Change “start” button text (Win XP)

It is good trick to change Windows “start” button text. So many people already posted it so I didn't interested in it but I got few mails regarding this. So, I thought to publish this trick on my blog too. It is little harmful to edit explorer.exe. So, please be careful while using this trick on your machine. I am not liable for any damage in your computer.

Step 1:

In this entire process, first you need free software named Resource Hacker ™. It is a freeware resource files (*.res). Go to your windows folder and find explorer.exe (C:\Windows\explorer.exe). Make a backup copy of explorer.exe and store it anywhere in same or other partition. utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and

Step 2:

Now start Resource Hacker ™ and open explorer.exe from C:\Windows. You can see Left and Right pane are there. Go to Left pane and Expand ‘String Table’ utility by click on plus sign. If you’re using XP theme then expand ‘37’ and then click on ‘1033’ or if you’re using Classic theme then expand use ‘38’. When you click on ‘1033’, you’ll get to see some scripting text in Right pane. There’s an item no: 578 with showing ‘start’ text between double quotation marks. You just need to type whatever you want to display in place of ‘start’, between those quotes. When you edit this text there is a button named ‘Compile script’ will activate. Now just click on ‘Compile script’ and then save this project as ‘explorer_new.exe’ in C:\Windows folder. Please refer following screen shots.

Step 3:

Now, you have to make some changes in your registry and tell to computer to use new ‘explorer_new.exe’ instead of older ‘explorer.exe’. For it, just open notepad and type following text or copy-paste and save it with .reg extension. Now, simply run/merge it with double click on it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT \CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

"Shell"="explorer_new.exe"

Then restart your computer and see Magic!!

Defragmentation of Hard Disk

I visited and checked few computers. They didn't infect by virus, worms but they had troubled restarting. I examined and then cleaned some useless files and folders. At the end, I used Disk Defragmentation utility and cured it. So, Defragmentation is useful utility for disk management.

Disk Defragmentation: The process or reorganizing and rewriting files so that they occupy one large continuous area on your hard disk rather than several smaller areas its called defragmentation.

Just go to your hard disk and make a right click. Then click on 'Properties' and get a 'Disk Properties' window. Go to 'Tools' tab and select "Defragment Now" option.(Check real screen shot above)

Then you'll get a new window named "Disk Defragmenter" as like below screen shot. Select a drive which you want to defragment then hit "Defragment" button at bottom and wait because it will take several minutes.

DNS Lookup

DNS Lookup: A Domain Name Server(DNS) lookup is the conversion of a domain name into its respective IP address. A reverse DNS lookup is the conversion of an IP address into its respective domain name.

I described in older post named IP address that every machine on Internet has an IP address as like as every registered website has IP address too. When we use to type URL (Unique Resource Locater) like www.google.co.in in our browser's address bar then our request passes through DNS lookup server and it finds requested site's IP address. So, our request reaches to website and it's page display in our browser.

The URL is easy to remember, easy to type, its just for humans for remember. At other side, IP address is hard to remember, hard to type so it is for machine. Mostly we type www.google.co.in for open Google(India) website. But, you can type its IP address 72.14.235.104 and access same. It is Dotted Decimal Number. As like as you can use to type IP address in hexed number 0x48.0x0e.0xeb.0x68, or dword number1208937320, or octal number 0110.0016.0353.0150 and access same Google.

Please refer above picture. You type any described value in your browser's address bar and you just get only www.samair.ru.

Disable Error Reporting (Win XP)

Whenever you forcefully kill some running services then Windows XP displays a dialog box called Error Reporting. If you choose 'Send Error Report' , it will report to Microsoft with entire details of your computer. Suppose you don't want to send it and you're well-aware about it so you go with 'Don't Send' but what about other people who shares your computer and don't know much more and select 'Send Error Report'.

Well, you can stop to display this dialog box easily. Just go to My Computer icon then make a right click, select 'Properties and reach to 'Advanced' tab. Just go to end of it and select 'Error Reporting' from where you can disable Error Reporting so easily. Please check real screen shots with this post.

Multi Window Yahoo! Messenger

This trick helped a guy whom loved a stranger girl. Well, theres a guy whom used Yahoo! messenger and chatted a lot. He met a girl and they chatted lots. The girl said that she was from the USA but she wasn't. That what this Multi Window Yahoo! Messenger found. That guy had some doubt on her so he used this trick and checked on her. He chatted to her with 2 different IDs at the same time with single machine. And finally he caught that girl whom actually from Philippines. You can also use this trick on Yahoo! Messenger.

Go to Start and hit Run command then open Registry Editor. Make a dword key named "Plural" without quotation marks under following registry hive:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\pager\Test


Then just set its value 1(hexadecimal) and enjoy Multi Window Yahoo! Messenger as shown in above picture.

OR

Open notepad and type following text or copy-paste it and save it with .reg extension then simply run/merge it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\pager\Test]
"Plural"=dword:00000001

>>> Download Enable Multi Window Yahoo Msgr Reg File <<<

>>> Download Disable Multi Window Yahoo Msgr Reg File <<<

Find(Search) - Enable/Disable(Win XP)

I posted "Run command - Enable/Disable" before few days. As like as you can Enable or Disable "Find" too. You can reach to Find through start menu or open it with keyboard shortcut "windows key + F". Well, It is easy to use registry trick on it as per following.

Enable Find:
Open notepad and type following text or copy-paste same and save it with .reg extension and simply run/merge it. It will Enable Find command. (Don't forget to restart your machine)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoFind"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoFind"=dword:00000000

Disable Find:
Open notepad and type following text or copy-paste same and save it with .reg extension and simply run/merge it. It will Disable Find command. (Don't forget to restart your machine)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoFind"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoFind"=dword:00000001

Control Panel - Disable/Enable(Win XP)

Suppose you work at a place where you share your computer with other people. They always do something and disturb your system's settings from Control Panel. You really want to stop them to use Control Panel so they wont able to change any settings. Well, you can do it easily with following trick.

Control Panel Disable:
Type following text in notepad or copy-paste it and run/merge it. It will Disable Control Panel.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoControlPanel"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoControlPanel"=dword:00000001

Control Panel Enable:
Type following text in notepad or copy-paste it and run/merge it. It will Enable Control Panel.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoControlPanel"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoControlPanel"=dword:00000000

Run command - Enable/Disable(Win XP)

I got few emails regarding Run command trouble. They don't have Run command in start menu or cannot open Run command through keyboard shortcut "windows key + R". You cannot open a lot of Run command stuff without it.
Well, It is easy to use registry merger trick here as per describe below.

Enable Run:
Open notepad and type following text or copy-paste same and save it with .reg extension and simply run/merge it. It will Enable Run command. (Don't forget to restart your machine)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRun"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRun"=dword:00000000

Disable Run:
Open notepad and type following text or copy-paste same and save it with .reg extension and simply run/merge it. It will Disable Run command. (Don't forget to restart your machine)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRun"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows \CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRun"=dword:00000001

USB Devices Enable/Disable(Win XP)

I posted a trick titled "Write Protected Pen Drive(Windows XP)" in month of July. Well it is not foolproof but there is another trick from which you can easily disable USB devices. It prevents to use all USB devices.

Go to Registry Editor and find "Start" dword value under following registry hive.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR

... then set "Start" value 4(Hexadecimal) for Disable and 3(Hexadecimal) for Enable all USB devices.

OR

Type following text in notepad or copy-paste same and save it with .reg extension then run/merge it.

• For Disable USB
  

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR]
"Start"=dword:00000004

• For Enable USB
  

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR]
"Start"=dword:00000003

Proxy Servers

A Proxy server is a computer system or an application program which services the request of its clients by forwarding requests to other servers. The Proxy server provides the resource by connecting to the specified server and requesting the service on behalf of the client.

OR

A mechanism which spoof or hide your identity on Internet is called Proxy.

Types of Proxy Servers:

• Anonymous Proxy

A proxy server that removes identifying information from the client's requests for the purpose of anonymity is called an anonymizing proxy server or anonymizer.

• Caching Proxy

A proxy server that stores the documents that it retrieves from other servers in a local cache.

• Web Proxy

Proxies that focus on Internet traffic are called web proxies. Many web proxies attempt to block some web content.

• Hostile Proxy

Proxies can also be installed by online criminals, in order to eavesdrop upon the dataflow between the client machine and the web.

• Transparent Proxy

A Proxy that does not modify the request or response beyond what is required for proxy authentication and identification.

• Non-Transparent Proxy

A Proxy that modifies the request or response in order to provide some added service to the user agent, such as group annotation services, media type transformation, protocol reduction, or anonymity filtering.

Normal Connection:


Connection via Proxy:

Auto Shutdown Trick (Win XP)

Do you want to make a trick on your friend's computer and shutdown it automatically after specific time which define by you? Well, you can do it. It is quite easy to fool your friend.

Just find "Startup" folder under following location or go to start-->Search and find "startup" folder.

"C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"

Then make a right click in "Startup" folder and create a shortcut. Then type "shutdown -s -t 100" (where 100=seconds) without quotation marks in 'Type the location of item' field. Then click on Next and save it with the name "shutdown.exe". Then hit a right click on it and make it Hidden through General tab.

Now think scenario, when your friend will restart/logon his/her computer next time, it will display shutdown alert and will shutdown after 100 seconds which you defined above. And yes, it will remain shutdown every time after 100 seconds of his/her system will start until above "shutdown.exe" stays there in "Startup" folder. I am sure, it will shock your friend. He/she won't know what to do.

Well, only you can cure it by new shortcut. Restart your friend's computer and make second shortcut key anywhere and type "shutdown -a" without quotation marks and save it "shutdown.exe(2)". Now just double click on this second shortcut and run it. It will kill previous "shutdown.exe". Now go to "Startup" folder and delete "Shutdown.exe".

Note: As described above you can make Logoff and Restart shortcut too. For Logoff simply use "shutdown -l" instead of "shutdown -s" and for Restart just use "shutdown -r" instead of "shutdown -s".

Disable Auto Run on Hard Drive(Win XP)

I visited to check a virus infected computer. They removed virus with help of Anti Viral software before I reached there but they had troubled opening Hard drive on Double click. They could easily open Hard drive with help of Right click option but Double click couldn't work there. I have just found some solution on this trouble and maybe it works with same.

Well, in normal situation when you hit Double click on Hard drive (or its partition) then it opens but, in this kind of situation it prompts you "Open With" dialog box and ask you to "Choose the program you want to use to open this file".

It happens because of when autorun.vbs is created by Trojan or Virus or Worm. They normally load an autorun.inf file into root folder of all hard drive, and then execute autorun.bat file which contains script to apply and merge autorun.reg into the registry, with possible change to the following registry key.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT \CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Userinit=userinit.exe,autorun.exe

Where autorun.bat will call wscript.exe to run autorun.vbs. Above key loads at the time of Windows Start.

When Anti Viral software detected the autorun.vbs file as infected, the file will be deleted or removed or quarantined. However, other files (autorun.*) and registry value still referring to autorun.vbs, and this document no longer exists, hence the error when users double click to open a drive folder.

Solution:
Run Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del or right click on Taskbar)
Stop wscript.exe process if available by highlighting the process name and clicking End Process.
Then terminate explorer.exe process.
In Task Manager, click on File -> New Task (Run…).
Type “cmd” (without quotes) into the Open text box and click OK.
Type the following command one by one followed by hitting Enter key:

del c:\autorun.* /f /s /q /a
del d:\autorun.* /f /s /q /a
del e:\autorun.* /f /s /q /a

In Task Manager, click on File -> New Task (Run…).
Type “regedit” (without quotes) into the Open text box and click OK.
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\ CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Check if the value name and value data for the key is correct (the value data of userint.exe include the path which may be different than C drive, which is also valid, note also the comma which is also needed:
“Userinit”=“C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,”

If the value is incorrect, modify it with help of following registry merger code. Just type or copy-paste following text in Notepad and save it with .reg extension then simply run it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT \CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
“Userinit”=“C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\userinit.exe,”

CMD - Enable/Disable(Win XP)

Recently, I've found that some modified viruses are capable to make Disable CMD (MS-DOS Command Prompt) or sometimes System Administrator makes it Disable. But, you can easily Enable CMD (MS-DOS Command Prompt) with following difference steps:

Step(1) With help of Group Policy:

• Go to Run command and type "gpedit.msc" and get Group Policy window.
  
• Then find "System" settings under "Administrative Templates" in left pane.
• Then go to right pane and make right click on "Prevent access to the command prompt" and get 'Properties' window.
  
• Make it Enable/Disable/Not configured through 'Properties' settings of "Prevent access to the command prompt" which you can see below.
• Then click on Apply and Ok.
  

Step(2) With help of Registry Editor:
Go to Run command and type "regedit". Open Registry editor and find "DisableCMD" dword value under following registry hive:

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows \System

..and set it 0(zero) for Enable CMD and set it 1(one) for Disable CMD.

Step(3) With help of Registry Merger:

Go to Notepad and type or copy/paste following text and save it with .reg extension and just run(merge) it with double click:

• For Enable CMD:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows \System]
"DisableCMD"=dword:00000000

• For Disable CMD:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows \System]
"DisableCMD"=dword:00000001