Free Network Scanning tool for Windows : Netscan

If you have a LAN at your office or home, the you must probably have used the My Network Places tool in Windows. But it is very slow and lacks in functionality. Thats where the Free and better Network Scanner tool Netscan from Softperfect comes in handy.

Netscan's main merits are that it is a freeware, it doesnot require any installation and it is lite at only 631kb. According to the makers the
Key features are

* Pings computers.
* Does not require administrative privileges.
* Detects hardware (MAC) addresses even across routers.
* Detects hidden shared folders (normally invisible on the network) and write accessible shares.
* Detects your internal and external IP addresses.
* Scans for listening TCP ports and SNMP services.
* Retrieves currently logged-on users.
* You can mount and explore network resources.
* Can launch external third party applications.
* Exports results to HTML, XML, CSV and TXT
* Supports Wake-On-LAN and remote shutdown.
* It is absolutely free, requires no installation, and does not contain any adware/spyware/malware.

Pros :
advanced features like open port detection and hidden folder detection. Also finds if a drive has write access. Free of cost. Light
Cons :
Slow. Unable to stop a scanning process even though an option is provided. Slow response
Conclusion :
Although Netscan is Free it is comparatively slow and tend to forget some of its own features.
Go for it if you are not a power user and just neeeds to scan network.
This one is not for geeks get away if you are one !

External Links : Download Netscan (direct link), Softperfect home, Netscan : Users manual

When your computer gets sluggish all of a sudden

Most of us have at least once faced the problem of a PC getting sluggish all in a moment. And we may conclude that it is due to a low memory or a demanding program. The above conclusion is not correct always as I found out the hard way a few days ago.

I have a system with P IV 3GHz and 512 MB RAM on an Intel 8915GAV original MB. I have raced it to 100% CPU and tried to hang it, but never succeded. So I was pretty confident about my system.

But last day it was real slow, and task manager showed 17% system usage for which not one of the live processes were responsible. So I switched to Process Explorer NT and found out that HardWare Interrupts were killing me. I ws wondering what it actually did to my system. It was then that I realised something. I had a loose CD drive IDE cable coz of frequent plugging and unplugging. I gave a push and everything came back to normal.

So next time you system starts to ignore you follow the following steps

1 . Take Task Manager (ALT+CTRL+DEL). First look on the graphs and then check the process list to find out which process is eating up your system.
2 . If it is not a system process, AntiVirus/Firewall and if it is not important to you, Kill It (Right Click on the process and take End Process).
3 . If it is a hardware Interrupt the check out the tighten the HDD, CDD/DVDD, FDD drive cables.(Be sure to know your way through an open CPU, else don't even try)

Ending critical system tasks may make your system unstable or you may lose your data. Be sure you really know what you are doing

External Links : More about Interrupts

When you are the money!!

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTM) in Japan has taken your card security to another level by adding a Palm Vein Pattern Biometrics Authentication System to the current Credit/ATM card networks. It is now under tesing processes. The basic principle is thast all individuals have a unique vein pattern under the skin of palm just like the finger print. What they are telling is that it is almost impossible for someone to make a copy of the vein pattern of yours.

The whole thing is contactless and scans palm by infra red rays. They think it is almost the ultimate in security and nobody will get fooled. Well I think the days of "getting you hand cut by a robber are here" haha

External Links : Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi