Appendix 1: Internet Resources

Overview

Since operating systems are constantly changing to newer versions and various Service Packs are being released, practically every book has one common drawback—once it has been written, changes can only be made in the new edition (revised and corrected). While writing this book, I faced some difficult conditions—with respect to beta versions and Release Candidates of the Windows XP Professional and Home Edition operating systems. I tried to carefully test all the tips and recommendations provided in the book, but…

The best source of information on Windows NT/2000/XP is the Internet. A list of the most informative and reliable links is provided below.

• http://www.wugnet.com
  The site of the Windows Users Group Network (WUGNET), which contains lots of information on the Microsoft Windows, including Windows 9x/ME and Windows NT/2000/XP. On this site, you can find technical support information on the various aspects of Windows operating systems, Internet, e-mail, shareware, hardware, games, software development, help authoring, multimedia, many Microsoft products, and many more.

• http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/
  A comprehensive set of resources and late-breaking news on the newest releases of Windows operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows.NET Server ("Whistler Server") and even Windows "Longhorn" - the next Windows interim release that is due in late 2002. You'll find news, FAQs, Tech Showcases, and much more. Interested in Windows 2000 or Windows ME FAQs instead? No problem, you'll find it under "Retired FAQs". This site is supported by Windows expert Paul Thurrott, the author of many bestsellers (including the new one: "Teach Yourself Windows 2000 Server").

  This site is recommended for all advanced Windows users who work with Windows 2000/XP. The author concentrates on the new Windows functionality and illustrates how to use most features with practical examples.

• http://www.ntfaq.com
  Windows NT FAQ site provides a large collection of FAQs that covers all Windows NT/2000 topics, including backup and recovery, Active Directory, registry, security, Windows Script Host, and much more. Windows XP FAQ and Windows 2000/XP tips and tricks free e-mail newsletter have recently been added. You can also download compiled versions of FAQ in one of the following standard formats: HTML, HTML Help, or Windows Help. An excellent resource for those who need to find answers to their questions.

• http://www.winplanet.com/winplanet/
  This site contains a variety of Windows-related news, reviews, tips, tutorials, downloads, and a free weekly Windows newletter.

• http://www.jsiinc.com/reghack.htm
  Provides quite a large amount of various Windows NT/2000 registry tips, tricks, and hacks. If you are looking for such things, this is the place for you. It is constantly updated, and hacks arrive daily. No book can compare to it!

• http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/
  As its name implies, this is the Windows IT professional's free online technical reference library. An excellent resource that covers nearly all Windows NT/2000 topics.

• http://www.swynk.com/
  SWYNK.COM is the single largest independent resource for Microsoft .NET Enterprises™ and Windows Server technologies. On this site, you'll find the very latest information on Windows XP/2000/NT, SQL, SMS, and Exchange Servers. It provides lots of Windows NT/2000/XP-related resources, including technical articles, Web-based discussion boards, and Windows scripts.

• http://www.osr.com
  This is a site for true professionals! The OSR Open Systems Resources, Inc. has devoted this entire site to Windows NT/2000/XP customized software development, including development of file systems and device drivers. You can subscribe to it in the NT Insider magazine here (free of charge). If you're an NT-programmer, or plan to become one, this site's for you.

• http://www.sysinternals.com
  The Systems Internals site is supported by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. These names speak for themselves. Besides the Regmon and NTFSDOS utilities mentioned in Chapter 13, you'll find lots of handy utilities here for Windows 9x and Windows NT/2000 (most with the source code) and valuable technical information. This is my favorite site.

• http://www.registrysecrets.com/
  This site focuses solely on the Windows NT registry. If you're an experienced Windows NT user, then you're probably familiar with the book "1001 Secrets for Windows NT Registry" by Tim Daniels (in my humble opinion, it's the same as a translator's dictionary for the administrator). You can always find reliable and up-to-date information concerning Windows NT registry at this site.

• http://www.winreg.com/
  This is another site dealing exclusively with the registry. You'll find information concerning Windows 95/98 and Windows NT registries, texts for beginners, FAQ, lots of utilities, and much more. When I was checking each link in this listing of Internet resources, I visited this site, and it was "under construction" but with the promise to become available very soon.

• http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/
  If you're going to gain a proper understanding of all Windows NT/2000/XP working principles, then this is the most reliable source of information for you to read. The Windows Driver and Hardware Development site provides tools, information, and services for driver developers and hardware designers who create products that work with the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. The site is constantly being updated with tons of late-breaking news, including Windows XP news, OnNow design news, Device and Driver news, and provides valuable downloads, such as specifications, white papers, and, finally, the newest versions of Windows DDK. I can't personally state that the DDK documentation is light reading (especially when you're reading it for the first time). However, there's no other way to become a professional.

• http://www.microsoft.com/
  This site is certainly well known to everyone, and it remains among the most reliable and informative sources of information concerning all Microsoft products, including, of course, Windows XP. Search the Knowledge Base, and perhaps you'll find the answers to your questions. As concerns the registry, go to the Microsoft Downloads Center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp), select the operating system you are working with, and search using the Registry keyword. You'll find quite a log of registry patches and various registry tools and utilities (some of them are supplied with the source code).

• http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag
  MSDN Journal is the most interesting resource for those who want to gain knowledge of Windows NT/2000/XP internals. You'll find articles written by Matt Pietrek, Jeffrey Richter, and other popular authors. Now it also includes the Microsoft Systems Journal. The latest (November 2001) issue provides quite a lot of interesting information on Windows XP, so don't miss it.

• http://www.win2000mag.com/
  Windows 2000 Magazine is intended for Windows NT/2000/XP professionals. Subscribers have unlimited access to all published materials and archives for the last 5 years, but even guest access will give you lots of valuable information.

• http://www.labmice.net/
  Lots of information on Windows 2000, and much more! Visit it, and you won't be disappointed. This portal contains tons of useful links related to all aspects of running Windows 2000. Contains quite a large collection of useful resources on the registry, security, scripting (resource centers, online tutorials, code examples, and much more).

• http://www.windrivers.com/
  On this site, you can find latest driver updates for Windows NT 4.0/Windows 2000/Windows XP (a list of drivers is quite impressive). In addition, it offers a large amount of valuable technical support information, tips, tricks, and texts for beginners.

• http://www.aelita.net/
  Lots of technical information and Windows NT/2000 utilities, including ERDisk for Windows NT/2000 (or simply ERDisk) and ERDisk for Active Directory, which deliver automated backup and fast, remotely managed recovery of your Windows NT/2000 NT/2000 enterprise systems' configuration and Active Directory. They bridge the gap between native disaster recovery tools, which have limited functionality, and full network backups, which can take hours to retrieve and restore. These utilities are not shareware, but you can download trial versions.

• http://www.radium.ncsc.mil/tpep/library/rainbow/
  This is the "Rainbow Series". In my modest opinion, it doesn't require any comments.

• http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.asp
  Microsoft Security Advisor is recommended for anyone who really cares about the security of their Windows NT/2000/XP systems. Contains tons of security-related information for IT professionals, software developers, and consumers.

• http://www.ntsecurity.com/default.htm
  This is a security-related site containing lots of reviews, documents, advisories and much more. For example, here you can download trial versions for Windows NT/2000 administration utilities such as SecureIIS, which stopped CodeRed and Nimda before these worms became widely known. Also provides a lot of useful links to other security-related sites, so don't forget to bookmark it.

• http://[e-mail]
  @stake has assembled the best minds in digital security, including the L0pht Heavy Industries group, to help you understand and mitigate security risks. The LC3 (the latest version of the award-winning password auditing and recovery application, L0phtCrack), mentioned in Chapter 9, can be downloaded from http://[e-mail]/research/lc3/index.html. You can also download L0phtCrack 1.5, an unsupported command-line version for researchers (not intended for production password auditing). If you want dictionary files, don't forget to download them from http://www.packetstormsecurity.org/Crackers/wordlists/indexsize.shtml.

• http://www.iss.net
  This site is not specific to Windows NT/2000/XP. However, it offers tons of valuable security information (don't forget to visit security library at http://www.xforce.iss.net/security/library/). Evaluation versions of security tools are also available for download (they are quite large, so don't forget to free up at least 120 MB of disk space).