First of all download this wonderful program:
h@@p://www.speedguide.net/files/TCPOptimizer.exe
Then when u start trhe program goto settings goto cable modem or dsl whatevcer u have.
Go to MaxMTU and set it to 1500 this is optimal anything above this will not work as well.
Thats bout it!! Enjoy the speed!!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
How to Increase Download Speed
How to bypass web filters
There are several occasions where you will be at a public te How to bypass web filters
rminal, and require access to a particular website that is blocked for some reason or another. How to bypass these restrictions is a very common question, and will be covered here.
Lets pretend for a moment that the Internet is made up of 26 websites, A-Z. The web filter blocks your browser from accessing sites X-Z, but not sites A-W. Simply make the browser think you’re going to A-
W. There are a variety of ways to do this:
Proxy Servers:
This is a list of http proxies. These sites may not be up forever, so you may need to search for “free http proxy” or “public proxy servers” or other similar terms.
Proxy server lists:
• http://www.aliveproxy.com
• http://www.multiproxy.org
• http://www.publicproxyservers.com/index.html
• http://www.tehbox.com/proxy
• http://www.proxz.com
• http://www.proxy4free.com/index.html
• http://free-proxies.com
Now that you have a list of proxies, you would open IE (internet explorer) and click on Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN Settings > Advanced. Enter the address and port of one of the servers from the list in the proper area (http) and make sure the “use a proxy server for your LAN” option is selected. Remember to replace the proxy and port at your terminal to the original when you're done.
*Note: Some proxies listed may not work, and this method may decrease your surfing speed. By trying various entries, you’ll find one that works, or works faster.
The infamous translation trick:
Go to a web page translation site and use their services to “translate a page to English” thus accessing the blocked page through their trusted site.
You’ll notice that several translation sites are blocked, but by using less popular ones, this method can still be effective. Here is a list of some translation services. Again, these sites may not be up forever, so you may need to search for them.
• http://babelfish.altavista.com
• http://world.altavista.com
• http://translation.langenberg.com
• http://freetranslation.com/web.thm
Url Scripting:
Url scripting is the easiest method. It works on a select few web filters and is based on the same principal as the translation trick. By typing and address like “www.yahoo.com@www.restricted_site.com the filter will not go into effect as it recognizes the trusted site (in this case yahoo.com)
Other tricks:
Simply open the command prompt and type:
Ping restricted.com ? restricted.com obviously being the restricted site
At this point you can take down the IP address (ex. 216.109.124.73) and enter it into the browser. If access to the command prompt is also restricted, see “How to bypass restrictions to get to the command prompt.” If this article has been taken from information leak, then know that it involves anything from opening the browser, selecting view > source, then saving it as X.bat and opening it to opening a folder or browser and typing in the location of cmd.exe depending on the OS. I will not go into further, as this a completely different topic.
Use https://restrictedsite.com as referring to it as a secured site may confuse the filter.
Note: These are ancient methods that many new filters defend against, but still may be applicable in your situation. If not, a little history never hurt anyone.
Web based Proxies:
Another one of the easier, yet effective methods include web based proxies. These are simple in the fact that you just enter the restricted address and surf! Some of these have some restrictions, like daily usage limits, etc but you can also use another proxy (perhaps one that sucks, like a text only) to bypass their restrictions as well. Here is a list of some:
• http://proxify.com]http://proxify.com
• http://www.anonymizer.com/index.cgi]http://www.anonymizer.com/index.cgi
• http://www.guardster.com/]http://www.guardster.com/
• http://anonymouse.ws/anonwww.html]http://anonymouse.ws/anonwww.html
• http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html]http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html
• https://www.megaproxy.com/freesurf]https://www.megaproxy.com/freesurf
• http://www.anonymizer.ru]http://www.anonymizer.ru
• https://nadaily.com/cgi-bin/nph-proxyb.cgi]https://nadaily.com/cgi-bin/nph-proxyb.cgi
• http://www.userbeam.de/cgi-bin/nph-userbeam.cgi]http://www.userbeam.de/cgi-bin/nph-userbeam.cgi
• http://www.free2.surffreedom.com/nph-free.cgi]http://www.free2.surffreedom.com/nph-free.cgi
Proxy Programs:
There are many proxy programs that allow you to surf anonymously that are more or less based on the same topics we’ve covered here. I’ve added them just to cover the topic thoroughly:
• http://www.hotscripts.com/Detailed/28480.html]http://www.hotscripts.com/Detailed/28480.html
• http://www.inetprivacy.com/a4proxy/anonymous-grc.htm]http://www.inetprivacy.com/a4proxy/anonymous-grc.htm
• http://www.orangatango.com/home/index.ie.html]http://www.orangatango.com/home/index.ie.html
• http://www.steganos.com]http://www.steganos.com
• http://www.anonymization.net]http://www.anonymization.net ? toolbar that requires admin rights to install
Making your own CGI proxy server:
Making your own proxy server may come in handy, but I personally find that simply uploading a txt file/w a list of proxies to a free host makes for a much easier and headache free solution. If you don’t know PERL, there is code out there to help you set it up. Check out these sites for more info:
• http://httpbridge.sourceforge.net]http://httpbridge.sourceforge.net
• http://www.jmarshall.com/tools/cgiproxy]http://www.jmarshall.com/tools/cgiproxy
• http://www.manageability.org/blog/stuff/open-source-personal-proxy-servers-written-in-java/view]http://www.manageability.org/blog/stuff/op...en-in-java/view
Admin Access:
When all else fails, you can simply take over the PC and alter or delete the damn filter. This method varies according to the OS (operating system) you are dealing with. Please see “Hacking Windows NT” for more information. If this tutorial has been taken from information leak, then I will go as far as to say it involves booting the PC in another OS, copying the SAM file and cracking it using a program like saminside or LC5 rather than start a whole new topic within one.
How To Block Websties Without Software, block websites
Steps:
1] Browse C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc
2] Find the file named "HOSTS"
3] Open it in notepad
4] Under "127.0.0.1 localhost" Add 127.0.0.2 www.sitenameyouwantblocked.com , and that site will no longer be accessable.
5] Done!
-So-
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.2 www.blockedsite.com
-->www.blockedsite.com is now unaccessable<--
For every site after that you want to add, just add "1" to the last number in the internal ip (127.0.0.2) and then the addy like before.
IE: 127.0.0.3 www.blablabla.com
127.0.0.4 www.blablabla.com
127.0.0.5 www.blablabla.com
etc
You Want Lots Of Music, Appz, Anything?, Try Dex Hunting
So what's this Dex Hunting, anyway?
See: lots of people post files of any kind on their websites to share them with friends.
Those files are "protected" by not mentioning them. There's no visible link given, and
for literally hundreds of thousands this seems to be enough.
What they don't know: There are many nice techniques to locate the invisible stuff.
I don't want to get in too deep - and as I'm rather new here it's possible some of the
tricks might have been posted elsewhere.
But if you want to find lots of music the way I described it - and want other people
doing the "dirty" work I recommend:
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
A free message board - gathering place of the best "dex hunters" in the universe.
There you will find loads of *fresh* (!) mp3 links. Not only this - they update with
lightspeed. This is a site you won't visit once a month or once a week. I visit them
hourly, and I know why.
CODE
http://www.fionasforum.com/Stairway/
Remember: as soon as a fresh dex is posted there, it will be invaded and can die
within hours. But I swear there will be enough left for your needs.
Curious?
Wanna try it for yourself?
Try this one. It's a search bot, and instead typing complicated data strings for
Dex Hunting just type what you're looking for, and the bot does the rest for you.
Sounds nice, huh?
http://www.exploseek.com
not very sexy at first sight - but very effective.
Hope you'll like it!
Win XP Reboot without Rebooting
Have you ever been using your computer and your system sudddenly stops responding in ways like it if you try to open something it just hangs? One time I tried deleting a folder and it said it was in use, but it really wasn't. If this ever happens to you, you can follow these simple steps to 'reboot' your computer without 'rebooting' it.
Press CRTL + ALT + DEL
Goto the 'processes' tab and click explorer.exe once and then click 'end process'.
Now, click File > New Task and type explorer.exe
Everything should be fine now! If the problem is major, I would recomend actually shutting down then starting up again.
Window's Tweak: Hack Your Start Button
I've gotten so many requests on how to change the Windows XP Start button, I'm going to teach you how to hack it to pieces manually.
Before you get started, you might want to print out this page for easy reference.
Change the Start text
1. First of all, make sure you download Resource Hacker. You'll need this puppy to edit resources inside your Windows shell.
2. Locate explorer.exe in your c:\Windows directory. Make a copy of the file in the same directory and rename it explorer.bak.
3. Now launch Resource Hacker. In the File menu, open explorer.exe. You'll now see a bunch of collapsed folders.
4. Expand the String Table folder and then find folder No. 37 (folder No. 38 if you're in Windows Classic mode).
5. Click on resource 1033 and locate the text that says "Start." This is your Start button, and now you've got control over what it says! Change the "Start" text to your text of choice. You don't have a character limit, but the text takes up valuable taskbar space, so don't make it too long.
6. Click on the button labeled Compile Script. This updates the settings for your Start button. But nothing will happen until you complete through step #20, so keep going!
Change your hover text
7. While you're here, why not also change the text that pops up when your mouse hovers over your Start button?
8. Right now it says "Click here to begin." Well, duh! We already know that's where to begin!
9. Open folder No. 34 and click on resource 1033.
10. Find the text that says "Click here to begin" and change it to something cooler. Might I suggest "Click here for a good time, baby."
11. Click on the Compile Script button to update this resource.
Customize your Start icon
12. For an added bonus, you can also change the Windows icon to the left of the text, too.
13. Collapse the String Table folder and expand the Bitmap folder at the top of your folder list.
14. Click on folder No. 143 and click on resource 1033. You should see that familiar Windows icon.
15. Go to the Action Menu and select "Replace bitmap." Select "Open file with new bitmap", and locate the replacement image on your machine. Note: The image must have a .bmp extension and a size of 25 pixels by 20 pixels. Then click the Replace button.
Here's the image I've been using instead of the Windows icon, in case you want to use it.
16. Now that you've made your changes, save the file in your Windows folder with another name, such as newstartbutton.exe. Don't name it Explorer.exe, because that file is already being used by your system. Close all open programs and restart your system.
17. Boot into Safe Mode With Command Prompt by pressing F8 on startup. Then choose Safe Mode in the command prompt.
18. Log on as administrator and enter your password.
19. When the command prompt comes up, make sure you're in the right directory by typing "cd c:\windows" (without the quotes).
20. Now type "copy c:\windows\newstartbutton.exe c:\windows\explorer.exe" (no quotes). Type "yes" (no quotes) to overwrite the existing file, then restart your system by typing "shutdown -r" (no quotes).
When Windows relaunches, you'll see your new Start button in all its glory!
Untold Windows Tips
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:windowsrundll.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:windowsrundll.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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]
"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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]
"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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionScreenSavers
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWinLogon
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWinlogon]
"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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerTips
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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSetupSourcePath
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerDesktopNamespace
{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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerDesktopNameSpace
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerDesktopNameSpace
{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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_ROOTCLSID{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_ROOTCLSID{CLSID VALUE HERE}ShellFolder.
In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes. Now consider the following options:
To add the Rename option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to
50 01 00 20
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_ROOTCLSID{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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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:PathIcon_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:PathIcon_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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsNTCurrentVersionWinlogon
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesNetwork]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
To Enable Password Caching use the following .reg file:
--------------Enable.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesNetwork]
"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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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.DefaultSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerRunMRU
You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerDoc 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_ROOTDirectoryShell
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:wndowsnotepad.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_ROOTDirectoryShellFind
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 HKCUPaint.PictureDefault. 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~1Access~1MSPAINT.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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerShell 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:Windowssystemshell32.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:perbinperl.exe
use Win32::Service;
my ($key, %service, %status, $part);
Win32::Service::GetServices(' ',%services);
foreach $key (sort keys %services) {
print "Print Namet: $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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerToolbar]
"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_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoft Internet ExplorerToolbar.
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain.
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet 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_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftInternet ExplorerRestrictions
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:windowssystem 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:windowssystem. 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:windowscommand.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%webfolder.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.
Wow! long txt, and yes it has been copied from other sites, you think I have time to write all this myself, I wish you enjoy this...
****************
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:windowsrundll.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:windowsrundll.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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]
"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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]
"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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionScreenSavers
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWinLogon
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWinlogon]
"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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerTips
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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSetupSourcePath
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerDesktopNamespace
{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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerDesktopNameSpace
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerDesktopNameSpace
{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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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_ROOTCLSID{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_ROOTCLSID{CLSID VALUE HERE}ShellFolder.
In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes. Now consider the following options:
To add the Rename option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to
50 01 00 20
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_ROOTCLSID{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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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:PathIcon_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:PathIcon_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_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsNTCurrentVersionWinlogon
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesNetwork]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
To Enable Password Caching use the following .reg file:
--------------Enable.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesNetwork]
"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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
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.DefaultSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerRunMRU
You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerDoc 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_ROOTDirectoryShell
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:wndowsnotepad.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_ROOTDirectoryShellFind
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 HKCUPaint.PictureDefault. 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~1Access~1MSPAINT.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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerShell 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:Windowssystemshell32.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:perbinperl.exe
use Win32::Service;
my ($key, %service, %status, $part);
Win32::Service::GetServices(' ',%services);
foreach $key (sort keys %services) {
print "Print Namet: $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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerToolbar]
"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_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoft Internet ExplorerToolbar.
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_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain.
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_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet 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_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftInternet ExplorerRestrictions
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:windowssystem 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:windowssystem. 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:windowscommand.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%webfolder.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.
Wow! long txt, and yes it has been copied from other sites, you think I have time to write all this myself, I wish you enjoy this...
Undocumented DOS commands?
Collection of undocumented and obscure features in various MS-DOS versions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
- TRUENAME
- FDISK /STATUS
- FDISK /MBR
- SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /F
- COMMAND /F
- COMMAND /P
- COMMAND /D
- VER /R
- ECHO OFF and ECHO ON
- FORMAT /AUTOTEST
- FORMAT /BACKUP
- FORMAT /SELECT
- FORMAT /SELECT /U
- FORMAT /H
- IF EXIST
- Using ATTRIB to hide directories
- SWITCHES=/W
- FOR %%V IN (/SOMETHING)
- DIR,
- COPY. A:
- DOS?=HIGH
- INSTALLHIGH
- Using : for batch file comments
- REM in lines with pipes or redirection
- Delimiter character
===========================================================================
TRUENAME
--------
Internal DOS 5.0 command. Canonicalize a filename or path (using DOS interrupt 21h, function 60) prints the actual directory.
Syntax:
TRUENAME filename - Prints the complete path to file.
TRUENAME directory - Prints the complete path to directory.
Note: If the path is in a network, it starts with a \\machine-name.
TRUENAME is analogous to the UNIX "whence" command. It returns the real fully-qualified path name for a command.
TRUENAME is useful in networks, where a physical drive may be mapped to a logical volume, and the user needs to know the physical location of the file. It ignores the DOS SUBST and JOIN commands, or network MAPped drives.
TRUENAME is an undocumented MS-DOS feature, but it is documented in JP Software's 4DOS software (COMMAND.COM replacement) as follows:
Syntax:
TRUENAME [d:][path]filename
Purpose:
Returns a fully qualified filename.
Comments:
TRUENAME will see "through" JOIN and SUBST commands, and
requires MS-DOS 3.0 or above.
Example:
The following command uses TRUENAME to get the true pathname
for a file:
c:\>subst d: c:\util\test
c:\>truename d:\test.exe
c:\util\test\test.exe
TRUENAME : will reveal the full name drive and path of the filename. If you specify a wildcard (*) in the filename, it will expand the filename to use question marks instead. If the path includes the ..\ sequence, TRUENAME will examine the directory structure and calculate the path.
Stranger still, the line:
TRUENAME \CRONK\FLIBBET\..\ART
...produces the response:
C:\CRONK\ART
...even if the directories \CRONK\FLIBBET and the file ART don't exist! Don't expect this command to work well across networks. After all, this is still undocumented in MS-DOS for a reason!
===========================================================================
FDISK /STATUS
-------------
Prints a screen just like using option 4 of FDISK, "Partition information", but includes extended partition information. Nice if you want to get an overview without fear of pressing the wrong keys.
Doesn't work in DOS 3.30.
===========================================================================
FDISK /MBR
----------
MS-DOS 5.0 FDISK has an undocumented parameter, /MBR, that causes it to write the master boot record to the hard disk without altering the partition table information. While this feature is not documented, it can be told to customers on a need-to-know basis.
Warning: Writing the master boot record to the hard disk in this manner can make certain hard disks partitioned with SpeedStor unusable. It can also cause problems for some dual-boot programs, or for disks with more than 4 partitions. Specific information is below.
What is the MBR?
At the end of the ROM BIOS bootstrap routine, the BIOS will read and execute the first physical sector of the first floppy or hard drive on the system. This first sector of the hard disk is called the master boot record, or sometimes the partition table or master boot block. At the beginning of this sector of the hard disk is a small program. At the end of this sector is where the partition information, or partition table, is stored. This program uses the partition information to determine which partition is bootable (usually the first primary DOS partition) and attempts to boot from it.
This program is what is written to the disk by FDISK /MBR and is usually called the master boot record. During normal operation, FDISK only writes this program to the disk if there is no master boot record.
Why is the MBR changed during Setup?
During installation of Microsoft MS-DOS 5 Upgrade, Setup will replace the master boot record on the hard disk with code to display the message:
The MS-DOS 5.0 Setup was not completed.
Insert the UNINSTALL #1 diskette in drive A.
Press the ENTER key to continue.
This message should be erased and the master boot code rewritten before Setup is completed. If a problem occurs during Setup and you return to the previous MS-DOS, UNINSTAL should also remove this message. However, should Setup or UNINSTAL fail to remove this message, or should the master boot record become corrupted, a new master boot record can be written to the disk using the following command:
C:\>fdisk /mbr
WARNINGS:
This option should not be used if:
- the disk was partitioned using Storage Dimensions'
SpeedStor utility with its /Bootall option
- more than 4 partitions exist
- certain dual-boot programs are in use
Storage Dimensions' SpeedStor utility using the /Bootall option redefines the drive's physical parameters (cylinder, head, sector). /BOOTALL stores information on how the drive has been changed in an area of the master boot record that MS-DOS does not use. FDISK /MBR will erase that information, making the disk unusable.
Some older OEM versions of MS-DOS and some third-party partitioning utilities can create more than 4 partitions. Additional partition information is commonly stored information on partitions in an area that FDISK /MBR will overwrite.
Some dual-boot programs have a special MBR that asks the user which operating system they want on bootup. FDISK /MBR erases this program. Dual-boot systems that boot whichever partition is marked Active are not affected by FDISK /MBR.
If you have a Boot Sector Virus, just boot from a known "clean" floppy disk that's write protected and which has FDISK on it, and run FDISK /MBR.
===========================================================================
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /F
--------------------------
The /F in the CONFIG.SYS SHELL= statement forces a "Fail" response to all "Abort, Retry, Fail" prompts issued by the DOS critical error handler.
===========================================================================
COMMAND /F
----------
Entered on the command line, COMMAND /F makes all those annoying "Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail" disk error messages default to "Fail" from then on until rebooting.
===========================================================================
COMMAND /P
----------
For DOS 3.30 (not checked with other versions): Docs say that this doesn't allow you to exit back to the previous shell, but /P also forces AUTOEXEC.BAT to be run on secondary shells.
===========================================================================
COMMAND /D
----------
When used with a primary shell, or secondary with /P, prevents execution of AUTOEXEC.BAT.
===========================================================================
VER /R
------
Yields extended information about the DOS version:
MS-DOS Version 5.00
Revision A
DOS is in HMA
Doesn't work with DOS 3.30. VER /R is a documented feature of JP Software's 4DOS.
===========================================================================
ECHO OFF and ECHO ON
--------------------
Entering ECHO OFF from the command line erases the prompt and leaves just a cursor on the screen. ECHO ON from the command line restores the prompt. This works with all version of DOS.
One of the most frequently asked questions is "How do I ECHO a blank line in a batch file?" The most common answer is to use ECHO directly followed by a period: ECHO. like so. However, just about any "white space" character will work, as well as any "delimiter". The following alternatives can be used: ECHO. ECHO" ECHO, ECHO: ECHO; ECHO[ ECHO] etc. Apparently it's just the way that the command handles the delimiter and has been available from way back! Microsoft just began mentioning it in the documentation recently, though, and their examples use a period.
===========================================================================
FORMAT /AUTOTEST
----------------
The autotest parameter will allow FORMAT to proceed, checking the existing format of the disk (unless the /U parameter with DOS 5 or 6 is also present), and proceeding with the format.
All this will take place with no delay and no waiting for user input. It will also end without pausing. It will not ask for a volume label or whether to format another diskette.
WARNING! This procedure will also work on hard drives! Be very cautious if you plan to use this feature!
===========================================================================
FORMAT /BACKUP
--------------
This works exactly like /AUTOTEST, but it does ask for a volume label.
===========================================================================
FORMAT /SELECT
--------------
This is like the DOS MIRROR command... For safety-fanatics only.
===========================================================================
FORMAT /SELECT /U
-----------------
Just makes a disk unreadable. Guess it could be handy?
===========================================================================
FORMAT /H
---------
In DOS 3.30 (not tested with other versions), FORMAT /H will cause the format to begin immediately after pressing Y in response to "Format another", rather than displaying "Place disk to be formatted in drive x: and press Enter" on a second and subsequent disks.
In DOS 5.0, FORMAT reports "invalid switch".
===========================================================================
IF EXIST
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a handy quirk of DOS. Installable drivers are seen as files in all directories. You can use the if exist test to either test for the existence of a directory, with "if exist
Caveats: For testing NUL, you need to know the name of the directory or the driver whose existence you are testing, and this is MS-DOS specific -- it doesn't work on network drives, and may not work under DR-DOS.
Where did you learn the "EMMXXXX0" name from? Instead of typing MEM /C, type MEM /D for the "debug" listing.
The only trouble is EXISTS returns true for COM3/4 and LPT2/3 even if the hardware does not exist.
===========================================================================
Using ATTRIB to hide directories
--------------------------------
The DOS 5.0 and 6.0 ATTRIB command can do the same thing for directories as it can for files: ATTRIB +H
===========================================================================
SWITCHES=/W
-----------
Enables you to have the Windows 3.0 WINA20.386 file anywhere on your boot drive. Without this you have to have it in the root directory.
This should not be used with Windows 3.1, since it appears to waste around 120K of UMBs.
===========================================================================
FOR %%V IN (/SOMETHING)
-----------------------
How can a batch file (without 4DOS) determine from which drive it has been started?
Example: C:\>a:test.bat
Now my batch should be able to find out that it is located on drive A: (not the path, only the drive!).
In a batch file, the variable %0 contains the name of the batch file as it was typed at the command line. If you run the batch file as A:TEST.BAT, %0 will be "A:TEST.BAT". If you have the directory on your path, and simply type TEST, then %0 will be "TEST". The drive, path, and extension will only appear in %0 if you enter them in the command used to call the batch file (either typed at the command line, or called from another batch file). So, you must specify the drive as part of the batch filename for this to work.
To extract the drive only from %0, use the undocumented FOR %%V in /SOMETHING command:
set drive=
for %%v in (/%0) do call test2 %%v
echo Calling drive is %drive%
...where TEST2.BAT is:
if not '%drive%'=='' set drive=%1:
FOR %%V IN (/SOMETHING) DO WHATEVER will do WHATEVER twice -- the first time with %%V set to the first character in SOMETHING ("S"), the second time with all the remaining characters in SOMETHING ("OMETHING"). If SOMETHING is only a single character, WHATEVER will only be called once, with that character in %%V. If the single character is a wildcard (? or *) that wild card will not be expanded to a set of filenames. (The main purpose of this feature is apparently to allow inclusion of the literal characters "?" and "*" without them being expanded.)
This works in DOS 3.30 and later.
===========================================================================
DIR,
----
Using a comma immediately after DIR shows ALL files, including the HIDDEN ones.
This appears only to work with DOS 5.0 and 6.0. With 3.30, it doesn't display either IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS (both with S, H and R attribs) or a test file with A and H attribs.
With DOS 5.0, it displayed a test file with H and A, but would not display IO.SYS or MSDOS.SYS with S, H and R. This isn't surprising actually, since S alone (without H) will prevent inclusion of a file in a normal DIR.
Not tested with DOS 4.x. Not supported by JP Software's 4DOS.
===========================================================================
COPY. A:
--------
The use of a period IMMEDIATELY after some DOS statements will work just like *.*
Examples: DEL. (erase all files in current directory)
COPY. A: (copy all files in current directory to A:)
There may be more statements with which it works.
This is actually a documented although obscure feature, though the ability to use the period with COPY is not documented. What is documented is the fact that "." and ".." can be used to represent the current and parent directories respectively, and these will work with many applications which can handle directory names as arguments. In this case the "." could also be viewed as a replacement for "*.*"
===========================================================================
DOS?=HIGH
---------
DOS?=HIGH in CONFIG.SYS with DOS 6.0 will prompt you whether to load the DOS kernel high (into the HMA) or not.
===========================================================================
INSTALLHIGH
-----------
In DOS 6.0, there is an undocumented CONFIG.SYS command called INSTALLHIGH= which works just like INSTALL= but loads the TSR high (into upper memory).
The only drawback to this is that MemMaker will not touch INSTALLHIGH lines during the optimizing process. It just takes it as it is currently. But then again, INSTALL= is ignored too. All in all, INSTALL and INSTALLHIGH really are commands to set up manually by the user, and are not really recommended for normal use. Load TSRs at the beginning of AUTOEXEC.BAT (and using LOADHIGH if desired).
Example:
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
INSTALLHIGH=C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE
===========================================================================
Using : for batch file comments
-------------------------------
DOS uses a leading : to indicate a label in a batch file. If the next character following the : is a space or other non-alphanumeric character, then DOS will decide it's an invalid label and skip to the next line, performing no further action. Faster batch file processing is achieved using this method for comments instead of REM commands.
===========================================================================
REM in lines with pipes or redirection
--------------------------------------
For example: REM echo y | del *.*
Problems are encountered when trying to REM out an "echo y | del *.*" line in a batch file. The problem appears to only occur if there is a pipe or redirection in the REMed out line, which shows that DOS first reads the entire line and processes pipes and redirections first, and then goes back to find out what to do with them in the line. It's actually doing what it thinks you've told it: Piping the output of REM to DEL. Since REM has no output, DEL hangs, waiting for the answer to its question.
===========================================================================
Delimiter character
-------------------
Prior to DOS 5.0, there was an undocumented DOS function that would allow you to set the DOS option delimiter character to something else, like a dash (-). Once you did this, you could use either \ or / in PATH specifications.
DOS 5.0 removed the function to set the option delimiter, but retained the function to query what it currently is.
(Unfortunately, no further details were provided in this file, so not sure if the delimiter character can still be changed somehow.)
Ultimate Google Way
Look for Appz in Parent Directory
intext:"parent directory" intext:"[EXE]"
intext:"parent directory" index of:"[EXE]"
intext:"parent directory" index of:"[RAR]"
This will look for any exe or optionaly for zip, rar, ace, iso, bin and etc.
Look for Moviez in Parent Directory
intext:"parent directory" intext:"[VID]"
intext:"parent directory" index of:"[VID]"
This will look for any video filetype in parent directory. You can optionaly add index:"xvid" or intext:"divx" for specific codec movie.
Look for Muzik in Parent Directory
intext:"parent directory" intext:"[MP3]"
intext:"parent directory" index of:"[MP3]"
This will look for any music files.
Look for Gamez in Parent Directory
intext:"parent directory" index of:"[Gamez]"
How To Make An Animted Logo, the easy way
Things you will need:
QUOTE
1. Photoshop or Paintshop (any versions)
2. Xara3D 5.xx
3. Jasc animation shop 3.xx
4. DUH!! A pic you want as a logo LOL
Things you MIGHT need:
1. a computer
2. Internet connection
3. consciousness
4. corn on the cob
Here they are for your convinience:
Adobe Photoshop CS v8.0 thanx to TheCollector
http://www.shareordie.com/index.php?showto...85&hl=Photoshop
Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9.0 Retail thanx to arclite
http://www.shareordie.com/index.php?showto...&hl=Jasc&st=100
Xara3D 5.02 thanx to Zabref
http://www.shareordie.com/index.php?showtopic=6512&hl=XARA
Jasc Animation Shop 3.11 thanx to sev7en
http://www.shareordie.com/index.php?showtopic=34928&hl=
Steps:
1. Using your photo editor fix/touch up you pic/logo to your liking….too easy(example bellow)
user posted image
2. Save it some where easy to find, for example “C:\pictures” or “C:\Windows\thecenterofhell\system\system32\system64\system128\???” although I don’t recommend the second one.
3.Open Xara3D 5.xx, press “Alt+T” or click on the “T” button on the LEFT PANEL erase all of the text in the window that pops up then press ok.
user posted image
user posted image
4. Press “Alt+U” or click on the yellow “U” surrounded in gray on the LEFT PANEL, check the “button” box and select a desire button type and leave this option window open you will need it again.
user posted image
5. Press the “At+X” or click the black “X” on the LEFT PANEL, click “load texture” in the pop up window, find the picture you made/adjusted and highlight it then click open or just double-click it. Use the “size, x, y, angle” sliders to adjust the picture or “texture” and in the “button options” windows use the “stretch, corners”(corners, only if using this option you can adjust) to adjust the button size.
user posted image
6. Press “Alt+A” or click the black “A” on the LEFT PANEL with what looks like to me is a half-halo with an arrow tip!? Anyway, here is a quick rundown on what the options here do: (BY THE WAY TO ACTIVATE OR “PREVIEW ANIMATION” PRESS “Ctrl+spacebar”).
user posted image
A. Frames per cycle: This is the number of frames for each complete cycle through the animation sequence. The greater the number of frames the smoother the animation. The drawback is that the file is bigger - this is a big disadvantage for web graphics. You may need to try different values to get the best results.
B. Frames per second: The animation speed. Slow speeds can give jerky movement. High speeds can also give jerky movement as the program displaying the animation may not be able to keep up. Again you may need to try different values.
C. Pause: This pauses the first frame before continuing the rest of the animation. Type in a value in centiseconds (1/100ths of a second) - a 2 second pause is 200 cs. Note that this applies only to the first frame; use Frames per cycle and Frames per second to control the overall speed of the animation.
D. Loop Value: Unchecked is Infinite, Any other value see for yourself. Lmao
E. Loop: This lets you specify how many times the animation should repeat itself. Note that some browsers take any value other than 1 to mean 'loop forever'. Therefore, your animation either plays once or forever.
F. Style: This controls the type of animation:
Rotate 1 rotates all the text as one; Rotate 2 rotates each character. (Buttons have a single Rotate option.) Rotate text/Rotate lights - select whether you want the text to rotate or the lights or both. You cannot rotate the shadow as this would create very large files. Direction - selects the direction of rotation.
Swing options: Swing 1 swings all the text as one; Swing 2 swings each character. (Buttons have a single Swing option.) Angle - how much you want the heading to swing.
Pulsate options: Pulsate 1 pulsates all the text as one; Pulsate 2 pulsates each character. (Buttons have a single Pulsate option.) Minimum text size - how far back to pulsate the text. Shrink+Grow & Grow+Shrink - only have an effect if you Pause the animation. These options select the starting point for the animation (maximum or minimum.)
Fade options: Fade in - the heading emerges from the background color. Fade out - the heading merges into the background color. SO AFTER PICKING ONE………………..
7. On the top left go to FILE>>>EXPORT ANIMATION or press “Ctrl+Shift+X” and save in desired location.
user posted image
8. When the next window pops up (Export as animated gif save location then options): Experiment with each one to get it right, but remember the SoD rules about Siggys and Avatars.
user posted image
user posted image
Because Animated GIFs can be quite large, you may find that a 16 or 32 color, optimized palette per frame, produces the best results for the smallest file size. However you might need to experiment.
Dithering always makes GIFs look better, but also makes them larger. When outputting at 256 colors you may find that there is no need to turn dithering on.
Current Window Size lets you export just the area surrounding the text (Crop on) or the entire window area (Crop off.)
User Defined lets you specify the dimensions of the bitmap.
How to Hide in the (Network) Neighborhood
Don't want your XP computer to show up in the network browse list (Network Neighborhood/My Network Places) to other users on your network? One way to accomplish that is to disable file sharing. To do this, click Start, right click My Network Places and select Properties. Right click your local area connection and click Properties. Uncheck the box that says File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks. Click OK.
But what if you want to be able to share folders with some users; you just don't want everyone on the network to see your computer's shares? There's a way:
Click Start and select Run.
In the Run box, type net config server /hidden:yes
Click OK.
Now others who know the UNC path (\\computer name\share name) can connect to your computer's shares from the Run box, but it won't show up in the network browse list.
How to Boot XP Faster?
First of all, this tweak only apply to those who only have one HDD on their primary IDE channel (nothing else on device 0 or 1) and a CD-ROM and/or DVD-ROM on the secondary IDE channel. Each time you boot Windows XP, there's an updated file called NTOSBOOT-*.pf who appears in your prefetch directory (%SystemRoot%Prefetch) and there's no need to erease any other files as the new prefetch option in XP really improves loading time of installed programs. We only want WindowsXP to boot faster and not decrease its performance. Thanks to Rod Cahoon (for the prefetch automation process...with a minor change of mine) and Zeb for the IDE Channel tweak as those two tricks, coupled together with a little modification, result in an EXTREMELY fast bootup:
1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:windowsprefetch tosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:
2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".
3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.
4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".
5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.
6. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "devmgmt.msc".
7. Double click on "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"
8. Right click on "Primary IDE Channel" and select "Properties".
9. Select the "Advanced Settings" tab then on the device 0 or 1 that doesn't have 'device type' greyed out select 'none' instead of 'autodetect' & click "OK".
10. Right click on "Secondary IDE channel", select "Properties" and repeat step 9.
11. Reboot your computer.
WindowsXP should now boot REALLY faster.
How To Bill All Of your Fone Calls To Some Poor, Unsuspecting Son Of A Bitch
So there I was stranded in Miami with a broken red box in one hand and an
outdated list of calling card numbers in the other hand. Just as I was about
ready to jump to my death in the ocean because I couldn't call my friends, I
got an idea. Third-party bill my calls to random names in the phone book!
Of course, I started out using this method on pay phones which is a pain in
the ass because the operator wants to call up the number you're billing to
and make sure it's okay with them first. So here's your detailed instructions
for simplified third-party billing. Oh, and by the way, in no way am I claiming
to be the elite guy who "discovered" third party. I mean, come on, third party
billing's been around forever and some guy said I shouldn't take credit for
something that's been done forever. I'm just trying to explain how easy it is.
Sheesh, some people! Cactus.
Finding A Number To Use:
-----------------------
First of all, if you're going to be calling from home, it's best to charge
the calls to a different area code than your own. Sure, a local number will
work but when the people get their phone bill and see a local number on it,
they'll most likely call it to find out what it is. When they see a long
distance number they think "Goodness gracious! If I call that number my
phone bill will even be higher." Even if they do call you, you can just play
ignorant and if they're far away they probably won't come looking for you.
Pick a city, any city. The city should be far away in another state. Now dial
local information and ask for the area code to your city. Let's say you
picked Waverly, Iowa. The area code is 319. Now dial 1-319-555-1212 to call
Waverly Directory Assisstance. The charge for this call should only be about
sixty cents.
Now think of a very common last name like Smith, Lawrence, Conner, Mitchell,
Shlappenheimerwinthrop, etc. You get the idea.
OPER: Directory Assisstance, Betty. What city, please?
YOU: Waverly.
OPER: Go ahead.
YOU: I need the number of a last name Conner.
OPER: (type, type, type) Okay I have two Conners listed. A Bob and an
initial H.
YOU: Bob, yeah that's it. Definately Bob. Bob it is. Gimmie Bob. Yeah, Bob.
OPER: The number is 452-0357.
So that's the number you'll bill to. 319-452-0357. Of course if you're
planning to do this extensively you'll need many more numbers to pick from.
That's when you call up the phone company and ask for a phone book to be
delivered to you so you'll have a whole list of numbers to choose from. A
normal book will cost about $7.00 or so. If you know how to do it right, it
won't cost you anything but I won't get into that. The phone book will pay
for itself after about 3 or 4 long distance calls.
Exchange List:
-------------
If you don't want to go through all the trouble of doing the above, here's a
list of exchanges you can pick from. I'm including the area code and prefix.
You just make up four numbers after that at random.
618-254-xxxx 409-744-xxxx 213-962-xxxx 505-398-xxxx
318-981-xxxx 314-231-xxxx 513-741-xxxx 503-255-xxxx
803-254-xxxx 319-452-xxxx 618-377-xxxx 512-441-xxxx
Making The Call:
---------------
Pretty easy. Dial 0-AREA CODE-NUMBER. You'll hear a cool Bell tone and the
automated voice will ask you to enter your card number. Press "0" to skip
that part. Recently, they came out with automated third number billing so you
don't have to deal with a live operator anymore. Isn't technology great?! The
automated voice will ask you to "say" how you want to bill your call. Just
say, "third number" and it'll ask you to touch tone in the number you want to
charge it to. Dial 319-452-0357 and presto, your call is completed.
If you get a live operator instead say, "I'd like to charge this to my home
telephone in Waverly, Iowa, the Turnip capitol of the world." and follow the
same proceedure.
Some of the more intelligent people (about 2%) put a third-number block on
their line. If this happens the recording will say, "This call cannot be
billed to this number." Solution? Hang up, redial the number and try billing
it to a different number or just transpose a couple of the numbers you just
tried.
If you don't have AT&T as your long distance carrier, dial 10288-0-NUMBER.
Calling From A Pay Phone:
------------------------
As I mentioned before, doing it from a pay phone is a little harder but still
works. The operator will want to call the person you're billing to a verify
with them that it's okay to bill it there.
The trick is to open the phone book at the pay phone and pick a number at
random. Look for an old person's name because they're the most gullible but
anyone will do. Let's say you picked Christian Slater 213-962-7142. Dial your
number as 0-AREA CODE-NUMBER and hit "0" after the tone.
OPER: AT&T, How may I help you?
YOU: I want to charge this to my home phone.
OPER: Will someone be there to accept the charges?
YOU: Who wants to know?
OPER: Me.
YOU: Okay, then, tough guy.
OPER: What is your name?
YOU: Christian Slater, you may have heard of me.
OPER: (dials 213-962-7142. A lady answers the phone. Probably Slater's wife.)
LADY: Hello?
OPER: Hello, this is AT&T. Christian is making a call from a public phone and
wishes to bill the call to you. Will you accept the charges?
LADY: Oh, yeah, okay. I'll accept.
And the operator thanks you and puts your call through. As long as you don't
get any of the following responses you should be okay:
"Huh? But I'M Christian Slater."
"Calling from a pay phone?? But he's right here with me watching Cheers!?"
"Christian died last week."
"No Hablo Engles??"
A Few Extra Notes:
-----------------
Sometimes if the no one is home at the number you're trying to bill to, you
can convince the operator that it's really you're number if you know what the
answering machine message is going to say and if you can do an impression of
their voice on the machine. Even a bad impression will sometimes work.
When doing this from home, try not to use the same number more than two or
three times so the owner of the number will be less likely to investigate.
I've experienced third-party billing from both sides. Someone charged forty
dollars worth of calls to my dad's phone and the operators were very
unhelpful and unfriendly. They refused to investigate even though it was
comming from a residential line and it took two months to get the charges
removed. This was back in 1990 but I've been doing this for a few years now
and people don't seem to care too much at a few calls totaling to under ten
bucks. I've actually called the people I used and asked them about it and they
almost always blow it off as a "minor nusience."
AT&T is completely automated from your home and the best to use. U.S.Sprint
is the second best because they're not automated but they also don't call and
verify. M.C.I. sucks because they're losers who verify no matter what so don't
use them. To choose your company, before you dial the number dial 10288 for
AT&T or 10333 for U.S. Sprint.
International calls will be verified no matter what from pay phone or home.
Hope this file benefits everyone who reads it. It'll sure cut your long
distance bill down a lot.
May 13, 1995 Update:
-------------------
Well, it seems that AT&T are finally waking up to this problem of third party
billing...On my local phone bill I was backbilled for $175 worth of third
party calls. The kicker part is that I called the phone company and complained
that there were all these extra charges on my bill that I know nothing about
and they were more than happy to take the charges off. A few weeks later, I
got a letter from AT&T concerning some more charges...
Dear Customer,
We are sending you this letter to advise you of the long distance
calls we have billed your account. The amount is $53.70, excluding
taxes. These long distance calls have been investigated by our
Message Analysis Center and were determined to be your responsibility.
A list of these calls will appear on a future bill.
If you would like to discuss this matter, please contact our office
toll-free at 1-800-522-2157, ext. 4737. Our ofice hours are Moday
through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Eastern
Standard Time.
Sincerely,
Dawn Brooks
Investigator
I've yet to hear anything more about this but I plan to just ignore the extra
charges on the bill and complain to the phone company and hopefully I won't
have to pay. If I do, oh well, it's only fifty bucks.
Another recent happening is that two people I know have been back billed.
Martini from Illinois was charged $75 on her bill. "I don't understand what
this third number means, sir, I only have two lines!" Also, an idiot in Oregon
was back billed because he had the itelligence to bill to the exact same
number every single time. Worse yet, the number was in Canada and it was a
non-working number and the last four digits were 1234. What a cool guy!
Operator Diverting:
------------------
A new safe way to get around being back billed is to operator divert before
you get AT&T. It's a pain in the ass and takes a little longer, but it works
if you really need to call from home and don't have any other way.
Dial "0" and ask that operator to dial 1-800-225-5288 for you. (AT&T) Tell the
AT&T operator that you want to place a 3rd party billed call. She'll ask what
number you're calling from and you give her the number of somebody that you
don't like so it'll come back on them and not you. Whatever you do, don't give
her your real phone number.
Common Hard Drive Problems
If you’re like most people, you have either already ran out of space on your hard drive, or you are soon to do so. And you’ll probably go out and get a new hard drive, either new or used. The new ones usually come with software that set the drive up for you, by partitioning and formatting it. The used ones usually don’t. That’s where the trouble starts.
The most common problem I get from people trying to set up their hard drive is: "My (Larger than 2GB) Drive is only showing 2GB." The problem for that is usually in the Operating System (OS for short). The first version of Windows 95, for example, uses a file system called FAT16. That file system limits the size of the hard drive that is visible to the OS to only 2GB. So when you try to make that larger, it won’t let you. Plain and simple as that. You either must partition your hard drive into several 2GB partitions, or upgrade to an OS that with a file system that will support more than 2GB on a partition.
Another reason is because your BIOS has limits. 386 and 486 and lower end Pentium systems have limits of 512MB. Some Pentium Systems are limited to 2GB, and some of the newer ones, are limited to 8GB. It’s all in how the BIOS address the clusters on the Hard drive. It can be corrected with software, that comes with most new drives, like Western Digital’s EZ Drive, and Quantum’s Disk manager just to name a few. They take over where your real BIOS can’t perform, and then addresses the hard drive correctly
The next most common problem I get is "My hard drive says it’s 2GB, but Windows is saying it’s 1.86GB. Where’d that 90MB of space go?" Well, that problem is all in the numbers. The makers of the hard drive count 1MB as 1,000,000 Bytes. Windows counts 1MB as 1,048,576 bytes, a difference of 48,576 bytes. That adds up when you are talking 2,000MB. Let’s do the math.
Makers of hard drive says there are 2,000,000,000 bytes on the drive, so divide that by 1024 to get the number of kilobytes on the drive. Do that again to get the number of megabytes on the drive. Once more for the number of Gigabytes on the drive. You should get 1.862645149GB, or just 1.86GB, which is what Windows is thinking. That’s where your space went, in the numbers.
Another problem I am asked the answer for are a lot of FAT32 ones. "What is FAT32?" "Should I switch to FAT32?" "Can I switch to FAT32 and keep my data on the drive." "What OSs support FAT32."
Versions of Windows95 older than OSR2, as well as any DOS version, operate on a file system called FAT16 (or FAT12 in some cases). The existence of large hard drives has led to large partition sizes, which mean large cluster sizes and wasted space. Under FAT16, a smaller cluster size is better, because a small file takes up a whole cluster if there is even one byte in it; the leftover space is called "slack." FAT32 changed that.
FDISK in Windows 95 OSR2 or later will only allow you to put FAT32 on drives larger than 512MB. (Unless you use the /fprmt switch when starting FDISK) Inside FDISK, you must enable "large disk support," to choose FAT32. After exiting FDISK and rebooting, FORMAT the drive. NOTE that you must manually reboot after exiting FDISK, this is not automatic as in previous versions of FDISK. If you do not reboot between FDISKing and FORMATing, you will get strange-looking error messages.
As always, when you FDISK a drive, you will loose all data. But there are programs out there, like the one that comes with Windows 98, and Partition Magic, that will convert your drive to FAT32 without loosing your data.
With that, I hope that somehow, and someway, your Hard drive upgrades, and future problems, will be easily corrected.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Become a Celebrity: Put Your Face on Magazine Covers and CNN
Want to see yourself on CNN news, BoingBoing or the front cover of all top magazines like TIME, Wired, Cosmopolitan, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, etc.
Try these fake magazine cover creation tools:
1. MagMyPic - Just upload your picture and this service will instantly put that on the cover of TIME, Rolling Stone, Fortune, People, Maxim, Vogue and other popular magazines. The service is quick but you have no control over the text appearing on the magazine cover.
2.Condenet.com - This is an excellent service for creating a personalized Wired Magazine Cover - you can pick your own picture, tag lines and even control the placement of various elements using simple drag-n-drop. You also get a printable version of the Wired magazine cover.
3. U.R.Celeb - This is an excellent Windows software to create fake magazine cover image on the desktop. Unlike MagMyPic, this software offers you tons of control - you can change the magazine headlines, resize photos and the branding is non-obtrusive.
Supports CNN Breaking News, TIME, Vogue, PlayBoy and other popular magazines.
4. BoingBoing - It’s tough to get BoingBoing editors to link to your blog but with this post generator, you can create your own BoingBoing story. Stuff in a few words and your BoingBoing Story is ready.
So this will become another "Friendster Profile Galore" application! I know a lot of my friends are looking for these kind of generators online...No more tedious Photoshop execution, eh?! Okay guys, it's your time to shine! Go Friendster Go!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Tweaking PCs and Life!
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After five years or so being online everyday, it was only yesterday [ feb 14 ] that I dragged myself into blogging sites and found my desktop with photoshop busy editing a header! Whoaaaa! I laughed at myself and asked: "am i ready for this?" I have been running few personal sites of mine (for quite sometime now) and those that are being commissioned but never imagined of one day I become a blogger too...All right, all right...so I'm typing this from a dummy's point of view!
I'm not really that good in spoken English but I'll try my best to convey the message that I know very useful in your day-to-day activities with your best buddy -- your PC! And also things that I keep in zipped folders for years now...Things that we're seldom used now due to the intrusion of the net and the like...Well, things that needs to be tweaked after all!
There are so many things that fast running behind my mind like: what stuff should I post first during the launch of this blog, what exciting articles for the month of the "hearts", should I sound "techie" or just plain "dummy" [heheheh], OMG can i maintain this site for my readers to TWEAK their PCs and their lives as well?
ALL of the answers should be coming from your "comments"! Welcome me to the blogging family and thanks guys!
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