Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by slayer832001

Speed Up Your Network and Internet Access

slayer832001 — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 09:48:17 +0800

The speed of your network connection doesn't just depend on the speed of your hardware. Windows is an operating system that is designed to work on a variety of different hardware and network setups. Because of the abstract nature of the operating system, it cannot be optimized for user-specific hardware setups.
Depending on the type of network connection you have, you might be able to tweak your connection so that the speed of your Internet, as well as your local area network, will be faster. By hacking the System Registry and editing the TCP/IP parameters, you can fine-tune the values to take advantage of more reliable, faster Internet connections, such as DSL and cable.
These next sections will guide you through the steps of increasing both the speed of your local area network and your Internet connection.
Does your computer slow down when you browse your local area network and connect to other computers that are sharing data? One of the most common causes of this slowdown is a feature of Windows Explorer that looks for scheduled tasks on remote computers. This effort can take some time on some computers and can really slow down your browsing. The window with which you are browsing the network may appear to freeze momentarily, as the system is waiting for a response from the remote computer.
Although this problem is a complex one, the solution is very simple. Instead of having to wait for the remote scheduled tasks, which is useless information to anyone who is not a system administrator remotely configuring scheduled tasks, you can disable this feature.
In order to do this, you will have to hack the System Registry and delete a reference to a key so that this feature will not be loaded. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Open up the Registry Editor by clicking the Start Menu and selecting Run. Then type regedit in the text box and click the OK button.
2. Once the Registry Editor has loaded, expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key.
3. Next, expand Software and then Microsoft.
4. Locate Windows and expand that as well.
5. You will want to be editing the main system files, so expand CurrentVersion.
6. Because this feature is a feature of the Windows component known as Explorer, expand the Explorer key.
7. Next, you will want to modify the remote computer settings, so expand the RemoteComputer key and then expand the NameSpace key to show all of the features that are enabled when you browse to a remote computer.
8. In the NameSpace folder you will find two entries. One is "{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}" which tells Explorer to show printers shared on the remote machine. The other, "{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}," tells Explorer to show remote scheduled tasks. This is the one that you should delete. This can be done by right-clicking the name of the key and selecting Delete.
Tip:
If you have no use for viewing remote shared printers and are really only interested in shared files, consider deleting the printers key, "{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}", as well. This will also boost your browsing speed.
Once you have deleted the key, you just need to restart and the changes will be in effect. Now your network computer browsing will be without needless delays
Disabling unneeded protocols
With every computer comes programs installed that you do not need. As with extra programs taking up space, extra protocols are just wasting your network connection and can actually slow it down. How is this possible? By default, a few different protocols are installed on your computer to allow for maximum compatibility with other computers on a network; these protocols each require bandwidth to operate. Most users will not use too many protocols, and their computers will use up a portion of their connection as they respond and transmit information for these protocols.
Additionally, with extra protocols installed on your network adapter connected to the Internet, you increase your risk of security-related problems. One of the most common risks for broadband users is that they have the Client for Microsoft Networks networking protocol enabled on their connection. This protocol allows everyone in their neighborhood to connect to the users' computers and view any files that they may be sharing. This fact alone should be a good enough reason for you to turn off the extra protocols. But with them disabled, you will also save a little bandwidth as well.
Viewing protocols on your network adapters
Viewing the protocols installed and active on your various network adapters is easy. Just follow these quick steps and you will be viewing them in no time:
1. Right-click the My Network Places icon on the desktop or in the Start Menu and select Properties. If the My Network Places icon is not in either of those locations, then go to the Control Panel and click the Network Connections icon that is shown under the Classic view.
2. Next, right-click the network adapter with which you want to view the network protocols and select Properties.
3. This will bring up a list of the protocols installed as well as active on your adapter, . The protocols that are installed but not active are indicated by the absence of a check in the checkbox.
Disabling a specific protocol
Now that you have the list of installed and active protocols on your screen, you are ready to disable a protocol. To do so, just click the check box to remove the check. Then click the OK button and the protocol is no longer active on the network adapter.
I highly recommend that you disable all protocols except for the TCP/IP protocol (also referred to as the Internet Protocol). Doing so will optimize your adapter for speed and security.

Be aware that if you remove the Client for Microsoft Networks protocol and the file-sharing protocol, you will no longer be able to share your files. Additionally, you will no longer be able to connect to remote computers to view their shared files.
Also keep in mind that if you have multiple adapters in your machines, such as a wireless adapter, a wired network adapter, and a dialup modem, you will have to repeat the preceding instructions for each adapter.

Tweaking your Internet connection for speed
Almost every computer user has different Internet connection conditions. Some users have very high-speed connections, while others have slow connections. Some users have high-speed connections using cable-based technologies, while others have high-speed connection through DSL-based technologies. On top of these differences, some are located farther away from their local network switching station than others and have a higher latency (delay) on their connections because of the distance the data has to travel. All of these different connection conditions make every user unique.

The TCP/IP protocol settings can be optimized for best speed under each of these situations. By default, Windows XP has these settings set in a "one size fits all" approach. As I mentioned earlier, Windows has to be abstract in certain areas because of its broad user base. Because of this approach, many users can fine-tune their settings to be optimal for their connection conditions. Doing so will optimize the data transferred so your network connection will be more efficient, leading to high speeds.
With a little help from some fine online tools and software programs, you can test your Internet connection and decide what needs fine-tuning. The process of tweaking your Internet connection is not always easy, but it is doable.
Caution: Before going any further, you are strongly advised to create a system restore point, so that if things go wrong, which is not very likely, you will have a backup.
The next step in the tweaking process is to get all of the software that is needed. The main software program that you will use is called CableNut, which is developed by CableNut Software and is available for free at www.cablenut.com. CableNut is a great program that allows users to edit their Internet settings easily. Visit their Web page and download and install the latest copy.
Calculating settings for CableNut
Once you have downloaded CableNut, you are ready to start getting information to use with the program. The first value that you will need to calculate is the latency of your connection when it is active. To do this, you will use the trace route command built into Windows XP. Follow these steps to get the latency value to use for your connection:
1. First, open up a Command Prompt window. This can be done by clicking the Start Menu and selecting Run. Then type cmd in the text box and click the OK button.
2. Once Command Prompt is loaded, you are ready for the next part. Because you will need to test your connection when it is active, you will need to find something large to download that will run the duration of the test, which will be approximately 30 seconds. I recommend that you head over to www.microsoft.com/downloads and find some huge file, such as the .NET SDK framework, which is over 100,000 KBs. For the test, you want a file big enough so it will be downloading throughout the whole test. Those of you on a dialup connection can pick a much smaller file than those on a high-speed connection.
3. Once you have your download test file picked out, start the download and switch back to the Command Prompt window. In that window, type tracert www.tweakxp.com. During the test, you will see many times displayed in milliseconds. After the test finishes, pick the highest time, as shown in Figure 11-12. This is the number that you will use as your latency. Also, feel free to cancel the download after the test is finished.
Entering the latency value into CableNut
Now that you have the latency value calculated, you are ready to enter this information into a great online CableNut settings calculator written by Joe Zeiler, who is one of the talented moderators at the TweakXP.com support forums. Open up your Web browser and visit www.j79zlr.com/cablenutXP2k.php (the URL is case-sensitive!), then follow these steps to get the values to enter into CableNut:
1. Once you have opened up the site, the first part of using the settings calculator is to select your connection type from the drop-down box.
2. Next, you will have to do a little research and find out exactly what your upload and download speeds should be for your Internet connection. I had to contact Comcast, my ISP, to find out the exact values, because the values are not always advertised. Once, you get those values, make sure that they are in kilobits per second and not kilobytes per second (KB= kilobytes; Kb= kilobits), then enter them in the corresponding text boxes on the Web page.

click on image for full view
3. Enter the latency value that you calculated earlier into the latency text box on the Web page and then click the Calculate button.
4. After you hit the Compute Settings button, scroll down and you will see the values that were calculated. Now, you are almost done. Continue scrolling down until you see a button labeled CCS File Generator under the Cablenut setting files section. Click that button and a new window will pop up with some text in it. Make sure that you have any pop-up blockers disabled when you are using the calculator.
5. Use the mouse and select all of the text and numbers that are displayed in the pop-up window. Right-click the mouse and select copy to copy all of the text on the page to the clipboard.
6. Now open up Notepad from the Accessories folder. In the blank Notepad window, paste the contents of the clipboard by right-clicking the white background and selecting Paste.
7. Once Notepad is displaying the information that you copied from the pop-up window, all that is left is to save the file in the CableNut format. To do this, click the File menu bar item and select Save As. Then in the Save As Type drop-down box, select All Files. Key in myCableNutSettings.ccs in the file name text box. Specify the Save location, such as the desktop, and click the Save button.
You are now finished with the calculations that will optimize your Internet connection. That wasn't too hard now, was it?
Using CableNut to adjust settings
Now that you have created your CableNut settings file, or will be using the 56K settings file, you are ready to start using CableNut. Follow these steps to import the new optimized settings into your system:
1. Start up the CableNut application by opening the Start Menu and browsing to the CableNut folder and selecting the adjuster application.
2. When CableNut has loaded, click the File menu bar item and select Open Custom Settings File. Navigate to where you saved your settings file, or if you are a 56K user, use the file that is on the companion CD, called 56K_CableNut.ccs, and then click the Open button.
3. Now you will see the information boxes for all of the different parameters filled with your connection-specific information, as shown in Figure 11-13. The last step is to click the Save to Registry button and you are finished. After you click the Save button, reboot, and your new settings will be in effect
4. Caution:
According to www.j79zlr.com/cablenutXP2k.php, some of the CableNut settings can cause problems for a small amount of DSL customers. If you are experiencing network problems after optimizing your connection, use System Restore to revert to your last restore point. You may try the settings again, but blank out the MaxNormLookupMemory, MaxFreeTcbs, MaxHashTableSize, and FastSendDatagramThreshhold fields before applying.

Edit : Please post the source if you have taken this somewhere - prasys
This Thread belongs in "Essential Reviews and Guides"

Source : http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1722543,00.asp

Enabling right click on sites that disable it

slayer832001 — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 09:38:11 +0800

Lots of web sites have disabled the right click function of the mouse button... it's really, really annoying. This is done so that you don't steal (via right-click->save picture) their photos or images or any other goodies. Unfortunately, it disables ALL right-click functionality: copy, paste, open in new window.

It's easy to change, assuming your using IE 6:
Click "Tools"->"Internet Options"
Click the "Security" tab
Click "Custom Level"
Scroll down to the "Scripting" section
Set "Active Scripting" to "disable"
Click "Ok" a couple of times.

You'll probably want to turn this back to "enable" when your done... 'cause generally the javascript enhances a website.

Tracing a Hacker ......

slayer832001 — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 09:33:40 +0800

Speed up torrent downloads!

slayer832001 — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 09:30:48 +0800

This guide relies on the use of Azureus or Yet ABC as they are highly recommended. The ABC core is currently slightly dated, but this will be updated soon. (For those using BitTornado - ABC uses the BitTornado core, but has a queuing system for better control of multiple torrents). Azureus requires Java. If after installation the application will not load, it is because you do not have Java. You are not the first to think you have Java when you do not! More information is available on the Azureus site.

If you are not currently using ABC or Azureus, before starting this guide:
Beginners: Please change to either Yet ABC or Azureus now.
Intermediate: It is recommended that you change client now. If you choose not to, remember to come back to this section if you get stuck during the guide.
Advanced: You will likely be able to find the equivalent options in your current client, assuming your client has all the necessary options.

Other BitTorrent clients are available to switch to after working through this guide.

This guide has been updated for Azureus 2.2.0.2 and ABC 2.6.9. Different versions may vary.

1.0 Why are my downloads going slow?

1.1 Reason 1: Your ISP is limiting your download speed

Some ISPs are limiting download speeds by controlling the bandwidth allocated to traffic using the default BitTorrent ports, which are 6881 to 6999.

This is not just a problem for those who have nasty ISPs, it affects everybody. To avoid ISPs from damaging the efficiency of a torrent with their controls, some stringent tracker owners are banning the IP addresses of those who are using the standard ports.

So whether your ISP is limiting you or not, all BitTorrent users should stop using the default ports.

For simplicity, this guide recommends the use of ports 16881 - 16999. Adding a 1 to the start is simple administratively, and is in a range unlikely to be used by other programs.

You then need to set up your client to use the new port.

AZUREUS
Tools -> Options -> Connection
-> Add a "1" before the current listen port number. For example, 6881 will now be 16881.

YET ABC
Action-> Preferences -> Network Tab
-> Add a "1" before the minimum and maximum port numbers. For example, 6881 will now be 16881.

Whatever client you use, make sure you update anywhere else you have entered the port numbers to account for the change.

By completing this section, you have helped to avoid problems later down the line, but this will not solve the majority of slow downloads. Therefore, move on to reason 2.

1.2 Reason 2: You have a "NAT Error"

BitTorrent works on a credit system. By uploading parts of a file other people, they allow you to download parts of the file from them. This is BitTorrents anti-leech measure. However, if you have a problem with your NAT (anything between you and the internet, such as a router or firewall), you will not get credit for what you are uploading. The only downloading that you can do is from people who upload a small amount to you in the hope that you will return the favour. Since their client will not recognise your response if you have a NAT problem, then they will stop uploading to you shortly after. This is what is causing your problem. You may also notice that torrent speeds go very high for 5mins, before slowing back down to 0-5kb/s.

1.2.1 How do I know if I have this problem?

You might not have a problem at all. Before continuing with this guide, leave your torrent running for at least ten minutes. If the speed hasn't picked up, stop and restart the torrent. If that fails, try at least two other torrents. If you are still having problems, continue on...

Start to download a file using your chosen client.

AZUREUS
Wait a while for the torrent to get started; this may take up to five minutes.
Look in the "Health" column. If it is showing a yellow spot, then you need to configure your firewall/NAT/router. If it is Green then all is OK. Your slow downloads are being caused by something else.
A full list of the different colours can be seen here.

Azureus can also check your configuration for you.
Select "Tools" -> "Configuration Wizard"
Press "Next >" -> Check the settings and press "Next >" again.
The default port is 6881. If you have changed the listening port, enter the new port in the "Incoming TCP Listening Port."
Press "Test"
If the result is "NAT Error," please continue with the guide.
If the result is "OK", then your slow speeds are being caused by something else.

PLEASE NOTE: The Azureus checker can report a false NAT error if you are running PeerGuardian or Protowall. Make sure these are disabled before using the Azureus wizard.

YET ABC
Wait a while for the torrent to get started; this may take up to five minutes.
Look at the colour of the torrent. If it is yellow (sometimes appears slimy green. If it is green then you will know it), then you need to configure your firewall/NAT/router. If it is green then all is OK. Your slow downloads are being caused by something else.
A full list of the different colours can be seen here.

2.0 It's showing yellow, I have a NAT error - what do I do?

You need to configure your computer and/or network to accept incoming BitTorrent port connections. The tracker port is 6969. If this port is not correctly configured, downloads will not start at all. The download/upload ports used in this guide are 16881-16889. It is these ports that are causing your problems.

2.1 If you are a Azureus user, then switch disable UPnP
** If you are not using Azureus, skip to 2.2 **

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), it is an Azureus feature that works with some compatible routers to open the required ports automatically. However, some routers, even if they are compatible with UPnP, have problems with this.

Tools -> Options
Expand "Plugins" on the left hand tree.
Select "UPnP"
Deselect "Enable UPnP"

Check if the torrent/health has gone green. If not, move on to section 2.2.

2.2 Configure Your XP Firewall (ICF: Internet Connection Firewall)

Please go to the appropriate sub-section.
- "Configure ICF in SP1" if you have NOT installed Service Pack 2
- "Configure ICF in SP2" if you have installed Service Pack 2

2.2.1 Configure ICF in SP1

Open up your "Network Connections". Right click on your internet connection or LAN connection and select "Properties".
->Select the "Advance" tab
->If the "Internet Connection Firewall" is not ticked, then this is not your problem. Research into whether you need the XP firewall or not and jump to "Configure Your Router" below. If it is ticked, please continue:
->Click "Settings..."
->On the "Services" tab press "Add..."
->Description of service = BitTorrent
Name or IP address of the computer hosting this service on your network = 127.0.0.1 (this means "the local machine.")
External Port number for this service = 16881
Internal Port number for this service = 16881
TCP/UDP = TCP
-> Press OK.

-> With ABC, forward as many ports as you want simultaneous downloads. Start with port 16881 and forward ports in increments of 1. Realistically you don't need more than three ports.
Make sure "Action-> Preferences -> Network -> "Minimum port" is equal to 16881

-> With AZUREUS, this process only needs to be done once. Make sure that "Tools -> Options -> Connection -> Incoming TCP Listen Port" is equal to 16881.

Check if the torrent/health has gone green. If not, move on to section 2.2.

2.2.2 Configure ICF in SP2

-> Open your Windows Control Panel and select "Security Centre."
-> Scroll down to the "Manage security settings for:" section and select "Firewall"
-> Decide whether you want to keep the firewall on or off. Make an informed decision based on more than the information provided by M*crosoft. If you decide to switch it off, then do so and move onto section 2.2. Otherwise, continue this section.
-> Select the "Exceptions" tab.
-> Select "Add Port..."
-> Name: = BitTorrent (or anything of your choice)
-> Port number: = 16881
-> TCP/UDP = TCP
-> Press OK.

-> With ABC, forward as many ports as you want simultaneous downloads. Start with port 16881 and forward ports in increments of 1. Realistically you don't need more than three ports.
Make sure "Action-> Preference -> Network -> Minimum port" is equal to 16881

-> With AZUREUS, this process only needs to be done once. Make sure that "Tools -> Options -> Connection -> Incoming TCP Listen Port" is equal to 16881.

Check if the torrent/health has gone green. If not, move on to section 2.3.

2.3 Configure Your Router

If you are on a LAN with a router or hardware firewall, you may need to configure it. You need to forward BitTorrent's connection ports to your specific PC on the LAN.
If your connection is shared using M*crosoft Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), go to section 2.3.
There are too many routers to cover in this guide, so it is time to head to Google. Search for port forwarding, BitTorrent and the name of your router. Lots of manufacturers provide specific information on their sites. A generic guide to port forwarding for most routers can be found at PortForward.com.

-> With ABC, forward as many ports as you want simultaneous downloads. Start with port 16881 and forward ports in increments of 1. Realistically you don't need more than three ports.
-> Make sure "Action-> Preferences -> Network tab -> Minimum port" is equal to 16881

-> With AZUREUS, forward port 16881. Make sure this matches "Tools -> Options -> Connection -> "Incoming TCP Listen Port"

Check if the torrent/health has gone green. If not, carry on:

2.4 Configure M*crosoft Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

If you are sharing an internet connection using ICS, then you will need to forward the BitTorrent ports.

Windows 2000 users, click here for information on forwarding (mapping) ports.

Other users:
Practically Networked provides a useful tool, called "ICS Configuration" for changing the settings of ICS. Download the latest version from here.
-> Install the program on the serving computer and run it
-> Click "+ Add"
-> Name = [whatever you want, e.g. BitTorrent]
-> Target = Local IP of machine running BitTorrent, e.g. 192.168.0.2
-> Description = [whatever you want, e.g. "allow BitTorrent for 192.168.0.2"]
-> On the "Ports" tab, slect "+ Add"
-> Select "Port Range" from the drop-down box
-> Enter "16881" and "16889" into the relative boxes
-> TCP/UDP = TCP
-> Data translation = NORMAL
-> Press "OK", Press "Enable", Press "OK".
-> Close everything and reboot the PC.

The settings will be saved in your registry. There is no need to open ICS Configuration with ICS.

With ABC, repeat for as many ports as you want simultaneous downloads. Start with port 16881 and forward ports in increments of 1.
With AZUREUS, forward port 16881. Make sure this matches "Tools -> Options -> Connection -> Incoming TCP Listen Port"
Check if the torrent/health has gone green. If not, carry on:

2.5 Configure Your Firewall

As with routers, there are too many to cover here, so time to head to Google. Unlike with other sections to this guide, ports only have to be opened, rather than forwarded.

With AZUREUS, open port 16881.

With YET ABC, open port 16881 and sufficient consecutive ports for the desired number of simultaneous downloads. This will probably be 3.

3.0 Multiple BitTorrent users on a LAN

The same port can not be forwarded to different computers, so decide who gets what ports, for example:
192.168.0.2 = 16881 - 16883
192.168.0.3 = 16884 - 16886 etc.

In a network of AZUREUS users, each person only needs one port.
Set up your router or ICS to forward the ports to the chosen computers.

Now you need to set up the BitTorrent Clients:

AZUREUS
Each computer only needs one port forwarded to it.
-> Tools -> Options
-> "Connection" on the side menu
-> On "Incoming TCP Listen Port" enter the port number that is being forwarded to that computer. Taking from the above example, computer 192.168.0.3 would enter 16884.
-> Repeat for all the users

YET ABC
Action-> Preferences -> Network tab
-> Set "Minimum port" to the lowest port number that is being forwarded to that computer. Taking from the above example, computer 192.168.0.3 would enter 16884.
-> Set the "Maximum number of simultaneous downloads" to the number of ports forwarded to that computer.
-> Press "apply"
-> Repeat for all users.

4.0 Other things that could be wrong

Try limiting your upload if you have ADSL/DSL. Sometimes BitTorrent can try to upload so much that it floods your upload, making it difficult for incoming connections.

Quote:
It might seem strange to hear that your upload speed can directly affect your download speed, but it can, and quite dramatically. The reason behind it is based on the way the Internet works. When you download a file (or in this case, chunks of a file), your computer sends a tiny message back to the source computer, called an ACKnowledgement packet. These ACK packets tell the source computer that chunk #1 has arrived OK, please send #2. When #2 is down, it sends another, and so on. The source computer will not send #3 until it gets the ACK from #2. It uses a small amount of your upload bandwidth to do this. This works fine when downloading files off the Internet, but with P2P, you tend to upload as well.

This is especially true with BitTorrent - because you upload as well. If done efficiently, downloads can be very fast. The problem lies with the fact that you upload *so much* that the ACK's do not get sent out fast enough, which slows your download. The simplest way to solve this is to limit your upload bandwidth. 80% of the maximum is usually recommended, but I find I can set it to 90% with no adverse effects. This gives your ACKs a bit of breathing space to get out with.

CCSDUDE makes this recommendation on limiting your upload:
Quote:
Originally Posted by CCSDUDE
Try 11kbs up as your limit on a 128k upload package...double it for 256/1.5mb lines and keep going up as you hit 384/ect. That seems to be the sweet spot on BT. Enough to keep everyone happy whilst not slowing your downloads down or slowing your surfing.

5.0 Common BitTorrent problems

This section covers other problems which BT users may be suffering from.

5.1 Client or program freezing

Symptoms: Torrent starts well, achieving good speeds. Speed then falls to zero. This is followed by the client freezing, computer freezing and/or loss of internet connection.

Solutions:
1) This is a common problem with ZoneAlarm 5. Switching it off may not solve the problem. It is recommended that users switch back to version 4.5.
2) Norton Anti-virus sometimes tries to scan the chunks which make up the files you are downloading. Get yourself a decent anti-virus program!

5.2 Freezing torrents and/or 100% CPU usage

Make sure you are running the latest version of your favourite client, as many have now solved this bug.

-RaZ- has provided help for those who are still having problems:

You need to limit the number of peer connections to 60.

AZUREUS
View -> Configuration -> Transfer -> set the "Maximum number of connections per torrent" to 60.

YET ABC
Action -> ABC Preference -> Advanced setting -> set the "Max peer connections" to 60

6.0 Asking for further help

Feel free to use this thread, or start a second in order to ask for further help. Please make sure that you have exhausted your Google skills before asking. Also, read carefully through this thread and others started at ZP for answers.