I keep it on my thumb drive so I always have it when I need it. And although the name says XP Fix, it works in other versions of Windows as well.

The Winsockfix Utility will:

• Detect your current Operating System
• Release the IP address, taking you “Offline”
• Reset the TCP stack using Netsh.exe (Windows XP only)
• Delete the current Registry TCP and Winsock Values
• Import new “Working” Registry Values
• Backup any Current “Hosts” file
• Replace the “Hosts” file with a default one
• Reboot the Computer

Often times, as a computer repair guy, you’ll encounter someone who can’t connect to the internet, and when the problem doesn’t seem to be related to any network hardware, it’s probably related to the TCP/IP stack, the HOSTS file or some registry settings. This mostly happens when adware, malware or viruses change these settings or modify the files needed to connect to the internet. When you get rid of the problem source, the files it modified are still jacked up.

That’s where this program comes to the rescue. Make it the first thing you try, before spending countless hours troubleshooting other things or reinstalling programs, and you’ll have super fast resolution times and can move on to your next customer.

Download Winsock XP Fix

• September 15, 2009 -- Re-Enable Fixes Windows Features That Have Been Disabled by a Virus
• August 30, 2009 -- Lock Windows With Your USB Flash Drive
• August 27, 2009 -- Make a bootable USB installer for Windows XP, Vista, 7 with WinToFlash

Yes it will allow you to be logged in to all the popular IM networks: AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Jabber, and more.

It also supports Facebook chat, with status updates and news feeds from your Facebook friends.
Also has Twitter integration, even though I prefer a dedicated Twitter app, like TweetDeck.

Probably the best feature, the one I find indispensable and can no longer live without, is the ability to check numerous email accounts. You get audio and visual notifications of new emails, previews of the email, and even has the ability to ‘Mark as Read’, ‘Archive’, ‘Delete’ or ‘Report Spam’ on new emails.

Because I have 16 email addresses that I use, all for various reasons, this is my favorite feature of Digsby. I’m able to keep my inboxes at zero, because of the instant notifications on every one.

The chat features are great too, showing which of your friends are available, no matter what chat program they use. And its fully skinnable, meaning you can make it look just the way you want.

Check out the new introduction video from the guys at Digsby:

The only drawback: Digsby will try to install a bunch of extra crap when you install it, so don’t just click ‘Next, Next, Next’ when installing. Pay attention to the install screens and make sure you uncheck the authorization to install some of the unnecessary add-ons.

• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix
• September 9, 2009 -- Completely Ditch IE with Firefox Add-on Coral IE Tab
• August 30, 2009 -- Lock Windows With Your USB Flash Drive

You can also follow Life In Sherman Oaks on Twitter at @shermanoakslife

• August 30, 2009 -- MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Won’t Run? Here’s How To Fix It
• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix
• September 15, 2009 -- 7 Steps to Make a Bootable USB Thumb Drive to Install Windows 7 on a Netbook

Often times these programs disguise themselves as anti-virus programs, I’ve had numerous calls about exactly this type of problem just in the last several weeks. Some of the names of these “Rogue” Anti-virus programs are: Antivirus 2009, Personal Antivirus and many more are listed on Wikipedia: Rogue security software

Usually, I’ve found that I can simply run MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM), UPDATE! then run a scan, and it will detect the problem and is able to remove them. However this latest one, Personal Antivirus 2009 (PAV09), was quite a headache and took a while before I could even do anything to remove it. The program would not allow me to install MBAM, so I rebooted to safe mode, however, this program had installed some hook into the OS that prevented me from installing even in safe mode. Stuck.

So, after some Google searching, I found this on BleepingComputer, it suggested to change the name of the .exe to something completely unrelated. It worked. Awesome. Of course, the .exe of the program itself needed to be changed as well. So I changed it to a random string of letters.exe. And it STILL wouldn’t work!

Apparently, this malware is detecting a certain runtime or signature of the executable and immediately killing it, regardless of the name. After a few minutes of thinking, I decided to try an experiment, right click on the exe file (now renamed), and click the “Compatibility” tab, and under compatibility mode (this was Windows XP, but should work in XP or newer) select to “Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows 2000″. And…

It worked!

So, I guess I outsmarted the malware by tricking MBAM into thinking it was running under Windows 2000, making it undetectable by the malware program. And so, all said and done, MBAM was finally able to remove it, and the PC is working great. Hope this will help some other PC techs out there, when you don’t have the option to just wipe the drive and start fresh!

• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix
• October 19, 2009 -- Get Rid of those Fake Antivirus programs with Remove Fake Antivirus
• October 18, 2009 -- Microsoft’s Security Essentials : 1.5 Million Installs in One Week. Is it the End for Norton?

Using a nifty utility installed on your USB flash drive called Predator you can:

A Windows session would be locked by simply removing the connected USB drive from the computer system. Connecting the USB flash drive again would unlock the system.

The user needs to specify a backup password as well. This backup password can be used to unlock a session if the USB flash drive is damaged or not available at all.

The screen will go black whenever the user removes the USB drive from the computer system.

Predator will write events to a log file that can be used to analyze attempts to access the computer system. The software will also change the keys on the USB drives frequently to prevent that a copied keyfile can be used to access the system.

• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix
• August 27, 2009 -- Make a bootable USB installer for Windows XP, Vista, 7 with WinToFlash
• August 20, 2009 -- 24 Killer Portable Apps For Your USB Flash Drive

Making a bootable USB flash drive for Windows Vista and Windows 7 isn’t all that tricky, but it’s always nice to find an app that simplifies things. Not only does WinToFlash make the process about as easy as it can get, but it can also create Windows XP, Server 2003, and Server 2008 installers.

The default options make it easy to roll a silent Windows install, or you can flip the custom switch and specify the exact setup parameters you want to use.

The handy app also has one more trick up its sleeve: moving Windows Preinstall environments. PE discs can be extremely handy for troubleshooting and repairs, and being able to painlessly zap them over to a USB flash drive means not having to burn a new copy every time someone’s haggard old optical drive decides to chew up your CD.

WinToFlash is a free download and is totally portable. It’s an excellent tool to add to your USB-related utilities.

Download WinToFlash.

• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix
• August 30, 2009 -- Lock Windows With Your USB Flash Drive
• October 19, 2009 -- Get Rid of those Fake Antivirus programs with Remove Fake Antivirus

Well now you can. Using this Microsoft Office plug-in OfficeTab, instead of having separate windows for each open document, you can have tabs for all your open documents in either Word, Excel or Powerpoint.

As Lifehacker points out, you’ve got to wonder why Microsoft doesn’t include this feature by default.. maybe something to look forward to in the next version of Office?

The Lifehacker article also warns of a Visual Studio prompt, however, after installing it on my machine I had no such errors and it works problem free.

To download it you can visit the Google translated download page at OfficeTab or alternatively I have provided a download link here. (OfficeTabv1.20.zip)

via Lifehacker via DownloadSquad

• August 30, 2009 -- Lock Windows With Your USB Flash Drive
• August 20, 2009 -- 24 Killer Portable Apps For Your USB Flash Drive
• October 18, 2009 -- Microsoft’s Security Essentials : 1.5 Million Installs in One Week. Is it the End for Norton?

Donald Bell from cnet writes:

The site allows devoted music fans from around the world to compare tastes, stream music from their favorite artists, stay up to date on local shows, download free MP3s, and create their own custom radio stations.

Donald has also put together an article (link) and video (below) to help you get the most out of your last.fm listening experience.

• September 20, 2009 -- What Is Digsby?
• August 30, 2009 -- MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Won’t Run? Here’s How To Fix It
• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix

Some of the apps I’ve used and would recommend are:

Truecrypt
μTorrent
CCleaner
All the Nirsoft Apps
Treesize Free
VLC
Foxit PDF Reader

Check out the full list at Download Squad: 24 Killer Portable Apps For Your USB Flash Drive

• August 30, 2009 -- Lock Windows With Your USB Flash Drive
• October 19, 2009 -- Get Rid of those Fake Antivirus programs with Remove Fake Antivirus
• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix

Now you’ll never have to be without your internets again.

• October 15, 2009 -- Internet Connection Hosed? Try Winsock XP Fix
• September 20, 2009 -- What Is Digsby?
• August 20, 2009 -- 4 Free WiFi Software Downloads To Take Advantage Of Wireless Networks