Latest hacking tricks

Somebody just told you that you need to have Adobe Acrobat (Writer) to create a PDF file? Guess what, you can get away from that pricey piece of software if you just need to convert some documents to pdf, without a need of fancy editing the pdf document.
Here's how. Thanks to the BullZip, who provides a Free Pdf printer. With this free tool, you can simply "print out" your document or webpage to a pdf file, just about the same way as you print it out to a printer.
You can visit BullZip.com for more information about the software.
Here the direct link to BullZip downloads page: Downloads

1. To get started, first follow the link above and download Free Pdf Printer from BullZip, then install it to your computer.
2. Once you're done, you might need to close the program (or the web browser) which you're currently viewing the document. This helps refreshing the list of available printers on your computer.
3. Once you get back to the document you want to convert, perform the same steps are you print out the document, i.e. File > Print ...
4. When you see the Print window pop-up, select "Bullzip PDF Printer" under "Printers", then click "OK".
5. BullZip PDF Printer will then start to analyze your document and display a new pop-up window, where you can direct it to the location you want to save the pdf file.
6. Follow the pop-up windows and.. hola! The PDF document is created....................................

Windows XP Hidden Programs

For each of these programs, launch it by: "Start" >> "Run", then type the executable name and press Enter.

Program: Clipboard Viewer (Access contents of Windows Clipboard) Executable: clipbrd

Program: Dr. Watson for Windows (Trouble Shooting tool) Executable: drwtsn32

Program: DirectX diagnosis (Diagnose DirectX, video & sound components) Executable: dxdiag

Program: Private character editor (Create your own characters) Executable: eudcedit

Program: IExpress Wizard (Create self-extracting / self-installing package) Executable: iexpress

Program: Mcft Synchronization Manager (Synchronize network files to for off-line work) Executable: mobsync

Program: Windows Media Player 5.1 (the basic version of Media Player) Executable: mplay32

Program: Object Packager (Create packages to insert to a file) Executable: packager

Program: System Monitor (A very useful tool to monitor PC performance) Executable: perfmon

Program: Network shared folder wizard (creates shared folders on network) Executable: shrpubw

Program: File signature verification (Verify signature on files) Executable: sigverif

Program: Account Database Security Tool (Warning! this tool might encrypt all user accounts) Executable: syskey

Program: Driver Verifier Manager (Verify the device drivers) Executable: verifier

Program: Built-in Windows Chat (Windows for Workgroups Chat) Executable: winchat

Windows XP comes with a good set of features, many of them might not even be noticed by the users. The On-Screen keyboard is one of them. See the screen-shot below:

I guess some people may find this on-screen keyboard useful. Though I never use it, I just keep that in mind in case some keys on my keyboard go down.
How to find it?

1. From Desktop, Click on "Start" >> "Run".
2. Then type in "osk" and press Enter, then.. there it is!

While many people are well familiar with "taking a screen-shot of your PC", some others might wonder what it is. On an Windows PC, the "Print Screen" feature can either capture the entire screen of your PC, or an individual window. This is a simple but very helpful tip. Once you know about it, you will find it very useful in many situations, i.e. when you need to show a tech-support person an error alert on your screen, or a sample screen of an application software...
The following instructions will show you how to capture a screen shot of your entire desktop or an individual window. On most standard keyboards, the print screen button is often identified as "Print Scrn".


To capture a screen shot of your entire desktop:

1. Hit "Print Screen" key on your keyboard (or "Print Scrn").
2. Open an image editor (i.e. Photoshop, Paintshop, or the Windows built-in "Paint").
3. Press Ctrl-V to paste the image and save the file as your favorite picture format (i.e. *.JPG).

To capture a screen shot of an individual window, a popup, or an error dialog:

1. Make sure the window or popup which you want to capture is active (on the very front of your screen).
2. Hold the "Alt" button and press "Print Screen" key on your keyboard (or "Print Scrn").
3. Open an image editor and press Ctrl-V to paste the image and save the file as your favorite picture format (i.e. *.JPG).

								Notepad Secrets
Create a log Open Notepad On the very first line, type in ".LOG" (without quotes) then press Enter for a new line Now you can type in some text if you want, then save the file. Next time when you open the file, notice its contents. Notepad automatically adds a time/date log everytime you open the file. Text becomes unreadable Open Notepad On the very first line, type in "dont eat the donut" (without quotes) then save and close the file. Note: the file should have only one line of the text above. Now, open the same file. You'll notice the text becomes unreadable squares. (try this with different text with the same format and length).

Paint Secrets

Create a trail image Open Paint, then open an image. Right-click on the image and select "Select All" Now hold the "Shift" key and move the image around. The image will be drawn with trail. 10x Zoom Open Paint, then open a small image. Select the zoom "Magnifier" tool. Windows Paint lists out the zoom options from 1x to 8x, but there is a 10x... After selecting the Magnifier tool, point the mouse right at the border line right under "8x" and left-click. There you go.. the hidden 10x.

Other Secrets

Where is the relaxing music that you've heard during Windows XP Installation? The file is in: C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma

Game Secrets

Solitaire: Instant Win Press Alt + Shift + 2 to instantly win Solitaire: Draw only 1 card (instead of 3) Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift then click on unopen cards to draw. FreeCell: Instant Win Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 while playing, then click Abort. Now move one card. FreeCell: Hidden Game Modes Go to "Game" menu choose "Select Game" Here you can choose from game mode 1 to 1,000,000. But -1 and -2 will also work (hidden modes) Hearts: Show All Card Warning! this requires a modification on your registry. Be sure you follow the steps carefully. Damage your registry might damage your Windows. Open the "Registry Editor" by: "Start" >> "Run" then type "regedit" and press Enter Expand to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Hearts Right-click on the right panel and create a new String value with the name "ZB" Double-click to open this key "ZB" to edit its value. Then enter "42" and close the Registry Editor. Start Hearts and Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F12 to show all the cards Minesweeper: Stop The Timer When you start to play a new game, the timer is ticking... Press Windows Key + D to show desktop. Now come back to the game by selecting it from the taskbar. The timer is stopped. Pinball Unlimited Balls: Type bmax at a new game to get unlimited balls (no notification). Extra Balls: Type 1max at a new game to get extra balls. Gravity Well: Type gmax at a new game to activate Gravity Well. Promotion: Type rmax at a new game or while playing to get instant promotion and raising rank. Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,... Extra points with partial shots: Partially shot the ball just to pass the yellow light bars. There are 6 bars. With the first bar, you'll get 15,000 points, 2nd: 30,000,... Test Mode: Type hidden test with a new ball or new game. Now you can use your mouse to drag and move the ball where you want.

You have Mouse Problem ?? No Problem

I will give you suggestion

Press Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock Button + Ok

with the help of Numeric Keypad e.g ( Press and Hold the following Keys )

7   8    9

4        6

1   2    3

For Normal Click Press 5

Default
Left Alt + Left Shift + Num Lock

Burn ISO Image to CD or DVD

Ok, I have downloaded an ISO file, now what? I can't see the files I need even though I burned it to a CD/DVD... Well, an ISO file is an image of a CD or DVD, you can think of it like a "zipped" file and so, somehow you'll need to extract it out in order to see the files. For CD/DVD ISO, the method is to burn it out to the CD/DVD, but with the image burning option. The image burning option from any CD/DVD burner software will do the job you need: it'll extract the files and burn the files back to CD/DVD.
One big advantage of using ISO image file for CD/DVD is, the image file contains all files/folders and the structure of the CD/DVD, including the hidden sectors, for example, the boot sectors. Some CD/DVD are "bootable", which means you can use the CD/DVD to startup your pc and run some installations or utility. With this kind of CD/DVD, when you view the contents in Windows, you won't see the bootable portion. And when you make a copy of the CD/DVD using the normal method for files, the bootable sectors will NOT be included. However, the Image method will take care of that.
With that said, when you're making a copy of your CD/DVD and you are not sure if the CD/DVD has some hidden contents or bootable sectors, then you better use the ISO image method to make sure everything gets copied.
This page shows you how to burn the ISO image back to CD/DVD, assume that you already have an ISO image is an image created from a CD/DVD.
For instructions how to create an ISO image from a CD/DVD, click Here.
The steps of burning an ISO image to CD/DVD are different depending on which tool you use. However, the following key points should be the same:

1. Insert a blank CD/DVD.
2. Open the burning tool.
3. Select the burning option for ISO/image.
4. Browse to the ISO/image file.
5. Burn to CD/DVD.

Detailed Steps
The following sample instructions use Free Easy CD/DVD Burner v1.2. This is a free burning tool with advertising supported, but no spyware or adware. You can download this program from SnapFiles.

1. If you have not installed a burning program, download the tool above and install it. Make sure you reboot after the installation.
2. Insert a blank CD/DVD.
3. Open the Free Easy CD DVD Burner program.
4. Click on the "Copy CD/DVD" button on the top.
   
   
   
5. Under the "Action" menu on the left, click the "Burn an image file" link. (Note that if this link is not selectable, then you might have no (or invalid) blank CD/DVD in your drive.)
   
   
   
6. The window "Select the image file that you want to burn" opens, browse to the ISO file you wish to burn and click "Open".
   
   
   
7. A dialog box will appear asking "Do you want to burn...", cilck "OK" to confirm.
8. The burning process will start to extract files and burn to your CD/DVD. This process will take a few minutes depending on the size of the ISO file and the speed of your burner.

Windows XP comes with a builtin CD-copy feature that not many people are aware of. Although almost everyone has his/her favorite CD-copy software to stick with, it is still good to know about this CDR feature from Windows XP. You will find it very useful when you come to another PC that doesn't have a CD-copy software, and you can't just install your favorite software to it. With this feature, you can write some data or MP3 files to a CD/DVD, or erase a re-writable CD/DVD.
If you're using a Re-Writable CD (CD-RW), make sure the disc is blank. You might need to erase (or "format") it before use. For information how to erase a CD-RW on Windows XP without using any other software, see this article.

Requirements: You need to enable the CD-R feature on Windows XP. If you haven't done so, see this article.

1. Insert a Formated-ReWritable CD or a Recordable (CD-R) disc into the CD drive.
2. From Desktop, double-click on "My Computer".
3. Navigate to the files/folders you want to copy to CD. Select them and press "Ctrl-c" to copy.
4. Browse back to the CD-ROM, and press "Ctrl-V" to paste. The files/folders will show up as temporary files/folders at this time.
   
   
   
   
5. On the left panel, select "Write these files to CD".
   
   
   
   
6. The window "CD Writing Wizard" appears with the default CD name. Change the CD name if you wish, then click "Next".
   
   
   
   
7. The "CD Writing Wizard" starts to write files/folders to the CD:
   
   
   
   
8. Once the writing process is complete, the wizard will disappear and the CD-Rom will be ejected.