Free Tools for Spyware Removal

There are lot of PC users who know only little about “Spyware”, “Malware”, “hijackers”, “Dialers” & many more. This article will help you avoid pop-ups, spammers and all those baddies.

 

What is Spyware?

 

Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user’s interaction with the computer, without the user’s informed consent. The term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user’s behavior. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habit, sites that have been visited etc.

 

How to check if a program has spyware?

 

It is this little site that keeps a database of programs that are known to install spyware.

Check Out: SpywareGuide

 

How To Block Pop-Ups?

 

If you would like to block pop-ups (IE Pop-ups) there are tons of different tools out there, but these are the two best, I think.

Try: Google Toolbar - This tool is a Freeware.

Try: AdMuncher – This tool is a Shareware.

 

How To Remove Spywares?

 

If you want to remove spwares then you may try the following tools/programs

Try: Lavasoft Ad-Aware – This tool is a freeware.

Info: Ad-aware is a multi spyware removal utility, that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them. The included backup-manager lets you reinstall a backup, offers and multi language support.

Try: Spybot-S&D – This tool is a freeware.

Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer. Blocks ActiveX downloads, tracking cookies and other threats. Over 10,000 detection files and entries. Provides detailed information about found problems.

Try: Spy Sweeper – This tool is a shareware.

Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer. The best scanner out there, and updated all the time.

Try: BPS Spyware and Adware Remover – This tool is a shareware.

Info: Adware, spyware, trackware and big brotherware removal utility with multi-language support. It scans your memory, registry and drives for known spyware and lets you remove them. Displays a list and lets you select the items you’d like to remove.

 

How To Prevent Spyware?

 

To prevent spyware attack you can try the following tools.

Try: SpywareBlaster – This tool is a freeware.

Info: SpywareBlaster doesn’t scan and clean for so-called spyware, but prevents it from being installed in the first place. It achieves this by disabling the CLSIDs of popular spyware ActiveX controls, and also prevents the installation of any of them via a webpage.

Try: XP-AntiSpy – This tool is a freeware.

Info: XP-AntiSpy is a small utility to quickly disable some built-in update and authentication features in WindowsXP that may rise security or privacy concerns in some people.

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Hack/Alter Windows Vista Base Score

If you are a Windows Vista user then you are very likely to be familiar with the Base Score. This score is calculated based on the computer’s hardware and software configuration. This score act’s as a rating to your PC. If you have a too low base score then don’t worry. Hacking Windows Vista’s so called Base Score is very easy. It is possible to hack this score within no time.Here are the snapshots of my own system. Actually my system’s base score is 3.7. But I have brought it up to 9.5 with this small hack. Can you beleive this!!

Here is a step-by-step instruction to hack Vista Base score

1. Navigate to

C:\Windows\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore

2. You should see a .xml file with Assessment (Formal).WinSAT as filename

3. Right-click it and select open with ‘Wordpad’ (Not notepad!)

4. On line 12, you should see something like the following:

9.5
9.5
9.5
9.5
5.5
9.5
9.5
9.5

5. You can enter any number in the place where I have written 9.5. But the number should be less than 10.

6. Once you have entered the number of your choice save the file and close it.

7. That’s it. You have successfully altered your Windows Vista base score. No restart is required.

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How to Hack an Email using Hardware Keylogger

Did you know that keyloggers are the simplest way to hack an email password?. Today I’ll be giving you a detailed information on hardware keyloggers and their use. I will also teach how to hack an email using hardware keylogger. If you are new to the concept of keyloggers or haven’t read my previous post about email hacking then you must refer my previous post Hacking an email account. Here I’ll give a breif description about keyloggers.

A software keylogger (or simple keylogger) is a stealth computer program that captures every keystroke entered through the keyboard.

Now I’ll tell you what is a hardware keylogger and how it can be used for hacking an email.

Hardware Keyloggers are used for keystroke logging, a method of capturing and recording computer user keystrokes. They plug in between a computer keyboard and a computer and log all keyboard activity to an internal memory. They are designed to work with PS/2 keyboards, and more recently with USB keyboards. A hardware keylogger appears simply as a USB pendrive (thumb drive) or any other computer peripheral so that the victims can never doubt that it is a keylogger. So by looking at it’s appearence it is not possible to identify it as a keylogger. Here are some of the images of hardware keyloggers for your convenience.

So by looking at the above images we can come to know that hardware keyloggers look just like any USB or PS/2 device. So it is very hard to identify it as a keylogger.

 

Insatalling a Hardware Keylogger to Hack the Email Password

 

The hardware keylogger must be installed between the keyboard plug and the USB or PS/2 port socket. That is you have to just plug in the keylogger to your keyboard’s plug (PS/2 or USB) and then plug it to the PC socket. The following image shows how the keylogger is installed.

Once you install the hardware keylogger as shown in the above two images the keylogger starts recording each and every keystroke of the keyboard including email passwords and other confidential information. The hardware keylogger has an inbuilt memory in which the logs are stored.

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How to Copy Locked Photos from Orkut

Recently Orkut updated it’s security feature and disabled Right-click on photos of friend’s album. So this makes it difficult to copy photos from Orkut. It’s a new security update made by Orkut to prevent people from copying photos from Orkut and misusing it. This may be annoying most of you! Then…

 

How To Copy Locked Photos From Orkut?

Yes it’s still possible to copy the photos from Orkut. Here’s a step-by-step procedure to copy the photo.

1. Login into your Orkut Account.

2. Goto your friend’s album and open the photo that you need to copy.

3. Once the photo is loaded to it’s full size just place the mouse cursor on the photo.

4. Press the left click button and drag and drop the photo onto the ADDRESS BAR. I think this trick is no longer working. So I have a new trick….

Just DRAG and DROP the PHOTO onto the current/new TAB (If you have IE 7). Alternatively you can also Drag and Drop the photo onto the Desktop. That’s it. This trick is working now!!
4. Now the photo gets displayed seperately on your browser.

5. You can Right-Click and select the Save As option to save the photo onto your PC.

The browser also displays the direct link to the photo. This link can be used to share the Orkut photos with your friends without the need to login to your Orkut account to access photos.

Please express your opinions through comments. Cheer Up..

Happy Orkut Hacking.

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How to Enable Telnet Command in Vista

Most of you are familiar with the telnet command. It is one of the well known Windows IP Utilities. In fact the telnetcommand is most important for sending a fake email which i have discussed in my previous post. If you are using Windows XP the telnet command is available by default.But if you use Windows Vista the telnet command is disabled by default.

So when you try to use the telnet command in Windows Vista you get the following error message.

‘telnet’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file.

 

You get this error in Vista because unlike XP, Vista does not support telnet command by default. So, for this you have to manually enable/turn on the telnet feature in Vista.

Here’s the step by step procedure to enable telnet feature (telnet command) in Windows Vista.

 

1. Goto the Control Panel.

2. Click on the sub heading Uninstall a program under the main heading Programs.

NOTE: IF you are in the Classic View click on Programs and Features.

3. Now in the left panel under the Tasks select the option Turn Windows features on or off.

4. Now a new window opens. In the new window select the following

Telnet Client
Telnet Server (optional)

5. After selecting click on OK.

Now wait for few minutes till the telnet feature is installed. Once the telnet feature is installed you can goto the command prompt and use the telnet command. System restart is not required.

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Run Program at Startup Only Once

This hack allows you to run a program at startup only once. This hack also avoids the need of startup folder and the autorun is configured in the registry itself. In this hack the specified program runs only once at startup (Right after the first boot of configuration) and will not continue to run for the subsequent startups. Here’s the hack. If you need to run the program at startup everytime then refer the followint link: Run Program At Startup Without Using Startup Folder

 

1. Goto Start->Run.

2.Type “regedit” (without quotes) in the run dialogue box.

3. In the registry editor navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

4. Create the key Runonce

(The [Runonce] Key you create will remain in the registry for use with a new string value)

5. Now create the following entries for Runonce key

Create Data Type: REG_SZ [String Value]
Value Name: [Enter the Name of Program Executable]
Value Data: [Enter the Path to the Program Executable]

6. Exit the Registry and Reboot.

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How to Change IE Title Bar Text

This hack allows you to change the text on the Internet Explorer title bar. The default text or title is “Windows Internet Explorer”. You can change this title text to your own choice.

 

 

1. Goto Run (Press Win key+R)

2. Type “regedit” (without quotes) in the run dialogue box .

3. In the registry editor navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain

4. Modify/Create the Value Name [Window Title] according to the Value Data listed below.

Data Type: REG_SZ [String Value] // Value Name: Window Title
Value Data: [Enter The Text Desired In Title Bar]

5. Exit the Registry and Reboot.

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How to Disable Windows Logo Key

At times it becomes necessary to disable the Windows Key on the keyboard. For example when playing games this nasty Windows Logo key keeps annoying, as we often accidently press it and this takes our game out to the desktop. So it becomes necessary to disable it when not needed an re-enable it when needed.

The following download consists of two registry scripts (.reg) one to disable windows key and the other to re-enable it. In this download there are two files

disable_winlogo_key.reg - Disable Windows Logo Ley
re-enable_winlogo_key.reg - Re-Enable Windows Logo Key

Here is the Download Link

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Change IP Address

How to change your IP address in less than a minute? The following trick gives you a step-by-step procedure to change your IP address. 

 

 

 

 

1. Click on “Start” in the bottom left hand corner of screen.

2. Click on “Run”.

3. Type in “command” and hit ok.You should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.

4. Type “ipconfig /release” just like that, and hit “enter”.

5. Type “exit” and leave the prompt.

6. Right-click on “Network Places” or “My Network Places” on your desktop.

7. Click on “properties”.

You should now be on a screen with something titled “Local Area Connection”, or something close to that.

8. Right click on “Local Area Connection” and click “properties”.

9. Double-click on the “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” from the list under the “General” tab.

10. Click on “Use the following IP address” under the “General” tab.

11. Create an IP address (It doesn’t matter what it is. I just type 1 and 2 until i fill the area up).

12. Press “Tab” and it should automatically fill in the “Subnet Mask” section with default numbers.

13. Hit the “Ok” button here.

14. Hit the “Ok” button again. You should now be back to the “Local Area Connection” screen.

15. Right-click back on “Local Area Connection” and go to properties again.

16. Go back to the “TCP/IP” settings.

17. This time, select “Obtain an IP address automatically”.

18. Hit “Ok”.

19. Hit “Ok” again.

20. You now have a new IP address.

Some ISPs do not support this type of procedure and hence there are chances of getting back the same old IP address even after trying this hack. In this case you need to switch off the modem and then switch it on to get the new IP address.

NOTE: All these tricks works only if you have a dynamic IP address. But if you have a static IP address you have no option to change your IP.

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Disable Task Manager

The following registry hack enables us to disable the Task Manager. Here is a step by step procedure to disable Windows task manager.

Step1: Goto start>run and type “regedit” in the run.

Step2: In the registry navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Step 3: Make the changes according to the following data

Value Name: DisableTaskMgr
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = default, 1 = disable Task Manager)

Step 4: Then navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Step 5: Make the changes according to the following data

Value Name: DisableTaskMgr
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = default, 1 = disable Task Manager)

Step 6. In the Step 3 and 4, if the values are set to 1 then the Task Manager is disabled. Revert back to 0 in order to enable it back

WARNING: Please Backup your registry before attemting this hack. Changes to registry may lead to system failure.

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Hack BSNL Broadband for Speed

If you are a BSNL broadband user, chances are that you are facing frequent DNS issues. Their DNS servers are just unresponsive. The look up takes a long duration and many times just time out. The solution? There is small hack on BSNL for this. Use third party DNS servers instead of BSNL DNS servers or run your own one like djbdns. The easiest options is to use OpenDNS. Just reconfigure your network to use the following DNS servers:

208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Detailed instructions specific to operating system or your BSNL modem are available in the OpenDNS website itself. After I reconfigured my BSNL modem to use the above 2 IP addresses, my DNS problems just vanished! Other ‘freebies’ that come with OpenDNS are phishing filters and automatic URL correction. Even if your service provider’s DNS servers are working fine, you can still use OpenDNS just for these two special features. After you hack BSNL DNS servers, you will see a noticeable improvement in your broadband speed.

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Run Programs at Startup without using Startup folder

This tweak allows a program to be launched when the user logs onto the computer. It can be set to run minimized and there is no trace of the executable in the Startup folder on the Start Menu nor in the Documents and Settings folder accessible via Windows Explorer.

 

 

1. Click Start, click Run, and type regedit to run Registry Editor. Navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Microsoft \Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

 

2. Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as given below:

Data Type: REG_SZ [String Value]
Value Name: [Enter the Name of Program Executable]
Value Data: [Enter the Path to the Program Executable]

3. Exit Registry and Reboot.

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How to Create a CON folder in Windows?

Can you create a folder named “con”, “prn”, “nul” “com1″ “com2″ “lpt1″ etc. in windows ?

The answer is NO and YES!

NO because when create a new folder and try to rename it to any one of the above specified names, you know what happens! In Windows XP the folder name automatically changes back to “New Folder” no matter you try any number of times. Where as in Windows Vista/7 when you try to rename the file you get an error message “The specified device name is invalid”.

What is the reason for this? Simple, these names represent the internal devices and hence we cannot create folders with the above names.

 

YES because it is still possible to create these folders using the command prompt. Here’s the instructions to create it.

 

1. Go to command prompt

2. Type in prompt (FOR EG. TO CREATE CON FOLDER IN E: DRIVE)

C:\>md \\.\e:\con

NOTE: “con” can be replaced by any other names such as “prn”, “nul” “com1″ “com2″ “lpt1″ etc.

 

3. To delete the folder use the following command

C:\>rd \\.\e:\con

NOTE: The folder can only be deleted from the command prompt.You cannot remove it by right-click delete.

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What to do when your Orkut Account is Hacked ?

It can be a nightmare if someone else takes control of your Google Account because all your Google services like Gmail, Orkut, Google Calendar, Blogger, AdSense, Google Docs and even Google Checkout are tied to the same account.

Here are some options suggested by Google Support when your forget the Gmail password or if someone else takes ownership of your Google Account and changes the password:

 

1. Reset Your Google Account Password:

Type the email address associated with your Google Account or Gmail user name atGmail Forgot Password Link – you will receive an email at your secondary email address with a link to reset your Google Account Password. This will not work if the other person has changed your secondary email address or if you no longer have access to that address.

 

2. For Google Accounts Associated with Gmail:

If you have problems while logging into your Gmail account, you can consider contacting Google by filling this form. It however requires you to remember the exact date when you created that Gmail account.

 

3. For Hijacked Google Accounts Not Linked to Gmail:

If your Google Account doesn’t use a Gmail address, contact Google by filling this form. This approach may help bring back your Google Account if you religiously preserve all your old emails. You will be required to know the exact creation date of your Google Account plus a copy of that original “Google Email Verification” message. It may be slightly tough to get your Google Account back but definitely not impossible if you have the relevant information in your secondary email mailbox.

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Forgot Windows XP Password ?

Yes it is possible to change Adminstrator password both in Win XP and Vista without knowing it. If you somehow manage to login as an Administrator then you can change the password without knowing it.

 

 

Here’s the Step-By-Step instructions

 

1. Right-click on the “My Computer” icon on the desktop OR in the Start Menu.

2. Select the option “Manage”.

3. On the left pane expand the “Computer Management (Local) tree (if it is not already expanded)

4. Double click “Local Users and Groups” option From “System Tools” tree.

5. Click the “Users” option.

6. Now you will see the list of users on the right side pane, such as Administrator, Guest etc.

7. Right click the “Administrator” and select the option “Set Password” option.

8. Now you will see a warning message, Click on proceed.

9. Now the system asks you for “New Password” and “Confirm Password” .

10. After entering the password click on “OK”. The password is changed. That’s It!

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How to Hack Orkut Account !!!

 

Ever wondered how to hack Orkut account? Well, here are some of the ways through which you can gain access to Orkut account.

Google uses a 4 Level Orkut login feature which makes it difficult to hack it using brute force attack. Hence, it is almost impossible to use the brute force approach to gain access to Orkut account. Before we discuss on how to hack Orkut, let us take a look at the 4 level secure login feature of Orkut account.
 

First Level - Security-SSL or 128 bit secured connection

 

Second Level - Orkut account checks for the presence cookie in the user’s system

 

Third Level - Orkut provides a redirection to the entered User information

 

Fourth Level - Orkut doesn’t use conventional php/aspx/asp coding. So, it is impossible to hack Orkut using input validation attack!!!

 

So, it is not an easy task to hack Orkut by breaking this security! However, there are some people who still manage to gain access to other’s Orkut accounts. The question concerned is how they do it?

Many of them just use simple tricks that fool users by making them to leak out their password by themselves. Read on to discover the tricks used by hackers to hack Orkut account.

 

Ways to Hack Orkut Account

 

1. Using a Keylogger is one of the Easiest Way to Hack Orkut password. Keylogger programs can spy on what the user types on his/her computer keyboard. A Keylogger program operates in a complete stealth mode and thus remains undetected. Hence, the victim will never come to know about it’s presence on his computer.

A keylogger, sometimes called a keystroke logger, key logger, or system monitor, is a hardware device or small program that monitors each keystroke a user types on a specific computer’s keyboard. A keylogger program is widely available on the Internet. One of thebest is listed below:

SniperSpy

 

A detailed information on keylogger hack can be found in my post on How to Hack an Email Account.

 

2. Phishing Attack is the most popular way of hacking/stealing other’s password. This attack works by using fake login pages (login pages that look exactly same as that of Orkut, but a fake one) to fool innocent users to enter their Orkut username and password in these fake login pages instead of the real ones. When the users land on a fake login page, they enter their Orkut username and password thinking it to be the real one, but actually, it is other way round. It submits all the entered details to the creator (usually the hacker) of the fake login page.

 

3. Orkut New Features Trick: Some websites on Internet claims to offer many additional features for Orkut users. Usually, these websites will offer a login page from their own website and force users to login to their Orkut account from this page itself inorder to gain access to the additional features. In fact, these websites are nothing more than a scam. They simply take away your login details when you enter your Orkut username and password on their pages. This is somewhat similar to that of phishing attack.

 

4. Community Links: Many times you are provided with a link to a community in a scrap. Read the link carefully, It may be something like http://www.okrut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=22910233 OKRUT not ORKUT. This is definitely a trap created by the hacker to hack your Orkut password. Clicking on this link will take you to a fake login page where you end up losing your password.

 

5. Java script: You must have seen the circulating scraps that asks you to paste a certain code (javascript) onto your address bar. Well, sometimes these scripts will hijack your session by stealing your cookie. So, it is better to avaoid running any unknown script from your orkut account. 

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How to Block a Website ?

Some times it becomes necessary to block a website on our Computers for one or other reason. You can easily and effectivily block access to a website by adding it to your Windows HOSTS file. Once the website is blocked in the HOSTS file, it will not appear in any of the browsers. That is, the website becomes completely unavailable.

1. Go to your HOSTS file which is located at:

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC for XP, Vista and Win 7
C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC for Win 2000
C:\WINDOWS for Windows 98 and ME

2. Open HOSTS with Notepad.

The default Windows HOSTS looks like this:
______________________

# Copyright © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a “#” symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
#
127.0.0.1 localhost
_____________________________

3. Directly under the line that says 127.0.0.1 Localhost, you will want to type:

127.0.0.1 name of the URL you want to block

For example to block the website MySpace.com, simply type:

127.0.0.1 myspace.com
127.0.0.1 www.myspace.com

Other parts of MySpace could be blocked in a similar way:

127.0.0.1 search.myspace.com
127.0.0.1 profile.myspace.com
etc etc etc…

It is necessary to add a website with and without the “www.”. You can add any number of websites to this list.

4. Close Notepad and answer “Yes” when prompted.

5. After blocking the website, test it in any of the browser. If every thing is done as said above,the website must not appear in any of the web browsers. You should see a Cannot find server or DNS Error saying: “The page cannot be displayed”. I have also created a virus to block a website which automatically blocks a list of websites as specified in the source program.

Some people suggest that your add a website to the Internet Explorer ‘Privacy’ settings. This does not block a site. It only stops that site from using cookies.

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