Sunday, November 4, 2012

List of “whitelisted” sites for Flash within Internet Explorer version 10

Internet Explorer version 10 includes a Flash plug-in by default.  But only certain web site URL’s are “whitelisted” and can use Flash by default.  To view the list of “approved” sites, access the iecompatdata.xml file under an account’s profile.

ie10_metro_flash_1

Open the file in a text editor and search for the string <Flash>.  A list of URL’s should be present underneath.

ie10_metro_flash_2

PowerShell Plus

Idera recently released the company’s PowerShell Plus application for free.  The program includes a script editor as well as a debugger.

powershell_plus

https://www.idera.com/Free-Tools/PowerShell-Plus/

Cookie Cadger

Cookie Cadger helps identify information leakage from applications that utilize insecure HTTP GET requests.  Cookie Cadger is a graphical utility which harnesses the power of the Wireshark suite and Java to provide a fully cross-platform, entirely open-source utility which can monitor wired Ethernet, insecure Wi-Fi, or load a packet capture file for offline analysis.

https://www.cookiecadger.com/

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Update help files within PowerShell version 3

PowerShell version 3 has an option to update the local help files.  Launch a PowerShell session with local administrative authority and use the command:

Update-Help –Force –Verbose

powershell3_update_help

WiNToBootic

WinToBootic is a free tool that allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive for installing Windows 7 or Windows 8.  The application supports an ISO file, a DVD, or a folder as the boot disk source.  It’s a standalone tool that doesn’t require installation.

http://www.wintobootic.com/

How to increase the font size with iOS

To increase the font size within iOS with certain applications such as Contacts, Calendar, Mail, etc., access Settings –> General –> Accessibility –> Large Text.

ios_large_text

How to determine file system alignment within Windows

File system alignments are important in a virtual environment.  If a partition within a virtual machine is not aligned correctly, additional load can be placed on the storage array.  Windows 2008 R2 by default should use the correct alignment parameters, but older Windows versions may not.  To check the alignment, launch a command prompt with administrative credentials and use:

wmic partition get BlockSize, StartingOffset, Name, Index

Divide the StartingOffset by the BlockSize.  In the example below, the value would be 63.  This would be an example of a misaligned partition.  The offset value of 32,256 is a common value for a misaligned file system.

misaligned_partitions_1

The value for the next example would be 2048 for the first partition.  This partition has correct alignment.

misaligned_partitions_2

More information concerning this command can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929491