Last week was an exciting week for Windows and blogging.  Senior Vice Presidents Steven Sinofsky and Jon DeVaan launched a brand new blog called Engineering Windows 7 (or E7 for short). In case you don't know who these guys are, Jon DeVaan manages the engineering team responsible for creating the central (or "core") components and architecture of Windows and Steven Sinofsky manages the group responsible for the user experiences in both Windows and Windows Live. The Engineering Windows 7 blog is designed to create an open discussion about how we're making the next version of Windows - currently codenamed Windows 7 - and to create a background of understanding for the engineering decisions made in order to ship Windows 7.

Engineering the next version of the most used operating system to-date is a very complex software project. Why? Because Windows has a very large user base and that user base is very diverse.  Planning the next version of Windows (and ultimately developing it) is a huge under-taking as it requires Microsoft to learn and understand the needs for all types of customers that use Windows today. On the Engineering Windows 7 Blog, you can expect a two way discussion on how those customer needs are balanced out to deliver Windows 7 into the hands of customers.

The one thing you won't find on the Engineering Windows 7 Blog is major product announcements. The focus is to simply discuss the engineering of Windows 7. Not only can we expect posts from both Steven and Jon on the Engineering Windows 7 Blog, we can also expect to hear from other members of the engineering team who are essentially building the next version of Windows as we speak. Sweet!

I look forward to reading about the engineering done to make Windows what it is.

So what does that mean for us here on the Windows Vista Team Blog and for the Windows Experience Blog?  Windows Vista is still very much relevant today. There is still very much to say in regards to Windows Vista and lots more experiences to blog about surrounding Windows Vista and Windows Live. Our blogs here won't be going away. We continue to add value to Windows Vista with releases such as Windows Search 4.0 and coming soon the Beta 2 release of Internet Explorer 8. You can also expect us to take part in the ongoing discussion taking place from the Engineering Windows 7 blog on building the next version of Windows as well.

Do you know what Rafbsvnx Toolbar is?

DESCRIPTION

The influx of malicious toolbars has been quiet lately but the Rafbsvn Toolbar is now making its rounds on the internet attempting to spread rogue anti-spyware programs onto computer users. Rafbsvnx Toolbar may be installed onto your system without you knowing about it through a Trojan or Video ActiveX Object Error.

In non-techie terms: Once Rafbsvnx Toolbar is present on your system it will advertise or popup adverts to get you to purchase useless rogue programs such as AntiSpyCheck (Anti Spy Check). It is then up to you to avoid the advert or popup. The Rafbsvnx Toolbar may look like any normal toolbar present on Internet Explorer. This is a common trick used by the creators of malicious toolbars like Rafbsvnx Toolbar.

If you are lucky enough to catch Rafbsvnx Toolbar present on your computer then you must take action to remove it at once.

Rafbsvnx Toolbar may resemble this image:

Rafbsvnx Toolbar Automatic Removal Instructions

This automatic removal method is for non-techie computer users. If you’re too lazy to learn about spyware removal or how to access sensitive files in your computer, then this is the method for you.
Before you start: Print or bookmark these instructions because you’ll have to reboot into Safe Mode. Also back up your computer in case you make a mistake.

1. Download and save SmitFraudFix to your desktop.
2. Restart your computer in Safe Mode (how to do safe mode). Once the
   desktop appears, double click on the SmitfraudFix.exe on your desktop.
3. After the credits screen, you’ll see a menu. Select the option number 2, which is ‘Clean (safe mode recommended)’, and then
   press Enter to delete infect files.
4. SmitFraudFix will begin cleaning your computer and take a series of cleanup processes. When the process is over, it will automatically begin the Disk Cleanup program.
5. Once the Disk Cleanup program is complete, you will be prompted with the message ‘Registry cleaning - Do you want to clean the registry’. Answer Y (Yes) and hit Enter. Reboot your computer.
6. SmitFraudFix will now check if wininet.dll is infected. SmitFraudFix will ask you whether to replace the infected file (if there’s any) ‘Replace infected
   file?’ Answer by typing Y (Yes) and hit Enter.
7. Reboot your computer to complete the cleaning process.
8. After reboot, a Notepad screen may appear containing a log of all the files
   removed from your computer. If it doesn’t appear, a file will be created called
   rapport.txt in the root of your drive, (Local Disk C:).
9. Restart your computer in Safe Mode (how to do safe mode).
10. Go to C:\Windows\Temp, click Edit, click Select All, press DELETE, and then
    click Yes to confirm that you want all the items to go to the Recycle Bin.
11. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\[LISTED USER]\Local Settings\Temp, click Edit, click Select All, press DELETE, and then click Yes to confirm that
    you want all the items to go to the Recycle Bin.
12. Reboot your computer back to normal mode. Go to Windows Update and download all critical updates.

Rafbsvnx Toolbar Manual Removal Instructions

This manual removal method is for techie computer users. Rafbsvnx Toolbar manual removal may be difficult and time consuming to remove. There’s no guarantee that Rafbsvnx Toolbar will be removed completely. So read the Rafbsvnx Toolbar removal steps carefully and good luck.
Before you start: Close all programs and Internet browsers. Also back up your computer in case you make a mistake and your computer stops working.

1. Uninstall Rafbsvnx Toolbar Program
   Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Search for and uninstall Rafbsvnx Toolbar if found.
2. To Unregister Rafbsvnx Toolbar DLLs (view DLL removal steps)
   Search and unregister these Rafbsvnx Toolbar DLLs:
   Rafbsvnx.dll

   To locate the Rafbsvnx Toolbar DLL path, go to Start > Search > All Files or Folders. Type Rafbsvnx Toolbar and in the Look in: select either My Computer or Local Hard Drives. Click the Search button.
   Once you have the Rafbsvnx Toolbar DLL path, go to Start and then click on Run. In the Run command box, type cmd, and then click on OK.
   To locate the exact DLL path, type cd in order to change the current directory. To display the contents of the directory, use the dir command. To remove the DLL file type regsvr32 /u FILENAME.dll (FILENAME is the name of the file that you want to unregister).

3. If your homepage has been changed, go to Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > click on the General > click Use Default under Home Page. Add the your desired default homepage, then click Apply > click OK. Open a new web browser to check that you have your desired default homepage.
4. Remove Rafbsvnx Toolbar Directories.
   To find Rafbsvnx Toolbar directories, go to Start > My Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files > Show the contents of this folder.
   Search and delete the following Rafbsvnx Toolbar directories:
   C:\Program Files\Rafbsvnx Toolbar

   Right-click on the Rafbsvnx Toolbar folder and select Delete.
   A message will appear saying ‘Are you sure you want to remove the folder Rafbsvnx Toolbar and move all its contents to the Recycle Bin?’, click Yes.
   Another message will appear saying ‘Renaming, moving or deleting Rafbsvnx Toolbar could make some programs not work. Are you sure you want to do this?’, click Yes.

5. To remove Rafbsvnx Toolbar icons on your Desktop, drag and drop them to the Recycle Bin.

You’ve completed the Rafbsvnx Toolbar manual removal instructions!
I hope this article has helped you solve your Rafbsvnx Toolbar problems. If you want to contribute to this article, post your comment below.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes. By using this information you agree to be bound by the disclaimer. There’s no guarantee that Rafbsvnx Toolbar will be completely removed from your computer. Seek professional help if your computer continues to experience problems.

To install the packages required to run and monitor a Samba server on your Ubuntu system, start the Synaptic Package Manager from the System -> Administration menu, and click Search to display the search dialog. Make sure that Names and Descriptions are the selected items to look in, enter samba as the string to search for, and click Search. After the search completes, scroll down until you see the samba-common and samba-server packages, right-click each of these packages and select Mark for Installation from the pop-up menu. You may also want to select the samba-doc and samba-doc-pdf packages, which respectively provide HTML and PDF versions of all of the official Samba project documentation, plus an online copy of a book entitled.

Depending on what software you have previously installed on your Ubuntu system and what you select in Synaptic, a dialog may display that lists other packages that must also be installed, and ask for confirmation. When you see this dialog, click Mark to accept these related (and required) packages. Next, click Apply in the Synaptic toolbar to install the Samba server and friends on your system. Once the installation completes, you’re ready to share data with any system that supports NFS.


Samba Server Configuration Essentials
At the moment, the absence of a graphical tool for setting up and configuring Samba on Ubuntu systems is a rather glaring omission to the standard user-friendliness that Ubuntu users have come to expect. I’m not the only person to have noticed this, and there are active discussions on various Ubuntu lists and forums about developing such a tool. However, for the time being, you must do your initial Samba configuration in the aging but tried-and-true Linux way—by editing configuration files using a text editor. Samba’s configuration file is /etc/samba/smb.conf. The Samba configuration file contains many helpful comments, which are lines beginning with a hash mark. It also contains many sample, inactive configuration commands, which are lines beginning with a semicolon. These indicate configuration commands that you may want to activate by removing the leading semicolon.

Editing the file /etc/samba/smb.conf to configure Samba is actually quite simple, but is also somewhat inelegant when compared to the rest of the system administrative environment provided by Ubuntu Linux.

Regardless of whether a graphical tool for Samba setup and configuration is available by the time that you read this (check the System -> Administration menu), the information in this section still applies, and it’s actually quite useful to have some insights into where Samba configuration information is stored, and how the primary Samba configuration file is organized.

Web-based system administration tools such as swat (Samba Web Administration Tool) and webmin (a more generalized Web-based administrative environment) are available from the Ubuntu repositories, but require special configuration before they’ll work correctly in the Ubuntu environment. Rather than taking the conceptual detour of explaining how to use these tools, I’ll continue to wait for a desktop GNOME/Ubuntu solution for Samba setup and configuration. After all, KDE already has such a tool in its Control Center—and GNOME can’t (or shouldn’t be) far behind.

>>> Read more about Samba Server < <<

Source of Information : Ubuntu Linux - Bible

Here is something that is sure to get the attention of people who want unique PCs that also have a touch of eco-friendliness tagged alongside them. PC manufacturer Dell has reportedly unveiled the Eco-Friendly Mini Desktop PC Studio Hybrid which has a bamboo-clad concept as well.

Dell is release Eco-Friendly Mini Desktop Pc ‘Studio Hybrid. Designed with a bamboo-clad concept, the Studio Hybrid comes in six different colors. Measuring 72×211×197mm at 1.8kg, the Studio Hybrid is powered by Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390 processor, Windows Vista Home Basic/Premium, up to 4GB of RAM and 320GB HDD. It also supports WiFi, five USB ports and HDMI/DVI ports.

Source

With these specs on hand, any person looking for a great PC to invest in that is likewise different from the traditional ones in the market would be happy to get one of these. A good addition to the home-based people who love to do most of their computer work at home, all you have to do is choose the color and do some computing.

Not a bad deal for people looking for a new PC and contributing to essential green awareness that can be heard anywhere to clean up their act as far as carbon footprints are concerned.

You’ve probably all seen or even made Photosynths of computer desks, living rooms and scenic locales all around the world, but what about virtual worlds? Photosynth might have been made for the “real world” but it works just as well for virtual worlds like those in games. Granted, regenerating a virtual environment of a virtual environment might be defeating the purpose but the result can be still pretty interesting.

For proof, take a look at this wicked synth of the Halo 3 multiplayer map “Zanzibar” made by AlexOpposite.

Inspired by the above, I decided to take my own stab at making a synth of a virtual world. My weapon of choice was the classic Team Fortress 2 map “2fort”. To get the clean screenshots, I used a few console commands from this machinima tutorial.

Whilst mine has a slightly higher “synthy score” of 100%, the result isn’t as impressive as the Halo one but still looks pretty extraordinary. What I found is that Photosynth was sometimes confused by some extreme angles you can achieve in video games you might not otherwise. Game screenshots also lacked EXIF data like focal length which Photosynth otherwise would have used to make more accurate models.

I’m definitely going to try synth some other game maps, but for fun I’d love to see someone try synthesizing a side-scroller like Super Mario.

Just enter through safe mode with command prompt by pressing F8 key and then type

net user username new password.
now press enter

your password will be changed to whatever you have written in space of new password.
for eg your username is anu then type and u want to give password ram

net user anu ram and press enter
now ur password will be changed to ram.