Steps to take before running a program locally Everyone knows that before running a program you downloaded from the net, you should
1. Do your research (check out what people are saying about the software on google groups etc)
2. Read the EULA (End User License Agreement) with the help of
Javacool's Eulalyzer.
3. Download from a trust worthy source, check site reputation using services like
SiteAdvisor (or
free alternatives)
4. Scan the executable with not just your local antivirus but also get second and third options with various
Online malware Scanners, particularly multiple engine scanners like
VirusTotal (or
alternatives). Advanced users should scan with sandboxing type scanners like
Anubis or
PC Tools Threat Expert (or
alternatives).
But these methods aren't foolproof , but what other defenses are there to ensure recovery if the programs turns out to be malicious or bad?
Using installation monitorsHow they work - These tools monitor changes made during installation of a program. This is achieved by creating a mini-snapshot of the entries in the file system, registry (typically it is not 100%) before the installer is run, followed by another run after the installer is run to capture any changes (some may require reboots to capture all changes).
Examples (freeware unless otherwise indicated) -
Inctrl ,
Click to continue reading "Practising safe installs."
Written by Madhukara H on September 6th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Vista guides and vista tools.
First let me start by saying that one of the main features of Windows Vista is the new user accounts security enhancements, but sometimes, defaults don't meet everyone's taste when it comes to how we deal with our PCs. I for one, always used full administrator accounts since I first knew what a Windows user account is, and never been hit by a virus/spyware/crap, using common sense and updated AV software, so I don't want to give permissions to myself or face strange error messages every time I do a simple task on my computer.
We know UAC feature in Windows Vista, and we all know how to disable it, this is not the purpose of this thread, because even after you disable UAC, you'll have other prompts about folder/file permissions errors sometimes (I faced it in strange, unexpected occasions, like deleting an empty folder for a program left by the uninstaller), or you'll need to right click and select "Run as Administrator" for most applications to work/install correctly.
That's because Microsoft made the administrators accounts (in local administrators group) run as standard users, unless we give permissions for every and each administrative tasks, with a little difference when UAC is turned on/off
Enough introductions, lets get our hands dirty:
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Remember that cute "Administrator" account you see when you login to safe mode in XP? That's the built-in administrator account that's installed by default, and disabled by default too, after a little digging-in I...
Click to continue reading "Make your Vista’s admin account acts like in XP, Always in full control"
Written by Madhukara H on September 6th, 2007 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Xp Vs Vista and Vista guides and Hack and UAC and vista.
This is a pretty cool software....It gives the Mac OSX Expose kinda feeling to the Vista PCs (only Vista....There are few other softwares that are designed for XP, but not this)
Here's a screenshot:

You can get the latest beta version from here [
link ]
The previous versions can be downloaded from here: [
link ]
But you should try the latest one in the previous link because it adds much more cool things to it....and it's working stably for a beta...
Written by Madhukara H on September 5th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Vista guides and vista tools.