No matter what file sharing software you use your at risk of getting a virus of some sort or at some point, so the only thing we can do is train ourselves to do a few very important things every time we squeeze some limes, here they are:

Check the file type!  - Before starting a download or opening a file check what the file type is, is it an .AVI, .MP3, .EXE??? If the file type isnt the type of file we want then what the heck are we doing?! An exe is an “executable file” or a “program” these should be downloaded with extra caution, these are NOT movies, music or pictures. AVI, MPG, MPEG These are movies. MP3, OGG, WAV These are music. JPG, JPEG, BMP, These are pictures. Sometimes bad guys try to confuse people by making a virus file named something like this “the_file_i_want.avi.exe”, 2 file types? that doesn’t exist, to make things worse, if you already downloaded a file you computer might be hiding the last three letters of the file to make things easy for you, so you might see a file like this “movie1.avi” and another one like this “movie2″ well chances are that movie 1 isn’t a movie because the true file extension is likely hidden. If you dont recognize a file type or the file you want has a file type that doesn’t make sense then don’t download it or run it.

Check the file size! – Before downloading or opening a file check how large it is. Viruses are normal small (less then 1 MB), so if your trying to download a song thats 3 minutes long, but the files is only 50KB then we know that its not the song we want. Most often a song will be at least 1MB a minute. If we try to download a 5 minute movie clip and the file is 1MB then we know its not our movie, our movie should be at least 10MB. Photos are a little more tricky, because they are the perfect size to use as a disguise, so just pay closer attention to the other indicators.

When Your Done, Your Done! – Sharing is great, but if you dont know what your doing you should probably close (not minimize to tray) LimeWire, you leave yourself vulnerable in multiple ways but the simplest is someone walking in the room, seeing your file sharing program open and downloading that funny video they just heard about, well jokes on you, because you have a virus.

AntiVirus! - Duh   (article soon)

The program “ProduKey“. It’s a freeware utility made by a company called NirSoft and can be found at: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html. The program works on almost all versions of windows including 64 bit, but be sure that you use the 64 bit version if on a 64 bit system, also be sure if using the ‘save’ button in this program that you have the proper key selected or else you could end up saving the wrong information such as a Microsoft Office key.

The term “Product ID” referes to a code generated during your windows installation and can be found using the tool ProduKey, “Product ID” is not to be confused with “Product Key”, ”Product Key” being what would sometimes be refereed to as your Serial Number

The Term “Microsoft Product Code” or “MPC” refers to the first 5 digit portion of the product id, It identifies the version of windows was originally installed. This includes things such as Home or Pro, English or otherwise, Service Pack, upgrade and sometimes VLC.

The term “Channel ID” is the 3 digit portion of the product id used to identify what type of licensing is used, such as retail, oem or vlc

Basic Channel ID Reference

270 – Generally known as VLC, this is from key that purchased in bulk such as what a large company might need when installing windows on hundreds or even thousands of computers.
000 - Referred to as retail, this would be a key that came with a windows cd purchased in a store in retail packaging and can include upgrade CDs as well. The key for this wont be stuck on the side or bottom of the machine but rather to the packaging from the cd.
OEM – A key that was sold bundled with a computer such as windows that came with a computer from Dell or HP. You can often find these IDs on the windows product label on the side of a PC. But they wont always match the key that ProduKey finds, this is because the manufacturer uses a specialized generic key to mass install windows on these machine and the key on the side represents the copy you Legally own. Im not perfectly clear on this matter but I’ve had success using both the key on the side of the machine and the key already used in windows but on different occasions.

When recovering the Product ID from a windows system you might see a Chanel ID other then the ones listed above, these 3 digit IDs can translate into one of the above using this reference:

006 = OEM?
007 = 000
009 = OEM?
011 = 000
013 = 000
083 = 000?
296 = 000?
335 = 000
640 to 652 = 270
699 = 000?
770 = 000

More information and a reference on MPCs can be found at: http://wiki.lunarsoft.net/wiki/Product_IDs

Identify Your Product ID, MPC & Product Key From…

Windows XP CD (PID & MPC Only):

1.Insert the XP CD, browse to and open a file called “setupp.ini”  located at “CDROM:\I386\setupp.ini”

2. the last 3 digits of the bottom number should be 270, 000 or OEM this is the Channel ID , the first 5 digits represent the MPC.

Working Operating System:

1. Run ProduKey on the system in question, you should instantly see the product id and product key

2. In the product ID you will see 3 isolated numbers/letters, this is your Channel ID, the first 5 digits represent the MPC.

Non-Working Operating System:

1. Using whatever you preferred method, recover the folder “SYSTEM-DRIVE:\Windows\System32\Config” to a functional computer.

2. On the functional computer run ProduKey.

3. Once open, click “File > Select Source”

4. Choose “Load the product keys from external software registry hive”

5. Press browse and navigate to and select the file ”SOFTWARE” that you recovered in the “config” folder, press ok.

6. Press Ok and you should see the product ID and product key a moment later.

7. In the product ID you will see 3 isolated numbers/letters, this is your Channel ID, the first 5 digits represent the MPC.

It would seem that my ISP (Comcast) is getting a little more intrusive into our internet usage, i received this email (edited) the other day:

Notice of Action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Abuse Incident Number: -
Report Date/Time: Wed, 3 Nov 2010 20:47:23 -0700

-
-
-

Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Subscriber:

Comcast has received a notification by a copyright owner, or its authorized agent, reporting an alleged infringement of one or more copyrighted works made on or over Comcast’s High-Speed Internet service (the ‘Service’). The copyright owner has identified the Internet Protocol (‘IP’) address associated with your Service account at the time as the source of the infringing works. The works identified by the copyright owner in its notification are listed below. Comcast reminds you that use of the Service (or any part of the Service) in any manner that constitutes an infringement of any copyrighted work is a violation of Comcast’s Acceptable Use Policy and may result in the suspension or termination of your Service account.

If you have any questions regarding this notice, you may direct them to Comcast in writing by sending a letter or e-mail to:

Comcast Customer Security Assurance
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
1800 Bishops Gate Blvd., 3rd Floor East Wing
Mount Laurel, NJ 08054 U.S.A.
Phone: (888) 565-4329
Fax: (856) 324-2940

For more information regarding Comcast’s copyright infringement policy, procedures, and contact information, please read our Acceptable Use Policy by clicking on the Terms of Service link at http://www.comcast.net.

Sincerely,
Comcast Customer Security Assurance

Copyright work(s) identified in the notification of claimed infringement:

Evidentiary Information:
Notice ID: -
Initial Infringement Timestamp: 3 Nov 2010 23:45:18 GMT
Recent Infringement Timestamp: 3 Nov 2010 23:45:18 GMT
Infringers IP Address: -
Protocol: BitTorrent
Infringed Work: -
Infringed Work: -
Infringing File Name: -
Infringing File Size: -
Bay ID: -
Port ID: 10830
Infringer’s DNS Name: -
Infringer’s User Name: -

Well it looks like this is just a warning, i doubt that it goes any further. After doing some research Ive come across a possible solution to help avoid this in the future. In uTorrent (and other torrent programs i assume) you’ll find a setting to enable protocol encryption, make sure its enabled and without exceptions. Here is an image of how the settings in uTorrent should look…

Alright! We pirates should be safe for another day.

Simple Invoices For Windows

Download The Latest Simple Invoices For Windows

Download Old Versions Of Simple Invoices For Windows

You can provide feedback at the simple invoices forum.

Read the included readme.txt at http://code.google.com/p/simpleinvoices/wiki/WindowsReadMe

Simple Invoices Customization

This is a collection of simple invoices files that ive modified, with the intent to fix a few obvious (to me) issues and make SI more friendly with mobile web browsers. The files are intended to replace the actual SI file and not to be used as an extension, they are already in the proper hierarchy and should be uploaded with FTP to override existing files. Remember to always make a backup of you files and your database before changing anything.

All modifications are noted, all notes begin with “TeamMC” to make them searchable, i also suggest http://winmerge.org/ to make comparisons.

simpleinvoices.2010.2.beta8.teammc.mods

Release Type: Beta – Semi Undocumented.
Execution Method: Not a module, after making backups, upload via ftp to override current files.

Please provide feedback, here or at the simple invoices forum.

This Version:
Changes in \include\class\invoice.php to help ignore ‘owing’ for drafts
Improvements on existing modifications

Future Versions:
Better documentation
More tweaks to make drafts not count as owing, etc

I focus on creating a personal experience for my customers tailored to what they need and not to what i want to sell. I’m available by appointment Friday, Saturday & Sunday or any other evening.. Most issues can be corrected simply by bringing me your computer tower alone (no cables or accessories), I recommend this because its the most affordable option with the fastest reaction time. Here is an idea of how much i charge for repairs:

Hourly Rate: $50

Computer Cleanup & Speedup: $50 – Clean dust from inside the computer, and cleanup the system to run as if its new, ill also check that you have Antivirus software running and updated and install a reliable free Antivirus program if needed as well as take note and inform you of any other issues i notice.

Virus Removal: ~$75 – This is if the virus hasn’t caused any serious damage to Windows, otherwise a system reload or “factory restore” might be needed”

Factory Restore: ~$150 – This includes backup of your old data and reinstalling your operating system to make your computer “like new”. Also includes Installing drivers, restoring your data, windows updates and installing software that you provide.

You can contact me at (603)973-4530 or by e-mail at john@teammc.cc

Also im very excited as this is a big step in moving forward with my web business and even computer repair business, im in the process of getting a new phone that will help me provide remote support (htc touch pro2) and have found a few other gadgets to make life easier, so hold on to your hats! here we go!!

First off windows firewall is probably the best way to protect your computer without slowing you down, however since its what comes with windows, its also probably the most vulnerable to compromise. But dont panic, when i say compromise, i mean that a program that YOU run does something to the firewall to create an opening, good computer habits will almost always prevent this.

Windows ships with its firewall turned on, so unless the company that sold you the computer turned it off (and hopefully put a different firewall on) you should be protected from day 1. Unfortunately day 1 doesnt last, when you install or use a program you might be changing things your not aware of, like the firewall for example. To check what the firewall is doing you just need to navigate the windows control panel and open up “Windows Firewall”. The first thing you should notice is a screen telling you if the firewall is turned on or off, make sure its on and change it if its not. Depending on what version of windows you have you will need to look around and find a list of programs that are “Allowed Through Windows Firewall” this list is my favorite part, i always find things on it that i dont want, and when i disable them it brings me a certain level of comfort. Look over the list, uncheck items you dont recognise or dont use, most likely if you do something wrong here, the program that your effecting will fix it, or let you know later, so dont worry and have at it!

Now to my main point!
Now that we have a simple but effective windows firewall working, how do we know its REALLY working?

The Gibson ShieldsUp Firewall Test!

Allot i know… but Firewall test is all that really matters here, some might say that a better test is x or y, but i say: 1. i can rely on Gibson as an independent party with no interest in harm or profit and 2. I don’t have to look at adds or sign up for anything or click a million buttons.

ShieldsUp!

Thats It! click the link, press proceed, chose the test “Common Ports” or “All Service Ports” or both is what i recommend, and then watch it scan you from the outside world, so you can see what everyone else can see.

Look over the results and then review what you firewall settings are if you find any holes

the one issue ive found is that by default Windows Firewall does allow for Pings, ill be writing more about this later, for now good luck! and let me know if you have any questions.

Ill answer any questions you might have about these functions.

_MyFuncs 20100207

If you have questions or are interested in my services please e-mail me at john@teammc.cc or call me at (603) 973-4530