Author: raymond

  • Virus.org Offers Malware Scanning Service With Several AntiVirus Engines

    Just found another website that is similar to what VirusTotal can do. Actually this site’s malware scanning service started nearly two years ago but I only got to know about it.

    Virus.org Malware Scanning Service scans uploaded files with several common Anti-Virus tools to attempt to determine if the uploaded file is in fact some form of Malware. The virus definition are updated on an hourly basis to make sure they always have the latest definition. I very often use these services to scan any suspicious files that I downloaded or received from friends.

    Virus.org free virus scan

    Virus.org is able to scan file that is no bigger than 5MB with 23 types of antivirus programs. They are:

  • A-Squared
  • Arcavir
  • avast!
  • AVG Anti Virus
  • Avira AntiVir
  • BitDefender
  • CA eTrust
  • CAT QuickHeal
  • ClamAV
  • CPSecure
  • Dr. Web
  • F-PROT
  • F-PROT 6
  • F-Secure
  • Kaspersky
  • McAfee Virusscan
  • NOD32
  • Norman Virus Control
  • Panda
  • Sophos Sweep
  • Trend Micro
  • VBA32
  • VirusBuster 2005
  • To scan a suspicious file, simple click the browse button to locate the file and then click Upload button. There is no real time status to tell you the progress of upload. There is also an Advance scan which you have to the option to have the results of the scan sent to you after the scan has completed. In normal upload, the file might be automatically distributed to anti-virus companies. In advanced scan, you have the option to disable that.

    Virus.org advance scan

    The results of service is by no means a 100% proof positive that a file is in fact some form of Malware. Likewise if this service says a file is clean, it does not again provide a 100% proof positive that a file is not Malware. It could be that the file you have uploaded is in fact a virus that currently is undetected by the virus scanners that we use to provide the service.

    Now we have a total of 4 websites that can scan files with several anti-virus engines. VirusTotal, VirSCAN, Jotti’s Malware Scanner and Virus.org. They are all the same, except each with different maximum upload file size and also some has more antivirus engines. I’d say that VirusTotal is still the best because it has more features than the rest. If you know any more of these sites, please share it with me.

    [ Visit Virus.org Malware Scanner ]

  • RegDefrag: Does It Really Defrag Windows Registry Entries?

    Usually when we say defrag, most of the time we think that it is hard drive defragmenter. Yesterday I found a freeware that claims to defrag Windows registry. The registry is a database used to store settings and options for the 32/64 bit versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 95, 98, ME, NT,2000,2003,2008, XP and Vista. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, software, users, and preferences of the PC. Whenever a user makes changes to a Control Panel settings, or File Associations, System Policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the registry.

    The question whether is it possible to defrag windows registry entries came to my mind when I learned about this program called RegDefrag which was released to public yesterday.


    Quicksys RegDefrag is a new and free tool that claims to be able to defrag and optimize your registry by removing gaps, fragments and wasted space in Windows registry files.

    How to defrag registry free

    This tool analyzed my Windows registry and reported too many fragments. It also stated that it could reduce the size from 44496KB to 40340KB which is nearly 10% reduction. It took only a few seconds to compact my Windows registry. That’s all it does. Simple and easy.

    However, I wasn’t really convinced that it is possible to defrag Windows registry. The official website only mentioned that “Quicksys RegDefrag optimizes your registry by removing gaps, fragments and wasted space in Windows registry files.” The real meaning of defrag is reorganizing the contents to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. Removing gaps and wasted space in Windows registry is known as “compacting” and “optimizing”. In Windows XP, the registry files are located in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG folder. The files have no extensions and are named DEFAULT, SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, and SYSTEM. I don’t think RegDefrag defrags the 5 files above. I guess RegDefrag’s function is the same as most of the registry optimizers.

    Although RegDefrag is not something new, but it is still a very good, free, simple and easy to use registry optimizer program. My favorite free registry optimizer program is still NTREGOPT. What about yours?

    [ Download Quicksys RegDefrag ]

  • Free McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 One Year Genuine Subscription License

    The first time I spotted a free license for McAfee antivirus is when AOL Active Virus Shield that is using Kaspersky engine has been replaced with McAfee VirusScan Plus Special Edition. About half a year later, again I found that NetWest bank giving out free copies of McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008. And now after seven months, I stumbled on yet another offer to get free 1 year license for McAfee VirusScan Plus offered to Department of Defense employees!
    DoD free McAfee
    McAfee VirusScan Plus offers proactive PC security to prevent malicious attacks, so you can protect what you value as well as surf, search, and download files online with confidence. McAfee SiteAdvisors Web safety ratings help you avoid unsafe Web sites. This service also provides security against multi-pronged attacks by combining antivirus and antispyware technologies. McAfees security service continuously delivers the latest software so your protection is never out-of-date. You can now easily add and manage security for multiple PCs in your home. Moreover, improved performance allows it to protect, without disturbing you.

    Continue reading on how to get your free one year McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 even if you’re not a Department of Defense employee.


    FREE Mcafee antivirus

    1. Open this page http://us.mcafee.com/en-us/affiliates/dod/landingpages/ in your favorite web browser.

    2. Check “I certify that I am a current employee of the Department of Defense”, select any department from the drop down list and click Sign-Up Now button below McAfee VirusScan Plus.

    3. You need to enter your first name, last name, email address, password and click I Agree button. Do that note that your password must contain at least one letter and one number.

    4. After successfully created your account, click Go to My Account button.

    5. You should see that you have McAfee VirusScan Plus 1 year subscription at My Protection Products. Click the Download button.
    Free mcafee antivirus

    6. Click I Agree.

    7. Click Download button to start downloading DMSetup.exe. The file is only 1.16MB in size and run the file once completed downloading.

    8. Right now you should be able to select either Typical or Custom installation for McAfee VirusScan Plus. If not, you’ll have to login with the email and password which you’ve entered at step 3. Click next and it’ll start downloading the antivirus. Installation will be automatically started once download is complete. McAfee VirusScan Plus includes VirusScan, Firewall and SiteAdvisor.

    I didn’t notice any difference between the McAfee VirusScan Plus offered for Department of Defense and Special Edition from AOL other than the a logo that says “Special Edition from AOL”. Actually this McAfee VirusScan Plus offer has been going on for 4 years already. SysOpt forums first posted about this on 4-10-2004. The latest version of McAfee VirusScan Plus is 2009 v13 but the AOL special edition and also this DoD offer is only offering McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 v12. If you like McAfee products, then go ahead and install it on your computer. If not, wait for a few days more for me to announce the winners of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 giveaway. Do take note that the last time I tested McAfee VirusScan Plus for memory usage, it takes up as much as nearly 90MB on a clean Windows XP during idle and the memory usage could go up to 140MB during scanning.

  • FREE 1 Year McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 License for EVERYONE

    So far I’ve shown you how to get free license for Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Norton AntiBot and a-squared Anti-Malware. That would have saved you hundreds of dollars for security software to protect your computer! Out of the 3 security products, I can say that only Kaspersky Anti-Virus can be considered as a real fully featured antivirus client. As for Norton AntiBot and a-squared Anti-Malware, both are mainly used to detect and remove Trojans. FREE Mcafee antivirus license Unfortunately Kaspersky Anti-Virus promotion has ended and if you did not manage to get the free license, here’s an trick on how to get a licensed fully featured antivirus scanner (McAfee VirusScan Plus).

    McAfee VirusScan Plus and SiteAdvisor prevents malicious activity on your PC. This security software bundle offers anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall. If you go to McAfee’s website, you’ll find that McAfee VirusScan Plus cost $39.99 for a year license but if you follow the steps which I am about to show you, you’re going to get the genuine license for free!


    McAfee VirusScan Plus offers proactive PC security to prevent malicious attacks, so you can protect what you value as well as surf, search, and download files online with confidence. McAfee SiteAdvisor’s web safety ratings help you avoid unsafe websites. This service also provides security against multi-pronged attacks by combining anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall technologies. McAfee’s security service continuously delivers the latest software so your protection is never out-of-date. You can now easily add and manage security for multiple PCs in your home. Moreover, improved performance allows it to protect, without disturbing you.

    FREE McAfee VirusScan Plus serial number

    McAfee VirusScan Plus Features:

  • Offers 6 in 1 PC Protection from viruses, spyware and hacking so you can safely surf the web
  • Helps you avoid unsafe websites with McAfee SiteAdvisor’s proprietary website safety ratings
  • Security service that continuously and automatically updates with the latest software and threat security data to all your PCs
  • Easily add and manage security for multiple PCs in your home
  • Improves your PC health by cleaning clutter off your computer
  • Enhanced and streamlined security performs faster and requires less of your computer’s resources than previous versions
  • Here are the steps on how to get free McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 license to protect you from virus, spyware, dangerous websites and hackers for 365 days.

    1. Follow this link and click banner that says “Free PC Security Protect your PC for 12 months with McAfee VirusScan Plus

    2. Click the Register Now button.

    3. Enter first name, last name, email address, password and click I Agree button. Your password must contain at least one letter and one number.

    4. When you’re at the receipt page, click Go to My Account button.

    5. You should see that McAfee VirusScan Plus being listed at the account’s page. Click the download/install icon.
    Download Mcafee antivirus

    6. Scroll right to the bottom of the page and click I Agree button

    7. Click Download button and you’ll download DMSetup.exe which is in 621KB size.

    8. Run DMSetup.exe when download completes. McAfee download manager should automatically log you in and find that you have McAfee VirusScan Plus in your account, then just click Download button.
    Download mcafee antivirus scanner

    Note: Sometimes you might get a message saying No programs are available to install from this account. You’ll need to log in again.
    re Login and download mcafee antivirus

    10. Wait for the McAfee download manager to finish downloading McAfee VirusScan Plus. The total file size should be around 38MB.

    11. Once finished downloading, click Install and follow the on-screen instruction.

    Voila! You now have a fully featured antivirus software McAfee VirusScan Plus 2008 to protect you from virus, spyware, dangerous websites and hackers for 365 days.

    If you still remember, AOL Active Virus Shield has been replaced with McAfee VirusScan Plus Special Edition. I’ve tried both and they are basically the same. The only difference is AOL version is using serial number instead of user account for licensing. Many people wasn’t able to get the McAfee VirusScan Plus Special Edition from AOL because they fail to sign up for an AOL screen name. It always complains of wrong PHONE or ZIP CODE. Both of the information must tally or else it’ll fail. If you can’t get it from AOL, get it directly from McAfee using the method above 😉

  • Fix Internet Explorer New Window and Tab Always Blank and Not Loading Problem

    Once in a while I get question like how to uninstall or remove Internet Explorer and I usually advice them not to do that because IE is part of Windows and by doing that, it might cause instability to the operating system and on some software. If they don’t like IE, they can ignore it and always use other alternatives such as Firefox or Opera. As for me, I am a Firefox user but I still use IE to browse a few websites, particularly online banking websites because Firefox is unable to display the site correctly and also I can clear the cache/ cookies after logging out. I don’t want to do that on my Firefox 3 because I have tons of websites that I am automatically logged on via cookies when I access the website.

    Today I experienced weird problem on an online banking website when I was trying to transfer fund. To do that, I’ll have to request an “image code” to be sent to my mobile phone number and enter the code to verify that the fund is transferred by me. The problem is whenever I click on a link to request for the image code, a new window will popup and it is blank with nothing being loaded but the URL is displayed at the link bar.

    Internet Explorer Blank Window Tab

    When I manually hit Enter key at the URL to load the link, it gives me a “Unrecognized command” error. This happens because the browser is supposed to send hidden secure data to the server when a new popup window and manually visiting the link won’t work. I then tried opening links from Yahoo website using new tab or new window, both showed blank screen.

    After struggling on this problem for a few days, I manage to get Internet Explorer new window and tab blank problem fixed.


    Clearing the cache/cookies and starting Internet Explorer without Add-ons did not fix the problem. This first two steps that I did is the most basic method and first solution to fix any problem in Internet Explorer.

    Next thing I did was resetting Internet Explorer settings. Go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced tab and click the Reset button. It is advised that this should only be used if Internet Explorer browser is in an unusable state. Even after resetting IE, the new window or tab blank problem is still there.

    I would like to see if it was my user profile problem because I have tons of software installed and it might have corrupted the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry. Created a new user account, logged in and tried the Internet Explorer, problem is still there.

    From Microsoft KB281679, I found that this problem might be caused by one or more of the following files is missing, damaged, or improperly registered. It suggest to run this command in Start > Run.

    Regsvr urlmon.dll
    regsvr32 urlmon.dll
    regsvr32 Shdocvw.dll
    regsvr32 Actxprxy.dll
    regsvr32 Oleaut32.dll
    regsvr32 Mshtml.dll
    regsvr32 Browseui.dll
    regsvr32 Shell32.dll

    All DLL files were able to register correctly except mshtml.dll. I get the following error “Mshtml.dll was loaded, but the DllRegisterServer entry point was not found. This file cannot be registered“. I thought maybe that was the file that was causing the problem. I replaced the mshtml.dll file with an original one but still couldn’t get it registered. I then tried on another computer and I also got the same error except this computer don’t have the new window and tab blank problem. So this problem cannot be caused by mshtml.dll file.

    Continue searching for the solution has lead me to finding IEFix, a general purpose fix for Internet Explorer. Downloaded and ran IEFix but it tells me that Internet Explorer 7 is currently not supported.

    I’ve also tried scanning Windows with antispyware programs (SpyBot, Ad-Aware, SpySweeper, a-squared Anti-Malware, SUPERAntiSpyware), cleaned several threats found but still no luck.

    I’ve gone through nearly everything possible solution to fix this IE problem but I forgotten the most basic one which is to reinstall Internet Explorer. I downloaded the latest Internet Explorer 7 from Microsoft’s website, ran the setup file and that fixed the problem! Now the online banking request image code popup window is able to load.

    RHB REquest Image Code

    Thinking back, I was unable to solve this problem for a few days because I was so focused on searching and following solutions that has worked for other people but ignored the most basic solution which is “REINSTALL“.

  • KeyScrambler Fights KeyLoggers by Encrypting What You Type on Keyboard

    If you ask me what am I afraid most when it comes to computer security threats and my answer would be a malicious software that captures everything I type on my keyboard, commonly known as keylogger. Every keylogger is made to run hidden on a computer and some good ones goes to the extend of running in low-kernel mode that invisibly captures every detail of the PC and Internet activity, defeating tools other than those provided in Windows such as Process Explorer, MSCONFIG, Autoruns and so on… I can’t imagine the damage that it would do to me if there is a hidden keylogger on my computer, capturing everything I type and monitoring everything I do on my computer.

    Although I am using LastPass to auto login to websites, there are still risks when it comes to applications such as Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, CuteFTP, PuTTy, TrueCrypt, The Bat! email client and etc which requires me to type in password. Saving the password on the application to prevent from typing the password is a bad idea because password recovery programs or known as “stealers” can get all of the saved passwords on your computer and send it to the hacker.


    One of the possible solution is to use KeyScrambler to encrypt your keystrokes deep in the kernel, foiling keylogging attacks with scrambled, undecipherable data. For example, when you type the word “raymond” on your keyboard, it becomes “2;faf3f” and that is what the keylogger would think you have typed, logging only rubbish data. I have in fact mentioned about KeyScrambler 4 years ago but that didn’t go with any test but now I am thinking of using this myself, so I am putting it to tests with a couple of well known powerful keyloggers and Remote Administration Tool trojan that has keylogging capabilities to see who wins this battle.

    KeyScrambler Premium

    There are 3 versions of KeyScrambler, the Personal(free), Professional($29.99) and Premium($44.99). Basically the Personal edition is just a web browser plugin that scrambles what you type on the web browser. If you only use the computer for web browsing, then it is good enough and you don’t need to rely on on-screen keyboards. As for the Professional version, it supports more browsers, email clients, instant messengers such as Windows Live Messenger, password managers such as LastPass, Online Games such as WoW and Steam. As for Premium, it is for advanced users that uses encryption software such as TrueCrypt, networking applications such as PuTTy, CuteFTP, and etc.

    Since I use PuTTy, CuteFTP, TrueCrypt and LastPass, I had to go with the Premium version of KeyScrambler. There is very little to configure in KeyScrambler Premium. There is a hotkey (by default Ctrl + Shift + K) to enable/disable keyscrambler protection, auto start with Windows, display in tray icon or overlay window, auto update checking, protecting Windows Logon and Windows Explorer, distinguish unencrypted keys and enabling support for east asian language input.

    1. All In One Keylogger (ranked #1 in Kids & Parenting Software at CNET Download.com)
    All in One Keylogger
    Result: Pass

    2. Ardamax Keylogger (ranked #2 in Monitoring Software at CNET Download.com)
    Ardamax Keylogger
    Result: Pass

    3. Award Keylogger
    Award Keylogger
    Result: Pass

    4. Elite Keylogger (Uses low-level kernel keylogging method)
    Elite Keylogger
    Result: Pass

    5. Refog Keylogger (ranked #3 in Privacy Software at CNET Download.com)
    Refog Keylogger
    Result: Pass

    6. Revealer Keylogger Pro (ranked #1 in Monitoring Software at CNET Download.com)
    Revealer Keylogger Pro Edition
    Result: Pass

    7. WebWATCHER (claims can’t be stopped by any anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewalls)
    WebWatcher
    Result: Pass

    8. BlackShades RAT
    BlackShades RAT
    Result: Pass

    9. CyberGate RAT
    CyberGate RAT
    Result: Pass

    10. DarkComet RAT
    DarkComet RAT
    Result: Pass

    As you can see from the tests which I have performed, none of the keyloggers and remote administration tool trojan is able to capture and log the real keystrokes that I typed on my keyboard. Using KeyScrambler Premium does keep me safe whenever I type on my keyboard. There is an bug that has been on-going for a long time which is sometimes the encrypted text ends up on the textbox rather than the real text. All you need to do is hit the backspace once and everything goes back to normal. There is a possible incompatibility problem since it installs a driver keyscrambler.sys. Another downside is the Premium version of KeyScrambler cost money, there is no trial version for the Premium/Pro and I wasn’t able to get a couple of free license from the developer to give away on this site.

    [ Visit KeyScrambler ]

  • FREE 4 Years Norman Virus Control Full License Key Code for EVERYONE

    I know I said on Monday that the freebie articles will end but I just couldn’t resist posting this when I found it. Normally software companies only give out 1 year free license but as for Norman, they are also joining in the freebie giving game by giving out full license registration key code for their Norman Virus Control product that can last for 4 years!FREE Norman Virus Control license Norman Virus Control normally cost $40.60 for single user 1 year license, so 4 years license equivalence to $162.40 and you’re getting it for free!

    It runs on all Windows platforms (Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista) and also on Linux. Think about this, if Norman Virus Control can run on Windows 95, it is definitely light on resources and not a bloatware. Anyway, continue reading on how to obtain your free 4 year license key for Norman Virus Control.


    User-friendly, proactive and automated functionality are keywords describing the Norman Virus Control. The unique Norman SandBox technology protects against new and unknown computer viruses, worms and Trojans – currently the most prevalent malware types. E-mails are scanned for viruses before they reach the mailbox to ensure that viruses do not propagate this way. This means that users can be confident that they are protected against malicious software by one of the most advanced antivirus software applications on the market.

    Norman Virus Control free license key code

    The unique Norman SandBox II technology protects against new and unknown computer viruses, worms and trojans – currently the most prevalent malware types. In addition, downloads from newsgroups can be scanned for malware before they are made available to the user. Then add Norman Internet Update (NIU), an automatic Internet update mechanism that ensures that your NVC installation is always up-to-date, including incremental updates of definition files, makes NVC the obvious choice for particular users that require real protection from computer malware.

    The latest version v5.90 features new filter drivers that make on-access scanning easier and more efficient on platforms where Microsoft’s Filter Manager is implemented, i.e. Windows XP (SP2), Windows 2003 (SP1) and Windows Vista. For example is NVC’s detection of rootkits improved due to this new approach. Some components have been modified to work with Windows Vista in the network version. These components include NDesk, SelfXWiz, eLogger and NIU.

    Just follow the steps below on how to obtain your free 4 years license key for Norman Virus Control.

    1. Go to this page.

    2. Enter your Name, E-mail, select your Country and finally enter the OEM code as HIO-7782-NO

    3. Check your E-mail and open the email from Norman Web ([email protected]) with the subject (No Subject)‏‏. Note down the key which has the format of XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.

    4. Download latest Norman Virus Control NVC590_SU_R5eng.exe and install. You can also visit their download page for more language options.

    5. After install, right click at the Norman Virus Control tray icon and select Internet Update. It will ask you to enter a valid authentication key. Select “I have a key, where do I enter it? and click the Next button.

    6. Enter your Norman Virus Control authentication key and click Finish button.

    Voila! Right click at the tray icon again and select License information. You’ll see that the license expires after 4 years! w00t!

    Norman Virus Control free registration code

    I couldn’t find where did this OEM code originally came from. Searching from Google shows that it is only discussed in Chinese websites. I am very sure that this registration is not pirated because it passes Norman’s validation server and approves this key. Also, if it is illegal, they’d have long blacklisted this oem code. I found out that Norman Virus Control is Norman’s antivirus. The software is replaced with Norman Security Suite this year. They also had a jump from version 5.90 to version 7.00. Although it is not the latest but it can used on all Windows platform including Windows such as 95 and 98. Enjoy!

  • Disable AutoRun CD in Windows for Better Security

    Autorun can be useful but it can be dangerous. Remember yesterday article about plugging in hacked U3 smart drive and your computer is automatically compromised within seconds? That is only possible if autorun is enabled. Other than a hacked U3 smart drive, a hacker can infect a computer with trojan using a CD. Just program autorun.inf to load the trojan whenever it’s being autoplayed.

    Besides security issues, autorun can be frustrating too. Have you ever encountered that when you load a very old CD or damaged/scratched CD, it will keep on trying to read and process autorun.inf file? The Windows will just freeze and you can’t do anything until you manually eject the disc.

    I remembered many years ago when I was using a 3rd party user login software on Windows 98. It can be bypassed by simply loading a CD that has autorun.inf. (Maybe I was using a lousy windows 98 login software) So no matter which version of Windows you’re using, it is always good to disable CD autoplay on Windows.


    Unfortunately Windows doesn’t provide a simple way for you to enable or disable automatically running CD-ROMs. I will show you 2 ways, the manual and automatic way to disable autorun on Windows.

    There’s a trick where you can stop autorun CD in Windows by pressing a key. Just press the SHIFT key and hold the key for a while when you load a CD.
    SHIFT key to disable autorun
    This is also useful for U3 smart drives if you don’t want it to automatically run the U3 launchpad.

    To MANUALLY and permanently enable or disable automatically running CD-ROMs, you must edit the registry:
    1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
    2. Locate and click the following registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom
    3. To disable automatically running CD-ROMs, change the Autorun value to 0 (zero). To enable automatically running CD-ROMs, change the Autorun value to 1.
    Disable CD autoplay in Windows
    4. Restart your computer.

    If you don’t like to mess around with your Registry or don’t know how, use this easy tool called AutoPlayConfig to easily help you enable or disable Autoplay on Windows.
    Disable CD AutoPlay Tool
    The program is free and easy to use. One click to check your Autoplay settings, another to Enable or Disable Autoplay.

    [ Download AutoPlayConfig ]

    Note: If you’d to re-enable CD autoplay but it doesn’t work, you might want to check two other registry keys that can affect this functionality. Make sure that both values is “0×00000095
    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
    Value: NoDriveTypeAutoRun = 0×00000095

    HKU\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
    Value: NoDriveTypeAutoRun = 0×00000095

  • Analyze Font Information on Website with Firefox

    Checking what font that is being used on a website is pretty easy for web designers. However for users that only knows how to use the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web page builders, it won’t be easy. First you need to check the source code, then find out what DIV tags are being used and finally check the the cascading style sheets (CSS) file. The CSS file will reveal what fonts are being used and how large it is set to. An easier way to automatically find out what font that is being used on a website is by using Firefox’s add-on called Font Finder and Context Font.

    After installing either add-on, simply use your mouse to highlight a text that you want to check for the font type and size, and right click. Context Font will show the font of selected text directly in the context menu itself. As for Font Finder, you will need to also highlight, right click and go to Font Finder and select Analyze selection. Font Finder is able to give more detailed information such as the font color, background color, line-height, vertical-align, letter-spacing, word-spacing, decoration and element. Trying to check what font and size is being used by Google Adsense requires a bit more work. Useful for webmaster that wants to blend the ads with the text used on their website.


    Let’s take this website for an example. Both Font Finder and Context Font shows 12px verdana for this website but when you right click on the Adsense ads, it shows the same thing but weirdly it looks different, probably slightly bigger.

    What you need to do is right click on Adsense advertisement, go to This Frame and select Open Frame in New Tab. A new tab will open showing only the Google advertisement and nothing else. If you see an image ad, you will need to refresh until you see the text advertisement. Now highlight the text that you want to check on the font and size, and both Font Finder and Context Font is able to tell you what font and size is being used.

    Adsense Font and Size

    Both Font Finder and Context Font add-on is compatible with Firefox 4.

  • Windows Live Messenger 80048820 and Extended 80048439 Error Code

    Still remember the error code 80048820 that affected many people during MSN Messenger version 7.5? Apparently the problem was caused by the wrong date on my computer. Changing back the date fixed the problem. Today again I got a a very similar error code on my Windows Live Messenger which is 80048820 WITH an extended 80048439 or 8004840f error code.
    Fix MSN 80048820 and extended 80048439 or 8004840f Error Code
    At first I didn’t look carefully at the error code and thought that there might be a temporary problem on .NET Messenger Service. After an hour, I am still getting the same error code and this now I think the problem might be on my computer because Microsoft wouldn’t take that long to fix a service that millions of people are using.

    I checked the date on my computer and it’s current. I checked .NET Messenger Service status and it says all systems are stable and running.
    Check .NET service status
    After a little checking, I found what is causing the error code 80048820 and extended error code 80048439.


    If the .NET service is stable and running and the system date is correct, the problem should be either the messenger got corrupted or the connection problem. Uninstall and reinstall Windows Live Messenger still didn’t allow me to connect. It must be the connection problem. Windows Live Messenger uses Internet Explorer connection settings to connect. If you’ve set to use proxy on Internet Explorer, Windows Live Messenger will also use the same proxy on Internet Explorer.

    Then I remembered earlier today I was using a USA proxy in Internet Explorer to do some test and I forgot to remove the settings. Usually an open proxy don’t stay online for very long. I uncheck to stop using the proxy and voila!, I am able to connect to Windows Live Messenger without getting the 80048820 error code with 80048439 or 8004840f extended error code.

    To disable using proxy in Internet Explorer:

    1. Click Tools from Internet Explorer menu bar

    2. Select Internet Options

    3. Go to Connections tab

    4. Click on LAN settings button

    5. Uncheck “Use a proxy server for your LAN
    Disable proxy server for your LAN

  • WhatFontIs Identifies Unknown Font and Finds an Alternative

    Have you ever seen a font that is being used in an image that looks very nice and you wonder what font is that? Asking for people in graphics forums if they know what font is that is like looking for a needle in a haystack since there are probably tens of thousands or probably more! 4 years ago I posted an article on how to identify fonts being used in images using Identifont and WhatTheFont. Here is another addition to the online service called “What Font is” where it is able to identify unknown font and also finds an alternative if it couldn’t find the exact one.

    I have given What Font is a try and it was able to identify what font that is used by Gary Simon when he was designing the Raymond.CC logo. The whole process took less than 3 minutes and all you need to do is either upload the image or specify the URL link to the image. You can then set whether to display only free fonts, commercial fonts or both and finally whether the background color is lighter or darker.


    The next step is pretty important as you have to check every image and input the black character in the image. If you see incomplete black character, you can drag one image over another to combine the shapes. As for images that doesn’t look like a character, just leave the box empty. Finally click the Continue button for What Font is to process and identify the font. What Font is will display the first 100 fonts that look like the image you uploaded and if the results are wrong, you can post it to forums by clicking on the link that says “Wrong results? Post the image to forum!”

    What Font Is

    There is a limit of 1.8MB image size that you can upload. Some of the tips that can make the identification more accurately is to make sure that the text is horizontal and not touching. The resolution for the letter must be over 80 pixels for best results, the background color must be lighter than the characters color and making the image grayscale. Minimum number of characters is 2 and maximum at 10.

    [ Visit What Font is ]

  • FREE Total PC Security Software Developed by Security Experts

    Previously I’ve tested and reviewed free Rising Antivirus. In my opinion, it is a very good antivirus which I will prefer to use if I had to choose between AVG and Rising Antivirus. However, many people would avoid using Rising Antivirus just because it is developed in Beijing China, where the 2008 Olympics will be held, as there are news saying that China is a home to half of all malicious websites. I think this perception is wrong.

    Anyway, different people has different thinking and I don’t want to argue about that. I am here to do what I do best, which is to find interesting stuff and share with you guys everyday without fail. Today I will share with you another free antivirus which I discovered and this AV is developed in United States. It is made by a very well known vulnerability and security research company called eEye Digital Security. Let’s check it out…


    Blink Personal provides home PC protection plus Internet Security. Including all-in-one antivirus, antispyware, antiphishing, identity theft protection, plus personal firewalls.Blink’s interface is intuitive and easy to use because it resembles Windows XP’s streamlined Control Panel, and icons include summaries of configuration details.

    Download FREE Blink Antivirus

    Blink Personal Features:

  • Firewall – Controls network traffic to and from this system, permitting or denying communications based on a set of rules.
  • Virus and Spyware Protection – Performs in-memory protection and disk scanning for computer threats such as viruses, worms, trojans, adware and spyware.
  • Intrusion Prevention – Monitors network activities for malicious or unwanted behavior and reacts in real-time to block or prevent those activities.
  • Vulnerability Assessment – Scans the local machine and identifies missing patches, misconfigurations and poor security settings.
  • System Protection – Provides proactive, host-based security against zero-day attacks.
  • Is Blink FREE?
    There are 2 versions of Blink, the Personal and Professional edition. The Blink Personal Edition normally cost $24.95 and the Professional edition cost $29. Currently eEye is giving away their Blink Personal edition for you to use for a year if you live in the United States and Canada, or for 30 days if you live outside of these countries. I’ve tried setting my clock few months ahead and it tells me that my license has expired. The weird thing is when I hit the back button and then the Next button to re-enter the old serial number, it allows me to use Blink Personal Edition again.

    Is Blink effective against computer security threats?
    I’ve tested Blink against a few public version of trojans which can be detected by other antivirus program and it can immediately warns me that a backdoor is found. Unfortunately Blink is unable to detect any backdoor when I tested it with private version of trojan. A private version of trojan is meant to avoid being detected by an antivirus program. If the antivirus fails to detect it, then I can say that its heuristic detection is not that good. One thing I can be sure of is Blink can protect you from most of zero day exploits and vulnerabilities.

    Is Blink light on system resources?
    From the official website, it mentioned that Blink is extremely lightweight and the Blink endpoint protection agent runs at around 60MB. From Sysinternals Process Explorer, I see that there are 4 processes that belongs to Blink. All 4 processes takes up 124MB memory usage! That is a freaking bloated internet security software and they dare to say that Blink is EXTREMELY lightweight?
    Blink Bloatware

    So there’s my review on eEye Blink Personal Edition. Now you tell me whether would you use Blink Personal Edition to protect your computer against internet security threats?

    [ Download eEye Blink Personal Edition ]

  • Problem Updating AVG 8 with Invalid Update Control CTF File Error

    Having the latest antivirus program and also virus definition signature is very important to keep your computer safe from latest threats and also stability. All antivirus program has their own convenient built-in updater for you to easily update the program and virus signature. However, I noticed that the latest AVG 8 program updates seems to have lots of problems if compared to other antivirus program. Some of the error messages that I know of are “a bin file is missing”, “General error – not enough free memory, write error”, “AVG update process could not be finished due to insufficient free disk space or insufficient user rights. Disk space is fine.” and the latest one is “Invalid Update Control CTF File Error”.
    AVG update Invalid Update Control CTF File Error
    One of my client’s laptop had AVG8 installed and he kept on getting the Invalid Update Control CTF File Error whenever he wants to update AVG8. The most common way of fixing a software problem is to reinstall. Unfortunately I tried reinstalling AVG8 on his computer but couldn’t fix the Invalid Update Control CTF File problem.

    Finally I found an easy solution to fix the Invalid Update Control CTF File error problem during update.


    Searching for CTF file on my client’s computer revealed that there are 2 CTF files which is avginfoavi.ctf and avginfowin.ctf used by AVG8 and located in All Users application data folder. I noticed that every time when you check for AVG updates, the AVG8 update manager will check the avginfoavi.ctf and avginfowin.ctf files in the update server.

    Simply deleting both avginfoavi.ctf and avginfowin.ctf files fixes the Invalid Update Control CTF File error problem. There are 3 ways to delete the CTF files.

    1. Search for avginfoavi.ctf and avginfowin.ctf in Windows and delete it.

    2. Manually go to the folder where both of the CTF files are located and delete it. The Application Data folder is hidden and you’ll need to enable show hidden files and folders in Folder Options to see the folder.

    In Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\avg8\update\download
    In Windows Vista: C:\ProgramData\avg8\update\download

    3. AVG has created a small executable file called deleteupdatefiles.exe that will automatically delete the download folder that contains the CTF files.
    AVG 8 Invalid Update Control CTF File

    Hope that either 3 methods above will help you fix the problem in updating AVG8.

  • Workaround for Slow COMODO Virus Database Update

    The most recent firewall test from Matousec shows that the latest Comodo Internet Security v4.0 grabs the first place with a perfect 100% score which is pretty impressive. The good thing about Comodo Antivirus is you can use it in commercial environment unlike the free Avast, Avira and AVG which you can only use it on home computers. While I was testing Comodo Antivirus v4.0, the most annoying problem that I encountered was the slow virus database update. Updating Comodo the first time requires to download a 87.5MB base file and a horrible speed of only 5KBps. Through calculation, it would take nearly 5 hours to complete the update and I really don’t have that much of time to spare.

    Comodo Update Slow

    The first thing I did was I fired up URLSnooper to sniff the URL that the base file is located thinking that I could probably manually download the file using a download manager with a few simultaneous connections. I found out that Comodo has 4 update servers, 3 located in the US (eu1.download.comodo.com, us3.download.comodo.com & us4.download.comodo.com) and the other 1 in Europe (eu2.download.comodo.com). Comodo randomly assigns the update server to use and I noticed that I could only achieve full download speed of 160KBps on one of the servers.


    You can know which Comodo update mirror is the fastest by manually test downloading the files below. You don’t need to download the whole file, just download and check the full speed that you get and then cancel the download.

  • EU1 (US Washington): http://eu1.download.comodo.com/av/updates40/sigs/bases/bases.cav
  • EU2 (UK Congleton): http://eu2.download.comodo.com/av/updates40/sigs/bases/bases.cav
  • US3 (US New Jersey): http://us3.download.comodo.com/av/updates40/sigs/bases/bases.cav
  • US4 (US New Jersey): http://us4.download.comodo.com/av/updates40/sigs/bases/bases.cav
  • You can configure the update server to use in Comodo by opening Comodo, click on More button at the top right of the program and click Settings. Click on Update tab, click the Add button and type in the host for example, http://us4.download.comodo.com/. Make sure you uncheck the default http://download.comodo.com/ and then click OK button. Do note that this is not recommended because if the update server which you manually chosen is down for maintenance, then update would not be possible.

    Change Comodo Update Server

    Many people has suggested to Comodo to offer an offline signature database update for the longest time but for some reasons they are not doing it. So it would be nice if Comodo puts more effort in the updater because it doesn’t support resuming of the virus database downloads. If the download failed at 80MB with only 7MB remaining to go, the download will have to start all over again, leaving the user cursing !@#$%^#!. Currently the only way I know to transfer the database from one computer to another is by backing up the “scanners” folder which is located in C:\Program Files\Comodo\, and then copy it to another computer from Safe Mode.

  • How to Access Blocked Websites Bypassing Streamyx Internet Filter

    I never had problems accessing any websites even though it is known that our Malaysian ISP TM Net has implemented blocking of some “offensive” websites. I got to know more about this when I was helping a friend in configuring his Firefox web browser and he told me that some of the websites on his bookmarks are no longer accessible. One of it is GutterUncensored.com which seems to be a p0rn mixed with some political news website. I am not bothered by the political news in Malaysia because of the “drama” but I know that if something sensitive being posted on a website, that website is at risk of being blocked by Streamyx Internet filter.

    I tried to ping gutteruncensored.com and got the error “Ping request could not find host. Please check the name and try again”. When I did a lookup with nslookup, it says that gutteruncensored.com is a non-existent domain. Now when I tried using online ping and lookup from Network-Tools.com, they are able to ping and resolve the domain to the IP 64.202.189.170. The first thing that came to my mind is to change the DNS because by default the wireless router provided by Streamyx is set to use their DNS server which is 202.188.0.133 and 202.188.1.5. I tried changing to Google Public DNS and the blocked website is able to load instantly! Looks like the engineers did not put a lot of effort in filtering websites.


    Changing your DNS servers settings is pretty easy. Even if your wireless router that you got for free from TM Net is set to use TM’s DNS servers, you can overwrite it by setting the Google Public DNS on your Local Area Connection or Wireless Network Connection. You can refer to this guide on how to configure your network settings to use Google Public DNS.

    Do take note that if you use a broadband modem where you need to manually connect like what is shown on the image below, then you will need to set the Google Public DNS on the broadband connection properties.

    Connect Broadband Connection

    1. Go to Control Panel
    2a. If you’re on Category view, click on View network status and tasks
    2b. If you’re on Large or Small icons view, click on Network and Sharing Center
    3. Click on Change adapter settings that is on the left hand sidebar.
    4. Right click on Broadband Connection and select Properties
    5. Go to Networking tab
    6. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to highlight it and click the Properties button.
    7. Select “Use the following DNS server addresses” and enter the following DNS servers:

    Preferred DNS server: 8.8.8.8
    Alternate DNS server: 8.8.4.4

    8. Click OK on all windows.

    If you’re not comfortable in using the Google’s Public DNS servers, you can try OpenDNS.

    Preferred DNS server: 208.67.222.222
    Alternative DNS server: 208.67.220.220