IT Technology Blog

Fring Brings VoIP to Hacked iPhones

2008-04-17T03:41:00.000-07:00

Fring, the company founded by Avi Shechter, the former co–CEO of ICQ and VP at AOL, has announced that it released a test version of its popular application which brings Skype, as well as MSN, Google Talk and AIM to Apple's iPhone.

"This special pre-release version of fring, developed in conjunction with the Holon Institute of Technology academic research labs is a direct response to iPhone users kicking our behind to get fring for their COOOOOL devices," the company said on its website.

"Part of the objective here (besides getting you all excited with fring for iPhone) is to get feedback prior to release of the full-feature version and create a truly superb user experience for iPhone users," Fring says.

The fring application is only available to those who jailbroke their iPhones or iPod Touches. The application is not endorsed by Apple which is against VoIP applications for its gadgets. This is the case because access to free calls could dramatically cut into the profit margins of the carriers licensed to supply the handset, and everything Apple does is about large profit margins (like its Mac desktop computers). Also, application runs in the background, which is forbidden by Apple.

Of course, the iPod Touch does not have a microphone so you need the Touchmods dock connector microphone.

Fring, also co-founded by Boaz Zilberman and Alex Nerst, is headquartered in Israel, and has representation in Italy, UK and Germany. In February, BusinessWeek reported that more than 100,000 new users from 160 countries were downloading, installing, and registering to use fring each month.

How to Check a Memory Dump File

2008-03-28T04:36:00.001-07:00

Dumpchk is located on the Windows XP CD-ROM. Install the Support Tools by running Setup.exe from the Support\Tools folder on the CD-ROM. By default, Dumpchk.exe is installed to the Program Files\Support Tools folder.

Dumpchk has the following command-line options:

DUMPCHK [options]

-? Displays the command syntax.

-p Prints the header only (with no validation).

-v Specifies verbose mode.

-q Performs a quick test. Not available in Windows XP.

dditional options are available in the Windows XP version of Dumpchk.exe:

-c Does dump validation.

-x Does extra file validation; takes several minutes.

-e Does dump exam.

-y Sets the symbol search path for a dump exam.
If the symbol search path is empty, the CD-ROM
is used for symbols.

-b Sets the image search path for a dump exam.
If the symbol search path is empty, %SystemRoot%\System32
is used for symbols.

-k Sets the name of the kernel to File.

-h Sets the name of the HAL to File.

Dumpchk displays some basic information from the memory dump file, then verifies all the virtual and physical addresses in the file. If any errors are found in the memory dump file, Dumpchk reports them. The following is an example of the output of a Dumpchk command:

Filename . . . . . . .Memory.dmp
Signature. . . . . . .PAGE
ValidDump. . . . . . .DUMP
MajorVersion . . . . .free system
MinorVersion . . . . .1057
DirectoryTableBase . .0x00030000
PfnDataBase. . . . . .0xffbae000
PsLoadedModuleList . .0x801463d0
PsActiveProcessHead. .0x801462c8
MachineImageType . . .i386
NumberProcessors . . .1
BugCheckCode . . . . .0xc000021a
BugCheckParameter1 . .0xe131d948
BugCheckParameter2 . .0x00000000
BugCheckParameter3 . .0x00000000
BugCheckParameter4 . .0x00000000

ExceptionCode. . . . .0x80000003
ExceptionFlags . . . .0x00000001
ExceptionAddress . . .0x80146e1c

NumberOfRuns . . . . .0x3
NumberOfPages. . . . .0x1f5e
Run #1
BasePage . . . . . .0x1
PageCount. . . . . .0x9e
Run #2
BasePage . . . . . .0x100
PageCount. . . . . .0xec0
Run #3
BasePage . . . . . .0x1000
PageCount. . . . . .0x1000

**************
**************--> Validating the integrity of the PsLoadedModuleList
**************

**************
**************--> Performing a complete check (^C to end)
**************
**************
**************--> Validating all physical addresses
**************
**************
**************--> Validating all virtual addresses
**************
**************
**************--> This dump file is good!
**************

If there is an error during any portion of the output, the dump file is corrupted and analysis cannot be performed. You can use this information to determine what kernel Stop error occurred and, to a certain extent, what version of Windows was in use.

Windows XP Recovery Console Commands

2008-03-28T04:20:00.001-07:00

The following list describes the available commands for the Recovery Console:
• Attrib changes attributes on one file or subdirectory.
• Batch executes commands that you specify in the text file, Inputfile. Outputfile holds the output of the commands. If you omit the Outputfile parameter, output appears on the screen.
• Bootcfg modifies the Boot.ini file for boot configuration and recovery.
• CD (Chdir) operates only in the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources.
• Chkdsk The /p switch runs Chkdsk even if the drive is not flagged as dirty. The /r switch locates bad sectors and recovers readable information. This switch implies /p. Chkdsk requires Autochk. Chkdsk automatically looks for Autochk.exe in the startup folder. If Chkdsk cannot find the file in the startup folder, it looks for the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM. If Chkdsk cannot find the installation CD-ROM, Chkdsk prompts the user for the location of Autochk.exe.
• Cls clears the screen.
• Copy copies one file to a target location. By default, the target cannot be removable media, and you cannot use wildcard characters. Copying a compressed file from the Windows 2000 Setup CD-ROM automatically decompresses the file.
• Del (Delete) deletes one file. Operates within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources. By default, you cannot use wildcard characters.
• Dir displays a list of all files, including hidden and system files.
• Disable disables a Windows system service or driver. The variable service_or_driver is the name of the service or driver that you want to disable. When you use this command to disable a service, the command displays the service's original startup type before it changes the type to SERVICE_DISABLED. Note the original startup type so that you can use the enable command to restart the service.
• Diskpart manages partitions on hard disk volumes. The /add option creates a new partition. The /delete option deletes an existing partition. The variable device is the device name for a new partition (such as \device\harddisk0). The variable drive is the drive letter for a partition that you are deleting (for example, D). Partition is the partition-based name for a partition that you are deleting, (for example: \device\harddisk0\partition1) and can be used instead of the drive variable. The variable size is the size, in megabytes, of a new partition.
• Enable enables a Windows system service or driver. The variable service_or_driver is the name of the service or driver that you want to enable, and start_type is the startup type for an enabled service. The startup type uses one of the following formats:

SERVICE_BOOT_START
SERVICE_SYSTEM_START
SERVICE_AUTO_START
SERVICE_DEMAND_START

• Exit quits the Recovery Console, and then restarts the computer.
• Expand expands a compressed file. The variable source is the file that you want to expand. By default, you cannot use wildcard characters. The variable destination is the directory for the new file. By default, the destination cannot be removable media and cannot be read-only. You can use the attrib command to remove the read-only attribute from the destination directory. The option /f:filespec is required if the source contains more than one file. This option permits wildcard characters. The /y switch disables the overwrite confirmation prompt. The /d switch specifies that the files will not be expanded and displays a directory of the files in the source.
• Fixboot writes a new startup sector on the system partition.
• Fixmbr repairs the startup partition's master boot code. The variable device is an optional name that specifies the device that requires a new Master Boot Record. Omit this variable when the target is the startup device.
• Format formats a disk. The /q switch performs a quick format. The /fs switch specifies the file system.
• Help If you do not use the command variable to specify a command, help lists all the commands that the Recovery Console supports.
• Listsvc displays all available services and drivers on the computer.
• Logon displays detected installations of Windows and requests the local Administrator password for those installations. Use this command to move to another installation or subdirectory.
• Map displays currently active device mappings. Include the arc option to specify the use of Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) paths (the format for Boot.ini) instead of Windows device paths.
• MD (Mkdir) operates only within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources.
• More/Type displays the specified text file on screen.
• Rd (Rmdir) operates only within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources.
• Ren (Rename) operates only within the system directories of the current Windows installation, removable media, the root directory of any hard disk partition, or the local installation sources. You cannot specify a new drive or path as the target.
• Set displays and sets the Recovery Console environment variables.
• Systemroot sets the current directory to %SystemRoot%.

Recovery Console rules
Several environment rules are in effect while you are working in the Recovery Console. Type set to see the current environment. By default, these are the rules:
• AllowAllPaths = FALSE prevents access to directories and subdirectories outside the system installation that you selected when you entered the Recovery Console.
• AllowRemovableMedia = FALSE prevents access to removable media as a target for copied files.
• AllowWildCards = FALSE prevents wildcard support for commands such as copy and del.
• NoCopyPrompt = FALSE means that you are prompted by the Recovery Console for confirmation when overwriting an existing file.

How to use the Recovery Console in Windows XP

2008-03-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

How to install the Recovery Console
You can install the Recovery Console on your computer to make it available if you cannot restart Windows. You can then select the Recovery Console option from the list of available operating systems during startup. Install the Recovery Console on important servers and on the workstations of IT personnel. This article describes how to install the Recovery Console to your Microsoft Windows XP-based computer. To install the Recovery Console, you must be logged on as an administrator.

Although you can run the Recovery Console by starting directly from the Windows XP CD, it is generally more convenient to set it up as a startup option on your startup menu. To run the Recover Console directly from the CD, see the "How to use the Recovery Console" section.

To install the Recovery Console, follow these steps:
1. Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type d:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons where d is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive.
4. A Windows Setup Dialog Box appears. The Windows Setup Dialog Box describes the Recovery Console option. To confirm the installation, click Yes.
5. Restart the computer. The next time that you start your computer, "Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" appears on the startup menu.
Alternatively, you can use a Universal Naming Convention (UNC)-established connection to install the Recovery Console from a network share point.

Note: You may receive an error message that is similar the following:
Setup cannot continue because the version of Windows on your computer is newer than the version on the CD.

How to use the Recovery Console
You can enable and disable services, format drives, read and write data on a local drive (including drives that are formatted to use the NTFS file system), and perform many other administrative tasks. The Recovery Console is particularly useful if you have to repair your computer by copying a file from a disk or CD-ROM to your hard disk, or if you have to reconfigure a service that is preventing your computer from starting correctly.

If you cannot start your computer, you can run the Recovery Console from the Microsoft Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD-ROM. This article describes how to perform this task.

After Windows XP is installed on your computer, to start the computer and use the Recovery Console you require the Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD-ROM.

To run the Recovery Console from the Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD-ROM, follow these steps:
1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.

Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted.
2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the Recovery Console.
4. When you are prompted, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
5. At the command prompt, type the appropriate commands to diagnose and repair your Windows XP installation.

For a list of commands that are available in Recovery Console, type recovery console commands or help at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.

For information about a specific command, type help commandname at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.
6. To exit the Recovery Console and restart the computer, type exit at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.

How to use the Recovery Console command prompt
When you use the Recovery Console, you are working at a special command prompt instead of the ordinary Windows command prompt. The Recovery Console has its own command interpreter. To enter this command interpreter, you are prompted by Recovery Console to type the local Administrator password.

When the Recovery Console starts, you can press F6 to install a third-party SCSI or RAID driver, in case you need such a driver to access the hard disk. This prompt works the same as it does during installation of the operating system.

The Recovery Console takes several seconds to start. When the Recovery Console menu appears, a numbered list of the Windows installations on the computer appears. (Generally, only c:\Windows exists.) Press a number before you press ENTER, even when only one entry appears. If you press ENTER without selecting a number, the computer restarts and begins the process again.

When you see the prompt for %SystemRoot% (generally C:\Windows), you can start using the available commands for the Recovery Console.

infoX-SMS: Supporting SMPP 3.4

2008-01-13T23:38:00.000-08:00

Supporting SMPP 3.4

The SMS system is compatible with SMPP 3.4 interface protocol. Table 1 shows commands of the SMPP 3.4 protocol supported by the SMS system. Table 2 shows TLV of the SMPP 3.4 supported by the SMS system.

Table 1 Commands of the SMPP 3.4 protocol supported by the SMS system

Command	Description
BIND_RECEIVER	Applies to connect with the SMS system
BIND_TRANSMITTER	Applies to connect with the SMS system
BIND_TRANSCEIVER	Applies to connect with the SMS system
QUERY_SM	Queries SMs
SUBMIT_SM	Submits SMs
DELIVER_SM	Sends SMs
REPLACE_SM Replaces	SMs
CANCEL_SM	Deletes a CBSM
OUTBIND	Applies the SME to enable links to receive SMs
ENQUIRE_LINK Handshake
SUBMIT_MULTI	Delivers SMs
ALERT_NOTIFICATION	Status report messages
DATA_SM	Submits SMs

Table 2 TLV supported by the SMS system

Tag	Value	Wireless Network Technology
payload_type	0x0019	Generic
additional_status_info_text	0x001D	Generic
ms_msg_wait_facilities	0x0030	GSM
user_message_reference	0x0204	Generic
source_port	0x020A	Generic
destination_port	0x020B	Generic
sar_msg_ref_num	0x020C	Generic
sar_total_segments	0x020E	Generic
sar_segment_seqnum	0x020F	Generic
SC_interface_version	0x0210	Generic
dpf_result	0x0420	Generic
set_dpf	0x0421	Generic
ms_availability_status	0x0422	Generic
network_error_code	0x0423	Generic
message_payload	0x0424	Generic
delivery_failure_reason	0x0425	Generic
more_messages_to_send	0x0426	GSM

infoX-SMS: Supporting SMPP 3.3

2008-01-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

Supporting SMPP 3.3

The SMS system is compatible with the SMPP 3.3 interface protocol. Table 3-3 shows
commands of the SMPP 3.3 protocol supported by the SMS system.

SMPP 3.3 protocol supported by the SMS system

Command	Description
BIND_RECEIVER_SM	Applies to connect with the SMS system
SUBMIT_SM	Submits SMs
DELIVER_SM	Sends SMs
QUERY_SM	Queries SMs
CANCEL_SM Deletes SMs
REPLACE_SM Replaces	SMs
REPLACE_SM_EX	Replaces SM extensions
QUERY_SMS	Queries SMs
QUERY_SM_DETAILS	Queries the details of special SMs
ADD_SUB	Adds users
DEL_SUB	Deletes users
MOD_SUB	Modifies users
ENQUIRE_SUB	Queries subscriber Information
ENQUIRE_LINK Handshake	Messages

infoX-SMS: IRDB, SMs Without Calling Number

2008-01-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

IRDB

The SMS system supports the IRDB service. The IRDB service provides the
refreshment service of operator list for roaming TDMA MSs. An IRDB delivery tool is
installed together with the SMS system. The delivery tool loads IRDB information list
from files and then sends the messages to the TDMA MSs as the flow specified by
EIA/TIA 136-730.

Note:
This function is applied in the TDMA network only and is applied in the current
network.

Supporting UCP 4.0

Connecting with the UCPGateWay, the SMS system processes ESME messages
which support the UCP protocol in the X.25 network or TCP network. The SMPP 3.4
protocol is adopted between the UPT and SMSC, and the UCP 4.0 protocol is
adopted between the UCPGateWay and ESME. The protocol contains the following
commands:

Session management: sending connection request SMs
Multiple address call input: sending SMs in batches
Submit Short Message: submitting SMs
Delivery Short Message: sending SMs
Delivery notification: status notification SMs
Modify Short Message: replacing SMs
Inquiry message: querying SMs
Delete message: deleting SMs
MT alert: status notification SMs

SMs Without Calling Number

Some devices do not carry a calling number when submitting the submit_sm
message through the SMPP interface. The SMS system can process the SM by
adding a called number according to the configuration.

Time Zone Features

The SMS system can process information of different time zones.

The SMS system can deliver SMs with time zone information, which guarantees that the time information in the SMs received by roaming subscribers is correct.
The SMS system can process MO SMs with time zone information.

infoX-SMS: Messages of the WAP Service

2008-01-13T21:43:00.000-08:00

PUSH Messages of the WAP Service

The SMS system supports PUSH messages of the WAP service. The MS has a very
strict limit for the content of WAP PUSH messages. The value of
SMS_TELESERVICEID (a parameter of the MAP layer in the CDMA network, which
is used to identify special SM services) varies with different WAP services. The SP
identifies the service type of the PUSH message through the ServiceType parameter
in the SMPP message. The SMS system can flexibly convert ServiceType into
SMS_TELESERVICEID needed by the MS, and code the SM content. Then the MS
can receive the SM. The push flow of the WAP service is thus implemented.

Note:
This service is only supported in the CDMA network.

PUSH Messages in the MMS Service

The SMS system supports PUSH messages in the MMS service. The PUSH messages in the MMS service of the CDMA network conforms to the WDP259 protocol. The SMS system adds a special message head before the SM content and then delivers it to the MS. The value of SMS_TELESERVICEID is specially set for the PUSH messages in the MMS service. The SMS system converts ServiceType at the SMPP interface into SMS_TELESERVICEID needed by the MS, and codes the SM content. Then the MS can receive the SM. The push flow of the MMS service is thus implemented.

Note:
This function is only supported in the CDMA network. In the GSM network, the PUSH
messages in the MMS service are transferred transparently by the SMS system.

PRL Function

The SMS system supports the preferred roaming list (PRL) service. The PRL service provides the refreshment service of operators for roaming CDMA MSs. A PRL delivery
tool is used together with the SMS system. The delivery tool loads PRL information list from files and then sends the messages to the CDMA MSs as the flow specified by
ANSI IS683.

Note:
This function is applied in the CDMA network only and is applied in the current
network.

infoX-SMS: Distinguishing Subscriber Network Attributes

2008-01-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

Distinguishing Subscriber Network Attributes According to Different Number Segments

The SMS system supports number heads for the GSM, CDMA, and TDMA networks.
If the subscriber belongs to the non-target network (Subscriber attributes can be
distinguished by number segment), the SMS system distinguishes the subscriber
network type according to the configured number head of the subscriber, and adopts
corresponding scheduling strategy and coding scheme for the successful delivery of
the SM. For detailed scheduling strategy, refer to section Multidimensional Intelligent Scheduling.”

NP Function

The SMS system supports the NP function. For subscribers in the target network, the
system cannot distinguish from GSM subscribers, CDMA subscribers, and TDMA
subscribers, as well as subscribers of the local operator from those of other operators Because the subscriber can transfer between operators without changing its
MSISDN). The SMS system provides registration function for subscribers. The
attributes of registered subscribers contain information on subscriber network type,
which helps the SMS system distinguish from the GSM subscribers, CDMA subscribers, and TDMA subscribers. For unregistered subscribers, the SMS system regards them as the subscribers of other operators. The SMS system adopts different scheduling strategies and scheming codes according to the network types of subscribers for the successful delivery of the SMs. For subscribers belong to other operators, the SMS system forcibly forwards the SMs to a certain account, which is usually connected with another interworking gateway (not an infoX-SMS GW). The gateway then forwards the SMs to SMS systems of other operators. Meanwhile, the SMS system provides realtime registration interface, which is used to refresh subscriber information in the database.

Note:
Being different from the NP function of the SMS system for the GSM network, the SMS system for the CDMA, GSM and TDMA networks is connected with the NP Server. Instead, it distinguishes the subscriber attributes according to subscriber information in the subscriber list, and forcibly forwards SMs which are sent to subscribers of other operators to the interworking gateway. This function is applied in the current SMS system.

infoX-SMS: System Functions and Implementation

2008-01-12T04:12:00.000-08:00

Delivery of Long SMs

The following lists the lengths of ordinary SMs when different coding schemes are
adopted:

Unicode coding: 70 characters
8-bit coding: 140 characters
7-bit coding: 160 characters

The SMs with the length larger than the maximum length are defined as long SMs.
When the MS and the SMS G/IW MSC support Phase 2, the SMS system supports
the delivery of the long SMs which can be 35,700 bytes long at most (the SM length
after coding includes the additional information).
After receiving long SMs, the infoX-SMS system segments them to several packets
and sends them to subscribers.

Note:
To enable the GSM network to forward long SMs, the MS and the radio network must
support the PHASE2 protocol.

Delivery of SMs to Multiple Destinations

The SMS system supports the sending of an SM to multiple destinations.
1) The ESME submits a Submit_multi message to the infoX-SMS system through
the SMPP 3.4 interface.
2) After receiving the Submit_multi message, the infoX-SMS system creates SMs
according to the attributes of the Submit_multi message (SM content, number of
destination addresses, and destination address list). The system creates one SM
for each destination address.
3) The infoX-SMS system delivers the SMs according to the system scheduling
strategies.

Delivery of Multiple SMs to a Destination

When the network supports Phase 2, the SMS system can deliver multiple SMs to a
subscriber simultaneously (in this case, the GMSC obtains the routing information
from the HLR only once, and the session with the MSC is maintained during the
delivery). In this way, the load of the SS7 network can be greatly alleviated.

Note:
To enable the GSM network to forward multiple SMs, the MS and the radio network
must support PHASE2.

When the infoX-SMS system delivers multiple SMs to one subscriber, the GMSC
obtains routing information from the HLR only once, and the SMS system keeps
interacting with the MSC until the SMs are successfully sent or a fault occurs.

Virtual SMC Authentication

When an MS submits an SM to the SMS system, the SMS system judges whether the
SMS system address of the SM is the virtual address of the SMS system and decides
whether the subscriber can use the SM services provided by the SMS system. If a
subscriber who is not in the service range of the SMS system submits an SM to the
SMS system, the SMS system rejects the SM.

Universal Flow of Authentication and Number Conversion

The SMS system supports the universal flow of authentication and number
conversion. That is, subscribers can set suitable rules, authentication and number
conversion data, and customize proper policies of authentication and number
conversion as required.

I. Number conversion flow

The SMS system has three number conversion points: Before NP, Before SCP and
Before Deliver. These four points are distributed in the following MO flow and MT flow:
Before NP: converts the number before querying the attribute of NP.
Before SCP: converts the number before querying the attribute of the subscriber.
Before Deliver: converts the number by the end of MT process.
Change Deliver: converts the number when SM is delivering.

Number conversion in the change deliver point is effective to ordinary SMs and status
reports.

At each point, the rule of number conversion can be configured as Not Convert
Number, Number Head Conversion and Number Tail Conversion. The number
conversion strategies are configurable, thus meeting the requirements of related
service flows.
The number conversion at each point includes the number conversion according to
accounts and SMC addresses. The number conversion according to accounts
precedes the number conversion according to SMC addresses. The relationship
between the two types can be configured.
Number conversion according to accounts: converting numbers according to the
account name; numbers to be converted; the attribute of the calling or called
number; PID value, TON value and NPI value of the number before conversion;
and number conversion policies. The converted number is used for routing.

Number conversion according to SMC addresses: converting numbers
according to the SMC address; numbers to be converted; the attribute of the
calling or called number; PID value, TON value and NPI value of the number
before number conversion; and number conversion policies. The converted
number is used for routing.

II. Authentication flow

The SMS system authenticates the calling or called SMs after all number conversions
are finished. It checks whether the calling or called parties are valid subscribers and
decides whether to provide SM services for them.
The SMS system supports blacklist authentication and whitelist authentication.

Blacklist authentication: If a number is not in the configured authentication data,
it passes the authentication. If the number is in the configured authentication
data, it is authenticated according to the found authentication data.

Whitelist authentication: If a number is not in the configured authentication data,
it fails the authentication. If the number is in the configured authentication data, it is authenticated according to the found authentication data.

Virtual SMC

The SMS system supports virtual SMC. One SMS system can provide SMS for 16
local mobile networks. The SMS system can configure multiple SMC numbers. Each
SMC number is corresponding to a local mobile network. The physical SMS system
entity occupies multiple logical SMC numbers, and the specific numbers are subject
to the actual situation of the local network.

Note:
Currently, only the GSM part of the SMS system supports the virtual SMC function.

Huawei infoX-SMC System Description: System Functions and Implementation

2008-01-12T02:23:00.000-08:00

System Functions and Implementation

This chapter introduces the scheduling processing functions of the SMSC, as well as
the basic service functions, system management functions, and system maintenance
functions of the infoX-SMS system.
Reading this chapter enables you to get an understanding of the functions and
features of the infoX-SMS system.

Basic Service Supporting Functions

The basic service supporting functions support the basic services of the infoX-SMS
system. This chapter covers the basic service supporting functions.

SM Submission

The infoX-SMS system supports the submission of SMs by mobile subscribers and
ESMEs.

After an SM is submitted to the SMS system and is confirmed as valid, it is inserted into the short message queue and an acknowledgment message is sent back to the originator.
If the SM is invalid or cannot be processed by the SMS system temporarily, the SMS system sends to the originator a message indicating submission failure.

SM Delivery

When the infoX-SMS system runs in the SMC mode, it delivers SMs submitted to it.
The SMS system automatically adjusts the delivery frequency according to the
number of SMs waiting to be delivered, regularly takes out the SM that must be
delivered, and ensures that only one SM is sent to one MS at one time.

If the SM is successfully delivered, it is moved to the historical information database for query and bill statistics.
If the SM fails to be delivered, the SMSC adopts specific scheduling strategy and performs subsequent scheduling on the SM according to the error code returned and the current scheduling mode of the SMSC.
If the SM has not been delivered successfully yet after its life cycle ends, it is moved to the historical information database with the failure cause recorded.

SM Delivery in the FDA Mode

When the infoX-SMS system runs in the FDA mode, it attempts to deliver SMs
submitted to it only for one time.

When the SMS system runs in the FDA mode, the system forwards the SM to the
SMS system with the function of storing SMs:
- The SM is submitted to the FDA,
- The first delivery of the SM fails, and
- The scheduling strategy of the SM is Forward.
Compared with the SMPP 3.4, two TLVs are added to the interface protocol used for
forwarding SMs. One is used for carrying the SM ID, and the other is used for carrying
the relevant account.

Status Report

The subscriber can obtain the status of an SM he or she sends through the report
returned by the system.
The infoX-SMS system generates status report according to the configuration
(whether status report is needed), and notifies the subscriber of the submission result
of the SM.

The message status includes the following:

Forwarding notification (forwarding success)
Forwarding failure notification (permanent failure)

In addition, the MS can select the requirement for the enhanced status report. The
SMS System returns an SM indicating the SM transfer status to the MS. The contents
of the enhanced status report are editable.

Information Security Authentication

The information security authentication means filtering the SMs submitted to the SMS
system in real time for information security and refusing those SMs not satisfying the
requirements.
1) After receiving an SM, the infoX-SMS system forwards it to the information
security module.
2) The information security module authenticates the SM, for example, it checks
whether the SM contains sensitive words or whether it is a junk SM, and then
returns the authentication result to the infoX-SMS system.
3) The infoX-SMS system processes the SM if it passes the authentication.
Otherwise, it rejects the SM.

Authentication and Charging

The SMS system supports the authentication of PPS service subscribers and Mobile
Virtual Private Network (MVPN) service subscribers.

When a PPS subscriber sends or receives an SM, the infoX-SMS system sends the information of the PPS subscriber to the IN SCP for authentication and charging according to the PPS routing information. The infoX-SMS system supports roaming charging of PPS subscribers. Whenthe SMS system performs PPS authentication and fee deduction on a PPS subscriber who sends or receives an SM, it sends the authentication message with the MOMSC address to the SCP. The SCP determines the charging rate of an SM according to the MOMSC address (the SCP checks whether the MOMSC address indicates a local MSC), and charges roaming PPS subscribers and non-roaming PPS subscribers differently. The PPS roaming charging supports charging rollback.
MVPN is a special mobile virtual private network, and allows VPN subscribers to send and receive SMs using short numbers. When processing this type of SMs, the SMS system needs to convert the short number to the actual MSISDN, therefore, it needs to obtain the actual MSISDN corresponding to the short number from the IN network.

The authentication mode and route for the number segments of the local PPS service
and local MVPN service should be flexibly set according to the actual requirements.

Multiple Coding Schemes

The infoX-SMS system supports multiple coding schemes, thus supporting multiple
languages.

I. GSM coding schemes that the system supports

7-bit compressed coding
8-bit coding
Unicode coding (16bit)

II. CDMA coding schemes that the system supports

The system supports the following five coding schemes of the CDMA network: 00000,
00010, 00011, 00100, and 01001.

Coding schemes that the TDMA network defines.

CHARi Encoding Type	MSG_ENCODING Field	Length of CHARi (bits)
Octet,unspecified	00000	8
Extended Protocol Message [21]	00001	(see iv)
7-bit ASCII [25]	00010	7
IA5 (Table 11 OF [31])	00011	7
UNICODE [29]i	00100	16
Shift-JIS [30]ii	00101	8 or 16
Korean [33]iii	00110	8 or 16
Latain/Hebrew [28]	00111	8
Latain [27]	01000	8
GSM 7-bit default alphabet [37]	01001	7

III. TDMA coding schemes that the system supports

The system supports the following three coding schemes of the TDMA network:
00001, 00010, and 00100.

Coding schemes that the TDMA network defines.

Value	Function
00001	IRA
00010	User specific
00011	Latain 1, as specified in ISO-8859-1
00100	BMP, as specified in ISO-10646
00101	Hebrew, as specified in ISO-8859-8

Number Conversion According to the Fields of TON, NPI, ADDRESS and PID

The SMC supports the following number conversion points: beforeNP, beforeSCP,
beforeDeliver, OnDeliverG, OnDeliverCT, OnAlertSCG, and OnAlertSCCT. At each
number conversion point, the number conversion strategies are configurable. This
meets the requirements of related service flows.
At each number conversion point, the system converts the calling and called numbers
according to their attributes, including the PID before number conversion, TON before
number conversion, NPI before number conversion, referential number and number
conversion strategies. The converted number is used for routing and delivering SMs.

SM Filter Service of the Called Party

Subscribers can set a filtration list, for example, SPs of advertisement or some
MSISDNs, and no-interruption period through website, thus realizing the SM filtration
and the no-interruption service.

Blacklist filter function. After receiving an SM, the SMS system first checks whether the called party has subscribed to the blacklist filter service. If yes, the SMS system then checks whether the calling party is in the blacklist of the called party. If yes, the SMS system filters the SM and does not send the SM to the called party.
No interruption function. After receiving an SM, the SMS system first checks whether the called party has subscribed to the no-interruption service. If yes, the SMS system checks whether the current time is within the no-interruption period set by the subscriber. If yes,the SMS system stores the SM and delivers the SM to the called party when theno-interruption period ends.

Authenticating Subscribers

For MO service, the SMSC conducts calling and called number authentications.
There are two types of authentication: subscriber authentication and number segment
authentication.

Subscriber authentication. According to all the SMs submitted from an interface, the system checks whether the calling party or the called party is a registered subscriber of the SMSC. If not, the SM is rejected.
Number segment authentication. According to all the SMs submitted from an interface, the system checks whether the calling party or the called party meets the authentication requirements of the number segment defined in the account attributes or SMC address.

For details of number authentication, refer to section "Universal Flow of Authentication and Number Conversion."

The following shows the authentication flow of the SMs submitted by the
CDMA/TDMA subscribers (Number segments of the CDMA/TDMA subscribers are
configurable):
Calling number authentication:
If the calling number is registered in the local SMS system, it passes the
authentication. The system processes the SM as the one submitted by the local
subscriber.

If the calling number is not registered, the system authenticates the SM
according to the authentication data corresponding to the gateway accounts for
the CDMA or TDMA network or that corresponding to the virtual SMC address for
the CDMA/TDMA networks. If it passes the authentication, the system processes
the SM as the one submitted by the local subscriber. Otherwise, the system
regards that the SM is forwarded from another SMS system. If it is configured in
the SMS system that calling number authentication is conducted on the
forwarded SM, the system checks the calling number of the SM in the home SMS
system list. If the number is found in the list, it is an authorized forwarded SM.
Otherwise, the SM is rejected.

Called number authentication:
The system first checks the called number in the home SMS system list. If the
called number is found in the list, it indicates that the called party belongs to
another SMS system. The SM is then forwarded according to the forwarding
mode configured in the table.

If the called number is not found in the list, it is authenticated in the local SMS
system. If the called number is registered in the local SMS system, it passes the
authentication, and the system processes the SM as the one delivered to the
local subscriber. If the called number is not registered in the local SMS system and it is a subscriber in the CDMA/TDMA networks, the system checks whether
the called number is a local number by referring to the calling authentication
number segment corresponding to the CDMA/TDMA gateway accounts or virtual
SMC address. If yes, the SM is delivered directly. If no, the SM is forwarded. If
the called number is the GSM subscriber, called number authentication is
conducted according to the authentication data corresponding to gateway
accounts for the CDMA/TDMA networks or that corresponding to virtual SMC
address. If the called number does not pass the authentication, the SM is
rejected.

Huawei infoX-SMC System Description: SMS System Architecture

2008-01-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

SMS System Architecture

The SMS system is designed with the modularized concept. This system can be
divided into several parts according to different functional categories, which can be
selected during the construction of the system depending on the actual needs so as to
provide services of different levels.

Signaling Gateway

The TELLIN-USAU can be used as the SG of the SMS system. The TELLIN-USAU is
located between the signaling network and the internal processing module of the SMS
system. As the SG, the TELLIN-USAU implements the signaling interaction between
the SMS system and the MSC and the HLR, and accomplishes signaling access and
conversion necessary for the information interaction between the MS and the SMS
system.

MTI Server

The MTI Server is the interface layer between the MAP layer and the TCAP layer in
the signaling system number 7 (SS7). The main functions are as follows:
Processing the conversion between signaling at the TCAP layer and that at the
MAP layer
Processing basic dialogs processes, including dialog creation, release, and
maintenance, at the MAP layer
Distributing signaling at the MAP layer among the application modules, including
the MAP Server, USSD Gateway and so on, of the MAP layer
Connecting the application modules at the MAP layer, and distributing messages
according to the AC_NAME and SSN of messages
As the server, the MTI Server connects the MAP Server, USSD Gateway, and the
signaling access gateway.
When receiving the MAP dialog request at the TCAP layer from the wireless network,
the MTI Server sends the request to the corresponding MAP processing module. For
dialog requests initiated from the modules of the MAP layer, the MTI Server distributes them to the corresponding signaling access gateway according to a
proportion.

GSM MAP Server

The GSM MAP Server is the GSM G/IW gateway of the SMS system. It processes the
MAP signaling of the SMS system, converts the MAP signaling into the message of
internal format, and then forwards it to SMSC.
The GSM MAP Server connects with the MTI Server as the client, processing the
MAP signaling. Meanwhile, the GSM MAP Server connects with the SMSC as the
server, implementing the conversion between the MAP signaling and the message of
internal format.
Functions of the GSM MAP Server are as follows:

Supporting multiple-module processing
Supporting Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 2+ SM signaling
Supporting the identification of MAP session version in the GSM network
Implementing the signaling flow of submitting SMs from GSM MSs, and transferring the submitted SMs to the SMSC
Implementing the signaling flow of delivering SMs from the GSM SMS system, and returning the delivery results to the SMSC
Implementing the ALERT_SC signaling flow from the HLR to the SMS system, and sending the corresponding information to the SMSC
Supporting the function of sending multiple SMs so as to improve the network efficiency
Version number of MAP signaling being configurable
Monitoring the running status of the system
Monitoring resources of the MAP Server
Providing the function of querying the location of an MS
Monitoring the message exchange between the MAP Server and SMS system, MTI Server and MAP Server
Supporting 2M signaling link
Supporting SIGTRAN signaling
Signaling the feature of multiple signaling points
Supporting obtaining delivery routes from different HLRs according to different number segments
Receiving SRI messages and Forward MT messages by simulating HLR and MSC
Supporting SM interception
Supporting networking of multiple MAP Servers, and message distribution by percentage, by calling number segment, and by the ending digits of the called number
Supporting testing the normal running of the SMS system in the networking of multiple MAP Servers

CDMA MAP Server

The CDMA MAP Server is a part of the SMS system. It converts the signaling between
layers TCAP and CDMA MAP, and converts CDMA MAP signaling into messages of
the internal format and forwards them to the SMSC. The CDMA MAP Server, as a
client, connects with the CTI Server directly; or as the server, connects with the USAU
directly; and as the superior level of the signaling access gateway, processes the
CDMA MAP signaling. At the same time, the CDMA MAP Server, as the server, is
connected with the SMSC, implementing the conversion between the CDMA MAP
signaling and messages of the internal format.
Functions of the CDMA MAP Server are as follows:

Supporting SM signaling in the CDMA network.
Supporting the signaling flow of CDMA MSs submitting SMs to the MAP Server, and forwarding the submitted SMs to the SMSC.
Supporting the signaling flow of the SMSC delivering SMs in the CDMA network to the MAP Server, and returning delivery results to the SMSC.
Supporting the signaling flow the HLR sending the Alert_SC message to the SMSC, and supporting sending the message to the SMSC.
Supporting the message forwarding flow among SMS systems for the CDMA network. Supporting delivering multiple SMs in batches to increase the network efficiency.
Supporting monitoring the running status of the system.
Supporting monitoring the resources of the CDMA MAP Server.
Supporting to query the MS location.
Supporting monitoring the message exchange between the MAP Server and the SMSC, and between the MTI Server and the MAP Server.
Supporting 2M signaling link.
Supporting the SIGTRAN signaling.
Supporting multiple signaling points (SPs).

SMSC

The SMSC is responsible for scheduling, storing and forwarding SMs in the SMS
system. Its basic functions include submission, delivery, and scheduling of SMs,
maintenance of SM subscriber data, subscriber authentication, system flow control,
management of external interfaces, generation of SM historical records, generation of
realtime SMS bills and provision of external standard interfaces (such as SMPP 3.3
and SMPP 3.4 interface). As the kernel module of the SMS system, the SMSC provides system interfaces for
the CDMA MAP Server, GSM MAP Server, manual station, automatic station, short
message information service station, and voice mail box.
The interface between the SMSC and the GSM MAP Server complies with the
protocol ETSI GSM 03.40 Version 4.8.1: European digital cellular
telecommunications system (Phase 2); Technical realization of the Short Message
Service (SMS) Point to Point (PP).
The interface between the SMSC and the CDMA MAP Server complies with the
protocol EIA/TIA IS637A protocol and the EIA/TIA IS637B.
The interfaces between the SMSC and the service systems such as manual station,
automatic station, short message information service station, and voice mail box
comply with the standard SMPP protocol.
The SMSC consists of five modules, SMCAPP, BillCreater, DBDaemon,
BackupDaemon, and L2CacheDaemon. The SMCAPP and other modules access
data of each other through memory sharing.

Their functions are as follows:

I. SMCAPP

The SMCAPP module is responsible for receiving, scheduling and delivering SMs,
managing all the SMEs connected to the SMS system and providing the interface for
the maintenance and test of the SMSC operation.

II. BILLCreater

The BILLCreater module is responsible for generating realtime SMS bills which are
used for the query and statistics by the charging system and report system.

III. DBDaemon

The DBDaemon module is responsible for backing up and restoring the memory data
in the SMSC, such as the management on subscriber data, historical data and
predefined SMs.

IV. BackupDaemon

The BackupDaemon module implements the backup and restoration of the memory
data in the SMSC. The BackupDaemon backs up SMs in the memory of SMCAPP in
real time. When the SMCAPP is restarted by ClusterMng after abnormal exist, it reads
back SMs from the BackupDaemon, recovering SMs during the abnormity of the
SMCAPP.
In the dual system mode, the BackupDaemon module has the functions of backing up
and restoring data of the active and standby hosts. The BackupDaemon of the
standby host backs up SMs from that of the active host, ensuring the consistency of
SM data in the memories of the active host and standby host. When switchover happens, the original standby host changes into the active host,
while the SMCAPP of the original standby host turns into the Master status.
Meanwhile, the SMCAPP of the current active host reads back messages from the
BackupDaemon, ensuring the consistency of SM data in the memories of the two
hosts.
At the startup of an SMS system, it first loads pre-defined SMs and subscriber
information into the memory of the SMSC through DBDaemon, and then recovers the
SMs from the BackupDaemon.

V. L2CacheDaemon

During the peak hour, some of the SMs are saved into the L2CacheDaemon.
Temporarily, these SMs are not scheduled in real time.
When the system load is lower, the SMCAPP, together with the L2CacheDaemon,
reads back the SMs into the memory of the SMSC for rescheduling.

Dual System Management Module

The dual system management module provides dual system management functions
for key system components, enhancing the system stability and security.

I. ClusterMng

ClusterMng is responsible for monitoring and maintaining specific application
modules of the SMS system, such as SMCAPP.

Dual system management in the AIX system Under the UNIX operating system, ClusterMng implements the dual system functions of the SMS system together with the HACMP management system of the IBM AIX system. HACMP manages and switches the floating IP address and vg. Meanwhile, HACMP of the active host is responsible for monitoring the running of Oracle processes and ClusterMng. If the active HACMP finds the network running is abnormal, or the Oracle and ClusterMng processes are abnormal and fail to be restarted, it conducts switchover automatically. The ClusterMng tries to start a module for many times if it finds that the module works abnormally. If the abnormity persists, it determines whether to conduct dual system switchover according to the configuration.
Dual system management in the Solaris system In the Solaris system, the ClusterMng implements the dual-system functions of the SMS system together with the SUN Cluster of the Solaris system. The SUN Cluster manages and switches the floating IP address, disk array, and Oracle. Meanwhile, the SUN Cluster of the active server is responsible for monitoring the running of the Oracle processes and ClusterMng. The ClusterMng takes the server where the floating IP is as the active server, and it monitors and maintains the running of specific application modules of the SMS System, such as the SMCAPP module. If the SUN Cluster on the active server finds the network running is abnormal, or the Oracle and ClusterMng processes are abnormal and fail to be restarted, the SUN Cluster conducts switchover automatically. The ClusterMng tries to start a module for many times if it finds that the module works abnormally. If the abnormity persists, it determines whether to conduct dual system switchover according to the configuration.
Dual system management in the Windows system Under the Windows operating system, ClusterMng and Serverselector accomplishes dual system functions of the SMS system. ClusterMng takes the server where the floating IP is as the active server, and it is responsible for monitoring and maintaining the running status of specific application modules of SMs, such as the running status of the SMCAPP module. The ClusterMng tries to start a module for many times if it finds that the module works abnormally. If the abnormity persists, it determines whether to conduct dual system switchover according to the configuration.
In the Windows operating system, the NTCluster is also adopted to perform dual system management, database monitoring, and dual system switchover.

II. FileMirror

According to the configuration, the FileMirror conducts the synchronization of the
configuration files of the dual system, ensuring the consistency of data at the active
and standby hosts. In this case, the data on the two hosts are consistent after the
switchover. Such configuration files as account files, route files, the configuration file
of the MAP Server, the configuration file of the MTI Server need synchronization.
The FileMirror can detect the change of configuration files on the active host, and
synchronize the file after change into the standby host, ensuring the data consistency
on the two nodes of the dual system. In this case, when switchover occurs, the
standby host is switched over to the active host, and the data configuration on it is
consistent with that of the original active host before the switchover.
Currently, the FileMirror supports only synchronization of a single file or that of files in the same directory.

FCC

FCC is the flow control center. As the kernel management control module of the SMS
system, the FCC can improve the flow distribution processing capacity of the system
and enhance its redundancy capability.
The FCC includes two types: local FCC and inter-office FCC. They can be
distinguished by configuration items. The inter-office FCC only applies to network SM networking mode and supports the connection to the local FCC. As the higher FCC of
the local FCC, the inter-office FCC provides the function of distributing flow to every
office by percentage. The local FCC can be connected to the MAP Server and the
SMSC. It provides functions of redundancy route, load distribution and license
floating.

I. Local FCC

The local FCC supports the connection to the MAP Server and the SMSC to
implement the following functions:

Redundancy route The FCC can function as a redundancy route between the MAP Server and the SMSC. When the MAP Server is disconnected from the SMSC or the SMSC indicates busy, the MAP Server can use the FCC as a redundancy route and send SMs to the FCC. The FCC then forwards the SMs to the destination SMSC. Taking the FCC as a redundant route, the SMSC sends SMs which are originally sent to this MAP Server to the FCC, which then forwards them to the destination MAPServer in one of the following cases:

- The SMSC is disconnected from the MAP Server.
- The MAP Server is not available.
- The MAP Server is heavy loaded.
- Abnormal connection between the MAP Server, MTI Server, and USAU

Load sharing. When the local FCC processes SMs from the MAP Server, the SMSC or other offices through the inter-office FCC, it can dynamically adjust the flow distribution through the internal flow distribution algorithm. The adjustment is based on the running and load status of each SMSC or MAP Server. Thus the local FCC can effectively balance the flow distribution of each SMSC or MAP Server. For SMs exceeding the current processing capability of the system, the local FCC follows the direction of the inter-office FCC. That is, it transfers some of the SMs to the inter-office FCC for processing while the others are still processed locally.
License floating The FCC can automatically adjust the running license of the SMS system according to the running condition of the system. The floating range is within the network license based on the total license of the system. Thus the total license of the whole system can be fully ensured. Software license с running license с (software license + network license). For example, there are three SMS systems. Each SMS system has 1200 software license and 500 network license. Therefore, each SMS system has 1200 initial running license and the system has 3600 license in total. In case an SMS system fails, the FCC automatically adjusts the license of the other two SMS systems to 1700.

Note:

Software license: license when the SMS system runs normally.
Network license: floatable license.
Running license: license used in practical running.
Hardware license: the maximum license when the SMS system is running. It is the sum of software license and network license.
License: refers to submission speed and delivery speed.

II. Inter-office FCC

The inter-office FCC applies to network SMs. It supports connection to the local FCC.
It can also automatically adjust the overload flow distribution in different offices
through the internal flow distribution algorithm. The adjustment is based on the flow
distribution proportion of distribution-connected offices and the current remaining
processing capability of the systems in different offices. Thus the normal running of
the systems can be ensured.
For example, office A shares the flow of office B and office C in the ratio of 1: 2.
Assume the remaining processing capability of office A is 600 MO SMs/s, the flow
need to be distributed in office B and office C is 500 MO SMs/s and 700 MO SMs/s
respectively. Then the flow actually distributed to office A is 200 MO SMs/s for office B
and 400 MO SMs/s for office C.

MT Module

The MT modules of the SMS system include the Maintenance and Test Server (MT
Server) and the Maintenance and Test Console (MT console), as shown in Figure 2-3.
Through them, you can perform the maintenance, management, and test operations
on the SMS system.

I. MT Server

The MT Server is an intermediate service layer for the interaction of the MT console
and the maintained modules. It has such functions as authentication, MT user
management, message distribution, and status monitoring.
The MT Server has the following features:

Running in the dual system mode with high stability and reliability
Supporting NM alarms.
Supporting report of alarms to the Alert Server through TCP/IP

The functions of the MT Server are as follows:

Implementing the authentication for maintenance and test.
Ensuring the connection with the service module.
Providing the message transmission between the service module and the MT console.
Providing the operations on the accounts of MT users.
Notifying the MT console of the connection status with the service module.
Notifying the service module of the abnormality in connection with the MT console.
Providing the interface with the iManager I2000 network management system (NMS).
Authenticating the IP addresses of the devices (such as the network management system, MT console, SMCAPP) that request for connection to the MT Server.
Monitoring and recording the MT operations implemented by MT subscribers for later query.

II. MT Console

The MT console is an indispensable part of the SMS system. As the maintenance
management terminal of the SMS system, it is responsible for the operation,
maintenance and management of the system. It is also the interface between the
whole system and subscribers, providing friendly graphical user interface (GUI) and
easy operations.
Subscribers can query the status, configure data, and performs monitoring and
tracing respectively on the SMSC, GSM MAP Server, CDMA MAP Server, and MTI
Server through the MT console.

CCM

The Customer Care Module (CCM) stores the value-added service attributes of
subscribers. Interacting with the SMSC, the CCM provides personalized SMSs such
as enhanced status reports, blacklist service, SM forwarding service, and signature
service of the calling and called parties. For example, when the SM delivery succeeds
or fails, the “CCM generates a personalized message to notify the VIP subscriber:
“The message you sent to subscriber 13500001234 at 14: 30 on March, 30th 2006 is
successfully sent to the receiver.”

Alert Server

As the local alert server of the SMS system, the Alert Server communicates with the
alarm source modules (such as SMCAPP) through the Inner Message of TCP/IP. It
receives alarms from alarm source modules and prompts alarms through the sound
box and audio/visual alarm console of the alarm subsystem.
The Alert Server receives alarms from each module of the SMS system. Then it
reports the alarms to the NMS through the MT Server.
On the Web operation platform of the Alert Server, you can query the historical alarms,
clear alarms, filter alarms, set validity period, and so on.

Information Security Monitoring System

The information security monitoring system obtains bills from the SMS system,
implements the analysis and statistics of the bill files, notifies relevant personnel of
questionable subscribers and SPs, gives alarms and records them into the database. Operators can, according to those data, restrict questionable subscribers (or SPs) to
normalize the SM-related behaviors of SM subscribers (or SPs).
For details of the information security monitoring system, refer to corresponding
Online Help.
Note:
Information security monitor differs from information security authentication.
Information security authentication means filtering SMs submitted to the SMS system
in real time for security regards and rejecting the SMs which do not meet
requirements. Information security monitor means monitoring and normalizing the
SM-related actions of subscribers or SPs through after-the-fact statistics.

Report Processing System

The SMS report system, through the statistics of the SM bills, outputs accurate and
visual statistics reports for subscribers, thus facilitating operators in the management
of the SMS system. The SMS report system consists of the pre-statistics system and
the report system.

The pre-statistics system is responsible for the resolution and statistics of

original bill records according to the user-defined rules. Then it generates the
statistics table, and writes the statistics table into the report database for the
report system and the network management.

The report system is responsible for generating, displaying and outputting SMS

reports. It takes the statistics table generated by the pre-statistics system from
the report database, and generates service reports using the user-defined
templates.
For specific contents of SMS reports, refer to Report System User Manual and
Prestatistics System User Manual

Network Management System

The HUAWEI iManager I2000 Intelligent network management system interacts with
the MT Server of the SMS system through MML, implementing the network monitor of
the SMS system. The iManager I2000 provides the following functions:

Topology management: The system reflects in topological views the configurations of SM equipments, the network architecture of the SMS system, and the topological connection between the SM equipments in the local network and that in other networks.
Configuration management: The system searches and selects configuration information related to the SM equipments within the local network, functional entities staying on the equipments and the online SMS services. When configuration information is changed, the network management system will obtain information about configuration changes and mark them. In addition, the system manages the automatic update of the information.
Fault (Alarm) management: In the network management system, the fault daemon receives in real time alarms of the SM equipments, such as the SMSC, MAP Server, MTI Server and MT server. The alarm foreground displays in real time the alarms.
Performance management: The SMSC performance management part provides such performance analyses as CPU occupation statistics, memory occupation statistics, hard-disk operation statistics, mobile termination (MT) failure statistics, mobile origination (MO) failure statistics, flow statistics, Service Report Table A statistics, Service Report Table B statistics and Service Report Table B statistics.
Security management: The system controls the network management user authority.

For specific contents of the network management, refer to iManager I2000 Intelligent
Network Management System User Manual.

Hardware Structure

Different hardware structures are adopted by the SMS system according to the
different SM service flows.

I. A Single SMS system installed together with the database

When the SM service flow and number of subscribers are small, a single dual system
serves as the hardware platform for the kernel programs and database of the SMS
system.

In this mode, all programs and database of the SMS system run on the two nodes of
the dual system. Subscriber data, historical SMs are stored on the shared disk array.
The active node of the dual system provides services externally.
When error occurs on the active node, ClusterMng notifies all programs of switchover.
The original standby node provides services externally, ensuring the normal running
of services.

II. A single SMS system installed separately with the database

When the SM service flow and number of subscribers are large, two dual systems are
adopted. One serves as the hardware platform for the kernel programs, and the other
as the hardware platform for database.

In this mode, all programs of the SMS system run on the two nodes of the dual system.
Bill data are stored in the shared array of the dual system. Database runs on the two
nodes of the dual system. Subscriber data, historical SMs are saved in the shared
disk array of the dual system. The active host provides services externally.
When error occurs on the active node, ClusterMng notifies all programs of switchover.
The original standby node provides services externally, ensuring the normal running
of services.

III. Multiple SMSCs with Multiple MAP Servers

When the SM service flow is large, the network of multiple MAP Servers is adopted.
For the GSM network in the mode of multiple MAP Servers, the GAM MAP Server and
MTI Server of each SMSC can be installed together with the SMSC or can be installed
independently. The GSM MAP Servers and MTI Servers of the multiple sets of SMS systems form a crossover network with the SMSC. The FCC conducts route
redundancy and flow distribution. For the CDMA network, the CDMA MAP Server and MTI Server of each SMSC can be installed together with the SMSC or can be installed independently. The CDMA MAP Servers and MTI Servers of the multiple sets of SMS systems form a crossover network with the SMSC. The FCC is installed independently on a minicomputer on dual system so that to realize hardware redundancy.

Huawei infoX-SMC System Description: System Overview

2008-01-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

This chapter describes the basic features of the infoX-SMS system. Taking the GSM
and CDMA networks for example, this chapter covers the position of the SMS system
in the mobile network, as well as the functions and compliant specifications of the
infoX-SMS system.
You can learn about the features of the SMS system through reading this chapter.

Basic Concepts

The infoX-SMS system is a service processing system independent of the mobile
network. It is responsible for submitting, storing, and forwarding short messages
(SMs). It implements the interconnection with such networks as the public switched
telephone network (PSTN), integrated services digital network (ISDN) and packet
switched public data network (PSPDN) so as to transfer SMs between extended short
message entities (ESMEs) and mobile stations (MSs).
The SMS system supports the SMC running mode and the FDA running mode. The
license decides which running mode is used in the SMS system. In the SMC running
mode, the SMS system stores and forwards the SMs. In the FDA running mode, the
SMS system does not store the SMs. Instead, the SMS system delivers the SM once
only. When a delivery fails, the system forwards the SM to the SMS system with the
function of storing SMs.
The basic services of the SMS system include:
Mobile originated (MO) messages
Mobile terminated (MT) messages
Access through SMPP 3.3 and SMPP 3.4
SMs encoded in Unicode
Alert notification service
SM signature service

System Overview

The SMS system:
Implements SM exchange between the GSM, TDMA and CDMA networks.
Communicates with the PSTN, ISDN, and PSPDN, so as to transmit SMs from
other short message entities (SMEs) such as the manual station and the
automatic station. It is responsible for the SM reception, scheduling, storing,
routing, backing up, forwarding, and delivering; implements the management on
the SMEs connected to the SMS system.

System Overview

Besides all the features of the version V300R001, the SMS system of this version is
applied to the CDMA, TDMA, and GSM networks, providing the SM exchange among
the CDMA, GSM and TDMA networks.

Functions of the SMS System

The functions of the SMS system are as follows:
Providing value-added services (VASs) and obtaining profits
As a basic telecom service of the mobile communication network, the SMS enables
subscribers to transmit information through SMs and obtain such useful information
as stock market, weather, sports and bank information, which greatly facilitates
subscribers in getting information and gets subscribers into a better and closer
relationship with operators. At the same time, operators can get direct revenue by
providing VASs based on the SMS service.
Improving quality of service (QoS)
Mobile subscribers have high requirements for timely information transfer. In many
cases such as channel busy, masking or network coverage problems, communication
is difficult and information cannot be exchanged. With the SMS system, subscribers
can get information at the earliest time and smooth information transmission is
ensured.
Improving connectivity and reducing congestion of the mobile network
According to statistics, over 30% of calls or faxes cannot be charged due to busy line
or no reply, resulting in the waste of network resources. As a solution to this problem,
the SMS system can connect incoming calls manually or automatically and record the
information subscribers want to transmit, thus dredging the network. In addition, the
SMS system can reduce false load which is caused by repetitive dialing to an MS
switched off, thus reducing network congestion.

System Features

I. High performance in handling signaling

The SMS system supports the TELLIN-USAU universal signaling access unit serving
as the signaling access gateway.
The TELLIN-USAU has the features as shown in Table 1-1.

Feature	Description
High performance in link accessing and handling	It provides powerful signaling handling capacity for the SMS system.
Open protocol interface	It adopts the standard protocol interface which meets various networking demands of operators with the SSP, IP, and STP.
High reliability	The high reliability rests on the hot backup of components, redundancy configuration, and excellent software protection, and error tolerance, support of the congestion control of signaling and system failure test or isolation. All these factors guarantee the signaling handling capacity of the system.
Modularized design and smooth expansion	The modularized superimposing structure is employed in hardware design. The expansion of processing frames in the mode of building blocks (frames are interconnected through LAN switch) meets increasing capacity requirements of subscribers.  The processing capability can meet the capacity expansion requirement. The busy hour call attempt (BHCA) of the USAU reaches 39,000,000, with sufficient space for service extension, can meet the incremental service requirements of subscribers. In addition, the system supports the online smooth capacity expansion which does not influence the service running of the existing modules.

Note:
TELLIN-USAU developed by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is used as:

the front end equipment for switching and accessing
the signaling processing equipment of the SMS system

II. Modularized design and smooth expansion

Adopting TELLIN-USAU, the signaling gateway (SG) supports 112 links of 2 Mbps
links or 1792 links of 64 Kbps. The infoX-SMS system adopts the modularized design
and networking SMS system mode. The system distributes SMs among multiple MAP
Servers and FCCs. Multiple SMS systems form a networking SMS system. SMs are
distributed dynamically among different SMS systems, thus enhancing the reliability
and fault tolerance of the whole system. The flexible networking mode enables you to
choose from multiple MAP Servers networking, FCC flow distribution networking, and
so on.

III. Complete integration of SMS services in the GSM, CDMA, and TDMA
networks

The TELLIN-USAU connects with signaling devices of the CDMA, TDMA, and GSM
networks at the same time, implementing the signaling access of SMs in the CDMA,
TDMA, and GSM networks, and thus processing and scheduling SMs in the three
networks uniformly. One set of the SMS system processes all the SM services of the
three networks uniformly. CDMA, TDMA, and GSM SMs of the same operator do not
need to be forwarded through another SMS system. Meanwhile, the SMS system can
process SMs of a single network by separating signaling processing units (SPUs). It
has the same functions as the Huawei-developed SMS system for the GSM, CDMA,
or TDMA network, but has more powerful processing capability.

IV. Flexible scheduling modes

The SMS system provides three scheduling modes for different services, which are
described in Table 1-2.

Table 1-2 Description of scheduling modes

Scheduling mode	Description
Store and Forward Message Mode	If an SM is delivered unsuccessfully, the short message scheduling center (SMSC) redelivers it until it is successfully delivered or it is time-out. The delivery interval depends on the error code returned from the NSS or the service system, and it can be set. The SM with high priority can be delivered first.
Datagram Message Mode	The SMSC returns the response message to the external entity as soon as it receives the SM submitted by the external entity. The SMSC delivers the SM only once regardless of the delivery result (success or failure). If the SMSC fails to deliver the SM due to flow control, however, the SMSC attempts to deliver it again.
Transaction Message Mode	The SMSC immediately delivers an SM submitted by the ESME, and returns the delivery result to the ESME in the response to the submission request.

V. Supporting MDEST

Description
If an SM is delivered unsuccessfully, the short message
scheduling center (SMSC) redelivers it until it is successfully
delivered or it is time-out. The delivery interval depends on
the error code returned from the NSS or the service system,
and it can be set. The SM with high priority can be delivered
first.
The SMSC returns the response message to the external
entity as soon as it receives the SM submitted by the external
entity.
The SMSC delivers the SM only once regardless of the
delivery result (success or failure). If the SMSC fails to deliver
the SM due to flow control, however, the SMSC attempts to
deliver it again.
The SMSC immediately delivers an SM submitted by the
ESME, and returns the delivery result to the ESME in the
response to the submission request. The SMS system supports the multidimensional enhanced schedule technology
(MDEST, short message Qos technology), which takes influences of different external
conditions on SM transmission into consideration on the basis of basic scheduling
mechanism. The feature parameters of the system environment, such as time,
message flux, system kernel parameters, are regarded as factors that can affect the
scheduling algorithm, and are taken into consideration of scheduling strategies. The
SMS System dynamically adjusts scheduling strategies according to these
parameters so as to provide different services for different subscribers.

VI. Supporting L2Cache processing

When the SMSC is busy, some SMs can be temporarily stored in the
L2CacheDaemon database, and they will not be scheduled in real time. When the system load becomes lower, the SMSC reads the stored SMs from the
L2CacheDaemon database to the memory of the SMSC so that the SMs can be
scheduled.
This method reduces the pressure of the busy SMSC, and improves the SM storing
capability of the SMS System, the success rate of the SM transmission and the
customer satisfaction rate.

Note:
When the system runs in the FDA mode, it does not support the L2Cache processing.

VII. Supporting threshold processing

When the rate of a parameter value in the system over the corresponding parameter
value in the License reaches the specified threshold, the system starts the threshold
processing. It reduces the current SMS system load by distributing flow and indicating
busy, ensuring the stability and security of the system and successful SM
transmission.

VIII. Powerful service processing capability

The service processing system is a LAN system. An ordinary hub or a switched hub
can be used for transmission of service data and voice data.
The stable and optimized database processing mechanism adopted by the SMS
system greatly improves the SM processing performance and capability.

IX. Quick and accurate report processing capability

The SMS report system makes statistics of SM bill records, and outputs accurate and
visual statistics reports. The operator thus can know various data of the SMS
operation so as to perform analysis and make decisions, greatly facilitating the
management on the SMS system by the operator.

X. Excellent function of bill statistics

Users can make statistics of flow information of specified SMs by configuring the
counter and statistic groups, and export the information to total traffic bills, service
traffic bills and delivery delay bills. It greatly helps to analyze various SM services.
The SMS system supports two types of bills: charging bill and statistic bill.
Charging bill
Charging bills include ordinary charging bills and CalledFee bills.
After the creation of charging bills, the BillServer obtains charging bills from the
charging bill directory periodically. And after some analysis, submits information of postpaid subscribers to the charging center for fee deduction. The information
in charging bills can satisfy various charging requirements.
Statistic bill
It includes nine types, namely, historical bill, MT bill, MO bill, Alert_SC bill,
performance bill, information security statistic bill, total traffic bill, service traffic
bill and delivery delay bill. These bills can be used by users to analyze the
running condition of the SMS system.

XI. Excellent adaptability to the telecom network

Huawei-developed SMS system can interconnect with the GSM and CDMA networks
of other suppliers, fully satisfying the subscribers' requirements. Meanwhile, the SMS
system can realize SM exchange between different operators through the infoX-SMS
GW, and realize the connection between the charging interfaces of the infoX-SMS
system and the IN of Siemens.

XII. Perfect functions of maintenance, test, management and alarm

The maintenance and test (MT) system of the SMS system provides the functions of
routine maintenance and test, including traffic measurement and recording, SM
processing times measurement, statistics of traffic congestion, quality of service and
performance and SMS test.
The management of performance, maintenance, configuration and reports can be
implemented through the SM manager. At the same time, the system has perfect
functions of system maintenance and test, fault detecting and solving.
For the system faults of switching equipment, database, computer network and host
software, hierarchical audible/visual located alarms can be provided through the
alarm box, and detailed alarm information can be provided.
The SMS system supports uniform remote maintenance and management through
the NMS. In addition, the SMS system provides the MT console which can conduct
maintenance and management on multiple SMS systems.

XIII. Comprehensive system security mechanism

The system's key components adopt the active/standby working mode. They can
conduct switchover automatically.
The system has perfect fault detecting and solving function.
The system is designed with independent functional modules, and the abnormity
inside a functional module cannot affect the normal running of other modules.
The system can implement realtime status tracing and monitoring, and the
operator responsible for system maintenance is informed in time through
audible/visual multimedia alarms, thus ensuring the normal running of the
system.
The system performs a strict syntax check on the input man-machine operation
command, rejects incorrect commands and returns prompts for errors.

The user accounts of the system are uniformly allocated by the system
administrator. Strict encryption and security measurements are taken on
accounts to prevent the access of invalid users.

The system supports network management and monitoring through the
iManager I2000 NMS.

infoX-SMS System in the Network

This section describes the architectures of the GSM, CDMA, and TDMA networks, as
well as the position and functions of the infoX-SMS system in the three networks.

System Architecture

The system architectures of the CDMA, TDMA, and GSM networks are quite similar.
Each of the three network systems is composed of the following four parts: network
subsystem (NSS), base station subsystem (BSS), operation and maintenance center
(OMC), and a great many mobile stations (MSs), as shown in Figure 1-1. There are
interfaces between various subsystems and functional entities within the subsystems.
The specifications in the CDMA, TDMA, and GSM networks stipulate standard
interfaces and communication protocols through which the functional entities can
implement communications coordinately. Adopting different interface specifications
and protocols, the three mobile networks are independent of each other.

In the mobile network, the NSS implements the switching function and database
function. The database function is necessary for subscriber data management,
mobility management and security management. The NSS includes the following
functional entities:
MSC
The MSC controls calls, manages the communication service of MSs within the local
network and with other networks (such as PSTN/ISDN/PSPDN, and other mobile
networks), and provides the charging information. Besides, in order to set up call
routes to MSs, the MSC can also function as the GMSC, that is, querying location
information of MSs.
VLR
The visitor location register (VLR) stores the relevant information of registered
subscribers in the control area, and provides the mobile subscribers with necessary
conditions for call connection. It can be regarded as a dynamic database.
HLR
The home location register (HLR) is the central database of a mobile network. It
stores the information of all mobile subscribers in the control area. The HLR stores
two kinds of information: subscriber data, and location information of MSs for setting
up call routes to the MSs.
AuC
The AuC stores authentication algorithm and encryption key, which prevent illegal
subscribers from accessing the system, thus ensuring the security of the mobile
subscribers' communications through the radio interface.
EIR
The EIR stores the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI.). Generally the AuC
and the EIR are integrated physically.
Generally, the MSC and the VLR are integrated physically; and the AUC, EIR and
HLR are integrated physically.

II. BSS

The BSS is the system equipment, which is controlled by the MSC and communicates
with MSs in the specific radio coverage area. It is responsible for radio transmission and reception, and radio resource management. The BSS consists of the following
two functional entities:
Base station controller (BSC)
The BSC is responsible for radio network resource management, cell configuration
data management, power control, location and switchover. It implements powerful
communication control function.
Base transceiver station (BTS)
The BTS is the radio interface equipment, which is controlled by the BSC. It handles
the radio connection, conversion between radio signals and landline signals, radio
diversity, radio channel encryption, frequency hopping, and so on.

III. OMC

The OMC is responsible for managing and controlling the whole GSM and CDMA
networks.

IV. MS

The MS is the mobile subscriber's device. It consists of the following two parts:
Mobile terminal (MT)
The MT implements such functions as voice coding, channel coding, information
encryption, information modulation and demodulation, information transmission
and reception.
Subscriber identity module/user identity module card (SIM/UIM card)
The SIM/UIM card is an intelligent card, which keeps the subscriber identity
information and the management data related to the subscriber and network. An
MT with an SIM card inside can access the telecom network.

Position of the SMS System in the Network

The position of the SMS system in the network is as shown in the circle in Figure 1-1.
The physical entities related to the SMS system are the MSC, VLR and the HLR. Their
functions in the SM transmission are as follows:
MSC
Short messages submitted by the MS pass the BSS and reach the MSC. Then the
MSC forwards them to the corresponding SMS system.
After receiving the SMs delivered by the SMS system, the MSC queries the VLR and
the HLR for the related routing and subscriber information, and then delivers them to
subscribers through BSS.
VLR
The VLR stores the temporary information of a subscriber roaming in the local MSC
area. The subscriber must pass the authentication through the VLR before sending an SM, and the MSC queries the route of a subscriber through the VLR before delivering
an SM.
HLR
The HLR is a database for mobile subscriber management. It stores the
subscription information, position information, mobile station international ISDN
number (MSISDN), and international mobile station identity (IMSI) of a
subscriber. Before delivering SM, the SMS system finds which MSC the
subscriber belongs to through the HLR.

External Interfaces

Interface	Description	Protocol
NMS interface	The NMS connects to and interacts with the infoX-SMS system through this interface to collect such network element information as alarm, performance and configuration, thus implementing such network management functions as topology management, performance management, fault management, and configuration management. In this way, the NMS is able to monitor, maintain and manage the infoX-SMS system.	MML
MT interface	The MT console communicates with the SMS system with this interface, conducting monitoring, management, and maintenance on the SMS system.	MT protocol
SMPP interface	The infoX-SMS system supports the standard SMPP 3.3 and SMPP 3.4 protocols. Therefore, the infoX-SMS system can be interconnected with any service module supporting SMPP, thus expanding the service functions of the infoX-SMS system. For example: The SMS GW communicates with the infoX-SMS system through SMPP, providing various extended short message services for terminal users. The WAP GW communicates with the infoX-SMS system through SMPP, sending push messages to MS subscribers through the infoX-SMS system. The MMSC communicates with the infoX-SMS system, implementing the SM notification to subscribers in some MMSC service flows.	SMPP 3.3 Or SMPP 3.4
SMAP interface	The infoX-SMS system interacts with the MDSP through this interface to authenticate and computing fee for the subscribers of the SMS.	SMAP1.3
SMPP+ interface	The infoX-SMS system interacts with the SCP through this interface to authenticate and charge the subscribers of the SMS.	SMPP+2.0
Bill interface	The charging system obtains charging bills from the infoX-SMS system through this interface, and then conducts further processing. Through this interface, the report server obtains statistics bills from the infoX-SMS system, makes statistics on bill records and generates statistics report	FTP
SS7 interface	It is the interface between the infoX-SMS system and MSs, which does not exist physically. The infoX-SMS system and MSs communicate through the mobile network. Therefore, the interface is the external interface of the signaling access gateway (TELLIN-USAU). The TELLIN-USAU can access the narrowband SS7 and the IP-based broadband SS7, so it has two kinds of signaling interfaces: the TDM-based signaling interface and the IP-based signaling interface. The TDM-based signaling interface adopts E1 physical interface, and it can access 64-Kbps and 2-Mbps signaling links. The IP-based signaling interface adopts the FE interface of the 10M/100M Ethernet.	SS7

System Description Huawei infoX-SMS

2007-12-14T03:57:00.000-08:00

Mobile originated (MO) messages
Mobile terminated (MT) messages
Access through SMPP 3.3 and SMPP 3.4
SMs encoded in Unicode
Alert notification service
SM signature service

1.2 System Overview
The SMS system:

Implements SM exchange between the GSM, TDMA and CDMA networks.
Communicates with the PSTN, ISDN, and PSPDN, so as to transmit SMs from other short message entities (SMEs) such as the manual station and the automatic station. It is responsible for the SM reception, scheduling, storing, routing, backing up, forwarding, and delivering; implements the management on the SMEs connected to the SMS system.Besides all the features of the version V300R001, the SMS system of this version is applied to the CDMA, TDMA, and GSM networks, providing the SM exchange among the CDMA, GSM and TDMA networks.

About the security content of the iPhone 1.1.1 Update

2007-10-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Apple Product Security website:

"For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available. To learn more about Apple Product Security"

For information about the Apple Product Security PGP Key, see "How to use the Apple Product Security PGP Key."

To learn about other Security Updates, see "Apple Security Updates."

iPhone v1.1.1 Update

Bluetooth

Impact: An attacker within Bluetooth range may be able to cause an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution

Description: An input validation issue exists in the iPhone's Bluetooth server. By sending maliciously-crafted Service Discovery Protocol (SDP) packets to an iPhone with Bluetooth enabled, an attacker may trigger the issue, which may lead to unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue by performing additional validation of SDP packets. Credit to Kevin Mahaffey and John Hering of Flexilis Mobile Security for reporting this issue.

Mail

Impact: Checking email over untrusted networks may lead to information disclosure via a man-in-the-middle attack

Description: When Mail is configured to use SSL for incoming and outgoing connections, it does not warn the user when the identity of the mail server has changed or cannot be trusted. An attacker capable of intercepting the connection may be able to impersonate the user's mail server and obtain the user's email credentials or other sensitive information. This update addresses the issue by properly warning when the identity of the remote mail server has changed.

Mail

Impact: Following a telephone ("tel:") link in Mail will dial a phone number without confirmation

Description: Mail supports telephone ("tel:") links to dial phone numbers. By enticing a user to follow a telephone link in a mail message, an attacker can cause iPhone to place a call without user confirmation. This update addresses the issue by providing a confirmation window before dialing a phone number via a telephone link in Mail. Credit to Andi Baritchi of McAfee for reporting this issue.

Safari

Impact: Visiting a malicious website may lead to the disclosure of URL contents

Description: A design issue in Safari allows a web page to read the URL that is currently being viewed in its parent window. By enticing a user to visit a maliciously crafted web page, an attacker may be able to obtain the URL of an unrelated page. This update addresses the issue through an improved cross-domain security check. Credit to Michal Zalewski of Google Inc. and Secunia Research for reporting this issue.

Safari

Impact: Visiting a malicious website may lead to unintended dialing or dialing a different number than expected

Description: Safari supports telephone ("tel:") links to dial phone numbers. When a telephone link is selected, Safari will confirm that the number should be dialed. A maliciously crafted telephone link may cause a different number to be displayed during confirmation than the one actually dialed. Exiting Safari during the confirmation process may result in unintentional confirmation. This update addresses the issue by properly displaying the number that will be dialed, and requiring confirmation for telephone links. Credit to Billy Hoffman and Bryan Sullivan of HP Security Labs (formerly SPI Labs) and Eduardo Tang for reporting this issue.

Safari

Impact: Visiting a malicious website may lead to cross-site scripting

Description: A cross-site scripting vulnerability exists in Safari that allows malicious websites to set JavaScript window properties of websites served from a different domain. By enticing a user to visit a maliciously crafted website, an attacker can trigger the issue, resulting in getting or setting the window status and location of pages served from other websites. This update addresses the issue by providing improved access controls on these properties. Credit to Michal Zalewski of Google Inc. for reporting this issue.

Safari

Impact: Disabling JavaScript does not take effect until Safari is restarted

Description: Safari can be configured to enable or disable JavaScript. This preference does not take effect until the next time Safari is restarted. This usually occurs when the iPhone is restarted. This may mislead users into believing that JavaScript is disabled when it is not. This update addresses the issue by applying the new preference prior to loading new web pages.

Safari

Impact: Visiting a malicious website may result in cross-site scripting

Description: A cross-site scripting issue in Safari allows a maliciously crafted website to bypass the same-origin policy using "frame" tags. By enticing a user to visit a maliciously crafted web page, an attacker can trigger the issue, which may lead to the execution of JavaScript in the context of another site. This update addresses the issue by disallowing JavaScript as an "iframe" source, and limiting JavaScript in frame tags to the same access as the site from which it was served. Credit to Michal Zalewski of Google Inc. and Secunia Research for reporting this issue.

Safari
Impact: Visiting a malicious website may result in cross-site scripting

Description: A cross-site scripting issue in Safari allows JavaScript events to be associated with the wrong frame. By enticing a user to visit a maliciously crafted web page, an attacker may cause the execution of JavaScript in the context of another site. This update addresses the issue by associating JavaScript events to the correct source frame.

Safari

Impact: JavaScript on websites may access or manipulate the contents of documents served over HTTPS

Description: An issue in Safari allows content served over HTTP to alter or access content served over HTTPS in the same domain. By enticing a user to visit a maliciously crafted web page, an attacker may cause the execution of JavaScript in the context of HTTPS web pages in that domain. This update addresses the issue by limiting access between JavaScript executing in HTTP and HTTPS frames. Credit to Keigo Yamazaki of LAC Co., Ltd. (Little eArth Corporation Co., Ltd.) for reporting this issue.

Installation note:
This update is only available through iTunes, and will not appear in your computer's Software Update application, or in the Apple Downloads site. Make sure you have an internet connection and have installed the latest version of iTunes from www.apple.com/itunes

iTunes will automatically check Apple's update server on its weekly schedule. When an update is detected, it will download it. When the iPhone is docked, iTunes will present the user with the option to install the update. We recommend applying the update immediately if possible. Selecting "Don't install" will present the option the next time you connect your iPhone.

The automatic update process may take up to a week depending on the day that iTunes checks for updates. You may manually obtain the update via the "Check for Update" button within iTunes. After doing this, the update can be applied when your iPhone is docked to your computer.

To check that the iPhone has been updated:

Navigate to Settings >>General>>About.
The Version after applying this update will be 1.1.1 (3A109a)

Source [securitylab.ru]

RAID-1 Volume Using SVM on x86 Platform

2007-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

This will provide full protection against one disk failure, and complete redundancy. In the same time, this will have the effect to speed read requests (since there exists multiple backing devices hosting the same data), but write performance is generally degraded. First, know your running system, particularly on which disk it is currently installed and which other device is available for the second mirror side.

# df -hF ufs
Filesystem             size   used  avail capacity  Mounted on
/dev/dsk/c1d0s0        7.9G   5.2G   2.6G    67%    /
# swap -lh
swapfile             dev    swaplo   blocks     free
/dev/dsk/c1d0s1     102,65       4K     4.0G     4.0G
#
# echo | format
Searching for disks...done

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
    0. c1d0
       /pci@0,0/pci-ide@8/ide@0/cmdk@0,0
    1. c2d0
       /pci@0,0/pci-ide@8/ide@1/cmdk@0,0
[...]

Well, we will use the c2d0 as the second submirror. So, we need to default to one Solaris partition that uses the whole disk and make it bootable (we are using GRUB in this case). The slice for the second submirror must have a slice tag of root and the root slice must be slice 0 (so, we will duplicate the label's content from the boot disk to the mirror disk).

# fdisk -B /dev/rdsk/c2d0p0
# fdisk /dev/rdsk/c2d0p0
          Total disk size is 36483 cylinders
          Cylinder size is 16065 (512 byte) blocks

                                            Cylinders
   Partition   Status    Type          Start   End   Length    %
   =========   ======    ============  =====   ===   ======   ===
       1       Active    Solaris2          1  36482    36482    100

SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. Create a partition
2. Specify the active partition
3. Delete a partition
4. Change between Solaris and Solaris2 Partition IDs
5. Exit (update disk configuration and exit)
6. Cancel (exit without updating disk configuration)
Enter Selection:
#
# /sbin/installgrub /boot/grub/stage1 /boot/grub/stage2 /dev/rdsk/c2d0s0
stage1 written to partition 0 sector 0 (abs 16065)
stage2 written to partition 0, 260 sectors starting at 50 (abs 16115)
#
# prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c1d0s2 | fmthard -s - /dev/rdsk/c2d0s2
fmthard:  New volume table of contents now in place.

Create replicas of the metadevice state database:

# metadb -a -c 3 -f c1d0s4 c2d0s4
# metadb
     flags           first blk       block count
  a        u         16              8192            /dev/dsk/c1d0s4
  a        u         8208            8192            /dev/dsk/c1d0s4
  a        u         16400           8192            /dev/dsk/c1d0s4
  a        u         16              8192            /dev/dsk/c2d0s4
  a        u         8208            8192            /dev/dsk/c2d0s4
  a        u         16400           8192            /dev/dsk/c2d0s4

Flag -f is needed because it is the first invocation/creation of metadb(1m).

Set up the RAID-0 metadevices (stripe or concatenation volumes) corresponding to the / file system and the swap space, and automatically configure system files (/etc/vfstab and /etc/system) for the root metadevice.

# metainit -f d10 1 1 c1d0s0
d10: Concat/Stripe is setup
# metainit -f d11 1 1 c1d0s1
d11: Concat/Stripe is setup
# metainit d20 1 1 c2d0s0
d20: Concat/Stripe is setup
# metainit d21 1 1 c2d0s1
d21: Concat/Stripe is setup
# metainit d0 -m d10
d0: Mirror is setup
# metainit d1 -m d11
d1: Mirror is setup
#
# cp /etc/vfstab /etc/vfstab.beforesvm
# sed -e 's@/dev/dsk/c1d0s1@/dev/md/dsk/d1@' /etc/vfstab.beforesvm > /etc/vfstab
# metaroot d0
# diff /etc/vfstab /etc/vfstab.beforesvm
6,7c6,7
< /dev/md/dsk/d1   -                 -   swap   -   no   -
< /dev/md/dsk/d0   /dev/md/rdsk/d0   /   ufs    1   no   -
---
> /dev/dsk/c1d0s1  -                 -   swap   -   no   -
> /dev/dsk/c1d0s0  /dev/rdsk/c1d0s0  /   ufs    1   no   -

Flag -f is needed because the file systems created on the slice we want to initialize a new metadevice are currently mounted (in use).

Reboot on the metadevices: the operating system will now boot encapsulated, on a one-side mirror. Last, attach the second part of the mirror and adapt the system dump configuration.

# lockfs -af && shutdown -y -g 0 -i 6
[...]
# metattach d0 d20
d0: submirror d20 is attached
# metattach d1 d21
d1: submirror d21 is attached
#
# metastat -p
d1 -m /dev/md/rdsk/d11 /dev/md/rdsk/d21 1
d11 1 1 /dev/rdsk/c1d0s1
d21 1 1 /dev/rdsk/c2d0s1
d0 -m /dev/md/rdsk/d10 /dev/md/rdsk/d20 1
d10 1 1 /dev/rdsk/c1d0s0
d20 1 1 /dev/rdsk/c2d0s0
# metastat | grep %
    Resync in progress: 41 % done
    Resync in progress: 46 % done
#
# rmdir /var/crash/*
# mkdir /var/crash/`hostname`
# chmod 700 /var/crash/`hostname`
# dumpadm -s /var/crash/`hostname` -d /dev/md/dsk/d1
      Dump content: kernel pages
       Dump device: /dev/md/dsk/d1 (swap)
Savecore directory: /var/crash/bento
Savecore enabled: yes

Last, define the alternative boot path in the menu.lst GRUB configuration file: the Solaris/BSD slice 0 on the first fdisk partition on the second BIOS disk.

cat <<>> /boot/grub/menu.lst
title Solaris Nevada snv_65 X86 (Alternate Boot Path)
root (hd1,0,a)
kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/$ISADIR/unix
module$ /platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/boot_archive
EOF
#
# bootadm list-menu
The location for the active GRUB menu is: /boot/grub/menu.lst
default 0
timeout 10
0 Solaris Nevada snv_65 X86
1 Solaris failsafe
2 Solaris Nevada snv_65 X86 (Alternate Boot Path)

For further (and deeper) information on this subject, please refer to the excellent Sun Microsystems Documentation on Solaris Volume Manager, and particularly x86: Creating a RAID-1 Volume From the root (/) File System.

Part 2: How to Crack the iPhone

2007-09-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

The Second part of the How to Crack the iPhone series:

- Start iTunes. (tested with 7.4.2, might not work with future versions)

- Connect the iPhone, and long-press both the home key and the switch on top for around 30 seconds, until a triangle warning sign appears asking you to connect the iPhone to iTunes.

- On iTunes, click on system restore and flash the device with the latest 1.0 firmware, which as of today is 1.0.2. (might not work with future firmwares, specially the 1.1 series available today on the iPod Touch)

- Wait several minutes (around 5-10 minutes) until the iPhone restarts and iTunes shows it again.

- Kill iTunes and the iTunes helper application.

- Get iNdependence (tested with 1.2.1a) and run it. (more info at the FiveForty.net website)

- Read the README file and download the 1.0.2 firmware from the link on such file. (90MB)

- Click on Activate and wait for some minutes (5-10 minutes). If it takes longer, you can safely kill iNdependence and run it again.

- Get Installer.app App Tapp Beta (tested with v3.1)

- Select firmware 1.0.2 and install it. Again, if this takes more than 5-10 minutes, kill the application and start over.

- From the recently Installer application on the iPhone, install the BSD subsystem, OpenSSH, SummerBoard, and everything else that you want.

- Have fun!

How to Crack the iPhone in 10 steps

2007-09-27T06:13:00.000-07:00

Get a Windows machine with administrator rights. Windows iTunes will not see the iPhone’s USB connection.

1. Install iTunes 7.3.0.54. Get it from Apple.

2. Install UltraEdit 32.

3. Download Phone Activation Server v1.0.

4. Using notepad or any other text editor, edit the file “c:\ windows\ system32\ drivers\ etc\ hosts” and add the following line:

127.0.0.1 albert.apple.com

5. Backup the file iTunes.exe on C:\Program Files\iTunes.

6. Edit iTunes.exe using UltraEdit32. Press CTRL-G, enter “2048912“, write “33 C0 C3“. Then Offset 257074, enter “28“. Finally offset “257013“, enter “33 C9 B1“. Save the file and close UltraEdit32.

7. Make sure nothing is running and using the port 80. (e.g. no HTTP server running)

8. Start the Phone Activation Server v1.0 application.

9. Plug the iPhone and start iTunes.

10. iPhone will activate after some seconds and will show some message like “Invalid SIM card”. Slide it to continue and have fun!

How To: Activate the Voicemail Button in Non-AT&T Unlocked iPhones

2007-09-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

If you have successfully unlocked your iPhone, you may have discovered already that the voicemail button doesn't do anything at all. It won't give you visual voicemail, but you can easily get the voicemail button to work using any carrier following these steps:
1. First, take note of what your voicemail number is with your current provider (for example, in Spain the Vodafone voicemail number is 177).
2. Click on the phone button in your iPhone.
3. Click on the keypad tab.
4. Tap the following code:

*5005*86*xxx#

The xxx is the voicemail number, in our example it will read: *5005*86*177#

5. Tap call.
6. After a second, the code will have been set.
7. Tap now on the voicemail button and it will automatically call your usual voicemail service.

Unlock iPhone Free Software

2007-09-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

The free software iPhone unlock—the only one that counts— has been finally achieved by the iPhone Dev Team and it has been independently tested. Everyone can now unlock their iPhones for free. The unlock was not achieved by GeoHot, who was credited with the first hardware unlocks.

Gizmodo's software mirror: Download iUnlock here (this is the only original iUnlock file.)

Gizmodo's source code mirror: Download iUnlock Source here

infoX-WAPGW CONFIG SPECIFICATION

2007-09-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

The sameness of Communication Port for Wap1x and wap2.0
wapgw_http.ini
[WAE]
#WAP1.x stack listening port
ServerListenPort = 9128
wapgw_wap.ini
[WAEAGENT]
#Master wae's IP address
MASTERWAEIP = 10.164.37.32
#Master WAE's port number
MASTERWAEPORT = 9128
#Slave WAE's IP address
SLAVEWAEIP = 10.71.101.194
#Slave WAE's port number
SLAVEWAEPORT = 9128
#Connect time out(ms)
ConnectTimeout = 6000
Description: This port was configed for the communication of Wap1x and Wap20,usually it’s 9128. That means the wap20 listening on port 9128 and the wap1x connect wap20 with port 9128.

The sameness of Communication Port for wapgw and plat
wapgw_common.ini
[PFM]
#PFM IP address
PFMIP = 10.71.104.196
#PFM listening port
PFMListenPort = 15000
#PFM timeout,secs
PFMTimeout = 60
wapgw_plat.ini
#net service
[NETWORK]
# the port for WAPGW to query the relation between MSISDN and IP address
WapQueryPort = 15000
Description: Usually , this port was set to 15000,that means the wapgw modules connect plat with port 15000,and the plat listen on port 15000.

The sameness of Communication for wapgw and oamagent
wapgw_http.ini
[SNMPAGENT]
IsSNMPSupport = 0
#SNMPAGENT IP
SNMPAgentIP= 10.71.101.141
#SNMPAGENT port
SNMPAgentPort= 6088
wapgw_wap.ini
[OAMAGENT]
#OAM node's IP address
OAMIP = 10.71.101.141
#OAM listening port
OAMPort = 6088
wapgw_plat.ini
[OAMAGENT]
IsConnectOamAgent = 1
# OAM IP address
OAMIP = 10.71.101.141
# OAM listening port
OAMPort = 6088
wapgw_ppg.ini
[OAMAgent]
ip = 10.71.101.141
# Network manager's service port
port = 6088
oamagnet.ini
[COMMON]
#IP address of the local computer
LocalIP = 10.71.101.141
#OAMAgent listen port No.
LocalPort = 6088

The sameness of Communication for ppg and smpa
smpa.cfg
[COMMON]
LocalIp = 10.0.0.240
OffsetOfPort = 6580
[PROTOCOL]
ProtocolVersion = 3.3
[PROTOCOL]
ProtocolVersion = 3.4
wapgw_ppg.ini
[SMPA]
IP = 10.0.0.240
Port = 6580
[SMPA]
SMPPVer = 0
Esm = 0
EnableDeliverReport = true
[SYS]
msgGoStraight = false
msgWithSARInfo = true
msgWithPort = true
[SMPA]
SMPPVer = 1
Esm = 2
EnableDeliverReport = false
[SYS]
msgGoStraight = true
msgWithSARInfo = false
msgWithPort = false

Gentoo + HUAWEI E220 HSDPA USB modem

2007-09-24T00:37:00.000-07:00

I will explain how to have the HUAWEI E220 HSDPA USB modem working on your Gentoo system.

Hardware configuration:
In order to have the modem functioning you need to have all necessary modules compiled in the Linux kernel. Moreover, you need to have the card properly recognized by these modules. This is not trivial because the HUAWEI E220 modem is in fact a device with a twofold nature: it is a modem but, at the same time, it is a USB storage device. The storage device contains the Windows drivers, so it's pretty useless for our purposes, but the dual nature can generate some trouble. We will deal with this in a later section

Kernel configuration:

zgrep "CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_GENERIC" /proc/config.gz

In recent kernel (at least since version 2.6.20), the HUAWEI E220 modem is supported by the USB generic serial driver (usbserial module). To use it, you also need the support for the PPP protocol and for asynchronous serial ports. To check if these drivers are compiled in the kernel, useand

zgrep "CONFIG_PPP" /proc/config.gz
zgrep "CONFIG_PPP_ASYNC" /proc/config.gz

or check your kernel configuration (if you use genkernel it can be found in /etc/kernels/).

If the options are not set as a module (m) recompile your kernel with the following options activated

Device Drivers ---> USB Support ---> [M] USB Serial Converter support ---> [*] USB Generic Serial Driver

Device Drivers ---> Network device support ---> [M] PPP (point-to-point protocol) support
[M] PPP support for async serial ports

If you say [M] for "USB Serial Converter support" and [*] for "USB Generic Serial Driver", you get the usbserial module.

Udev rules

Once these drivers are available, plug the USB cable and use

lsusb -v

to see if the modem has been properly recognized. You should see something like

...
idVendor 0x12d1
idProduct 0x1003
bcdDevice 0.00
iManufacturer 1 HUAWEI Technologies
iProduct 2 HUAWEI Mobile
...

The idProduct and idVendor should be passed at the module of the USB generic serial driver usbserial when it is loaded. For instance, from the command line, one can do

modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1003

In principle one can automatically load the usbserial at boot time with the proper parameter settings inserting a line in /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6). We will follow a more sophisticated approach: we create an explicit rule for udev. Create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/50-huawei.rules inserting the line

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="1003", SYSFS{idVendor}=="12d1", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1003"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="1003", SYSFS{idVendor}=="12d1", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe ppp_generic"

In this way the module is loaded with the proper settings when the device is inserted, together with the ppp module. This approach is particularly suited if you need to use the module usbserial with different devices. Of course, if your idProduct and idVendor codes are different remember to adapt the previous line. Now do

udevcontrol reload_rules

and unplug and plug again the USB cable. You should find at the end of your /var/log/messages something like

... usbserial_generic 3-1:1.0: generic converter detected
... usb 3-1: generic converter now attached to ttyUSB0
...
... usbserial_generic 3-1:1.1: generic converter detected
... usb 3-1: generic converter now attached to ttyUSB1
...
... usbserial_generic 3-1:1.2: generic converter detected
... usb 3-1: generic converter now attached to ttyUSB2

If this is the case, that is if three devices /dev/ttyUSB[0,1,2] have been created, your modem is ready to be used. You can jump to the software configuration section below. If instead you get only the /dev/ttyUSB0, you need some further hacking. Be aware, you may have /dev/sg[0,1,2] instead. See the next section.

Switching to modem mode
As mentioned before, the E220 modem has a dual nature: it is both a communication and a storage device. For some reason, sometimes under Linux the communication part is not fully recognized and the device is activated in its "storage" status. Luckily, however, somebody did already work out the solution. You can find a little program called huaweiAktBbo. This program can be used to switch the E220 from "storage" to "modem" status.

Download the source code, compile it and save the executable in the /usr/local/sbin/ directory

gcc huaweiAktBbo.c -lusb -o huaweiAktBbo
mv huaweiAktBbo /usr/local/sbin/

Now add a couple of lines to the previously prepared udev rule

File: /etc/udev/rules.d/50-huawei.rules

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="1003", SYSFS{idVendor}=="12d1", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe usbserial vendor=0x12d1 product=0x1003"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="1003", SYSFS{idVendor}=="12d1", RUN+="/sbin/modprobe ppp_generic"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="1003", SYSFS{idVendor}=="12d1", RUN+="/bin/sleep 10"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idProduct}=="1003", SYSFS{idVendor}=="12d1", RUN+="/usr/local/sbin/huaweiAktBbo"

In this way the udev system automatically run the program huaweiAktBbo (after a suitable delay) to set the modem. By unplugging and plugging again the device you can check that all three ttyUSB devices are now created.

Software configuration
The HUAWEI E220 adapter works as a modem and relies on PPP to establish a connection. One can use any PPP management program. Several GUI programs are available for both KDE and Gnome. In what follows I stick with a bare-bone approach.

ppp configuration
Just emerge the relevant software

emerge net-dialup/ppp

and create the following file which defines the connection parameters
File: /etc/ppp/peers/E220

/dev/ttyUSB0
460800
crtscts
modem
noauth
usepeerdns
defaultroute
noipdefault
debug
noccp
nobsdcomp
novj
user "irrelevant"
password "irrelevant"
connect '/usr/sbin/chat -f /etc/ppp/chat-E220-pin || /usr/sbin/chat -f /etc/ppp/chat-E220-nopin'

Notice that we defined both an username and a password. Even if the values of these parameters are irrelevant, they presence seems to make the whole login procedure run smoother. Notice also that the previous file needs two chat scripts. This is due to the fact that the first time that the device is plugged in, one need to provide it the card PIN code. For subsequent connection this generate an error. Then create the needed scripts

File: /etc/ppp/chat-E220-pin

ABORT BUSY
ABORT ERROR
ABORT 'NO CARRIER'
REPORT CONNECT
TIMEOUT 10
"" "ATZ"
OK "AT+CPIN=pin"
OK AT+CGDCONT=1,"ip","internet"
OK "ATE1V1&D2&C1S0=0+IFC=2,2"
OK "AT+IPR=115200"
OK "ATE1"
TIMEOUT 60
"" "ATD*99***1#"
CONNECT \c

and

File: /etc/ppp/chat-E220-nopin

ABORT BUSY
ABORT ERROR
ABORT 'NO CARRIER'
REPORT CONNECT
TIMEOUT 10
"" "ATZ"
OK AT+CGDCONT=1,"ip","internet"
OK "ATE1V1&D2&C1S0=0+IFC=2,2"
OK "AT+IPR=115200"
OK "ATE1"
TIMEOUT 60
"" "ATD*99***1#"
CONNECT \c

where pin is the PIN of your card (typically a four digit code) and internet is the Access Point Name (APN) of the service you use (for instance mine is "web.omnitel.it"). If you don't know the Internet APN, ask your service provider.

At this point you should be able to start the PPP connection using

pon E220

and stop it with

poff E220

DNS problem
I've noticed that The first time it is invoked, the connection script generate wrong names for the DNS servers. The same behaviour is reported here here. If this is the case for you too, probably it is better to realy on some external DNS service. An excellent solution is provided by the Open DNS project. Simply remove from /usr/ppp/peers/E220 the option usepeerdns. Then, edit your /etc/resolv.conf and just add these lines somewhere near the top

#Open DNS server
nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220

If you have several network device configured, however, it is likely that your /etc/resolv.conf get overwritten by the system. In this case the safest approach is to cinfigure the DNS server in /etc/conf.d/net. Assuming the name of your interface is ppp0 add the following lines at the end of the file

config_ppp0=( "ppp" )
dns_servers_ppp0=( "208.67.222.222" "208.67.220.220")

in this way a correct /etc/resolv.conf is generated automatically when the interface is switched on.

Survival Tools: Do you want to live for ever?

2007-09-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, everybody:) Who wants to live for ever? Because i don't believe in fairy tales any more i want to present you some survival tools on each day:

Windows Files Recovery Software

Easy, safe, non-destructive windows data recovery software is helpful in recovering; restoring your lost data from Windows based VISTA/XP (Home, Professional, and Media center edition)/2003server/2000/ME/NT/98 operating system. Provide full support to FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5 file system partition drive volume. This easy to use data recovery utility revive deleted compressed EFS (encrypted file system) from your Desktop or Laptop PC’s and provide full support for SATA, IDE, ATA, EIDE, SCSI disk drives.

Similarly restore files and folders when emptied recycle bin or content deleted permanently using shift+delete keys. Recover your key files or directories folders which are lost, formatted, deleted or corrupted due to virus attacks (boot sector virus), hardware malfunction, improper OS installation, booting issues, power failure/surge etc. The undelete software saves your vital data information after the loss of MBR (master boot record) or partition table. Hard drive data recovery utility get back data even if MFT (Master File Table) or FAT (File allocation table) or Root directory is corrupted.
Download free Windows Files Recovery Software

USB Drive Files Recovery Software

USB drive recovery software recovers; restore all deleted files and folders from most easy to use pen drive storage media. Data Doctor Software utility retrieve all lost, deleted, virus infected, formatted stored data from your memory stick (or popularly known as key chain drive, flash drive, jet flash, zip drive, jump drive, disk-on-key etc). Safely get back your damaged music, songs (audio/video), stored directories and office doc files (including all major files mpeg, gif, jpeg, bmp, text, doc, riff, tiff and more) from the data retrieval application solution.

Memory stick data recovery software support all major usb pen drive brands including Kingston, Transcend, Sony, Jet flash, Toshiba, Sandisk, Hitachi, Ricoh, PRETEC, Apacer, Super flash, Super media, Inov8, PQI on USB card reader in different storage capacity (e.g. 64MB 128MB 256MB 512MB 1GB 2GB 4GB 8GB and even higher capacity drives.) for safe and easy data revival. Data recovery support even when “Drive Not Formatted” or “Drive Not Detected” (a system generated error message) is displayed while accessing your pen drive as removable media in My Computer.
Download free USB Drive Files Recovery Software

Removable Media Files Recovery Software

The data recovery software for removable media recover deleted files or corrupted or formatted folders directories Mp3 MP4 midi music digital images video/pictures from all type of USB removable storage media such as thumb drive, mobile phone memory card, external flash drive, micro drive, smart drive and other USB storage devices. Complete data recovery support on Microsoft windows operating system which proves to be perfect removable media data recovery solution. Restore files (stored on your USB removable media) easily and completely.

The award winning Data Doctor Software is the perfect utility to data restore and is fully integrated for your Flash Drives usb keys/pens, Smart Media, Zip drive, compact flash (CF), secure digital (SD), XD Picture Card and other removable media. Very easy to use and does not require any technical skills to operate the software. Just install it on your Microsoft Windows based machine and you can even recover data lost due to accidental formatting, corruption, virus worm error in different version of MS Windows, Apple Mac (Macintosh) operating system.
Download free Removable Media Files Recovery Software

Digital Camera Files Recovery Software

Digital camera files recovery software is designed to help in recovering digital photo image files that is deleted, virus corrupted or defective picture directories and sub-directories as well as images that you might have formatted from your digital camera. The software is designed to help you to recover and restore files and makes easy for lost images, videos and provide easiest and quickest restoration of any type of digital file or folder including JPG JPEG TIF MOV WAV MIDI GIF TIFF AVI PNG BMP 3gp MPEG stored in your digital media.

Digital camera data recovery software support all type of major flash camera including Point & shoot camera, Professional camera, Digital video camera, Novelty camera and Specialty camera and more. Support all major service provider brands including Nikon Konica Kodak Panasonic Sony Samsung Super flash Toshiba Ricoh Hitachi Olympus IBM Epson Mitsubishi Umax Viking Verbatim X Digital Media Xelo Yakumo Yashica and other popular brands.
Download free Digital Camera Files Recovery Software

Digital Photo Recovery Software

Digital photo recovery software is easy and safe to use recovery utility to revive and restore your lost photo albums, deleted pictures, still images, formatted media, virus infected Partition from your windows hard disk drive and USB removable media including compact flash, memory stick Pro/duo, MMC card, secure digital (SD) (both mini/micro sd card), (xd) picture card (XD) extreme digital card memory card of mobile phone or digital camera or multimedia card and other similar devices.

Data Doctor Photo Recovery Software provides facility to undelete digital photos lost due to any virus attack, factory setting reset or hardware-software malfunction accidental deletion, media formatting or data loss after invalid operating system installation error corruption and recovers picture files even if the factory setting of your digital media has been reset. This digital photo recovery tool safeguard your data from hardware or system problem/ malfunction, human error, software corruption and support your popular hard disk manufacturer that includes Maxtor, Seagate, Samsung, Sony, Hitachi and USB removable media brands.
Download free Digital Photo Recovery Software

Memory Card Files Recovery Software

Memory card file recovery software recovers deleted, corrupted, missing photos, images lost erased due to virus bugs accidental deletion or hardware improper operation/functioning. The USB memory card drive includes support to all damaged inaccessible files from digital camera, MMC Card, RS_MMC card, compact flash (I & II), PC card, extreme digital card, smart media, Zip disk and more. Memory card data recovery software support all major file system including txt, doc, wav, mpeg, mp3, jpg, jpeg, bmp with branded name Sandisk, Kodak, Konica, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Ricoh, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba etc.

The powerful GUI interface is user friendly and a powerful undelete solution to rescue all your all important document even when “DRIVE NOT FORMATTED” error message is displayed by Windows Vista, XP, NT, 2003 server, 2000, ME, 98 operating system while accessing your memory card on USB card reader. Recover data even after virus attack, file system partitioning error or data loss due to hardware failure or power surge. The software is very easy to use and does not require any technical skills to operate the data recovery utility.
Download free Memory Card Files Recovery Software

FAT Partition Files Recovery Software

Windows FAT partition files recovery software recovers and restore your FAT file and is the most comprehensive solution supporting data recovery from FAT, VFAT created or updated by Windows Vista XP media center XP home XP professional Windows 2003 Windows 2000 Windows ME and Windows 98 (SE) editions operating system. Software scans your hard disk drive and rescue all lost data due to formatted, deleted, previously corrupted partitions files and folders lost when emptied recycle bin or deleted using shift+delete keys.

Data recovery software features the best graphical user interface for easy and quick data recovery. Similarly support data after the loss of File Allocation Table (FAT), Master boot record (MBR), Boot sector data loss, chkdsk (check disk), f-disk, scan disk, partition error, system error, Virus attack, data lost from any root directory corruption, Windows disk management tool or other similar system software. Provide Multi storage support to hard disk (including Desktop Laptop Notebook PC’s) and all SCSI SATA and IDE disk drives.
Download free FAT Partition Files Recovery Software

NTFS Partition Files Recovery Software

Windows NTFS partition files recovery software is safe Read-only and Non-Destructive utility for your all important data from partition drive data loss. The software restores deleted missing files and folders in all windows crashed hard disk drive. NTFS data recovery is for the retrieval of partition table boot sector formatted lost deleted files of laptop and desktop system. Data Recovery Software for Windows NTFS partition recovers untraceable data due to deletion/corrupted partition from NTFS based operating system including Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/98/VISTA.

The powerful data recovery software recovers your important and sensitive data lost due to overwritten deleted, formatted, damaged or corrupted partitions. The software is helpful in computer Forensics. Support NTFS NTFS5 file system. You can view the recovered data in tree structure with best graphical user interface with step by step data recovery help. Recovers deleted files and folders even after use of (Shift+Del) keys or emptied recycle bin.
Download free NTFS Partition Files Recovery Software

iPod Files Recovery Software

iPod files recovery software is capable to recover all lost deleted music files, video track, Mp3 songs files, images, audio, mp4 files from Windows Vista, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and Windows XP (Home edition, Professional edition, Media center edition) operating system due to accidentally format, corrupted, damaged files or folders. The software support all apple iPod, iPod nano, iPod mini, iPod shuffle, iPod U2, iPod Generation series (iPod with video) in varying capacity and ensures data restoration even if data reset operation is performed by your portable music device.

The iPod restore software revive music files, folders lost when using iPod updater and similarly get back data when ‘DRIVE NOT DETECTED’ or ‘DRIVE NOT FORMATTED’ message is displayed while accessing your iPod as removable media on your Desktop or Laptop PC. The software easily recovers corrupted data lost due to virus infection and when iPod reset operation is performed.
Download free iPod Files Recovery Software

Zune Data Recovery Software

Zune data recovery software is read-only, safe and non-destructive retrieval utility to recover and restore all Zune music, mp3, mp4 pictures, video files and folders lost due to accidental deletion, corruption, formatting, improper usage etc. The latest Zune social network player recovery technology designed & developed by Pro Data Doctor support and restore all crashed music files including aac, aif, mid, midi, mpa, wav and wma files images supporting Wi-Fi connectivity audio video music player.

This easy to use read-only and Non-Destructive utility recovers video songs and folders from your music player lost due to human error or wireless zune to zune sharing (Wi-Fi communication). The recovery software restores pre-loaded songs music videos films and images lost zune files including audio (MP3, AAC), picture (JPEG), video (WMV) due to accidental deletion corruption format improper handling and damaged file system of yours digital entertainment player.
Download free Zune Data Recovery Software

Sim Card Recovery Software

Sim card recovery software recovers and restores deleted missing text messages and stored phone/contact number from your 3g/gsm mobile cell phone easily and securely. The utility is very easy to use and retrieve all important SMS (Short Message Service) and phone numbers on your windows operating system with in minute time. Revive both inbox; outbox text messages which you have deleted purposely or accidentally from compatible sim card on your major GSM mobile phone manufacturers. (Nokia Sony Samsung Panasonic etc).

The software reads and scientifically examines SIM Card (a type of removable smart card) with the help of USB sim card reader (any Phoenix type USB Sim Card Reader or or PC/SC Standards based sim card Reader) and recovers deleted information quickly and safely. Software support SIM Card of any service provider of any country any network and similarly rescue ICC Identification number and service provider name printed on SIM card chip. This useful utility allows you to view IMSI number and allows saving the records to user specified location.
Download free Sim Card Recovery Software

IE Password Recovery and Unmask Tool

Internet explorer password recovery and windows application password unmask tool is easy to use password recovery software fully capable to recover all lost or forgotten internet explorer saved passwords including for E-mail logins (Yahoo, MSN, G-mail etc) News account, Online shopping, Magazine subscription, Web forms and other password protected applications. Restore Internet Explorer saved passwords including FTP passwords, IE Auto Form and AutoComplete fields, AutoComplete passwords and similarly the Identity password.

The wizards include support for all major versions of Internet Explorer and provide easy way to manage and show the lengthy and complex combination password instantly. Just drag the mouse pointer on any password protected windows application and unmasks and reveals the hidden Windows application password. Provide easy way to manage and protect the user password information ever entered on your computer PC. The Software is simple easy to use with GUI interface and unhide all hidden password in seconds time with multilingual password support on Windows Vista, XP, 98, ME, NT 2000 and 2003 machines.
Download free IE Password Recovery and Unmask Tool

Outlook and Outlook Express Password Recovery

Password recovery software for Outlook and Outlook express allows you to recover all saved E-mail and News group account passwords lost or forgotten (when created on popular E-mail accounts including Microsoft Outlook Express or Office Outlook). The password recovery utility is fully capable to retrieve entire lost passwords (regardless of its length and complexity) for all users on windows operating system (XP/2000/98/2003) with support to all latest versions of Outlook Express and Office Outlook.

Offer quick and simple way to salvage your Outlook Express mail passwords, along with server name instantly within seconds. The GUI utility is very handy to use and recovers all user records including server information (Incoming Mail Server/ Outgoing Mail Server account name and password) and server port number for advance users. Provide best alternate to password recovery services which proves to be costly and time consuming.
Download free Outlook and Outlook Express Password Recovery

Win XP: Disabling Logon Password Request

2007-09-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

1. If Welcome screen is turned on.
Open the Control Panel > User Accounts. Click Change the way users log on or off. Check the box Use the Welcome screen. Click Apply Options.

2. Guest account access must be turned off.
Open the Control Panel >User Accounts. Unless the Guest account says that it is already turned off, click the icon for the Guest account, and click Turn off the Guest access.

3. There must be only one user account on the computer.
If you have more than one account (not counting the now disabled Guest account), you have to delete all but one.

Logged in as an administrator, open Windows Explorer and browse to the C:\Documents and Settings folder. In turn, click on the subfolder for each account you are about to delete and harvest anything you want to keep from its subfolders, moving them to another location. When finished with this, close Windows Explorer.

Then, open the Control Panel > User Accounts. Click the icon for the account you want to delete. Click Delete the account.

4. The user account must not have a password.
Open the Control Panel > User Accounts. There should be only the one account you want to keep, plus a disabled Guest account. Click the icon for the account you will be using. If the option is available on the menu to the left, click Remove my password. When prompted, provide the current password as a confirmation.

The rules of survival: Data Recovery Basics

2007-09-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

Emergency file recovery requires more than the correct tool, though. It requires knowing how file deletion occurs, and what you have to do to maximize the chances of a successful recovery.

When a file is deleted from your computer, its contents aren’t immediately destroyed. Windows simply marks the hard drive space as being available for use by changing one character in the file table so that the file entry won’t be displayed in My Computer or a commandline DIR command, etc. If you manage to start an undeletion process before Windows uses that part of the hard drive to write a new file, all you have to do is set that flag back to “on,” and you get the file. Pretty cool, yeah?

Obviously, the sooner you try to restore a file, the more successful you’ll be. But stop a moment and think about the other things that could cause this part of the hard drive to be overwritten. If your hard drive is pretty full, the odds are much greater that Windows will grab your precious unallocated space for its next write. Or, if you defrag the hard drive, you run the risk of unused parts of the drive being overwritten! (This also means that if you are running silent background defrag services like Diskeeper, or if you have defrag utilities scheduled to defrag automatically, you might get blindsided — lose your chance at data recovery — if you don’t halt them until you have your deleted file recovered.

NOTE: This risk from defragging is not necessarily as severe as I previously thought. For example, on one test with a half-full C: partition, I had 8,926 recoverable files before a defrag, and 8,915 recoverable files after. Nonetheless, it’s a good thing I didn’t want to recover the 11 files that were lost in the process!

For that matter, simply starting up Windows or, to a lesser extent, shutting down Windows causes many tiny files to be written. You really want to avoid these processes if at all possible.

So the first rule is: STOP USING THAT COMPUTER IMMEDIATELY! THIS MINUTE! RIGHT NOW! Use another computer to get the recovery tool you will need.

This is also one of the places where well-planned partitioning of your hard drive has a huge advantage. Partitions physically mark off different parts of the hard drive. If, for example, you have your data and program files on their own separate partitions, and it’s a data file that you want to recover (which is usually the case), then Windows startup or shutdown won’t touch that part of the hard drive. If you have the swapfile / pagefile on its own partition, and all of your directories for temporary files on another, then these most-changing and most-written files also will be kept from overwriting the part of the drive holding the files you want to recover. However, if you take that 80 GB hard drive and make it all one big single C: partition, then you run the risk of making your file unrecoverable anytime the swapfile resizes, or any time Windows writes a temporary file of any kind... and this could be pretty much at any moment whatsoever! Partitioning gives enormous advantage in file recovery.

How To Install Apache + PHP + MySQL

2007-09-21T01:27:00.000-07:00

Installation is similar on other Linux distributions. The tutorial below covers two approaches. The first discussed is downloading and installing packages. How to use Apache's DSO Module is discussed second.

This tutorial was written for the abstract versions. For complete information regarding installation, especially if there are new versions released, you should read the install notes for each of the packages.

This tutorial assumes you are running Linux and it is installed properly. For help with installing and configuring Linux check out some of the related links at the bottom of this page.

Download the Packages

First download the required packages to a directory. If you are running a different platform be sure to download the appropiate files for your platform:

Extract the Apache and PHP package into that directory using

# tar xfz apache_1.3.14.tar.gz
# tar xfz php_4.0.3pl1.tar.gz

Note: The pound sign # is the system prompt. You type in only what is after it .

Installing MySQL

MySQL is easiest to install on Red Hat systems using the RPM packages. To install MySQL in the same directory as the RPM packages use the command:

# rpm -Uvh *.rpm

Note: You most likely need to do this as the root user. Either log in or su to root.

After MySQL is installed you need to set the root password. To do this use the following commanding changing my_password to the password you want for the root user to access MySQL.

# mysqladmin -u root password 'my_password'

Note: If the MySQL service is not running, you may have to start it by hand before trying to set the password. It should start automatically when the computer boots. The command to start MySQL is:

# /etc/rc.d/init.d/mysqld start

You can test the MySQL installation by doing the following:

# mysql mysql (connect to mysql database)
Enter Password:
mysql> SELECT * FROM user; (grab some data out of user table)

This should return the data in the user table. Type exit to leave.

Installing Apache with PHP

Apache with PHP can be installed a few different ways. One way is to statically embed the PHP binary into the Apache binary. This is probably the fastest and best way to run PHP. You can also install PHP as a DSO module

Here are the step by step directions to install Apache and PHP in the directory /usr/local/apache

In Apache src directory (apache_1.3.14/)

# ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache

In PHP src directory (php-4.0.3pl1/)

# ./configure --with-mysql \
--with-xml \
--enable-track-vars \
--with-apache=../apache_1.3.14 \

# make
# make install

In Apache src directory (apache_1.3.14)

# ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/apache \
--enable-module=rewrite \
--activate-module=src/modules/php4/libphp4.a

# make
# make install

This will install Apache in the /usr/local/apache directory. The only thing left to do is to configure them.

Configuring Apache and PHP

To configure PHP copy php.ini-dist which is in the PHP src directory to /usr/local/lib/php.ini Edit this file setting the options you wish, generally nothing needs to be edited. However, you can set various options such as a default MySQL username and password.

To configure Apache edit /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf and set the your document directory and any other Apache settings you may want. To enable Apache and PHP to work together the following line needs to be added:

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

Look for this line or something similar already in the httpd.conf file and replace it with the above. Make sure to remove the # comment mark.

After editing the config file you need to restart Apache. The command to restart Apache is:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd restart

Need file recovery? Or hard drive data recovery software?

2007-09-03T23:14:00.001-07:00

There is some usefull recovery software:

1. Recover My Files data recovery software will easily recover deleted files emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin, or lost due to the format or corruption of a hard drive, virus or Trojan infection, unexpected system shutdown or software failure.

Download and try Recover My Files software Free!

Recover My Files data recovery software will find any type of file, but includes specific support for more than 200 file types in the following broad categories:

* Recover deleted email
* Recover deleted documents
* Recover deleted archives
* Digital Photo recovery
* Recover deleted music and video

Recover My Files is compatible with Windows 98/ME/2000/2003/XP and Vista and works with FAT 12, FAT 16, FAT 32, NTFS and NTFS5 file-systems.

With a deleted file the data content of the file is rarely destroyed. Even if Windows file reference information has been destroyed, this data recovery software scans the data at a low level to locate "Lost Files" by their internal file structure. This allows Recover My Files to recover deleted files that other data recovery software can never know exist.

2. PC Inspector File Recovery

Even when a file's header entry is no longer available, PC Inspector File Recovery can recover the file. The program lets you save recovered files on network drives. It recovers files with the original time and date stamp, so maybe it'll be like nothing ever happened.

Operating Systems: Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 9.x, Windows Me, Windows XP

It can find partitions automatically, even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged. It can recover files with the orginal time and date stamp. It can recover files even when the header entry is no longer available. It supports a variety of formats, including those created by compressed and archiving programs.

PC Inspector File Recovery Free Download

3. Restoration

Restoration is a free program that can scan your hard drive, floppy diskette or USB thumb drive and find files that have been deleted (Windows doesn't actually destroy files that you delete: it just marks the space they occupy as being available). It can then recover any recently deleted files it finds with a single mouse click.

You can filter the results if you know the name of the file you are looking for, which is much easier than wading through the list of the hundreds of deleted files it usually finds (including temporary files, cached Web files, etc).

Restoration doesn't need to be installed to work. Just keep the program on a floppy or an optical disc and pop it into the drive and run it when you need it (This approach also prevents your accidentally overwriting the deleted file). Although the program has not been updated since 2004, it still worked well in my informal tests and it recovered several files that I had deleted without problems. Download Restoration

4. VirtualLab Data Recovery Software

There must be fifty ways to lose your data. Whether you accidentally formatted your drive, deleted a folder, or got wrecked by a virus, this program can reunite you with your data. It connects to a powerful recovery server and uses artificial intelligence to compare your scenario to previous data recovery sessions. It works with FAT 12, FAT 16, FAT 32, and NTFS file-systems. It can find the disappearing data from Jaz disks, Zip disks, and digital camera media as well as from a hard drive.

Note: The program itself is free, but there is a charge for the use of the data recovery server. Costs vary with amount of data to be recovered.

Download VirtualLab Data Recovery

How to configure DNS in Windows Server 2003

2007-09-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Configure TCP/IP
1. Click Start, point to Control Panel, point to Network Connections, and then click Local Area Connection.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
4. Click the General tab.
5. Click Use the following IP address, and then type the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway address in the appropriate boxes.
6. Click Advanced, and then click the DNS tab.
7. Click Append primary and connection specific DNS suffixes.
8. Click to select the Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix check box.
9. Click to select the Register this connection's addresses in DNS check box.
10. Click OK three times.

NOTE: If you receive a warning from the DNS Caching Resolver service, click OK to dismiss the warning. The caching resolver is trying to contact the DNS server, but you have not finished configuring the server.

Step 2: Install Microsoft DNS Server
1. Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
2. Click Add or Remove Windows Components.
3. In the Components list, click Networking Services (but do not select or clear the check box), and then click Details.
4. Click to select the Domain Name System (DNS) check box, and then click OK.
5. Click Next.
6. When you are prompted, insert the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM into the computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
7. On the Completing the Windows Components Wizard page, click Finish when Setup is complete.
8. Click Close to close the Add or Remove Programs window.

Step 3: Configure the DNS Server
To configure DNS by using the DNS snap-in in Microsoft Management Console (MMC), follow these steps:
1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.
2. Right-click Forward lookup zones, and then click New Zone
3. When the New Zone Wizard starts, click Next.

You are prompted for a zone type. The zone types include:

Primary zone: Creates a copy of a zone that can be updated directly on this server. This zone information is stored in a .dns text file.
Secondary zone: A standard secondary zone copies all of the information from its master DNS server. A master DNS server can be an Active Directory, primary, or secondary zone that is configured for zone transfers. Note that you cannot modify the zone data on a secondary DNS server. All of its data is copied from its master DNS server.
Stub zone: A Stub zone contains only those resource records that are necessary to identify the authoritative DNS servers for that zone. Those resource records include Name Server (NS), Start of Authority (SOA), and possibly glue Host (A) records.

There is also an option to the store zone in Active Directory. This option is only available if the DNS server is a Domain controller.
4. The new forward lookup zone must be a primary or an Active Directory-integrated zone so that it can accept dynamic updates. Click Primary, and then click Next.
5. The new zone contains the locator records for this Active Directory-based domain. The name of the zone must be the same as the name of the Active Directory-based domain, or be a logical DNS container for that name. For example, if the Active Directory-based domain is named "support.microsoft.com", valid zone names are "support.microsoft.com" only.

Accept the default name for the new zone file. Click Next.

NOTE: Experienced DNS administrators may want to create a reverse lookup zone, and are encouraged to explore this branch of the wizard. A DNS server can resolve two basic requests: a forward lookup and a reverse lookup. A forward lookup is more common. A forward lookup resolves a host name to an IP address with an "A" or Host Resource record. A reverse lookup resolves an IP address to a host name with a PTR or Pointer Resource record. If you have your reverse DNS zones configured, you can automatically create associated reverse records when you create your original forward record.
[Source]

Restore Default Icon For My Computer and others

2007-08-29T03:36:00.000-07:00

Has the icon for one of the following desktop items changed and you want to revert it back to the default?

My Computer
My Documents
My Network Places
Recycle Bin (full)
Recycle Bin (empty)

1. Right-click an empty area of the desktop and choose Properties.
2. When the Display Properties multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the Desktop tab.
3. Click the Customize Desktop button.
4. A Desktop Items dialog box will appear. Make sure the General tab is selected.
5. Choose an icon to change back.
6. Click Restore Default.
7. Click OK on the dialog boxes to close them.

How to restore the operating system to a previous state in Windows XP

2007-08-29T03:19:00.000-07:00

If Windows XP starts
1. Log on to Windows as Administrator.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system checkpoint in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next. A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.
5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
6. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page appears.
7. Click OK.

Troubleshooting
You may inadvertently restore Windows XP to a previous configuration that you do not want. To undo the restoration:
1. Log on to Windows as Administrator.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Undo my last restoration, and then click Next. A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.
4. On the Confirm Restoration Undo page, click Next. System Restore restores the original Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
5. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Undo Complete page appears.
6. Click OK.

How to restore iPod

2007-08-29T03:11:00.001-07:00

How to restore iPod

Ensure that you have an active Internet connection as new versions of iTunes and iPod Software may need to be downloaded to your computer.
Download and install iTunes 7.0 or later if you do not already have it installed.
Open iTunes, and then connect your iPod to your computer using the USB or FireWire cable that came with your iPod.
After a few moments, your iPod will appear in the Source panel in iTunes.
Select your iPod in the Source panel and you will see information about your iPod appear in the Summary tab of the main iTunes windows.
Click the Restore button. You will be prompted with one or more restore options that may prompt iTunes to automatically download the latest iPod Software. The 4 possible restore options are:
- Restore Option 1: Restore - Restores with same iPod Software version already on iPod.
- Restore Option 2: Use Same Version - Restores with same iPod Software version already on iPod even though a newer version is available.
- Restore Option 3: Use Newest Version - Restores with the latest iPod Software available.
- Restore Option 4: Restore and Update - Restores with the latest iPod Software available.
If you are using a Mac, a message will appear prompting you to enter an administrator’s name and password.
A progress bar will appear on the computer screen indicating that the first stage of the restore process has started. When this stage is completed, iTunes will present one of two messages on screen with instructions specific to the iPod model you are restoring.
- Restore Instruction 1: Disconnect iPod and connect it to iPod Power Adapter (typically applies to older iPod models).
- Restore Instruction 2: Leave iPod connected to computer to complete restore (typically applies newer iPod models).
During the stage 2 of the restore process, the iPod will show an Apple logo as well as a progress bar at the bottom of the display. It is critical that the iPod remains connected to the computer or iPod Power adapter during this stage. Note: The progress bar may be difficult to see since the backlight on the iPod display may be off.
After stage 2 of the restore process is complete and the iPod is connected to the computer, the iTunes Setup Assistant window will appear asking you to name your iPod and choose your syncing preferences similar to when you connected your iPod for the first time.

HOWTO: iPod - restore and maximize battery life

2007-08-29T01:58:00.000-07:00

This HOWTO assumes your iPod space is less than your iTunes music collection. If this is not true you only need to make the "Empty" playlist, use the iPod Updater and the optional Disk Utility.

Caution: Read all warnings you get, if something goes wrong, you are on your own. There are no guaranties attached to this HOWTO. Something in your setup, hardware or in your iPod hardware might render your iPod useless. But if you are close to 1 hour playing time it is nearly useless anyway so you might as well try?

Preparation:

1. You should charge your iPod first.

Use Software Update in System preferences to download the latest iPod Updater (Or use link in sidebar).

2. Make one or more playlist that contains music that will fill your iPod 85 - 90%. Make one playlist with no music that you name "Empty".

Action:

3. Connect your iPod

4. Quit iTunes

5. Launch the iPod Updater from your Utilities folder.

Read the warning in the iPod Updater summary window and choose Restore. Read the warnings again and choose Restore once more (Or cancel if you are about to lose unique data. Are you using your iPod to store other data than music from iTunes?).

Then you will have to enter your password. The updater starts. Be patient on every step! Follow the instructions. When you are asked to unplug: do it and wait for the symbol on the iPod to tell you to replug. Wait some more for the summary window to reappear.

Then quit.

6. Start iTunes. iTunes kicks up iPod setup assistant.

iTunes asks you to give your iPod a name.
Deselect "Automatically update". Choose Next and Done.

7. In iTunes: Select the iPod and go into the iPod options.

Choose "Automatically update selected playlists only:"
Read the warning and choose Ok
Select the playlists you made and Ok. Fill up to max 85 - 90%. (There is no lower limit.)

The next time you want to remove and add some other music you first choose to sync with playlist "Empty" and then you choose your new playlist, while keeping minimum 10 - 15 % free space. ( This recommendation might be very conservative. You are free to try other limits. 5 % might be sufficient. )

This writes the music files in a contiguous way on the hard disk.

If you erase and add files in a normal manner you will get fragmentation. The iPod hard disk will have to work more to read your music and your battery will suffer.

8. (Optional) Quit iTunes. Start up your favorite "Disk Utility" and do a repair or as in my favorite disk utility DiskWarrior choose Rebuild.

Now you have to recharge the battery. That's it. If you are as lucky as me you can enjoy your iPod again for many hours.

Restore Show Desktop Icon

2007-07-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

Restore Show Desktop Icon to Quick Launch on Taskbar

If the Show Desktop icon is deleted from Quick Launch, the procedure below will recreate the file.

Open Notepad and enter the following text:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save the new file as Show Desktop.scf then drag and drop the icon on the Quick Launch bar or whatever location you want the shortcut to appear.