Make Easy Your System Administration

System State Backup FAQ

2010-07-01T18:46:00.005+05:30

What is the purpose of taking System State backup?

System state backup creates a backup file for critical system related components. This backup file can be used to recover the critical system components after a crash.

Which components are backed up by the System State backup?

The Registry, boot files, as well as important system files. Then depending on their availability, the following services will be backed up as well

Active Directory directory service, Certificate Service database, COM+ Class Registration database, SYSVOL directory.

How frequent should a system state backup taken?

After each major system update, and regularly each weekend or so.

Should I run over the last System State with the new versions?

No, it is always recommended to keep two or more versions. That way even if the last system state is corrupted you will be able to recover from a previous version.?

How does Relative Rev Backup help with System State backup?

Relative Rev Backup has a powerful scheduler that automates the backup initiation, both according to a predefined schedule, and for single click manual? backup.

Relative Rev Backup automates the number of versions to keep. It can keep several weekends versions, several manual versions, and if needed even several monthly versions

To create the actual backup file, Relative Rev Backup seamlessly automates Microsoft Backup utility. It means that the backup file is 100% genuine.

System State - Frequent Asked Questions

How can I restore a fully crashed Active Directory system using the system state backup?

Using Windows installation CD/DVD, install a basic windows installation.

If you have a server with special hardware like SCSI or RAID cards, at the first blue installation screen be ready press F6 to install this drivers (the option is available for only few seconds, so be prepared).

On the next "Welcome to Setup Screen" do not choose the "Repair" option, just hit enter to continue.

Press F8 to accept the End User License Agreement.

If you have replaced the hard disk, select the new disk, and create a new partition that has at least the same size as it used to be on the cashed system.

Select to install Windows on the new partition

Select formatting the new partition

After format completes, the windows installation begins, and windows will load, and then reboot.

Accept default settings for 'Regional and Language Options"

Fill the "Name" and "Organization", and product key.

Make sure you use the same? "computer name" as it use to be, otherwise, you will have to start all over.

Cancel the setup wizard that appears at the end f the installation.

Right click on "My Computer: and choose Manage.

Recreate all partitions, with the same drive letters, as that were present on the system you are trying to restore. Failing to do so will result in unsuccessful restore!

Install Relative Rev Backup and recover it settings form the backup disk.

Select the System State pack, a restore it to its original location.

Reboot the server, and hit F8 as soon as the BIOS screen appears.

Choose "Directory Services Restore Mode"

After windows starts > from the Start menu choose Run > NTBackup

Choose Restore and Manage Media

From the main menu Tools > Options > Restore Tab > set " Always replace the files on my computer"

Select the appropriate system state file, the one you recovered using Relative Rev Backup, and hit "Start Restore".

Acknowledge restoring the System State to its original location.?

On the Confirm Restore form hit Advanced, and check all four checkboxes.

Wait for the restore to complete

You may have to reboot

Can I backup the system state while the Active Directory is online?

Yes - On Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 domain controllers the Active Directory can be backed up while the domain controller is online.?

You can restore these backups only when the domain controller is booted into Directory Services Restore mode by using the F8 key when the server is starting.

Restoring Active Directory in servers

On Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 domain controllers the Active Directory can be backed up while the domain controller is online. You can restore these backups only when the domain controller is booted into Directory Services Restore mode by using the F8 key when the server is starting.

How to add Windows Backup Utility in Windows XP Home Edition?

Microsoft Backup utility is not included in the default installation of Windows XP Home Edition. It is included on the Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM in the ValueAdd folder. You must install the utility manually.?

To manually install Backup:?
Double-click the Ntbackup.msi file in the following location on the Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM:

CD-ROMDrive:\VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP

CPU-Z 1.53.1 Portable

2010-02-16T14:29:00.008+05:30

CPU-Z 1.53.1 Portable

A small program that detects processor name and vendor, processor features (package, current
core voltage), cache information, motherboard features (name, vendor, BIOS, chipset, memory, AGP), memory info (size, type, timings, specifications) etc. Doesn't require installation.

Click to Download Here

Re-Enable my root Account

2010-02-11T16:03:00.006+05:30

Root Account is disabled - see Account Administrator

When your HP-UX system is in the more secure "trusted system" mode, your account is automatically disabled after you have entered your password incorrectly 3 times in a row. At this point, even if you enter the correct password, you will not be allowed access into the account.

There are a few options to re-enable the account:

If you have access to the system console you can login using the root account from the console (this will automatically re-enable the account). Even when the account is disabled, login from the console will be allowed by default.
If you have another root account on the system, you can login using that account and reset the disabled user account using SAM.

To re-enable a disabled user account on the system using SAM:

Select the “Accounts for users and groups” section.
Select “users.”
Select the user account that is disabled.
With the disabled user account selected, go to the top of the screen and select “Actions.”
Select “Reactivate” to reactivate the disabled account.

Note: Very important thing that u have to remember, when giving a password DON'T GIVE "@" CHARACTER IN PASSWORD. By mistakenly if any body uses the "@" character in password then use "\" before @ Symbol.

EX:If your Present Password is "3N%@Bb!8" then use this password "3N%\@Bb!8" after login into console user. 100% it will work
The @ character is the problem. It is the default cancel-entry character, just like # is the default backspace character. These defaults are leftover from the days of teletypewriters. It doesn't matter what OS you use, there will be special characters that you must avoid. Just stay away from the special chars across the top of your keyboard.

Write Protect your Pen Drive

2010-02-06T18:28:00.008+05:30

How you can prevent your pen drive from getting infected

Things to note before doing this:

As the trick will write protect your pen drive, you will not be able to transfer anymore data until you disable it again (works best if you only wish to copy or read something from the drive).
If you are not good at editing registry then backup yours (read this).
You need Admin rights to work upon the Registry Editor.

Steps to make your drive Write Protected:

Open Registry Editor by typing regedit in Run dialog.

Navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
Find a sub key inside it named “StorageDevicePolicies”. If it does not exist there then we need to make it. Right click on “Control” key -> New -> Key. Name it “StorageDevicePolicies” without quotes.
Now right click on this newly created key and then click New -> DWORD value and name it as “WriteProtect”.
Modify this key and give it a value 1.

Click OK, and remember to restart the PC.

Now no more data can be transferred to the drive but to start using the drive again just give the “WriteProtect” key a value of 0 instead of 1 and restart the PC.

So any thoughts how you are going to use this trick?

Solution to remove Write Protection from USB Pen Drive

2010-02-05T20:30:00.010+05:30

Solution to remove Write Protection from USB Pen Drive

This seems to be the problem of most of us these days and some of our readers who wanted to know the methods how they can remove the Write Protected error from their USB drives like Pen Drives and memory cards.

What is Write Protected error and why it happens?
In the Write Protected error, we can’t write or copy any data in our flash drives and even can’t format the drive.
There are many reasons that cause this problem, let’s see solutions of them.
Solutions:

First of all try to locate a small switch (if any, that you may have not noticed) at some place on the drive or memory card reader. This is the prime reason for this error. If there is one, switch it to the other side to turn the protection off.
Yes I know this problem is also occurring these days without this switch but not to worry. Just download this helpful software from here and run it to execute a “low-level format” on the drive. This software is quite handy and may take few attempts to actually remove the error.
The problem can also be caused by some virus activity so just get it scanned by some updated good anti virus which may solve your problem.
BUT if none of the methods listed above solves your problem then your pen drive might have gone corrupted, so just get it replaced.

Hope any of the methods listed above solves your problem.

Update 1:

After the low level format, you may need to “Partition the drive“. Dont worry, partitioning a pen drive means allocating it its File System and Cluster Size that was lost after the Low Level Format.
For that:
Run diskmgmt.msc in Run.
In the disk management window, select the pen drive, right click on it and click on Format.
Now choose the File System and Allocation Unit Size and do not check the boxes below.
Click OK and the drive will be reusable after this.

Determine Memory Type Without Opening The Computer

2010-01-29T20:46:00.010+05:30

Determine Memory (RAM) Type Without Opening The Computer

SIW - System Information for Windows

SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.
The system information is divided into few major categories:

Software Inventory: Operating System, Installed Software and Hotfixes, Processes, Services, Users, Open Files, System Uptime, Installed Codecs, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers / CD Key), Secrets (Password Recovery).
Hardware Inventory: Motherboard, Sensors, BIOS, CPU, chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, Memory, Video Card, Monitor, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Printers.
Network Information: Network Cards, Network Shares, currently active Network Connections, Open Ports.
Network Tools: MAC Address Changer, Neighborhood Scan, Ping, Trace, Statistics
Miscellaneous Tools: Eureka! (Reveal lost passwords hidden behind asterisks), Monitor Test, Shutdown / Restart.
Real-time monitors: CPU, Memory, Page File usage and Network Traffic.

SIW is a standalone utility that does not require installation (Portable Freeware) - one less installed program on your PC as well the fact that you can run the program directly from an USB flash drive, from a floppy, from a network drive or from a domain login script.
SIW can be distributed freely (ftp, archives, CD-ROMs ...).

Client Platform: Windows 7 / Vista / Windows XP / 2000 / NT4 / Me / 98 / Media Center / Tablet PC / WinRE / Bart PE / Winternals ERD Commander
Server Platform: Windows Server 2008 (R2) / Windows Server 2003 (R2) / Windows Server 2000 / NT4

Please Click Here to Download -1(With Crack)
Please Click Here to Download -2

Hiren's Boot CD 10.1

2009-11-23T20:14:00.018+05:30

Click Here for Download

Hiren's Boot CD is a boot CD containing various diagnostic programs such as partitioning agents, system performance benchmarks, disk cloning and imaging tools, data recovery tools, MBR tools, BIOS tools, and many others for fixing various computer problems. It is a Bootable CD; thus, it can be useful even if the primary operating system cannot be booted. Hiren's Boot CD has an extensive list of software. Utilities with similar functionality on the CD are grouped together and seem redundant; however, they present choices through UI differences.

Hiren's BootCD 10.1 All in one Bootable CD which has all these utilities ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Partition Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Partition Magic Pro 8.05
Best software to partition hard drive

Acronis Disk Director 10.0.2160
Popular disk management functions in a single suite

Paragon Partition Manager 7.0.1274
Universal tool for partitions

Partition Commander 9.01
The safe way to partition your hard drive,with undo feature

Ranish Partition Manager 2.44
a boot manager and hard disk partitioner.

The Partition Resizer 1.3.4
move and resize your partitions in one step and more.

Smart Fdisk 2.05
a simple harddisk partition manager

SPecial Fdisk 2000.03v
SPFDISK a partition tool.

eXtended Fdisk 0.9.3
XFDISK allows easy partition creation and edition

GDisk 1.1.1
Complete replacement for the DOS FDISK utility and more.

Super Fdisk 1.0
Create, delete, format partitions drives without destroying data.

Partition Table Editor 8.0
Partition Table and Boot Record Editor

EASEUS Partition Master 4.1.1
Partition Resize/Move/Copy/Create/Delete/Format/Convert, Explore, etc.

USB Format Tool
Format/make bootable any USB flash drive to FAT, FAT32, or NTFS partition.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backup Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ImageCenter 5.6 (Drive Image 2002)
Best software to clone hard drive

Norton Ghost 11.5
Similar to Drive Image (with usb/scsi support)

Acronis True Image 8.1.945
Create an exact disk image for complete system backup and disk cloning.

Partition Saving 3.71
A tool to backup/restore partitions. (SavePart.exe)

COPYR.DMA Build013
A Tool for making copies of hard disks with bad sectors

DriveImageXML 2.13
backup any drive/partition to an image file, even if the drive is currently in use

Drive SnapShot 1.39
creates an exact Disk Image of your system into a file while windows is running.

Ghost Image Explorer 11.5
to add/remove/extract files from Ghost image file

DriveImage Explorer 5.0
to add/remove/extract files from Drive image file

WhitSoft File Splitter 4.5a
a Small File Split-Join Tool

InfraRecorder 0.50
An Open source CD/DVD burning software, also create/burn .iso images

FastCopy 1.99r4
The Fastest Copy/Delete Software on Windows

Smart Driver Backup 2.12
Easy backup of your Windows device drivers (also works from PE)

Double Driver 2.1
Driver Backup and Restore tool

DriverBackup! 1.0.3
Another handy tool to backup drivers

RegBak 1.0
a light-weight and simple utility to create backups of Windows registry files
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recovery Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Active Partition Recovery 3.0
To Recover a Deleted partition.

Active Uneraser 3.0
To recover deleted files and folders on FAT and NTFS systems.

Ontrack Easy Recovery Pro 6.10
To Recover data that has been deleted/virus attack

Winternals Disk Commander 1.1
more than just a standard deleted-file recovery utility

TestDisk 6.11.3
Tool to check and undelete partition from Dos/Windows

DiyDataRecovery Diskpatch 2.1.100
An excellent data recovery software.

Prosoft Media Tools 5.0 v1.1.2.64
Another excellent data recovery software with many other options.

PhotoRec 6.11.3
Tool to Recover File and pictures from Dos/Windows

Active Undelete 5.5
a tool to recover deleted files

Restoration 3.2.13
a tool to recover deleted files

GetDataBack for FAT 4.0
Data recovery software for FAT file systems

GetDataBack for NTFS 4.0
Data recovery software for NTFS file systems

Recuva 1.32
Restore deleted files from Hard Drive, Digital Camera Memory Card, usb mp3 player...

Partition Find and Mount 2.3.1
Partition Find and Mount software is designed to find lost or deleted partitions

Unstoppable Copier 4.2
Allows you to copy files from disks with problems such as bad sectors,
scratches or that just give errors when reading data.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Testing Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
System Speed Test 4.78
it tests CPU, harddrive, ect.

PC-Check 6.05
Easy to use hardware tests

Ontrack Data Advisor 5.0
Powerful diagnostic tool for assessing the condition of your computer

The Troubleshooter 7.02
all kind of hardware testing tool

CPU/Video/Disk Performance Test 5.7
a tool to test cpu, video, and disk

Test Hard Disk Drive 1.0
a tool to test Hard Disk Drive

Disk Speed1.0
Hard Disk Drive Speed Testing Tool

S&M Stress Test 1.9.1
cpu/hdd/memory benchmarking and information tool, including temperatures/fan speeds/voltages

IsMyLcdOK (Monitor Test) 1.02
Allows you to test CRT/LCD/TFT screens for dead pixels and diffective screens
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAM (Memory) Testing Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GoldMemory 5.07
RAM Test utility

Memtest86+ 4.00
PC Memory Test

MemTest 1.0
a Memory Testing Tool

Video Memory Stress Test 1.7.116
a tool to thoroughly test your video RAM for errors and faults
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hard Disk Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hard Disk Diagnostic Utilities
Seagate Seatools Desktop Edition 3.02
SeaTools for Dos 1.10
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2
Western Digital Diagnostics (DLGDIAG) 5.04f
Maxtor PowerMax 4.23
Maxtor amset utility 4.0
Maxtor(or any Hdd) Low Level Formatter 1.1
Fujitsu HDD Diagnostic Tool 7.00
Fujitsu IDE Low Level Format 1.0
Samsung HDD Utility(HUTIL) 2.10
Samsung Disk Diagnose (SHDIAG) 1.28
Samsung The Drive Diagnostic Utility (ESTOOL) 3.00g
IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.16
IBM/Hitachi Feature Tool 2.15
Gateway GwScan 5.12
ExcelStor's ESTest 4.50
MHDD 4.6
WDClear 1.30
Toshiba Hard Disk Diagnostic 2.00b

HDD Regenerator 1.71
to recover a bad hard drive

HDAT2 4.53
main function is testing and repair (regenerates) bad sectors for detected devices

Ontrack Disk Manager 9.57
Disk Test/Format/Maintenance tool.

Norton Disk Doctor 2002
a tool to repair a damaged disk, or to diagnose your hard drive.

Norton Disk Editor 2002
a powerful disk editing, manual data recovery tool.

Hard Disk Sentinel 0.04
Hard Disk health, performance and temperature monitoring tool.

Active Kill Disk 4.1
Securely overwrites and destroys all data on physical drive.

SmartUDM 2.00
Hard Disk Drive S.M.A.R.T. Viewer.

Victoria 3.33e and 3.52rus
a freeware program for low-level HDD diagnostics

HDD Erase 4.0
Secure erase using a special feature built into most newer hard drives

HDD Scan 3.2
HDDScan is a Low-level HDD diagnostic tool, it scans surface find bad sectors etc.

HDTune 2.55
Hard disk benchmarking and information tool.

Data Shredder 1.0
A tool to Erase disk and files (also wipe free space) securely
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
System Information Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PCI and AGP info Tool (1811)
The PCI System information & Exploration tool.

System Analyser 5.3w
View extensive information about your hardware

Navratil Software System Information 0.60.38
High-end professional system information tool

Astra 5.44
Advanced System info Tool and Reporting Assistant

HWiNFO 5.3.0
a powerful system information utility

SysChk 2.46
Find out exactly what is under the hood of your PC

CPU Identification utility 1.18
Detailed information on CPU (CHKCPU.EXE)

CTIA CPU Information 2.7
another CPU information tool

Drive Temperature 1.0
Hard Disk Drive temperature meter

PC Wizard 2009.1.911
Powerful system information/benchmark utility designed especially for detection of hardware.

SIW 2009-10-22
Gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings.

CPU-Z 1.52
It gathers information on some of the main devices of your system

GPU-Z 0.3.6
A lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU

PCI 32 Sniffer 1.4 (1811)
device information tool (similar to unknown devices)

UnknownDevices 1.4.20 (1811)
helps you find what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are

USBDeview 1.47
View/Uninstall all installed/connected USB devices on your system
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MBR (Master Boot Record) Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MBRWork 1.07b
a utility to perform some common and uncommon MBR functions

MBRTool 2.3.200
backup, verify, restore, edit, refresh, remove, display, re-write...

DiskMan 4.2
all in one tool for cmos, bios, bootrecord and more

BootFix Utility
Run this utility if you get 'Invalid system disk'

MBR SAVE / RESTORE 2.1
BootSave and BootRest tools to save / restore MBR

Boot Partition 2.60
add Partition in the Windows NT/2000/XP Multi-boot loader

Smart Boot Manager 3.7.1
a multi boot manager

MBRWizard 2.0b
Directly update and modify the MBR (Master Boot Record)

Grub4Dos installer 1.1
an universal boot loader GRUB for DOS installer

MbrFix 1.3
To backup, restore, fix the boot code in the MBR
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIOS / CMOS Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMOS 0.93
CMOS Save / Restore Tool

BIOS Cracker 5.0
BIOS password remover (cmospwd)

BIOS Utility 1.35.0
BIOS Informations, password, beep codes and more.

!BIOS 3.20
a powerfull utility for bios and cmos

DISKMAN4
a powerful all in one utility

UniFlash 1.40
bios flash utility

Kill CMOS
a tiny utility to wipe cmos

Award DMI Configuration Utility 2.43
DMI Configuration utility for modifying/viewing the MIDF contents.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MultiMedia Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Picture Viewer 1.94
Picture viewer for dos, supports more then 40 filetypes.

QuickView Pro 2.58
movie viewer for dos, supports many format including divx.

MpxPlay 1.56
a small Music Player for dos
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Password Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Active Password Changer 3.0.420
To Reset User Password on windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista (FAT/NTFS)

Offline NT/2K/XP Password Changer
utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password.

Registry Reanimator 1.02
Check and Restore structure of the Damaged Registry files of NT/2K/XP

NTPWD
utility to reset windows nt/2000/xp administrator/user password.

Registry Viewer 4.2
Registry Viewer/Editor for Win9x/Me/NT/2K/XP

ATAPWD 1.2
Hard Disk Password Utility

TrueCrypt 6.3
On-the-fly disk encryption tool, can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file
and mount it as a real disk, can also encrypt an entire HDD/Partition/USB Drive

Content Advisor Password Remover 1.01
It Removes Content Advisor Password from Internet Explorer

Password Renew 1.1
Utility to (re)set windows passwords

WindowsGate 1.1
Enables/Disables Windows logon password validation

WinKeyFinder 1.73
Allows you to View and Change Windows XP/2003 Product Keys, backup and restore
activation related files, backup Microsoft Office 97, 2000 SP2, XP/2003 keys etc.

XP Key Reader 2.7
Can decode the XP-key on Local or Remote systems

ProduKey 1.38
Recovers lost the product key of your Windows/Office

WirelessKeyView 1.30
Recovers all wireless network keys (WEP/WPA) stored in your computer by WZC

MessenPass 1.27
A password recovery tool that reveals the passwords of several instant messangers

Mail PassView 1.52
Recovers mail passwords of Outlook Express, MS Outlook, IncrediMail, Eudora, etc.

Asterisk Logger 1.04
Reveal passwords hidden behind asterisk characters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NTFS (FileSystems) Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NTFS Dos Pro 5.0
To access ntfs partitions from Dos

NTFS 4 Dos 1.9
To access ntfs partitions from Dos

Paragon Mount Everything 3.0
To access NTFS, Ext2FS, Ext3FS partitions from dos

NTFS Dos 3.02
To access ntfs partitions from Dos

EditBINI 1.01
to Edit boot.ini on NTFS Partition
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Browsers / File Managers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volkov Commander 4.99
Dos File Manager with LongFileName/ntfs support
(Similar to Norton Commander)

Dos Command Center 5.1
Classic dos-based file manager.

File Wizard 1.35
a file manager - colored files, drag and drop copy, move, delete etc.

File Maven 3.5
an advanced Dos file manager with high speed PC-to-PC file
transfers via serial or parallel cable

FastLynx 2.0
Dos file manager with Pc to Pc file transfer capability

Dos Navigator 6.4.0
Dos File Manager, Norton Commander clone but has much more features.

Mini Windows 98
Can run from Ram Drive, with ntfs support,
Added 7-Zip, Disk Defragmenter, Notepad / RichText Editor,
Image Viewer, .avi .mpg .divx .xvid Movie Player, etc...

Mini Windows Xp
Portable Windows Xp that runs from CD/USB/Ram Drive, with Network and SATA support

7-Zip 9.07 beta
File Manager/Archiver Supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS formats

Opera Web Browser 8.53
One of the fastest, smallest and smartest full-featured web browser
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ghost Walker 11.5
utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP

DosCDroast beta 2
Dos CD Burning Tools

Universal TCP/IP Network 6.4
MSDOS Network Client to connect via TCP/IP to a Microsoft based
network. The network can either be a peer-to-peer or a server based
network, it contains 91 different network card drivers

HxD 1.7.7.0
Hex Editor provides tools to inspect and edit files, main memory, disks/disk images

Virtual Floppy Drive 2.1
enables you to create and mount a virtual floppy drive on your NT/2000/XP/Vista

FileDisk Mount Tool 25
to mount ISO/BIN/NRG/MDF/IMA images on windows.

Streams 1.56
Reveal/Delete NTFS alternate data streams

NewSID 4.10
utility that changes the security ID (SID) for Windows NT, 2000 and XP
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dos Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
USB CD-Rom Driver 1
Standard usb_cd.sys driver for cd drive

Universal USB Driver 2
Panasonic v2.20 ASPI Manager for USB mass storage

ASUSTeK USB Driver 3
ASUS USB CD-ROM Device Driver Version 1.00

SCSI Support
SCSI Drivers for Dos

SATA Support
SATA Driver (gcdrom.sys) and JMicron JMB361 (xcdrom.sys) for Dos

1394 Firewire Support
1394 Firewire Drivers for Dos

Interlnk support at COM1
To access another computer from COM port

Interlnk support at LPT1
To access another computer from LPT port

and too many great dos tools
very good collection of dos utilities
extract.exe pkzip.exe pkunzip.exe lha.exe gzip.exe
uharcd.exe imgExtrc.exe xcopy.exe diskcopy.com mouse.com
undelete.com edit.com fdisk.exe fdisk2.exe fdisk3.exe
lf.exe delpart.exe wipe.com zap.com format.com
deltree.exe more.com find.exe hex.exe debug.exe
split.exe mem.exe attrib.com sys.com smartdrv.exe
xmsdsk.exe killer.exe share.exe scandisk.exe scanreg.exe
guest.exe doskey.exe duse.exe move.exe setver.exe
intersvr.exe interlnk.exe loadlin.exe lfndos.exe doslfn.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cleaners
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SpaceMonger 1.4
keeping track of the free space on your computer

WinDirStat 1.1.2.80
a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Windows.

CCleaner 2.25
Crap Cleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optimizers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PageDfrg 2.32
System file Defragmenter For NT/2k/XP

NT Registry Optimizer 1.1j
Registry Optimization for Windows NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista

DefragNT 1.9
This tool presents the user with many options for disk defragmenting

JkDefrag 3.36
Free disk defragment and optimize utility for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/Windows 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Network Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angry IP Scanner 2.21
Scan IP addresses in any range as well as any their ports

CurrPorts 1.80
displays the list of all currently opened TCP and UDP ports on your computer

TCPView 2.54
Lists TCP and UDP endpoints, including the Local/Remote addresses of TCP connections

Winsock 2 Fix for 9x
to fix corrupted Winsock2 information by poorly written Internet programs

XP TCP/IP Repair 1.0
Repair your Windows XP Winsock and TCP/IP registry errors
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Process Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dependency Walker 2.2
Checks for missing/invalid DLL/modules/functions for any exe/dll/ocx/sys.

IB Process Manager 1.04
a little process manager for 9x/2k, shows dll info etc.

Process Explorer 11.33
shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded

OpenedFilesView 1.46
View opened/locked files in your system, sharing violation issues

Pocket KillBox 2.0.0.978
can be used to get rid of files that stubbornly refuse to allow you to delete them

ProcessActivityView 1.10
Detailed process access information read/write/opened files etc

Unlocker 1.8.8
This tool can delete file/folder when you get this message - Cannot delete file:
Access is denied, The file is in use by another program etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Registry Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
RegScanner 1.80
Tool to find/search in the Registry of Windows

Registry Editor PE 0.9c
Easy editing of remote registry hives and user profiles

Registry Restore Wizard 1.0.4
Restores a corrupted system registry from Xp System Restore
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Startup Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Autoruns 9.56
Displays All the entries from startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys,
Explorer shell extensions,toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications,
auto-start services, Scheduled Tasks, Winsock, LSA Providers, Remove Drivers
and much more which helps to remove nasty spyware/adware and viruses.

Silent Runners Revision 60
A free script that helps detect spyware, malware and adware in the startup process

Startup Control Panel 2.8
a tool to edit startup programs

Startup Monitor 1.02
it notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup

HijackThis 2.0.2
a general homepage hijackers detector and remover and more
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tweakers
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dial a Fix 0.60.0.24
Fix errors and problems with COM/ActiveX object errors and missing registry entries,
Automatic Updates, SSL, HTTPS, and Cryptography service (signing/verification)
issues, Reinstall internet explorer etc. comes with the policy scanner

Ultimate Windows Tweaker 2.0
A TweakUI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows Vista

TweakUI 2.10
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows Xp

Xp-AntiSpy 3.97.5
it tweaks some Windows XP functions, and disables some unneeded Windows services quickly

Shell Extensions Manager (ShellExView) 1.45
An excellent tool to View and Manage all installed Context-menu/Shell extensions

EzPcFix 1.0.0.16
Helpful tool when trying to remove viruses, spyware, and malware

RemoveWGA 1.2
Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications Removal tool

RRT - Remove Restrictions Tool 3.0
To Re-enable Ctrl+Alt+Del, Folder Options and Registry tools etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antivirus Tools
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 7.0.0.290 (1811)
Free on-demand virus scanner from Kaspersky Lab to remove viruses.

Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.6.2 (1811)
Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.41 (1811)
anti-malware application that can thoroughly remove even the most advanced malware.

SpywareBlaster 4.2 (1811)
Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software.

SmitFraudFix 2.424
This removes Some of the popular Desktop Hijack malware

ComboFix (1811)
Designed to cleanup malware infections and restore settings modified by malware

CWShredder 2.19
Popular CoolWebSearch Trojan Remover tool

RootkitRevealer 1.7.1
Rootkit Revealer is an advanced patent-pending root kit detection utility.

SuperAntispyware 4.30 (1811)
Remove Malware, Rootkits, Spyware, Adware, Worms, Parasites (a must have tool)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hiren's BootCD 10.1 For information about this bootcd please visit http://www.hiren.info Please email feedback to: thankihiren(a)hotmail.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disk Usage for Windows DU V1.33

2009-11-23T19:07:00.009+05:30

DU V 1.33

Most Unix operating systems come with a du command for users and system administrators to help determine which directories use the most file space. This is useful if file space is getting low and one needs to determine where to start looking for files to remove and/or archive.

Du (disk usage) reports the disk space usage for the directory you specify. By default it recurses directories to show the total size of a directory and its subdirectories.

And For the Better Usage use this command along with sort command

Click Here To Download File Disk Usage V1.33 (114KB)

D:\>du /?

Du v1.33 - report directory disk usage
Copyright (C) 2005-2007 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

usage: du [[-v] [-l ] | [-n]] [-q]
-l Specify subdirectory depth of information (default is all levels).
-n Do not recurse.
-q Quiet (no banner).
-u Count only unique occurances.
-v Show size (in KB) of intermediate directories.

Ex:

D:\>du -q
Files: 20076
Directories: 1908
Size: 44,253,384,032 bytes
Size on disk: 43,585,310,783 bytes

D:\>du -l 1 |sort /r |more

Du v1.33 - report directory disk usage
Copyright (C) 2005-2007 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

Size: 44,253,384,032 bytes
Size on disk: 43,585,310,783 bytes
Files: 20076
Directories: 1908
43,216,195 D:\
22,030,072 D:\softwares
11,305,649 D:\cms
3,006,828 D:\Sep 172.16.10.97 Backup
1,749,061 D:\desktop on 130709
1,617,558 D:\Laxman
1,494,092 D:\DP LOGS
863,423 D:\2012
647,411 D:\PCS Motherboard
206,442 D:\OLD
187,640 D:\Admin User Backup
16,566 D:\Venkat
5,502 D:\audio
5,275 D:\inventory on 172.16.10.99
2,291 D:\PsTools
268 D:\ntwdblib.dll
231 D:\CMS User Backup
64 D:\font
16 D:\Help
0 D:\Test.txt

Windows system file missing or corrupt

2009-11-21T11:52:00.009+05:30

Windows XP: \windows\system32\config\system file missing or corrupt

To complete part one, follow these steps:

1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.

2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.

4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.

5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:

REN c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\OLDsystem
REN c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\OLDsoftware
REN c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\OLDsam
REN c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\OLDsecurity
REN c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\OLDdefault

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.

RAID Parity Caliculation

2009-10-24T16:25:00.011+05:30

The parity calculation is typically performed using a logical operation called "exclusive OR" or "XOR". As you may know, the "OR" logical operator is "true" (1) if either of its operands is true, and false (0) if neither is true. The exclusive OR operator is "true" if and only if one of its operands is true; it differs from "OR" in that if both operands are true, "XOR" is false. This truth table for the two operators will illustrate:

The interesting thing about "XOR" is that it is a logical operation that if performed twice in a row, "undoes itself". If you calculate "A XOR B" and then take that result and do another "XOR B" on it, you get back A, the value you started with. That is to say, "A XOR B XOR B = A". This property is exploited for parity calculation under RAID. If we have four data elements, D1, D2, D3 and D4, we can calculate the parity data, "DP" as "D1 XOR D2 XOR D3 XOR D4". Then, if we know any four of D1, D2, D3, D4 and DP, we can XOR those four together and it will yield the missing element.
Let's take an example to show how this works; you can do this yourself easily on a sheet of paper. Suppose we have the following four bytes of data: D1=10100101, D2=11110000, D3=00111100, and D4=10111001. We can "XOR" them together as follows, one step at a time:
D1 XOR D2 XOR D3 XOR D4
= ( (D1 XOR D2) XOR D3) XOR D4
= ( (10100101 XOR 11110000) XOR 00111100) XOR 10111001
= (01010101.XOR 00111100) XOR 10111001
= 01101001 XOR 10111001
= 11010000
So "11010000" becomes the parity byte, DP. Now let's say we store these five values on five hard disks, and hard disk #3, containing value "00111100", goes el-muncho. We can retrieve the missing byte simply by XOR'ing together the other three original data pieces, and the parity byte we calculated earlier, as so:
D1 XOR D2 XOR D4 XOR DP = D3
= ( (D1 XOR D2) XOR D4) XOR DP
= ( (10100101 XOR 11110000) XOR 10111001) XOR 11010000
= (01010101 XOR 10111001) XOR 11010000
= 11101100 XOR 11010000
= 00111100
= D3
Which is D3, the missing value.This operation can be done on any number of bits, incidentally; I just used eight bits for simplicity. It's also a very simple binary calculation--which is a good thing, because it has to be done for every bit stored in a parity-enabled RAID array.

IGNITE BACKUP

2009-10-23T20:53:00.007+05:30

INTRODUCTION TO HP IGNITE-UX

HP-UX have a software to backup the OS called “Ignite”. It bundled with OS installed. The easy way to make a OS backup is using tape data cartridge. Just plug the tape and run command “make_tape_recovery -AI”. To restore OS using recovery tape

Ignite-UX is an HP-UX 10.x, 11.0, and 11i product, including 11i v1.6 which supports Itanium Processor Family (IPF) systems, that facilitates installing and configuring HP-UX systems. Ignite-UX releases are available to install the HP-UX 10.01, 10.10, 10.20, 11.0 and 11i releases on client systems.

You will need the following to install an Ignite-UX server

Computer - A series 700/800/Itanium Based Processor System running HP-UX 10.0 10.10 10.20 11.0 11i.
Memory - Ignite -UX requires 64MB Min. on each server and client.
Source Device - Make sure that your system has an appropriate source Device (ULT Drive) has physically attached to server. And ensure that drive heads are clean
Ensure that a active SCSI port must be there to attach tape ULT drive
An additional X11 display server. So that displkay can be redirected to another X-windows system by setting the DISPLAY environment variable. For example, in the Korn Sehll or Posix Shell use the following command
export DISPLAY=:0.0
Client and Server must be on the same subnet if you plan to do the initial boot of the client over the network.
Ignite UX Bundle

Identifying the source Bundle / Depot for Ignite UX Software

you can determine the source Bundle/Depot used to install Ignite-UX by using the follwing commands:

# swlist | grep -i ignite
# swlist -a install source -l bundle

Verify Hardware path

Identify the device which is use for IGNITE backup. Use proper Device to take IGNITE backup

# ioscan -funC tape

Creating a Ignite-UX recovery Tape:

Using make_tape_recovery: The Ignite-UX server's make_tape_recovery command creates a bootable recovery tape for an LVM or whole disk file system while it is up and running. When a system has a logical volume layout, the recovery tape will only include data from the root volume group, plus data from any non-root volume group containing the /usr directory. You can run make_tape_recovery either on the Ignite-UX server or locally on the system from which you are trying to make a recovery tape.
Note: This is not recommended because Ignite-UX is not an Backup Tool. Backup other VGs with other backup utilities such as fbackup, tar, etc.

Creating a make_tape_recovery tape - Command Line Examples

Backing up only essential core OS files using the default device file /dev/rmt/0mn

# /opt/ignite/bin/make_tape_recovery

Note: make_tape_recovery will check if there are configuration files from previously saved archives. If no configuration files exist that have different settings, only a core OS (essential files) will be backed up. /opt/ignite/recovery/mnr_essentials lists the files and directories that are considered essential.

To create the bootable recovery tape, enter:

Backing up the complete root VG using the default device file /dev/rmt/0mn

# /opt/ignite/bin/make_tape_recovery -Av -C -d /dev/rmt/0m

Options are explained below

-A: Based on the files that are specified for inclusion, this option identifies the disk(s) and/or VG(s) that contain these files and includes all files from the disk(s)/VG(s) in the archive. If no further files are specified for inclusion, the default essentials file list /opt/ignite/recovery/mnr_essentials is used for specifying the included files.

-v: Verbose mode, error and process logs will be displayed.

Backing up the complete root VG using a non-default device file

# /opt/ignite/bin/make_tape_recovery -Av –a /dev/rmt/c6t0d1BESTn

Verifying the make_tape_recovery Tape Looking up the log files

If make_tape_recovery was run locally, look up the log files at
/var/opt/ignite/recovery/.

How to set LAN Speed to Auto negotiable

2009-10-20T19:45:00.007+05:30

In HP - UX we can change LAN Speed in Two ways one is temporarily and second is permanently.

For temporary base just use this command at command prompt

# lanadmin -X auto_on 0 --- Where 0 is PPA Number of NIC
This command does not need any reboot and this will work up to next reboot of the system.

For permanent base you have to change the script on hpigelanconf file and this file located at /etc/rc.config.d and find the following text

HP_IGELAN_INTERFACE_NAME[0]=lan0
HP_IGELAN_STATION_ADDRESS[0]=
HP_IGELAN_SPEED[0]=100fd
HP_IGELAN_MTU[0]=1500
HP_IGELAN_FLOW_CONTROL[0]=1
HP_IGELAN_AUTONEG[0]=0
HP_IGELAN_SEND_COAL_TICKS[0]=150
HP_IGELAN_RECV_COAL_TICKS[0]=0
HP_IGELAN_SEND_MAX_BUFS[0]=10
HP_IGELAN_RECV_MAX_BUFS[0]=1
HP_IGELAN_VMTU[0]=0
HP_IGELAN_SEND_CKO[0]=
HP_IGELAN_RECV_CKO[0]=
HP_IGELAN_DIAG_THRESH[0]=

and made the changes at the line HP_IGELAN_SPEED[0]=auto_on
This will fix the issue with LAN speed going to 100fd after reboot.

Search Option Problem

2009-10-08T20:40:00.007+05:30

Search Option is not Working Properly

This may be caused by Virus. So First of all try to clean Virus with Anti virus then try the following commands.

Click Start
Select Run
Type the following commands
1) regsvr32 wshom.ocx
2) regsvr32 jscript.dll
3) regsvr32 urlmon.dll

Then try to open search option, you will find its working properly......

NTLDR Missing

2009-10-08T20:01:00.007+05:30

Related 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

Causes:

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32.
New hard disk drive being added.
Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
Failing to enable USB keyboard support in the BIOS.

Solutions:

Insert the Windows Bootable CD into the computer.
When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
Once in the Windows setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password or else press Enter Key.
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:\
Then type the following command, and then press ENTER to check Boot.ini
type c:\Boot.ini Then you get a list similar to the following:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Or else If you receive the following message, the Boot.ini file may be missing or damaged:
The system cannot find the file or directory specified.
Type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER.
When the Windows installation is located, the following instructions are displayed:
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
[Type Y in response to this message.]

Enter Load Identifier:
[This is the name of the operating system. Type Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition.]

Enter OS Load options:
[Leave this field blank, and then press ENTER].
After you perform the preceding steps, restart the computer, and then select the first item on the boot menu. This should allow Windows XP to start normally.

After Windows XP has successfully loaded, the Boot.ini can be modified to remove the incorrect entry

CSRCS.exe error message

2009-10-01T11:26:00.005+05:30

This was the error message faced by one of our readers that when he boots the PC up, the CSRCS.exe error message comes up on the screen.

csrsc.exe is a process which is registered as W32.Spybot.CF virus DO NOT confuse it with csrss.exe which is an important file used by Windows. The attackers of this virus can access our computer and gain access to some important data remotely.

Steps to remove this virus:

1. Scan the system with a good and updated Anti Virus.

2. Open Task Manager locate this exe (csrcs.exe or csrsc.exe but not csrss.exe), and kill the process.

3. Now type msconfig in the Run box, and then go to startup tab.

4. Locate this exe file, if any, and then remove it from there as well.

5. Now search the file in the C: drive.

6. Permanently delete the file (csrcs.exe or csrsc.exe only) from the computer.

7. Reboot the PC for changes to take place.

UPDATE

After doing the above steps, you need to clean the registry as well.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
On the right side, there is a key named “Shell”, it may be having a value “explorer.exe csrcs.exe”. Just modify it to delete the csrcs.exe from it (not explorer.exe). Restart the computer

The virus should have gone.

SAN CABLES

2009-09-19T18:42:00.024+05:30

SAN cables are the physical links that connect all the different components of the SAN.

Fibre Channel cabling differs in the type of physical media used for data transmission. Fibre Channel works with both copper and optical cables. Regardless of the type of medium used, the performance for all Fibre Channel cabling is rated at 100MB/s and above.

However, fiber optic cables are the most commonly used type of cable in Fibre Channel SANs. The type of cable does not affect the speed of the network. Fibre Channel networks today operate at 1Gb/s or above.

Copper : When Fibre Channel was first introduced to the market, the cables were made from copper, which limited the distance between SAN devices. Copper cables are rarely used in SANs today.

Fiber Optic : The industry adapted fiber optic cables to increase the speed and distance that data could travel between SAN devices. The type of cable and the wavelength of light used determines the distance between devices.

Copper cables characteristics

Copper cabling is the time-tested method of interconnecting network nodes. With the increasing use of Gigabit Ethernet, the older copper-based cables have been upgraded to support transfer rates of about 1Gb/s.

Copper cabling can be used for data transmission to distances up to 30m (98.42 ft). It is best used for short distances such as within a building.

A Fibre Channel device to a copper cable is incompatible. This is where the copper gigabit interface converters (GBICs) and media interface adapters (MIAs) are used. These connectors act as the interface between the Fibre Channel-based SAN devices and copper-based cables.

Characteristics

* Inexpensive
* No laser required (uses electrical pulses)
* Shorter distance than optical fiber
* Same throughput rates over supported distances as optical fiber

Limitations

* Exposure to electromagnetic induction (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI), which can instantly reduce the quality of the signal
* High rate of signal deterioration (attenuation) if the signal has to traverse long distances
* Affected by external noises
* Distance limitations, which is why copper cabling is recommended only for use inside a cabinet or a rack.
* Low bandwidth compared to fiber optic cabling
* Possibility of short circuits, sparks, and spark-induced fires

Fiber optic cables characteristics

Unlike copper-based cables, fiber optic cables can provide long distance connectivity of 10km (32,808 ft). Fiber optic cables do not suffer from EMI, RFI, or magnetic fields. These cables are an optical data transmission that is based on the fundamental principle of total internal reflection.

Fiber optic cables have an extremely low rate of attenuation because light signals do not deteriorate over long distances. They provide high bandwidths and are absolutely immune to short circuits, sparks, and spark-induced fires.

Characteristics

* Expensive compared to copper cabling
* High bandwidth because light pulses can travel faster
* Longer distances because optic light pulses can travel greater distances

Not affected by external noises

Limitations

* Fibre Channel supports various cable types. Connecting devices with various types of cables can lead to problems such as poor connections and damaged cables and connectors.
* Precautions have to be taken to protect all optical components from heat, chemicals, contaminants, or any sort of axial or lateral movement to avoid a fiber optic cable from bending.
* The type and diameter of a fiber optic cable limits the maximum distances between servers and storage devices in a SAN installation.
* Laser fiber optic cables are more expensive than copper cables.

Fibre Channel cable terms

To comprehend SAN characteristics, you need a general understanding of the different properties associated with Fibre Channel cabling. Common Fibre Channel cabling terms to be aware of when configuring the SAN are:

* Attenuation
* Dispersion
* GBICs
* Macro bending
* Micro bending
* Refraction
* Wavelength
* Cone of acceptance
* Numerical aperture

These terms are defined on the following pages.

Attenuation

Attenuation is the loss of power as a signal travels over a distance and is specified in decibels per kilometer (dB/km). For commercially available fibers, attenuation ranges from approximately 0.5dB/km for single-mode fibers to 1000dB/km for large-core plastic fibers. Attenuation is lessened with higher quality, more expensive, single-mode fibers. It is increased with lower quality, less expensive, multimode fibers.

Power loss can result from:

* Light absorption caused by material impurities.
* Light scattering caused by material impurities or by the defects at the core/cladding interface, and by the scattering of the molecules of the medium (silica).
* Macro bends (cable bends beyond the specified radius) and micro bends (cable wrapping or squeezing).
* Scattering and reflection at cable splices.

Dispersion

Dispersion is the degree of scattering of the light beam as the beam travels along the fiber optic cable. The different types of dispersion are:

* Scattering — Loss of light signal caused by microscopic impurities of the material.
* Chromatic dispersion — Loss of light signal caused by different wavelengths traveling at different speeds. By limiting the number of wavelengths of light (as in single mode fiber), the chromatic dispersion is limited.
* Modal dispersion — Loss of light signal caused by different light rays traveling different path lengths within the fiber. Some rays follow a more direct route than others and arrive at the destination out of phase. Modal dispersion is characteristic of multimode fiber

GBICs

The GBIC is a device that converts the electrical and optical signals used with the fiber-optic medium. It contains a laser device that emits a laser signal used for transmission along the fiber optic cable.

The GBICs have two channels, one for each optical fiber within the cable (link). Therefore, each GBIC module is a full-duplex transmission device.

Macro bending

Macro bending is the physical bending of the fiber cable past the specified radius (1.25 to 1.50 inches). As the fiber exceeds the specified radius, the light loses some particles and attenuation increases.

Micro bending and refraction

Micro bending
Micro bending losses occur when the beam does not follow an entirely linear path, such as when a cable is wrapped with a tie or the cladding is squeezed. Micro bends in the axis of an optical fiber can dramatically reduce the transmission of light through it.

Refraction

Refraction is the bending of light that takes place at a boundary between two materials having different indices of refraction. Refraction is caused by a change in the speed of light as it passes from one medium to another.

Wavelength and cone of acceptance

Wavelength
A wavelength is the distance between any two successive crests (high points) of the light wave and is identical to the distance between any two troughs (low points) of the wave.All electromagnetic waves are similar only their wavelengths are different.

Cone of acceptance

Each type of fiber will only transmit light that enters the fiber core cone of acceptance. If a ray hits the core at an angle outside this cone, the light will be reflected. The cone of acceptance parameter is the numerical aperture (NA) of the fiber.

Larger cones have a larger NA, which is also an indication of the relative light-gathering power of the fiber. The cone of acceptance for multimode fiber is larger than that of a single-mode fiber

Backup and Recover Data to Tape Device

2009-09-19T15:32:00.017+05:30

FBACKUP / FRECOVER

HP-UX offers various commands just like any other UNIX system to backup file system, data and applications such as

a] dump / restore command (HFS filesystem only)

b] vxdump / vxrestore (vxfs filesystem only)

c] cpio command

d] fbackup / frecover command

e] dd command

f] tar command

g] make_net_recovery or make_tape_recovery commands

HP-UX Tape device names

First device will have name such as /dev/rmt/0m, /dev/rmt/1m and so on.

Raw magnetic tape interface - /dev/rmt/*
Default tape interface - /dev/rmt/0mnb

HP-UX Tape - mt ~ manipulating program

mt command winds the tape in the requested direction (forward or backward), stopping after the specified count EOF marks or records are passed. If count is not specified, one is assumed. Each EOF mark counts as one record. When winding backwards, the tape always stops at the BOT marker, regardless of the number remaining in count.See mt command man page for more information. For example, Rewind the tape associated with the device file /dev/rmt/0mnb:
# mt -f /dev/rmt/0mnb rew

How do I backup data with fbackup command?

Backup /data directory to /dev/rmt/0m, enter:
# fbackup -i /data -I index.data -f /dev/rmt/0m
Where,

-i /data : Backup /data directory. There is no limit on how many times the -i option can be specified i.e. -i /data -i /home -i /path/to/something
-I index.data : index.data specifies the name of the on-line index file to be generated. It consists of one line for each file backed up during the session. Each line contains the file size, the volume number on which that file resides, and the file name. If the -I option is omitted, no index file is generated.
-f /dev/rmt/0m : Specify tape device name
-e /tmp : Exclude /tmp from backup
-g /var/adm/fbackupfiles/hporabox11.backup.list.txt : File that contains a list of files / dirs to be included / excluded from the tape backup
-u : Update the database of past backups so that it contains the backup level, the time of the beginning and end of the session, and the graph file used for this fbackup session. Only use this if you are using -g /path/to/file option.

Using the normal tape location to do a full backup, insert a new tape and enter:
# fbackup -f /dev/rmt/0m -i -v
Using the normal tape location to do a full backup but exclude /tmp and /cdrom /nfs directories, insert a new tape and enter:
# fbackup -f /dev/rmt/0m -i / -e /tmp -e /cdrom -e /nfs -v
You can also create a text file that contains a list of all files and directories to be included or excluded from the backup. For example, backup full file system but exclude /tmp, /cdrom and /nfs, enet:
# cd /var/adm/fbackupfiles
# vi hporabox11.backup.list.txt
Append following list
i /
e /tmp
e /nfs
e /cdrom
Save and close the file. To backup enter,
# fbackup -f /dev/rmt/0m -g /var/adm/fbackupfiles/hporabox11.backup.list.txt -v

How do I perform full and incremental backups?

The -0-9 option used to specify backup level. This single-digit number is the backup level. Level 0 indicates a full backup. Higher levels are generally used to perform incremental backups. When doing an incremental backup of a particular graph at a particular level, the database of past backups is searched to find the date of the most recent backup of the same graph that was done at a lower level. If no such entry is found, the beginning of time is assumed. All files in the graph that have been modified since this date are backed.
First, perform full backup, enter:
# fbackup -f /dev/rmt/0m -u -0 -g /var/adm/fbackupfiles/hporabox11.backup.list.txt -v
To perform incremental backup, enter:
# fbackup -f /dev/rmt/0m -u -1 -g /var/adm/fbackupfiles/hporabox11.backup.list.txt -v

How do I view contents of an fbackup tape?

Type the following command:
# frecover -f /dev/rmt/0m -x -N -v

How do I backup data with frecover command?

To restore all files and directories from tape, enter:
# frecover -f /dev/rmt/0m -r -v
To restore selected files or directories use -i /path option. For example, just restore /home/vivek directory, enter:
# frecover -f /dev/rmt/0m -x -v -i /home/vivek

Where,

-r : Recovery all data from tape
-x : Extracted / recover selected files / dires only specified by -i option
-i /path/to/file : Recover only this file or directory
-v : Verbose output

How do I verify tape backup?

The -N option (no recovery) prevent frecover from actually recovering any files onto disk, but read the backup as if it was, in fact, recovering the data from the backup, producing the same output that it would on a normal recovery. This option is useful for verifying backup media contents in terms of validity (block checksum errors are reported), and contents (a listing of files can be produced by using the -N and -v options together). Note that the listing of files produced with the -N and -v options requires the reading of the entire backup, but is therefore a more accurate reflection of the backup's contents than the index stored at the beginning of the backup (which was created at the start of the backup session, and is not changed during the course of the backup).
# frecover -f /dev/rmt/0m -N

Regedit is Disabled by Administrator

2009-09-19T12:42:00.005+05:30

Error : Regedit is Disabled by Administrator

1) Click Start --> Run -->Type gpedit.msc in the run field

2) Group Policy settings windows should open

3) Under the "User Configuration", expand the fields Administrative Templates --> System

4) At the Right Side Pane Select and either Not Configured or Disable the "Prevent Access to Registry Editing Tools"

5) Just type following in RUN dialog box and press :

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableRegistryTools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

6) Restart the System.

CMD is not Opening

2009-09-19T11:56:00.005+05:30

If Command Prompt is not Opening

Method 1

1) Click Start --> Run -->Type %comspec% in the run field

It Will open the command Prompt at C:\WINDOWS\system32>

2) After Open command prompt, type the following "reg add" command.

REG add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /f /v DisableCMD /t REG_DWORD /d 0

Method 2

1) Click Start --> Run -->Type gpedit.msc in the run field

2) Group Policy settings windows should open

3) Under the "User Configuration", expand the fields Administrative Templates --> System

4) Under the "System", double click on "Prevent access to the command prompt" option, select either "Disabled" or "Not Configured" field and click on apply button.

5) Wait for group policy to refresh or reboot the computer. Command Prompt should be enable.

Folder Options is not visible

2009-09-19T10:53:00.007+05:30

If Folder option is missing from tools menu

Many times Windows users face a common problem. The "Folder Options" in "Tools" menu is not visible. Even It can't be accessed from Control Panel.

Method 1

1) Click "Start" Button
2) Select "Run"
3) Type "regedit"

4) Navigate Cursor to the following Key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

5) After Pointing the System, Check in the right pane, whether a DWORD value named NoFolderOptions Exists or not? if Exists Delete it.

Method 2

1) Click Start --> Run -->Type gpedit.msc in the run field

2) Group Policy settings windows should open

3) Under the "User Configuration", expand the fields Administrative Templates --> Windows Components --> Windows Explorer

4) Search in the Right Side Pane for Remove Folder Options Menu item from the Tools Menu and select Disable.

5) Restart the System.

Install Recovery Console as boot menu option

2009-09-15T18:41:00.009+05:30

You definately should install the Recovery Console as a boot option in case you experience any problems later. The Recovery Console lets you repair a damaged or non-booting windows installation.

1) Log in as administrator, insert the Windows XP Setup CD into your CD-ROM drive.

2) Go to Start -> Run ->

4) Type D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons where D:\ is CD-ROM drive

5) Reboot

Configure Automatic Administrator Logon for Recovery Console

Complete the following steps while logged on with administrative credentials:

1) Go to Start->Run->

2) Type %SystemRoot%\system32\secpol.msc /s

3) Click Local Policies, and then click Security Options.

4) Double-click the Recovery Console: Allow automatic administrative logon policy, and set it to Enabled.

From now on when you start Recovery Console, you are not prompted for a password!

A quick look at the Windows 2003 support tools

2009-09-05T17:24:00.010+05:30

The Windows 2003 support tools are a collection of resources with the aim of assisting administrators to simplify management tasks. These include: troubleshooting operating systems, configuring networking and security features, managing Active Directory, and automating application deployment. With the use of these tools, the user is able to pin-point problematic issues with the system and will therefore be able to find a solution more easily.

The Windows 2003 Support Tools consist of a number of command-line utilities, visual basic scripts, GUI based applications, and documents - all of which you must install from a seperate application. The Support Tools are not automatically installed when you install Windows 2003; their installation isn’t an option in the Windows 2003 setup. The installation program is located on the CD-ROM in the \support\tools folder and the setup file (suptools.msi) must be opened manually to initiate the installation wizard.

The setup program installs the Support Tools files onto your hard disk and requires approximately 24 MB of free space for a full installation. You must be logged on as the Administrator or have Administrator privileges to be able to install them. Setup creates a Windows 2003 Support Tools folder within the Programs folder on the Start menu. The setup also adds the \program files\support tools directory (or the directory name you choose for installing the tools) to your computer's path environment variable – this allows you to run the command line tools from any folder on your system.

Once the installation is complete, you can click on Start > Programs > Windows 2003 Support Tools to open the command prompt in the Program Files\Support Tools directory and start using them. All the GUI-based tools, along with the command line ones, can be found in the \Program Files\Support Tools folder (or whichever location you chose at installation).
Installing the support tools
As mentioned previously, the support tools are located in the \support\tools folder on the Windows 2003 CD-ROM. Navigate to that location and double click the "suptools.msi" file to start the installation wizard.

Press Next and browse through the screens, select "I Agree" when the license agreement screen comes up. You will be prompted to choose a location in which to install the tools. By default, the location is c:\program files\support tools\

Press the "Install Now" button and the installation will proceed. The installation will take a couple of minutes to be complete. Press "Finish" and close all windows to be able to start using the tools.
The support tools explained

This section will display the list of support tools found on the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM in alphabetical order.

To use the command line format tools, open the command prompt and type the filename followed by the appropriate parameters. If you are unaware of the parameters of the tool you wish to use then type: filename /? to show the list of available parameters.

Tool Name:	ACL Diagnostics
Filename:	acldiag.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Detects and displays the permission problems found in the Access Control Lists of objects in Active Directory

Tool Name:	Active Directory Replication Monitor
Filename:	replmon.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Allows the control of Active Directory replication information

Tool Name:	Active Directory Search Tool
Filename:	search.vbs
Format:	Command Line
Description:	A script used to search an LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directory

Tool Name:	Application Deployment Diagnostics
Filename:	addiag.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Gives you a list of the software implemented on a local computer using group policy

Tool Name:	ADSI Edit
Filename:	adsiedit.msc
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Allows the editing of objects in Active Directory in a low-level style editor

Tool Name:	Advanced Power Management Status
Filename:	apmstat.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Gives information about advanced power management features in older notebook computers

Tool Name:	Binary File Difference Finder
Filename:	bindiff.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Allows you to compare two binary files and view their differences

Tool Name:	BITS Administration Utility
Filename:	bitsadmin.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Adminsters the Background Intelligent Transfer Service which controls background file transfers for Internet Information Services

Tool Name:	Browser Status
Filename:	browstat.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Displays network browser status

Tool Name:	Cabinet Tool
Filename:	cabarc.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Creates, views and extracts compressed .CAB files

Tool Name:	Clone Principal
Filename:	clonepr.dll
Format:	Command Line
Description:	This dynamic link library clones windows NT 4.0 users and groups to allow migration to a Windows Server 2003 forest

Tool Name:	Dependancy Walker
Filename:	depends.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Allows you to view all the dependencies of a file. You are able to check which DLLs are dependant on others. This can be very useful when investigating a problem related to a missing file. The image below shows the GUI interface of the dependancy viewer. To demonstrate, I have loaded the twain_32.dll file - as you can see, this dll depends on three other dlls for it to work

Tool Name:	Device Console Utility
Filename:	devcon.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	The command prompt version of the device manager in the hardware tab of system properties

Tool Name:	DFS and SYSVOL Replication Topology Analysis Tool
Filename:	topchk.cmd
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Shows the FRS replication topology

Tool Name:	DHCP Server Locator Utility
Filename:	dhcploc.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Shows a list of all DHCP servers on the subnet

Tool Name:	Directory Disk Usage
Filename:	diruse.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Displays directory sizes and compression information

Tool Name:	Directory Services ACL Editor
Filename:	dcaslc.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Manages access control lists for Active Directory objects

Tool Name:	Directory Services Utility
Filename:	dsastat.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Compare and contrast two directory trees in the same domain or across different domains

Tool Name:	Distributed File System (DFS) Utility
Filename:	dfsutil.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Manages DFS, limits clients to targets within the same site and enables windows server 2003 based DFS servers to select remote targets

Tool Name:	Diskprobe
Filename:	dskprobe.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Allows you to edit the disk sector information directly (includes also the MBR)

Tool Name:	Disk Manager Diagnostics
Filename:	dmdiag.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Provides detailed diagnostic information about hard disk drives

Tool Name:	DNS Server Troubleshooting Tool
Filename:	dnscmd.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Administrators are able to view and modify DNS servers, zones and resources

Tool Name:	Domain Controller Diagnostic Tool
Filename:	dcdiag.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Analyzes and reports on the state of a domain controller

Tool Name:	Encrypting File System Information
Filename:	efsinfo.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Provides information about files that have been encrypted using EFS. This is a very helpful tool when you want to analyze which files and folders are encrypted. If I were to go to the C: drive in the command prompt and type "efsinfo", a list of all the files and their encryption related information will be displayed. This can be seen in the example below:

Tool Name:	Extensible Perforamce Counter List
Filename:	Exctrlst.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Displays information about the programs that use the regsitry to provide performance counters

Tool Name:	Fault Tolerance Disk Mounter
Filename:	ftonline.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Mounts Windows NT 4.0 fault tolerance disk sets

Tool Name:	File and Directory Comparison
Filename:	windiff.exe
Format:	Command Line, Graphical User Interface
Description:	Compares ASCII text files or folders

Tool Name:	File Replication Utility
Filename:	ntfrsutil.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Displays the status of the NT file replication service onto the screen of dumps it in a file

Tool Name:	FileVer
Filename:	filever.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	States version information of a file or folder

Tool Name:	FRS Connection Status Report
Filename:	connstat.cmd
Format:	Command Line
Description:

Tool Name:	FRS Health Check
Filename:	health_chk.cmd
Format:	Command Line
Description:	States the health of the FRS of a specified domain controller

Tool Name:	FRS Inbound and Outbound Logs Report Tool
Filename:	lologsum.cmd
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Displays information about FRS replication

Tool Name:	Get Security ID
Filename:	getsid.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Checks if a user account database is corrupt by comparing the SIDs of the account on two domain controllers

Tool Name:	Global Flags Editor
Filename:	gflags.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Allows you to edit global registry settings or flags that are in use by the kernel

Tool Name:	HTTP Configuration Utility
Filename:	httpcfg.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Manages the HTTP Application Programming Interface

Tool Name:	IAS Parse Tool
Filename:	iasparse.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Parses RAS and IAS log files and displays the results in IAS or ODBC format

Tool Name:	Kerberos Keytab Setup
Filename:	ktpass.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Configures a non-windows 2003 kerberos service to be a security principle in Windows Server 2003

Tool Name:	Kerberos Setup
Filename:	ksetup.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Configures Windows Server 2003 clients to use an MIT Kerberos Server

Tool Name:	LDP Tool
Filename:	ldp.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Performs Lightweight Directory Access Protocol operations

Tool Name:	Manipulate Service Principle Names for Accounts
Filename:	setspn.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Manipulates SPNs for active directory service accounts

Tool Name:	Memory Pool Monitor
Filename:	poolmon.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Shows information about the system's memory pool.

Tool Name:	Memory Profiling Tool
Filename:	memsnap.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Allows you to save a list of the memory resources being used by all processes

Tool Name:	Move Users
Filename:	movetree.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Moves objects between domains

Tool Name:	Network Connectivity Tester
Filename:	netdiag.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Troubleshoots network connectivity by running various tests on your configuration and displaying the results. This tool does not require any extra parameters, which allows the administrator to instruct a user to run this command, pass on the results and allow them to be analyzed. Thus, making it less complicated if say, a senior admin was at home instructing the junior admin to do this on the servers at the office. The image below only displays the first phase of the results

Tool Name:	Network Monitor Capture Utility
Filename:	netcap.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Acts as a packet sniffer by using Network Monitor to capture packets and log them to a file

Tool Name:	NItest
Filename:	nitest.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Queries the status of trusts; lists primary domain controllers; forces a shutdown and forces a user database in syncronization

Tool Name:	Poolmon
Filename:	poolmon.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Helps to detect memory leaks by displaying detailed information about the allocation of memory. As soon as you type "poolmon" from the command prompt, the following kind of data will be shown. This includes the total amount of memory in the system and the memory available, amongst others.

Tool Name:	Port Query
Filename:	portqry.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Allows you to troubleshoot TCP and UDP ports. This helps the administrator to determine the state of any given port. If you type "portqryt -n computer_name -e port_number" the name will be resolved to the ip address and the port number will be queried. Details such as the service assigned to that port, the port type (TCP, UDP), the state of the port and also any held data will be displayed

Tool Name:	Process Viewer
Filename:	pviewer.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Allows you to change a process priority or kill a process. This can be described as more advanced version of the "process viewer" available in the task manager. With this tool you are able to set the priority of the thread and process or kill a process altogether. Pressing on the memory detail button will bring up a window displaying in-depth information as to where the memory of the process is going

Tool Name:	Remote Command Line
Filename:	remote.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Runs command line programs on remote computers using only named pipes

Tool Name:	Remote Storage Diagnostics Utility
Filename:	rsdiag.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Queries and reports on remote storage databases

Tool Name:	Remote Storage File Analysis Utility
Filename:	rsdir.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Displays information form files in remote storage

Tool Name:	Replication Diagnostics Tool
Filename:	repadmin.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Allows the doagnosis of replication problems between controllers in Windows Server 2003

Tool Name:	Security Administration Tools
Filename:	sidwalk.exe, showaccs.exe, sidwalk.msc
Format:	Command Line, Command Line, Graphical User Interface
Description:	Manages access control lists

Tool Name:	Security Descriptor Check Utility
Filename:	sdcheck.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Displays access controls on an object

Tool Name:	Service Pack Check
Filename:	spcheck.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Creates a file containing a list of the service pack versions of important system files. This tool requires you to have the spcheck.ini file in the directory in which you are going to execute the command. If you do not have this file available, then you may download it from the Microsoft website. Type "spcheck" and a report will be created and dumped into the current directory. You will then have to go to the file and open it will a text editor (notepad.exe will do fine). The report contains a list of important system files and which service pack they have installed or if they are missing

Tool Name:	Windows Domain Manager
Filename:	netdom.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Provides command line administration of domains and trusts

Tool Name:	Windows Installer Cleanup Utility
Filename:	msicuu.exe
Format:	Graphical User Interface
Description:	Removes excess registry entries from a faulty installation

Tool Name:	Windows Installer Zapper
Filename:	msizap.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	The same as the widows installer cleanup utility, only a more in depth version

Tool Name:	Xcacls.exe
Filename:	xcacls.exe
Format:	Command Line
Description:	Sets and displays files ACLs

Storage Area Network - SAN

2009-09-01T05:07:00.011+05:30

Definition : A SAN is a high-speed (1 to 2Gb/s data transfer rates, with the future of 10Gb/s) network with heterogeneous (mixed vendor or platforms) servers accessing a common or shared pool of heterogeneous storage devices.

SAN environments provide any-to-any communication between servers and storage resources, including multiple paths.
The parts of a SAN are:

Client layer — The clients are the access point of a SAN.

Server layer — The major components in this layer are the servers, the HBAs, including the GBICs, and the software drivers that enable HBAs to communicate with the fabric layer.

Fabric layer — This is the middle layer of a SAN, the network part of a SAN, where hubs and switches tie all the cables together into a logical and physical network.

Storage layer — This is where all the data resides on the disk drives

Tools Used for Performance Monitoring

2009-08-31T21:55:00.007+05:30

HP-UX has a number of tools that are bundled with the operating system. Additional sophisticated. Tools can be purchased separately. The bundled tools usually work in text mode. Some of these utilities are listed here.

The iostat command is used to monitor I/O activity for disk drives.

# iostat

device bps sps msps
c0t6d0 105 10.8 1.0
c0t5d0 0 0.0 1.0

device Shows the actual disk device for which the report is given.
bps Shows kilobytes transferred per second to/from the device.
sps Lists the number of seeks per second.
msps The time in milliseconds per average seek.

The vmstat command is used to monitor activity of virtual memory.

Virtual memory statistics are displayed using the vmstat command. It displays information about processes, page faults, memory, and CPU as shown here. (The output is formatted to fit onto the page.)

# vmstat -n

VM
memory page faults
avm free re at pi po fr de sr in sy cs
2275 44047 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 106 88 33
CPU
cpu procs
us sy id r b w
0 0 99 0 0 0

The -n option is used with the command to improve the format of the output.

avm Active virtual memory. These are the pages that have been assigned to some processes.
free Free pages. A number of columns are present under the page subheading.

re Page reclaims. A large number shows a memory shortage.
at Address translation faults.
pi Pages paged in.
po Pages paged out.
fr Pages freed per second.
de Anticipated short term memory shortfall.
sr Pages scanned by clock algorithm, per second.
The faults subheading shows trap and interrupt rate averages per second over the least 5 seconds.

in Device interrupts per second.
sy System calls per second.
cs CPU context switch rate.
The CPU part of the output has been divided into two subparts, cpu and procs. The columns under the cpu subheading show CPU utilization.

us User time for normal and low-priority processes.
sy System time.
id CPU idle time.
An explanation of the different fields under the procs subheading is as given here.

r The process is in run queue.
b Number of processes blocked for some resource.
w It shows runable but swapped out from the main memory.

The netstat and lanadmin commands are used to monitor network activity such as incoming and outgoing network traffic, use of protocols, IP addresses assigned to interface adapters.

The top utility is used to monitor processes that are utilizing more CPU time. Processes are listed in a sorted form. Percentage of CPU idle time is also displayed. This utility also shows some
information about real and virtual memory.

#top -s1

System: apmbdb01 Mon Aug 31 22:23:21 2009
Load averages: 0.13, 0.17, 0.23
206 processes: 184 sleeping, 21 running, 1 zombie
Cpu states:
CPU LOAD USER NICE SYS IDLE BLOCK SWAIT INTR SSYS
0 0.10 2.0% 0.0% 3.2% 94.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
1 0.15 9.2% 0.0% 9.6% 81.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
--- ---- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
avg 0.13 5.6% 0.0% 6.4% 88.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Memory: 4406476K (2952932K) real, 4761636K (3231796K) virtual, 1736900K free Page# 1/18

CPU TTY PID USERNAME PRI NI SIZE RES STATE TIME %WCPU %CPU COMMAND
1 ? 4296 oracle 148 20 3418M 23828K sleep 0:17 10.40 10.38 oracleAPMBPROD
1 ? 5238 root 154 20 11980K 1408K sleep 0:24 9.23 9.22 bma
0 ? 5237 root 154 20 14032K 1752K sleep 0:04 2.14 2.13 bma
1 ? 4286 oracle 154 20 105M 37992K sleep 0:06 1.16 1.16 rman
1 ? 52 root 152 20 3744K 3328K run 13:25 0.61 0.61 vxfsd
1 ? 1409 root 152 20 174M 67656K run 3:57 0.30 0.30 cimserver
1 ? 12683 root -27 20 47412K 39592K run 16:44 0.29 0.29 cmcld
0 ? 1782 root 152 20 112M 17004K run 0:59 0.14 0.14 vxsvc
0 ? 5318 oracle 154 20 3445M 52140K sleep 0:00 0.17 0.13 ora_lns2_APMBPROD
0 ? 453 root 152 20 8068K 2832K run 1:05 0.12 0.12 utmpd
0 ? 1402 root 152 20 25416K 5548K run 0:06 0.12 0.12 rpcd

A brief explanation of the columns in the process area is given below.
CPU This is the first column, which is not shown in Figure 25-1. It is present on systems with multiple

CPUs. This represents a CPU number on which the process is being executed.
TTY The terminal used by the process.
PID Process ID.
USERNAME Name of the owner of the process.
PRI Process priority.
NI Nice value.
SIZE Total size of the process in memory.
RES Resident size of the process. This is an approximation.
STATE Current state of the process.
TIME CPU time consumed by the process.
%WCPU Weighted CPU percentage utilization by the process.
%CPU Raw CPU percentage utilization by the process.
COMMAND Name of the command that started the process.

The System Activity Reporter (sar) shows a number of kernel parameters and CPU utilization.

# sar -u 1 5

HP-UX hp0 B.11.00 A 9000/839 11/29/99
12:27:53 %usr %sys %wio %idle
12:27:54 1 1 0 98
12:27:55 0 0 0 100
12:27:56 0 0 0 100
12:27:57 0 0 0 100
12:27:58 0 0 0 100

Average 0 0 0 100

#sar -Mu 2 10
#sar -d 2 10
#sar -v 2 10
#sar -b 2 10
#sar -u 2 10
#sar -w 2 10
#vmstat 2 10
#iostat 2 10

b Monitor buffer cache
-d Monitor disk activity
-q Monitor queue length
-u Monitor CPU activity
-w Monitor swap space activity
-o Save data into a file
-f Read previously saved data from a file

Search Option Problem

2009-04-29T19:49:00.005+05:30

Virus is the prior reason in disappearance of Search Option. Do the Following to restore your search option

1) Click Start and then Run

2) Run the following files

regsvr32 wshom.ocx
regsvr32 jscript.dll
regsvr32 urlmon.dll

3) Then you will see that your search engine works normally

Task Manager is blocked by Administrator

2009-04-29T13:16:00.013+05:30

Error : Task Manager Disabled by Administrator

This may caused by either Virus or OS misbehaving. To Over come this do the following steps to get back your Task Manager.

Method 1

1) Click "Start" Button
2) Select "Run"
3) Type "regedit"

4)Navigate Cursor to the following key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
5) After Pointing the System, Check in the right pane for Disabletaskmgr, if you find it double click and change the D-word Valu to zero(0)
6) Close the regedit and restart system

7) Last but not Least When ever if u find any errors like this, That indicates Your System is infected with Virus. Better Update your anti virus software.

Method 2

Open command prompt, type the following "reg add" command.

REG add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /f /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0

Method 3

1) Click Start --> Run -->Type gpedit.msc in the run field

2) Group Policy settings windows should open

3) Under the "User Configuration", expand the fields Administrative Templates --> System --> Ctrl+Alt+Delete --> Remove Task Manager

4) Double click the "Remove Task Manager" option, select either "Disabled" or "Not Configured" field and click on apply button.

5) Wait for group policy to refresh or reboot the computer. Task Manager should be enable.

Self File Protection System In Windows ( SFC )

2009-04-28T16:12:00.014+05:30

System File Checker

Windows XP has the ability to protect itself from system instability caused by the overwriting important system files. This is a problem with Windows 95 and Windows 98. With the introduction of Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft made a strong effort to stop this from happening. Now, in Windows XP, there is a much better protection of these important files. This system is called Windows File Protection

Windows File Protection is always enabled and allows Windows digitally signed files to replace existing files safely. If you introduce a file replacement in any other way, Windows File protection will overwrite your file!

An important part of Windows File Protection is the command line utility: System File Checker (sfc.exe) This is a great tool for troubleshooting Windows XP problems.

Using sfc /scannow

The main reason for using this utility is when you suspect there may be a problem with a Windows XP system file. Perhaps you get a dialog box appear informing you of a problem with a .dll file, or your program will just not load! It is therefore worth checking to see if there are any corrupt system files using scannow sfc.

To do this simply go to the Run box on the Start Menu and type in: sfc /scannow

This command will immediately initiate the Windows File Protection service to scan all protected files and make sure of their correctness, replacing any files that it finds with a problem.

Note : Make Sure That OS CD On Drive.

A box should appear to give an indication of how long the process is taking.
If all goes as it should, any corrupt, missing or incorrect files would be replaced by this process. However, as with most actions in this world, things can go wrong and the following should help!

The most frequent complaint with scannow /sfc is that a dialog box appears asking you to insert your Windows XP CD-ROM to continue.

Why Does This Happen ?

There are several settings in your computer's registry that are checked when you run scannow /sfc.

As stated before, the Windows File Protection constantly monitors for any changes to the main system files. These are usually stored in C:WINDOWS\System32\Dllcache (C: in most cases is the root drive) The dllcache folder is extremely important so Windows XP hides it from you! To view it go to:

My Computer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> "uncheck" Hide protected operating system files.

There is normally no need for the original XP CD to be inserted as your computer has a copy it can get hold of in this cache.

But, if the Dllcache folder, or part of it, has become corrupted for some reason then you will be prompted for the XP CD - so your computer can get a clean copy!

However, not ALL installations of Windows XP have ALL the system files cached into this folder! You may only have around 25-50MB of files in this folder under Windows XP depending on the settings in the registry.

McAfee Command Line Tool (SDAT)

2009-04-28T15:05:00.011+05:30

Virus Clean Tool

Download the tool with given link and Follow the steps to clean Virus:

1) Click Here to Download a File (Download) (OR) Go to the following link http://www.mcafee.com/apps/downloads/security_updates/superdat.asp?region=us&segment=enterprise

Select SDAT tab
Click on sdat5598.exe and save the file

NOTE: Verify that the file should be more than 100MB

2) Create a folder SDAT at c:\

3) Copy the file into SDAT folder.

4) Turn off System Restore on All Drives.

To turn off System Restore Do the Following.
Right Click on My Computer icon on Desktop Select Properties.
Select System Restore tab, put a click on Check box and click ok

5) Reboot the System and Press F2/F8/ or whatever your computer document suggest when the POST begins but before Windows start.

6) Select Safe Mode and allow the system to boot in Safe Mode.

7) Click START Select Run and type CMD to get Command Console.

8) Type cd \SDAT.

9) Type sdat5598.exe /e at command console .

10) This Command will Extract 19 files.

11) After Extracting all files Type "scan /adl /all /clean" Command.

12) This Will Clean virus from your system.

13) After Completing scanning restart your computer Normal Mode.

14) Turn on System Restore point (For this user Point 4)

UNDERSTANDING NETWORK CLASSES

2009-04-18T18:06:00.008+05:30

All the addresses must have two parts, the network part and the nodes, or host, part. In this section you look at Ipv4 addresses. Ipv4 addresses used in TCP/IP networks are 4 bytes long, called IP addresses, and are written in standard dot notation, which, means that a decimal number separated by dots (for example, 192.168.1.2). The decimal numbers must be within the numeric range of 0 to 255 to conform to the 1-byte requirement, IP addresses are divided into classes with the most significant being classes A,B and C, depending on the value of the first byte of the address. Table shows valid numbers for these classes.

RESERVED NETWORK CLASSES AND THEIR IP NUMBER RANGES.

CLASS	FIRST BYTE	NET MASK	RESERVED ADDRESSES	Hosts / Network
Class A	0-126	255.0.0.0	10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255.255	Roughly 1.6 Million /1
Class B	128-191	255.255.0.0	172.16.0.0- 172.31.255.255	65,024 / 16,320
Class C	192-223	255.255.255.0	192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255	254 / Nearly 2 Million

Classes D, E, and F: Addresses falling into the range of 224.0.0.0 through 254.0.0.0 are either experimental or are reserved for special purpose use and don't specify any network. IP Multicast, which is a service that allows material to be transmitted to many points on an internet at one time, has been assigned addresses from within this range.

A number of network addresses are reserved for special purposes. 0.0.0.0 and 127.0.0.0 are two such addresses. The first is called the default route, and the latter is the loopback address. The default route has to do with the way the IP routes datagrams.

Network 127.0.0.0 is reserved for IP traffic local to your host. Usually, address 127.0.0.1 will be assigned to a special interface on your host, the loopback interface, which acts like a closed circuit. Any IP packet handed to this interface from TCP or UDP will be returned to them as if it had just arrived from some network. This allows you to develop and test networking software without ever using a “real” network. The loopback network also allows you to use networking software on a standalone host. This may not be as uncommon as it sounds; for instance, many UUCP sites don't have IP connectivity at all, but still want to run the INN news system. For proper operation on Linux, INN requires the loopback interface.

The reason for the class division is to enable efficient use of the address numbers. If the division were the first 2 bytes to the network part, and the last 2 bytes to the host part, then no network could have more than 2¹⁶ hosts. This would be impractical for large networks and wasteful for small networks.

There are a few ways to assign IP addresses to the devices, depending on the purpose of the network. If the network is internal, an intranet, not connected to an outside network, any class A,B or C, network number can be used. The only requirement is choosing a class that allows for the appropriate number of hosts to be connected. Although this is possible, in the real world this approach would not allow for connecting to the internet.

Understand TCP/IP

2009-04-18T18:00:00.018+05:30

This is a acronym for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, and refers to a family of protocols used for computer communications. TCP and IP are just two of the separate protocols contained in the group of protocols developed by the separate protocols contained in the group of protocols developed by the Department of Defense, sometimes called the DoD Suite but more commonly known as TCP/IP. In addition to Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol, this family also includes Address Resolution Protocol (ARP); User Datagram Protocol (UDP); Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP); Domain Name System (DNS); Routing Information Protocol (RIP); Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP); Tenet, and many others. These protocols provide the necessary services for basic network functionality, and you will take a closer look at them for a better understanding of how the network works.

To be able to send and receive information on the network, each device connected to it must have an address. The address of any device on the network must be unique and have a standard, defined format by which it is known to any other device on the network. This device address consists of two parts:

1. The address of the network to which the device is connected
2. The address of the device itself-its node or host address

Devices that are physically connected to each other (not separated by routers) would have the same network number but different node, or host, numbers. This would be typical of an internal network at a company or university. These types of networks are now often referred to as intranets.

The two unique addresses I’ve been talking about are typically called the network layer addresses and the Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. Network Layer addresses are IP addresses that have been assigned to the device. The MAC address is built into the card by the manufacturer and refers to only the lowest-level address by which all data is transferred between devices.

Now that u knows a little about addressing u need to learn how the addresses and also the data is transmitted across the network. This transform is a accomplished the braking the information into small pieces of data called packets or Datagram. Why is it necessary to use packets instead of just sending the entire message as one long stream of data? There ate tow reasons for this - sharing resources and error correction.

Lets look at the first, the line is busy. If these computers were sharing a large amount of data, other devices on the network would be unable to transfer their data. When long streams of data ate broken into small packets, each packet is sent individually, and the other devices can send their packets between the packets of the long stream. Since each packet is uniquely addressed and has instructions on how to reassemble it, it does not matter the order that it arrives in or that it arrives in small pieces.

The second reason to breaking the data into packets is error correction. Because the data is transmitted across media that is subject to interference, the data can become corrupt. One way to deal with the corruption is to send a checksum along with the data. A checksum is a running count of the bytes sent in the message. The receiving device compares its total to the total transmitted. If these numbers are the same, the data is good; but if they are different, either the checksum or the data itself is corrupt. The receiving device then asks the sender to resend the data. By breaking the data into small packets, each with its own checksum, it is easier to ensure that a good message arrives, and if not, only a small portion needs to be resent instead of the entire message.

In the description of packets, I mentioned unique addressing and reassembly instructions. Because packets also contain data, each is made up of two parts, the header, which contains the address and reassembly instructions. Because peackets also contain data, each is made up of two parts, the header, which contains the address and reassembly instructions, and the body, which contains the data, Keeping all this information in order is the protocol. The protocol is a set of rules that specifies the format of the package and how it is used.

Automated System Recovery

2009-04-09T16:46:00.004+05:30

ASR

This tip will attempt to show you how to set up and use Automated System Recovery in Windows XP. ASR is a two–part system of recovery:

ASR backup
ASR restore.

You should make Automated System Recovery (ASR) sets regularly as part of your plan for system recovery in case of it failing.

IMPORTANT: ASR should be a last resort for system recovery, it should be used only after every other option has been exhausted, such as Safe Mode Boot and Last Known Good Configuration.

1. ACCOMPLISHING THE ASR BACKUP

The backup part uses the ASR Wizard located in Backup to complete this task. The wizard backs up:

the system state
system services
and all disks associated with the operating system components.
It also creates a file containing:
information about the backup
the disk configurations (including basic and dynamic volumes)
and how to accomplish a restore.

HERE'S HOW TO CREATE AN ASR SET USING BACKUP

You will need a blank floppy disk to save your system settings and media to contain the backup files.
To open Backup. Click Start-->All Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools-->then click Backup. The Backup Utility Wizard starts by default, unless it is disabled.
Click the Advanced Mode button in the Backup Utility Wizard.
On the Tools menu-->click ASR Wizard.
Follow the instructions that appear on your screen.

IMPORTANT: Only those system files necessary for starting your system will be backed up using the Backup Utility Wizare.

HOW DOES ASR WORK?

You can get to the restore portion by pressing F2 when prompted in the text–mode portion of setup. Automated System Recovery will read the disk configurations from the file that it creates and restore all of the disk signatures, volumes and partitions necessary, so that, at least, you'll be able to start the computer. Although, under some circumstances, it might not be able to restore all of the disk configurations. ASR then installs a simple installation of Windows and automatically starts restoring using the backup that was created by the Wizard.

RECOVERING FROM A SYSTEM CRASH USING ASR

Here's how:

Make sure you have the following items before you begin:

Your previously created Automated System Recovery (ASR) floppy disk.
Your previously created backup media.
The original Windows XP installation CD.

Insert the Windows XP installation CD into your CD/DVD drive.
Restart your PC. If prompted to press a particular key in order to start the computer from CD, do so.
4.Press F2 when prompted during the text–only mode section of Setup. You will be prompted to insert the ASR floppy disk you have previously created.
5.Follow the directions on the screen.

Important To Remember: ASR will not put back your data files.

WINDOWS XP BOOT SEQUENCE

2009-04-09T16:42:00.020+05:30

Win XP Booting Order

Win XP Booting Order

After switching on your PC it goes through an elaborated BOOTUP process. Genarally computer starts with POST (Power on self tet), follwoed by the peripherals BIOS.Then BIOS reads the MBR (Master Boot Record) which is in the first sector of the first hard disk and transfers control to the code in the MBR which is created by the Windows XP Setup.

After the control taken by MBR then process are:

1. MBR reads the boot sector which is the first sector of the active partition.This sector contains the code that starts Ntldr which is the boot strap loader for Windows XP. The first role of Ntldr is to allow full memory addressing, start the file system, read boot.ini and put up the boot menu. IMPORTANT: Ntldr must be located in root folder of the active partition along with Ntdetect.com, boot.ini, bootsect.dos (for dual booting) and Ntbootdd.sys (needed with some SCSI adapters).
2.Selecting XP from the boot menu causes Ntldr to run Ntdetect.com to get information about installed hardware. Ntldr then uses the ARC path specified in the boot.ini to find the boot partition. The one where Windows XP is installed. It might look like this:

* default=multi (0)disk (0)partiton (2) WINDOWS
* [operating systems]
* multi(0)disk(0)partiton(2)WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home" /fastdetect

Ntldr, then, loads the two files that make up the core of XP: Ntoskrnl.exe and Hal.dll. These files must be located in the %SystemRoot%System32 folder.
3. Ntldr reads the registry files, selects a hardware profile, control set and loads device drivers, in that order.
4. Then, Ntoskrnl.exe takes over and starts Winlogon.exe which starts Lsass.exe (Local Security Administration), this is the program that displays the Welcome screen (If Professional Edition-the Windows Log On dialog box), and allows the user to log on with his/her user name and password.