Dave "Bytes"

Please remember to use your thinker, before you tinker!

November 23, 2005

A Periodic Newsletter for the Members of the Sarasota PC User Group and the World!!

Click here to subscribe to Dave "Bytes"
(Please provide your full name and email address)

Let's Start With A Windows Tip

Showing Recent Documents

Some people love the recent documents feature. Most people hate it. That's why Microsoft turned it off in the final, shipping version of Windows XP/Home. Heaven only knows why it's present in Windows XP/Pro.

In most normal circumstances — with well-behaved programs that don't crash — Windows keeps track of which documents you've opened. You can have Windows show a list of those documents on the Start menu, just under My Documents.

Folks who like the feature appreciate being able to retrieve documents quickly and easily, without spelunking for the program that created them: Click a Word document in the My Recent Documents folder, and Word comes to life, with the document open and ready to rumble.

Folks who hate the feature would just as soon open the application and use the application's most recently opened file list (typically on the File menu) to retrieve their documents. Some don't particularly want to leave (yet another) record of what they've been doing lying around for prying eyes.

Follow these steps if you want to turn on My Recent Documents:

Right-click Start and click Properties.
On the Start Menu tab, make sure that the Start Menu check box is selected, and then click the Customize button.
On the Advanced tab, select the List My Most Recently Opened Documents check box.

Note that you can return to this location to clear out the list. But clearing the list here does not clear similar lists in your applications, such as Word or Internet Explorer. For those, you have to refer to the application itself.

BITS

BYTES

Every Sunday
from
9:30 - 10:45 amWIBQ
Sunny 1220
am talk radio

See Who Won

Last Sunday

See What You Can Win

This Sunday

Clicking on Dave will take you to the

"Bits & Bytes"

site where you can listen to the most recent broadcast

Click to

Listen "LIVE" on the Internet

Every Sunday at 9:30 am eastern

Here's A Word Tip

Adding a Work Menu

Sue Crane, Big Bear Computer Club, CA

Sue.crane@charter.net

Word keeps a list of most recently used documents in its File menu, but I find that if I'm working on multiple documents, the file I want isn't listed in the recent list. In order to quickly access the files I use frequently, I've added a Work menu to my list.

To add a Work menu, click on the Tools menu, then select Customize.

In the Customize Window, click on the Commands tab and in the Categories: option list, click the Built-in Menus option. Next, in the Commands: option list, find the Work option and click and hold your mouse button.

Drag the Work option to where the other menus are located. Release the mouse and your new Work menu will appear. Using the Work menu once you've created it is easy. When you open a document you often use, click on the Work menu, then click on the Add to Work Menu option. The document will be added to the Work menu list and can be opened from that menu in the future.

The "Bytes" Beg, Bargain & Barter Basement

Got something "computer related" to sell? Looking for that rare peripheral? If it's computer related you can submit a short classified ad for exposure in Dave "Bytes". Be sure to include your name and e-mail address in the ad. You can also include a picture of the item. Now some would suggest that there be a charge for this feature but alas, since my bookkeeping skills leave much to be desired I've determined that this will be a free service to all SPCUG members in good standing. "Bytes" is currently sent to almost 1500 homes in the area. Ad requests will be included as soon as possible. I assume absolutely no responsibility as to the accuracy or completeness of supplied info. All transactions are between consulting adults which leaves me entirely off the hook. Please let me know by clicking HERE when your merchandise is sold so that I can remove it from the listing. I will try to run each ad for a month.

Click Here To Submit Your Ad

Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
Full Version (not upgrade version)

Office Professional Edition 2003 Contains
Access
Outlook
Word
PowerPoint
Publisher
Outlook with Business Contact Manager
Excel

For Sale

Logitech QuickCam® Pro 4000

On www.logitech.com for $99.00

Buy "Used" for $39.00

Call or E-Mail Dave
941-929-1823
davegerber@comcast.net

Video enthusiasts get ready... the QuickCam was made just for you. By combining a digital zoom, built-in microphone, and high-quality VGA CCD sensor, the QuickCam Pro 4000 lets you express your creativity like a pro.

Now you can create amazing videos and shoot 1.3 megapixel still photos with ease. Or add live video to your instant messages while you chat. You can also make live video calls, set up a video monitoring system, or send photos and video along with your email. You can even add video to your eBay auctions.

Enhance the way you communicate and animate your life.

v Enjoy 640x480 video resolution with the advanced VGA CCD sensor and high-quality 1.3 megapixel photo resolution

v Zoom in or out, even pan and tilt to get the right shot

v Add live video to your favorite instant messenger: MSN® Messenger, AOL® Instant Messenger™ (AIM®), Yahoo!® Messenger, and Windows® Messenger

v Send live video to mobile phones with Logitech Mobile Video™

v Create movies like a pro with studio-quality video editing software

v Compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1

The Creative Way to Get Closer

v Add live video to your favorite instant messenger: MSN® Messenger, AOL® Instant Messenger™ (AIM®), Yahoo!® Messenger, and Windows® Messenger

v Shoot 1.3 megapixel (software interpolated) photos and high-quality videos

v Edit movies and photos with studio-quality software

v Make live video calls

v Email video and photos easily

v Get closer with a digital zoom

v Conduct online video conferences and calls using Windows® Messenger or Microsoft® NetMeeting

v Speak your mind with the built-in microphone

v Add video to your eBay® auctions with SpotLife™ VideoSnap

v Create fun animated films

v Create web albums, broadcast live video and audio, and set up a web cam

v Also works with Yahoo!® Messenger and Windows® Messenger

Product Specifications

v Video capture: Up to 640 x 480 pixels (VGA CCD)

v Still image capture: Up to 1280 x 960 pixels, 1.3 megapixels

v Frame rate: Up to 30 frames per second (with recommended system)

v Included Software

v FREE Logitech® IM Video Companion™

v Live video-enabled Yahoo! Messenger

v One-click video e-mail software

v Video broadcasting software

v Web album creator software

v Web camera software

v Motion detection software

v Animation software

Extra Software

v Studio-quality video editing software

v Free software updates with news and the latest features

v Add video to your eBay® Auctions with SpotLife™ VideoSnap

Minimum System Requirements (PC)

v Windows® 98, Windows® 2000, Windows® Me, Windows® XP

v Pentium® II 400, Celeron™, AMD Athlon® processor, or higher (Pentium III 500, Celeron™, AMD Athlon® processor recommended).

v 64 MB RAM (or minimum OS requirement whichever is higher).

v 200 MB free hard drive space

v CD-ROM drive

v 16-bit color display adapter

v Windows®-compatible sound card and speakers (full duplex sound card recommended)

For Web activities and to send or receive video e-mail

v Web browser such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer™ 4.0 or higher or Netscape® Navigator™ 4.0 or higher

v E-mail application that supports file attachment such as AOL 7.0 Microsoft® Outlook™ Express or Netscape® Mail 4.x or higher

v Minimum 28.8K modem and Internet connection with e-mail account

v Sound card and speakers needed for audio playback

What Is Spyware?
by Anton Chuvakin

Spyware

Spyware is a new strand of malicious software (or malware), annoying, and capable of robbing computer users all over the world.

Thus, spyware has come to mean not only the "software that spies on you," but also the software that performs other kinds of abuses and annoyances, outside the traditional virus-and-worm world. For example, displaying unwanted ads is a primary purpose of "adware," which is often categorized as a type of spyware. In fact, some people even extend the definition to cover browser cookies, relatively innocuous pieces of text used by websites for user tracking.

One angle missed by the above definition is that while some folks are known to launch viruses and worms, two well-known types of computer nasties, "just for fun," spyware is usually written for somebody's direct monetary benefit, often in the form of good old cash. This aspect is one of the keys to the dramatic rise of spyware.

Spyware emerged in recent years to "entertain" computer users. This emergence coincided with a sea change in the world of mainstream computer attackers that shifted their focus from having fun at somebody else's expense to making money at somebody else's expense. Spyware, along with spam, phishing ("social engineering" attacks via email intent on stealing credentials), and pharming (DNS attacks aimed at attracting users to malicious websites), is one of the most noticeable computer threats of the day. We did say "noticeable," although spyware is often engineered to be hard to find, hard to notice, hard to pay attention to (that is, hidden in a lengthy license) and, obviously, hard to remove. Spyware evolved in the same time frame as e-commerce and online banking. As business use of the internet was growing up, so was business abuse.

How Spyware Works

The world of spyware is extremely broad and the mechanisms of its operation range from a mundane social engineering ruse (e.g. three pages of license "blah-blah-blah" followed by "and we will also steal your cookies and browser history for 'marketing purposes'") to a "zero-day" (that is, previously unpublished) exploit launched against the victim's Internet Explorer by malicious or compromised websites.

Here are some of the commonly identified types of spyware:

v Browser objects (IE hacks, ActiveX controls, malicious toolbars, and so on)

v Bots and rootkits (allow others to control your system remotely)

v Keyloggers (record your keystrokes looking for sensitive data)

v Bundled parasite software (miscellaneous nuisance)

v Adware (run on the system or in the browser to display advertisements)

Let's look at some common spyware specimens. As reported by commercial anti-spyware company Sunbelt Software, these spyware programs were common in September 2005: Claria.DashBar, AvenueMedia.DyFuCA, IST.SlotchBar, ABetterInternet, and IST.ISTbar, to name a few. Most of the above are "adware" specimens (they display ads that can potentially generate revenue for the software creator) and do not spy on the victim, but others (such as IST.ISTbar, a malicious browser toolbar) actually collect web usage information and may install other, more harmful spyware on the user's system.

How Spyware Spreads

There are many mechanisms for spreading spyware, employed by their creators. Let's look at a few common ways spyware can infect:

v When installed by other spyware (unlike viruses and worms, spyware rarely treads alone; some machines analyzed by the anti-spyware vendors were found to have hundreds of spyware specimens)

v When installed by malicious websites through flaws in Internet Explorer (so called "drive-by downloads")

v When bundled with "free" or sponsored applications (unfortunately, with permission of the application creators)

Later we'll cover some of the things all computer users should do to lower the risk of "catching spyware."

Spyware's Impact on Your PC

Overall, what can spyware do on your system? For that, we will refer you to Microsoft's Ten Immutable Laws of Security. While it might be ironic that such laws are formulated by the makers of the most common spyware platform -- Windows -- they do provide vital insight into security. For example, Law 1 proclaims: "If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore." Thus, the above question becomes "what can spyware do on their system?" The answer to this one is really easy: everything that its creator wants. Common changes due to spyware include registry changes, browser configuration and settings modification, new program installation, as well as using your system for whatever else is needed. In other words, spyware, when installed and running, can do everything you can do on your system (and sometimes more).

Table 1 shows the direct damage you might suffer from spyware.

Loss	Types of spyware	Scenario
Direct financial loss	Keylogger	Somebody steals your online banking passwords and transfers the money to his account abroad
Slow system performance	All	A machine running dozens or more types of spyware will slow down to a crawl
Display unwanted content	Browser objects, other	A website can install a malicious toolbar that will show popup ads and objectionable web content
Loss of privacy	Browser plug-ins	All web personal history collected and potentially exposed

Table 1. Types of loss caused by spyware

Protecting Yourself

Now that the evils of spyware are understood, let's use the well-known security mantra "prevention/detection/response" to focus on what you can do to:

v Prevent spyware from happening to you

v Detect that it might be sneaking by the defenses

v After it happens anyway, respond by cleaning your systems

First, will an antivirus solution will take care of all spyware problems? The answer is a resounding "no." Many anti-spyware products (both freeware and commercial) have features to block (prevention), scan for (detection), and remove the offending program (response), but PC Magazine>/em>'s recent anti-spyware and antivirus software review, which compares stand-alone anti-spy defenses, indicates that antivirus solutions still do not do a good job of fending off hordes of spies.

Fortunately though, there are several simple things every computer user can do to lower the risk of spyware infection:

1. Keep your Windows systems up-to-date by using Microsoft Update, which will update both your Windows and MS Office software. Installing Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack) is also important.

2. Restrict some of the Internet Explorer settings (refer to Google for tips) or use Firefox, which significantly decreases the chance of spyware infestation. Here are some of the important settings to tweak: block popups using Windows XP SP2 popup blocker or another solution, limit or block ActiveX controls, and limit file downloads via the IE settings panel.

3. Use antivirus and anti-spyware tools, and frequently update them using each tool's own automated update mechanism. The best free programs to use are Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware, and Windows AntiSpyware (to be renamed Windows Defender later this year). Most antivirus vendors, such as Symantec, McAfee, and Trendmicro are launching their own anti-spyware solutions. However, stand-alone anti-spyware companies such as Webroot and Sunbelt Software still outperform them. Also, make sure that you not only run the anti-spyware software, but also use it to perform spyware scans on a periodic basis, just like you do with an antivirus software.

4. Use a personal firewall with outbound protection; it might notify you when the spyware that sneaked in tries to "extrude" the stolen information to its "mothership." It is important to note that at the time of this writing, Windows' built-in firewall didn't offer this protection, so other free (such as ZoneAlarm from Check Point) or paid (such as Norton or McAfee) software solutions should be used.

5. Use only software obtained from trusted sources. For those needing a more specific suggestion, downloading from a random site from the Internet or receiving it from a "friend" you just met online does not count.

If you think your system is acting suspiciously, you need to determine if spyware is the factor to blame. Since there are so many parts of the system that can be modified by spyware, the best way for users to detect spyware is to run any of the free anti-spyware tools mentioned above. For better results, run multiple tools, since recent tool surveys indicate that no commercial or free tool will detect all spyware specimens. Some of the tools will also attempt to clean spyware traces, which brings us to the next item: response to spyware infections.

As far as responding to a spyware infection, the only guaranteed 100 percent effective measure a user can take is to rebuild a system. Only this will guarantee removal of all traces of malicious software from a system. On a typical Windows system there are numerous places where a piece of malicious code might reside. In a more real-world situation, where it is not possible or desirable to rebuild the entire system, try looking for spyware removal tools, sometime published by anti-spyware and antivirus vendors. All of the above anti-spyware solutions provide this functionality and will clean the spyware traces with varying degrees of efficiency (often depending on the type of malicious program). Same applies to the antivirus tools with anti-spyware defenses. However, note that the latter category is more likely to leave the risk alone and just warn the user about its presense.

Microsoft, which is now an anti-spyware vendor due to a recent acquisition, often publishes stand-alone removal tools for various malware. Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool, which is updated monthly, can be downloaded to your system via Automatic Updates or the above link. It can be run online from the above link (via an ActiveX control).

Removing complicated spyware manually, such as a driver-based keylogger, will often render the system inoperable and should only be undertaken by those intimately familiar with their system internals. On the other hand, instructions for removing simpler specimens, such as adware, are often published online and can be followed by anybody who maintains their own PC.

The Future

To conclude, we will try to peek into our crystal ball, a necessary tool for an enlightened security professional. What's next for spyware? Will spyware bother us for years to come? It sure looks likely; there is no reason why the spyware creators will stop since -- guess what -- it pays the bills and there is no clear way to make such practices "prohibitively expensive" for their creators.

Anton Chuvakin is a Security Strategist with a major information security company.

Help Dave Choose # 100

To all my readers ...

The "Gallery of Free Programs" currently offers 99 free programs

I would like you to suggest your favorite program to be #100 on the list.

Here are the guidelines ....

Software must not include any Spyware or Adware

Must be FREE ... No Trials, No "Try Before You Buy"

Click Me To Send

SPCUG is getting ready for the holiday season! This year we will repeat the popular laptop raffle with one that is bigger and better and loaded with lots of neat features. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to own this fantastic piece of equipment.
We will offer raffle tickets for $5 each, three for $10.

Toshiba Satellite M45-S165
Intel® Celeron® M processor 370
512MB DDR SDRAM,
80GB HDD
Toshiba TruBrite™ 15.4 diagonal widescreen TFT acive matrix LCD display at 1280c800 native resolution (WXGA)
DVD SuperMulti Double Layer DVD Writer/CD Writer
802.11b/g wireless-LAN
3 USB 2.0 Ports
WindowsXP Home with SP2

Laptop raffle tickets will be on sale and winning name drawn at the December 7th SPCUG Meeting and Holiday Social

While Wandering The Web

Here's A Windows Tip

Windows Recovery or Restore Disks: Problems and Alternatives

By Vic Laurie, Princeton PCUG, New Jersey

victor@vlaur.com

Once upon a time you received a copy of a full Windows installation disk when you bought a computer. This allowed you to reinstall individual system files or Windows components if anything went wrong. But no longer. These days the best you can hope for from many vendors is a so-called “recovery” or “restore” disk”. And many major vendors do not even provide that much. Instead they put stuff on a hidden partition on the hard drive. This is all the backup that you get, and if the hard drive crashes, the hidden partition goes too. Then you have no way of reinstalling Windows on a replacement hard drive without getting a disk from the original PC vendor. From what I read on the Web, this last process can take some time and effort, if you succeed at all. If you are out of the warrantee period, you may be completely out of luck.

Some vendors may provide a Windows disk when you buy a PC if they are prodded hard enough. However, there may be some kind of “handling and shipping” fee. Note that, if you do finally get a disk, it will probably be an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) version and may lack some features of a full-fledged version. Also OEM versions of Windows are often not eligible for upgrades.

The failure to provide an actual Windows installation disk with new computers is convenient for Microsoft and the computer vendors but can be a real problem for the PC user. There are many problems that can be fixed by copying a single system file or reinstalling small portions of the Windows operating system. Without an installation disk, PC users need to have some other source for these files. If you put a recovery disk into your CD drive, it will want to reformat your hard drive and reinstall an image of your computer that is a replica of the way your system was on the day you bought it. Any changes that you have made will be wiped out. All those programs you installed, all those Microsoft patches, XP SP2, all of it will be gone. The same thing applies when you restore from one of those hidden partitions.

Therefore, an alternative is needed. At the very least, a source of files for adding and removing Windows components and restoring corrupted files should be available. Sometimes the vendor will have put the Windows installation files in the root of your hard drive or in the Windows folder. In Windows XP look for a folder named “I386” (without the quotes). If you do have one of these folders, burn a copy to a CD for backup. This CD will not have all the functions of an installation CD since it will not auto-run nor will it boot. However, reinstallation can be initiated by clicking the file Winnt32.exe (assuming that you can get your system to boot). If you have a FAT32 disk and can use DOS, Winnt.exe is the appropriate file to access from a DOS boot disk.

A problem is that you will have a disk that lacks any of the multitudes of patches and updates that will have come out since you bought your computer. Therefore, you need to "slipstream" with the XP SP2 update. Slipstreaming is a way of merging updates with the original files so that everything is updated. This is not a quick job but it is worth doing. An excellent detailed step-by-step procedure is given at the Elder Geek site. If you can borrow a Windows XP installation disk (almost any version will do) you can extract the image that is needed to make the CD bootable and add that to the disk. Details for using common CD burning software to do all this is given at the reference cited above.

One more problem can be getting the Windows XP product key for your system. It may be pasted or written somewhere in the documentation that came with your computer. Be sure to make a permanent record of it. If you cannot find the product key, there are several free applications that will retrieve it from your system. One is ViewKeyXp and is available here. Another is Keyfinder, which is available here. Also, system information applications like Belarc Adviser can reveal the key.

At the end, you will still have something that provides backup only for the Windows operating system. Since I want to be able to restore everything, including software that I have installed, I prefer to spend a few dollars and use disk imaging software. It makes keeping up-to-date backups on CDs or other external media very easy. Norton Ghost, BootIt Next Generation or Acronis True Image are all reasonable choices.

Search Becomes No. 2 Web Activity

Using a search engine is now the No. 2 activity for Web users, research has found.
The report also found that reading the news is now the third most popular Web activity.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the number of U.S. Web users taking advantage of search engines has risen sharply since mid-2004--from 30 percent of the U.S. Web population in July 2004 to its current level of 41 percent, which translates to some 59 million Americans.

The Pew project also found that those likely to spend more time on search engines tend to be in their 30s and well-off.

The report added, "Those who use search engines on an average day tend to be heavy Internet users. They are much more likely to have broadband connections than dial-up connections; to log on to the Internet several times a day; and to have spent considerable time online during the day."

That's good news for search giant Google, which has been expanding its business considerably. Recent research by Nielsen/Netratings found that Google now has some 46 percent market share in search, double that of its nearest rival, Yahoo Search, with 23 percent.

Despite the increase in traffic, searching has yet to catch up with the top Internet activity: e-mail. According to the report, about 52 percent of all U.S. Internet users are pressing the Send button on an average day.

The report also found that reading the news is now the third most popular Web activity.