IPv6? You would have seen this term everywhere, almost anywhere. Why? What’s so special? Web Analysts says World IPv6 Day is nearing, and what I would say is Internet is running out of addresses. Almost 4 billion IP addresses have now been assigned to various institutions and now that leads to the crisis we are facing right now.

IPv6 is the new version of the Internet Protocol which allows a lot more devices to connect to the Internet, easily.

Technically speaking, IPv6 is the sixth revision to the Internet Protocol and the successor to IPv4. Mostly similar to IPv4 and this one provides unique and numerical IP addresses necessary for Internet-enabled devices to communicate. IPv6 is capable of solving the crisis since it utilizes 128-bit Internet addresses, whereas IPv4 uses 32 bits for its Internet addresses.

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Using Google To Check IPv6 Readiness

Google has a simple test page to allow users to check whether or not their current browsers, systems, and networks are capable of handling the impending changeover.

You can use this simple test page for testing your browser’s IPv6 Readiness.

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23:42:00

One of the tricks to improve WiFi signal is to avoid interference caused by household appliances (e.g. microwave oven) and WiFi channel overlapping.

To avoid interference from household appliance, just keep your Wi-Fi router away from potential culprit. To deal with Wi-Fi channel overlapping, you’ll need to find out Wi-Fi channels used by neighbors and change your router to use different channel.

How to check what Wi-Fi channels are in used? Here, let’s assume there is no WLAN network using hidden SSID.

On Android, I recommend this intuitive app called Wifi Analyzer. 

On Windows, you can use a built-in but not so intuitive console application called netsh to gather wireless network information like SSID, signal, channel, WLAN network and radio type, authentication and encryption protocol, AP MAC address, etc. 



To simplify the command output, I use findstr to filter out network information other than ssid, channel, and signal:

netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid |^
findstr /I /R "^ssid | channel | signal"

You can copy and paste it into Command Prompt to execute. The ^ character is DOS escape character that allows me write a long command line into multi-line fashion.

If you paste it into a cmd script file, then you may want to add another line for pause command (after findstr line):

netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid |^
findstr /I /R "^ssid | channel | signal"
pause

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23:39:00

How to open elevated command prompt in right click context menu? In Windows Vista and Windows 7, there is this “Open command window here” option to execute cmd.exe with normal privilege if you press and hold the SHIFT key followed by right click on a folder.

However, there is a trick to open true administrator Command Prompt by just right click on the folder without having to press SHIFT key or whatever.

Trick to open elevated Command Prompt with right click



The trick is tested on Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7 (should be applicable to Windows Server 2008).

In addition, this trick is actually a Registry hack, i.e. you have to make change in Windows Registry (leave now if you are not comfortable with it):

1) Press Windows key or click the Start button, type cmdand press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER key to open a elevated Command Prompt window. Not get it? Try this:

Alternative: Click Start button, type cmd, right click the cmd.exe shortcut appears atop the Start menu and select “Run as Administrator”.

2) Copy these lengthy reg.exe commands, one by one, paste it to the opened elevated Command Prompt and press ENTER key to execute (see also “How to enable copy and paste in Windows 7 Command Prompt“):



To display new option in the right click context menu of directory:

reg add HKCR\Directory\shell\Runas /ve /t REG_SZ /d "open ELEVATED command prompt at this working directory" /f

The action or command to execute when that new option is selected:

reg add HKCR\Directory\shell\Runas\Command /ve /t REG_SZ /d "cmd.exe /k \"pushd %L ^&^& title Elevated Command Prompt Window\"" /f

To display new option when right click on a disk drive, CD/DVD-ROM drive, USB drive, etc:

reg add HKCR\Drive\shell\Runas /ve /t REG_SZ /d "open ELEVATED command prompt at this working directory" /f

The command to execute when that new option in right click context menu is selected:

reg add HKCR\Drive\shell\Runas\Command /ve /t REG_SZ /d "cmd.exe /k \"pushd %L ^&^& title Elevated Command Prompt Window\"" /f

Easier one-click to apply Registry hack

If those commands look complicated to you, just download this Registration Entries (.reg) file and double it to run:
ElevatedCmd.zip
[ md5 checksum (.zip): e94fc460bf480265670330203cb0c3cc ]
[ md5 checksum (.reg): 8a76ef862374e65bc9229ad6c32a58fe ]

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23:32:00

The Windows netstat command can tell you the association of network connection and executable file, i.e. which application (program) is using the network connection port.

To get this information, you need to run this commandnetstat -anqb in an elevated Command Prompt window(the -b option requires elevated privilege). 

Obviously, it gives what we want, but the output format is not easy to read or filter. So, let’s fine tune its output withGNU awk and grep for Windows.

Now, install that two GNU programs, then copy and paste these 3 lines to elevated Command Prompt window and press ENTER to run:

netstat -anqb |^
awk "{if ($1 ~/TCP|UDP/)printf \"\n%s\", $0;else printf \" %s\",$0}" |^
egrep -vw "LISTENING|TIME_WAIT|CLOSE_WAIT"

The netstat output should look better now, similar to this one:



NOTE: If you want to save that 3 lines in batch file (e.g. ListConn.cmd script file), you need to change each of the % character to %%, i.e.:

netstat -anqb |^
awk "{if ($1 ~/TCP|UDP/)printf \"\n%%s\", $0;else printf \" %%s\",$0}" |^
egrep -vw "LISTENING|TIME_WAIT|CLOSE_WAIT"

To explore Windows netstat command option, execute this command netstat /?.

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23:26:00

You’ve just bought a new Dell computer came with pre-installed Windows 10 and there is no legacy COA (Certificate of Authenticity) attached to the chassis. In fact, Dell does not distribute COA since Windows 8.

So, where/how to find your genuine Windows 10 product key should you need to reinstall the OS afresh (not using recovery CD/image) to get rid of bloatware? Don’t worry – you don’t really need to know the key, because the Windows 10 installation and activation process will automatically refer to BIOS for OEM product key (if there is one) – according to Dell official knowledge base:

Starting Windows 8, the Windows product key is burnt into BIOS at factory. The Windows installation and activation processes will refer to the BIOS automatically.

If your curiosity is to find out that key anyway, Windows 10 does provide a native way to retrieve this OEM product key from BIOS too (if it’s there; otherwise, it shows empty value of this OA3xOriginalProductKey property):

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get /all /format:list | findstr OA3

OR:

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

NOTE: If you want to use a different Windows 10 edition product key during installation on a computer with OEM product key embedded in BIOS, you won’t find it prompt you for that. You can, however, change product key after installation, even it has activated automatically. Just go to Windows Settings app > System > About > look for option to change product key or upgrade Windows edition.

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23:24:00

You’ll need to change product key if you want to upgrade Windows 10 edition (e.g. from Home to Pro).

There are few ways to do this in Windows 10:

Method 1 – type either one of these commands in an elevated Command Prompt window:

slui

OR,

changepk

OR,

changepk.exe /ProductKey new_product_key_here

Method 2
Click Windows button > type Activation > click the Activation shortcut appears in searching list > click Change product key button.


Windows 10 edition upgrade matrix – with reference toWindows 10 upgrade paths.

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23:20:00

Microsoft showed us the final version of Windows 10 in an event yesterday, and the roll-out will begin later this year. But what’s new in Microsoft’s latest OS? We take a quick look at the biggest and most important features of Windows 10.

1. Free, free, free: For the first time ever, Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 users.

Microsoft has taken a cue out of Apple’s book which has been given OS X and iOS upgrades away for free, to ensure that users don’t have to shell out money for an OS.

If your PC or laptop is running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 and your Windows phone has the Windows Phone 8.1 OS, you will get a free upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 – in the first year.

What is not clear is if users on laptop and desktops will have to pay after the first year. In an age, where free OS and software is the new mantra, Microsoft has taken the right step by making Windows 10 free of cost. Hopefully the free upgrade will continue after year one as well.

Windows 10 Spartan Browser

2. No more Windows Phone, it’s all the same: Unity across operating systems is something that Apple and Google have been going on about for sometime and Microsoft also clearly believes that this is the way forward.

What this also means, is that the name ‘Windows Phone OS’ is actually defunct. Also tablet users can forget the horror of having to deal with something like a new Windows RT on their devices, which received terrible user feedback.

Windows 10 will ensure that desktops, mobiles, laptops, tablets, 2-in-1 devices will all run the same Windows 10 OS, which will be optimised based on the platform. This is great news for those who are heavily invested in the Windows eco-system and for app developers who won’t have to create a separate app for mobile or tablet.

3. Bigger Start Menu, Action Centre: There have been some improvements thanks to feedback from testers of the Windows Insider program. The Start Menu is now available in full screen instead of the limited in Windows 8.1. The Action Centre has quick buttons to switch Wi-fi and Bluetooth on or off.

There is a new Notification Centre which is seen above the Action Centre and notifications in these will be synced across devices. The Notification centre brings you updates and alerts from your email, weather, news sources you’ve subscribed to and it also has Cortana built in.

The Control Panel and Settings menu have been merged into a single folder. Also when using a 2-in-1, when you go from a desktop mode to a tablet mode, users will be prompted if they want to switch to tablet mode.

4. Cortana for Windows: Microsoft has gone a step ahead of Apple by bringing its personal voice-assistant Cortana to all Windows 10 devices, including desktops and laptops, which is a massive plus point.

On the desktop, Cortana will be seen as a search box located beside the Start button. Cortana now supports 7 languages and can speak in impersonations as well. You can also ask Cortana to open apps on your desktop such as PowerPoint or Word. You can also dictate emails in Outlook using Cortana and send them by voice commands.

Reading View in Spartan Browser

Cortana has a new feature called Notebook that keeps a tab on all the saved information. It also keeps a track of the sports scores, travel, weather and such similar information that you may be interested in. You can also add other things that you want Cortana to keep a track of.

5. Universal apps for PCs: Microsoft is going the Apple way by finally introducing universal apps. These will have a similar design across devices and will work across PCs, laptop, smartphones and tablets.

Outlook will come with an in-built Word engine which provides the Office ribbon, which allows multiple ways of formatting Office documents. The calendar app will also be synced across devices and will sport a consistent design as well. There’s also a new Photo App gallery, which looks inspired by Google+.

All pictures taken on the devices, as well as photos on One Drive will be merged together and the app will automatically delete the duplicate files to reduce the clutter. The Photo app will automatically enhance your photographs by default, much like Google+. It will also create Photo Albums automatically based on date, location and the people in the photographs.

Other universal apps on the list will be for Videos, Music, Maps, People & Messaging.

6. Hello Project Spartan: Microsoft unveiled its Project Spartan at the event, which is indeed a new browser which comes with Cortana built in with its contextual searching. For example, if you look up restaurant on Spartan, Cortana will throw in a map, menu and contact details as well.

On Spartan some of the new features will allows users to annotate a webpage using a stylus or touch interface, click on any section of a webpage to type out a comment and then share this page with friends or co-workers. Also while the page shared will be frozen, the links inside them will be active.

Reading mode in Project Spartan, similar to the reading mode in Apple’s Safari, will put articles in a layout that gets rid of all the unnecessary elements on a page. You also get a Reading List feature that syncs across all devices, even offline, which is quite identical to what’s seen on the Pocket app.

By the way Microsoft has clarified that the introduction of Spartan doesn’t mean that Internet Explorer 11 is going anywhere. According to a blogpost, the company wrote that “Spartan loads the IE11 engine for legacy enterprise web sites when needed.” Essentially enterprise websites that older technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects will load on Internet Explorer, which will also be available on Windows 10.

Internet Explorer will use the same dual rendering engines as Spartan, ensuring web developers can consistently target the latest web standards, says the blog post.

7. Gaming on Windows 10:  The Xbox app will come bundled with all Windows 10 devices. A new feature will allows users to record 30 seconds of gameplay which can be sent across to Xbox Live so that Xbox users can watch it as well.Windows 10 also brings cross-play, which lets users play with a friend on an Xbox One while they are using a Windows 10 PC. Microsoft also has plans to launch Windows 10 on the Xbox One platform.

Game DVR, which gives simple access to recording, editing, and sharing a player’s most epic gaming moments on an Xbox will now come to Windows 10, and is accessible by simply pressing Windows+G.

Also games on Xbox One can be streamed through your home network to your Windows 10 PC or tablet, anywhere in your house. Xbox One gamers will also be able to many of their favourite console games on their PC. And many Xbox One accessories will work interchangeably on the console and PC.

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07:18:00

Users on Lenovo's forums have discovered that the Chinese company has been preloading some consumer PC models with a software called Superfish Visual Discovery. In short, the software tracks your searches and browsing habits (even on secure sites) and uses this information to place additional advertisements on the sites you visit. It's unclear what models have come preloaded with the software, although users have reported finding it on Lenovo Y50, Z40, Z50, G50 and Yoga 2 Pro models.

LastPass has created a Web tool that makes it easy to check to see if your computer is infected. You can check by simply clicking on this link.

If you’re affected by Superfish, you must first uninstall the program:

1. Click the Windows Start button
2. Search uninstall program
3. Launch uninstall program
4. Right-click on Superfish Inc VisualDiscovery and select Uninstall
5. If prompted for administrator password, enter or provide confirmation

Then you must uninstall the certificates as well:

1. Click the Windows Start button
2. Type certmgr.msc into the Search box
3. Click the certmgr.msc Program to launch it
4. If prompted for administrator password, enter the password or provide confirmation
5. Click on Trusted Root Certification Authorities
6. Open Certificates
7. Look for certificates mentioning Superfish Inc.
8. Right-click on any Superfish Inc certificates and delete

To make sure you have fully removed the program, restart your browser and revisit the LastPass web tool.

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07:16:00

Make An Inaccessible, Undeletable & Unrenamable Folder

Basic Concept

The basic concept behind this trick is the use of Keywords. Keywords are reserved words in any programming language that cannot be used as names of variables. Windows also uses certain keywords in its programming. Some of them are: con, aux, lpt1, lpt2, lpt3, lpt4, lpt5, lpt6, lpt7, lpt8, lpt9.

Testing

To test this concept, make a new folder in Windows and try to give it a name same as any keyword mentioned above.

Inaccessible Folder Created Using CMD

Result

Windows will not rename your folder to any of the keyword given above.

Trick

So the question arises, how can we make a folder with a keyword as its name? The solution to this problem is included in Windows itself. As we know that Windows has evolved from DOS, its commands can be used in Windows. You can use DOS Programming in Windows to create a folder with a keyword as its name using the steps given below:

Step 1: Click on Start.

Step 2: Click on Run. Type in cmd.

Step 3: In the Command Prompt Window, type the name of the drive you wish to create your folder in the format : and press  e.g. If you wish to create the undeletable folder in D drive, type "D:" without the quotes. Note that the folder cannot be created in the root of C: drive (if C: is your system drive).

Step 4: Type this command:

md con\ 

(where, con\  is the keyword used for folder name) and press . You can choose any of the keywords given above as the name of your folder.

Step 5: Now Windows will create an undeletable, unrenamable & inaccessible folder in the drive you entered in Step 3. However, the folder can be renamed to another keyword using Windows Explorer.

Post You May Like: [Tool] Who Is The Owner Of A Blogger Blog/Website?

Deleting the Folder

Although, it is not possible to delete the folder using Windows GUI, you can delete the folder by typing

rd con\

(where, con\  is the keyword used for folder name)

Windows Compatibility: Windows XP and higher versions.

Try it yourself to create one such folder which can neither be deleted, accessed nor be renamed & share your experience in the comments.

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07:13:00

How to manage startup apps

To manage startup apps, you need to review all of them so you can turn off the ones you don't want. This can be done via Task Manager in Windows 10. All you need to do is to open the Task Manager app and go to the Startup tab:

Start Up Tab

Tip: You open the Startup tab of Task Manager directly in Windows 10 by running the following command:

taskmgr /0 /startup

Press Win + R shortcut keys together on the keyboard and type the command mentioned above in the Run box.

On the Startup tab you will see the full list of apps which start with Windows.

Using the Startup tab of Task Manager, you can easily prevent an app from starting with your OS. It is very easy - just right click the desired app and pick "Disable" from the context menu.

 Disable Startup Software Windows 10

To enable the disabled app, you just need to right click it again and choose the "Enable" command from the context menu.

Enable Startup App Windows 10

Now you know how to enable or disable startup apps. Let's see how to add a new app to load at startup or remove an existing one.

How to add or remove startup apps for the current user

Startup items for the current user are stored usually at two locations: the Registry and the special "Startup" folder. The Startup folder is an easier way to manage apps. To add or remove an app from the Startup folder, you need to do the following:

Press Win + R shortcut keys together and type the following into the Run box:

shell:Startup

The text above is a special shell command which will open the Startup folder for you directly.

 Startup Folder in Windows 10

The Startup folder is located here:

C:\Users\Your user name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Just copy and paste a shortcut in this folder so that the app loads when Windows boots. To remove the application from the Startup folder, delete the appropriate shortcut.

That's it!

Share your views in the comments! :)

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07:10:00