Deleting contact data and SMSes forever

   

Every cell phone has certain amount of data that is specific to its owner. If the cell phone is subsequently passed on, then it should be wiped clean of this compromising data. After all, there are certain personal details which its owner does not want to reveal, even to his family members. The same logic applies to office phones, which is at times shared between colleagues. Whether it is personal or official, no one wants to pass on his sensitive data in unknown hands. You can always use the delete function of the cell phone, but this option comes with loopholes.

To identify what could still be found in the cell phone memory after the supposed deletion, we can use a spy tool for professionals called the Paraben’s Device Seizure, which is available on http://www.paraben.com/device-seizure.html. The site offers a trial version for 30 days with the complete version of the forensics tool. And yes, Device Seizure is a tough nut to crack.

After installation, we can plug in current cell phone models to the computer and set the spy tool on the devices. The program creates an image of the cell phone memory that can be subsequently used with the integrated hex editor. We may find deleted contact data and SMSes in few cell phones, which the previous owner had received and deleted.

While tool did not work on all the devices, it is, however, constantly being developed. Thus, the danger of unauthorized persons retrieving your deleted data is very plausible.

To avoid such a scenario, you should ideally first delete the data on the SIM card and then overwrite it. This makes it very difficult or rather impossible for forensics programs to restore the contacts or messages. For doing so, you must use a SIM card reader such as the SIM Card Stick. You can use it to access the SIM card, load the contact data and messages stored on your computer and edit the entries there. It is much more comfortable and even much faster in case of several messages as opposed to editing data using the cell phone menu.

In addition, the software deletes all the existing contacts on your SIM card and overwrites them. Once done, the overwritten contact data can no longer be read.

source: chip.in

The Blue Screen Of Death

   The most infamous error message is the Blue Screen Of Death. It’s so wellknown that it has crept into the vernacular: “Aw, man! I was almost finished with my term paper when I got bluescreened!” The phenomenon is also known by its acronym, BSOD.

   The conditions that cause a blue screen have changed since the days of Windows 95/98, as has what it means. In either case, chances are pretty good that, if you get bluescreened, any unsaved work will be lost, as either Windows (in NT/2000/XP/7) or your application (in 95/98) has been shut down.

   The BSOD is perhaps the most despised error not only because it has wiped away countless hours of work over the years, but because of the obtuse way in which it does so. The messages delivered in the typical blue screen are meant for developers more than end users. For example, a blue screen delivered by Windows may deliver a message such as the following: 

“0x0000001E, KMODE_EXCEPTION _NOT_HANDLED.”

   And if you don’t find that sufficiently informative, you’ll see four variables in parentheses to help developers

figure out what’s happening. Again, none of this will mean much to most of us, but a support rep or developer can often learn a great deal from such cryptic messages.

   Fortunately, blue screens are rare in recent versions of Windows and may disappear after a reboot. But if

the problem recurs, you could have a real problem. Here are some troubleshooting steps to follow if you encounter a BSOD:

   While your system is booting, press F8 and select Safe Boot Mode, which loads a subset of Windows

with minimal drivers. If things run smoothly in Safe Mode, you likely have a software problem with a recently installed application. Try to decipher the error message to see if you can trace it to a specific program. If all else fails, uninstall your most recently-installed application.

   If you still see blue screen errors in Safe Mode, restart again and use F8 to get to the advanced options.

This time, choose Restore Last Known Good Configuration, which is a snapshot of your system as it existed before you last installed any drivers or other software. You will lose any system changes you’ve made since that point, but your documents will normally remain untouched by this process.

   If you’re still having problems, you are likely suffering from a hardware problem or a corruption of vital system files. Again, any hints that you can gather from the error message could help you (or a tech support rep) trace the source of the problem. Remove any recently installed hardware and try booting again.

   In the worst case, it’s not uncommon to have to resort to reinstalling device drivers or even the whole operating system.

   Ultimately, the best cure for the BSOD is prevention: Save often and create frequent backups.

source: smartcomputing

Middle Mouse Button

   Most computer users do most of their clicking on the left side of the mouse. Many make good use of the right button too. But only a handful take advantage of the middle button.

   You might be thinking, "My mouse doesn't have a middle button, just a scrollwheel" But that wheel doubles as a button; try pressing it.(Admittedly, on a few older models the wheel really is just a wheel.) You can click and hold that button, and then move the mouse back and forth to scroll in a Web browser. If you want more versatility, though, check out the free X-Mouse Button Control, a utility that modifies mouse button behavior.

   True to its name, this free utility affords considerable control over your mouse's buttons. I'm going to focus solely on the middle one--but once you learn to tweak that, you should have no trouble modifying your mouse's other buttons. Once installed, X-Mouse intercepts clicks of any given button and performs a selected task. For example, you can program the middle button to go back a page in your browser; close the current window; cut or copy selected text; activate Windows 7's Flip 3D mode; lock your workstation; maximize the current window; and so on. My favorite use for the middle mouse button: double-click. In other words, instead of having to manually double-click a desktop icon to launch a program or open a document, I just middle-click it. Once you've made your selection from the drop-down list, simply click Apply to make it start working immediately.

   This is really a handy utility, almost on par with another useful tool, WizMouse.

WizMouse is a tiny free/donationware utility that has a single, simple, function--if you hover your mouse over an inactive window, and use the mouse scroll wheel, it will scroll that window while keeping it inactive. This can be a boon for anyone copying text manually from an inactive window to an active one, or who needs to see data in one window (perhaps one partially obscured) while reading or working in another. It even scrolls applications that don't offer mousewheel support by converting the wheel to clicks on the scroll bars. In other words, if you spin the wheel down, WizMouse will virtually click the "down arrow" for you. WizMouse has a very simple interface. Most of the time, it sits in your system tray as an icon; if you click it, you get a small dialog with a handful of basic options. I found the default settings to be perfect.

Source: pcworld.com