18.3.08

RCA DCM425 Cable Modem

Problems with your Modem? Me too. I might have figured out mine, maybe yours.
Elevated Modem

For the past few weeks I have had connectivity problems. I called,and called and called. Nobody could find the problem inside or outside. Then it hit me. Maybe the modem is getting hot. Why did I think of this? Well last month when I was paying my bill, a fellow in front of me had his modem and it had caught on fire. Yes on FIRE! It was melted and had he not been home who knows what may have happened.

Well today was the last straw for me. My RCA DCM425 cable modem no warmer to the touch than usual went off again. So I thought, it might have a safety knock off switch inside that acts just like a Breaker or Fuse in your house does when overloaded and becomes hot. It Knocks itself off to prevent a fire or damage to the device.

So I took the modem and Put it In the Freezer to cool it down for about 15 minutes. After the 15 mins, I reconnected it and booted it up. It has know maintained its connection. I elevated the modem instead of it sitting on the desk so air could circulate through it better. I also placed a small fan blowing directly on it keeping it that much cooler. So far this seems to have solved the problem.

The problem NOT SOLVED and there are many people unaware of it is, The Modem Overheats and May cause a fire in your home while you are Not there or sleeping. I pull the Power plug on mine at night, when not in use or I'm not home.

I do not think going to your provider will solve this, as they will only swap it for another just like it.

In my personal opinion, the RCA DCM425 is defective.

What can you do: [NOTE: Do this at your own risk. I will not be held responsible.]

* Do as I explained above to keep your Modem cool.

* When Not in use, unplug the modem. Do not use the Power button, this only puts it in standby mode.

* Go and BUY a different modem from your local store and replace it. If you do this, be sure to let your Internet Service Provider[ISP] know about this so you can give them theirs back. This will also reduce your Bill a couple of dollars.

* You may have to have them come out to your house and reconnect the service, if they have a WALLED GARDEN and you don't know how to access it to reconnect. **There may be a service charge for this**.

I'm going to use mine for a couple more days like this just to see for sure if this was the problem. It's been 3 hours now and no problems. Either way, in the next couple of days I will go buy one and replace it. I will post an update later this week letting you know if this solved the problem or whether it was just a temporary fix.


17.3.08

Windows Task Manager Not Working / Accessible- EXPLOIT

After seeing post after post on various security / computer forums where people are stating their task manager No Longer works, I decide to look around. I first suspected a virus disabling the Task manager to hide it's process from the user. Little did I know, it would be verified. So if you have this problem, it isn't your only problem. You more than likely have a Virus or some type of Malware.
This is Not a fix, It is a possible Reason.

Windows XP SP2 Taskmgr bug


http://core-security.net/archive/2008/march/index.php#14032008

Back in 2006 Izee of the EOF virus writing team discovered a possibility to crash the Windows Taskmanager. It was easily done by setting a REG_BINARY value in the Registry of Windows to 0x00. The key is the following:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\TaskManager:Preferences

If you set it to 0x00, 0x00, 0x00... the Taskmanager will crash on the next startup. I (skyout) have therefore coded an exploit and used it back in 2006 in one of my first viruses as a very basic technique to hide my process to the user. Then we waited for a long time without using this bug anymore. With the release of Windows Vista we tested it again and it was fixed. In 2008 now, exactly in February, I got in contact with Microsoft Germany and informed them about the bug. They told me, that they will work on it, but for weeks not even an email came back. Now it is time for making this public! Now this bug is open for every person and everyone can use it and put pressure on Microsoft to fix it.

Here you can find the exploit: [taskmgr_dos.c.txt]