Disable UAC Prompts

Back when Windows Vista came out, Microsoft introduced User Account Control (or UAC). UAC is Microsoft’s response to Ubuntu’s sudo command, which must be run to run a command as admin. It has since then had many iterations and updates, and despite all the security positives of having it turned on, some people choose to turn it off. If you are wondering how to turn it off, then follow the steps below. These steps will work for Window Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. Continue reading “Disable UAC Prompts”

Disable The Clutter Folder

Microsoft decided it would be a good idea to start moving some of your mail to a separate folder. Do you know how the announced it? They put an email in the clutter folder saying “Welcome To Clutter”. They put it in a folder that you never seen before? Yeah, who is going to see that? Here is how you disable it!

Continue reading “Disable The Clutter Folder”

Turn Windows Firewall Off or On By Command Line Or Script

I have run into a few times when I needed to turn off or on the Windows Firewall via command line or script. It is actually very simple to do!

To Turn Off:
NetSh Advfirewall set allprofiles state off

To Turn On:
NetSh Advfirewall set allrprofiles state on

To check the status of Windows Firewall:
Netsh Advfirewall show allprofiles

You can replace “allprofiles” with public, domain, or private and you can manipulate just that one profile. I used this in creating a script to test the firewall settings of a remote server. That way if I messed up the config, it would turn itself back off after a minute and I was able to reconnect to it. You can view that script on my other post Testing Windows Firewall Settings Safely From Remote Machine.

Testing Windows Firewall Settings Safely From Remote Machine

A while back I got me a new crisp Windows Server. By default, the Firewall was turned off and of course I wanted to turn it on for security reasons. But what happens if I lose my connection to a server a few hundred miles away? How would I disable the firewall if I can’t connect to it anymore? I decided to write a script!

The function of the script is to enable the firewall for the public internet, wait 2 minutes, then disable it again. Here is my script:

@echo off
Netsh Advfirewall set public state on
timeout 120
Netsh Advfirewall set public state off

Save those lines as a batch file, then run it as Administrator. Keep in mind to use this at your own risk! It saved me, but never know about you! An explanation of the commands can be found on my other post Turn Windows Firewall Off or On By Command Line Or Script.

DigitalOcean VPS Hosting Review

I have been using DigitalOcean for nearly 6 months now to host my websites and online services. They are a premium Virtual Private Hosting provider that offers many types of configurations in many geographic regions. In 55 seconds, you can have a VPS created and up and running with you ready to login and start hosting. DigitalOcean has many features to offer and they are always expanding on their features:

Continue reading “DigitalOcean VPS Hosting Review”

Microsoft kills Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10

Despite so much of the internet still using Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10, Microsoft decides to pull the plug on the old outdated versions to help push people to use IE 11 and Microsoft Edge. They where ridden with many security holes, bugs, and not supported by many updated sites. However, there are some sites, such as government and company sites, that relied on the older versions to work – even if you enable compatibility view.

It has been a long time coming that Microsoft has wanted to pull the plug due to so many problems found with the older versions. But will the 17.3% [1] that is still running on those three version upgrade since they have been warned for so long about the security holes?

Interesting Fact: .65% [1] of the internet is still using Internet Explorer 6.0, despite its last update being released in April 2008 and it only running in Windows XP!

Resources:

  1. Net Market Share – http://www.netmarketshare.com/
  2. Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_6

Newest Money Saving Website – Zesty Saver

Zesty Saver Feature Graphic

Here at the AxelNet, I try my best to create websites that helps people solve problems. Take SimplePriceMatch.com for example. With SPM reaching almost three years old, I have a large following base that comes to the site regularly and spends an hour on it weekly. I am so glad that I have been able to save so many people so much money!

Since SPM has been so popular, I decided to create another website called ZestySaver.com. This newest site to my network allows you to compare prices, find deals for items that you are looking for, and to link you up with something you never even knew existed. ZestySaver.com has deals and coupons for large companies such as Dell, Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, and thousands more. There are coupons added every single hour of every day So keep checking back regularly for more!

 

Visit ZestySaver.com!

Edit Offline Registry

Regedit: Shows the starting screen when you open regedit tool the first time

Sometimes, editing the registry while the computer is on, is not an option. There can be many reason for this, such as:

  • Computer wont boot
  • Registry tweak in an Image that you created
  • Changing the default profile registry

I have found myself using it very often for different reasons. Let’s jump in on how to do it:

  1. Open Regedit as you normally would on a working Windows machine
  2. If you are trying to edit a system reg, them click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, or a user reg, click on HKEY_USERS. (You must perform this step or you will not get the correct option.

    Regedit: Shows the "HKEY_USERS" hive selected
    Regedit: Shows the “HKEY_USERS” hive selected
  3. Click File then Load Hive

    Regedit: Shows the "Load Hive" option selected
    Regedit: Shows the “Load Hive” option selected
  4. Locate the registry file you are trying to work with (Will make another blog post for common locations)
  5. A box stating Key Name will pull up. Put anything you want it there (this is a temp name). If you are wanting to run a reg script on the hive, then name it what you find in the file. For example, if its HKEY_USER\temp\Printers\Connections, then you want to use “temp” as the key name.

    Regedit: Shows entering the temporary Key Name
    Regedit: Shows entering the temporary Key Name
  6. You can now find the hive you just loaded under the respective folder you clicked on in step 2.

    Regedit: Shows hive loaded as "temp name"
    Regedit: Shows hive loaded as “temp name”
  7. When you are done making your changes, you MUST click File –> Unload Hive to save changes and dismount the hive properly.

You have now made your changes and saved your hive. Be sure to always test and create backups in case something gets corrupted!

 

Why did you need to edit the registry offline? Let me know in the comments!

Common Registry Hive Locations

Regedit: Shows the starting screen when you open regedit tool the first time

From time to time, I found myself needing to know weird things – such as where a certain registry hive is located so I can edit the hive offline. I decided to finally make a list of where to find these registry hives.

  • Default User: C:\Users\default\NTUSER.DAT
  • User: C:\Users\{username}\NTUSER.DAT
  • System: C:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM
  • Software: C:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE
  • Security: C:\Windows\System32\config\SECURITY
  • Drivers: C:\Windows\System32\config\DRIVERS

Interesting fact that I found is that the registry actually has a list of all the hives on that machine:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\hivelist

Please keep in mind that editing any of these files can permanently your Windows installation and to use caution!

iClever Bluetooth Keyboard Case (IC-BCK06)

I got a chance to try out yet another great product! This one is the iClever Bluetooth keyboard Case (IC-BCK06) for Samsung 10.1 inch tablet. This case has a very high quality build, and the keyboard seems to have a great functionality too.

I am very excited about this! I do not have the tablet that it is made for, but I do have other android and Windows devices that it works with. I have paired and tested it with a few different devices and tried out the keyboard, and messed around with the stand. Here is what I think of it:

  • Pairing: Pairing the keyboard is easy -simply press the pair button on it, then click pair on the device in the Bluetooth menu
  • Keyboard: The keyboard is a super quite keyboard that seems to respond to every key. The hard part is getting use to where the keys are (a problem with any new keyboard). The keyboard can be removed from the case and you can move it around to your liking. When I am done using the tablet, I can pair it with my TV Computer and use it for that too.
  • Touchpad: The touchpad works pretty well. Clicking is easy, and you can even tap on the mousepad and that will emulate a click like a normal touchpad. The only thing I noticed is that the moving from one side of the screen to the other seems to be a little slow, but that may be because of my DPI settings on my device and the fact I usually turn the speed up on my computer.
  • Case: The case is very high quality – in fact, I really was surprised at how high the quality was. The grips that hold in the tablet are non-intrusive on the screen, and does a very good job to hold it down. They are very easy to get on, and easy to get off. It features a small kickstand that firmly hold up the tablet at a perfect angle.

I am very excited about this buy, because of its many uses past its advertised use. I would highly recommend this product to anyone that asks about it – even if you just want a keyboard/touchpad without the case – it’s a great buy!

If you are looking to buy this product, here is the link on Amazon to purchase it!

 

iClever Bluetooth Keyboard Case iClever Bluetooth Keyboard Case iClever Bluetooth Keyboard Case iClever Bluetooth Keyboard Case