How to turn your Windows laptop into a hotspot

Today, we'll show you how to turn that computer into a WiFi hotspot without using a third-party software that may likely eat up memory even after it is closed. Any machine running Windows XP and up, including Windows 8.1 Preview, will do.

Step 1: Hit the Start button, and type "Command Prompt" or "cmd" on the search box. If your computer is based on Windows 8, you'll need to press the keyboard's Windows logo key to switch to the system's Modern UI Style and type "Command Prompt" or "cmd." Run Command Prompt with admin rights. To do that, right-click on the Command Prompt icon and select "Run as administrator."

 

Step 2: Type "netsh wlan show drivers" (without the quotation marks) in Command Prompt to check whether or not your computer supports a hosted network. The "Hosted network supported" field should indicate "Yes" if your unit supports WiFi sharing. If it says "No," you'll have to download the corresponding driver for your WiFi adapter first before proceeding.

 

Step 3: To create a hotspot, type "netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=yournetworkname key=yournetworkpassword," and hit Enter on your keyboard. Remember, "ssid" refers to the WiFi hotspot's name while "key" is said network's password. You can also use the aforementioned command to change the hotspot's name and password.

Step 4: To get the hotspot up and running, type "netsh wlan start hostednetwork." Make sure your computer's WiFi adapter is also switched on, or the hotspot won't work at all.

Step 5: Again, hit the Start button. Type "Network and Sharing Center," and left-click on it. If you're using a Windows-based unit, you probably know what to do by now. (Switch to Modern UI Style, and type "Network and Sharing Center.")

 

Step 6: Select "Change adapter settings," which can be found on the left-hand side of the window. Both the network connection you want to share and your newly created WiFi hotspot are shown here. Choose the network connection you wish to share. Right click on it, select "Properties," and go to the "Sharing" tab. Check the option "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection." This time, select the WiFi hotspot you created earlier.

 

That's it! If everything goes according to plan, you should be sharing your network connection via WiFi now. Use any smart device you have with you to check if your hotspot is live and working.
But we're not done yet. We haven't told you how to turn off your hotspot. To do so, type "netsh wlan stop hostednetwork" in Command Prompt



Keep in mind that you'll have to enter the "netsh wlan start" and "netsh wlan stop" commands in Command Prompt to switch your hotspot on and off, respectively, each time you power on your computer. A simpler and less time-consuming way to do that is to create shortcuts.


Right-click on the Desktop window, select "New," proceed to clicking "Shortcut." Use this command: "C:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe wlan start hostednetwork” as the location of your shortcut. Choose "Next," rename the shortcut to "Start WiFi hotspot," or call it whatever you want, and select "Finish."



Repeat the same step for the "netsh wlan stop" command shortcut, but use this command: "C:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe wlan stop hostednetwork" instead. Now you have shortcuts for your WiFi hotspot. Happy sharing!

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (_http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.


3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."

Files on Flash/External/Hard Drive Changed to Shortcuts, How to recover

Recently i was about formatting a system, didnt have my laptop readily available, so i decided to make a bootable flash using someones pc, and lo and behold, i inserted my flash drive and everything was converted into shortcut with some funny icon, i was raged, so i sought out for how to go about it and i stumbled on this , so i thought i share.

How to recover data when all files on flash drive or external hard drive have changed to shortcuts? It usually happens due to a virus. If you connected your flash drive to an infected computer, all your existing files may get converted into shortcuts. The filenames will be weird. But if you check the space usage, you will find that the data is still there. No need to worry!

To recover your data (which is converted to shortcuts), just follow these simple steps:

• Connect your pen/flash/external drive HDD to your computer.
• Go to My Computers and check what drive it is assigned for example F: or G: drive. Lets assume its G: (replace it with correct letter as applicable in your case).
• Click on “Start” –>”Run”–> type  "cmd" (WITHOUT THE QUOTES) and hit OK. This will start command prompt.
• Enter the following command and hit “Enter”.
  attrib -H -R -S /S /D G:\*.*

Important Points:

1. In the above command, alphabet G represents the drive letter for your flash/Pen drive. You may need to change it as it shows in your computer.
2. Make sure that you put spaces, as its there. Better to copy in a notepad first.

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (_http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.


3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."