For the first time, today I noticed that Google's Gmail was unavailable for a large part of the day. I wonder if someone launched a DOS attack or something to knock the service offline...?
Be very careful about what you're clicking on when surfing the Internet. Take, for example, the following image:
At first glance, this looks deceptively like a real Windows 'Window', but it really is trying to get you to buy something, infect you with something, or at the very least, go to a site you really don't need to visit. Look carefully at the title bar (blue bar at the top of the window) and the status bar text (at the bottom of the window). If you try to click the 'Next' or 'Cancel' buttons, they've got you. Closing it with the red 'X' in the upper right corner is your best bet.
Through a short series of unfortunate events, my Sandisk Cruzer Mini 256MB USB flash drive recently went through an entire wash and dry cycle.
Surprisingly (or maybe not, for some readers), it still functions just fine, and didn't even lose any data during the ordeal. Maybe SanDisk could work that in to their marketing approach or something...
Given the popularity of my first post in this area, here is a second list of Windows processes that recently needed killing to bring a client's PC back to life...First, here's the obligatory disclaimer: Your results may vary...killing processes may screw up your system...you've been warned.
- CxtPls.exe – In a folder (C:\program files\CxtPls) along with CxtPls.dll and CxtPls.htm files. Also found CXTPLS.EXE-254B7FF2.pf. This one had an ‘Uninstall’ file that removed everything but the dll and another file called ProxyStub.dll
- Xdo26uwL.exe – found only XFO26UWL.EXE-2EBD47A6.pf in C:\windows\prefetch
- KagQn.exe -
- Sain.exe – located in C:\windows\system32 – likely a ‘Search Assistant’ from 180solutions. Related Links: here and here.
- TBPS.exe and TBPSSvc.exe – In the C:\Program Files\Toolbar folder…also found TBPS.EXE-2EE5A9EB.pf in C:\windows\prefetch. Related Link: here
- Support.exe - support.exe is a process which is registered as the W32.Akosw@mm virus. This virus comes with it's own SMTP engine which means it has the ability to send e-mails regardless of user interaction, and does so. It is a registered security risk and should be removed immediately
- PIB.exe - PIB.exe is an advertising program. This process monitors your browsing habits and distributes the data back to the author's servers for analysis. This also prompts advertising popups. This program is a registered security risk and should be removed immediately.
- dxmprxy.exe – located in C:\windows\system32
- fauutils.exe – located in C:\windows\system32
- EbatesMoeMoneyMaker1.exe
- dhbrwsr – located in C:\windows – probably adware - Related Links: here and here
Definitions for Support.exe and PIB.exe are taken directly from www.processlibrary.com, an excellent online (and free!) resource.
Many of the above processes couldn't be killed directly in Task Manager (because they'd pop right back as soon as I killed them). I use SysInternals Process Explorer to delete the entire process tree, and it worked great! Another warning, don't muck around with Process Explorer if you don't know what you're doing, bad things can happen.
If I have a Strongly Typed DataSet that Visual Studio 2003 created for me, I (think I) should be able to do the following:
Given a Strongly Typed DataSet created with a Table named 'Names', which has two columns named 'FirstName' and 'LastName'...
dsContacts ds = new dsContacts();
DataRow dr = ds.Names.NewRow();
dr.FirstName = “John”;
dr.LastName = “Bowen”;
The problem I'm seeing is that Intellisense doesn't make the columns' names (FirstName, LastName) available. In fact, I can't figure out ANY way to list columns for the DataRow dr.
According to the Microsoft examples listed here and here, this sure seems like it should work...?
Whenever I minimize my Visual Studio.Net 2003 window (the IDE window itself), I lose the ability to restore it...when I try, I get this view:
I can close it by hitting the close button in the control box (the red X). I can then re-open it immediately, and it will work fine until it gets minimized the next time.
I know there are at least two people that read this blog :)...have either of you seen this before?
[edit 2005 Jan 17]After installing a new monitor (at a much higher resolution), this problem has gone away. Maybe the resolution settings on my old monitor were messing up Windows' ability to repaint the VS window?[/edit]
We had a lot of fun getting it, but here's the final product:
In cleaning out clients' PC's, I frequently use the excellent list of known Windows processes located at ProcessLibrary.com. Tonight, though, I ran across a whole slew of processes that ProcessLibrary's search tool apparently hadn't been exposed to yet. I certainly don't have time to submit them all as possible 'new' processes, but hopefully someone will read this and gain confidence from the fact that I removed all of these (killed them, actually, with the 'End Process' button) without problems.
In no particular order, they are WebRebates1.exe, WebRebates0.exe, WinTaskAd.exe, paint.exe, uptime.exe, msie.exe, updatemgr.exe, McVSEscn.exe, svcshost.exe (NOT svchost! Leave svchost alone! I tried to warn you!), WinSched.exe, libsysmgr.exe (this one was BRUTAL...kept coming back after being killed...only a 'Safe Mode' reboot, manual deletion, and Hijack This! cleaning could get it), orro.exe, chkdsk.exe, and svphost.exe. Please note, these were running processes...found by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del and selecting the processes tab. No guarantees expressed or implied...stopping processes can be a dangerous thing. Good Luck, Spyware hunters.
My poor old Cassiopeia E100 used to have software in it that made the 'desktop' a little better...specifically, the tasks displayed there turned into hyperlinks that you could tap to drill into a particular task.
When the batteries went completely dead a couple weeks ago, I lost that feature, and man do I miss it. I think it was from an update called (something like) Microsoft's Power Toys for Windows CE, but I can't seem to find the version I need out there. Anybody know where I can still get it?
Jes pointed this out to me some time ago, but I just got a chance to go back and really look it over...if you want a pretty good laugh, check out Chris Rae's online English-to-American dictionary (scroll to the bottom for an index). The humo(u)r archive on Chris Rae's home page is pretty entertaining, too.
Congrats to Shane Haskin, who won his political bid for Clare County Drain Commissioner last week!
I think many people don't realize...the 'from' part of any email you receive can be faked...almost as easily as faking the return address on a regular letter.
The email's header information has details about where it really came from, but to expand on the analogy above, it's roughly the same as seeing that the postmark on the envelope doesn't match the city of origin...and in reality, even that information can be forged in an email.
Even if you receive an email from someone you might normally expect, if their name/address don't look right in the 'From' field, be suspicious. Be wary of extra quotation marks, spaces, or other punctuation in their details, because it might not really be from your friend.
Me (goofing around, to my 6 year old son): “Who's your favorite daddy?”
His immediate reply: “You are, 'cause I don't have a stepdad, but if I did, it'd make my decision harder.”
Some good friends of ours (to protect the guilty, we'll call them...“Steve” and “Julie“) were recently traveling with their 4 and 6 year olds by vehicle, and the kids were watching a DVD in the back seat. When they got home (after dark), the kids ignored multiple parental requests to “shut it off”, “go inside”, etc., so our friends shut off the car and left the kids in it.
“Steve” and “Julie” live in a pretty remote area, so when the lights are off...it's really dark. Anyway, they shut lights off, went inside, and shut the garage door. About 20 minutes later, the phone (in the house) rang. When they answered, they found it was their six-year-old, calling from the cell phone...from the car in the driveway.
He asked them to turn on the lights because it was too dark outside.
It's been about 15 years since I was involved in the Boy Scouts, and frankly I haven't thought about it much during that time. Now that we have a son old enough to be a Tiger Cub, he and I have both joined Cub Scout Pack 3944 in Roscommon.
I'm impressed with the number and apparent dedication of the adult leaders in the pack. It's great to see how the whole Scouting program has grown (and, apparently, how strong it is in our own hometown) while I was away from it all.
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