Manually Opening Ports in Windows Firewall

Sometimes you need to manually open ports in the Windows Firewall to allow programs on your computer to talk to the Internet. Be forewarned that opening up ports in your firewall exposes your computer to the Internet which can make it vulnerable to attack.

    * From the Start menu, open 'My Network Places'.
    * Under Network Tasks, click 'View Network Connections'.
    * Right-click your Internet connection, and select Properties.
    * Click the Advanced tab, and then press the Settings button.

Note: If the Settings button is unavailable, the Windows Firewall is not enabled on this connection, and you do not have to open any ports.

    * Press the Add button to open a new port.
    * In the 'Description of service' field, type a friendly name for the port to help you remember why you open it. For example, type Remote Desktop : Port 3389.
    * In the 'Name or IP address' field, enter the address of the computer hosting this service on your network box. Generally this will be local computer, so type "127.0.0.1". Although, you can specify the IP address of another computer on your local network.
    * In the External port and Internal port boxes, type the port number that you want to open.
    * Select either TCP or UDP, and press the OK button.

Repeat the steps above for each port that you want to open.

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP

Microsoft offers several PowerToys for Windows XP as a free set add-on to enhance the operating system. Some of these are add-ons are more useful then others, for example Tweak UI allows you to modify certain aspects of the OS. Other add-ons Alt-Tab Replacement, are a little less useful in my opinion.

Note: These tools are unsupported by Microsoft, so if you have any problems you're on your own.

    * ClearType Tuner (New): Allows you to tune the ClearType technology to make it easier to read text on your screen.
    * HTML Slide Show Wizard (Updated): Creates an HTML slide show of your digital pictures, ready for your Web site.
    * Open Command Window Here: Provides a quick way to open a command window.
    * Alt-Tab Replacement: Displays the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.
    * Tweak UI: Grants you access to system settings that are not available in the Windows XP default user interface....

    * Power Calculator: Graphing calculate that can evaluate functions, perform different types of conversions.
    * Image Resizer: Allows you to resize one or many image files with a right-click.
    * CD Slide Show Generator: View images burned to a CD as a slide show.
    * Virtual Desktop Manager: Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar.
    * Taskbar Magnifier: Magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.
    * Webcam Timershot: Allows you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate.

Password Protect Your Compressed Folders

In previous versions of the Windows OS, if you needed to create or open a .ZIP file you needed a 3rd party utility such as WinZip. Windows XP has a native ability open or create ZIP files, now known as 'Compressed Folders'.

To create a Compressed Folders, all you have to do is right-click and existing folder, select Send To > Compressed (zipped) Folder. If you need to prevent other people from viewing the contents of the these files, you can password protect the files in the Compress Folder.

Note: Compress Folder and ZIP file, uses a simple data encryption method that will only stop the casual computer user from viewing the file. If you need more security use a more sophisticated application like PGP or GnuPG....


To assign a password to a compressed folder:

    * Open the Windows Explorer, and find the compressed folder you want to password protect.
    * Double-click the compressed folder to open it.
    * From the File menu, select 'Add a Password...'.
    * Type in your password twice and press the OK button.

To remove the password compressed folder, just open it up select 'Remove Password...' from the File menu. Enter your current password, and press the OK button.

How to send a large file to your friendzzz....

Do you ever have the need to send a large file (such as: audio or video) to a friend
or relative, but you can't send it via email because of the attachment size limitation
 imposed by your or receiver's mail service provider. There is an answer to this problem,
YouSendIt.com allows you to send large files (up to 1GB) to someone else. The great
thing about this service is there are no: passwords to share, software to install, accounts
to create, and no full mailboxes.

How it work:...

- Enter the Recipient's email address, to whom you want to sent the file to. You can specify multiple email addresses by separating them with commas.
- Select a file to send. Your file will be stored on YouSendIt's server, without filling up your recipient's mailbox.
- Click the Send button. YouSendIt will automatically email your recipient a link to the file stored on their server.

Note: The file you send will be automatically deleted off of YouSendIt's servers after seven days.

Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)

Microsoft is currently offering their Windows AntiSpyware software for free, at least until July 31, 2011 for free. Microsoft acquired the technology from a company called GIANT Company Software, which they bought recently. This company made one of the better Anti-Spyware scanners on the market.

I personally use this software, and I am very impressed with it. It not only finds more spyware, adware, etc. It also has very extensive proactive features, to help prevent you from being infected in the first place.

This software is now part of the everyday arsenal to protect myself while on the Internet.

Surf the Web With Your Peers

Jybe is a free peer-to-peer browser plug-in for Internet Explorer and Firefox that allows you to
surf the Web with your friends, family and business partners in real-time. It allows you to show
off your favorite web sites, shop with your friends, assist your peers with how to use the Web.

This is not new technology, but hopefully will last longer then the other companies that have
offered the same technology in the past. Jybe claims that their software is spyware, and they
also don't collect information about surfing habits.


Check out their privacy policy and FAQ to understand what information they do collect form internet..

Access Your PC Anywhere In the World For Free

WebEx launched MyWebExPC, a free service that allows you to remotely and
securely access your PC from anywhere in the world. The MyWebExPC software
is easy to install and setup.

A Pro version is also available for $9.95 a month that offers more sophisticated features.
.Install the software and enjoy....