Ask DACS
March 2011

Moderated and reported by Dave Mawdsley

Ask DACS is a Question and Answer session before the main presentation at the monthly General Meeting. We solicit questions from the floor and then answers from other audience members. The role of moderator is to try to guide the discussion to a likely solution to the problem.

Q- from email: URGENT I've had so much trouble with the search feature in windows 7.

A: Jim Scheef: Windows Search indexes everything on the machine, so it requires some horsepower and a fast disk. Is the hardware new and powerful enough to run Windows Search and did Win7 come preinstalled? I had to remove Windows Search from a laptop because the machine ground to a crawl.

Dave: I'd suggest that you study 3 tutorials on this subject. Here's the link to the first of the 3: http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Exploring-Windows-7s-New-Search-Features-Part1.html. Basically for Windows Search to work properly, the correct Windows Search settings must be set and then the Index has to be rebuilt to use the changes. Rebuilding the Index can take a long while. Until it's properly done, Windows Search isn't probably very useful in the default setting. The tutorials are very comprehensive with step-by-step instructions.

Q: When I visit the 'New York Times' it loads very slowly. The status line indicates it is loading ads. Is there a way I can speed it up?

A: If you want to control ads, try using Ad Block or No Script to control the perhaps dozens of ads that try to load on a typical page. Try also just reloading the page as reloads usually limit the ads somewhat. On user suggested using the Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browser instead of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Another person suggested that their speed on the Internet may be faulty and should have it checked with an online tool such as SpeedTest.net. Noted also was that the tool usually reports download speeds as faster than upload speeds. You will have to contact your ISP to have them fix it if the speeds test poor.

Q: How can you tell if a computer has a keylogger?

A: One technique is to start Windows and just as the desktop paints, use CTRL + ALT + DELETE to bring up the Task Manger. I then look in the process list to see if something other than Windows-related processes shows up. Things not associated with known software are things to check. In general, keyloggers are totally hidden and are sometimes completely legal if installed on a company computer used by an employee. Some parents also install them to watch their children's activities (Perhaps a questionable practice). A technician might be needed to investigate the computer for a keylogger if your anti-virus program or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware doesn't pick it up.

Another approach is to use a Live-CD with a Linux operating system that runs in memory that lets you examine the hard drive while it's not running Windows. Kaspersky or F-Secure has a Live-CD that runs a small Linux operating system this way and which also has a free on-board anti-virus product that can scan the disk. Hopefully they have similar tools that can search for rootkits. One tool can be obtained from http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA-Labs/security-threats/tools/rescue-cd Read the page and particularly the user's guide and then burn an iso image file to the disk from the download using a CD burner. The CD is then used to boot the computer and do an anti-virus scan (requires that you boot from the CD and that your computer has an Internet connection which the anti-virus product can use to update the definitions files).

From Drew Kwashnak: Most Linux users know how to use Live-CD's this way. If you need to get some help on this, come to the Linux SIG of DACS. Most Linux users started with Live-CD's and went on from there.

Q: I've got a drive that spins okay in an external container but I can't read the drive. It comes from an old computer with a questionable power supply. The external container works fine with another drive. Any suggestions?

A: Lots of discussion from the audience about replacing the power supply, trying the drive as a second drive in a newer computer, trying the external drive in a second computer, etc. A suggestion before putting the drive in another computer: be sure to create a restore point before proceeding and then check with the BIOS settings to see if it can recognize the second drive.
From the discussion, the drive is probably no longer readable. Note that if you really have to get data off the drive, you may need to use Drive Savers at http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/ but be prepared to spend some serious change if you use their services.

Q: I'm looking for software. I'm using Live Mesh Beta which is a cloud package. It keeps two directories in separate computers in sync over the Internet. On March 31st, the package is being discontinued and I need a replacement package. Microsoft is turning off that package at that time. The upgrade doesn't work on Windows XP. It requires that all computers are either Vista or 7 in the mesh. Any suggestions?

A: Drop Box has packages that work on multiple Windows environments, Mac and Linux which should do the same. However, be prepared to pay if you need more than 2GB. PogoPlug at pogoplug.com is an inexpensive way to move files from one computer to another using a private cloud over the Internet but which doesn't have the simultaneity you require.

Q: Is there a way to recover a Windows 7 password?

A: There are a number of Live-CD tools that can be downloaded, burned to make an iso CD and then used to boot to a small Live-CD Linux operating system to blank out the Administrator password. They are successful tools for use with Windows XP, Vista and 7. A search on Google for 'NT Password' should turn them up. Once the Administrator account has its password blanked, just restart Windows and log in as 'Administrator' leaving the password field blank. Once up and running, you can then go into the user accounts and reset the passwords to what you want.

Questions for the upcoming meeting can be emailed to askdacs@dacs.org.

Disclaimer: Ask DACS questions come from members by email or from the audience attending the general meeting. Answers are suggestions offered by meeting attendees and represent a consensus of those responding. DACS offers no warrantee as to the correctness of the answers and anyone following these suggestions or answers does so at their own risk. In other words, we could be totally wrong!