user agent spoofing / how to change user agent in IE, firefox, opera, google chrome and safari

Well, I wrote this article on request of one of my "good" friend abhishek (shetty) who need this to change user agents in popular browsers IE, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Google chrome and Safari.
So I thought of writing this article to all my readers.
You all might find user agent switching (spoofing) useful for various purposes.

So let's see how can we do user agent spoofing.......




What is user agent ???
Whenever we visit a web site, our browser sends information about the application from which we are browsing, operating system installed, and version of the application, etc to the server.
Hence server can make use of this information for various purposes to provide better browsing or special services with respect to browser.
--------------------------------------------


How to change user agent in our browsers ???

(In above all changes we will use user agent of google bot [Googlebot/2.1" "Compatible"="+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html]
I will explain advantages of Google bot later)
--------------------------------------------


1] In Mozilla Firefox :
- Open firefox >> goto address bar >> type about:config >> now right click anywhere in white portion >> select new >> string >> type general.useragent.override >> ok >> now enter value of user agent string you like.

Example: we will write Googlebot/2.1" "Compatible"="+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html in place of value for google bot.
----------------------------------



2] Internet Explorer :
- For Internet Explorer you need a registry tweak. Copy below code and paste in notepad. Then save it as anything.reg. After saving the file double click it and merge in registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
@="Googlebot/2.1"
"Compatible"="+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html"

to revert back to default user agent use this registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent] @="Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)"

Or download this file >> extract it and merge into registry as required.
download link: http://www.ziddu.com/download/6392955/googleuseragent.rar.html
-----------------------------------------------------------


3] In opera :
In opera this setting is personalized for the site you visit.
just type site name in address bar.
Now goto Tools >> quick preferences >> edit site preferences >> network >> browser identification >> change to browser you like.
------------------------------------------------



4] In Google Chrome :
In Google chrome there are two methods to change user agent.

(i) appending shortcut of chrome with a string.

- This is the most easiest way to change user agent in chrome.
just create a shortcut of chrome.exe >> goto properties of that shortcut
>> in the target path write
>> --user-agent="Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html)"
>> now click OK >> and start using chrome with this shortcut

(NOTE: remember to put a after "space" followed by two hyphens " -- "
so that it will look like
"C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/1A543 Safari/419.3")



(ii) Modifying chrome.dll file and patching it with desired user agent.

- This method is relatively difficult method to change user agent and i don't recommend it.
In this method we have to edit chrome.dll file with any hex editor and modify user agent.
Then replace the original file with the patched one.
It is nicely explained in Digital Inspiration (read it here).
---------------------------------------------------------



5] In safari :
- Well... Safari itself have these settings in their browser.
just goto >> edit >> preferences >> advanced >> Tick the "show develop menu in menu bar" >> now the develop menu will be visible on menu bar >> goto develop >> user agent >> enjoy with your favorite user agent.
-------------------------------------------------



Advantages of changing user agents...

1] Some sites or forums requires registration to view their content but they are open to Google bot.
Now changing our browsers user agent to Google bot makes those sites think that Google bot is indexing their pages or something like that. Hence you can browse those restricted site too.

2] Now comes most useful and cool feature of changing user agent. Change your browser user agent to that of iphone browser and you will be able to read popular magazines ( like zinio.com) which are specially made for iphone.

3] Changing user agent to iphone's, you can enjoy famous sites like orkut and facebook etc in iphone style. Looks great, loads great.

4] and lastly, some mobile network providers makes use of user agents to detect that the relatively cheap WAP service made for mobile phone browsing is not wrongly used on PCs.
By changing user agent to any mobile browser's agent can make you browse web using WAP service on PC's .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Useful links :
www.useragentstring.com : get your user string checked and see various user agents of other browsers and crawlers.

Digital Inspiration : article on chrome.dll modification.



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

Continue reading full article...

how to do multitasking in nokia series 40 PTT featured phones

One of my friends (praz) , who uses series 40 phone, told me that he uses PTT button in his phone to make calls while doing web surfing or playing a game.
So by playing around PTT settings I got a way to make most out of the the button.
By using this method you can make call, send sms,play songs,play videos,browse images,take new image or video clip,browse web through phone's in built browser and many more.
But this can be achieved only in PTT(Push To Talk) featured phones.
Below method is tested on Nokia 3110 classic and working flawlessly on it.
This is not actual multitasking. Coz it doesn't involve two tasks. But I was not able to find any better name other than multitasking.

lets start multitasking...


First of all, let's configure PTT settings.
goto PTT(Push To Talk) >> PTT settings >> PTT default function >> Open contact list.


NEXT :
Now start any one of your favourite applications (example opera mini).
Now push your PTT button located on side of your phone. (many phone have volume up key as their PTT function key.Press and hold volume up key).
Now you got your PTT contacts screen.
Click on add new >> from contacts >> select your contact >> and save it.
OR
(Goto options >> add contact >> from contacts >> select a contact that you wish to call >> save it)
Now that contact will appear on the PTT contact screen >> simply press call key (green button) to call that contact.

Now let's do sumthing more.
Pay attention to "message sending" and "web browsing" methods.

1] to listen songs :
goto options >> add contact >> enter manually >>options >> add detail >> tone >> open gallery >> now browse your songs >> select it >>play it.

2] to watch video :
goto options >> add contact >> enter manually >>options >> add detail >> video >> open gallery >> now browse your videos >> watch it.

3] to take a new video :
goto options >> add contact >> enter manually >>options >> add detail >> video >> new video clip.

4] to see images :
goto options >> add contact >> enter manually >>options >> add detail >> image >> open gallery >> now browse your videos >> see it.

5] to take new image :
goto options >> add contact >> enter manually >>options >> add detail >> image >> new image.

6] to send a message :
goto options >> add contact >> enter manually >>options >> add detail >> tone >>tone downloads >> nokia.com >> options >> send >> text message >> replace the bookmark with your message and send it.
You can send multimedia too.

7] to browse the web :
goto options >> add contact >> enter manually >>options >> add detail >> tone >> tone downloads >> options >> new bookmark >> enter your address (example: google.com) >> enter title (example: google) >> select the bookmark >> start surfing.

Besides these things you can check your battery level, signal strength and time toooooo.


I am still finding various ways to simultaneously perform other operations like reading sms or checking missed calls , etc. Hope I get these ways soon. Any of my reader if finds a way to do this then please inform me.

Continue reading full article...

what is a scareware ? the scary boy in softwares

You must have heard about freewares , sharewares , malwares , firmwares etc.
But scareware is new kinda thing in queue of softwares.
As the name suggests , its scary software.
Scary software or scareware is probably meant to scare people about their computer security and maintenance hence exploiting them.

So lets see what can a scareware do to scare you?



What exactly is scareware?
Scareware is a software or program designed to trick people for doing unnecessary download or purchase , that may or may not be harmful to your pc.
Scarewares commonly uses technique of displaying false errors or warning messages about system having critical errors or virus infections. And thus makes users to download a removal for it
which is majorly another malware.


Pop ups ??

Whenever you see something like " CRITICAL ERROR FOUND " "REGISTRY CORRUPTED " or may be " 2098 ERRORS FOUND " or " VIRUS INFECTED " .
Then make your sense ready for something suspicious.
These scarewares will probably warn you about registry , viruses , security or similar problems.
Even when browsing websites flashing pop ups can deliver scarewares to your computer.



Height of scaring !!!?
Pop ups , balloon messages are ok upto a limit.
But some scarewares entirely change desktop.
They replaces icons on desktop and even icons on system tray.
Moreover they change the wallpaper to something like " WARNING ! SPYWARE INFECTED ".
That's not over yet...
These guys change the screen saver to something like crawling bugs around desktop.
WTF.

Some scarewares just scare you to play prank.
like " erase your hard drive ? "
With two buttons both having "ok".
Clicking on it does nothing but screws head.



But what about real errors and messages ???
Although scarewares scares a lot making hell with pop ups and messages, genuine messages do exists ( O' realy ).
Your antivirus can display certain unexpected messages.
Or even windows itself can display certain errors.
Its upto you , how you distinguish between originals and fake ones.
Better thing is to tickle your mind or make a neat internet search for the message.
You might find something over internet.


Prevention from scary boy...
The only prevention from scarewares is using good anti-virus and most importantly a good firewall.
Another clean solution is to keep an eye on strange things happening in your pc and distinguish wisely between original and fakes.
Because the main principle behind scarewares is social engineering, you need to be smart too.



Well that's ok for today about scareware.. For more checkout an article at Wikipedia about scarewares.

Continue reading full article...

mojopac -Carry your windows xp in USB / make favorite applications portable

It has been time when we used Mozilla portable edition , and even portable games through pen drives and i-pods.
But this is some thing different.
This software can make an windows OS portable.
No no its not XP portable edition. Rather its making your xp running on another XP with your favorite software installed in it.
This way you can make your application portable to use it anywhere.




This software is called as " mojopac ".
I first installed it and liked it.
Now-a-days many portable softwares are available in market out of which mojopac is one.
But what I like about mojopac is that it maps your pen drive as default c: drive and the other drives get shown in partitions.


Which ever software you install , it gets installed in your pen drive or i-pod.
When you start mojopac portable environment, it asks for username and password.
After entering username and password it log you on to your OS.
And there you get your free environment ready made with your favourite software apps.
It supports majority of softwares.

visit http://www.mojopac.com/ for more information on supported apps and features.




Advantages:
1] You can make majority of softwares protable including games also at $0 .
2] No web cache , no passwords etc are left on host windows.
3] Works great on USB, external and portable hard drives, i-pods.
4] You have your own favorites , wallpaper , desktop as if you are at your own pc.
5] mapped c: drive.
6] Username and password required to start virtual environment.
7] If a virus tries to infect in mojopac environment , it gets infected on USB and it can harm USB files . And the files on Host computer becomes safe.
8] Auto-update.



Disadvantages:
1] No encryuption of data on USB drive.
2] User can modify files on virutal pc. Which is sign of weak vitualization. Where as Vmware is seen with strong virtualization. (this will get fixed in future versions)
3] You have to use third party software like truecryupt to encrypt your data.
4] Not supported for some apps.




How to use??
1] just download mojopac from http://www.mojopac.com/download.html .
2] install it in your USB drive.
3] let the setup finish.
4] after loading mojopac environment , start installing all your apps and games. customize your desktop.
5] plug your USB stick into any windows XP . Click on start and start using your desktop on the go.


So when next time you go , go with your desktop in your pocket !!!

Continue reading full article...

Setting wizard in Nokia series 60 phones -the most useful and the most neglected tool

As you all know letmeknowww is all about basic things around us that we don't know.
And even if we know , we hardly use it. Its human tendency to neglect.
Another example of this tendency is settings wizard in nokia series 60 phones.
Settings wizard gives you all ready made settings pre-configured in your S60 phone.
But still we call customer service center of the service provider for the support.

Let's see how can we use settings wizard for configuring two types of settings.


We are going to use settings wizard for two purposes.
1] For retrieving ready made internet access points settings for your service provider (if provider supports it, most providers do)

2] For retrieving email settings (POP and IMAP)




Where is settings wizard located ?
Setting wizard is placed in different directory for different phones.
For mine it lies in Tools >> Sett.wiz.








How to use setting wizard???
After you got the setting wizard icon , click on it.
It will open you options for you.
1] Operator
2] E-mail

• Operator :

When you select operator , the phone will search for operator support for internet access point settings.
If found , it will save those settings in the access point list of your phones configuration setting.
For example : if I have airtel sim card in my phone , then it will save Mobile office , airtel live , NOP settings in the access point lists.

NOTE:
a) The settings will be saved but you have to activate the service to use it.
b) If service provider uses authentication by username and password then you have to ask service provider about the username and password.

• E-mail setting :

Email setting in S60 phones allow user to directly connect to service provider for the POP and IMAP setting for their mailboxes.
Mailboxes can fetch direct emails from your mail server (if provide POP & IMAP support).
It requires direct internet connection in phone. Like Mobile office in Airtel.

Just select Email setting on phone >> select your server name ( example: Gmail POP or IMAP) >> and follow the procedure on screen.

I recommend to use IMAP instead of POP because of its advantages over POP.


I configured all the hell now WHAT ??!!!

1] If you configured operator settings then go to your phone web browser and enjoy web with the new settings.

2] If you configured email settings then just go to your message folder.
Their you can see the specified mail server name.
Example: gmail(POP)




click open it >> click options >> retrieve email >> All.
That's set. Now emails will start loading and you will have your all emails at your disposal.







These were the two basic internet configuration retrieval settings available in nokia s60 smart phones , which were rarely used.

NOTE:
POP= Post Office Protocol .
IMAP= Internet Message Access Protocol.
Setting wizard may not be available in some nokia series 60 phones.

Continue reading full article...