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HOW-TO: Microsoft DirectShow Vulnerability Exploit

Microsoft says hackers are targeting a security flaw in the DirectX feature of Windows. According to Microsoft, attackers are using malicious QuickTime videos to exploit the bug. From the security advisory:

Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a new vulnerability in Microsoft DirectX. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if user opened a specially crafted QuickTime media file. Microsoft is aware of limited, active attacks that use this exploit code. While our investigation is ongoing, our investigation so far has shown that Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 are vulnerable; all versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are not vulnerable. Microsoft has activated its Software Security Incident Response Process (SSIRP) and is continuing to investigate this issue.

According to security bulletin KB971778, one of the workarounds is to delete the registry subkey: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D51BD5A0-7548-11CF-A520-0080C77EF58A}.

The quickest copy-n-paste procedure is to open a command terminal (Start --> Run.. --> "cmd"). Copy and paste the commands below..

First backup the registry subkey before deleting it (execute this in the command terminal)..

reg export HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D51BD5A0-7548-11CF-A520-0080C77EF58A} QuickTime.reg

It follows that the newly created file QuickTime.reg is the backup. Then upon successful backup, delete the subkey (execute this in the command terminal as well)..

reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D51BD5A0-7548-11CF-A520-0080C77EF58A}

Confirm deletion when prompted.

Although this procedure will not correct the underlying vulnerability, it is a workaround to mitigate the threat and block the potential attack.

Having a backup of the registry subkey will make it easier to revert the change when a permanent patch is available.

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody

dillagrpimp-my-rig

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

(The above is a short story I accidentally found in an archive of files from long ago. Credits to the original author.)

HOW-TO: Post YM Status Icon in Forums

dillagrhow-to

I used to trade (mostly sell) stuff online and in forums. And for practicality sake, it is important for me to be reachable most of the time. Giving up your email address online has its pros and cons but face it, you would think twice about giving away your mobile number.

So is there another alternative to getting reached and notifying the buyer you are reachable? YM has been one of the popular chat systems since its inception and it is widely used. And I have been intrigued by forum posts with icons showing the user is online. And I assume you would like to put your own online or offline status just as I am.

This is really simple to do. To get straight to the point, below is the code. On some forums the syntax may be different but the URL is pretty much the same.

[img]http://opi.yahoo.com/online?u=YOUR_YM_ID_HERE&m=g&t=14[/img]

Replace the string "YOUR_YM_ID_HERE" with your Yahoo ID and it will show your YM status as an icon or image on your post.

The images should look like the ones below. First offline:

... then online.

There you go, YM status as icon on your post.

HOW-TO: dwwin.exe - DLL Initialization Failed

dillagrhow-to

Have you ever noticed this error message pop-up each time you shutdown or reboot your computer? Although shutdown proceeds and the message seems harmless (and in fact it does not give a clue of anything wrong), it is still a nuisance to get such especially on shutdown sequence.

This article will discuss the weird solution to such error message.. I say "weird" because the error message does not give a clue and the solution to it seems unrelated at all. You will get to know it soon. Read on..

I could not capture a screenshot of the pop-up message but since you are here, you might have searched for this cos you might have encountered it and got curious. Don't worry, when I first encountered it we probably shared the same puzzled expression and curiousity.

However, I can share the event message with you. If you take a look at the application event logs of your machine you should be able to see something similar (see screenshot below) -- Event ID: 26. Completely clueless, I went to search in the internet for a possible solution.. And unfortunately, did not find any.

However, a friend has already encountered the same and with his permission I am posting the solution here.

Believe it or not, the error has something to do with Adobe Acrobat Reader. So launch the reader and go to:

"Edit"
--> "Preferences"
----> "Internet"
(untick "Display PDF in browser")

Execution will cause Acrobat Reader to repair itself and the pop-up message will no longer haunt you when executing a reboot or shutdown.

ARTICLE: Dell Latitude D630 Sleep Hot-Key

dillagrarticle

I have been a Dell Latitude D630 user for over 3 years now. I have used it in my previous job; I use one personally; and I have been assigned another in my current employment. My experience with this device is what one can reasonably call "extensive" that I have grown to be very comfortable with it.. and even prefer it over other notebooks.

But if there is one thing I did not know about a D630, it is the elusive Sleep button.. You might share this ignorance with me and it is only until recently that I came to realize what or where it is. If it ever was documented in the manual, I have not discovered nor came across it, as I have not read the manual. (The one that came with my personal Dell D630 is still sealed. Hehehe..)

Whenever I configure the power options for my notebook, it has always made me wonder where the "Sleep" button is. Just so we are in the same page, below is "Power Options" panel. And that is the snapshot of how I configure mine.

To get to the above, open "Control Panel" --> "Power Options", in the classic Control Panel; while on the Categorized view, open "Control Panel" --> "Performance and Maintenance" --> "Power Options".

The "Advanced" tab contains the configuration panel similar to the screenshot above. Configure it to your liking.

Closing the lid should be self-explanatory. I set this to "Do Nothing". Again, this is my personal preference. You can go ahead with your own.

The power button is toward the top center of the keyboard. The largest button and should be obvious. I set this to "Standby" when pressed.

And lastly, for the "Sleep" button, I set this to "Hibernate". But there isnt a sleep button on a Dell Latitude D630! It is however a pressing of a combination of keys -- Fn + ESC. The [Fn] key is toward the bottom left, in between the CTRL and WIN keys. Pressing both keys Fn and ESC simulates the pressing of the sleep button and triggers hibernation.

The "Hibernate" option is not available unless "Enable hibernation" is ticked in the Hibernate tab of the Power Options panel.

Speaking of Hibernate, a shortcut can be created with target "rundll32 powrprof.dll, SetSuspendState" (SetSuspendState --> is case-sensitive). This shortcut used to be what I have on the Desktop, which I no longer have any use for. If Hibernation is not enabled, this shortcut executes a Standby instead.

There you go. I hope the discovery of this Sleep button or should I say Sleep Hot-key puts more functionality and more familiarity to your Latitude D630.