I’m sure all of you noticed that the last time I posted an article was on early December. During that time, I’d say that it was the busiest moment in my life. I had to rush the contractor to finish renovating my house because the owner of the rented apartment decided to sell it off and we had to move as soon as possible. At the end of December, we moved but the house wasn’t ready and it was still in a huge mess. Moreover there was no Internet connection. Sometime around Christmas, this website started to get really slow and subsequently inaccessible for nearly a week.

The reason for the down time was because of DDoS attack. Our previous webhost NetDepot was not capable of mitigating DDoS attacks and their only solution is to null route my server’s IP address and wait for the attack to subside. Well the attack didn’t stop and I had to look for solutions to block the attacks. Basically DDoS attacks comes from many different sources (computers). These sources are hacked computers where the user accidentally installed trojan or bot without their knowledge that allows the attacker to command and control.

The image below shows an example of how DDoS works.

Many years ago, DDoS are not common and launching a DDoS attack wasn’t easy. Nowadays it’s very easy as long as you have some money. First you buy a tool such as BlackShades NET which has DDoS capability, then you need a crypter that can make it fully undetectable (FUD), and finally get people that provide service to do the install or updates. With around $200, you probably can get thousands of bots to control and bring down any websites that are not protected against DDoS.

Getting the zombies are easy but maintaining them are tough. Reason is some of the top antivirus brands are very good in detecting malwares, and secondly there is a thing called “botkilling” which allows another attacker to remove any bot/trojan on the hacked computers while keeping only theirs available so that the particular attacker is the only person who can command and control.

Unfortunately there is no free and easy way to fend off DDoS attacks. One way is to use LiteSpeed Web Server where it has anti-DDoS capabilities. Their latest 4.1 development version has even better DDoS attack auto detection and filtering. However LiteSpeed is not the answer for all DDoS attacks because if the TCP attack is really huge, then your data center will need to absorb the attacks and they normally won’t. Only companies such as Staminus and GigeNET willing to absorb the attacks which doesn’t come cheap.

I’ve switched from Apache to LiteSpeed Web Server and moved my website to Staminus where they use SecurePort DDoS Mitigation Technology to protect against DoS and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. The total cost to keep this website up is $750 per month inclusive of LiteSpeed Web Server, SecurePort and server management by LinuxAdmin. It’s a lot but I think it’s worth it. Anyway I’ve missed so much during my time away and I’m trying to catch up. I’m back in the forums and will get back to writing as soon as possible. I also noticed that Google has increased the pagerank of this blog to 5 and the forums to 4. The blog was at PR2 and forum at PR0 for a very long time.

Nearly 3 months Microsoft has taken down AutoPatcher. AutoPatcher is one of the most useful utilities for everyone especially tech people. If you didn’t know what AutoPatcher was, AutoPatcher was a comprehensive collection of patches, addons and registry tweaks that is designed to quickly patch a system with the most current updates and tweaks available, and requires no user interaction once you have selected what to install.

With AutoPatcher, I don’t need to waste my time and bandwidth in downloading patches after patches from Microsoft Update. Since AutoPatcher is dead, I need to look for AutoPatcher alternatives because I very frequently install Windows for people and I always make sure that the Windows is up to date before I hand over the computer.

First method is to create your own custom Windows installer using nLite. You can integrate service pack and hotfix to the Windows installer CD.

You need to have your original Windows CD and you also need to manually download the hotfixes and service packs and integrate to the installer using nLite. Instead of manually download the service pack and hotfixes, you can use RyanVM’s Post-SP2 Update Pack to integrate to nLite. If you don’t know how to integrate Service Pack and Hotfixes to Windows installer using nLite, you can try looking for “Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 Integrated MONTH 2007-ETH0” which consist of all latest hotfixes and service pack. Just replace the MONTH with the current month. Team ETH0 usually releases an updated ISO every month. But do take note that it’s your risk to use ETH0 integrated Windows CD. It does contain a pirated serial number and also Windows Genuine Advantage crack. It is PIRACY, but I think if you don’t use the provided Windows XP serial number and also crack by ETH0, it should be fine.

Second method is to use Windows Updates Downloader. Windows Updates Downloader only downloads the service pack and hotfixes but does not automate installing for you. Installing the hotfixes one by one is very time consuming, tedious and not very smart as well. Here’s a tool called Hotfix Installer which can automate installing all the hotfixes and service pack for you. However, this program requires the administrator to have good knowledge of the registry and how to install Microsoft Hotfixes and their individual command lines.

Third and final method is the best. It is very similar to AutoPatcher and you can install Windows updates without an internet connection. It is called c’t Offline Update but some people call it DIY Service Pack.

What c’t Offline Update can do is lets you download Service Pack and all Hotfixes for Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 in 18 languages.

Once you’ve finished downloading the updates, you can burn the contents in “client” folder to a CD or DVD. Inserting the CD/DVD to a computer will automatically prompt you to install the updates.

You can visit the official Offline Update hands-on tutorial page for more information.

[ Download c’t Offline Update ]

Many years ago I use ONLY WinZip because of the simple interface and it does the job of unzipping files. Years went by and RAR became famous. Many people started using WinRAR. Since WinZip doesn’t support extract RAR files, I need to have WinRAR installed on my computer. I find it a hassle to have 2 compression software installed because that gives me double job to always keep a lookout on newer version of WinZip and WinRAR.

I then found PowerArchiver. It claims to support nearly all types of compression. So if I have PowerArchiver installed, I can ditch WinZip and WinRAR. I’ve been using PowerArchiver for many years now and the interface is nearly the same as WinZip. So there’s no problem in me switching from other compression software to PowerArchiver.

Just few days ago, a major update for PowerArchiver has been released. It is now called PowerArchiver 2007, Version 10.0.

The latest version of PowerArchiver supports Windows Vista and has been extensively tested for compatibility. A completely revamped user interface in PowerArchiver 2007 makes it easier to access the wealth of features that PowerArchiver has. This task-based interface utilizes the same “Ribbon” design found in Microsoft Office 2007, and ensures you quick access to the most used features while not hiding others under layers of menus.

I am still not very used to the new interface, so I switch to the classic interface from the configurations.

Another very new feature to compression software is the Queue system. An innovative Queue System has been added to PowerArchiver 2007. This is the first time such an option is available in compression utility, and it enables you to better organize your compression, extraction and backups, as well as schedule multiple jobs to be done sequentially without slowing down your system – as multiple compressions would do if run all at once. Another first for PowerArchiver.
If you don’t want PowerArchiver queue to automatically start on Windows startup, you can disable it by right clicking on the PowerArchiver icon on the traybar, select Close, and you’ll have the option to stop PowerArchiver Starter.

One thing I really like about PowerArchiver is the complete built-in support for 7-ZIP, ZIP, CAB, LHA (LZH), TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, BH, RAR, ARJ, ARC, ACE, ZOO, GZ, and BZIP2 file formats. I don’t need to worry about an unsupported compressed file anymore. Moreover, PowerArchiver cost only USD19.95. It’s USD10 cheaper than WinZip and WinRAR.

Whiterat, a member of Team ICU has created a patch to crack the latest PowerArchiver. After cracking PowerArchiver, you will no longer be bothered by the nag screen whenever you open a compressed file.

[ Download PowerArchiver 2007 v10 ]

Most of the time pictures taken from digital camera is quite large in file size considering the camera nowadays can support quite large Mega Pixel. So how do you resize your pictures from your digital camera to send it to your friend via email? Attachments that are too big will result your email being bounced back. I know a way on how to resize pictures without even installing any software!

QuickThumbnail is the fastest way to resize your pictures and images. Choose an image file, select some resize options, and hit Resize it. Your image will be uploaded to the server and resized, and then any or all of the resized images will be provided in a single convenient view. Not only can you get simultaneous generation of different sizes but you can enlarge your images too.

Images are deleted off the server 10 minutes after upload, renamed during the upload process so no other user can view them and copies or image information is not collected by Quick Thumbnail. This is really great as a security precaution if you’re uploading any secret or sensitive images.

The image quality seems very reasonable, and the process took mere seconds. In fact, I may find myself using this site for more images in my posts, considering how drop-dead simple it is.

How easy to use QuickThumbnail?
1. Browse the image you want to resize from QuickThumbnail website.
2. Resize by percentage using the slider, fixed sizes or standard sizes.
3. Click Resize It button.

4. Wait for the upload to complete and your resized image will be displayed.

5. To download the image, just right click on the image and select “Save Images As…” in Firefox or “Save Picture As…” in Internet Explorer.

Best part, this service is offered to everyone absolutely FREE!

[ QuickThumbnail Website ]

One of the most frequent way that a computer user get their computer infected by virus is through downloading. When they download a file from an untrusted source, it is possible that they are downloading a software that has been tampered. (binded with virus or trojan). Sometimes these virus are new and they are yet to be detected by any antivirus.

Another way is when your friend got infected by MSN virus and automatically send a copy of the virus to you, and you thinking that it’s safe since it is from your best friend… You receive the file, run it and thank your friend for the virus.

Here is how you can protect your web browser, instant messenger and other application from malware threats by creating a virtual barrier. Surf where you want in complete safety and download with absolute confidence.

SafeSpace is a revolutionary solution for eliminating the problem of Malware. SafeSpace creates a virtual barrier between internet applications and your computer, protecting your computer and your personal information against known and unknown malware threats. Surf where you want in complete safety and download with absolute confidence. SafeSpace protects your computer from unwanted changes, and stops internet applications from reading your personal information. Log off knowing that your computer is clean and your personal information remains private.

SafeSpace Key Benefits:

Isolate internet applications in a virtual barrier

Contain all viruses, Trojans and any other form of internet Malware

Protect all private information from Spyware

Block all Rootkits and Key Loggers

Preserve your computer configuration

Browse any website in safety

Download and view any file with confidence

SafeSpace factory settings provide instant protection as soon as the software is installed. You can extend these settings in the console to suit your particular needs once SafeSpace is up and running. SafeSpace provides automatic protection against common web browsers and instant messaging applications which are detected on your PC. This list of applications can be maintained using the console to add or remove items.

Applications running inside SafeSpace are easily identified by a border around the application window. By default, this border is red, but can be customized to suit your preferences in the Appearance Page.

Just like Sandboxie, whatever program that is running inside SafeSpace will be discarded after a reboot. However, with the inbuilt SafeSpace content tracking system, if you download anything using your web browser and save it to your hard drive, the file will still be available and clearly indicated with a red color border.

I tried running Outlook Express inside SafeSpace and I can see that it is not meant for email applications. After reboot, all the received and sent emails are discarded… If you want to run any suspicious attachment, just save it to your desktop and run it in SafeSpace. I wonder why don’t they make SafeSpace compatible with email software since their inbuilt content tracking system worked so well with web browser?

Other than that, SafeSpace claims to protect your computer from spyware Key Loggers which are introduced from protected applications. By blocking all known methods of key stroke monitoring, key loggers become useless inside SafeSpace. I’ve tested this before and it’s not the perfect way to protect against keylogging. Previously I’ve tried infecting my test computer with trojan that has keylogging capability and SafeSpace doesn’t block the keylogging. “IF” the trojan is ran INSIDE SafeSpace, then keylogging will be blocked. Trojans are meant to be hidden, so how would the user run the trojan inside SafeSpace?

Like I mentioned at the starting of this article, we tend to download a lot from the Internet and that is where we get infected by virus. Running your web browser in SafeSpace will greatly reduce the risk of being infected by computer virus. SafeSpace only runs in Windows XP and Vista 32-bit. Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 must be installed in order to install SafeSpace. In Vista, you can directly install SafeSpace without worrying about .NET Framework.

[ Download SafeSpace 2.0.41 ]

It has been a very long time since I’ve posted any freebies that allows just anyone to get free licenses for sharewares. Thanks to JOPO and Merlin Magii for informing me about the freebies that Ashampoo is currently offering. If you head on to Ashampoo’s website, you will find that they have more than 30 software ranging from simple disc burning software to high tech CAD and construction software.

The first Ashampoo giveaway that JOPO shared with us is a 180 days full unrestricted license for Ashampoo Anti-Malware 1.21. As for the second one which came from Merlin_Magii, (probably some of you already knew about it since it has been posted in CNET and also on many other forums) Ashampoo is giving away 5 software which os Burning Studio 2010 Advanced, Home Designer, Snap 3, WinOptimizer 6, Photo Commander 7.

To get your free Ashampoo Anti-Malware 1.21 license, simply visit the link below and submit your email address. You will need to check your email and confirm the request of the free key by clicking on the hyperlink on the email.

http://www.ashampoo.com/frontend/registration/php/regpopinstall.php?session_langid=2&edition_id=7713

After confirming your email address, Ashampoo will send you another email containing the registration key. Then download and install Ashampoo Anti-Malware v1.21. To register the software, click on Internet & Help tab and then click on the Enter code button. Copy and paste the code and finally click on Activate Now button.

Ashampoo Anti-Malware is able to monitor installation of autostart entries, Winsock LSPs, IE BHOs and Windows hosts file. Its real time protection is enabled by default and it is called “On-access scanner”. You can define at the Options whether you want to utilize both engines (anti-spyware and anti-virus) or either one. There are additional useful tools such as File Wiper to destroy files, folders or entire drives, Hosts File Checker, Startup Tuner, Rootkit Detector 2, Internet Cleaner, ADS Scanner, Process Manager and LSP Viewer. The current virus signatures is able to detect up to 4,801,229 malwares and the scan engine supports heuristic analysis to detect unknown infections. I noticed that Ashampoo Anti-Malware v1.21 can be easily terminated from Task Manager. It should at least have some kind of self-protection mechanism to avoid being terminated by viruses.

The other 5 Ashampoo freebies can be downloaded for free by visiting the link below and then enter the coupon code ASH-444LW1. You will then be redirected to a page where you can download all 5 Ashampoo software for free. After installation any of the 5 Ashampoo software downloaded from the gift page, your default web browser will launch opening the page for you to get your free registration key.

http://www.ashampoo.com/gift

The 5 Ashampoo software are older versions than the current ones and don’t expire. As for the Anti-Malware 1.21, it is the latest version but expires after 6 months.

We all know that there are tons of add-ons for Firefox but I am very careful not to simply install just any plugins. Reason is Firefox can take up a lot of memory usage and having more add-ons installed will definitely increase the memory usage. After using Firefox for an hour, the memory usage for firefox.exe already gone up to 185MB.

Luckily my laptop has 2GB of memory so I don’t really feel any lag in using Firefox. Recently I found a very useful plugin which is able to help convert unclickable text links into clickable links. For example, when you visit a website and found a link on the page but you couldn’t click on it, you either have to manually type the link, copy&paste, or drag&drop into the URL bar. With this add-on, you no longer need to do that as it automatically make the link clickable.

Linkification, an add-on that converts text links into genuine, clickable links. This Firefox extension contains many options, all of which are accessible by (1) right-clicking the status bar icon, or (2) clicking “Tools->Addons/Extensions” and double-clicking the Linkification entry. If you still don’t understand how Linkification works, see the animation below.

For testing purposes, the author of Linkification add-on has compiled a fairly exhaustive list of test cases. Linkification should recognize each of these, unless otherwise marked. To linkify the text on the test cases page or any webpages, just press the CTRL+SHIFT+L keys simultaneously and you’ll see the difference. This plugin is only 65KB in size and you shouldn’t notice much on memory usage increase.

[ Install Linkification for Firefox ]

For Internet Explorer users, if you are interested to try this out, here is an Internet Explorer extension designed to turn text links into genuine clickable links, links that you can click on, copy, etc. This tool is based on the Firefox Linkification add-on, only tailored for the Internet Explorer engine. IE Linkification add-on installs and registers itself for internet explorer engine based browsers (including IE Tab on firefox). The shortcut key to convert all unlinked text URLs in a webpage into clickable links is the same as Firefox which is (CTRL+SHIFT+L). To access Linkification options, go to Tools > Configure Linkification. By default auto linkification is turned off and you can turn it on in the configuration options. Tested working on IE8 Beta 2.

[ Download IE Linkification ]

Since it’s the weekends and also Labor day for US, let’s have some fun and play some really classic but very good PC game called Command & Conquer Red Alert. This PC game is one of the early computer game that I remembered enjoyed playing in my cousin’s Pentium 100Mhz PC. I played Dune 2000 on my 486 computer before but it wasn’t as fun as C&C Red Alert.

Today, August 31st, 2008 (US Pacific time) marks the 13th anniversary of the storied Command & Conquer franchise, which has sold over 25 million copies to date. And to celebrate this milestone and this October’s highly anticipated return to the world of Red Alert with Red Alert 3, Electronic Arts are giving away one of the original games that started it all, Command & Conquer Red Alert, for FREE.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy computer game of the Command & Conquer franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive in 1996. The second game to bear the “C&C” title, Red Alert is the prequel to the original Command & Conquer of 1995, and takes place in the early history of the alternate universe of Command & Conquer when Allied Forces battle an aggressive Soviet Union for control over the European mainland.

Red Alert was praised for its user interface, which claimed to be more developed than the competing games of its time. Players could queue commands, create unit groups that could be selected by a number key, and control numerous units at a time. The game was known to be easy to control, simple to learn and responsive to users commands. It also featured two factions that had differing styles of play. Red Alert is also hailed as one of the first games to feature competitive online play. The single player campaign also received high praise for its detailed story line and missions which often required the player to defeat the enemy with various sets of circumstances before continuing.

C&C Red Alert was initially available for PC (MS-DOS & Windows 95 versions included in one package), and was subsequently ported to PlayStation. Command & Conquer: Red Alert cannot be directly installed on either Windows XP or Windows Vista, with the notice “Red Alert can only be installed on Windows 95″ appearing if an installation is attempted on either of the two operating systems. It however remains possible to manually install the game and its expansion packs, by running Red Alert’s executables in Windows 95 compatibility mode, and by replacing the “Thipx32.dll” file which the game installs within its main directory with an updated version.

The Soviets’ vehicles have more hit points and firepower than Allied vehicles but are often slower moving. The Allies’ forces are generally cheaper, faster to build and are more agile. Their mine layers destroy enemy armor and their infantry can survive longer with good use of their Medic unit. Which force would you use? I’d go for Soviet! Enjoy!

Update: My bad, Command & Conquer Red Alert giveaway is not really today only. Did not mention when will this offer end. Anyway, just download it as soon as you can before the server overloads or offer expires.

[ Download Command & Conquer: Red Alert Soviet Disc | Allied Disc ]

Many of my close friends knows that I live without an antivirus. It’s not that they are not good but I just don’t like something hogging and slowing down my computer. The only security software that I use is Zemana AntiLogger to monitor keylogger, injection, startup and NetLimiter as a connection monitor or firewall. One of the annoyance that I have been experiencing for the longest time is when I try to send an executable EXE or compressed ZIP file, a File Transfer Warning window will popup telling me that “You have chosen to transfer a file which may be unsafe” and and “You must enable virus scanning software to transfer this file” with the Continue button disabled or grayed out.

So far the method I used to bypass this error is to send the file in an unknown file extension. For example, if the file name is test.exe, I would send it as test.ex and ask the receiver to rename the file as test.exe. The same goes to .zip which I’ll rename as .zipp and ask to rename as .zip. Finally I got tired of this annoying error and figured out a way on how to send and receive “unsafe” file extension in Windows Live Messenger without installing an antivirus.

At the File Transfer Warning window, there is an Options button where you can manually set the path of the antivirus, and an Install button where you can download Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner. Using Microsoft’s Safety Scanner is probably the last thing I want to do so I wouldn’t want to click on that button.

After testing, I found out that the Windows Live Messenger “Scan files for viruses using” checkbox option at File Transfer is not strict. Simply checking the box and then clicking the Apply button will do the trick without even specifying the path to an antivirus. If you’re not sure where it is, simply follow the simple steps below:

1. Click on Tools at the menubar and select Options
2. Click on File Transfer at the left hand sidebar.
3. Check the checkbox that says “Scan files for viruses using” and followed by OK.

Now when you try to send any unsafe file extension, you will still get a File Transfer Warning window but you will notice that you can now click the Continue button to send the file. That should solve the problem on your side but do note that the receiver will also have the same problem if he/she doesn’t have an antivirus. Just guide them to enable the checkbox will do the trick.

Most computer technicians I work with, loath Symantec/Norton products and as much as I’d hate to single out a single company as a poor one, it’s hard to find something to like if you look at them from my point of view, I suppose. As a programmer, because my code is rather hard to find (in other words, none of it’s online to download), their anti-virus decries my program as malware, which I may assure you, it is not. Then comes the cost of Symantec Ghost and Partition Magic, which while I won’t declare useless… is just far too pricey for a student/poor user such as myself. I’ll be honest and admit to using Norton Antivirus in 2003, but at that time, it didn’t detect Eicar, the test virus and other viruses, although these days, it certainly can catch them now. Then again, any anti-virus can. My other issue with their antivirus, was that up until recently, was highly bloated and heavy on the operating systems that people run.

However, I’d like to tell you something. As good as it seems at times to be using Symantec products, there are usually better products out there, and today I’m going to introduce you to the basic programs I use to replace the Symantec products that I might need from time to time. Keep in mind, you might have heard of them before, if you have, congratulations. If not, this might be a good time to jot them down so you won’t have to worry about paying for products that have great freeware alternatives.

In the case of Norton Antivirus or Security Suite, as we all should know by now, my protection is a good anti-virus with a good firewall, mixed with good common sense and all patches updated when the need arises. If you need to step up that common sense a little bit, Web of Truth (WoT) or McAfee’s SiteAdvisor are more then competent solutions that shouldn’t slow down your browsing at all. If you’re looking into covering that Parental Guard too, you might want to lean more towards WoT.

Partition Magic and Ghost are rather easy to fix, one can use the built-in tools into Windows (Disk Manager and Windows Backup, respectively, both included in Windows Vista and higher, though Backup can be installed to XP without problems) or in my case, use a live CD of Linux specialized to do such a thing. My personal choice for a backup live CD is CloneZilla which requires a second hard disk to back up to, but can also back up and restore over the network. This can be of great advantage if you’re backing up to a Network Access Storage box, and it is also pretty simple to use too. As for partitioning, Parted Image does the best job I’ve seen, however, it’s partitioning tool, GParted, is often included in many Linux live CDs.

Finally, for the true geeks among us, nothing was better then Norton Commander. These days, it’s been discontinued but for those that still loved using the classic interface, Nexus File and FreeCommander are some of the more powerful freeware clones on the market today. Those that are truly left wondering how to replace PCAnywhere, I’d recommend TeamViewer or CrossLoop, both highly capable at helping people out.

So there you have it. If you like Symantec, no doubt reading over this list, it won’t make you change. But for those of us strapped for cash or just don’t like Symantec, these tools might be worth your while to look at. I didn’t write this list to bash them, as much as it might seem, but rather to recommend some tools to help you save money if you are coming up for renewal soon.

Someone in forum asked me this question before and I did a little search and posted a link with manual way to clean the worm. I didn’t find anything interesting on this worm until I’ve seen it with my own eyes on my customer’s computer. It is HILARIOUS! I just couldn’t stop laughing when my customer is so pissed about this worm blocking YouTube and prevent him from using Firefox browser. Actually this worm is called W32.USBWorm or Heap41a and it also blocks Orkut website. It spreads through USB pendrives and removable storage devices.

Have a look at the funny error message when you run Firefox.

The title bar displays “USE INTERNET EXPLORER YOU DOPE” and the message is “I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE…“.

If you try to access Orkut, you get this message “Orkut is banned you fool,The administrators didnt writs this program guess who did?? MUHAHAHA!!”

Also, any attempt to browse YouTube will give you another funny message “youtube is banned you fool,The administrators didnt write this program guess who did?? MUHAHAHA!!”

I can’t imagine how pissed a person can get if he already is having a bad day… Luckily, as time goes by, there is removal tool that can automatically clean and remove W32.USBWorm or Heap41a worm with just one click.

A young chap named Sarath Lakshman from Kerala has created a fix to easily and automatically remove W32.USBWorm worm. Just download the fix from the link below, extract the archive and run Worm-fix.exe. Click the big Remove button and it’ll do its job.

[ Download w32.USBWorm Blocker Worm Fix ]

Alternatively, you can also try cleaning it with Flash Disinfector created by sUBs.

[ Download Flash Disinfector ]

The web browser and instant messenger that I use “full time” is Firefox and Windows Live Messenger. I still do use Internet Explorer for certain websites such as Hotmail, online banking and etc. All is good except that after installing Firefox and making it as my default web browser, whenever I click on the “Open your e-mail inbox” button in Windows Live Messenger 2009, it opens up Hotmail using Firefox. This is normal because once Firefox is set as your default browser, it should open Hotmail with Firefox.

However, one small annoying problem is it will not automatically log me in to Hotmail and I had to manually type in my password. If you’re using IE as your default browser, clicking the email button from Windows Live Messenger will automatically launch IE and auto logs you in to your Hotmail. This is for security reasons as Messenger has no direct secure route to sign you into Windows Live ID in other browsers as it does with Internet Explorer.

If you would like to automatically login to your Hotmail by clicking on the email icon at Windows Live Messenger, here is a simple tool that does the job.

Hotmail in IE, a small and simple tool created by Jonathan Kay which allows you to continue to use your default browser in Windows and other applications (including links in Messenger conversations), but use Internet Explorer for Messenger’s Hotmail features.

All you need to do is run Hotmail in IE, click the Internet Explorer button and Done. You can now open Hotmail inbox with IE by clicking the email icon without manually keying in your password while maintaining your default web browser.

Don’t like the changes? Simply run this tool again and click the Default Web Browser button to restore back. Hotmail in IE works on Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit).

If you’re not a fan of IE and want to auto login to your Hotmail using Firefox, here is a UserScript for GreaseMonkey that allows you to login automatically into your Hotmail account when you first load the Windows Live page. Do take note that the script doesn’t work right out of the box and you’ll need to enter your Hotmail login ID and password into the script.

[ Download Hotmail in IE ]

I am sure most of you all familiar with PING, the command that is used to see if the remote computer or destination is responding or not. However there are times when PING works but then the websites is like a roller coaster, for a minute you can access and the other you can’t. This is when traceroute comes to play. I don’t want to get too technical on how traceroute works but the simpler way to explain it is to check the route path and see how your ISP connects you to the destination address. One example is when you and your friend, both located in the same country, playing the same game on the same server but the huge difference in the latency / ping. There is just no way to lower your ping because of the way your ISP routes you to the server.

Although the DDoS attack on this website has completely stopped but some users are still experiencing intermittent down time or slowness. I’ve submitted a ticket to Staminus and they advised that the first step to check on the problem is to traceroute Staminus.net, Google DNS 8.8.8.8, Verizon DNS 4.2.2.1, one of Staminus’ IP 72.20.20.20 and raymond.cc. For some weird reason when I ran the command tracert raymond.cc at command prompt, it “Request timed out” for all 30 hops.

This is because our clever ISP TM NET has blocked all ICMP and UDP tracert.

There are websites such as Network-Tools.com that provides free traceroute service but if you’re having connection problems to a website, traceroute should always be done from your computer to the destination instead of using online service. One way to continue using tracert is to use TCP traceroute which can be done with PingPlotter.

Although PingPlotter is a shareware that cost $24.95 for a standard license and $199.95 for Professional license, you can download the older version which is absolutely free. Simply download from the link at the end of this article, install it and run it. Type in the address to trace and click the big Trace button at the bottom.

Now I am seeing a 100% packet loss on hop 13, 14 and 15 on Staminus’ side which means they might have some misconfiguration on their routers. All I need to do now is click on File at the menubar, select Save Image and send it to Staminus support. The Professional version of PingPlotter is even better because it shows jitter and also the use of tabs to trace multiple targets on a single instances for easier comparison.

[ Download PingPlotter Free ]