2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Minty-Fresh™.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2010. That’s about 5 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 4 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 30 posts. There were 12 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was May 30th with 22 views. The most popular post that day was S.T.A.L.K.E.R Windows 7 Theme.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were windows7hacker.com, facebook.com, translate.google.ru, gamearena.com.au, and downloadsquad.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for stalker windows 7 theme, windows 7 stalker theme, battlefield bad company 2 windows 7 theme, stalker theme for windows 7, and windows 7 theme stalker.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Windows 7 Theme February 2010

2

Windows 7 and Outpost Firewall 6.7 x64 My story August 2009
2 comments

3

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Windows 7 Theme January 2010

4

Windows 7 Universal Edition January 2010
2 comments

5

Are Firewalls Truely Needed Today? February 2010

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Windows 7 Theme

Another theme I decided to put together from one of the many games I play which is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. This theme I put together from some official ones and fan made ones. You can download the theme from here or click the “Download” Button.

If you have any other S.T.A.L.K.E.R wallpapers you found great looking comment here with the link to it and I will add it to the theme I have already.

Note: The themes do not work with XP/Vista they are purely for Windows 7.

Are Firewalls Truely Needed Today?

So my Information Studies Technology teacher tells me that Firewalls are useless against malware! I’m going to test this idea with using Windows Firewall only and not a 3rd party Firewall like Outpost I was previously using and see what happens until my computer gets attacked or infected by malicious users/software. I know that firewalls are basically in your mind ‘A huge brick wall with holes which only certain data pass through certain holes’ but today it’s much much more.

This idea will have only malware protection from avast! 5 Home or Microsoft Security Essentials (Latest Ongoing Beta) and nothing else apart from Windows Firewall enabled in my Windows 7 Ultimate rig. But my questions are…

• What about spyware?
• Don’t firewalls today protect against these with a simple block button instead of manually adding ports to a blacklist?
• What about Hackers using backdoors dropped by trojans?
• What about rogue software I may somehow manage to install?

Last time I remember I had my rigs ass saved from a piece of rogue software trying to download MORE rogue software due to Outpost telling me that there was suspicious activity going on which I had replied ‘Block’. But have 3rd party firewalls today just lost the meaning of firewall and are really just an form of antimalware protection scanning for malicious network activity comparing with definitions? I think so…

Since Windows Firewall does not compare with definitions or heuristics It seems it’s the only firewall that has retained it’s old protection styles today. This makes the closest test I can find easily in today’s times.

So we shall rely on whats called ‘Basic’ Protection from MSE and a somewhat better protection from avast! 5. I will not deliberately install malware on here but just let it happen from normal computer usage of a experienced user such as myself. If my rig does get infected or attacked by a external source solely because I did not have a good 3rd party firewall install it will prove 3 things.

1. Firewalls today are needed! They are more advanced than the ones you think back to in the late 1980′s when the world had got the internet.

2. Even experienced users such as myself can get infected regardless of knowledge.

3. Windows Firewall needs an complete remake in order to protect against these malware attacks.

4. The term Firewall needs to be changed! (Had to include that extra one )

The positive thing about this test is that I wont need the paid PRO crap protection I believe its not needed… I mean SO WHAT!? You have got extra features I CAN ALREADY DO CURRENTLY with the proper settings of the programs I use. Why pay for something you already have? Better yet I will ultimately have a faster start up time and better performance rather than have bloated software which likes to be called ‘Internet Security’ bogging down everything!

So when I get Infected or Hacked I will make a post linking to this one if I find any evidence that we still need ‘Firewalls’ in today’s times. That will show you teachers your not so smart after all!

If you want to check out avast! 5, Microsoft Security Essentials or Outpost Firewall (Pro Version here) click on the hyperlinks I recommend either two antimalware solutions with Outpost! (or the Pro version too) They are all great and haven’t failed me so far!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Windows 7 Theme

Just a little Battlefield: Bad Company 2 theme I put together from Official wallpapers and Fan ones. You can download the theme from here or click the “Download” Button.

If you have any other Bad Company 2 wallpapers you found great looking comment here with the link to it and I will add it to the theme I have already.

Note: The themes do not work with XP/Vista they are purely for Windows 7.

Windows 7 Universal Edition

Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate on ONE DVD? Yes it is very possible! Allow me to introduce you to Windows 7 Universal Edition! This one DVD you can create will allow you to test all retail versions of Windows 7 (on the 30 day activation grace of course) and save you the little extra money of buying a Windows 7 key by itself without paying more for the DVD media.

You will need the following System Requirements to run Windows 7

• Processor

1GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

• Hard Disk

16GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)

• Video Card

DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or later driver

• Memory

1GB RAM (32-bit) / 2GB RAM (64-bit)

The following equipment you will need is:

• 1 Blank DVD-R (You may need a few more if you screw up the process somehow)
• A computer capable of burning DVD-R’s with burning software such as Nero

Ok since we have our PC the well meets the Windows 7 requirements and that can burn this DVD-R with appropriate software we can begin.

• Step 1

You will need any Retail Windows 7 ISO from where ever you can find them just make sure they are either 32 Bit or 64 Bit that you wanted to install. For myself I got a 64 Bit Windows 7 Professional ISO from Windows 7 Hacker.

• Step 2

Once the download has finished you can verify the ISO if it’s a real legit version with the tool called Windows 7 ISO Verifier from istartedsomething.com. Open the program, select the ISO you have downloaded and wait a bit as it heads 100%

After this quick process will give you a message box saying if the ISO is legit or has been tampered with, now I got my ISO verified and it was legit but if yours wasn’t well you will have to find a more trusting source and try again.

• Step 3

Ok now to the part to create a Universal DVD there is a quite nifty tool called eicfg Removal Utility from beingmanan.com this tool will allow to remove the ei.cfg file in the ISO without the need to rebuild the ISO, once you unzip the utility run the program and select the ISO of Windows 7 you have there will be a message saying “ei.cfg removed”.

Note: I suggest you copy the ISO to another place in case anything happens or you want an untouched copy for some reason.

Got that done? Then let’s move on!

• Step 4

Now here’s the bit were some of us fail at burning the ISO so it can be booted up from the BIOS screen and yes I even admit I had a few stuff ups before I consulted Google and possibly YouTube for answers. We all have our Burning Software right? Well I’m going to use Nero 9 for this so sorry for the others who have other programs like PowerISO etc. but hey we all know “Google is your friend”

First we open up Nero Burning ROM and in the menu bar we click Recorder > Burn Image…

We now have an Explorer window now navigate to the ISO and open it, a window should come up with the burn settings such as Determine maximum speed, Verify written data ect…  default setting are fine so click Burn.

• Step 5

When that little hot freshly Windows 7 Universal Burned DVD pops out of the DVD drive it after the burning is finished restart with the DVD in the drive and when the BIOS appears it should say “Press any key to boot from DVD…” if it does not try pressing the key to boot from a device on the BIOS screen (it should say on the screen and what key mine said was “Boot From Device F12” if this does not appear try looking at your motherboards manual or OEM’s computer manual.

• Step 6

Windows 7 will start to load temporary files and the installer will appear fill in your Country, Time zone and Keyboard type details and click next you will get a whole new menu asking what version of windows 7 to install such as Ultimate, Professional, Home Premium and Home Basic. Choose the flavor you want and accept the EULA.

You just made Universal DVD of Windows 7 so you don’t have to waste AUD$300 – AUD $400 to buy whole new retail flavors of Windows 7 or save AUD$30 extra for a physical copy Windows 7 if you don’t have it yet! I have also heard that you can buy legit keys alone on eBay and such other places for as low as USD$9.85!

So all you really need to get is a key to use to activate either during the install or the activation grace which is 30 days to play around with Windows 7 but there is a way to extend the activation grace legally for up to 120 Days! Here it is!

Step 1: Click Start > All Programs > Accessories. Right-click Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator.  Or Click start and type “cmd.exe” in the search box. Right click cmd.exe and choose Run As Administrator.

Step 2: Type the following command and press Enter: slmgr –rearm and click ok on the message saying “Command completed successfully. Please restart the system for the changes to take effect”.

Step 3: Restart Windows 7. Click Start > Control Panel > System and Security > System. It should say under Windows Activation “30 Days left for activation”. Or Click Start and type “winver.exe” in the search box and press Enter. It should say “Expires xx/xx/xx  xx:xx” Without the x’s of course!

Note: Can be used every 30 Days before expiry but the command can only be used 3 times before it stops working.

Before there is a question about Windows 7 Starter… Windows 7 Starter Edition is a 32 Bit OS not a 64 Bit so if you want Starter which nobody would you can get a 32 Bit ISO.

I give credit to all the sites who host these helpful files and information.

Windows 7 and Outpost Firewall 6.7 x64 My story

I have recently formatted and installed Windows 7 RTM Ultimate without issue I just love the difference I feel with it between the old RC version smooth and quick. After I installed it and got critical programs setup I decided to check out software firewalls since I never liked using Windows Firewall, I decided to find something other than COMODO Firewall since clicking allow again and again and again AND AGAIN and with all the programs I had going it made using the computer a bit too annoying and slow. I’ve always loved COMODO Firewall for it’s leak proof tests but I needed something that was automatic and less in your face all the time. I did some researching and found Outpost Firewall the native x64 version support was a must have and it was supported for Windows 7 RC so why not give it a try?

I downloaded and installed it restarting after hoping the login/startup time would not increase by much and to my amazement I could not tell a difference if the startup time had changed +1 to Outpost! I then setup some settings and had it enabled on auto-learn for a week worked well and no need to create custom rules +1 to Outpost again!

I then tried to run a few multiplayer games such as Call of Duty 4 to see if PunkBuster needed to be manually allowed it got permitted via auto-learn and was working (another +1) well I then decided to minimize the game and return to the desktop by pressing ALT + TAB… The screen went black for a second or two… then… The old and typical Bluescreen Stop Error appeared, It actually scared me quite a bit as I looked coldly at the horrid blue and white text I just stared jaw dropping and said out loud “WHAT THE F#%K HAPPENED NOW!?!?!” I never had a Bluescreen for a long time since Windows 7 was so stable for me how on earth did this happen? Was their an issue with Call of Duty and the RTM?

A few more reboots later of me trying to recreate the problem it happened on every full screen application I used when I pressed ALT + TAB or WIN Key + TAB, It came to me Outpost had a thing were it would go to “Entertainment mode” when a full screen application was running I disabled it and tried to recreate the Bluescreen still happened… -1 to Outpost? I then exited Outpost with a little great feature of even disabling the service for Outpost so it would be completely off +1 to Outpost, attempted to recreate the issue and nothing happened it went back to the desktop fine. This seems like a major Windows 7 x64 bug.

I went to Outposts support site and entered my report of what happened since I was using the trial I was going to be a lower priority I thought no since I said major bug they would reply quite quick and what do you know 10 minutes later I get an email asking me for the version number as I had entered my LAN IP address without realizing. Message sent with corrected details and replied within 5 minutes WOW YOU GUYS ARE GOOD! they then asked me if I could recreate the problem and send them a minidump file one seemingly long Bluescreen later I sent it off. I must be getting used to getting Bluescreens now JUST LIKE WINDOWS XP before I moved to the Windows 7 Beta. I get a reply about 15 minutes later containing the workaround fix (quoted here so if you have the same issue you can fix it)

Thank you for your message.

Please, try to rename the driver specified below temporarily in order to find possible reasons of the problem.
Use the following
instruction:
1. Load Windows in Safe mode.
2. Find the following file: sandbox64.sys (usually, it can be found in the following folder:
C:\Windows\system32\drivers\). If you are
using Windows Search, make sure you ticked option to search in hidden and system folder as well.
3. Rename it to sandbox64.sys.tmp
4. Reboot your computer in Normal mode, ignore “unable to load driver” error and check, whether this problem
would re-occur with modified
configuration.

Please, tell us about the results.

–
All the best,
Svetlana Goncova
Agnitum Support

After I did that and once again attempted to recreate the issue amazingly it worked NO BLUESCREEN! HOORAY! Pleased with the ease of instructions and speed of replies from Agnitum support I confirmed the issue was fixed and got a reply that the engineers are working on a fix in a future update and thanking them after.

Thank you for your message.

Our engineers are working on the issue. As soon as it would be fixed,
we will contact you.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

We are thankful for your opinion about our support service.
Please, let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

–
All the best,
Svetlana Goncova
Agnitum Support

I am now happily using this firewall as an alternative to COMODO and works effectively it even blocked a few port scan attacks too The speed is excellent, the automatic rules created gave no issue and less hassle, it was not in your face it just runs quietly in the background more like a set and forget program, the GUI was clean and slick and it even includes a spyware scanner if you installed that component too!

So if you ever wanted a set and forget firewall that’s a good alternative to other firewalls I suggest you get Outpost Firewall Pro (theres even a special offer for a LIFETIME license including all future product updates too!) or Outpost Firewall Free!
And if you have any issues contact support and I will assure you it will be fixed quickly the staff are all quite helpful for fixing my issue and keeping me posted about whats going on.

Windows 7 Cracked and Blacklisted After

Many of the buzz around the internet is about the leaked Lenovo Ultimate OEM Master key being let loose by pirates on torrents around the world. This activation was different from the previous RC -> RTM key hack as it used files from the the Lenovo Ultimate .ISO file to achieve an offline OEM style BIOS level activation allowing the pirate’s to use Windows 7 fully activated without issue.

After A Microsoft spokesperson decided to stand up confirming the leak:

“we are aware of reports of activation exploits that attempt to circumvent activation & validation in Windows 7, and we can assure customers that Microsoft is committed to protecting them from counterfeit and pirated software. Microsoft strongly advises customers not to download Windows 7 from unauthorized sources. Downloading Windows 7 from peer-to-peer Web sites is piracy, and exposes users to increased risks – such as viruses, Trojans and other malware and malicious code—that usually accompany counterfeit software.”

Microsoft soonly after confirmed they will be blacklisting this key after notifying Lenovo of the situation they also notified the public that customers who ordered Windows 7 will not not be affected by the issue as Lenovo has not imaged any new PC’s with the leaked master key. Microsoft is issuing another key to Lenovo and no problems will be encountered.

According to Alex Kochis, Director of Genuine Windows at Microsoft:

“we’ve worked with that manufacturer so that customers who purchase genuine copies of Windows 7 from this manufacturer will experience no issues validating their copy of Windows 7. At the same time we will seek to alert customers who are using the leaked key that they are running a non-genuine copy of Windows. It’s important to note that no PCs will be sold that will use this key.”

Any people who have got the key will be receiving a notification that their key is non-genuine and will have to get a copy of Windows 7 with a legit key on the day of release later in October.

Microsoft is 99% sure that more OEM Master Keys will be leaked after October 22nd and will be preparing for this. It seems that Pirates will always find a way around things even if they get stopped first time around. Only time will tell.

Windows 7 Build 7600 possible RTM?

Many, many and many rumors around the Internet lately mostly on Tech Sites and forums such as SevenForums.com are getting posts like no tomorrow about Windows 7 Build 7600.16385.090713-1255 being in the wild on many torrent sites leaked from wzor.net. This build sub-coded with 16385.090713-1255 is alleged to be the Gold RTM version of Windows 7 but this has to say otherwise.

The Windows 7 RTM has deviated from the original July 13th RTM schedule due to some final issues that cropped up. Currently the latest known build is – 7600.16385.090713-1255 this has been leaked in x86 and x64. This build is currently being voted on by ~7500 MS Partners

7600 16384 = RTM test sub-build

7600 16385 = RTM pre-release sub-build for partners to vote on

7600 16386 = Final RTM after being passed by the vote

Once 7600.16386 is compiled, it will be released to MSDN / Technet within 1-2 weeks. And followed by that on MVLS on September 1st.

It’s mainly a gamble right now either to actually get the 16385 or the 16386 build later on and if the vote passes we will see 16386 as a possible and then another vote until it does not pass and that will be the RTM version that we will all get our hands on.

These new builds also have not permitted use of Beta or RC keys and no keys have been leaked yet neither has cracks been released too it seems only the -rearm command is to be used right now to give us 120 days so after we will have a choice buy it or pirate it. I am guessing a lot of people will pirate it due to the price of it, it’s just so damn expensive without discounts. So watch yourself Microsoft you may have a lot of pirates to put up with!

For people who want to try out this build you will be able to get legit copies of it from searching your favorite torrent here are the details…

7600.16385.090713-1255_x64fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD.iso
SHA1: 326327CC2FF9F05379F5058C41BE6BC5E004BAA7

7600.16385.090713-1255_x86fre_client_en-us_Retail_Ultimate-GRMCULFRER_EN_DVD.iso
SHA1: 5395DC4B38F7BDB1E005FF414DEEDFDB16DBF610

So it’s up to you! Will you place your bet and hope that this will be the Gold RTM we have all been waiting for or wait for official announcement and grab the recompiled build then?

Good luck!

Completed Guide!

This is my small guide giving tips on how to stay secure on the internet it is currently up to v1.2.3 so I have worked on it for some time. I hope it should be enough to explain and help those computer N00bs (New people) out there!
This shall also be linked on the right side of the website under Links called “Download Protect Yourself From Internet Threats”

Download Protect Yourself From Internet Threats v1.2.3