January 12th, 2009

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Windows 7 : Hack Windows 7 to Force Enable Aero

If the Normal method to enable Aero in Windows 7 is not working you can try to hack the Aero Peek in Windows 7 to make it work.

Hack Windows 7 to Force Enable Aero

1. Open Registry Editor (RegEdit).

2. Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM

If the DWM registry key is not found, right click on Windows and then select New -> Key to create new branch and name it as DWM.

3. In the right details pane, create a new DWORD (32-bit value) named UseMachineCheck, and set its value to 0.

4. In the right details pane, create a new DWORD (32-bit value) named Blur, and set its value to 0.

5. In the right details pane, create a new DWORD (32-bit value) named Animations, and set its value to 0.

6. Restart the Desktop Window Manager Session Manager in Services in Control Panel (type Services.msc in Start Search), or run the following commands in a command prompt with administrator privileges:

net stop uxsms

net start uxsms

7. Attempt to enable and apply Windows Aero in Windows 7. Restart the computer if required.[Via Digital Life]

Written by ShaDow on January 12th, 2009 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Windows 7 Tips and otherSoftware.

Windows 7 : How to Turn On and Enable Aero in Windows 7 (Enable Aero Peek)

Windows Aero features in Windows 7 has been greatly enhanced and improved with new features such as Aero Peek.if the PC’s display card satisfy the minimum requirement to run Windows Aero, which appears to be not much different to what’s required in Windows Vista - 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1 GB (gigabyte) of RAM memory and a DirectX 9 compatible GPU with a minimum of 128 MB of Video RAM, installed with Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) driver - Windows 7 will automatically enable and turn on Aero upon installation.

Another way to know if your Windows 7 system supports Aero or not is to look at Windows Experience Index score. The score (both base score and subscore for graphics component) should be equal or higher than 3.0 for Aero to work.

1. Make sure that Windows Experience Index has been calculated and computed.

2. Click on Start menu.

3. Type the following text into the Start Search box:

Aero

4. Click on a search result listing under Control Panel group that named as the following:

Find and fix problems with transparency and other visual effects

5. An “Aero - Troubleshoot computer problems” wizard dialog will appear. Click on Next button.

6. The troubleshooting wizard will try to detect any problem by running a series of checks against various components required to make Aero works and running, the wizard will attempt to fix the issues related to Aero service and restart the Aero feature.

If everything fails, try the hack to force enable Windows Aero in Windows 7.[Via Digital Life]

Written by ShaDow on January 12th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Windows 7 Tips and otherSoftware.

Windows 7 Thoughts

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this because there is “Windows 7 Overload” going on around the web right now. It’s needless too spend much time, or energy writing about it, but I do have a few thoughts to share.

First - it’s what Vista should have been in the first place. There isn’t much about it that I *don’t* like. It really doesn’t feel like Beta software at all - it’s very feature complete, and stable.

I have loaded the x64 version on my Workstation at work (yes I have a “Vista recovery plan”), so I’ll be “living in it” 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week. Hopefully I won’t find any major bugs, or show stoppers, and hopefully many others will not either so that MS can get this thing to Market ASAP!

My only gripe is here w/ my home PC. I can’t run VirtualBox (not sure why - prolly a kernel difference), and also my Gaming performance went down dramatically, but think that is due to a lack of optimized drivers. Both of these will be corrected by the RTM date.

In the meantime I’m running Windows XP 64-bit edition at home - I can’t bring myself to run Vista after tasting the sweetness that is known as Windows 7…Vista would feel like a “cheap knock-off”.

Great Job Microsoft!

Written by jaysonrowe on January 12th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on otherSoftware and Computing.

Manual Removal of W32/Bdoor-ZAR Backdoor Worm

Manual Removal of W32/Bdoor-ZAR Backdoor Worm.

W32/Bdoor-ZAR is a network worm with backdoor functionality for the Windows platform.
The backdoor component accepts commands from remote users.
Other names of W32/Bdoor-ZAR Worm:
This Worm is also known as Worm.Win32.AutoRun.skg, WORM_AUTORUN.CCJ.

Damage Level : High/Medium
Distribution Level: Unknown

No Auto Removal Tool for W32/Bdoor-ZAR Backdoor Worm
Try ProtectorPlus W32/Autorun Worm Removal 1.0

Mirror Link 1

Mirror Link 2
Worm Manual Removal Instructions
Recommend Removal from Safe Mode:
How to Start in Safe mode:
Restart your Computer, Press F8 Repeatedly, when your Screen turns on, Select Safe mode, press enter.

The Infected Files Can be Seen in these folders and names also Running in Tasks
End the Following Active Process Before Removal

%\Windows\System\cfg.exe
%\config\cfg.exe [ Runs on Startup ]
%\config\s-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\cfg.exe
- If you have any of these files in running process from task manger, end the process before removal.
- Note: if task manager is disabled
  Download the following file[ Right click and select “Save Target as” ]
  Click to Download - Enable Registry.reg
- Open it with Regedit.exe [%system32\regedit.exe], then it Confirms Add to registry Yes or No, Confirm Yes, then click Ok.

Backdoor Entries Manual Removal From Registry

Click Start, Run,Type regedit,Click OK.

Note: If the registry editor fails to open the threat may have modified the registry to prevent access to the registry editor.
Download and run this UnHookExec.inf, and then continue with the removal.
Save it to your Windows desktop. Do not run it at this time, download it only.
After booting into the Safe Mode or VGA Mode
Right-click the UnHookExec.inf file and click Install. [This is a small file. It does not display any notice or boxes when you run it.]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cfg
Type dword:00000010

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cfg
Start dword:00000002

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cfg
ErrorControl dword:00000000

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cfg
ImagePath (may be encoded)

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cfg
DisplayName cfg

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cfg
ObjectName LocalSystem

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cfg\Security
Security

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_CFG

Manual Removal of W32/AutoRun.SKG Worm

Manual Removal of W32/AutoRun.SKG Worm.

W32/AutoRun.SKG is a Worm. The Worm will infect Windows systems.
This Worm first appeared on January 12, 2009.
Other names of W32/AutoRun.SKG Worm:
This Worm is also known as Worm.Win32.AutoRun.skg, WORM_AUTORUN.CCJ.

Damage Level : High/Medium
Distribution Level: Unknown

No Auto Removal Tool for W32/AutoRun.SKG Worm
Try W32/Autorun Worm Removal 1.0

Mirror Link 1

The Infected Files Can be Seen in these folders and names also Running in Tasks
End the Following Active Process Before Removal

%\config [ Creates on Windows Installed Drive Root Folder ]
%\config\cfg.exe [ Runs on Startup ]
%\config\s-1-5-21-1482476501-1644491937-682003330-1013\cfg.exe
- If you have any of these files in running process from task manger, end the process before removal.
- Note: if task manager is disabled
  Download the following file[ Right click and select “Save Target as” ]
  Click to Download - Enable Registry.reg
- Open it with Regedit.exe [%system32\regedit.exe], then it Confirms Add to registry Yes or No, Confirm Yes, then click Ok.

Worm Entries Manual Removal From Registry

Click Start, Run,Type regedit,Click OK.

Note: If the registry editor fails to open the threat may have modified the registry to prevent access to the registry editor.
Download and run this UnHookExec.inf, and then continue with the removal.
Save it to your Windows desktop. Do not run it at this time, download it only.
After booting into the Safe Mode or VGA Mode
Right-click the UnHookExec.inf file and click Install. [This is a small file. It does not display any notice or boxes when you run it.]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components

Search Registry For Virus File Names listed above to remove completely,
Edit Menu - Find, enter Keyword and remove all value that find in search.

Exit the Registry Editor,

Restart your Computer.

Recommended Removal Tools:

Kaspersky Antivirus or Internet Security (Shareware)
Spyware Doctor (Shareware)
AVG Antivirus (Freeware)

Killbox (Freeware)

Written by FireFly on January 12th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on cfg.exe and W32/AutoRun.SKG and worm removal and manual removal and otherSoftware and Windows.

Windows 7 Boot From VHD

One of a new features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability to boot from a VHD. It is pretty simple to enable this feature and have it ready at your disposal! Before you begin you should note the following…

You can only boot a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 VHD
You must configure the boot editor from a Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 install
You cannot use a Virtual PC VHD, I suggest a Hyper-V VHD
You need to start with a clean slate, don’t try and reuse an old VHD

I am sure this will change as Windows 7 goes through the beta and RC stages on its way to RTM and we’ll update this as necessary but here goes…

Start by launching a Command Prompt and be sure to run as Administrator, once that is done run the following commands…

bcdedit /copy {current} /d “Boot_From_VHD”

Copy the CSLID that is displayed and then run…

bcdedit /set [CLSID} osdevice vhd=[C:]\vhdname.vhd

You can replace [C:]\vhdname.vhd with the path and name of your VHD.

Once that is complete reboot and you will have the option to “Boot_From_VHD”! You can verify the bootloader is configured correctly with the bcdedit command which will list all the boot options.

For more information be sure to check out the Windows 7 resource page on Technet.com