Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Ethics of Reverse Engineering


The most traditional method of the development of a technology is referred to as "forward engineering." In the construction of a technology, manufacturers develop a product by implementing engineering concepts and abstractions. By contrast, reverse engineering begins with final product, and works backward to recreate the engineering concepts by analyzing the design of the system and the interrelationships of its components.

Reverse engineering process is recreating a design by analyzing a final product. Reverse engineering is common in both hardware and software to disassemble and examine or analyze in detail (as a product or device) to discover the concepts involved in manufacture usually in order to produce something similar.

Reverse engineering as a method is not confined to any particular purpose, but is often an important part of the scientific method and technological development. The process of taking something apart and revealing the way in which it works is often an effective way to learn how to build a technology or make improvements to it.

When reverse engineering software, researchers are able to examine the strength of systems and identify their weaknesses in terms of performance, security, and interoperability (ability of programs and systems running on various kinds of software and hardware to communicate with each other). The reverse engineering process allows researchers to understand both how a program works and also what aspects of the program contribute to its not working. Independent manufacturers can participate in a competitive market that rewards the improvements made on dominant products. For example, security audits, which allow users of software to better protect their systems and networks by revealing security flaws, require reverse engineering. The creation of better designs and the interoperability of existing products often begin with reverse engineering.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Zero Install: Run windows program 

without install


Zero Install is a fantastic concept of running software without installing especially when you can take the apps in your USB flash drive. It also checks for the updates automatically whenever you run software and receive the latest software versions automatically without any reinstall or restart. The apps also don’t need administrative privileges to run as they are run in a separate virtual environment.

To started using Zero Install in Windows, you can either install Zero Install or run a portable version of the software. At first run, you will see a list of software applications which you can run without installing.



Just search for an app in the “Catalog” - click Run



If you like an app add it to “My applications” - click Add 



App to put it in the start menu or on the desktop - click desktop




The benefit of these apps over portable apps is that these apps always remain updated. Zero Install can run software without installing it.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Install Multiple Applications - One Click


Just go to Ninite.com and start ticking checkboxes for free applications you want to install on your computer. It allows you to install a number of popular apps from their library by running a single application. It’s simple and convenient, and made setting up a new PC or reinstalling Windows a little bit less annoying.



In this case, you just go through the web app and select the software you want to install. Then, click the "Get Installer" button and Run. 



Within a few minutes all your favorite software is installed and ready to use. This has saved me a lot of time. Lots of great installer packages that install silently without having to accept EULAs or other crap.