SnagIt Tips and Tricks – Capture Great Looking Screenshots & more

SnagIt has always been the most powerful screen capture program for Windows but its usage may have touched an all-time high ever since TechSmith released the full licensed version of SnagIt for free – that promotion is still active.

SnagIt screen capture program is more than just a replacement of your PrtScrn key – it can help you record destkop movies, leech websites, add image watermarks, extract text from dialogs and much more.

1. Use SnagIt to Make Short Movies (Screencasts)

You don’t need a copy of Camtasia Studio to capture that 30 second movie of your desktop as SnagIt can record small desktop videos very easily. Select “Record a Video of the Screen” profile, draw a rectangle around the desktop area that you want to record and hit Print-Screen.

2. Capture Long Scrolling Webpages (both vertical and horizontal directions)

SnagIt can capture extremely long web pages that extend several pages (like a long conversation thread on Gmail or a one-page print version of some NY Times story).

Under Input, select Scrolling -> Auto Scroll Window. Then open the Options window and specify the Scroll direction.

3. The Right File Format for Saving Screenshot Images

When you take a screen capture with SnagIt, it lets you save the graphic in different image formats. Here’s how I decide the extension of screenshot images:

(a) Use GIF when the screenshot has lot of text or it is taken from a movie (like a YouTube video).
(b) Use PNG (True Color) if the captured image is a photograph or when file size is not a constraint.
(c) Use JPG (Automatic Color) in all other cases.

4. Leech Images from any Website

SnagIt, like wget or Teleport, can help you download all images from a website. Say you are on this Vista Wallpapers page and want to download each of the image locally.

Choose the “All Images from a Website”, set the parameters like link depth, file extension type, minimum file size, etc and click capture. [related: How to Leech Pictures]

5. Capture and Extract Text from Dialog Windows

When we get an error message on Windows, we normally type that “text string” on Google to find the cause of error and how to fix it.

With SnagIt, you can do a Text Capture using “Text from Window” profile so it automatically extracts the text out of the window without you having to type anything manually. [related: Screen Capture OCR]

6. Activate the Burst Mode in SnagIt

SnagIt has a “burst” mode that you normally see in DSLR cameras. Under the “Output Properties”, set the “Automatic File Name” option and turn off “Preview”.

Now when you hit the capture hotkey, the screenshot is automatically saved to the computer. And to simulate the Burst effect, keep clicking the hotkey at very short intervals.

7. Add Visible Watermarks to your Screen Capture Images

This is useful if you want to add your own branding to screen captures. From Images Tasks, select Watermark – you can embed either normal text or some image like a logo.

8. Join and Restore Image Screenshots

Join and Restore (available under Edit menu) are probably the most unused features in SnagIt image editor. Restore is like a “complete Undo” while the Join command lets you remove selected portions from a screenshot and joins the image on either sides of the selection. Extremely useful.

9. Use SnagIt Inside Firefox

Like Internet Explorer, TechSmith provides a Firefox extension for SnagIt that allows you to capture web content without leaving the browser. Get SnagIt for Firefox here or read help.

10. SnagIt Accessories, Downloads and Tutorials

A bunch of useful extras, stamps and capture profiles for SnagIt are available here. Betsy Weber did a 24 video series with SnagIt team which is again very helpful. The TechSmith website has a good collection of SnagIt tutorials (in text and video) here.

Related: Learn how to create very large Wallpapers from Google Maps using SnagIt.

Your favorite SnagIt Tips: If you know of any cool SnagIt trick, please share.

How to Secure Your Wireless Network at Home

This article describes how you make your Wireless Network more secure and you’ll also learn about free tools that even hackers and non-hackers generally use to intercept your Wi-Fi signals.

Wireless Networking (Wi-Fi) has made it so easy for you to use the computer, portable media player, mobile phones, video game consoles, and other wireless devices anywhere in the house without the clutter of cables.

With traditional wired networks, it is extremely difficult for someone to steal your bandwidth but the big problem with wireless signals is that others can access the Internet using your broadband connection even while they are in a neighboring building or sitting in a car that’s parked outside your apartment.

This practice, also known as piggybacking, is bad for three reasons:

• It will increase your monthly Internet bill especially when you have to pay per byte of data transfer.
• It will decrease your Internet access speed since you are now sharing the same internet connection with other users.
• It can create a security hazard* as others may hack your computers and access your personal files through your own wireless network.

[*] What do the bad guys use - There have been quite a few instances where innocent Internet users have been arrested for sending hate emails when in reality, their email accounts where hacked though the unsecured Wi-Fi networks that they had at home. Wireshark is a free packet sniffing tool for Linux, Mac and Windows that can scan traffic flowing though a wireless network including cookies, forms and other HTTP requests.

How to Secure Your Wireless Network

The good news is that it is not very hard to make your wireless network secure, which will both prevent others from stealing your internet and will also prevent hackers from taking control of your computers through your own wireless network.

Here a few simple things that you should to secure your wireless network:

Step 1. Open your router settings page

First, you need to know how to access your wireless router’s settings. Usually you can do this by typing in “192.168.1.1” into your web browser, and then enter the correct user name and password for the router. This is different for each router, so first check your router’s user manual.

You can also use Google to find the manuals for most routers online in case you lost the printed manual that came with your router purchase. For your reference, here are direct links to the manufacturer’s site of some popular router brands – Linksys, Cisco, Netgear, Apple AirPort, SMC, D-Link, Buffalo, TP-LINK, 3Com, Belkin.

Step 2. Create a unique password on your router

Once you have logged into your router, the first thing you should do to secure your network is to change the default password* of the router to something more secure.

This will prevent others from accessing the router and you can easily maintain the security settings that you want. You can change the password from the Administration settings on your router’s settings page. The default values are generally admin / password.

[*] What do the bad guys use - This is a public database of default usernames and passwords of wireless routers, modems, switches and other networking equipment. For instance, anyone can easily make out from the database that the factory-default settings for Linksys equipment can be accessed by using admin for both username and password fields.

Step 3. Change your Network’s SSID name

The SSID (or Wireless Network Name) of your Wireless Router is usually pre-defined as "default" or is set as the brand name of the router (e.g., linksys). Although this will not make your network inherently* more secure, changing the SSID name of your network is a good idea as it will make it more obvious for others to know which network they are connecting to.

This setting is usually under the basic wireless settings in your router’s settings page. Once this is set, you will always be sure that you are connecting to the correct Wireless network even if there are multiple wireless networks in your area. Don’t use your name, home address or other personal information in the SSID name.

[*] What do the bad guys use - Wi-Fi scanning tools like inSSIDer (Windows) and Kismet (Mac, Linux) are free and they will allow anyone to find all the available Wireless Networks in an area even if the routers are not broadcasting their SSID name.

Step 4. Enable Network Encryption

In order to prevent other computers in the area from using your internet connection, you need to encrypt your wireless signals.

There are several encryption methods for wireless settings, including WEP, WPA (WPA-Personal), and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2). WEP is basic encryption and therefore least secure (i.e., it can be easily cracked*, but is compatible with a wide range of devices including older hardware, whereas WPA2 is the most secure but is only compatible with hardware manufactured since 2006.

To enable encryption on your Wireless network, open the wireless security settings on your router’s configuration page. This will usually let you select which security method you wish to choose; if you have older devices, choose WEP, otherwise go with WPA2. Enter a passphrase to access the network; make sure to set this to something that would be difficult for others to guess, and consider using a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters in the passphrase.

[*] What do the bad guys use - AirCrack and coWPAtty are some free tools that allow even non-hackers to crack the WEP / WPA (PSK) keys using dictionary or brute force techniques. A video on YouTube suggests that AirCrack may be easily used to break WiFi encryption using a jail-broken iPhone or an iPod Touch.

Step 5. Filter MAC addresses

Whether you have a laptop or a Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone, all your wireless devices have a unique MAC address (this has nothing to do with an Apple Mac) just like every computer connected to the Internet has a unique IP address. For an added layer of protection, you can add the MAC addresses of all your devices to your wireless router’s settings so that only the specified devices can connect to your Wi-Fi network.

MAC addresses are hard-coded into your networking equipment, so one address will only let that one device on the network. It is, unfortunately, possible to spoof a MAC address*, but an attacker must first know one of the MAC addresses of the computers that are connected to your Wireless network before he can attempt spoofing.

To enable MAC address filtering, first make a list of all your hardware devices that you want to connect to your wireless network**. Find their MAC addresses, and then add them to the MAC address filtering in your router’s administrative settings. You can find the MAC address for your computers by opening Command Prompt and typing in “ipconfig /all”, which will show your MAC address beside the name “Physical Address”. You can find the MAC addresses of Wireless mobile phones and other portable devices under their network settings, though this will vary for each device.

[*] What do the bad guys use - Someone can change the MAC address of his or her own computer and can easily connect to your network since your network allows connection from devices that have that particular MAC address. Anyone can determine the MAC address of your device wireless using a sniffing tool like Nmap and he can then change the MAC address of his own computer using another free tool like MAC Shift.

Step 6. Reduce the Range of the Wireless Signal

If your wireless router has a high range but you are staying in a small studio apartment, you can consider decreasing the signal range by either changing the mode of your router to 802.11g (instead of 802.11n or 802.11b) or use a different wireless channel.

You can also try placing the router under the bed, inside a shoe box or wrap a foil around the router antennas so that you can somewhat restrict the direction of signals.

Apply the Anti-Wi-Fi Paint – Researchers have developed a special Wi-Fi blocking paint that can help you stop neighbors from accessing your home network without you having to set up encryption at the router level. The paint contains chemicals that blocks radio signals by absorbing them. "By coating an entire room, Wi-Fi signals can’t get in and, crucially, can’t get out."

Step 7. Upgrade your Router’s firmware

You should check the manufacturer’s site occasionally to make sure that your router is running the latest firmware. You can find the existing firmware version of your router using from the router’s dashboard at 192.168.*.

Connect to your Secure Wireless Network

To conclude, MAC Address filtering with WPA2 (AES) encryption (and a really complex passphrase) is probably the best way to secure your wireless network.

Once you have enabled the various security settings in your wireless router, you need to add the new settings to your computers and other wireless devices so that they all can connect to the Wi-Fi network. You can select to have your computer automatically connect to this network, so you won’t have to enter the SSID, passphrase and other information every time you connect to the Internet.

Your wireless network will now be a lot more secure and intruders may have a tough time intercepting your Wi-Fi signals.

Who is Connected to your Wireless Network

If you are worried that an outsider may be connecting to the Internet using your Wireless network, try AirSnare – it’s a free utility that will look for unexpected MAC addresses on your Wireless network as well as to DHCP requests. Another option is that you open your router’s administration page (using the 192.168.* address) and look for the DHCP Clients Table (it’s under Status > Local Network on Linksys routers). Here you will see a list of all computers and wireless devices that are connected to your home network.

*It is also a good idea to turn off the router completely when you are not planning to use the computer for a longer period (like when you are out shopping). You save on electricity and the door remains 100% shut for wireless piggybackers.

**If you ever want to let a new device connect to your network, you will have to find its MAC address and add it to your router. If you simple want to let a friend connect to your wireless network one time, you can remove his MAC address from the router settings when he or she leaves your place.

Chosing A Smart Password

As part of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we'd like to take this opportunity to remind you about smart password practices. Help ensure you're protecting your computer, website, and personal information by checking out our security series on the Google blog or visiting http://www.staysafeonline.org.

Phishing, a topic that's been in the news, is unfortunately a common way for hackers to trick you into sharing personal information like your account password. If you suspect you've been a victim of a phishing attack, we recommend you immediately change your password, update the security question and secondary address on your account, and make sure you're using a modern browser with anti-phishing protection turned on. Keep an eye out for the phishing warning Gmail adds to suspicious messages, and be sure to review these tips on how to avoid getting hooked.

Creating a new password is often one of the first recommendations you hear when trouble occurs. Even a great password can't keep you from being scammed, but setting one that's memorable for you and that's hard for others to guess is a smart security practice since weak passwords can be easily guessed. Below are a few common problems we've seen in the past and suggestions for making your passwords stronger.

Problem 1: Re-using passwords across websites
With a constantly growing list of services that require a password (email, online banking, social networking, and shopping websites — just to name a few), it's no wonder that many people simply use the same password across a variety of accounts. This is risky: if someone figures out your password for one service, that person could potentially gain access to your private email, address information, and even your money.

Solution 1: Use unique passwords
It's a good idea to use unique passwords for your accounts, expecially important accounts like email and online banking. When you create a password for a site, you might think of a phrase you associate with the site and use an abbreviation or variation of that phrase as your password — just don't use the actual words of the site. If it's a long phrase, you can take the first letter of each word. To make this word or phrase more secure, try making some letters uppercase, and swap out some letters with numbers or symbols. As an example, the phrase for your banking website could be "How much money do I have?" and the password could be "#m$d1H4ve?" (Note: since we're using them here, please don't adopt any of the example passwords in this post for yourself.)

Problem 2: Using common passwords or words found in the dictionary
Common passwords include simple words or phrases like "password" or "letmein," keyboard patterns such as "qwerty" or "qazwsx," or sequential patterns such as "abcd1234." Using a simple password or any word you can find in the dictionary makes it easier for a would-be hijacker to gain access to your personal information.

Solution 2: Use a password with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols
There are only 26^8 possible permutations for an 8-character password that uses just lowercase letters, while there are 94^8 possible permutations for an 8-character password that uses a combination of mixed-case letters, numbers, and symbols. That's over 6 quadrillion more possible variations for a mixed password, which makes it that much harder for anyone to guess or crack.

Problem 3: Using passwords based on personal data
We all share information about ourselves with our friends and coworkers. The names of your spouse, children, or pets aren't usually all that secret, so it doesn't make sense to use them as your passwords. You should also stay away from birth dates, phone numbers, or addresses.

Solution 3: Create a password that's hard for others to guess
Choose a combination of letters, numbers, or symbols to create a unique password that's unrelated to your personal information. Or, select a random word or phrase, and insert letters and numbers into the beginning, middle, and end to make it extra difficult to guess (such as "sPo0kyh@ll0w3En").

Problem 4: Writing down your password and storing it in an unsecured place
Some of us have enough online accounts that we may need to write our passwords down somewhere, at least until we've learned them well.

Solution 4: Keep your password reminders in a secret place that isn't easily visible
Don't leave notes with your passwords to various sites on your computer or desk. People who walk by can easily steal this information and use it to compromise your account. Also, if you decide to save your passwords in a file on your computer, create a unique name for the file so people don't know what's inside. Avoid naming the file "my passwords" or something else obvious.

Problem 5: Recalling your password
When choosing smart passwords like these, it can often be more difficult to remember your password when you try to sign in to a site you haven't visited in a while. To get around this problem, many websites will offer you the option to either send a password-reset link to your email address or answer a security question.

Solution 5: Make sure your password recovery options are up-to-date and secure
You should always make sure you have an up-to-date email address on file for each account you have, so that if you need to send a password reset email it goes to the right place.

Many websites will ask you to choose a question to verify your identity if you ever forget your password. If you're able to create your own question, try to come up with a question that has an answer only you would know. The answer shouldn't be something that someone can guess by scanning information you've posted online in social networking profiles, blogs, and other places.

If you're asked to choose a question from a list of options, such as the city where you were born, you should be aware that these questions are likely to be less secure. Try to find a way to make your answer unique — you can do this by using some of the tips above, or by creating a convention where you always add a symbol after the 2nd character in the answer (e.g. in@dianapolis) — so that even if someone guesses the answer, they won't know how to enter it properly.

Posted by Michael Santerre, Consumer Operations Associate, Google

Did you realize some Facebook apps are being used to steal your data?

Phishing [Wikipedia] is nothing new. The bad guys have been spamming our inboxes for a long, long time hoping we'll click on some bogus link and provide them with important personal info like usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.

Attacks like this rarely limit themselves to one avenue. So where do the bad guys go to find victims when they're not busy spamming? Why, the world's number one social networking site, of course!

Yep. Facebook, with its millions of users and juicy apps platform make it the perfect place for this type of vermin to set up shop. Trend Micro has found several phishing scams before that lured people to fake (but convincing) Facebook sites to harvest data. Now, however, they're doing it to you from the inside.

Trend researchers have discovered three applications so far that run on the Facebook apps platform. They can post notifications to your timeline, just like any legitimate app. The actual phishing is still done off-site, but the look is very, very convincing and you're returned to your Facebook profile afterward. It looks innocent enough, but once you've entered your credentials there's no telling what someone has planned for them.

Once Facebook receives notice that something like this is going on, the apps are typically shut down very quickly. They can, however, reappear with different names and the same old tricks.

How do you protect yourself? Many antivirus products include some element of phishing defense, but you may also want to use additional protection like WebOfTrust or AVG's LinkScanner. They'll notify you with big, read warnings when you're on a website that isn't trusted.

Apart from that, be careful what apps you install and make sure you only enter your Facebook username and password on Facebook.com. If the domain in your web browser's address bar doesn't match, exercise caution.

Download Ultimate Windows Tweaker 2.0 (Windows)

Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.0 is a freeware Tweak UI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows 7 & Windows Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit. It can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application to customize your Windows to meet your requirements. With judicious tweaking, it can make your system faster, more stable, and more secure with just a few mouse clicks. The tweaker detects whether you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista installed and accordingly offers you the relevant tweaks only. The tweaker is a 345KB .exe file which does not require an install, but yet packs over 150 tweaks & settings. Simply download the zip file, extract its contents and run Ultimate Windows Tweaker. Please don't detach Empty Iconfrom executable's root, the Empty Icon is copied to system directory and referred in runtime. Version 2.0 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.




Format: Software | Size: 138KB | Date: Aug 2009 | Version: 2.0 | License: Free |
Download:http://www.mediafire.com/?yzjyjxtgxhn Read more

Removal symantec/Norton software from your computer-Very Useful

SymNRT is a program that can remove some Norton software from your computer.

Situation:
Another document in the Symantec knowledge base or a Symantec Technical Support technician sent you here.

SymNRT is a program that can remove some Norton software from your computer. SymNRT runs on Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

SymNRT should be used only if you have tried to uninstall the Norton program using Windows Add/Remove Programs and that did not work.


Download:

File Size: 2.3 MB

OS Support: Windows XP/Vista

License: Freeware


ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exe

Dual Boot Windows 7 with XP/Vista in 3 easy steps

Now that Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 7 (beta) is publicly available, almost everyone is itching to get their grubby paws on a copy and take it for a test drive.

However, because this is only a beta release most people simply aren't willing to part with their established installations of Windows Vista
or XP. With that mind, we're going to look at one easy way of dual booting Windows 7 Beta with either Vista or XP in three painless steps...

Step 1:
Create an Installation Disc
In case you haven't downloaded your copy of Windows 7 Beta yet, you can get it now in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. You can read further instructions and get your installation key from Microsoft's website.

Once you obtain your copy of Windows 7 (the official release is an .ISO file), you will need to burn it to a blank DVD to continue.

There are countless applications out there which will burn image files, to name a few popular free ones:Burn4Free CD and DVD, CDBurnerXP, ImgBurn and Ashampoo Burning Studio Free. I used CDBurnerXP.

Step 2:

Create a New Partition

Moving on to more pressing matters, we'll need to create unallocated disk space by resizing an existing partition followed by creating a new partition on this unallocated disk space where Windows 7 will call home.
I imagine a majority of you will only have one partition, which is dedicated to whatever operating system
you're currently using.

To complete this task we'll be looking at two different approaches because while Windows Vista has built-in tools to resize active partitions, XP does not, and thus we must resort to a third party application (GParted).

Create a New Partition on Windows Vista
Before we get started, if for any reason you prefer to use the GParted alternative detailed below, feel more than welcomed to do so.

In Windows, click the Start button and enter "diskmgmt.msc" into the search bar. This will open a window titled "Disk Management" displaying basic information about the drives attached to your PC. Right click the partition on "Disk 0" and select "Shrink Volume".

This should present you with drive capacity information and the option to enter the amount you would like to "shrink" your partition by. The recommended minimum partition size for Windows 7 is 16GB, so enter an amount of that size or larger and then click "Shrink".

You should now see unallocated space on your hard drive in the capacity specified, situated just after your resized partition.

Before you create a new partition and assign a letter to it, be a perfectionist and reassign your optical drives to the next letter down from what they are now, so that your new empty partition can have whatever letter follows your first partition (probably "D").

Right click the newly unallocated space and select "New Simple Volume..." which ought to open a wizard screen.

On your way through the wizard you'll be asked to define the capacity for your new volume. Let it occupy the entire size of the unallocated space and assign it the letter that you've just freed. Quick format the volume using the NTFS file system and default allocation unit size (Volume label can be anything, just name it Windows 7).

You should now see a healthy primary partition with the capacity and label you had defined, and with that you can move onto step 3.

Create a New Partition on Windows XP

This process is fundamentally the same as the above, but using the third-party tool GParted instead of the integrated Disk Management utility in Vista. Needless to say, this is the route XP users will have to take.

Download the latest copy of GParted and then burn it to a disc just like you did with the Windows 7 .ISO, except GParted can be fit on a CD.

After you've burned your image of GParted, pop it in your optical drive and reboot. Shortly after booting off the disc you'll see a dialog for choosing your preferred language, keymap and screen resolution.

Once the software has loaded, right click the partition you're going to resize - again, you probably only have one and it's likely on "dev/hda1" - and select "Resize/Move".

This should present you with drive capacity information and the option to enter a new size you'd like your partition to be. The recommended minimum partition size for Windows 7 is 16GB so opt for that size or larger.

You should now see unallocated space on your hard drive in the capacity specified, situated just after your resized partition.

Right click the newly unallocated space and select "New", which ought to open a window requesting the amount of free space you'd like preceding and following the new partition as well as the new partition size. Fill in zeros for both the preceding and following free space in order to occupy the entire unallocated space. Create it as a "Primary Partition" and format it using NTFS.

You should now see a healthy primary partition with the capacity you defined above. Click Apply to initialize the operation. Once that's done you can now move on to step 3.

Step 3:

Install Windows 7

With the Windows 7 DVD in your optical drive, reboot and "press any key" to boot from the disc when prompted. The installation wizard that you'll meet is pretty straightforward for the most part.

The only thing worth noting is that during the process make absolutely sure that you choose the "Custom (advanced)" installation option so you're able to select the fresh partition created above, and be careful, you run the risk of installing over your old operating system along with all of your data if you select the wrong partition.

After defining all configuration parameters Windows will continue with the installation process for roughly 15-30 minutes and then prompt you to set up your account, provide a key and set up Windows.

Pat yourself on the back! You've successfully installed Windows 7 alongside your previously existing instance of Windows and you'll be able to check out 've heard about Microsoft's latest operating system.

Troubleshooting Tips:

Make sure you shutdown/reboot your PC from within Windows cleanly if you're having issues when attempting to alter your partition with GParted.

Can't boot off the GParted or Windows 7 discs? Take a look in your BIOS to ensure that your boot sequence is configured properly. You'll want the optical drive to take precedence over your hard drives so you can boot off the CD.