Category: General

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Seen a .menc file before?

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If you’ve ever seen a .menc file before, you probably saw it on an external memory card that you pulled out of your Windows Phone device.  

Essentially, .menc (Mobile Encryption) files are just your personal data (the PIM.VOL file that contains all of your Contacts for example) that are encrypted.  The extension of .menc lets the Operating System (OS) know which files are encrypted, and whether or not they can be opened by the user.   To do so, the previously recorded key (user password) must match the key provided by the user when unlocking the device.  But you won’t see those .menc files, because they are typically hidden by the OS so as not to be visible to the end-user during casual browsing.   If you ever chose to encrypt the files you store on your external storage (external memory card, etc), then they may be visible if you took that card to another computer or device for viewing.

If you’re trying to recover those files, then you have to meet some rather special requirements in order to proceed.  Unfortunately, if you have Hard Reset the device, or have a different device than the one that the files were originally created on, then the encryption/decryption keys are now lost or no longer the same, then sadly your files are totally inaccessible. 

However, if you have access to the same device that the .menc files were originally created on, and you have NOT performed a Hard Reset on the device, then you can still salvage the files:

  1. Turn the storage card encryption off: Go to Start > Settings > System > Encryption (varies by your Operating System version) and uncheck the “Encrypt files when placed on a storage card” box. From this point forward, all NEW files created on that card will be unencrypted, but existing files will still be encrypted.
  2. Next, bring-up your favorite File Explorer, then browse to your Storage Card. Make a new folder on the storage card, and call it “OLDData”.  This folder will, of course, be unencrypted.
  3. Now, find whatever files you want to decrypt and copy them into this folder.  Those files will be decypted as they copy into the new folder.  You can now read these files on any other computer or phone.

Congratulations, you’ve just saved some data.   Hopefully it will turn out to be highly important data, which will make your victory taste just a little bit sweeter…

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It’s Free-App-Friday at Handango

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 Free App Friday

Head on over to Handango to grab your weekly FREE Application!   This weeks App is:

“NetworkAcc – Mobile Network Accelerator”

Accelerate all your mobile-network based activities using NetworkAcc, a 2009 Handango Champion Award Nominee! Speed up browsing, downloading, uploading, streaming, online gaming, sending and receiving email. Optimization technology is applied to fine-tune several key network parameters to prevent data fragmentation and to improve data throughput to make your device faster than you ever imagined. Don’t be limited by your device’s configuration again!! Download NetworkAcc Mobile Network Accelerator for FREE using 100% off code FAF723.

Features include:

  • Absolutely hardware free: 100% software solution, no additional hardware needed.
  • Easy-to-use: One click to speed up your mobile network performance without forcing you to understand a bunch of network jargon.
  • The ultimate in convenience: Runs in the background, automatically analyzes and optimizes your mobile network on-the-go.
  • Options: Multiple accelerator gears available to accelerate your mobile network on demand with advanced ‘Settings’ support.
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Should I form a local Mobile Device User Group?

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Just attended a local PC User Group, and got to thinking again about forming my own Special Interest Group (SIG) for Mobile Device Users.

If I do, I’m wondering what name I should give the group.    Since I’m old school, and I started-out on a PocketPC, part of me wants to start a “Sacramento PocketPC User Group”.  But in reality, the term PocketPC is fairly antiquated, and the new OS from Microsoft is now actually entitled “Windows Phone”.    So if I went with “Sacramento Windows Phone User Group”, then I would effectively be excluding other OSes like Palm and Apple.  

My best idea is to go with “Sacramento Mobile Device Users Group”, as it does not limit technology to Microsoft technology, but also infers a compact solution.   But after giving it some additional thought, I would not want to discount netbook or other technologies that just happen to be bigger than your pocket.  But since latops and netbooks are mobile devices, they would still be covered…

Hmmm….

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Starting my first day at AT&T IPAG group.

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Today begins my first day at the eNOC (Enterprise Network Operations Center) IPAG (short for Internet Protocol AGgregation) group.   Training should last approximately 5 to 6 weeks, and consist of some deep-dive topics relating to Ethernet switching.  The good news is that I’ll be joining my good friend Edgar (who accepted a position on the “first” wave – I’m on the second wave), and my original CMAC manager Kelly will be joining us as well!

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A sneak-peek at the upcoming GPS Tuner Atlas

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GPS Tuner logo A new version of GPS Tuner 6 is going through the beta test process (the public beta of which ends Monday), and the Regular Build released in a few days after that. 

The new version of the program will be renamed GPS Tuner Atlas, so as to differentiate it from the previous version.  

The new version will be a free update to existing users of GPS Tuner 6, so those users have good reason to rejoice, because this program is soooo much better than the previous version.  

GPS Tuner Atlas should remedy most every bug that prevented users from making full use of the initial program, and also make it compatible with older devices that did not support the Direct 3DMobile API that the original program was written for.

Continue reading

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My Last day as a Testing Technician…

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It’s my last day as a Testing Technician in the California Major Accounts Center at AT&T.   I’m taking a couple of days off (Thursday and Friday) so I can take a much-need break before I start my new job at AT&T on Monday the 21st.   On Monday, I’ll become an ENOC Technician, where I will begin a strenuous 6 week “deep dive” training session for all the Ethernet stuff my new job requires.   The good news is that the training is paid!  

I’m hoping to catch back up with blogging and twitting throughout the whole experience, but I have no idea if I’ll even remember to do any of this, as I’m told it’s a rather mind-blowing training experience.  Hopefully I’ll be able to keep my wits about me!

Wish me luck!

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Sacramento Metro Airport WiFi

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saclogo It didn’t take more than 15 minutes to get through the security checkpoint in the airport, so now I have an hour an a half to kill.  Having a million things to do online, I decided to take advantage of the Sacramento Metro Airport “Free Wi-Fi”, available in the food court area.  

I have a VPN tunnel connection so that I can browse the Internet securely, but I can’t quite see all the other users of this Free WiFi being aware of the inherent dangers of  Public WiFi Hotspots. 

It’s really hard to recognize a hacker, sometimes they can look very professional in a suit and tie, so you can never be sure who is who.   As I type this, I see six suits typing at their keyboards.   Walking over to pickup my order, I observed at least one conducting what appeared to be personal banking on his laptop.   I certainly hope that he practices safe computing by using a VPN tunnel.   That’s just not a good idea at Public WiFi Hotspots. 

I guess that it’s time for me to dust-off my 4 part series on Security in a Mobile world…

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Microsoft (Out-of-Band) MSRC Security Bulletin Release

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I just got a new Urgent notification from Microsoft earlier this morning regarding a new patch release for Windows Internet Explorer:

What is the purpose of this alert?
 
Microsoft is scheduled to release a security bulletin (out-of-band) to address a vulnerability in Internet Explorer on all currently supported versions of Windows. The bulletin is scheduled for release at approximately 10 A.M. Pacific Time on Wednesday, December 17, 2008.
 
This security update will be released outside of the usual monthly security bulletin release cycle in an effort to protect customers. Microsoft recommends customers prepare their systems and networks to apply this security bulletin immediately once released to help ensure that their computers are protected from attempted criminal attacks. For more information about security updates, visit http://www.microsoft.com/protect.
 
The purpose of this notification is to assist customers with resource planning for this security bulletin release. The information offered in this notification is purposely general in nature to provide enough information for customers to plan for deployment without disclosing vulnerability details or other information that could put them at risk.
 
Anyone believed to have been affected can visit: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/support/default.mspx and should contact the national law enforcement agency in their country. Those in the United States can contact Customer Service and Support at no charge using the PC Safety hotline at (866) PC SAFETY. Additionally, customers in the United States should contact their local FBI office or report their situation at: www.ic3.gov.
 
Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow the “Protect Your Computer” guidance of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates, and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Additional information can be found at: http://ww.microsoft.com/protect.