Home Networks

If you manage a home or personal network, automating your software updates can help you save time and system resources. If every computer takes the time to download patches, security fixes, and similar updates, this may lead to a bandwidth bottleneck. Additionally, if some of your computers at home are not connected to the internet, you may need to set up an offline solution to get updates to these machines.

A program called Personal Software Inspector is a fully featured software updater for home users. This application undertakes a deep scan of your system to let you know when you have out-of-date software or titles that may be a risk to security. It works by looking at any executable files on your computer and comparing them to their own database.

Something else you might consider is RadarSync Updater. This little program will inspect your device drivers to let you know when they are out of date. When you find one that needs replacing, you can download it directly (from the premium version) or type it into Google (with the free version).

Enterprise Solutions

While these programs are good fixes for home users, IT professionals who work for both large and small businesses will likely need a solution that is a little more robust. In this case, Dell KACE’s software distribution appliances are a good option.

This appliance allows IT managers to effectively deploy software and operating systems across large networks. The technology offers a huge amount of control over when and where applications are deployed, and it also provides regular BIOS and device driver updates for Dell client and server systems. Deployment time can be drastically reduced, giving IT professionals more time to work on other projects.

Keeping software current does not have to be a completely arduous task. Whether you manage 10 computers or 10,000, managing software updates across multiple systems is a matter of choosing the right tools to assist in your task.

This is a guest post from David Malmborg. David works with Dell Kace. He also enjoys writing about technology, computers and saving money. Hoping to post an article on this blog? Check out the guest posting guidelines and contact us right away.

Image Credit - Kevin Zollman

Effectively Manage Software Updates on Multiple Computers originally published on Ampercent

Techinline Remote Desktop has all the necessary requisites to complete a remote support session. Here goes a few of them that makes the tool an obvious choice for pros as well as rookie home users.

Features:

1. Two Way Desktop Sharing: The one and most important feature to be there for any such tool. Whether you just need access your home PC or need to help a friend troubleshoot a PC issue, this tool completes any task that needs a bi-directional communication between two PC.

2.  Remote Reboot and Reconnect: This features comes handy if you are providing support to anyone. Configuration changes that often need the PC to reboot can well be performed without any extra effort to reconnect to the remote PC after the PC boots up after a system restart.

3. Browser Based: The tool needs just a browser to establish a powerful enough remote access between two PCs.

4. Three Step Connection: This is actually as easy as it says. Three steps (refer the How-to section below) are all you need to have a remote connection set up and running.

5. Keeps a Complete Log: If you are a PC support professional event and session logs are the most necessary items to keep track of your support sessions and better plan the next steps to get the problem solved on the remote PC. The reporting tool is all you need to have a complete log. The logs are available in Excel and PDF formats.

6. Multi-monitor Support: Multiple monitors connected to the remote PC may as well be managed without much hassle.

7. Firewall Transparency: Firewalls can be a mess to deal with while setting up a remote connection. However this issue has been dealt with by the developers. No matter which firewall or proxy settings you are dealing with, this tool provides a secure connection to bypass the barrier.

8. Drag and Drop Sharing: Bi-directional sharing of files or clipboard items can’t get better. Just drag and drop from any of the PCs and the transfer is handled smoothly by the application.

9. Instant Messenger: Needless to say a proper communication needs to be maintained between the human users to fulfill the purpose of the remote access. With the instant messenger you can always stay connected with the other party.

10 Security: All these power, a tool can still be vulnerable. Since data transfer and administrative access are involved with the process a fail-proof security is always necessary. Remote access with Techinline Remote Desktop is safer with SSL,two-factor authentication, code signing certificates. Read the complete documentation here.

3 Easy Steps – Voila You Are Connected:

1. Browse to this page and sign in to your account.

2. Once you are in, you will need to have an unique 6-digit number to connect with the other computer. The code for that PC (on the other end) can be generated from this page. Note that you need to install an extension (on the remote PC) to get this step working. So once prompted go ahead with the installation. You will also an option to send the client ID via email.

3. Now use this code (from the remote PC) to get connected. Refer the screenshot below to get a clear idea.

On a concluding note, I find the tool a worthy choice for any professional or any general PC user. The array of features you get a complete solution for all your worries that demand a remote connection. However good things come at a price. The plans are very flexible and worth giving a try. Also you have a choice to try it for 15 days before you actually buy it. Go ahead and enjoy a safer and feature-full remote desktop connection.

Need To Access A Remote PC? With Techinline You Just Need A Browser originally published on Ampercent

[WHAT] Intro For Google Cloud Connect For MS Office

The technology is supposedly powered by DocVerse a service Google acquired back in 2010. It enables MS Office users to share and edit their Word, Powerpoint and Excel documents seamlessly and simultaneously with any number of users they want without leaving the comfort of the MS Office interface.

[WHY] Cloud Connect For Collaborators

MS Office has been there for quite long and it is one of the most widely used document editing tool of present times. Professionals use this tool for all sorts of official documentation including presentations, text documents, spreadsheets and many more. However in most cases while working on a same document needs them to collaborate with their team. Until now they had to pass necessary info among themselves to and fro via email or other storage devices. Or the worst case, they had to be physically present while the drafts were edited. Both of these methods are now outdated.

On the other hand Google Docs offers a strong document editing platform letting users create (and edit) their documents online. Being online made it easier to share information and collaborate on others ideas simultaneously or at their convenience. The only downside of this service is that it is yet to be considered as good as MS Office as a document editing tool.

Now that Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office is here, you can enjoy the best of both worlds. Doesn’t that already make you feel better?

[HOW] Integrate Google Docs With MS Office aka The CLOUD CONNECT

To experience the beauty of cloud connect, all you need to do is download and install a simple plugin for MS Office and then connect it to your Google Account. Everything else is taken care of. The Microsoft Office documents can then be synced with the cloud automatically or manually with a press of a button. You can make edits to your MS Office documents from within the MS Office interface without needing to open Google Docs anymore. Or you and your colleague won’t need to stay late at office to complete the project at hand. Another goodie about cloud connect is that you can also edit the documents offline. All the changes you make will be synced with the document on the cloud as you go online. There are many other features that make this tool a perfect winner as a powerful collaboration tool. Check the following video to know more about it.

This new service definitely takes collaboration to a new level as you no more need to use Google Docs to create documents or use your email to share information you and your partner need to include in your MS Office documents. Enjoy the versatility of the Microsoft Office editing interface along with the seamless Google Cloud sharing. Currently you have support for Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents for Office 2003, 2007 and 2010. Microsoft Office being a paid tool, I would love the idea of a similar Cloud Connect for OpenOffice suite which also offers MS-Office-alike document editing interface and is free. So what is your point? Do share your views via comments below.

MS Office + Google Docs = Seamless, Simultaneous And Powerful Collaboration originally published on Ampercent

1. Carry Your Workspace

As we all know an USB drive can be carried with ease and portable applications has made it quite easier to carry any type application that you need for your work. You may refer to some productive portable applications that can make you more productive or you can search for portable applications of your choice on various websites. Some of the most popular ones are listed below :

• FC Portables
• Portable Share
• Portable Freeware
• Portable Apps
• Pendrive Apps

2. Hidden USB Drive :

There is a nice step by step tutorial by Windell Oskay describing how to hide your USB drive within a torn USB cable. You can easily shock a couple of your friends while playing a song from a torn USB cable plugged in to your computer. Find the the step by step tutorial on Evil Mad Scientist.

3. Create an Autorun program:

It is really a vital feature while using any USB drive. We use it mostly casually but it can be used for better purposes like launching any program (located on your USB drive) automatically by just inserting the USB drive into your computer. You can follow a detailed guide on Daily Cup of Tech by Tim for creating an autorun file.

4. Stop Auto-Runs From USB Drives:

A similar list of antidotes on how you could stop auto-running programs from your USB drives can be found here. This is very useful as many threats are reported to start from auto-run menu. My suggestion to anyone would be, start programs (even the “Open to View Files”) from the Auto-run dialog.

5. Recover your lost USB Drive :

Portability is what makes the USB drives so indispensable and it is what makes it so forgettable and vulnerable too. There are many occasions when I forget to bring my keys and so is with my USB stick. And back in college, my USB stick got stolen. Only thing that I did then was sulk over my carelessness. Well now, I am quite safe from this misfortunes. Here is a step by step guide from Tim that will increase the chances of recovering your USB drive in case you lose it or got robbed.

You can also try Codysafe a free program that also serve the similar purpose. It also comes with a program launcher like Portable Apps and a built-in antivirus (Drive Doctor) for the files saved on your USB drive. Read a detailed review on the tool.

6. Use your USB drive to Lock or Unlock Your PC:

When I first came to know about this trick I simply couldn’t resist myself from using it. The very idea of locking my workspace with my USB drive makes me feel more safe. I have detailed this BIOS hack to lock your Windows XP with USB drive here. Also there is a free program named Predator that also lets you lock your Windows workspace. You can read my detailed how-to on this tool here.

7. Create a Bootable USB Disk

One, if your netbook don’t have a DVD drive or you have yours damaged and you are willing to reinstall an operating system try creating a boot device with your USB drive. Try using free tools like Image Writer or WinToFlash to burn an Windows OS installation image file onto a USB drive.

8. Run an Operating System From USB

You already know that a new OS installation can be carried be carried out from a USB disk. Well you can run a OS from USB too very much like the Live CD. Try Puppy Linux, XPUD, Damn Small Linux or Webconverger which may not be that feature-rich as an OS but are good enough to backup dead PCs or troubleshoot the same. Well if you are eager enough to format a USB that can run Windows XP from within it, head over here.

9. Run a Website or Standalone Application from USB Disk

Server2Go is a free webserver that can run from write protected media. To ease it up, lemme say, web apps based on Server2Go can be run from a usb stick without the worries of configuring Apache, PHP or MySQL. The app lets you create PHP applications or websites on USB sticks. Some examples listed on the developer website are catalog software, calculation programme, image campaigns (CMS-based), computer based training lessons etc. Many content management systems like Joomla are also supported by this tool.

10. Stay Safe: Get Files on Your USB Device Encrypted

Work was never confined to office. And with USB sticks we can carry documents anywhere to work on them when we get more time. So if you are carrying files that may contain sensitive information, you might want to encrypt them since if it falls on wrong hands you can guess the consequences. Try SecurStick. Its a free program that hides your files behind password protected encryption. You can also try the free version of USB Safe Guard for preventing data theft from USB drives.

11. Backup USB Drive

ImageUSB and USB Flash Drive Manager are two free utilities that will help you create a backup for your USB flash drives.

12. Speed Up Windows Using your USB Drive

Windows Vista and Windows 7 has an built-in feature coined as Windows ReadyBoost that you can use to speed up your OS using USB flash drives. Here is a detailed guide on Windows ReadyBoost that you can follow to apply on your PC.

11. Create a password reset Disk For Windows

If you are on Windows Vista or Windows 7, use your USB drives for creating a password reset disk. Read a detailed article on how you can create a USB password reset disk on Windows 7 and Vista.

12. Remove Alerts For USB Devices on Windows XP:

Follow this step by step tutorial on how you can disable alerts like, “This device can perform faster” in Windows XP.

13. Hide files or folders in your USB Drive

Try Winmend if you are willing to use your USB drive to hide files or folders. Read a detailed guide here. Or you can use a simple trick to hide files within a USB Drive.

14. Completely erase your Computer Hard disk

Have you considered erasing all the data on your hard disk before selling it? Manual erasing is quite tiring. Nuke your hard disk with DBAN after burning the tool onto a CD drive or USB drive.

15. Crazy Looking USB Drives

This is not something that will help you tweak your USB drive, but this will definitely ease up this geeky post a bit. Get to see some crazy looking USB drives that are probably really awesome and awful at the same time. Have you ever imagined of a USB Business card? Witness it here.

If you know of any trick that will take our USB drives achieve some extra feats, please mention in comments.

Amazing Ways To Get The Best Out Of Your USB Drives [List] originally published on Ampercent

Using a laptop stand/cooling platform is a good way to keep your laptop cool. However buying a laptop stand may add to some extra burden to your pocket. So here is a nice DIY video that illustrates how you can make a free laptop stand from a cardboard box lying useless.

While making your cardboard laptop stand, keep the following in mind,

1. The more rigid are the cardboard you are going to use, the stronger will be the base. This is necessary if you are going to type using the laptop keypad.

2. The inclination should be adjusted as per your choice. This again is necessary for comfortable typing.

3. Do not make the inclination too high as the chance of slipping increases too.

Wasn’t that great? I mean what else could be better than using the useless for something useful. Consider it as a freebie. I am really loving mine. Happy Comfy Computing.

Turn Crap Cardbox Box into A Laptop Cooling Stand [DIY] originally published on Ampercent

Sometime back, I had detailed how I use Feeddemon as my Twitter desktop client. One thing I hated most while sharing stories from Feeddemon was that there were no built-in URL shortener. That meant longer URLs and either I had to compromise on the words to tell about the story or had to use a URL shortening service to shorten the links myself. That was tiring.

Well recently I had found out a way out to auto-shorten links with Bit.ly, while sharing feed entries on Twitter from Feeddemon. Here is how you can do it:

1. Sign up for a free account with Bit.ly or login to the service if you already have an account.

2. Now go to “Settings” and scroll down to the section “APIKey” and copy the API key to a newly opened notepad file. Leave the notepad file opened and (you may) sign out of your Bit.ly account.

3. Open Windows Registry editor and navigate to

4. Create a new String value by right clicking in the editing area and choosing New > String Value. Name the new entry BitlyLogin. Create another string value and name it BitlyApiKey.

5. Double-click the newly created entries one by one and enter the following values (without the angle brackets) as the value data,

6. That’s it, start Feedemon and share anything and the links will get auto-shortened with Bit.ly.

I have always considered that it’s more productive way to combine two (major) tasks into one place. And using Feeddemon to tweet helps me read and share on the same place. With this simple hack the task of sharing has become easier. Thanks @WinObs for notifying and @nbradbury for elaborating the nice trick. Happy tweeting.

Shorten Links With Bit.ly While Sharing on Twitter from Feeddemon originally published on Ampercent

Example: Here is an article at Time.com that is spanned over 4 pages, you have to click the links at the bottom and reload the page to read the entire article.

If you want a simple way to read articles that are spanned over multiple pages at one place (without reloading the page), try the iReader extension for Firefox or Google Chrome

After installing iReader, you can hit the small “R” icon at the browser address bar to get a clutter free reading environment. The extension removes, advertisements, widget and other on page distractions. Have a look below:

The entire article is loaded over a scrollable window, which auto scrolls as you move towards the bottom of the iReader page. Hence, if the article is spanned over say 10 pages, you don’t have to click through each “Next” link at the bottom of the page to read the remaining portion.

All the links, images, YouTube videos and other embedded media remain active, you can click through a link to open it on a new browser tab or window. The extension also adds quick sharing options so that you can share the article over Twitter, Facebook or email a friend. Handy !

Related: Distraction free writing tools

Distraction Free Reading With Evernote

If you use Evernote for bookmarking webpages and taking notes, you will find the Clearly extension immensely useful. This extension allows you to format webpages for easier reading and clip the formatted page to your Evernote account for later reference. Clearly removes advertisements, widgets, buttons and other on page clutter, so you can just read the article and clip it to your Evernote account. Simple!

Read Long Articles Spanned Over Multiple Pages With iReader originally published on Ampercent

In essence a key-logger monitors your keyboard events, logs them and sends that log to a server where they look for your user accounts and passwords to banks, games and to access your computer.

Keyloggers are very small applications and hackers go to great efforts to keep them from your awareness. While there are many places you can find best practices for reducing your risk to keyloggers (you can certainly start by reviewing Prevent Email Keyloggers), I want to point out a nice free-for-personal-use version called KeyScrambler by QFX Software.

It should be noted that the free edition only protects you while using Internet Explorer and Firefox.

How it Works

By using their own proprietary keyboard driver they are able to encrypt keystroke events before they get to the software application layers where keyloggers typically reside. The keystrokes are decrypted when they are passed to your browser.

Installation

1. Go to QFX Software and download Keyscrambler Personal Edition.
2. Open Keyscrambler from the location where you saved it and press Next to begin the installation. You will be asked if you wish to check for updates (Choose Yes).
3. When you are told “This is the installer for the latest version, please continue.” , click Ok to continue.
4. Click on “I Agree” if you agree to the terms of the license agreement.
5. Select the components to install. If you use Firefox and Internet Explorer, make sure they are both selected. There is also an option for Flock.

6. Choose the path to install, just click Next to use the default.
7. Choose the Start Menu folder if you wish, it is recommended to just click Install.

If you have Firefox, follow these steps. Otherwise continue to step 13.
8. Firefox should open with an add-on for keyscrambler.xpi, click on Install Now.
9. You can choose to restart Firefox.
10. If you restart Firefox before a reboot you will get a message telling you that you will receive errors until you reboot your computer. This is okay.

11. Close Firefox.
12. You should see a message verifying that the Firefox add-in was installed. Just click OK.
13. You should choose if you want to reboot now or later and click on Finish.

Checking If Keyscrambler is Working

Now that you have rebooted after installing KeyScrambler, you should verify that your keystrokes are being encrypted. Also, you should take note of the default behavior of this program in order to be able to identify if it has been tampered with.

Check Internet Explorer:
1) Open Internet Explorer and notice the message at the top of the screen.
2) Start typing inside of Internet Explorer and notice your keys. This is what a keylogger will see. The values in the Encrypted Keystrokes area should never be readable.

Check Firefox:
1) Open Firefox and notice the message at the top of the screen.
2) Start typing inside of Firefox and notice your keys. This is what a keylogger will see. The values in the Encrypted Keystrokes area should never be readable.

Weaknesses

It is important to know the limits of your protection. Like most software applications, there are ways for hackers to get around this application using ring0 exploits. However, the great advantage to this application is that it shows you your encrypted characters as you type. If a hacker does disable this encryption it is obvious that you are no longer protected.

Why should I use it?

While anti-virus and anti-malware software companies do their best, it takes time to identify, counter and update your protection from keyloggers. There are many more keyloggers than there are anti-virus solutions. According to some estimates anti-virus solutions only detect 20-30% of new malware. Hackers spend a significant amount of time trying to steal your data, and by the time updates are applied to your protection software there is a high chance that your information has already been compromised. Why not spend five minutes to make their lives much more difficult to get your banking credentials and credit card numbers?

Now that you are all set enjoy a safer surfing experience.

Keyscrambler: Prevent Keyloggers To Log Your Keystrokes originally published on Ampercent

Why use a parabolic reflector ?

Most of the Routers come with an Omni directional Antenna, which means the signal is broadcasted on all the directions (just like a sound wave). If the router is placed near an outside wall, half of the signal gets wasted for nothing.

A parabolic reflector is placed behind your router so that the signals are not wasted and directed back to the direction of your computer:

The parabolic reflector is a simple workaround which can be used to direct the lost signals into your home area. A home made parabolic reflector looks like the following:

The following video illustrates how to create a parabolic reflector and place it behind the router for some signal boost:

How to Create the Reflector

1. Grab some aluminium foil from a nearby departmental store and cut the foil in the shape of a rectangle.

2. Bend all the four corners of your foil to create a frame, this adds to the stability of the reflector.

3. Then curve the foil just like a semi circular arc, giving it the shape of a parabola. You can also pierce a soft stick or a pencil between the foil such that the shape of the deflector does not changes overtime. The end result will look like the following:

4. Now place the reflector behind the antenna of your wireless device such that it faces the direction where your laptop or wireless hub is placed.

Now adjust the reflector such that you see maximum increase in the signal strength. That’s it, you have just created a simple home made wireless signal booster.

Tip:  Secure your Wireless network from bandwidth theft

image credit

Boost Your Router’s Wifi Signal By Using a Homemade Parabolic Reflector originally published on Ampercent

Why you should not use the same Username password combination in all the online accounts?

The reason is simple. If someone get’s access to any one of your email accounts or social sites, he will use the same password and username combination to gain access to all other sites. Eventually, you will lose control and your online identity is lost in no time.

But the question arises – How do I remember a difficult to remember password ? And since I would use a different combination of passwords for all those sites, how do I remember a bunch of complex passwords ?

Here are some creative techniques to remember complex passwords:

1. Use a Shortened URL service to Remember a Complex password

The idea here is to remember a small string instead of remembering the whole password. When you want to reveal the actual password, you can use the shortened URL service as described below:

1. Go to Google.com and type your password in the search box. For example, let’s use “mycomplexpassword”

2. Go to any URL shortening service such as bit.ly and shorten the URL of the search result page. You will get a shortened like like http://bit.ly/9oda4V

3. That’s it. Just remember the 6 digit string of the shortened URL to remember the “difficult to remember” password. Whenever you forget the complex password, just open the shortened URL from the browser and you would know the actual password.

You can use an even creative strategy – write down all the passwords one by one on the search box and then shorten the URL of the search result page.

2. Use Keepass – Save Complex passwords in a Database

Using a password manager is the best option to manage complex passwords. Keepass is one of the best password manager programs available till date. It’s portable, requires no installation and can be used on multiple computers from a USB drive.

The best thing about Keepass is the ability to recognize the browser window and perform auto typing of username and passwords via a Global hotkey.

3. Use a Password Card

A password card is a piece of paper which can be used to pick strong passwords for your online accounts. You don’t have to remember them and nobody can guess the password, if the card gets stolen. Your password card has a unique grid of random letters and digits on it. The rows have different colors, and the columns different symbols. All you do is remember a combination of a symbol and a color, and then read the letters and digits from there.

Here is how a password card looks:

Getting the password card: Go to Passwordcard.org and the site will generate a unique password card for you. Next, print the password card on paper and keep it in your wallet. Keep a copy of the password card in your shelf because you may lose the card if your wallet gets stolen or the card gets damaged due to water or tampering.

Using the password card: Using the password card is simple.You have to remember 3 things – the row number, letter and the length of the string.

Example: I choose the last row in green and remember the letter “q”. Then i choose 8 as the length of my password. Hence my password becomes “qhTtUPPY”.

My Algorithm to remember passwords

Thanks to Arpit Kumar for the tip.

4. Remember a Complex Password By Remembering an Easy Name

This one is the easiest of the lot. Go to Online functions website and type in a string which you can remember. You can use anything as a string – it can be a domain name, the name of your pet or your favorite movie star. Just don’t use something which is too common e.g your phone number, your name or your date of birth.

MD5 hash for strings

Hit the “Calculate MD5″ button and the site will generate an MD5 hash key. Now you can use the first 8 or 10 characters of the Hash key as a complex password.

Later on, if you forget the complex password – you can reveal it by typing the same name in the input field. Prior to using a password manager, I used this service to remember difficult passwords for all my social accounts.

5. Write your Passwords Safely on Paper

No, I am not advising you to write all the passwords in paper and carry it with you wherever you go. Instead, you can use secret strings and letters to create a password card and remember a bunch of passwords for your online accounts and systems.

password card made up of unique strings

Digital Inspiration has a very unique idea. Say you want to remember the password for your Amazon account. Acording to the above card, your password can be formulated as follows:

1st letter is a –> a (Column 2, Row 1)
2nd letter is m –> jv (Column 7, Row 2)
3rd letter is a -> AN6
4th letter is z -> xs7
5th letter is o –> enb

Hence the password for the Amazon website becomes ajvAN6xs7enb. Neat!

Tip: Find a forgotten username and password in Firefox

5 Tools to Remember Complex Passwords originally published on Ampercent