Make your Recovery disks and save a System image as a secondary backup. Back up your files, unplug all other HD's and peripherals,

Boot into BIOS setup, if this is a new Win8 PC look for a setting to disable Secure Boot. Then enable Legacy BIOS or Compatibility Support Module (CSM). This should remove any EFI Boot Disk from BIOS Boot order. Set DVD drive first to boot, HDD second. Then set SATA controller to AHCI. Save changes and Exit.

Then boot into installer DVD or flash stick burned or written using tool and latest ISO for your licensed OS version.

At first installer screen Press Shift + F10 to open a Command Box, type:

DISKPART
LIST DISK
SEL DIS 0 (after confirming Windows 7 target HD #)
CLEAN
CONVERT MBR
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY SIZE=102400 (for 100gb partition, adjust as desired)
FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL="WINDOWS 7"
ACTIVE
EXIT
EXIT

Next click Install Now to Clean Install Windows 7 to the partition you created. If it fails then report back at which step and the verbatim error message.

In addition read over these steps to understand the tools and methods which work best to get and maintain a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. The steps are the same for retail.

The purpose of creating the partition above is to wipe the HD and define an Active partition which resolves most install failures. Afterwards you can adjust the OS partition size in Disk Mgmt, create other partitions as desired.

So you want to became a hacker a reset someone centos root password??

No, this is not for you..it's rather for windows user who happens to administer centos server and forgot his root password. Only 7 simple steps needed...

1. Boot the system and when you see the following message "Press any key to enter the menu", press any key. (You will see the list of available kernel versions.)

2. Press e in order to edit commands before booting.

3. Highlight the list item with vmlinuz in it by using the arrow keys and press e.

4. Now type single OR init 1 at the end of the line.

5. Then press enter and b to boot the system with the new argument. (The system will boot into single user mode and you will see bash prompt)

Now it's time to change the password:
6. Type passwd

### Shell Commands ###
passwd
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully

While scouring the interwebs, i stumble upon a calendar so simple that's called Compact Calendar by David Seah. I have made Malaysian version for several years and now, here it is for 2014.

Feel free to download and use Compact Calendar Malaysia version and play with it. ;)

For those of you new to the Compact Calendar, it’s a single-page calendar that you print out and use for planning. The days of the year are presented as a solid block of days, so it’s easy to count-off weeks when you are figuring out scheduling. There’s plenty of space on the right-hand side too, so you can keep notes. I first made this calendar back in the 90s so I could block-out projects during meetings, but since then I’ve heard that people use it for family vacation planning and even biological purposes (counting weeks of gestation, for example).

Got shiny new HP PC from HQ.

Problem is, it has a recovery partition that has a big warning not to touch from HP when opened. I have to hide this so I don't damage it by accident; also it`s an eyesore.

After googling around... I got this:

Click Start, type diskmgmt.msc, press Enter and wait for Disk Management to load. When it does, right-click directly on the recovery partition so it becomes the selected one, then select "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."

On the next dialogue box that appears, click Remove. You'll get a warning box like this:

The solution is from here.

edit: and while at it... I found users keep repeating to do some backup with free tool Macrium, and whs from sevenforums.com create nice tutorial.

This tutorial covers installing MySQL server and client, as well as some basic configuration to get you up and running.

Install MySQL

Install MySQL service and command line tools.

Once thats done turn on the MySQL service so that it automatically starts on boot.

Finally start the MySQL service.

Open up MySQL Ports

We are going to open up ports 3306 in iptables.

Add the following lines (make sure its above the reject statement).

Restart iptables service for changes to take effect.

MySQL Client

That completes the steps to install mysql, from there you can login in through the client to setup whatever you need to.

Now, I have a centos box that recently been setup. This would be my dev server. The first thing that i would want to do is to use WinSCP to transfer files to and fro. However, here is something...

I cannot scp to CentOS...the error says "Network Error: Connection refused". Naturally i've googled for the solution and WinSCP page have it all. But it does not solve my problem. I've:

• setup the firewall (even disable the firewall to check for connection)
• ensure the sshd is running
• and few other solutions found online.

That box is in server room and i'm too lazy to walk there just to puch in some commands. So, I just ssh using putty to the box. What!!, wait... I actually *can* ssh to the box....I see the light at the end of the tunnel...woot...

To cut the story short.... if you CAN ssh but CANNOT scp/sftp... do the following:

1.  check the promission of /dev/null. If the permission as follows:

[root@localhost ~]# cd /dev
[root@localhost dev]# ls -all null
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 1, 3 Jan 23 17:49 null

2. change the permission to crw-------

[root@localhost dev]# chmod 600 null
[root@localhost dev]# ls -all null
crw------- 1 root root 1, 3 Jan 23 17:49 null

That should do the trick.

Aku selalu guna “Startup” folder di Start Menu launch application lepas logon windows. Tapi masalahnya, dalam Start menu Windows 8 ni, folder Startup ni dah tak ada.Jadi terpaksa la selongkar.

Folder yg simpan Startup item ada dua:

• C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
• C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp

Cumanya, setiap kali nak akses, jauh sangat nak masuk ke folder ni.

Solution paling mudah ialah guna arahan Shell yang dilarikan(run) dari command prompt (WIN+R):

• shell:startup
• shell:common startup

There you have it!.

Feel free to download and use Compact Calendar Malaysia version. Posterous doesn't accept .zip files anymore, bear with it. I think downloaded version is nicer compared to converted version displayed here.

明けましておめでとうございます.

Selamat Tahun Baru

1. Edit the following document as root

sudo pico /opt/lampp/etc/extra/httpd-multilang-errordoc.conf

at the end of the file, change the lines as shown i.e. put # to the begginning and add new lines.

sudo /opt/lampp/lampp restart

4. With the  XAMPP's new security setting of preventing access to XAMPP and phpmyadmin directories rather than the permitted IP addresses, it will throw the error 403 page. To change this setting, edit the following:

sudo pico /opt/lammp/etc/extra/httpd-xampp.conf

Thus,

ErrorDocument 403 /error/XAMPP_FORBIDDEN.html.var

to

ErrorDocument 403 /error404.html

It is not a mistake. Intentionally I recommend you to direct unauthorized visitors requesting to access xampp and phpmyadmin directories to the "page not found" (404) error page. This will be slightly more secure since the attacker may think that there is no xampp or phpmyadmin directory in the server. (that is also the reason of having error404.html not .php file, though you have to enable seo if you use joomla so that it is not too obvious by looking at the address)

Well.. well... well... It is hard to believe that in such a modern world like today, where internet seems to be ubiquitous, you still stuck with your term paper. While your friends are celebrating outside, you still 'asking help' from Uncle Google. It is true that information these day is at one's fingertip. But lecturers, too, have their own tricks at their fingertips, and palm!..

Simply taking anything your Uncle Google give you will not make you smart, in fact, it could trouble you. Writing a term paper can be a nightmare if you didn't do your research well. You have to read, read, and read... and read some more.(not to mention your last minute action doesn't help either)

Now, you have read, you have a great idea, but simply you cannot put it in a proper word! Here comes trouble. You wish you could get somebody or something that can offer a term paper help. Luckily you found my posting and you should know there's something useful in this posting.

WHAT!!!... You didn't have a clue what I am talking about. Where are you since last year? Under the rock?! Did you know that there is a really good service that offer custom research paper for you? I don't know why you still read this post. Give a little excercise to your hand and click all the links in this paragraph. And I mean NOW!

What is XAMPP ?

XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl. LAMPP (XAMPP for Linux) is very easy to install and to use – just download, extract and start.

Download XAMPP

http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp/files/XAMPP Linux/

Installing XAMPP in Linux

Download XAMPP Latest version from the following link
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp/files/XAMPP Linux

Currently latest XAMPP version is 1.7.7 (Sept 21)

$wget http://cdnetworks-kr-1.dl.sourceforge.net/project/xampp/BETAS/xampp-linux-1.7...

Now you should be having xampp-linux-1.7.7.tar.gz in your downloaded location

Go to a Linux shell and login as root:
Perform these commands as root user

$ su -p
Extract the downloaded archive file to /opt

#tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.7.7.tar.gz -C /opt

XAMPP is now installed below the /opt/lampp directory.

Start XAMPP Server

To start XAMPP simply call this command:

#/opt/lampp/lampp start

Starting XAMPP for 1.7.3a…
XAMPP: Starting Apache with SSL (and PHP5)…
XAMPP: Starting MySQL…
XAMPP: Starting ProFTPD…
XAMPP for Linux started.

Test Your XAMPP Installation

OK, that was easy but how can you check that everything really works? Just type in the following URL at your favourite web browser:

http://localhost

XAMPP Security Configuration

As mentioned before, XAMPP is not meant for production use but only for developers in a development environment. The way XAMPP is configured is to be open as possible and allowing the developer anything he/she wants. For development environments this is great but in a production environment it could be fatal.

Here a list of missing security in XAMPP:

The MySQL administrator (root) has no password.
The MySQL daemon is accessible via network.
ProFTPD uses the password “lampp” for user “nobody”.
PhpMyAdmin is accessible via network.
Examples are accessible via network.
MySQL and Apache running under the same user (nobody).
To fix most of the security weaknesses simply call the following command:

#/opt/lampp/lampp security

It starts a small security check and makes your XAMPP installation more secure.
Start And Stop Server Services

start
Starts XAMPP.

stop
Stops XAMPP.

restart
Stops and starts XAMPP.

startapache
Starts only the Apache.

startssl
Starts the Apache SSL support. This command activates the SSL support permanently, e.g. if you restarts XAMPP in the future SSL will stay activated.

startmysql
Starts only the MySQL database.

startftp
Starts the ProFTPD server. Via FTP you can upload files for your web server (user “nobody”, password “lampp”). This command activates the ProFTPD permanently, e.g. if you restarts XAMPP in the future FTP will stay activated.

stopapache
Stops the Apache.

stopssl
Stops the Apache SSL support. This command deactivates the SSL support permanently, e.g. if you restarts XAMPP in the future SSL will stay deactivated.

stopmysql
Stops the MySQL database.

stopftp
Stops the ProFTPD server. This command deactivates the ProFTPD permanently, e.g. if you restarts XAMPP in the future FTP will stay deactivated.

security
Starts a small security check programm.

For example: To start Apache with SSL support simply type in the following command (as root):

#/opt/lampp/lampp startssl

You can also access your Apache server via SSL under https://localhost.

Important Configuration Files And Directories

/opt/lampp/bin/ – The XAMPP commands home. /opt/lampp/bin/mysql calls for example the MySQL monitor.
/opt/lampp/htdocs/ – The Apache DocumentRoot directory.
/opt/lampp/etc/httpd.conf – The Apache configuration file.
/opt/lampp/etc/my.cnf – The MySQL configuration file.
/opt/lampp/etc/php.ini – The PHP configuration file.
/opt/lampp/etc/proftpd.conf – The ProFTPD configuration file. (since 0.9.5)
/opt/lampp/phpmyadmin/config.inc.php – The phpMyAdmin configuration file.

Stopping XAMPP

To stop XAMPP simply call this command:

#/opt/lampp/lampp stop

You should now see:

Stopping XAMPP 1.7.3a…
XAMPP: Stopping Apache…
XAMPP: Stopping MySQL…
XAMPP: Stopping ProFTPD…
XAMPP stopped.

And XAMPP for Linux is stopped.

Starting LAMPP automatically on startup

For starting LAMPP automatically on startup, add the following line to you /etc/rc.local file

# /opt/lampp/lampp start

where /opt/lampp is the location where XAMPP files are kept. You will have to substitute the path to your XAMPP in the above command.

Uninstall XAMPP From your Machine

To uninstall XAMPP just type in this command

#rm -rf /opt/lampp

Baru nak belajar guna Joomla!.. agak terlambat. Tapi masih belum terlambat jika ada keinginan untuk belajar.

Dah siap buat website guna Joomla!, upload ke public, nak kena la perhatikan aspek keselamatannya pulak. Joomla! ni sangat popular dan menjadi target mudah para penggodam. Sekali tengok url kat browser tu, dah boleh tahu guna joomla. Lepas tu masukkan apa-apa je kat url tu,

bam!!...

Satu lagi, diaorang akan selalu cuba akses ke laman administrator. www.contohsite.com/administrator/ dan brute-force dari situ. Jadi, bila kita lindungi direktori ini sekurang-kurangnya dah menambah sedikit kerja diorang. Kita tak boleh simply rename je folder administrator ni kerana banyak component dan plug-in yang merujuk ke folder /administrator ni.

Caranya...

haa... caranya ialah dengan membuat satu direktori baru, contohnya pentadbir, dan akses ke administrator melalui direktori ini.

1. Buat satu folder baru dalam direktori root, contohnya pentadbir.

2. Dalam folder pentadbir, cipta satu fail index.php dengan jampi-jampi berikut:

$admin_cookie_code="1234567890";
setcookie("JoomlaAdminSession",$admin_cookie_code,0,"/");
header("Location: ../administrator/index.php");
?>

3. Tambah fail .htaccess dalam direktori administrtor asal dengan ayat-ayat berikut:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/administrator
RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !JoomlaAdminSession=1234567890
RewriteRule .* - [L,F]

4. tambahkan ayat-ayat berikut di awal index.php dalam folder administrator

if ($_COOKIE('JoomlaAdminSession') !="1234567890")
{
?><script>location='../index.php';</script><?;
}

Sekarang ni, setiap kali kita nak akses ke administrator kena lalu pentadbir dulu, contohnya www.contohsite.com/pentadbir/, kemudian kita akan diredirect ke direktori sebenar. Jika akses terus ke www.contohsite.com/administrator/ akan dipulangkan ke laman utama. Jika tak buat langkah 4, akan keluar error404.

pesanan: jangan lupa tukar cookie_code 1234567890 dan pentadbir kepada pilihan sendiri, kerana contoh ni dah bayar pengerasnya... dah tak boleh pakai.

so apa lagi, cuba jangan tak cuba...

posted quite late, but post dated back to March 11 to mark the date.

This is the screenshot of the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) page showing the magnitude of the earthquake.

Tingkap dan sliding door bergegar lebih kuat. lampu yang tergantung tu bergoyang dengan gilanya, dah tak macam biasa... kami terus je keluar. Biasanya bila ada gempabumi dalam 3,4 ikut skala jma, orang-orang Jepun sekeliling rumah tenang je; tapi kali ni mereka pun turut keluar.

"wah, ini sudah serious"... tanah bergoncang. boleh rasa melambung badan bila kita berdiri atas tanah. kabel elektrik kat atas tu bergoyang dah macam budak-budak main lompat getah je. kalau putus, mmg teruk ni.

Lepas beberapa ketika, keadaan reda sekejap. belum sempat buat apa-apa, dah mula balik. Aku ajak jiran-jiran pegi ke koen (taman). kami bawak beg emergency, dan terus ke taman yang terdekat. Di sana dah ramai orang Jepun yang keluar. Masing-masing duduk tertunggu-tunggu. Ada juga pengumuman dari speaker di taman sebelah, tapi haram tak faham. Sebab tak berapa jelas. Talian telefon jammed!... tak boleh pakai. Sidenote: tapi mujur juga handphone casio AU ni ada early warning system. bila ada je gempa, sebelum kita terasa, phone tu dah menjerit. alarm dia pun berbeza dari ringtone yang biasa dalam phone. anak-anak memang alert la dengan alarm ni, bunyi je terus masuk bawah meja.

Cuaca masih sejuk, ini yang risau. sebab kalau kena keluar rumah waktu malam mmg susah la. Nak balik rumah pun dah tak berani. Masing-masing dok berbincang macam mana nak buat. Ingat nak pegi rumah member di Urasa sebab area situ tak kena sangat. Kami risaukan tsunami.

Petang tu, tak silap dah dapat tahu ada ancaman tsunami. tapi area Gyotoku tak serious sangat ancamannya sebab terlindung.

Malam, tak berani nak tidur. berita dari kawan-kawan pun dapat melalui facebook. Pukul 4 pagi lebih kurang, ada gempa yg epicenternya di nagaoka!. fuh, kalau jadi la pegi sana pagi tadi, mmg pegi masuk ke pusat gempa la. so sebenarnya, lebih baik stay je kat rumah. kalau jadi apa-apa masa dalam perjalanan lagi la susah.

Esoknya, orang Jepun semua sibuk. Kami tak sedar yang orang Jepun semua tengah stok makanan kat rumah. habis semua barang-barang makanan diroang beli. Roti-roti yang boleh dimakan oleh kita, habis. yang tinggal bun-bun yang diragui kandungannya, jadi tak boleh beli.

Tak pernah tengok suasana macam ni. Orang-orang tokyo memang sibuk, dan kalut. Tapi dalam kekalutan ni pun, masih teratur. Kereta berbaris panjang untuk isi minyak. ada ketika kena berbaris hampir sejam untuk isi minyak. Tapi tak ada yg merusuh, tak ada yang potong barisan, tak ada bunyi hon pun.

Memang sedih terpaksa tinggalkan Jepun dalam keadaan macam ni. Ramai kawan-kawan Jepun ingat kami nak balik Malaysia sebab gempabumi/tsunami ni... Banyak rancangan terbantut kerana kejadian ni. Konvo universiti seleurh Jepun pun batal. Memandangkan cuaca sejuk, pegi ke Waseda pakai sempoi saja, amik cert kat opis. Sedih jugak tak dapat bergambar konvo yg proper. Ada jugak student yang dah tempah baju konvo awal-awal, pakai jugak. Kami hanya pergi satu keluarga, amik gambar sikit-sikit, singgah akihabara, balik.

Well, I have to admit it that I did not really post a lot here. I am really, really busy with my final project that requires me to write an essay which requires a hardwork. Now, in order to get started to write usually one would search on the internet for sample essay as the brainstorming idea. This is where essay writing service comes into play. Now I would like to introduce EssaysReasy. In short, EssaysReasy is high quality essay writing service.

They provide professional help and offer services such as term paper for sale, research paper help or general essay writing. It is just like dream come true where somebody can help me write my essay for me, although I would prefer to adjust later the essay in order to get the 'feel' of it. Apart from that EssaysReasy also allows me to buy papers online with it's wide range of subject. Overall, you are sure to be satisfied.

Has your child ever been awakened with the loud "Ta-Daaam!" sound your laptop played when you opened it at late evening? Have you ever opened notebook on public meeting and the computer loudly notified everybody about your new messages or something? I bet you wanted to smash the computer into smithereens then! Each time this happens to me, I promise myself to disable the sound before logging off, but I always forget about this in few minutes.

Software making a computer quiet when it's turning on

I've created a small Auto Mute utility to make a PC silent when it's turning on or waking up. Solution is as easy as a pie! The sound is automatically muted when the computer is turning off or is going to suspend mode. The next system start is absolutely silent even if you forgot to turn the sound off in previous session. After that you can enable sound effects manually, using a shortcut combination. Moreover, you may use this keyboard shortcut to quickly switch the sound on and off when working.

JumpLaunch is a missing link between taskbar and user. It is a simple program that can display quick launch shortcuts in a jump list. Just "pin" it to the taskbar and it is ready to use.

* update: I have updated Compact Calendar for 2011.

While browsing around, I found this cool designer that create a compact calendar for 2010.I adjusted and replaced it with Malaysian Holidays.

Everything below is quoted from the author website :)