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Hi! I'm sure this is without question a super beginner question, but I feel like I need to make an informed decision because I don't know how much it matters.
I need to know what is the best budget laptop for a computer programming college student, that can handle whatever is required of the course. My old laptop broke and I need to know how important a new one's specs are for this course. Any information would be helpful please.
{Ivan}
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For spec it is the most powerful you can afford, only you know your budget.
Some development tools are resource hogs, others are lean and fast, only you know the tool set you will be learning and working with.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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Buy what you can afford. For what you are doing, the minute details wouldn't matter.
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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If you're planning to use it for normal purposes like using MS OFFICE and other software. It's very important to choose your processor and RAM. And if you're into gaming, please consider getting a good GPU as well. HP Recently released this laptop which I think is good for you.
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Hi Ivan, while buying a laptop especially for Programming ( As you are a Programming Student) You should see below these specifications:
1) RAM - Memory is very important as all applications use memory to store temporary variables. 4GB is Good and it can increase up to 16GB.
2)Processor: Cpu plays a major role in speed as it processes millions of bits in a second, So Ideally i5 or i7 processor is the good choice.
Extra Features you should look for -
1) Graphic Card
2) Battery Backup
You can check out both of them, they have good reviews and specifications.
HP 2017 15.6" Full-HD IPS UWVA Laptop
Dell Latitude E7470 Business Ultrabook
I hope it solves your query to an extent.
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One thing you didn't say and it has a bigger impact to the performance is the use of an good SSD.
About your tips...
I have worked long with DELL Latitude (several models) and I was very happy with them. They have the option of "big capacity" battery which gave me the possibility to work the whole day without having to plug the power supply.
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I would like to know if the following device driver is possible in Windows 10:
A driver that receives a notification whenever a user mode process is created, and can then load a user-specified user mode DLL into that process before any user mode code in the process executes (including TLS callbacks.)
I'm not asking for code or how to write it, I'm only asking if the facilities exist in Windows 10 to make such a driver possible.
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Hi,
Yes. You should look at the PsSetCreateProcessNotifyRoutine routine[^].
There are other ways to do this without using a device driver. Could you elaborate on what you are attempting to achieve?
Best Wishes,
-David Delaune
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Hi David,
I would like to create an API hooking DLL that logs and documents the API calls that a given process makes. (It's my million-dollar product idea)
So I need a way to inject my DLL at process startup and into all child processes.
Ever since Microsoft disabled the registry key that used to have User32.dll load the DLL on my behalf, I have been stuck for a way to do this.
Let me point out that all of the user mode ways of doing this are not acceptable because I need the DLL to be injected before any user code executes in the target process, including TLS callbacks.
Any pointers are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rich
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
modified 13-Aug-17 15:16pm.
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Hi,
Richard Andrew x64 wrote: I would like to create an API hooking DLL that logs and documents the API calls that a given process makes. (It's my million-dollar product idea)
Hooking? Are you sure that you actually have a solid plan for what you want to do? What are you defining as 'API calls'? Are you referring to a specific Microsoft API?
Sounds like you want to perform instrumentation[^]? Are you looking to implement something like Intel VTune[^]?
If so check out DynamoRIO [^].
Richard Andrew x64 wrote: Let me point out that all of the user mode ways of doing this are not acceptable because I need the DLL to be injected before any user code executes in the target process, including TLS callbacks.
Have you experimented with the CreateProcess function[^] and the DEBUG_PROCESS and DEBUG_ONLY_THIS_PROCESS flags combined with CREATE_SUSPENDED? This should give you access to the process before anything as executed including TLS callbacks.
Is there a specific reason why you believe that you need to use a device driver? Are you trying to avoid the TLS callbacks and process initialization for a single process or system-wide?
From usermode you can use the Application Compatibility Toolkit[^] to load a DLL into any process system-wide immediately after kernel32/user32 is loaded and before any usermode code has executed.
On Windows 10 you can get the AppCompat toolkit as part of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit[^].
Best Wishes,
-David Delaune
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First, thank you for your responses.
I'm looking to implement something very much like this: API Monitor[^]
Yes I have tried CreateProcess with DEBUG_PROCESS and CREATE_SUSPENDED, but that doesn't work for my purposes, and here's why:
Once my hook DLL is inside a process, I need it to be injected into all child processes as well. This means hooking any API's that create processes. I have found that some programs use the DEBUG_PROCESS and CREATE_SUSPENDED trick as well. And I haven't yet figured out a way to inject my DLL and return the child process to the calling program in the state that it expects it to be in. What usually happens is a crash of the child process, because the calling program couldn't do what it wanted to do with the child process before any user code executed. Did you follow that? 
That is why I think I need a driver to accomplish this, because I have tried every user-mode way of doing it and just couldn't make it work.
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Hi,
That's an impressive body of work by Rohitab Batra. However I see a lot of problems with that software suite. The XML files that contain the API structs, interface and other definitions will not match on some operating systems... depending on update/patch level. If you ran his software on 10,000 computers 'in the wild' you would find that a certain percentage of those may not completely match his XML descriptions. It would be much better if he downloaded symbols from the Microsoft symbol server and used the Debug Interface Access SDK[^] to extract that data from the PDB symbol files.
It is still an impressive piece of software and looks very useful for malware analysis and other debugging scenarios.
Best Wishes,
-David Delaune
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Hi David. One follow-up question, if I may.
How can the UDT's of the Win32 API be extracted from the public PDB files if the source information is stripped from them?
I mean, yes it would be possible to get information about the functions, but not about the types passed into them. Am I correct?
The difficult we do right away...
...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Richard Andrew x64 wrote: Am I correct?
Yes, you are partially correct.
Microsoft has made some private symbols available to some ISV and partner programs after signing NDA and some special agreements. There is also the 'https://codepremium.msdn.microsoft.com/symbols' private symbol server made available through the shared source initiative[^].
Code Center Premium[^]
I took a brief look at his software package and was immediately impressed. It would be a great tool for sandbox automated malware analysis. However it is severely lacking in one single area... the function signatures in his XML files will not match on all operating systems. To make matters worse... he does't even mention which OS/Patch level those definitions match.
If he would author a tool for generating those function and type definitions using the Debug Interface Access SDK[^] it would be a much better tool. It would allow his software to perfectly match the machine it is running on regardless of Update/Patch level.
Best Wishes,
-David Delaune
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mozobata wrote: Any Ideas?
Buy a probe that is certified for the temperatures you need to monitor.
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Mea culpa. 
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No problem - it's easy to miss the site-driving link.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Hello guys
My hard drive is giving strange noise, i have read somewhere that it's on risk to keep using this drive, can i repair it ? or should i go for a new one and move my data onto it.
Thanks
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When it makes strange noises it is most probably a mechanic problem which can't be repaired. The only part of hard drives that can be repaired is replacing the electronics board. But that is usually more expensive than buying a new drive and makes only sense when you need to get some data from the drive.
I suggest to replace it immediately.
If you need to rescue data don't power it any more (plugout power and SATA connectors) and install a new drive. You may then connect the old drive it to another system and use a disk imager to create a low level copy of the drive. This might be transferred to the new drive but with the risk of already existing data corruption. The safe method would be installing your system from scratch. You can then mount the image and try to restore data.
When not using a disk imager you can also try to reconnect the disk and copy the data. But this will stress the drive more than using a disk imager.
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I have the same issue but I think it's the ventilator...
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Start with the simplest configuration that "works".
By your own words, you are starting out with at least 3 devices of unknown condition; you have no "baseline" to compare to in terms of success (which usually means at least "2" configurations: one that you can revert to when things stop working; and the other being the "work in progress").
"(I) am amazed to see myself here rather than there ... now rather than then".
― Blaise Pascal
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Read the data sheets yourself and make your own decision. You cannot expect people on the internet to be able to tell you what is best for you.
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