Reviews
Windows XP Video Decoder
Checkup Utility - why isn't my DVD
playing? |
I've seen more than one person come into
the computer help club and ask why Windows Media Player isn't
playing their DVD's. This utility could come in handy when you need
to know if you have a valid decoder.
Website
- Quote from the website
The Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility helps you determine if
an MPEG-2 video decoder (also called a DVD decoder) is installed on
your Windows XP computer and whether or not the decoder is
compatible with Windows Media Player 10 and Windows XP Media Center
Edition. |
MountVD -
virtual drives for MyComputer |
Virtual drives can be many things. In
this case it can be explained as a "shortcut" to a folder on your
hard drive. I could choose MyDocuments folder and assign it a drive
letter of "M" if I wanted to. This software makes that a simple
right click operation once you install it.
MountVD is a virtual drive mounter. Once installed - using
Windows Explorer (or such like browser) right-click on any folder
and select 'Mount Virtual Drive'. Choose a drive letter and the
folder will then be mounted as a drive. To unmount right-click on
the drive letter and select 'Unmount Virtual Drive'.
A list of previous mounts will be displayed, clear the list or
remount with right mouse click.
If the drive still exists after unmounting it, either it is not
a mounted drive or a file/app is holding it open.
Mount from Win startup: Set a list of folders to mount, along
with their drive letters - and the next time windows boots they will
be automatically mounted. ** NEW FEATURE
** |
Sandboxie - surf
the net, don't worry about being hijacked |
I really like the looks of this
program. I can't use it because I don't have WinXP yet. I emailed Brandon Watts and he
says he'll definitely take a look at it, so he may end up reviewing
it for Lockergnome's Windows Fanatic newsletter.
Website - Windows XP
and Windows 2000 - Quote from the website
Sandboxie lets you browse the
web without leaving traces on your computer.
How Sandboxie Benefits You
When you browse the web, changes occur
to your computer system. Most of the time these changes are
harmless, like recording the addresses of web sites you have visited
(and when), so Internet Explorer can help you complete a web address
that you type in. Whether these changes are harmless or harmful,
they do in fact happen to your computer system.
When you use Sandboxie to protect your
browsing session, it catches all these changes just as Internet
Explorer is about to apply them into your computer system. Sandboxie
does record these changes on behalf of Internet Explorer, but it
records them in a special isolated folder, called the sandbox.
The benefit of having a sandbox is that
it ensures your ability to get rid of all changes done by Internet
Explorer, simply by deleting the sandbox
folder. |
Sleipnir -
tabbed web browsing from Japan |
I tried out this new tabbed web browser
called Sleipnir. It's a Japanese/English browser that looks very
much like Avant, SlimBrowser, and Maxathon (MyIE2) browsers. I like
all the features it has but I didn't really find anything new. I
wouldn't expect too much luck with finding any help on it unless
your can read Japanese. It looks as though the author has made this
browser highly customizable which is a big plus. I give it a five
star rating because it works well and I had no problems at all using
it, even if I can't read Japanese.
Feature of tab browser Sleipnir
Many functions and high speed
operation Actualizing GUI which it is easy to use in
anyone Powerful customization of Office wind As
for key bind all modification possibilities Customization
possible The extensions with plug ins The
extensions by the abundant scripts Modification function of
the substantial outline by the skin The tab management
which is due to window summary and is superior The security
management which is superior Automation of the search flow
with IntelliSearch Supporting Bookmarklet The
favorite editor is easy to
use |
TrueWallet -
remembers website logins and credit card info |
I wanted to try out this program
because I've found that a good internet integrated password manager
is priceless when you surf the web as much as I do. I normally use
AI Roboform but I have chosen to use an older freeware
version since the newer versions of AI Roboform are no longer
freeware and are crippleware instead. TrueWallet matches every
feature that AI Roboform has and it's newest version is free. I did
have a small concern when I read the EULA because it said that the
TrueSuite tools may record some anonymous information on their
servers. Another concern I had was that the TrueAssistant suite
manager pops into the system tray. I've got enough system tray icons
already. The TrueWallet toolbar is added to Internet Explorer for
easy access, just like AI Roboforms toolbar. TrueWallet's toolbar
does have a nice added search entry form for using the most popular
search engines. Except for those concerns, I think TrueWallet
is a real winner. Is it better than AI Roboform? I'll call it a
tie for now.
Easily fill out forms with your personal and credit card
information. Also helps you manage your website logins.
Have you ever forgotten your online passwords? Are you tired of
entering your personal information or username and password for
every website you visit? If so, TrueWallet is your answer to these
problems! |
Windows Worms Door Cleaner - How
to survive the next big worm attack (updated 25 Nov
04) |
Some of you may recently
have been attacked by the Sasser worm or other such as the Blaster
worm. What did you have in common with the millions of others out
there on the net? Well, you were probably running Windows XP and for
whatever reason, you didn't have a firewall up and running. One guy
I talked to had just bought a new pc and was updating at Microsoft
when he got nailed. I helped him get patched and told him how to put
up the XP firewall till he got a better one installed. Before the
new pc he had Win98 and he didn't understand why he needed a
firewall right away, so I also gave him a quick lecture on the
importance of firewalls for XP. He wondered "Why did
Microsoft leave all these "doors" open for any hacker or bug to
walk in on?"
I ran across an
article in a newsletter and it sounded like you can prevent some of
these types of invasions by using "wwdc" to turn off some of
the Windows services. It's a very small utility, it's free, it
doesn't run continuously and you can undo your changes. A home
user really doesn't need all the services listed below running
so I tried disabling all of them. I found I needed the
third one in order to use my file sharing on our network. No
problem, a couple clicks enabled it again.
Quote from website: Most of the worms, in
particular the most famous, use known vulnerabilities in Windows
services which are enabled by default and that often can't be
disabled via the OS's configuration. Even with these services
patched with Microsoft security fixes, they are still exposed to the
Internet at large ready to be exploited by the next
exploit.
These ports/services on client side are :
* DCOM RPC (listen on port 135) MS03-026 * RPC Locator
(port 445) MS03-001, MS04-011 * NetBIOS (ports 137/138/139)
MS03-049 * UPNP (port 5000) MS01-059 * Messenger service (uses
RPC/NetBIOS ports)
MS03-043 |
WinXPatch
v0.1 - tweak XP till you're blue in the
face |
Here is a great little tool for
you serious tweakers out there. I haven't tried this one but it
looks really cool. The author took all the XP tweaks in the "Windows
Registry Guide 2003" and put them in this easy to use tool. If
you really want to be safe you should download the Guide along with
this program so that you know exactly what you are fooling around
with. The WinXPatch download is a compressed "rar" file, so if you
are not familiar with rar's (they are just like zips) then download
an archiving tool that can uncompress rar files. I recommend 7-zip for jobs like that.
Website - ScreenShot
- Quote from the website
This version has more than 100 registry and services configurations!
This is Windows XP Professional and Home patch, it can patch any
thing in registry and services. This is the WinXPatch v3.0
(programmed by me in 2002), I reprogrammed and released under new
fresh version 0.1 It's easy to use, check and uncheck buttons. It
has all the 'Windows Registry Guide 2003' configurations for Windows
XP. But instead duing it manually every single setting, this patch
will do it for you. 1st select (check) what you want to patch. 2nd
click patch. | |