Packet sniffers, tools used to record network activity, are often controversial. In this article we look at why this is the case, and also look at positive uses for packet sniffers. Read Article @ IceTeks

The guides describe planning and implementation considerations for deploying Microsoft® Windows® XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) in enterprise environments. It includes readiness assessment, application compatibility, training, and infrastructure planning.

Want to turn your nForce4 Ultra into a nForce4 SLI? You do, Then head this way to AnandTech

If you have been following the news, some very strange things are going on with the nVidia nForce4 chipsets. About six weeks ago, MSI showed an nForce4 ULTRA motherboard with a regular x16 PCIe slot, plus an open-ended x4 PCIe slot. Those who saw the demos said that MSI was running two matched video cards in what they called a "semi-SLI mode", which ran at about 90% of the performance of normal nVidia SLI.

Installing the latest drivers improves system performance and application compatibility. Updated drivers include numerous bug fixes as well as system optimizations.

Blue screen, registry error, blank screen... ack! Somebody tell me: how I can retrieve my data? How do I get my system running again? THG shows you which tools to use, and how to use them to get everything running again - without data loss or the dreaded reinstall.

TweakGuides have thrown up their 170 page Windows XP Tweaking Companion (XPTC) version 1.02!

The Windows XP Tweaking Companion (XPTC) is the complete Windows XP and system optimization guide. No longer do you have to put up with so-called XP Tweak Guides which have a handful of Registry tweaks and some vague optimization advice - the XPTC brings an enormous range of detailed descriptions and resources together in one free 170 page downloadable PDF file. Everything from the correct installation of Windows and critical software and drivers, through to recommendations for every significant setting in XP, all the major performance, visual and convenience tweaks, and descriptions of XP's functionality.

Here's a tip to get your Hotmail account upgraded to 250MB instead of the regular 2MB which can be a little bit too small sometimes I tested it out three hours ago and immediately my account was upgraded to 25MB. A few minutes ago it was upgraded to the full 250MB.

VR-Zone have thrown up their Extreme Overclocking Guide of 2 Geforce 6800 ultras in SLI mode on Asus's A8N SLI mainboard.

As I was overclocking on the Asus A8N SLI board, I had 58mm of space between graphics card 1 and graphics card 2. Therefore, I had to devise a cooler to fit in between this space factoring insulation, etc. Phase-change was the best bet for me so I went onto building the phase-change cooler for the card.

Improve Windows XP's Security on computers not connected to a Domain. Windows XP Home does not include all the security features Windows XP Professional does, so some security options may be unavailable to the Home user.

Optimize Windows XP to improve both work and gaming performance safely. Windows XP's default configuration is far from optimized. This guide will help you improve your overall system performance. I avoid using or recommending "all-in-one" Windows XP Tweak programs since many blindly adjust settings that have no affect on performance and can cause future problems..

Tweakhound's Eric Vaughan has updated his Windows XP tweaking guide to revision SP2 version 1.0 Final! this has to be one of the best tweaking guides around. This guide is all about optimizing XP.

As you all know, it is possible to voltage mod your graphics card to improve the overclockability of its GPU and memory chips. However, unlike overclocking, voltage modding requires you to physically mod the card. Today, we will cover the voltage modding techniques for the ATI Radeon X800 graphics cards. This covers both the X800 Pro as well as the X800 XT PE. Just remember to read through the guide and follow our steps carefully!

Doom9 have thrown up their 2004 codec shoot-out! Here's a snip.

After writing this I'm going to have a beer: The 2004 codec shoot-out is finished. This time there are 10 codecs, I've included the source in the comparison (not only as pictures but I actually also reviewed it), and there are a lot of codecs in there that you'll only be able to get in the future: a brand-new 3ivX, a glimpse from the upcoming DivX6, 3 MPEG-4 AVC codecs, and an almost finished XviD 1.1. And as a special bonus: the first ever MPEG-4 AVC High Profile codec.

Adrian's Rojak Pot have thrown up Rev. 6.0 of their flashing your Radeon 9800 Pro To Radeon 9800XT Mod Guide by adding the following pages: Added a note stating that the 256MB section only applies to Radeon 9800 Pro cards using the Radeon 9800XT PCB. (Page 4) and Updated Identifying The Moddable 256MB Radeon 9800 Pro (Page 8) and Added the Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder. (Page 3)! Here's a snip.

The 256MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro is probably the least popular ATI graphics card. It is a lot more expensive than the 128MB variant and the extra 128MB of memory proved rather useless. But while you may think that it is a sheer waste of money, it may actually turn out to be a real steal! Why? Because Now, what is interesting is the new batches of 256MB Radeon 9800 Pro graphics cards are actually Radeon 9800XT cards!

Advertisers are constantly looking for any way to draw attention to their products. Although typical banner ads are still used heavily, they now seem to be almost invisible to the average web surfer. Pop ups and other intrusive types of advertising are now used to thrust an ad in your face that you have no choice but to at least acknowledge. Regardless of the nature of the ad, pop ups are a nuisance, and there are now many options available for keeping them off of your computer screen all together.

BigBruin

The TCNiSO group have released their tutorial on how to implement a modification and hack that enabled a "secret" menu that the developers wrote into the bootloader of this modem. This modification works on RCA 245 and 305 and Thomson 290 modems, it may work on other models too! Once you have enabled the developers menu, you can easily change many of the startup parameters, hardware addresses, firmware, EEPROM as well as a suite of diagnostic tests.

TweakGuides have thrown up their 170 page Windows XP Tweaking Companion (XPTC)!

The Windows XP Tweaking Companion (XPTC) is the complete Windows XP and system optimization guide. No longer do you have to put up with so-called XP Tweak Guides which have a handful of Registry tweaks and some vague optimization advice - the XPTC brings an enormous range of detailed descriptions and resources together in one free 170 page downloadable PDF file.

PCStats have thrown up their advanced guide for Unattended Windows 2000-XP Installations! Here's a snip.

If you've seen PCstats' Guide to Slipstreaming Service Pack 2 for Windows XP , you'll already be aware that it's quite possible to add components to Windows operating system files then rebuild and burn a bootable CD with the new features. We're going to take that concept one step further, and examine how to introduce SATA and RAID drivers, and a few other things options and drivers, into a customized unattended install Windows 2000 or XP boot CD.

If you are one of those users who have not found the calling to switch to Firefox and are still using IE, here is a quick guide to safer browsing on the World Wide (infected) Web.

Today at HWspirit we've prepeared an easy to understand step by step guide on how to unlock the disabled vertex/pixel pipleines on your cut down videocard with the help of Riva Tuner. We hope you'll find it usefull.