MakeUseOf » administration http://www.makeuseof.com Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:31:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Create A Realtime Computer Status App With Windows Script & LiveGraph http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-realtime-computer-status-app-windows-script-livegraph/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-realtime-computer-status-app-windows-script-livegraph/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:00:03 +0000 Ryan Dube http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=96075 computer system status reportsOne of the fun things about being a computer geek is showing off with multiple displays going on all at once.

These might include scrolling text across various windows, and a second screen full of real-time graphs rolling from right to left, showing every last detail about the status of every computer system on the network – CPU usage, battery levels of all of the laptops, and remaining hard drive space on all systems.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have an application that would offer such a display?

We’ve covered a number of programs that provide some real-time status displays like that, like SpeedFan that Kyle and Guy covered. The most elaborate tool for viewing all of your computer information is probably Speccy, which Karl covered.

The problem with all of these is that they either offer too much or too little information. Maybe there are a few things you want to track on your network or your computer system, but you don’t want to have to dig through all of that other stuff. What if you could customize your own computer monitoring system using Windows Script, and then display the details in a really cool, real-time charting system that is open-source and absolutely free?

Developing Your Own Cool Real-Time Statistics

There are two stages to doing this. You don’t have to be a programming expert. Once you understand how to go about obtaining data from your computer (or any computer on your network) using Windows Script, you’ll be able to build this system to display whatever you like, and only what you want.

The following script will query your computer system for the current CPU load in percentages.

<script type="text/javascript" language="VBScript">// <![CDATA[
Option Explicit
On Error Resume Next
Dim oFSO, sFile1, oFile1, sFile2, oFile2, sFile3, oFile3, sText
Dim colResults, objResult, strQuery
Dim strResults
Dim x
 
Set Shell = wscript.createObject("wscript.shell")
Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
sFile1 = "CPULoad.csv"
sFile2 = "DriveSpace.csv"
sFile3 = "BatteryStatus.csv"
 
'***Open New File to write CPU Load***
Set oFile1 = oFSO.CreateTextFile(sFile1, 1)
 
'Define the WMI query
strQuery = "SELECT * FROM Win32_Processor"
 
' Run the query
Set colResults = GetObject("winmgmts://./root/cimv2").ExecQuery( strQuery )
 
'Identify the CPU load
For Each objResult In colResults
 	strResults = CStr(objResult.LoadPercentage)
Next	
 
oFile1.WriteLine strResults
oFile1.Close
 
Set oFile1 = Nothing
set colResults = Nothing
strResults = ""

The key lines here are the select statement that looks at “Win32_Processor”, and the “objResult.LoadPercentage” line, which extracts the CPU load percentage from the system results. Finally, as you can see toward the bottom of the code, the data that’s extracted gets written to a csv file.

After creating the file and writing one line, the next step is to create a loop that continues polling the computer system and updating the csv data file with updated data. Here’s what that loop looks like:

'***Write New CPU Load every 5 seconds***

For x = 1 to 50
 
	WScript.Sleep 5000
 
	'***Update CPU Load File***
	Set oFile1 = oFSO.OpenTextFile(sFile1,8,1)
 
	'Define the WMI query
	strQuery = "SELECT * FROM Win32_Processor"
 
	' Run the query
	Set colResults = GetObject("winmgmts://./root/cimv2").ExecQuery( strQuery )
 
	'Identify the CPU load
	For Each objResult In colResults
	 	strResults = CStr(objResult.LoadPercentage)
	Next	
 
	oFile1.WriteLine strResults
	oFile1.Close
	Set oFile1 = Nothing
	set colResults = Nothing
	strResults = ""
Next

This will loop 50 times, waiting 5 seconds between each system query and updating the data file. You could use a while loop to make it an infinite loop if you want and just have it constantly running in the background, but for this example I’m using a limited loop that runs for just over 4 minutes. Here’s what the output file looks like after the script has run for a while.
computer system status reports
This is a cool system to query system information for data and then output that info to a constantly-updated text file. This gives you real-time information about anything the Windows WMIC system has available. Just to give you a glimpse of what sort of information is available, take a look at the Microsoft Technet page on WMIC – it’s pretty impressive.

But the real coolness-factor comes from using LiveGraph – an open-source plotting tool that will read in the real-time data you’re writing to the CSV files, and display those in an updated graph display.

When you install and run LiveGraph, you just tell it what CSV file to query, and move the slider over to the left to have the program check the data file every 10 seconds or so.

computer status

Here is what LiveGraph looks like after the windows script above has been running for a couple of minutes. LiveGraph updates automatically and as more data gets added to the file, the chart scrolls across the screen with the latest CPU load.

computer status

Once you’ve gotten this far, you can fill a whole screen up with cool real-time graphs of whatever information you’d like, by adding additional sections to your windows script that query other information about your computer or any computer on your network. For example, I added the following section to query the system for the current battery level of my laptop.

'***Open New File to write Battery Level***
Set oFile3 = oFSO.CreateTextFile(sFile3, 1)
 
'Define the WMI query
strQuery = "SELECT * FROM Win32_Battery"
 
' Run the query
Set colResults = GetObject("winmgmts://./root/cimv2").ExecQuery( strQuery )
 
'Identify the Battery Level
For Each objResult In colResults
 	strResults = CStr(objResult.EstimatedChargeRemaining)
Next	
 
oFile3.WriteLine strResults
oFile3.Close
 
Set oFile3 = Nothing
set colResults = Nothing
strResults = ""

After adding another section to monitor the realtime level of my hard drive, I finally had three data files accumulating realtime data about my systems.

The beauty here is that you can customize the system with whatever you like – it doesn’t have to be computer information, you can poll network status, ping computers on your network, query HTML files and extract information that you can display in a real-time graph on your screen.

computer system status reports

I love the display, and now kick off the windows script on my PC startup, and just make it run in an infinite loop. For now it’s providing system info about all of the PCs on my network, but plan to play around with extracting real-time info about my overall network bandwidth use and information polled off the net. With VB Script and imagination, the sky’s the limit.

Give the script and LiveGraph a try, and play around with adding your own information and data to the system. What kind of cool graph displays did you come up with? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments section below.

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-realtime-computer-status-app-windows-script-livegraph/feed/ 4 How To Control Running Services With The SC Command [Windows] http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/control-running-services-sr-command-windows/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/control-running-services-sr-command-windows/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:31:54 +0000 Ryan Dube http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=95838 services in computerOne of the things that I find myself doing much more often since diving into IT is monitoring and checking the status of services running in computers across the company.

There is the standard way of managing services which most people use because it’s well-known and fairly easy. This involves going into Administrative controls or going into the control panel, hunting down the Services utility and doing what you need to do.

If you want to manage the services that are running on a different computer or server on your network, you need to go to computer management, connect to the remote machine, and then manage those services.

There’s nothing at all wrong with taking this approach – in fact system administrators everywhere use these standard Windows utilities to manage the infrastructure across the enterprise. But, what if you could monitor, stop and start services by typing in a single line at the command prompt?

Controlling Services From the Command Line

You may need to stop services running in a client computer so that you can reinstall some software. Or maybe you need to restart services that are running on a server because some software isn’t working properly.

Up until now, you’ve probably managed services on client machines running on your network using the standard services utility. This is the Services tool that you launch in the Administrative Tools section of the control panel.

services in computer

In Admin Tools, you can either go directly to the Services tool, or open up computer management if you want to access a different computer on your network.

running services windows

To access a different computer, just click action, “Connect to Another Computer” and then type the network name of the computer.

running services windows

Then you can open up the services tool.

An Easier Way To Manage Services

So anyway, that’s the long way. The shorter and faster way is to use the command “SC”.

You’re probably familiar with the NET command. The SC command is nearly identical to NET, except that it can also create a service, in addition to monitoring, stopping and starting them. Best of all, you can issue the SC command against other computers over the network (assuming you have admin rights).

Doing an SC query against a computer will give you all of the installed services and whether they are running. When you issue the command “SC \\**computer-name** query |more” – you’ll get an output as shown here.

running services windows

As you can see, this gives you the state of the service, the type of service and other parameters. For the sake of our exercises here, we’re going to pay attention to just the state of the services.

If you want to list only the services that are currently not running (stopped), then you would issue the command, “SC \\**computer-name** query state= “inactive” |more”

The |more part of the command makes the output pause on each screen so that you can scroll.

services running on computer

As you can see, those services are all stopped. Now, instead of having to dig through all of those services, if you know the name of the service, you can just issue the command “SC \\**computer-name** query **service-name**”

services running on computer

That will report back with the current status of just that service and nothing else. To remotely stop a service, all you have to do is issue the stop command, “SC \\**computer-name** stop **service-name**”

services running on computer

The output will show a state of “STOP-PENDING”, but after a few moments, if you query that service again, you’ll see that it is no longer running. You can start it by issuing the same command, but replacing “stop” with “start”.

Creating A Script To Query, Stop Or Start Any Service

Okay, so now that you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to write a script that will stop any service that you want without the need to remember the exact command string. We can do this by writing a trusty Windows Script, as follows.

<script type="text/javascript" language="VBScript">// <![CDATA[
   Option Explicit On Error Resume Next Dim WshShell Dim strInput Dim strComputer Dim x Dim blnGetList Dim strStopStart set WshShell=CreateObject("WScript.Shell") x=0 strComputer = InputBox("Enter the computer or server name:") Do while x=0    'Query User for Service to check    strInput = InputBox("Enter the service name or DONE:")    If strInput = "DONE" or strInput = "done" then 	x=1    Else 	strStopStart = MsgBox("Stop Service? Yes-Stop, No-Start", VBYesNo, "Stop Request")        'Send commands 	IF strStopStart = vbYes then       	    WshShell.run "cmd.exe"             WScript.Sleep 1000             WshShell.SendKeys "sc \\" &#038; strComputer &#038; " stop " &#038; strInput &#038; " >> c:\temp\results.txt"
            WshShell.SendKeys ("{Enter}")
            WScript.Sleep 1000
            WshShell.SendKeys "exit"
            WshShell.SendKeys ("{Enter}")
 
         Else
 
      	    WshShell.run "cmd.exe"
            WScript.Sleep 1000
 
            WshShell.SendKeys "sc \\" &#038; strComputer &#038; " start " &#038; strInput &#038; " >> c:\temp\results.txt"
            WshShell.SendKeys ("{Enter}")
            WScript.Sleep 1000
            WshShell.SendKeys "exit"
            WshShell.SendKeys ("{Enter}")
	 End If 
 
  End If
 
Loop
 
WScript.Quit
// ]]></script>

When you run this script, it’ll ask you for the name of the service that you want to stop or start.

services running on computer

And then whether you want to stop or start the service.

Using the “>> c:\temp\results.txt” command, it outputs the stop and start results and errors to a text file that you can use to see whether the command worked.

When I ran the script above, I followed it up with a quick query of the service before and after running the script.

services in computer

As you can see, the service I stopped – helpsvc – was running. I ran the Windows Script to stop it, queried it, and it was stopped.

If you wanted to get really fancy, you could add a section to the script that outputted all of the currently installed services on the PC to a text file that you could review before deciding which service to stop or start. The command for that would be “sc \\” & strComputer & ” query > c:\temp\services.txt”.

As you can see, the SC command can be a pretty powerful and efficient way to manage services on any computer, and if you have some talent with Windows Scripting, you can even automate the process to make your job even easier.

Do you think the SC command could come in handy for you? What about an automated script that runs the command? Share your ideas and thoughts in the comments section below.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/control-running-services-sr-command-windows/feed/ 2 Test Your Computer For Security Misconfigurations With Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/test-computer-security-misconfigurations-microsoft-baseline-security-analyzer/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/test-computer-security-misconfigurations-microsoft-baseline-security-analyzer/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:31:28 +0000 Tina Sieber http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=77767 security misconfigurationMicrosoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is a free tool, designed for IT professionals of small and medium-sized businesses. Given its clear graphical user interface however, it also serves as a great security tool for personal use. MBSA analyzes the security setup of local and networked Windows computers and can identify common security misconfigurations or missing updates.

You can download MBSA 2.2 from the Microsoft Download Center. It is available for 64-bit (x64) and 32-bit (x86) Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2. Moreover, it comes in four different languages: German (DE), English (EN), French (FR), and Japanese (JA).

Getting Started

The startup interface of MBSA is very simple and basically offers only three options: scan a computer, scan multiple computers, or view existing security scan reports. The sidebar also offers links to the program documentation and the Microsoft security website.

security misconfiguration

Note that you require Administrator rights for all machines that you wish to scan. You can scan a single or multiple systems based on the computer name or IP address. If you select to scan multiple computers, you need to enter a domain name or a range of IP addresses.

For this demonstration I went with scanning a single computer.

security configuration

The scanning options are straightforward, although not necessarily clear for the inexperienced user. If you don’t understand what some of the options mean, click the > Scanning Options link at the bottom for detailed explanations. The information will load in a separate Internet Explorer window.

security configuration

The scan merely takes a few seconds and returns an overview of issues found in different categories. Each item is scored and a summary of the result is provided, along with links to further information material.

security configuration

Checks that were passed receive a green score, items that could not be checked are marked with a grey minus, room for improvements is highlighted by a blue score, a yellow score indicates a non-critical vulnerability and a red score alerts the user to a failed check and thus a critical security issue. Follow the respective links for detailed information about what was scanned or instructions on how an issue can be corrected.

All reports are saved and can be accessed at a later time for reference. You can also print or copy your report to the clipboard.

security misconfiguration

Conclusion

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer is a very good tool to quickly get an overview of security-related settings on your Windows machine. Instructions for correcting detected security misconfigurations are very clear and should therefore be easy to follow for the average user. Overall, the documentation is surprisingly detailed and well done, almost as if Microsoft expected non-IT folks to use this tool.

It must be said though that fixing most configurations does require some basic understanding of how Windows works. For example an issue with the file system is not necessarily security relevant and the instructions do not provide information on how to find the drive that doesn’t run NTFS. Moreover, some issues require advanced knowledge and should be left to the experts to be fixed, for example setting a password expiration.

For more information, also have a look at this article from Microsoft Patterns & Practices: How To Use the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

What is your opinion? Do you think this is a useful tool? Please share your thoughts!

Image credits: beboy

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/test-computer-security-misconfigurations-microsoft-baseline-security-analyzer/feed/ 2 6 Must-Have Apps For Computer Repair Technicians http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-musthave-apps-computer-repair-technicians/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-musthave-apps-computer-repair-technicians/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:31:54 +0000 Matt Smith http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=60803 computer repair technician Computers are complex pieces of electronics and, unfortunately, they tend to go astray quite often. Knowledgeable geeks can fix these problems quickly, but to the average user, a Blue Screen of Death is as useful as receiving a pie to the face. This, of course, is why people hire computer repair technicians. It’s also why your grandparents think that you are one because you know how to change the homepage in Internet Explorer.

If you are ever faced with the task of repairing computers – either professionals or as an amateur – it’s important to have the right tools. This includes software that can help you pinpoint and solve system errors. Let’s have a look at six programs that can save you a lot of time.

PC Wizard

pc computer repair

Properly diagnosing and repairing a computer requires knowledge about what is inside it. Some information, like the processor that a computer has and the amount of RAM installed, is extremely easy to come across. But other information, like the exact model of motherboard or hard drive, can be more difficult to determine. This is particularly true in pre-built systems from companies like Dell, as they often do not include technical information about their PCs.

PC Wizard is the easy solution to this issue. This software scans a PC and returns detailed information about the components inside. This includes everything from the audio controller to the motherboard chipset. You’ll also be able to see the temperature of the processor, video card, and hard drive (provided the system has those sensors installed).

OCCT and Furmark

computer repair technician

Many computer problems are caused by stress placed on components as they reach maximum load. It is not hard for a processor to run well when it is only using 25% of it’s potential, but when maxed to 100% it begins to generate significantly more heat and draw far more power. This can expose problems with a computer’s cooling solution or power supply that are otherwise not an issue.

Controlled stress tests reveal these issues. My two favorite programs are OCCT (for the CPU) and Furmark (for the GPU). Each program can put a load on a processor or video card that will replicate what happens when a program demands everything these components have to give.

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware

pc computer repair

Malware is one of the most common causes of computer problems. Unsuspecting folks download the wrong file, and now suddenly their processor seems to be running at 80% or higher usage no matter what they’re doing, or their homepage has been changed to llamas.com.

This is where a free malware program like MalwareBytes is handy. You can install it free of charge on as many computers as you’d like and use it to try and find and remove the malware that is causing innocent folks so much trouble. Cleaning up malware on an already-infected computer is tricky, so don’t expect this (or any other) anti-malware software to perform magic, but this program will give you one more tool for tackling the problem.

Revo Uninstaller

pc computer repair

One problem that often confronts computer repair technicians is a program that won’t uninstall properly. The program may be consuming disk space, or interfering with other programs, and you’d like to remove it. Yet the built-in uninstaller fails every time.

Revo Uninstaller is a program tailored to defeat such problems. It can track down the different components and registry entries of a program and kill them. In my experience it can remove about 80% of the programs that have previously failed to uninstall through conventional methods, and you may want to simply use Revo Uninstaller by default, as it cleans up after programs more throughly than the default uninstallers usually do.

SiSoft Sandra 2011 Lite

computer repair technician

You can learn a lot about a computer by benchmarking it. Hardware is hardware – it is made to precise specifications, and there is very little variation between various examples of a similar product. This creates a good baseline to compare the performance of a computer to, which in turn makes it easier to find where problems might be occurring. Benchmarks can also be handy because, in some cases, a problem assumed to be a hardware defect isn’t one at all. Instead, the problem is that the hardware just isn’t up to handling what the user is demanding from it.

There are a lot of useful free benchmarks, but SiSoft Sandra remains one of the most full-featured and robust examples.  The benchmarks included can be used to gauge the performance of hard drives, processors, video cards, memory and more. In addition, SiSoft Sandra offers some comparative examples of benchmarks run using similar hardware. This can help you determine if a computer is behaving normally.

While I find SiSoft Sandra’s benchmarks to be the most compelling feature, the program offers a number of other tools and hardware information utilities. I find other options to be better in these areas, but the extra tools are handy to have, and some users may prefer them.

Conclusion

The 5 must-have apps listed here are ones that I’ve used in the past. They’re great programs – but given the expansive universe of programs available, they’re surely not the only ones around. If you know of a program that would be useful for computer repair technicians feel free to throw some love on it in the comments.

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-musthave-apps-computer-repair-technicians/feed/ 43 Monitor Your Computer Better With Process Hacker http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/monitor-computer-process-hacker/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/monitor-computer-process-hacker/#comments Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:31:30 +0000 Matt Smith http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=53990 monitor your computerWindows Task Manager has evolved into a reasonably good utility. It offers a lot of information about what your computer is doing at any particular moment; the programs running, the load on the processor, and network activity are displayed.

There are limits to what Windows Task Manager can do for you however. If you’re interested in the real nitty-gritty details of your computer’s inner workings you’ll need something better, stronger, faster – something like Process Hacker.

Monitoring Processes

When you install and open Process Hacker you’ll be presented with a window that has three tabs. They are – from left to right – Processes, Services and Network.

Processes is the tab that will be open first by default. Like the Windows Task Manager, this tab of Process Hacker shows all of the programs and applications that are currently running on your computer. This includes programs that are running in the foreground and those that are running in the background.

monitor your computer

There are a couple of features here that make Process Hacker more useful than Windows Task Manager. The information that appears in Process Hacker is organized into trees (you have to enable Show All Processes for this to display) that show which currently open processes rely on each other.

For example, closing explorer.exe in Windows typically causes a number of other programs to also shut down and restart. These programs are listed under explorer.exe in Process Hacker, so you know at a glance that shutting down explorer.exe would probably cause these programs to terminate.

Process Hacker also color-codes processes. The color-code chart can be found by going to Hacker –> Options –> Highlighting. This lets you quickly determine if a program is a system process, a prioritized program, etc. That information can be useful when hunting down background programs that aren’t essential.

Good Service

computer processes

The Service tab in Process Hacker shows you all of the different Windows services (most of them are drivers) that are on your computer. It is extremely detailed and picks up on information that Windows Task Manager will not show. Process Hacker also provides useful information about the current state of the service. The information to the right details the type of service (driver or process) current state of the service (running or stopped) and how the service is set to start (boot, demand or automatic).

There is so much service information in Process Hacker that, to be frank, it can be bewildering even for a generally tech-savvy computer user. I suggest sorting the Service tab by Running/Stopped before delving into it deeply, as the services that are running are usually the most important.

Networking Details

Perhaps the clearest advantage Process Hacker has over Windows Task Manager can be found in the Network tab. Windows Task Manager has a Network tab as well, of course, but it only shows overall network utilization.

computer processes

Process Hacker goes far deeper. Instead of showing overall network utilization it provides in-depth information about the network connections your computer currently has opened, the IP addresses involved, and the protocol being used. The tab – like all tabs – updates in real-time, and Process Hacker highlights connections that are brand new or recently terminated.

The functionality here is advanced, but can be useful for troubleshooting network problems or searching for a program that you suspect is accessing the Internet without your permission.

Other Useful Features

One of my favorite features in Process Hacker is the ability to search for a process by its name. Let’s say, for example, that for some reason I want to find eveything on my computer related to running Dropbox. I can do this by going to Hacker –> Find Handles and DLLs and then typing in Dropbox. All the processes related to it will pop up!

monitor your computer

Process Hacker can also find and terminate processes that are trying to hide on your computer, such as Trojans or Rootkit software. You can access this utility by clickng on Tools –> Hidden Processes. Any hidden processes active are highlighted in red, and you can then select them and attempt to terminate them. This isn’t exactly a security suite, and I don’t recommend it as your sole means of combating malware, but it can be handy.

Finally, Process Hacker includes graphs like Windows Task Manager. They can be accessed by clicking on View —> System Information. This is one area where Windows Task Manager is actually better, because the graphs are larger and clearer.

Conclusion

Process Hacker is a great program, and far more capable than Windows Task Manager. It can be confusing to use because of the level of detail it provides, so be prepared to deal with a learning curve if you’re not already well versed on what “processes” and “services” do. Once you get the hang of things however, you’ll find that Process Hacker is better than Windows Task Manager in almost every way.

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/monitor-computer-process-hacker/feed/ 2 Get Easy Access Control & Security Features with WinGuard Pro http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easy-access-control-security-features-winguard-pro/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easy-access-control-security-features-winguard-pro/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:30:39 +0000 Varun Kashyap http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=50921 computer security softwareWindows has been constantly improving the access control and parental control functionality. Windows 7 for instance, does a lot of these very well. The problem however is that most of the features are not available in every edition of Windows 7 and even if they are available, they would be buried deep down inside Control Panel — which as some of you would attest to, is unchartered territory!

WinGuard Pro offers to simplify a lot of these tasks by providing a number of such functions bundled together in a tiny little utility.


You can download the WinGuard Pro computer security and access control software here. The download size is under 1 MB and the software installs in a snap. It does however require you to restart your computer. Once you log back in, you can access WinGuard Pro and its features.

The main user interface for WinGuard Pro is the configuration tool. The tool is locked on first run and the default password is “LETMEIN“. Key it in to get access to WinGuard Pro’s feature set. Let’s review some of the features and have a look at what WinGuard Pro offers.

Once you log into the Configuration tool, you are presented with a tabbed interface that gives you access to WinGuard Pro’s features.

Lock down programs or tasks

WinGuard Pro lets you lock down specific programs, folders or tasks via the Tasks tab. Just place a check against the application/feature or folder that you want to lock down and WinGuard Pro will prevent the standard user from accessing the program/feature or the folder.

computer security software

Now whenever Notepad is accessed, the user will have to enter a password before he/she can use it. There are a number of options available that you can lock via a simple check within this tab. The options range from the command prompt, System Restore, etc. with security in mind; to Windows Media Player, Messenger with parental controls in mind.

File and Folder Encryption

WinGuard Pro also lets you encrypt and decrypt files and folders according to your choice. Be warned that this might not be the solution you are looking for if you want to encrypt an entire partition or a USB drive. Truecrypt is your best bet in that case. However, if you want to encrypt a folder or two without getting obsessed with encryption and all the plethora of options that accompany any decent encryption software, WinGuard Pro lets you do that.

Just browse for the folder you want to encrypt, choose a folder and you are done. To read files, click the Decrypt button, browse to the folder and key in your password!

Prevent selected actions on the computer

best computer security software

Next up, lets have a look at the More tab. In here, you can lock down actions like file download and software installation along with certain Windows features like Task Manager and Windows Explorer. You can also go a step beyond and lock down all browsers if you so please.

In addition, there are other options that can help you streamline how WinGuard Pro functions and behaves. You can for instance, exclude the Administrator account from all the access control features. That is you will be able to log in as the administrator and do all your chores as if WinGuard Pro never existed. All other accounts except the Administrator account are treated as the Standard user accounts. You can also deploy the same configuration to different computers by using the Import/Export functionality.

best computer security software

On the whole, WinGuard Pro is a feature-rich, no fuss and functional software for access control. On the down side, it’s not free from issues. The UI could be improved a lot. As an example, consider this – what do you expect to see when you want to browse for a folder that you want to encrypt? A browse button perhaps? In here, you would have to click on the label to get the browse dialog. Everything detailed above is available in the free version of the software. You can also purchase a premium version of the software that gives you finer control over application lock down and folder encryption. The premium version is also available as a 60-day trial.

What are you favorite access control software for Windows? Let us hear about them in comments.

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easy-access-control-security-features-winguard-pro/feed/ 2 Monitor What’s Really Going On With Your PC With System Explorer http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/monitor-pc-system-explorer/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/monitor-pc-system-explorer/#comments Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:31:56 +0000 Ryan Dube http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=50147 system explorerOne of the biggest problems with being addicted to new software is the tendency for “leftover” processes and files to remain throughout my PC – sometimes even viruses, adware or malware.

One of the reasons I was most motivated to write this article for MakeUseOf was because I found that my computer startup time was crawling, and I would always end up with two or three windows opening that I didn’t recognize. Annoyed with my inability to see everything going on with my computer, I decided to strike out in search for a killer application that would give me that power back.

I am pleased to report that the free utility called System Explorer will return power over your own computer back to you.

Use System Explorer To See Every System Detail

The reason that my own computer usually gets so muddied up with junk is not because I don’t know how to track down the running processes, identify the culprits and eradicate the files. The problem is that I just don’t have time to dig through the system to find dll’s, startup folders, services, registry keys and everything else.

Here at MakeUseOf, we’re always trying to offer advice on how to troubleshoot your computer problems. Bakari wrote a great writeup with 8 troubleshooting resources for Mac users, and Saikat covered how to troubleshoot Windows with MSConfig.

The beauty of System Explorer is that it collects, organizes, and rearranges all of the information you need about your system into one central location.

system explorer

There are obviously a few items that you could see by just doing a quick Ctrl-Alt-Delete and opening your Task Manager. However, the Processes display is actually an enhanced version of the Task Manager processes list.

diagnose computer problem cpu usage system explorer

How is this view enhanced? Well, it not only lists every single process running on your machine, as well as all of the details about each process – but if you see one that’s questionable, you don’t have to try and guess what it is.  If you click on the “Check” link, you’ll go to an online database of file type explanations and reviews from experts regarding whether or not the file is considered safe or unsafe.

diagnose computer problem cpu usage system explorer

Troubleshooting System Problems

Let’s face it, sometimes even the best antivirus apps will not pick up on some of the latest threats. Harmful programs eventually make it onto your PC. A good place the start is the System Performance display, which provides a graphical view of processor, network and RAM usage – and much more.

diagnose computer problem cpu usage system explorer

As you’re reviewing each process that’s running, you can also right click a file, click “File Check” and use either VirusTotal.com or Jotti.org to check if the file is a virus.

computer processes

Is your network graph maxed out? If it appears that your Internet bandwidth has been hijacked, then click on the “Connections” option in the left menu and you’ll see every last process that’s accessing the Internet, the protocol being used, and the “to” and “from” domain addresses. This can help you identify applications that are sending traffic to questionable domains.

computer processes

Clicking “Startups” displays every program configured to launch up on startup. This include shortcuts in your Startup folder, and items in your registry. See one that you don’t want? Just right click and disable or delete.

computer processes

Other Cool Features

If you click “Additional Info,” you’ll find your processor speed, used and free memory, drivers, registered DLLs, and even every font that’s installed on your system!

When you’re satisfied that you have your computer cleaned up and things running smoothly again, you can perform a quick “snapshot” of your system. Later, when your computer starts acting strangely again, take another snapshot and compare the two. System Explorer will tell you files and registry keys that have been added since you took the first snapshot.

Even when you’re not using System Explorer, you can keep it running in the task bar. Just hover your mouse over the icon and get a quick look at the current behavior of your system, including CPU stats, memory usage and battery life.

system explorer

System Explorer helped me to resolve my system startup issues, and I plan to use the snapshot utility often to identify any new issues that crop up.

Have you ever tried System Explorer? What do you think? Do you know any other similar free system troubleshooting tools like this? Share your insight in the comments section below.

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/monitor-pc-system-explorer/feed/ 11 4 Reasons Every Windows User Should Have An Ubuntu Live CD http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-reasons-windows-user-ubuntu-live-cd/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-reasons-windows-user-ubuntu-live-cd/#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:31:54 +0000 Justin Pot http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=48894 ubuntu live cdThink Ubuntu is useless? Think again. Ubuntu can be an extremely effective tool for repairing and working on computers, even if you consider yourself a Windows purist. This is because Ubuntu is capable of loading completely from a Ubuntu Live CD, giving you access to your computer in ways Windows can’t – or when Windows is completely broken.

For this reason, I suggest every Windows user keeps a copy of Ubuntu on hand, even if they never intend to switch from Windows. Happily, Ubuntu is completely free to aquire. You can download Ubuntu and burn it yourself, but if that sounds like too much work you can request Ubuntu send you a Ubuntu Live CD for free.


That’s right: you’ll get a CD in the mail, completely free of charge. There’s seriously no reason to not look into this, so let’s see some of the uses Ubuntu has for those who never intend to install it.

Recover Data From Unbootable System

ubuntu live

When your Windows system won’t start – not even in safe mode – it’s easy to feel helpless. If you’ve got an Ubuntu CD handy you don’t need to feel that way. Just boot from your CD and you can access every file on your hard drive. This can give you a chance to get some work done, if you want, or just to back up all of your files before re-installing Windows or attempting to repair the Windows installation.

If you want more information on this particular use for an Ubuntu Live CD, including information on how to burn one, check out Varun’s excellent article How To Back Up Data On Your Computer That Won’t Boot. There’s a lot of great information there!

Run Memtest

If your computer crashes from time to time it’s easy to suspect your problem is software related. It might not be – frequently the cause of such bugginess is a problem with your RAM chip. If you suspect this might be the case with your system, and you’ve got an Ubuntu CD on hand, you’re in luck: the Ubuntu CD comes with a memtest!

Just start the CD, being sure to hit “Enter” when you see the keyboard icon on the screen. Then select “memtest” from the list of options to begin testing your RAM. If there’s something physically wrong with your RAM you’ll find out and know that it’s time to shop for a replacement!

ubuntu live cd

Find out more about Memtest courtesy of our good friend Varun, and his excellent article about Memtest,

Find Out About Your Hard Drive

Another reason for an occasionally crashing or sometimes slow Windows computer is a failing hard drive, or one that is too slow. Ubuntu comes with a couple of really good tools for accessing the health of your hard drive.

The first is Disk Utility, which you’ll find under “System,” then “Administration.” This app will tell you if any disk connected to your system has physical damage, as well as giving you access to SMART DATA and a couple of other key statistics that can inform you about the life of your drive.

ubuntu live

Another nifty tool is Disk Usage Analyzer, which you’ll find under “Applications” followed by “Accessories.” This tool can scan any hard drive and graphically display what’s taking up space on your drive. You’d be amazed how many times I’ve discovered people have filled their drive by accidently copying and pasting their entire music folder. Use this tool to find where any such superfluous files may be and then use the File Manager to delete them!

Edit Partitions

ubuntu live cd

The Ubuntu CD comes with Gparted, which is a pretty amazing drive partitioning program. If you’re looking to re-size your Windows partition, or turn some empty space into a secondary partition, this is the tool you’re looking for. That Ubuntu runs as a Live CD is particularly useful here, because you cannot edit your primary partition from within Windows.

Find Gparted under “System” followed by “Administration.” If you’re familar with Partition Magic or similar software you should feel right at home; if not, I’ll be writing all about Gparted in the weeks to come!

Conclusion

Do you need the Ubuntu CD to do these things? No; I’m certain our commenters will point out a wide variety of alternatives. My only point is that if you have an Ubuntu Live CD on hand you can quickly do all these things. Seeing as Ubuntu is completely free I figure it’s good to have the option.

What do you think? Is it handy to have a Ubuntu CD around even if you never intend to install it? Do you have any stories of data saved or computer diagnosed because of the tools that come with Ubuntu? Have a seat, grab yourself a drink and let us know what you think in the comments below!

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-reasons-windows-user-ubuntu-live-cd/feed/ 60 Two Apps To Easily Create Network Firewall Rules For Ubuntu http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/programs-easily-create-network-firewall-rules-ubuntu-linux/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/programs-easily-create-network-firewall-rules-ubuntu-linux/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:31:19 +0000 Varun Kashyap http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=45136 network firewall rulesLinux is one of the most secure operating systems out there. Generally, you don’t need an antivirus, files cannot execute without your permission and there is a lot to protect you from people with malicious intent. One common tool that system administrators and home users use alike is the firewall.

A firewall, in the crudest of forms, just intercepts the incoming packets, and sees what to do with them, before they are sent to their destined applications on your computer or forwarded elsewhere. The “see what to do with them” part comes from a set of user defined network firewall rules that decides whether or not to accept or reject a packet.

The Linux kernel has a built in filtering system that can accept or reject a packet depending upon a set of rules, which is essentially what we want. The remaining thing is then how we can specify these rules.


By default, Ubuntu and other Linux distributions include the iptables utility that can be used to define and manage network firewall rules that are applied to the network traffic through the computer under question. The thing about iptables is that the command line switches and options are very cryptic and there are at least a few hundred of those. In other words it’s far from what you would call user friendly.

Here is an example of a typical iptables rule:

# iptables -A INPUT -s xmail.spammer.ru -d 10.4.5.6 -p tcp –dport 25 -j REJECT

Things should be a lot easier, don’t you think?. I mean, there are software available for Windows that will give you a fully functional firewall out of the box, which you can modify later. And indeed there are a number of software that can help you configure a firewall easily on Linux as well.

UFW & GuFW

For Ubuntu users there is the Uncomplicated Firewall (also called UFW). UFW is also a command line utility, although it has a much simpler syntax. First you allow or deny all incoming/outgoing connections as the need may be and then selectively enable or disable the traffic at said ports, or from certain hosts or for certain services. Perhaps an example would make things a lot more clear:

ufw allow 8080/tcp allows all access to the port 8080. Similarly ufw deny 21 denies all access to port 21 (or FTP)

network firewall rules

UFW also has a graphical frontend called GuFW. It provides you with a graphical interface that can be used to create the most sophisticated of rules, without any need to remember the switches and options for UFW. You can install it via the Ubuntu Software Center, or you can use the sudo apt-get install gufw command as well.

Firestarter

Firestarter is yet another popular tool, that makes Linux firewall configuration a lot easier. Again you can find and install Firestarter via the Ubuntu Software Center, or use sudo apt-get install firestarter.

Unlike GuFW, which is simply a GUI front-end for the UFW utility, Firestarter is a lot more feature rich and by default, starts in a wizard mode to make things easier for you. The wizard takes care of detecting your network device and optionally setting up Internet Connection Sharing and the likes.

network firewall rules

Again you can create network firewall rules just as easily and Firestarter will take care of all the internal details. To create a rule, head over to the Policy tab, right click inside one of the active areas and you will be able to add a rule (or policy) for that type.

In the following screen, for example I am allowing inbound HTTP traffic from the host 192.168.0.56. Add the optional comment if you desire and the rule is added.

These are not the only tools available for configuring Linux firewalls. There are others like ipkungfu and shorewall, which let you do the same things. Firestarter and UFW/GuFW are the most common yet easy to use tools for the job out there. If all you need is to configure a firewall for your home computer or server, these should get the job done without much pain.

Do you use a firewall on Linux?  If so, what tools or utilities do you use?

]]> http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/programs-easily-create-network-firewall-rules-ubuntu-linux/feed/ 6 Ubuntu Control Center – An Easy Way To Administer Ubuntu http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/sleek-easy-administer-ubuntu-ubuntu-control-center/ http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/sleek-easy-administer-ubuntu-ubuntu-control-center/#comments Mon, 31 May 2010 17:30:42 +0000 Varun Kashyap http://www.makeuseof.com/?p=44485 ubuntu control centerAs you know, Ubuntu and Linux are hugely configurable. Find some spare time and you can customize anything starting from the boot up messages to the gradients used on the buttons and the scroll bars. While one might not attempt such extreme feats very often, administration and configuration are standard tasks that you might perform every now and then.

One of the things that irks me about the Ubuntu interface is the fact that you have to find your way among the unusually long Preferences and Administration menu to perform any configuration changes. Things are so much nicer in Windows with the Control panel and even better within Mac OS.

However, as configurable as Linux is, there is almost always a way to tweak it according to your liking. Recently, I found an excellent way to consolidate all the settings in a single panel or window.


It’s called the Ubuntu Control Center. Ubuntu Control Center offers you a central place you can visit for most of your Ubuntu administration needs.

ubuntu control center

Installation is easy. You download a deb package for Ubuntu using the above mentioned Google Code page. At this point, if you try to install using the DEB package, you will most likely get an unresolved dependency error. This is because in addition to the files within the DEB package, Ubuntu Control Center also uses other software like the previously mentioned Hardinfo, font-manager and the likes to provide you a streamlined administration experience. Of these, you need to install the "font-manager" before you try to install Ubuntu Control Center.

ubuntu control center

After font-manager is installed, you can proceed with Ubuntu Control Center installation. It should most likely resolve, download and install all other dependencies. Once installed, you will find Ubuntu Control Center listed under Applications > System Tools.

ubuntu control center

Go ahead and run it, you are greeted by a slick interface like the one above. The left side lists categories namely: Software Management, Hardware, Network and Internet, System, Local Disks and Personal Settings. Click on a category and the right pane updates to reveal the configuration tools available in that particular category. "Software Management" for example provides you easy access to Ubuntu Software Center, Software sources, updates, cruft removal and the like. Clicking on a configuration tool will run the same commands and launch the exact same tool and interface as you would have got using the Terminal or the System Menu.

Ubuntu Control Center provides you access to almost all the configuration tools that you will find listed under the long System > Administration menu. In addition to this, Ubuntu Control Center also uses external tools like GuFW for firewall settings and Font-Manager for configuring fonts.

Ubuntu Control Center provides a centralized interface, where in you can access all of the common settings and configuration for your computer. It has an intuitive interface and does a great job of providing easy access to configuration tools. In fact, this is how the things should by default inside Ubuntu. That said, there are a few features that would make a lot of sense if included in Ubuntu Control Center. For starters, there could be a "tweak" section that can list some of the common tweaks that Ubuntu users apply (ala Ubuntu Tweak).

What are your thoughts about the application? Should Ubuntu ship with such an interface out of the box? Let it out in the comments.

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