Identifying and Removing Scare-Ware

What's Scare-Ware?
Scare-Ware is a form of malicious software that imitates a virus scanner, and tried to trick the user into purchasing the full virus scanner software. Of course, since this is actually a fake program, entering any credit card information will inevitably lead to your information beings stolen. Never "buy" this software. Never purchase anything you did not specifically ask to purchase. Real virus scanning software is downloaded manually. If you didn't download this software, it's probably scare-ware!

How does it work?
Scare-Ware usually sets up camp in two ways. First, it hides the actual program file (called an executable) by marking thew program file as both hidden, and as a protected operating system file. Then, it edits the windows registry so that every time a program is opened, the scare-ware's executable is prompted to open, too. This can be frustrating, since every program you try to open (even real antivirus programs) will prompt the redeployment of the malware.

Repair and Removal
Note: Removing scare-ware is a multi-step process, and the process I am going to describe may not work for every case of scare-ware.

Step 1: Breaking the cycle
-Download this ZIP file and extract the contents to your desktop (mirror links at the bottom of this post).
-When asked for a password, type 'wrk' without the quotes
-Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager, and then minimize it
-Open a program (like windows notepad) to invoke the malware to appear.
-Once the malware window pops up, minize that, and then switch to the Task Manager Window
-On the Applications Tab, find the malware's program (it will have the same name as the malware window)
-Right Click the malware name in the task manager, and then click "Go to Process"
-Write down the name of the highlighted process on a piece of paper.
-Right click the process, and click Properties.
-Write down the folder path (next to 'Location:')
-Close the Properties windows (NOT the Task Manager, though)
-Right Click whatever Process is now highlighted, and click End Process Tree
-If a box appears asking to confirm ending the process, click End Process.
-Now close Task Manager.
-On your desktop, double click the file named "EXE (Fix)" and confirm adding it to the registry.
-Immediately restart your computer. I recommended a hard power cycle, rather than letting it power down.
-When Windows is up and ready to use again, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task manager.
-Open the Processes tab, and look to see if the malware process is running. If not, you have broken the cycle! If so, I'm afraid your problem may be outside the scope of this tutorial.

Step 2: Removing the Mal-ware Executable
-Open a My Computer window.
-Click 'Tools' and then 'Folder Options'
-Click on the 'View' tab.
-Look for an option that says "Show hidden files, folder and drives"
-Click the circle next to "Show hidden files, folder and drives"
-Uncheck the box next to "Hide protected operating system files"
-Click Apply, and close the window.
-Now look at the folder path you wrote down in step one, and navigate to that folder.
-You should see a file with the same name as the malware process you ended in step one
-Delete that file, and then empty your Recycle Bin.
-Go back to "Folder Options, and recheck the "Hide protected operating system files" box
-Click the circle next to "Don't show hidden files, folders of drives" and then click apply.
-You're finished  :)



Notes:
Mirror Link 1
Mirror Link 2
Mirror Link 3
Mirror Link 4

-If you can't find the malware executable in step 2, run a full system search for the malware processes name.
-The ZIP archive password is wrk

Dreamcast: S-Video Cable DIY

I ordered an S-Video cable from Amazon for my Dreamcast. The cable didn't work though. The composite and audio channels were fine, but S-Video gave a crappy black and white, fuzzy image.
I cracked the plastic off the plug (on the dreamcast end) only to find that the S-video's chrominance and luminance cables weren't even connected to the right pins! Both wires running to the S-video connector were attached to the composite pin @_@

Wow; talk about spotty workmanship. Apparently, the creators of this cable had NO idea how the dreamcast pinout works.
Anyway, I re-soldered the wires, and eventually got the S-video signal I was looking for.

Making your own S-video cable for Dreamcast
(starting with a bad cable, though, due to pin restrictions).

1. You need to buy a bad S-video cable to make a good one. Unless, of course, you already have a dreamcast cable that has all of the pins in the plug. If you do, there should be 16-pins on the connector head. If there are only 4 or 5, then you can't use that :(

Here is a link to the bad cable I bought (ignore the picture. The actual item had all the pins):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QVDSRO

2. Strip the plug off your video cable. The plastic casing around the end of the connector has lines along side of it, and if you gently pry with a sharp knife, it should just pop off.

3. The pins are staggered up and down. From your left (with the flat part on top) you've got pin 1. It goes in a zig-zag until pin 16 at the right. The pins you want to find are pins 11 and 12. This is S-Video Chrominance (C) and S-Video Luminance (Y). They should be right next to a connected wire(s) (pin 13) which is composite.

4.  Gently disconnect the composite wires from their pins (there are 2, and the wires later split into both the yellow composite plug and the s-video plug).

5. Plug the s-video cable in, and turn on the console (with no game in).

6. Plug the Dreamcast end in.

7. Now, you want to touch the two wires you just disconnected separately against pins 11 and 12. You're looking for a picture to appear. When the picture looks proper (the color and brightness look normal) then you've found the right wires.

8. Write down which wires goes to which pins!

9. Now all you have to do is solder the correct wires to the correct pins (from step 7).

I simply electrical taped my plug when I finished, since I had a more exploratory journey than the one I just described. If you can manage to snap the same plastic cover back onto your plug, that's awesome!


Note: 
The yellow composite plug is now useless. The reason being you just disconnected the wire from the composite pin. In order to have everything work with this cable, you'd need an extra wire entirely. A small tip for the adventurous: There are at least two ground wires (brown and black in my cable). You could rewire one into the composite if you want to, and then use the other as a universal ground. It didn't cause any problems in my experience. You'd have to reconnect some wires down the line though. I recommended just using your old composite cable when needed.

Links:
http://pinouts.ru/Game/dreamcast_pinout.shtml
http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastav

Using USB power in a pinch!

In my electronic repair experiences, I've twice has to find alternative power sources for cooling fans. One was an existing problem where the physical power connector on a laptop motherboard had somehow snapped off. The other was my own fault. I replaced the fan in my PS2 to reduce the noise, and accidentally shorted the leads (thank goodness for fuses; only the fan power was damaged).

To remedy both problems, I utilized an often forgotten power source: the Universal Serial Bus port. USB provides an easy source for 5 volts of direct current. This solution requires zero soldering (unless you really want to), and can be performed with a pair of scissors and a sacrificial Male-A USB cable.

Let's get started

1) First, snip the USB cable so that the MALE-A* size stays intact. You'll need enough length to reach from the external USB port (or you can solder directly to the port internally if you've got the ability) to the fan (12V-5V) you're powering.

2) Now take the Red and Black wires and strip the ends by about half an inch.**

3) Strip the ends of the fan's wire by about half an inch as well.

4) Now you'll want to plug in the USB cable, and test the fan. Make note of the configuration of wires that works. Mind the polarity! This is DC, bro, not AC.

5) Now unplug the USB cable.

6) Twist the correct stripped wire ends together, and then electrical tape them so that they don't come apart.

7) Install the fan, and then rig the wire however necessary to reach a port!

*Male-A example photo

**http://iruler.net/

After Notes:

Plan ahead. Make sure you're going to be able to reach the port from wherever the fan will sit. 

Since the power is now provided by a USB port instead of the default fan connector, there won't be any dynamic speed changes. This can be very noisy! In the case of my PS2, the fan runs constantly, but is way quieter than before. The laptop was a lot louder, however, since the fan usually only runs when the CPU reaches a set temperature.

Fixing Overscan on a Sanyo Vizon LCD TV

After noticing excessive overscan while watching Netflix on my PS3, I decided to look for my Sanyo Vizon's hidden service menu. Before you get started, you must understand that this could potentially damage your TV. I'm simply providing information about a product, so if you break something, that is your own fault ^.^'

Here's how to reduce the overscan to (almost) zero.

1) Set your TV to an analog channel with some input (like cable).

2) Turn the volume down so that it's audible, but won't destroy your ears if it happens to turn to static noise.

3) Unplug your TV.

4) Hold the Channel Down button on your TV.

5) Plug it in while holding Channel Down.

6) A black menu should appear over the standard signal (whatever was on TV)

7) You can use your remote to cycle through the parameters*. Don't mess around! You could brick your tv if you fuck up the horizontal sync or any other critical values!

8) Go to parameter # 25 (letterBoxOvSc), and set the value to 1**.

9) Go to the following parameters, and set the value as 1:

- #54 (sidebarOvSc)

- #55 (leftOvSc)

- #56 (rightOvSc)

- #57 (topOvSc)

- #58 (bottomOvSc)

Now, go try whatever was messed up before to see if the picture is fixed! :)

*parameter numbers and names might differ depending on model numbers. Just use common sense and try to find the right one. If you can't find the right one, don't just guess! Not unless you can afford a new tv, that is.

**I set 1 instead of 0 because you may experience some garbage on the edge of the screen otherwise. Move the number up a bit if you still get garbage.

After notes:

There are many other parameters that, in my opinion, SHOULD be in the standard menu but aren't.

You can flip through and find them yourself as they're pretty clearly labeled.

These include bass, treble, and balance adjustments.

You can also choose from 7 different fonts and change the font sizes.

It's also important to note that the separate video modes don't have their own settings. Instead, they are calculated as variation of the standard settings. So if you look for (HDMILeftOvScDiff) or something similar, you'll notice it has a high number (1000 to -1000 I think). So if you get garbage in analog mode but not in HDMI mode, you can try adjusting the HDMI to a negative number to compensate.