Windows tweaks and problem solving

General Windows Tweaks & Problem Solving

These tweaks don't specifically speed up anything in Windows, but they're likely to solve annoying little issues you've lived with for years.

Determine if you need more RAM. There are people who say, "You can't have too much RAM." These people must also say, "You can't have too much money," and have cartloads of it lying around for every PC in the house. The rest of us must find a balance between money and RAM, and that usually means only buying the amount we need. An easy way to find out how much RAM you really need is to use your system normally without restarting for at least a day. At the end of the day, open the Task Manager (pressing CTRL- ALT-DELETE opens it, for example) and click the Performance tab. Compare the value for "Commit Charge - Peak" to the amount of RAM you have. If the value is higher then your RAM, then you'll see a benefit to installing more memory. If it's less, then you're probably doing just fine, RAM-wise. To be sure, check this value over the course of several days. Note that if you've manually changed the size of the Paging File, you'll need to adjust it again after adding RAM. If you've told Windows to manage the size of the Paging File automatically, it will still do so after adding RAM.

Disable auto-reboot to help solve problems. When you encounter a significant crash and get a BSOD, WinXP normally displays it for a moment and then reboots the machine. This is probably the right action for an unattended server, but it makes diagnosing the error on a normal workstation/gaming PC rather troublesome. There's not enough time to write down the error, and if the crash occurred while you were away, you might not even realize there was a crash (and restart) to begin with. (Honestly, how often do you really check your error logs?) 60 April 2007 / www.computerpoweruser.com spotlight To keep the BSOD open indefinitely, open System from the Control Panel and click the Advanced tab. Then click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery Settings and uncheck Automatically Restart in the System Failure section. This will take effect after a restart.

Boost Internet Explorer 7

Love it or leave it, IE is the world's mostpopular browser, and version 7 introduces new wrinkles that need attention.

Change the default search provider. If you want to change your search provider from, say, MSN to Google, click the down arrow icon next to the magnifying glass in the search field and choose Change Search Defaults. Choose your preferred search engine, click the Set Default button, and then OK.

Add or remove toolbars. IE7's sparse interface, complete with its lack of conventional toolbars, has frustrated a lot of experienced users. Right-clicking any empty area next to the tabs lets you add or remove toolbars, including a conventional menu bar (File, Edit, etc.). Be sure to unlock the toolbars (click View, point to Toolbars, and uncheck Lock The Toolbars) before you try to drag them to your desired locations.

Return to Internet Explorer 6. If you've hung with IE7 for as long as you can and you just don't like it (or if you frequent Web sites that don't play nice with IE7), you can go back to IE6. Just open Add or Remove Programs from the Control Panel and choose Internet Explorer 7. Windows will warn you that this may break certain security patches that you've downloaded after installing IE7, but most of those patches relate to IE7 itself. The process takes longer than you'd think (as does the first reboot afterwards) but in the end, you'll be greeted with the familiar IE6 you've come to know and, um, love.

Boost FireFox 2.0

With all of its extensions and themes, entire books have been written about getting the most from Mozilla Firefox. As such, we'll limit ourselves to just two.

Backup your Firefox "everything." You have probably accumulated a large Internet Explorer 7 might be the future of Web browsing for Microsoft, but it's far from perfect for everyone. Rolling back to IE 6, that trusty old mare, is fortunately not a difficult task. collection of themes, extensions, bookmarks, and passwords for Firefox. All of these things are gathered together into Mozilla Profiles, which are sometimes susceptible to corruption. A freeware tool, MozBackup (mozbackup.jasnapaka.com), can backup and restore your profiles with just a few clicks and makes the task of moving a Firefox installation from one computer to another a breeze. If you use Thunderbird for email, it also backs up and restores your mailstore.

Speed up browsing. This next set of modifications exemplifies what's possible Firefox has a host of configuration options to boost your browsing experience. Just type about:config in its Address Bar to access the goodies. CPU / April 2007 61 spotlight with Firefox, but it can be controversial. You can set Firefox to use multiple connections to a Web server to retrieve multiple files instead of just one. Some consider this approach as inconsiderate to Webmasters, because their servers must spend more effort serving you a page than someone else. That said, this can boost performance considerably and illustrates how to modify technical settings in Firefox. First, open Firefox and type about:config in the Address Bar and press ENTER, which displays the equivalent of Firefox's Registry. Next, type HTTP into the Filter field, which displays only those entries that have "http" within them. Then, do the following:

1. Change network.http.pipelining to true by double-clicking it;
2. Change network.http.pipelining. maxrequests to 8 by double-clicking it and entering 8 in the pop-up window;
3. Change network.http.max-persistant connections-per-server to 8;
4. Change network.http.max connections to 48;
5. Change network.http.proxy. pipelining to true;
6. Change network.http.max-persistant connections-per-proxy to 8; and
7. Right-click anywhere in this screen, and choose New Integer from the popup menu. Enter the Preference Name as nglayout.initialpaint.delay, and its Value as 0. Restart Firefox to enable the changes.

Boost iTunes & iPod

It stands to reason that if the iPod is the world's most popular MP3 player, then iTunes must be pretty darn popular, too. As an Apple product, it doesn't require a ton of internal tweaking, but various third-party utilities add a lot of functionality that Apple either forgot to add or didn't want to. Combined with just a few internal tweaks, iTunes can be almost anything you want it to be.

Import to MP3 for portability. If you have another device capable of playing MP3s, such as a DVD player, car stereo, or another MP3 player, you can have iTunes rip music into MP3 files directly instead of AAC files. Click Preferences from the Edit menu. Then, click the Advanced tab and the Importing subtab. Change the Import Using drop-down menu to MP3 Encoder and set the bit rate to whatever you prefer. Within the Importing subtab, you can also alter the way iTunes names your MP3 files. The raw MP3 files are stored in the iTunes music folder.

Hierarchical playlists. ITunes 7 can organize hundreds of playlists by arrang- ing them into collapsible folders—much the same way the Explorer lists directories—along the left pane. To create one, click File and New Folder. A new folder, named "Untitled Folder" appears, and iTunes selects it by default. Rename it and either drag existing playlists into it or leave the folder selected and click the Create A Playlist button to create a new playlist within that folder. Unfortunately, these folders don't appear within your iPod: All nested playlists appear the same as top-level playlists.

Add album art en masse. Although iTunes does a fair job of adding album art to the songs already in your library, a free utility called TuneSleeve (tunesleeve .googlepages.com) does it much better, allowing you to drag-and-drop graphics directly from Web pages into every song in an album at once. If given enough time, it also searches for art on the Internet by itself, assigning artwork to all songs in a playlist or your entire library. It is also able to find alternative artwork or multiple versions of the same album and lets you replace artwork iTunes has already found.
Use Your iPod without iTunes. YamiPod (www.yamipod.com) is a free- ware iPod manager and media player that's available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux—just copy the executables to your iPod and plug it into whatever com- puter you have. Yamipod will do the rest of the work for you. With it, you can play music, create playlists, add or extract songs directly from the iPod to your computer, remove duplicate tracks, find "lost" music files, import and export playlists in M3U format, and a lot more. In short, YamiPod lets you use your iPod the way you want to, rather than the way Apple does

Posted by Jonathan at 8:33 AM 0 comments

Friday, September 14, 2007
10 Things You Need to Know about Deploying Windows Vista

You've deployed Windows XP in the past, and now you're thinking ahead to Windows Vista. Whether you'll be deploying to 10, 100, or 100,000 computers, just knowing how the process has changed from Windows XP will make the deployment run much more smoothly.
So here are 10 deployment differences between Windows® XP and Windows Vista™ that you'll be glad you discovered when it's time to make the move.

1. Windows Vista Images Are Bigger

With Windows XP and Windows 2000, it was possible to create images that would fit easily on a single CD (less than 700MB). Even organizations that added applications, drivers, and utilities to their image typically ended up with an operating system image in the 1GB to 3GB range.
With Windows Vista, image size begins at about 2GB—compressed. Once this image is deployed, the size is often around 5GB or more, and there's no way to reduce it. If you add additional applications, drivers, or other files, this image obviously grows even larger.
So how will you deploy the image? Does your network have the necessary capacity? (10MB networks or non-switched networks are not sufficient.) If you want to use CDs, how many can you deal with? You'll need three or four. DVDs (with a capacity of 4.7GB each) are now easy to create, so you can deploy using DVD drives if you have them. (If not, consider adding DVD drives when buying the next round of PCs.)
With USB memory keys growing in size (as large as 4GB or more) and shrinking in price, it would be quite easy to use one for deploying Windows Vista, since you can make a bootable key as long as the computer's BIOS supports it.
Finally (though this doesn't relate to image size), take note that there is no longer an I386 directory. Instead, all components, whether installed or not, reside in the Windows directory (although not in the standard SYSTEM32 directory). When installing a new component, the necessary files will be pulled from this location.


2. Security Is Enhanced

A number of Windows Vista security enhancements will impact deployment. For example, configuring Windows Vista to support "low rights" users, where the logged-on user does not have administrator rights, is easier. Some applications failed to work on Windows XP when users did not have administrator access because they assumed they would have full access to the C: drive and all parts of the registry. With Windows Vista, applications that attempt to write to restricted areas will have those writes transparently redirected to other locations in the user's profile.
The second big change here is that non-administrators can load drivers. This lets users attach new devices without needing to call the help desk in tears.
The third difference you'll find is that Internet Explorer® can automatically install ActiveX® controls using elevated rights. A new service can perform these installations on the user's behalf (if, of course, the IT administrator allows this via Group Policy).
Some of you may currently be using Power User rights on Windows XP, but this really does not offer many benefits (in terms of restricting user rights) over simply granting full Administrator privileges. Because of this, the Power Users group in Windows Vista has been removed, although it can be put back if required using a separate security template that can be applied to an installation of Windows Vista.
Sometimes you will need administrator rights, but this doesn't mean you want to run with admin rights all the time. So Windows Vista adds User Access Control (UAC), which causes most user applications—even for Administrators—to run with restricted rights. For applications that require additional rights, UAC will prompt for permission, asking either for permission to run with elevated privileges or for other user credentials that can replace the logged-on users.
There are also enhancements to the firewall built into Windows Vista. The new firewall can now control both inbound and outbound traffic, while still being fully configurable via Group Policy.
Finally, BitLocker™ full-volume encryption, which is included with Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate, allows the entire operating system volume to be encrypted. The volume can then be read only from within Windows Vista and only when the right keys are provided, either from the computer's built-in Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip, a USB key, or typed into the keyboard. (Note that only TPM 1.2 or later is supported
3. Windows Vista Is Componentized

One of the biggest architectural changes in Windows Vista is that it is now a completely componentized operating system. This affects deployment in the following ways.
Configuring which Windows Vista features should be installed requires configuring the components to be enabled. New tools, like the Windows System Image Manager, shown in Figure 1, assist with this.
Security updates, language packs, and service packs are simply components. Tools such as Package Manager (PKGMGR) can be used to apply these to Windows Vista.
Figure 1 Windows System Image Manager (Click the image for a smaller view)

Figure 1 Windows System Image Manager

In addition, all servicing can be performed offline or online. You can even apply changes to Windows Vista or a Windows Vista image when Windows Vista is not currently running. This is ideal for deployments: the operating system can be patched before it boots onto your network for the first time.
Drivers are also treated as components, so they can be added and removed easily—even offline. This means you can add drivers to existing images, even just-in-time (as the machine boots for the first time) during the deployment process. And this applies to mass-storage drivers as well; no longer do you need to create a new image just to add a new mass storage driver.
Windows Vista exposes more settings, with most components providing configurable options, so it's easier to set installation defaults that can be managed on an ongoing basis using Group policy. For a rundown of new tools in Windows Vista, see the sidebar

"Tools You Need; Tools to Forget."

Here’s a rundown of the tools you’ll be using when you roll out Windows Vista, followed by a list of the tools you can retire for good once Windows Vista arrives.

USE THESE:

*
SYSPREP This is the updated version, modified for Windows Vista.
*
SETUP A new installation tool for Windows Vista, replaces WINNT and WINNT32.
*
IMAGEX The new command-line tool for creating WIM images.
Windows System Image Manager A tool for creating and modifying unattend.xml files.
*
PEIMG The tool for customizing Windows PE 2.0 images.
Windows Deployment Services The new version of RIS, which adds the ability to deploy Windows Vista and Windows XP images, as well as Windows PE 2.0 boot images.
*
PNPUTIL This is the new tool for adding and removing drivers from the Windows Vista driver store.
*
PKGMGR Also new, this Windows Vista tool is used for servicing the operating system.
*
OCSETUP This replaces SYSOCMGR and is used for installing Windows components.
*
BCDEDIT A new Windows Vista tool for editing boot configuration data.
Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 This updated tool lets you assess whether your applications are compatible with Windows Vista.
User State Migration Tool 3.0 An updated tool for capturing and restoring user state, supports Windows XP and Windows Vista, as well as all versions of Office including 2007.
BitLocker The full-volume drive encryption capability included in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions.

FORGET THESE:

* Remote Installation Services RIS has been replaced by Windows Deployment Services (WDS) but still offers legacy support on Windows Server 2003; RIPREP and RISETUP are not possible with Windows Vista.
* Setup Manager/Notepad Use Windows System Image Manager instead for editing unattended setup configuration files.
* WINNT.EXE and WINNT32.EXE Use SETUP instead.
* SYSOCMGR Replaced by OCSETUP, PKGMGR.
* MS-DOS Boot Floppies Forget them. Use Windows PE!

4. Text-Mode Installation Is Gone

The basic process used to install Windows XP has been unchanged since the earliest days of Windows NT®. This time-consuming procedure involved an initial text-mode installation step in which every operating system file was decompressed and installed, all registry entries were created, and all security was applied. Now with Windows Vista, this text-mode installation phase is completely gone. Instead, a new setup program performs the installation, applying a Windows Vista image to a computer.
Once this image is applied, it needs to be customized for the computer. This customization takes the place of what was called mini-setup in Windows XP and Windows 2000. The purpose is the same: the operating system picks the necessary settings and personality for the specific computer it was deployed to.
The image preparation process has also changed. With Windows XP, you would "Sysprep" a machine to prepare the reference operating system for deployment. With Windows Vista, you'll still run Sysprep.exe (installed by default in C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep), which will "generalize" the machine for duplication.
Windows Vista (any version) is provided on the DVD as an already-installed, generalized (Sysprepped) image, ready to deploy to any machine. Some customers may choose to deploy this image as-is (possibly injecting fixes or drivers using the servicing capabilities described earlier).

5. Boot.ini Is History

That's right, the Boot.ini file is not used in Windows Vista or in the new Windows PE 2.0. Instead, a new boot loader, bootmgr, reads boot configuration data from a special file named BCD. A brand new tool called bcdedit.exe (or a separate Windows Management Instrumentation or WMI provider) is used to maintain the contents of the BCD. A Windows PE 2.0 boot image can be configured in BCD too, making it easy to boot into either Windows Vista or Windows PE without making any other changes to the machine. This flexibility can be useful in recovery or maintenance scenarios.

6. Settings Are Configured in XML

With Windows XP (and previous versions of Windows PE) configuration information was stored in various text files. These text files have been replaced with an XML file.

* Sysprep.inf, which was used to configure how a Windows XP image is customized when deployed to a machine using a mini-setup.
* Wimbom.ini, which was used to configure Windows PE.
* Cmdlines.txt, which was used to specify a list of commands to execute during mini-setup.
Unattend.txt, which was used to configure how Windows XP is installed, has been replaced by unattend.xml. Unattend.xml also replaces three other files:

An example of unattend.xml can be downloaded from TechNet Magazine at microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/code06.aspx.
You may still use separate files if you want, though. You don't need to put all configuration items in a single unattend.xml file. The high-level schema of the new XML configuration file is well defined, with each phase of the deployment process represented. The actual configuration items are specified on the appropriate operating system components and these items are dynamically discovered from the components themselves.
With Windows XP, most IT professionals used Notepad to edit the various configuration files. You can still do that, but the Windows System Image Manager tool I discussed earlier can be used to inspect the Windows Vista image, determine what settings are available, and allow you to configure each one.
Another tool to aid deployment is the User State Migration Tool (USMT) 3.0, which is expected to be released at the same time as Windows Vista. It will also use XML configuration files in place of the .inf files that were used in previous versions. See "Migrating to Windows Vista Through the User State Migration Tool" for more information.

7. No More HAL Complications

With Windows XP, technical restrictions prevented the creation of a single image that could be deployed to all computers. Different hardware abstraction layers (HALs) meant you had to maintain multiple images. (For more on this see the Knowledge Base article "HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup") Most organizations needed two or three images per platform (x86 and x64) and some chose to have even more—though each image brings added costs and complexity.
In Windows Vista, those technical restrictions are gone; the operating system is able to detect which HAL is required and automatically install it.

8. Windows PE Rules

Windows PE 2.0, the new version that will be released with Windows Vista, is a key part of the deployment process. Even the standard DVD-based installation of Windows Vista uses Windows PE 2.0, and most organizations will be using it (often customized for the organization's specific needs) as part of their deployment processes.
Compared to MS-DOS®-based deployment, Windows PE 2.0 brings numerous benefits, including less time spent trying to find 16-bit real-mode drivers. (It's not even possible to find these any more for some newer network cards and mass storage adapters.) Better performance from 32-bit and 64-bit networking stacks and tools, as well as large memory support are also advantages. And don't forget support for tools such as Windows Scripting Host, VBScript, and hypertext applications.
Windows PE has been available for a few years (the latest version, Windows PE 2005, was released at the same time as Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP1), but not all organizations could use it; it required that you have Software Assurance on your Windows desktop operating system licenses. With Windows PE 2.0, that's no longer the case. All organizations will be able to download Windows PE 2.0 from microsoft.com and use it freely for the purposes of deploying licensed copies of Windows Vista.
Like Windows Vista itself, Windows PE 2.0 is provided as an image that is componentized and can be serviced both online and off. As with Windows PE 2005, several optional components can be added, although Windows PE 2.0 includes some new ones: MSXML 3.0, Windows Recovery Environment, language packs, font packs, and so on. New tools like peimg.exe are provided for servicing Windows PE 2.0. Peimg.exe can also be used for adding drivers—including mass storage devices, which no longer require any special handling.
For more information on Windows PE 2.0, see Wes Miller's article in this issue of TechNet Magazine.

9. It's All about Images

With Windows XP, some companies used the image creation capabilities of the Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 OS Deployment Feature Pack or third-party image creation tools. There was no generic image creation tool available from Microsoft. That's changed with Windows Vista: new tools have been created to support the Windows Imaging (WIM) file format. Unlike many other image formats, WIM images are file-based, enabling them to be applied to an existing partition non-destructively. This has great advantages in deployment processes, since user state can be saved locally instead of on a network server, eliminating what is frequently the largest source of network traffic during a deployment.
Because WIM files are file-based images, they (obviously) are not sector-based, so there are no issues around different-sized disks or partitions. A WIM image contains only the contents of a single disk volume or partition, so if you have multiple partitions to capture, you create a separate image for each one. But each of these images can be stored in the same WIM file, since the WIM file format supports multiple images per file.
The WIM file format also supports single-instance storage, so duplicate files (even from different images) are automatically removed. Between this and the advanced compression techniques employed, WIM images are typically smaller than images created by other tools. However, because of the extra processing, they do take longer to create. This size versus performance trade-off is fair enough; since you typically capture the image only once and then deploy it many times, the network traffic savings can be substantial.
The IMAGEX command-line tool interfaces with the lower-level WIMGAPI API (which is fully documented for use in custom tools too), and is used to create and manipulate WIM images. It also provides a mechanism for mounting a WIM image as a file system. Once mounted, the image can be read and modified using standard Windows tools since it looks like a normal removable media drive. This facility opens up whole new servicing opportunities.

10. Deployment Is Language-Neutral

Windows XP supported different languages in two ways. You could either deploy localized versions of Windows XP, requiring a different image for each language, or you could deploy an English Multilanguage User Interface (MUI) version with added language packs. There were advantages and disadvantages to each approach, but in most cases organizations that needed to support multiple languages took the MUI route, dealing with the limitations of running with an operating system that was effectively English at its core. Organizations that worked only with one language typically chose to use only the localized versions.
Now with Windows Vista, the entire operating system is language-neutral. One or more language packs are added to this language-neutral core to create the image that is deployed (although only some versions of Windows Vista support multiple languages).
Servicing of Windows Vista is also language-neutral, so in many cases only one security update is needed for all languages. And configuration is language-neutral, so one unattend.xml can be used for all languages.Help Is Available
The changes I've described mean that the image creation and deployment processes you've been using for Windows XP will need to be updated. In some cases, these updates might be minor; in others (such as an MS-DOS-based process using cmdlines.txt), significant changes may be required. To help, Microsoft has created new tools, guidance, and step-by-step procedures. These are included in the Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007.
BDD 2007 breaks down the deployment process into more manageable pieces, with different teams managing each component. Guidance, checklists, and tools are provided for each team to help with the tasks they need to perform (see Figure 2).
Figure 2 BDD 2007 Breaks the Deployment Process into More Manageable Tasks (Click the image for a smaller view)






Figure 2 BDD 2007 Breaks the Deployment Process into More Manageable Tasks
BDD 2007 is currently available for download from connect.microsoft.com after you sign up for the open beta program. Contained in the download are all the required Windows Vista deployment tools, including Windows PE 2.0, ImageX, Windows System Image Manager, and USMT 3.0, along with documentation explaining how to use them in an end-to-end process. The final version of BDD 2007 will be released at about the same time as Windows Vista. For a look at BDDWorkbench, see Figure 3.
Figure 3 BDDWorkbench Helps You Manage Multiple Deployment Scenarios (Click the image for a smaller view)

Figure 3 BDDWorkbench Helps You Manage Multiple Deployment Scenarios

The goal of BDD 2007 is simplification. Even if you don't have an existing image creation and deployment process, you should be able to use BDD to set one up quickly. Two deployment methods are provided:

* Lite Touch, which was completely rewritten, requires user interaction to start deployment. It doesn't require any special infrastructure although it can utilize Windows Deployment Services, the next version of Remote Installation Service (RIS).
* Zero Touch, which requires no user intervention, is layered on top of the SMS 2003 OS Deployment Feature Pack.

The new features in BDD 2007 include driver repository and injection, full computer backup processing, integration of all the Windows Vista deployment tools, and more. BDD 2007 will include all the source code for all of its automation tools, so you can modify it to meet your specific needs or copy and paste it into your own solutions. The source code is provided without restriction.
For more information on BDD 2007, see the TechNet Desktop Deployment center.

Posted by Jonathan at 4:38 PM 0 comments

Friday, September 7, 2007
How to download YouTube video?

How to Download YouTube Video? Orbit Downloader is a free YouTube video downloader which can help you to download FLV video from YouTube easily with great speed. Also Orbit Downloader can download and manage FLV videos from almost all of video-sharing websites like YouTube, Dailymotion, Myspace, Google, Yahoo, Metacafe, iFilm

You can download orbit dowloader here http://www.orbitdownloader.com/


Here's a sample on how to use the orbit downloader:

(1) Hover your mouse on the YouTube Video, making 'NBA Finals Lebron Etch A Sketch' for example, you will see a small button appeared near your mouse, like this:



(2) Click the button, Orbit Downloader will pop up a dialog to fetch the YouTube Video URL. It will need about 2 seconds.




(3) Soon, the "Create new download" dialog pop up. Click "OK",then the YouTube Video is being downloaded.



Posted by Jonathan at 5:20 PM 1 comments

Thursday, September 6, 2007
New Credit Card Scam

New Credit Card Scam ... Snopes.Com says this is true. See this site- http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.aspThis one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all theinformation, except the one piece they want.Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA&MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better preparedto protect yourself.One of our employees was called on Wednesday from "VISA", and I was called on Thursday from "Master Card".The scam works like this: Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'mcalling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge numberis 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which wasissued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Devicefor $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona ?" When you say "No", the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit toyour account. This is a company we have been watching and the chargesrange from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to(gives you your address), is that correct?"You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraudinvestigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask forSecurity.You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then givesyou a 6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?" Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says,"I need to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll ask you to"turn your card over and look for some numbers". There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the securityNumbers' that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are thenumbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. Afteryou tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I justneeded to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you sayNo, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call backif you do", and hangs up.You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called backwithin 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISASecurity Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card.Long story - short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISAaccount. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want isthe 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly forverification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that theywill never ask for anything on the card as they already know theinformation since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by thetime you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn'tmake, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a"Jason Richardson of Master Card" with a word-for-word repeat of theVISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are takingseveral of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody weknow that this scam is happening.Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing each other, we protect each other.Aide SanchezOCTFCUFraud Investigator714.258.4000 x8160714.258.4229 fax