Today at work, I needed to take a screen capture of a movie running in windows media 10. I loaded the movie and pressed the "print screen" button on the keyboard. When I pasted the image into photoshop, the media player was black.
After some google searches and playing with the horid media player 10 interface, I figured it out.

1. Open Window Media Player
2. click on the "down arrow icon" in the upper right corner of the app
3. navigate to options
4. click the performance tab
5. click the "Advanced…" button
6. uncheck "use overlays"
7. click "ok"
8. click "apply"
9. click "yes"
10. click "ok"

Now when you press the "print screen" button when windows media player is running, you will capture the movie frame, not a black box.

The other night I spent hours working on another friends computer that was loaded down with spyware, adware, malware, and possibly trojans. It seems like a never ending battle. Someone I know is always having problems with their computer. Most of the time the problems stem from spyware being on their system; Most of the time I have to clean up the mess. I guess its poetic justice and Im reaping from what I have sewn in the past. I used to write password crackers, and other little programs that ranged from rebooting your computer randomly, to allowing me full control of yoursystem. (A quick google search found advisories against some of my more well known releases)

voltron kru annoy (1998)
http://www3.cai.com/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=46421

voltron kru unmask (2000)
http://www3.cai.com/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=61745

http://www.spywaredb.com/remove-voltron-krus-password-unmasker/

voltron kru aim cracker (2001)
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/pest/pest.aspx?id=55597

I now wear a different hat, and I'm not going to dwell on the past, but I am still very interested in malicious software. My biggest interest now is in preventing it from taking over my computer and the computers of my friends.

Here are some simple steps that I belive that any windows user should take to prevent their computer form being over run with spyware, and other nastyness.

1) BUY A ROUTER (firewall) !
This is possibly the easiest step in protecting your computer from over 99% of the nastyness on the internet. A router does a few things, it allows you to have multiple computers sharing the same internet connection, and it also acts as a firewall. A firewall is a filter between you and the raw internet. It doesnt slow down your connection at all, and it prevents attacks like internet worms and some spyware from attacking your computer. Most people that have problems with virus, worms and spyware do not have a router/firewall. I suggest a hardware firewall. they cost about $50, and require no setup, just plug them into a wall, and then into your computer. In 5 minutes you can save days of head and heartache. (I just bought a linksys 4 port router on ebay for $10)

2) KEEP UP TO DATE!
visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com once a week. Microsoft releases updates all the time. Many of the updates will prevent you from getting attacked and infected. If you are running windows xp, service pack 2 is a must! With service pack 2, you can schedule windows to update itself automatically so you dont have to remember to go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com every week.

3) ad-aware
Download ad-aware from http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/ (free!)
This is one of the best spyware detection / removal tools on the market. It is free and will help you keep your system clean, and will help fix current issues.
Always have ad-aware search for updates and download them before scanning your computer.

4) spy-bot
download from http://www.safer-networking.org (free!)
Use this along side with ad-aware. They do similar things but will detect different problems. Always have spy-bot search for updates and download them before scanning your computer.

5) Microsoft anti spyware
download from http://www.microsoft.com/spyware (free!)
Microsoft realized the problem that spyware was causing. As a reaction to the problem, they have released this tool. This is possibly the best tool for keeping windows clean of spyware. It acts like the other scanning tools, but has features that prevent spyware from installing, and taking over your computer. Make sure that have the autoprotect feature enabled. It will save your butt. This tool, like other tool will not catch 100% of all spyware, so it is important to have ad-aware and spy-bot installed and running also.

6) Dont get spyware in the first place!
dont click on random popups that appear on your computer. Dont click on random links in emails from people you dont know/trust. Dont download files from places that you arnt 100% sure about. Dont click popups from porn or casino websites. If a website asks you to install something before it will continue, dont let it! This is spyware most likely! Dont download or install other anti-spyware tools, many of these are actually spyware is desguise! Only use the tools I listed above.

7) Stop using Internet explorer!
download Firefox from http://www.getfirefox.com (free!)
Firefox is a web browser that is many times more secure then internet explorer. It is almost impossible to get spyware from webpages while using it. Its also faster then internet explorer, and offers cool features like tabbed browsing (multipe browsers running inside one application, so you dont have to minimize and maxamize browser windows when surfing). It also comes with a popup blocker built in.

It sucks that the avarage person has to be a computer expert to keep their compter safe, but thats just the way it is. If you have any questions about anything I wrote above, please leave a comment, or email me ([email protected]). If your computer is messed up, I might be able to help you fix it, so drop me a line.