Quickly rename files in bulk with Windows XP/Vista

Here's a handy tip I found for Windows XP or Vista users who want to rename a handful of photos with ease.

Thanks go out to Sync-Blog for this great time saver

Stop me if this sounds familiar.

You spent the day taking photos of the kids playing in the snow, but when you copy them all to your hard drive the files are called something arbitrary such as IMG8942.jpg, IMG8943.jpg and so on.

If you're looking for a super fast way to rename these photos something more, well, relevant -- such as Fun in the Snow - January 09.jpg -- keep on reading.

- Open up a program such as Windows Explorer and highlight all the files you want to rename.

- Now, Press [F2] or right mouse-click on one of the files and select Rename.

3. You can now rename the first file and press Enter. Doing so changes all of the highlighted files to the same word but will be listed sequentially in parentheses, such as Snow Fun(1).jpg, Snow Fun(2).jpg, and so forth.

Simple batch renaming, huh?

On a related note, the free Windows Live Gallery lets you tag photos with searchable keywords, such as "snow," "kids," "michael," "2009," "January" and so on. When looking for a photo, simply type in relevant keywords to bring up the desired photo.

*VIRUS ALERT* Downadup virus exposes millions of PCs to hijack

A new sleeper virus that could allow hackers to steal financial and personal information has now spread to more than eight million computers in what industry analysts say is one of the most serious infections they have ever seen.

The Downadup or Conficker worm exploits a bug in Microsoft Windows to infect mainly corporate networks, where -- although it has yet to cause any harm -- it potentially exposes infected PCs to hijack.

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at anti-virus firm F-Secure, says while the purpose of the worm is unclear, its unique "phone home" design, linking back to its point of origin, means it can receive further orders to wreak havoc.

He said his company had reverse-engineered its program, which they suspected of originating in Ukraine, and is using the call-back mechanism to monitor an exponential infection rate, despite Microsoft's issuing of a patch to fix the bug.

"On Tuesday there were 2.5 million, on Wednesday 3.5 million and today [Friday], eight million," he said. "It's getting worse, not better."

Hypponen explained the dangers that Downadup poses, who is most at risk and what can be done to stop its spread.

How serious is it?

It is the most serious large scale worm outbreak we have seen in recent years because of how widespread it is, but it is not very serious in terms of what it does. So far it doesn't try to steal personal information or credit card details.

Who is affected?

We have large infections in Europe, the United States and in Asia. It is a Windows worm and almost all the cases are corporate networks. There are very few reports of independent home computers affected.

What does it do?

It is a complicated worm most likely engineered by a group of people who have spent time making it very complicated to analyze and remove. The real reason why they have created it is hard to say right now, but we do know how it replicates.

How does it spread?

The worm does not spread over email or the Web. However if an infected laptop is connected to your corporate network, it will immediately scan the network looking for machines to infect. These will be machines that have not installed a patch from Microsoft known as MS08-067. The worm will also scan company networks trying to guess your password, trying hundreds and hundreds of common words. If it gets in, even if you are not at your machine, it will infect and begin spreading to other servers. A third method of spreading is via USB data sticks.

How can I prevent it infecting my machine?

The best way is to get the patch and install it company-wide. The second way is password security. Use long, difficult passwords -- particularly for administrators who cannot afford to be locked out of the machines they will have to fix.

What can I do if it has already infected?

Machines can be disinfected. The problem is for companies with thousands of infected machines, which can become re-infected from just one computer even as they are being cleared.

Did this alert reach you too late? Has your computer already been affected? share your stories...

Chinese software pirates get prison sentences

The alleged ringleaders of a Chinese counterfeiting gang that sold at least US$2 billion worth of bogus Microsoft Corp. software were sentenced to prison terms of up to 6 1/2 years, in what is believed to be the harshest penalties yet under China's tightened piracy laws.

The punishments meted out against the 11 defendants, and announced by Microsoft Corp., could help China improve its image as a country that doesn't crack down hard enough on copyright violators, though the technology and entertainment industries still say China has a long way to go. The sentences ranged from 1 1/2 to 6 1/2 years, according to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.

The fact that Microsoft, and not the Chinese courts, disclosed the sentences is not unusual. Lawyers are the only source of information in many cases in China because rulings often are not publicly announced. Court officials usually refuse to disclose details to reporters.

Microsoft calls the counterfeit software operation -- which was headquartered in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong and busted by Chinese authorities with help from the FBI in 2007 -- the world's biggest phony-software syndicate.

The counterfeit software was found in 36 countries and 11 different languages. It was so sophisticated that it contained legitimate computer code written by Microsoft for programs such as Windows XP and Vista and Microsoft Office, but also had touches of the criminals' own coding as well. That was allegedly added to mimic security programs and fool users into believing the product was authentic.

Microsoft contends that much of the bogus software was detected by its Windows Genuine Advantage program, which is automatically installed on users' machines. It scans computers for pirated software and alerts people if it believes their products aren't properly licensed. The counterfeits were also discovered through customs seizures, test purchases by Microsoft, and resellers who alerted authorities to suspicious competitors.

"There were a number of things that made this case unique and striking, and among them are the fact that customers provided information, the reach of the syndicate was so international, and that Chinese law enforcement partnered so well with American law enforcement," David Finn, Microsoft's associate general counsel for worldwide anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting, said in an interview.

Software piracy is still rampant despite individual countries' attempts at cracking down. Research commissioned by the Business Software Alliance, an industry trade group, found that 82 percent of the software used in China in 2007 was not legitimately purchased, more than double the worldwide piracy rate of 38 percent.

Smooth crash recovery with sfc.exe

Troubleshoot boot problems more effectively with Safe Mode and Sfc.exe.

Recovering from a system crash is never an enjoyable experience, but Windows 2000/XP goes a long way to lessen the pain. The latest version of Windows Safe Mode allows you to troubleshoot boot problems more effectively than ever before, Sfc.exe finally allows you to restore protected system files. These two handy tools can be real lifesavers.

Warning disclaimer:
The following involves editing your system registry. Using the Windows Registry Editor incorrectly can cause some very serious problems requiring the re-installation of your operating system and possible loss of data. I can not be held responsible for problems that arise from incorrect use and from editing your registry. Use the Registry Editor and the following directions listed on this page at your own risk.


Windows File Protection
By default, Windows File Protection is always enabled and allows Windows digitally signed files to replace existing files safely. Currently, signed files are distributed through:

- Windows Service Packs
- Hotfix distributions
- Operating system upgrades
- Windows Update
- Windows Device Manager

If you introduce a file replacement in any other way, Windows File protection will overwrite your file!

An important part of Windows File Protection is the command line utility:

System File Checker (sfc.exe) You will often see references to scannow sfc in online newsgroups etc. This is a great tool for troubleshooting Windows XP problems.


Working in safe mode
If there is a problem with a driver or some other glitch preventing Windows 2000/XP from booting normally (which is frequent right?) , Windows can automatically boot in Safe Mode. You may even want to manually boot to Safe Mode.

For example, say you install a new video driver that's buggy or isn't compatible with Windows 2000/XP, and you can't see the desktop properly to log on. Boot to Safe Mode (which loads a standard VGA driver), remove the other driver, and restart. When the system begins to boot, press [F8] in order to display the boot menu, which offers the Safe Mode options.

You can find a list of services that Windows 2000/XP starts in Safe Mode in this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Safeboot

The Minimal key lists the services that Windows 2000/XP starts if you select the Safe Mode or Safe Mode With Command Prompt boot options. The Networking key lists the services that start when you select Safe Mode With Networking from the boot menu.
Although it's possible to modify these keys to add or remove services, it's not advisable. The service you add could eventually turn out to be the reason why Windows doesn't start.

You also need to know that Safe Mode sets an environment variable named SAFEBOOT_OPTION, which specifies the current Safe Mode. You can use this environment in a batch file or script to perform tasks based on the mode in which you start Windows. If you boot using Safe Mode or Safe Mode With Command Prompt, the variable is set to Minimal. If you start Windows with Start Mode With Networking, the variable is set to Network.

Use Sfc.exe to restore protected system files
Operating systems previous to Windows 2000 don't provide protection for shared system files such as dynamic link libraries (DLLs). That makes it possible for an application to install an older version of a DLL or executable and cause hung applications or problems with the OS. Windows 2000 (and XP), on the other hand, provides a level of protection against system changes through the Windows File Protection (WFP) feature. WFP maintains a signature catalog of protected files. WFP checks the file's version when a protected file is modified (typically through an application installation). If the file isn't the correct version, WFP restores the correct file from the Dllcache folder or distribution media as needed, prompting you to provide the source file (such as the Windows install CD).

At the completion of the GUI-mode portion of Setup, Windows 2000 uses a tool called System File Checker (Sfc.exe) to scan all protected system files and verify the existence of the appropriate signature catalog files. If a catalog is corrupted or doesn't exist, SFC restores the catalog from the cache or from the distribution media, again prompting you for the CD if necessary.

Use SFC at any time to scan the system for protected system file changes and to re-create the Dllcache folder if it's damaged or corrupted. Here are several specific SFC commands:

- SFC /SCANONCE scans the files a single time and repairs them if it's required.

- SFC /SCANBOOT scans the files each time you boot the system.

- SFC /CANCEL cancels all pending scans.

- SFC /? allows you to see additional available parameters you can use with SFC.


How to use Scannow sfc
The main reason for using this utility is when you suspect there may be a problem with a Windows XP system file.

Perhaps you get a dialog box appear informing you of a problem with a .dll file, or your program will just not load! It is worth checking to see if there are any corrupt system files using scannow sfc.

To do this simply go to the Run box on the Start Menu and type in:



This command will immediately initiate the Windows File Protection service to scan all protected files and verify their integrity, replacing any files with which it finds a problem.

The following should appear to give an indication of how long the process is taking.

In an ideal world that would be the end of the story... Any corrupt, missing or incorrect files would be replaced by this process.

However, things can go wrong (and usually do right?) and the following should help!

The biggest complaint is the following dialog box while using sfc.exe


Why does this happen???

Well, in your computer's registry, are several settings that are checked when you run scannow sfc.

As I mentioned earlier, the Windows File Protection service constantly monitors for any changes to the main system files.
Well Windows XP keeps a cache (copy) of these essential files at the following location:

C:WINDOWS\System32\Dllcache (assuming C: is your system root which it probably is... some people have it as drive D:)

- The dllcache folder is extremely important so Windows XP hides it from you! To view it go to:
My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > View > now "uncheck" Hide protected operating system files.

If that's the case on your computer then there is normally no need for the original XP CD to be inserted as your computer has a "copy" it can get hold of in this cache...

But, if the Dllcache folder, or part of it, has become corrupted for some reason then you will be prompted for the XP CD - so your computer can get a clean copy!

Having said that, not ALL installations of Windows XP have ALL the system files cached into this folder! You may only have around 50MB of files in this folder under Windows XP depending on the quota settings in the registry. (Under Windows 2003 Server the default is 300MB of system files!)

Is it annoying? YES!

Is there a workaround? YES!

As well as having a cache of all the system files on your PC, I like to have the I386 folder from the XP CD installed on the computer as well. After doing this I then modify the registry to tell it the source path for these files... Why? Not only does this prevent 99% of request for the the XP CD with Windows File Protection. But the I386 folder also contains many other files that are sometimes needed by the operating system and this stops those requests for the XP CD too!

- With today's large hard drives you are not going to notice this 475 MB folder on your computer, but older systems may not have the space for this...

Step 1:

You will need to get your XP CD and locate the folder called:
I386

This is a major folder and should be one of the first you see, now copy this onto your hard drive into the system root. For most people, that is going to be C:\ so you should end up with a folder that looks like: C:\I386

Step 2:

Now you will need to tell your computer that you now have the files on your PC. Do this is the registry by typing regedit in the Run box on the start menu then navigating to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries here on the right hand side. The one you want is called:

SourcePath

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, and that is why it is asking for the XP CD. All you need to do is change it to:

C:\

Simply double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up allowing you to make the change.

Now restart your computer and try scannow sfc again!

Other problems with scannow sfc.exe

1- Has the CD Drive's drive letter changed (perhaps by the addition of another hard drive, partition, or removable drive) since Windows XP was first installed? If so, simply edit the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath to reflect the changed drive letter.

After you restart the computer, WFP and sfc /scannow uses the new source path instead of prompting for the Windows XP installation CD-ROM

2 - Has the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath got an incorrect entry? The SourcePath entry does NOT include the path location till the I386 folder. It completes one folder ahead to reach the I386 folder.

For example: If the I386 directory is at C:\I386, the SourcePath value would be C:\

3 - If the problem persists and you have the correct path for your I386 folder then the I386 folder is corrupted. To solve this problem copy I386 folder from the CD-ROM to your system restart the system and then perform sfc /scannow again.

4 - You do not have an XP retail CD with an I386 folder on it. If you have a restore CD from your PC manufacturer then you may have to explore the CD to find the folder.

5 - You still keep being prompted for the XP CD yet you have done all in this article! There is another setting in the registry that may be causing the problem. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SourcePath

Make sure the entry here is the same path to the I386 folder as used above.

6 - Systems administrators can enforce security policies that may include changes to the Windows File Protection settings. You will need to speak with your network administrator about this, but it is important to bear in mind when Windows starts up, the Windows File Protection service synchronizes (copies) the WFP settings from the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Windows File Protection

to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Therefore, if any of the following values are present in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Windows File Protection key, they will take precedence over the same values under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon key.

This will not effect scannow sfc so much, but WILL make an impact if any of the other sfc.exe "switches" have been used!

7 - When you run scannow at logon you do not get a progress bar... This can easily be remedied by adding a new DWORD: SFCShowProgress to the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

the values available are: 0 = disabled, 1 = enabled

What about Windows Updates?
You may be asking yourself (silently? out loud?) "how does sfc.exe know how to check for updated Windows system files?" during OS (operating system) upgrades, service pack installations etc.. the dllcache folder should be updated with these new files.

As an example, the r Windows XP Hotfix - KB828035 updated the system file wkssvc.dll A new version of the file was placed in C:\WINDOWS\system32 and a copy in the cache: C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache A copy of the old system file is archived in: C:\WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB828035$

There is another location the Windows File protection service uses and that is the I386 folder in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles When you install a service pack, like SP1. Any new system drivers are cached in this location too.

If you have odd problems with running scannow sfc and nothing else here has resolved it, then take a look at the entry in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\ServicePackSourcePath

This should be pointing to the location C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles (again, assuming C:\ is the boot drive.)

For those of you who are familiar with sfc.exe under Windows 2000 professional. It is worth noting that the following two options are NOT available under Windows XP.

These are:

sfc /cancel - In Windows 2000, this command immediately cancels all pending scans of protected system files. This option has no effect in Windows XP.

sfc /quiet - In Windows 2000 this sets Windows File Protection to replace any incorrect system files detected with the appropriate version from the dll cache without any user notification. This option has no effect in Windows XP.

sfc.exe is a great tool that can get you out of some huge jams and ease some huge headaches and possibly even save you from suffering a mental breakdown due to your pc!

Anyone have any other tips with regards to sfc.exe? any horror stories? share them!

The browser wars are back!

At the turn of the century, Microsoft brutally vanquished Netscape in the browser wars. For a while, that victory appeared to be permanent. The battle had been a pretty ugly one: A federal court found that Microsoft illegally used its Windows monopoly to expand Internet Explorer's market share; Netscape never recovered from its loss. For most computer users, though, the browser wars were sublime: The Web browser was "invented" in 1992, and within five years, with hundreds of developers at both Microsoft and Netscape pumping out code, browsers became fast, stable, and capable of some very neat tricks.

These days, Web designers boast about all they can do with AJAX, the set of technologies that allow Web sites to emulate desktop-app behavior like drag-and-drop (ie Google Maps). AJAX runs on code that was created by Microsoft and Netscape as competitive weapons during the browser wars. Yes, today's glorious Web was made possible by yesterday's bruising business confrontation. All of us should rejoice, then, at the dawn of Browser War II.

Google has released a Web browser called Chrome. This new piece of software enters a crowded field of browsers looking for your love. Microsoft with its final revision of Internet Explorer 8,.(Both Chrome and IE 8 run only on Windows, though Google says it's creating versions for other platforms.) In June, Mozilla put out Version 3 of its popular open-source, cross-platform Firefox browser, in Version 3.1. The Norwegian software company Opera also released its latest eponymous, innovative, cult-hit browser. And Apple is now working on the next version of Safari for Mac and Windows.

All this competition is great news, because the world desperately needs a better Web browser. For at least the past four or five years, Firefox has been the gold standard among techies; I've been using it as my primary browser for at least that long. I loved it, I appreciated its smart, clean user interface, its tabs (although all browsers use tabs now, at the time when I moved to Firefox, this was the only browser to do so) and keyboard shortcuts, and most of all—Firefox's killer feature—its ability to run a wide range of useful third-party add-ons. But Firefox is hobbled by a couple of major flaws. It hogs system resources: Use it for a while, and it eats up huge chunks of your computer's memory, eventually slowing browsing to a near snail pace. Firefox is also prone to crashing: Load up an errant Web page, and you risk bringing the program to a halt. (This problem makes session-recovery add-ons like Tab Mix Plus essential.)

Admittedly, I'm not an ordinary Web user—I use my browser as a research tool, mail app, calendar, media player, and a tabbed to-do list. I live and breath the internet, I can't be without it... At any point during the day, I've got three or four browser windows open, each with 10 to 15 Web pages running in tabs (at least). I understand that this bespeaks a kind of insanity, but with Web sites growing ever more useful and Web users growing ever more addicted, it's the sort of insanity that afflicts an increasing number people.

The wonderful thing about Google's new browser, is that it's been built with the singular purpose of handling a hefty workload. While I'm not yet ready to switch to Chrome as my permanent browser—it's got some odd user interface quirks, lacks a few useful features, and doesn't have Firefox's hordes of plug-ins—I've found it to be impressively fast and stable. So far, it's run everything that I've thrown it's way without bringing my computer to a halt. For that alone, I really think that Google's on to something.

Just as Windows runs Photoshop and iTunes at the same time without letting each bother the other, or getting in each others way, Chrome lets its processes do different tasks in parallel. If one Chrome tab is busy loading Google Reader, another Chrome tab won't be crimped while refreshing the CNNSI.com website. Best of all, if one process crashes, your full browser session remains intact. I've inadvertently learned many different ways to make Firefox crash; none of these tricks worked on Chrome. The best I could do was crash a single process—this brought down an individual tab, but Chrome as a whole, kept running.

There are several more under-the-hood improvements. Google claims that Chrome beats other browsers at "garbage collection"— the computer-science term for how a program gets rid of memory it no longer needs. Better garbage collection significantly reduces how much of your computer's resources an application consumes. Google also wrote its own JavaScript virtual machine—the engine that runs all the fancy AJAX code that powers complex new Web apps—that it claims is faster and more stable than other browsers' scripting engines. Though I found Chrome speedy and less demanding on my system's resources than Firefox 3.0, its advantage isn't unsurpassable—Lifehacker's tests give the memory and speed edge to Firefox 3.1.

You aren't likely to notice Chrome's tech improvements when you load it up for the first time. What you'll see is a clean, minimalistic app, one missing several features that you're used to in other browsers. For example, Chrome presents no good way to manage bookmarks. Still, there are some innovative features. Instead of an address bar and a search box, Chrome uses only one input bar in which you're free to type either something like "ebay.com" or "policies of Barrack Obama" Chrome is smart enough to figure out when to take you to a Web page and when to perform a Web search. It also lists other recently visited sites containing ebay, obama, or other like terms.

I found some of Google's other user-interface tweaks a little more annoying than useful. Chrome places its row of tabs in the title bar, an area that in most apps isn't used for anything other than displaying the name of the program. This saves space on your screen, but it also eradicates one of the main ways people have grown accustomed to using tabs in browsers—you can't double-click the tab bar to open a new tab, like you can on every other multi-tab browser. (Double-clicking the bar in Chrome resizes the window.)

This is a petty nitpick, obviously. Chrome is very much a work in progress, a beta program that I expect will improve dramatically in the months to come. It shares two advantages with Firefox: Chrome is open-source, meaning outside developers are free to extend and improve it. And Chrome includes a plug-in infrastructure that lets people create add-ons. Because it's new, neither of these features is very important just yet. But if Chrome catches on, developers will likely build these and other great programs for it; theoretically, people could even take the best bits of Firefox and Chrome and build another single awesome browser.

For Google, Microsoft, and Apple, the browser fight is a means to other ends. Microsoft, which holds more than three-quarters of the browser market, looks at the Web as an extension of its operating system. As more of our programs move online, Microsoft fears that we might have little reason to stick to Windows; it sees control of the browser as a way to control the future of software development. Google seems to want to be in the browser business to fight Microsoft. The company's revenue comes entirely from the Web, so it's got to be wary that most of its customers come through software created by its main rival. (Google substantially underwrites both Firefox and Opera, which both feature Google's search engine as the default.) Apple, meanwhile, needs a browser to beef up its own platform—not only on the Mac but also on its phones and iPods.

Sure, these aims aren't entirely noble. But who cares? As the giants duke it out to come up with the best product, they'll copy and improve upon each other's innovations, bringing new features to all browsers. Chrome's immunity to crashing, for instance, is sure to push both Mozilla and Microsoft to improve their browsers' stability. Perhaps soon you'll be able to load up any browser you like and watch two dozen YouTube videos at once without fearing a crash—just like the Web was always meant to be used.

The gloves appear to be off!

Until next time........