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The LangaList
Standard Edition

2002-02-07

A Free Email Newsletter from Fred Langa
That Helps You Get More From Your Hardware, 
Software, and Time Online

Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!

1) WPA Lockout Workarounds

In the current InformationWeek column on "WPA Lockout Workarounds"  ( http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020131S0005 ) we discuss four ways you can potentially access your data even if it's been locked by WPA--- and even if it's in an NTFS partition or drive.

But one reader wrote:

I think you'd be hard pushed to get caught out by a WXP lockout during the initial month's grace....

While I agree it's not an imminent threat to every user--- most users won't ever see a lockout---  it *can* happen, and if you rely on your PC in such a way that unexpected downtime is a major hassle, I believe WPA lockouts are a risk worth avoiding.

For example, one way you might encounter a WPA lockout is if you or any software you use changes the system date on your pc (by design or accident). I did this experimentally by manually adjusting the system date, and was indeed locked out. Setting the date back did not remove the lock. If this had been a real instance instead of a test, I would have been locked out of my data until and unless I successfully completed activation.

System dates can be altered deliberately; or by bad system crashes; by system and software tests; by hardware or software errors; or by malice--- it wouldn't be that hard to write a worm or virus that would set XP's system date forward, for example, just to foul up XP users with unactivated software.

If you're like me and believe in "better safe than sorry" computing, come check out the WPA lockout workarounds discussed at http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020131S0005 , and then join in the discussion: Does the existence of workarounds for lockouts make WPA any more palatable for you? Do you know of other tools that can help dig data out of NTFS disks and partitions, with and without compression and encryption? What are your final thoughts on WPA? Join in at http://www.informationweek.com/forum/Fred Langa

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2) Steve Gibson's Free "Wizmo"

Thanks, Bryan. Readers who only know Steve for his security tools like ShieldsUp, OptOut and Unplug-And-Play may be surprised to see something like this, but Steve's work encompasses more than just security--- just look at all the stuff at http://www.grc.com .

Wizmo is an odd little beast--- part monitor manager, part screen saver, part shutdown/reboot tool. Those last functions are actually the ones that interested me the most, as they provide a free way to perform scheduled restarts of Windows XP; useful for performing automatic maintenance that must take place outside the normal operating system. I created a batch file containing just the command "wizmo reboot," and set up Task Scheduler to launch the batch file on mornings when I want XP to self-restart. Wizmo shuts down running apps, logs off, shuts down, and then restarts the PC, right up to the login screen.

Even if you only find one useful element in Wizmo, it's worth grabbing--- and odds are you'll find more than one thing about it you'll like. 8-)

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3) Boneheaded Blockers, Redux

In "Bonehead Blockers" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-02-04.htm#9 ) I told you how many content filters are totally without finesse, and routinely intercept even innocuous emails and web sites. In that issue, I used spaces to spread out words like p o r n  and s e x to foil the blockers. (There was no p o r n in the message--- it was just the word itself.)

But then I started getting a flood of bounce messages like these:

There were many others, but you get the idea: These content filters are dumb, dumb, dumb: There's no intelligence to their blocking--- it's just brute-force lookup tables.

The same thing happens in content filters designed to prevent surfing to "bad" sites: The good gets thrown out with the bad. One famous example: When AOL proudly rolled out new content filters, it immediately prevented its customers from accessing sites on things like b r e a s t cancer research, or joining s e x u a l   a b u s e  support groups, because those sites and groups contained forbidden words in their content. Sigh.

Ironically, because of the above, this issue will probably be blocked, too. 8-(

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4) Dead Floppy?

It's a good idea to try to read or format "unreadable" and "unformattable" floppies on a second machine. If both machines can't do anything with the floppies, the problem is most likely in the floppy itself, rather than in the floppy drive.

But if the floppy is OK, and you're sure the rest of your system is OK, all that's left is the floppy drive itself. I'd open the PC case and check for loose connections; blow out dust and dirt from inside the mechanism; and so forth; as a first step.

If there are no obvious electrical, mechanical, or dirt problems, and all the software seems to be working, then it may well be the floppy drive has died. Bad motors, actuators, and head alignments are all possible trouble areas.

You can try a software-only or hardware/software head recalibration ( http://www.google.com/search?q=recalibrate+floppy ), or take the drive to a repair shop. But repairs can be expensive, and floppies are cheap--- under $20 for brand-new, perfectly acceptable generic units.

So, if I suspected a dead or dying floppy drive, I'd just replace it. They're easy to install, and when you're done, the job will probably have cost less than having the old one repaired.

5) Roll Your Own Help Files, For Free

Hi Fred,  Is this something for you and/or LangaList readers? According to the site:

RTF2HLP is a freeware tool that converts directly a Microsoft Word RTF document to a Windows Help file. The main advantage of RTF2HLP is that it converts documents without the need of any extra project files. Writing a help file is as simple as this

1. Write your document using Microsoft® Word.
2. Save it to RTF.
3. Compile it to HLP using RTF2HLP.

For more information and file download, see http://www.ariacom.com/rtf2hlp/

Another page that might be of interest is http://www.weaverlane.com/tech/windows.html  Read in particular the bottom half of the page. Hope this information is useful.--- Claire Moll

Thanks Claire! Both items--- help file freeware in the first link, and the extensive Windows resources in the second--- will benefit many people!

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6) Want $10,000?

The Recommend-It site gives away up to $10,000 as an incentive to use their service to recommend newsletters like this one!

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber; and you just may win $10,000 or other prizes from the folks at "Recommend-It:"
http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=143182

Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... and more. (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm

Either way, thank you, and good luck!

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7) Free Photo/Image Editor

We've discussed this topic in the past, with the editor called "irfanview" ( http://www.irfanview.com/ ) getting more reader raves than any other. But this tool seems worth a look, too:

Thanks, Dan. In fact, here's a direct link to the uLead freeware download page: http://www.ulead.com/download/freeware.htm

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8) They Loaded The Code

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the hundreds and hundreds of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://www.langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://www.langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://www.langa.com/readersites.htm

How To Protect Your Website (and more...)
http://www.cre8pc.com/scam_protectsite.html

"Papua New Guinea's only dedicated Software Developer"
http://www.lexacorp.com.pg/

Percy Priest Yacht Club
http://www.ppyc.org/index.htm

Stephen Carey
http://www.stephencarey.com/

Martial Arts
http://www.shouyuliang.com/index.shtml

Home Biz Opps
http://www.home-ebiz-ops.com/

Stray Books
http://www.straybooks.com/

World's Largest Interactive BBS
http://www.bbsnets.com/public/default.htm

Open Window Software
http://www.openwindow.com/index.html

The Site For Sore Eyes
http://www.millerarts.com/eyes/index.html

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9) More Password-Recovery Tools

In "Recovering Forgotten Passwords" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-02-04.htm#3 ) we discussed several ways to work around or recover lost Windows logon passwords (an annoyance in Win98, but a major hassle in NT/2K/XP). Reader Dave Miller knew of other alternatives:

Here's a site you may want to know about for solving password recovery problems: http://www.elcomsoft.com/prs.html  I can personally vouch for their Advanced NT Security Explorer program ( http://www.elcomsoft.com/antexp.html )...almost scary how fast passwords can be cracked if not properly constructed. Best regards, Dave Miller

Thanks, Dave. Indeed, these kinds of tools fall into a gray area. They can be used for totally legitimate purposes, or used to maliciously break into a PC. Having a well-constructed password will make both kinds of entry more difficult; one hopes the extra annoyance will *not* deter legitimate users, but *will* frustrate crackers, and entice them to move on to an easier-to-crack systems.

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10) Just For Grins

My sister sent me these baaaaaaad puns <g>:

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights

• Powerful, Personal SMTP (Email) Server
• Free ICQ Security Software
• Manage Your Favorites... Visually

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 30% more content including: a powerful tool that lets you bypass your local ISP's mail server (and a great tools for "mobile geeks!"); free security-enhancing software for ICQ, web-based email, Napster/Gnutella, and similar online services; and a tool that provides easy visual management of your "favorites." 

And the Plus! Edition costs only pocket change: about 13 cents per issue! Info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm 

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See you next issue!

Best,

Fred
(fred@langa.com)

Please recommend the LangaList to a friend! (And maybe win $10,000!I)

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