Using Google as a Hacker

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The first thing here you need to know is : What is Google?

Google search is a web search engine owned by Google Inc. It is the most easy and user friendly search engines. It is also the most used search engine on the Internet. Google processes several million queries everyday through its different services. Google search was originally developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Beyond the word-search capability, Google provides more than 22 special features, such as: sports scores; time zones; synonyms; movie showtimes; stock quotes; airports; earthquake data; weather forecasts; maps; home listings, etc. There are special features for numbers: prices; temperatures; money/unit conversions; calculations; package tracking; patents; area codes; plus rudimentary language translation of displayed pages.

What does a Hacker Mean?

In home computing, a hacker is a person who heavily modifies the software or hardware of their computer system. It includes building, rebuilding, modifying and creating software (software cracking, demo scene) and electronic hardware (hardware hacking, modding) either to make it better, faster, give added features or to make it do something it was never intended to do.

Today, mainstream usage mostly refers to computer criminals, due to the mass media usage of the word since the 1980s. This includes script kiddies, people breaking into computers using programs written by others, with very little knowledge about the way they work. This usage has become so predominant that a large segment of the general public is unaware that different meanings exist. While the use of the word by hobbyist hackers is acknowledged by all three kinds of hackers, and the computer security hackers accept all uses of the word, free software hackers consider the computer intrusion related usage incorrect, and refer to security breakers as "crackers"

What you need to be a hacker?
Good amount of knowledge with programming and scipts like php, java script, asp, etc. A good amount of knowledge on using Search Engines like Google, yahoo, etc. Logical and different way of thinking. A hacker is simple the one who hacks [breaks/decodes/decrypts] something.

"Google is your friend." Ever wondered why this saying became famous? If you are not a good programmer but you can think logically and use a search engine in a way that helps you learn what you want, you can become a hacker.

Google has crawlers, which is an automatic progarms which crawls through websites and saves each folders and files on the web in an index. Now this can be dangerous if your website has a private folder which you do not want to let others or google know about it. For this purpose you need to create a file named robots.txt on your web server which will tell google which sites to visit and which to avoid.

Special Features of Google which a Hacker can use :

site: Searches the keyword in the specified domain, eg :"Google Hacker site:techarena.in"

allintitle: Only the page titles are searched and not the remaining text on each webpage. eg: "allintitle:TechArena Community"

intitle: Prefix to search in a webpage title, such as "intitle:techarena forum" will list pages with word "techarena" in title, and word "forum" anywhere on the entire webpage

allinurl: Only the page URL address lines are searched and not the content of each webpage. This one is very useful for a hacker as he can search a website for a file where a password or similar stuff is stored.

inurl: Prefix for each word to be found in the URL, others words are matched anywhere, such as "inurl:techarena hardware" matches "techarena" in a URL, but matches "hardware" anywhere in the entire webpage.

Some Example on how to use Google as a Hacker. If you are a good programmer, you must know what is the name and where a file is by default saved which contains sensitive data like passwords.
Examples of search queries :

Code:

allinurl:auth_user_file.txt

OR

Code:

inurl:passlist.txt

This will search for passlist.txt or auth_user_file.txt on all the websites that is available with google.

One more command which is used to find a file on a webserver like. Suppose an MP3 file has to be searched, you can search it with the following query :

Code:

filetype:mp3 filename

In the above code replace "filename" with the name which you want to search.
I will not help you with the filenames which are generally used to save passwords of a server or anything which will be considered as a security breach.
The basic fundamental of hacking is to think like a hacker and to act wisely. You can combine multiple queries to search at once.

Example of a combinational query :

Code:

site:techarena.in inurl:guides Google Hacker

You will be shown multiple results for the search which is located on techarena.in which has "hardware" in url and has "Google" and/or "Hacker" anywhere in the contents of a listed page.

How to mazimise torrent speed for braodband connection

Most of the Internet users who have Broadband connection, use torrents to download applications and other media files from the World Wide Web. The application include movies, songs in MP3 format, articles among others. Some of them indulge in downloading proprietary applications which of course, is illegal. The most common torrentapplications that are used include µtorrent, Azureus among others.

The most common and often unclear issue the users face is the lack of speed when downloading the files. It is often experienced by downloaders who use torrent applications, that inspite of the bandwidth they have, the speed is abysmal and often so low that the download seems to be at snail's pace. The basic associated with the torrentdownloads are explained in this article.

Seeds and Peers:

Seeds and Peers are two common terms associated with torrents. What do they mean? Well a seed is a user who has downloaded the entire file and is basically sharing it with others. Those files or applications whose torrents have been uploaded recently means that the download is taking place from seeds. On the other hand, peers who are otherwise known as leechers, have only a part of file and they need the remaining part to complete their download. In most cases, thre are many peers and seeds who share the file to others, thus making the download as fast as possible. In other words, more the number of seeds and peers, greater the speed of the download. If the number of peers increase then the upload rate from your computer increases.

Torrent is basically a peer to peer download. More clearly, in normal downloads, the file that we are downloading is hosted on a server and then when we download the file, a one-to-one connection is established between the server on which the file is hosted and our system. On the other hand, torrent is a peer to peer download, which implies that the file that we download is hosted on systems that belong to individual users like most of us. These users have the entire file with them or a part of it. They may be downloading the remaining part from others much like what you are doing!

Free recharge trick for Reliance mobile

Reliance free recharge trick is very simple.it has worked in many mobiles that we have tested.you have to just change the first four digits of the recharge card number to use reliance double recharge trick.100% working free recharge tricks for reliance gsm and cdmaRelience Double Recharge Trick:After Recharge From Scratch Card Replace 1st 4 Digit With 3699

Rapidshare Tricks

Rapidshare traces the users IP address to limit each user to a certain amount of downloading per day.
To get around this, you need to show the rapidshare server a different IP address.
Here are some methods for doing this-

I think evry 1 knw step [A]

A] Short-Out the JavaScript:
1) Goto the page you want to download
2) Select FREE button
3) In the address bar put this- javascript:alert(c=0)
4) Click OK
5) Click OK to the pop-up box
6) Enter the captcha
7) Download Your File

B] Request a new IP address from your ISP server:
Here’s how to do it in windows:
1) Click Start
2) Click run
3) In the run box type cmd.exe and click OK
4) When the command prompt opens type the following. ENTER after each new line.
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
exit
5) Erase your cookies in whatever browser you are using.
6) Try the rapidshare download again.
Frequently you will be assigned a new IP address when this happens.
Sometime you will, sometimes you will not. If you are on a fixed IP address, this method will not work.
If this works for you, you may want to save the above commands into a batch file, and just run it when you need it.

C] Use a proxy with SwitchProxy and Firefox:
1) Download and install Firefox
2) Download and install SwitchProxy
3) Google for free proxies
4) When you hit your download limit, clean your cookies and change your proxy

D] You can use a bookmarklet to stop your wait times:
1) Open IE
2) Right Click On This Link
3) Select Add to Favorites
4) Select Yes to the warning that the bookmark may be unsafe.
5) Name it “RapidShare No Wait”
6) Click on the Links folder (if you want to display it in your IE toolbar)
7) Click OK
8) You may need to close and reopen IE to see it
9) Goto rapidshare and click the bookmarklet when you are forced to wait

FREE AIRTEL GPRS ON PC !!

hey guys here is the new trick to surf n download free using airtel in PC only
firstly it is not my invention and those who know this trick plz dont flood this blog
by saying its too old
this trick is only for those who dont know this trick..!!
The trick begins :-
1. install proxifier (please comment below with U R email address i will provide u the link)

2.connect ur mobile thru USB/serial/bluetooth (plz see the thread for connecting)

3.u should use the airtelfun.com access point
(There is a option for this in nokia PC suite if u dont have PC suite then do this settings
in your mobile go to settings>connection>Packet Data or gprs>access point now here
you type airtelfun.com)

4.now do this settings in proxifier installed in pc (use the patch i have provided)
go to options>proxy settings>add>type 10.49.16.10 in address n port no.-8080
after that select protocol HTTPS
(if this dont work then go to file n click load settings n select the setting i have provided)

5.thats it u r done but for precautions first use this trick for low data usage n make sure that
ur bal is not deducted
6.use IDM for corrupt free downloads
it works for me so if it works for u then hit thanx i know that it is not my work n i shud not
b credited but i have written all these stuff n provided all necessary things at one place

How to change the MAC

Method 1:
This is depending on the type of Network Interface Card (NIC) you have. If you have a card that doesn’t support Clone MAC address, then you have to go to second method.
Go to Start->Settings->Control Panel and double click on Network and Dial-up Connections.
Right click on the NIC you want to change the MAC address and click on properties.
Under “General” tab, click on the “Configure” button
Click on “Advanced” tab
Under “Property section”, you should see an item called “Network Address” or "Locally Administered Address", click on it.
On the right side, under “Value”, type in the New MAC address you want to assign to your NIC. Usually this value is entered without the “-“ between the MAC address numbers.
Goto command prompt and type in “ipconfig /all” or “net config rdr” to verify the changes. If the changes are not materialized, then use the second method.
If successful, reboot your systems.

Method 2:
This method requires some knowledge on the Windows Registry. If you are not familiar with Windows Registry, just use the SMAC tool to change the MAC addresses, or consult with a technical person before you attempt on the following steps. Also, make sure you have a good backup of your registry.
a. Goto command prompt and type “ipconfig /all”, and
I. Record the Description for the NIC you want to change.
II. Record the Physical Address for the NIC you want to change. Physical Address is the MAC Address

figure 1.
b. Goto command prompt and type “net config rdr”, and you should see something like

figure 2.
c. Remember the number between the long number (GUID) inside the { }. For example, in the above “net config rdr” output, for MAC address “00C095ECB793,” you should remember {1C9324AD-ADB7-4920-B02D-AB281838637A}. You can copy and paste it to the Notepad, that’s probably the easiest way. (See figure 2.)
d. Go to Start -> Run, type “regedt32” to start registry editor. Do not use “Regedit.”
e. Do a BACKUP of your registry in case you screw up the following steps. To do this
I. Click on “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Local Machine” sub-window
II. Click on the root key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE”.
III. Click on the drop-down menu “Registry -> Save Subtree As” and save the backup registry in to a file. Keep this file in a safe place.
f. Go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. Double click on it to expand the tree. The subkeys are 4-digit numbers, which represent particular network adapters. You should see it starts with 0000, then 0001, 0002, 0003 and so on. (See figure 3.)

Figure 3

g. Go through each subkey that starts with 0000. Click on 0000, check DriverDesc keyword on the right to see if that's the NIC you want to change the MAC address. The DriveDesc should match the Description you recorded from step (a.-I.). If you are not 100% sure about the DriverDesc, then you can verify by checking if the NetCfgInstanceID keyword value matches the GUID from step (c). If there is no match, then move on to 0001, 0002, 0003, and so on, until you find the one you want. Usually 0000 contains the first NIC you installed on the computer.In this demonstration, 0000 is the NIC I selected. (See figure 3.)
h. Once you selected the subkey (i.e. 0000), check if there is a keyword "NetworkAddress" exist in the right side of the window. (See figure 3.)
I. If "NetworkAddress" keyword does not exist, then create this new keyword:
i. Click on the drop down menu “Edit -> Add Value”.
ii. In the Add Value window, enter the following value then click OK. (See figure 4.) Value Name: = NetworkAddress Data Type: = REG_SZ

Figure 4.
iii. String Editor window will pop up at this time (see figure 5.)
iv. Enter the new MAC address you want to modify. Then click OK. (There should not be any "-" in this address. Your entry should only consist of 12 digits as seen in the figure 5.)
II. If "NetworkAddress" keyword exists, make sure it shows the keyword type is REG_SZ, and it should show as NetworkAddress:REG_SZ: . This keyword might not have a value at this time.
i. Double click on the keyword NetworkAddress and the String Editor window will pop up. (See Figure 5.)
ii. Enter the new MAC address you want to modify. Then click OK. (There should not be any "-" in this address. Your entry should only consist of 12 digits as seen in the figure 5.)

Figure 5.
j. There are 2 ways to make the new MAC address active. Method I does not require a system reboot:
I. Goto Start->Setting->Control Panel, and double click on "Network Neighborhood". WARNING: Make sure you understand that you WILL lose the network connection after completing step "ii." below, and if you have a DHCP client, you will get a new IP address after completing step "iii."
i. Select the Network Adaptor you just changed the MAC address.
ii. Right click on the selected Network Adaptor and click "Disable." Verify the status column for this adaptor changes to "Disabled"
iii. Right click on the selected Network Adaptor and click "Enable." Verify the status column for this adaptor changes to "Enabled"
iv. If for any reason it cannot be disabled or re-enabled, you have to reboot your system to make the changes effective.
II. Reboot your Windows system.
k. Once completing step j (if rebooting the system, wait until the reboot is completed), go to command prompt, type “ipconfig /all” to confirm the new MAC address.

Restore The TRUE Hardware burned-in MAC Address:
Remove the entry you added:
If you followed Method 1, then go back to the advanced properties window and remove the entry you add.
If you followed Method 2, then remove the "NetworkAddress" keyword you added in the registry.
Use step (j) above to activate the change you make.
Once rebooted, go to command prompt, type “ipconfig /all” to confirm the original MAC address.

If MAC Address changes does not work:
If for whatever reason the MAC address cannot be changed using method 2, make sure you restore the registry setting by following the "Restore The TRUE Hardware burned-in MAC Address" instruction above. If necessary, restore the registry you just backed-up to get your system back to the original state. You can do this by clicking on the drop-down menu “Registry->Restore,” and restore your backup registry file.

Utilizing search engines

==================================================
Utilizing search engines
==================================================

So much information is on the web, its mind boggling. Thankfully we have search
engines to sift through them and catagorize them for us. Unfortunatly, there is still so
much info that even with these search engines, its often a painstakingly slow process
(something comparable to death for a hacker) to find exactly what you're looking for.

Lets get right into it.

I use google.com as my primary search engine because it presently tops the charts as far as
the sites that it indexes which means more pertinent info per search.

1. Page translation.
Just because someone speaks another language doesn't mean they dont have anything useful to say. I use translation tools like the ones found at

http://babelfish.altavista.com
and

http://world.altavista.com
to translate a few key words I am searching for. Be specific and creative because these tools arent the most accurate things on the planet.

2. Directories.
These days everything is about $$$. We have to deal/w SEO (search engine optimization) which seems like a good idea on paper until you do a search for toys and get 5 pornsites in the first 10 results. Using a sites directory will eliminate that. You can narrow your search down easily by looking for the info in specific catagories. (PS google DOES have directories, they're at: directory.google.com)

3. Here are some tips that google refers to as "advanced"

A. "xxxx" / will look for the exact phrase. (google isnt case sensitive)
B. -x / will search for something excluding a certain term
C. filetype:xxx / searches for a particular file extention (exe, mp3, etc)
D. -filetype:xxx / excludes a particular file extention
E. allinurl:x / term in the url
F. allintext:x / terms in the text of the page
G. allintitle:x / terms in the html title of that page
H. allinanchor:x / terms in the links

4. OR
Self explanatory, one or the other... (ie: binder OR joiner)

5. ~X
Synonyms/similar terms (in case you can't think of any yourself)

6. Numbers in a range.
Lets say you're looking for an mp3 player but only want to spend up to $90. Why swim through all the others? MP3 player $0..$90 The 2 periods will set a numeric range to search between. This also works with dates, weights, etc

7. +
Ever type in a search and see something like this:
"The following words are very common and were not included in your search:"
Well, what if those common words are important in your search? You can force google to search through even the common terms by putting a + in front of the denied word.

8. Preferences
It amazes me when I use other peoples PCs that they dont have their google search preferences saved. When you use google as much as I do, who can afford to not have preferences? They're located on the right of the search box, and have several options, though I only find 2 applicable for myself...
A. Open results in new browser
B. Display 10-100 results per page. (I currently use 50 per page, but thats a resolution preference, and 5X's the default)

9. *
Wildcard searches. Great when applied to a previously mentioned method. If you only know the name of a prog, or are looking for ALL of a particular file (ie. you're DLing tunes) something like *.mp3 would list every mp3.

10. Ever see this?
"In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the X already displayed. If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included." The answer is YES. yes yes yes. Did I mention yes? I meant to.

11. Search EVERYWHERE
Use the engine to its fullest. If you dont find your answer in the web section, try the group section. Hell, try a whole different search engine. Dont limit yourself, because sometimes engines seem to intentionally leave results out.
ex. use google, yahoo, and altavista. search the same terms... pretty close, right? Now search for disney death. Funny, altavista has plenty of disney, but no death...hmmm.

If you've read this far into this tutorial without saying, "Great, a guy that copied a few google help pages and thinks its useful info" then I will show you WHY (besides accuracy, speed, and consistancy finding info on ANYTHING) its nice to know how a search engine works. You combine it/w your knowledge of other protocol.

Example:
Want free music? Free games? Free software? Free movies? God bless FTP! Try this search:
intitle:"Index of music" "rolling stones" mp3
Substitute rolling stones/w your favorite band. No? Try the song name, or another file format. Play with it. Assuming SOMEONE made an FTP and uploaded it, you'll find it.

For example....I wanted to find some Sepultura. If you never heard them before, they're a Brazilian heavy metal band that kicks ass. I started with this:
intitle:"Index of music" "Sepultura" mp3 <-- nothing intitle:"Index of música" "Sepultura" mp3 <-- nothing intitle:"Index of musica" "Sepultura" mp3 <-- not good enough intitle:"Index of music" "Sepultura" * <-- found great stuff, but not enough Sepultura At this point it occurs to me that I may be missing something, so I try: intitle:"index of *" "sepultura" mp3 <-- BANG! (and thats without searching for spelling errors) Also try inurl:ftp I find that * works better for me than trying to guess other peoples mis-spellings. The same method applies for ebooks, games, movies, SW, anything that may be on an FTP site. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I saw that recently a book and an article was written on the very same topic. I havn't read them as of yet, but check em out, and get back to me if you feel I missed something important and should include anything else. intitle:"index of" "google hacks" ebook Ps. I've said it before, I'll say it again... BE CREATIVE. You'll be surprised what you can find.

Shocking fact About Ctrl+c (the 'copy' Cmd)

Shocking fact About Ctrl+c (the 'copy' Cmd)
hey frnds take care of this

Please be very careful when u press Ctrl + C



Ctrl+C we use it every day . But it's
not a very
safe thing to do.
why.

What happens when you press Ctrl+C while you are
Online... We do
copy various data by Ctrl + C for copying & pasting elsewhere.

This copied data is stored in clipboard and is
accessible from
the net by
a combination of Javascripts and ASP.
if u dont believe me
Just try this:
1) Copy any text by Ctrl + C

2) Click the Link:



http://www.sourcecodesworld.com/special/clipboard.asp


3) You will see the text you copied was accessed by
this web
page.

so Do not keep sensitive data (like passwords, credit
card numbers,
PIN etc.)
in the clipboard while surfing the web. It is
extremely easy to
extract
the text stored in the clipboard to steal your
sensitive
information.



You can stop hacking of clipboard content by doing:

Go to internet options of explorer -_ tools menu ->
Internet
option -> Security Custom level

In settings - Select disable under allow past
operations via
script.

I HOPE DIS WILL B HELP FUL FOR U GUYS..
SO BE SAFE..

SOME TIME THIS IS USEFULL ALSO

Hack your friends PC while chating!!!!!!!!!

1) When we chat on yahoo every thing goes through the server.Only when we chat thats messages.

2) When we send files yahoo has 2 options
a) Either it uploads the file and then the other client has to down load it.
Either it connects to the client directly and gets the files

3) When we use video or audio:-
a) It either goes thru the server
Or it has client to client connection

And when we have client to client connection the opponents IP is revealed.On the 5051 port.So how do we exploit the Chat user when he gets a direct connection. And how do we go about it.Remember i am here to hack a system with out using a TOOL only by simple net commands and yahoo chat techniques.Thats what makes a difference between a real hacker and new bies.

So lets analyse
1) Its impossible to get a Attackers IP address when you only chat.
2) There are 50 % chances of getting a IP address when you send files
3) Again 50 % chances of getting IP when you use video or audio.


So why to wait lets exploit those 50 % chances .
I'll explain only for files here which lies same for Video or audio

1) Go to dos
type ->
netstat -n 3
You will get the following output.

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP 194.30.209.15:1631 194.30.209.20:5900 ESTABLISHED
TCP 194.30.209.15:2736 216.136.224.214:5050 ESTABLISHED................. 117.197.198.151:5101
TCP 194.30.209.15:2750 64.4.13.85:1863 ESTABLISHED
TCP 194.30.209.15:2864 64.4.12.200:1863 ESTABLISHED

Just i will explain what the out put is in general. In left hand side is your IP address.And in right hand side is the IP address of the foreign machine.And the port to which is connected.Ok now so what next ->

2.)Try sending a file to the Target .if the files comes from server.Thats the file is uploaded leave itYou will not get the ip.But if a direct connection is established
HMMMM then the first attacker first phase is over
This is the output in your netstat.The 5101 number port is where the Attacker is connected.

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP 194.30.209.15:1631 194.30.209.20:5900 ESTABLISHED
TCP 194.30.209.15:2736 216.136.224.214:5050 ESTABLISHED
TCP 194.30.209.15:2750 64.4.13.85:1863 ESTABLISHED
TCP 194.30.209.15:2864 64.4.12.200:1863 ESTABLISHED
TCP 194.30.209.15:5101 194.30.209.14:3290 ESTABLISHED

**new connection established in italics**

3) so what next???
Hmmm........ Ok so make a DOS attack now
Go to dos prompt and
Just do
nbtstat -A Attackers IPaddress.Can happen that if system is not protected then you can see the whole network.
C:\>nbtstat -A 194.30.209.14


Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [194.30.209.15] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
EDP12 <00> UNIQUE Registered
XYZ <00> GROUP Registered
XYZ <20> UNIQUE Registered
XYZCOMP1 <1e> GROUP Registered

MAC Address = 00-C0-W0-D5-EF-9A

What to do next??
It is now ur job to tell me what u have done next...

Latest trick for airtel india gprs hack.

Latest trick for airtel india gprs hack.
1) Activate Airtel Live! ( It's FREE so no probs)
2) Create 1 Airtel gprs data accounts and select the
FIRST as the active profile.
CODE
Under DATA COMM
~~~~~~~~~~~~
GATEWAY : 100.1.200.99
APN : airtelfun.com
USERNAME : blank
PASSWORD : blank
PASS REQ : OFF
ALLOW CALLS : AUTOMATIC
IPADDRESS :100.1.200.99
DNSADDRESS 1 : 202.56.230.5
DNSADDRESS 2 : 202.56.240.5
DATA COMP : OFF
HEADER COMP : OFF
Under INTERNET PROFILES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERNET MODE : HTTP or WAP (both works)
USE PROXY : YES
IP ADDRESS : 100.1.200.99
PORT : 8080
USERNAME :
PASSWORD :
3) Connect your mobile to the PC (or Laptop) and install the driver for
your mobile's modem.
4) Create a new dial-up connection using the NEW CONNECTION
WIZARD as follows
Connecting Device : Your mobile's modem
ISP Name : Airtel (or anything you like)
Phone Number : *99***1#
Username and Password : blank
5) Configure your browser and download manager to use the proxy
100.1.200.99 and port 8080.( My advice is to use Opera since you
can browse both wap and regular websites)
6) Connect to the dial-up account. You will be connected at 115.2
kbps (NOTE* 115.2 KBPS IS A SPEED BETWEEN UR PC AND PHONE ).
7) Pick up your mobile and try to access any site. You will get "Access
Denied."(except for Airtel Live!). IT DOES NOT MATTER.
Keep the mobile down.
8 ) On the PC ( or Laptop) open your browser, enter any address ,
press ENTER and.WAIT
9) After a few seconds the page will start to load and you have the
WHOLE internet at your disposal.
Quote: pls Note If u are getting any error wile dialing a dial up connection than go to
Control panel>> Phone and modem>>>select modem and click on its properties >>advanced
and enter the following initialization commands
CODEAT+CGDCONT=1, "IP","airtelfun.com","",0,0
and click on ok now connect to gprs it will be connected without any error
to improve the speed
go to run and type
ping -t 100.1.200.99
and pres enter
and minimize the window it will improve the speed delete...........

Notepad fun.........

~!~!~!~ Trick#1 ~!~!~!~
1. Open a blank Notepad file
2. Write .LOG as the first line of the file, followed by a enter. Save the file and close it.
3. Double-click the file to open it and notice that Notepad appends the current date and time to the end of the file and places the cursor on the line after.
4. Type your notes and then save and close the file.

After that open the file and see the changes.
by this trick u can also use ur notebook as a personal diary.


~!~!~!~ Trick#2 ~!~!~!~

1.open notepad
2. type "bush hid the facts"
3. save it and close it...
4 then open it again........n see the changes...............


~!~!~!~ Trick#3 ~!~!~!~
Do you know the number of the flight that was used to attack the world Trade Centre????
The flight number was Q33N.

Now, open your Notepad, type the number of the flight (i.e. Q33N).
Now click on format>font, increase the font size upto 72, and change the font style to 'wingdings'. Now see the ammmaaazzzing thing.

~!~!~!~ Trick#4 ~!~!~!~
Over at WinCustomize, someone thought they'd found an Easter Egg in the Windows Notepad application. If you:
1. Open Notepad
2. Type the text "this app can break" (without quotes)
3. Save the file
4. Re-open the file in Notepad

Notepad displays seemingly-random Chinese characters, or boxes if your default Notepad font doesn't support those characters.

It's not an Easter egg (even though it seems like a funny one), and as it turns out, Notepad writes the file correctly. It's only when Notepad reads the file back in that it seems to lose its mind.

How to trace an IP from an Email

Here’s a quick how-to guide on how you can track email to it’s originating location by figuring out the email’s IP address and looking it up. I have found this to be quite useful on many occasions for verification purposes since I receive lots of emails daily due to my blog. Tracking the IP address of an email sender does require looking at some technical details, so be ready to dig your heels in!

There are basically two steps involved in the process of tracking an email: find the IP address in the email header section and then look up the location of the IP address.

Finding the IP address of an email sender in GMail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook

Let’s go ahead and take a look at how you would do this for Google, Yahoo and Outlook since those are the most popular email clients.

Google’s Gmail

1. Log into your account and open the email in question.

2. Click on the down arrow that’s to the right of the Reply link. Choose Show Original from the list.

Now here’s the technical part that I was telling you about earlier! You need to look for the lines of text that start with “Received: from“. It might be easier to simply press Cntrl + F and perform a search for that phase. You’ll notice that there are several Received From’s in the message header. This is because the message header contains the IP addresses of all of servers involved in routing that email to you.

To find the first computer that originally sent the email, you’ll have to find the Received From that’s farthest DOWN. As you can see from the above image, the first one is from a computer called “aseem” with the IP address 72.204.154.191. Then it was routed to my ISP’s server at eastrmmtao104.cox.net and so on and so forth till it got to your email server.

The computer aseem is my personal home computer and that’s my public IP address for my house! I’ll go through Yahoo and Outlook before talking about tracking the location of that IP address.

Yahoo Mail Beta

1. Log into your account and open the email (if you’re using Yahoo Mail Beta with the new preview interface, make sure you double-click on the email so that it opens in a new tab)

2. At the top right, you’ll see there is a drop-down option where Standard Header is selected by default.

3. Click on it and choose Full Header.

Again, you’ll see the same information as before, just in a different window:

Microsoft Outlook

1. Open the email in Outlook by double-clicking on it

2. Go to View at the top menu (the menu options for the email, not the main Outlook window) and choose Options.

You’ll get a dialog box where you can set the message options and at the bottom you’ll see the Internet Headers box. For some silly reason, the box is very small and you have to scroll a lot, so it’s best to simply copy and paste the text into Notepad to view it more easily.

Tracking the location of an IP address

Now that we have our originating IP address of 72.204.154.191, let’s find out where that is! You can do this by perform a location lookup on the IP address. My favorites are IP2Location and GeoBytes IP Locator.

GeoBytes gave me a big map of New Orleans, LA along with a bunch of other information about the location itself.

IP2Location also gave me the same information pretty much, including the ISP (Cox Communications). Of course, this is correct since I live in New Orleans!

If you want more information, you can do a WHOIS database search also. My favorite one is the ARIN WHOIS Database Search. This will give you information on who hosts that IP address and their registration information. You can always contact them to try and find more information on that particular IP address.

Have fun tracking down those emails! Questions, comments, or suggestions? Post a comment!

Anonymity

Anonymity

I can see you hiding in the shadows over there and so can the logs of all the web sites, FTP servers and other nooks and crannies you visit on the web. The sort of information gathered by these logs and which is available to the webmasters of the sites you visit include the address of the previous site you visited, your IP address, your computer's ID name, your physical location and the name of your ISP along with less personal details such as the operating system you're using and your screen resolution. If someone was snooping through your dustbin to gather information on consumer trends or tracking your every move to see where it is you go everyday you wouldn't be too chuffed would you. Well the web is no different, it's still an invasion of privacy and a threat to security and you don't have to put up with it.

Proxy servers:
Every time you visit a web site, detailed information about your system is automatically provided to the webmaster. This information can be used by hackers to exploit your computer or can be forwarded to the market research departments of consumer corporations who by tracking your activities on the internet are better equipped to direct more relevant spam at you. Your best defence against this is to use what is known as a proxy server, which will hide revealing information from the web sites you visit, allowing you to surf the web anonymously. These work by altering the way in which your browser retrieves web pages or connects to remote servers. With a proxy server set up, whenever you 'ask' IE or Netscape to look at a web page, the request is first sent through an external server which is completely independent of your ISP's servers. This third party server then does the requesting on your behalf so that it appears that the request came from them rather than you and your real IP address is never disclosed to the sites you visit. There is nothing to download and the whole process takes less than a minute.

There are two different ways to use proxy servers and both have their advantages and disadvantages. The first method is to use a web based service. What this involves is visiting the proxy's home page each time you want to browse a web site anonymously. The core component of such a system is the dialog box where you enter the address of the web site you want to visit. Each time you enter the URL of the site you want to browse via the proxy into this box, your personal information, IP address and so on is first encrypted before being sent to the site allowing you to maintain your anonymity. Two of the best examples of this type of web based proxy service are Code:
hxxp://www.rewebber.com/
and hxxp://www.anonymizer.com/.

Obviously one disadvantage of using a web based service like Rewebber or Anonymizer, however, is that you have to visit the proxies home page each time you want to surf anonymously. You could choose to select this page as your default home page, but it's still quite awkward if you're forever site hopping at the speed of light. The second main 'con' is that you often have to put up with extra adverts on the pages you visit. These are automatically inserted into the pages by the proxy - they have to pay for service somehow. More sophisticated and convenient solutions are also on offer yet they come with a price tag.

The second method you can use to protect your privacy via a proxy server involves adjusting the settings of your web browser so that you can surf anonymously without having to visit the home page of your proxy each time. To do this you will first need to know the name of your proxy server and the port number it uses. This information can be gleaned from either a public proxy server list or the FAQ referring to a private subscription based service. Once you have the name of the proxy server you wish to use, select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu of your browser. Now select 'Connections' followed by 'Settings' and tick the 'use a proxy server' check box. To finish the job all you have to do now is enter the name of the server in the 'address' box, the port which it uses in the 'port' box and go forth and surf anonymously.

Free, manual proxy servers as advertised on anonymity sites, if you can find one at all, are likely to be highly oversubscribed, and as a result the speed at which they retrieve web pages can deteriorate. In which case you can go in pursuit of a public proxy server list and select an alternative from it, which can then be set up manually. To locate such a list you can investigate sites such as Code:
hxxp://www.proxys4all.com/

however, this method isn't problem free either, so before you get too carried away and go jumping on the anonymity bandwagon there are a few things you should be aware of. It's very easy to use proxies to protect your privacy, but often the disadvantages of using them far out weigh the benefits. You see, the problem is that, like the proxy servers provided Rewebber et al, free, public proxies are nearly all over subscribed and so they can slow down web browsing considerably. Digging out fast reliable proxy servers is an art form in itself and is a skill which takes considerable practice. You could find a list of public proxy servers and then experiment with each one until you find one that runs at a reasonable speed, but this can be very time consuming and frustrating. Instead, your search would be much more efficient if you got a dedicated program to carry out this task for you. There are literally dozens of proxy seeking programs around which can do just that, and many of them are available as freeware. What these do is scan the internet for public proxy servers. These servers are then tested for speed and anonymity (not all of them are truly anonymous, even if they claim to be!) and once you find one which suits your requirements you can select it as your default proxy with the click of a button.

One of the most significant advantages of using an automated tool to locate proxy servers is that you do not have to keep editing your proxy settings manually each time you wish to try out a new one. Instead, what you do is enter 'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' into the 'address' box and '8088' into the 'port' box of your browser's proxy settings menu and then forget about it. All future proxy switching is then orchestrated from within your proxy seeking software, which subsequently relays the information to your browser or whatever type of application you are attempting to make anonymous. For those of you who are curious 'localhost' and the IP address '127.0.0.1' are the names by which every computer on the internet refers to itself.
Here's a good selection of links, which should help you to get started - Code:
hxxp://www.a4proxy.com/ Anonymity 4 Proxy
hxxp://www.helgasoft.com/hiproxy/ Hi Proxy
hxxp://www.proxy-verifier.com/ Proxy Verifier
hxxp://www.photono-software.de/ Stealther.

You may find that even when using these programs you have difficulty finding good proxy servers. It is for this reason that many people choose only to use proxy servers temporarily whilst doing something which may land them in trouble with their ISP, or in a worst case scenario with the law. The most obvious example of a situation in which you would want to cover your tracks is when scanning for public FTP servers and subsequently uploading to them. Most other net activities are unlikely to incur serious consequences so under these circumstances you can safely surf the web without a proxy. If you're really serious about protecting your privacy, however, your best bet is probably to invest in a dedicated, stable proxy such as the ones offered by Code:
hxxp://www.ultimate-anonymity.com/ Ultimate Anonymity


These aren't free, but may be worth the expense if you aren't keen on continuously switching proxy servers.

Before splashing out though it may be worth checking if your current ISP has a proxy server of its own which you can use. These aren't there to help you to commit cyber crimes and get away with it, they actually have a legitimate purpose as well - otherwise they wouldn't exist. You see, proxy servers were originally designed to help speed up web page loading times. Proxy servers contain a cache of all the web pages which have been requested via the browsers of the people using the proxy. When someone surfs the web using a proxy, the proxy first checks to see if it already has a copy of the web page stored in its cache. If this version of the page is bang up to date, it is sent to your computer and appears in your browser. If the page found in the cache of the proxy server is older than the one stored on the server hosting the page, a new request to the web server is made and the page is updated in the cache of the proxy before being sent to you. Because these servers use very fast internet connections they can retrieve web pages at much greater speeds than you can via your modest home setup. If these servers are located physically nearer to your home than the web host servers you wish to retrieve web pages from, the speed at which you browse the web will be accelerated.


Anonymity - Cookies
One last important point you need to be aware of before jumping in with both feet is that different programs have to be setup in different ways before being able to make external connections via a proxy server. For example, you can surf the web anonymously by modifying the settings in Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator as explained earlier in this tutorial, but this will only affect your browser. If you then used Flash FXP to copy a batch of 0-day releases from one FTP server to another, this isn't going to protect you in the slightest. What you have to do is enter the name of the proxy server into each application you wish to make anonymous before making any external connections. This can usually be done by browsing through the preferences of your program to see if there is a 'use proxy server' option available. If there is, make sure you use it!


Cookies:
You have little to fear from the edible variety, but the digital ones can be a major threat to your security and privacy. A cookie is a tiny text file (usually less than 1kb in size), which is created and stored on your hard drive whenever you visit a dynamic (or an interactive if you like) web site. These are used to log your personal details so that you can access members only areas of web sites without having to type in a password every time, or to retain your customised settings so that they are available the next time you visit. If you're using a shared computer, anyone who visits the same site that you have previously logged in to can access your accounts. This is particularly worrying if you have entered your credit card details into a form on an e-commerce site. If your browser is set to automatically fill in these details whenever you
return to a previously visited site, this information could be clearly visible - you don't need me to explain the problems this could entail.

The solution to this problem is to delete any cookies which contain sensitive data once you have completed your transactions. Your cookies will be stored in a different place depending on which operating system you are using so you will have to use your detective skills to find them. As an example, in Windows XP they are located in your 'c:\Documents and Settings\Kylie Minogue\Cookies' directory (that is if your name is Kylie Minogue. Mine isn't in case you're wondering!). If you look in this directory, in some cases it is easy to identify which cookie is associated with which web site, but in other cases it's not so obvious. The cookie which was created when you visited Yahoo.com to check your email may be called kylie minogue@yahoo.txt for example. Unfortunately some cookies refer to the IP address of the site you visited and so look more like kylie minogue@145.147.25.21. These cookies can be selectively deleted one at a time if it's obvious which ones are causing a threat to your security, or you can just wipe out the whole lot in one fell swoop and have them recreated as and when they are required. However, if
you're really struggling to find your cookie jar, you could delete your cookies via your browser's tool bar instead. In Internet Explorer this can be done through the 'Tools' > 'Internet Options' menu items.

If all this sounds like too much hassle, you can always find a labour saving program which will be happy to take the job off your hands. These 'cookie crunching' programs allow you to be more selective when editing, viewing and deleting cookies from your system, and some of them will even prevent cookies from being created in the first place. Yes, I know you're hungry for links so I won't deprive you. Have a look here - Code:
hxxp://www.rbaworld.com/Programs/CookieCruncher/ Cookie
Cruncher
hxxp://www.thelimitsoft.com/ Cookie Crusher
hxxp://www.angove.com/ Cookie Killer
hxxp://www.kburra.com/ Cookie Pal
and
hxxp://www.cookiecentral.com/ Cookie Web Kit.

All about FTP

Setting Up A Ftp:


Well, since many of us have always wondered this, here it is. Long and drawn out. Also, before attempting this, realize one thing; You will have to give up your time, effort, bandwidth, and security to have a quality ftp server.
That being said, here it goes. First of all, find out if your IP (Internet Protocol) is static (not changing) or dynamic (changes everytime you log on). To do this, first consider the fact if you have a dial up modem. If you do, chances are about 999 999 out of 1 000 000 that your IP is dynamic. To make it static, just go to a place like h*tp://www.myftp.org/ to register for a static ip address.

You'll then need to get your IP. This can be done by doing this:
Going to Start -> Run -> winipcfg or www.ask.com and asking 'What is my IP?'

After doing so, you'll need to download an FTP server client. Personally, I'd recommend G6 FTP Server, Serv-U FTPor Bullitproof v2.15 all three of which are extremely reliable, and the norm of the ftp world.
You can download them on this site: h*tp://www.liaokai.com/softw_en/d_index.htm

First, you'll have to set up your ftp. For this guide, I will use step-by-step instructions for G6. First, you'll have to go into 'Setup -> General'. From here, type in your port # (default is 21). I recommend something unique, or something a bit larger (ex: 3069). If you want to, check the number of max users (this sets the amount of simultaneous maximum users on your server at once performing actions - The more on at once, the slower the connection and vice versa).

The below options are then chooseable:
-Launch with windows
-Activate FTP Server on Start-up
-Put into tray on startup
-Allow multiple instances
-Show "Loading..." status at startup
-Scan drive(s) at startup
-Confirm exit

You can do what you want with these, as they are pretty self explanatory. The scan drive feature is nice, as is the 2nd and the last option. From here, click the 'options' text on the left column.

To protect your server, you should check 'login check' and 'password check', 'Show relative path (a must!)', and any other options you feel you'll need. After doing so, click the 'advanced' text in the left column. You should then leave the buffer size on the default (unless of course you know what you're doing ), and then allow the type of ftp you want.

Uploading and downloading is usually good, but it's up to you if you want to allow uploads and/or downloads. For the server priority, that will determine how much conventional memory will be used and how much 'effort' will go into making your server run smoothly.

Anti-hammering is also good, as it prevents people from slowing down your speed. From here, click 'Log Options' from the left column. If you would like to see and record every single command and clutter up your screen, leave the defaults.

But, if you would like to see what is going on with the lowest possible space taken, click 'Screen' in the top column. You should then check off 'Log successful logins', and all of the options in the client directry, except 'Log directory changes'. After doing so, click 'Ok' in the bottom left corner.

You will then have to go into 'Setup -> User Accounts' (or ctrl & u). From here, you should click on the right most column, and right click. Choose 'Add', and choose the username(s) you would like people to have access to.

After giving a name (ex: themoonlanding), you will have to give them a set password in the bottom column (ex: wasfaked). For the 'Home IP' directory, (if you registered with a static server, check 'All IP Homes'. If your IP is static by default, choose your IP from the list. You will then have to right click in the very center column, and choose 'Add'.

From here, you will have to set the directory you want the people to have access to. After choosing the directory, I suggest you choose the options 'Read', 'List', and 'Subdirs', unless of course you know what you're doing . After doing so, make an 'upload' folder in the directory, and choose to 'add' this folder seperately to the center column. Choose 'write', 'append', 'make', 'list', and 'subdirs'. This will allow them to upload only to specific folders (your upload folder).

Now click on 'Miscellaneous' from the left column. Choose 'enable account', your time-out (how long it takes for people to remain idle before you automatically kick them off), the maximum number of users for this name, the maximum number of connections allowed simultaneously for one ip address, show relative path (a must!), and any other things at the bottom you'd like to have. Now click 'Ok'.
**Requested**


From this main menu, click the little boxing glove icon in the top corner, and right click and unchoose the hit-o-meter for both uploads and downloads (with this you can monitor IP activity). Now click the lightning bolt, and your server is now up and running.

Post your ftp info, like this:

213.10.93.141 (or something else, such as: 'f*p://example.getmyip.com')

User: *** (The username of the client)

Pass: *** (The password)

Port: *** (The port number you chose)

So make a FTP and join the FTP section


Listing The Contents Of A Ftp:

Listing the content of a FTP is very simple.
You will need FTP Content Maker, which can be downloaded from here:
ht*p://www.etplanet.com/download/application/FTP%20Content%20Maker%201.02.zip

1. Put in the IP of the server. Do not put "ftp://" or a "/" because it will not work if you do so.
2. Put in the port. If the port is the default number, 21, you do not have to enter it.
3. Put in the username and password in the appropriate fields. If the login is anonymous, you do not have to enter it.
4. If you want to list a specific directory of the FTP, place it in the directory field. Otherwise, do not enter anything in the directory field.
5. Click "Take the List!"
6. After the list has been taken, click the UBB output tab, and copy and paste to wherever you want it.


If FTP Content Maker is not working, it is probably because the server does not utilize Serv-U Software.

If you get this error message:
StatusCode = 550
LastResponse was : 'Unable to open local file test-ftp'
Error = 550 (Unable to open local file test-ftp)
Error = Unable to open local file test-ftp = 550
Close and restart FTP Content Maker, then try again.




error messages:

110 Restart marker reply. In this case, the text is exact and not left to the particular implementation; it must read: MARK yyyy = mmmm Where yyyy is User-process data stream marker, and mmmm server's equivalent marker (note the spaces between markers and "=").
120 Service ready in nnn minutes.
125 Data connection already open; transfer starting.
150 File status okay; about to open data connection.
200 Command okay.
202 Command not implemented, superfluous at this site.
211 System status, or system help reply.
212 Directory status.
213 File status.
214 Help message. On how to use the server or the meaning of a particular non-standard command. This reply is useful only to the human user.
215 NAME system type. Where NAME is an official system name from the list in the Assigned Numbers document.
220 Service ready for new user.
221 Service closing control connection. Logged out if appropriate.
225 Data connection open; no transfer in progress.
226 Closing data connection. Requested file action successful (for example, file transfer or file abort).
227 Entering Passive Mode (h1,h2,h3,h4,p1,p2).
230 User logged in, proceed.
250 Requested file action okay, completed.
257 "PATHNAME" created.
331 User name okay, need password.
332 Need account for login.
350 Requested file action pending further information.
421 Too many users logged to the same account
425 Can't open data connection.
426 Connection closed; transfer aborted.
450 Requested file action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file busy).
451 Requested action aborted: local error in processing.
452 Requested action not taken. Insufficient storage space in system.
500 Syntax error, command unrecognized. This may include errors such as command line too long.
501 Syntax error in parameters or arguments.
502 Command not implemented.
503 Bad sequence of commands.
504 Command not implemented for that parameter.
530 Not logged in.
532 Need account for storing files.
550 Requested action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).
551 Requested action aborted: page type unknown.
552 Requested file action aborted. Exceeded storage allocation (for current directory or dataset).
553 Requested action not taken. File name not allowed.


Active FTP vs. Passive FTP, a Definitive Explanation

Introduction
One of the most commonly seen questions when dealing with firewalls and other Internet connectivity issues is the difference between active and passive FTP and how best to support either or both of them. Hopefully the following text will help to clear up some of the confusion over how to support FTP in a firewalled environment.

This may not be the definitive explanation, as the title claims, however, I've heard enough good feedback and seen this document linked in enough places to know that quite a few people have found it to be useful. I am always looking for ways to improve things though, and if you find something that is not quite clear or needs more explanation, please let me know! Recent additions to this document include the examples of both active and passive command line FTP sessions. These session examples should help make things a bit clearer. They also provide a nice picture into what goes on behind the scenes during an FTP session. Now, on to the information...



The Basics
FTP is a TCP based service exclusively. There is no UDP component to FTP. FTP is an unusual service in that it utilizes two ports, a 'data' port and a 'command' port (also known as the control port). Traditionally these are port 21 for the command port and port 20 for the data port. The confusion begins however, when we find that depending on the mode, the data port is not always on port 20.



Active FTP
In active mode FTP the client connects from a random unprivileged port (N > 1024) to the FTP server's command port, port 21. Then, the client starts listening to port N+1 and sends the FTP command PORT N+1 to the FTP server. The server will then connect back to the client's specified data port from its local data port, which is port 20.

From the server-side firewall's standpoint, to support active mode FTP the following communication channels need to be opened:

FTP server's port 21 from anywhere (Client initiates connection)
FTP server's port 21 to ports > 1024 (Server responds to client's control port)
FTP server's port 20 to ports > 1024 (Server initiates data connection to client's data port)
FTP server's port 20 from ports > 1024 (Client sends ACKs to server's data port)


In step 1, the client's command port contacts the server's command port and sends the command PORT 1027. The server then sends an ACK back to the client's command port in step 2. In step 3 the server initiates a connection on its local data port to the data port the client specified earlier. Finally, the client sends an ACK back as shown in step 4.

The main problem with active mode FTP actually falls on the client side. The FTP client doesn't make the actual connection to the data port of the server--it simply tells the server what port it is listening on and the server connects back to the specified port on the client. From the client side firewall this appears to be an outside system initiating a connection to an internal client--something that is usually blocked.



Active FTP Example
Below is an actual example of an active FTP session. The only things that have been changed are the server names, IP addresses, and user names. In this example an FTP session is initiated from testbox1.slacksite.com (192.168.150.80), a linux box running the standard FTP command line client, to testbox2.slacksite.com (192.168.150.90), a linux box running ProFTPd 1.2.2RC2. The debugging (-d) flag is used with the FTP client to show what is going on behind the scenes. Everything in red is the debugging output which shows the actual FTP commands being sent to the server and the responses generated from those commands. Normal server output is shown in black, and user input is in bold.

There are a few interesting things to consider about this dialog. Notice that when the PORT command is issued, it specifies a port on the client (192.168.150.80) system, rather than the server. We will see the opposite behavior when we use passive FTP. While we are on the subject, a quick note about the format of the PORT command. As you can see in the example below it is formatted as a series of six numbers separated by commas. The first four octets are the IP address while the second two octets comprise the port that will be used for the data connection. To find the actual port multiply the fifth octet by 256 and then add the sixth octet to the total. Thus in the example below the port number is ( (14*256) + 178), or 3762. A quick check with netstat should confirm this information.

testbox1: {/home/p-t/slacker/public_html} % ftp -d testbox2
Connected to testbox2.slacksite.com.
220 testbox2.slacksite.com FTP server ready.
Name (testbox2:slacker): slacker
---> USER slacker
331 Password required for slacker.
Password: TmpPass
---> PASS XXXX
230 User slacker logged in.
---> SYST
215 UNIX Type: L8
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> ls
ftp: setsockopt (ignored): Permission denied
---> PORT 192,168,150,80,14,178
200 PORT command successful.
---> LIST
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list.
drwx------ 3 slacker users 104 Jul 27 01:45 public_html
226 Transfer complete.
ftp> quit
---> QUIT
221 Goodbye.


Passive FTP
In order to resolve the issue of the server initiating the connection to the client a different method for FTP connections was developed. This was known as passive mode, or PASV, after the command used by the client to tell the server it is in passive mode.

In passive mode FTP the client initiates both connections to the server, solving the problem of firewalls filtering the incoming data port connection to the client from the server. When opening an FTP connection, the client opens two random unprivileged ports locally (N > 1024 and N+1). The first port contacts the server on port 21, but instead of then issuing a PORT command and allowing the server to connect back to its data port, the client will issue the PASV command. The result of this is that the server then opens a random unprivileged port (P > 1024) and sends the PORT P command back to the client. The client then initiates the connection from port N+1 to port P on the server to transfer data.

From the server-side firewall's standpoint, to support passive mode FTP the following communication channels need to be opened:

FTP server's port 21 from anywhere (Client initiates connection)
FTP server's port 21 to ports > 1024 (Server responds to client's control port)
FTP server's ports > 1024 from anywhere (Client initiates data connection to random port specified by server)
FTP server's ports > 1024 to remote ports > 1024 (Server sends ACKs (and data) to client's data port)



In step 1, the client contacts the server on the command port and issues the PASV command. The server then replies in step 2 with PORT 2024, telling the client which port it is listening to for the data connection. In step 3 the client then initiates the data connection from its data port to the specified server data port. Finally, the server sends back an ACK in step 4 to the client's data port.

While passive mode FTP solves many of the problems from the client side, it opens up a whole range of problems on the server side. The biggest issue is the need to allow any remote connection to high numbered ports on the server. Fortunately, many FTP daemons, including the popular WU-FTPD allow the administrator to specify a range of ports which the FTP server will use. See Appendix 1 for more information.

The second issue involves supporting and troubleshooting clients which do (or do not) support passive mode. As an example, the command line FTP utility provided with Solaris does not support passive mode, necessitating a third-party FTP client, such as ncftp.

With the massive popularity of the World Wide Web, many people prefer to use their web browser as an FTP client. Most browsers only support passive mode when accessing ftp:// URLs. This can either be good or bad depending on what the servers and firewalls are configured to support.



Passive FTP Example
Below is an actual example of a passive FTP session. The only things that have been changed are the server names, IP addresses, and user names. In this example an FTP session is initiated from testbox1.slacksite.com (192.168.150.80), a linux box running the standard FTP command line client, to testbox2.slacksite.com (192.168.150.90), a linux box running ProFTPd 1.2.2RC2. The debugging (-d) flag is used with the FTP client to show what is going on behind the scenes. Everything in red is the debugging output which shows the actual FTP commands being sent to the server and the responses generated from those commands. Normal server output is shown in black, and user input is in bold.

Notice the difference in the PORT command in this example as opposed to the active FTP example. Here, we see a port being opened on the server (192.168.150.90) system, rather than the client. See the discussion about the format of the PORT command above, in the Active FTP Example section.

testbox1: {/home/p-t/slacker/public_html} % ftp -d testbox2
Connected to testbox2.slacksite.com.
220 testbox2.slacksite.com FTP server ready.
Name (testbox2:slacker): slacker
---> USER slacker
331 Password required for slacker.
Password: TmpPass
---> PASS XXXX
230 User slacker logged in.
---> SYST
215 UNIX Type: L8
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> passive
Passive mode on.
ftp> ls
ftp: setsockopt (ignored): Permission denied
---> PASV
227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,150,90,195,149).
---> LIST
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list
drwx------ 3 slacker users 104 Jul 27 01:45 public_html
226 Transfer complete.
ftp> quit
---> QUIT
221 Goodbye.


Summary
The following chart should help admins remember how each FTP mode works:

Active FTP :
command : client >1024 -> server 21
data : client >1024 <- server 20 Passive FTP : command : client >1024 -> server 21
data : client >1024 -> server >1024

A quick summary of the pros and cons of active vs. passive FTP is also in order:

Active FTP is beneficial to the FTP server admin, but detrimental to the client side admin. The FTP server attempts to make connections to random high ports on the client, which would almost certainly be blocked by a firewall on the client side. Passive FTP is beneficial to the client, but detrimental to the FTP server admin. The client will make both connections to the server, but one of them will be to a random high port, which would almost certainly be blocked by a firewall on the server side.

Luckily, there is somewhat of a compromise. Since admins running FTP servers will need to make their servers accessible to the greatest number of clients, they will almost certainly need to support passive FTP. The exposure of high level ports on the server can be minimized by specifying a limited port range for the FTP server to use. Thus, everything except for this range of ports can be firewalled on the server side. While this doesn't eliminate all risk to the server, it decreases it tremendously.

10 reasons why PCs crash

10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1) Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2) Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3) BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4) Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5) Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6) Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7) Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8) Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9) Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10) Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.