Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Why Bittorrent Works

Bittorrent is often referred to as the best filesharing protocol for sharing large files. But why? What makes bittorrent so unique?

Well, lets take a sneak peek under the hood of your Bittorrent client, and list a couple of features that make bittorrent as fast, stable, and robust as it is.

Starting

Bittorrent starts with chopping a file into small pieces, the one who starts sharing the file (initial seed) sends those small pieces to available peers. The Bittorrent protocol makes sure that the seed sends a unique piece to everyone, so they can share this with each other.

Thus, the great advantage is that everyone starts sharing pieces of the file right away.

Fair trading

bittorrent swarmOnce you have a little piece of the file, your bittorrent client starts to look for other people who might be interested in the pieces you have. The bittorrent protocol works as a tit-for-tat game, you only upload pieces to people who offer something to you. The more you upload to others, the more you receive.

This fair trading principle prevents free-riders from stealing your precious bandwidth.

Once you’re trading files, the Bittorrent client keeps a close eye on your peer, as soon as the other side stops sending you data it will stop sending as well (choke). In the meanwhile your client keeps searching for other peers, it randomly sends data to peers who are interested (optimistic unchoke), to see if that peer is a potential trading partner.

Selecting pieces

So what pieces does your client sent first? Well, Bittorrent works with a “rarest piece first” scheme. Your bittorrent client generally looks for the rarest piece that’s available among the peers in the swarm. This makes sure that the most common pieces are still available at the end, and may prevent people from getting stuck at 99%.

Seeders & New Peers

Seeders don’t stop sending out pieces of course, but the rules change a bit. As a downloader the client determines the best peer by the upload/download ratio. A seeder however is only interested in peers with a high upload speed, so these fast uploaders can send the pieces to other peers, and speed up the overall speed of the swarm (seeds + peers).

New peers (without pieces) are more likely to receive a piece of the file at random. Besides this, new peers are not bound to the rarest piece first restriction. This makes sure that a new peer receives a “piece” as quick as possible, so he can share it with others.

PS3 Vs. Wii Vs. 360 Entertainment Weekly reviews all

Entertainment Weekly gives their review of all 3 systems and the grades are as follows Xbox 360 A- Nintendo Wii B+ Playstation 3 B Full Story >>>

Sunday, November 19, 2006

How to Configure an $80 File Server in 45 Minutes

I use a modded Xbox and Xbox Media Center for playing media files across the network on my television and sound system. I also download large files, such as Linux ISOs, via BitTorrent. However, leaving my primary computer on all the time seemed like a waste of energy. I wanted a cheap, small headless machine that I could use as a Samba server and BitTorrent client so I could leave my workstation off when I wasn't using it.

I was in luck; HCDI Trading had a great "Fall Extravaganza" deal - a Dell OptiPlex GX150 Desktop for $47.91 (around $30 s/h). The specs:

  • Desktop Form Factor (it fits on a shelf in a media center)
  • Intel Celeron 700 MHz
  • 128MB RAM
  • 10GB HD
  • CD-Rom

Not cutting edge, but perfect for what I needed and priced very reasonably. Instead of using X11 and remote clients, I felt that web interfaces would be optimal out of simplicity. If I configured the server as a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP), then I could use web GUIs for configuration, administration, and file transfers.

Out of the popular Linux distributions, I'm most familiar with Gentoo and Ubuntu. Gentoo didn't seem appropriate; it would take hours and hours to get everything set up, configured and updated (even from a Stage 3 install), and any performance gain from the optimization would be negligible. Ubuntu has a history of reliability and ease of set up, so I used the Edgy Eft release as the basis my server.

The Applications

  • Remote Console - OpenSSH
    • The free version of the SSH connectivity tools. Use it for secure access to the console.
  • Web Server - Apache
    • It's free, fast, well supported and documented
  • Network Fileshare - Samba
    • Creates file shares that can be easily accessed from Windows. Notoriously obnoxious to configure by hand, the Samba Web Administration Tool (SWAT) simplifies the process immensely.
  • Database - MySQL
    • The popular free database server. While I can use a command line to administrate MySQL, I prefer using phpMyAdmin.
  • P2P Client - BitTorrent

Directions

  1. Download and burn the Ubuntu Server 6.10 i386 install CD.
  2. Install Ubuntu Server
    1. When asked about Software Installation, choose LAMP.
    2. When the installation is finished, take out the CD (I flip it over and leave it in the drive for the next time I need it) and reboot.
  3. Logon as the regular user that you created during setup.
  4. Give root a password.
    $ sudo su
    # passwd
  5. We're going to modify the file sources list to allow us access to all the required files. Uncomment the edgy universe, edgy-security main restricted, edgy-security universe, edgy multiverse, edgy-backports main restricted universe multiverse, and edgy-commercial main. In addition, Ubuntu leaves the install CD as one of the file sources after installation, so you'll need to remove the CD from the source list. Comment out the CD from the list and save.
    nano -w /etc/apt/sources.list
  6. Update aptitude to use the new sources.
    sudo aptitude update
  7. Install OpenSSH server
    apt-get install openssh-server
  8. Turn off the computer.
    shutdown -h now
  9. Disconnect the monitor, keyboard, and set the computer wherever it's going to lurk for the next couple years.
  10. Turn on the computer and wait about a minute for it to boot.
  11. Using your preferred SSH client, connect to the machine. I prefer PuTTY for Windows.
  12. Install Samba and SWAT.
    sudo apt-get install samba smbfs swat xinetd
  13. Create a Samba user.
    sudo smbpasswd -a username
  14. Add SWAT to the xinet configuration and save.
    sudo nano -w /etc/xinet.d/swat
    # description: SAMBA SWAT
    service swat {
    disable = no
    socket_type = stream
    protocol = tcp
    #should use a more limited user here
    user = root
    wait = no
    server = /usr/sbin/swat
    }
  15. Reload Xinetd with the new configuration.
    sudo dpkg-reconfigure xinetd
  16. Verify that SWAT is up and running. If you don't get any response, start Googling.
    sudo netstat -tap | grep swat
  17. Make the shared directory for TorrentFlux.
    sudo mkdir /share
    sudo mkdir /share/incoming
    sudo chmod 777 /share/incoming/
  18. Create the Samba share. Using a web browser, go to http://hostname:901/shares
    1. path /share/incoming
    2. valid users - username
    3. read only - no
    4. Commit Changes
  19. Install phpMyAdmin
    sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin
  20. Connect to phpMyadmin using a web browser - http://hostname/phpmyadmin
    1. Secure MySQL / phpMyAdmin
      1. login: root (no pass)
      2. Privileges
        1. Add a password to both root accounts
      1. Create a database for TorrentFlux
        1. Databases - Create New - torrentflux
  21. Install TorrentFlux
    sudo apt-get install torrentflux
    1. Ignore the libphp-adodb message.
    2. Configure database for torrentflux with dbconfig-common? - yes
    3. Password - blank (generates random)
    4. Restart Apache? - Yes
  22. Configure TorrentFlux using a web browser - http://hostname/torrentflux/
    1. Username / Password - root / root
    2. Configuration
      1. Path - /share/incoming/
      2. Save
    3. Click My Profile
      1. Update your password
    4. Create a user account
      1. Admin - New User
  23. Remove the Apache default documents from web root.
    sudo rm -Rf /var/www/apache2-default/
  24. Create a basic web launchpad for easy access your services.
  25. sudo nano -w /var/www/index.php



Overall, the installation and configuration took me about 45 minutes to go from zero to a fully functional system. The Xbox can see the share, and I've got a new playground for web development. I would suggest cleaning up and securing that home page a bit; research .htaccess files to lock it down.

I put my file server in my media center underneath my router, and it takes up about the same space as a VCR. For $80, I feel that I've made an excellent investment.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Widgetbox

Widgetbox is an online directory of web widgets for blogs and other web pages. Our widgets work with TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, MySpace as well as most other blogs, sidebars or websites. No plug-ins are needed, and they're free!

ROBOCOPY

version XP010 adds the following:

                /B : copy files in Backup mode.
/ZB : use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.

/COPY:copyflag[s] : what to COPY (default is /COPY:DAT).
(copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).
(S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).


/COPYALL : COPY ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
/NOCOPY : COPY NO file info (useful with /PURGE).
/FFT : assume FAT File Times (2-second granularity).
/256 : turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.

/MON:n : MONitor source; run again when more than n changes seen.
/MOT:m : MOnitor source; run again in m minutes Time, if changed.

/RH:hhmm-hhmm : Run Hours - times when new copies may be started.
/PF : check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.

/IPG:n : Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.

File Selection Options

/IT : Include Tweaked files.
/XJ : eXclude Junction points. (normally included by default).
/MAXLAD:n : MAXimum Last Access Date - exclude files unused since n.
/MINLAD:n : MINimum Last Access Date - exclude files used since n.
(If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

Logging Options
/TS : include source file Time Stamps in the output.
/FP : include Full Pathname of files in the output.
/NS : No Size - don't log file sizes.
/NC : No Class - don't log file classes.
/NFL : No File List - don't log file names.
/NDL : No Directory List - don't log directory names.
/TEE : output to console window, as well as the log file.
/NJH : No Job Header.
/NJS : No Job Summary.

Job Options
/JOB:jobname : take parameters from the named JOB file.
/SAVE:jobname : SAVE parameters to the named job file
/QUIT : QUIT after processing command line (to view parameters).
/NOSD : NO Source Directory is specified.
/NODD : NO Destination Directory is specified.


/IF : Include the following Files.

Robocopy 'Jobs' and the 'MOnitor source' option provide an alternative to setting up a Scheduled Task to run a batchfile with a RoboCopy command.

ROBOCOPY will accept UNC pathnames.
Robocopy does not run on Windows 95, or NT 3.5. (RoboCopy is a Unicode application).

Example:

The script below copies data from FileServ1 to FileServ2, the destination holds a full mirror (all files), but when run repeatedly will only copy changed files. (Changed meaning different time stamps or different sizes)

@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL

SET _source=\\FileServ1\e$\users\

SET _dest=\\FileServ2\e$\BackupUsers\

SET _what=/COPYALL /B /SEC /MIR
:: /COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info
:: /B :: copy files in Backup mode.
:: /SEC :: copy files with SECurity
:: /MIR :: MIRror a directory tree

SET _options=/R:0 /W:0 /LOG:MyLogfile.txt /NFL /NDL
:: /R:n :: number of Retries
:: /W:n :: Wait time between retries
:: /LOG :: Output log file
:: /NFL :: No file logging
:: /NDL :: No dir logging

ROBOCOPY %_source% %_dest% %_what% %_options%

"And bring me a hard copy of the Internet so I can do some serious surfing" - Dilbert, June 1999

Related Commands:

COPY - Copy one or more files to another location
SCOPY - Copy complete with NTFS Security Permissions
XCOPY - Copy files and folders
Fcopy - File Copy for MMQ (copy changed files & compress. (Win 2K ResKit)
Permcopy - Copy share & file ACLs from one share to another. (Win 2K ResKit)
The Directory Replicator Service - but this requires exclusive access to Netlogon and REPL$.

Equivalent Linux BASH commands:

rsync - Synchronize file trees
remsync - Synchronize remote files
cp - Copy one or more files to another location

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Setting Up Microsoft Outlook with Your Email Account at Godaddy

Godaddy Outlook Setup:

  1. In Microsoft Outlook, select Tools > E-mail Accounts.
  2. On the E-mail Accounts wizard window, select Add a new e-mail account and click Next.
  3. On the Server Type window, select POP3 and click Next.
  4. On the Internet E-mail Settings (POP3) window, in the Your Name field, type your first and last name.
  5. In the E-mail Address field, type your email address.
  6. In the User Name and Password fields, type your user name (your full email address) and password, and then specify whether you want Outlook to remember your password.
  7. In the Incoming mail server (POP3) field, type the name of your incoming server pop.secureserver.net.
  8. In the Outgoing mail server (SMTP) field, type smtpout.secureserver.net.
  9. Click More Settings.
  10. On the Internet E-mail Setting window, click Outgoing Server.
  11. Select My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.
  12. Select Log on using, and then, in the User Name and Password fields, type the user name and password you set up in the SMTP relay section of your Manage Email Accounts page.
  13. Specify whether Outlook should remember your password.
  14. Click the Advanced tab.
  15. In the Outgoing server (SMTP) field, change the port to 80 or 3535.
  16. Click OK.
  17. On the Internet E-mail Settings (POP3) window, click Next.
  18. Click Finish.

Talkshoe


This is the user interface. You can listen to the show and chat with other listeners live from the Talkshoe site. The stream and resulting recording on the Talkshoe site will be telephone quality.

Vox Blog

Sunday, November 12, 2006

CSS-Based Forms, Modern Solutions

Good examples of beautiful functional Web 2.0 forms. I know I'll be including some variation of these in my next website. More…

Speed Test, Speak Easy

Take the Speakeasy Speed Test and test your connection speed! By measuring the download and upload rate from the following locations you are able to accurately judge your current line throughput or internet connection speed. To take the speed test, choose the server nearest you.

Adsense relevant ad's

Adsense has become the main source for revenue among many bloggers.However,making money using adsense is not as easy as many believe it to be.

Many components have to be combined skillfully to even hope for a considerable amount of profit.One of the most important aspects of making money with adsense is your ability to serve your audience with the most relevant advertisements. Full Story >>>

Speed up torrents

Many people out there suffer from slow downloads through the torrent network.Often times they do not realize that there are ways to improve those slow speeds.Simple tweaks can be done to optimize your current speeds.

If you are on a dialup line wishing to download using Bittorrents,then you’re simply out of luck.Here I will provide some of the many tricks out there to optimize your download speed.

»Cap your Upload Speed

Although Bittorrent protocal is designed to perform efficiently when all users upload to their maxium output,while they are downloading.The truth is that you should not upload to your maxiumum bandwidth because it effects your download speed significantly.You should set your upload to be somewhat of 75-80 percent of your actual maximum upload speed.

Inorder to do that, you should find out your upload speed by using one of the million speed test sites out there.Personally I prefer using Speakeasy Speed Test because I live in the U.S.

»Remove the TCP connection Limit

You might have realized that your Torrent speeds have diminished marginally after you upgraded to windows xp service pack 2.What you fail to realize is that with the update to SP2,microsoft has limited the amount of tcp connections required by torrent programs.Currently the connection limit is capped at a maximum of 10 in service pack 2.

This was implemented by microsoft inorder to limit the spread of worms,trojans and other security threats.The whole idea behind service pack 2 was to secure your computer by all means possible.The most effective way to override the limit on you tcp connections is by using the Event ID4226 patch.Basically what the patch does is override the connection limit imposed by SP2 to any number.I do not recommend setting the connection limit too high,due to security reasons mentioned.An effective number would be anywhere between 50-100 connections.

[More info on the Author of the patch] [Direct link to download EvID4226Patch]

»Unblock Ports in your Router

Most of the time,slow torrent speeds are due to this problem.Usually beginners to torrents do not realize the effect routers have on Bittorent applications.It is important to realize that torrents commonly use ports ranging from 6881~6889 for high speed downloading.

If you do not know how to port forward those ports I mentioned above then visiting this site would be best.The author gives a detailed look into how its done.

If you want to specific on which ports to forward for the your exact application.You should begin by finding out the manufacturer of your router and the specific model.Then you should head over to Portforward.com and begin by choosing the the model of your router.The rest should be very simple.

»Disable Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall was designed to limit traffic in and out of your computer for security purposes.However that is not beneficial for torrent users who need all the extra bandwidth they can get.The best thing to do is simply disable windows firewall and get a more torrent friendly one such as zone alarm.

If you insist on keeping windows firewall on but want to use your internet connection to its maximum,then follow this:

note:Opening ports within windows xp’s built in firewall can be time consuming, because you can not add port ranges. Only single ports, so you will need to do this about 16 or so times, for each port between 6881 ~ 6889…

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections and then click Network Connections.
2. If you have a cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) connection, under LAN or High-Speed Internet, click the connection you use for the Internet.
3. Under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.
4. On the Advanced tab, make sure that the check box Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet is selected.
5. Click Settings.
6. On the Services tab, click Add.
7. In Description of service, type a name so that you can identify the port you want to open. For example: Torrent. Type a name that will help you remember the service and the port. You can use any name that you want. The name does not have any effect on the functionality but is only to help you remember.
8. In Name or IP address of the computer hosting this service on your network, type your ip address
9. In External Port number for this service and Internal Port number for this service, type the port number (the same number in both boxes).
10. Click either TCP or UDP, and then click OK.
11. Repeat this process for each port that needs to be opened. That means you need to repeat every step, adding both TCP and UDP ports for each number from 6881 ~ 6889. When your done, you should have 16 services added in there.It is best to name them something like Torrent1_tcp, Torrent1_udp, Torrent2_tcp, Torrent2_udp and so on.

»Choose your Torrents Wisely

Choose torrents that have a good seed to peer ratio.Most of the time,torrent users fail to realize the demand for certain files are very high and those serving it are low.You want to download torrent files that have seeds more than or almost equal to the peers.For example a file having 100 seeds and 100 peers is much better than having 100 seeds and 200 peers

Top ten things you may not have known about the Wii

If you've been paying attention to every bit of Wii news and trivia over the past months, you might know all of the following facts about Nintendo's newest system. For those of you not so in the know, here are some factoids we picked up on while tinkering this weekend.

  1. It doesn't play CDs, but it plays AVIs off your digital camera's SD card.
  2. The flaps that protect the Gamecube controllers and memory card slots are removable.
  3. Wii Sports includes training and workout modes.
  4. You can let one remote control all four players in Wii Sports: Tennis.
  5. It takes five pieces of heart to make a heart container in Zelda: Twilight Princess
  6. The box includes two clear plastic holders: one for the sensor bar and another that acts as a stabilizer for the thick, gray console stand
  7. When used as a pointer, the Wii detects how far the remote is from the sensor bar.
  8. The system keeps track of your cumulative play time for all games, and logs it on your Wii's daily message board.
  9. The standard A/V cables that have worked on every Nintendo system since the SNES do not work on the Wii (the system-side input is different)
  10. The system doubles as a great whiteboard.

Friday, November 10, 2006

The war is over and Linux won

IBM sponsored study shows: At least in the server world, Linux has won. Web servers and database servers remain the dominant applications, but development environments are now among the most popular systems in production, meaning the trend toward Linux and open source applications should accelerate. Full Story >>>

Thursday, November 09, 2006

4 Reasons Why Windows Vista Is Just Not Worth It


As you all may have heard, Microsoft has released Windows Vista to manufacturing yesterday. A momentous event? Well that just depends on who you ask, and if the person is myself then you are going to get the following four reasons why I personally would not even bother with Windows Vista. Full Story >>>

Dream PC: Intel Quad Core + XFX 8800 GTX SLI + nForce 680i Benchmarked




What's the best PC money can buy? For those that have $4,000 they can build a custom water cooled Intel quad-core machine with the just released XFX GeForce 8800 GTX SLI graphics cards and the latest and greatest harware to boot. Read on to see how this system performed and see NVIDIA take the crown from ATI when it comes to gaming performance. Read more >>>

It was inevitable...we can now purchase Macs with Windows XP Pre-Installed

MacMall has announced that it will offer buyers the option to install 'doze XP on the full line of Macs it resells. “MacMall is the only large Mac direct marketing reseller we’re aware of marketing bundles of Apple’s new systems which come with pre-loaded software to work in both the Windows and Macintosh worlds as soon as they unpack their system.
Giving consumers a choice is never a bad thing. Apple makes the hardware, sells more hardware because of the option, it's a win. The convergence of operating systems is the interesting thing here, although this is dual boot, the future is Vmware on the Mac. That means Windows and the Apple GUI at the same time. Windows games, NP. Isn't that why you would have Windows on your Mac really? The games. Full Story >>>

PeerGuardian

What does PeerGuardian actually do?

PeerGuardian does two things to help P2P users. The first is the obvious one, it closes connections on certain IP addresses. The second is that it optionally logs all connections made to your computer. The reason for this is so that if you do use PeerGuardian but still get sent a legal threat, you can cross-reference the date/time of the alleged infringement with the log. This gives us a list of IPs, one of which will be the IP that's doing the busting. It's basically to help us identify which IPs are doing the busting and weren't known to PeerGuardian before. - Hope that makes sense.

Is PeerGuardian 100% Protection?

CERTAINLY NOT!!! - PeerGuardian relies on users sharing information to stay up to date. It IS contributory to protection and (I'm not trying to blow my own trumpet here!!) it seems to be the most up-to-date and open database of this nature on the internet (as far as I know). The more people who are using full-logging and report the relevant IPs when they get a C&D threat (see above paragraph), the more people we can save. ANONYMOUS P2P is the way ahead IMHO, PeerGuardian isn't 100% effective.. I've NEVER claimed that and never will and I look forward to the day that PG (not just the app, more.. the database and communication between p2p'ers on blocking IPs) becomes totally redundant. I'm just trying to help supply the next-best thing until we get to that stage.

I use PeerGuardian and have still been sent a legal threat.

What do I do?

First of all, stop sharing the file you got busted with. If you're worried, try sharing older/rarer files. If you share Bourne Identity, Terminator 3 and a load of Busta Rhymes mp3s after being busted, you'll be asking for trouble. Second thing to do, check the "full connection log" in PeerGuardian. (you did have it enabled didn't you?) - Work out the difference in timezones on the infringement warning and cross-reference it with the log. From this you should be able to identify a handful of IPs. Either post that list to the PG forums for one of our admins/moderators/members to investigate or investigate it yourself and post the p2p enemy IP to the on-line database. - There are plans to automate this whole process in the future.

CODE
http://www.peerguardian.net/

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Make XP go Faster

Services You Can Disable

There are quite a few services you can disable from starting automatically.
This would be to speed up your boot time and free resources.
They are only suggestions so I suggestion you read the description of each one when you run Services
and that you turn them off one at a time.

Some possibilities are:
Alerter
Application Management
Clipbook
Fast UserSwitching
Human Interface Devices
Indexing Service
Messenger
Net Logon
NetMeeting
QOS RSVP
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Registry
Routing & Remote Access
SSDP Discovery Service
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Web Client


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cleaning the Prefetch Directory

WindowsXP has a new feature called Prefetch. This keeps a shortcut to recently used programs.
However it can fill up with old and obsolete programs.

To clean this periodically go to:

Star / Run / Prefetch
Press Ctrl-A to highlight all the shorcuts
Delete them

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not Displaying Logon, Logoff, Startup and Shutdown Status Messages

To turn these off:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system
If it is not already there, create a DWORD value named DisableStatusMessages
Give it a value of 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clearing the Page File on Shutdown

Click on the Start button
Go to the Control Panel
Administrative Tools
Local Security Policy
Local Policies
Click on Security Options
Right hand menu - right click on "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"
Select "Enable"
Reboot

For regedit users.....
If you want to clear the page file on each shutdown:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Set the value to 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No GUI Boot

If you don't need to see the XP boot logo,

Run MSCONFIG
Click on the BOOT.INI tab
Check the box for /NOGUIBOOT

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speeding the Startup of Some CD Burner Programs

If you use program other than the native WindowsXP CD Burner software,
you might be able to increase the speed that it loads.

Go to Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services
Double-click on IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service
For the Startup Type, select Disabled
Click on the OK button and then close the Services window
If you dont You should notice

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting Rid of Unread Email Messages

To remove the Unread Email message by user's login names:

Start Regedit
For a single user: Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UnreadMail
For all users: Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UnreadMail
Create a DWORD key called MessageExpiryDays
Give it a value of 0

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Decreasing Boot Time

Microsoft has made available a program to analyze and decrease the time it takes to boot to WindowsXP
The program is called BootVis

Uncompress the file.
Run BOOTVIS.EXE
For a starting point, run Trace / Next Boot + Driver Delays
This will reboot your computer and provide a benchmark
After the reboot, BootVis will take a minute or two to show graphs of your system startup.
Note how much time it takes for your system to load (click on the red vertical line)
Then run Trace / Optimize System
Re-Run the Next Boot + Drive Delays
Note how much the time has decreased
Mine went from approximately 33 to 25 seconds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increasing Graphics Performance

By default, WindowsXP turns on a lot of shadows, fades, slides etc to menu items.
Most simply slow down their display.

To turn these off selectively:

Right click on the My Computer icon
Select Properties
Click on the Advanced tab
Under Performance, click on the Settings button
To turn them all of, select Adjust for best performance
My preference is to leave them all off except for Show shadows under mouse pointer and Show window contents while dragging

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Increasing System Performance

If you have 512 megs or more of memory, you can increase system performance
by having the core system kept in memory.

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive
Set the value to be 1
Reboot the computer

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Increasing File System Caching

To increase the amount of memory Windows will locked for I/O operations:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Edit the key IoPageLockLimit

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resolving Inability to Add or Remove Programs

If a particular user cannot add or remove programs, there might be a simple registry edit neeed.

Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Uninstall
Change the DWORD NoAddRemovePrograms to 0 disable it

4096 - 32megs of memory or less
8192 - 32+ megs of memory
16384 - 64+ megs of memory
32768 - 128+ megs of memory
65536 - 256+ megs of memory

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Steps to Clean Install XP

Steps to Clean Install XP

If the above instructions for configuring your system to boot from CD
or you have acquired the necessary boot floppy/floppies; you can now
boot the computer and follow the on screen prompts. Have your Product Key
available, typical install is around 30 minutes. If setup seems to hang,
wait at least 10 minutes + before restarting system. You should experience
momentary screen blackouts.

1. Power on the computer. Press the Pause/Break key as soon as you see
text on the screen. [If you currently are running in an OS of any flavor,
insert XP CD and restart computer. Skip to #3 if system is configured
to boot from CD.]


2. Insert XP CD into CD drive. Press ENTER to resume booting from the XP CD.
(BIOS must support booting from CD and boot order must be set so CD
boots before hard drive. If computer does not support booting from CD
go to 2a for floppy install).

2a. Floppy install: Boot from Win98/Me/Special XP install floppy
disk with smartdrv.exe added to the boot disk; or the Win XP set
of 6 floppy disks.

3. Look for message "booting from CD" usually located at the bottom of
the screen. If you have a factory splash screen, press ESC to unload
it.

3a. Floppy install: From the A Prompt; A:\type: smartdrv.exe. then
press ENTER. If you are using the XP boot floppy setup disks skip
to step #5.

4. Press any Key when you see the prompt to "Press Any Key"

4a. Floppy install: CD to the location of the CD-ROM drive with the
XP setup files; CD to the i386 folder where you will type: winnt.exe
to start setup.

5. Setup will start copying files, if you need to install any third
- party or RAID drivers press F6 at this time. the copying of files
can take awhile.

6. Next you will get the option to repair or enter setup, choose to
enter setup. Press ENTER. To see images full size, place mouse cursor
over image and click/double click or press the left button and open.

7. Press F8 if you agree to the license.

8. Setup will scan for previous Windows installations

9. If you are using the upgrade version of XP on a computer without
any version of Windows currently installed, this is where you will
replace the XP CD with your qualifying CD, XP setup will scan the
qualifying CD and instruct you to replace it with the XP CD to continue
XP setup; otherwise, you will not see this screen. Clean install
qualifying media can be any of the following Win NT3.51, 4.0, 2000,
Win 95, 98, Me. 10. Choose the location to install.

10a If this is a clean hard drive, you can choose to create a
partition in the un-partitioned space. At this point, you can allow
Setup to use all the space or set a size for the partition.

10b If the hard drive or partition has a previous installation of
XP you want to remove, choose to delete the partition by pressing
"D". You will then be prompted to create a new partition in the
empty space. This will remove all data from the delete space.

10c If you intend to use multiple partitions, or dual boot, this is
where you specify the size of the boot partition and or setup
location for XP. If you are planning to dual boot XP, I would
create a small 100 meg DOS partition for the first primary partition,
then an 8 to 10 gig partition for XP. You can partition and format
the remaining space after XP is setup from Disk Manager. If you do not
intend to dual boot, you can either use all the un-partitioned space,
or create an 8 to 10 gig partition for XP and leave the rest free to
partition later.

Note: If a fat32 partition larger than 32 gigabyte is desired, the
hard drive or partition will need to be created before running XP
setup. XP will not create a fat 32 partition larger than 32 gig, but
will support one previously created.

11. Choose the file system from this screen. If dual booting and you
created the small 100 meg partition, make it a fat partition. NTFS is
configured at the optimal file size during the initial setup. See this
link for more on NTFS

12. If you have more that one partition or hard drive on your system,
make sure you are formatting the correct partition/drive.

13. Select F to continue.

14. Setup will show a progress box and reboot when copying files is
complete.

15. When you see the "Press any Key to Reboot" do not Press any Key.
If CD boots anyway, remove CD and reboot.

16. From this point, you will follow the on screen prompts.

17. If you live outside the US, you will probably need to modify the
default settings.

18. Personalize your XP Enter your Name and Organization.

19. Enter the Product Key. The Key is located on the back of the CD folder
in the Retail versions, and on a holographic label with the OEM
versions purchased with a piece of hardware. Write this key down and
secure it in a safe place in case the original is misplaced destroyed
through natural causes or stupidity. 8-)

20. Choose a name for the computer, this should be a unique name for
the computer, especially if it is to be connected to a network. In Pro,
you are given the option of creating a password or leaving it blank.

21. Set your Time Zone and Time and Date.

22. Setup will scan for network.

23. If detected you will have the choice to choose a typical
configuration or custom. Choose typical if you are unsure.

24. For home you will choose your workgroup, if a network is already
established and you intend to connect to it, use the existing
workgroup name, otherwise, I suggest using the default.

25. For Pro, the same goes for Pro as suggested for Home, but you will
have the choice to join a Domain, if you do not have a Domain or do
not know leave blank.

26. Setup will continue and reboot when completed ignore the "Press
Any Key".

27. The loading XP window will now display after reboot.

28. You will see a change display settings, say yes, and accept the
setting if you can see the screen after accepting.

29. You will see a welcome screen, press next and unfortunately you
have to wait for the dialog to finish.

30. Set up you internet or network connection.

31. This is the Activate, Register screen. You must activate within
30 days of installing XP, but you do not ever have to register,
Registration is completely optional and if you do not register, no
personal information will be transmitted during activation. If you
register, then activation will transmit that information along with
the activation. The first Activation is usually done over the internet
if the computer is connected to the internet, otherwise, it can be
accomplished by copying the alphanumeric string from the activation
screen and make a phone call to the on screen supplied phone number.
The activation center will then give you a slightly longer number to
input into for activation. I suggest you do not activate immediately
in case you need to make hard ware changes, or install to a different
system within the thirty days, and you will be reminded on boot up
until you do.

Blaster worm warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet
when asked, enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet.
You can activate after the firewall is enabled.
Control Panel - Network Connections. Right click the connection you
use, Properties, and there is a check box on the Advanced page.

32. Setup users screen. Set at least one user for yourself or the person
that will be using the computer.

33. Thank You

34. Logon to XP and apply Service Pack and Critical updates from Windows
Update before installing any software or hardware.

35. Install your anti-virus software.

36. Install all applications and setup your email.

37. Restore from Files and Settings transfer after reinstalling all
applications.

Boot Winxp Fast

Boot Winxp Fast

Follow the following steps

1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:\windows\prefetch\ntosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:\
2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".
3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.
4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".
5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.
6. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "devmgmt.msc".
7. Double click on "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"
8. Right click on "Primary IDE Channel" and select "Properties".
9. Select the "Advanced Settings" tab then on the device or 1 that doesn't have 'device type' greyed out select 'none' instead of 'autodetect' & click "OK".
10. Right click on "Secondary IDE channel", select "Properties" and repeat step 9.
11. Reboot your computer.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Linux Tips & Tricks

Tips

Speeding up your hard drive (#1)
Get faster file transfer by using 32-bit transfers on your hard drive

Just add the line:

hdparm -c3 /dev/hdX

to a bootup script.

If you use SuSE or other distros based on SYS V,

/sbin/init.d/boot.local
should work for you.

This enables 32-bit transfer on your hard drive. On some systems it can improve transfer performance by 75%.

To test your performance gain, type:

hdparm -t -T /dev/hdX

Protecting yourself from being a spam base(#2)
Sendmail allows for someone to telnet to port 25 and do an expn (expand) to see what users and aliases are on your machine. Also, vrfy (verify) means someone can get legal e-mail addresses from your box and send spam through your machine.

Don't want that, so look in your /etc/sendmail.cf file for a line that looks like this:

###############
# Options #
###############

Now cut and paste these next few lines below that:

# turning off the expand option and requiring a helo from
# a remote computer
Opnoexpn,novrfy,needmailhelo

Now there is no expansion, no verify, and sendmail requires a helo with a legitimate DNS in order to use the mailer.

Then look in your /etc/mail/aliases file and ensure you have only your own boxen and/or subnet in there as OK or RELAY. That will help cut down on spammers' ability to find relay machines to do their dirty work for them.

Cleaning up Netscape crashes(#3)
You have a tip about Netscape leaving copies of itself running below, but you can make a general shell script to clean up a Netscape crash like this:

#!/bin/sh
#kill.netscape
killall -9 netscape
rm ~/.netscape/lock

Then all your users can use it and clean up the dreaded hundred instances of Netscape running when it crashed. Change netscape to netscape-communicator or netscape-navigator as appropriate

More DOS-like commands(#4)
Many people are moving to Linux because they miss the stability of good old DOS. In that light, many users are typing DOS commands (which originated from UNIX in the first place) that look fine but cause errors. The command "cd.." in DOS is perfectly valid, but Linux balks. This is because "cd" is a command, and any parameter for that command must be separated from the command by a space. The same goes for "cd/" and "cd~". A quick fix is here.

Use your favorite text editor in your home directory to edit the file ".bashrc". The period is there on purpose, this hides the file from normal ls display.

Add the lines:

alias cd/="cd /"
alias cd~="cd ~"
alias cd..="cd .."

And I usually add these...

alias md="mkdir"
alias rd="rmdir -i"
alias rm="rm -i"

and my first and still favorite alias...

alias ls="ls --color"

alias is a powerful tool, and can be used in the .bashrc script as well as from the command line. You can, if you want to spend the time, create your own group of shell commands to suit how you work. As long as you put them in your .bashrc file, they'll be there everytime you log in. Note that if you frequently log in as root, you might want to copy /home/username/.bashrc to /root/.bashrc to keep yourself sane.

Resurrecting corrupted floppies(#5)
Here's how to make a floppy disk with "track-0 bad" reusable again:

If the track zero of a floppy disk is found to be bad, no DOS or Windows utility is going to do anything about it--you just have to throw it in your unrecycle bin.

This tip cannot recover the data, but can make the disk carry things again, at least for the time being (moments of desperation).

How to:

(A) Format the disk with Linux. Build a Linux file system (don't use mformat). I did this some time before by invoking the makebootdisk command (in Slakware) and stopped after the formatting was over. There should be better ways to do it in RedHat 5.2 or other recent versions.

( Reformat the disk with Windows. Use the DOS window and the /u option while formatting.

Using DOS-like commands(#6)
There's a package called mtools which is included with most of the distributions out there.

There are several commands for basic DOS stuff. For example, to directory the floppy drive, type mdir a:. This is rather handy--you don't need to mount the floppy drive to use it.

Other commands are: mattrib , mcd, mcopy, mdel, mformat, mlabel, mren (rename), mmd, mrd, and mtype.

This doesn't work for reading from hard disks. In that case, you would add entries to /etc/fstab, drive type msdos for fat16 partitions, and vfat for fat32.

Copying files from Linux to Windows 98 or 95B (FAT32)(#7)
It's as easy as installing the program explore2fs. It uses a Windows Explorer interface and supports drag-and-drop. I have found it reliable and useful for migrating files from my RedHat 6.1 partition to my Win95B partition quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

It's available free--as all software should be--from this URL:
CODE
http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs.htm


Installing in partitions(#8)
I am using SuSE Linux, which has some interesting options (I don't know if RedHat or other distributions offer you this, too).

1. You can install Linux on a single file in your Windows Partition. Nice to try it out, but I guess it is not that fast then. You can load it then with a DOS program, loadlin.

2. Use Fips or Partition Magic. Defragment your hard drive (you should do this for Point 1, too) and split it up. I guess most users just have one partition, which you should split up into at least three: one for the Linux files, and a smaller swap partition (take about 32 to 64 MB, depending on your RAM--less RAM needs bigger swap partitions). If you decide later to deinstall Linux you can always delete both partitions and create one big one for Windows again.

Fips is a stupid command line program, but if you're too lazy to read at least a little bit, then you should stop thinking about Linux anyway...

Command Pipelines(#9)
Pipes are easy. The Unix shells provide mechanisms which you can use them to allow you to generate remarkably sophisticated `programs' out of simple components. We call that a pipeline. A pipeline is composed of a data generator, a series of filters, and a data consumer. Often that final stage is as simple as displaying the final output on stdout, and sometimes the first stage is as simple as reading from stdin. I think all shells use the "|" character to separate each stage of a pipeline. So:

data-generator | filter | ... | filter | data-consumer

Each stage of the pipeline runs in parallel, within the limits which the system permits. Hey, look closely, because that last phrase is important. Are you on a uni-processor system because if you are, then obviously only one process runs at a time, although that point is simply nitpicking. But pipes are buffers capable of holding only finite data. A process can write into a pipe until that pipe is full. When the pipe is full the process writing into it blocks until some of the data already in the pipe has been read. Similarly, a process can read from a pipe until that pipe is empty. When it's empty the reading process is blocked until some more data has been written into the pipe.

What is IP masquerading and when is it of use?(#10)
IP masquerading is a process where one computer acts as an IP gateway for a network. All computers on the network send their IP packets through the gateway, which replaces the source IP address with its own address and then forwards it to the internet. Perhaps the source IP port number is also replaced with another port number, although that is less interesting. All hosts on the internet see the packet as originating from the gateway.

Any host on the Internet which wishes to send a packet back, ie in reply, must necessarily address that packet to the gateway. Remember that the gateway is the only host seen on the internet. The gateway rewrites the destination address, replacing its own address with the IP address of the machine which is being masqueraded, and forwards that packet on to the local network for delivery.

This procedure sounds simple, and it is. It provides an effective means by which you can provide second class internet connections for a complete LAN using only one (internet) IP address.

Setting UTC or local time(#11)
When Linux boots, one of the initialisation scripts will run the /sbin/hwclock program to copy the current hardware clock time to the system clock. hwclock will assume the hardware clock is set to local time unless it is run with the --utc switch. Rather than editing the startup script, under Red Hat Linux you should edit the /etc/sysconfig/clock file and change the ``UTC'' line to either ``UTC=true'' or ``UTC=false'' as appropriate.
Setting the system clock(#12)
To set the system clock under Linux, use the date command. As an example, to set the current time and date to July 31, 11:16pm, type ``date 07312316'' (note that the time is given in 24 hour notation). If you wanted to change the year as well, you could type ``date 073123161998''. To set the seconds as well, type ``date 07312316.30'' or ``date 073123161998.30''. To see what Linux thinks the current local time is, run date with no arguments.

Setting the hardware clock(#13)
To set the hardware clock, my favourite way is to set the system clock first, and then set the hardware clock to the current system clock by typing ``/sbin/hwclock --systohc'' (or ``/sbin/hwclock --systohc --utc'' if you are keeping the hardware clock in UTC). To see what the hardware clock is currently set to, run hwclock with no arguments. If the hardware clock is in UTC and you want to see the local equivalent, type ``/sbin/hwclock --utc''


Setting your timezone(#14)
The timezone under Linux is set by a symbolic link from /etc/localtime[1] to a file in the /usr/share/zoneinfo[2] directory that corresponds with what timezone you are in. For example, since I'm in South Australia, /etc/localtime is a symlink to /usr/share/zoneinfo/Australia/South. To set this link, type:

ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/your/zone /etc/localtime

Replace your/zone with something like Australia/NSW or Australia/Perth. Have a look in the directories under /usr/share/zoneinfo to see what timezones are available.

[1] This assumes that /usr/share/zoneinfo is linked to /etc/localtime as it is under Red Hat Linux.

[2] On older systems, you'll find that /usr/lib/zoneinfo is used instead of /usr/share/zoneinfo. See also the later section ``The time in some applications is wrong''.


Zombies(#15)
What are these zombie processes that show up in ps? I kill them but they don't go away!

Zombies are dead processes. You cannot kill the dead. All processes eventually die, and when they do they become zombies. They consume almost no resources, which is to be expected because they are dead! The reason for zombies is so the zombie's parent (process) can retrieve the zombie's exit status and resource usage statistics. The parent signals the operating system that it no longer needs the zombie by using one of the wait() system calls.

When a process dies, its child processes all become children of process number 1, which is the init process. Init is ``always'' waiting for children to die, so that they don't remain as zombies.

If you have zombie processes it means those zombies have not been waited for by their parent (look at PPID displayed by ps -l). You have three choices: Fix the parent process (make it wait); kill the parent; or live with it. Remember that living with it is not so hard because zombies take up little more than one extra line in the output of ps.


How do i give users an ftp only account (no telnet, etc).(#16)

give them shell which doesn't work, but is listed in /etc/shells
for example /bin/false...


How to do backup with tar?(#17)
You can mantain a list of files that you with to backup into a file and tar
it when you wish.

tar czvf tarfile.tar.gz -T list_file

where list_file is a simple list of what you want to include into the tar

i.e:

/etc/smb.conf
/root/myfile
/etc/ppp (all files into the /etc/ppp directory)
/opt/gnome/html/gnome-dev-info.html


How to keep a computer from answering to ping?(#18)

a simple "echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all" will do the
trick... to turn it back on, simply
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all"

Customizing your directory colors.(#19)
I know a lot of you know the command ls --color. Which displays your directory with colors. But, a lot of people may not know that those colors are customizable. All you need to do is add the following line to your /etc/bashrc file.


eval `dircolors /etc/DIR_COLORS`


And then all of the color configuration can be found in the file /etc/DIR_COLORS



Frozen Xwindow(#20)
If your Xwindow freezes sometimes, here are two ways that you may try to kill your server. The first is the simple simple way of killing your X server the key combination: Ctrl+Alt+Backspace

The second way is a little more complicated, but it works most of the time. Hit Ctrl+Alt+F2 to startup a virtual console, then log in with your user name and password and run:



# ps -ax | grep startx



This will give you the PID of your Xserver. Then just kill it with:



# kill -9 PID_Number



To go back to your first console, just hit Alt-F1



Converting all files in a directory to lowercase.(#21)
#!/bin/sh
# lowerit
# convert all file names in the current directory to lower case
# only operates on plain files--does not change the name of directories
# will ask for verification before overwriting an existing file
for x in `ls`
do
if [ ! -f $x ]; then
continue
fi
lc=`echo $x | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'`
if [ $lc != $x ]; then
mv -i $x $lc
fi
done

Wow. That's a long script. I wouldn't write a script to do that; instead, I would use this command:


for i in * ; do [ -f $i ] && mv -i $i `echo $i | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'`;
done;

on the command line.


Script to view those compressed HOWTOs.(#22)
From a newbie to another, here is a short script that eases looking for and viewing howto documents. My howto's are in /usr/doc/faq/howto/ and are gzipped. The file names are XXX-HOWTO.gz, XXX being the subject. I created the following script called "howto" in the /usr/local/sbin directory:

#!/bin/sh
if [ "$1" = "" ]; then
ls /usr/doc/faq/howto | less
else
gunzip -c /usr/doc/faq/howto/$1-HOWTO.gz | less
fi

When called without argument, it displays a directory of the available howto's. Then when entered with the first part of the file name (before the hyphen) as an argument, it unzips (keeping the original intact) then displays the document.
For instance, to view the Serial-HOWTO.gz document, enter:

$ howto Serial



Util to clean up your logfiles.(#23)
If you're like me, you have a list with 430 subscribers, plus 100+ messages per day coming in over UUCP. Well, what's a hacker to do with these huge logs? Install chklogs, that's what. Chklogs is written by Emilio Grimaldo, grimaldo@panama.iaehv.nl, and the current version 1.8 available from ftp.iaehv.nl:/pub/users/grimaldo/chklogs-1.8.tar.gz. It's pretty self explanatory to install(you will, of course, check out the info in the doc subdirectory). Once you've got it installed, add a crontab entry like this:

# Run chklogs at 9:00PM daily.
00 21 * * * /usr/local/sbin/chklogs -m

Handy Script to Clean Up Corefiles.(#24)
Create a file called rmcores(the author calls it handle-cores) with the following in it:

#!/bin/sh
USAGE="$0 "

if [ $# != 2 ] ; then
echo $USAGE
exit
fi

echo Deleting...
find $1 -name core -atime 7 -print -type f -exec rm {} \;

echo e-mailing
for name in `find $1 -name core -exec ls -l {} \; | cut -c16-24`
do
echo $name
cat $2 | mail $name
done

And have a cron job run it every so often.

Moving directories between filesystems.Quick way to move an entire tree of files from one disk to another (#25)
(cd /source/directory && tar cf - . ) | (cd /dest/directory && tar xvfp -)

[ Change from cd /source/directory; tar....etc. to prevent possibility of trashing directory in case of disaster.]

Finding out which directories are the largest.Ever wondered which directories are the biggest on your computer? Here's how to find out.(#26)
du -S | sort -n

How do I stop my system from fscking on each reboot?(#27)
When you rebuild the kernel, the filesystem is marked as 'dirty' and so your disk will be checked with each boot. The fix is to run:

rdev -R /zImage 1

This fixes the kernel so that it is no longer convinced that the filesystem is dirty.

Note: If using lilo, then add read-only to your linux setup in your lilo config file (Usually /etc/lilo.conf)

How to avoid fscks caused by "device busy" at reboot time.(#28)
If you often get device busy errors on shutdown that leave the filesystem in need of an fsck upon reboot, here is a simple fix:
To /etc/rc.d/init.d/halt or /etc/rc.d/rc.0, add the line

mount -o remount,ro /mount.dir

for all your mounted filesystems except /, before the call to umount -a. This means if, for some reason, shutdown fails to kill all processes and umount the disks they will still be clean on reboot. Saves a lot of time at reboot for me.

How to find the biggest files on your hard-drive.(#29)


ls -l | sort +4n

Or, for those of you really scrunched for space this takes awhile but works great:

cd /
ls -lR | sort +4n

A script for cleaning up after programs that create autosave and backup files.(#30)
Here is a simple two-liner which recursively descends a directory hierarchy removing emacs auto-save (#) and backup (~) files, .o files, and TeX .log files. It also compresses .tex files and README files. I call it 'squeeze' on my system.

#!/bin/sh
#SQUEEZE removes unnecessary files and compresses .tex and README files
#By Barry tolnas, tolnas@sun1.engr.utk.edu
#
echo squeezing $PWD
find $PWD \( -name \*~ -or -name \*.o -or -name \*.log -or -name \*\#\) -exec
rm -f {} \;
find $PWD \( -name \*.tex -or -name \*README\* -or -name \*readme\* \) -exec gzip -9 {} \;

How to find out what process is eating the most memory.(#31)
ps -aux | sort +4n

-OR-
ps -aux | sort +5n

How do I find which library in /usr/lib holds a certain function?(#32)
What if you're compiling and you've missed a library that needed linking in? All gcc reports are function names... Here's a simple command that'll find what you're looking for:

for i in *; do echo $i:;nm $i|grep tgetnum 2>/dev/null;done

Where tgetnum is the name of the function you're looking for.

I compiled a small test program in C, but when I run it, I get no output!(#32)
You probably compiled the program into a binary named test, didn't you? Linux has a program called test, which tests if a certain condition is true, it never produces any output on the screen. Instead of just typing test, try: ./test

Firefox Speed Tweaks

Yes, firefox is already pretty damn fast but did you know that you can tweak it and improve the speed even more?

That's the beauty of this program being open source.
Here's what you do:
In the URL bar, type “about:config” and press enter. This will bring up the configuration “menu” where you can change the parameters of Firefox.

Note that these are what I’ve found to REALLY speed up my Firefox significantly - and these settings seem to be common among everybody else as well. But these settings are optimized for broadband connections - I mean with as much concurrent requests we’re going to open up with pipelining… lol… you’d better have a big connection.

Double Click on the following settins and put in the numbers below - for the true / false booleans - they’ll change when you double click.

Code:
browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs – true
network.http.max-connections – 48
network.http.max-connections-per-server – 16
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy – 8
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server – 4
network.http.pipelining – true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests – 100
network.http.proxy.pipelining – true
network.http.request.timeout – 300


One more thing… Right-click somewhere on that screen and add a NEW -> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0”. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. Since you’re broadband - it shouldn’t have to wait.

Now you should notice you’re loading pages MUCH faster now!

How Do U See Hidden Files, Using DOS

Simple and useful tip
******************
at command prompt just type
dir /ah
if the list is too long u can use
dir /ah/p/w
*******************

How To Add A Url Address Bar To The Taskbar

You can add an Internet URL address bar to your Windows XP taskbar. Doing so will let you type in URLs and launch Web pages without first launching a browser. It will also let you launch some native Windows XP applications in much the same way as you would via the Run menu (so you could type in calc to launch the calculator or mspaint to launch Microsoft Paint. Here's how you add the address bar:

1. Right-click on the taskbar, select Toolbars, and then click Address.

2. The word Address will appear on your taskbar.

3. Double click it to access it.

4. If that doesn't work, your taskbar is locked. You can unlock it by right-clicking on the taskbar again and uncheck Lock the Taskbar.

NOTE: You may also need to grab the vertical dotted lines beside the word Address and drag it to the left to make the Address window appear.

how To Hide Yourself From Network Users!, And give access to only specific users!

How to Hide in the (Network) Neighborhood

Don't want your XP computer to show up in the network browse list (Network Neighborhood/My Network Places) to other users on your network? One way to accomplish that is to disable file sharing. To do this, click Start, right click My Network Places and select Properties. Right click your local area connection and click Properties. Uncheck the box that says File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. Click OK.

But what if you want to be able to share folders with some users; you just don't want everyone on the network to see your computer's shares? There's a way:

Click Start and select Run.
In the Run box, type net config server /hidden:yes
Click OK.
Now others who know the UNC path (\\computer name\share name) can connect to your computer's shares from the Run box, but it won't show up in the network browse list.

How to fix Windows Installer problem

Do you experience this kind of problem whenever you attemp to install an application in windows box (2k, xp)?

"The Windows Installer service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance."

The ms website knowledge article 324516 gives 2 methods as a way of fixing this problem, but you might be very lucky if any of the 2 fixes the problem, alot of guys end up formating their systems and doing fresh windows installations or try wired ways of fixing it.

Well, the solution is very easy:

1. right click your root windows installation drive i.e drive where you installed windows
2. click properties at the bottom
3. select security tab
4. click Add and scroll down to SYSTEM account click add and click OK.
5. allow Full control permission and click Apply and then Ok.

This should solve your problem with windows installer.

Best Keyboard Shortcuts

Getting used to using your keyboard exclusively and leaving your mouse behind
will make you much more efficient at performing any task on any Windows system.
I use the following keyboard shortcuts every day:

Windows key + R = Run menu

This is usually followed by:
cmd = Command Prompt
iexplore + "web address" = Internet Explorer
compmgmt.msc = Computer Management
dhcpmgmt.msc = DHCP Management
dnsmgmt.msc = DNS Management
services.msc = Services
eventvwr = Event Viewer
dsa.msc = Active Directory Users and Computers
dssite.msc = Active Directory Sites and Services
Windows key + E = Explorer

ALT + Tab = Switch between windows

ALT, Space, X = Maximize window

CTRL + Shift + Esc = Task Manager

Windows key + Break = System properties

Windows key + F = Search

Windows key + D = Hide/Display all windows

CTRL + C = copy

CTRL + X = cut

CTRL + V = paste

Also don't forget about the "Right-click" key next to the right Windows key on your keyboard. Using the arrows and that key can get just about anything done once you've opened up any program.


Keyboard Shortcuts

[Alt] and [Esc] Switch between running applications

[Alt] and letter Select menu item by underlined letter

[Ctrl] and [Esc] Open Program Menu

[Ctrl] and [F4] Close active document or group windows (does not work with some applications)

[Alt] and [F4] Quit active application or close current window

[Alt] and [-] Open Control menu for active document

Ctrl] Lft., Rt. arrow Move cursor forward or back one word

Ctrl] Up, Down arrow Move cursor forward or back one paragraph

[F1] Open Help for active application

Windows+M Minimize all open windows

Shift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open windows

Windows+F1 Open Windows Help

Windows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttons

Windows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box



acessability shortcuts

Right SHIFT for eight seconds........ Switch FilterKeys on and off.

Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN....... Switch High Contrast on and off.

Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK....... Switch MouseKeys on and off.

SHIFT....... five times Switch StickyKeys on and off.

NUM LOCK...... for five seconds Switch ToggleKeys on and off.

explorer shortcuts

END....... Display the bottom of the active window.

HOME....... Display the top of the active window.

NUM LOCK+ASTERISK....... on numeric keypad (*) Display all subfolders under the selected folder.

NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (+) Display the contents of the selected folder.

NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (-) Collapse the selected folder.

LEFT ARROW...... Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.

RIGHT ARROW....... Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.




Type the following commands in your Run Box (Windows Key + R) or Start Run

devmgmt.msc = Device Manager
msinfo32 = System Information
cleanmgr = Disk Cleanup
ntbackup = Backup or Restore Wizard (Windows Backup Utility)
mmc = Microsoft Management Console
excel = Microsoft Excel (If Installed)
msaccess = Microsoft Access (If Installed)
powerpnt = Microsoft PowerPoint (If Installed)
winword = Microsoft Word (If Installed)
frontpg = Microsoft FrontPage (If Installed)
notepad = Notepad
wordpad = WordPad
calc = Calculator
msmsgs = Windows Messenger
mspaint = Microsoft Paint
wmplayer = Windows Media Player
rstrui = System Restore
netscp6 = Netscape 6.x
netscp = Netscape 7.x
netscape = Netscape 4.x
waol = America Online
control = Opens the Control Panel
control printers = Opens the Printers Dialog


internetbrowser

type in u're adress "google", then press [Right CTRL] and [Enter]
add www. and .com to word and go to it


For Windows XP:

Copy. CTRL+C
Cut. CTRL+X
Paste. CTRL+V
Undo. CTRL+Z
Delete. DELETE
Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE
Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item
Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item
Rename selected item. F2
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW
Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select all. CTRL+A
Search for a file or folder. F3
View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER
Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4
Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4
Switch between open items. ALT+TAB
Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6
Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10
Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC
Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name
Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu
Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW
Refresh the active window. F5
View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task. ESC
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.

Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes:

To Press
Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB
Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move forward through options. TAB
Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB
Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter
Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER
Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys
Display Help. F1
Display the items in the active list. F4
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE

If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key , you can use these keyboard shortcuts:


Display or hide the Start menu. WIN Key
Display the System Properties dialog box. WIN Key+BREAK
Show the desktop. WIN Key+D
Minimize all windows. WIN Key+M
Restores minimized windows. WIN Key+Shift+M
Open My Computer. WIN Key+E
Search for a file or folder. WIN Key+F
Search for computers. CTRL+WIN Key+F
Display Windows Help. WIN Key+F1
Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain. WIN Key+ L
Open the Run dialog box. WIN Key+R
Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U

accessibility keyboard shortcuts:

Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN
Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds
Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U

shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:


Display the bottom of the active window. END
Display the top of the active window. HOME
Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)
Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW

Block Adservers

Block Adservers

if you wanna remove those nasty ads from the pages which waste lot of time and bandwidth then here is something

for you I belive it will help you a lot


how it works
It's possible to set up a name server as authoritative for any domain you choose, allowing you to specify the

DNS records for that domain. You can also configure most computers to be sort of mini-nameservers for

themselves, so that they check their own DNS records before asking a nameserver. Either way, you get to say what

hostname points to what IP address. If you haven't guessed already, the way you block ads it to provide bogus

information about the domains we don't want to see - ie, all those servers out there that dedicate their

existence to spewing out banner ads.

The hosts file

Probably the most common way people block ads like this is with something called the "hosts file". The hosts

file is a simple list of hostnames and their corresponding IP addresses, which your computer looks at every time

you try and contact a previously unknown hostname. If it finds an entry for the computer you're trying to reach,

it sets the IP address for that computer to be whatever's in the hosts file.

127.0.0.1 is a special IP address which, to a computer, always means that computer. Any time a machine sends a

network request to 127.0.0.1, it is talking to itself. This is very useful when it comes to blocking ads,

because all we have to do is specify the IP address of any ad server to be 127.0.0.1. And to do that, all we

have to do is edit the hosts file. What will happen then is something like this:

1. you visit a web page
2. the web page contains a banner ad stored on the server "ads.example.com"
3. your computer says "ads.example.com? never heard of it. wait a second, let's see if I've got the number on

me..."
4. your computer finds its hosts file and checks to see if ads.example.com is listed
5. it finds the hostname, which points to 127.0.0.1
6. "great", says the computer, and sends off a request to 127.0.0.1 for the banner ad that's supposed to be on

the page
7. "oh", says the computer, and fails to show anything because it just sent a request to itself for a banner

ad

Where's my hosts file?

* Windows 95 / 98 / ME: C:\Windows (I think)
* Windows NT: C:\WinNT\hosts
* Windows 2000: C:\WinNT\system32\drivers\etc\
* Windows XP: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
* FreeBSD / Linux / Mac OS X / Unixish operating systems: /etc/hosts
* Classic Mac OS: please read this helpful information submitted by David "iNerd" B
* Mac OS 9: Marcia Skidmore sent in details that hopefully explain what you need to know

The format of the hosts file is very simple - IP address, whitespace, then a list of hostnames (except for older

Macs; please see above). However, you don't need to know anything about the format if you don't want to as you

can just view the list hosts file.

Of course, that's not the only way to use the list, but it's probably the most simple for most people.


here is the hosts list which are serving you the ads just append it to your hosts file and enjoy ad free surfing

makes things faster. if you want ad from certain site then just remove it from the list below.

QUOTE
127.0.0.1 007arcadegames.com
127.0.0.1 101order.com
127.0.0.1 123banners.com
etc.....

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Sunday, November 05, 2006

Dvd Copying/ripping Definitions

Dvd Copying/ripping Definitions

Rip
To take off the audio or video from a CD or DVD. Often CD Audio is "ripped" to MP3 files or DVD video ripped to VOB files.

Compression
The process of removing redundancies in digital data to reduce the amount that must be stored or transmitted. Lossless compression removes only enough redundancy so that the original data can be recreated exactly as it was. Lossy compression sacrifices additional data to achieve greater compression.

Encoding
Encoding is the process of changing data from one form into another according to a set of rules specifiec by a codec. The data is usually a file containing audio, video or still image. Often the encoding is done to make a file compatible with specific hardware (such as a DVD Player) or to compress or reduce the space the data occupies.

Common video encoding methods are DivX, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. A common audio encoding method is MP3 although many others exist including MPEG1 audio, DTS, and Dolby Digital.

Transcoding
On this site generally another name for encoding.

A more technical term would be "The reformatting of content, without changing the source, to another type of content - most often of a different format than the original (but does not have to be)"

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DVD Decrypter, Dvd-9 to Dvd+r Dl, Double Layer To Double Layer, 1-1 copies


Dvd-9 -> Dvd+r Dl, Double Layer To Double Layer!, 1:1 copies

Remove all discs from drives.

Open DVD Decrypter.

From the 'Mode' menu, select 'ISO' -> 'Read'.

Put DVD-9 disc (Thats the film if you didn't guess) in drive.

Take note of the 'Destination' file name.

Click the big 'Decrypt' button.

Wait for it to read and write the image to your hard drive.

Take the DVD-9 disc (yep.. take the original film out) out of the drive.

From the 'Mode' menu, select 'ISO' -> 'Write'.

Put a blank double layer disc in your DVD Writer.

Click the little folder icon - 'Browse for source file' - and select the MDS file created for you as part of the steps above.

Click the big 'Write' button.

Finished!

Estimated time to read and burn 45 minutes. All copy protection is removed from the backup, and as you are writing to a dual layered disc there is no quality loss!!!

This process can be used to backup DVD5 disc's 1:1 and PS2 disc's.

Download Timeframes

SIZE~speed<>28.8k >>>>>56K disgust<<>T1
500K<<<<<<4 minutes<<<2 minutes<<<<1 minute
1 MB<<<<<<7 minutes<<<4 minutes<<<<1 minute
5 MB<<<<<37 minutes<<<22 minutes<<<1 minute
20 MB<<<<148 minutes<<89 minutes<<<<2 minutes
50 MB<<<<370 minutes<<222 minutes<<<4 minutes
100 MB<<<<741 minutes<<444 minutes<<9 minutes

Disable Compression On Xp, NTFS partition, Disk Cleanup

On an NTFS partition, Disk Cleanup can compress old files
to save space. But calculating the savings and performing
the compression often take a long time, and on some systems,
Disk Cleanup hangs during the process. If that happens, or if
you don't care to wait, use this Registry tweak to disable the
compression: Delete the key
HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Compress Old Files.

Disable Windows Logo Key

i was recently playing games and this nasty windows logo key keep annoying me , cause i often accidently clicked it , and i start to search a solution to solve my problem, and found the following article in microsfot website, and it did work, hope this helps, thanks!

CODE
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=181348


or in other articles, u can copy the following messages into ur notepad and save as *.reg, and use it..

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,5b,e0,00,00,5c,e0,\
00,00,00,00

Discover New Music You'll Probably Love

First off, I've been doing this for a long time now. I still listen to a lot of the bands I've found by doing this. It's really simple, but it works like a charm. I ALWAYS find cool new stuff -- sometimes even bands that have been around 10 years that I never heard of.

The things you need:
- (Optional) A file sharing program
- A browser. :]

1.) Pick one of your favorite bands.
2.) Go to amazon.com or cdnow.com (same thing)
3.) Look up that band's name
4.) Scroll down until you see "Customers who bought this title also bought:"
5.) Browse through the artists you've never heard of in that list.
6.) Check out one of their albums, preferably the one with highest rating (in stars)
7.) Either listen to the samples on amazon or download a song by them with your filesharing app.

If you like what you hear, repeat steps 3-7 using the new band's name.

You'll find TONS of new music you never thought existed.

It's a really simple way to find stuff, and I'm sure lots of you probably already do this. But for those who don't -- you'll thank me later. It works wonders. :)

How to set up a server with Apache , PHP , MySQL , Perl , phpMyAdmin

How to set up a server with Apache , PHP , MySQL , Perl , phpMyAdmin

=====

Let's start by installing apache (http server) . you can download the
apache installer on www.apache.org . download the verion you like ,
even thought , in win systems i recommend version 2 (this tutorials is
for Apache 2) . here is a link for it :

Code:
http://apache.mirror.nedlinux.nl/dist/httpd/binaries/win32/
apache_2.0.52-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi


for a faster mirror , visit http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi .

After downloading the file (.msi installer) , run it . The installation wizard
is a next , next , finish 'work' ... The installer will ask you some details like
your server name , your server address and the admin's mail address . if
you have a domain name or a hostname , enter the info's like this :

Code:
Server Name : your_domain.org

Server Address : www.your-domain.org

Admin Email : admin@yourdomain.org


if you don't have one , you should get on e free at :

Code:
http://www.no-ip.org/


Check the 'Run as a service for all users on port 8080' option and click
next , finish to finish the installation . Advice : Install it in c: (he creates
a folder for it , don't worry) to make sure you configure it easier .
If you are finished , open up a browser and write in the address bar :

Code:
http://localhost/


If you will see a 'Test Page for Apache Installation' , everything works .

=====

Let's install PHP . download the archives from www.php.net . Here is a
direct link for version 4.3.9 :

Code:
http://nl.php.net/get/php-4.3.9-Win32.zip/from/this/mirror


Make sure you download the archive and not the installer . Ok! after
downloading it , extract the archive in c:/php (this is to simplify paths) .
Now , open up c:/apache/conf/httpd.conf and search for this line :

Code:
#LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so


under that line , add this :

Code:
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

LoadModule php4_module "c:/php/sapi/php4apache2.dll"
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php3
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php4


Now search for this line :

Code:



Change :

Code:
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

#
# AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
# It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
# Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
#
AllowOverride None


into :

Code:
Options Indexes Includes FollowSymLinks MultiViews ExecCGI

#
# AllowOverride controls what directives may be placed in .htaccess files.
# It can be "All", "None", or any combination of the keywords:
# Options FileInfo AuthConfig Limit
#
AllowOverride All


This will allow .htaccess support on your server and make sure you can
see the content of a folder without getting a 403 forbidden error .

Now search for :

Code:
DirectoryIndex index.html index.var.html


and change it into :

Code:
DirectoryIndex index.html index.php


Save the file and restart apache . (you can restart it by pressing the
Restart apache server shortcut in the start menu or by writing :

Code:
net apache restart


in a command prompt window . Ok!

you have php working for your server icon_wink.gif . Now let's configure php and
make sure it really works ! Open up c:/php/php.ini (php.ini-dist renamed)
and search for this paragraph :

Code:
max_execution_time = 60 ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds
max_input_time = 60 ; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing request data
memory_limit = 5M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (8MB)


you should change this to whatever you want . here is an option i use :

Code:
max_execution_time = 300 ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds
max_input_time = 300 ; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing
request data
memory_limit = 5M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (8MB)


Now search for :

Code:
register_globals = Off


and change it into :

Code:
register_globals = On


Search for :

Code:
extension_dir = ".\"


and change it into :

Code:
extension_dir = "c:/php/extensions"


assuming you have installed php in c: ...

Search for :

Code:
;Windows Extensions
;Note that MySQL and ODBC support is now built in, so no dll is needed for it.


and uncomment (delete the ; in the front) the following modules :

Code:
extension=php_bz2.dll
extension=php_db.dll
extension=php_gd2.dll
extension=php_java.dll
extension=php_msql.dll
extension=php_pdf.dll
extension=php_pgsql.dll
extension=php_sockets.dll


Ok! now let's change the smtp settings (this is good icon_smile.gif for you mail()
function . you need this !!!) Search for :

Code:
[mail function]
; For Win32 only.
SMTP =
smtp_port = 25

; For Win32 only.
;sendmail_from =


and change to :

Code:
[mail function]
; For Win32 only.
SMTP = mail.isp.org
smtp_port = 25

; For Win32 only.
sendmail_from = mail@your_domain.org

if you don't have a mail server or :

Code:
[mail function]
; For Win32 only.
SMTP = localhost
smtp_port = 25

; For Win32 only.
sendmail_from = mail@your_domain.org

if you have a mail server ...

Save the files . Now let's finalize the php installation . copy all the dll's
from c:/php/dlls into c:/windows/system32 . copy c:/php/php4ts.dll into
c:/windows/system32/ and copy php.ini from your folder php into
windows and system32 folder . restart apache . open up notepad and
add this into the file :

Code:



save this file in your htdocs folder (c:/apache/htdocs) as info.php and
open up a browser . in the adress bar write :

Code:
http://localhost/info.php


you should see php's configuration in a table . a looong file icon_smile.gif
you can optionaly install zend optimizer . i am using it ... it doesn't
needs a tutorial . to install the PEAR modules for php , just run the
go-pear batch from the php folder and 2click the reg file to finish the
instllation .

=====

let's install mysql . download mysql from http://www.mysql.com/ .
this tutorial applyes to verion 4.0.* ... i don't recomand using mysql
4.1 . here is a direct link :

Code:
http://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQL-4.0/mysql-4.0.22-win.zip/
from/http://mysql.proserve.nl/


after downloading , extract the arhive somewhere and run the setup.exe .
install mysql in c:/mysql and complete the installation . open up command
prompt and write this :

Code:
cd mysql
cd bin
mysqld-max-nt --install


this will install mysql as a service . recommended . now you would probably
consider downloading mysql control center . a gui tool to administrate the
server in a graphical mode . here is a link :

Code:
http://dev.mysql.com/get/Downloads/MySQLCC/mysqlcc-0.9.4-win32.zip/
from/http://mysql.proserve.nl/


install it like any other program and run the shortcut in the desktop . a
window will pop-up . it will ask you to add a new connection . here are the
info's you need to fill in :

Code:
name : localhost or main or whatever :)
host : localhost
user : root
pass :


click add , expand the databases menu and delete databse text . now
expand the users menu and delete all users except root@localhost . right
click it and select edit user . change it's password to whatever you want icon_smile.gif
now right click the server and select edit . change the password to the
pass you chosed for user root . as easy as that . mysql is installed !

=====

phpMyADmin . you can download it from http://www.phpmyadmin.net/ .
i recommend using verion 2.5.1 pl1 . the last version is still buggy icon_smile.gif
download , unzip the content into a folder in htdocs (phpMyAdmin) and
open up config.inc.php with a text editor .

search for :

Code:
$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = '';


change it to your phpmyadmin url . eg. :

Code:
$cfg['PmaAbsoluteUri'] = http://www.your_domain.org/phpMyAdmin/';


now search for :

Code:
$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = '';


and change it to your mysql root password like this :

Code:
$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'password';


now search for :

Code:
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'config';


and change it to :

Code:
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'cookie';


save and exit . that's it ! phpMyAdmin works icon_wink.gif

=====

Perl . Optioanl for your server , very useful . i recommend you to install
it . you can download it from http://www.activestate.com/ . here is a
direct link :

Code:
http://downloads.activestate.com/ActivePerl/Windows/5.8/
ActivePerl-5.8.4.810-MSWin32-x86.msi


download , install and you are ready . put your perl scripts in the /cgi-bin/
folder (c:/apache/cgi-bin) .

=====

Hope this helped.

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