01.31.06

Ping, No Surf: Proxy Server

Posted in Windows at 8:48 pm by Keith

System: Windows XP (applies to any OS, but solution instructions are Windows XP specific)

Symptoms: All of your networking seems to be in working order: you have a valid IP address, you can ping DNS names and public IP addresses; but you can’t load web pages.

Most likely cause: You have your computer configured to use a proxy server.

Solution: Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections (tab) > LAN Settings (button) > uncheck “Use a proxy server for you LAN”

Share This

Permalink Comments

12.06.05

Speed up XP

Posted in Windows at 3:11 pm by Keith

10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows

Share This

Permalink Comments

11.28.05

AVG Free 7.362

Posted in Malware, Software, Windows at 5:03 pm by Keith

The newest version of the popular AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is available for download. The new version of AVG Free provides increased scanning speed as well as additional improvements which include a new event-history log and added options for filename extension definitions.

Share This

Permalink 1 Comment

11.16.05

McAfee Installation Repair

Posted in Software, Windows at 2:32 pm by Keith

Problem: After installing McAfee VirusScan 8 you get the following error: “Invalid configuration options specified. Confirm product is correctly installed.” AutoUpdate won’t run and reinstalling doesn’t fix the problem.

Solution: You need to repair the VirusScan installation instead of reinstalling.

1. Go to the VirusScan Console from Start > All Programs > Network Associates.
2. In the VirusScan Console, go to the Help > Repair Installation.
3. Check both options for Restore all settings to installation defaults and Reinstall all program files.

Share This

Permalink Comments

Pop Email - Leave it on the Server

Posted in Email, Software, Windows at 12:40 pm by Keith

Most pop3 email clients (Outlook Express, Netscape Mail, etc.) are configured to move emails from the server to the client by default. This means that when you check your email the copy of the email on the server is copied to your computer, then deleted from the server. If you check your email from multiple locations this configuration is not ideal. You’ll end up with some emails in one location and others in your other location. Use the following steps to configure what is likely the most popular pop3 email client, Outlook Express, to leave your emails on the server; only moving a copy to your computer.

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Select Tools > Accounts.
3. Click on the Mail tab, highlight YourAccount and click on the Properties button.
4. Click on the Advanced tab.
5. In the Delivery section, select the checkbox to Leave a copy of messages on server.

Share This

Permalink Comments

09.29.05

Free Online Security Tools

Posted in Malware, Software, Windows at 1:48 pm by Administrator

Here are a couple free online services for virus discovery.

Trend Micro’s House Call will scan your PC for viruses through your web browser (IE only, installs an ActiveX utility). You can do a virus scan, a security scan (spyware & known security vulnerabilities), or combine the two for a “complete scan.” Testing it out it claims to have found 11 viruses and 1 spyware program on my machine that is regularly scanned with McAfee and Adaware.

Virus Total allows you to upload a file to their server for scanning. It will detect whether the file is a virus using several antivirus engines. You can use their web interface to upload the suspicious file, or email it them. It currently scans with the following antivirus engines: AntiVir, Avast, AVG, Avira, BitDefender, CAT-QuickHeal, ClamAV, DrWeb, eTrust-Iris, eTrust-Vet, Fortinet, F-Prot, Ikarus, Kaspersky, McAfee, NOD32v2, Norman, Panda, Sophos, Symantec, TheHacker, and VBA32.

I would warn that neither of these should be considered a replacement for regular virus and adware scanners.

Share This

Permalink 2 Comments

09.01.05

Stinger

Posted in Malware, Windows at 6:54 pm by Keith

McAfee has a free program for finding and removing viruses called Stinger. This stand-alone executable is especially effective if you rename it and run it in safe mode to avoid detection by clever viruses.

Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.

Share This

Permalink Comments

08.27.05

Using at for a Scheduled Reboot

Posted in Windows at 4:48 pm by Keith

Although it reportedly doesn’t work in unpatched Windows XP (run Windows Update now!) at is useful command line program. I found out about it when trying to figure out a way to schedule a daily reboot of Windows XP. You can use the at command to do this with the following:

at hh:mm /every:M,T,W,Th,F,S,Su shutdown -r

where hh is the hour (24 hour clock a.k.a. military time) and mm is the minutes that you want the reboot to happen. You can use at with any other CLI command. To view what you have scheduled type at; to remove your scheduled commands type at /delete; to see all of at’s options type at /help.

Share This

Permalink Comments

08.24.05

blinded regedit

Posted in Malware, Windows at 4:29 pm by Keith

SANS has a tip about hidden registry entries. Sounds like these could be a real PITA, allowing malware to be even sneakier than usual.

Share This

Permalink Comments

08.19.05

After Dial Terminal

Posted in Windows at 9:10 am by Keith

I ran into a dial-up problem that I’de never seen for the first time in quite a while. Windows dial-up has a terminal login feature built into it. A user had inadvertently turned on this feature, so his dial-up connection attempted to make a terminal connection after dialing.

To make sure this option is disabled:

1. Click start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network Connections.

2. Right-click the dial-up connection on which you want to use Terminal, and then click Properties.

3. On the Security tab, make sure the Show terminal window check box is unchecked.

further info

Share This

Permalink Comments