@Nuni Brito -Thank you Nuno, yes I contacted him and told him to re-register if would like to do so.

 

@Micheal @ Master of Disaster @Blackcrack and all who have read this and liked the subject thank you again to all.

 

JAMAL

Thank you Agent47, Blackcrack, ReTokener, for your words and inputs, appreciate that.

 

@Agent47 , Sure I will share this with the owners/developers of Partition Wizard when/if  they ask me to do so, 

 

Regards to all

 

JAMAL

Hello everyone,

 

Minitool Partition Wizard 8.1.1 in its latest version has a big problem since long time now and they didn't find

a solution to the error message when you try to boot from CD or USB !! Error message is the following:

 

end trace 4eaa2a86a8e2da22

kernel panic - not syncing:

Attended to kill init! exitcode=0x00000009

 

I talked to them several times about this issue but they didn't solve it yet,

the irony is that the ISO image that you can download from their web page ( file size is 48.3 MB)

 

http://www.minitool....d-bootable.html

 

that they offer for free to the public works perfectly on a virtual machine like Qemo or anything a like,

but doesnt work at all on any PC no matter what, it gives you the error above.

 

I like this software very much and I use it often but I use the last working version, the v 7.6.

 

***So today I had the chance to redo this ISO image and fix the problem and make it to work perfectly,

and boot from a CD or USB , and here I am sharing it with the good guys at Minitools as a thank you and a gift

from Reboot.Pro members for their beautiful software.

 

The fixed version of the (Minitool Partition Wizard 8.1.1 ) can be downloaded from mediafire at the following link:

 

http://www.mediafire...b6y/pwhe811.iso

 

The new fixed ISO image file size is (48.21 MB)

 

 

Thank you to all for reading

 

 

JAMAL

 

 

PS: Admins of Reboot.Pro, if this subject doesn't fit here in the Hello World section, then kindly put this subject where it belongs, I really don't know where to post it !! Thank you.

 

 

Especially 64bit? I run WinBuilder.exe and can't choose Windows 8.

If you are looking for Windows 8 to GO / LIVE , If you qualify under one of the following programs listed below, you may already have access to the final bits and do not need to download the 90 day evaluation:

 - Microsoft Partner Network
 - MSDN Subscription
 - TechNet Professional Subscription
 - Microsoft Volume Licensing/Software Assurance

then you should start here:

http://technet.micro...ocid=wc-tn-wctc

Where you can download any or both 32/64 bit of Windows 8

Enterprise Evaluation , the 64 bit is 3.25 GB download, and the 32 bit is 2.37 Gb download. Mind you that Windows To Go workspace operates just like any

other installation of Windows with a few exceptions. These exceptions are:

- Internal disks are offline. To ensure data isn’t accidentally disclosed, internal hard disks on the host computer are offline by default when booted into a Windows To Go workspace. Similarly if a Windows To Go drive is inserted into a running system the Windows To Go drive will not be listed in Windows Explorer.


- Trusted Platform Module (TPM) isn’t used. When using BitLocker Drive Encryption a pre-operating system boot password will be used for security rather than the TPM since the TPM is tied to a specific computer and Windows To Go drives will move between computers.


- Hibernate is disabled by default. To ensure that the Windows To Go workspace is able to move between computers easily, hibernation is disabled by default. Hibernation can be re-enabled by using Group Policy settings.


- Windows Recovery Environment isn’t available. In the rare case that you need to recover your Windows To Go drive, you should re-image it with a fresh image of Windows.


- Refreshing or resetting a Windows To Go workspace is not supported. Resetting to the manufacturer’s standard for the computer doesn’t apply when running a Windows To Go workspace, so the feature was disabled.


- Store is disabled by default. Apps licensed through the store are linked to hardware for licensing. Since Windows To Go is designed to roam to different host PCs access to the store is disabled. You can enable the store if your Windows To Go workspaces won’t be roaming to multiple PC hosts.

**More info on this you can find here:

http://technet.micro...y/hh831833.aspx

 

*** If you are looking for Windows 8 PE, you should start here:

http://technet.micro...ibrary/cc766093(v=ws.10).aspx

and here:

http://technet.micro...y/hh824964.aspx

and here:

http://technet.micro...y/hh825110.aspx

and here:

http://technet.micro...y/hh825045.aspx

and here:

http://technet.micro...y/hh824926.aspx


Best regards
jamal

Thank you Nuno Brito , Wonko the Sane. Steve6375

 

1- I have no issue if you want to extend the time for 1 more month if someone wants to compete and need more time to finish his tutorial, I agree, why not ? lets give him more time if he wants/needs  that time, let him tell us on this page that he wants to compete and he needs more time and we will give him that time.

 

2- Defenition of best will be / ERROR FREE / very well illustrated (any tutorial with errors will automatically be eleminated from this competition, because whats the use of writing something that cannot be applyied ?)

 

3- Tutorials can be submitted here as an attached PDF file here on this page,telling us here is my tutorial for this competition,as easy as that(as I said earlier - step by step text and pictures / the type of Tutorials I do / easy to follow and understand for anyone)

 

4- Linking to an outside page or sourse is not acceptable, the competitor needs to put his work here, from scratch, he builds his tutorial specifically for this competition(as I said before, do not use your own wallpapers and themes and icons, etc, use the default, tutorial should look original work-with minimum fuss)

 

5- I will extend this competition for Novice/beginners and the winners will get in each category, there will be 1 winner in W8PE, and 1 winner in W7PE, each one will get ( 1 retail package Windows 8 Pro Upgrade + 1 Retail License key for Norton Ghost 15 ) worth $ 100

 

6- Tutorials will show us the best of what that professional can do / error free, some of you can add 100 applications in that PE build, and some  can add 10 applications, the major issue here will be ERROR FREE/ Well illustarted, if they both get Error free/ well illustrated, then we will consider how much effort and expertise had been put down in that tutorial.

 

7- Members of Reboot.Pro can vote on the tutorial no problem with that, but winning will be decided by judges, based on testing those tutorials extensively and making sure they are error free/well illustrated. I can assure you Steve6375 the only one who worked hard for this will win.

 

regards

jamal

here is mine as a topic. i do not have time to collect and write them as a document. feel free to accept or not. are they msdn keys or retail keys?

 

http://www.msfn.org/...-from-winpe-30/

Thank you vvurat, lets see what Nuno Brito and Wonko the Sane decide about that, but one of the main compete points here is to submit your tutorial specifically for this competition, and not submit links to previous work, do it from scratch, step by step, etc, read qualifications for this that I mentioned, of course anyone can submit here on this page the links for his previous work, but that does not qualify him/her for the tutorial competition I am offering, and also  don't you worry about keys, the winner will get everything factory sealed as described above. good luck everyone.

Very nice video and work, thank you DarkPhoeniX

Hi everyone,

 

***I am willing to start a competition for the best Reboot.Pro tutorials for the year 2012 in Windows 8 PE and Windows 7 PE with 1 winner only for each category, 1 winner in W8PE and 1 Winner in W7PE, I would give away 2 prizes as follows:

 

- 1 prize for W8PE winner ( 1 Windows 8 pro [full / not upgrade] retail license key+ 1 Office 2013 pro plus license key + 1 set of original W8pro 32/64 backup DVDs brand new factory sealed.(worth over $500)

 

-1 prize for W7PE winner ( 1 Windows 8 pro [full / not upgrade] retail license key+ 1 set of original W8pro 32/64 backup DVDs brand new factory sealed + 1 license key for Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 / 1 year subscription.(worth $ 190)

 

 

*** The tutorials must be in detail steps from A-Z ,neat,clean.step by step explanation with pictures,very easy to follow and understand for novice users as well as professionals,and most of all ERROR FREE (the type of tutorials that I do-check my tutorials so you have an idea how your tutorial should look like).

 

*** The tutorials should include all applications possible to integrate into the PE distribution you will make, providing all solutions of add/remove and what if/how to solutions, so the reader can choose what to install and what not to and what to do for any of his choises he will make to build his own WIN PE invironment

 

*** It doesnt matter you have submitted before a successfull tutorial in the past anywhere, you should re-submit it for this competition again from scartch, and do not use your own backgrounds and wallpapers, use the default backgrounds and wallpapers and icons and  themes, etc..so not to distract the reader, and to make everything nice,clean and original work.

 

*** I will ask my friends here, Nuno Brito and Wonko the Sane to announce this Reboot.Pro competition after they see what/how  they can arrange this competition and under what category should the tutorials be submitted for this competition, etc, also they are free to choose to add or not any judges to decide the winners in the end.

 

*** This cometition will start from today and ends on 31 Dec 2012 , so you have 13 days to work hard for this, and 1 week or more after that the judges will decide the winners, after testing the tutorials extensively from all aspects.

 

**** These are the main guidelines I wanted to say here, and will leave all the arrangements and details to Nuno Brito and Wonko the Sane to start this competition and announce it and give it a go.

 

Good luck everyone

 

regards

jamal

Thank you all for all your inputs and info, best regards.

Thanks to all the members whom submitted their inputs and info , this has enriched this topic, thank you.

Many thanks to all the beautiful members of Reboot.Pro for their comments and inputs and ifo that is enriching this subject, and thank you for all the nice words you said to me about this tutorial,

 

Thank you (Wonko the Sane),(Nuno Brito), (Max_Real Qnx ),(DarkPhoeniX),(georgeks),(Nori), (cyberagent), (MCR700), (Ferico Garcia), (Shashi007), (Kent0n), (wailer), (KaiserSoze), Thank you to all members and guests of Reboot.Pro , thank you for all the beautiful emails and messages and phone calls, appreciate that.


Special thanks to :

1- Melanie Pinola is a freelance writer covering all things tech-related. A former IT admin and occasional web developer, she is also a Lifehacker editor, PCWorld contributor, and the Guide to Mobile Office Tech at About.com. was one of the first to feature this tutorial she said: Jamal H. Naji has the full tutorial on Reboot. Basically, you boot into the locked PC with the recovery disk and open up the command prompt, then replace the Ease of Access Center application (utilman.exe) with another copy of the command prompt (cmd.exe) with administrative privileges. Then you use the "net user" command to type in a new password for the user whose password you want to reset. The instructions are very easy to follow.
 

Mrs. Melanie Pinola added that there's one thing you can do to prevent an attacker from gaining access to your personal files with this or another password reset hack: encrypt the whole diskwith BitLocker.Read more on (IT World.com) here:

http://www.itworld.c...m-recovery-disk

2- Mr. Bogdan Popa author at (Softpedia.com) also was one amongs the first to feature this tutorial in both Softpedia.com/usa and Softpedia.com/espania, Mr. Popa added, Paradoxically, a few days ago, Nick Psyhogeos, Microsoft vice president, said during a media briefing that Windows 8 is one of the most secure operating systems to date, so it’s harder than ever to break into such a software.

Bogdan Popa added that after this tutorial they’ve contacted the company for an official statement on this and we will update this story as soon as we get an answer.Read more on (Softpedia.com) here:

http://news.softpedi...es-314646.shtml

3- Mr. Lee Mathews Geek Author on (Geek.com) also was among the first to feature this tutorial extensively, he stated that Despite being Microsoft’s most secure operating system ever, it’s possible to clear or change a user’s Windows 8 password without using anything but the built-in troubleshooting tools. All it takes is ten minutes, a Windows 8 System Recovery disc or USB flash drive, and the patience to execute a few simple directives from the command prompt. The trick, as detailed by Jamal Naji, boils down to replacing the Ease of Access center application (utilman.exe) with another copy of the command prompt (cmd.exe).Read more on (Geek.com) here:

http://www.geek.com/...tware-20121213/

4- GeekySpecs of Greece also feautured this tutorial, read more here:

http://www.geekyspec...dows-8-password

5- Also Alltop from ewallstreeter.com has featured this tutorial here:

http://ewallstreeter...software-5532/#

6- Hackillusions.com also featured this tutorial by Shubham Yadav, B.Tech(I.T) Graduate from Behror, Rajasthan. read more here:

http://www.hackillus...ord-in-minutes/


7- Also Mr. Kaushik Patwary from Instantfundas.com featured this tutorial here:

http://www.instantfu...et-without.html


8- The Indonisian blog (themaniax) also featured this tutorial here:

http://themaniax.blo...u-Hardware.html

9- Mr. Bill Mullins also featured this tutorial on his blog on Dec 14 stating that Windows 8 password reset trick requires no third-party software – All it takes is ten minutes, a Windows 8 System Recovery disc or USB flash drive, and the patience to execute a few simple directives from the command prompt. The trick, as detailed by Jamal Naji, boils down to replacing the Ease of Access center application (utilman.exe) with another copy of the command prompt (cmd.exe).Read more here:

http://billmullins.wordpress.com/

10- Thaiware.com  also featured this tutorial here:

http://tips.thaiware...่_Password.html

11- Umago from the (ycombinator) featured this tutorial in the hackers news, read more here:

http://news.ycombina...item?id=4915024

12-Also special thanks to all whom I didn't mention here that had featured and mentioned this tutorial in their blogs, forums, websites, facebook and everywhere, thank you very much, appreciate all your efforts and support.

Thank you, Jamal
 

Reset Your Windows 8 Password in 10 minutes without using any third party software / How to – Tutorial Guide
=======================================================================================

It has been less than 2 months since the launch of Windows 8 and I recieved tons of emails from Boot-Landers /members and
guests also friends and collegues asking me if there's a way to reset a forgotten Windows 8 password the easiest way ? The
answer was yes and as usual without the need for any third party software to unlock or remove or reset the user or admin
account password. Here I will try to make an easy to follow tutorial that will be usefull for novice users as well as professionals when they get stuck behind the logon screen of a Windows 8 because they lost or forgotten their password. So here's how to do it in 10 minutes or less :

1- You need a Windows 8 PC to make a System Recovery Disk .

2- You need a CD Burner + Blanck CD.

3- If you have a tablet or a netbook and you don't have a CD burner then You need a 512 MB USB thumb drive to make a System Recovery USB instead.

4- To make a system recovery CD, Go to control panel and navigate to Windows 7  File Recovery, click on that icon, and
from the next screen choose from the top left ( Create a System Recovery Disk ) and follow the on-screen instructions to make
that CD.

5- To make a System Recovery USB thumb drive go to control panel and navigate to ( Recovery ), click on that icon and from
the next screen choose ( Create a recovery drive ) and follow the instructions to make a bootable System Recovery USB.

6- When you are ready, boot the locked PC that needs to be unlocked with that CD or USB you just made, and follow the
pictures below :







7- The command prompt screen will open, type : diskpart and hit Enter key



8- Type :  list vol and hit Enter key (watch for spaces)



9- locate your Windows partition letter ( in our case here the letter will be C drive)

10- Type : Exit and hit Enter key.



11- Type:  c:   and hit Enter key  (your Windows drive maybe different so change it accordingly to the drive letter you have)



12- Type: cd windows (watch for spaces ) and hit Enter key



13- Type: cd system32 (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key



14- Type: copy  cmd.exe cmd.exe.original (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key.



15- Type: copy Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.original (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key.



16- Type: del Utilman.exe  (watch for spaces)  and hit Enter key.



17- Type: ren cmd.exe Utilman.exe  (watch for spaces)  and hit Enter key.



18- Type: Shutdown  -r  -t  00 (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key, the PC will restart.



19 – When you reach the Logon screen click on the Ease of Access Center icon on the left bottom side of the screen.



20 – The command prompt window will open



21- Type: net user  (watch for spaces)  and hit Enter key.



22- Type: net user  Reboot.Pro *  ( replace Reboot.Pro with the name you find in your pc)  and hit Enter key



23- now type the new password you want and hit Enter key( when you type the cursor will not move and you will not see what you
type, so be carefull what you type, because you are typing blindly the new password)



24- confirm the new password when prompted and hit Enter key when done:



25- Type exit and hit the Enter key to close the command window.


 

26- Logon now to the locked account with the new password you just created.

27- After successfully unlocking  your account and resetting the account password now you need to roll back the changes you
made to Utilman.exe and cmd.exe, so go ahead and boot your pc with the System Recovery CD or USB you made earlier in this
tutorial and repeat steps in # 6 so you open the command prompt window :

28- Type: c: and hit Enter key(your Windows drive maybe different so change it accordingly to the drive letter you have) [see picture below]

29- Type:  cd windows  (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key [see picture below]

30- Type:  cd system32 (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key [see picture below]

31- Type:  del  Utilman.exe  (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key [see picture below]

32- Type: ren  Utilman.exe.original Utilman.exe  (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key [see picture below]

33- Type: ren cmd.exe.original cmd.exe  (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key [see picture below]

34- Type: shutdown  -r  -t  00  (watch for spaces) and hit Enter key to reboot your pc [see picture below]



35- Now when the pc reboots and reaches the logon screen, check to see if the Utilman is fixed and returned back to place by
clicking on its icon on the bottom left side of the screen, if the Ease of Access list pops up then you succeeded in your work.
See picture below.




PS: some of you might have a Windows 8 Installation DVD, he can use it also in this process, boot with this Windows  DVD and
when you reach the first screen where you have to click next - stop there and hit SHIFT key + F 10 , the command prompt window
will pop up and you can use it as we did in steps 7 onward to the end. see picture below





Done !  best regards / Jamal

===============
other useful topics :
===============
1- Reset a forgotten Windows 7 Password without using any third party software /

http://reboot.pro/to...ow-to-tutorial/

2- Image your system and forget about formatting -period /
http://reboot.pro/to...tting-–-period/

3- Encrypt your sensitive data before wiping it !

http://reboot.pro/to...fore-wiping-it/

 

4- Is your Anti-Virus healthy and responding right, Check that out !

http://reboot.pro/to...check-that-out/

 

5- Hacking for the Humanity

http://reboot.pro/to...g-for-humanity/

 

6- TuneUp your IT skills with Microsoft Technologies !

http://reboot.pro/to...your-it-skills/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Cyber Security Alliance Announces Theme for Data Privacy Day; Forms New Advisory Committee
New Web Portal Launched with Resources and Tips for Improving
Data Privacy and Protection

WASHINGTON, September 18, 2012 – The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a non-profit public-private partnership focused on helping all digital citizens stay safer and more secure online and official coordinator of Data Privacy Day (DPD), today announced the official theme for DPD, the creation of a distinguished advisory committee and a new Data Privacy Day Web portal available at: http://staysafeonlin...a-privacy-day/. Data Privacy Day is an international awareness effort celebrated across the United States, Canada, Europe and other countries on January 28th every year.

NCSA and the advisory committee worked together to create the theme for Data Privacy Day entitled: “respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust.” The statement speaks to the need for everyone – from individuals and companies – to handle personal information with care and protect it from loss. When we respect privacy and safeguard data we contribute to a safer and more trusted Internet. Additionally, the new portal for Data Privacy Day is a place for any person, organization or company that wants to participate in Data Privacy Day to get ideas, tip sheets and graphics to help them celebrate Data Privacy Day.

Under the leadership of founding Chairman Dan Caprio, former chief privacy officer at the United States Department of Commerce and now a senior strategic advisor at McKenna, Long & Aldridge, the advisory committee will provide ideas and insights into how Data Privacy Day can best align with leading-edge privacy issues in a thoughtful and meaningful way.

“I’m pleased that the advisory committee has such a dynamic representation of organizations including academia, civil society, and industry,” said Dan Caprio, founding chair of the Data Privacy Day Advisory Committee. “I’m looking forward to working with so many friends and former colleagues on the advisory board to tackle the most current privacy issues. We’re all very excited about building on the efforts of previous Data Privacy Days and reaching an even greater audience in 2013 with messages about protecting personal information.”

Additional advisory committee members include:
•Martin E. Abrams, president, Centre for Information Policy Leadership, Hunton and Williams
•Annie Antón, professor and chair, School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology
•Fred Cate, co-director, Center for Law, Ethics and Applied Research in Health Information at Indiana University
•Jolynn Dellinger, senior advisor, Data Privacy Day, Former Program Manager for Data Privacy Day (2007-2012)
•Leslie Harris, president and CEO, Center for Democracy and Technology
•Sandra R. Hughes, president and CEO, Sandra Hughes, LLC., retired Global Privacy Executive, Procter & Gamble
•Jules Polonetsky, co-chair and director, Future of Privacy Forum
•Richard Purcell, CEO, Corporate Privacy Group
•Andrew Serwin, chair of Privacy, Security and Information Management, Foley and Lardner, LLP
•Peter Swire, C. William O'Neill Professor of Law, the Ohio State University
“We’re thrilled and thankful for the participation of these privacy leaders in our efforts. We encourage everyone to participate in Data Privacy Day,” said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance.

Kaiser added: “We now live in a world where people can instantly access and share information in real-time. We believe the theme: “Respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust,” is a cohesive message that applies across the Internet ecosystem. We look forward to the continued engagement of industry, government, schools and nonprofit organizations to help grow Data Privacy Day.

The bios for all advisory committee members can be found on the new Data Privacy Day Web portal along with a host of tips and resources for parents, teachers, educators, businesses and others at: http://www.staysafeo...a-privacy-day/. The portal also offers information about how to promote Data Privacy Day such as becoming a Data Privacy Day Champion, sponsorship opportunities and a community calendar to post events. NCSA encourages companies and organizations to become a Champion by registering at: http://www.staysafeo...-day/champions.
Data Privacy Day information is also available on Facebook and Twitter at: https://www.facebook...DataPrivacyNCSA and www.twitter.com/DataPrivacyDay.

About Data Privacy Day
Led by the National Cyber Security Alliance, Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. The Day commemorates the 1981 signing of Convention 108 – the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. Data Privacy Day is a celebration for everyone and an effort to empower people to protect their privacy, control their digital footprint and escalate the protection of data privacy as everyone’s priority. Intel is a Platinum sponsor of Data Privacy Day.

About The National Cyber Security Alliance
The National Cyber Security Alliance is a non-profit organization. Through collaboration with the government, corporate, non-profit and academic sectors, the mission of the NCSA is to educate and empower a digital citizenry to use the Internet securely and safely protecting themselves and the technology they use and the digital assets we all share. NCSA board members include: ADP, AT&T, Bank of America, EMC Corporation, ESET, Facebook, Google, Intel, McAfee, Microsoft, PayPal, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Symantec, Trend Micro, Verizon and Visa. Visit www.staysafeonline.org for more information and join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/staysafeonline.

Thank you RoyM, sbaeder, amalux, Myote, IgImAx, fsaaib, Jasen Webster, Prompt Care, AssimilatorX, Uvais, culay13 for your beautiful comments and inputs.

@ IgImAx, thanks for sharing this tutorial in other forums, appreciate that.

@ culay13, yes you can use this tutorial on both 32/64 bit Windows 7 if you make a system recovery disk for each system, means you have to use the 32 bit recovery cd/usb with the 32 bit Windows 7, and use the 64 bit recovery cd/usb with the 64 bit Windows 7.

regards
jamal

Many of boot-Landers, members and guests asked me if there's a way to reset a forgotten Windows 7 Password, without using any third party software, my answer was yes, and this is actually a Windows 7 privilege that probably 99% of the Windows 7 users never know about.

So here's how to do it the easiest way, from scratch in 10 minutes:

1- You need a Windows 7 PC with CD burner and a blank CD in order to make a Windows 7 System Repair Disk.
To do that click on the Start button then browse the All Programs, go to Maintenance, expand it, and choose - Create a System Repair Disk, and follow the Pictures below:










PS:** If you don't have a CD burner, let's say you have a netbook PC, then you can do a Windows 7 Repair USB instead, so if you have an extra clean and empty USB 2.0 thumb drive with a 1 G.B. of size you can check my tutorial - ( Image your Windows 7 system and forget about formatting, period ! ) on the following link, and see how you can make a USB repair tool instead of a CD, and use it :

http://reboot.pro/13...__fromsearch__1

2- After you have created a repair disk or USB as mentioned above, go and boot the PC you want to reset its password with this repair disk or USB, follow the pictures below:









3- On the screen choose to open the Command Prompt:





4- Type copy c:windowssystem32sethc.exe c: and hit Enter key:

5- Type copy c:windowssystem32cmd.exe c:windowssystem32sethc.exe
and hit Enter key, when prompted to Overwrite, Type : Yes and hit Enter key again, close the command window, and restart your PC:





6- When you reach the LogOn screen hit the Shift key 5 times, a command window will open, Type the following, see the picture below :

net user (type the name of the account) (Type any password)
and hit Enter Key, and when prompted to overwrite, Type Yes, and hit Enter Key again, and close the command window, and log on with the new password you just created:



7- After that you might want to put the original sticky key file back in its place, so go ahead and boot your PC with the repair CD or USB that you made early in this tutorial, and in the command prompt window type the following ( see picture below ):

copy c:sethc.exe c:windowssystem32sethc.exe

press Enter, then when prompted to Overwrite, type Yes and hit Enter key again, then close the window, and restart the PC.







Done

Jamal

My previous tutorials (Limited to one year of search only):
http://reboot.pro/in...ivity&mid=34077


A PDF version of this tutorial:
http://www.mediafire.../?w5678o7wh7kl0

I would like to thank every one that contributed to this tutorial, either by nice words or by engaging their experiences to enrich this subject, and I encourage and urge anyone that can add more info to this tutorial that everyone will benefit from, I feel very glad that this was a useful subject to thousands and thousands of readers around the globe and that it is after 16 months since I posted it, it is still an important source of information regardless of the fact that the info is outdated, but it represents a solid and easy to understand and apply step by step follow the procedure, and that everyone liked it and found it very useful.

Once again I would like to thank especially the members of boot-land empire that engaged and shared with us their experiences in this tutorial, thank you Lawtil, Master of Disaster, Shiggidy_ , Stefany, Micha041, Jefimija, Fxchby, Zug , Fms, Pazzie, Wonko the Sane, SuPaNooB, Wile.E.Warrigal, EvilGoat, Garodoran, Mostashian, Tibix, Health, Hardcorepbar, Kamakiro, Sambul61, sbaeder, AVENOCTURNO .

I wish you a very happy birthday dear Nuno, a life full of progress, prosperity and happiness.


jamal

culay13

check the following tutorials, you will have all what you asked and more:

**Windows XP from a USB thumb drive-How to make
http://reboot.pro/11282/

**Windows 7 on USB thumb drive - How to make – Beginners guide
http://reboot.pro/12...__fromsearch__1

**Windows 7 or Vista on USB thumb drive - How to make - advanced guide
http://reboot.pro/11261/

**Windows XP + 7 or Vista on 1 USB thumb drive
http://reboot.pro/11...ge__pid__103505

**All in 1 - Mission Impossible USB -2nd edition
http://reboot.pro/11930/

**My previous tutorials ( limited to one year search) you can find here:
http://reboot.pro/in...&userMode=title

regards

Jamal

The official launch event for National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) took place in Ypsilanti, Michigan today with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, Representatives Mike Rogers, John Dingell Hansen Clarke, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt, Microsoft Director of Trustworthy Computing Jacqueline Beauchere and a wide variety of public, private and non-governmental organizations. Now in its eighth year, National Cyber Security Awareness Month is a coordinated effort of the NCSA, DHS, and The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MSISAC) and companies, schools, and nonprofit organizations around the country focused on online safety and security awareness and education for U.S. citizens and businesses, devoting the full month of October to public awareness and education. Millions of Americans will View New Online Safety Public Service Announcements During National Cyber Security Awareness Month This October and Beyond . The White House also announced 4 days ago that President Obama has issued an official proclamation designating October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

Here is the presidential proclamation :
-----------------------------------------------------
The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release October 03, 2011

Presidential Proclamation--National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

NATIONAL CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS MONTH, 2011

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Americans, along with people around the world, depend on the Internet and digital tools for all aspects of our lives -- from mobile devices to online commerce and social networking. This fundamental reliance is why our digital infrastructure is a strategic national asset, and why its security is our shared responsibility. This month, we recognize the role we all play in ensuring our information and communications infrastructure is interoperable, secure, reliable, and open to all.

Early in my Administration, we began updating our Nation's cybersecurity programs and policies. We developed a comprehensive plan that ensures a coordinated national response to major disruptive cyber events. This May, we also proposed to the Congress a plan to strengthen protection of our power grids, water systems, and other critical infrastructure. And because we have seen the benefits and risks of cyber- and information-related technologies play out across the world, this year we laid out the first comprehensive international vision for the future of the Internet. It sets an agenda for partnering with other nations and better defines how we can ensure the secure, free flow of information and promote universal rights, privacy, and prosperity.

Every American has a stake in securing our networks and personal information, and we are working across the public and private sectors to ensure coordinated and planned responses to cyber incidents, as we do with natural disasters. The vast majority of our critical information infrastructure is owned and operated by businesses and enterprises across America. To help protect them, my Administration is collaborating with the private sector on best security practices, while continuing to provide the resources necessary for innovation -- including expanded broadband access and smarter electric grids.

Cybersecurity is a necessity for both businesses and consumers, and that is why we released the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace. This plan improves security for consumers conducting e-commerce by helping prevent fraud and identity theft and by making it easier for businesses to operate online. We are also working with community-based organizations and public- and private-sector partners to empower digital citizens to make safe choices online through our "Stop. Think. Connect." campaign.

The same American ingenuity that put a man on the moon also created the Internet, launching an information revolution. We must now harness that spirit of innovation to develop the next generation of accessible, secure technologies to build a safer, more prosperous future for all Americans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 2011 as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the importance of cybersecurity and to observe this month with activities, events, and trainings that will enhance our national security and resilience.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA





JAMAL

Bill Gates condolences :

I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.
Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.
The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.
For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely



Steve Ballmer condolences :

REDMOND, Wash. – Oct. 5, 2011 – Statement from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

“I want to express my deepest condolences at the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary. My heart goes out to his family, everyone at Apple and everyone who has been touched by his work



To me ,one of the most memorable moments was Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford commencement address, where he was drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself -- at the university's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005.

watch the video on YouTube :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=player_embedded


May God Rest Your Soul In Peace.

Jamal

The Cyber Defence Summit in Abu Dhabi- United Arab Emirates, is the first initiative of its kind in the Middle East.

Interested companies will have a unique opportunity to attend the Cyber Defence Summit in Abu Dhabi on September 20th - 21st 2011.

Attending means you can meet more than 120 C-level representatives from Government authorities - plus the banking, oil and gas, telecoms and utilities sectors.

Leading international companies including Selex, Northrup Grumman, Cassidian and Access Data are also attending.

• Hosting one-to-one meetings with pre-qualified organisations seeking cyber security solutions.
• Networking with more than 150 key Government officials, summit speakers and industry peers.
• Being part of interactive panel discussions highlighting the challenges and solutions in cyber defence.
• The opportunity to lead educational workshops and showcasing your expertise.
• Benchmark your organisation's cyber security practices.

All attending buyers are qualified using the below criteria:
• In charge of cyber security for their organisation.
• Actively seeking cyber security products and solutions.
• C-level signatory authority.

- Confirmed attendees for the summit include:

Bank Dhofar Oman
Dubai Airports
Dubai Customs
Dubai Electricity And Water Authority
Abu Dhabi Municipality
CERT - Saudi Arabia
DU Telecom
Taweelah Asia Power Company
Topaz Energy and Marine
Qatar Gas

- Confirmed speakers for the event include:

Badar Al-Salehi, DIrector, Oman CERT
Abdulrahman Al Friah, Executive Director CERT Saudi
Ahmed Baig, Abu Dhabi Municipality
Tamer Gamali, CISO, National Bank of Kuwait

Please contact :

Ali Khalid Rana
Marketing Manager - Cyber Defence Summit
Email:register@cyberdefencesummit.com

Abu Dhabi Cyber Defence Summit Website:
http://www.cyberdefe...px?id=147&new=1

Dear Shirin my friend

May you have a very Happy Birthday . And I wish you all the very best.

Thanks for this information Jamal!

I found this very easy to do but had to tweak a few things so that Kaspersky rescue would utilize my wireless nic!
I have the actual install cd for Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 modified the rescue.iso with the actual cd.
Had a few problems but man I tell yeah this tutorial you provided made my headache reduce a lot lol

anyway thanks again for this wonderful information you have provided!

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

@ Pcld 10t

thank you for your comment,
but, actually there is a more recent 2011 tutorial for Kaspersky Recsue USB that you can benefit from HERE

regards

jamal

Thank you Nuno Brito, steve6375, MedEvil, Wonko the Sane, Master of Disaster, dindin, for you comments and inputs.

@ Nuno Brito, I wonder if this can go into the weekly newsletter so we make sure all members have an idea about this subject, since we need all the help we can get for the greater good of the humanity, in this essence i would like to thank you all again, and thank all the professionals that will help in advance. Thank you.

jamal

 

Dear all,
Before I start this subject, I would like to say that we at RHOK need all the professionals that can help in this great cause for the humanity, enjoy reading, and may God bless you all.

In 2009 Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, NASA and the World Bank Founded the Random Hacks Of Kindness ( RHOK ), a global community of experts and volunteer technologists with innovation focused on developing practical open source solutions for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation challenges.

Since then thousands of volunteers have worked on applications that are already making an impact. I’m OK, an SMS service that lets people inform their families of their status, was used on the ground during the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile in 2010. The World Bank is piloting CHASM, software for visualizing landslide risk, in the Caribbean. Other apps have received support and interest from governments, NGOs and international organizations around the world.

RHOK community grew rapidly in 2010 and 2011, with volunteer-organized events taking place in 26 cities around the globe, over 3000 registrants and resulting in 200 distinct projects worked on, and 29 events so far have been established.

RHOK main-stage events have been attended globally by VIPs in governments, and in the technology and development communities, and RHOK keynote speeches were given by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and “Father of the Internet” Vint Cerf.

RHOK has received over 4 million Twitter impressions and has been covered by more than 300 news sources globally, including the NY Times, Forbes, the L.A. Times, Fox, Slashdot.org, and USA Today, including feature articles by NPR and Brazil’s top technology magazine. The Washington D.C. RHOK event in June 2010 was featured on the White House website.

RHOK works by bringing together experts in development and volunteers with a broad set of skills in software development and design. The goal is to produce practical open source solutions to development problems. Events give the community an opportunity to sprint on projects, but the community continues to collaborate around the year.

In the two short years since its inception, RHOK ( Random Hacks of Kindness ) has grown into a diverse global community of experts and volunteer technologists putting their skills to work for the greater good.

An important part of that diversity is the significant number of women programmers who have come out to RHOK events to hack for humanity. Women have traditionally been underrepresented in the global software development community. And at RHOK, we are aiming to better the statistics.

Problems we are addressing so far:
--------------------------------------------

1-Mapping needs and responses to a crisis:

Current technologies allow damage or incident reports to be mapped, providing a clearer picture of the overall situation.Since crisis response usually involves a multitude of stakeholders, COORDINATION of the response is very important to avoid duplication of efforts and ensuring that (ideally) all needs are met. Current technologies don't seem to go beyond the mapping of reports however. I believe that it would be of great use to the stakeholders involved in the response to be able to also map the NEEDED responses (e.g. in terms of number of items and their specifications required, possibly linked to a group of received reports), as well as the ACTUAL responses (by donors making funds available or local businessmen contributing some of the needed materials or even diaspora clicking on a "donate" button to contribute to the response in their community). This combined information would allow us to clearly show the gaps.A public and open source platform seems the perfect solution for this but to date I have not been able to find a solution that brings these elements together.

2-Disaster Information Provision for Patients with Chronic Disease:

In order for people with chronic disease to appropriately manage their illness there must be a stable routine. For some people with chronic disease (such as those with diabetes and severe asthma), the interruption to medication supply and health services which a disaster poses may prove life threatening. Solutions are necessary which link those with chronic disease to health information specific to their situation.

3-Participatory Flood Monitoring and Alert System in Central America:

Belize
Guatemala
El Salvador
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Panama
Dominican Republic

Participatory input of information, mainly by sms/web, about flood in urban and rural areas, will build a database that can be asses and consulted by organizations, government and media responsible or participating in Alert and Attention to Disaster system.

4-Message Carrier: Messages Without Connectivity:

A disaster occurs, there is no cell phone connectivity or wireless connection as you flee the scene. You'd like to get messages out to people you are close with. The needed solution is a way to transport messages from sender to receiver when no connectivity is available (ie, through the people - like passing paper messages, but smarter and faster).

5-Bushfire Connect:

As an example, the 2009 Black Saturday bush-fires in Victoria, Australia, burnt the equivalent of 1 million football fields, displaced 7,500 people across 78 townships, resulting in 173 dead and 2000 houses lost.We know when bushfires happen, people want fast access to trustworthy information. Bushfire Connect aggregates information from multiple sources: official and social, about events and incidents such as community meetings, fires, and road closures, in a way that empowers anyone to contribute local knowledge and make informed decisions. Bushfire Connect delivers this information through multiple media such as the web, mobile devices and custom SMS.

6-Disaster Alerts - Browser & Mobile:

Show emergency alerts (hurricane, tsunami, tornado, warnings, etc) in browsers or as a Mobile Widget/Application. Constrain to IP geolocations in warning area. Start with a desktop plugin, migrate to a native browser feature, meld with CAP standard, deploy as a mobile application.

7-Bacon - Finding People:

Many victims of catastrophes, die or remain disabled due to the time that one is late in locating them.The challenge is to detect and locate the victims buried by collapsed structures, avalanches, etc., using the mobile phones, creating an application that is auto-activated under certain circumstances or situations, and that uses Wi-fi's signal or Bluetooth for such a effect.

8-Missing Sidewalk Data:

There is not a way for search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing to provide safe and reliable walking directions. This is true because in the US, sidewalk data is very rare. Especially condition data.

9-Disaster Panel:

Central to disaster risk reduction is advocating the importance of the issue and the real time impact. The ‘Disaster Panel’ is a simple idea to communicate the current disasters that are occurring throughout the world and how your particular organization is responding (or not responding) to those events.


Regards
JAMAL H. NAJI

 

All My Previous Topics & Tutorials : here

The Cannes Lions Advertising Festival attracts the biggest brands and agencies from around the world, it is the largest gathering of world-wide advertising professionals, designers, digital innovators and marketers and you could be there!

The spectacular beachfront awards ceremony is in the glorious French Rivera where the winners will mix with brand representatives, the MOFILM team and other special guests.. They have a great mix of brands for their third year in Cannes and as usual there will be at least one winner for each brand with prizes that include cash and trips for two people to the MOFILM Cannes awards.

One of the biggest brands that are engaging in this festival is Microsoft with the,

Microsoft : Cannes Video Contest 2011
=============================





Create an entertaining and engaging 60 - 90 second film that shows how a Windows 7 PC is at the core of a student's life.

Grand prize winner receives $8,000 in cash and a trip for 2 to the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival in France where you’ll get the chance to meet Microsoft's special guest, Jesse Eisenberg, star of The Social Network.

There’s also a special bonus prize for a student filmmaker, so be sure to let Microsoft know if you are a student when you submit your entry.

Grand Prize
•$8,000
•Round trip travel for two (2) people to Cannes with 3 nights hotel accommodation
•Amazing schedule of parties and fun with MOFILM and Microsoft's invited guests
•Exclusive screening event of your video at the MOFILM awards night
2nd Prize
•$4,000
3rd Prize
•$2,000
4th Prize
•$1,000
5th Prize
•$1,000

Submition Dead Line : May 30, 2011 12:00 noon GMT

FAQ
http://www.mofilm.co...mpetitions/faq/

Terms & Conditions
http://www.mofilm.co...ms?sourceID=157

Microsoft Cometition Page
http://www.mofilm.co...s2011/microsoft


Good Luck everyone.

Without doubt, I consider your work as very important, useful and helpful .
In this connection I express my hearty thanks.

With high respect,

L.A.G.

Thank you gutnik for your nice words, hope I am doing my best, Welcome again to boot-land Empire.

hola

أهلا بك في موقعنا -أهلا بك أخا كريما من مصر أم الدنيا-نتمنى لك وقتا طيبا ومفيدا معنا

I am Tunisian and I'm 26 years old
Work: Higher computer network

أهلا وسهلا بك يا أخ أنيس من تونس الخضراء-نتمنى لك وقتا مفيدا وطيبا معنا

What do you think? Did I miss anything???

All done with Grub4DOS and using menu.lst entries with a couple of submenus.

Here are the entries:

Would love to hear responses. I'll post the menu.lst and submenus, if you guys want.

You may want to consider adding Live Hacking CD next to BackTrack? also maybe you consider its better to mix the OphCracks together in one so you save some space? also I don't see the Konboot in your menu? Check All in 1 Mission Impossible USB-2nd updated edition for some ideas.
Also you may consider adding other Anti-Virus to your project, like Bitdefender, and Kaspersky, and Norton.
And yes you need to post the menu list for sure, so the experts here help you with their valuable feedback.
Welcome to Boot-Land Empire

Hi everyone,

As usually I do when starting a new subject on the Hello World section of Boot-Land Community Forum, is to have a little bit of change and relaxation away from serious subjects for a few moments, but today the subject is far from being not serious.

The subject today that I am willing to share with you is about a security breach issue that is gaining a lot of attention nowadays and is called Electronic PickPocketing.

For those who have no idea about this issue can follow the link below and watch the short movie for more information, also after that you can search YouTube for example for more movies on the same subject.

http://www.wreg.com/...ea-1884ec348310

enjoy
Previous Topics & Tutorials

To continue reading for free, register below or login
Requires Membership to View

Thank you HTML Tiger and sambul61, for your questions, yes it is exlusive information for members, and simply you can subscribe to this elite website, nowadays many sites including our boot-land you need to be a member, so you have access to information or downloads. best regards, and hope everyone really benefit from.

From blocking USB access on endpoints and tracking down temporary files to cracking passwords in Windows 7, see what desktop security topics Windows admins were most interested in this past year.

1- Using Group Policy to lock down the Control Panel
Preventing unauthorized changes to Windows systems is a basic security precaution. This tip explores how Group Policy settings can keep users from messing with the Control Panel.

2- Blocking USB access on your endpoints
While gluing your USB ports shut is one way to avoid data loss via a portable drive, there is a less drastic -- but still effective -- option.

3-Windows 7 security vulnerabilities you don't know
Just because Windows 7 is Microsoft's most secure desktop OS doesn't mean it's trouble-free. Address these six new and old vulnerabilities before migrating.

4-Microsoft Security Essentials: When it may not be a good fit
Security Essentials, Microsoft's antivirus software, is fast, reliable and free. But in certain situations, that's not enough. Find out if it's right for you.

5-Where does Windows store its temporary files?
The temp files generated by Microsoft's operating system can pile up and become a security hazard. Learn how to track them down and tidy up your systems with this tip.

6-Cool -- and free -- client diagnostic tools
These tools can be used to gather the desktop data needed for troubleshooting connectivity and authentication problems in enterprise desktops.

7-Why you should eliminate passwords in your enterprise
Not only are passwords annoying to remember and a pain to reset, but they're also easy to crack. Luckily, there's a better way to secure your desktops.

8- XP, Vista or Windows 7: Which is the most secure desktop OS?
Your favorite desktop operating system may not necessarily be the safest. See how XP, Vista and Windows 7 stack up in terms of security.

9- Top 5 registry keys for Windows 7
Use these helpful Windows 7 registry keys to manage user accounts, prevent a computer from rebooting after installing patches, and more.

10- Cracking passwords in Windows 7
When it comes to cracking passwords, nothing has changed with Windows 7. This tip shows how easily your passwords can be exploited.

Want more? Check out all (SearchEnterpriseDsesktop.com) expert security tips and articles from 2010.

Thank you for this post! I will take a look around the links you posted! Good material.

Thank you JAN, hope you would benefit from.

Whether you're new to the IT industry, changing career paths, or looking to advance in your current role, Microsoft Certification can open doors to new opportunities in IT and software development.

63% of hiring managers felt certified employees
are more productive than their non-certified peers.

Now is the time to invest in your career with special offers, free career guidance, learning plans, and training and certification options from Microsoft Learning.

Visit the Microsoft Learning Career Portal HERE or check out the resources below:

- Discover Special Offers HERE
- Choose a Certification Path HERE
- Explore Possible Job Roles HERE
- Find Online Training HERE

What are you waiting for? Take the next step in your career by improving your IT skills, and then earning a Microsoft Certification that shows hiring managers you have the skills to get the job done!

Need help? The Microsoft Training and Certification Guidance Team is available to answer your questions. Contact a Learning Expert HERE.

Good Luck to you all.

Thank you captain-midnight for your nice words, and also thank you for all members and guests, who said thank you here in the forum, or in their e-mails, thank you all, and welcome to the boot-land empire

Very nice my friend Master of Disaster, as a first speculation for the results of your test, I see nothing wrong happened first steps, and that's a good sign, and I admit I didn't even expected that you would reach that far with trying to run a virtual machine from inside another virtual machine, but I need to make sure if you have done things right or not, so I am going to ask you: have you made sure that the needed memory for both XP MODE & the QEMU virtual machine are correct? means the XP MODE for example should be 1 GB, but the Qemu that is working from inside XP MODE should have less memory, let's say 512 MB or less? so to make sure XP MODE doesn't collapse because of insufficient memory as I am expecting that's what happened with you?
Please give it a try and report back if possible.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Hi jamal

On the contrary amalux, these are my words and you can refer to them in my first reply, it seems you have missed them:
The only way to start a virtual machine with no admin rights is by doing that offline, means using any PE/OS or LiveXP or MOA, but if you are working from a corporate PC, I doubt that you can even restart your working PC to start your virtual machine offline.

So what I am saying is clear, you can, yes, but only offline, if you have the rights to reboot the corporate PC.

regards

I wonder, if you 2 guys have the same IP address? Drink the same coffee...

Thank you sambul61,

Once 30 years ago I learned from a wisdom GURU in India, that the words I don't say, I am their Owner and Master for ever, but the words that I say, they Own me forever!
I kept those precious words in my mind, and applied them all my life.

If I know that you are qualified and already armed with (Neywork+,Security+MCSE & CEH) certificates, I would have gladly upon your request, provided you with no less than 20 examples, of how you and your friends can connect to the net, and act as same IP address, same MAC address, and even same ID, while each one of you is located in different places around the world, without necessarily sharing the same cup of coffee as you or others assume , also I didn't know that boot-land board members are sharing my IP address and my geo-location with other members and with you despite they do not know it ever for sure! They owe me an explanation answer for this.

Bottom line, concentrate on what you are good at, and leave no good stuff to the no good people around here.

Apologies to the topic writer, and all members that I engaged a subject not related to the topic, but I felt I had to, so to straighten up something here.
regards

Thank you Stratedox.

you can't install anything on a corporate pc that the network admin has blocked; at least if you want to keep your job.

This is a separate topic, not raised by bleeding_me in original post which I was responding to.

This happens a lot where subsequent posters raise other issues and the thread gets bogged .

If you wish to get answers on how to skirt corporate rules and regulations on corporate owned machines, you should start another thread on this topic but I don't expect you'll get the response you're looking for

Hi amalux,
It is very strange that you are pointing out that the main topic is not about installing or using virtual machines on corporate PCs ? This is bleeding_me own words, that started the subject, and his only problem he hoped to be solved:

(because many computers that i use, i don't have admin rights to install). I have tried VirtualBox 3 (and i think i did it right) but it didn't work)

And he is trying or thinking that he might use an external HDD and start the virtual machine from there to bypass the admin rights, and he failed using Virtual Box, and he is asking if there is any other program that can work around this limitation, then you came and answered, and thankfully gave us the link to your new self made(not official) new version of portable Virtual Box, so I tried it and gave my results, that it doesn't work also on corporate PCs, and I assured everyone that there is no program to date that can bypass admin rights on corporate PCs that can run a Virtual Machine, then Nuno Brito came with a suggestion to use Qemu, as he thought it doesn't need admin rights, then came our good friend Master of Disaster with his test, that proves with no doubts what I stated before, that there is no program yet to bypass admin rights, not just on corporate PCs but also on personal PCs with no admin rights, that can run a Virtual machine.

Am I missing something here? Wasn't that the main subject? my answer is wrong and not in place and this is not the topic main concern? I may ask all members that were involved in answering on this thread to give their opinion if I was wrong here, and this is not the subject, that includes the topic writer bleeding_me, so I be carefull next time, and not give an answer to no related subjects.
regards

Hello friends...

The problem is I don't find a program that can run the VM without having to install the program (because many computers that i use, i don't have admin rights to install). I have tried VirtualBox 3 (and i think i did it right) but it didn't work ..

Is this possible? And is there any App to do this ?

Hi bleeding_me, as far as I know, there is no program yet to start virtual machines without admin rights, even portable virtual box needs admin rights to start, although the concept of portables is to work with them without that privilege, but it fails anyway to start, not even the modified version of amalux mentioned in his reply above would work :




The only way to start a virtual machine with no admin rights is by doing that offline, means using any PE/OS or LiveXP or MOA, but if you are working from a corporate PC, I doubt that you can even restart your working PC to start your virtual machine offline.

regards

*bilou_gateux, thanks for your useful feedback(solution).

**erwan.l, thank you for your post, yes it works from a Win7 on both offline Win Vista & XP hives, also a good chance to thank you for your beautiful 100 in 1 tool [ IP Sniffer ], that's a great work.

***Wonko the Sane, it didn't work with me from vise versa environment, maybe any ready solution? Am trying to figure that out, but no luck yet.

Wow, Thanks Dude, I'll Certainly Try To Live up To The New Title, "I'm Honored", Thanx and congrats on the little girl. "They are Wonderful little critters".

Congratulations RoyM for the promotion, good work.

Thank you Just_A_Novice, this is a good tutorial, also congratulations for the promotion. You are the second member in boot-land history to get a speedy promotion for his good work, the first one was RoyM, he was promoted to a script developer in a matter of few posts, refer to his post and promotion HERE.Thank you both again.

Do you consider yourself a gaming entrepreneur? Or maybe a software design aficionado? Or perhaps creating viral videos are more your thing? Well, at Imagine Cup 2011 they've got it all — and more!

This is the competition of competitions. The opportunity to share your creativity with the world. Oh yeah, and the chance to win some pretty amazing prizes. Now, if you're ready, GO compete!

Think big. Think global.
See how far you can go at Imagine Cup 2011!
What started nine years ago as a way to get students excited about technology has transformed into something truly inspiring. This is your chance to test your creativity and skills. To have an impact on major global issues. And to show your peers — and the rest of the world — what you’re made of. This is Imagine Cup 2011!

Software Design
Real applications for the real world.
Here's your mission (if you choose to accept it). Create real-world software applications using Microsoft technologies. Just remember, they must address the Imagine Cup 2011 theme: Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.

Need some inspiration? Check out the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals — then challenge yourself to create something incredible.This competition is where legends are born. Where lives are changed. And where an application that starts as a simple idea can end up making a global difference.

Game Design
Become the ultimate superhero.
Who says saving the world can't be fun? First of all, it's thrilling to make a difference. And with the power of gaming, people can have fun while fighting global issues.

Needs some ideas? Check out the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals — then blow us away! Build a full game from scratch. And make it something truly unique. Think of this competition as an important step in your budding career as a game developer or an entrepreneur in the game business.

Digital Media
It's a viral revolution!
You've seen it all, from washed up pop singers to talking produce. And now, this is your chance to tell your unique point of view to the world. So, team up with a friend to shoot, edit, and share the web's next viral video hit by entering the World Wide Imagine Cup Digital Media competition.

Your idea should be inspired by the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals. So start brainstorming, then create something that will influence change around the world. And remember, the videos that become the most popular win!

Embedded Development
Create tomorrow's technology, today.
From GPS units to mp3 players, embedded systems are everywhere. And with this market getting bigger every day, it's no surprise that companies are looking for developers with the chops to take embedded development to the next level.

Needs some inspiration? Check out the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals — then sign up for the Imagine Cup Worldwide Embedded Development Competition and get the real-world experience that recruiters look for. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the next big thing.

IT Challenge
Put hackers in their place.
Think you can develop, deploy, and maintain a rock-solid IT system that's efficient, functional, robust, and secure? The kind that even the savviest hacker can't break through? We know you can! It all starts with a few quizzes to check your book-smarts. Then the Challenge moves on to a hands-on lab where you'll put your practical IT knowledge to the test.

The IT Challenge is all about preparing students like you to be IT professionals — testing your ability to interpret customer needs and manage configurations that require an intimate understanding of how all the pieces fit together. Sign up for the Imagine Cup Worldwide IT Challenge and get real-world experience, right now!


All you need to know about this is HERE

On January 13th, the seven-year-old Computer History Museum will open its first truly full-blown permanent exhibit:, the 25,000-square-foot, $19 million "Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing." It's been a long time in the making: It features a spectacular collection of computers and related apparatus begun by DEC founder Ken Olsen and computing legend Gordon Bell back in the mid-1970s, which spent some time at Boston's now-defunct Computer Museum before making its way to its current home in Mountain View, California, within walking distance of the Googleplex.

The museum invited reporters for a sneak peek of the new exhibit this morning, and while it's a work in progress -- we saw mainframes still wrapped, Christo-style, in protective plastic wrap -- it was a remarkable experience. Part of what made it remarkable was our guide, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.

Read more by Harry McCracken, Technologizer at PC WORLD HERE

In addition to what we previously said about the Firesheep Firefox add-on that lets someone with virtually no hacking experience steal your identity when you visit a number of Web sites, including Facebook. Here's more bad news: Firesheep is far from the only privacy danger out there. There are plenty of powerful tools that hackers can use to steal private information from you not just specific Web sites, but wherever you are on the Web, or when you use other Internet services, such as client-based e-mail and instant messaging. The for-pay AlwaysVPN (pricing varies with bandwidth) does a great job of keeping you safe no matter what you do and where you go on the Internet.

AlwaysVPN uses Virtual Private Networking technology to encrypt all of your communications, and it's especially useful for those who connect at public Wi-Fi hot spots, where all communications are in the open and not encrypted.

Read more from Preston Gralla of PC WORLD HERE

The creators of the Siberia Exploits Kit have recently given it an update, enabling attackers to design more custom malware that can bypass anti-virus and remain virtually undetectable on systems.

The new automated features in Siberia can test malware success rates against signature-based anti-virus engines. It uses a service called Scan4you, which doesn't report malware samples to security vendors.

Researchers at UK-based M86 security, who recently noted the changes, said the update brings Siberia more in line with its more popular competitors, including the Eleonore Exploit Kit, which can be purchased by cybercriminals on various underground hacker forums. Tool-kits like Siberia and Eleonore can sell for as little as $300 and up to $1,500 for a package that includes software updates and additional modules such as encryption, said Ed Rowley, a product manager of M86 Security.

"Siberia is another exploit kit catching up to some of its competitors in what is quite a busy market space," Rowley said. "We frequently suspect that it is the same criminal gangs at it as they sell off their tool-kits using a channel of resellers."

Read more HERE from Robert Westervelt, News Director of SearchSecurity.com

Thanks for the news.
I went to check the site and it took a good while to load, have you noted the same?
Nice to see some things with HTML5 showing up, despite all those apple/ms wars against flash animations I see that HTML5 rendering performance is still sluggish. If flash is such evil, it sure works far better than the current state of HTML5 video rendering.

Thank you Nuno, yes it takes some time to load,and if you save the project and email it for example, you need IE9 to preview the final work, I tested it with IE9-32 bits it works and renders faster, way faster. good you liked it..thank you.

Okapi is an open-source framework for building digital, generative art in HTML5. Joshua Davis Studios and Mix Online are collaborating to provide you an easy way to either build your own generative art with Okapi or simply create a piece of art at Endless Mural that was commissioned by Microsoft for the IE9 Launch.

Designers: Okapi allows you to create digital, generative art based on HTML5's Canvas that can be used in any compatible browser.

Developers: You can download Okapi's source since it is open source and add your own creative functionality.

Enthusiasts: You can use Okapi at Endless Mural to create your own art and enter our contest without having to know any code!

If you want to know more about OKAPI, you can use this LINK to download OKAPI or to submit your work for the contest that ends up before Dec 15 2010.

Also if you want to To help get those creative juices flowing, check out Joshua Davis' Endless Mural HERE

Good Luck.

If you want to receive a Complimentary 12-month Microsoft TechNet Professional subscription and a certification exam voucher with a free Re-Take when you purchase selected classroom training from a participating Microsoft Learning Partner, then follow THIS LINK for all the details you need to know. Good Luck.

Sara, this is Very good, clean, straight forward into subject, elegant style, correct info, you could easily be a tutorial writer with such style, and not as many advanced and super advanced members here use to link you to nonsense links that leads you to more confusion.. Very good again, and thank you.

Let's be honest: Everyone hates passwords.
Users hate remembering them, IT hates resetting them, and IT security hates that staffers use the same passwords for the corporate network that they use for Facebook. And passwords are easy to crack -- modern, pre-generated hash tables can crack most passwords up to 10 characters long in minutes.

So what can we do about it?

Greg Shields & Don Jones wrote an interesting article about this, read HERE

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Don Jones is a co-founder of Concentrated Technology LLC, the author of more than 30 IT books and a speaker at technical conferences worldwide.

Greg Shields is co-founder of Concentrated Technology LLC, an independent author, instructor, Microsoft MVP and IT consultant based in Denver, Colorado.

More about Passwords:

Windows 7 doesn't end the need to monitor passwords by Kevin Beaver HERE

How to crack a password by Brien M. Posey HERE

Cracking passwords in Windows 7 by Kevin Beaver HERE

Dear all, I would really thank you for all your replies and inputs, it really enriched this subject with great expertise that each one of you have, I do appreciate all what you said, and I really do take them into consideration and practice them in my work, regardless if I agree with them or not, and regardless the results are identical to your knowledge or not, because the first thing I consider is that very valuable knowledge you all have that any one at all can benefit from. I just would like to add a little acknowledgement here that this tutorial is intended for beginners not for experts, beginners like business men, or normal users that would like to replace their PCs or HDDs for any reason, and they need to make sure nothing personal is left behind in their PCs, so I find it ideal to do what I mentioned in my tutorial, that by default comes with lots of step by step pictures, so to make things easy for them, actually not just normal users will benefit from this tutorial with all its pictures, but also professionals in the calibre of Nuno Brito, you can refer to his input early in this forum about this subject, simply because many of us maybe have not went thru testing some programs, and those pictures will definitely help. Thank you all again, your input in this subject really satisfied me and made me more knowledgeable.

السيد جمال تحية طيبة - أنا من المعجبين بمواضيعك الممتازة وأسلوبك الآنيق بالكتابة والتحليل وتدعم مواضيعك بشكل ممتاز بالصور التوضيحية - كذلك كما الاحظ ان مواضيعك تسبب النقاش الكبير نظرا للنظريات التي تطرحها جريئة وواقعية وتبدو من خبرتك الكبيرة والفريدة في عدد منها-أنا بالحقيقة أعرفك شخصيا فقد ألتقينا في أبريل من عام 2006 في مايكروسوفت لبنان-حيث أستمعت ألى محاضرتك التي ألقيتها في تطبيق الوندوز فيستا والآوفيس 2007 على الحاسبات والخاصة بالمحترفين-حيث كنت أنا رئيس قسم الحماية من القرصنة لمايكروسوفت لبنان والشرق الاوسط وباكستان-لاادري هل تذكرني-وتعرفت اليك حينها وأبديت لك اعجابي بك كخبير المعلوماتية العراقي وعلمك واسلوبك الرائع في حينها-لا ادري هل لازلت في لبنان مقيم ام انت في الولايات المتحده كما ارى من العلم الامريكي جانب اسمك-يسعدني اللقاء بك مرة ثانيه-وزادك الله علما

اهلا بك أستاذ علي-بكل تأكيد أذكرك-وكيف أنسى شخصية رائعه ومهمة وطيبة مثل جنابكم الكريم--أهلا بك في هذا الموقع المهم الذي يضم خيرة الخبراء في العالم بمجال المعلوماتيه والبرامجيات واتمنى لك وقتا ممتعا ومفيدا معنا..وأشكرك الشكر الكبير على أهتمامك وكلماتك الطيبة بمواضيعي التدريبية التي أقدمها..بالنسبة لي أنا مقيم حاليا في الهند ولكن اتردد نعم على الولايات المتحده ثلاث او اربع مرات بالسنة لحضور بعض المؤتمرات المهمه فيها..أكرر لك شكري وترحيبي بك..ويمكنك مراسلتي دائما من المسنجر الجانبي لهذا الموقع ان احببت ان تسئلني عن اي اشياء خاصة..مرحبا بك سيدي الكريم

Michael Calce, the reformed hacker from Montreal who will forever be known as Mafiaboy, told a group of IT professionals Tuesday that he has serious concerns about the inherent vulnerabilities in the latest evolution of information technology: cloud computing.

Calce was a guest-speaker at storage vendor Hitachi Data Systems' (HDS) (NYSE: HIT) annual Information Forum event in Toronto. He came to fame in 2000 when, as a teenager, he launched a series of denial of service attacks that crippled the Web sites of companies such as CNN, Amazon, Dell and Yahoo, leading to a manhunt by the RCMP and the FBI and his eventual arrest.

Having completed his sentence and matured beyond the "misguided youth with too much power at his fingertips," Calce is speaking out about IT security and the inherent vulnerabilities in the way the Internet is constructed that he said still haven't been addressed. And Calce has some serious concerns about the latest craze sweeping the IT industry: cloud computing.

Read the full story by Jeff Jedras from ITBUSINESS.CA HERE

Read more about Mafiaboy's story pointing on NET WEAKNESS, story by James Evans from IDG News HERE

Read all about Mafiaboy in Wikipedia HERE

A new tool has been released today in a collaboration between the EFF - the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the TOR-project, this free tool offered to combat Firesheep Hackers, and is called HTTPS-EVERYWHERE, and it's a Firefox extension that contains enhancements specifically designed to foil Firesheep-inspired attacks. "It will go a long way towards protecting your Facebook, Twitter, or Hotmail accounts from Firesheep hacks," asserted EFF Senior Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley. "And, like previous releases, it shields your Google searches from eavesdroppers and safeguards your payments made through PayPal."

Read the full story by John P. Mello Jr., from PCWorld HERE.

Official download link of the HTTPS-EVERYWHERE tool HERE

About the IAPP:

Founded in year 2000, IAPP the International Association of Privacy Professionals is considered the world's largest association of privacy professionals with more than 7,000 members in 52 countries. The IAPP helps define, support and improve the privacy profession through networking, education and certification.

IAPP is a community of privacy professionals eager to meet, share and learn. It’s the place to engage with the global network of people who are the privacy community. More than just a professional association, the IAPP provides a home for privacy professionals around the world to gather, share experiences and enrich their careers.

One of the upcoming IAPP Privacy Symposiums will be held in Canada and The call for papers for the IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium 2011, 4-6 May in Toronto is now open.

The IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium offers thought-provoking discussion and unmatched education on the latest developments in privacy for the Canadian data protection community.

In anticipation, IAPP now accepting speaker proposals for the upcoming event. They are looking for dynamic speakers to present on a wide range of topics that mostly impact the privacy profession in Canada.

The Canadian Advisory Board is seeking session ideas that are advanced and on emerging privacy areas. Specific topics of interest include:

•Records destruction
•Metrics
•Best practices in employee training
•Getting corporate buy-in: The role of the CPO
•Cloud computing
•Governance
•Data reconstruction through data matching
•E-Health
•Social media and behavioral marketing
•Public sector content

If any of boot-land members would like to be considered as a presenter, you are encouraged to submit a speaking proposal HERE.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, December 3, 2010.

for more information, you can read the Proposal FAQ HERE.

Also you can watch the IAPP special tenth anniversary on YouTube part 1 HERE, and part 2 HERE

IAPP home page: https://www.privacyassociation.org/

IT pros and partners want to use application virtualization tools to run Internet Explorer. But Microsoft forbids the practice and last week put its big foot down on one application virtualization company for using the technology to offer IE on the Web.

One of the common uses of application virtualization tools, such as VMware's ThinApp, is to run legacy or even multiple versions of IE on Windows 7. But Microsoft does not support virtualizing IE because it is part of Windows, and the company does not want it to be abstracted from the operating system.

Read the full story by Bridget Botelho the Senior News Writer at SearchVirtualDesktop.com HERE.

Hello Jamal/All
Is there some solution to update Kaspersky Rescue disk 10 to use updates from local disk and not from internet?
Thanx in advice.
gnikolic.

Yes gnikolic , actually this tutorial includes what you asked for and with the more recent 2011 version of Kaspersky Internet Security. regards.

A little relaxation for our eyes and senses in the Hello World section of Boot-Land, with a magnificent Lamborghini Windows 7 theme I found on the net and wanted to share with you.

Do you like Cars? We love em! One of the most fascinating Supercars ever created was the Lamborghini. Take up any model, each one is more awesome than the other. These cars cost a fortune so not many of us can afford to buy one, but we can always drool over some beautiful Lamborghini Wallpapers.

The Lamborghini Windows 7 Theme consists of 25+ HD awesome Lamborghini Wallpapers, a set of custom Icons and Genuine Lamborghini Cars sounds that can pump some adrenaline rush into your blood, but be careful not to get some speeding tickets next time you drive your car! enjoy !

Download Link (10 MB )

Here some of those wallpapers, and how the desktops looks with those new icons:

Yep, although I have found NO free app that works as fast, compresses as well or allows file level restore or works quite as well as Ghost.
It's a shame Symantec can't make it more affordable and available to the public in a usable form.

Ok Rootman, since you are a Ghost fan, you might find my topics HERE, and HERE useful to you in some way.

Although the purpose of this topic is to use a feature included by default in Windows 7, that as I said, 90% of Windows 7 users never used it, while its free and very reliable, never fails to recover every bit of your hard drive every time, also the feature of dealing with the System Image as an attached hard drive so to add/remove files to it with ease, makes this a very welcome feature for any user of Windows 7. regards

Thank you carloscape for your post and concern question,
you might find this article By Steven Andrés, of PC World useful to you and an answer to your concerns.

Thank you Rootman and Wonko,
I actually was willing to make this tutorial strictly with Microsoft, means without using anything else other than Windows features, and as an option and contribution, I added the use of RMPrepUSB tool because it's a boot-land community tool.
Thank you again for your nice words.

Yep , wireless cookie stealing is not really news, sessionthief, surfjack, wifizoo and the like are around since years.
Maybe the fact that Firesheep has more publicity/hype now is a good thing, maybe this time more morons inexperienced users will start being more careful....

Wonko

Thank you Wonko,

Yes actually while sniffing/stealing session credentials is nothing new, the Firesheep plug-in which was developed by security researchers in the first place to highlight how insecure public WiFi networks can be. Mission accomplished, yes. But unfortunately the tool works quite well, and it's free for public to download and use, and its public availability places a relatively powerful snooping tool that as I said requires virtually no hacking skills whatsoever,this tool exposed this capability to the masses, by automating the process, so that absolutely everyone with no technical know-how can simply log on to your bank account or your facebook or hotmail or anywhere you are using your user name and password and act on your behalf, while you are sitting quietly sipping your morning coffee, and you don't know what the other kid next to you is doing on your behalf!!

And unfortunatley its quite difficult to defend against Firesheep because most sites only permits SSL connections during the initial log in, not while surfing, so while your user name and password are encrypted, your session ID is not, and it's available to all other machines on the same network, and as I mentioned, that kid next to you in Starbucks can act on your behalf on any account you are logged in on your machine!

The good news now is coming from Zscaler research team, they invented a Firefox add-on they called it BlackSheep, this BlackSheep won't secure your wireless data, and it won't prevent your information from being snooped by Firesheep per se, but it will alert you when Firesheep is in use on the network you're connected to so that you're aware, and shows you his IP address also, so it's up to you to call the cops then and let them catch this snooper kid red handed.

Here is all the info you need:

BlackSheep
==========
Version: 1.3
License Type: Free
Price: Free
Date available: Nov 12, 2010
Operating Systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
Requirements: 32-bit Mozilla Firefox 3.5 or higher+ WinPcap
File Size: 3994 KB
Author: Zscaler

Download WinPcap from HERE
Download BlackSheep from HERE

Here is a youtube video link of of both (Firefox-Sheeps) in actions:
http://www.youtube.c...layer_embedded#!

90% of Windows 7 users never used this powerful and reliable feature that is included in all Windows 7 versions, 10% only of those 90% know it’s there, but they haven’t thought of trying it, due to the lack of experience, or they do have other solutions from different vendors, the rest of those 90% they have no idea of what I am talking about.

Windows 7 users fall in 2 parts, either they have their Windows 7 pre-installed on their PCs, or they have their own Legal or illegal copy of Windows 7, they use it to install on their computers.

The first part (the ones that do have Windows 7 factory pre-installed on their PCs when they purchased it), have by default often the privilege of system recovery of their OS, as pre-installed by the factory, so they can go back to the state where they first time bought their PCs and used it, and that process takes no less than 1 hour to finish that recovery, and they have to spend no less than 4 other hours to remove the default junk-ware that comes pre-installed on their PCs, and updating the OS and installing their own software they use normally, and adjusting the behavior and the look of their OS the way they like.

My neighbor needs 2 days to finish his Vista PC, where he needs to install over 150 critical security updates from Microsoft and 2 service packs, before he starts installing other software he uses like Office + updates+ acrobat reader + PDF writer, Java, real player, etc.., and in the end he has to make sure his Windows looks and behaves the way he likes, this is a very frustrating and annoying process, and a huge waste of time an energy, not to mention how much it takes from the internet bandwidth he has to finish all those updates. Many times he had to re-do the recovery again because while he was doing it first time it didn’t went Ok with him, and he didn’t like the way his PC behaves, and he crashed his system while doing that, so he had to re-do all this again, he is lucky to work with his PC for another month before something bad happens to his system, get infected with a nasty virus or any bad stuff from the net, or gets repeated crashes in his system from installing and uninstalling software or games, so he repeats all that again and again and again, he told me he had re-recover his PC at least 20 times last year alone, I believe him, because I know people do more.

People who do fall in the second part (the ones they do have their own legal or illegal copy of Windows), they do suffer more; because they have to go with that nasty exhausting process of re-activating their Windows after every format they do to their systems. People in the United States are luckier than other people around the world, they can do it in the states with less than 10 minutes over the phone, but for example in the middle east, they have to spend some money to do an international call to the activation center at Microsoft, and often it doesn’t work from first time with them, they have to adjust the Regional and Language options to the default US language and location, before they succeed with the activation! That’s if the phone line didn’t drop or disconnect during that process.

To both categories, I say why is all that suffer? Why don’t you simply after you recover or reformat your PCs and install everything you need, and you are ready to use your PC, why don’t you simply make a system Image, so when anything bad happens to it, you just go back to that image, and recover your PC in 10 minutes or so.

What you will learn in this tutorial?
• How to make a system image and how to recover your system from that image.
• How to make a bootable system repair CD, an essential tool to use when your system crashes and you are not able to boot it up, you can use this CD to recover your PC from the system image you made in 1 above.
• How to make a system repair USB, so in case you do not have a CD-Burner, and you cannot make or use the system repair disk, you will be able when using the USB to recover your system.
• Also we will learn how to recover a specific file or a group of files from that image.
==============================================================

The Tutorial

A- How to make a system image:
• Before we start this, I should note that it is ideal that you should image your system when it’s in perfect condition, so you can always go back to that perfect state in case of disaster recovery.

1- Click on start button, browse to All Programs, browse to Maintenance, expand it, you will see the Backup and Restore option, and the Create a System Repair Disk option, click on the Backup and Restore:



2- From the next screen click on Create a System Image:



3- The Wizard will start in the next couple of seconds to look for a place to save this image:



4- Then will stop on this screen where you will have several choices like where to save the system image that you will make, either on another partition on your hard drive, or on an external USB hard drive that you can attach to your PC, or burn that image to several DVD media, or save it on another PC on your network, the choice here is yours, When you finish deciding where you want to save that image,(Personally I prefer to save it on an external USB HDD) then hit the next button :



5- Next screen you will see the option of what you want to back up besides the system itself, in this tutorial we will leave it to the default and hit next button:



6- Next you will see a confirmation window that shows you the backup location and the partition that will me imaged, click on start backup button, the imaging process will take some time depending on the size of the data on your C drive where the Windows is installed:



7- And when done you will have the option to make a bootable System Repair Disk to offline recover your PC with, so in case your system is damaged and you can’t boot your PC and logon to your Windows, as I said earlier. Now if you do have a CD-Burner, then insert a blank CD and hit yes button to do so, but if you do not have a CD-Burner, we will talk about this issue later, and explain the solution to solve this matter in details:



8- The image you have created will be by default in a folder named Windows Image Backup, and now we successfully created a system image:



B- How to Recover your system in case of disaster:

• This falls into 2 categories, the 1st one if you are able to logon to your Windows, and the 2nd one in case your system fails to boot and logon to Windows, we will cover them respectively:
1- If you after a while of using your PC and let’s say got infected with a virus or your system is crashing often, and you want to recover it to the previous state when you made that perfect state system image as we did above, and you are still able to logon to your Windows and you can see the desktop, then click on start button, browse to All Programs, browse to Maintenance, expand it, and click on the Backup and Restore option:



2- From the next screen click on Recover system settings or your computer:



3- Next screen click on Advanced recovery methods:



4- Next screen click on Use a system image you created earlier to recover your computer:



5- Next screen you will be asked if you want to backup your files that you have on C drive (documents, pictures, music, video, favorites, etc.), if you do then click on backup now:



6- Next the system will prepare to backup your files before it makes the recovery:



7- And you will be provided the option of where to save those files:



8- After you finish the backup of your files and saving them you will have to click on restart button, so to start the recovery :



9- The system will restart and the recovery wizard begins with this window, click next:



10- The wizard will search all drives for the image you made, and will choose it by default, click on next:



11- Click on next also from the following screen:



12- Click on finish to start the recovery process:



13- Click on yes on the last warning and confirmation window:



14- The re-image will start, and will take maybe some 10 minutes or so for a 25 GB of data in size, means it is not a lengthy process:



15- When done the computer will restart automatically in 60 seconds:



16- Now your computer will logon to its previous healthy state, and you will see this window asking you if you want to restore your files you saved them in previous steps 5, 6. And 7 above, click on Restore my files if you have done so, otherwise you can skip this, by pressing on cancel button:



17- You would see this window where you can browse to the location of your saved files that you want to restore:



C- How to use the System Recovery Disk, and why we need it:

• We learned in step A-7 above how to make a system recovery disk , and we also learned that we need a System recovery Disk to use it to offline recover your PC from the image you made previously, in case your system is so damaged and you are not able to boot it up and logon to your Windows, therefore you are not able to launch the recovery wizard from within Windows, here is how to use this recovery Disk:
1- When you boot your PC with this recovery disk, by default the wizard will assume that you are not able to start your PC, and will try to fix this issue before going into the recovery process, follow steps below:











2- In some cases the wizard fails to automatically fix the Windows start-up:



3- Click on finish to proceed to more recovery options:



4- From the next screen choose System Image Recovery, which is what we want to do:



5- Now you will see similar procedures like you saw in steps B-10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 above, where you learned how to recover your system from an image.



D- How to make a System Recovery USB thumb drive, and why do we need it?

• Many Windows 7 PCs don’t have a CD-Burner, like for example the netbooks, so they need an alternative solution. By doing a system recovery USB thumb drive we solve this problem.
- Study case # 1
- (You already have a System Recovery Disk, and you want to record on USB thumb drive)
1st-method
a- You need a Windows 7 based PC to work with this method, and you need to turn off the UAC (user account control) completely, and reboot your PC before you start with this tutorial, also you need to execute all steps in elevated privileges (Run as administrator).
b- You need to have the System Recovery Disk handy (the one you have made previously in step A-7 above), insert it into the CD-Rom drive, and make sure you know its drive letter.
c- You need a 512 MB or better USB 2.0 or better clean, empty, & healthy thumb drive, attach it to your PC and make sure you know its drive letter.
d- Press WIN key + R the Run command will start, type diskpart and press OK:



e- the cmd will popup and diskpart will start:



f- Type list disk and press Enter key (watch for spaces between letters when you type in all the following steps):



g- Type select disk 1 and press Enter key (disk 1 is my thumb drive, yours maybe different, so watch out for this):



h- Type clean and press Enter key:



i- Type create partition primary and press Enter key:



j- Type select partition 1 and press the Enter key:



k- Type active and press Enter key:



l- Type format fs=ntfs quick and press Enter key:



m- Type assign and press Enter key:



n- Type exit and press Enter key, and close the cmd window:



o- Now copy all the contents of the System Recovery CD to the USB thumb drive:



p- And you are done, you can boot your PC now with the USB you just made and use it for recovery and repair, the files inside the USB thumb drive now should look like this:



2nd-method

a- You need a Windows 7 based PC to work with this method, and you need to turn off the UAC (user account control) completely, and reboot your PC before you start with this tutorial, also you need to execute all steps in elevated privileges (Run as administrator).
b- You need to have the System Recovery Disk handy (the one you have made previously in step A-7 above), insert it into the CD-Rom drive, and make sure you know its drive letter.
c- You need a 512 MB or better USB 2.0 or better clean, empty, & healthy thumb drive, attach it to your PC and make sure you know its drive letter.
d- You need to download the RMPrepUSB tool (the portable version) from HERE, and extract the zipped file to a folder onto your desktop:



e- Open the folder you just downloaded and execute (RMPREPUSB.exe), follow the steps in picture below, and (watch out in the 6th step that you are browsing to the CD-Rom where the system repair disk files are):



f- Press OK on this:



g- And press another OK here:



h- And wait for this to complete:



i- Files will be copied from the CD to the USB thumb drive automatically, do not interrupt:



j- When done you should see this, press OK:



k- Now press the Eject Drive button and then on the confirmation window click on OK, then finally click on Exit to close the program:



• Now you are done, and you can use this USB thumb drive as a System Repair USB for Windows 7, and do recovery stuff with it.

-Study case # 2 –

* You do not have a CD-Burner in your PC, and you need to have a System Repair USB instead for your Windows 7 to do recoveries and backups. Here is what you need and how to do it:
a- You need a Windows 7 based PC to work with this method, and you need to turn off the UAC (user account control) completely, and reboot your PC before you start with this tutorial, also you need to execute all steps in elevated privileges (Run as administrator).
b- You need a 512 MB or better USB 2.0 or better clean, empty, & healthy thumb drive, attach it to your PC and make sure you know its drive letter.
c- You need to show the hidden files in your PC, some users do not know how, so I am going to show them how to do this:
- Go to the C drive in your PC



- Follow steps below to show all system hidden files:







d- Now all hidden system files are shown, I want you to open that Recovery folder in C drive:



e- Also open that folder with lots of numbers and letters you see there:



f- Now you will see 2 files inside that folder, I want you to right click on them and choose COPY, go one step backwards to the root of that folder and PASTE them there, and close all opened folders after done:





g- Now I want you to do exactly the steps you see in D-/study case # 1 / 1st method ( steps from a to n included), BUT DO NOT CLOSE THE cmd Window, we will need it now, this is what you should see after your last step:



h- Now type mkdir n:\boot n:\sources (where n is my thumb drive, so change this letter to the one you actually have) [watch very carefully the spaces between letters when you type on all the following steps] and press the Enter key:



i- Type cd c:\recovery and press Enter key:



j- Type xcopy /H boot.sdi n:\boot and press Enter key (note that n is my thumb drive, change it to yours):



k- Type xcopy /H Winre.wim n:\sources\boot.wim and press Enter key (note that n is my thumb drive, change it to yours):



l- Now just type F and do nothing, do not press any other key, just wait for a few seconds until you are able to type again:



m- Type xcopy /H c:\windows\boot\dvd\pcat\bcd n:\boot (where n is my thumb drive, so change it to yours), and press Enter key:



n- Now type xcopy /H c:\windows\boot\dvd\pcat\en-us\bootfix.bin n:\boot (where n is my thumb drive, so change it to yours), and press Enter key:



o- Type xcopy /H c:\windows\boot\pcat\bootmgr n:\ (where n is my thumb drive, so change it to yours), and press Enter key:



p- Type attrib -r -s -h /s n:\* (where n is my thumb drive, so change it to yours), and press Enter key:



q- Now last thing to do is type exit to close the command window:



r- Now we are done and the USB thumb drive is now ready and bootable, and you can test it if you want, the files inside the thumb drive now should look like this:



E- How to add & remove files from a system image in Windows 7?

• Windows 7 provides a failsafe solution of recovering your entire hard drive, and restoring back all your lost files in case of a catastrophic event happens to your system like total hard failure, while system protection only will allow you to keep a restore point and backup to an existing known good state, we find that system image provides a total perfect and complete solution to recover every bit of your hard drive.
• As you learned earlier how to make a system image and how to recover your PC using that image, and also you’ve learned how to make and use a System Recovery Disk, and how to make and use System Recovery USB, now you will learn how to add or remove files to that system image you made.
• The System Recovery Image is actually a VHD file, means it’s a virtual hard drive, that can be explored as a real hard drive, and as a result you can add or remove files to it, let’s see how:
A- This is the backup folder that contains the system image:



B- If you explore that folder you would see the VHD file I am telling you about:



C- To be able to open that virtual hard drive and add or remove files to it, 1st thing you do is right click on My Computer, and choose Manage:



D- Computer Management will open, from the left side choose Disk Management, and from the Action in the menu bar choose Attach VHD:



E- Browse to the VHD file where your system image folder is:



F- A new hard drive will show in the disk management:



G- And the AutoPlay popup will show exactly as when you attach an external USB hard drive:



H- And if you explore My Computer you will see the newly attached hard drive there:



I- And you can explore that hard drive and start to add or remove files to it:



J- When you are done, you need to turn off that hard drive 1st , from disk management right click on the grey color area of the hard drive, and choose Offline:



K- Next you need to Detach it, so right click again on the same spot you will see the Detach VHD option there, click on it:



L- A confirmation window will popup, with the option to delete that image if you want, but in our case we will leave it unmarked, and just hit that OK button to detach the system image VHD.


=========================================================
My Other Topics & Tutorials HERE
================================

On November 18, 2010, jump-start, re-start, or catalyze your career at the The Microsoft Certified Career Conference

The Microsoft Career Conference is a 24-hour virtual event where you can:

- meet potential employers
- hone your technical skills
- acquire job-seeking skills
- network with fellow professionals
- glean career advice from real-life experts in the field

Meet potential employers at the Employer Hall:

See who’s hiring skilled technical professionals, explore job roles, and chat directly with company recruiters about their ideal candidates.

Register HERE
====================================================

====================================================
Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer. Visit this link to check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.
=====================================================================
My Other Topics & Tutorials HERE
=============================

Public hotspots are convenient. It is nice to be able to kick back and surf the Web while sipping a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks. Just realize that the Wi-Fi is insecure and limit your activities. Go ahead and read the headlines at CNN.com, but don't check your bank balance, or do anything else that requires entering a username, password, or account number.

read more updates about this subject By Tony Bradley, from PCWorld HERE

Thank you Wonko, I think you are missing the point here, the test file is not a virus definition file so to be new, the purpose of the test file is to be legitimate and safe to use in tests, and it is essential that all anti-virus products know it, that's why they still use it as the sole legitimate test file. thank you again.


fxchby, thank you for your nice words, am doing my best. regards.

This is the Link to the latest scriprt that RoyM did and mentioned above. very good work.

Also Let me take a moment to thank Jamal for his tutorial which spawned this script and I also linked his tutorial for NBRT into the script.Also thanx to Nuno for his advice, encouragement, and expertise.

The thanks and credits goes to you RoyM also for this magnificent script and this amazing hard work, as amalux said it would be nice to upload the script to mediafire, so to make sure when we copy it, it doesn't have any missing or misplaced letters that would affect the script as a whole. I repeat my thanks to you, very well done. a masterpiece.

This is the link to the Norton 2011 Rescue USB tutorial HERE, so for readers have quick access to the original subject.

Congratulations to you, your beloved Emanuela and all your family, well said words, well done new version of Sardu.

The European Expert Group for IT-Security (eicar) thankfully have developed an Anti-Virus or Anti-Malware test file, and as they say on the test file’s web page “Since it is unacceptable for you to send out real viruses for test or demonstration purposes, you need a file that can safely be passed around and which is obviously non-viral, but which your anti-virus software will react to as if it were a virus. “
“Using real viruses for testing in the real world is rather like setting fire to the dustbin in your office to see whether the smoke detector is working. Such a test will give meaningful results, but with unappealing, unacceptable risks.”
“The good news is that such a test file already exists. A number of anti-virus researchers have already worked together to produce a file that their (and many other) products "detect" as if it were a virus.”
“You are encouraged to make use of the EICAR test file. If you are aware of people who are looking for real viruses "for test purposes", bring the test file to their attention”
So here we are, I tested the code provided HERE with 5 of the top Anti-Virus products, I simply copied the code to a new text file I created on my desktop, and each Anti-Virus had differently reacted to that file, let’s see what happened:
1- Microsoft Security Essentials was the fastest of them all to react, almost instantly after I copied the code to the text file, and before I save it and close it, warnings popped out, asking permission to delete:





2- 2011 Norton Anti-Virus, was slightly slower to respond, I had to hit save file and before I close it, warnings popped out, and removed the file:





3- 2011 BitDefender Anti-Virus Pro, reacted exactly the same as Norton AV 2011 above:



4- 2011 AVG Anti-Virus was the most lovely and civilized of them all, it didn’t react at all when I copied the code to the text file, it didn’t respond also when I saved the file to desktop, it didn’t even react when I scanned the PC, and it showed no threat at all, but when I decided to download the test file from the net, it immediately showed warning pop ups the moment I hit the download button:









5- 2011 Kaspersky Internet Security, to my surprise was the worst behavior of them all, as I copied that code to the text file, nothing happened, I waited for a few seconds then I hit save file to desktop and nothing happened, then I double clicked the Kaspersky icon in the task bar to see if the program is working on something, and I found nothing abnormal, I was surprised, then I went on to open that test file to make sure I copied all the code correctly, and when I did that, the text file couldn’t open and the PC kind of freeze up, only then the Kaspersky showed orange color and not red warning that something needs to be fixed, I hit fix and nothing happened, the Kaspersky freeze as well as the test file:



6- I had to restart the PC 2 more times and try to delete that test file, only then a red warning popped up, and I couldn’t delete that file at all, nor to terminate the Kaspersky:



7- so I had only 2 choices to stop this nonsense irritating behavior, either I uninstall the Kaspersky, or use the Kaspersky Rescue USB [Check my tutorial about it HERE]to remove that test file, and so I did reboot the PC with the Rescue USB and deleted that test file. SO my advice if you are not a Tech savvy, never try this test file on a PC with Kaspersky installed on it, or you will suffer what I just told you.
8- When I downloaded the zipped version of the file, and the Double zipped version, all the Anti-Virus programs above detected the test file inside the zipped files and deleted them both.
9- Tech Savvies can download the zipped files for testing purposes from HERE.
=============================================================

=============================================================
Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer. Visit this link to check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.
=============================================================
1- 2011 Norton Anti-Virus Rescue USB
2- 2011 Kaspersky Anti-Virus Rescue USB
3- 2011 AVG Anti-Virus Rescue USB
4- 2011 BitDefender Anti-Virus Rescue USB
=============================================================
My Previous Topics & Tutorials HERE
=============================================================

Also from George OU you might find his Online services security report card very interesting, only G-mail is on top, the rest are way below secure.

Hotmail was not supporting SSL in 2010?

According to George OU he said:
UPDATE 11/4/2010 – Unfortunately, Microsoft confirmed that SSL will be optional and not the default setting which means the vast majority of customers will not be running SSL. Hopefully they’ll at least fix the cookie theft issue by default, and then consider the almost nonexistent overhead of maintaining SSL browsing for all Hotmail customers. All the hard work of setting up the SSL session during the initial authentication phase was already done.
Read More HERE

Chris Von Eitzen from The H Security wrote the following:

Microsoft responds to Firesheep cookie-jacking tool

The Firesheep developers continue to be under fire for releasing their cookie-jacking plug-in. However, in doing so they have already made Microsoft promise that it will fully convert its Hotmail / Windows Live email service to SSL. According to a report from the US news web site Digital Security, the services are to be converted before the end of November.

Read more HERE, and HERE.

Thank you ube and Areeb, you may also consider the following Anti-Virus Rescue USBs since they are also very powerfull, and you can have a set of top 4 AV products in your work, regards:
1- 2011 Kaspersky Anti-Virus Rescue USB-How to make-Tutorial
2- 2010 AVG Anti-Virus Rescue USB-How to make-Tutorial
3- 2010 BitDefender Anti-Virus Rescue USB-How to make-Tutorial

Hi Jamal,

Thank you very much Nuno,
I agree with you on moving this tutorial & the others alike to the anti-virus & malware protection section. For the news letter you can always send the useful news in a later time, so more readers benefit from, and by the way I do not receive the weekly news letter at all. I did covered the best top 4 rescue CDs that any IT or normal user will greatly appreciate, especially they are free and very powerful, and they are all updated to date, I will write you down those topics and links, so you can list them in your next news letter, regards and thank you again.

1- 2011 Norton Anti-Virus Rescue USB
2- 2011 Kaspersky Anti-Virus Rescue USB
3- 2010 AVG Anti-Virus Rescue USB
4- 2010 BitDefender Anti-Virus Rescue USB

Kaspersky 2011 Rescue USB How to make-Tutorial Guide

This is my third update on the subject, because of hundreds of emails from readers asking me to input everything again in one tutorial, mentioning also other best possible methods to update this rescue USB, so here we are:

Method # 1:
1- You need at least a 1 GB or better USB 2.0 or better empty thumb drive.
2- You need to work with elevated privileges (Run as administrator) if you are working from Windows 7 or Vista.
3- Download the latest (kav_rescue_10.iso) image from its official direct download link HERE, it’s a 195 MB download in size, save it to your desktop.
4- Download the (Kaspersky_Essentials.zip) file from HERE, it’s a 15.7 MB download in size, save it to your desktop, after download is complete, EXTRACT it to your desktop, you should see 5 folders as follows:



5- Open folder # 1 and execute (usb_disk_storage_format.exe) and follow steps below:




6- Open folder # 2 and execute (grubinst_gui.exe), follow steps below:



7- Open folder # 3 and copy all its contents to the USB thumb drive, they should look like this now:



8- Now we need to update the virus-definitions of the (kav_rescue_10.iso) image you downloaded in step # 3 above, before we can use it, so if you are going to use this USB thumb drive on a PC connected to the internet, then you can skip this step, and proceed to the next step, because you can download the updates from the internet, otherwise if you need to offline update the ISO image, then open folder # 4, and copy (kav_rescue_10.iso) image inside that folder, it should look like this:



9- Now execute (START.exe), you should 1st see this popup window, press OK to proceed, this will take an hour or more to finish and produce the new updated ISO image:



10- In few seconds the update will start, and it may take an hour or more to finish depending on your internet speed:



11- When done you should see this popup window informing you that the new updated ISO image is created, press OK to exit:



12- This is the new ISO image that is created:



13- IMPORTANT: If the updating suddenly disappear, and you do not see what in steps 11 & 12 above, that means the internet got disconnected for moments causing the operation to be terminated, so don’t worry, go Execute the (START.exe) again, it will continue from where it left.

14- Now after you’ve done and you got the (kav_rescue_2011.iso) image ready, I want you to rename it to (rescue.iso) and copy it inside(rescue) folder inside the USB thumb drive:



15- What’s inside (rescue) folder should look like this;



16- Now the root of the USB should look like this:



17- Now the USB thumb drive is updated & ready to be tested, now when you boot your PC with this USB thumb drive you should see this screen first, press ENTER to proceed :




Method # 2:
2011 Kaspersky Anti-Virus & Internet Security, both include a special utility tool which allows you to create a Rescue Disk ISO image, and update that image, and also you can record that image to the USB thumb drive, to achieve those steps you need to have one of the Kaspersky 2011 Anti-Virus or Internet Security installed on your PC, or if you do have another Anti-Virus software, then you can try Install any of the Kaspersky apps mentioned above on a Windows based Virtual machine, so in this case you do not mess up your system.

Kaspersky 2011 AV or IS are not free but they are available as trial versions, and that’s good enough for us to make a Rescue ISO image and update it and record it to a USB thumb drive, you can download the trial versions as follows:

- Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 – download trial from HERE.
- Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 - download trial from HERE.

After you download and install Kaspersky 2011, activate the trial version to get the full options of the program, then update it, then after that go to the tools menu, and choose the Rescue CD creation wizard, you will be asked if you want to download an ISO image from the net or browse to an already image you have on your PC, then after that you can update that ISO image:



After updating your downloaded ISO image or the existing one you already have, you will have the choice to either save that image for later use, like burn to CD, or record it to a USB thumb drive; you can do both choices simultaneously:



Method # 3:
Another fast method to record the Rescue Disk ISO image on USB is by using this Kaspersky USB rescue Disk Maker, you can find it inside folder # 5 mentioned in step #4/Method #1 above.


==========================================================
2011 Norton Rescue USB-How to make-tutorial HERE
2010 BitDefender Rescue USB-How to make-tutorial HERE
2010 AVG Rescue USB-How to make-tutorial HERE
==========================================================

==========================================================
Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer. Visit this link to check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.
==========================================================
Download a PDF version of this tutorial HERE
==========================================================
My Previous Topics & Tutorials HERE
==========================================================

HERE you find some more news discussing this threat and if it is legal or not to use this Firesheep at Starbucks, which was released just over a week ago and has been downloaded nearly half a million times since?

A new tool from DiSTANTX to Re-Arm (Trial-Extend) your new copy of Microsoft's Office 2010, since Office 2010 needs to be activated after 30 days, this tool can re-arm it up to 5 times, each time for additional 30 days, so practically if you re-arm your office on the 29th day then in the end you get 6x30=180 days of Office 2010 free usage.
The author states that re-arming Office is a feature made for corporate users, but as he claims it cannot be ILLEGAL to use re-arming feature since it is an official feature by Microsoft itself.

Author: DiSTANTX
Size: 503 KB
License: Freeware
Requires: Win7/Vista/XP and .NET Framework 3.5
Download latest tool from HERE

Also from the same author you can check his Office Key Remover tool.
===========================================================

My Other Topics & Tutorials HERE

Happy Halloween everyone!

I watched this short clip from MSDN Channel 9, really loved it, and wanted to share with you:

The Killer App

enjoy and regards


===================================
My Other Topics & Tutorials HERE

Creat, I use deep-freeze on some machines and on some i use icebox, i will give this one a try. thank you.

The brand name AVG comes from the then Czechoslovakiaian Grisoft’s first product “Anti-Virus-Guard” back in 1992. In 1997, the first AVG licenses were sold in Germany and UK, and in 1998 AVG were first introduced to the US market. The AVG free edition helped raise awareness of the AVG product line; they proved that they are one of the top 5 Anti-Virus products on the market, and in recent 5 or 6 years they grabbed the 2nd & 3rd place in test charts, and still holding that place. In 2006 Microsoft announced that AVG components would be available directly within the Windows Vista operating system. According to AVG, 110 million users have AVG Anti-Virus Protection, including users of free edition.

AVG Rescue CD proved it is among the top 4 essential rescue CDs alike from other vendors like Norton, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender, to any IT.

The tutorial
========

Method # 1
=========
1- You need a Windows based PC to work with this tutorial, and if you are working from Windows 7 or Vista, you need to work with elevated privileges (Run as administrator).
2- You need a 1 GB or better USB 2.0 or better thumb drive, attach it to your PC and make sure you know its drive letter.
3- Download the latest AVG rescue CD ISO image from HERE, (80 MB) onto your desktop, and after download Re-Name the ISO image into (AVG.iso).




4- Download the( AVG-essentials.zip) file from HERE, and extract it to your desktop, it contains 3 separate folders(AVG-bits + grub4dos + usb_format):



5- Open folder (usb_format) and execute (usb_format.exe), and follow steps below:





6- Now open folder (grub4dos) and execute (grubinst_gui.exe ), and follow steps below:



7- Now open folder (AVG-bits) and copy all its contents to the USB thumb drive, and also copy the AVG.iso image to the thumb drive, the files in the USB thumb drive should look like this;



8- The USB thumb drive is now ready to be tested, go ahead and boot your pc with it, you should first see this screen, press ENTER to proceed:



9- Next screen is this, now you are introduced to the AVG rescue CD, enjoy!



========
Method # 2
========
1- Make sure your USB thumb drive is clean and formatted.
2- Download either the RAR or ZIP compressed rescue CD for USB from HERE, and extract to a folder onto your desktop:



3- Open that folder you just downloaded, and execute ( setup.exe) file:



4- You should see this small window, browse to your USB thumb drive, and hit Install:



5- In a couple of minutes you the process will end and you should see this confirmation, press OK to close and exit, now the USB thumb drive is ready to be tested. Good Luck.


==================================================================
Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer. Visit this link to check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.
==================================================================

==================================================================
1- 2011 Norton Anti-Virus Rescue USB
2- 2011 Kaspersky Anti-Virus Rescue USB
3- 2010 AVG Anti-Virus Rescue USB
4- 2010 BitDefender Anti-Virus Rescue USB
==================================================================
My Other Topics & Tutorials HERE
==================================================================

Shirin my good friend, thank you for this very useful & nice tutorial, regards

Ian Paul from PC WORLD lately posted an article about this horrifying new add-on, here are some paragraphs of what he wrote:

- Want to hack someone Else's Amazon, Facebook, Twitter or Windows Live account in just one click? A Firefox extension called Firesheep claims you can by hijacking a person's current user session over an open Wi-Fi connection.

- I tested the extension out and to my horror it works as advertised - almost that is.

- Theoretically, if I had tested this system over an unencrypted Wi-Fi network at a cafe, I should have been able to simply click on any of the accounts I saw in the Firesheep sidebar and then gain almost unrestricted access to the account.

- There's no question that Firesheep highlights an important Web browsing security flaw that could expose your account to a malicious hacker.

- Nevertheless, Firesheep, and side-jacking in general, is still a serious security threat if you happen to be using open or unprotected Wi-Fi.

- Firesheep may make it easier than ever for someone to snoop on other people over open, unencrypted Wi-Fi

One of the things that really made me furious when Ian wrote that JAW DROPPING statement as he said:

But it's also important to keep in mind that side-jacking has its limits. Using Firesheep is not likely to expose your user password.

So a hacker may be able to use Firesheep to take action on your behalf such as send an e-mail, post a status update, or send out a tweet. But it's unlikely that Firesheep could be used to steal your account by switching your password on you. Unless, of course, you are using a service that lets you change your password without entering the current one--a rare occurrence these days.

- What did you say Mr. Ian Paul? Sorry !! Are you underestimating the privacy and security breach issue that some snooper log into your accounts and take action on your behalf? Are you serious when you said that?

Read the full article HERE:


=======================================================================
Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer. Visit this link to check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.
===================================================================

===================================================================
My Previous Topics & Tutorials HERE
===================================================================

Dear All,
thank you Nuno Brito, Shirin Zaban, Steve6375, M8R-d4kps4, Wonko the Sane, Rootman, dog, evilgoat, whether with me or against me, I would like to say some facts and proven methods:

Fact #1- Wiping the HDD with any method or all methods one after another starting with the Zeros is a good job but as I said is not enough and is a waste of time, because you have to repeat and repeat and repeat every method several times to corrupt the data completely and still in the end unsure if your drive has some files that can be recovered.

Fact #2- Encrypting the HDD as a whole will encrypt the drive as a whole and not part of it or just part of the data inside it, and the encrypted drive becomes inaccessible whatsoever without the program used to encrypt it and without the password used to encrypt it, and any attempt to brute force break that password will leave you with a corrupted unrecoverable junk useless data.

Fact #3- You need to have one or some or all the following qualifications(Certified Computer Forensics Examiner (CCFE) , Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI), ECSA - EC-Council Certified Security Analyst, Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), or a member in the High Tech Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA) or equivalent, with 5 years experience at least in data recovery and forensic evidence, to go against the facts in my tutorial.

Fact #4- I am not here to challenge anyone at all in Facts, because facts already have been challenged before they became facts, so take what I said or leave it, its up to you, but for me am done with any further replies on this topic.

Wish you all good luck, and thank you again.

Thank you Nuno, also there's an official PDF file inside the extracted folder, that explains also with screen shots about more options.thank you again.

There’s a known fact that it is impossible to permanently destroy data just by formatting a hard drive. It doesn't matter if you use Windows formatting or pay for a commercial disk formatting program or use any free alike software. It won’t work.

 

In its essence formatting a drive is the same as deleting files in Windows and then removing them off Recycle Bin. Just a small bits of information (links to files) are removed but the files still reside on the hard drive and it is very easy to recover them using either commercial solution or one of the free powerful applications for data recovery out there on the net. That's why you may want to use a powerful software specialized in hard drive data wiping, to shred the drive partition beyond any possible recovery, BUT the big question will always be, is that enough?

 

The answer was always proven as simply NO! Read This article by PC WORLD (Hard Drives Exposed) to see how much data can be recovered from your hard drive!

As a proven method, wiping the hard drive should be your second step, not the first step, so what is the first step?

The first step is the perfect and ultimate GO SAFE & GREEN solution other than physically destroying your hard drive with a sledge hammer and increase the earth pollution, is to ENCRYPT that hard drive before engaging any wipe method, so it is not possible to recover any data after encrypting and then wiping it, and all what will be recovered is an encrypted unreadable nonesence files that is impossible to know what it is and impossible to decipher.

 

This is what I personally do, before I get rid of an old hard drive by donating it or by passing it to a friend, or selling it on eBay, or even if I want to use the same hard drive again as a clean and empty hard drive with no previous data on it, and today I am going to show you how:

We are going to download my preferred free, and surprisingly so powerful programs that I personally use in my daily routine, to make a demonstration in this tutorial, of course you can use different free or commercial software later for this purpose, but for now we are going to use the following, good luck:

1- Download TrueCrypt (3.3 MB) from HERE, it’s a free powerful open source disk encryption software, execute the (TrueCrypt Setup 7.0a.exe) and choose to extract the program to a folder on your desktop, we will use this method so to use the program as portable, without installation, and for easy access directly to the needed files inside that folder.





2- Download Hard Drive Eraser 2.0 from HERE, it’s a portable one icon program and very light (617 KB), yet very reliable and powerful tool to securely wipe any hard drive with 4 different methods of your choice (write zeros, DOD 5220-22.M-military grade 3-passes, 4 passes US Army method, and Peter Guttman 32 passes), and uses FAT, FAT32, NTFS format methods.

3- I am going to use a 4 GB thumb drive for this demonstration, and I am going to put different types of files on it, and see in the end what will I get back of them after encrypting then destroying them – this is what the data inside the thumb drive looks like now-:



4- Now I will format that drive with NTFS so I can encrypt it with True crypt, after format I open the folder (TrueCrypt) and execute (TrueCrypt Format.exe ) with elevated privileges(Run as administrator) since am working from Windows 7 in this tutorial:



5- The wizard will start and I will choose Encrypt a non-system partition/drive and click on Next:



6- Next screen I choose Standard TrueCrypt Volume:



7- Next screen I browse to the thumb drive and mark the never save history option, then I hit the Next button:



8- Next screen I choose Encrypt Partition in Place and I hit Next button:



9- Next screen I receive a warning, I hit Yes to proceed:



10- Next screen I get the chance to choose the Encryption Algorithm, and the Hash Algorithm, I just keep them on default, they are more than sufficient, and I hit Next button:



11- Next screen I will not choose a password, instead I will be more wicked, and am going to let the program generate a super complicated key for me so nobody ever (rest assured) will know what is the key to decipher any recovered data in this thumb drive, mark the use key files, and hit the Key files button, as you see in picture below:



12- Next screen click on Generate Random Key file:



13- Next screen I hover the mouse over those “MATRIX” numbers for a minute or so before I hit Generate and Save Key file:



14- Next I will have to save the key file on desktop, I will use it next step, and I will name it keys:



15- Key file created successfully, click OK:



16- Next is to add that key file I saved on desktop, and click OK:



17- Now just hit Next:



18- Next screen mark the Display pool content, and hover again over those “MATRIX” moving numbers randomly for another minute or so before you hit next button:



19- Next screen keep the Wipe method to the default (None) because we are not going to wipe the disk now, we do that later, so hit Next:



20- Now click Encrypt button:



21- A warning pop up informing you that during encryption you will not be able to use that drive, click Yes:



22- The encryption will start and will take more than an hour for a 4 GB, almost 10 hours for a 500 GB, but it’s worth the wait:



23- When done you have to click OK & OK for the next 2 warnings, then click on Finish to close and Exit the program:







24- Now the drive is encrypted and cannot be used or opened without using TrueCrypt program and providing the key you encrypted the drive with, but since we do not want to decrypt the drive, but we need to destroy the data inside forever, and make any recoverable data inside that disk unreadable at all, so first thing we need to format the drive again, so right click on that thumb drive and format it with what you prefer, Fat,Fat32,NTFS, it’s your choice, after that, start the Hard Disk Eraser Program, be careful to choose the thumb drive and not any other drive in your pc by mistake, and mark the quick format, and keep the default NTFS, and DOD method of wiping the disk, and click START button:



25- A confirmation window, click on Yes:



26- Another confirmation window ask me to input the word ERASE in capital letters and hit the OK button to proceed:



27- The program will start formatting then wiping the drive, if you see an error message, stop the program and close to exit, then go reformat the thumb drive again:



28- After you formatted the thumb drive again and started the eraser, if you see that the Volume label is BLANK, then you know everything is going fine, and the wiping of the drive is properly functioning:



29- Wiping a 4 GB drive shouldn’t take long, maybe less than an hour or so, or maybe more depending on the health status of that drive, and the speed and power of your PC too:



30- When done you should see Erasing Disk Completed, so you can close the program to exit:



31- Now your thumb drive is completely encrypted and wiped off any usable or readable data, so even if there is a possibility of data recovery, no one ever can decipher that recovered data, I am going to test this by using a really powerful data recovery software that can recover even encrypted data, it’s a $140 single license software from Disk Internals, I will use their latest & ultimate program ( Disk Internals Partition Recovery 3.7 ) and put that thumb drive to a government like test:



32- The result is what you see in picture below, nothing but junk unreadable files, and we are done with this tutorial after we succeeded in our mission:



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Although Norton Ghost 15 is not a freeware software, but the result of this tutorial even for the ones that doesn’t have a product key will benefit from the system recovery ISO we will make and put on USB later, which contains many professional free tools you can use, so be patient, you won’t regret it, follow the steps and good luck:
1- You need a Windows based PC to work with this tutorial, and if you are working from Windows 7 or Vista, you will need to work with elevated privileges (Run as Administrator).
2- You need an empty 1 GB or better USB 2.0 or better thumb drive.
3- Download the Norton Ghost 15 trial from HERE , it’s a 119 MB download, and if you do have a product key, make it handy, you will use it for product activation. After download go install the program, activate, restart when necessary, update the program, and be ready for next step.
4- Download the free Symantec Recovery Disk ISO image (192 MB) from HERE to your desktop, and extract that image to a separate folder, by default the name of the folder will be the same of the name of the ISO image (NGH1501_AllWin_English_SrdOnly).
5- Download the portable (RMPrepUSB 2.1.600_REL.zip) tool from HERE, extract the zipped file to a folder onto your desktop.
6- Start the Norton Ghost 15 program from its shortcut icon on your desktop, choose the Tools Tab, then click on Create Custom Recovery Disk CD:



7- From the next screen click on NEXT button:



8- From the next screen choose desktop as a destination to the new ISO image you will make, and hit the NEXT button:



9- From the next screen browse to the folder (NGH1501_AllWin_English_SrdOnly) that contains the files of the ISO image you extracted in step # 4 above:



10- Now hit NEXT button:



11- Next step is to put a label name for the new disk, and click on save a copy of the custom System Recovery Disk ISO file, by default the name of the new ISO image will be created is SymantecSrd.iso, and by default it will be saved to your documents, so replace the word documents by Desktop, so the ISO file will be saved to the desktop, and hit NEXT button:



12- Next screen you will be asked to include any drivers you want, hit next when done or if you don’t have any:



13- Next screen you will be asked for the time zone, hit NEXT when done:



14- Next screen you will be asked for network options, better to choose Automatic, and hit Next button, also you have the option to input your account info if you have one with PC a anywhere:



15- Next step choose the Use the license key that is activated on this computer, if you already used it to activate in step # 3 above, otherwise if you don’t have one choose prompt for a license key and hit the NEXT button:



16- On next screen click Finish button:



17- The program will start to create the new ISO image, wait for it to finish:



18- When done press the OK button:



19- Now the new ISO image created should be on desktop and its name is SymantecSrd.iso, I want you to extract this new image to a separate folder onto your desktop, the new folder should bear the same name of the ISO image (SymantecSrd), we will need it in the following steps:

20- Now open folder (RMPrepUSB 2.1.600_REL) that you downloaded in step # 5 above, and execute the (RMPREPUSB.exe) you find inside that folder, follow the steps in picture below from 1 to 5, then in step 6 browse to the new folder of the new ISO image you just extracted in step # 19 above, make sure step 7 in the picture below is pointing to the new folder (SymantecSrd) before you hit the prepare drive button in step 8 in the picture below:



21- On the next confirmation window press OK button:



22- Another confirmation window push the OK button also:



23- This is what you will see next, do not interrupt the process or close this window, wait a few seconds to finish:



24- Next the RMPrepUSB tool will start to copy the files from the new folder (SymantecSrd)to your USB thumb drive, wait:



25- Click OK on the next screen:



26- Now next thing is to click on the EJECT DRIVE button as you see in the picture below, then click on the OK in the confirmation window, then hit the EXIT button to close the tool.



27- Now the USB thumb drive is ready to be tested, go ahead and boot your pc with this Symantec Recovery Disk USB you just made, press any key to boot in the next screen:





28- Accept the EULA to proceed:



29- Next screen you will see as the picture below, we are going to explore this recovery CD and see all its tools, we will start with the main thing and that is the Norton Ghost, so click the Backup My Computer option:



30- For the users who didn’t input a product key in the beginning they will not be able to use the Norton Ghost, but they will be able to use all the other tools included in this CD, and we are going to explore them in the next steps, but for now as I said if you didn’t input a product key from the beginning you will see this window asking you to input the product key, and you cannot proceed if you don’t:



31- For the users who did activated the program from the beginning and followed all steps above, they will not see that product key prompt above, instead they will be able to proceed, so if you do click next button:



32- Now you will see this screen where you can start Imaging your system or selected drives, so no need for us to continue now, you know what to do next:



33- All the other functions that you will see in pictures below are free to use, and doesn’t require you purchase a product key, only the Norton Ghost require a product key, so it’s good to have such a wonderful free recovery CD, enjoy it while you can for Free:









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Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer. Visit this link to check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.
====================================================================
2003 Norton Ghost on USB - How to make Tutorial
2011 Norton Anti-Virus on USB - How to make Tutorial
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My Other Topics & Tutorials HERE
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No, do as I did to see why, remove the 2 files in casper from the ISO and reseal the ISO image again without those 2 files and put the rest of the files as the tutorial, you would be surprised it is working.

Steve, I have no objection for your method, nor the code because it's the same I used, as I told you some of the USBs take a long time to boot, so logically in theory the code points to the files inside casper in the ISO image, but the practice shows that Grub search the real drive first and hook up the files he finds first and ignore the files in ISO, I had a similar issue with the first tutorial also with bitdefender.

ISO files are never extracted.They are loaded in ram ,and that only in case if bitdefender-rescue-cd.iso file is fragmented.
Method by steve6375 is slow only in case when bitdefender-rescue-cd.iso is fragmented.
5) defragment bitdefender-rescue-cd.iso. ( i don't think this is a hard step for a noob)

1- Thank you shamurshamur for your input, as far as I know ISO images when loaded in RAM they are unpacked = extracted, as you see in picture below from this very same bitdefender:



2- Fragmented ISO images does not cause slow booting at all, they cause the whole booting process to stop with error code 60, please refer to my previous tutorial HERE where I explain how to defragment an ISO image in case of error code 60:



3- You didn't provide anything new, you just repeated steve's method he mentioned above, so where is your point?

4- It's not me who have objection about steve's method, it's steve who is asking why the casper folder is there?and I answered him above.
thank you again all

Yes agni it is a powerfull tool indeed and I previously used it in my tutorials HERE, and HERE, I will see what I can do in the future about this wonderful tool.Thank you.

Thank you steve6375, using your method works but not on all USBs, some will hang up for a long time waiting for the ISO to be extracted, my method is to speed up the booting process 10x times,thank you again.

Dear all,
This is my 2nd tutorial about the same subject, because many readers are emailing me saying that the ISO file changed from Knoppix to Xbuntu and so my First Tutorial is not working with the new ISO image from BitDefender, and they asked me for another tutorial to be up to date, so here we are:
1- You need a Windows based PC to work with this tutorial, and if you are working from Vista or 7 then you need to work with elevated privileges (Run as Administrator).
2- You need a clean empty 1 GB or better USB 2.0 or better.
3- Download the Bitdefender Rescue CD ISO image from the official download link HERE.
It’s a 319 MB, SAVE the ISO image to your desktop.



4- Download the following 11.3 MB essential files from HERE , extract the file onto your desktop, you should see 3 folders (BIT-FILES + USB_FORMAT + GRUB4DOS).





5- Open folder USB_FORMAT and execute usb_disk_storage_format.exe and follow the pictures




6- Open folder GRUB4DOS and execute grubinst_gui.exe and follow the picture below:



7- Now open folder BIT-FILES and copy all of its contents to the USB thumb drive.
8- Copy the bitdefender-rescue-cd.iso image you downloaded, copy to the USB thumb drive, the files now should look like this inside the USB thumb drive, make sure they are:



9- Now the USB thumb drive is ready to be tested, go ahead and boot your pc with the Bitdefender Rescue USB you just made, first thing you should see this screen, press ENTER to continue:



10- In few seconds you will see the following screen asking you to accept the EULA to proceed:



11- After that if the computer is connected to the internet then the updating process will start automatically:



12- When updating is done, the scanning process will start also automatically, you can browse the internet while the scanner is doing its job or explore the many other utilities included in this rescue CD.
===================================================================
There is another method from BitDefender you can find HERE
===================================================================
Free Security Check-Ups
Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer. Visit this link to check your computer for known viruses, spyware, and more and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.
===================================================================
My Other Topics & Tutorials HERE
===================================================================

===================================================================
1- 2011 Norton Anti-Virus Rescue USB
2- 2011 Kaspersky Anti-Virus Rescue USB
3- 2010 AVG Anti-Virus Rescue USB
4- 2010 BitDefender Anti-Virus Rescue USB
=================================================================

Thank you all who posted in this subject, wait for 3rd edition soon, post your suggestions of what you want to be included.