How To Make Create Portable Applications Softwares : Tutorial

You might have seen a lot of Portable versions of different applications like : Portable Yahoo Messenger, Portable Adobe Photoshop and alot more....
Today I am going to tell you how to create your own portable applications. Before starting this tutorial I would like to tell you what are portable applications.
According to Wikipedia definition "A portable application, or portable app for short, is a computer software program that does not need to be installed or copied onto a computer's mass storage device to be executed, running instead from a removable storage device such as a CD-ROM drive, USB flash drive, flash card, or floppy disk"
Lets start :

Requirements :
1) Winrar : You can download it from here.
2) Universal Extractor : Download it from here.

Step1) First take the set up file of the software that you want to make portable. Here I am taking Mozilla Firefox set up file.

Step2) Now install both Winrar and Universal Extractor.

Step3) Now put the set up file in a folder say Gagan. Now right click on the set up file and select UniExtract to Subdir.
Have a look :

Step4) This will extract all the dll files and some folders along with the executable (exe) file. In my case the name of the exe file is setup.exe but it depends upon the software so in your case it will be different. Just copy the whole name along with the extension i.e setup.exe

Step5) Now press Ctrl+A and select all the extracted files and folders and right click on it and select Add to archive.

Have a look :

Step6) Now when you will click on Add to archive a new window will open, its Winrar application. In the right side in General tab put a tick on Create SFX Archive

Step7) Now go to Advance tab at the top and click on SFX Options.

In the Set Up Program in Run After Extraction enter the name of the file along with the extension that your copied in Step4 i.e setup.exe

Step8) Do not press OK yet, there is a job left. In the top bar click on Modes and put a tick on Unpack to temporary folder and also check on Hide All and now press OK to close SFX Options window and press OK again to close Winrar window.

Step9) When you will click OK second time, Winrar will create a file and this is your portable application.
The portable software will look something like this :

Congrats !! You have successfully created a portable application within no time.
I have tried other methods also to create portable softwares but I like this one as its simple and fast.

Do send your feedback and comments !

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How To Make Your Own Run Commands : Must See

Today I was just playing with Windows XP Registry Editor and suddenly I found a way to make our own Run Commands.
Before moving further I feel a need to tell you what are Run Commands. As we know that when we will type IEXPLORE.EXE in the RUN, Internet Explorer will execute, in the same way when we will type pinball.exe and hit enter, Pinball game will execute. In the above two examples IEXPLORE.EXE and pinball.exe are the Run Commands that we use as a shortcut to execute desired programs.
Today I am going to tell you that how you can create your own Run Commands to open any program you want.
Let's start :

Below is a step by step procedure :
1) Open Start Menu and click on RUN.
2) Now type regedit and hit Enter. (regedit means Registry Editor)
3) Now navigate to the following path :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >> SOFTWARE >> Microsoft >> Windows >> CurrentVersion >> App Paths
Note : To explain you clearly, I take an example to make a Run Command to openAdobe Photoshop.
4) Now right click on App Paths and select New >> Key and name is asGagan.exe

5) Now highlight Gagan.exe and have a look at the right hand side panel. You will see a String Value named default. Double click on it and in the value data field enter the path of the program that you want you want to execute. As an example I entered C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Photoshop.exe as I want to open Adobe Photoshop.

You can enter the path of any executable file you want.
6) Now right click on right hand side panel and select New >> String Value and name is as Path.

7) Double click on Path and enter the path of the folder where the executable file is and put a semicolon at the end of the path. In my case it is C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3;

8) Now click OK and close Registry Editor.
Restart your PC and in the RUN type Gagan.exe and hit enter. Hitting enter will result in opening in Adobe Photoshop.

In this way you can create your own Run Commands by naming key from Gagan.exe to any text you want.

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Top Tricks n Cheats

This Is crazy!!

Set Processes Priority

Follow this tip to increase the priority of active processes, this will result in prioritisation of processes using the CPU.
CTRL-SHIFT-ESC

1.Go to the second tab called Processes, right click on one of the active processes, you will see the Set Priority option

2.For example, your Run your CDwriter program , set the priority higher, and guess what, no crashed CD’s

Shutdown Trick !

Imidiate rapid shut down window
while shutting down window. open task manager(Ctr+Alt+Del),
Select shut down tab. and press ' Ctrl ' key while select Turn Off from dis tab.
Count 5 4 3 2 1 Voila!!! U r window will rapidly shut down.
Speed Up Ur Shut down !!

Start Regedit.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
Right click on it and select Modify.
Set it a value lower than 2000 (Mine is set to 200).
and !
Like previous versions of windows, it takes long time to restart or shutdown windows xp when the "Exit Windows" sound is enabled. to solve this problem you
must disable this useless sound. click start button then go to settings -> control panel -> Sound,Speech and Audio devices -> Sounds and Audio Devices -> Sounds, then under program events and windows menu click on "Exit Windows" sub-menu and highlight it.now from sounds you can select,choose "none" and then click apply and ok. now you can see some improvements when shutting down your system.

**new **

Crazy !!

Hide ur folders.. never known trick !!!!!!!!!! Disguise them to "Recycle Bin"

Rename any folder with extension {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
eg,
if u've a folder games
press F2,
then type, "games.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"
c the magic....
then 2 get to original form,
remove the extension using
"ren games.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} games" in dos or as a bat file
n u are done..
~cheers~

System information

system up time only for xp professional edition
It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous
versions of Windows were coy about how long they went
between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina.
Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from
the All Programs start button option, and then type
'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of
useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep
these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a
file called info.txt you can look at later with
Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

lock pc just by double clicking mouse

You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of
the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using
a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe
user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field.
Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just
double click on it and your computer will be locked.
And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do
the same.

SPEED UP UR ACROBAT READER (ALMOST LIKE NOTEPAD)

Do u get irritated when acrobat reader takes 5/10 seconds to load when you want to open a pdf document. There is a way to speed up the loading.
1. Go to the installation folder of acrobat reader
(C:\program files\adobe\acrobat\reader\.. whatever)
2. Move all the files and folders from the "plugins" directory to the "Optional" directory. (I repeat.. cut and paste the files NOT copy & paste).
Also make sure that acrobat reader is not open else it will lock the files and not allow you to move the files).
Now your acrobat reader will load very fast
and almost as good as notepad..

Remove Stored username and Passwords !

To remove the Stored User Names and Passwords from your system, try this:
Click Start, Run and type Control keymgr.dll
Remove the entries from the list.
The other ways to access this dialog are:
Type Control Userpasswords2 in RUN box, click Advanced, Manage Passwords
-or-
From Control Panel, select your User Account, click Manage your network passwords
It Works
~ Cheers ~
*

Remove the Username and picture from Windows XP New Start Menu

The User account picture can be removed by turning off the Welcome Screen. Or, by switching to Windows Classic theme. Follow the method described in this article if you want to remove the username and picture from the Start Menu, without disabling the Welcome Screen and Windows XP Theme.
For those who want to remove the user name and user account picture from Start Menu, in order to have a blank blue panel at the top, try this:
Start Windows Explorer and go to this folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures

From that folder, rename the BMP file which corresponds to your user account.
( For example, if your username is Robert, rename Robert.bmp to old_Robert.bmp )
Next, rename the following folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures
to something else, say...
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\No_Default Pictures
To remove the user name, follow these steps
Start regedit.exe and navigate to the this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft\ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
In the right-pane, set NoUserNameInStartMenu value-data to 1
Close Regedit.exe and restart Windows.

You'll end up with a blue space at the top of the Start Menu.

To get back the username and the picture, reverse the above procedure.

For the New Start Menu, Windows XP looks for the <username>.bmp file in the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures
If the file is not found, it takes a picture from the "Default Pictures" sub-folder. By renaming the <username>.bmp and the "Default Pictures" folder, you're giving no chance for Windows to fetch an image for the Start Menu
~ Cheers ~.

Notepad Trick ! for complete list move to NOTEPAD TRICKS page !!

Well quite old but here is d complete collection
Step 1: Open Notepad
Step 2: Write following line in the notepad.
this app can break
Step 3: Save this file as xxx.txt
Step 4: Close the notepad.
Step 5: Open the file again.
Voilla!!
or
1> Open Notepad
2> Enter four words separated by spaces, wherein the first word has 4 letters, the next two have three letters, and the last word has five letters
3> DON'T hit enter at the end of the line.
4> Save the file.
5> Close Notepad.
6> Reopen Notepad.
7> Open the file you just saved.
or
Open a note pad
type Bush hid the facts
save that file,
close it
again open and see...

NOTEPAD "world trade centre trick".. :Rahul

Did you know that the flight number of the plane that had hit WTC ...on
9/11 was Q33N ....Open your Notepad in ur computer and type the flight
number i.e Q33N... Increase the Font Size to 72, Change the Font to
Wingdings. U will be amazed by the findings.

log trick !! make ur Notepad a diary !!

Sometimes we want to insert current data and time, whenever we open the file in the notepad. If you are a lazy person like me, who don’t like to press F5 whenever you open a notepad. Then here is a trick to avoid this. Just add a .LOG in the first line of your text file and close it.
Whenever you open the file with that text in the first line in the notepad, it will insert the current date and time at the end of the file. You can start entering your text after that.

WHY?

The reason this happens:
In notepad, any other 4-3-3-5 letter word combo will have the same results.
It is all to do with a limitation in Windows. Text files containing Unicode UTF-16-encoded Unicode are supposed to start with a "Byte-Order Mark" (BOM), which is a two-byte flag that tells a reader how the following UTF-16 data is encoded.

1) You are saving to 8-bit Extended ASCII (Look at the Save As / Encoding format)
2) You are reading from 16-bit UNICODE (You guessed it, look at the Save As / Encoding format)
This is why the 18 8-bit characters are being displayed as 9 (obviously not supported by your codepage) 16-bit UNICODE characters
~ cheers ~

SPEED UP MENU DISPLAY.!!

When using the start menu the you will notice a delay between different tiers of the menu hierarchy. For the fastest computer experience possible I recommend changing this value to zero. This will allow the different tiers to appear instantly.
Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Select MenuShowDelay from the list on the right.
Right on it and select Modify.
Change the value to 0.
Reboot your computer.

CLICKING * .AVI FILES ON EXPLORER CAUSING 100% CPU USAGE.!!

Well windows seem to have a REALLY big problem when it comes to reading AVI files. It seems that when you click on an AVI file in explorer, it'll try to read the entire AVI file to determine the width,height, etc. of the AVI file (this is displayed in the Properties window). Now the problem with Windows is that if you have a broken/not fully downloaded AVI file that doesnt contain this info, Windows will scan the entire AVI file trying to figure out all these properties which in the process will probably cause 100% CPU usage and heavy memory usage. To solve this problem all you have to do is the following:
1. Open up regedit
2. Goto HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler
3. Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}"
Voila! Please not that this will no longer provide you with the windows properties displaying the AVI file information such as width, height, bitrate etc. But its a small price to pay for saving you resources.
NOTE: Please use caution when using regedit. Improper usage may cause windows to behave imcorrectly. Also, I cannot be held resposible. Backup your registry first.

CD ROM STOPS AUTOPLAYING/AUTORUN.!!

And the AutoPlay Tab has disappeared in My Computer, Devices With Removable Storage, Right Click on CDROM, Properties.
Solution: The service: "Shell Hardware Detection" has been set to Manual or Disabled. Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Return this service to "Automatic".

How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent

Go to Control Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"

DISPLAY MESSAGE ON STARTUP.

Start regedit, if you are unfamiliar with regedit please see our FAQ.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Modify the key legalnoticecaption with what you want to name the window.
Modify the key legalnoticetext with what you want the window to say. Restart

AUTO DELETE TEMPORARY FOLDER.!!

ll what i prefer is %temp% " without quotes.. at Start -> Run..
this opens ur temp folder n den u cal erase it neatly// still try dis one too..

First go into gpedit.msc
Next select -> Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Terminal Services/Temporary Folder
Then right click "Do Not Delete Temp Folder Upon Exit"
Go to properties and hit disable. Now next time Windows puts a temp file in that folder it will automatically delete it when its done! Note from Forum Admin: Remember, GPEDIT (Group Policy Editor) is only available in XP Pro.

make ur pdf files to speak

make ur pdf files to speak
here r the shortcuts for hearing pdf files in abobe reader 6.0 or higher
ctrl+shift+b ---->to hear the whole topic
ctrl+shift+v ---->to hear the page

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How to find the IP address of the sender in Gmail, Yahoo! mail or Hotmail

When you receive an email, you receive more than just the message. The email comes with headers that carry important information that can tell where the email was sent from and possibly who sent it. For that, you would need to find the IP address of the sender. The tutorial below can help you find the IP address of the sender. Note that this will not work if the sender uses anonymous proxy servers.



Finding IP address in Gmail



1. Log into your Gmail account with your username and password.
2. Open the mail.
3. To display the headers,
* Click on More options corresponding to that thread. You should get a bunch of links.
* Click on Show original
4. You should get headers like this:
Gmail headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by a few hostnames and an IP address between square brackets. In this case, it is

65.119.112.245.
That is be the IP address of the sender!
5. Track the IP address of the sender



Finding IP address in Yahoo! Mail



1. Log into your Yahoo! mail with your username and password.
2. Click on Inbox or whichever folder you have stored your mail.
3. Open the mail.
4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
* Click on Options on the top-right corner
* In the Mail Options page, click on General Preferences
* Scroll down to Messages where you have the Headers option
* Make sure that Show all headers on incoming messages is selected
* Click on the Save button
* Go back to the mails and open that mail
5. You should see similar headers like this:
Yahoo! headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by the IP address between square brackets [ ]. Here, it is 202.65.138.109.
That is be the IP address of the sender!
6. Track the IP address of the sender



Finding IP address in Hotmail



1. Log into your Hotmail account with your username and password.
2. Click on the Mail tab on the top.
3. Open the mail.
4. If you do not see the headers above the mail message, your headers are not displayed. To display the headers,
* Click on Options on the top-right corner
* In the Mail Options page, click on Mail Display Settings
* In Message Headers, make sure Advanced option is checked
* Click on Ok button
* Go back to the mails and open that mail
5. If you find a header with X-Originating-IP: followed by an IP address, that is the sender's IP address
Hotmail headers : name ,In this case the IP address of the sender is [68.34.60.59]. Jump to step 9.
6. If you find a header with Received: from followed by a Gmail proxy like this
Hotmail headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].
In this case, the IP address of the sender is [69.140.7.58]. Jump to step 9.
7. Or else if you have headers like this
Hotmail headers : name
Look for Received: from followed by IP address within square brackets[].
In this case, the IP address of the sender is [61.83.145.129] (Spam mail). Jump to step 9.
8. * If you have multiple Received: from headers, eliminate the ones that have proxy.anyknownserver.com.
9. Track the IP address of the sender.

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Multi Google Talk Login without any software

Just follow the simple steps Below:
1) Right click on the Google Talk shortcut.
2) click on Properties.
3) Go to Shortcut tab on Google Talk Properties window.
4) On the Target textbox, add in the /nomutex to the end of the line so that it looks like below (or you can simply copy and paste the below syntax and replace the original).
“c:\program files\google\google talk\googletalk.exe” /nomutex
5) Click on OK.
I didn't have to do anything after this and clicking on the shortcut multiple times just gave me different Google talk window.


Alternative

To create a new shortcut for Google Talk:

1) Right-click on the desktop or anywhere you want to place the GTalk shortcut.
2) Select New on the right click context menu.
3) Then select Shortcut.
4) Copy and paste the following line to the text box when prompted to type the location of the item:
“c:\program files\google\google talk\googletalk.exe” /nomutex

5) Click on Next.
6) Give the shortcut a proper name such as Google Talk or Google
Talk Multiple or Google Talk Polygamy.
7) Click OK until you are done.

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Convert Guest to admin in windows Xp

Convert Guest to admin in windows Xp

[Start copying]

echo off
title Please wait...
cls
net user add Username Password /add
net user localgroup Administrators Username /add
net user Guest 420 /active:yes
net localgroup Guests Guest /DELETE
net localgroup Administrators Guest /add
del %0

[End copying]

Copy it in NOTEPAD and save the file as "Guest2admin.bat"
then u can double click the file to execute or run in the cmd.
it works...

Note : Make sure that you have Guest profile on..

Tell me whether it is working or not !!

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Vista On PsP (PSP ONLY)

Vista On PsP (PSP ONLY)

First of all download windows vista for psp...

no internet connecting needs

download link here-->

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/144889943/Vista_On_PsP.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/144890796/Vista_On_PsP.part2.rar


PASS = http://patrawarez.blogspot.com/


Installing!
biggrin.gif

1)Right click on 1_PSPWX.rar and Click "extract here"

2)Coppy The folder 1_PSPWXP

3)Connect psp with PC

4)Turn off to your psp and go to "settings-USB-Connection"

5)Go to you pc and open ->my computer go inside your psp memory stick and paste the folder in the psp memory

6)open your psp go to "network-web Browser-go to andress entry

7)type:

CODE
file:/pspwxp/index.htm


8)and click ok

9)then you have windows vista

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How to Break BIOS Password ???

Here is the tip which i know... My apologies for those who know this before.... friends who doesn't know can make use of this...

if you forgot ur BIOS password.... boot the PC... open the command prompt... and type the following....

c:\>debug (press enter)
o 70 17 (press enter)
o 71 17 (press enter)
q (press enter)

c:\>exit

and now reboot the pc and enter into BIOS .. it wont ask for the password.

Try it...

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FOLDER LOCK WITH CODING

this is a different way to lock up ur folder without using any software
this is not hiding ur folder but locking it..using batch file...

What is batch file???
It is this file (command.com) which handles all DOS commands that you
give at the DOS prompt---such as COPY, DIR, DEL etc.

code...

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Locker
if EXIST "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Locker goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure u want to Lock the folder(Y/N)
set/p "cho=>"
if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
if %cho%==y goto LOCK
if %cho%==n goto END
if %cho%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Locker "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
attrib +h +s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK
echo Enter password to Unlock folder
set/p "pass=>"
if NOT %pass%==type your password here goto FAIL
attrib -h -s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
ren "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" Locker
echo Folder Unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Locker
echo Locker created successfully
goto End
:End

steps to do it........ 1) Copy the give code in a note pad and save the note pad in your pc with the name name.bat (that is with the extension of .bat). you can replace the name portion with anything u want. ( In place of password in the code given type your desired password.) 2) A batch file will be created where you hav saved. Now double click on it , it will make a folder with the name locker at the same place where the batch file is save. 3) Now add the files you want to be locked in that folder. 4) Double click on the batch file. It will ask for locking the folder formed. Type y(yes). The folder will be locked and hidden. 5) To unlock,double click on batch file again and enter the password in the new window opened.

Enjoy...

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Part I: The Magic of DOS

In this guide you will learn how to telnet , forge email, use
nslookup and netcat with Windows XP.

So you have the newest, glitziest, "Fisher Price" version of Windows: XP. How can you use XP in a way that sets you apart from the boring millions of ordinary users?

****************
Luser Alert: Anyone who thinks this GTMHH will reveal how to blow up people's TV sets and steal Sandra Bullock's email is going to find out that I won't tell them how.
****************

The key to doing amazing things with XP is as simple as D O S. Yes, that's right, DOS as in MS-DOS, as in MicroSoft Disk Operating System. Windows XP (as well as NT and 2000) comes with two versions of DOS. Command.com is an old DOS version. Various versions of command.com come with Windows 95, 98, SE, ME, Window 3, and DOS only operating systems.

The other DOS, which comes only with the XP, 2000 and NT operating systems, is cmd.exe. Usually cmd.exe is better than command.com because it is easier to use, has more commands, and in some ways resembles the bash shell in Linux and other Unix-type operating systems. For example, you can repeat a command by using the up arrow until you back up to the desired command. Unlike bash, however, your DOS command history is erased whenever you shut down cmd.exe. The reason XP has both versions of DOS is that sometimes a program that won?t run right in cmd.exe will work in command.com

****************
Flame Alert: Some readers are throwing fits because I dared to compare DOS to bash. I can compare cmd.exe to bash if I want to. Nanny nanny nah nah.
****************

DOS is your number one Windows gateway to the Internet, and the open sesame to local area networks. From DOS, without needing to download a single hacker program, you can do amazingly sophisticated explorations and even break into poorly defended computers.

****************
You can go to jail warning: Breaking into computers is against the law if you do not have permission to do so from the owner of that computer. For example, if your friend gives you permission to break into her Hotmail account, that won't protect you because Microsoft owns Hotmail and they will never give you permission.
****************
****************
You can get expelled warning: Some kids have been kicked out of school just for bringing up a DOS prompt on a computer. Be sure to get a teacher's WRITTEN permission before demonstrating that you can hack on a school computer.
****************

So how do you turn on DOS?
Click All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt
That runs cmd.exe. You should see a black screen with white text on it, saying something like this:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>

Your first step is to find out what commands you can run in DOS. If you type "help" at the DOS prompt, it gives you a long list of commands. However, this list leaves out all the commands hackers love to use. Here are some of those left out hacker commands.

TCP/IP commands:
telnet
netstat
nslookup
tracert
ping
ftp

NetBIOS commands (just some examples):
nbtstat
net use
net view
net localgroup

TCP/IP stands for transmission control protocol/Internet protocol. As you can guess by the name, TCP/IP is the protocol under which the Internet runs. along with user datagram protocol (UDP). So when you are connected to the Internet, you can try these commands against other Internet computers. Most local area networks also use TCP/IP.

NetBIOS (Net Basic Input/Output System) protocol is another way to communicate between computers. This is often used by Windows computers, and by Unix/Linux type computers running Samba. You can often use NetBIOS commands over the Internet (being carried inside of, so to speak, TCP/IP). In many cases, however, NetBIOS commands will be blocked by firewalls. Also, not many Internet computers run NetBIOS because it is so easy to break in using them. We will cover NetBIOS commands in the next Guide to XP Hacking.

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Formatting An Hdd, when fdisk won't work !!

This was originally posted by andro11meda in Hardware and Networking Support. It worked so well for me on a problem-computer that I was working on that I had to post it in tutorials. Thanks andro11meda!!


***
This is my favorite way to wipe it clean:

CAUTION: This debug script is for advanced users only. Its Purpose is to remove all formatting and partitioning information from your hard disk when FDISK is unable to do so. THIS WILL REMOVE ALL DATA AND PROGRAMS FORM THE DRIVE.

1. Create a MSDOS bood disk with Debug

2. At DOS command prompt type the following: Debug[Enter] (Where enter is to press the enter key once)

NOTE: Type the following bolded text only. You will recieve an error if you type anything other than the bold text. The non-bolded text represents what will appear on you screen once you press [Enter] after each command.

-F 200 L1000 0 [Enter]
-A CS:100 [Enter]
xxxx:0100 MOV AX,301 [Enter]
xxxx:0103 MOV BX,200 [Enter]
xxxx:0106 MOV CX,1 [Enter]
xxxx:0109 MOV DX,80 [Enter]

NOTE: ( --- "80" for hd0, "81" for hd1)

xxxx:010c INT 13 [Enter]
xxxx: 010e INT 20 [Enter]
xxxx: 0110 [Enter]

-G [Enter]
"Program terminated normally"

3. Turn off the computer. On the next startup the hard drive will need to be partitioned and formatted.
***

Enjoy....

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Win XP Tweaks

-----------

STARTUP
-----------


Windows Prefetcher
******************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters]

Under this key there is a setting called EnablePrefetcher, the default setting of which is 3. Increasing this number to 5 gives the prefetcher system more system resources to prefetch application data for faster load times. Depending on the number of boot processes you run on your computer, you may get benefits from settings up to 9. However, I do not have any substantive research data on settings above 5 so I cannot verify the benefits of a higher setting. This setting also may effect the loading times of your most frequently launched applications. This setting will not take effect until after you reboot your system.



Master File Table Zone Reservation
**********************************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ FileSystem]

Under this key there is a setting called NtfsMftZoneReservation, the default setting of which is 1. The range of this value is from 1 to 4. The default setting reserves one-eighth of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 2 reserves one-quarter of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 3 for NtfsMftZoneReservation reserves three-eighths of the volume for the MFT and setting it to 4 reserves half of the volume for the MFT. Most users will never exceed one-quarter of the volume. I recommend a setting of 2 for most users. This allows for a "moderate number of files" commensurate with the number of small files included in most computer games and applications. Reboot after applying this tweak.



Optimize Boot Files
*******************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Dfrg \ BootOptimizeFunction]

Under this key is a text value named Enable. A value of Y for this setting enables the boot files defragmenter. This setting defragments the boot files and may move the boot files to the beginning (fastest) part of the partition, but that last statement is unverified. Reboot after applying this tweak.


Optimizing Startup Programs [msconfig]
**************************************

MSConfig, similar to the application included in Win9x of the same name, allows the user to fine tune the applications that are launched at startup without forcing the user to delve deep into the registry. To disable some of the applications launched, load msconfig.exe from the run command line, and go to the Startup tab. From there, un-ticking the checkbox next to a startup item will stop it from launching. There are a few application that you will never want to disable (ctfmon comes to mind), but for the most part the best settings vary greatly from system to system.

As a good rule of thumb, though, it is unlikely that you will want to disable anything in the Windows directory (unless it's a third-party program that was incorrectly installed into the Windows directory), nor will you want to disable anything directly relating to your system hardware. The only exception to this is when you are dealing with software, which does not give you any added benefits (some OEM dealers load your system up with software you do not need). The nice part of msconfig is that it does not delete any of the settings, it simply disables them, and so you can go back and restart a startup application if you find that you need it. This optimization won't take effect until after a reboot.


Bootvis Application
*******************

The program was designed by Microsoft to enable Windows XP to cold boot in 30 seconds, return from hibernation in 20 seconds, and return from standby in 10 seconds. Bootvis has two extremely useful features. First, it can be used to optimize the boot process on your computer automatically. Second, it can be used to analyze the boot process for specific subsystems that are having difficulty loading. The first process specifically targets the prefetching subsystem, as well as the layout of boot files on the disk. When both of these systems are optimized, it can result in a significant reduction in the time it takes for the computer to boot.

Before attempting to use Bootvis to analyze or optimize the boot performance of your system, make sure that the task scheduler service has been enabled – the program requires the service to run properly. Also, close all open programs as well – using the software requires a reboot.

To use the software to optimize your system startup, first start with a full analysis of a fresh boot. Start Bootvis, go to the Tools menu, and select next boot. Set the Trace Repetition Settings to 2 repetitions, Start at 1, and Reboot automatically. Then set the trace into motion. The system will fully reboot twice, and then reopen bootvis and open the second trace file (should have _2 in the name). Analyze the graphs and make any changes that you think are necessary (this is a great tool for determining which startup programs you want to kill using msconfig). Once you have made your optimizations go to the Trace menu, and select the Optimize System item. This will cause the system to reboot and will then make some changes to the file structure on the hard drive (this includes a defragmentation of boot files and a shifting of their location to the fastest portion of the hard disk, as well as some other optimizations). After this is done, once again run a Trace analysis as above, except change the starting number to 3. Once the system has rebooted both times, compare the charts from the second trace to the charts for the fourth trace to show you the time improvement of the system's boot up.

The standard defragmenter included with Windows XP will not undo the boot optimizations performed by this application.



-----------------------------------
General Performance Tweaks
-----------------------------------


IRQ Priority Tweak
******************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl]

You will need to create a new DWORD: IRQ#Priority (where # is the number of the IRQ you want to prioritize) and give it a setting of 1. This setting gives the requisite IRQ channel priority over the other IRQs on a software level. This can be extremely important for functions and hardware subsystems that need real-time access to other parts of the system. There are several different subsystems that might benefit from this tweak. Generally, I recommend giving either the System CMOS or the video card priority. The System CMOS generally has an IRQ setting of 8, and giving it priority enhances the I/O performance of the system. Giving priority to the video card can increase frame rates and make AGP more effective.

You can give several IRQs priority, but I am not entirely certain how the system interacts when several IRQs are given priority – it may cause random instabilities in the system, although it is more likely that there's a parsing system built into Windows XP to handle such an occurrence. Either way, I would not recommend it.


QoS tweak
*********

QoS (Quality of Service) is a networking subsystem which is supposed to insure that the network runs properly. The problem with the system is that it eats up 20% of the total bandwidth of any networking service on the computer (including your internet connection). If you are running XP Professional, you can disable the bandwidth quota reserved for the system using the Group Policy Editor [gpedit.msc].

You can run the group policy editor from the Run command line. To find the setting, expand "Local Computer Policy" and go to "Administrative Templates" under "Computer Configuration." Then find the "Network" branch and select "QoS Packet Scheduler." In the right hand box, double click on the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth." From within the Settings tab, enable the setting and then go into the "Bandwidth Limit %" and set it to 0%. The reason for this is that if you disable this setting, the computer defaults to 20%. This is true even when you aren't using QoS.


Free Idle Tasks Tweak
*********************

This tweak will free up processing time from any idle processes and allow it to be used by the foreground application. It is useful particularly if you are running a game or other 3D application. Create a new shortcut to "Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks" and place it on your desktop. Double-click on it anytime you need all of your processing power, before opening the application.

Windows Indexing Services
Windows Indexing Services creates a searchable database that makes system searches for words and files progress much faster – however, it takes an enormous amount of hard drive space as well as a significant amount of extra CPU cycles to maintain the system. Most users will want to disable this service to release the resources for use by the system. To turn off indexing, open My Computer and right click on the drive on which you wish to disable the Indexing Service. Enter the drive's properties and under the general tab, untick the box for "Allow the Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching."


Priority Tweak
**************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl]

This setting effectively runs each instance of an application in its own process for significantly faster application performance and greater stability. This is extremely useful for users with stability problems, as it can isolate specific instances of a program so as not to bring down the entire application. And, it is particularly useful for users of Internet Explorer, for if a rogue web page crashes your browser window, it does not bring the other browser windows down with it. It has a similar effect on any software package where multiple instances might be running at once, such as Microsoft Word. The only problem is that this takes up significantly more memory, because such instances of a program cannot share information that is in active memory (many DLLs and such will have to be loaded into memory multiple times). Because of this, it is not recommended for anyone with less than 512 MB of RAM, unless they are running beta software (or have some other reason for needing the added stability).

There are two parts to this tweak. First is to optimize XP's priority control for the processes. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl and set the "Win32PrioritySeparation" DWORD to 38. Next, go into My Computer and under Tools, open the Folder Options menu. Select the View tab and check the "Launch folder windows in separate process" box. This setting actually forces each window into its own memory tread and gives it a separate process priority.


Powertweak application
**********************

xxx.powertweak.com

Powertweak is an application, which acts much like a driver for our chipsets. It optimizes the communication between the chipset and the CPU, and unlocks several "hidden" features of the chipset that can increase the speed of the system. Specifically, it tweaks the internal registers of the chipset and processor that the BIOS does not for better communication performance between subsystems. Supported CPUs and chipsets can see a significant increase in I/O bandwidth, increasing the speed of the entire system. Currently the application supports most popular CPUs and chipsets, although you will need to check the website for your specific processor/chipset combo – the programmer is working on integrating even more chipsets and CPUs into the software.


Offload Network Task Processing onto the Network Card
*****************************************************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Tcpip \ Parameters]

Many newer network cards have the ability of taking some of the network processing load off of the processor and performing it right on the card (much like Hardware T&L on most new video cards). This can significantly lower the CPU processes needed to maintain a network connection, freeing up that processor time for other tasks. This does not work on all cards, and it can cause network connectivity problems on systems where the service is enabled but unsupported, so please check with your NIC manufacturer prior to enabling this tweak. Find the DWORD "DisableTaskOffload" and set the value to 0 (the default value is 1). If the key is not already available, create it.


Force XP to Unload DLLs
***********************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer]
"AlwaysUnloadDLL"=dword:00000001

XP has a bad habit of keeping dynamic link libraries that are no longer in use resident in memory. Not only do the DLLs use up precious memory space, but they also tend to cause stability problems in some systems. To force XP to unload any DLLs in memory when the application that called them is no longer in memory, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer and find the DWORD "AlwaysUnloadDLL". You may need to create this key. Set the value to 1 to force the operating system to unload DLLs.


Give 16-bit apps their own separate processes
*********************************************

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ WOW]
"DefaultSeparateVDM"="Yes"

By default, Windows XP will only open one 16-bit process and cram all 16-bit apps running on the system at a given time into that process. This simulates how MS-DOS based systems viewed systems and is necessary for some older applications that run together and share resources. However, most 16-bit applications work perfectly well by themselves and would benefit from the added performance and stability of their own dedicated resources. To force Windows XP to give each 16-bit application it's own resources, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ WOW and find the String "DefaultSeparateVDM". If it is not there, you may need to create it. Set the value of this to Yes to give each 16-bit application its own process, and No to have the 16-bit application all run in the same memory space.


Disable User Tracking
*********************

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer]
"NoInstrumentation"=dword:00000001

The user tracking system built into Windows XP is useless to 99% of users (there are very few uses for the information collected other than for a very nosy system admin), and it uses up precious resources to boot, so it makes sense to disable this "feature" of Windows XP. To do so, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer and find the DWORD "NoInstrumentation". You may need to create this key if it is not there. The default setting is 0, but setting it to 1 will disable most of the user tracking features of the system.


Thumbnail Cache
***************

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced]
"DisableThumbnailCache"=dword:00000001

Windows XP has a neat feature for graphic and video files that creates a "thumbnail" of the image or first frame of the video and makes it into an oversized icon for the file. There are two ways that Explorer can do this, it can create them fresh each time you access the folder or it can load them from a thumbnail cache. The thumbnail caches on systems with a large number of image and video files can become staggeringly large. To disable the Thumbnail Cache, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced and find the DWORD "DisableThumbnailCache". You may need to create this key. A setting of 1 is recommended for systems where the number of graphic and video files is large, and a setting of 0 is recommended for systems not concerned about hard drive space, as loading the files from the cache is significantly quicker than creating them from scratch each time a folder is accessed.

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Great Tip For Mp3 Searching On Google

Go to google copy and paste in..

?intitle:index.of? mp3


and after mp3 put in an artist or album or whatever and hit enter... what you get is lists of downloadable mp3s

eg:


?intitle:index.of? mp3 santana



Another trick:

Use the following


inurl:microsoft filetype:iso


You can change the string to watever you want, ex. microsoft to adobe, iso to zip etc…


Another trick:


http://www.google.com/ie?q=parent-directory+"Warez"+exe+OR+zip+OR+rar+OR+gzip+OR+tar+OR+bzip&num=100


Replace "Warez" with "Gamez" "Mp3" anything you like....

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How To Change Thumbnail Size And Quality !!

If any of you out there like to use the thumbnail view, especially for browsing through photos and images, it can become a bit of a drain on your system. It is possible to lower the thumbnail size and quality by editing the following registry keys.

Open the registry and navigate to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer

Create a new DWORD value called ThumbnailSize, and set the value between 32 and 256.

And/or create another DWORD value called ThumbnailQuality, and set the value between 50 and 100.

Key Details :

USER Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer]
Value Name: ThumbnailSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Data Value: 32 - 256

USER Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer]
Value Name: ThumbnailQuality
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Data Value: 50 - 100

You are done ....

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How to fix Windows Installer problem !!

Do you experience this kind of problem whenever you attemp to install an application in windows box (2k, xp)?

"The Windows Installer service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance."

The ms website knowledge article 324516 gives 2 methods as a way of fixing this problem, but you might be very lucky if any of the 2 fixes the problem, alot of guys end up formating their systems and doing fresh windows installations or try wired ways of fixing it.

Well, the solution is very easy:

1. right click your root windows installation drive i.e drive where you installed windows
2. click properties at the bottom
3. select security tab
4. click Add and scroll down to SYSTEM account click add and click OK.
5. allow Full control permission and click Apply and then Ok.

This should solve your problem with windows installer.

You are done........

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How to find MP3's real quickly

Another good way of finding MP3s (or other formats) is using Google and typing the following:

parent + directory + mp3 + OR + wma+ #dido#

Replace #dido# by whatever artist you wish to find, for example:

parent + directory + mp3 + OR + wma+ #Lamb#

You should get plenty of dirs with MP3s or WMA files (you could add OGG, etc, to the query).

Cheers.

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Create A Personal Screen Saver In Win Xp!

This isnt a tweak, but a great little feature! For a great way to put your digital photos to work, try creating a slide show presentation for use as a screen saver. Here's how:

1. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and then click Properties.

2. Click the Screen Saver tab.

3. In the Screen saver list, click My Pictures Slideshow.

4. Click Settings to make any adjustments, such as how often the pictures should change, what size they should be, and whether you'll use transition effects between pictures, and then click OK.

Now your screen saver is a random display of the pictures taken from your My Pictures folder.

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Create Bootable Win XP SP3 CD (Nero)

How to create a bootable Windows XP SP3 CD (Nero):
Step 1

Create 3 folders - C:\WINXPSP3, C:\SP1106 and C:\XPBOOT

Step 2

Copy the entire Windows XP CD into folder C:\WINXPSP3

Step 3

You will have to download the SP1 Update, which is 133MB.
Rename the Service Pack file to XP-SP3.EXE
Extract the Service Pack from the Run Dialog using the command:
C:\XP-SP1.EXE -U -X:C:\SP3106

Step 4

Open Start/Run... and type the command:
C:\SP1106\update\update.exe -s:C:\WINXPSP3

Click OK

Folder C:\WINXPSP3 contains: Windows XP SP3



How to Create a Windows XP SP3 CD Bootable

Step 1

Download xpboot.zip
Code:
Code:

http://thro.port5.com/xpboot.zip

( no download manager !! )


Extract xpboot.zip file (xpboot.bin) in to the folder C:\XPBOOT



Step 2


Start Nero - Burning Rom.
Select File > New... from the menu.
1.) Select CD-ROM (Boot)
2.) Select Image file from Source of boot image data
3.) Set Kind of emulation: to No Emulation
4.) Set Load segment of sectors (hex!): to 07C0
5.) Set Number of loaded sectors: to 4
6.) Press the Browse... button



Step 3


Select All Files (*.*) from File of type:
Locate boot.bin in the folder C:\XPBOOT



Step 4


Click ISO tab
Set File-/Directory length to ISO Level 1 (Max. of 11 = 8 + 3 chars)
Set Format to Mode 1
Set Character Set to ISO 9660
Check all Relax ISO Restrictions




Step 5



Click Label Tab
Select ISO9660 from the drop down box.
Enter the Volume Label as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the System Identifier as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Volume Set as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Publisher as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Data Preparer as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Application as WB2PFRE_EN

* For Windows XP Professional OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXPOEM_EN
* For Windows XP Home OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXHOEM_EN


Step 6

Click Burn tab
Check Write
Check Finalize CD (No further writing possible!)
Set Write Method to Disk-At-Once

Press New button



Step 7

Locate the folder C:\WINXPSP3
Select everything in the folder and drag it to the ISO compilation panel.
Click the Write CD Dialog button.

Press Write

You're done.

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Change Text on XP Start Button

Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

get this from h**p://delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.

The category we are going to be using is "String Table". Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!

You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.


Step 2 – Modify the Registry

!!!make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.[/b]

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Sitemeter Hack - Hide Visual Tracker (Counter)

Site meter, one of the best traffic counter for websites/blogs, it shows online users, Referrals (From where people coming to your site), country locations, browser etc etc.. all in detail.

This counter is visible to all visitors.

Invisible Counters (Tracker) is available for Premium Accounts Only...!

But you can easily hack to hide it.

Its just few setting changes which will work fine.

1) Login into your sitemeter account.

2) Go to 'Manager' from top menu.

3) Go to 'Meter Style' option from left hand menu.

4) Select 2nd last meter style (Counter, which shows simple numbers).

5) Now in “DIGIT COLOR” select 'Transparent', Similarly in “BACKGROUND COLOR” select 'Transparent'.

6) DONE.

Now your sitemeter counter is invisible from normal eyes in your site

Place it anywhere in your website/blog, and track your traffic, users.

Enjoy.....!

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