Write protect your USB Flash Drive

Why write protect your USB flash drive ?

When you put your USB flash drive in a pc infected with virus, the virus gets attached to your pen drive and then it infects all computers where it is used. But sometimes we are forced to use pen drive in such pc. So is there any way to prevent virus getting infected in a pen drive ? If your pen drive has a "make read only" switch, then you need to just make it read only before inserting it into a suspected pc. But nowadays most pendrives do not have such "make read only" switch, so the following solution may be handy.

Making a pen drive read only or write protect using Registry

The following method will work for Windows XP and Vista. You need to have admin privileges for this to work because it involves writing into common area in registry.
Download this zip : EnableOrDisableUSBWrite.zip (1kb)

There are two files inside this zip DisableUSBWrite.reg and EnableUSBWrite.reg . Extract this zip and double click DisableUSBWrite.reg before you insert the flash drive into the USB drive. You will be prompted with a confirmation before writing to registry. Once you get the confirmation message, now you can insert the pen drive into USB drive. Just to make sure this worked, try creating a New folder inside the flash drive, you have to get the "Media is write protected" message.

Once you remove the pen drive you should change back the USB drive into write mode. For this double click the EnableUSBWrite.reg. After confirmation ther registry is changed to make the USB drive into write mode.

How To: Delete Files Securely

Going to sell your hard drive? Deleting personal files from a memory stick? Don’t believe it when Windows says that with one click, the file is deleted. In the real world, it takes a lot more to actually delete a file.

This sounds a little strange, but when deleting a file, it isn’t actually deleted. This means that when you delete a file, your system hides it and tells itself that the file can be overwritten. The data still stays on the hard drive. But now the computer knows that new files can overwrite the “deleted” file and it will get overwritten, eventually. The more files you save on the same drive as the “deleted” file, the likelier it is that it will get overwritten. And only when a file is totally overwritten, it is deleted.

Anyone with a simple program can recover these files very easily. Just think about it: You sell your old computer and the new owner has access to all your “deleted” images and documents… Not very nice, eh? You think you’ve deleted everything but in fact you haven’t.

Just like for recovering files, there are programs for permanently deleting files. Inferno is one of the best for them. Download it right now. If for some weird reason you don’t like Inferno, go to Google and type secure delete. Most of them fuction the same way.

Lets spend a minute or two configuring Inferno the way we want it to work. The most important thing is to decide how secure is secure enough. Secure deletion software will overwrite a file with a random series of digits. This way the “deleted” file isn’t hidden to lurk somewhere on your drive, but IS actually overwritten. The question is just how many times you want it overwritten. One time is good, 3 is even better, but why not 35 times? Click Settings and choose how many times you want your files overwritten. Inferno lets you choose between 1,3,7 and 35. With the last two, it’s more than likely that the world’s largest intelligence organizations can’t even recover the data… This means you can be quite sure whoever buys your computer and has CIA’s technology can’t read anything from your hard drive.

Some people don’t want others to know where they’ve been surfing. If you click on Internet History in Inferno’s settings you can tell it where your browser keeps its history and later also delete that securely.

Now, all you need to do is find the files you want to delete and drag them into Inferno’s window. The buttons at the top of the window can also help you to locate files. When you’ve dragged in all the files you want, press Delete All and Inferno gets to work.

There’s a reason why Windows doesn’t delete files when you ask it to: it takes a hell of a lot of time to overwrite them several times. Windows – just like all other operating systems – wants to look fast. So now that you’ve set Inferno to work, get away from your computer, go drink some coffee and do something interesting. Depending on how securely you wanted the files overwritten, this can take quite a long time. But now you can relax, knowing your files are safe.

Broadband speeds

Broadband is the faster form of an internet connection. There are several forms of broadband connections but here are the most popular two:

ADSL (DSL) – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

This is the most common form of broadband. It is delivered from your phone network, through a modem or router but it won’t disturb your calls. Chances are you’ll probably choose this, as it is the most common form of broadband (used by 61% of the USA) and it is available in over 80% of the UK. ADSL or (DSL in USA) is cheaper than a cable connection but has a slower speed.

Cable

A cable broadband connection could be a better option than ADSL if you already have an existing cable TV connection. As with ADSL, this won’t interfere with your TV signal in any way. I personally use a cable broadband connection and I’m very satisfied with it. The only thing I can complain about is the downtime which occurs sometimes (every few months) but it gets fixed within a few hours. This is one of the downsides of my Internet Service Provider.

There are also other broadband connections such as Wireless and satellite, but they are less popular and we won’t discuss them here.

Broadband speeds

Broadband speed is generally faster than other internet connections (such as wireless or dial-up), but speeds and prices vary between Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). Before getting a broadband internet connection, it is very important to choose the type of connection that is easiest to set up in your home, and choose the ISP with the best speed and price. Of course, if you just use the internet to read your email and news a couple of times a day, you don’t need the fastest and most expensive connection out there.

Broadband Expert is a great website to search for Internet Service Providers and compare them, especially if you live in the UK. It also has a handybroadband speed test feature that lets you check your current internet connection speed and see if it really is what your ISP promised you.

So if you are not satisfied with your current, slow internet connection, why not upgrade to a faster broadband connection instead?

How to: speed up your wireless internet connection on Windows XP

If you have a slow wireless internet connection that often crashes, then there’s probably something wrong with it. (Duh!) Here are some tips and tricks to fix some of the most common wireless problems on Windows XP. Before you start “fixing” anything, make sure your wireless connection isn’t already at it’s best.

1. Move the wireless router to a better location

The first thing you want to do is to make sure your wireless router is in the best location possible. If you have a laptop that you move around all the time or if you have several computers, the router should be in the centre of your home and office. Don’t hide it into cupboards, or under chairs and tables.

But if you only have one stationary computer, use a cable connection to the router or move  the router as close to the computer as possible.

You can check the signal strength from the Wireless connection menu, accessible from Start -> Connect To -> Wireless Connection. You can also access it by clicking the wireless icon at the bottom right corner of the screen if you are connected.

2. Upgrade the wireless router firmware

Sometimes the problem is with the router firmware. Make sure you update your router firmware as often as possible to avoid incompatibility with newer systems. You can update your router firmware from the wireless router control panel. Type your router’s IP address into the browser to access the CP.

The default IP of routers is normally 192.168.1.1 for Linksys, 192.168.0.1 for D-Link and Netgear, some US Robotics routers use 192.168.123.254 and some SMC routers have 192.168.2.1. The router’s default IP address is always in the documentation of the router.

3. Change the wireless broadcast channel

If there are several wireless networks in your area, they can begin to distract each other. Most routers use the wireless channel 6 by default and the channel can slow down if full of signals coming from many routers. You can change the wireless channel from the Wireless Control Panel.

If changing the channel didn’t speed up your wireless connection, change it back to 6. It’s better not to play with them too much because this can distract your firewall.

4. Update your computer’s wireless network drivers

You can search for driver updates from the Windows Update site or your manufacturers website.

If none of the above tips helped, contact your wireless router manufacturer or just go back to a wired internet connection.

10 Tricks With A USB Thumb Drive

Any ordinary USB memory device can do a lot more than you probably thought it could. It can carry programs, encryption and even a full installation of Windows XP! Here is our tenlist for the coolest things you can do with a USB thumb drive:

Take your programs with you

We all know how frustrating it is when we take your files to another computer just to discover that the software required to read the files is not installed.

Here’s the simplest solution – take your programs with you – on your USB thumb drive. Here’s how to do it with Portable Apps:

1. Go to the Portable Apps website and download the installer, choosing the software you want to carry along.

2. Run the installer and install the software to the root of your USB thumb drive.

And you’re done! As soon as you connect your thumb drive into a computer, Portable Apps will open up automatically.

Surf anonymously

With Portable Apps and Firefox, you can surf the web without leaving any trace on the computer you are using. If you want extra security, install a Firefox security plugin such as FoxyProxy. To iput Firefox onto the drive, just copy-paste the Firefox folder from you computer, or install Firefox onto the thumb drive.

Set a program to run automatically (autorun)

Using autorun, you can set a program to start up automatically when you connect the drive to a computer. You can also use the same script for a data CD-ROM. Note that some computers have autorun disabled for security purposes. [Here's how to disable autorun.]

Open up notepad and paste the following script:

[autorun]

ShellExecute=filename

Label=description

UseAutoPlay=1

Make sure you replace filename with the full path to the file. For example, a file called program.exe in a folder called “programs” on the thumb drive would be /programs/program.exe

Replace description with a short description of the program, for example, My Jukebox or Mozilla Firefox.

Save the file as autorun.inf, making sure you select “All Programs” from the save menu, not “Text document”!

Help! I’m lost!

Ever lost a USB drive? Even if you haven’t, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll lose a few during your life. And with all the important information on it, it could be a disaster to have it fall into someone’s hands.

A good idea is to encrypt all the information on the drive, but you would still want it back, wouldn’t you? Luckily, the folks at the Daily Cup Of Tech have come up with a solution.

Save a program called “Help! I’m Lost!” on the drive, that a finder just can’t get around opening. The program opens a message box with your personal “I’m lost” message. It’s a good idea to offer the finder a bigger reward than the drive itself, so that they’ll be interested in contacting you.

Hide the drive inside something

Why not surprise your friends and co-workers by sticking something that looks like a broken USB cable into the computer’s USB drive?

You’ll be sure to get a few shocked faces when you start to play a movie from it.

The guys from Technobuzz.net show us how to do it. (You are gonna need an unbelievably small thumb drive for this…)

Secure your PC

Just like with an RFID badge, you can use a USB drive to lock and unlock a PC. Insert it to begin working and pull it out when you’ve finished, locking the computer. There are several programs for this . Rohos, a commercial program and WiKID, a semi-open source one.

If you really need to secure your computer with a USB drive, I suggest you give Rohos a try, as WiKID is rather complicated.

Portable jukebox

Don’t just carry the music with you, also carry the player! You can install audio programs such asWinAmp and CoolPlayer+ on your thumb drive. Just unextract the ZIP folders to the USB drive.

If you want the jukebox to start up automatically when you connect the memory stick to the computer, use the autorun feature shown tip 3 and point it to the exe of your audio player.

Encrypt your data

If you carry any sensitive indormation on your USB memory stick, a good idea is to encrypt it. Hardware-level encryption will help, but it will cost extra. You can get a free program to encrypt your data just as securely. For this I recommend TrueCrypt, but most others will also do.

You will need admin access on the computer you want to use your encrypted thumb drive on, so this it’s usability a little.

Run a standalone OS for dedicated tasks

The easiest OS to boot from a USB drive is probably Linux. There are many small capacity Linux versions out there that will fit on your drive. The best 3 are Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux andWebconverger.

Make sure you select a version that needs less space than your USB drive’s maximum, so you have room for files and software.

And this leads us nicely to the final tip…

Run Windows itself from a USB thumb drive
Modifying Windows to work on a USB drive is quite difficult, but luckily there are some tools that will do it for us. Note that you will need a separate Windows license for this, as Microsoft only lets you use one for each single computer, and a USB drive is treated by them like a computer…

What you’ll need:

1. A licensed copy of Windows
2. A USB device, min. 1GB (We recommend a USB hard disk, as a flash memory stick will become unusable after 100000 writing processes. Assuming that only 2 processes are used per second, the drive will last only 60 days with 8 hours of work each day… A hard disk doesn’t have this problem.)

Here is the link to the full tutorial, translated from German.

A Faster Way To Shut Down And Log Off Your Windows XP

If you’re experiencing slow shutdowns and log offs on your Windows XP, this trick will help you.

Instead of accessing the shutdown menu via Start->Turn Off Computer, open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

Press “Shut Down” at the top of the Task Manager and choose what you want your Windows XP to do:

• Stand By
• Hibernate
• Turn Off
• Restart
• Log off
• Switch User

The task will be performed in a matter of seconds.

Boost Windows Xp Speed Upto 60%

Whenever you start your computer, you are faced with a few moments of thumb twiddling while Windows XP boots and prompts you to log on. Although you should expect to wait for a few moments, sometimes Windows XP seems to boot rather slowly. In fact, you may notice that over a period of time the PC that used to roar to life seems a bit sluggish instead. Fortunately, you can perform several techniques that help Windows XP get the bootup speed you want. This chapter explores how to put these techniques to work. Some of the things may already have been discussed in some threads earlier Stopping Unneeded Startup Services Along with the core operating system and programs that Windows XP runs when it starts, there is also a host of services involved. Many of these services are necessary for Windows XP to operate correctly. However, many of them are for features in Windows XP that you may not use at all. You can peruse the services and disable any service that you do not want to run. The fewer services that run, the more quickly Windows XP will boot. Caution: Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it. To reduce the number of services that start on bootup, you can access two different areas of Windows XP. The first is the System Configuration Utility. The Services tab shows you the services that start when the computer boots. You can stop a service from starting by simply clearing the check box next to the service and clicking OK. However, before you do so, there is another way to disable services that you may prefer because the interface gives you more information about the service in question. Open Control Panel/Administrative ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console. I prefer to use the Services console instead of the System Configuration Utility because it describes what the service does. Additionally, you can double-click a service and examine its properties. Notice the Startup Type column in Figure 4-2. This information lists whether the service is automatic or manual. Manual services are only started in Windows XP when you start a process that requires the service. Some other process may require the service that has a "dependency" relationship with it; in this case, the dependency service will start, as well. Because these services do not start automatically when you boot Windows XP, you do not need to do anything with manual services. However, all services listed as automatic start when Windows XP boots. These are the services that increase boot time. As I have mentioned, many of them are necessary and important, so you should not stop automatic services from booting unless you are sure of the ramifications. You can get this information by looking at the Description column. Here's a quick look at common services you may want to live without: Automatic Updates: This service enables Windows XP to check the Web automatically for updates. If you don't want to use Automatic Updates, you can disable the service. You can always check for updates manually at the Windows Update Web site. Computer Browser: If your computer is not on a network, you don't need this service. If you are on a network, leave it alone. DHCP Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are on a small workgroup, you can still increase boot time by configuring manual IP addresses (which I explore later in this chapter).    DNS Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are, leave it alone. Error Reporting and Event Log: You don't have to use these services but they can be very helpful, so I would leave them configured as automatic. Fax: If you don't use your computer for fax services, you can disable this one. Help and Support: If you never use the Windows XP Help and Support Center (found on the Start menu), you can disable this service. IMAPI CD-Burning COM: This service enables you to burn CDs on your computer. If you never burn CDs, you can disable the service. Indexing Service: Your computer keeps an index of files but if you rarely search for files, the service is just a resource hog. You can stop it and turn the service to manual. Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing: If you do not use these features, you can disable them. Infrared Monitor: If you do not use infrared devices, you can disable this service. Messenger: This service sends alert messages on a local area network (it is not the same as Windows Messenger). If you are not on a network, you can disable this service. Print Spooler: If you do not do any printing from the computer, you can disable this service. If you print, make sure you leave it as automatic. Remote Registry: This service allows remote users to modify the Registry on your computer. If you are not on a network, you can disable this service. System Restore Service: This service allows you to use System Restore. If you have turned off System Restore anyway, you do not need to turn off the service. If you do, you turn off System Restore. Themes: If you do not use themes, you can disable this service. Windows Image Acquisition: If you do not use scanners or digital cameras, you can disable this service. Wireless Zero Configuration: If do not use wireless networking devices, you can disable this service. You may have a number of other automatic services, depending on software and other configurations on your computer. So it's a good idea to look through the services and learn more about them. If you double-click a service, a Properties dialog box appears Notice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it.    However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time. However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab (see Figure 4-4). This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing. Keep in mind that services are necessary for the vast functionality you get with Windows XP. Change only those services that you understand and do not use. How you use your Windows XP computer should be the best guide in terms of optional startup services. Tips: The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board. You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore. Speed Tips and Tricks for Windows XP Startup Aside from startup programs, services, and the Prefetch folder, there are a number of other startup procedures and issues you can modify to help Windows XP start faster. The following sections explore those tips and tricks. Manual IP Addressing on Small Office/Home Networks Windows XP is configured to help you take care of networking. It uses the TCP/IP protocol for networking in workgroups, or what you might call small office or home networks that do not use a dedicated server. The problem is that automatic IP addressing can be slow. When your computer boots, it has to query the network to see what IP addresses are already in use and then assign itself one. If you want to speed up the boot time a bit, consider manually assigning IP addresses to all computers on the network. This way, the network computers do not have to worry about locating an automatic IP address. Because one is manually configured, the operating system doesn't have to spend time solving this problem. This isn't a networking book, however, so I won't delve into the implications of using a manual IP address, but if you are using a computer that functions as a host computer to the Internet (using Internet Connection Sharing [ICS]), you can get into connectivity problems if you change the configuration of the IP address. However, you can still work around this problem by starting with the ICS host computer. Select Start/Connect To/Show All Connections. Right-click your network adapter card and click Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP in the list of services and click the Properties button. In the TCP/IP properties, you can see if you use an automatic or manual IP address. In the example in Figure 4-5, I have configured a manual IP address of 90.0.0.1 and a default subnet mask. The other computers on my office network each use a different IP address in the same class, such as 90.0.0.2, 90.0.0.3, 90.0.0.4, and so on. This way, each computer has a permanent IP address, which helps increase boot time. Note that if you change the IP addresses of your computers, they must all use the same subnet mask. A default subject mask of 255.255.255.0 will keep you in good shape. Make sure you understand the implications of changing IP addresses on your network. If you have no networking experience at all, you may be wiser to leave the automatic IP addressing as is and try to gain some speed using the additional suggestions in this chapter. Disabling Recent Documents History Windows XP includes a feature that keeps track of all recent documents you have opened or used. The idea is that you can select Start/Recent Documents History and quickly reopen any document you have recently used. I use many documents each day and never use the feature myself. In my opinion, I can keep up with what I want to use without Windows XP doing it for me. The bad thing about Recent Documents History is that Windows XP has to calculate what should be put there each time you boot Windows, which can slow things down. So, if you never use the Recent Documents History, it's a good idea to disable it. Here's how: 1. Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK). 2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. 3. Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created. 4. Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction. 5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect. Disabling the Boot Logo You can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little tweak probably shaves only a few seconds off your boot time but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk. (But if you are not having problems with your computer, this isn't such a big deal.) To remove the boot logo, follow these steps: 1. Select Start/Run, type msconfig, and click OK. 2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab. 3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK. Removing Unwanted Fonts One trick that increases your boot time a bit is to lose any fonts in the Fonts folder in Control Panel that you never use. The more fonts you have, the more processing Windows XP has to do to prep all of those fonts for use. You must be a bit careful here to not remove fonts that you might want, but there is a good chance that you can live without many of them. For instance, you may have foreign language fonts and other symbol fonts (such as Wingdings) that you never use. To delete unneeded fonts, follow these steps: 1. Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel. 2. Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy. 3. Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste. 4. In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want. 5. Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete. 6. Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All. 7. Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder. Tip: You can directly delete fonts from the Fonts folder without creating the secondary folder. However, I recommend the preceding steps to help ensure that you do not make a mistake in the deletion process. Stopping Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing In Windows XP Professional, you have two remote networking features called Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing. These remote networking features are very helpful in a variety of situations but if you don't use them, it is good idea to disable them to save boot time. You can always enable them later if you want to use them. Note: If you are interested in using Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance, see my book Windows XP for Power Users: Power Pack published by John Wiley & Sons. 1. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and choose Properties. 2. Click the Remote Tab. 3. Clear both check boxes to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop. Speeding Up the Dual-Boot Timeout If you dual-boot your computer with Windows XP and another operating system, you see an operating system selection menu on startup. If you typically boot into Windows XP and not the other operating system, you can speed up the dual-boot timeout value so that you do not wait so long for the boot process to select your default operating system and continue with the boot process. The default timeout value is 30 seconds but you can change this setting to 10. This gives you enough time to select the alternate operating system if you want but also speeds up the boot process. You can skip this section if you do not use a dual-boot configuration. Follow these steps: 1. Locate the boot.ini file on your computer. It is a hidden file by default; mine is located in C:\boot.ini. 2. Open the file with Notepad (which is what opens it by default). 3. Change the Timeout value to 10 (see Figure 4-11). 4. Select File/Save and close Notepad. Speeding Up Your PPPoE Connection If you use a Point-to-Point Protocol connection over Ethernet (PPPoE), you may notice a delay in using the PPPoE connection after startup. By default, there is a 120 second delay but you can stop this behavior by manually configuring an IP address for the network adapter card. If you do not use a PPPoE connection, you can skip this section. 1. Select Start/Connect to/Show All Connections. 2. Open the TCP/IP properties for your LAN network interface card. 3. Manually set the IP address on the TCP/IP properties to an appropriate IP address and subnet mask for your network. Reducing the Wait Time When you start to shut down Windows XP, it has to quit, or "kill," any live applications or processes that are currently running. So close all applications first. However, some applications and processes are always running in the background. You can reduce the amount of time that Windows XP waits for those applications and processes to close before Windows XP kills them. Edit three different Registry settings to change this: 1. Open the Registry Editor. 2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. 3. Select the HungAppTimeout value and set it to 1000 as well. 4 . Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. Select the HungAppTimeout \newline value and set it to 1000 as well. 5. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l. Select the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value and set it to 1000. 6. Close the Registry Editor. Automatically Killing Tasks on Shutdown You know the drill. You start to shut down the computer, you wait a few moments, and then you see a dialog box asking if you want to kill an application or service that is running. Instead of prompting you, you can make Windows XP take care of the kill task automatically. Here's how: 1. Open the Registry Editor. 2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. 3. Highlight the value AutoEndTasks and change the value to 1. 4. Close the Registry Editor.