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Getting A 1gb Yahoo China Account

Getting A 1gb Yahoo China Account

1. Sign for a yahoo ID... you can do this in my.yahoo.com. DO NOT check the automatically create an Email address
2. Clear ALL cookies
3. Activate mail account at cn.mail.yahoo.com
(you get 100Mb storage first *don't worry*), then sign-out
NOTE: FYI, the two boxes in the activation page is lastname and firstname

Upgrading to 1Gb Yahoo China Account
1. Sign-in to Yahoo Messenger, add a contact, sign-out
2. Go back to cn.mail.yahoo.com (all pages would be in Chinese)
3. Click the 1G orange label (graphic) *look at the lower right of the page*
4. Type-in your Yahoo ID and Password *look at the bottom of the page*
5. You'll go to two more Chinese pages (Just click the bottom centered label in the page)
6. Tadah!! Your upgraded to 1Gig and your default is English with Free POP3

There's no pesky graphic or flash ads at the moment... but your email add would be username[at]yahoo.com.cn

I think that's good enough for people without Gmail

Get unlimited bandwidth from your host for free

Get unlimited bandwidth from your host for free


NOTE: This applies only to specific hosting companies, due to the
specific setup needed and does have its drawbacks.

While setting up hosting space with a specific company I often deal
with, I noticed that they used a shared IP. (IP shared by two or more
websites/domains.) Well, the rates for unlimited bandwidth were
around $50+ per month, which I found unreasonable. I didnt require
much space, and didnt want to be limited to a mere 3 gig of traffic
per month.

Back on track... When setting up the acct, the hosting company needs
to know the domain name so that they can direct it accordingly.
(example: 'http://www.123.4.567.890/~user1/ ,
'http://www.123.4.567.890/~user2/ etc)

At this point you can give a url that doesnt belong to you at all. As
long as the nameservers dont change, that should have absolutly no
negative effects on you or your site whatsoever.

How it works is this:
The host propogates you a certain amount space on its servers, and
monitors the traffic that enters their space through the domain its
registered under. Being that the domain isn't connected to the site
at all, it registers ZERO traffic.

Zero traffic registered = can't possibly go over bandwidth
restrictions
can't possibly go over bandwidth restrictions = free unlimited
bandwidth

Now the problems with this (besides the ethical ones) is that your
host may offer X amount of mail addys with the acct
(you@y...) and these will not work, as the name isnt on their
DNS. However, some domain companies allow you to set it up
regardless. Another problem seems to be strictly cosmetic, but can be
highly problematic... Once you attach the domain you want onto the
site, each page comes up/w the ip/UN the host propagated to your
acct. Its at this point where you have to have a phenominal 10-15
character alphanumerical or better (#, &, etc) pw, or your site will
be vulnerable to attack since the attacker already has your UN. This
only gives attackers a slight advantage as the amount of time it
would take to brute force a 10 character pw @ a rate of 1,000,000 per
second is 10 years. Add numbers and case sensitivity to that and it
becomes approx 26,980 years.

While I'm on it, I may as well add that if you use this method,
obviously you are going to be using the lowest cost hosting plan
available, which in turn will offer the least amount of space. Thats
why free hosts were invented.

Free hosts suck as a general rule. Who wants a site smothered in ads?
However, if you upload all your programs, graphics and other large
files (have a backup of course) to a reliable free host and target
them accordingly from your site you have just freed up a signifigant
amount of space. The only setback/w this is having to keep an index
card or file around/w your pws, as you should never use the same one
twice, and want to use complicated ones.

Get the Most Out of Your DVD Recorder

Get the Most Out of Your DVD Recorder


Assoc. Ed. PC World
Melissa J. Perenson

I admit it: I'm a former tape-a-holic. When I began using a VCR some 20 years ago (I ended up teaching Mom and Dad how to program the darn thing back then), I got hooked on the idea of creating my own video library, replete with everything from "Star Trek" episodes to gymnastics competitions.

Recently, however, I stopped recording video on tape and switched to DVD--and I haven't looked back. But after using several DVD recorders, I've identified some quirks and frustrations that are specific to frequent users like myself. Recording to DVD is very different from recording to tape; you encounter new types of hassles ranging from pesky so-called disc preparation times to annoying delays in ejecting discs and the challenge of creating visually appealing menus. The tips that follow are geared towards hardcore videophiles (you know who you are), but they're also applicable to the most casual user.

1. Choosing the Best Recorder for TV

If you've already bought your DVD recorder, skip to tip 2. But if you haven't, be prepared to be confused by a torrent of acronyms and options. DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, EPGs ... and you thought buying an HDTV would be confusing.

When you walk into a store, chances are you won't be able to tell the differences between the slim DVD recorders gracing the shelves--at least, not at a glance. On the outside, they look virtually identical. And the only additional information you might get from the price tag or label is what format the recorder supports and whether it has a hard drive.

Don't stress so much about the formats. No single manufacturer supports all of the formats available; a couple of makers come close (Lite-On, Sony), supporting all but DVD-RAM. The - and + formats are quite similar, and either will get the recording job done.

I've personally observed that the - format discs tend to take longer to initialize and finalize. By longer, I'm talking about anywhere from 5 to 120 seconds, depending upon the unit--enough to be incredibly annoying when you're sitting in front of the TV, your finger eagerly hovering over the record button to start a recording, or the eject button so you can swap discs without missing any action.

If your goal is to record a lot of TV shows, then I can't recommend highly enough a DVD recorder with integrated TiVo service. Humax, Pioneer, and Toshiba all offer such recorders, which combine a hard drive of 80GB or greater with a DVD burner, and, of course, the TiVo service. The full-blown TiVo service costs extra ($299 for the lifetime of the unit, on top of the cost of the recorder) and adds two-week's worth of program guides, a season-pass feature that records all episodes of a show so you never miss your favorites, and artificial intelligence that finds and records programs you might enjoy. (A free limited version of TiVo's software that downloads electronic programming information for the next three days is integrated into these units at no added cost.)

I don't make this recommendation just because of TiVo's personalized recording features and friendly graphical interface. The reason I suggest going this route is that these recorders have an amazing capacity to automatically create navigational menus. All of the program data in TiVo's electronic program guide--as well as TiVo's visual menu navigation structure--conveniently transfers over to any disc you burn.

DVD recorders are typically limited in what they can do to label menus. When you record a disc, you end up with a generically labeled index, with thumbnails for each recording or "title" on the disc, and boring and uninformative labels like "Title 01" (with, perhaps, the time and date added for good measure). TiVo-enabled recorders, in contrast, provide disc menus with the series name, episode title, and even a program summary as well as the date and time of the recording. If you're recording to cheap write-once media, this feature is invaluable. If you're recording to rewritable media--which means you could conceivably edit the menu titles at some point--this capability is still a huge time-saver.

Avid videophiles who don't want to spring for TiVo should look for a DVD set-top unit with a high-capacity hard drive of 80GB or more and high-speed dubbing of at least 8X. So far, I've seen only one recorder with both high-speed dubbing capability and a high-capacity hard drive, but I imagine that more such units will be forthcoming--eventually.

Beware of units that bill themselves as having "high-speed" dubbing: In most cases, the manufacturer is using the term to denote recording speeds of 2X or 4X from the hard drive to DVD. Furthermore, some vendors are coming up with absurd-sounding dubbing speeds--for example, 32X, a number they derive based on how many hours' worth of recordings you can fit on a disc (8 hours at the lowest-quality recording mode), and the speed of the burner (4X in my example).

Where to start your search? I recommend browsing PC World's latest "Top 10 DVD Drives" chart:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,118249,tk,box,00.asp


2. Allow Extra Time

If you're preparing to record a program, budget a few extra minutes to get the unit ready. Believe me, the seconds add up--as I learned during my recording marathon of the Athens Olympiad. You need to factor in up to 30 seconds for the recorder to boot, about 10 to 20 seconds for the disc to spin up, and at least another 30 to 45 seconds for the recorder to prepare the disc for recording (your unit might say "initialize" or "format"). That's all before you can hit Record.

And when you're through recording, expect to wait 30 to 60 seconds to regain control of the recorder after you hit Stop. With some models, the delay occurs after you hit Eject. Either way, that delay could mean you'll miss the beginning of the next gymnast's routine--and none of this takes into account disc finalization, which can take another 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending upon the disc's format and how much of it you've used.

3. Finalize, Finalize, Finalize

Disc finalization is the process that closes the disc so it can be read in other devices, such as a DVD player, DVD recorder, or DVD-ROM drive. It's also a process that bites. There, I've said it.

Finalization is the dirty little secret of DVD recorders: It's a time-consuming extra step that users of the venerable VCR don't expect. And it requires more effort than it should, due to poor menu design on DVD recorders. I've yet to see a recorder that makes this step truly easy--all of them bury it under a setup or menu item, and all of them require far too many clicks and layers considering this is a N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y step for every write-once DVD-R or DVD+R you burn.

I recommend finalizing your disc as soon you're through recording. Due to quality issues, you'll likely record only a maximum of 2 hours of television per disc, which means that no more than two weeks will pass between finalization sessions. This way, when you go back to a recorded disc, it will be ready to play in any DVD player--whether it's the $30 Costco special in your bedroom or your laptop's DVD-ROM drive.

Caution: You might think you don't need to finalize if you don't have more than one DVD player or drive, and you plan on playing your DVD on your own recorder only. But what happens when, inevitably, you upgrade your recorder to a swankier, newer model? Or, even worse, when the model you're using now isn't working five years down the line? Then what? You'll be left with a library full of unreadable discs. Although you might be able to recover the raw video data from an unfinalized disc using a program like Infinadyne's CD/DVD Diagnostic, the process is tedious and time-consuming. Also, don't count on scavenging a backup unit off EBay in a few years: As I've learned, discs may not be interchangeable, even between two recorder decks bearing the same model number from the same manufacturer.

4. Don't Abuse Your Discs

It's easy to leave discs out of their cases, lying around or stacking up as you swap 'em out for a new one. But avoid that temptation--the dust will damage your discs, and you increase the chances of accidental scratches and scuffs.

Also, avoid leaving your recorded DVDs near a sunny window. The disc's dye layer is susceptible to light and heat; if either affects the disc, its data may become unreadable.

Finally, clean your discs carefully. Use a lint-free cloth, compressed air, or a liquid cleanser intended for use with DVD media. Dust and other airborne particles can scratch your disc, which could result in data loss. When cleaning with a lint-free cloth, stroke from the inside of the hub to the outside of the disc. Never use a circular motion from the inside out; and never use a tissue, paper towel, or other random rag.

For more on how to treat your discs, read
"Ten Tips for Durable DVDs":

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,113716,tk,box,00.asp


5. Choose Your Media--and Labels--Wisely

A cheap spindle of media is tempting, but then you have to buy cases separately. And what cases to buy? Small plastic jewel cases? DVD movie-size cases? The combinations can be frustrating, at best.

Spindles are indeed affordable, but don't buy them without buying cases, too--and keep both stashed near your TV and DVD recorder setup, so you can easily grab a disc from the recorder and place it into its case. Otherwise, it's way too easy for stacks of discs to pile up--a no-no, as I note in tip 4.

Also, consider buying discs that come in oversized movie-style plastic cases. You'll pay a little more, but the convenience is worth it. Plus, you'll get a cardstock insert that you can use to create handwritten labels. If you get a high-speed dubbing unit, make sure you buy media that matches the recorder's speed.

If you do buy spindle media, keep in mind that the cases you buy in bulk may not have an insert on which you can scribble. If the case lack inserts, improvise with a piece of letter-size paper, folded over or cut up to fit accordingly. Spend a little more money, and you can get cardstock inserts.

There are a host of labeling software options out there to help you craft your labels. Read the following two "Burning Questions" columns for a comprehensive review of the subject:

"The Joy of Labeling":

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,114423,tk,box,00.asp


"Is Labeling Software Worth the Hassle?":

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,114848,tk,box,00.asp


But all of these options are going to require you to move your labeling operation over to the PC--something that may not work into your recording work flow.

Other PC-based labeling options include printable media that you can use with an inkjet printer. I'd stay away from adhesive labels, though: They're difficult to apply evenly, and could cause problems if the disc is poorly manufactured.

If you're trying to keep your labeling efforts nearer to your TV, I'd suggest using water-based pens to write on the discs, and on the label inserts, too, while you're at it. Another possibility: If your handwriting is barely better than chicken scrawl, then it's worth buying a battery-operated labeler, such as those offered by Brother or Casio. Both companies offer half-inch-wide labels that fit well along the spine of a DVD movie case.

Get In Windows 2000 As Administrator

Get in windows 2000 as Administrator.
>
> NOTE: Requires a boot disk.
>
> Get the command prompt and go to C:\winnt\sytem32\config\ and do
the following commands:
> attrib -a -r -h
> copy sam.* a:\
> del Sam.*
>
> reboot the computer. there should be no administrator password.
just put in administrator and hit enter. replace the sam files to
restore the password to hide intrusion.

Freebsd Install Guide

A step-by-step guide to installing FreeBSD 5. It assumes moderate experience with linux and leaves you with a fully updated FreeBSD system.


FreeBSD Installation



A. 5.x vs 4.x
The first thing to understand about FreeBSD is that there are two lines of development. The -STABLE branch is marked with a 4.x version number and the most recent version is 4.10. It is well tested and very solid, but does not include the most recent technology. The -CURRENT branch, marked with a 5.x version, is the “unstable” branch. However, it is nicely stable at the moment and is coming along quite well. Most users should go with 5.x and these instructions are only valid for that tree.

NOTE: DragonFlyBSD ( www.dragonflybsd.org ) is a continuation of the 4.x line. It uses lock-less (no mutexes) SMP support and a Light Weight Kernel Threading system. It has a lot of promise and is developing at a breakneck pace, but it should still be thought of as “R/D.”



B. Getting Media
I am not going to say much about this. There are links to various ftp mirrors at www.freebsd.org and the directory structure is fairly self-explanatory. There are however several choices for ISO. You should choose the miniinst ISO. It is small and will include everything you need for the base system.




C. Starting Installation
After, the CD boots up you will enter the...ahh.....majestic sysinstall. You can safely ignore most of the options and just choose a standard installation. Most of the install process is pretty easy and anyone who has some experience with linux or unix will be able to handle it without much stress. However, creating partitions and dealing with drives will seem very odd to your standard linux user.




D. Hard Disc Management in FreeBSD
Ok, the first thing to get used to here is that IDE drives are not hda, hdb...etc. They are ad0, ad1 and so forth. SCSI discs are da0, da1...and so on. There is one other thing that is going to freak some people out. You create slices, not partitions, on the disc and then create partitions within those slices. For example, the first partition in the first slice on the first IDE disc would be ad0s1a. Just accept it.




E. Partitioning
Sysinstall will lead you through the partitioning and its fairly easy to understand. The first part will ask you to choose a disc or discs to partition and then will show you a "slice editor." This is where you will create your slice. I advise you to only make one. While multiple slices are easy to deal with, it just adds complication. If this is not your first installation of a BSD type OS, then you can ignore me and why are you reading this again?

After creating your slice, you will be prompted to choose the drive(s) to install an MBR on. The FreeBSD boot loader is nothing to write home about, but it tends towards working. After this step, you can create partitions. There is not much to say here. At the top of the screen it will show your slice(s) and when one of them is selected you can use the controls to create a partition on it. You will need at least a root and swap partition. On the non-swap partitions it is usually a good idea to enable soft-updates.



F. Distribution Sets
This is a simple section, select minimal.




G. Continue Installation
The rest of this is pretty simple. Make sure you install from the CD and not the Internet. The bulk of the install is now done. After it copies files to your disc, it will start the configuration process. This is all pretty self-evident, but there are a couple things you should know.




Network Configuration

Don't be scared by the names, in *BSD devices are named after their drivers. There is also a short description after the name, so you should be able to choose the right one. The rest of the network config is easy, just follow the prompts.




System Console Configuration

You can pretty much ignore this, you may want to look around for your own knowledge and of course you could pick a nice screen saver here, but other then that I would leave it alone for now.




Time Zone

All I have to say here is that if you live in the US, after you choose “America – North and South” hit the end key. The US is at the bottom of the list and hitting end is the quickest way there.




Linux

Say no, we will do this later and with an updated linux_base.




Mouse

OK, welcome to the wonderful and amazing world of moused. Answer the first question truthfully, and then you can tweak the settings in the “Please configure your mouse” dialog. Whatever you do, be sure to enable the daemon. Also, for most users that is all you will have to do. You can safely ignore the other options.




Package Installation

At this point, the installer will ask you to install binary packages. Say no. These binaries are out of date and not included on our CD.



Of users and roots

This isn't the most thrilling section, add a user when it asks you to and set a root password after that. The only thing I have to say about this process is when the new user dialog comes up leave the “Group:” box unchanged and add “wheel” to the Member groups. You also might want to set your shell to /bin/tcsh. As for setting the root password, if you can't handle that we have bigger problems.



Rebooting

Ok, next it will ask if you would like to visit the general config area. Select no and you will be brought back to the main menu. Exit the install, reboot without the CD in and enjoy the boot messages.




H. The Real Post-Install
At this point, I am going to assume that you are now looking at a login prompt and thinking “my my...FreeBSD boots quite quickly doesn't it.” Well, our task is not done yet...there is a reason we did a minimal install. We are going to do most of it ourselves. First, lets upgrade to -CURRENT. This isn't a practice I would usually recommend, but 5.x is close to being tagged stable and -CURRENT is rather solid at the moment. First, I need to explain how things are done in the BSD world.


Sup?


CVS up; you up; we all CVSUP. Cvsup is a very interesting program that I am not going to explain in detail here. All you really need to know is that it updates source trees. You see, that is the thing. You may be used to /usr/src not doing much. In BSD it has a job, it holds the source for the entire base system. However, we did a minimal install and no source is there. It wouldn't be up2date anyway. So, lets fix that. Login as root and type the following: pkg_add -r cvsup-without-gui


pkg_add is the binary installer for FreeBSD and the -r argument tells it to fetch binaries from the net. It will also fetch any deps that you might need. Switch to another console while this is happening and login as root. Do the following:



cd /etc

cp /usr/share/examples/etc/make.conf /etc/make.conf

cp /usr/share/examples/cvsup/standard-supfile /usr

cp /usr/share/examples/cvsup/ports-supfile /usr


chmod u+w /etc/make.conf /usr/standard-supfile /usr/ports-supfile



What was that? Well here is the rundown. Make.conf is the file that controls the building of programs from source on FreeBSD and the supfiles tell cvsup where to get the source for the base system and the ports system, also where to put said source. They come out of /usr/share/examples without the write bit set and that gets annoying. So we set that. Now switch back to the first console and type rehash. This tells tcsh to check its path for new programs. Now, edit the standard supfile that is in /usr. You can either use ee or vi. I like vi. Scroll down to the line that looks a bit odd. It will be something like:




*default host=CHANGE_THIS.FreeBSD.org



The “CHANGE_THIS” is where you put what cvsup server to use. Choose a number between 1 and 9, like 4, and put cvsup4 where CHANGE_THIS is. So it would end up being:




*default host=cvsup4.FreeBSD.org



Now exit your editor and run cvsup /usr/standard-supfile



If everything goes correctly, you will see a lot of text scrolling on the screen. If it says something about a bad connection, try another number.




Make.conf

Now 'tis the time for all good men (and women) to edit their make.conf . This is not difficult, in fact have a look around the file. It may be long, but it is pretty simple. Now, uncomment the CPU setting and the CFLAGS setting. Set the CPU to your CPU (there will be a list in the comments above the setting) and set the CFLAGS to -O2. (NOTE: If the base system fails to build, downgrade your CFLAGS back to -O).




Build Your World

When CVSUP finishes (it will be awhile...go get some coffee), cd to /usr/src and run make buildworld. That command will do exactly what it sounds like. It builds your world, or base system. While its doing that, lets get you a kernel. First, cd to /usr/src/sys/i386/conf then cp GENERIC to some file of your choosing. Any name you want. However, be aware that this is going to show up in a uname -a. Now, crack open your new file and take a look at what a FreeBSD kernel config is like. There are many things you can do here that will improve performance and subtract in size. However, lets keep it simple. Near the top of the file will be the name GENERIC. Change that to your new name. You can now look through the file and you will find several sections that are just for debugging. These will indeed add size and slow down the kernel a bit, but I would leave them for now. Go to the end of the file and make a new line. Add the following:




device pcm



This will add sound support to the kernel. Be aware that you don't need to do this, you can load binary modules at boot or after boot, but this way is easy and sound is used often. Save the file and exit. Go back to your buildworld console and when its done execute make buildkernel KERNCONF=YOUR_KERNEL_CONFIG_NAME



NOTE: NOT THE PATH OF THE KERNEL CONFIG..it knows to look in /usr/src/sys/i386/conf




Installing Your World

This isn't that difficult. First run make installkernel KERNCONF= your config name. Now here is the interesting part. Run mergemaster -p, this program looks through your etc and updates it to match the new /etc in /usr/src. It will display changed files to you, press q and it will give you options. Something like i (install), m (merge) etc. Pick merge and it will open a nice little screen that shows you one file on the right and one on the left. It will go section by section, showing the areas that have changed. Press r or l to choose which section to keep. Its pretty easy to see which section has new stuff and which does not. After the merge, it will prompt you with options for the newly merged file. One of these will be install and this is the one you want. In the latest current, most of what you will be showed is user and group files. Make sure you do select the sections with the new users and groups. After this is done, it will ask you a couple questions that you can say yes to. Now that your /etc is updated run make installworld then reboot.



NOTE: You usually don't need to run mergemaster. However, 5.2.1 is a pretty old release and -CURRENT has come a long way.




I. Ports

Welcome to running current. The rest is easy. cd back to /usr and edit the ports supfile the same way you did the standard one. Run cvsup on it and wait. After its done, you will have a full ports tree. There is not much left to say. You now have a working system and a fully updated one too. To install software from ports cd to /usr/ports/category/softwarename/ and run make install clean . If you want linux binary support, install the linux_base port. To find where it is cd to /usr/ports and run make search name=linux_base | less . Enable loading the kernel modules for linux binary support by editing /etc/rc.conf. Just add the line linux_enable="YES" to the file and your set. If this is a desktop system, I would recommend installing /usr/ports/x11/xorg and your choice of /usr/ports/x11/gnome2 or kde3. Have fun .





Get it from:

http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=1853

Free X-box Live !

Anyone here think about getting xbox live but not have enough money to pay for the starter kit...

WELL GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!

You can now get it without paying a cent (that is if you have a free 2 month trial)

First go to http://www.xbconnect.com/downloads.php and download the current version of XBConnect...

Secondly you must get a Ethernet cable and connect your X-BOX to your router (if you have, you MUST have one BTW)

Thirdly install and open xbconnect. Create a new account .......

Fourthly go on www.xbox.com/live and sign in your .NET passport and create a profile for xbox live

Fifthly open your xbox with a xbox live supported game and follow the setup for xbox live ....

And YOUR DONE!!!!!

Free World Dialup

Free World Dialup

Free World Dialup - http://www.freeworlddialup.com/
"Use FWD to make real, free phone calls using your favorite telephone, computer or PDA and any broadband connection. Call your neighbor or a relative, next door or in another country; all with the same ease, speed, and high quality." Thanks to Jeff Pulver and his crew!

Quick summary:

1 - First, got to http://www.freeworlddialup.com and sign up to get your FWD # and password.
2 - Download http://brands.xten.net/x-litefwd/download/X-LiteFWD_Install.exe FWD/X-Lite ("self-configures") program or go to http://www.myphonebooth.com/ to call any FWD # and U.S. toll free #s using Internet Explorer (Firefox not supported).

Quickstart Guide: http://www.freeworlddialup.com/support/quick_start_guide
FWD Xlite Configuration Guide: http://www.freeworlddialup.com/support/configuration_guide/configure_your_fwd_certified_phone/fwd_xlite/all
MS Windows Messenger Configuration Guide: http://pulver.com/fwd/fwd30news.html#messenger (FWD supports Windows Messenger 4.6/4.7 but not MSN Messenger 5.x.)

3 - To call a U.S. landline/cell #, dial *+arecode+7digit#. (This FWD feature is not listed on their website, but has been working for several months now.)

4 - To call a FWD # from a PSTN (your regular phone), click
http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/476274~3ccc4c9edbe2a596714a4fd9da897204/fwdaccessnumbers.zip or after you've signed up go to FWD web page, click on "Features", "Access #s" for a list of FWD access numbers in your area. Available in several states in the U.S., UK, NL and DE at this time.

Packet8:
-- To call a P8 phone # from a FWD phone: Dial **898 + 1 + P8 number to be routed to P8 service.
-- To call a FWD # from a P8 phone:
*If the FWD # you are calling contains 5 digits, start to dial with the prefix 0351. For example: 035112345
*If the FWD # you are calling contains 6 digits, start to dial with the prefix 0451.

Call UK:
Get a UK telephone # that will call you on your FWD #. Register http://fwd.calluk.com.

FWD Features: Some features like Voice email needs to be activated at http://www.fwdnet.net

Internet Calling
Call Waiting
CallerID
Missed Call notification
Call Forwarding
Call Transfer
Three Way Calling
Voice email
SoftPhone, IP Phones & *Web-based
Aliases
Whitepages directory
ENUM Entry
eDial SOAP
Conferencing
Instant Messaging
Web Calling/FWD-Talk
Corporate Cisco Call Manager Connection
Calling to Toll Free Numbers in the UK, US, NL, JP and FR TellMe Service (411).
-- NL Dial *31(800)... to reach Netherlands toll free #s.
-- UK Dial *44(800)... or *44(808)... or *44 (500) to reach UK toll free #s.
-- US Dial *1(8xx) xxx xxxx to reach United States toll free #s.
-- JP Dial *81 0120... to reach Japan toll free #s.

Frequently used numbers
613 Echo test
55555 Volunteer Welcome Line
514 FWD Coffee House
612 Time
411 TellMe Information
611 Part Time Technical support
511 FWD Conference Bridge

At the moment, I think this is way better than Skype, Yahoo IM voice chat, etc...I've been using FWD for over a year with my cable broadband service and didn't have to set up any port forwarding on my broadband router. Obviously you'ld need a mic/speakers connected to your PC.

You can also use your regular telephone via an adapter http://voipstore.pulver.com/product_info.php?products_id=32 and IP phone http://voipstore.pulver.com/product_info.php?products_id=33. Adapters and IP phones from different vendors like Cisco are available.

* Broadbandreports.com VoIP forum (formerly known as DSLReports.com)
-- If you have any questions or just curious about VoIP, visit the VoIP forum http://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip at DSLReports.com.

FREE Hosting List php, mysql and more

Free Hosting

Unlimited Bandwidth
Unlimited Webspace
Domain Hosting
PHP, FTP
Price: FREE!

there Free Web Hosting Package contains the following features:
Unlimited Data Transfer
Unlimited Disk Space
100mbps Network Connection
99.9% Uptime
Free Sub Directory ( hostultra.com/~you )
Cool yourname.vzz.net URL!
Free Subdomains ( Many domains to choose from! )
Free Domain Hosting ( yourdomain.com )
Custom Domain DNS Control ( A/CNAME/MX Records )
Browser and FTP Uploading
PHP / MySQL*
Unlimited Domains / Unlimited Subdomains
Free Search Engine Submission

http://www.hostultra.com/signup.html

Mail, FTP, CGI, Perl, SSI, PHP, ASP (FrontPage), MySQL, CPanel, and many, many more. You really will be your own webmaster. Our thoughtful and patient staff will guide you. Forums for when you seek the help of your peers. Emergency contacts for when you need concentrated one-on-one help.

What's the catch? There isn't one. PortalWorlds.NET is advertising and sponsor supported. Your site will show ads (your choice as to placement, side towers, top banners, popups, and similar) and earn money to cover PortalWorlds.NET's server and administrative costs. You do agree to do nothing offensive nor illegal.

In addition to the many things mentioned, you will also receive a Script Center (crammed with ready to use Perl), 100M diskspace, 250M bandwidth, 1 MySQL database, unlimited POP3 mailboxes (including autoresponders and forwarders), 1 mail list, Oscommerce package, PHP-Nuke, Invision Board, full CPanel.

.www.portalworlds.net thank "agresssor" for this one

GreatNow
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME,OTHER
http://www.greatnow.com/

Space 100 MB
Upload FTP Browser
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads Banner/Popup
Webaddress Subdomain
Features Domainhosting Subdomain Counter Form Guestbook

Beige Tower
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME,OTHER
http://beigetower.org

Space 100 MB
Upload FTP
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads No ads
Webaddress domain
Features PHP POP Email Domainhosting Telnet mySQL SSI CGI-BIN Guestbook

Comet Stream
Canada, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME,OTHER
http://www.cometstream.net

Space 50 MB
Upload FTP Browser FrontPage
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads No ads
Webaddress Subdomain, Domain
Features PHP POP Email Domainhosting Subdomain mySQL SSI CGI-BIN Shopping Cart Counter Form Guestbook

1ASPHost
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME
http://www.1asphost.com

Space 100 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Advanced
Ads Popup
Webaddress /you
Features ASP SSI

Alexus Media
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME,OTHER
http://www.alexusmedia.com

Space 999 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads Popup
Webaddress directory
Features RealVideo RealAudio ASP SSI Guestbook

Angel Towns
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS
http://www.angeltowns.com

Space 50 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads No ads
Webaddress /members/you
Features Guestbook

Brinkster
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME
http://www.brinkster.com

Space 30 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Advanced
Ads Bannerad
Webaddress /you
Features mySQL ASP

FreeWebz.com
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS
http://members.freewebz.com

Space 100 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads No ads
Webaddress /you
Features POP Email Domainhosting SSI Shopping Cart Counter Form Guestbook

Illusionfxnet
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,OTHER
http://www.illusionfxnet.com

Space 250 MB
Upload Browser Email
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads No ads
Webaddress Subdomain and Domain
Features PHP POP Email Domainhosting Subdomain Telnet mySQL SSI CGI-BIN Shopping Cart Counter Form Guestbook

Internations
USA, English
Hosting category: REG
http://www.internations.net

Space 100 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads Topbanner
Webaddress /area/you
Features Form Guestbook

Snake INC
USA, English
Hosting category: REG
http://snake-inc.com

Space 100 MB
Upload FTP Browser
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads Banner + text
Webaddress Subdomain
Features PHP POP Email Domainhosting Subdomain mySQL SSI Counter Form Guestbook

Sphosting.com
USA, English
Hosting category: REG
http://www.sphosting.com/

Space 35 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Advanced Basic
Ads Pop-under
Webaddress Subdomain
Features Subdomain SSI Form Guestbook

Totalfreehost
USA, English
Hosting category: REG
http://www.totalfreehost.com

Space 50 MB
Upload FTP Email
Editor
Ads No ads
Webaddress Domain
Features PHP Domainhosting mySQL CGI-BIN

USALL
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME
http://www.webhosting.usallportal.com/free_webhosting.htm

Space 3000 MB
Upload Browser
Editor Basic
Ads Banner
Webaddress /members/you
Features Form

Web1000
USA, English
Hosting category: REG
http://www.web1000.com

Space 50 MB
Upload FTP
Editor Advanced
Ads No ads
Webaddress Subdomain
Features PHP POP Email Domainhosting Subdomain SSI Counter Guestbook

webspace4free.biz
USA, English
Hosting category: REG,BUSINESS,GAME
http://www.webspace4free.biz/?lang=english

http://nexuswebs.net
*new website just launched seems quite successful*
Space 200 MB
Upload Browser
Editor
Ads No ads
Webaddress Subdomain
Features PHP Domainhosting Subdomain mySQL CGI-BIN
NO Banner Advertisements
35mb Disk Space
Free Webmail Account
Free Subdomain - (yourname.nexuswebs.net)
Online Website Builder
Multi-Platform Template Editor
Website Template Library
24/7 FTP Access
Online File Manager
Email Virus Protection
Spam Filters
Message Board
Guest Book
Site Counter

http://www.tripod.lycos.nl/myaccount/freehosting/
50 MB webspace
NO Filesize limit
NO monthly transfer limit
PHP4.1 / MySQL (phpmyadmin) / counter / guesbook / personalised cgi feedback froms / customisable 404 error pages / FTP access

http://www.freeweb-hosting.com/
Q.Which files are accepted?
A.Currently we support standard html and images files, which means .htm, .html, .pdf, .gif, .jpg ,.png , .js, .css, .swf, .mid, .jar and .class. The size of your individual files should be < 85kb. Files exceeding this size will get automatically deleted. Besides that, there's no limit on the number of files you can host in your account.

Provider: DK3
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.dk3.com</font></b></font>
Max file size: 400KB (I agree this sucks)
Comments: The following things are supported, FTP, MySQL, PHP, Perl, SSI, WAP. Plus pre-made portal and forum are available free.
*Update*

Provider:Free Web Hosting
Service: 100 Megs of webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.freewebsitehosting.com/</font></b></font>
Summary:100 Megs Of Webspace, Free Site Promotion,FTP Support,Free Stats and Site Tools,
Unlimited Bandwidth,Free Guestbook, Fast and Reliable Servers,and Front Page Extensions.

Provider: Free Webs
Service: 100 Megs of space
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://members.freewebz.com/</font></b></font>
Summary: 100 megs of space, No banners of popups,Web Page Editing and HTML editing,FreeWebs Builder,
Site stats, Chatrooms,Guestbook, Counters, Site promotion, Form builder/Mailer, Photoalbums and more.

Provider: USALLportal
Service: 3 gigs of space
URL:http://www.webhosting.usallportal.com/free_webhosting.htm
Summary: 3 gigs of space! What else is there to know.

Provider:3hosting
Service: Unlimited Space
URL:http://www.3hosting.info/
Summary: Free hosting for adult sites, FTP access, Unlimited size of sites, Unlimited traffic, Quick Internet connection, TGP compatibility,
Free hosting of your domain.

Provider: HostUltra
Service: Unlimited space
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.hostultra.com/</font></b></font>
Summary: Unlimited Data Transfer
Unlimited Disk Space, 100mbps Network Connection, 99.9% Uptime, Free Sub Directory,
Free Domain Hosting, Custom Domain DNS Control, Browser and FTP Uploading,PHP,
Hosting for Unlimited Domains w/ Unlimited Subdomains, Free Search Engine Submission,
and NO ADS ON PAGES!

Provider:Crosswinds
Service: Unlimited webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.crosswinds.net/</font></b></font>
Summary: Unlimited WebSpace, Web Based Email, Popups, $1 Premium Referral Reward, and more.

Provider:1AspHost
Service:100 Mb space
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.1asphost.com/</font></b></font>
Summary:100 MB of Web Space, Unlimited Bandwidth, Instant Account Activation,
Online Control Panel, Online Zip/Unzip Capability, Active Server Pages Version 3.0,
MS Access Database Connectivity.

Provider:Eccentrix
Service: 50 Mb space
URL:http://eccentrix.com/
Summary: 50 MB Web Space,<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> WWW Board,</font></b></font> Guest Book, Form Mail, WYSIWYG Web Editor,
Excellent Support, and more.

Provider: Neopages
Service: 50 Mb space
URL:http://www.neopages.net/
Summary: 50 Mb space, Unlimited bandwidth, POP E-Mail, True FTP Accounts ,
Site Admin Control Panel,

Provider: Internations Global Web Services
Service: 100 Mb space
URL:http://www.internations.net/
Summary: 100 Mb space, 1 GB bandwith, Web Message board, Guestbook,
FormMail script and more.

Provider: I12
Service: 800 Mb space
URL:http://www.i12.com/
Summary: 800 Mb space, unlimited POP3 and alias email addresses,
definetly a site to check out!

Provider: Nerd Cities
Service: 100 Mb space
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.nerdcities.com/</font></b></font>
Summary:100 Megabytes Web Space, GuestBook+Counters, Full Technical Support,
Unlimited File Size Web Control Panel, No Bandwidth Limits And more!

Provider: DK3
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.dk3.com</font></b></font>
Max file size: 400KB (I agree this sucks)
Comments: The following things are supported, FTP, MySQL, PHP, Perl, SSI, WAP. Plus pre-made portal and forum are available free.

http://www.freeweb-hosting.com/
-You have UNLIMITED disk space and bandwidth with your site!.
-You can only upload files with .html, .htm, .jpg, .gif, .css, .js, .png, .pdf
file name extensions.
-Size of every file could not large than 85K bytes.

http://www.zoomfast.com/
->How much space do I get?
-Unlimited
->How can I upload my files?
-We offer full FTP access. The best FTP client can be found here.
->Can I use PHP or CGI?
-No.
->Can I host movies?
-No.
->Can I have my pages in non-english language?
-No.
->What is the maximum number of files?
-Unlimited.
->What is the maximum file size?
-80KB

->http://www.yoogo.com/
site for sale

->http://www.worldzone.net
Worldzone Free - 50mb space, allowed file types (au, mid, midi, wav, gif, ico, jpg, jpeg, png, htm, html, shtml, wml, xml, css, class, jar, java, dat, txt, tmpl, htaccess, htpasswd, js, map, swf, ttf). Sorry but no cgi, ftp, MySQL on our Free accounts. 1 468x60 banner will be located on the bottom of your page but can be removed in our $12 yearly Plus Package.

->http://www.web1000.com/
50 mb space

->http://www.tripod.com
20 MB of disk space – Have room for your image files, MP3s, video clips.
1 GB of Monthly Bandwidth – More people can visit your site more often

-><font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.simplycities.com</font></b></font>
page don't load

->http://www.qwikpages.com
now it's freecoolpages.com
10MB OF DISK SPACE
UNLIMITED BANDWIDTH
FTP ACCESS FOR UPLOADING
FREE EMAIL

->http://www.netomia.com
60 mb of space!
Your website may not contain or refer to sites with the following content: Porn, warez, hack or anything encouraging any kind of illegal activities or racism.

->www.netcolony.com
25 megs of webspace
Easy homepage creator
Unlimited bandwidth
Your own messageboard
Templates
Free Guestbook
Advanced editor
No fees - 100% FREE!
Fast servers

Provider:POHost
Service: Unlimited Disk Space
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.pohost.com/</font></b></font>
Summary: Unlimited disk space, Unlimited transfers, Fast servers,Real FTP Uploads,
Domain name hosting TGP Compliant, and more.

Provider:Free Web Hosting
Service: Unlimited Disk space
URL:http://www.freeweb-hosting.com/
Summary:Unlimited disk space,Unlimited transfers, FAST Servers ,Domain Hosting,
24/7 Real FTP Access,Friendly Support, Web Email, FREE Web Promotion.

Provider: Zoom Fast
Service: Unlimited Space
URL:http://www.zoomfast.com/
Summary: Unlimited space,Unlimited bandwith, High speed servers and more

URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.yoogo.com</font></b></font>
Summary: Offering a great 50 MB of space plus other features like Email Forms, Guestbooks and even Message Boards. Funny name I'm sure you will agree yet worth a look because of the nice amount of space!

Provider: Worldzone.net
Service: 100 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.worldzone.net</font></b></font>
Summary: Offering a fantasic 100 MB why not give them a go! They do not accept Warze & Porn sites so dont try to host your page here if you plan to run such a page. However, because of the amount of space they are offering then would make for a great place to dump your files!

Provider: WebJump
Service: 25 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.webjump.com</font></b></font>
Summary: WebJump is another Small Business Provider offer a huge 25 MB for your website and unlimited bandwidth! Unlike B-City.com WebJump support the use of FTP Updates along with the use of Flash, JavaScript, WAV Files and other things as well. If you like using Email please note WebJump at this time do not offer either POP or Web Based Email Services

Provider: Web1000
Service: 25 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.web1000.com</font></b></font>
Summary: N/A

Provider: Tripod
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.tripod.com</font></b></font>
Summary: N/A

Provider: Spree.com
Service: Unlimited Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.spree.com</font></b></font>
Summary: Offering counters, builders, uploaders, HTML guide and a unlimited MB account spree.com could be a great place for junk files. If your running a Warze related website, try these guys out and tell me what you think!

Provider: SimplyCities
Service: 30 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.simplycities.com</font></b></font>
Summary: Simplycities.com have just had a change in servers hence speed should be and better be at an all time high. On the website they claim to offer Unlimited Bandwidth yet at the end of that they have a little * displaying the fact conditions apply yet we could not find on the page details of this!?! Anyway they could be worth a look if just starting out!

Provider: Server2000.at
Service: Unlimited Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.server2000.at</font></b></font>
Summary: Only problem with this is it's not english.

Provider: Qwik Pages
Service: 100 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.qwikpages.com</font></b></font>
Summary: N/A

Provider: Netomia
Service: 60 MB Webspace, Online Editor, Counter, Form Mail, Guestbook
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.netomia.com</font></b></font>
Summary: One of the few providers offering such huge space limits with a string of other great features need for any good website!

Provider: JustFree.com
Service: 40 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.justfree.com</font></b></font>
Summary: Offering 40 MB and no bandwidth limit this should be a good choice in web hosting. They also offer free forums, live support, free guestbook & soon Free Email! We have been unable to test this provider 100% hence comments are welcome!

Provider: InfoCache
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.infocache.com</font></b></font>
Summary: InfoCache offers a fantastic 50 MB of webspace which is great for any small business or personal website. They are now begining to offer Free Email and also offer a range of "pay" service which are very cheap compared to some providers. Worth a look just for the space!

Provider: FreeHomePages
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.freehomepages.com</font></b></font>
Summary: They claim fast and stable server with offers of chat, form mailer, guestbooks, page builders, unlimited bandwith & unlimited hits to get the visitors in and when they offer this much space why not go for them!

Provider: Dynahost.net
Service: 25 MB Webspace [ 100 MB After Approval ]
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.dynahost.net</font></b></font>
Summary: Providing a nice amount of space with the option of increasing to 100 MB unlike most providers. Dynahost accounts also come with forums & a guestbook which is all updated able via your Web Browser!

Provider: Dreamwater
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.dreamwater.com</font></b></font>
Summary: Offer 50 MB, Guestbook, Chat, Form Mailer, Web Templates, Builder, Clip Art, Search Submissions, Subdomain & Short URL, Unlimited Band * no hit limit! Because they offer so much we think they could have a large number of member hence a slow service yet you should test them for yourself

Provider: Dencity
Service: 25 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.dencity.com</font></b></font>
Summary: Dencity is a well known provider offering a great 25 MB which is fantastic for any small user. They also offer a range of tools for its members plus a listing of HTML Code to help you along!

Provider: Atmosphere.be
Service: Webspace [Unlimited?] & 5 MB Email
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.atmosphere.be</font></b></font>
Summary: No Information

Provider: AFreeHome.com
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.afreehome.com</font></b></font>
Summary: AFreeHome.com make out (in a round-about way) they hate Geocities.com! With the huge space they offer and no bandwidth limit they could be one of the best providers to date! They also claim to pay you US$10 for people you get to Sign Up yet this seems a little funny we think. Anyway - try them and inform us of how good/bad they are.

Provider: Above World
Service: 25 MB Webspace [Possible 60 MB of space]
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.aboveworld.com</font></b></font>
Summary: Above World claim to offer a 100% Free Virtual Domain along with 25 MB of webspace plus chat board and guestbook! When checking the above details on the Above World Website they listed via text they offer 25 MB yet a visible banner said 60 MB. We can provide no further information.

Provider: 50megs
Service: 50 MB Webspace
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.50megs.com</font></b></font>
Summary: 50megs.com is only one of a few providers offering such huge amounts of webspace for free. It comes with other services like Web Polls, counters and much more.

Provider: 00server
Service: 20 MB Webspace [Short URL Provided]
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://www.00server.com</font></b></font>
Summary: 00server offers a wide range of domains to suite most styles of websites. Along with the short domain names you get a fantastic 20 MB for your website. Known for its fast service yet the banner is always a down side to any provider!

Provider: 1and1
Service: 500 MB web space
5,000 MB/month traffic ($.99 per GB for additional traffic)
site statistics, log files, ready-to-run CGI-library, own CGI programming (Perl, Python), FrontPage 2002 extensions
Advanced Password Protection
5 FTP accounts
PHP3 & PHP4 MySQL
Proxy SSL Secure Server
Cron Jobs
SSH Secure Shell Access
URL:<font color=#3A4F6C><font color=#3A4F6C><b> http://order.1and1.com/</font></b></font>
Periodical time limited offers

PunoSoft Mail:
http://www.punosoft.com:32000/mail
-You can check email via website, OR I can give you the details on how to configure Outlook or Outlook Express for mail retrieval/send.
PunoSoft Gallery:
http://www.punosoft.com/gallery
-Great for sharing photos or "Signatures".
-Sign Up and I'll send you details on how to upload your photos and how to access them.

PunoSoft Web Host:

http://www.punosoft.com/webhost

125MB Hosting Service - http://www.125mb.com

XAXAX FREE HOSTING - http://free.xaxax.com

FREE HOSTiNG @ HOSTARS - http://hostars.com

CyberFreeHost - http://www.cyberfreehost.com

ULTRA FREE HOST - http://www.ultrafreehost.com

20forfree.com :: Free Web Hosting - http://www.20forfree.com

HentaiRack.com :: FREE HEntai Web Hosting - http://www.hentairack.com

EZ SEX HOST Free Adult Hosting - http://www.ezsexhost.com



FREE Hosting For WAREZ

 FREE Hosting For WAREZ

Tutorial: Free Hosting For Warez (how to do it...)
By: darkraven (aka bobbasic)
Level: Average (takes time)

Place to stick your warez and how to do it.
if you have a file you wish to upload and its too large for a free webhost and you still want it online try this method.

www.rarlab.com: download rar and cut the file up into 1MB files.
Mass Rename them to .doc (i forgot how to do it but its via CMD)
www.hostultra.com: sign up for the free hosting, which has unlimited bandwidth and space with a REAL (yet not your main) hotmail account.
Upload the files via FTP

Goto www.projectw.org
and tell people the link ie. http://www.hostultra.com/blah/blah1.doc - blah100.doc
Use Flashget to download!

And there you have it, as long as the people on hostultra dont find your site your fine icon_razz.gif


Downsides:
hostultra only allows max file size of 1MB files.
hostultra does not allow .exe or .mp3

Hostultra:
Unlimited Data Transfer
Unlimited Disk Space
100mbps Network Connection
99.9% Uptime
Free Sub Directory ( hostultra.com/~you )
Cool yourname.vzz.net URL!
Free Subdomains ( Many domains to choose from! )
Free Domain Hosting ( yourdomain.com )
Custom Domain DNS Control ( A/CNAME/MX Records )
Browser and FTP Uploading
PHP / MySQL*
Unlimited Domains / Unlimited Subdomains
Free Search Engine Submission

Terms Of Use For HostUltra
# In addition to the above, User shall not upload onto their hostultra web space any of the following:

1. audio or video files of any type this includes but is not limited to .wma .wmv .wav .mp3 .avi .mpg .asf .mov (however flash and midi files are allowed);
2. spanned archives such as such as .z01 .rar .ace;
3. any binary files that are not linked to an html page on the Site;
4. sites which contain only (or mostly) downloadable files;
5. download sites of any kind, including but not limited to, shareware, freeware, trialware, demos, warez, appz, gamez, iso, cracks;
6. photo albums, image galleries or TGPs;

(THOUGH WHOS LISTENING TO THE RULES?!)

to make it less likely hostultra will delete your account, add a fake little site on there, like a few pages of crappy html about some stupid thing which has nothing to do with warez. (ie. bob's site)

Free Access To Websites Without Registering

Free Access To Websites Without Registering

Go to

-http://bugmenot.com/

and type the URL of the website you want to log into.
Examples:

-http://www.nytimes.com/, -http://www.winnetmag.com/
etcetera.

Another (and better) way is changing the user agent of your browser to:
Googlebot/2.1+

-http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html

This is very easy in Mozilla's Firefox. Download and install the User Agent Switcher from

-http://www.chrispederick.com/work/firefox/useragentswitcher/
and add the Googlebot user agent.

Have fun, Dead Dreamer!

-]Edit[- Now this kicks ass, was just browsing entire forum without even needing to login to view restricted areas, and it works on other sites
And no, you cant access the hidden forums either, already tried that

Formatting An Hdd, when fdisk won't

Formatting An Hdd, when fdisk won't

 This was originally posted by andro11meda in Hardware and Networking Support. It worked so well for me on a problem-computer that I was working on that I had to post it in tutorials. Thanks andro11meda!!


***
This is my favorite way to wipe it clean:

CAUTION: This debug script is for advanced users only. Its Purpose is to remove all formatting and partitioning information from your hard disk when FDISK is unable to do so. THIS WILL REMOVE ALL DATA AND PROGRAMS FORM THE DRIVE.

1. Create a MSDOS bood disk with Debug

2. At DOS command prompt type the following: Debug[Enter] (Where enter is to press the enter key once)

NOTE: Type the following bolded text only. You will recieve an error if you type anything other than the bold text. The non-bolded text represents what will appear on you screen once you press [Enter] after each command.

-F 200 L1000 0 [Enter]
-A CS:100 [Enter]
xxxx:0100 MOV AX,301 [Enter]
xxxx:0103 MOV BX,200 [Enter]
xxxx:0106 MOV CX,1 [Enter]
xxxx:0109 MOV DX,80 [Enter]

NOTE: ( --- "80" for hd0, "81" for hd1)

xxxx:010c INT 13 [Enter]
xxxx: 010e INT 20 [Enter]
xxxx: 0110 [Enter]

-G [Enter]
"Program terminated normally"

3. Turn off the computer. On the next startup the hard drive will need to be partitioned and formatted.
***

FlashGet v1.4 - More Download Simultaneously

FlashGet v1.4 - More Download Simultaneously

 Pre-Note

Tutorial Objective

This tutorial guides the user how he/she is able to specify more files download at the same time from the FlashGet Option setting.


Tutorial Introduction & Background & Fact




Pre-requistes Tools

* FlashGet v1.4


Terminology & Explanation




Implementation

This tutorial requires you to modify the registry; therefore, backup your registry before you start to implement what this tutorial says.

CODE

Start "regedit" and go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JetCar\JetCar\General

open "General"

right-click with your mouse into the right window
and create a new "DWORD" value

name new value "MaxSimJobs"

now doubleclick "MaxSimJobs" ,chose "dezimal" and
enter a new value "100"

press "return" and close registry-editor

In Flashget/tools/ options you can now set max.downloads to 100
instead of 8.



Benefical

* It allows the user to have more files to download simultaneously by using FlashGet v1.4 download manager.


Additional Information

(None)


Search Keyword

FlashGet multiple download simultaneously simultaneous

FLASHGET INTEGRATION IN OPERA,MOZILLA,NETSCAPE

1ST -> DOWNLOAD THIS: http://www.amazesoft.com/npfg11.exe

THEN:
Opera5&6 & Netscape6.x, 7.x, Mozilla 1.x and Mozilla Firefox 0.x
Please download FlashGet Opera Plug-in 1.1. Install this plug-in into ...\Opera\Plugins or ...\Netscape6\Plugins or ..\Mozilla\Plugins or ..\FireFox\plugins directory.

Netscape 6 does not support the same click monitoring methods used by FlashGet with previous versions of Netscape. They left out the features that have been there since Netscape Version 1.0. For now, you must either:
Right click the links and do "Copy Link Location".
Or, the plugins used for FlashGet's Opera click monitoring do work in Netscape--with some quirks and differences from the other click monitoring. Just install FlashGet's Opera plugins into the ...\Netscape\Plugins directory.

Menuitem "Download by FlashGet" in Mozilla FireFox
FlashGot is an extension for integrating FlashGet and Mozilla Firefox 0.9 or later. It is available on Mozilla Update. Note that some antivirus software may incorrecly claim that it has a virus, as it uses Visual Basic Script (.vbs) files when integrating with Internet Explorer. Thanks Giorgio Maone.

Menuitem "Download by FlashGet" in Opera
see How Customizing Opera's context-menus.

Opera 7
Install this plug-in into ...\Opera7\Plugins and enable it in Opera(Menu->File->Preferences...)


NetCaptor
Must use monitor method 2 in FlashGet(default setting), also need enable "Brower help object" in netcaptor options/general.



2: MENU ITEM -> DOWNLOAD USING FLASHGET!!!


Customizing Opera's context-menus
=================================
Build #040912



What's this about?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Using Opera 7.x one is able to customize the rightclick menus. That in
mind it's possible to add a menu item for "Download using FlashGet".
First you need to know, that every kind of menu entry in Opera is
saved as plaintext in standard_menu.ini in the Opera defaults folder
(normally C:\Program Files\Opera7\defaults). So, we need to modify this
file in order to add our FlashGet menu extension.



Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Opera 7.0 or above
- FlashGet 1.60 or above



Here we go!
~~~~~~~~~~~
1) Get the folder where Opera is installed. See the registry at

[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Netscape\Netscape Navigator\5.0, Opera\Main]
"Install Directory"="C:\\Program Files\\Opera7"

From here on I will use %opera% instead of the whole path we got
from the registry since we need to save this info into a variable
to use it in our program.

ATTENTION! Be sure to not use this variable in any files we modify!
Always use the whole path we got from the registry. Otherwise it
will mess up your Opera installation!


2) Goto this folder and copy

%opera%\defaults\standard_menu.ini

to

%opera%\profile\menu\standard_menu.ini


3) Open this file with a text editor and change the following:

- change the name (line 7) into "Opera Standard with FlashGet extension"
- search for the categories

"[Link Popup Menu]" and "[Image Link Popup Menu]"

and add the following line to both categories:

Item, "Download using FlashGet" = Execute program, "C:\Program Files\FlashGet\flashget.exe","%l"

That is a lowercase L after the last %

- save the file and start Opera


4) Goto "File/Preferences/Toolbars and Menus". In newer versions
it's called "Extra's/Preferences/Toolbars and Menus" and highlight
the new entry "Opera Standard with FlashGet extension" in the field
"Menu setup"


5) Press "OK" and that's it! Now you can download link-targets (both
text- AND image-links) by right-clicking on a link and choose
"Download using FlashGet".



Hint:
~~~~~
You can skip 4) and 5) if you add the following line into section [User Prefs]
of the file %opera%\profile\opera6.ini

Menu Configuration=%opera%\profile\menu\standard_menu.ini

This can easily be done using Nullsoft's NSIS Installer 2.0.
Get it from www.nullsoft.com

Flashget Broadband Tweak

Flashget Broadband Tweak

Just double-click on the FlashGetRegTweak.reg file to enter the tweak into the registry. This tweak will allow up to 100 simultaneous file downloads, each split into a max of 30 parts. Previous defaults were 8 & 10 respectively.

Note:

      1. Works for dialup but not really advantageous.
      2. Restart your computer to feel the full advantage of this tweak.

Download:
here it is
just copy to notepad
rename to Iwillsinglehandedlykillallthebandwidthfromtheserversidownloadfrom.reg


REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JetCar\JetCar\General]
"Max Parallel Num"="100"
"MaxSimJobs"="100"

FlashFXP FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

For most updated content, visit our website

Q: What is FXP?
A: FXP is a term adopted by earlier clients which provided site to site FTP transfers.

Q: When trying to transfer files from one site to another I keep getting this error 500 illegal port command.
A: The FTP Server is set up to not allow or doesn't support FXP. Located in the Site Manager on the Advanced tab, you will find the option "alternative fxp method". By enabling upload/download (depending on the direction of the transfer), you may be able to get the server to allow FXP. Note: It is common for some sites to only allow FXP in one direction and not the other. By enabling alternative fxp method, this problem is sometimes solved.

Q: Why do I keep getting this message: "Only client IP address allowed for PORT command" when trying to FXP?
A: The FTP Server is set up to block FXP. In most cases using alternative fxp method doesn't solve this problem.

Q: I've tried everything but I can't get a site to site transfer to work, what is wrong?
A: Site to site transfers are not supported by some software/hardware configurations. Often, this is due to an incompatibility with NAT (Network Address Translation). NAT is not aware of site to site transfers and when it detects you are attempting to transfer a file, it modifies the FTP protocol to match your local "inside" IP. Several users have reported that Microsoft Internet Sharing is not compatible.

Q: Why can't I see any files? I can see them in other ftp clients.
A: There are two possible reasons.
1. You are behind a firewall and the FTP server is unable to connect to your computer. To resolve this issue you need to use Passive mode. This option is located in Preferences on the Proxy tab. Check "Use Passive mode".
2. The files may be hidden on the ftp server, and in order to see them you need to change the list method. This is located in Preferences on the Options tab. Change the List method to show hidden files. Note: some sites don't allow you to view hidden files and will result in an error. To resolve this problem, go into the Site Manager, select the site and click the advanced tab. Uncheck "show hidden files", then save to keep the changes

Q: I can't see the toolbar icons or the icons are messed up.
A: This problem happens on Windows 95 systems when the \Windows\System\ComCtl32.dll file is out of date. This DLL is responsible for drawing the toolbar buttons and their images. You can download the latest version from this link: MS Common Control Update!

Q: When FXPing why doesn't FlashFXP show a file progress, transfer speed or how much time is remaining?
A: The FXP protocol (site to site) doesn't provide any means of measurement. After one file is FXPed, FlashFXP attempts to estimate the remaining time for the next file and total remaining time for all files in the queue.

Q: Will FlashFXP ever support connecting to more then 2 sites?
A: FlashFXP was designed to provide very easy access and usability to the site to site feature. Allowing more than two would only complicate things. For now let's stick with 2.

Q: Why doesn't FlashFXP support Squid?
A: FlashFXP v1.3 now supports it.

Q: Why doesn't FlashFXP download http:// urls from the clipboard?
A: FlashFXP is not a browser or a web download manager. For FlashFXP you need to use the ftp addresses.

Q: Is it possible to import site lists from another FTP clients?
A: Yes, You can import other site lists into FlashFXP from the Site Manager by right-clicking on the site list and selecting Import from the menu.

Q: FlashFXP looks confusing, All I want to do is download and upload files. I don't need site to site transfers.. help!?!
A: We have just the thing for you, With a click of the mouse FlashFXP can transform into your normal looking FTP client. From the main menu select View then click FTP Only. You can always uncheck this later to bring back the power of site to site transfers.

Q: I use ZipMagic and now all of my zips appear as folders in FlashFXP, how can I make the zips appear as zips?
A: You need to make one small change in the ZipMagic Properties window. First, click the Start Menu, then go to Programs|ZipMagic 4.0|ZipMagic Properties. Click the "Zip Folders" button, then click the "Applications" button. Then just add FlashFXP to the list of applications that sees zip files as files.

Q: I purchased FlashFXP v1.x-1.3 and my key doesn't work for v1.4-v2.0!
A: The key format was changed starting with version 1.4. You will need to email support@flashfxp.com and request a new one. New keys are provided free of charge.

Finding Missing Files From A Release

Finding Missing Files From A Release


I hope this hasn't been submitted before, but i did a search and didn't find anything so here goes.
Have you ever downloaded a game/app/movie/... and when it was finished, you find out that are some missing files or corrupt ones?
Well here's a way to find those files:
--> www.incomplete.me.uk

This is a service that works through irc (so mirc (or another) must be installed to use it).
You go on the specific channel (manually or by clicking one of the direct links on the site) and then "ask" for the specific file.
When there's someone out there who has it, it will be send to you automatically
If not, the file request shall be put on a queu list untill someone that has it, has sent it to the person that requested it.
!!! Obey the rules though, if not you can be banned from the channel and in severe cases your provider can be banned so others won't be able to use this !!!

I hope this can help out some people here, who have experienced/will experience this


Find Stuff

 Find Stuff

Has this ever happened to you?

You're looking for something on a long web page with Internet Explorer or Netscape. You think it's there, but you're faced with seemingly insurmountable number of paragraphs, sentences, and words to hunt though.

Well, next time this happens to you, hit the Edit menu, Find (or CTRL-F for you shortcut lovers). You'll get a handy little "find" box that lets you type in a specific word. After you type in your search term, hit the Find Next button and Explorer will look for that word on the page. If it's successful, you'll be zapped right to it.

As if that wasn't cool enough, you can also use a variation of this tip in Windows Explorer. Next time you're looking for a file in Explorer, hit CRTL-F and you'll get a Find or Search box (depending on what flavor of Windows you're using).

If you are already in the area of your hard drive where you think the file is (say, My Documents), hit CTRL-F and your search will be set to look in the My Documents sfolder.

Evolution Of Computer Viruses History Of Viruses

part 1


Like any other field in computer science, viruses have evolved -a great deal indeed- over the years. In the series of press releases which start today, we will look at the origins and evolution of malicious code since it first appeared up to the present.

Going back to the origin of viruses, it was in 1949 that Mathematician John Von Neumann described self-replicating programs which could resemble computer viruses as they are known today. However, it was not until the 60s that we find the predecessor of current viruses. In that decade, a group of programmers developed a game called Core Wars, which could reproduce every time it was run, and even saturate the memory of other players’ computers. The creators of this peculiar game also created the first antivirus, an application named Reeper, which could destroy copies created by Core Wars.

However, it was only in 1983 that one of these programmers announced the existence of Core Wars, which was described the following year in a prestigious scientific magazine: this was actually the starting point of what we call computer viruses today.

At that time, a still young MS-DOS was starting to become the preeminent operating system worldwide. This was a system with great prospects, but still many deficiencies as well, which arose from software developments and the lack of many hardware elements known today. Even like this, this new operating system became the target of a virus in 1986: Brain, a malicious code created in Pakistan which infected boot sectors of disks so that their contents could not be accessed. That year also saw the birth of the first Trojan: an application called PC-Write.

Shortly after, virus writers realized that infecting files could be even more harmful to systems. In 1987, a virus called Suriv-02 appeared, which infected COM files and opened the door to the infamous viruses Jerusalem or Viernes 13. However, the worst was still to come: 1988 set the date when the “Morris worm” appeared, infecting 6,000 computers.

From that date up to 1995 the types of malicious codes that are known today started being developed: the first macro viruses appeared, polymorphic viruses … Some of these even triggered epidemics, such as MichaelAngelo. However, there was an event that changed the virus scenario worldwide: the massive use of the Internet and e-mail. Little by little, viruses started adapting to this new situation until the appearance, in 1999, of Melissa, the first malicious code to cause a worldwide epidemic, opening a new era for computer viruses.



part 2


This second installment of ‘The evolution of viruses’ will look at how malicious code used to spread before use of the Internet and e-mail became as commonplace as it is today, and the main objectives of the creators of those earlier viruses.
Until the worldwide web and e-mail were adopted as a standard means of communication the world over, the main mediums through which viruses spread were floppy disks, removable drives, CDs, etc., containing files that were already infected or with the virus code in an executable boot sector.

When a virus entered a system it could go memory resident, infecting other files as they were opened, or it could start to reproduce immediately, also infecting other files on the system. The virus code could also be triggered by a certain event, for example when the system clock reached a certain date or time.  In this case, the virus creator would calculate the time necessary for the virus to spread and then set a date –often with some particular significance- for the virus to activate. In this way, the virus would have an incubation period during which it didn’t visibly affect computers, but just spread from one system to another waiting for ‘D-day’ to launch its payload. This incubation period would be vital to the virus successfully infecting as many computers as possible.

One classic example of a destructive virus that lay low before releasing its payload was CIH, also known as Chernobyl. The most damaging version of this malicious code activated on April 26, when it would try to overwrite the flash-BIOS, the memory which includes the code needed to control PC devices. This virus, which first appeared in June 1998, had a serious impact for over two years and still continues to infect computers today.

Because of the way in which they propagate, these viruses spread very slowly, especially in comparison to the speed of today’s malicious code. Towards the end of the Eighties, for example, the Friday 13th (or Jerusalem) virus needed a long time to actually spread and continued to infect computers for some years. In contrast, experts reckon that in January 2003, SQLSlammer took just ten minutes to cause global communication problems across the Internet.

Notoriety versus stealth

For the most part, in the past, the activation of a malicious code triggered a series of on screen messages or images, or caused sounds to be emitted to catch the user’s attention.  Such was the case with the Ping Pong virus, which displayed a ball bouncing from one side of the screen to another. This kind of elaborate display was used by the creator of the virus to gain as much notoriety as possible. Nowadays however, the opposite is the norm, with virus authors trying to make malicious code as discreet as possible, infecting users’ systems without them noticing that anything is amiss.



pat 3


This third installment of ‘The evolution of viruses’ will look at how the Internet and e-mail changed the propagation techniques used by computer viruses.

Internet and e-mail revolutionized communications. However, as expected, virus creators didn’t take long to realize that along with this new means of communication, an excellent way of spreading their creations far and wide had also dawned. Therefore, they quickly changed their aim from infecting a few computers while drawing as much attention to themselves as possible, to damaging as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible. This change in strategy resulted in the first global virus epidemic, which was caused by the Melissa worm.

With the appearance of Melissa, the economic impact of a virus started to become an issue. As a result, users -above all companies- started to become seriously concerned about the consequences of viruses on the security of their computers. This is how users discovered antivirus programs, which started to be installed widely. However, this also brought about a new challenge for virus writers, how to slip past this protection and how to persuade users to run infected files.

The answer to which of these virus strategies was the most effective came in the form of a new worm: Love Letter, which used a simple but effective ruse that could be considered an early type of social engineering. This strategy involves inserting false messages that trick users into thinking that the message includes anything, except a virus. This worm’s bait was simple; it led users to believe that they had received a love letter.

This technique is still the most widely used. However, it is closely followed by another tactic that has been the center of attention lately: exploiting vulnerabilities in commonly used software. This strategy offers a range of possibilities depending on the security hole exploited. The first malicious code to use this method –and quite successfully- were the BubbleBoy and Kakworm worms. These worms exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer by inserting HTML code in the body of the e-mail message, which allowed them to run automatically, without needing the user to do a thing.

Vulnerabilities allow many different types of actions to be carried out. For example, they allow viruses to be dropped on computers directly from the Internet -such as the Blaster worm-. In fact, the effects of the virus depend on the vulnerability that the virus author tries to exploit.



part 4


In the early days of computers, there were relatively few PCs likely to contain “sensitive” information, such as credit card numbers or other financial data, and these were generally limited to large companies that had already incorporated computers into working processes.

In any event, information stored in computers was not likely to be compromised, unless the computer was connected to a network through which the information could be transmitted. Of course, there were exceptions to this and there were cases in which hackers perpetrated frauds using data stored in IT systems. However, this was achieved through typical hacking activities, with no viruses involved.

The advent of the Internet however caused virus creators to change their objectives, and, from that moment on, they tried to infect as many computers as possible in the shortest time. Also, the introduction of Internet services -like e-banking or online shopping- brought in another change. Some virus creators started writing malicious codes not to infect computers, but, to steal confidential data associated to those services.  Evidently, to achieve this, they needed viruses that could infect many computers silently.

Their malicious labor was finally rewarded with the appearance, in 1986, of a new breed of malicious code generically called “Trojan Horse”, or simply “Trojan”. This first Trojan was called PC-Write and tried to pass itself off as the shareware version of a text processor. When run, the Trojan displayed a functional text processor on screen. The problem was that, while the user wrote, PC-Write deleted and corrupted files on the computers’ hard disk.

After PC-Write, this type of malicious code evolved very quickly to reach the stage of present-day Trojans. Today, many of the people who design Trojans to steal data cannot be considered virus writers but simply thieves who, instead of using blowtorches or dynamite have turned to viruses to commit their crimes. Ldpinch.W or the Bancos or Tolger families of Trojans are examples of this


part 5


Even though none of them can be left aside, some particular fields of computer science have played a more determinant role than others with regard to the evolution of viruses. One of the most influential fields has been the development of programming languages.

These languages are basically a means of communication with computers in order to tell them what to do. Even though each of them has its own specific development and formulation rules, computers in fact understand only one language called "machine code".

Programming languages act as an interpreter between the programmer and the computer. Obviously, the more directly you can communicate with the computer, the better it will understand you, and more complex actions you can ask it to perform.

According to this, programming languages can be divided into "low and high level" languages, depending on whether their syntax is more understandable for programmers or for computers. A "high level" language uses expressions that are easily understandable for most programmers, but not so much for computers. Visual Basic and C are good examples of this type of language.

On the contrary, expressions used by "low level" languages are closer to machine code, but are very difficult to understand for someone who has not been involved in the programming process. One of the most powerful, most widely used examples of this type of language is "assembler".

In order to explain the use of programming languages through virus history, it is necessary to refer to hardware evolution. It is not difficult to understand that an old 8-bit processor does not have the power of modern 64-bit processors, and this of course, has had an impact on the programming languages used.

In this and the next installments of this series, we will look at the different programming languages used by virus creators through computer history:

- Virus antecessors: Core Wars

As was already explained in the first chapter of this series, a group of programs called Core Wars, developed by engineers at an important telecommunications company, are considered the antecessors of current-day viruses. Computer science was still in the early stages and programming languages had hardly developed. For this reason, authors of these proto-viruses used a language that was almost equal to machine code to program them.

Curiously enough, it seems that one of the Core Wars programmers was Robert Thomas Morris, whose son programmed -years later- the "Morris worm". This malicious code became extraordinarily famous since it managed to infect 6,000 computers, an impressive figure for 1988.

- The new gurus of the 8-bits and the assembler language.

The names Altair, IMSAI and Apple in USA and Sinclair, Atari and Commodore in Europe, bring memories of times gone by, when a new generation of computer enthusiasts "fought" to establish their place in the programming world. To be the best, programmers needed to have profound knowledge of machine code and assembler, as interpreters of high-level languages used too much run time. BASIC, for example, was a relatively easy to learn language which allowed users to develop programs simply and quickly. It had however, many limitations.

This caused the appearance of two groups of programmers: those who used assembler and those who turned to high-level languages (BASIC and PASCAL, mainly).

Computer aficionados of the time enjoyed themselves more by programming useful software than malware. However, 1981 saw the birth of what can be considered the first 8-bit virus. Its name was "Elk Cloner", and was programmed in machine code. This virus could infect Apple II systems and displayed a message when it infected a computer.



part 6


Computer viruses evolve in much the same way as in other areas of IT. Two of the most important factors in understanding how viruses have reached their current level are the development of programming languages and the appearance of increasingly powerful hardware.

In 1981, almost at the same time as Elk Kloner (the first virus for 8-bit processors) made its appearance, a new operating system was growing in popularity. Its full name was Microsoft Disk Operating System, although computer buffs throughout the world would soon refer to it simply as DOS.

DOS viruses

The development of MS DOS systems occurred in parallel to the appearance of new, more powerful hardware. Personal computers were gradually establishing themselves as tools that people could use in their everyday lives, and the result was that the number of PCs users grew substantially. Perhaps inevitably, more users also started creating viruses. Gradually, we witnessed the appearance of the first viruses and Trojans for DOS, written in assembler language and demonstrating a degree of skill on the part of their authors.

Far less programmers know assembler language than are familiar with high-level languages that are far easier to learn. Malicious code written in Fortran, Basic, Cobol, C or Pascal soon began to appear. The last two languages, which are well established and very powerful, are the most widely used, particularly in their TurboC and Turbo Pascal versions. This ultimately led to the appearance of “virus families”: that is, viruses that are followed by a vast number of related viruses which are slightly modified forms of the original code.

Other users took the less ‘artistic’ approach of creating destructive viruses that did not require any great knowledge of programming. As a result, batch processing file viruses or BAT viruses began to appear.

Win16 viruses

The development of 16-bit processors led to a new era in computing. The first consequence was the birth of Windows, which, at the time, was just an application to make it easier to handle DOS using a graphic interface.

The structure of Windows 3.xx files is rather difficult to understand, and the assembler language code is very complicated, as a result of which few programmers initially attempted to develop viruses for this platform. But this problem was soon solved thanks to the development of programming tools for high-level languages, above all Visual Basic. This application is so effective that many virus creators adopted it as their ‘daily working tool’. This meant that writing a virus had become a very straightforward task, and viruses soon appeared in their hundreds. This development was accompanied by the appearance of the first Trojans able to steal passwords. As a result, more than 500 variants of the AOL Trojan family -designed to steal personal information from infected computers-  were identified.

part 7

This seventh edition on the history of computer viruses will look at how the development of Windows and Visual Basic has influenced the evolution of viruses, as with the development of these, worldwide epidemics also evolved such as the first one caused by Melissa in 1999.

While Windows changed from being an application designed to make DOS easier to manage to a 32-bit platform and operating system in its own right, virus creators went back to using assembler as the main language for programming viruses.

Versions 5 and 6 of Visual Basic (VB) were developed, making it the preferred tool, along with Borland Delphi (the Pascal development for the Windows environment), for Trojan and worm writers. Then, Visual C, a powerful environment developed in C for Windows, was adopted for creating viruses, Trojans and worms. This last type of malware gained unusual strength, taking over almost all other types of viruses. Even though the characteristics of worms have changed over time, they all have the same objective: to spread to as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible.

With time, Visual Basic became extremely popular and Microsoft implemented part of the functionality of this language as an interpreter capable of running script files with a similar syntax.

At the same time as the Win32 platform was implemented, the first script viruses also appeared: malware inside a simple text file. These demonstrated that not only executable files (.EXE and .COM files) could carry viruses. As already seen with BAT viruses, there are also other means of propagation, proving the saying "anything that can be executed directly or through a interpreter can contain malware." To be specific, the first viruses that infected the macros included in Microsoft Office emerged. As a result, Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint become ways of spreading ‘lethal weapons’, which destroyed information when the user simply opened a document.

Melissa and self-executing worms

The powerful script interpreters in Microsoft Office allowed virus authors to arm their creations with the characteristics of worms. A clear example is Melissa, a Word macro virus with the characteristics of a worm that infects Word 97 and 2000 documents. This worm automatically sends itself out as an attachment to an e-mail message to the first 50 contacts in the Outlook address book on the affected computer. This technique, which has unfortunately become very popular nowadays, was first used in this virus which, in 1999, caused one of the largest epidemics in computer history in just a few days. In fact, companies like Microsoft, Intel or Lucent Technologies had to block their connections to the Internet due to the actions of Melissa.

The technique started by Melissa was developed in 1999 by viruses like VBS/Freelink, which unlike its predecessor sent itself out to all the contacts in the address book on the infected PC. This started a new wave of worms capable of sending themselves out to all the contacts in the Outlook address book on the infected computer. Of these, the worm that most stands out from the rest is VBS/LoveLetter, more commonly known as ‘I love You’, which emerged in May 2000 and caused an epidemic that caused damage estimated at 10,000 million euros. In order to get the user’s attention and help it to spread, this worm sent itself out in an e-mail message with the subject ‘ILOVEYOU’ and an attached file called ‘LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.VBS’. When the user opened this attachment, the computer was infected.

As well as Melissa, in 1999 another type of virus emerged that also marked a milestone in virus history. In November of that year, VBS/BubbleBoy appeared, a new type of Internet worm written in VB Script. VBS/BubbleBoy was automatically run without the user needing to click on an attached file, as it exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 5 to automatically run when the message was opened or viewed. This worm was followed in 2000 by JS/Kak.Worm, which spread by hiding behind Java Script in the auto-signature in Microsoft Outlook Express, allowing it to infect computers without the user needing to run an attached file. These were the first samples of a series of worms, which were joined later on by worms capable of attacking computers when the user is browsing the Internet.