The Boss got spam attacked!

Monday the 13th. October, 2008. I get into work and my boss calls me wondering why there are some many emails flooding his Inbox informing him that the emails he has sent can't be delivered to the recipient. I take a look at his screen via mRemote and UltraVNC to check out what he's talking about. WOW! He's receiving dozens of emails per minute.

I call an IT consulting company to see if they know what is going on. I send them some emails that my boss is receiving and wait for their answer, which I think I know but want a confirmation from an outside source.

A spammer had gotten a hold of my boss's email address and was using it as the "from" address in all his spams. Of course a ton of the spammer's "to" addresses are bogus due to directory harvesting and are bounced back to the sender...MY BOSS.

How did this happen?

There is more than one reason for this. I will explain 2 of them that are relevant to my boss and his company.

Spammers need legitimate email addresses. One way to get good email addresses in large amounts is to hack a site that allows a person to subscribe to a newsletter. There's tons of good email addresses in those databases which can be as simple as a text file.

Another great way to get a good email address is to post code in your web site such as "mailto:email-address". Spammers run custom software called crawlers to search web sites for such code and glean the email addresses found therein. This can happen when you decide to ignore the IT Guy for several years to change your web site to NOT have this code because he knows about crawlers and what can happen with your email address.

So how did we stop the emails from coming in?

We did nothing. Absolutely nothing. See, spammers know that the emails they send out will be blocked or put on a custom blacklist by the recipient's spam filters. So they don't use them for long. By the end of the day the barrage of emails had stopped.

The Dude: Network Topology

There are more than 20 computers in my network at work and keeping track of who is using which computer and if it's "up" or not is important. Using a Network Topology can be very helpful. I've been using The Dude for 2 years now and I find it increases my network organization 100 fold. It also makes me look really cool when people walk by my office.

(Click image for larger view)

The Dude network monitor is a new application by MikroTik which can dramatically improve the way you manage your network environment. It will automatically scan all devices within specified subnets, draw and layout a map of your networks, monitor services of your devices and alert you in case some service has problems

Some of it's features:

• The Dude is free of charge!
• Auto network discovery and layout
• Discovers any type or brand of device
• Device, Link monitoring, and notifications
• Includes SVG icons for devices, and supports custom icons and backgrounds
• Easy installation and usage
• Allows you to draw your own maps and add custom devices
• Supports SNMP, ICMP, DNS and TCP monitoring for devices that support it
• Individual Link usage monitoring and graphs
• Direct access to remote control tools for device management
• Supports remote Dude server and local client
• Runs in Linux Wine environment, MacOSDarwine, and Windows
• Best price/value ratio compared to other products (free of charge)

Scanning your network is a simple as clicking the "Discover" button. This software is very customizable as you can see from the photo above. The Dude is definitely worth looking into.

Recover lost files with Recuva

Sometimes people delete files when they don't mean to. This can happen to anyone. I've installed Recuva on the main file server in an effort to not have to deal with a restore from the backup tapes.

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

Like all other Piriform products (including CCleaner), Recuva is free for both commercial and personal use.

This software isn't much more complicated than it sounds. If a person has deleted a file and lets me know about it as soon as possible I can usually recover it. If, however, the file has been deleted for a few days or longer there is a possibility that the system has written over that file during a defrag or other file write. The sooner you search for a deleted file the better your chances of a full recovery.

There's a nice Wikipedia article about Data Recovery here.

Sharing files with WWW FileShare PRO

At work we have clients that span the globe. Some times we need to share large files much larger than a normal email client can transmit and hold. We're talking about files above 50 megs. Many of our clients are not allowed to install custom programs on their work computers due to their company's IT rules. This makes it impossible to use an online file server. I also didn't want to be in charge of FTP servers and the potential security that can be associated with them. So I use WWW File Share Pro.

WWW File Share Pro is a software that can help you share files with your friends or share files in the office. They can download files from your computer or upload files from theirs. What you need to do is to simply specify a directory for downloads and a directory for uploads. Your friends can download/upload files via browser (IE/Netscape/Opera/etc.) They will not be required to install this software or any other software because an internet browser is enough.

WWW File Share Pro supports password protection (for all directories or for individual directory). If you enable password protection, only authorized user can access your service. This software supports virtual directory and default document. It can be installed as NT service. You can easily customize the html page as your wish. WWW File Share Pro also supports resuming downloads and multiple downloads.

There is also a nice collection of plug-ins here with instuctions on how to write your own plug-ins here.

License for a single user to register WWW File Share Pro on one computer is only $39.95 (USD). You can try a 30 day demo beofre you decide to purchase. I've dedicated an older computer as our FileShare server. I then shared the FileShare Folder with everyone on the network so they can copy files to the directory they desire. I can set up an account for a new client in under 5 minutes.

This method of sharing large files with our clients has worked perfectly. All the end user needs is a browser such as IE, our FileShare web address and their password is emailed to them.

Wish List: HDD Docking Station

At least once a quarter I need to remove a hard drive from a computer and put it in an external case to get some one's personal photos and music and whatnot. Having one of these would make that job MUCH easier. And who can say no to more USB ports.

Not only does it still take 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA drives ... there's an added 4-port USB hub on the front. Because if you're going to take up one of your machine's precious USB ports for something, it's even better when that something gives you 3 extra ports in return

And this isn't the only model that's available. This one has a "2.5- and 3.5-inch disks on top, but ditches the FireWire connectivity on the back in exchange for a card reader and two-port USB hub on the front -- perfect for plugging in storage of the smaller and quieter variety."

This one holds 2 HDDs at once.


This one holds a single HDD but is a media player with remote.
So there are more options for external enclosures than the typical ones you screw into a box. One of these in your IT department can improve data recovery immensely. Don't think you can't afford one either. All of the one's I've listed here are under US $100.

Here's a search result from Gizmodo.com

StExBar is a must for all IT

StExBar is a small program that could easily be classified as an Explorer Plugin. In fact that's part of the sales pitch for it. "What Microsoft forgot to implement in the explorer."

I've used this extra toolbar in my explorer at least once every day since I installed it. New folder creation is now a single mouse click. I highlight a file and Copy Path for pasting in an email. And I'm sure I'm only scratching the surface of it.

Here's some explanation from the site.

The StExBar provides many useful commands for your everyday use of Windows explorer. And you can add as many custom commands on your own as you like.

StExBar screenshot">

Have you ever needed to open a console window while you were using the explorer? And to have that console already set to the directory you're showing in explorer right now? Well, StExBar provides that with one simple mouseclick. There's also a hotkey defined for this: simply press Ctrl-M to open the console.
A 'lightweight' console is also available. Simply enter the command you like to execute into the edit box on the right of the StExBar and hit enter. The command will be executed in the system console.

Have you ever needed to have the name or full path of one or more files in another application? Ctrl-C doesn't work here, that won't copy the file path but the file itself. StExBar comes to the rescue. It provides two commands, one to copy all selected file/foldernames to the clipboard, the other copies the whole paths of all selected items. To make it even more easier to use this, a hotkey is defined Ctrl-Shift-C which copies the selected paths.

Creating new folders is a common task in explorer. But to actually do that, you have to right-click on a folder background, choose "New" from the context menu, wait until the submenu finally appears, then choose "Folder" from that submenu. Not anymore! StExBar provides you the same with one easy click. Or even faster with the assigned hotkey: just press Ctrl-Shift-N and you have a new folder created in the current directory.

StExBar can also help you renaming multiple files at once. It uses Regular Expression strings to do so.

You can add your own commands to the StExBar and define hotkeys for them.

I strongly suggest you install this on all the computers you use including servers! You won't regret it one bit.

See where IPs are located with Visual Route

I've taken some time to study the incoming IP addresses that are logged on our router to see who's using ports 40784, 50225 and 23827. One tool that's fun to use is VisualRoute which places the IP trace points on a map of the world. Below are some examples from the site's Live Demo.


Keep in mind these screenshots are from the demo that's run in Java so the actual program looks different. I chose to show these screenies because I am using the free version which doesn't show data on the world map. However, this software gives the user great ways to display the data.

There are 5 versions of this software including a free version which I use.

Honestly I rarely use this software because there are other traceroutes out there and the only appeal this one has for me is the cool mapping of the planet. It makes me look like one of those geeks in the movies that have some super software to trace an IP to a doorstep of a person and show a satellite picture of the kids playing in the backyard.

Compare folders with ViceVersa

One of the problems of sharing project folders with 20 people is that everyone has their own way of organizing their files. This can lead to multiple files that may be out of sync. ViceVersa Free helps me look at 2 directories and see where there are differences and decide what to do about it.

I use the free version because it works great and helps keep costs for my department down. There are other versions that you can choose from however.

ViceVersa is a utility which compares, mirrors, synchronizes and backups folder trees. You can choose from three different ways to compare your files: timestamp, CRC or both. Differences will be shown side-by-side, in a graphical, easy to understand manner. ViceVersa compares folders between floppy drives, hard drives, CD-ROM drives, zip drives and network drives (UNC paths supported). It can compare only files and folders that match Include and Exclude filter pattern lists which you define. In addition, the program offers a choice of six synchronization methods, supports Copy and Delete operations for manual synchronization as well as action preview and more.

This program was critical when we reorganized our project folder structure earlier this year. I was able to compare older folders to newer folders and make sure all the files were where they needed to be. It saved me weeks of time that would have been spent examining the folders manually.

Paint.net used every day

I use Paint.net much more than I think an IT person should.

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

I've used Paint.net for editing employee photos for Sharepoint employee list, cropping of scanned cds, revising the company logo and much more.

Paint.net is free and very robust. I've set it as my default for BMP, JPG, TIF, PNG and GIF.

I think there are a lot of applications or Paint.net. It's a great Paint replacement, it's FREE and has been called a Photoshop alternative.

Defrag with JkDefrag

I had a server with only 5% free on the C: drive that was massively fragmented. Unfortunately Windows built-in defragmentation program needs at least 15% free space. JkDefrag didn't care how much space I had left and did a great job of defragmenting it.

JkDefrag is 100% FREE which is the part I love best. There's also NO install. The download is a ZIP file that contains the main application, a command-line version, a screensaver version and the entire main web page as a Help. Download version include 32 bit and 64 bit. Works with Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/2008. You can even download the source code if you like which is in Microsoft Visual C++ 2005.

There 3 ways to use JkDefrag right out of the box.

JkDefrag.exe

Windows version. This is what most people will use. No installation or configuration necessary, it's ready to run and will automatically process all the mounted, writable, fixed volumes on your computer

JkDefragCmd.exe

Commandline version. Specially designed to be run automatically in the background, or from administrator scripts. See the "Commandline" chapter below for a list of commandline options, and the "Frequently Asked Questions" on how to run it automatically with the Windows Scheduler.

JkDefragScreenSaver.scr + JkDefragScreenSaver.exe

Screen saver version. Move (or copy) these two files to the "windows" folder on your harddisk (usually "c:\Windows\" or "c:\Winnt\"). It will automatically become visible in the list of screen savers as "JkDefrag screensaver" and can be used just like any other screensaver (right-click somewhere on your desktop and select Properties/Personalize, then select the Screen Saver tab).

JkDefrag is extremely customizable and the web site and help file breaks the whole thing down.

I've created shortcuts with specific commands in each. One just analyzes a drive, one will defragment and optimize and another just optimizes by sorting all files by name (folder + filename).

JkDefrag is gentle enough to use on a daily (or nightly) basis for keeping some of the more used computers in my arsenal in tip-top shape.

This software has a growing following and there is plenty of 3rd party versions to help make JkDefrag one of the favorite defragmenting programs out there.

Tag team your VNC with mRemote

I know this was covered a week ago on another blog but since I discovered it it has become the blood in my IT network.

mRemote is a full-featured, open source, multi-tab remote connections manager. It allows you to store all your remote connections in a simple yet powerful interface.

Currently these protocols are supported:

• RDP (Remote Desktop)
• VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
• ICA (Independent Computing Architecture)
• SSH (Secure Shell)
• Telnet (TELecommunication NETwork)
• HTTP/S (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• Rlogin (Rlogin)

Here's a HUGE list of features.

• Free and Open Source, relist of connections
• Inheritance makes it possible to store properties on folder basis and let the underlying connections inherit this info
• Support for importing connections from Active Directory
• Allows creating nested containers (folders) to categorize connections
• "Quick Connect" feature to quickly open a connection without creating an entry
• "Quick Search" feature to quickly find a connection while typing
• Support for SCP/SFTP (SSH) file
• leased under the GPL
• Panels and tabs allow to group certain connections together, dock them to any side of the window or completely undock them and move them to another screen for example
• Multiple supported protocols (RDP, VNC, ICA, SSH, Telnet, RAW, Rlogin and HTTP/S)
• Easy to organize and maintain
transfers
• Assign icons to connections to easily identify purpose
• Screenshot manager allows to collect multiple screenshots and save them all together or copy them to the clipboard
• View remote session info and log off sessions (RDP)
• Portable
• Auto-Reconnect feature
• "Auto-Update" feature
• SQL Server support
• Show description tooltips when hoovering over connections
• System tray icon with connection menu
• Fullscreen (Kiosk) mode
• Assign global credentials to use when no information is provided on connection basis
• Host Up/Down (Ping) feature shows if the selected host answers to a ping

I have mine set up with folders containing connections to all my servers, printers, routers and WiFi points. I also have folders for what I call Active VNC connections where all the connections are set to interact with the end user. Another folder, called View Only, contains VNC connections set to View only so I can't mess someone up with my mouse while I watch them work. Yet another folder for the classic Remote Desktop Connections.

Once everything is all set up I can connect to remote computers so fast it's like I've been working at that computer all day. And having multiple connections open in the same window is so much better than having a bunch of open windows cluttering up my taskbar.

Even while writing this post I was visited by a coworker who was suddenly missing the shared group calendars in his Outlook. While he was standing there explaining the situation to me I was able to log into his computer and fix the problem within 30 seconds. It would have taken much longer to do this if I had gone to his desk at the other end of the building.

I recommend this free (for now) software to anyone who has to manage multiple computers. I say, "free (for now)", because the author is considering taking the open source program to commercial due to it's popularity. Get it for free while you can.

Virtual Network Connections improve my responce time.

In my 'shop" there are at least 20 computers including laptops and 5 servers. Everyone where I work has their own office with actual doors and being able to get to their computer faster helps keep downtime low. Ultra VNC helps me do just that.

Once I install Ultra VNC on all the machines I can connect to a person's computer within 10 seconds. In some cases I can have a solution in place within the time I could have walked to their desk. This is critical in my workplace especially when I get the "feast" of multiple issues in a short period of time.

What I prefer VNC over Remote Desktop is that I can interact with the current session the user is in. If I want I can enter a session in View Only mode so that my mouse movements doesn't interact with theirs. This is very helpful when a person is telling me they have a recurring issue with a specific software. I can watch what they are doing and see for myself when those errors happen.

My favorite feature is the AutoSize option.  Many people here have 20" widescreen monitors and Ultra VNC does a nice job of shrinking those screens into whatever monitor size I have.

I get phone calls often throughout the day and I can log into a person's computer while they are explaining the problem. I

I use Ultra VNC because it's free. It's fast and easy. If you are able to get this implemented in your network I recommend it.

Rarely use the Star Menu with Launchy

With over 100 installed applications on my computer at work I can spend a lot of time finding what I need in the Start Menu's Program List. The FREE program I use to find and launch programs faster is Launchy.

"Launchy is a free windows and linux utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager.

Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!"

Too true. Once installed, Launchy runs as a process in the background. All you do is press Alt+Space Bar to bring up the search box. It comes up on top of other open windows so you can start typing your search right away. Once open Alt+Space Bar hides it.

I know there are other programs like Launchy out there and some others may have more features and search deeper in the system but this program works perfectly for me.

Here are some ways (from the official web site) to use it.

• Search Google
  • Type in google, then tab, then your search query and press enter
• Check the Weather
  • Type in Weather, then tab, then your zip code or city,state and press enter
• Search other sites
  • Other sites you can search include wikipedia, msn, yahoo, amazon, netflix, imdb, and more.
• Browse your computer
  • Type in c:, then tab, then a folder or file, hit tab, and continue
• The Launchy Calculator
  • Did you know that Launchy has a built in calculator? Type in some algebra and see what happens!
• Index your Bookmarks & Folders
  • Directory: C:\Documents and Settings\user\Favorites
  • File Type: .url
• Index your Music
  • Directory: My Documents
  • File Types: .mp3 .aac .ogg
• Index your Pictures
  • Directory: My Documents
  • File Types: .jpg .gif .bmp
• Index your Documents
  • Directory: My Documents
  • File Types: .doc .pdf .xls .ppt
• Index custom Commands
  • Directory: Your Custom Folder
  • File Types: .exe .bat .lnk

Once I got used to using Launchy I had to install it on my laptop. And while I am working at someone else's computer I naturally want to Alt+Space to open Internet Explorer or Paint or whatever.

There are also some great skins for it so you can make Launchy look like it's part of your OS. I hid all my icons and my desktop has never looked better!

Perhaps another Tech Blog

Yes I know there are about a thousand other tech blogs out there. So why am I starting another one? Well I recently discovered that the same news is hitting multiple blogs on the same day. So I want to try to go against the grain and cover items and software that I use that isn't the "hot topic" of the day.

Some of what I may end up blogging may be found on other blogs that have been covered in the past but I want to show what I do at work to get things done. I am a single IT Guy in a small workforce so I use a variety of tools to get things done. I also do more than just IT. I also do same CAD work.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my new blog.

Aaron.