7/14/08

Auto-Protect your USB Flash from Virusses - Free

I needed a tool that autoscans my flash drive for virus infections whenever it is plugged into ANY PC. The idea is also for the scan to use a protable antvirus app located on my flash to complete the scan.

The main reason for me to have this is due to the environment im in and that i have to constantly use my flash in various computers of which i dont know the security levels of.

P.s. You can procure a U3 device to do the same for you, but this will cost money. The files and process i have setup can be used on ANY flash drive.

Ive succeeded in setting up the solution i needed and have compiled the files for anyone to download and use.

The program/solution will do the following for you;

-Put ClamWin portable antivirus on your Flash.
*Includes a scanner, which is what will be set to autorun and scan the flash drive everytime it is plugged into any PC.
*Includes a GUI(Graphical User Interface) for antivirus definition file updates as well as a full antivirus scan and removal tool.

-Includes a tool that will help in recovering your flash IF it is misplaced.

Procedure;
Download the files from http://www.mediafire.com/?j3s0zyacmgs

Once downloaded;
1. Format your flash drive. Right click and select 'Format' and select 'Start'
*NB You will loose all information on the flash if you do this, so first copy the contents of your drive to a location on your Pc, then continue.
2. Once formatted extract the file flashviruscan.zip to the root of your flash drive
*You should have three files on your flash now, autorun.inf and clamwinportable folder and scan.bat
3. Remove the drive and plug it back into your PC.
4. Select Ok on autorun screen, and your device will be scanned for virusses.
5. Right click on your flash device to 'Scan flash for virusses' or see the 'I belong to' message
*You can change this message by simply changing the text in the readme.txt file found in :\clamwinportable\ folder
6. Going to :\clamwinportable\clamwinportable.exe will allow you to scan and remove virusses on not just the flash but the entire PC
7. Also use this interface [:\clamwinportable\clamwinportable.exe] to update your virus definition files regularly.
8.Logs for the completed scans can be found in :\clamwinportable\scanlogs
9. NB Simply double click on the Flash drive in Windows file explorer whenever you want it to be scanned for virusses!

I have gone through some trouble getting the above to work, but if you play around with it you will see that you can use the platform i put in place for a lot more functionality.

Enjoy.

Google Search Results Preview

If you use Internet Explorer or Firefox Browser then you cant be without this functionality.

We all use Google the whole time, but isn't it frustrating to look for something and have to constantly click on broken links in search results OR to open results that you've seen before.

Found a little utility that shows you screen shots of the search results WITHIN the google results page! Works like a bomb.

You'd think it might be slower than normal search results, but i haven't seen a difference in performance.

Try it, you wont be able to go without it once you have.

Download the application from;
http://ackroyd.de/googlepreview-ie/ for Internet Explorer Browser
http://ackroyd.de/googlepreview/ for Firefox users.

Enjoy.

7/3/08

Alternative Software for Vodacom HSDPA Modem (E220 Huawei Modem)

Want an alternative dashboard software for your E220 Huawei Modem, the standard Vodacom SA(South Africa) issued HSDPA modem?

Experiencing the following?
Vodacom software seems unresponsive? Slow to start up?
Constantly asking you to install the software when you plug the modem in, even if youve installed it before?

Then the below is for you...

Procedure;
1. Go to http://www.huawei.com/mobileweb/en/doc/list.do?type=-1&id=736 and select the following file to download, E220 Client Software UTPSB002D03SP1+C03 for WinXP&2K&Vista (7115kb)20-Mar-2008
2. Once downloaded plug in Vodacom USB modem and wait for the normal Vodacom icon to come up in the system tray, once it does right click and close it. (Need to do this to ensure the device drivers are installed on the PC otherwise the installation wont work)
3. Then run the downloaded file to commence the installation.
4. Once completed, remove your device and plug it back in
5. Be patient as it will load and ask you to install Mobile Partner
6 Once installed you have to go to device options and set the number to *99***16#
7. Connect

2 Important notes;
1. As long as you plug your devive into the same port you completed the above installation on, you will not be prompted to complete the software installation again, as the case is with Vodacom software
2. You can open Mobile Partner and then only plug in your modem! With vodacom software you have to wait for the software to open.

Troubleshooting;
If you experience any issue if you select connect simply do the following;
Edit the modem initialization string;
Go to start/settings/control panel and select system
Go to hardware tab and select ‘device manager’
Go to modems and highlight the Huawei modem
Right click on the modem and select ‘properties’
Go to ‘Advanced’ tab
copy the following into the ‘Extra initialization commands’
AT+CGDCONT=16,"IP","internet"
And select ‘OK’
Your connection should be fine now.

Reason for above, the VMC-L(Vodacom software) works is because the software automatically sets the modem initialisation string to AT+CGDCONT=16,"IP","internet"; and the default profile dials *99***16#, but Mobile partner doesn’t.

Ive been using this software as an alternative to Vodacom software and it seems much better to me.

If you ever want to revert back to the Vodacom software download and install the software from the following link;

http://www.vodacom.co.za/services/mobile_data/downloads.jsp and select file VMCLite_E220_3_2_1_156 standard.

Hope this is of use to you

6/27/08

Protect your PC from Flash drive virusses.

Found a free utility that allows automatic virus scans of your usb devices when plugged into your machine! The nice thing is that you can use any existing antivirus application, as long as you have the correct command line parameters to put in the .bat file of the program.

Thus you just need to ensure you have an up to date antivirus on you PC and your or anyone elses removable drive plugged into your machine will also be protected.

I’ve done this on my PC and it works 100%

Installation procedure;

1. Download USBVirusScan from http://blog.didierstevens.com/programs/usbvirusscan/
2. Extract to local disk
3. Check what drive your removable usb device occupies, ie h:
4. Check if the scan of your usb device works through your Antivirus command line parameter.

Test this by running the command via start/run exactly as shown below except that you should replace d: with your applicable removable drive letter. (If your antivirus is not reflected below, you will need to find the command line parameters from the particular av supplier.

*AVG 7.5 Free (In it's own normal window)"%ProgramFiles%\Grisoft\AVG Free\avgw.exe" /SE "%d%\"

*Avira AntiVir Some users have said to use this: (Possibly adjusting the path)"%ProgramFiles%\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avscan.exe" /GUIMODE=2 /PATH="d:"

*Symantec"%ProgramFiles%\Symantec AntiVirus\vpscan.exe" d:

*McAfee / Network Associates"%ProgramFiles%\Network Associates\VirusScan\csscan.exe" /secure /quiet /log c:\log.txt d:"%ProgramFiles%\McAfee\VirusScan Enterprise\scan32.exe" /target d:

*Avast"%ProgramFiles%\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashQuick.exe" h: /a /c /i /p=1 /s /t=a –report
5. Once the scan works, right click edit start.bat file and copy the line of code right behind the USBVirusScan.exe entry
6. Now save the file and double click on start.bat (You will now see the program loaded in your system tray)
7. Close the command prompt screen that opens up, if it does.
8. Plug your removable device back into your PC and the virus scan should take place automatically.

Enjoy your virus free flash drives!

6/20/08

Need internet on your PC but only have a cellphone?

Don’t have an internet connection on your PC? Don’t have a 3G/HSDPA modem, PCMCIA card, ADSL(Broadband), Wireless nor Analog modem – BUT you need that internet connection?
Use your bluetooth enabled cellphone(with DUN service availability) to get your bluetooth enabled PC connected to the web.

Note;
I will explain the setup using the standard supplied XP professional bluetooth software. If you are using a third party bluetooth application the setup will be different to the below explained and in this instance you will need to spend a bit more time from your side figuring this out. I made a point of using the standard bluetooth software so that the setup is predominantly standard across the board to all XP users.

Steps;
1. Pair your mobile device with your PC,
a. Go start/settings/control pannel/bluetooth devices
b. On devices select add, tick ‘my device is setup and ready to be found’ (Ensure it is!)
c. Select next, select your device, select next
d. select ‘let me choose my own passkey’ and type in any 4 numbers
e. Select next, enter passkey into mobile phone and set the new paired device as authorized on your device

2. Ensure your device offers the DUN(dialup networking) service;
a. Once paired with your mobile go to start/settings/control pannel/bluetooth devices
b. On devices select your paired mobile device, select properties and select services tab
c. Make 100% sure you see a ‘Dial-up networking (DUN)’ service in the displayed list
i. If you don’t then your mobile device wont be able to connect your PC to the internet, sorry.

3. Manually create the dialup connection to the internet;
a. If you have the needed Bluetooth service then we need to generate a dialup connection
b. Go to start/settings/network connections
c. Select ‘New connection wizard’
d. Select next, keep ‘connect to internet’ selected and select next
e. Select ‘set up my connection manually’, select next
f. Keep ‘Connect using a dialup modem’ selected and select next
g. Put a tic next to ‘Standard modem over Bluetooth link’, select next
h. Furnish a name for your dialup shortcut we will place on your desktop, select next
i. Furnish the phone number *99***1# and select next
j. Keep ‘Anyone’s use’ selectec, select next
k. Leave the username, password and confirm password blank, and the below two options as is, select next
l. Select ‘add shortcut on desktop’, select finish
m. Don’t try the connection yet, just select ‘cancel’ on the connect screen.

4. Edit the modem initialization string;
a. Go to start/settings/control panel and select system
b. Go to hardware tab and select ‘device manager’
c. Go to modems and highlight ‘Standard modem over Bluetooth link’
d. Right click on the modem and select ‘properties’
e. Go to ‘Advanced’ tab
i. For Vodacom, CellC and MTN(South Africa) copy the following into the ‘Extra initialization commands’
1. +CGDCONT=1,"IP","internet"
2. And select ‘OK’
ii. For Virgin Mobile(South Africa) copy the following into the ‘Extra initialization commands’
1. +CGDCONT=1,"IP","vdata","",0,0
2. And select ‘OK’
iii. I am not sure of the Initialization strings for other cellular providers outside of South Africa, but the process remains exactly the same, as long as you get the Initialization string from your cellular provider.

Finished
Now if your paired connection between PC and Mobile phone is established, double click on the Dialup shortcut we placed on desktop and select ‘dial’ and you should be able to connect to the internet!

Please note
· This connection speed is limited to GPRS, so don’t expect HSDPA speeds even if your phone is capable of this.
· The connection is obviously not free as you will be charged by your cellular provider per amount of data transfer

Once you are finished with you internet connection, REMEMBER to disconnect. Simply right click on the Icon in your system tray and select ‘disconnect’

Hope this works for all of you as well as it works for me.

6/17/08

Differences between Anti-virus, Anti-spyware and Anti-adware

Remember that there’s a difference between a virus, spyware and adware.

In short;
*Virusses attack system files and try to harm your PC, whereas
*Spyware installs unsolicited software on a user’s PC not necessarily intended to harm your files, but usually to collect/steal information from you and
*Adware is unsolicited software used to advertise products or generate income usually with browser pop-ups.

Most anti-virus programs don't remove spyware/adware and even if it does I always find a specialist product works best. So it is always recommended that a PC be running a suitable and up to date antivirus program and one or more adware/spyware checkers at all times.

As indicated in my website http://pgg.co.za/ I find the following free solutions to provide most effective protection for;

*Virusses - PC Tools Antivirus Free Edition - http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/
*Spyware - Spyware Doctor Starter Edition - http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/google_pack/
*Adware - Ad-Aware 2008 Free - http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

6/15/08

Portable applications!

Found this the other day, awesome idea allowing all even more mobility! Take the software you enjoy using on your PC and without installing it on another PC, use it directly from your flash drive!

This includes amongst other software, antivirus/games/office/multimedia players..etc

Below the official publisher's description.
Website is http://portableapps.com/

Convenient
Now you can carry your favorite computer programs along with all of your bookmarks, settings, email and more with you. Use them on any Windows computer. All without leaving any personal data behind.

Open
PortableApps.com provides a truly open platform that works with any hardware you like (USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc). It's open source built around an open format that any hardware vendor or software developer can use.

Free
The PortableApps.com Suite and Platform is free. It contains no spyware. There are no advertisements. It isn't a limited or trial version. There is no additional hardware or software to buy. You don't even have to give out your email address. It's 100% free to use, free to copy and free to share.

6/13/08

Failsafe Bluetooth transfer from/to PC

All mobile phones come with some sort of file transfer software. Usually very confusing and difficult to use.

If you dont want the confusion and want an easy 1-2-3 to transferring your files to and from your PC to any Bluetooth enabled device, do the following.

1. Ensure your PCs bluetooth service is installed and functional.

2. Ensure your Bluetooth device options are setup on the PC.
*Go to start/settings/control panel/bluetooth devices
*Go to Options tab and select/put a tick next to all of the following;
-Turn discovery on
-Allow BT devices to connect to this computer
-Alert me when a new Bluetooth device wants to

3. Find the application to use for the transfer;
*Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 and look for a file named fsquirt.exe
*Right click on the file and select 'Send to desktop' (So that you dont have to go find the file in future)
*Double click on this file on desktop and you will get an option to send or receive a file.

4. Send or receive a file.
*If you are sending, select what you want to send then select your bluetooth device from the list of devices (your device needs to have its bluetooth on and the device's visibility/discovery needs to be open for all) and select send. Accept connection on bluetooth device.

*If you are receiving, select receive a file and initiate the sending from the bluetooth device and simply accept the incoming connection and select where to save the received file.

This should be all the info you need. Enjoy.