Best free network managers
New version of top free PC inventory/monitoring program
Spiceworks IT Desktop has long been one my favorite free network management tools. It runs on a manager's PC and monitors the health and software and hardware inventory up to 250 devices connected to the network.
Its strength has always been its high degree of configurability and the latest version 3 adds to that strength while at the same time adding new features and an improved user interface that allows a manager to "view network devices, applications and services more quickly." Also new is a software-as-a-service inventory management feature.
Like previous versions V3 is ad supported. These Google Ad-Sense ads only appear on the manager's PC and are an acceptable price to pay for an outstanding freeware product. Freeware, ad-supported, can discover Windows, Linux and OSX devices but the management console must be a Windows PC running XP Pro SP2, Windows Vista (with special settings) or Windows 2003 Server, 12.6MB
http://www.spiceworks.comHow to generate .htaccess files the easy way
On web servers, .htaccess files are used to control many different functions, including authentication, access restriction and redirection. Setting them up can be a nightmare for part-time webmasters, but this site will generate your .htaccess file for you. All you need do is fill in an online form
http://www.htaccesseditor.com/en.shtml
Open DNS explained
I've mentioned the free OpenDNS service [1] several times in this newsletter as a good way of speeding up your browsing and filtering content. Every time I mention it I get subscriber email asking me to explain the idea. Here's a video [2] about OpenDNS that will help those of you who do not understand the technology to better grasp the concept of DNS, how OpenDNS works and how it can be configured.
[1] http://www.opendns.com
[2] http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2277177,00.asp
How to tell if you are secretly connected to the Internet
(This item is an update to an article that first appeared in the October 2005 issue of this newsletter)
One of the most unnerving computer experiences is to notice sudden unexpected internet activity from your PC when you're not using the internet at the time.
It can be brought to your attention several ways. For example, the lights on your modem or router might start blinking furiously, or your firewall may indicate internet activity, or your download/upload monitor could show that a lot of information is being received or transmitted.
When this happens to me, the first thought that goes through my mind is that a malware program may be "phoning home" to some remote PC, divulging all my personal information.
Now I know this is unlikely because my PC is well protected, but I know enough about security to know that it's possible. So whenever this happens I immediately investigate what's happening, and you should do the same. In the following paragraphs I'll show you how.
When you are connected to the internet you are not connected at one point but at multiple points. These different points are called ports. Data can flow into and out of each of these ports. It's a bit like the way flies get into your house. They can get in (or out) through the front door, the back door, the windows or the chimney. These openings in your house are just like the ports in your computer.
There can be up to 65000 ports on your computer, but normally these are shut. When you start a program such as your web browser that connects to the internet, that program opens one or more ports to make the connection.
So when your computer shows signs of unexpected internet activity, you need to determine what ports are open and then identify the programs that opened those ports.
There's a whole class of utilities called "port enumerators" that will do this job for you. In fact, there are more than a dozen such programs currently available. Additionally, many firewalls and anti-trojan programs have in-built port enumerators, though these are often quite basic.
I've looked at most of these products and found one freeware product that is outstanding. It's a tiny 50KB program that doesn't require installation, called CurrPorts [1] from Nir Sofer over at Nirsoft. It works best with Windows NT and later, though Windows 98 users can still use the product with less information displayed.
CurrPorts, like all port enumerators, shows all the ports that are currently open on your PC. It also shows you the process that opened each port and the time the port was opened. Most importantly, it flags, in pink, any suspicious ports.
Now "suspicious" here just means worth checking. However, this flagging makes the job of interpreting results much easier for less experienced users.
And if you install CurrPorts sister program from Nirsoft called IPNetInfo [2], you can right click on a suspicious connection and track down the location and owner of the remote site. If it's somewhere like North Korea, China or Romania, you almost certainly have a problem.
If you do have a problem CurrPorts allows you to immediately shut down that port. That reduces the potential damage but of course doesn't solve the problem. To do that you need to find the malware program responsible.
How you do that is, unfortunately, beyond the scope of this article. As a quick guide I suggest you download HijackThis from this link http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/ and follow the instructions on the same page how to paste the output to the Tom Coyote web forums. The folks on the forum should be able to help you permanently get rid of the problem and it won't cost you a cent either.
So folks, download CurrPorts now so that the next time you have unexplained internet activity you'll know exactly what to do about it.
[1] CurrPorts:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html
Freeware, Windows NT->Vista plus Win 98 with some limitations, No installation required, 50KB.
[2] IPNetInfo:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/ipnetinfo.html
Freeware, Windows 98->Vista, No installation required, 48KB.
Free tool for managing shared computers
Looking after a shared computer, in either a domestic or business environment, is never easy. Every time others use the machine, they create lots more temporary files, cached internet pages, registry entries, and possibly introduce spyware or adware or viruses which can affect subsequent users. If you've ever used a PC in an internet café and have been jealous of the way that those machines manage to reset everything after each user has accessed the machine, you need SteadyState. It's a free add-on for Windows XP, from Microsoft, which locks down the machine so that all changes made by a user are deleted when they log off. Freeware, Windows XP, 3.9MB. My thanks to Oliver Jones for alerting me to this excellent utility.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx
Windows Home Server is here
Microsoft is finally shipping Windows Home Server, the latest addition to the Windows family. However, it's an OEM-only product, which means that you can't easily go out and buy a copy to install on an old PC that you happen to have lying about. You can, though, buy it pre-installed as part of a dedicated WHS box, which various companies such as HP are now shipping.
Windows Home Server is a superb idea, aimed at the growing number of households that have more than one PC. It's a cut-down version of Windows Server 2003 (no sign of Vista here, thankfully), that helps to ensure that your digital household runs smoothly and efficiently. It'll stream your collection of music and video files to other PCs, for example, as well as to devices such as your Xbox 360. It can even act as a Web server, allowing you and others to browse your pictures and other files via the internet from anywhere in the world, which is just wonderful if you want an easy way to keep in touch with relatives around the world.
In fact, all aspects of Home Server are accessed via a web browser so there's no need to have a monitor or keyboard connected to the machine itself. Just hide it in a cupboard somewhere, plug it into your network, and access it from wherever you wish.
Perhaps the best feature of Windows Home Server is that it provides an easy way to ensure that all household PCs are backed up. Install the client software on all your machines, and they get backed up to your Home Server every night. If anyone loses a file, or even an entire PC, it can be recovered from the Home Server. So is this the backup solution we've all been waiting for? Not entirely.
If you're going to go to the trouble of backing up every machine in your household, you need to be confident that you can recover data after just about every conceivable problem that might occur. Windows Home Server doesn't fully deliver, in my opinion, because there is no off-site backup. So a disaster at your house, like a flood or a fire or a robbery, could mean that you lose all your precious data files and all your backups too.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx
Save money by making your own Ethernet leads
Cat 5 Ethernet cable costs less than 10 cents a foot while two RJ-45 connectors will cost you only 32c. That means you can make a five foot cable for 82 cents. Full instructions here:
http://www.urltrim.com/ct/t.php?l=75
The dangers of using open wireless networks
Most users are now aware of the dangers of home wireless networks, however open access public networks are a far greater risk. In fact, I'm constantly amazed at the way folks extol the virtues of public Wi-Fi networks without even considering the serious security risks involved. These risks are real and immediate, not theoretical. You don't even have to be actively using a public network to be exposed; simply allowing your computer to automatically connect is enough. If you have a laptop or PC with Wi-Fi access, please read this article.
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.asp?g=security&seqNum=162
Serious flaw in VMWare NAT
Users of VMWare Workstation 5.5, VMWare GSX Server 3.2, VMWare ACE 1.0.1, VMWare Player 1.0, and previous releases of these products who use NAT for networking should update to the latest version immediately as a serious security flaw in these products could allow an attacker to gain control of the host PC.
http://www.vmware.com/download