Today I was getting following error while writing to Event Log on Windows 2008 Server (also applicable to windows 2003 server) using .NET

The resolution worked for me was appending (A;;0x3;;;AU) in CustomSD without quotes under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\EventLogName in windows registry where AU is referring to "Authenticated Users". Because in W2K3, the security of Application Event Log is controlled by CustomSD.
After appending the value would be similier to

O:BAG:SYD:(D;;0xf0007;;;AN)(D;;0xf0007;;;BG)(A;;0x f0007;;;SY)(A;;0x7;;;BA)(A;;0x7;;;SO)(A;;0x3;;;IU)(A;;0x3;;;SU)(A;;0x3;;;S-1-5-3)(A;;0x3;;;AU)


If CustomSD doesnt exists, then create a string named CustomSD and set its value to O:BAG:SYD:(A;;0x3;;;AU)

 P.S. Be careful by taking proper backup of registry before doing any change to it.

1)Right click on your desktop,
2)Click New
3)Click Shortcut
4)In type the location of the item, copy & paste following
"%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office12\Outlook.exe" /nopreview
where Office12 in above is the version of Office. It may be Office11 etc so change it accordingly
5)Click Next
6)Click Finish

Now double click the above created shortcut to open outlook. You are done with turning off reading pane

Experts are warning that hackers have yet to activate the payload of the Conficker virus.

The worm is spreading through low security networks, memory sticks, and PCs without current security updates.

The malicious program - also known as Downadup or Kido - was first discovered in October 2008.

Although the spread of the worm appears to be levelling off, there are fears someone could easily take control of any and all of the 9.5m infected PCs.

Speaking to the BBC, F-Secure's chief research officer, Mikko Hypponen, said there was still a real risk to users.

"Total infections appear to be peaking. That said, a full count is hard, because we also don't know how many machines are being cleaned. But we estimate there are still more than 9m infected PCs world wide.

"It is scary thinking about how much control they [a hacker] could have over all these computers. They would have access to millions of machines with full administrator rights.

"But they haven't done that yet, maybe they're scared. That's good news. But there is also the scenario that someone else figures out how to activate this worm. That is a worrying prospect."

Experts say users should have up-to-date anti-virus software and install Microsoft's MS08-067 patch. The patch is known as KB958644.

Even having the Windows patch won't keep you safe Graham Cluley Sophos

Speaking to the BBC, Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant with anti-virus firm Sophos, said the outbreak was of a scale they had not seen for some time.

"Microsoft did a good job of updating people's home computers, but the virus continues to infect business who have ignored the patch update.

"A shortage of IT staff during the holiday break didn't help and rolling out a patch over a large number of computers isn't easy.

"What's more, if your users are using weak passwords - 12345, QWERTY, etc - then the virus can crack them in short order," he added.

"But as the virus can be spread with USB memory sticks, even having the Windows patch won't keep you safe. You need anti-virus software for that."

Method

According to Microsoft, the worm works by searching for a Windows executable file called "services.exe" and then becomes part of that code.

It then copies itself into the Windows system folder as a random file of a type known as a "dll". It gives itself a 5-8 character name, such as piftoc.dll, and then modifies the Registry, which lists key Windows settings, to run the infected dll file as a service.

Once the worm is up and running, it creates an HTTP server, resets a machine's System Restore point (making it far harder to recover the infected system) and then downloads files from the hacker's web site.

Most malware uses one of a handful of sites to download files from, making them fairly easy to locate, target, and shut down.

But Conficker does things differently.

Right now, we're seeing hundreds of thousands of [infected] unique IP addresses Toni Koivunen, F-Secure

Anti-virus firm F-Secure says that the worm uses a complicated algorithm to generate hundreds of different domain names every day, such as mphtfrxs.net, imctaef.cc, and hcweu.org. Only one of these will actually be the site used to download the hackers' files. On the face of it, tracing this one site is almost impossible.

Variant

Speaking to the BBC, Kaspersky Lab's security analyst Eddy Willems said that a new strain of the worm was complicating matters.

"There was a new variant released less than two weeks ago and that's the one causing most of the problems," said Mr Willems

"The replication methods are quite good. It's using multiple mechanisms, including USB sticks, so if someone got an infection from one company and then takes his USB stick to another firm, it could infect that network too. It also downloads lots of content and creating new variants though this mechanism.

"Of course, the real problem is that people haven't patched their software," he added.

Microsoft says that the malware has infected computers in many different parts of the world, with machines in China, Brazil, Russia, and India having the highest number of victims.

Source:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7832652.stm

Today I was required to implement detecting the idle time or user inactivity in windows form. Here it is how it works
The theme behind is the usage of MessageFiler that will be intercepting calls (Keyboard / Mouse activities) and usage of System.Windows.Forms.Timer

Step 1.

Create MessageFilter class as

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;

 public class MessageFilter : IMessageFilter
    {
       //Following are the Windows API hex values. You can find more at http://faisalmb.com/blog/post/2009/01/Values-of-Windows-API.aspx
       // Here we are only interested in only Keyboard and Mouse activities
        private int WM_LBUTTONDOWN = 0x0201;
        private int WM_KEYDOWN = 0x0100;
        private int WM_RBUTTONDOWN = 0x0204;
        private int WM_MBUTTONDOWN = 0x0207;
        private int WM_MOUSEWHEEL = 0x020A;
        private int WM_MOUSEMOVE = 0x0200;

        public bool PreFilterMessage(ref Message m)
        {
            if (m.Msg == WM_MOUSEMOVE || m.Msg == WM_KEYDOWN || m.Msg == WM_LBUTTONDOWN || m.Msg == WM_MOUSEWHEEL || m.Msg == WM_RBUTTONDOWN || m.Msg == WM_MBUTTONDOWN)
            {
                //Reset the timer of form1
                Form1.timerIdle.Stop();
                Form1.timerIdle.Start();
            }
            return false;
        }
    }

Step 2:

In the form where you actually want to implement what to do if user is inactive for particular period, like redirecting to Login page, performing Session / objects cleanup, hiding or locking touchy form etc etc, put following peace of code,

a) Declare static timer as

//Reason for taking this timer as static becasue we need to reset timer in MessageFilter class.
//If don't want to use static then you can implement your own logic. The theme is to reset the timer in MessageFilter on any Keyboard or Mouse activity

internal static Timer timerIdle;

b) Put following initializing code after InitializeComponent or on Form_Load. Note to set Interval of timer to your requirement. Here it is set for 5 minutes.

            timerIdle = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer();
            timerIdle.Enabled = true;
            timerIdle.Interval = 50000; // Idle time period. Here after 5 minutes perform task in  timerIdle_Tick
            timerIdle.Tick += new EventHandler(timerIdle_Tick);

 c) Put following inside your form

        private void timerIdle_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //Here perform your action by first validating that idle task is not already running.
           // If you want to redirect user to login page, then first check weather login page is already displayed or not
           // if not then show loign page. Same logic for other task or Implement your own.
           // Remember after every five minutes or period you defined above this timerIdle_Tick will be called
           //so first check weather idle task is already running or not. If not then perform
            //if (Login.Visible == false)
            //{
                   //PerformNecessoryActions();
                  //ShowLoginForm();
            //}
        }

Step 3.

So far we have created MessageFilter class (On keyboard or mouse activity it will reset the timer of form). In form we have declared and initialize timer. On timer_Tick event we have implement the task which we need to do when user become inactive for particular period of time. Now in last step, Add our MessageFilter class in Application to intercept calls as

static void Main(string[] args)
{
            Application.AddMessageFilter(new MessageFilter());
            Application.Run(new Form1());
}

Hope it helps.

WM_NULL = 0x0000,
WM_CREATE = 0x0001,
WM_DESTROY = 0x0002,
WM_MOVE = 0x0003,
WM_SIZE = 0x0005,
WM_ACTIVATE = 0x0006,
WM_SETFOCUS = 0x0007,
WM_KILLFOCUS = 0x0008,
WM_ENABLE = 0x000A,
WM_SETREDRAW = 0x000B,
WM_SETTEXT = 0x000C,
WM_GETTEXT = 0x000D,
WM_GETTEXTLENGTH = 0x000E,
WM_PAINT = 0x000F,
WM_CLOSE = 0x0010,
WM_QUERYENDSESSION = 0x0011,
WM_QUIT = 0x0012,
WM_QUERYOPEN = 0x0013,
WM_ERASEBKGND = 0x0014,
WM_SYSCOLORCHANGE = 0x0015,
WM_ENDSESSION = 0x0016,
WM_SHOWWINDOW = 0x0018,
WM_CTLCOLOR = 0x0019,
WM_WININICHANGE = 0x001A,
WM_SETTINGCHANGE = 0x001A,
WM_DEVMODECHANGE = 0x001B,
WM_ACTIVATEAPP = 0x001C,
WM_FONTCHANGE = 0x001D,
WM_TIMECHANGE = 0x001E,
WM_CANCELMODE = 0x001F,
WM_SETCURSOR = 0x0020,
WM_MOUSEACTIVATE = 0x0021,
WM_CHILDACTIVATE = 0x0022,
WM_QUEUESYNC = 0x0023,
WM_GETMINMAXINFO = 0x0024,
WM_PAINTICON = 0x0026,
WM_ICONERASEBKGND = 0x0027,
WM_NEXTDLGCTL = 0x0028,
WM_SPOOLERSTATUS = 0x002A,
WM_DRAWITEM = 0x002B,
WM_MEASUREITEM = 0x002C,
WM_DELETEITEM = 0x002D,
WM_VKEYTOITEM = 0x002E,
WM_CHARTOITEM = 0x002F,
WM_SETFONT = 0x0030,
WM_GETFONT = 0x0031,
WM_SETHOTKEY = 0x0032,
WM_GETHOTKEY = 0x0033,
WM_QUERYDRAGICON = 0x0037,
WM_COMPAREITEM = 0x0039,
WM_GETOBJECT = 0x003D,
WM_COMPACTING = 0x0041,
WM_COMMNOTIFY = 0x0044 ,
WM_WINDOWPOSCHANGING = 0x0046,
WM_WINDOWPOSCHANGED = 0x0047,
WM_POWER = 0x0048,
WM_COPYDATA = 0x004A,
WM_CANCELJOURNAL = 0x004B,
WM_NOTIFY = 0x004E,
WM_INPUTLANGCHANGEREQUEST = 0x0050,
WM_INPUTLANGCHANGE = 0x0051,
WM_TCARD = 0x0052,
WM_HELP = 0x0053,
WM_USERCHANGED = 0x0054,
WM_NOTIFYFORMAT = 0x0055,
WM_CONTEXTMENU = 0x007B,
WM_STYLECHANGING = 0x007C,
WM_STYLECHANGED = 0x007D,
WM_DISPLAYCHANGE = 0x007E,
WM_GETICON = 0x007F,
WM_SETICON = 0x0080,
WM_NCCREATE = 0x0081,
WM_NCDESTROY = 0x0082,
WM_NCCALCSIZE = 0x0083,
WM_NCHITTEST = 0x0084,
WM_NCPAINT = 0x0085,
WM_NCACTIVATE = 0x0086,
WM_GETDLGCODE = 0x0087,
WM_SYNCPAINT = 0x0088,
WM_NCMOUSEMOVE = 0x00A0,
WM_NCLBUTTONDOWN = 0x00A1,
WM_NCLBUTTONUP = 0x00A2,
WM_NCLBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x00A3,
WM_NCRBUTTONDOWN = 0x00A4,
WM_NCRBUTTONUP = 0x00A5,
WM_NCRBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x00A6,
WM_NCMBUTTONDOWN = 0x00A7,
WM_NCMBUTTONUP = 0x00A8,
WM_NCMBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x00A9,
WM_KEYDOWN = 0x0100,
WM_KEYUP = 0x0101,
WM_CHAR = 0x0102,
WM_DEADCHAR = 0x0103,
WM_SYSKEYDOWN = 0x0104,
WM_SYSKEYUP = 0x0105,
WM_SYSCHAR = 0x0106,
WM_SYSDEADCHAR = 0x0107,
WM_KEYLAST = 0x0108,
WM_IME_STARTCOMPOSITION = 0x010D,
WM_IME_ENDCOMPOSITION = 0x010E,
WM_IME_COMPOSITION = 0x010F,
WM_IME_KEYLAST = 0x010F,
WM_INITDIALOG = 0x0110,
WM_COMMAND = 0x0111,
WM_SYSCOMMAND = 0x0112,
WM_TIMER = 0x0113,
WM_HSCROLL = 0x0114,
WM_VSCROLL = 0x0115,
WM_INITMENU = 0x0116,
WM_INITMENUPOPUP = 0x0117,
WM_MENUSELECT = 0x011F,
WM_MENUCHAR = 0x0120,
WM_ENTERIDLE = 0x0121,
WM_MENURBUTTONUP = 0x0122,
WM_MENUDRAG = 0x0123,
WM_MENUGETOBJECT = 0x0124,
WM_UNINITMENUPOPUP = 0x0125,
WM_MENUCOMMAND = 0x0126,
WM_CTLCOLORMSGBOX = 0x0132,
WM_CTLCOLOREDIT = 0x0133,
WM_CTLCOLORLISTBOX = 0x0134,
WM_CTLCOLORBTN = 0x0135,
WM_CTLCOLORDLG = 0x0136,
WM_CTLCOLORSCROLLBAR = 0x0137,
WM_CTLCOLORSTATIC = 0x0138,
WM_MOUSEMOVE = 0x0200,
WM_LBUTTONDOWN = 0x0201,
WM_LBUTTONUP = 0x0202,
WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x0203,
WM_RBUTTONDOWN = 0x0204,
WM_RBUTTONUP = 0x0205,
WM_RBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x0206,
WM_MBUTTONDOWN = 0x0207,
WM_MBUTTONUP = 0x0208,
WM_MBUTTONDBLCLK = 0x0209,
WM_MOUSEWHEEL = 0x020A,
WM_PARENTNOTIFY = 0x0210,
WM_ENTERMENULOOP = 0x0211,
WM_EXITMENULOOP = 0x0212,
WM_NEXTMENU = 0x0213,
WM_SIZING = 0x0214,
WM_CAPTURECHANGED = 0x0215,
WM_MOVING = 0x0216,
WM_DEVICECHANGE = 0x0219,
WM_MDICREATE = 0x0220,
WM_MDIDESTROY = 0x0221,
WM_MDIACTIVATE = 0x0222,
WM_MDIRESTORE = 0x0223,
WM_MDINEXT = 0x0224,
WM_MDIMAXIMIZE = 0x0225,
WM_MDITILE = 0x0226,
WM_MDICASCADE = 0x0227,
WM_MDIICONARRANGE = 0x0228,
WM_MDIGETACTIVE = 0x0229,
WM_MDISETMENU = 0x0230,
WM_ENTERSIZEMOVE = 0x0231,
WM_EXITSIZEMOVE = 0x0232,
WM_DROPFILES = 0x0233,
WM_MDIREFRESHMENU = 0x0234,
WM_IME_SETCONTEXT = 0x0281,
WM_IME_NOTIFY = 0x0282,
WM_IME_CONTROL = 0x0283,
WM_IME_COMPOSITIONFULL = 0x0284,
WM_IME_SELECT = 0x0285,
WM_IME_CHAR = 0x0286,
WM_IME_REQUEST = 0x0288,
WM_IME_KEYDOWN = 0x0290,
WM_IME_KEYUP = 0x0291,
WM_MOUSEHOVER = 0x02A1,
WM_MOUSELEAVE = 0x02A3,
WM_CUT = 0x0300,
WM_COPY = 0x0301,
WM_PASTE = 0x0302,
WM_CLEAR = 0x0303,
WM_UNDO = 0x0304,
WM_RENDERFORMAT = 0x0305,
WM_RENDERALLFORMATS = 0x0306,
WM_DESTROYCLIPBOARD = 0x0307,
WM_DRAWCLIPBOARD = 0x0308,
WM_PAINTCLIPBOARD = 0x0309,
WM_VSCROLLCLIPBOARD = 0x030A,
WM_SIZECLIPBOARD = 0x030B,
WM_ASKCBFORMATNAME = 0x030C,
WM_CHANGECBCHAIN = 0x030D,
WM_HSCROLLCLIPBOARD = 0x030E,
WM_QUERYNEWPALETTE = 0x030F,
WM_PALETTEISCHANGING = 0x0310,
WM_PALETTECHANGED = 0x0311,
WM_HOTKEY = 0x0312,
WM_PRINT = 0x0317,
WM_PRINTCLIENT = 0x0318,
WM_HANDHELDFIRST = 0x0358,
WM_HANDHELDLAST = 0x035F,
WM_AFXFIRST = 0x0360,
WM_AFXLAST = 0x037F,
WM_PENWINFIRST = 0x0380,
WM_PENWINLAST = 0x038F,
WM_APP = 0x8000,
WM_USER = 0x0400,
WM_REFLECT = WM_USER + 0x1c00

I know there are a lot of people who love using the run prompt or the command prompt rather than using the mmc control ... So here are some quick tips that you can use ... Enjoy ...

Accessibility Controls  :  access.cpl  
 
Add Hardware Wizard : hdwwiz.cpl
 
Add/Remove Programs : appwiz.cpl
 
Administrative Tools : control admintools
 
Automatic Updates :  wuaucpl.cpl
 
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard : fsquirt
 
Calculator : calc
 
Certificate Manager : certmgr.msc
 
Character Map : charmap
 
Check Disk Utility : chkdsk
 
Clipboard Viewer : clipbrd
 
Command Prompt : cmd
 
Component Services : dcomcnfg
 
Computer Management : compmgmt.msc
 
Date and Time Properties : timedate.cpl
 
DDE Shares : ddeshare
 
Device Manager : devmgmt.msc
 
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* : directx.cpl
 
Direct X Troubleshooter : dxdiag
 
Disk Cleanup Utility : cleanmgr
 
Disk Defragment : dfrg.msc
 
Disk Management : diskmgmt.msc
 
Disk Partition Manager : diskpart
 
Display Properties : control desktop
 
Display Properties : desk.cpl
 
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) : control color
 
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility : drwtsn32
 
Driver Verifier Utility : verifier
 
Event Viewer : eventvwr.msc
 
File Signature Verification Tool : sigverif
 
Findfast : findfast.cpl
 
Folders Properties : control folders
 
Fonts : control fonts
 
Fonts Folder : fonts
 
Free Cell Card Game : freecell
 
Game Controllers : joy.cpl
 
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) : gpedit.msc
 
Hearts Card Game : mshearts
 
Iexpress Wizard : iexpress
 
Indexing Service : ciadv.msc
 
Internet Properties : inetcpl.cpl
 
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) : ipconfig /all
 
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig /displaydns
 
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) : ipconfig /flushdns
 
IP Configuration (Release All Connections) : ipconfig /release
 
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) : ipconfig /renew
 
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) : ipconfig /registerdns
 
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /showclassid
 
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) : ipconfig /setclassid
 
Java Control Panel (If Installed) : jpicpl32.cpl
 
Java Control Panel (If Installed) : javaws
 
Keyboard Properties : control keyboard
 
Local Security Settings : secpol.msc
 
Local Users and Groups : lusrmgr.msc
 
Logs You Out Of Windows : logoff
 
Microsoft Chat : winchat
 
Minesweeper Game : winmine
 
Mouse Properties : control mouse
 
Mouse Properties : main.cpl
 
Network Connections : control netconnections
 
Network Connections : ncpa.cpl
 
Network Setup Wizard : netsetup.cpl
 
Notepad : notepad
 
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) : nvtuicpl.cpl
 
Object Packager : packager
 
ODBC Data Source Administrator : odbccp32.cpl
 
On Screen Keyboard : osk
 
Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) : ac3filter.cpl
 
Password Properties : password.cpl
 
Performance Monitor : perfmon.msc
 
Performance Monitor : perfmon
 
Phone and Modem Options : telephon.cpl
 
Power Configuration : powercfg.cpl
 
Printers and Faxes : control printers
 
Printers Folder : printers
 
Private Character Editor : eudcedit
 
Quicktime (If Installed) : QuickTime.cpl
 
Regional Settings : intl.cpl
 
Registry Editor : regedit
 
Registry Editor : regedit32
 
Remote Desktop : mstsc
 
Removable Storage : ntmsmgr.msc
 
Removable Storage Operator Requests : ntmsoprq.msc
 
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) : rsop.msc
 
Scanners and Cameras : sticpl.cpl
 
Scheduled Tasks : control schedtasks
 
Security Center : wscui.cpl
 
Services : services.msc
 
Shared Folders : fsmgmt.msc
 
Shuts Down Windows : shutdown
 
Sounds and Audio : mmsys.cpl
 
Spider Solitare Card Game : spider
 
SQL Client Configuration : cliconfg
 
System Configuration Editor : sysedit
 
System Configuration Utility : msconfig
 
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) : sfc /scannow
 
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) : sfc /scanonce
 
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) : sfc /scanboot
 
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) : sfc /revert
 
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) : sfc /purgecache
 
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) : sfc /cachesize=x
 
System Properties : sysdm.cpl
 
Task Manager : taskmgr
 
Telnet Client : telnet
 
User Account Management : nusrmgr.cpl
 
Utility Manager : utilman
 
Windows Firewall : firewall.cpl
 
Windows Magnifier : magnify
 
Windows Management Infrastructure : wmimgmt.msc
 
Windows System Security Tool : syskey
 
Windows Update Launches : wupdmgr
 
Windows XP Tour Wizard : tourstart
 
Wordpad : write

http://www.liveside.net/blogs/main/archive/2008/05/14/moonlight-silverlight-for-linux-is-available-now.aspx

http://www.mono-project.com/Moonlight