The Chronicon: Options

Showing posts with label Options. Show all posts

Disable BitDefender Product Updates

BitDefender presents itself as the free, no-spam anti-virus solution, but constant product updates kind of take the place of spam. While this is not recommended, you can permanently disable the product updates in this way:

1. Restart your PC in Safe Mode by:
- Restart the computer
- Press the F8 key several times before Microsoft Windows begins to load
- Select SAFE MODE from the menu

Now once you log in to Windows in Safe Mode,
1. Locate the file:
C:\Program Files\BitDefender\BitDefender 2012\update_components.xml

2. Save a backup copy just in case.

3. Open the file with Notepad or (we recommend Notepad++) and modify the following line:

Basically you will modify the "1" into "0" (only the first "1" from the line).

The line should look like this after the change:

4. Save the file (overwrite the original XML file);

5. Restart the PC.

By changing this code in the XML file, BitDefender will no longer download new updates from the servers.

If you change your mind or just want to update from time to time, undo what you have done.

Send blocked .zip files through email filters

Many businesses these days have email filters which prevent the sending of .zip files through email as the files are capable of carrying viruses and other malicious software. This is a sound idea for protecting users. However, there have been times where I have been trying to send data to someone outside the organization and a .zip file is the only feasible way to do it. The following instructions detail how you can circumvent these email filters and send/receive .zip files through email.

Step 0. If you are using Windows 7, you will need to change the folders settings to display file extensions. This option was a little easier to find in previous Windows versions.

- Open a folder window (Windows Explorer)
- Click the Organize button
- Select "Folder and search options"

- Select the View tab
- Un-check "Hide extensions for known file types" under Advanced settings

Step 1. Right-click on the zip file and rename the extension to a file type which will not be filtered like .pdf or .doc

Step 2. Attach and send the file in an email

The following directions are obviously intended for the recipient of the email. You may email this article to them by using the buttons at the bottom of this post.

Step 3. Save the file from the email

Step 4. Rename the file extension back to .zip (recipients should follow Step 0 to see file extensions)

Step 5. Repeat Step 0, except re-check "Hide extensions for known file types" under Advanced settings

Voila! Now you can send .zip files without getting them bounced back. However, your IT department may not like it if they find out. And you know don't mess with the people who control (e)mail...

Change / Hack Windows 7 Logon Screen Background

Have you ever wanted to change that default blue login background for Windows 7? Well, now you can.

WARNING: this hack requires editing your computer's registry and should be done very carefully. Messing up your registry can mess up your whole system.

> Open the Registry Editor by typing "regedit" into the Start Menu search box

> In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background

>>If Background does not exist right-click LogonUI, select New and then Key, and then name it Background.

Set Static Windows Paging File to Prevent Fragmentation

Windows is very prone to disk fragmentation, which when left unchecked can severely slow your system down. See Here.

For Windows XP users, running the disk defragmenter was always a tedious task if most people ever remembered to do it at all. In Windows 7, the task is scheduled, but then the PC would have to be left on overnight for the scheduler to execute it. One easy thing to do to prevent rapid fragmentation concerns the size and type of paging file for your virtual memory.

In this pic, the two green lines are the paging file (as I have removed my hibernation file, which would also be green). A paging file is an area of your hard drive disk space that the computer can use as RAM when needed (aka Virtual Memory).

These files are unmovable which means that if your paging file is fragmented, it is slicing up your system drive and files can't be shuffled effectively. This occurs often especially when the paging file is set to be managed by the system. This means that you have a dynamically sized paging file which is constantly being changed and creating more disparate green lines.

What you need to do is allocate a specific size for your paging file size. Even if the files are spread out over the system, more space is not constantly being reallocated per the system management. Typically, the general rule of thumb is that your paging file should be 1.5x the amount of your RAM.

NOTE: The following instructions are aimed at XP users, however Windows 7 users could find the same dialog by searching for "Advanced" in their Start Menu search box.

Go to System Properties by either...

Disable Hibernation ( remove hiberfil.sys ) in Windows 7

For those of you who are running Windows 7 on a desktop and get little to no use out of the hibernation feature (what happens when you close a laptop) here is a tip that will help free up some hard drive space. When hibernation is initiated, everything currently stored in RAM is placed on the hard drive. So as much hard drive memory as you have RAM memory is alotted for hibernation. For some of these newer PCs with 12GB or more of RAM, this is an awful waste of unused memory.

This rendering (from windirstat) shows that the hiberfil.sys (smaller red square) file comprises a signiifcant portion of the hard drive disk space. (The larger red square is the virtual memory paging file).

In Windows XP, the hibernation feature could be disabled in Control Panel > Power Options.

Make Chrome Safer and more Secure

Here are a few tweaks that I use for the Google Chrome browser to make it more secure. These instructions are based on a clean installation of Chrome v30.0.1599.66 on Windows 7.
Always best to start fresh.

1. Open up Settings

On the Settings tab...

2. Click Reset to default theme if it is not already selected. Themes are like extensions and can potentially share your browser data with third-party devs. Obviously, don't install extensions either for the same reason.

3. Click Show advanced settings...

In the Privacy Section...

4. Disable Use a web service to help resolve navigation errors

5. Disable Use a prediction service to help complete searches and URLs typed in the address bar

6. Disable Predict network actions to improve page load performance

7. Enable phishing and malware protection

7. Disable use a web service to help resolve spelling errors.

8. Disable Automatically send usage statistics and crash reports to Google

9. Enable Send a "Do Not Track" request with your browsing traffic

NOTE: Just below, in Passwords and forms, you should never enable Autofill or save passwords. These are disabled by default, but Chrome will prompt you constantly to enable them.

10. Towards the bottom, under System, disable Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed

11. Click on Content Settings at the top

In Content Settings, Under Cookies...

12. Enable Keep local data only until I quit my browser.

NOTE: You can go one step further and Block sites from setting any data, but many websites will not work properly. Your call.

13. Enable Block third-party cookies and site data

Under Handlers...

14. Enable Do not allow any site to handle protocols

Under Plug-ins...

15. Enable Click to play. This will bring up a grey window for webpage elements such as Flash e.g. a YouTube video. All you have to do is click on the puzzle piece and it will work.

Under Pop-ups...

16. Make sure the Do not allow any site to show pop-ups is enabled. This is the default.

Under Location...

17. Enable Do not allow any site to track my physical location

Under Notifications...

18. Enable Do not allow any site to show desktop notifications

Under Mouse cursor...

19. Enable Do not allow any site to disable the mouse cursor

Under Protected content...

20. Disable Allow identifiers for protected content

Under media...

21. Enable Do not allow sites to access my camera and microphone
21a. You should also disable camera and microphone access in your Flash player settings as well.

Under Unsandboxed plug-in access...

22. Enable Do not allow any sites to use a plug-in to access my computer

23. Click Done at the bottom right

Now under the History tab...

This should be done fairly often to ensure you are not leaving breadcrumbs behind and keep your system lean and mean. Also consider using CCleaner.

24. Click Clear Browsing data...

25. Select the beginning of time from the dropdown

26. Check all boxes

27. Click Clear Browsing Data

Enjoy your browsing experience knowing that you are now more secure. If anyone else has any more tips, please comment below. Happy Browsing!