Wednesday, December 9, 2009

OPTICAL DISK DRIVE






What is an Optical Disc Drive?



Optical drives retrieve and/or store data on optical discs like CDs, DVDs, and BDs (Blu-ray discs).Some common types of optical drives include CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD?RW, and Blu-ray drives. CD and DVD writers, such as CD-R and DVD-R drives use a laser to both read and write data on the discs. The laser used for writing the data is much more powerful than the laser that reads the data, as it "burns" the bumps and dips into the disc. While optical drives can spin discs at very high speeds, they are still significantly slower than hard drives, which store data magnetically.

Optical Disc Drive Description:
An optical drive is about the size of a thick soft cover book. The front of the drive has a small Open/Close button that ejects and retracts the drive bay door. This is how media like CDs, DVDs, and BDs are inserted into and removed from the drive.The sides of the optical drive have pre-drilled, threaded holes for easy mounting in the 5.25 inch drive bay in the computer case. The optical drive is mounted so the end with the connections faces inside the computer and the end with the drive bay faces outside.The back end of the optical drive contains a port for a cable that connects to the motherboard. The type of cable used will depend on the type of drive but is almost always included with an optical drive purchase. Also here is a connection for power from the power supply.Most optical drives also have jumper settings on the back end that define how the motherboard is to recognize the drive when more than one is present. These settings vary from drive to drive so check with your optical drive manufacturer for details.

Computer interfaces
Most internal drives for personal computers, servers and workstations are designed to fit in a standard 5.25" drive bay and connect to their host via an ATA or SATA interface. External drives usually have USB or FireWire interfaces. Some portable versions for laptop use power themselves off batteries or off their interface bus.
Drives with SCSI interface exist, but are less common and tend to be more expensive, because of the cost of their interface chipsets and more complex SCSI connectors.When the optical disc drive was first developed, it was not easy to add to computer systems. Some computers such as the IBM PS/2 were standardizing on the 3.5" floppy and 3.5" hard disk, and did not include a place for a large internal device. Also IBM PCs and clones at first only included a single ATA drive interface, which by the time the CDROM was introduced, was already being used to support two hard drives. Early laptops simply had no built-in high-speed interface for supporting an external storage device.
This was solved through several techniques:
Early sound cards could include a second ATA interface, though it was often limited to supporting a single optical drive and no hard drives. This evolved into the modern second ATA interface included as standard equipment
1. A parallel port external drive was developed that connected between a printer and the computer. This was slow but an option for laptops.
2. A PCMCIA optical drive interface was also developed for laptops .
3. A SCSI card could be installed in desktop PCs for an external SCSI drive enclosure, though SCSI was typically much more expensive than other options .

Saturday, December 5, 2009

WINDOWS 7

Windows 7 is the latest public release version of Microsoft Windows, a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. Windows 7 was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and reached general retail availability on October 22, 2009, less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time.
Unlike its predecessor, which introduced a large number of new features, Windows 7 was intended to be a more focused, incremental upgrade to the Windows line, with the goal of being fully compatible with applications and hardware with which Windows Vista is already compatible. Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, referred to as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements. Some applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7; most are instead offered separately as part of the free Windows Live Essentials suite.
Minimum hardware requirements for Windows 7
Removed features(AS compared to windows xp and windows vista)
A number of capabilities and certain programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have been changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionality. Some notable Windows Vista features and components have been replaced or removed in Windows 7, including the classic Start Menu user interface, Windows Ultimate Extras and InkBall. Four applications bundled with Windows Vista — Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar and Windows Mail — are not included with Windows 7, but are instead available for free in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials.

INSTALLATION
Installation Microsoft is offering several paths to install Windows 7. People can buy a new computer with the operating system already installed, upgrade from Windows XP or Vista, or do a clean install on a computer the user already owns. The clean installation took us about 30 minutes, but that will vary depending on your computer.
The upgrade procedure is different depending on whether you're running Windows XP or Windows Vista. Vista users merely need to back up their data before choosing the Upgrade option from the install disc. Both XP Home and XP Pro users will have to back up their data, then choose Custom from the install disc. Custom will have the same effect as a clean install, although it'll save your old data in a folder called Windows.old. Once you choose Custom, you'll need to select the partition of your hard drive that contains Windows XP, and then follow the instructions to enter your product key and allow the computer to reboot as needed.
FEATURES
DESKTOP Themes
Support for themes has been extended in Windows 7. In addition to setting the colors of the window chrome, desktop background, desktop icons, mouse pointers and sound schemes, themes in Windows 7 include desktop slideshow settings. A new control panel interface, accessible through the "Personalize" context menu item on the desktop, has been introduced which provides the ability to customize and switch between themes, as well as download more themes from Microsoft's web site. Support for "theme packs" is included; theme packs are cabinet files with an extension of .themepack, and consist of a .theme as well as any number of image, sound, icon, and mouse cursor files. Windows 7 recognizes this file format and will switch the user's theme to the theme contained inside when opened.

Desktop Slideshow
Windows Explorer includes a desktop slideshow that changes the desktop background in a designated amount of time with a smooth fading transition. This feature supports pre-downloaded sets of wallpapers and also supports photo RSS feed.
Gadgets
Windows Vista introduced Gadgets and a sidebar which provides the ability to anchor Gadgets to the side of the user's desktop. In Windows 7, the sidebar has been removed, while gadgets can still be placed on the desktop. Windows 7 adds a Windows Media Center gadget to the default collection while removing the Contacts and Notes gadgets.
Managing gadgets is more closely integrated with Windows Explorer, but the gadgets themselves continue to operate in a separate sidebar.exe process.The Desktop context menu includes a new "Gadgets" menu option to access the gadget gallery, and a "View" sub-menu option to show or hide gadgets. Hiding gadgets results in the sidebar.exe process being unloaded, which Microsoft says is a power-saving practice. Unlike Windows Vista, all gadgets run in a single process, which saves memory, and the process is not run at all if the user has no gadgets on the desktop.
Branding and customization
OEMs and enterprises are able to customize the logon screen wallpaper of Windows 7 that is displayed before a user logs on.
Libraries
Windows Explorer in Windows 7 supports Libraries, virtual folders described in a .library-ms file that aggregates content from various locations - including shared folders on networked systems if the shared folder has been indexed by the host system - and present them in a unified view. Searching in a library automatically federates the query to the remote systems, in addition to searching on the local system, so that files on the remote systems are also searched. Unlike search folders, Libraries are backed by a physical location which allows files to be saved in the Libraries. Such files are transparently saved in the backing physical folder. The default save location for a library may be configured by the user, as can the default view layout for each library. Libraries are generally stored in the Libraries special folder, which allows them to be displayed on the navigation pane.
Federated search
Windows Explorer also supports federating search to external data sources, such as custom databases or web services, that are exposed over the web and described via an OpenSearch definition. The federated location description (called a Search Connector) is provided as a .osdx file. Once installed, the data source becomes queryable directly from Windows Explorer. Windows Explorer features, such as previews and thumbnails, work with the results of a federated search as well.
Start menu
The start orb now has a fade-in highlight effect when the user moves the mouse over it.
Windows 7's Start menu retains the two-column layout of its predecessors, with several functional changes:
The "Documents", "Pictures" and "Music" buttons now link to the Libraries of the same name.
A "Devices and Printers" option has been added that displays a new device manager.
The "shut down" icon in Windows Vista has been replaced with a text link indicating what action will be taken when the icon is clicked. The default action to take is now configurable through the

Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window.
Taskbar Jump Lists are presented in the Start Menu via a guillemet; when the user moves his or her mouse over the guillemet, or presses the right-arrow key, the right-hand side of the Start menu is widened and replaced with the application's Jump List.
Taskbar
The Windows Taskbar has seen its most significant revision since its introduction in Windows 95. The taskbar is 10 pixels taller than in Windows Vista to accommodate touch screen input and a new larger default icon size, though a smaller taskbar size is available. Running applications are denoted by a border frame around the icon, while applications can be pinned to the taskbar, so that shortcuts to them appear when they are not running. Within this border, a color effect (dependent on the predominant RGB value of the icon) that follows the mouse also indicates the opened status of the application. The glass taskbar is also more transparent. Taskbar buttons show icons by default, not application titles, unless they are set to not combine. Only icons are shown when the application is not running.
Window management mouse gestures
Aero Snap; Window maximizing and tiling

Windows can be dragged to the top of the screen to maximize them and dragged away to restore them. Dragging a window to the left or right of the screen makes it take up half the screen allowing the user to tile two windows next to each other. Also resizing the window to the bottom of the screen or top will extend the window full but retain the width of the window. These features can be disabled via the Ease of Access Center if users do not wish the windows to automatically resize.


Aero Shake

Aero Shake allows users to clear up any clutter on their screen by shaking (dragging back and forth) a window of their choice with the mouse. All other windows will minimize, while the window the user shook stays active on the screen. When the window is shaken again, they are all restored, similar to desktop preview.
Multi-touch
Hilton Locke, who worked on the Tablet PC team at Microsoft, reported on December 11, 2007 that Windows 7 will have new touch features. An overview of the multi-touch capabilities, including a virtual piano program, a mapping and directions program and a touch-aware version of Paint, was demonstrated at the All Things Digital Conference on May 27, 2008. A video demonstrating the multi-touch capabilities was later made available on the web on the same day. Desktop Window Manager
First introduced in Windows Vista, the Desktop Window Manager (DWM) in Windows 7 has been updated to use version 10.1 of Direct3D API, and its performance has been improved significantly.The Desktop Window Manager still requires at least a Direct3D 9-capable video card (supported with new D3D10_FEATURE_LEVEL_9_n device type introduced with the Direct3D 11 runtime).With a video driver conforming to Windows Display Driver Model v1.1, DXGI kernel in Windows 7 provides 2D hardware acceleration to APIs such as GDI, Direct2D and DirectWrite (though GDI+ was not updated to use this functionality). This allows DWM to use significantly lower amounts of system memory, which do not grow regardless of how many windows are opened, like it was in Windows Vista. Systems equipped with a WDDM 1.0 video card will operate in the same fashion as in Windows Vista, using software-only rendering.The Desktop Window Manager in Windows 7 also adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors
Font management
The user interface for font management has been overhauled. As with Windows Vista, the collection of installed fonts is shown in a Windows Explorer window, but fonts from the same font family appear as "stacks" instead of as individual icons. A user can then double-click on the font stack and see the individual font. A preview of the font is displayed as part of the icon as well. New options for hiding installed fonts are included; a hidden font remains installed, but is not enumerated when an application asks for a list of available fonts. Windows Vista had received considerable criticism for including the same "Add Font" dialog that had existed as far back as Windows NT 3.1; this dialog has been removed.
The Font dialog box has also been updated to show previews of the font selection in the selection lists. The fontview.exe default font viewing application has replaced the "Properties" button with a "Install" button.

Security / networking
Microsoft had already done a lot of work since the initial release of Vista on not bugging us incessantly with pop-up security nags, but Windows 7 strikes an even better balance. What is disconcerting is how often security warnings include an "unknown" as the publisher -- it's not really teaching anybody to be judicious about what pops up in the warning if the warning itself doesn't even know what's going on. In the end we'll find out just how secure Windows 7 is once it's in the wild and hackers start hammering on it, but with the abundance and ease of Windows updates these days, most anybody with an ounce of common sense and a speedy internet connection should be able to steer clear of danger. Meaning: we're all doomed.

Friday, December 4, 2009

HOW TO MAKE INTEL PROCESSOR

STEP BY STEP PROCESS FOR MAKING A PROCESSOR

Sand:- Made up of 25 percent silicon, is, after oxygen, the second most abundant chemical element that's in the earth's crust. Sand, especially quartz, has high percentages of silicon in the form of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the base ingredient for semiconductor manufacturing.


After procuring raw sand and separating the silicon, the excess material is disposed of and the silicon is purified in multiple steps to finally reach semiconductor manufacturing quality which is called electronic grade silicon. The resulting purity is so great that electronic grade silicon may only have one alien atom for every one billion silicon atoms. After the purification process, the silicon enters the melting phase. In this picture you can see how one big crystal is grown from the purified silicon melt. The resulting mono-crystal is called an ingot.

A mono-crystal ingot is produced from electronic grade silicon. One ingot weighs approximately 100 kilograms (or 220 pounds) and has a silicon purity of 99.9999 percent.


The ingot is then moved onto the slicing phase where individual silicon discs, called wafers, are sliced thin. Some ingots can stand higher than five feet. Several different diameters of ingots exist depending on the required wafer size. Today, CPUs are commonly made on 300 mm wafers.

Once cut, the wafers are polished until they have flawless, mirror-smooth surfaces. Intel doesn't produce its own ingots and wafers, and instead purchases manufacturing-ready wafers from third-party companies. Intel’s advanced 45 nm High-K/Metal Gate process uses wafers with a diameter of 300 mm (or 12-inches). When Intel first began making chips, it printed circuits on 50 mm (2-inches) wafers. These days, Intel uses 300 mm wafers, resulting in decreased costs per chip.

The blue liquid, depicted above, is a photo resist finish similar to those used in film for photography. The wafer spins during this step to allow an evenly-distributed coating that's smooth and also very thin.

At this stage, the photo-resistant finish is exposed to ultra violet (UV) light. The chemical reaction triggered by the UV light is similar to what happens to film material in a camera the moment you press the shutter button.Areas of the resist on the wafer that have been exposed to UV light will become soluble. The exposure is done using masks that act like stencils. When used with UV light, masks create the various circuit patterns. The building of a CPU essentially repeats this process over and over until multiple layers are stacked on top of each other.A lens (middle) reduces the mask's image to a small focal point. The resulting "print" on the wafer is typically four times smaller, linearly, than the mask's pattern.

In the picture we have a representation of what a single transistor would appear like if we could see it with the naked eye. A transistor acts as a switch, controlling the flow of electrical current in a computer chip. Intel researchers have developed transistors so small that they claim roughly 30 million of them could fit on the head of a pin.

After being exposed to UV light, the exposed blue photo resist areas are completely dissolved by a solvent. This reveals a pattern of photo resist made by the mask. The beginnings of transistors, interconnects, and other electrical contacts begin to grow from this point.
The photo resist layer protects wafer material that should not be etched away. Areas that were exposed will be etched away with chemicals.

After the etching, the photo resist is removed and the desired shape becomes visible.


More photo resist (blue) is applied and then re-exposed to UV light. Exposed photo resist is then washed off again before the next step, which is called ion doping. This is the step where ion particles are exposed to the wafer, allowing the silicon to change its chemical properties in a way that allows the CPU to control the flow of electricity.

Through a process called ion implantation (one form of a process called doping) the exposed areas of the silicon wafer are bombarded with ions. Ions are implanted in the silicon wafer to alter the way silicon in these areas conduct electricity. Ions are propelled onto the surface of the wafer at very high velocities. An electrical field accelerates the ions to a speed of over 300,000 km/hour (roughly 185,000 mph)


After the ion implantation, the photo resist will be removed and the material that should have been doped (green) now has alien atoms implanted.


This transistor is close to being finished. Three holes have been etched into the insulation layer (magenta color) above the transistor. These three holes will be filled with copper, which will make up the connections to other transistors.

The wafers are put into a copper sulphate solution at this stage. Copper ions are deposited onto the transistor through a process called electroplating. The copper ions travel from the positive terminal (anode) to the negative terminal (cathode) which is represented by the wafer.

The copper ions settle as a thin layer on the wafer surface.

The excess material is polished off leaving a very thin layer of copper.
Multiple metal layers are created to interconnects (think wires) in between the various transistors. How these connections have to be “wired” is determined by the architecture and design teams that develop the functionality of the respective processor (for example, Intel’s Core i7 processor). While computer chips look extremely flat, they may actually have over 20 layers to form complex circuitry. If you look at a magnified view of a chip, you will see an intricate network of circuit lines and transistors that look like a futuristic, multi-layered highway system.

This fraction of a ready wafer is being put through a first functionality test. In this stage test patterns are fed into every single chip and the response from the chip monitored and compared to "the right answer."


After tests determine that the wafer has a good yield of functioning processor units, the wafer is cut into pieces (called dies).
The dies that responded with the right answer to the test pattern will be put forward for the next step (packaging). Bad dies are discarded. Several years ago, Intel made key chains out of bad CPU dies.


This is an individual die, which has been cut out in the previous step (slicing). The die shown here is a die of an Intel Core i7 processor.


The substrate, the die, and the heatspreader are put together to form a completed processor. The green substrate builds the electrical and mechanical interface for the processor to interact with the rest of the PC system. The silver heatspreader is a thermal interface where a cooling solution will be applied. This will keep the processor cool during operation.



A microprocessor is the most complex manufactured product on earth. In fact, it takes hundreds of steps and only the most important ones have been visualized in this picture story.

During this final test the processors will be tested for their key characteristics (among the tested characteristics are power dissipation and maximum frequency).
Based on the test result of class testing processors with the same capabilities are put into the same transporting trays. This process is called "binning". Binning determines the maximum operating frequency of a processor, and batches are divided and sold according to stable specifications.

The manufactured and tested processors (again Intel Core i7 processor is shown here) either go to system manufacturers in trays or into retail stores in a box. Many thanks to Intel for supplying the text and photos in this picture story. Check out Intel's site for full size images of this entire process

Thursday, December 3, 2009

AMD X2 VS INTEL PENTIUM D

AMD X2 VS INTEL PENTIUM D
The inception of dual-core processors a little while back the race has been on to see who can get the better chip with this dual-core processor technology.During the final days of the single-core battles, there was a stalemate between AMD and Intel. Intel's clocked higher but were unable to match the speeds that the AMD managed at lower clock speeds.The oldest difference between them has been their suitability for specific tasks. AMD have had the gaming sector in the bag, especially in terms of the value for money possible with their lower clocked chips, which could be overclocked to the same speeds as their top models. Intel has the crown for general performance. When it comes to office related tasks, Intel processors are able to outperform AMD chips in these areas.As the ability to clock the chips any higher became more and more difficult technically, the next step was to just add another core, theoretically allowing twice as much number crunching in a dual-core processor. This is not exactly how it works however.Modern operating systems and programs have not been designed with multiple-core or dual-core processors in mind. They were designed to make use of one core on one processor. The major expense that went with multiple processor computers was the circuitry needed to split tasks up amongst the processors and sharing cache.

Dual-core processors simply act like two places for tasks to go. Instead of single tasks getting split up and performed in two different places, as is the case with traditional single core processors, single threads get split up amongst the cores. This essentially means that each program gets assigned to a core.Because of this there is absolutely no increase in speed for gaming from dual-core processor chips. Only once the games themselves have been programmed to take advantage of dual-core processors will there be a difference. This is due to the intensive nature of games and the number crunching needed for intense graphics, which for now cannot be split over multiple cores in dual-core processors.So back to the battlefield.AMD were the first to introduce their dual-core processor solution to a desktop computer. This gave them a slight lead over Intel. Despite this, AMD gave people a bit of a surprise with their new offering.Always having been renowned for giving far more than expected for the price, these new dual-core processors were very expensive.

Part of what managed to give AMD a hold in a market previously dominated by Intel was their good pricing. This shock did not go down well with consumers.To add insult to injury, Intel's dual-core processor offerings came in at remarkably good value. Both of their initial dual-core processors cost less than AMD's lowest priced model. That's right, AMD's cheapest dual-core processor cost more than Intel's most expensive. This definitely put the ball in Intel's court and was downright disappointing for AMD fans.AMD did manage to introduce a cheaper model to compete better with the Intel offerings. Despite this, Intel was still the forerunner in this area.Performance remains an area that is sketchy.With the relatively new technology involved it is hard to draw a clear conclusion on who is faster.

With operating systems only recently oriented towards fully utilizing dual-core processor technology, it is still new territory. Both offer increased performance, but as to who will rule the roost, we'll have to see.For the meantime it would probably be advisable to just watch.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

How to create a System Restore point in Windows Vista

To create a System Restore point in Windows Vista

Creating a System Restore point manually
1.Right-click on the Computer icon in the Desktop, and choose Properties
2. In the left pane, click System Protection
3.Alternately, to access the System Protection tab directly, click Start and type SystemPropertiesProtection.exe.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

4.Click the System Protection tab, and then click Create.


5.In the System Protection dialog box, type a description, and then click Create.


Creating a System Restore point using a shortcut

Alternately, you may use the method below:
Copy the contents below to a Notepad document, and save it to a file name with .vbs extension (Example: createrp.vbs) and close Notepad.

set SRP = getobject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:Systemrestore")CSRP = SRP.createrestorepoint ("Created a Restore Point now", 0, 100)If CSRP <> 0 then Msgbox "Error " & CSRP & ": Unable to create System Restore point"End if

Right-click on the Desktop and select New - Shortcut

Create a shortcut with the following target:
wscript.exe c:\scripts\createrp.vbs

Note: The above assumes that the createrp.vbs script is present in the c:\scripts folder. If that's not the case, change the Path accordingly.


Name the shortcut file name as Create Restore Point
Running the script
To create a System Restore point, run the script with elevated mode. To do so, right-click on the newly created shortcut (Create Restore Point.lnk) and choose Run as administrator. When you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. A System Restore point will automatically be created
.

Monday, November 30, 2009

BELKIN WIRELESS ROUTER

BELKIN WIRELESS ROUTER
IP Address
:-The "IP address" is the Internal IP address of the Router. To access the advanced setup interface, type this IP address into the address bar of your browser. This address can be changed if needed. To Change the IP address, type in the new IP address and click "Apply Changes". The IP address you choose should be a non-routable IP. Examples of a non-routable IP are:
192.168.x.z (where x is anything between 0 and 255, z is anything between 1 and 254.)10.x.x.z (where x is anything between 0 and 255, z is anything between 1 and 254.)172.y.x.z (where y is anything from 16 to 31, x is anything between 0 and 255, z is anything between 1 and 254.)
Subnet MaskADVANCED FEATURE:-There is no need to change the subnet mask. It is possible to change the subnet mask if necessary. Only make changes to the Subnet Mask if you specifically have a reason to do so.

DNSDNS is an acronym for Domain Name Server:. A Domain Name Server is a server located on the Internet that translates URL's (Universal Resource Links) like www.belkin.com to IP addresses. Many ISP's do not require you to enter this information into the Router. The "Automatic from ISP" checkbox should be checked if your ISP did not give you a specific DNS address. If you are using a Static IP connection type, then you may need to enter a specific DNS address and secondary DNS address for your connection to work properly. If your connection type is Dynamic or PPPoE, it is likely that you do not have to enter a DNS address. To enter the DNS address settings, uncheck the "Automatic from ISP" checkbox and enter your DNS entries in the spaces provided. Click "Apply Changes" to save the settings.
DDNSDDNS (Dynamic DNS) is a service which allows you to associate a Domain Name with this Router, even though your Internet IP address is not fixed. This Router includes a DDNS client, which will notify supported DDNS Service providers of your current Internet IP address. The DDNS service will then update the DNS records (see DNS explanation above) with your current IP address. The end result is that other Internet users can access your Virtual Servers using a Domain Name instead of an IP address. To use DDNS, you must first create an account with a supported DDNS service and obtain a Domain Name from them, then configure this Router. If your DDNS Service provides software to advise the DDNS server of your current IP address, you should NOT use this software. This Router will perform that task.
DHCP:-The DHCP server function makes setting up a network very easy by assigning IP addresses to each computer on the network. The DHCP Server can be turned off if necessary. Turning off the DHCP server will require you to manually set a Static IP address in each computer on your network. The IP pool is the range of IP addresses set aside for dynamic assignment to the computers on your network. The default is 2-100 (99 computers) if you want to change this number, you can by entering a new starting and ending IP address and clicking on "Apply Changes".

Local Domain Name:-You can set a local domain name (network name) for your network. There is no need to change this setting unless you have a specific advanced need to do so. You can name the network anything you want such as "MY NETWORK".

Dynamic IPA:- dynamic connection type is the most common connection type found with cable modems. Setting the connection type to dynamic in many cases is enough to complete the connection to your ISP. Some dynamic connection types may require a Host Name. You can enter your Host Name in the space provided if you were assigned one. Your Host Name is assigned by your ISP. Some dynamic connections may require that you clone the MAC address of the PC that was originally connected to the modem. To do so, click on the "Change WAN MAC address" link in the screen. The Internet Status indicator will read "Connected" if your Router is set up properly.

Static IP:-A Static IP address connection type is less common than other connection types. If your ISP uses static IP addressing, you will need your IP address, Subnet Mask, and ISP gateway address. This information is available from your ISP or on the paperwork that your ISP left with you. Type in your information then click "Apply Changes". After you apply the changes, the Internet Status indicator will read "Connected" if your Router is set up properly.If your ISP assigns you more than one static IP address, your Router is capable of handling up to five static WAN IP addresses. Select "My ISP provides more than one static IP address" and enter your additional addresses.

PPPoE:-Most DSL providers use PPPoE as the connection type. If you use a DSL modem to connect to the Internet, your ISP may use PPPoE to log you into the service. If you have an Internet connection in your home or small office that doesn't require a modem, you may also use PPPoE. Your connection type is PPPoE if:1) Your ISP gave you a user name and password which is required to connect to the Internet2) Your ISP gave you software such as WinPOET, Enternet300 that you use to connect to the Internet3) You have to double-click on a desktop Icon other than your browser to get on the InternetTo set the Router to use PPPoE, type in your User Name and Password in the spaces provided. If you do not have a Service Name or do not know it, leave the Service Name field blank. After you have typed in your information, click "Apply Changes". After you apply the changes, the Internet Status indicator will read "Connected" if your Router is set up properly. For more details on configuring your Router to use PPPoE, see the user manual.

Telstra Big Pond:-Your user name and password are provided to you by Telstra BigPond. Enter this information below. Choosing your state will automatically fill in your Login Server IP address. If your Login Server address is different than one provided here, you may manually enter the Login Server IP address. When you have entered your information, click "Apply Changes". After you apply the changes, the Internet Status indicator will read "Connected" if your Router is set up properly.

MTU Setting:-The MTU setting should never be changed unless your ISP gives you a specific MTU setting. Making changes to the MTU setting can cause problems with your Internet connection including disconnection from the Internet, slow Internet access and problems with Internet applications working properly.
Disconnect after X...The Disconnect feature is used to automatically disconnect the router from your ISP when there is no activity for a specified period of time. For instance, placing a checkmark next to this option and entering 5 into the minute field will cause the router to disconnect from the Internet after 5 minutes of no Internet activity. This option should be used if you pay for your Internet service by the minute.

MAC Address:-MAC is an acronym for Media Access Controller. All network components including cards, adapters, and routers, have a unique "serial number" called a MAC address. Your ISP may record the MAC address of your computer's adapter and only let that particular computer connect to the Internet service. When you install the router, the Router's own MAC address will be "seen" by the ISP and may cause the connection not to work. Belkin has provided the ability to clone (copy) the MAC address of the computer into the router. This MAC address, in turn, will be seen by the ISP's system as the original MAC address and will allow the connection to work. If you are not sure if your ISP needs to see the original MAC address, simply clone the MAC address of the computer that was originally connected to the modem. Cloning the address will not cause any problems with your network. To Clone your MAC address, make sure that you are using the computer which was ORIGINALLY CONNECTED to your modem before the Router was installed. Click the "Clone MAC address" button. Click "Apply Changes". Your MAC address is now cloned to the router.

Channel and SSID:-To change the channel of operation of the Router, select the desired channel from the drop-down menu. Click "Apply Changes" to save the setting. You can also change the SSID. The SSID is the equivalent to the wireless network's name. You can make the SSID anything you want to. If there are other wireless networks in your area, you should give your wireless network a unique name. The default is belkin54g. To change the SSID, click inside of the SSID box and type in a new name. Click "Apply Changes" to make the change.
Broadcast SSID:-It is possible to make your wireless network nearly invisible. By turning off the broadcast of the SSID, your network will not appear in a site survey. Site Survey is a feature of many wireless network adapters on the market today. It will scan the "air" for any available network and allow the computer to select the network from the site survey. Turning off the broadcast of the SSID will help increase security.
Use as Access PointWhen using the Router as an Access Point, you must specify an IP address for the Access Point. This IP address must fall into the same range as the network that you will be connecting it to. To access the advanced setup interface of the Router again, type in the IP address in the web browser and login.

Protected Mode:- In most situations, best performance (throughput) is achieved with Protected Mode OFF. If you are operating in an environment with HEAVY 802.11b traffic or interference, best performance may be achieved with Protected Mode ON.

Turbo Mode:-Turbo mode incorporates wireless network speed enhancements.Belkin's router supports 2 Turbo modes, 125 G PLUS mode & Frame Bursting mode.Selecting "125 G PLUS mode" will result in all devices running in 125 G PLUS mode if all devices are capable of 125 G PLUS mode speeds. If any non-125 G PLUS mode device connects or associates with the network, the router will automatically shift the entire network back to Frame Bursting Mode.Selecting "Frame Bursting" will result in all devices capable of Frame Bursting to function in frame bursting mode, and all clients not capable to operate in normal 802.11g modes. Frame bursting mode supports both Frame Bursting enabled devices and non Frame Bursting enabled devices simultaneously. Frame bursting mode is based on the unreleased 802.11e specification.Selecting "Off" will disable all turbo modes.

802.11e QoSQuality of Service (QoS):-refers to the capability of a network to provide better service to selected network traffic. The primary goal of QoS is to provide priority including dedicated bandwidth, controlled jitter and latency (required by some real-time and interactive traffic), and improved loss characteristics. Also important is making sure that providing priority for one or more flows does not make other flows fail. QoS technologies provide the elemental building blocks that will be used for future business applications in campus, WAN, and service provider networks.

Virtual Servers:-This function will allow you to route external (Internet) calls for services such as a web server (port 80), FTP server (Port 21), or other applications through your Router to your internal network. Since your internal computers are protected by a firewall, machines from the Internet cannot get to them because they cannot be 'seen'. If you need to configure the Virtual Server function for a specific application, a list of common applications has been provided. If your application is not listed, you will need to contact the application vendor to find out which port settings you need. To select from the provided list, select your application from the drop-down list. Select the row that you want to copy the settings to from the drop-down list next to "to row", then click "Enter". The settings will be transferred to the row you specified. Click "Apply Changes" to save the setting for that application. To manually enter settings, enter the IP address in the space provided for the internal (server) machine, the port(s) required to pass (use a comma between multiple ports), select the port type (TCP or UDP) and click "Apply Changes". You can only pass one port per internal IP address. Opening ports in your firewall can pose a security risk. You can enable and disable settings very quickly. It is recommended that you disable the settings when you are not using a specific application.

MAC Address Filtering:-The MAC Address Filter is a powerful security feature that allows you to specify which computers are allowed on the network. Any computer attempting to access the network that is not specified in the filter list will be denied access. When you enable this feature, you must enter the MAC address of each client on your network to allow network access to each. The "Block" feature lets you turn on and off access to the network easily for any computer without having to add and remove the computer's MAC address from the list. To enable this feature, select "Enable MAC Address Filtering". Next, enter the MAC address of each computer on your network by clicking "Add" and entering the MAC address in the space provided. Click "Apply Changes" to save the settings. To delete a MAC address from the list, simply click "Delete" next to the MAC address you wish to delete. Click "Apply Changes" to save the settings. Note: you will not be able to delete the MAC address of the computer you are using to access the Router's administrative functions. (The computer you are using now).
Client IP filtersThe Router can be configured to restrict access to the Internet, e-mail or other network services at specific days and times. Restriction can be set for a single computer, a range of computers, or multiple computers. To restrict Internet access to a single computer for example, enter the IP address of the computer you wish to restrict access to in the IP fields. Next enter 80 and 80 in the Port fields. Select TCP. Select Block. You can also select Always to block access all of the time. Select the day to start on top, the time to start on top, the day to end on the bottom and the time to stop on the bottom. Click "Apply Changes". The computer at the IP address you specified will now be blocked from Internet access at the times you specified. Note: be sure you have selected the correct time zone under Utilities> System Settings> Time Zone.

DMZ:-The DMZ feature allows you to specify one computer on your network to be placed outside of the NAT firewall. This may be necessary if the NAT feature is causing problems with an application such as a game or video conferencing application. Use this feature on a temporary basis. The computer in the DMZ is not protected from hacker attacks. To put a computer in the DMZ, enter the last digits of its IP address in the IP field and select "Enable". Click "Apply Changes" for the change to take effect. If you are using multiple static WAN IP addresses, it is possible to select which WAN IP address the DMZ host will be directed to. Type in the WAN IP address you wish the DMZ host to direct to, enter the last two digits of the IP address of the DMZ host computer, select "Enable" and Click "Apply Changes".

Block ICMP:- PingComputer hackers use what is known as "Pinging" to find potential victims on the Internet. By pinging a specific IP address and receiving a response from the IP address, a hacker can determine that something of interest might be there. The Router can be set up so it will not respond to an ICMP Ping from the outside. This heightens the level of security of your Router. To turn off the ping response, select "Block ICMP Ping" and click "Apply Changes". The router will not respond to an ICMP ping.

Administrator Password:-The Router ships with NO password entered. If you wish to add a password for more security, you can set a password here. Keep your password in a safe place, as you will need this password if you need to log into the router in the future. It is also recommended that you set a password if you plan to use the Remote management feature of this Router. The login timeout option allows you to set the period of time that you can be logged into the Router's advanced setup interface. The timer starts when there has been no activity. For example, you have made some changes in the advanced setup interface, then left your computer alone without clicking "Logout". Assuming the timeout is set to 10 minutes, then 10 minutes after you leave, the login session will expire. You will have to login to the router again to make any more changes. The login timeout option is for security purposes and the default is set to 10 minutes. As a note, only one computer can be logged into the Router's advanced setup interface at one time.

Time and Time Zone:-The Router keeps time by connecting to a Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) server. This allows the Router to synchronize the system clock to the global Internet. The synchronized clock in the Router is used to record the security log and control client filtering. Select the time zone that you reside in. If you reside in an area that observes Daylight Saving, then place a checkmark in the box next to "Enable Daylight Saving". The system clock may not update immediately. Allow at least 15 minutes for the router to contact the time servers on the Internet and get a response. You cannot set the clock yourself.
Remote ManagementBefore you enable this function,MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SET THE ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD. Remote management allows you to make changes to your Router's settings from anywhere on the Internet. There are two methods of remotely managing the router. The first method is to allow access to the router from anywhere on the Internet by selecting "Any IP address can remotely manage the router". By typing in your WAN IP address from any computer on the Internet, you will be presented with a login screen where you need to type in the password of your router. The Second method is to allow a specific IP address only to remotely manage the router. This is more secure, but less convenient. To use this method, enter the IP address you know you will be accessing the Router from in the space provided and select "Only this IP address can remotely manage the Router". Before you enable this function, it is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you set your administrator password. Leaving the password empty will potentially open your router to intrusion.

NAT EnablingBefore you enable this function, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SET THE ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD. Network Address Translation (NAT) is the method by which the router shares the single IP address assigned by your ISP with the computers on your network. Advanced users should only use this function. This function should only be used if your ISP assigns you multiple IP addresses or you need NAT disabled for an advanced system configuration. If you have a single IP address and you turn NAT off, the computers on your network will not be able to access the Internet. Other problems may also occur. Turning off NAT will disable your firewall functions.

UPnPUPnP (Universal Plug-and-Play):-is a technology that offers seamless operation of voice messaging, video messaging, games, and other applications that are UPnP compliant. Some applications require the Router's firewall to be configured in a specific way to operate properly. This usually requires opening TCP and UDP ports and in some instances setting trigger ports. An application that is UPnP compliant has the ability to communicate with the Router, basically "telling" the Router which way it needs the firewall configured. The Router ships with the UPnP feature disabled. If you are using any applications that are UPnP compliant, and wish to take advantage of the UPnP features, you can enable the UPnP feature. Simply select "Enable" in the "UPnP Enabling" section of the Utilities page. Click "Apply Changes" to save the change.
Automatic Firmware Update NotificationThe Router has the capability built-in to automatically check for a new version of firmware and alert you that the new firmware is available. When you log into the Router advanced interface, the router will perform a check to see if new firmware is available. If new firmware is available, you will be notified. You can choose to download the new version or ignore it. The router ships with this feature disabled. If you want to enable it, select "Enable" and click "Apply Changes".

Wireless Security:-Using Encryption can help secure your wireless network. Only one type of security may be selected at a time. Therefore the customer must select a mode that is supported on all network devices on the wireless network. This Belkin product has 4 possible Security settings:
1. Disabled. No encryption is enabled in this mode. Open networks where all users are welcome sometimes prefer to not enable encryption.
2. WPA/WPA2-Personal(PSK). WPA means Wireless Protected Access. WPA/WPA2-Personal PSK is a recent standards-based security technique where each packet of information is encrypted with a different code, or key. Since the key is constantly changing, WPA/WPA2 is very secure. The encryption key is generated automatically from a string of characters called the Pass Phrase or the Pre-shared Key (PSK). Obviously the biggest security risk in WPA is if someone finds out your Pass Phrase.
o Authentication - Select the method supported by all clients. WPA-PSK uses TKIP or AES encryption. WPA2-PSK uses AES encryption. WPA-PSK + WPA2-PSK allows clients to use either WPA-PSK (with TKIP encryption) or WPA2-PSK (with AES encryption).
o Encryption Technique - If using WPA-PSK, select the desired Encryption method - TKIP or AES. WPA2-PSK always uses AES encryption. WPA-PSK + WPA2-PSK uses TKIP + AES.
o Pre-shared Key (PSK) - All clients must use the same PSK. The PSK can be any word or phrase from 8 up to 63 characters. Watch out for upper and lower case differences ("n" is different than "N".) Remember, the easiest way to break your security is for someone to guess your PSK.
3. 128-bit WEP. Until recently, 128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) was the standard for wireless encryption. If not all of your wireless devices support WPA, 128bit WEP still offers a very good security option. It will require you to enter hex digits (0~9, A~F), or else generate the keys by using the PassPhrase/Generate option.
4. 64-bit WEP. This is similar to 128-bit WEP, but not as powerful. Belkin only recommends 64-bit mode on networks where some devices do not support either WPA or 128-bit WEP.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

CORRUPTED OR MISSING \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG

If you got this error:
This error is due to file missing or corrupt\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM or \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE

  1. Insert and boot from your Windows XP CD.
    At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
  2. Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.Typically this will be #1
  3. Enter in the administrator password when requested
    cd \windows\system32\config
  4. Depending on which section was corrupted:ren software software.bad or ren system system.bad
  5. Depending on which section was corruptedcopy \windows\repair\systemcopy \windows\repair\software
  6. Take out the CD ROM and type exit