitute the appropriate IP addresses and computer names for your network.
Command
Target
What Ping Failure Indicates
ping 127.0.0.1
Loopback address
Corrupted TCP/IP installation
ping localhost
Loopback name
Corrupted TCP/IP installation
ping 192.168.1.101
This computer’s IP address
Corrupted TCP/IP installation
ping winxp
This computer’s name
Corrupted TCP/IP installation
ping 192.168.1.123
Another computer’s IP address
Bad hardware or NIC driver
ping win98
Another computer’s name
NetBIOS name resolution failure
To fix a corrupted TCP/IP Installation on Windows XP, follow the steps in this Microsoft Knowledge Base article. For Windows 95/98/Me, un-install the TCP/IP protocol in Control Panel | Network, reboot, and re-install it. If that doesn’t fix it, use this procedure on Windows 95 or 98.
Pinging the Internet
You can also use ping to find a problem with Internet access. Run these commands in the order shown, and don’t go on to the next command until all of the previous commands work properly. Use the Default Gateway and DNS Server addresses that you got from the winipcfg or ipconfig /all command.
Command
Target
What Ping Failure Indicates
ping w.x.y.z
Default Gateway
Default Gateway down
ping w.x.y.z
DNS Server
DNS Server down
ping w.x.y.z
Web site IP address
Internet service provider or web site down
ping www.something.com
Web site name
DNS Server down or web site down
i have installed symantec antivirus. whenever my computer opens it show message " can't find script to the file virusremoval.vbs"
i have installed symantec antivirus. whenever my computer opens it show message " can't find script to the file virusremoval.vbs"
how to remove it?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That is a worm virus find the folder where it is residing then use the
cmd (DOS) terminal to navigate to that folder where the file resides.
In the command prompt, change the file's attribute by typing:
attrib -h -r -s virusremoval.vbs
then delete the file by typing
del virusremoval.vbs
Perform this steps it may resolve the issue.
how to remove it?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That is a worm virus find the folder where it is residing then use the
cmd (DOS) terminal to navigate to that folder where the file resides.
In the command prompt, change the file's attribute by typing:
attrib -h -r -s virusremoval.vbs
then delete the file by typing
del virusremoval.vbs
Perform this steps it may resolve the issue.
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