LEARN WIRELESS COMPUTER NETWORKING BASICS

Wireless Computer Networking

Wireless computer networking means that the communication between computers without the clustered wires. It is ideal for the situations where the cabling is not possible. There are different types of wireless network such as WLAN (which is based on the IEEE 802.11b standard), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, GSM, Bluetooth and Infrared etc. The signals are usually transmitted through radio and electromagnetic waves. The hardware devices that are used in a wireless network are routers, switches, access point, wireless LAN cards, adapters, antennas, bridges, PCMCIA cards, WLAN access, station adapters and wireless modems.
Wireless network offers the flexibility, mobility, scalability to work everywhere within the range of your network. WLANs can be configured in a variety of ways to meet the needs of specific applications.

How to Setup

You can setup a wireless network connection between two or more computers by following the below steps.

Requirements:

Wireless LAN card, wireless router, access point, antennas, cable or DSL modem (if you wish you connect your network to the internet), Ethernet cable (for connecting DSL model with the wireless router). Make sure that your devices should follow these technologies 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. The 802.11g is recommended because it is compatible with all everything.

Connect your wireless router with your DSL modem with the Ethernet cable.
Configure your wireless router. Open internet explorer and type the IP address of your router in the address bar. Different vendors have different specifications and different login/passwords details. After providing the login/password details, you will be provided with a router configuration page. Most of the settings are okay and you need to set up the following things.
Wireless network name (SSID)
Wireless encryption such as WEP or WPA
Administrative password.

Install wireless LAN card on each computer in your network. You can find the installation instructions in the manual, which is provided by the manufacture. Insert network adapter in the empty PCI slot. Windows XP automatically detects the card and will prompt you to insert the installation CD. Follow the on screen instructions and install the LAN card. After the installation is successful, Windows XP should show an icon at the status bar. Also a notification message appears that says it has found a wireless network.

Right click the wireless icon and click “View available wireless networks”.

In the Wireless network connection window, you will find your network with the same name as you chose before while setting up the wireless router.
If you don’t see your network then click the “Refresh network list” in the upper left corner.
After you find your network, click it and press “connect” in the lower right corner.
Next, you will be prompted to enter the encryption key. Type your encryption key in the network key and confirm key boxes. Make sure that you have to enter the exact encryption key.
Windows XP will show you the progress as you are connected with your network.

Benefits of Wireless Network

The major benefits of the wireless networking include mobility, scalability, flexibility of work, improved efficiency and the security features. The installation is very easy and we have covered it in the above steps.

Wi-Fi and Wi-MAX provides the flexible solutions to businesses around the world with easier access, roaming and mobility.

World’s renowned wireless product’s manufactures are
Cisco, 3COM, D-Link, Intel, AT & T, Net Gear, View Sonic, Fujitsu, Linksys and HP.

LEARN COMPUTER NETWORKING BASICS

Networking Tutorials

Find computer network tutorials, wireless communication guide, LAN/WAN guide, local area network tools, wan introduction, osi layers model and many other advance topics of data communication. This is very informative site for the IT people specially in the field of computer networking. You will also find data communication overview, tech guides , data communication related information, topologies, tech study guide, Router Labs, IT certifications, Ethernet guide, free IT resources, ip addressing tools, telecommunication guide and many other informative resources. Data communication is a process of sharing data and shared resources between two or more connected computers. The shared resources can include printer, Fax modem, Hard disk, CD/DVD Rom, Database and the data files.

A computer network can be divided into a small segments called Local Area Network (LAN), networking between computers in a building of a office, medium sized networks (MAN), communication between two offices in a city and wide area networks (WAN) networking between the computers, one is locally placed and the other can be thousands of miles away in another city or another country in the world.


WAN connectivity is achieved by a device known as “Router”. The internet is the world’s largest WAN, where millions of computers from all over the globe and connected with each other.

Networking is the practice of linking two or more computers or devices with each other. The connectivity can be wired or wireless. A computer network can be categorized in different ways, depends on the geographical area as mentioned above.

There are two main types of the computer networking client-server and peer to peer. In the client server computing, a computer plays a major role known as server, where the files, data in the form of web pages, docs or spread sheet files, video, database & resources are placed.

All the other computers in the client/server networks are called clients and they get the data from the server. In the peer to peer networks all the computers play the same role and no computer act as a centralized server. In the major businesses around the world client-server networks model is in major use.

A network topology defines the structure, design or layout of a network. There are different topologies like bus, ring, star, mesh, hybrid etc. The star topology is most commonly used topology. In the star topology, all the computers in the network are connected with a centralized device such as hub or switch. Thus forms a star like structure. If the hubs/switch fails to work for any reason then all the connectivity and communication between the computers will be halted.

A common communication language is used by the computers and the communication devices is known as protocols. The most commonly used and popular protocol on the internet and in the home and other networks is called TCP/IP. TCP/IP is not a single protocol but it is a suite of several protocols.A computer network can be a wired or wireless and TCP/IP protocol can work both in types of a network.Data flow or communication can be divided into seven logical layers called OSI layers model that was developed by Intel and Xerox Corporation and was standardized by ISO.

1. Application layer
2. Presentation layer
3. Session layer
4. Transport layer
5. Network layer
6. Data Link layer
a. Media access control sub-layer
b. Logical link control sub-layer
7. Physical layer


A network can be divided into different scales and ranges and it depends on the requirement of the organization and the geographical location. Computer Network can be divided into Local Area Network, Personal Area Network, Campus Area Network, Wireless Local Area Network, Metropolitan Area Network and Wide Area Network.

There are several communication connection methods like HomePNA, Power line communication, Ethernet and Wifi connection method.
A network can also be categorized into several different types based on the services it provides like Server farms, Storage area networks, Value control networks, Value-Added networks, SOHO networks, Wireless and Jungle networks.

QUICKLY HIDE ALL OPEN TABS IN "GOOGLE CHROME"

IF you Don't want others seeing which web sites you are browsing in Google Chrome? Press the panic button!

Tired of others snooping around and looking to see what you are doing on your computer? Don't want others to know you are taking a quick break to check Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, or other web sites via Google Chrome?

The PanicButton extension offers a one-click option to quickly hide your open tabs. Just press the exclamation point in the red circle that is added to the right of Google Chrome's address bar and all open tabs become hidden. By default, the circle is replaced with a green circle and the number of closed tabs, though this can be changed.

SHORTCUT KEYS FOR "MOZILLA FIREFOX"

Mozilla Firefox short keys

* CTRL+A Selects the all items on active page
* CTRL+B Display the "Organize Bookmarks" dialog box
* F5 Refresh the active web page
* F7 activate the cursor to move with keyboard
* ALT+Home Use to open the home page of Internet explorer
* ALT+Left Arrow Go to previous page of active page
* ALT+Right Arrow Go to next page of active page
* ALT+B Go to Mozilla Firefox Favorites Menu
* ALT+D Go to address bar of current Firefox page
* ALT+E Go to Mozilla Firefox Edit Menu
* ALT+F Go to Mozilla Firefox File Menu
* ALT+S Go to Mozilla Firefox History Menu
* ALT+T Go to Mozilla Firefox Tools Menu
* ALT+V Go to Mozilla Firefox View Menu
* CTRL+SHIFT+DEL Use to clear all Private Data history
* CTRL+SHIFT+D Use to Bookmarks all Firefox Tabs
* CTRL+Tab Move to next Tab in Mozilla Firefox
* CTRL+ - decrease the font size
* CTRL++ increase the font size
* CTRL+R Use to reload the active web page
* CTRL+T Display a new Tab
* CTRL+U View the source code
* CTRL+W Closes the Mozilla Firefox window
* CTRL+I Display the Bookmarks pane
* CTRL+H Display the History sidebar
* CTRL+N Use to open new Mozilla Firefox page
* CTRL+P Use to print the active web page

FOLDER OPTIONS NOT SHOWING

How to get folder option back

Its a silly virus which modify your registry files and remove the folder option from tools menu. Today at free computer tips I will teach you how you can get Folder Options back.

Open Start menu and from there select Run type gpedit.msc and hit enter now in the Group Policy window, from the left pane, select user configuration-> Administrative Templates-> windows components-> Windows Explorer by high lighting it with the mouse cursor and now in the right side you will see an option which says "Removes the Folder Options menu item from the Tools menu right click on this option and select properties now in the properties under Setting tab, select Disabled and hit OK

Alternate Method

Open run and type gpedit.msc user configuration >> administrative templates >> system disable "prevent access to registry editing tools".

HOW TO INCREASE COMPUTER PERFORMANCE

If you have 512MB or 1GB memory, you can increase system performance
by having the core system kept in memory.
It will disable the memory used by paging execution and eventually your memory will rise.

click at start button then select RUN and type Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive

HOW TO BLOCK SITES IN COMPUTER

you can block any site in your computer without using any software. This is very useful technique and with this technique you can block almost all type of adult site and you can save your children and other family members from viewing adult material.

How To Block Websites Without Software

* click on start , go to run and type C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
* Here search and Find the file named "HOSTS"
* double click on it and OPEN with the notepad
* You will see in the end of the notepad something like this "127.0.0.1 localhost"
* Now write below the "127.0.0.1 localhost" 127.0.0.2 www.sitenameyouwantblocked.com ,

SHORTCUT FUNCTION KEYS IN EXCEL

Here is a list of shortcut keys in Microsoft Excel.

1. F1: Opens a help task pane
2. F1 + Ctrl: Opens or closes the help window
3. F2: To edit the text in the active cell
4. F2 + Shift: To write a comment in the active cell
5. F2 + Alt: Opens the save as dialog box
6. F3 + Shift: opens the insert dialog box
7. F3 + Ctrl: Opens the define name dialog box
8. F3 + Shift + Ctrl: Opens the create name dialog box
9. F4: To redo the last command
10. F4 + Ctrl: To close the workbook window
11. F4 + Alt: To close the excel program
12. F5: Opens the Goto dialog box
13. F5 + Ctrl: brings back to the first level of workbook
14. F6: To shift between help taskbar and the excel window
15. F6 + Shift: To goto the previous square in the open worksheet
16. F6 + Ctrl: If more than one workbook is open to switch between them
17. F7: To open spelling correction window
18. F7 + Ctrl: When workbook window is not maximised it will move the window
19. F8: To activate / deactivate extended mode
20. F9: Will calculate all the worksheets in all open workbooks
21. F9 + Shift: Will calculate the active worksheet
22. F9 + Ctrl: To Minimise the workbook window
23. F10: Will select the menu bar
24. F10 + Ctrl: To open minimised window
25. F11: Will create a chart using the current range
26. F11 + Shift: To select a new worksheet
27. F11 + Alt: To switch between visual basic editor and the worksheet
28. F11 + Alt + Shift: Opens microsoft script editor
29. F12: Opens save as dialog box
30. F12 + Shift: Saves the active workbook
31. F12 + Ctrl: To open the Open dialog box
32. F12 + Ctrl + Shift: Opens the print dialog box

How To Change Name Of Second Window In Dual Boot

If you have installed 2 Windows in your system and want to change the name of Windows when system boots, here is the method.

First search for boot.ini file in C drive.

You can use this simple search engine to search fast and easily.

Open boot.ini file with Notepad and you can make changes by editing Microsoft Windows XP Professional to whatever you want.

How To Display Control Panel As Menu In Windows XP

Here is a simple method to display Control Panel as Menu in Windows XP. It saves time as we can directly open file/folder from Control Panel without opening it.

Method:

Simply right click on Taskbar and select Properties, click on Start Menu at the top menu bar and put a check on Start Menu and then click on Customize.

Now select Advance in the top menu bar and under Control Panel put a check on Display As A Menu and click on OK. Now press Apply and then OK...

How to Find and Remove Spyware, Trojans and Viruses

There are general 3 steps to removing malware which should be done in SAFE Mode. If you unsure about how to boot your windows into SAFE Mode only, when you first boot your computer before you see the Windows Logo press and hold down the F5 key and you will be given the option to boot your PC into a minimal boot configuration of the OS so you can do your investigation without being connected to the internet. Always remember to make a backup of your registry (use the system Restore checkpoint tool) before you do any of these changes.

Step 1.
The first step is to stop the malware that is currently running and starting up automatically every time you login to windows. We need to stop and kill the process of it running and prevent it from starting up again.

There are 2 areas that are useful for checking what is "Starting up" and "Running". These 2 areas are the System Configuration accessed using MSCONFIG and the Task Manager which is accessed by doing a CTRL+ALT+DEL.

Within these existing tools in Windows you can get the details on a suspicious EXE file starting up or a process running in the background hidden from view and disable it.

Step 2.
Though you might be successful in disabling temporarily the malware from running by doing Step 1, this does not solve the problem long term because most malware (Spyware, trojans and viruses) can put them selves back and re-enable themselves once you reboot because the registry still has entries that reference them and start them up.

This means that before you restart your computer and immediately after you have done step 1, you need to go into the windows REGISTRY (as shown in the video tutorial) and remove the references of the suspicious malware executables from there.

The windows registry has specific area where you can specify programs to start automatically or associate themselves as something else or hide. Searching the registry for these references and deleting them ensure that they do not startup again.
In the registry malware places itself in the startup here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\

Step 3.
The last thing that you would do is delete the actual malware files. Once you have found the filenames and locations (based on our findings in the MSCONFIG and REGISTRY) you can navigate using Windows Explorer and delete the actual files from your hard drive.

Though this is not 100% fool proof and malware files can make copies of themselves and duplicate themselves, removing as much as possible will in most cases break the cycle of allowing the malware to run. Some common areas where you will find Spyware , Trojans and Virus hiding are as follows:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\
C:\windows\system32\
C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch


In these folders when you sort by date your files and folder you can see what has recently been touched, added or changed. Malware will try to discuse itself as a DLL file or an EXE file, usually they have odd file names with no real meaning and you can seach online for that file name to get details on its origine and if its a threat or not. Sometimes they try to take on filenames similar to actual real system files such as rundll32 .

If you saw something called rundll33 then you know that for sure is a threat and should be deleted.

REDUCE THE OVERHEAD

You can get rid of all kinds of programs that run in the background that you may not need. The easiest way to do this is with the System Configuration Utility, otherwise known as Msconfig. Launch it by clicking the Start button and then Run, typing MSCONFIG into the text box, and hitting Enter.

Click on the Startup tab and look at the contents.

This is a list of things that start when the computer boots up. All of these little goodies run in the background, eating up memory and resources and slowing your system down.

Uncheck those in the list that are not required such as itunes, quicktime, autoupdate features, and so on, reboot and see if any of your programs or hardware devices lose functionality. If they do, run the System Configuration Utility again and recheck entries that you suspect to be the programs your system needs, rebooting between each attempt until you narrow it down. Leave everything that doesn't affect normal use of your system unchecked. This will speed the Windows boot process and clear up system resources.....

Windows XP Faster Boot-UP

Make Windows XP bootup faster with a quick registry tweak.

Start - Run - REGEDIT

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControl Set\Control\ContentIndex

Change the Decimal value of the Startupdelay key to 40000 and restart the Computer.

Share Files and Printers between Windows 7 and XP

If you have a home network and are running Windows 7 and have XP on other PC(s) you might want to share files between them. Today we will look at the steps to share files and hardware devices like a printer.

Sharing Files In Windows 7 and XP

Sharing folders between two Windows 7 machines with the new HomeGroup feature is an easy process, but the HomeGroup feature is not compatible with Vista or XP. For this tutorial we are using Windows 7 x64 RC1 and XP Professional SP3 connected through a basic Linksys home wireless router.

First make sure both machines are members of the same Workgroup which by default is named Workgroup.

On the Windows 7 machine go into Control Panel \ All Control Panel Items \ Network and Sharing Center then click on Change advanced sharing settings.

You will want to verify the following settings under Advanced Sharing Settings for the Home or Work and Public profile.


If you want any user to have access the public shares turn off password protection. This is located in Advanced Sharing Settings toward the bottom of the list.


If you want to keep it enabled make sure there is a log in account for the other XP machines and they have a password.

Now if you go into Network in Windows 7 you should see your XP machine and the Windows 7 as well which in this case is Mysticgeek-PC.

To share the printer on the Windows 7 machine go into Devices and Printers from the Start menu and double click on the printer icon.

Next double click on “Customize your printer”.

In the Properties screen click on the Sharing Tab and check the box to share the printer and type in its share name.

If your XP machine is an x86 OS you can install Additional Drivers before setting up the XP machine.

To find the shared folders and devices double click on the Windows 7 machine icon under Network. Here you can see the printer connected to my Windows 7 machine is shared and also the Users Folder.

Continue into the Users folder and Public to see the shared folders, here I also created a folder called XP Share just to keep everything in central location.

Over on your XP machine open up My Network Places to find the Windows 7 (mysticgeek-pc) shared folder.

Double click on the Share folder to find a list of shared folders in the Public folder on Windows 7. If you have password protection enabled you will need to type in the username and password of the user account on the Windows 7 machine first.

Setup XP With Shared Printer

To set up the shared printer in XP you will need to go into Printers and Faxes from the Start menu and kick off the Add Printer Wizard.

Now select “A network printer, or a printer attached to another computer” then hit Next.

Next select “Connect to this printer…” and type in the path for the printer connected to the Windows 7 machine and click next.

Now click Yes to the confirmation message.

Then click Finish the printer to install and complete the Wizard.

In some cases you will need to install the x86 XP drivers for the shared printer because the Windows 7 drivers are not compatible with XP. When everything is installed open up Printers and Faxes to find the shared printer.

This should help you get started with sharing your files and other devices with your Windows 7 machine. When I first started I was able to see the printer on XP right away because I had a HomeGroup set up, but once I deleted it I needed to share the printer like you would for a workgroup. You might also have to do a couple restarts of the XP machine for it to see the shared resources on Windows 7.

Use the Homegroup Feature in Windows 7 to Share Printers and Files

The new HomeGroup feature makes sharing files and printers between Windows 7 machines very easy. Today we will take a closer look at this new feature to show how easy the sharing process is.

Setting up your HomeGroup

There are several ways to access the HomeGroup feature, go to Control Panel and click on “Choose homegroup and sharing options” or just type “homegroup” without quotes into the start menu search bar.

Next click on the Create a homegroup button.

In the Create a HomeGroup screen select what you want to share with the other machines.

After the group is created you will get a password to access it from the other computers.

After you get the Password you’re brought back to the HomeGroup screen where you can make additional changes if you want.


Connecting to your HomeGroup

On the other Windows 7 computer(s) go into the HomeGroup feature and click to join the group you just created.


Enter in the password that was created for the HomeGroup.


When the password is accepted the connection will take place and your finished.

If you don’t want to use a password at all go into the Network and Sharing Center under advanced options and turn off password protected sharing.

Another thing you might want to do is create a shortcut to the HomeGroup. I just go into Network and copy the icon to my desktop by Right-Clicking and dragging it. A more direct approach is to create shortcuts directly to the shared public folders but of course it’s completely up to you.

To share a printer make sure to select Printers when creating the group and when you go into Devices and Printers on the Start menu you should see it and can set it as the default if you wish.

This should help get you started sharing files and printers between your Windows 7 machines on your home network

Speedy Video Access

Want faster access to your Videos folder? Windows 7 now lets you add it to the Start menu.

Just right-click the Start orb, click Properties > Start Menu > Customize, and set the Videos option to "Display as a link".

If you've a TV tuner that works with Windows 7 then you'll appreciate the new option to display the Recorded TV folder on the Start menu, too.

Right-click everything

At first glance Windows 7 bears a striking resemblance to Vista, but there's an easy way to begin spotting the differences - just right-click things.

Right-click an empty part of the desktop, for instance, and you'll find a menu entry to set your screen resolution. No need to go browsing through the display settings any more.

Right-click the Explorer icon on the taskbar for speedy access to common system folders: Documents, Pictures, the Windows folder, and more.
And if you don't plan on using Internet Explorer then you probably won't want its icon permanently displayed on the taskbar. Right-click the icon, select "Unpin this program from the taskbar", then go install Firefox, instead.

How to Enable Sidebar & Desktop Gadgets with Disabled/Turned Off UAC in Windows 7

1. Click on start and type regedit on search bar

2. Now navigate to follow registry key in left pan of registry editor

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Sidebar\Settings

3. Right Click in right pan of registry editor to Create A New DWORD(32 Bit Value) with name “AllowElevatedProcess” and set value as “1”.

4. Now close registry editor

5. Right click on desktop and add desktop gadgets to confirm Desktop gadget and sidebar working properly

FREE ANTIVIRUS FOR WINDOWS 7

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners