Sticky Clean Up

[Neo]

Hello everyone!

I'm sure you've noticed the absence of both of the ancient Tech Annex stickies. This is because I've decided to finally stop being lazy and put something proper together.

I would like input from everyone on this new project, which will consist of a new "FAQs" type sticky for the Tech Annex.

I want to include:


Actual Frequently Asked Questions (and fake ones to)
Procedure for soft-malware cleanup (Adaware, Spybot, Spysweeper, etc...)
Guide for using HijackThis!
-Actually I was thinking about seeing about putting together a sort of HJT analyzer "sqaud" who've volunteered to read through and let people know what's up (or compeltely wrong) with HJT Logs. So if someone posts a HJT log, someone can respond and let them know what they need to fix and know they can trust the person responding (for example, members who suggest "fixing" everything is just lame -- we want to fix computers, not mess them up more)
Guide and examples on how, what, and why to Backup your stuff.
-This is something even I need to accomplish more, but I was thinking we could come up with some good programs and ways to back up your critical information, and what exactly is critical -- Have you ever backed up your info and then did a wipe, only to forget things like you're email, address book, or even favorites?
I will also be updating and rearranging this list here; http://www.blizzforums.com/showthread.php?t=3671 and then porting it over to Warboards. Though this is something that needs a bit more work, I want the thread to be a sort of list of (Free) programs that do what they claim to, or work for what you need them to do (Paint.NET, AVG/avast!/etc... type stuff)
Basic Guide of which open ports you need for Battle.net/Blizzard Games (and WoW) as well as other router-type-networking stuff. Also an explaination of why, if you have a recent NAT Router with a SPI Firewall, there is no need for you to run a software firewall. I also thought this could work into a guide about explaining safe browsing which leads to...
Everyone loves Firefox. Seriously though, I thought we could have a couple posts on Firefox/Extensions and Skins, even a guide on how to make FF look like IE7 (to convert you're strange relatives who don't like change) -- Perhaps generally a thread about browsers, whats safe and what's not, how to properly use IE(7 or before) to browse without getting infected. What toolbars (if any) you need, etc...
Misc stuff
- Stuff I've forgotten in this list, or things that popup occasionally. I was thinking a small collect of links to various sites like, Crucial (determining what type of memory you're computer supports) and stuff.


If you're interested just post in this thread, if you'd like to take control of any specific section, feel free to go ahead and start tackling it. I was thinking we should also make an effort to take screenshots or add other nifty graphics into the process.

If you have any other ideas or suggestions on what else we should cover go ahead -- I was thinking if one of you Ubuntu users (like that you use it for your main desktop) might do a guide on switching -- or how to do stuff in Ubuntu thats different from Windows, or how to get certain games (ie: WoW) to run on linux.

Oh, I also wanted to have a small collection of links to online services, like places to upload pictures and/or files, or places like Digg, Reddit or /. and stuff.

Let me know if you're interested. (post here plz)

edit: ALso for the Programming sub-forum, I want to sticky a list of (GOOD) tutorial sites where people can learn php and the like.

-Neo

[Neo]

Y'all suck.

Fine, I'll do it all myself, and if you don't like it, I'll sic my gir-moogle hybrids after you.

-Neo

[King_Critter]

Patience is a virtue. :P

How to get StarCraft and Diablo II running in Wine
(And basically everything else too, as this is more of a general "how to use Wine" type of guide.)

First, you'll need to get Wine. In Ubuntu, running the command "sudo apt-get install wine" will do the trick. However, if I remember correctly Wine's website mentioned that the Wine contained in the default repositories is slightly out of date. So, if you want to make sure you have the latest version, check out their download page (http://winehq.org/site/download-deb) (or here (http://winehq.org/site/download) for all distros) and follow the instructions there. If you have a 64 bit version of Ubuntu older then Feisty, then you'll need to utilize this hack (http://wiki.winehq.org/UbuntuAMD64).

Ok, so now you've got Wine. The first thing to do is open a Terminal and type:
winecfgThat should open a window that looks like this:
http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen1.jpg
Click on the tab labled Drives, and you'll see this:
http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen2.jpg
Click on the Autodetect button, and a list of drives similer to the one shown should appear. Now click Show Advanced.
http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen3.jpg
...and I just realized I made a typing error. Damn. Anyway, click on the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, then change the Type to CD-ROM. That's pretty much it. The only thing left is if you want to use the Alt button. The left Alt button, specifically. In Ubuntu (though to be more precise, I think it's a Gnome thing) the left Alt button is the window mover. You hold it down, then click and drag with the mouse. So this can be rather annoying in a game like Diablo II, where you hold Alt to see items on the ground.

There's 3 ways around this: Change the key in Diablo 2 (or whatever other game). You can do this by hitting the escape key and selecting Options, then Configure Controls. I think that's what it's called... I've found the Spacebar a good replacement.
Or you can change the key-combo in Ubuntu. In the main menu, go to System > Preferences > Windows.
The third option is changing Wine. Under the Graphics tab, you can Uncheck "Allow the window manager to control the windows." However, I would recommend that you keep it checked -- because if it's not, you loose the ability to Alt-Tab and switch between workspaces.

http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen4.jpg


Bugs in Blizzard games:

In Diablo II, the only one I've noticed is that if you Alt-Tab you can't type anymore. You can still use hotkeys, you just can't type messages to the other players, or interact with text boxes (such as the login screen for battle.net). An easy workaround is to use Ctrl-Alt-[arrow keys] to switch beetween workspaces. If you have troubles installing or running the game, uncheck "Allow the window manager to control the windows." Also, if you get an error about Unhandled Exceptions, you might need to use D2 Loader. This guide (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=443821) has a section on that. To quote:
Getting D2Loader to work

Obtain a copy of D2Loader. I don't know where you can get a copy of it.
In your /home/[your username]/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Diablo II/ directory, rename Diablo II.exe to Diablo II_orig.exe.
Copy D2Loader into /home/[your username]/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/Diablo II/.
Rename D2Loader to Diablo II.exeTo get D2 Loader, use our friend Google. (http://www.google.com%0A%20%20%201.%20Obtain%20a%20copy%2 0of%20D2Loader.%20I%20don%27t%20know%20where%20you %20can%20get%20a%20copy%20of%20it.%0A%20%20%202.%2 0In%20your%20/home/%5Byour%20username%5D/.wine/drive_c/Program%20Files/Diablo%20II/%20directory,%20rename%20Diablo%20II.exe%20to%20Di ablo%20II_orig.exe.)

In StarCraft, there's only one major bug: Battle.net. Like, the whole thing. Kind of odd, considering the rest of the game works perfectly. The good news, however, is that battle.net does work -- it just doesn't look good. But once you're actually in a game everything will be normal. If you join a game and all you see is a black screen, just click with the mouse, then wave it around and the screen will clear.

In both games you might get a "Insert CD into drive" or somesuch error, even if you have the disc in. You can get around this by downloading the latest patch from Blizzard's site (http://www.blizzard.com) and installing it.

For WoW and WarCraft III, I don't know because I don't own the games. But you can take a look around on WineHQ's AppDB (http://appdb.winehq.org/), and see what bugs have been reported there.



-----------------------------------

Happy, Neo? ;)

There's a few other things in your list, there, that I might be interested in doing...

Oh, and when you do port that list of software over here, in all the places that apply you should add links to tutorials and stuff on how to use 'em.

[Neo]

Kickass, thanks.

I know, I just thought it needed a bump :P

-Neo

[Serban]

my gir-moogle hybrids

Do you have anything against my cousins? :confused:

[bluemicrobyte]

For the FAQ section we should include:

1) A home networking tutorial including port forwarding

and

2) A "Free Alternatives to Photoshop" guide.

(edit: Yes, it was a short post, but I contributed a tiny bit to this huge project, right? =P)

[Modred]

Firefox Tip: Search from the Address Bar

One of my favorite features of the Opera Web Browser are the built in search from the address bar. To search Google, you can type "g warboards" to do a search for WarBoards. Opera comes standard with several of these shortcuts, which have been painfully absent from my life since my most recent switch to Firefox. Luckily, I stumbled across some pointers that have allowed this much loved feature to be used in Firefox!

Firefox comes with a few of these already defined for you:

google <search term> -- search Google
dict <word> -- search Answers.com
quote <symbol> -- look up a stock symbol through Google's stock features
wp <search term> -- search Wikipedia


To create our own, customized search tools like the above, we'll be making use of Firefox's boomarks. If you open the Bookmarks Manager, right click on a bookmark, and choose "Properties", you'll notice an empty field called "keyword". You can use this field to define a shortcut used in the address bar to access that bookmark. While nice to know, this alone isn't always so useful. However, Firefox can accept arguments after a keyword, which makes the feature particularly useful for searching.

Using Bookmark Keywords for Searching

Instead of going through and creating bookmarks the hard way with the Bookmarks Manager, we'll make use of a specialized feature in the Firefox context menu. For the remainder of this tip, we'll be creating a search shortcut for WarBoards.


Navigate to the WarBoards Search (http://www.warboards.org/search.php?) page.
Under "Search by keyword", right click on the search field where you would normally type your search term.
Select "Add a Keyword for this Search..."
http://up.kupatrix.com/f/128/tutorial_images/context_menu.png
Fill in the bookmark form. Give the bookmark a descriptive name and enter the keyword you want to use for the search. An example is given below:
http://up.kupatrix.com/f/128/tutorial_images/add_bookmark.png
Give it a try: type "wb sticky clean up" in the address bar. It should then (after a short delay...Warboards search is rather slow) give you a list of threads that matched your query.


That's all there is to it. You can use this process to add searches for other sites, such as IMDB, Download.com, Uncyclopedia, or any other site that provides a search feature.

[King_Critter]

wp <search term> -- search Wikipedia

I never knew that. o_0

(Oh, and Neo -- I'd been writing a guide to using AVG, Ad-aware, and spybot, then I lost it. So I'll type it up again and complete it pretty soon.)

[Neo]

win-get (http://windows-get.sourceforge.net/)

For those who are familiar with apt-get on linux you should get the deal behind this program. For the rest of you... Winget is a sort of automated installer.


Basic Syntax:

win-get [switches] [action] [application]

Actions:

win-get install [app name] - gets and installs the app
win-get sinstall [app name] - gets and installs the app using a silent installer
win-get do [app name] - downloads the file only and does not execute it.
win-get info [app name] - retrieves the description of the app
win-get search [keyword] - search the repository for matching files
win-get help - display help and usage information
win-get uninstall - launches the windows gui uninstall system.
win-get version - shows the version of win-get
win-get restore - pulls down a users remote software list from a repository and auto installs it.
win-get dorestore - download applications for a restore but do not install them.

Switches:

-r - use requests table of repository
-noreport - turn off error reporting
-rep=[url] - use the specified repository
-u=[username] - set the username
-p=[password] - set the password

Examples

win-get install ad-aware

This would install Lavasoft's Adaware.


Applist:

Visit win-get's website for all the apps currently supported (http://windows-get.sourceforge.net/listapps.php)



Note: I will be writing up a program list with programs that you can get through win-get first, seeing as it is pretty damned simple. Afterwards I will add programs that you have to download and install differently.

AntiSpy

Lavasoft's Ad-Aware 2007 Free (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php)

Installation: win-get install ad-aware

This scans your computer's memory, hard drive, and registery for spyware related components, and allows you to remove them. The free version is pretty good, but the pro version lets you setup things like automatic scanning and updates.


Spybot: Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html)

Installation: win-get install spybot

Spybot: Search and Destroy is similar to Adaware, however it specifically searches for browser hijacks, "dialers", and other malicious stuff. Usually Spybot is used in conjunction with Adaware to clean a moderately infested computer.

WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com/)

Installation: win-get install winpatrol

WinPatrol is different, instead of scanning your computer for already identified and known threats, it takes a sort of "snapshot" of your current system's critical components. Whenever something comes along that tries to change it, WinPatrol kicks into action, letting you know whats going down.

NOTE: At the time of this writing, I've not used WinPatrol, it is also my understanding that it doesn't include a real-time component in the Free version, but you can still use it as intended (simply use it every other day or so, depending on how often you install new programs).



Installation: win-get install



AVG Anti-Rootkit (http://www.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-rootkit/us/crp/0) and AVG Antispyware (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-spyware/us/frt/0)

Installation: win-get install avg_antirootkit
Installation: win-get install avg_antispyware

From the creators of AVG Anti-Virus, that many people use to help protect against viruses, they've created two different programs to help protect against different threats. The first is AVG's Anti-Rootkit, which helps scan for, and protect you againt them. The second is AVG's very own Anti-Spyware solution. If you are worried about rootkits, or are simply interested in another level of protection, then this program is perfect for you. Both are free, as is everything on this list.

AntiVirus

AVG AntiVirus (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-virus/us/frt/0)

Installation: win-get install avg_antivirus

AVG is one of the best antivirus solutions around -- and best of all it's free! It's uninstrusive, and is pretty easy to operate. After a few initial settings (for example, when to update and when to scan) it's pretty transparent. It offers real time protection, but doesn't slow down your computer.

Note: Although AVG doesn't slow down your computer normally, when it goes to update and run it's daily scan (or weekly however you set it) it can be somewhat annoying. However the simple answer is to simply schedule it to update and scan when you aren't at your computer, for example while you're sleeping or at work.



avast! 4 Home Edition (http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html)

Installation: win-get install avast

avast! Home Edition is a powerful antivirus program. Something like 30 million people use it! Fully featured, I don't believe anything is crippled, nor does it suffer from the "BUY PRO VERSION NOW" syndrome that other programs suffer from.

Firewalls

Kerio Personal Firewall

Installation: win-get install kerio_personal_firewall

There's not much to say about this firewall. Unlock ZoneAlarm, of which I won't suggest anyone use, it's no-frills, and simple. After the initial setup and letting it know whats ok and whats not, it's pretty quiet as well. It also plays well with most programs -- including games like Warcraft III.

NOTE: It is my belief that the Windows Firewall is fine as far as it goes for most situations. And for people behind a NAT Router, you don't need a software firewall at all. The only reason you would install something like ZA and Kerio (Sunbelt), is to stop malicious stuff from communicating OUT of your computer. However if that is the case, I would rather have more powerful AV/AS/AT/etc... type software to stop the program before it gets to the point of trying to contact its master.



More to come later!

-Neo

[King_Critter]

Free Content Creation Applications

2D Graphics

The Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/) (Windows (http://www.gimp.org/windows/)/Linux (http://www.gimp.org/unix/)/Mac (http://www.gimp.org/macintosh/))
Paint.Net (http://www.getpaint.net/) (Windows (http://www.getpaint.net/download.html))

3D Graphics

Blender (http://www.blender.org/) (Windows/Linux/Mac (http://www.blender.org/download/get-blender/))
Anim8or (http://www.anim8or.com/main/index.html) (Windows (http://www.anim8or.com/main/index.html))
K3D (http://www.k-3d.org/wiki/Main_Page) (Windows/Linux/Mac [unstable] (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11113)) Note: I tried to install this through apt-get in Ubuntu, and it broke Apt. It was a complete bitch to fix, too, so watch out.
Art of Illusion (http://www.artofillusion.org/) (Windows/Linux/Mac (http://www.artofillusion.org/downloads))

Video

Kino (http://www.kinodv.org/) (Linux (http://www.kinodv.org/article/static/1))
Cinelerra (http://cvs.cinelerra.org/) (Linux (http://cvs.cinelerra.org/getting_cinelerra.php))

Audio

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) (Windows (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows)/Linux (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/linux)/Mac (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac))




If I missed anything you think should be added, just say so.

[Twitch6000]

Patience is a virtue. :P

How to get StarCraft and Diablo II running in Wine
(And basically everything else too, as this is more of a general "how to use Wine" type of guide.)

First, you'll need to get Wine. In Ubuntu, running the command "sudo apt-get install wine" will do the trick. However, if I remember correctly Wine's website mentioned that the Wine contained in the default repositories is slightly out of date. So, if you want to make sure you have the latest version, check out their download page (http://winehq.org/site/download-deb) (or here (http://winehq.org/site/download) for all distros) and follow the instructions there. If you have a 64 bit version of Ubuntu older then Feisty, then you'll need to utilize this hack (http://wiki.winehq.org/UbuntuAMD64).

Ok, so now you've got Wine. The first thing to do is open a Terminal and type:
winecfgThat should open a window that looks like this:
http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen1.jpg
Click on the tab labled Drives, and you'll see this:
http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen2.jpg
Click on the Autodetect button, and a list of drives similer to the one shown should appear. Now click Show Advanced.
http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen3.jpg
...and I just realized I made a typing error. Damn. Anyway, click on the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, then change the Type to CD-ROM. That's pretty much it. The only thing left is if you want to use the Alt button. The left Alt button, specifically. In Ubuntu (though to be more precise, I think it's a Gnome thing) the left Alt button is the window mover. You hold it down, then click and drag with the mouse. So this can be rather annoying in a game like Diablo II, where you hold Alt to see items on the ground.

There's 3 ways around this: Change the key in Diablo 2 (or whatever other game). You can do this by hitting the escape key and selecting Options, then Configure Controls. I think that's what it's called... I've found the Spacebar a good replacement.
Or you can change the key-combo in Ubuntu. In the main menu, go to System > Preferences > Windows.
The third option is changing Wine. Under the Graphics tab, you can Uncheck "Allow the window manager to control the windows." However, I would recommend that you keep it checked -- because if it's not, you loose the ability to Alt-Tab and switch between workspaces.

http://kingcritter.pyrom.net/uploads/wine/screen4.jpg


Bugs in Blizzard games:

In Diablo II, the only one I've noticed is that if you Alt-Tab you can't type anymore. You can still use hotkeys, you just can't type messages to the other players, or interact with text boxes (such as the login screen for battle.net). An easy workaround is to use Ctrl-Alt-[arrow keys] to switch beetween workspaces. If you have troubles installing or running the game, uncheck "Allow the window manager to control the windows." Also, if you get an error about Unhandled Exceptions, you might need to use D2 Loader. This guide (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=443821) has a section on that. To quote:
To get D2 Loader, use our friend Google. (http://www.google.com%0A%20%20%201.%20Obtain%20a%20copy%2 0of%20D2Loader.%20I%20don%27t%20know%20where%20you %20can%20get%20a%20copy%20of%20it.%0A%20%20%202.%2 0In%20your%20/home/%5Byour%20username%5D/.wine/drive_c/Program%20Files/Diablo%20II/%20directory,%20rename%20Diablo%20II.exe%20to%20Di ablo%20II_orig.exe.)

In StarCraft, there's only one major bug: Battle.net. Like, the whole thing. Kind of odd, considering the rest of the game works perfectly. The good news, however, is that battle.net does work -- it just doesn't look good. But once you're actually in a game everything will be normal. If you join a game and all you see is a black screen, just click with the mouse, then wave it around and the screen will clear.

In both games you might get a "Insert CD into drive" or somesuch error, even if you have the disc in. You can get around this by downloading the latest patch from Blizzard's site (http://www.blizzard.com) and installing it.

For WoW and WarCraft III, I don't know because I don't own the games. But you can take a look around on WineHQ's AppDB (http://appdb.winehq.org/), and see what bugs have been reported there.



-----------------------------------

Happy, Neo? ;)

There's a few other things in your list, there, that I might be interested in doing...

Oh, and when you do port that list of software over here, in all the places that apply you should add links to tutorials and stuff on how to use 'em.
I would like to add on this and say installing the microsoft core fonts it helps load starcraft alot better.Also if you go in regedit and turn on direct drawing(if off) that is very helpful.Finally play starcraft on windows xp or 95 on wine,I have no clue why it just runs better.