What is lsass.exe?

“lsass.exe” is the Local Security Authentication Server. It verifies the validity of user logons to your PC or server. Lsass generates the process responsible for authenticating users for the Winlogon service. This is performed by using authentication packages such as the default, Msgina.dll. If authentication is successful, Lsass generates the user’s access token, which is used to launch the initial shell. Other processes that the user initiates then inherit this token.

Lsass.exe has been infected in the past

The Sasser worm exploited a vulnerability in LSASS  to spread via a remote buffer overflow in computers running Microsoft Windows XP and Windows 2000. The worm is particularly potent in that it can spread without any interaction with humans, nor does it ‘travel by email’ like many other worms.

Should the lsass.exe program end, for example, by the Sasser worm’s effects, then a countdown timer will appear on the screen, advising the user to save his work and close all programs before Windows shuts down.

When Is Lsass.exe dangourous?

The lsass.exe file is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32. In other cases, lsass.exe is a virus, spyware, trojan or worm!

What can I do to check Lsass.exe and stop my computer automatically rebooting?

Forcible termination of lsass.exe will result in the Welcome screen losing its accounts and you will be prompted to restart your computer.

In most cases, lsass.exe system error and lsass.exe application error make the computer unusable, because the user authentication token cannot be obtained from the server. In some cases, the error may be caused by a trojan, that camouflages itself as the lsass process. If the system is not infected, the error is caused by missing or corrupt configuration file and Registry entries. You can fix the Registry using the free Auslogics Registry Cleaner.

Malware often pretends to be lsass.exe. For example, the Sasser worm found a vulnerability in LSASS and spreads via a remote buffer overflow in Windows XP and Windows 2000 computers. This worm can spread without any interaction with humans, nor does it ‘travel by email’ like many other worms.

If your computer enters a reboot loop because of an lsass.exe error, you get an lsass.exe error when trying to change your password, or the errors are caused by an infections, do the following:

1. After booting into Windows quickly click Start and then Run
2. Type in shutdown -a and press Enter.

This will prevent your computer from restarting continuously.

Now try scanning your PC with an up-to-date anti-virus program in Safe Mode (tap F8 repeatedly during startup). Also make sure that you have all Windows updates installed. If this doesn’t help, you might need to do a Windows repair or a clean Windows install.

Note: The lsass.exe file should be in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. If you find it anywhere else, then lsass.exe is a virus, trojan, worm, or spyware!

Virus with same name:

W32.Nimos.Worm – Symantec Corporation
W32.Sasser.E.Worm (Lsasss.exe) – McAfee
W32.HLLW.Lovgate.C@mm – Symantec Corporation

When you open the Windows Task Manager (by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL) you might notice the process jqs.exe that is
running with a low priority. Jqs.exe uses about 1.5 Megabytes of computer memory and 2 Megabytes of virtual memory while running. It also initiates I/O processes frequent basis, if you have those columns activated in the Task Manager.

The JQS process is related to Java. Jqs.exe is the Java Quick Starter which was designed to improve the start-up time of Java applets and applications by prefetching (pre loading) Java Runtime Environment files frequently into memory. This has a benefit for mainly users who run Java applications on a day to day basis. Everyone else would probably benefit from disabling the Java Quick Starter. Think of a user who encounters one Java applet per month (or week), would it make sense to run the process all the time because of those few instances where it might start the application or applet faster? Quite inefficient!

Jqs.exe is definitely queries the Windows Registry on a regular basis. The performance increase might not be huge but you will free up some computer memory and some I/O processes on the computer system.

How to disable JQS.exe

Now, if you want to disable the Java Quick Starter process (JQS.exe) you can do that in the Windows Control Panel. Open the windows control panel and you find a Java entry there which will open the Java Control Panel.

A click on Advanced and the selection of Miscellaneous will display the activated Java Quick Starter entry. Uncheck the box to disable the process. This will be visible in the Windows Task Manager immediately.

• 10 inch LED backlit WSVGA screen (1024×600)
• Intel ATOM N280 processor 1.66GHz
• 1GB DDR2 memory (expandable to 2GB, which I did)
• 160GB HDD built in plus 10GB Eee Online Storage
• Windows XP Home w/SP3
• Wireless-N
• 1.3 MP webcam
• Supposed 9.5 hour battery (Depends on Configuration)
• 3 USB, 1 SD card slot
• Weighs 3.2 lbs (with battery)

1st test: Battery lifetime

 
I turned off sleep mode and disabled hibernation. I turned the screen brightness to one level above its lowest setting, which is ideal for me because I hate glossy reflecting screens. I set the power options to alert me when the battery hits 5% and charge the battery to 100% while it’s off before I start this test. I removed the 1GB DIMM and installed a 2GB one and start testing at 1 P.M.
 
First I played with some of the basic Windows features like icon spacing and active title bar colors. I set my screensaver to play photos of my kids and then set

Advanced System Care to clean up the system. While it works I surf on over to TBCS and eBay among other places. I do my normal internet usage like updating my website and uploading photos of my Cuda mod to multiple modding forums.

The keyboard isn’t perfect if you’re used to desktops, but I adapt in about an hour. The touchpad is different. You have to use two fingers to scroll up, down and sideways. There’s a tricky movement that lets you use the touchpad to zoom in and out. There are other movements that mean nothing to me.

There are points during the test where I walk away or just watch TV and let the screensaver play for a few minutes. There are other more intense times where I defrag the hard drive or play Peggle Extreme on Steam.

As I type this review I’m at 6% of my battery and the time is 8:26 PM.
 
Things I hate thus far.
 
(1) I hate not knowing when CAPS lock is on or off. There’s no light for it or any type of on screen display. (2) It has bluetooth, which is not something I hate, but I don’t like having a messy desktop especially ones with icons that I cannot get rid of. I don’t use any bluetooth devices so I don’t need a shortcut. The problem came when I tried to delete the icon, because it wouldn’t let me. I had to uninstall the bluetooth software to make the icon go away. (3) After the first week the Eee PC began freezing at boot up. I later discovered that it was unable to load the audio driver for the start up sound and froze trying. I reinstalled teh driver from the Asus website and that fixed it. And lastly, (4) It has Windows XP. Everyone seems to be hanging on to XP even after the boat has begun to sink, but the more I use Vista and have to later use XP I realize how much I hate it. My wireless internet is already configured, but setting it up in XP is not as easy as Vista. Vista’s visual effects are far smoother too. Having to use a 3rd party software firewall is one more thing that has to load, because XP is naked and exposed on the net. Windows defender isn’t great, but it’s an improvement over XP. Having played with Windows 7 makes me salivate at its eventual release. I will probably upgrade this Netbook when it hits shelves.
 
My battery is down to 5% now and the time is 8:32 PM. The Netbook has been on for 7.5 hours and I’m sick of looking at the screen.
 
As the battery gets closer to dead it drains even faster. 3% hits at 8:40 PM. And the Asus claims to have 12 minutes left. I stop typing, save my review and let the screensaver play as the battery nears its end.
 
At 1% of battery it says there’s 2 minutes left so I plug it back in. The time is 8:51 PM. The Netbook has been on for 7 hours and 51 minutes, give or take a couple minutes. This test replicated what I would consider a normal day of computer use. I spend time surfing the web, listening to music, defragging my hard drive, downloading updates, and installing new programs.
 
I’m willing to bet that if I charge it back to 100% and let my screensaver go the entire time I can easily expect 9.5 hours as Asus claims. This battery is amazing!

2nd Test: Benchmarking – Disclaimer: I ran the following tests with 2GB installed and on the battery alone.
 
I kicked off testing with 3DMark2001 SE which took at least 2 minutes to install! After all 17 tests the final score was 2108. Aquamark 3, PCMark04, and 3DMark05 would not run at all. Those programs have a minimum reequired screen resolution that the Eee PC does not support. Obviously this computer is not meant for gaming and I don’t expect it too, but it would’ve been nice if the tests ran. I have played Peggle and I am comfortable with saying that it does outperform the GeForce 6150 which is common on a lot of retail Computers/laptops.
 
Final thoughts:
 
This is what I consider a good buy. As I stated, there’s a couple things I wish it could do, but it has no problem doing what it needs to do. It was designed for internet and light office work and it excels at it. I love that it can be upgraded to 2 gigs of RAM and if a 4GB DIMM wasn’t so outrageously expensive, I’d drop it in just to see what happens. Obviously, the real reason I got this Netbook is because of the battery. Asus claims a 9.5 hour battery life under very insane/strict conditions, but we know that’s not realistic. Under what I would consider normal use it did last 7 hours and 50 minutes. That’s easily 4 hours better than a modern laptop.
 
I’d give it an easy 4 1/2 outta 5 stars.

Ken Kirby – PCModHouse.com

The print spooler service is not running Error!

So your getting the following error when you try to install a Printer in Windows.

Operation could not be completed. The print spooler service is not running.

How to fix The print spooler service is not running Error

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog Start and type services.msc and click OK.

2. Double-click the Printer Spooler service, and then change the startup type to Automatic. This sets the Spooler service to start automatically when you restart the computer. Click OK.

3. Restart the computer and try to install the printer again.

If that doesn’t work, the problem could be related to corrupted printer drivers that are installed on the computer. Try uninstalling all printer software from the computer and start the above fix from the start. This may include PDF writer or faxing software as well.

Anything listed in the Control Panel under Printers & Faxes should be removed. If there is any software installed for other printers in Add/Remove Programs uninstall that too. Clean out everything possible that might be hanging the Printer Spooler service. Obtain updated software from your printer manufacturers and reinstall only the items needed for your printer.

This happens to me a lot when im playing Call of Duty 5 or Call of Duty 4 as my run key is Shift, so im there playing and running around and I hit the shift key to get away from other people trying to kill me, then without warning Sticky keys notification minimises the game and asks me if I want to enable sticky keys! How annoying! here is how to stop it.

1. Open Control Panel and Click Accessibility Options



2. Click settings in the StickyKeys box
   
3. Untick “Use Shortcut” and click Ok
4. Make sure you click Apply and click Ok 

Now if you try to press shift 5 times the message will not appear! happy gaming!

I like to keep my links available at the top of my IE page. I also like to keep them personalized. You can do this too.

First, unlock your Toolbar by right clicking where your Back, Forward and Home buttons are

Then select to have your links available

Then drag and release your Links bar where you want it. Assign all your most viewed sites into the Links folder. For each site shortcut, right click the individual buttons, and select properties

Next click: Change Icon. The next viewer will probably just show the few options currently available for that file.
Select Browse, to see all system32 folders and files

Then search for Shell32.dll. This is where most of windows icons are stored. Simply search for one you like, click it and hit OK

Do this for each and you’re set.
If you like an icon that’s not here because it belongs to another program, find the program in the Start menu.

I wanted the Ultrawipe Hard drive icon for my web page shortcut

Right click and select properties

In the shortcut tab click: Change Icon

Then select the pic location, right click and copy

Later, return to your links bar and right click, paste into the icon address bar

Press enter and now you have those icons at your disposal.

Click OK twice and your done

1. Open Control Panel and double click Administrative Tools
2. Double click Computer Management
3.  Left click Disk management in the left hand task plane
4. Use the lower right hand task plane to find the removable device 
5. Right click the removable disks space and select Change drive letter and Paths…
6. Click Change and select a letter that is not in use
7. Select a letter that is not in use
8. Click Ok and click Yes to the warning (becarefull to only do this to drives that are not in use, dont do it to your windows drive!!)
9. Now the drive will appear in My Computer

Alternativly you could try Acronis Disk Management to takle any other disk related problems

Thanks to Ewa Paszkiewicz for this Article

Trojan.Zlob.G is another invention of Perfect Defender 2009 developers, that helps them to scare computer users and trick into installing and purchasing licensed version of Perfect Defender 2009. In fact Trojan.Zlob.G is imaginary application, main purpose of which is to mislead computer users. Usually Zlob or Vundo Trojan displays security alerts stating that your computer is seriously infected with Trojan.Zlob.G and your data and privacy are in danger. If you click on that alert you will be redirected to Perfect Defender 2009 download page.

Download SUPERAntiSpyware from http://www.superantispyware.com/ or AdAware from http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_awar… both are best at removing these Trojans…

How to remove Trojan.Zlob.G manually:

It’s possible to remove Trojan.Zlob.G manually, but you have to be very experienced in dealing with registry entries, program files and .dll files.

The files to be deleted:

* pd.dll
* pdfndr.exe
* pdmonitor.exe
* PDInstall2009[1].exe
* %WINDOWS%\system32\drivers\svchost.exe
* %UserProfile%\Application Data\Google\ijdkq13324484.exe

Remove registry entries:

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Wi… Defender 2009

Please be careful because manual removal of Trojan.Zlob.G may seriously damage operational system and sensitive data. Also there is a big possibility of incomplete removal, because some files could be hidden and program could re-install itself after you delete files and registry entries. So I strongly recommend you to use automatic removal tool.

Anyway this didnt solve it! so I did some more digging and I narrowed it down to a faulty cpl file existing on my system. Heres what I did

1. First create a temp folder on your desktop
2. Goto c:\windows\system32 and browse the folder
3. Then sorted the files by type and scrolled down to the CPL files (Control Panel files – more info on these here)
4. Move the CPL files out to the temp folder you created on your desktop
5. Tada! control panel and network properties should now work again but you have no icons in them!
6. What you need to do is move the CPL files back from your desktop temp directory into your c:\windows\system32 a few at a time and testing control panel and network properties each time until it crashes again  - this is a trial and error process until lyou find the bad cpl file. Good Luck

Once you have found the offending CPL file(s) you should be able to see what was causing the problem usually its 3rd party sound card drivers – maybe try installing a diffrent version to get the functionality back that you lost when you copied out the bad cpl from your system folder. Hope this helps!

Known Errors

Below are the full error messages that may be seen when the computer is booting.

NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart

Boot: Couldn’t find NTLDR
Please insert another disk

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl Alt Del to Restart

Why is it happining?

1. Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
2. Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
3. Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
4. New hard disk drive being added.
5. Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
6. Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
7. Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
8. Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.

Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
Verify the computer hard disk drive cable is firmly connected by disconnected and reconnecting the cable.

If the issue continues it is also a possibility that the computer has a faulty cable, try replacing the hard disk drive cable with another cable and/or a new cable.

Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
We would recommend you reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

If you are encountering this issue during your setup you may wish to completely erase your computer hard disk drive and all of its existing data and then install Microsoft Windows 2000 / Windows XP.

Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
It’s possible your computer’s hard disk drive may have a corrupt boot sector and/or master boot record. These can be repaired through the Microsoft Windows Recovery console by running the fixboot and fixmbr commands.

 You can access the console by booting from the windows setup CD and choosing R to access the recovery console.

New hard disk drive being added.
If you are attempting to add a new hard disk drive to the computer make sure that drive is a blank drive. Adding a new hard disk drive to a computer that already has Windows installed on it may cause the NTLDR error to occur.

Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
Edit the boot.ini on the root directory of the hard disk drive and verify that it is pointing to the correct location of your Windows operating system and that the partitions are properly defined.

Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
If your computer is using Microsoft Windows 2000 and you are encountering the NTLDR error. Create the below boot.ini file on the floppy diskette drive.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT=”Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional” /fastdetect

Copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from another computer using the same operating system. Both of these files are located in the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. For example, C:\NTLDR and C:\NTDETECT.COM should be the locations of these files on many computers.

Please keep in mind that these files are hidden system files.

Once these files have been copied to a floppy diskette reboot the computer and copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files to the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. Below is an example of what commonly should be performed from the A:\> drive.

copy ntldr c:
copy ntdetect.com c:

After the above two files have been copied, remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer.

Windows XP users

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the “R” key to repair Windows.

1. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the “1″ key and pressing enter.
2. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
3. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is “e.” This letter may be different on your computer.

   copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
   copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

4. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
Many times this error is caused when the computer is attempting to boot from a non-bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM. First verify that no floppy diskette is in the computer, unless you are attempting to boot from a diskette.

If you are attempting to boot from a floppy diskette and are receiving this error message it is likely that the diskette does not have all the necessary files and/or is corrupt.

If you are attempting to install Windows XP or Windows 2000 and are receiving this error message as the computer is booting verify that your computer BIOS has the proper boot settings. For example, if you are attempting to run the install from the CD-ROM make sure the CD-ROM is the first boot device, and not the hard disk drive.

Second, when the computer is booting you should receive the below prompt. 

Press any key to boot from the CD

Important: When you see this message press any key such as the Enter key immediately, otherwise it will try booting from the hard drive and likely get the NTLDR error again.

Note: If you are not receiving the above message and your BIOS boot options are set properly it’s also possible that your CD-ROM drive may not be booting from the CD-ROM properly. Verify the jumpers are set properly on the CD-ROM drive.

Also this error has also been known to occur when a memory stick is in a card reader and the computer is attempting to boot from it. If you have any type of card reader or flash reader make sure that no memory stick is inside the computer.  

Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
Verify that your computer hard disk drive is properly setup in the BIOS / CMOS setup. Improper settings can cause this error.

Best feature we used was the screensaver version, how often is your PC idle? well why not make use of that time with a defrag – we also notices huge performance benefits when playing games.

General keyboard shortcuts

• F1 – Display Help
• CTRL+C – Copy the selected item
• CTRL+X – Cut the selected item
• CTRL+V – Paste the selected item
• CTRL+Z – Undo an action
• CTRL+Y – Redo an action
• DELETE – Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
• SHIFT+DELETE – Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
• F2 – Rename the selected item
• CTRL+RIGHT ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
• CTRL+LEFT ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
• CTRL+DOWN ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
• CTRL+UP ARROW – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
• CTRL+SHIFT with an arrow key – Select a block of text
• SHIFT with any arrow key – Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
• CTRL with any arrow key+SPACEBAR – Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
• CTRL+A – Select all items in a document or window
• F3- Search for a file or folder
• ALT+ENTER – Display properties for the selected item
• ALT+F4 – Close the active item, or exit the active program
• ALT+SPACEBAR – Open the shortcut menu for the active window
• CTRL+F4 – Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
• ALT+TAB – Switch between open items
• CTRL+ALT+TAB – Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
• CTRL+Mouse scroll wheel – Change the size of icons on the desktop
• Windows logo key + TAB – Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
• CTRL+Windows logo key + TAB – Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
• ALT+ESC – Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
• F6 – Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
• F4 – Display the Address bar list in Windows Explorer
• SHIFT+F10 – Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
• CTRL+ESC – Open the Start menu
• F10 – Activate the menu bar in the active program
• RIGHT ARROW – Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
• LEFT ARROW – Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
• F5 – Refresh the active window
• ALT+UP ARROW – View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
• ESC – Cancel the current task
• CTRL+SHIFT+ESC – Open Task Manager
• SHIFT when you insert a CD – Prevent the CD from automatically playing

Dialog box keyboard shortcuts

• CTRL+TAB – Move forward through tabs
• CTRL+SHIFT+TAB – Move back through tabs
• TAB – Move forward through options
• SHIFT+TAB – Move back through options
• ALT+underlined letter – Perform the command (or select the option) that goes with that letter
• ENTER – Replaces clicking the mouse for many selected commands
• SPACEBAR – Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box
• Arrow keys – Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons
• F1 – Display Help
• F4 – Display the items in the active list
• BACKSPACE – Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box

Windows Sidebar keyboard shortcuts

• Windows logo key Picture of Windows logo key + SPACEBAR – Bring all gadgets to the front and select Sidebar
• Windows logo key Picture of Windows logo key +G – Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
• TAB – Cycle through Sidebar controls

Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

• CTRL+N – Open a new window
• END – Display the bottom of the active window
• HOME – Display the top of the active window
• F11 – Maximize or minimize the active window
• LEFT ARROW – Collapse the current selection (if it is expanded), or select the parent folder
• ALT+LEFT ARROW – View the previous folder
• RIGHT ARROW – Display the current selection (if it is collapsed), or select the first subfolder
• ALT+RIGHT ARROW – View the next folder
• CTRL+Mouse scroll wheel – Change the size and appearance of file and folder icons
• ALT+D – Select the Address bar

Windows Help viewer keyboard shortcuts

• ALT+C – Display the Table of Contents
• ALT+N – Display the Connection Settings menu
• F10 – Display the Options menu
• ALT+LEFT ARROW – Move back to the previously viewed topic
• ALT+RIGHT ARROW – Move forward to the next (previously viewed) topic
• ALT+A – Display the customer support page
• ALT+HOME – Display the Help and Support home page
• HOME – Move the to beginning of a topic
• END – Move to the end of a topic
• CTRL+F – Search the current topic
• CTRL+P – Print a topic
• F3- Move to the Search box

Once you have chosen your start up items they become disabled, but sometimes these programs can be quite stubborn and re-enable them selves – especially Ad-Ware or Malware

This is where MSConfig Clean up helps it removes the items from msconfig so that they wont start again, it also gives you a bit more info about the start up program

MSConfig

MSConfig would be a perfect startup manager, if it allowed you not only to disable items, but to delete them forever. Unfortunately it does not do that. This is where MSConfig Cleanup comes in! It scans the startup configurations and allows you to remove any item that has been previously disabled via MSConfig.

This is another great application and can be downloaded here

DriverMax

I used DriverMax and found loads of drivers that could be updated on my system, this great app can be downloaded here

What it is, is a small program that provides you with a graphical representation of your hard disk, still not with me? well lets say you have a multiple files on your hard disk spread accoss multiple directories but you dont reqally know where the space is being used?

Well you can run SpaceMonger and it will produce a pictorial view of your hard disk

SpaceMonger 1.4

Version 1.4 is the free version and we think its pritty neat

Process Explorer Main Screen

Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.

The Process Explorer display consists of two sub-windows. The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you’ll see the handles that the process selected in the top window has opened; if Process Explorer is in DLL mode you’ll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded. Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.

The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work.

Process Explorer's Stats Screen

When somthing is playing up on my system i reach for this tool, it is handy in killing unwanted processes and even shows you who the process was developped by so you can see if some malware is running when it shouldent and kill it!

CCleaner

CCleaner is a freeware system optimisation, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system – allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run).

CCleaner main program

Download here

Annoying message given by Windows

Its called Unlocker and basically it can run in the background or it can be run manually so that when you delete a file it will let you know if any processes have a lock on that file or not.

Unlocker Right-Click Menu

It then allows you to kill that process and delete the offending file.

You can download Unlocker from here

I purchased a 4 gig OCZ Rally2 USB drive from Amazon for £25 and tested several Linux operating systems, using the guides at www.pendrivelinux.com.

I also wanted to get Beryl (now Compiz) working on the stick. I tried Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy, 7.04 Feisty, 6.10 and 6.06 – however Compiz only partially worked on some of them and each were very slow to boot. Also my network card was only detected in 7.10 which seamed to hang on the grub loader then kick into life(bout 3 min boot time).

I then tried pendrivelinux’s version of Mandriva http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/02/13/pendrivelinux-2008-install-from-windows/ – the install was fast and painless and the boot time was 30 – 45 seconds which is great!

The best thing about this OS build was the amount of software already installed and all my hardware “just worked” on both my laptop and my desktop – even Bluetooth and wireless worked straight out of the box.

Compiz comes pre-installed too with Intel and ATI drivers, so all I needed to do was install the NVIDIA driver and I was all set!

I now find myself using the USB pendrive more than my installed operating system because of the speed and flexibility. Big thanks to www.pendrivelinux.com!

Firstly download realvnc and extract the file to c:\vnc\

Make a Batch file called installvnc.bat in the directory you just created containing the following

@echo off
if exist "c:\program files\vnc\" goto end
c:
cd "program files"
cd realvnc
cd vnc4
winvnc4.exe -stop
winvnc4.exe -unregister
echo "Uninstalling Current VNC"
unins000.exe /SILENT
c:
cd\
cd "program files"
md vnc
cd vnc
copy "c:\vnc\*.*" c:
regedit /s "c:\vnc\vnc.reg"
winvnc4.exe -register
winvnc4.exe -start
pause
:end

Then create a Reg file containing the following in the same direcory called vnc.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\RealVNC][HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\RealVNC\WinVNC4]
"Password"=hex:89,f8,9e,15,b9,73,2a,e4
"SecurityTypes"="VncAuth"
"ReverseSecurityTypes"="None"
"QueryConnect"=dword:00000000
"QueryOnlyIfLoggedOn"=dword:00000000
"AllowProperties"=dword:00000000
"DisableClose"=dword:00000001

Run the batch file and vnc will install – the password for vnc is set to “pioneer” currently however if you wish to changes this in the reg file set it in the application and re-export thr reg details in regedit under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\RealVNC\WinVNC4