Windows 8 enable autorun (for real)

I recently had an awful time configuring my system to auto-run files from a USB drive. Problem was, no matter how many settings I changed, my executable just wouldn’t auto launch off my USB drive upon connecting the drive to my PC.

I tried the usual ‘AutoPlay’ settings from the control panel and checked the “Use AutoPlay for all media and devices” –

The above didn’t work and I still kept getting the ‘What action would you like to take’ popup. I also tried changing the “Software and games” section to “Install or run program from your media” –

The above didn’t work either. This was both frustrating and confusing. Here I was using the control panel and selecting the right options but nothing seemed to work. I started scouring through some forums and realised that a lot of other people were facing issues with Windows 8 auto-runs as well. As a side note, I noticed that Windows 7 and below had absolutely no problem running an executable off a USB drive via auto-run. I was starting to believe this was some sort of ploy by Microsoft to secure Windows and prevent infections / malware that targeted auto-run.

After some more digging, I came across this article –

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2328787

just for kicks, I fired up the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and changed “Turn off Autoplay” under “Autoplay Policies” to disabled. Voila! It worked!

Then I noticed on my friends computer he did not have gpedit.msc as he was using the Home Premium edition of Windows 8. For operating systems that do not include Gpedit.msc and for an optional resolution, you can directly check and change the NoDriveTypeAutoRun entry value in the following registry key other than 0xFF.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Polices\Explorer\
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\

The Kick: Trying this on another friends PC, I noticed the control panel steps mentioned above worked! No registry editing required. The only difference between the two PCs? He ran Windows 8 while I ran Windows 8.1. I have concluded that this is some sort of bug or a step taken on purpose to keep auto-run disabled by default by Microsoft. If it is that, I think its a bit unfair to assume that nobody will want to auto launch files from their drives upon connection. I tested on another Windows 8 machine and it worked fine on that one too. Windows 8.1 is where this problem lies!

Get a free Microsoft SDK / Intel Galileo board

Microsoft are having an interesting promotion at the Windows on Devices web page.

They are asking you to sign up and provide details such as the languages you work on and any other hobby boards you may have worked on previously (Raspberry Pi, Beagle Board etc.). Fill in the details and MS will get back to you with another email asking you to provide your shipping address.

I haven’t received mine yet but I found a picture of what the kit could possibly look like –

Intel Galileo Kit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Head on over to https://www.windowsondevices.com/ to get one for yourself 🙂

Searching for updates in realtime

Google has a realtime search service that not many users are aware of – http://www.google.com/realtime

It is a service that lets you see realtime social updates, news, blog posts and other information while its hot.

For example, if you search for “apple ipod touch 2010” you will get Facebook updates, twitter updates, blog posts, news articles and all sorts of realtime information. It even shows a nifty bar graph by which you can determine at what point of time the buzz around what you are searching for was at its peak.

Here’s a video on how to use Google realtime –

 

You can customize the information updates via options like “Update with images”, “Customize location” etc. by using the navi-bar on the left. Its a great way to get up to date information for just about anything out there. Do give it a try.

Speed up your connection and stay secure with OpenDNS

Here’s a surefire way of speeding up your internet access and getting secure from DNS spoof attacks. The answer is OpenDNS. Every ISP (Internet Service Provider) has a DNS server setup so that the website addresses you type get translated into IP addresses so that your browser understands where the website content is to be fetched from. But most of these DNS servers are overloaded and at the same time are prone to spoofing attacks like DNS poisoning.

Here’s how you can protect yourself and speed up DNS requests at the same time –

In Windows XP-

1. Open up your Control Panel
2. Open Network connections
3. Right click the connection you want to configure
4. Select properties
5. From the dialog that pops up, select Internet Properties (TCP/IP)
6. Click the properties button
7. Type in 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 as your DNS server addresses
8. The dialog should now look like the screenshot below –

Thats all! All you have to change the Preferred DNS server and the Alternate DNS server. Leave the rest as is.

For Linux –

1. In Gnome, goto System Administration -> Network
2. Change your DNS servers to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
3. The same procedure can be used for KDE, just goto Control Center and enter the above addresses as your DNS addresses in Network Configuration

This tip not only reduces your internet DNS requests lag but also makes you secure against DNS poisoning attacks.

Goto http://www.opendns.com/ for more information.

Quoted from the above website –

 

OpenDNS is safer

OpenDNS protects you from phishing — bad websites trying to steal your personal information. When you try to go to a phishing site, we let you know. We also let you optionally block adult sites as a category, or individual websites of any type. These services help you better protect those on your network from websites they shouldn’t be visiting.
Learn more.

 

OpenDNS is faster

You use DNS every time you use the Internet. The speed of your DNS service determines how quickly websites load for you. That’s why you want your DNS service to be blazing. OpenDNS is so fast because we run some of the largest DNS caches around and do it on our own high-performance network.
Learn more.

 

OpenDNS is smarter

The address bar is how you navigate the Internet. We make your address bar more intelligent. With OpenDNS, you can create shortcuts that let you type something easy-to-remember into your address bar and leap straight where you want to go. And we’ll correct your common spelling mistakes, on the fly. That means when you are typing fast and type yahoo.cmo instead of yahoo.com, you still get there.
Learn more.

 

OpenDNS is more reliable

Little is more frustrating than intermittent Internet outages. When your DNS service isn’t working, you can’t access the Internet. When you start using OpenDNS, your days of dealing with DNS-related downtime will be over. We know reliability is important, and we stand behind ours.
Learn more.

Run a script on Startup / Shutdown in Linux

Hi all, Been a long time! I’ll try to be more regular from now on. Here’s a simple post on how to add a script to your system startup or shutdown

Write a script. Lets call it foo.sh

Now, to start the script on startup –

update-rc.d -f foo.sh start 99 2 3 4 5 .

where
– start is the argument given to the script (start, stop).
– 99 is the start order of the script (1 = first one, 99= last one)
– 2 3 4 5 are the runlevels to start

Dont forget the dot at the end

Start my_script on shutdown and reboot :

# update-rc.d -f foo.sh start 90 0 6 .

Stop my_script on halt and reboot :

# update-rc.d -f foo.sh reboot 90 0 6 .

That’s all. Have fun!

Bug Me Not

This is an amazing site that I came across. If you are one of those people who simply hate resgistering at a site just to use its features of find the process of registration too cumbersome, this is the site for you. It contains usernames and passwords to almost all popular sites that require registration. Trust me, it's a real life saver when you don't have the time or the inclination to register at a site.

 
http://www.bugmenot.com/

Hack a Nokia 6600 using Bluetooth and Fedora Core 3!!!

I came across this article while doing some random surfing. Seems pretty cool although I yet have to try the hack myself. Nonetheless I was too tempted to post it.

Written by A. Varin Khera

Click here to read the article