Just double-click on the FlashGetRegTweak.reg file to enter the tweak into the registry. This tweak will allow up to 100 simultaneous file downloads, each split into a max of 30 parts. Previous defaults were 8 & 10 respectively.
Note:
1. Works for dialup but not really advantageous.
2. Restart your computer to feel the full advantage of this tweak.
Download:
here it is
just copy to notepad
rename to Iwillsinglehandedlykillallthebandwidthfromtheserversidownloadfrom.reg
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JetCar\JetCar\General]
"Max Parallel Num"="100"
"MaxSimJobs"="100"
- Find out what I'm doing, Follow Me :)
Exploseek, a simple tool to find music on the net
Why should I use Exploseek ?
Exploseek is a nice simple tool to find music on the net. It is possible to use the major search engines to type your queries, but if you use this tool it will be much easier as some of you have probably seen already. We always try to improve the queries, if possible, and will update it at random times. Further you don't need to install a peer-to-peer program with possible spyware and other security issues, the price to pay is that you will not always find as much as such a program, but on a lucky day you find a load of music.
http://www.exploseek.com/
Exploseek is a nice simple tool to find music on the net. It is possible to use the major search engines to type your queries, but if you use this tool it will be much easier as some of you have probably seen already. We always try to improve the queries, if possible, and will update it at random times. Further you don't need to install a peer-to-peer program with possible spyware and other security issues, the price to pay is that you will not always find as much as such a program, but on a lucky day you find a load of music.
http://www.exploseek.com/
Optimize Emule connection
Just start out on Emule and still a beginner.
The speed is really killing me, even configured ports 4662 & 4672. I got high ID but the quene is round up to hundreds before I capable to get any files.
I always keep my upload speed @ 20kbs, but d/l speed still suck. The speed only pick-up after 40minutes but not over 30kbs even there are 300 resource of sharing files.
Gone thru a lot of searches hope to get stuff from emule faster.
And here is one way to optimize the bandwidth for emule, which not on the manual.
CODE
With Windows 2000/XP:
Open "regedit.exe" and do the following:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEM]
CurrentControlSet
Services
Tcpip
Parameters
Set as: "GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword:00007fff
[HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT]
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Internet Settings
Set as: "MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER]
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Internet Settings
Set as: "MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020
I heard someone mention earlier that BT engine can speed up emule but don't know it's true.
The speed is really killing me, even configured ports 4662 & 4672. I got high ID but the quene is round up to hundreds before I capable to get any files.
I always keep my upload speed @ 20kbs, but d/l speed still suck. The speed only pick-up after 40minutes but not over 30kbs even there are 300 resource of sharing files.
Gone thru a lot of searches hope to get stuff from emule faster.
And here is one way to optimize the bandwidth for emule, which not on the manual.
CODE
With Windows 2000/XP:
Open "regedit.exe" and do the following:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEM]
CurrentControlSet
Services
Tcpip
Parameters
Set as: "GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword:00007fff
[HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT]
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Internet Settings
Set as: "MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER]
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Internet Settings
Set as: "MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020
I heard someone mention earlier that BT engine can speed up emule but don't know it's true.
Overclocking Tutorial
Overclocking takes on 3 forms:
First, is the casual overclocking, easy, and anyone can do it.
Second, is the right way to overclock, taking into account, everything.
Third, if you want serious power, your gonna need to be savy to what does what.
The casual overclocker gains about 5% increase, and really doesn't see any benefit from this, whilst it makes you feel good, no serious damage can be made, by upping the FSB a little, or changing your multiplier, only thing is, you want more.
The correct way to overclock, is to start looking at your system, check the motherboard specs, PSU, amount of harddrives, CD ROMS etc. (high end systems, including the lastest graphic cards will need serious power).
Lets take a base system like my old system setup:
AMD XP1700+ ( Thoroughbred JIUHB DLT3C )
Core Voltage = 1.50v
Maximum Die Temp = 90c
FSB = 266Mhz
(factory unlocked)
Jetway K266B KT266 chipset
DDR + SDR RAM (not together)
No onboard RAID
DDR RAM = Dane Elec PC2700 DDR (333Mhz)
Not registered
2 Hard drvies
1 CD Writer & 1 DVD ROM drive
2 LAN cards
1 PCI soundcard
(onboard sound turned off).
Now, lets look at what they can do:
The Thoroughbred is still the top processor for overclocking, Thunderbirds are just not upto it, even though they are capable of some really decent speeds, same as the Palamino, not to mention the Barton's (these are not what they have been made up to be).
(for the purpose of space, I'll not go into unlocking your CPU)
As you can see, my Thoroughbred has a core voltage of 1.5v, and as my motherboard is capable of giving my processor anything upto 1.85v, there is score for more there.
The FSB on my motherboard is capable of a max of 200Mhz (this is the magic number).
Die temps to a max of 90c is good (never been near it, yet!).
Now, to work out your Mhz on your system, or to check your multiplier or FSB, there is a little calculation you'll need to remember, and it's easy:
Your Mhz is worked out by your multiplier timed your FSB.
example:
CODE
133x10 = 1.33Ghz
Of course you can devide your Mhz with your known FSB to give you your multiplier etc.
Now for easy, I have the results of my previous unlocking tests handy, so I'll use them, and not the current speeds etc.
Standard Multiplier = 11.0
Overclocked Multiplier = 12.0
Standard Voltage = 1.50v
Overclocked Voltage = 1.52v
Standard FSB = 133Mhz
Overclocked FSB = 136Mhz
Standard Speed = 1467Mhz
Overclocked Speed = 1630Mhz
Standard Temps = CPU = 37c SYSTEM = 32c (idle) CPU = 44c SYSTEM = 36c (under load)
Overclocked Temps = CPU = 34c SYSTEM = 29c (idle) CPU 40c SYSTEM 34c (under load)
As you can see, the system is cooler when overclocked, this is due to having the correct cooling setup, and temps for it when it was standard, was standard cooling setup.
Basically, all I have done, is raised the FSB by 3mhz, the voltage by 0.02v and the multiplier by 1.0, this has given me a 163Mhz increase without over strssing my system, but, here is where it gets teadious:
To achieve this, it took me about a week, and this is how I did it:
I started by lowering the multiplier to 5.0, from there I raised the FSB to its max (at the time, have latest BIOS update for mobo, allowing 200Mhz FSB), 166Mhz, this is the correct way of overclocking.
From there, I started to raise the multiplier one by one, getting it back upto the standard multiplier or higher, checking the stability of the system each time.
(currently I am way passed the 136Mhz FSB, as I am running PC2700 DDR).
One thing to look at though, overclocking using the FSB WILL (unless your system allows you to specify it) mess with your PCI & RAM speeds.
Even raising it by 3Mhz can make your PCI cards to not work, and your RAM to get confused and crash your system.
Now your thinking to yourself 'I can do that' and yes you can, anyone can, but.......
It takes TIME, I can't stress that enough, if your going to try this, then you'll need to run your system for at least 6 hours between changing your multiplier, and as you can imagine, this can take a long time to do.
For your information, I used Hot CPU Tester, SETI & played Vietcong for testing purposes.
Now, for the hard part:
As most experienced overclockers will tell you, heat is your enemy, killing heat is your number 1 aim, don't worry about your speed at first, a 50Mhz increasde isn't gonna make your 3D Mark scream through the roof, actually, you'll probably not even get any better than what you did before.
There are several ways of dispersing heat, and they are:
Aircooling
Pro's: Cheap, effective at lower speeds.
Con's: Noisey, dust collectors, need maintanance.
Watercooling:
Pro's: Can lower your CPU by about 10c easily.
Con's: It has water in it, expensive, hard for some to understand.
Pelter:
Pro's: With watercooling, it's the daddy
Con's: ONLY EXPERIENCED PEOPLE NEED TO APPLY, very complicated, power hungry, NOT for the faint hearted. Stupidly expensive.
Aircooling:
Upgrading your CPU fan is the first step, there are several companies that offer aftermarket fans, which are better than the OEM fans are 2 a penny in todays world, but it's NOT just about your CPU fan, your system needs to breath, you need to get rid of 'hot spots' within your system.
Watercooling:
Its easier than most make out, its a good thing, kit prices can be got from about £120 ($200 US), just make sure they are upgradable, as you might want to add, a Northbridge water block & a GPU water block.
Modern day kits & parts are idiot proof, and will not leak, unless you act like Noah.
Pelter:
Pelter cooling is DANGEROUS, minly for your system, fitting it incorrectly, and you could end up with not only a baked CPU but a system that will end up as a very expensive paperweight.
Ask your local overclocking expert for more info.
Basically, if you can get hold of a decent Thoroughbred cored XP, your in luck (just like me), if its unlocked, then your in business, obviously, its not just down to your CPU, your motherboard and RAM will denote whether you can overclock big style or not.
I'd advise ANYONE thinking of overclocking, to research into it more, weigh up the odds on what they want or need, if your on a buget, DON'T attempt it, things can and do go wrong.
Most of the time, its not about 'mines faster than yours' or massive speed increases, its done by most, cause it can be. 90% of the time, you'd be better off buying a new CPU (as prices are so low), but if you get the urge, then a new world awaits you
great tutorial. this should help the OC noobs. If I can add something like you said know your specs of the mobo....and if you are serious about OC'ing dont go and get some generic NO-NAME ram and some ghetto mobo. to get the best stability go with ASUS and ABIT for the mobo and Crucial, Kingston, mushkin for the ram. A great forum for OC'ing is amdmb.com.
Indeed, if you are serious about your overclocking, its advised you only use serious brand names.
Generic parts are always a lower spec, and can easily destroy themselves with even a little stress aimed towards them.
Memory advice, use the folloing:
Kingston (added because of reviews, personally, I'm not sure about them).
Crucial (for Dual Channel DDR ONLY)
OCZ
Mushkin
Corsair
PNY (for EEC rated)
Samsung
Geil (my choice, when I can afford it)
Motherbord advice, use the following:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2
Asus A7N8X-VM nForce2
Asus A7N8X-X nForce2
Abit KD7-S KT400
Abit KV7 KT600
Abit NF7 v2.0 nForce2
Abit NF7-S v2.0 nForce2
MSI K7N2 Delta-L Nforce2
MSI KT6 Delta-LSR KT600
Epox 8RDA+ nForce2
Epox 8RGA+ nForce2
Any nForce2 motherboard would be best, they allow more score for overclocking your system.
_________________
First, is the casual overclocking, easy, and anyone can do it.
Second, is the right way to overclock, taking into account, everything.
Third, if you want serious power, your gonna need to be savy to what does what.
The casual overclocker gains about 5% increase, and really doesn't see any benefit from this, whilst it makes you feel good, no serious damage can be made, by upping the FSB a little, or changing your multiplier, only thing is, you want more.
The correct way to overclock, is to start looking at your system, check the motherboard specs, PSU, amount of harddrives, CD ROMS etc. (high end systems, including the lastest graphic cards will need serious power).
Lets take a base system like my old system setup:
AMD XP1700+ ( Thoroughbred JIUHB DLT3C )
Core Voltage = 1.50v
Maximum Die Temp = 90c
FSB = 266Mhz
(factory unlocked)
Jetway K266B KT266 chipset
DDR + SDR RAM (not together)
No onboard RAID
DDR RAM = Dane Elec PC2700 DDR (333Mhz)
Not registered
2 Hard drvies
1 CD Writer & 1 DVD ROM drive
2 LAN cards
1 PCI soundcard
(onboard sound turned off).
Now, lets look at what they can do:
The Thoroughbred is still the top processor for overclocking, Thunderbirds are just not upto it, even though they are capable of some really decent speeds, same as the Palamino, not to mention the Barton's (these are not what they have been made up to be).
(for the purpose of space, I'll not go into unlocking your CPU)
As you can see, my Thoroughbred has a core voltage of 1.5v, and as my motherboard is capable of giving my processor anything upto 1.85v, there is score for more there.
The FSB on my motherboard is capable of a max of 200Mhz (this is the magic number).
Die temps to a max of 90c is good (never been near it, yet!).
Now, to work out your Mhz on your system, or to check your multiplier or FSB, there is a little calculation you'll need to remember, and it's easy:
Your Mhz is worked out by your multiplier timed your FSB.
example:
CODE
133x10 = 1.33Ghz
Of course you can devide your Mhz with your known FSB to give you your multiplier etc.
Now for easy, I have the results of my previous unlocking tests handy, so I'll use them, and not the current speeds etc.
Standard Multiplier = 11.0
Overclocked Multiplier = 12.0
Standard Voltage = 1.50v
Overclocked Voltage = 1.52v
Standard FSB = 133Mhz
Overclocked FSB = 136Mhz
Standard Speed = 1467Mhz
Overclocked Speed = 1630Mhz
Standard Temps = CPU = 37c SYSTEM = 32c (idle) CPU = 44c SYSTEM = 36c (under load)
Overclocked Temps = CPU = 34c SYSTEM = 29c (idle) CPU 40c SYSTEM 34c (under load)
As you can see, the system is cooler when overclocked, this is due to having the correct cooling setup, and temps for it when it was standard, was standard cooling setup.
Basically, all I have done, is raised the FSB by 3mhz, the voltage by 0.02v and the multiplier by 1.0, this has given me a 163Mhz increase without over strssing my system, but, here is where it gets teadious:
To achieve this, it took me about a week, and this is how I did it:
I started by lowering the multiplier to 5.0, from there I raised the FSB to its max (at the time, have latest BIOS update for mobo, allowing 200Mhz FSB), 166Mhz, this is the correct way of overclocking.
From there, I started to raise the multiplier one by one, getting it back upto the standard multiplier or higher, checking the stability of the system each time.
(currently I am way passed the 136Mhz FSB, as I am running PC2700 DDR).
One thing to look at though, overclocking using the FSB WILL (unless your system allows you to specify it) mess with your PCI & RAM speeds.
Even raising it by 3Mhz can make your PCI cards to not work, and your RAM to get confused and crash your system.
Now your thinking to yourself 'I can do that' and yes you can, anyone can, but.......
It takes TIME, I can't stress that enough, if your going to try this, then you'll need to run your system for at least 6 hours between changing your multiplier, and as you can imagine, this can take a long time to do.
For your information, I used Hot CPU Tester, SETI & played Vietcong for testing purposes.
Now, for the hard part:
As most experienced overclockers will tell you, heat is your enemy, killing heat is your number 1 aim, don't worry about your speed at first, a 50Mhz increasde isn't gonna make your 3D Mark scream through the roof, actually, you'll probably not even get any better than what you did before.
There are several ways of dispersing heat, and they are:
Aircooling
Pro's: Cheap, effective at lower speeds.
Con's: Noisey, dust collectors, need maintanance.
Watercooling:
Pro's: Can lower your CPU by about 10c easily.
Con's: It has water in it, expensive, hard for some to understand.
Pelter:
Pro's: With watercooling, it's the daddy
Con's: ONLY EXPERIENCED PEOPLE NEED TO APPLY, very complicated, power hungry, NOT for the faint hearted. Stupidly expensive.
Aircooling:
Upgrading your CPU fan is the first step, there are several companies that offer aftermarket fans, which are better than the OEM fans are 2 a penny in todays world, but it's NOT just about your CPU fan, your system needs to breath, you need to get rid of 'hot spots' within your system.
Watercooling:
Its easier than most make out, its a good thing, kit prices can be got from about £120 ($200 US), just make sure they are upgradable, as you might want to add, a Northbridge water block & a GPU water block.
Modern day kits & parts are idiot proof, and will not leak, unless you act like Noah.
Pelter:
Pelter cooling is DANGEROUS, minly for your system, fitting it incorrectly, and you could end up with not only a baked CPU but a system that will end up as a very expensive paperweight.
Ask your local overclocking expert for more info.
Basically, if you can get hold of a decent Thoroughbred cored XP, your in luck (just like me), if its unlocked, then your in business, obviously, its not just down to your CPU, your motherboard and RAM will denote whether you can overclock big style or not.
I'd advise ANYONE thinking of overclocking, to research into it more, weigh up the odds on what they want or need, if your on a buget, DON'T attempt it, things can and do go wrong.
Most of the time, its not about 'mines faster than yours' or massive speed increases, its done by most, cause it can be. 90% of the time, you'd be better off buying a new CPU (as prices are so low), but if you get the urge, then a new world awaits you
great tutorial. this should help the OC noobs. If I can add something like you said know your specs of the mobo....and if you are serious about OC'ing dont go and get some generic NO-NAME ram and some ghetto mobo. to get the best stability go with ASUS and ABIT for the mobo and Crucial, Kingston, mushkin for the ram. A great forum for OC'ing is amdmb.com.
Indeed, if you are serious about your overclocking, its advised you only use serious brand names.
Generic parts are always a lower spec, and can easily destroy themselves with even a little stress aimed towards them.
Memory advice, use the folloing:
Kingston (added because of reviews, personally, I'm not sure about them).
Crucial (for Dual Channel DDR ONLY)
OCZ
Mushkin
Corsair
PNY (for EEC rated)
Samsung
Geil (my choice, when I can afford it)
Motherbord advice, use the following:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2
Asus A7N8X-VM nForce2
Asus A7N8X-X nForce2
Abit KD7-S KT400
Abit KV7 KT600
Abit NF7 v2.0 nForce2
Abit NF7-S v2.0 nForce2
MSI K7N2 Delta-L Nforce2
MSI KT6 Delta-LSR KT600
Epox 8RDA+ nForce2
Epox 8RGA+ nForce2
Any nForce2 motherboard would be best, they allow more score for overclocking your system.
_________________
Play Games On PS2 Without ModChip
In this guide, you will learn the very easy method of making copies of your PS2 and normal Playstaion games so that they are playable on the PS2. This guide will provide you with all the information you need to burn PS2 games.
You will need the following things to burn PS2 games:
a computer with a cd burner
a blank cd-r (don't use the re-recordable type a.k.a. cd-rw)
CDRWIN – The version in this guide is 3.8D
FireBurner –
PS2 patcher –
GameShark 2 for PS2 - the GameShark 2 is available at most stores that sell video games, a few examples would be Best Buy, Circuit City, or Target. You want version 1.0 of the GameShark 2. I have heard that all other versions work, but I have only tested version 1.0. GameShark2 costs about 29.95. Believe me, its worth it!!!
and a PS2 to play the games.
Burning the PS2
The process of burning ps2 games is easy. It is really only a 3 step process.(read the game, patch the game, and burn the game.)
1) insert game into cd drive.
2) Open up CDRWIN and click on the extract disk/tracks/sectors button.
3) Your settings should be as follows:
For “extract mode” select disk image/ cue sheet
For “read options” select “raw”
For “error recovery” select “abort”
For “jitter correction” select “auto”
For “subcode analysis” select “auto”
Data Speed and Audio Speed should be the same
For “read retry count” type 0
For “subcode threshold” type 300
Make sure you selected the drive that your PS2 game is in
Make sure you typed in the file name (just type the name of the game) and Check the directory that you're putting your file in.
Then just press “start”
If you get an error in the middle of reading the disk that says something like “can't read sections xxxx-xxxxx of disk”, it is becase the disk is scratched and CDRWIN can't read it. Try to clean the disk, if that doesn't work you just have to use a different game (a different copy of the same game)
4) Once CDRWIN is done, click ok and then exit CDRWIN. Open up the PS2 patcher, select the game file you just created and patch it (make sure you select the “RAW” option.
5) Close the PS2 patcher, next open up Fireburner. Click on the visual cue burner button. When you created your .bin file (the game file) in CDRWIN, a .cue file should have automaticly been created. In that case, drag and drop the .cue file into the Fireburner window. If the .cue file was not created, just drag and drop the .bin file into the Fireburner window. After you have done that, right click (click with the right side button on your mouse) on your file in the Fireburner window, and select “Burn/Test burn”.
6) In the options window that appears, select your cdwriter, select your write speed(doesn't really matter), and make sure you select “Track at once (TOA) for the recording method. As for the options on the right side of the options window, make sure only the following are checked: “eject cd” and “close session”.
When you have selected the options, click ok and your PS2 game will burn. That's all you have to do to burn a game.
Burning a Playstion (PSone) game
1) If you want, you can spend 5 minutes using the same method as above to burn your playstation game, but its not necessary. For a playstation game (not PS2) all you need to do is use a program that lets you make an “exact copy” or a “backup disk (CDRWIN)” You don't need any selected options, you just need to start the game on the PS2 the same way you would a PS2 game.
Starting the game on your PS2
1) Now for the fun part (and challenging part the first couple of times) This may sound a little complicated at first, but after you do it 3 or 4 times, it's super easy. First things first, you must remove the front of your game drive on your PS2(not a big deal, it can snap on and off).
2) Now insert your gameshark 2 cd(make sure the gameshark memory card is in one of the 2 slots, doesn't matter which one.)
3) In the gameshark options, choose “start game”, then “without”. Your screen should read “Please insert game disk then press X to continue.”
4) Now this part can be trickey for beginners, so I will provide pictures
-the main purpose of this starting method is to open up the PS2 and swap the gameshark disk with your burned game without the PS2 knowing you did it. DO NOT press the eject button on the PS2!!!
-with the PS2 cd tray cover removed, you will be able to look in and see a while tab inside the PS2. With a credit card (or something like it) gently slide the white tab all the way over to the right, if you did it correctly, this should allow you to manually pull open the PS2 cd tray.
5) Next, take the gameshark disk out of the PS2 and put in your burned game.
6) Gently push the PS2 cd tray fully back into the PS2 (Don't press the eject button).
7) Now you need to slide that white tab all the way back to the left (its origional position). To do this you get a strong papper clip(needs to be a strong one) stick it into the PS2 on the right side of the white tab and push the tab back to the left.
If you pushed the tab all the way back to the left and did every thing else right, you are ready to play your game. Just press X on your PS2 controler and watch as your burned game loads. ( It may load slower than an original game, depending on the cd-r you are using, I use Verbatim cd-r's and have no problems.)
Download Programs Mentioned:
http://rapidshare.de/files/961808/PS2_Play.rar.html
You will need the following things to burn PS2 games:
a computer with a cd burner
a blank cd-r (don't use the re-recordable type a.k.a. cd-rw)
CDRWIN – The version in this guide is 3.8D
FireBurner –
PS2 patcher –
GameShark 2 for PS2 - the GameShark 2 is available at most stores that sell video games, a few examples would be Best Buy, Circuit City, or Target. You want version 1.0 of the GameShark 2. I have heard that all other versions work, but I have only tested version 1.0. GameShark2 costs about 29.95. Believe me, its worth it!!!
and a PS2 to play the games.
Burning the PS2
The process of burning ps2 games is easy. It is really only a 3 step process.(read the game, patch the game, and burn the game.)
1) insert game into cd drive.
2) Open up CDRWIN and click on the extract disk/tracks/sectors button.
3) Your settings should be as follows:
For “extract mode” select disk image/ cue sheet
For “read options” select “raw”
For “error recovery” select “abort”
For “jitter correction” select “auto”
For “subcode analysis” select “auto”
Data Speed and Audio Speed should be the same
For “read retry count” type 0
For “subcode threshold” type 300
Make sure you selected the drive that your PS2 game is in
Make sure you typed in the file name (just type the name of the game) and Check the directory that you're putting your file in.
Then just press “start”
If you get an error in the middle of reading the disk that says something like “can't read sections xxxx-xxxxx of disk”, it is becase the disk is scratched and CDRWIN can't read it. Try to clean the disk, if that doesn't work you just have to use a different game (a different copy of the same game)
4) Once CDRWIN is done, click ok and then exit CDRWIN. Open up the PS2 patcher, select the game file you just created and patch it (make sure you select the “RAW” option.
5) Close the PS2 patcher, next open up Fireburner. Click on the visual cue burner button. When you created your .bin file (the game file) in CDRWIN, a .cue file should have automaticly been created. In that case, drag and drop the .cue file into the Fireburner window. If the .cue file was not created, just drag and drop the .bin file into the Fireburner window. After you have done that, right click (click with the right side button on your mouse) on your file in the Fireburner window, and select “Burn/Test burn”.
6) In the options window that appears, select your cdwriter, select your write speed(doesn't really matter), and make sure you select “Track at once (TOA) for the recording method. As for the options on the right side of the options window, make sure only the following are checked: “eject cd” and “close session”.
When you have selected the options, click ok and your PS2 game will burn. That's all you have to do to burn a game.
Burning a Playstion (PSone) game
1) If you want, you can spend 5 minutes using the same method as above to burn your playstation game, but its not necessary. For a playstation game (not PS2) all you need to do is use a program that lets you make an “exact copy” or a “backup disk (CDRWIN)” You don't need any selected options, you just need to start the game on the PS2 the same way you would a PS2 game.
Starting the game on your PS2
1) Now for the fun part (and challenging part the first couple of times) This may sound a little complicated at first, but after you do it 3 or 4 times, it's super easy. First things first, you must remove the front of your game drive on your PS2(not a big deal, it can snap on and off).
2) Now insert your gameshark 2 cd(make sure the gameshark memory card is in one of the 2 slots, doesn't matter which one.)
3) In the gameshark options, choose “start game”, then “without”. Your screen should read “Please insert game disk then press X to continue.”
4) Now this part can be trickey for beginners, so I will provide pictures
-the main purpose of this starting method is to open up the PS2 and swap the gameshark disk with your burned game without the PS2 knowing you did it. DO NOT press the eject button on the PS2!!!
-with the PS2 cd tray cover removed, you will be able to look in and see a while tab inside the PS2. With a credit card (or something like it) gently slide the white tab all the way over to the right, if you did it correctly, this should allow you to manually pull open the PS2 cd tray.
5) Next, take the gameshark disk out of the PS2 and put in your burned game.
6) Gently push the PS2 cd tray fully back into the PS2 (Don't press the eject button).
7) Now you need to slide that white tab all the way back to the left (its origional position). To do this you get a strong papper clip(needs to be a strong one) stick it into the PS2 on the right side of the white tab and push the tab back to the left.
If you pushed the tab all the way back to the left and did every thing else right, you are ready to play your game. Just press X on your PS2 controler and watch as your burned game loads. ( It may load slower than an original game, depending on the cd-r you are using, I use Verbatim cd-r's and have no problems.)
Download Programs Mentioned:
http://rapidshare.de/files/961808/PS2_Play.rar.html
Rapidshare Hacked, unlimited upload, no countdown UNLIMITED download/upload
Its very easy to fool Rapid Share server if your IP address is assigned by your ISP. Just follow these simple steps:
clean up IE or netscape or Firefox cookie( In this case the one that belong to rapidshare website)
On Command prompt (open MS-DOS)
type -----> ipconfig /flushdns <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /release <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /renew <---Enter type -----> exit <--------Enter
Or save these commands in a bat file and run it everytime you need to fool Rapidshare server. Remember to clean up rapidshare cookie in your temp Internet files folder.
Now you should be ready to download/upload as many files as you want from their server.
another way, get proxies from the internet and apply to the browser.
some of proxies might not work though...
Note:
If you are on a LAN and behind a router (using NAT, for example)---this will not work.
If you use a fixed proxy--- this will not work.
If you have a fixed IP address from your ISP or college or employer or whatever -- this will not work.
If you happen to get the same IP address from your DHCP server because it's assigned to you -- this will not work
NO waiting
THIS "cheat" for RAPIDSHARE DOWNLOADS eliminates the "WAITING" for the file. No more COUNTDOWNS. So heres what you do:
1. First, Find a rapidshare download.
2. Hit the FREE BUTTON, like always.
3. While your waiting for it to countdown, change the URL in the bar to:
Code:
java script:c(countdown = 0);
and hit ENTER or the GO button over and over. Eachtime you do so, it decreases 10-20 seconds. Few times and the link appears.
or you can simply do the code below ONCE
java script: for (i=0; i<30; i++) { c(); }
clean up IE or netscape or Firefox cookie( In this case the one that belong to rapidshare website)
On Command prompt (open MS-DOS)
type -----> ipconfig /flushdns <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /release <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /renew <---Enter type -----> exit <--------Enter
Or save these commands in a bat file and run it everytime you need to fool Rapidshare server. Remember to clean up rapidshare cookie in your temp Internet files folder.
Now you should be ready to download/upload as many files as you want from their server.
another way, get proxies from the internet and apply to the browser.
some of proxies might not work though...
Note:
If you are on a LAN and behind a router (using NAT, for example)---this will not work.
If you use a fixed proxy--- this will not work.
If you have a fixed IP address from your ISP or college or employer or whatever -- this will not work.
If you happen to get the same IP address from your DHCP server because it's assigned to you -- this will not work
NO waiting
THIS "cheat" for RAPIDSHARE DOWNLOADS eliminates the "WAITING" for the file. No more COUNTDOWNS. So heres what you do:
1. First, Find a rapidshare download.
2. Hit the FREE BUTTON, like always.
3. While your waiting for it to countdown, change the URL in the bar to:
Code:
java script:c(countdown = 0);
and hit ENTER or the GO button over and over. Eachtime you do so, it decreases 10-20 seconds. Few times and the link appears.
or you can simply do the code below ONCE
java script: for (i=0; i<30; i++) { c(); }
Recover data from a quick-erased CD-RW disc
1. Make a file of exactly the size of the cdrw disc's capacity (650MB in my case).
(this step may not be needed)
2. With Nero I created a new project and added the file to it so that I have the disc filled. I gues you can also fill up the disc with other files.
The reason why I fill the disc is because I want Nero to make a session that uses the entire disc. Like I wrote earlier in this thread I experienced that my CD-Drive refuses to read off the disc beyond the session's boundaries. When you quick-erase a disc there is no session anymore so the drive will not read at all. Burning a new session will overwrite the data and burning only a small session will NOT make the drive read the other data that is still on the disc.
The reason why I used the one big file is so that I could later on recognize which part of the disc was overwritten by this file because this file contained all zeros (0x00).
3. I pressed burn and selected disc-at-once. Then while Nero was burning the leadin I pressed cancel. My CD-Drive finished writing the lead-in and Nero reported an error.
This is what was accomplished however: Now the disc contains a session that says that the used disc size is the complete disc. Nero did not get to writing file because I cancelled it. Good thing because I don't want Nero to write any files because my old data will get overwritten!
I gues it works the same with different writing software. Another method that I used during a test was simply press the reset button of the computer when the burning software was done with writing the lead-in and started with the files.
4. I had to restart the computer after cancelling burning.
With the cdrw disc inserted I saw in "my computer" that windows recognized that the disc was 650MB, clicking on it gave an error. Good so far!
Now with IsoBuster you can extract the sectors from a disc to a file. This is what I did.
I gues that if you have data-recovery software at this point it will be usefull because now (if all went well;)) the CD-Drive WILL read data from the entire disc. Anyway, I used ISO-Buster because the files that I needed to recover where a bit odd for nowadays (.XM, .S3M, .MP3):
In IsoBuster I had to do several steps:
Step 1: Find out from and to which sector the drive will read
By choosing "Sector View" you can look at any given sector.
Here I found out what the first and the last sectors where that are readable. (Hint I used the method for the old game: "Gues a number below 100, I'll tell if it is higher or lower than what you gues")
Step 2: Extract the actual sectors
By choosing "Extract From-To" you can extract any given range of sectors to a file. My disc was a data-disc so I choose the first extraction type "User data, 2048 bytes/block...".
In the end I got a .tao file which was about 650MB. I ran several programs on it to look for files inside a file by searching for file-header-paterns:
1. Multi Ripper 2.80 (for DOS, for the .XM files. It does many other file formats as well (jpg,png, bmp,wav,etc,etc +100). Try google with this query: Multi Ripper 2.80. I still had the file from good old days but I saw several good search results)
2. Winamp for mp3.
Winamp will scan any file when you give it the extension .mp3 and play it as one big song (so I renamed the .tao file to .mp3). I used the discwriter to get a .wav and the Adobe Audition to manually cut and save my songs. I looked at the MP3 file format and it is hard to find an mp3 file in a big file because it has no clear header just a bunch of mpeg-frames in most cases for me . A lot of my files had no ID3v2 or ID3v1 tags... But after a couple of hours I recovered everything.
Finally a list of used stuff:
Software:
- IsoBuster v1.5
- Nero 6.3.0.3
- Multi Ripper 2.80
- WinAmp v5.02
- Windows XP Pro NL (patched up)
Hardware:
- NEC DVDRW ND1300A 1.06
Disc:
- some old 4 speed cdrw
(this step may not be needed)
2. With Nero I created a new project and added the file to it so that I have the disc filled. I gues you can also fill up the disc with other files.
The reason why I fill the disc is because I want Nero to make a session that uses the entire disc. Like I wrote earlier in this thread I experienced that my CD-Drive refuses to read off the disc beyond the session's boundaries. When you quick-erase a disc there is no session anymore so the drive will not read at all. Burning a new session will overwrite the data and burning only a small session will NOT make the drive read the other data that is still on the disc.
The reason why I used the one big file is so that I could later on recognize which part of the disc was overwritten by this file because this file contained all zeros (0x00).
3. I pressed burn and selected disc-at-once. Then while Nero was burning the leadin I pressed cancel. My CD-Drive finished writing the lead-in and Nero reported an error.
This is what was accomplished however: Now the disc contains a session that says that the used disc size is the complete disc. Nero did not get to writing file because I cancelled it. Good thing because I don't want Nero to write any files because my old data will get overwritten!
I gues it works the same with different writing software. Another method that I used during a test was simply press the reset button of the computer when the burning software was done with writing the lead-in and started with the files.
4. I had to restart the computer after cancelling burning.
With the cdrw disc inserted I saw in "my computer" that windows recognized that the disc was 650MB, clicking on it gave an error. Good so far!
Now with IsoBuster you can extract the sectors from a disc to a file. This is what I did.
I gues that if you have data-recovery software at this point it will be usefull because now (if all went well;)) the CD-Drive WILL read data from the entire disc. Anyway, I used ISO-Buster because the files that I needed to recover where a bit odd for nowadays (.XM, .S3M, .MP3):
In IsoBuster I had to do several steps:
Step 1: Find out from and to which sector the drive will read
By choosing "Sector View" you can look at any given sector.
Here I found out what the first and the last sectors where that are readable. (Hint I used the method for the old game: "Gues a number below 100, I'll tell if it is higher or lower than what you gues")
Step 2: Extract the actual sectors
By choosing "Extract From-To" you can extract any given range of sectors to a file. My disc was a data-disc so I choose the first extraction type "User data, 2048 bytes/block...".
In the end I got a .tao file which was about 650MB. I ran several programs on it to look for files inside a file by searching for file-header-paterns:
1. Multi Ripper 2.80 (for DOS, for the .XM files. It does many other file formats as well (jpg,png, bmp,wav,etc,etc +100). Try google with this query: Multi Ripper 2.80. I still had the file from good old days but I saw several good search results)
2. Winamp for mp3.
Winamp will scan any file when you give it the extension .mp3 and play it as one big song (so I renamed the .tao file to .mp3). I used the discwriter to get a .wav and the Adobe Audition to manually cut and save my songs. I looked at the MP3 file format and it is hard to find an mp3 file in a big file because it has no clear header just a bunch of mpeg-frames in most cases for me . A lot of my files had no ID3v2 or ID3v1 tags... But after a couple of hours I recovered everything.
Finally a list of used stuff:
Software:
- IsoBuster v1.5
- Nero 6.3.0.3
- Multi Ripper 2.80
- WinAmp v5.02
- Windows XP Pro NL (patched up)
Hardware:
- NEC DVDRW ND1300A 1.06
Disc:
- some old 4 speed cdrw
Rename your recycle bin
1. Start, Run, 'Regedit'.
2. Press 'Ctrl'+'F' to open find box and type 'Recycle Bin' to search.
3. Change any value data with 'Recycle Bin' to whatever name you want to give it ( ie, like 'Trash Can' or 'Dump' etc).
4. Press F3 to continue searching for 'Recycle Bin' and change wherever you come across 'Recycle Bin' to new its new name.
5. Repeat step 4 until you have finished with searching and changed all values to its new name.
6. Close regedit and hit F5 on desktop to see the new name on screen.
Note: As a good practice, always backup your registry before changing anything although changing 'Recycle Bin' name is a simple tweak and doesnt affect anything else.
2. Press 'Ctrl'+'F' to open find box and type 'Recycle Bin' to search.
3. Change any value data with 'Recycle Bin' to whatever name you want to give it ( ie, like 'Trash Can' or 'Dump' etc).
4. Press F3 to continue searching for 'Recycle Bin' and change wherever you come across 'Recycle Bin' to new its new name.
5. Repeat step 4 until you have finished with searching and changed all values to its new name.
6. Close regedit and hit F5 on desktop to see the new name on screen.
Note: As a good practice, always backup your registry before changing anything although changing 'Recycle Bin' name is a simple tweak and doesnt affect anything else.
Running A Board forum From Your Own Pc
If you wish to install php and mysql to run a phpBB installation on your computer, first you will need installers. Most of you have windows, so I recommend FoxServ. This is a great program that installs php, mysql, and more on your windows machine in under a minute, excluding download time.
Download foxserv 3.0 from http://www.foxserv.net/
Run the foxserv install program, it is pretty self explanatory, just do what it says.
After you get everything installed, run the foxserv control panel and click the install buttons for everything.
Open winmysql ADMIN. Create a new username and pass at start-up, and then create a new database, the one you will be using for your phpBB installation.
Now download phpBB 2.0.x from phpbb.com, or download phpBBplus from http://www.phpbb2.de/phpbb2plus/phpBB2_plus_1.2.zip.
Unzip the phpBB2 folder into C:\Foxserv\www\
After you have done such, visit http://localhost/phpBB2/ to view your install page. enter the correct information.
database name: the name of the database you created.
database username: username you created
database password: password you created
then enter your email information and everything else as it should be. Now delete the install and contrib directories from the phpBB2 folder on your computer.
Voila! All set up. If you want to have other people view your site, then you need a forwarding service. I have a dynamic IP, so I use http://www.dynu.com. Register an account there and follow all of their instructions if you have a dynamic IP. Now you should visit http://yoursite.dynu.com/ to make sure everything worked.
Also, windows xp users BE SURE TO INSTALL SERVICE PACK 1. SP1 fixes critical incompatibility issues with the apache 2.x server that prevents it from using php correctly. If you do not have service pack one, php pages will load incorrectly or not at all on your webserver.
I posted this because I was fed up with trying to find a host that supports php and mysql and doesnt have any ads on it.
NOTE: You wont get any HOST that will allows you WAREZ, then you can use your own pc as your own HOST
another program that works well is phpdev5 i have used it for a long time. and another site to register a dns name is http://dyndns.org it gives you better names, for example mine is http://shag.kicks-*ss.net.
Download foxserv 3.0 from http://www.foxserv.net/
Run the foxserv install program, it is pretty self explanatory, just do what it says.
After you get everything installed, run the foxserv control panel and click the install buttons for everything.
Open winmysql ADMIN. Create a new username and pass at start-up, and then create a new database, the one you will be using for your phpBB installation.
Now download phpBB 2.0.x from phpbb.com, or download phpBBplus from http://www.phpbb2.de/phpbb2plus/phpBB2_plus_1.2.zip.
Unzip the phpBB2 folder into C:\Foxserv\www\
After you have done such, visit http://localhost/phpBB2/ to view your install page. enter the correct information.
database name: the name of the database you created.
database username: username you created
database password: password you created
then enter your email information and everything else as it should be. Now delete the install and contrib directories from the phpBB2 folder on your computer.
Voila! All set up. If you want to have other people view your site, then you need a forwarding service. I have a dynamic IP, so I use http://www.dynu.com. Register an account there and follow all of their instructions if you have a dynamic IP. Now you should visit http://yoursite.dynu.com/ to make sure everything worked.
Also, windows xp users BE SURE TO INSTALL SERVICE PACK 1. SP1 fixes critical incompatibility issues with the apache 2.x server that prevents it from using php correctly. If you do not have service pack one, php pages will load incorrectly or not at all on your webserver.
I posted this because I was fed up with trying to find a host that supports php and mysql and doesnt have any ads on it.
NOTE: You wont get any HOST that will allows you WAREZ, then you can use your own pc as your own HOST
another program that works well is phpdev5 i have used it for a long time. and another site to register a dns name is http://dyndns.org it gives you better names, for example mine is http://shag.kicks-*ss.net.
Secret backdoor to many sites
Ever experienced this? You ask Google to look something up; the engine returns with a number of finds, but if you try to open the ones with the most promising content, you are confronted with a registration page instead, and the stuff you were looking for will not be revealed to you unless you agree to a credit card transaction first....
The lesson you should have learned here is: Obviously Google can go where you can't.
Can we solve this problem? Yes, we can. We merely have to convince the site we want to enter, that WE ARE GOOGLE.
In fact, many sites that force users to register or even pay in order to search and use their content, leave a backdoor open for the Googlebot, because a prominent presence in Google searches is known to generate sales leads, site hits and exposure.
Examples of such sites are Windows Magazine, .Net Magazine, Nature, and many, many newspapers around the globe.
How then, can you disguise yourself as a Googlebot? Quite simple: by changing your browser's User Agent. Copy the following code segment and paste it into a fresh notepad file. Save it as Useragent.reg and merge it into your registry.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
@="Googlebot/2.1"
"Compatible"="+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html"
Voila! You're done!
You may always change it back again.... I know only one site that uses you User Agent to establish your eligability to use its services, and that's the Windows Update site...
To restore the IE6 User Agent, save the following code to NormalAgent.reg and merge with your registry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
@="Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)"
Ps:
Opera allows for on-the-fly switching of User Agents through its "Browser Identification" function, while for Mozilla/FireFox browsers a switching utility is available as an installable extension from this url:
help://chrispederick.myacen.com/work/firefox/useragentswitcher/download/
The lesson you should have learned here is: Obviously Google can go where you can't.
Can we solve this problem? Yes, we can. We merely have to convince the site we want to enter, that WE ARE GOOGLE.
In fact, many sites that force users to register or even pay in order to search and use their content, leave a backdoor open for the Googlebot, because a prominent presence in Google searches is known to generate sales leads, site hits and exposure.
Examples of such sites are Windows Magazine, .Net Magazine, Nature, and many, many newspapers around the globe.
How then, can you disguise yourself as a Googlebot? Quite simple: by changing your browser's User Agent. Copy the following code segment and paste it into a fresh notepad file. Save it as Useragent.reg and merge it into your registry.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
@="Googlebot/2.1"
"Compatible"="+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html"
Voila! You're done!
You may always change it back again.... I know only one site that uses you User Agent to establish your eligability to use its services, and that's the Windows Update site...
To restore the IE6 User Agent, save the following code to NormalAgent.reg and merge with your registry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent]
@="Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)"
Ps:
Opera allows for on-the-fly switching of User Agents through its "Browser Identification" function, while for Mozilla/FireFox browsers a switching utility is available as an installable extension from this url:
help://chrispederick.myacen.com/work/firefox/useragentswitcher/download/
tired of "Windows Explorer" always opening up with My Documents?
tired of "Windows Explorer" always opening up with My Documents?
You can customize it by changing the properties for the "Windows Explorer" icon and replacing the Target field with:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, c:\yourfolder
You can customize it by changing the properties for the "Windows Explorer" icon and replacing the Target field with:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, c:\yourfolder
Simple Tweaks for Peak PC Graphics Performance
Adjust the settings for your graphics board and display to improve image quality.
When it comes to your PC, looks definitely matter. Tiny text, blurry images, and flickering screens aren't just annoying, they can lead to eyestrain, lost productivity, and a bill from the glazier for replacing the window you toss your monitor through out of frustration. But you don't have to give your display the heave-ho: A few simple adjustments to your graphics card and other Windows settings can ensure peak visual performance.
Your PC's graphics card is controlled by its Windows driver, so get the latest driver release for your board. To see what version you have, right-click the desktop and choose Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box, then click Settings, Advanced, Adapter (in Windows XP, also select Properties, Driver).
Visit your graphics-card vendor's Web site to download the most recent version of the driver, but don't install beta drivers. These are works in progress that may cause more trouble than they're worth.
Sight-Saving Settings
Here are a few settings that should be available for all graphics drivers.
Resolution: This is the number of dots--or pixels (short for "picture elements")--displayed on your screen. The higher the resolution, the more dots per inch, and the sharper the displayed image (if your monitor supports the higher resolution). High resolutions increase the processing demands on your graphics board and PC.
The graphics cards in most computers made in the last three or four years support resolutions of at least 1024 by 768--meaning the screen image is composed of an orthogonal array 1024 pixels across and 768 pixels tall--and some support screen resolutions as high as 1600 by 1200. However, many older systems, as well as some newer budget systems, have a top resolution of only 800 by 600.
To adjust screen resolution, open Display Properties and click Settings. Slide the 'Screen area' or 'Screen resolution' bar to a higher (More) or lower (Less) resolution. Though higher resolutions improve image quality, they also shrink icons, text, and other on-screen objects. Experiment to find the setting that's right for you. For most people, 1024 by 768 is the highest resolution they can read easily on a 17-inch CRT monitor.
Color depth: This setting is the number of colors that your graphics card supports. The more colors available for use, the more realistic the image, but again, the more colors on your screen, the greater the processing demands on your system.
Your graphics card's color-depth settings are listed in Display Properties under the Settings tab on the Colors drop-down menu ('Color quality' in Windows XP). Each is named for the number of bits it assigns to each pixel: True Color (also called 24-bit color) makes 16,777,216 colors available, while High Color (16 bits) supports 65,536 colors. At lower than 16-bit color, your images may suffer. Many drivers no longer offer 8-bit (256 colors) or 15-bit (32,536 colors) settings.
New PCs often support 32-bit color, which offers the same 16 million-plus colors as True Color. The extra 8 bits control image opacity. This is useful in fast-moving 3D games but of little help in most business apps.
Refresh rate: Expressed in hertz, or cycles per second, this tells how often the phosphors that glow to create an image on a CRT screen are reenergized--that is, the times per second that the screen's image is redrawn. A refresh rate that's too low can cause annoying screen flicker. Even if you don't see the flicker, slow refreshes can cause eyestrain and headaches.
Conventional wisdom says your refresh rate should be no less than 72 Hz. Some experts say the minimum rate is 80 Hz. Try different refresh rates until you find the one that works for you. Note that if your refresh rate is too high, you could lose image opacity. Still, few of us can discern rates higher than 85 Hz.
To adjust your screen's refresh rate in Windows XP, open Display Properties and click Settings, Advanced, Adapter, List All Modes. Pick a combination of refresh rate, screen resolution, and color depth from the list of supported values.
To change your refresh rate in other versions of Windows, open Display Properties and then click Settings, Advanced, Adapter. Select an option from the 'Refresh rate' drop-down menu. If you see no options there, however, your graphics board and monitor don't support multiple refresh rates.
Even in that case, you might be able to increase your display's refresh rate by decreasing your screen resolution or your color depth. All three specs compete for graphics-processing capacity, so if your graphics system is running at its maximum, try increasing one setting and lowering another. For example, reducing color depth from 32-bit to 16-bit--no big deal if you never look at photos--may free up enough processing power to let you bump your refresh rate from an annoying 60 Hz to an eye-pleasing 72 Hz. Or you may be able to increase resolution from 800 by 600 to 1024 by 768. There's no guarantee, but these tricks might work.
Windows automatically sets your screen refresh rate to a safe but slow 60 Hz when it can't detect your monitor. To confirm that Windows XP correctly recognizes your monitor, open Display Properties and click Settings, Advanced, Monitor. If your monitor isn't listed under 'Monitor type', download and install the device's driver from the manufacturer's Web site.
In other versions of Windows, verify that Plug and Play is enabled. Make sure your monitor is listed under 'Display' on the Settings tab in Display Properties, and then click Advanced, Monitor. Verify that Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors is checked. If it isn't, select it and then reset your refresh rate to a level that is higher than Windows' default 60 Hz.
DirectX: This Windows component controls multimedia functions. To check your current DirectX version, click Start, Run, type dxdiag, and click OK. Choose the System tab and look under System Information on the lower part of the screen. DirectX 9 is the latest version; if you don't have it, download it from Microsoft.
Touch Those Dials!
You can improve the image quality of your monitor via its built-in controls. The options vary by display manufacturer and model, but you should find brightness and other controls on most monitors.
Adjust brightness and contrast: Use this gray-scale image on your screen. Be sure you can see as many of the image's 17 shades as possible; the two or three darkest may be tough to view in a bright room.
Center and align: Few monitors come straight from the factory with optimal screen geometry. Use your monitor's screen-placement controls to center your displayed image, keep its edges straight, and minimize unfilled screen space.
To avoid eyestrain and other physical problems, put the top of the screen at eye level and at arm's length from your head (your best position may vary). Orient your screen to avoid glare from lights and windows. If that's not possible, get a glare filter such as Kensington's $34 GlareMaster.
Clean it: Gently wipe your screen with a soft, lightly moistened cloth. Unless the monitor is really filthy, avoid cleaning solutions, which can damage delicate screen coatings. Clean the dust from the cooling vents in the monitor's case; overheating is your display's lethal enemy.
Graphics Triage
If your screen goes blank, the problem is likely due to a disconnected monitor cable, an unplugged power cord, or a too-low brightness setting. Monitors do die, however. If you smell something burning or hear popping sounds, your monitor could be failing--turn it off immediately. Monitors have been known to spontaneously combust.
Corrupted graphics drivers cause all kinds of PC problems. To check for a damaged graphics driver, install the plain-vanilla VGA driver that comes with Windows. If your troubles disappear, reinstall a clean copy of the monitor's original driver, or an updated version.
Some graphics boards don't work or play well with other hardware devices. Windows allows you to disable graphics-acceleration functions for the sake of compatibility. Open Display Properties and click Settings, Advanced, Troubleshooting in Windows XP and 2000, or Settings, Advanced, Performance in Windows 98 and Me. Move the slider under 'Hardware acceleration' to the left to disable your graphics acceleration.
A shaking or shimmering image on your screen may be due to nearby magnetic fields. Keep clocks and other appliances that use electric motors, and those that use a lot of electricity (such as microwave ovens), far from your monitor. Power lines behind walls can cause interference, so try moving the display away from nearby walls.
If your screen image is washed in blue, red, or green, check for a loose cable connecting your graphics board to your monitor. Look for bent pins inside the cable connector; you can often straighten them with needle-nose pliers. If on-screen objects have a rainbow cast, some monitors have convergence controls that you can use to tune the image.
Living in a Flat World
Notebook displays are fine-tuned in the factory to work with the system's other hardware; your desktop's flat panel likely isn't. And tuning an LCD isn't the same as tuning a CRT monitor. If both your LCD and graphics board support Digital Visual Interface connections, make sure they're using them. Vendors don't always ship a DVI cable with cards that produce both analog and digital signals, so you'll have to replace the analog cable. If your display supports DVI but your graphics card doesn't, upgrade your card.
Make sure your LCD is set to its native resolution. Many flat-panel displays don't look good at other resolutions. Unfortunately, some 15-inch LCDs have a native resolution of 1024 by 768 dpi, which makes text minuscule. The solution is to open Display Properties, click Appearance, and change the setting on the 'Font size' drop-down menu to increase the size of your text. (Most browsers include their own font-size settings.)
In Windows XP, open Display Properties, click Appearance, Effects, and check Use the following method to smooth screen fonts. Select ClearType to see a big improvement in the appearance of many of your fonts.
When it comes to your PC, looks definitely matter. Tiny text, blurry images, and flickering screens aren't just annoying, they can lead to eyestrain, lost productivity, and a bill from the glazier for replacing the window you toss your monitor through out of frustration. But you don't have to give your display the heave-ho: A few simple adjustments to your graphics card and other Windows settings can ensure peak visual performance.
Your PC's graphics card is controlled by its Windows driver, so get the latest driver release for your board. To see what version you have, right-click the desktop and choose Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box, then click Settings, Advanced, Adapter (in Windows XP, also select Properties, Driver).
Visit your graphics-card vendor's Web site to download the most recent version of the driver, but don't install beta drivers. These are works in progress that may cause more trouble than they're worth.
Sight-Saving Settings
Here are a few settings that should be available for all graphics drivers.
Resolution: This is the number of dots--or pixels (short for "picture elements")--displayed on your screen. The higher the resolution, the more dots per inch, and the sharper the displayed image (if your monitor supports the higher resolution). High resolutions increase the processing demands on your graphics board and PC.
The graphics cards in most computers made in the last three or four years support resolutions of at least 1024 by 768--meaning the screen image is composed of an orthogonal array 1024 pixels across and 768 pixels tall--and some support screen resolutions as high as 1600 by 1200. However, many older systems, as well as some newer budget systems, have a top resolution of only 800 by 600.
To adjust screen resolution, open Display Properties and click Settings. Slide the 'Screen area' or 'Screen resolution' bar to a higher (More) or lower (Less) resolution. Though higher resolutions improve image quality, they also shrink icons, text, and other on-screen objects. Experiment to find the setting that's right for you. For most people, 1024 by 768 is the highest resolution they can read easily on a 17-inch CRT monitor.
Color depth: This setting is the number of colors that your graphics card supports. The more colors available for use, the more realistic the image, but again, the more colors on your screen, the greater the processing demands on your system.
Your graphics card's color-depth settings are listed in Display Properties under the Settings tab on the Colors drop-down menu ('Color quality' in Windows XP). Each is named for the number of bits it assigns to each pixel: True Color (also called 24-bit color) makes 16,777,216 colors available, while High Color (16 bits) supports 65,536 colors. At lower than 16-bit color, your images may suffer. Many drivers no longer offer 8-bit (256 colors) or 15-bit (32,536 colors) settings.
New PCs often support 32-bit color, which offers the same 16 million-plus colors as True Color. The extra 8 bits control image opacity. This is useful in fast-moving 3D games but of little help in most business apps.
Refresh rate: Expressed in hertz, or cycles per second, this tells how often the phosphors that glow to create an image on a CRT screen are reenergized--that is, the times per second that the screen's image is redrawn. A refresh rate that's too low can cause annoying screen flicker. Even if you don't see the flicker, slow refreshes can cause eyestrain and headaches.
Conventional wisdom says your refresh rate should be no less than 72 Hz. Some experts say the minimum rate is 80 Hz. Try different refresh rates until you find the one that works for you. Note that if your refresh rate is too high, you could lose image opacity. Still, few of us can discern rates higher than 85 Hz.
To adjust your screen's refresh rate in Windows XP, open Display Properties and click Settings, Advanced, Adapter, List All Modes. Pick a combination of refresh rate, screen resolution, and color depth from the list of supported values.
To change your refresh rate in other versions of Windows, open Display Properties and then click Settings, Advanced, Adapter. Select an option from the 'Refresh rate' drop-down menu. If you see no options there, however, your graphics board and monitor don't support multiple refresh rates.
Even in that case, you might be able to increase your display's refresh rate by decreasing your screen resolution or your color depth. All three specs compete for graphics-processing capacity, so if your graphics system is running at its maximum, try increasing one setting and lowering another. For example, reducing color depth from 32-bit to 16-bit--no big deal if you never look at photos--may free up enough processing power to let you bump your refresh rate from an annoying 60 Hz to an eye-pleasing 72 Hz. Or you may be able to increase resolution from 800 by 600 to 1024 by 768. There's no guarantee, but these tricks might work.
Windows automatically sets your screen refresh rate to a safe but slow 60 Hz when it can't detect your monitor. To confirm that Windows XP correctly recognizes your monitor, open Display Properties and click Settings, Advanced, Monitor. If your monitor isn't listed under 'Monitor type', download and install the device's driver from the manufacturer's Web site.
In other versions of Windows, verify that Plug and Play is enabled. Make sure your monitor is listed under 'Display' on the Settings tab in Display Properties, and then click Advanced, Monitor. Verify that Automatically detect Plug & Play monitors is checked. If it isn't, select it and then reset your refresh rate to a level that is higher than Windows' default 60 Hz.
DirectX: This Windows component controls multimedia functions. To check your current DirectX version, click Start, Run, type dxdiag, and click OK. Choose the System tab and look under System Information on the lower part of the screen. DirectX 9 is the latest version; if you don't have it, download it from Microsoft.
Touch Those Dials!
You can improve the image quality of your monitor via its built-in controls. The options vary by display manufacturer and model, but you should find brightness and other controls on most monitors.
Adjust brightness and contrast: Use this gray-scale image on your screen. Be sure you can see as many of the image's 17 shades as possible; the two or three darkest may be tough to view in a bright room.
Center and align: Few monitors come straight from the factory with optimal screen geometry. Use your monitor's screen-placement controls to center your displayed image, keep its edges straight, and minimize unfilled screen space.
To avoid eyestrain and other physical problems, put the top of the screen at eye level and at arm's length from your head (your best position may vary). Orient your screen to avoid glare from lights and windows. If that's not possible, get a glare filter such as Kensington's $34 GlareMaster.
Clean it: Gently wipe your screen with a soft, lightly moistened cloth. Unless the monitor is really filthy, avoid cleaning solutions, which can damage delicate screen coatings. Clean the dust from the cooling vents in the monitor's case; overheating is your display's lethal enemy.
Graphics Triage
If your screen goes blank, the problem is likely due to a disconnected monitor cable, an unplugged power cord, or a too-low brightness setting. Monitors do die, however. If you smell something burning or hear popping sounds, your monitor could be failing--turn it off immediately. Monitors have been known to spontaneously combust.
Corrupted graphics drivers cause all kinds of PC problems. To check for a damaged graphics driver, install the plain-vanilla VGA driver that comes with Windows. If your troubles disappear, reinstall a clean copy of the monitor's original driver, or an updated version.
Some graphics boards don't work or play well with other hardware devices. Windows allows you to disable graphics-acceleration functions for the sake of compatibility. Open Display Properties and click Settings, Advanced, Troubleshooting in Windows XP and 2000, or Settings, Advanced, Performance in Windows 98 and Me. Move the slider under 'Hardware acceleration' to the left to disable your graphics acceleration.
A shaking or shimmering image on your screen may be due to nearby magnetic fields. Keep clocks and other appliances that use electric motors, and those that use a lot of electricity (such as microwave ovens), far from your monitor. Power lines behind walls can cause interference, so try moving the display away from nearby walls.
If your screen image is washed in blue, red, or green, check for a loose cable connecting your graphics board to your monitor. Look for bent pins inside the cable connector; you can often straighten them with needle-nose pliers. If on-screen objects have a rainbow cast, some monitors have convergence controls that you can use to tune the image.
Living in a Flat World
Notebook displays are fine-tuned in the factory to work with the system's other hardware; your desktop's flat panel likely isn't. And tuning an LCD isn't the same as tuning a CRT monitor. If both your LCD and graphics board support Digital Visual Interface connections, make sure they're using them. Vendors don't always ship a DVI cable with cards that produce both analog and digital signals, so you'll have to replace the analog cable. If your display supports DVI but your graphics card doesn't, upgrade your card.
Make sure your LCD is set to its native resolution. Many flat-panel displays don't look good at other resolutions. Unfortunately, some 15-inch LCDs have a native resolution of 1024 by 768 dpi, which makes text minuscule. The solution is to open Display Properties, click Appearance, and change the setting on the 'Font size' drop-down menu to increase the size of your text. (Most browsers include their own font-size settings.)
In Windows XP, open Display Properties, click Appearance, Effects, and check Use the following method to smooth screen fonts. Select ClearType to see a big improvement in the appearance of many of your fonts.
Another google tricks
A few things you might want to try with Google:
Hand type the following prefixes and note their utility:
link:url Shows other pages with links to that url.
related:url same as "what's related" on serps.
site:domain restricts search results to the given domain.
allinurl: shows only pages with all terms in the url.
inurl: like allinurl, but only for the next query word.
allintitle: shows only results with terms in title.
intitle: similar to allintitle, but only for the next word. "intitle:webmasterworld google" finds only pages with webmasterworld in the title, and google anywhere on the page.
cache:url will show the Google version of the passed url.
info:url will show a page containing links to related searches, backlinks, and pages containing the url. This is the same as typing the url into the search box.
spell: will spell check your query and search for it.
stocks: will lookup the search query in a stock index.
filetype: will restrict searches to that filetype. "-filetype:doc" to remove Microsoft word files.
daterange: is supported in Julian date format only. 2452384 is an example of a Julian date.
maps: If you enter a street address, a link to Yahoo Maps and to MapBlast will be presented.
phone: enter anything that looks like a phone number to have a name and address displayed. Same is true for something that looks like an address (include a name and zip code)
site:www.somesite.net "+www.somesite.+net"
(tells you how many pages of your site are indexed by google)
allintext: searches only within text of pages, but not in the links or page title
allinlinks: searches only within links, not text or title
I hope there is something new in here for you and maybe this infos will be helpfull for ya.
Hand type the following prefixes and note their utility:
link:url Shows other pages with links to that url.
related:url same as "what's related" on serps.
site:domain restricts search results to the given domain.
allinurl: shows only pages with all terms in the url.
inurl: like allinurl, but only for the next query word.
allintitle: shows only results with terms in title.
intitle: similar to allintitle, but only for the next word. "intitle:webmasterworld google" finds only pages with webmasterworld in the title, and google anywhere on the page.
cache:url will show the Google version of the passed url.
info:url will show a page containing links to related searches, backlinks, and pages containing the url. This is the same as typing the url into the search box.
spell: will spell check your query and search for it.
stocks: will lookup the search query in a stock index.
filetype: will restrict searches to that filetype. "-filetype:doc" to remove Microsoft word files.
daterange: is supported in Julian date format only. 2452384 is an example of a Julian date.
maps: If you enter a street address, a link to Yahoo Maps and to MapBlast will be presented.
phone: enter anything that looks like a phone number to have a name and address displayed. Same is true for something that looks like an address (include a name and zip code)
site:www.somesite.net "+www.somesite.+net"
(tells you how many pages of your site are indexed by google)
allintext: searches only within text of pages, but not in the links or page title
allinlinks: searches only within links, not text or title
I hope there is something new in here for you and maybe this infos will be helpfull for ya.
Speed up Mozilla FireFox
1. Type "about :config" in the adress field.
2. Set the value of network.http.pipelining to "true".
3. Set the value of network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to "100".
4. Set the value of network.http.proxy.pipelining to "true"
5. Set the value of nglayout.initialpaint.delay to "0" (not availible in newer versions)
2. Set the value of network.http.pipelining to "true".
3. Set the value of network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to "100".
4. Set the value of network.http.proxy.pipelining to "true"
5. Set the value of nglayout.initialpaint.delay to "0" (not availible in newer versions)
Speed your internet connection by 20%
Windows uses 20% of your bandwidth Here's how to Get it back
A nice little tweak for XP. Microsoft reserve 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes (suspect for updates and interrogating your machine etc..)
Here's how to get it back:
Click Start-->Run-->type "gpedit.msc" without the "
This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:
Local Computer Policy-->Computer Configuration-->Administrative Templates-->Network-->QOS Packet Scheduler-->Limit Reservable Bandwidth
Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab :
"By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."
So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO.
This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.
I have tested on XP Pro, and 2000
other o/s not tested.
Please give me feedback about your results
A nice little tweak for XP. Microsoft reserve 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes (suspect for updates and interrogating your machine etc..)
Here's how to get it back:
Click Start-->Run-->type "gpedit.msc" without the "
This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:
Local Computer Policy-->Computer Configuration-->Administrative Templates-->Network-->QOS Packet Scheduler-->Limit Reservable Bandwidth
Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab :
"By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."
So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO.
This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.
I have tested on XP Pro, and 2000
other o/s not tested.
Please give me feedback about your results
Steps to Clean Install XP
If the above instructions for configuring your system to boot from CD
or you have acquired the necessary boot floppy/floppies; you can now
boot the computer and follow the on screen prompts. Have your Product Key
available, typical install is around 30 minutes. If setup seems to hang,
wait at least 10 minutes + before restarting system. You should experience
momentary screen blackouts.
1. Power on the computer. Press the Pause/Break key as soon as you see
text on the screen. [If you currently are running in an OS of any flavor,
insert XP CD and restart computer. Skip to #3 if system is configured
to boot from CD.]
2. Insert XP CD into CD drive. Press ENTER to resume booting from the XP CD.
(BIOS must support booting from CD and boot order must be set so CD
boots before hard drive. If computer does not support booting from CD
go to 2a for floppy install).
2a. Floppy install: Boot from Win98/Me/Special XP install floppy
disk with smartdrv.exe added to the boot disk; or the Win XP set
of 6 floppy disks.
3. Look for message "booting from CD" usually located at the bottom of
the screen. If you have a factory splash screen, press ESC to unload
it.
3a. Floppy install: From the A Prompt; A:\type: smartdrv.exe. then
press ENTER. If you are using the XP boot floppy setup disks skip
to step #5.
4. Press any Key when you see the prompt to "Press Any Key"
4a. Floppy install: CD to the location of the CD-ROM drive with the
XP setup files; CD to the i386 folder where you will type: winnt.exe
to start setup.
5. Setup will start copying files, if you need to install any third
- party or RAID drivers press F6 at this time. the copying of files
can take awhile.
6. Next you will get the option to repair or enter setup, choose to
enter setup. Press ENTER. To see images full size, place mouse cursor
over image and click/double click or press the left button and open.
7. Press F8 if you agree to the license.
8. Setup will scan for previous Windows installations
9. If you are using the upgrade version of XP on a computer without
any version of Windows currently installed, this is where you will
replace the XP CD with your qualifying CD, XP setup will scan the
qualifying CD and instruct you to replace it with the XP CD to continue
XP setup; otherwise, you will not see this screen. Clean install
qualifying media can be any of the following Win NT3.51, 4.0, 2000,
Win 95, 98, Me. 10. Choose the location to install.
10a If this is a clean hard drive, you can choose to create a
partition in the un-partitioned space. At this point, you can allow
Setup to use all the space or set a size for the partition.
10b If the hard drive or partition has a previous installation of
XP you want to remove, choose to delete the partition by pressing
"D". You will then be prompted to create a new partition in the
empty space. This will remove all data from the delete space.
10c If you intend to use multiple partitions, or dual boot, this is
where you specify the size of the boot partition and or setup
location for XP. If you are planning to dual boot XP, I would
create a small 100 meg DOS partition for the first primary partition,
then an 8 to 10 gig partition for XP. You can partition and format
the remaining space after XP is setup from Disk Manager. If you do not
intend to dual boot, you can either use all the un-partitioned space,
or create an 8 to 10 gig partition for XP and leave the rest free to
partition later.
Note: If a fat32 partition larger than 32 gigabyte is desired, the
hard drive or partition will need to be created before running XP
setup. XP will not create a fat 32 partition larger than 32 gig, but
will support one previously created.
11. Choose the file system from this screen. If dual booting and you
created the small 100 meg partition, make it a fat partition. NTFS is
configured at the optimal file size during the initial setup. See this
link for more on NTFS
12. If you have more that one partition or hard drive on your system,
make sure you are formatting the correct partition/drive.
13. Select F to continue.
14. Setup will show a progress box and reboot when copying files is
complete.
15. When you see the "Press any Key to Reboot" do not Press any Key.
If CD boots anyway, remove CD and reboot.
16. From this point, you will follow the on screen prompts.
17. If you live outside the US, you will probably need to modify the
default settings.
18. Personalize your XP Enter your Name and Organization.
19. Enter the Product Key. The Key is located on the back of the CD folder
in the Retail versions, and on a holographic label with the OEM
versions purchased with a piece of hardware. Write this key down and
secure it in a safe place in case the original is misplaced destroyed
through natural causes or stupidity. 8-)
20. Choose a name for the computer, this should be a unique name for
the computer, especially if it is to be connected to a network. In Pro,
you are given the option of creating a password or leaving it blank.
21. Set your Time Zone and Time and Date.
22. Setup will scan for network.
23. If detected you will have the choice to choose a typical
configuration or custom. Choose typical if you are unsure.
24. For home you will choose your workgroup, if a network is already
established and you intend to connect to it, use the existing
workgroup name, otherwise, I suggest using the default.
25. For Pro, the same goes for Pro as suggested for Home, but you will
have the choice to join a Domain, if you do not have a Domain or do
not know leave blank.
26. Setup will continue and reboot when completed ignore the "Press
Any Key".
27. The loading XP window will now display after reboot.
28. You will see a change display settings, say yes, and accept the
setting if you can see the screen after accepting.
29. You will see a welcome screen, press next and unfortunately you
have to wait for the dialog to finish.
30. Set up you internet or network connection.
31. This is the Activate, Register screen. You must activate within
30 days of installing XP, but you do not ever have to register,
Registration is completely optional and if you do not register, no
personal information will be transmitted during activation. If you
register, then activation will transmit that information along with
the activation. The first Activation is usually done over the internet
if the computer is connected to the internet, otherwise, it can be
accomplished by copying the alphanumeric string from the activation
screen and make a phone call to the on screen supplied phone number.
The activation center will then give you a slightly longer number to
input into for activation. I suggest you do not activate immediately
in case you need to make hard ware changes, or install to a different
system within the thirty days, and you will be reminded on boot up
until you do.
Blaster worm warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet
when asked, enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet.
You can activate after the firewall is enabled.
Control Panel - Network Connections. Right click the connection you
use, Properties, and there is a check box on the Advanced page.
32. Setup users screen. Set at least one user for yourself or the person
that will be using the computer.
33. Thank You
34. Logon to XP and apply Service Pack and Critical updates from Windows
Update before installing any software or hardware.
35. Install your anti-virus software.
36. Install all applications and setup your email.
37. Restore from Files and Settings transfer after reinstalling all
applications.
or you have acquired the necessary boot floppy/floppies; you can now
boot the computer and follow the on screen prompts. Have your Product Key
available, typical install is around 30 minutes. If setup seems to hang,
wait at least 10 minutes + before restarting system. You should experience
momentary screen blackouts.
1. Power on the computer. Press the Pause/Break key as soon as you see
text on the screen. [If you currently are running in an OS of any flavor,
insert XP CD and restart computer. Skip to #3 if system is configured
to boot from CD.]
2. Insert XP CD into CD drive. Press ENTER to resume booting from the XP CD.
(BIOS must support booting from CD and boot order must be set so CD
boots before hard drive. If computer does not support booting from CD
go to 2a for floppy install).
2a. Floppy install: Boot from Win98/Me/Special XP install floppy
disk with smartdrv.exe added to the boot disk; or the Win XP set
of 6 floppy disks.
3. Look for message "booting from CD" usually located at the bottom of
the screen. If you have a factory splash screen, press ESC to unload
it.
3a. Floppy install: From the A Prompt; A:\type: smartdrv.exe. then
press ENTER. If you are using the XP boot floppy setup disks skip
to step #5.
4. Press any Key when you see the prompt to "Press Any Key"
4a. Floppy install: CD to the location of the CD-ROM drive with the
XP setup files; CD to the i386 folder where you will type: winnt.exe
to start setup.
5. Setup will start copying files, if you need to install any third
- party or RAID drivers press F6 at this time. the copying of files
can take awhile.
6. Next you will get the option to repair or enter setup, choose to
enter setup. Press ENTER. To see images full size, place mouse cursor
over image and click/double click or press the left button and open.
7. Press F8 if you agree to the license.
8. Setup will scan for previous Windows installations
9. If you are using the upgrade version of XP on a computer without
any version of Windows currently installed, this is where you will
replace the XP CD with your qualifying CD, XP setup will scan the
qualifying CD and instruct you to replace it with the XP CD to continue
XP setup; otherwise, you will not see this screen. Clean install
qualifying media can be any of the following Win NT3.51, 4.0, 2000,
Win 95, 98, Me. 10. Choose the location to install.
10a If this is a clean hard drive, you can choose to create a
partition in the un-partitioned space. At this point, you can allow
Setup to use all the space or set a size for the partition.
10b If the hard drive or partition has a previous installation of
XP you want to remove, choose to delete the partition by pressing
"D". You will then be prompted to create a new partition in the
empty space. This will remove all data from the delete space.
10c If you intend to use multiple partitions, or dual boot, this is
where you specify the size of the boot partition and or setup
location for XP. If you are planning to dual boot XP, I would
create a small 100 meg DOS partition for the first primary partition,
then an 8 to 10 gig partition for XP. You can partition and format
the remaining space after XP is setup from Disk Manager. If you do not
intend to dual boot, you can either use all the un-partitioned space,
or create an 8 to 10 gig partition for XP and leave the rest free to
partition later.
Note: If a fat32 partition larger than 32 gigabyte is desired, the
hard drive or partition will need to be created before running XP
setup. XP will not create a fat 32 partition larger than 32 gig, but
will support one previously created.
11. Choose the file system from this screen. If dual booting and you
created the small 100 meg partition, make it a fat partition. NTFS is
configured at the optimal file size during the initial setup. See this
link for more on NTFS
12. If you have more that one partition or hard drive on your system,
make sure you are formatting the correct partition/drive.
13. Select F to continue.
14. Setup will show a progress box and reboot when copying files is
complete.
15. When you see the "Press any Key to Reboot" do not Press any Key.
If CD boots anyway, remove CD and reboot.
16. From this point, you will follow the on screen prompts.
17. If you live outside the US, you will probably need to modify the
default settings.
18. Personalize your XP Enter your Name and Organization.
19. Enter the Product Key. The Key is located on the back of the CD folder
in the Retail versions, and on a holographic label with the OEM
versions purchased with a piece of hardware. Write this key down and
secure it in a safe place in case the original is misplaced destroyed
through natural causes or stupidity. 8-)
20. Choose a name for the computer, this should be a unique name for
the computer, especially if it is to be connected to a network. In Pro,
you are given the option of creating a password or leaving it blank.
21. Set your Time Zone and Time and Date.
22. Setup will scan for network.
23. If detected you will have the choice to choose a typical
configuration or custom. Choose typical if you are unsure.
24. For home you will choose your workgroup, if a network is already
established and you intend to connect to it, use the existing
workgroup name, otherwise, I suggest using the default.
25. For Pro, the same goes for Pro as suggested for Home, but you will
have the choice to join a Domain, if you do not have a Domain or do
not know leave blank.
26. Setup will continue and reboot when completed ignore the "Press
Any Key".
27. The loading XP window will now display after reboot.
28. You will see a change display settings, say yes, and accept the
setting if you can see the screen after accepting.
29. You will see a welcome screen, press next and unfortunately you
have to wait for the dialog to finish.
30. Set up you internet or network connection.
31. This is the Activate, Register screen. You must activate within
30 days of installing XP, but you do not ever have to register,
Registration is completely optional and if you do not register, no
personal information will be transmitted during activation. If you
register, then activation will transmit that information along with
the activation. The first Activation is usually done over the internet
if the computer is connected to the internet, otherwise, it can be
accomplished by copying the alphanumeric string from the activation
screen and make a phone call to the on screen supplied phone number.
The activation center will then give you a slightly longer number to
input into for activation. I suggest you do not activate immediately
in case you need to make hard ware changes, or install to a different
system within the thirty days, and you will be reminded on boot up
until you do.
Blaster worm warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet
when asked, enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet.
You can activate after the firewall is enabled.
Control Panel - Network Connections. Right click the connection you
use, Properties, and there is a check box on the Advanced page.
32. Setup users screen. Set at least one user for yourself or the person
that will be using the computer.
33. Thank You
34. Logon to XP and apply Service Pack and Critical updates from Windows
Update before installing any software or hardware.
35. Install your anti-virus software.
36. Install all applications and setup your email.
37. Restore from Files and Settings transfer after reinstalling all
applications.
Testing Wattage Consumption Of Your Computer Measuring your computer's wattage
Testing Wattage Consumption Of Your Computer
Measuring your computer's wattage is a good way of knowing if you are overloading your UPS, or if you have too many things plugged in to the same circuit. This article will show you how you can test wattage of your equipment using a multi meter and a few wires.
Visit
http://www.iceteks.com/articles.php?act=view&article=pcwattage&p=1&
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Testing Wattage consumption of your computer equipment
Making sure you’re not overloading your UPS or misc power source
Did you ever wonder how many watts your equipment is using? Whether it is a PC with monitor, or a whole UD cluster setup with 100's of machines this article will let you know how to easily find out. Or perhaps you just want to know how much power you would need to build one of those clusters. You can estimate yourself since some appliances such as monitors show the rating on the back but some other things such as computer power supplies don't. And just because it's a 300W power supply does not mean it uses 300W of power. It all depends on how much of that power the components are using. Watts are usually the best measurement to know because it does not change. But volts and amps do. If you plug in a vacuum cleaner in an 80volt power source it will be using way more amps then if you plug it in a 120V power source.
Watts is equal to volts times amps. So basically the higher the voltage, the fewer amps being drawed. Amps are also the actual current and what decides on the power of the circuit. What I mean by that is, if there's not enough amps, you can't run much, even if the voltage is high. A static shock can have millions of volts passing through you but yet it's not enough to power a light bulb, because there are very little amps. Amps also cause wires to heat up, the more amps, the bigger wires you need since if they are too small they will melt. This explains why power cords for large equipment are thicker, while a small lamp is just a cheap cord that you can cut with a pair of scissors, since one uses more amps but same voltage, and this results in more watts as well. Because of this heat though, there is power loss, so this is why when power is delivered to far distances, it is sent in high voltages, so they can use smaller cabling (cheaper) and there's less loss of energy from heat. So it's more efficient. But just because of what I said about the static electricity, don't think you can go climb one of those poles and get a shock that tickles.
Enough theory, let's get started.
First this is what you will need:
# A multi meter: One that can measure AC amps and AC voltages and should have a high enough rating. These can be purchased at a Radio Shack or similar store for about $100 and are very useful around the house.
# Crocodile wires or other wires easy to manipulate and plug.
# An old power cord with both ends open to connect the crocodile clips to it easily. (or equivalent, basically any thing that can easly be plugged and unplugged from the socket)
# Calculator (everyone has at least one around the house)
# Safety common sense (this can be hard to find in some households)
Like mentioned earlier, Watts = Volts X Amps. So we need to know how much volts we are giving to the equipment, we know it's near 120 because that's the normal house voltage. But we want to be more exact, so set your meter to measure volts AC and
put both ends in a socket that is on the same circuit as the equipment. For safety purposes, try to find a socket that is easy to access and has plenty of room to move quickly in case something happens. But if you have everything set correctly and don't short it out somehow, you're safe. Just make sure it's set to Volts AC and if your meter has different ranges, set the right range so you don't overload it. But most good meters will auto sense the range for you.
Because my plug has too many wires near it at the PC, for this picture I'm measuring a different circuit but if your house is wired like mine there should only be 2 main circuits (two separate AC phases) so they should both be near anyway. I get the same reading here and in my room.
The voltage tends to move a bit. In my case it was around 119 and 121 so let's just say 120.
page 2:
Testing Wattage consumption of your computer equipment
Making sure you’re not overloading your UPS or misc power source
Measuring amps is a bit trickier especially with mains power since you don't just shove it anywhere, but you have to break the circuit and put the amp meter in it, and be safe. So the easiest way to do this is by wiring the circuit yourself with the crocodile clips.
So turn off and unplug the device you want to test, in this case a monitor. Connect everything like shown in this picture. The arrows indicate the flow of electricity to make it easier to follow the circuit with all these wires all over. Note that this flow of electricity changes 60 times a second (50 times in some regions, the UK I believe) so this is why AC is different than DC.
So the white wire is plugged into the mains, and the black is the plug for the monitor. Completely ignore the ground for testing, DO NOT PLUG ANYTHING TO IT! In a permanent setup you would want to ground it, but for testing purposes it's ok to have it ungrounded for a bit, just be careful and if you feel safer ground a crocodile clip and connected to the grounding pin, but be careful since there's more chance of a wire slipping and shorting out. In the picture it's hard to see but the two wires connect to the two pins of the plug, so think of the two pins as the + and - of a device that needs power and the two wires as the + and - of a power source, since this is what it is, but with AC so the + and - order does not matter, but make sure the two wires don't contact each other since that's a short and you can blow the meter.
On the amp meter, the terminals used are the unfused 10A max and the COM. The fuse in the meter has a max of 500mA so it's best not to take a chance at blowing it, when we're measuring this much amps, and chances are you won't measure anything more then 10Amps. Never measure an entire power strip, but each item individually, to make sure of this.
When setting up the wires, make extra sure to unplug the cable that is feeding the power (the white one in this case) Once completed let part of the circuit broken like in thes picture below, plug in the cable then take both wires (the red crocodile clip and black meter cable in this case) and tick them together quickly just to be sure you won't cause some kind of short. Again, this is only to make sure you did not mess anything up such as badly setting the meter, or if some wires are touching somewhere that should not. Then hook them up together solidly and turn on the device you are measuring and you will get a reading. Lot of equipment have transformers and stuff which use up a bit of amps even when turned off, so this is why you will sometimes get a reading even when it's turned off. If you calculate all the devices in your house like this, you may be using a few amps from items just sitting there turned off!
The following pic shows the circuit unplugged and ready to go.
Take note of the reading and repeat this process for each item. So when done you should have something like this:
House voltage: 120V
PC full load: 1.2A
PC without fans, lights and UD: 0.8A
Monitor: 0.5A
Once you have all the readings, just do Volts times Amps. So...
120V X 1.2A = 144W
120V X 0.8A = 96W
120V X 0.5A = 63W
Since the first 2 readings are the same device you can decide on if you just want the average, or the most widely used. In my case I put the most widely used, since it's very rare that I turn off UD (0.2Amps) or the lights. Sometimes I may turn off a set of fans but those don't make a big difference. So I'll stick with 144W.
So now we simply add 144 + 63 which gives us 207 Watts. So now I know that my PC and monitor which are plugged into my UPS use up about 207Watts.
Also note that this is only the base of the concept and because this is AC and not DC, it get's more complicated. Amps are sometimes not in sync with the volts and unless you are using a RMS (root means square) meter, you may get inaccurate results. Some meters don't even tell you if they are RMS or not, so I'm not even sure if the one I used is or not but according to what some say these readings seem about right for the equipment used. Basically, try to not go too near your UPSes max wattage and you should be safe. Some UPSes also don't even tell you how many watts it can handle, but rather VA (volt amps) which are slightly different.
Danger: The activities in this tutorial were done since I knew what I was doing and was using proper safety measures to avoid accidents. Please realize that this activity, especially with amp readings over 1 can be fatal! Be extremely careful, especially not to close any open circuits with your body as it will make the amps go through you, and possibly kill you! If you have any heart problems, this is even a bigger risk to take and should most likely be done by someone else.
Disclaimer: IceTeks, or myself may not be held responsible for any damage done during the proceeding of this article. This is for informational purposes only and should only be performed by someone who knows what they are doing!
Measuring your computer's wattage is a good way of knowing if you are overloading your UPS, or if you have too many things plugged in to the same circuit. This article will show you how you can test wattage of your equipment using a multi meter and a few wires.
Visit
http://www.iceteks.com/articles.php?act=view&article=pcwattage&p=1&
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Testing Wattage consumption of your computer equipment
Making sure you’re not overloading your UPS or misc power source
Did you ever wonder how many watts your equipment is using? Whether it is a PC with monitor, or a whole UD cluster setup with 100's of machines this article will let you know how to easily find out. Or perhaps you just want to know how much power you would need to build one of those clusters. You can estimate yourself since some appliances such as monitors show the rating on the back but some other things such as computer power supplies don't. And just because it's a 300W power supply does not mean it uses 300W of power. It all depends on how much of that power the components are using. Watts are usually the best measurement to know because it does not change. But volts and amps do. If you plug in a vacuum cleaner in an 80volt power source it will be using way more amps then if you plug it in a 120V power source.
Watts is equal to volts times amps. So basically the higher the voltage, the fewer amps being drawed. Amps are also the actual current and what decides on the power of the circuit. What I mean by that is, if there's not enough amps, you can't run much, even if the voltage is high. A static shock can have millions of volts passing through you but yet it's not enough to power a light bulb, because there are very little amps. Amps also cause wires to heat up, the more amps, the bigger wires you need since if they are too small they will melt. This explains why power cords for large equipment are thicker, while a small lamp is just a cheap cord that you can cut with a pair of scissors, since one uses more amps but same voltage, and this results in more watts as well. Because of this heat though, there is power loss, so this is why when power is delivered to far distances, it is sent in high voltages, so they can use smaller cabling (cheaper) and there's less loss of energy from heat. So it's more efficient. But just because of what I said about the static electricity, don't think you can go climb one of those poles and get a shock that tickles.
Enough theory, let's get started.
First this is what you will need:
# A multi meter: One that can measure AC amps and AC voltages and should have a high enough rating. These can be purchased at a Radio Shack or similar store for about $100 and are very useful around the house.
# Crocodile wires or other wires easy to manipulate and plug.
# An old power cord with both ends open to connect the crocodile clips to it easily. (or equivalent, basically any thing that can easly be plugged and unplugged from the socket)
# Calculator (everyone has at least one around the house)
# Safety common sense (this can be hard to find in some households)
Like mentioned earlier, Watts = Volts X Amps. So we need to know how much volts we are giving to the equipment, we know it's near 120 because that's the normal house voltage. But we want to be more exact, so set your meter to measure volts AC and
put both ends in a socket that is on the same circuit as the equipment. For safety purposes, try to find a socket that is easy to access and has plenty of room to move quickly in case something happens. But if you have everything set correctly and don't short it out somehow, you're safe. Just make sure it's set to Volts AC and if your meter has different ranges, set the right range so you don't overload it. But most good meters will auto sense the range for you.
Because my plug has too many wires near it at the PC, for this picture I'm measuring a different circuit but if your house is wired like mine there should only be 2 main circuits (two separate AC phases) so they should both be near anyway. I get the same reading here and in my room.
The voltage tends to move a bit. In my case it was around 119 and 121 so let's just say 120.
page 2:
Testing Wattage consumption of your computer equipment
Making sure you’re not overloading your UPS or misc power source
Measuring amps is a bit trickier especially with mains power since you don't just shove it anywhere, but you have to break the circuit and put the amp meter in it, and be safe. So the easiest way to do this is by wiring the circuit yourself with the crocodile clips.
So turn off and unplug the device you want to test, in this case a monitor. Connect everything like shown in this picture. The arrows indicate the flow of electricity to make it easier to follow the circuit with all these wires all over. Note that this flow of electricity changes 60 times a second (50 times in some regions, the UK I believe) so this is why AC is different than DC.
So the white wire is plugged into the mains, and the black is the plug for the monitor. Completely ignore the ground for testing, DO NOT PLUG ANYTHING TO IT! In a permanent setup you would want to ground it, but for testing purposes it's ok to have it ungrounded for a bit, just be careful and if you feel safer ground a crocodile clip and connected to the grounding pin, but be careful since there's more chance of a wire slipping and shorting out. In the picture it's hard to see but the two wires connect to the two pins of the plug, so think of the two pins as the + and - of a device that needs power and the two wires as the + and - of a power source, since this is what it is, but with AC so the + and - order does not matter, but make sure the two wires don't contact each other since that's a short and you can blow the meter.
On the amp meter, the terminals used are the unfused 10A max and the COM. The fuse in the meter has a max of 500mA so it's best not to take a chance at blowing it, when we're measuring this much amps, and chances are you won't measure anything more then 10Amps. Never measure an entire power strip, but each item individually, to make sure of this.
When setting up the wires, make extra sure to unplug the cable that is feeding the power (the white one in this case) Once completed let part of the circuit broken like in thes picture below, plug in the cable then take both wires (the red crocodile clip and black meter cable in this case) and tick them together quickly just to be sure you won't cause some kind of short. Again, this is only to make sure you did not mess anything up such as badly setting the meter, or if some wires are touching somewhere that should not. Then hook them up together solidly and turn on the device you are measuring and you will get a reading. Lot of equipment have transformers and stuff which use up a bit of amps even when turned off, so this is why you will sometimes get a reading even when it's turned off. If you calculate all the devices in your house like this, you may be using a few amps from items just sitting there turned off!
The following pic shows the circuit unplugged and ready to go.
Take note of the reading and repeat this process for each item. So when done you should have something like this:
House voltage: 120V
PC full load: 1.2A
PC without fans, lights and UD: 0.8A
Monitor: 0.5A
Once you have all the readings, just do Volts times Amps. So...
120V X 1.2A = 144W
120V X 0.8A = 96W
120V X 0.5A = 63W
Since the first 2 readings are the same device you can decide on if you just want the average, or the most widely used. In my case I put the most widely used, since it's very rare that I turn off UD (0.2Amps) or the lights. Sometimes I may turn off a set of fans but those don't make a big difference. So I'll stick with 144W.
So now we simply add 144 + 63 which gives us 207 Watts. So now I know that my PC and monitor which are plugged into my UPS use up about 207Watts.
Also note that this is only the base of the concept and because this is AC and not DC, it get's more complicated. Amps are sometimes not in sync with the volts and unless you are using a RMS (root means square) meter, you may get inaccurate results. Some meters don't even tell you if they are RMS or not, so I'm not even sure if the one I used is or not but according to what some say these readings seem about right for the equipment used. Basically, try to not go too near your UPSes max wattage and you should be safe. Some UPSes also don't even tell you how many watts it can handle, but rather VA (volt amps) which are slightly different.
Danger: The activities in this tutorial were done since I knew what I was doing and was using proper safety measures to avoid accidents. Please realize that this activity, especially with amp readings over 1 can be fatal! Be extremely careful, especially not to close any open circuits with your body as it will make the amps go through you, and possibly kill you! If you have any heart problems, this is even a bigger risk to take and should most likely be done by someone else.
Disclaimer: IceTeks, or myself may not be held responsible for any damage done during the proceeding of this article. This is for informational purposes only and should only be performed by someone who knows what they are doing!
How to instal Window XP SP2
First things first,
The warez keys that allow you to install XP SP2 are ones with the the PID (Product ID) of xxxxx-640-xxxxxxx-xxxxx
(Note: x's will be numbers)
the easiest way to check yours is by pressing the Windows Key + Break.
In the System Properties window that appears look down to the Registered to: section, if the second group of 3 numbers reads anything other than 640 you need this guide. If it reads 640 then you are safe.
How to change your Product Key
Stage 1: Choose your Product Key
* Download the XPSP2-Keygen pack and extract its contents to a folder of your choice
* Open up XPSP2 & Office KeyGen.exe and change the Windows version to Windows XP Pro. VLK (You will notice the product ID range change to 640)
* Hit Generate a few times to generate your valid keys.
* Make a note of the key you have chosen.
Stage 2: Validate your Product Key
* Open up The Blue Lists XPKey.exe and choose the following options:
Software: Windows XP Corp
Mode: Test Key
* In the Progress box enter your key in the spaces provided
* Hit the Process! button. A small box will appear telling you if your key is valid or invalid. If valid move onto the final stage of actually changing the key, if not, please try again
Stage 3: Changing the Product Key
* Open up XPProCorp-keyChanger.exe and hit space to continue, you will see a huge list of keys appear, totally disregard them, hit space again.
* When the Activate Windows box appears choose the 2nd option 'Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows' and click Next
* In the next window (Activate Windows by phone) choose the option 'Change Product Key' which is across the bottom
* On the Change product key screen enter in your valid XPSP2 Product Key and click Update
* Once you return to the Activate Windows by phone screen simply close the Activate Windows box.
* Press the Windows Key + Break to confirm you have the correct PID. If it reads xxxxx-640-xxxxxxx-xxxxx, congrats you can safely install XP SP2
Download the XPSP2-Keygen pack: http://tinyurl.com/7y2ac
Credits go to all of the writers of the programs in the keygen pack including Mr Dude who was a member of this forum in one if its previous incarnations.
Where is final SP2 ?
Following PID IDs will be banned in blue list prepared by Microsoft (thought to be pirated) to prevent from activating forthcoming service pack SP 2 for Windows XP home & Pro editions.
Windows XP Pro/Home Edition.
XXXXX-640-0000356-23XXX
XXXXX-640-2001765-23XXX
XXXXX-640-643718x-23XXX
XXXXX-641-309376x-23XXX
XXXXX-642-064580x-23XXX
XXXXX-642-464364x-23XXX
XXXXX-643-334701x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-081772x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-451265x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-874896x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-933704x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-962396x-23XXX
XXXXX-645-833254x-23XXX
XXXXX-645-994962x-23XXX
XXXXX-646-031843x-23XXX
XXXXX-646-104081x-23XXX
XXXXX-646-105103x-23XXX
XXXXX-647-318838x-23XXX
XXXXX-647-592029x-23XXX
XXXXX-647-677834x-23XXX
XXXXX-648-301691x-23XXX
XXXXX-648-819992x-23XXX
XXXXX-649-106765x-23XXX
XXXXX-649-941392x-23XXX
XXXXX-650-292312x-23XXX
The warez keys that allow you to install XP SP2 are ones with the the PID (Product ID) of xxxxx-640-xxxxxxx-xxxxx
(Note: x's will be numbers)
the easiest way to check yours is by pressing the Windows Key + Break.
In the System Properties window that appears look down to the Registered to: section, if the second group of 3 numbers reads anything other than 640 you need this guide. If it reads 640 then you are safe.
How to change your Product Key
Stage 1: Choose your Product Key
* Download the XPSP2-Keygen pack and extract its contents to a folder of your choice
* Open up XPSP2 & Office KeyGen.exe and change the Windows version to Windows XP Pro. VLK (You will notice the product ID range change to 640)
* Hit Generate a few times to generate your valid keys.
* Make a note of the key you have chosen.
Stage 2: Validate your Product Key
* Open up The Blue Lists XPKey.exe and choose the following options:
Software: Windows XP Corp
Mode: Test Key
* In the Progress box enter your key in the spaces provided
* Hit the Process! button. A small box will appear telling you if your key is valid or invalid. If valid move onto the final stage of actually changing the key, if not, please try again
Stage 3: Changing the Product Key
* Open up XPProCorp-keyChanger.exe and hit space to continue, you will see a huge list of keys appear, totally disregard them, hit space again.
* When the Activate Windows box appears choose the 2nd option 'Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows' and click Next
* In the next window (Activate Windows by phone) choose the option 'Change Product Key' which is across the bottom
* On the Change product key screen enter in your valid XPSP2 Product Key and click Update
* Once you return to the Activate Windows by phone screen simply close the Activate Windows box.
* Press the Windows Key + Break to confirm you have the correct PID. If it reads xxxxx-640-xxxxxxx-xxxxx, congrats you can safely install XP SP2
Download the XPSP2-Keygen pack: http://tinyurl.com/7y2ac
Credits go to all of the writers of the programs in the keygen pack including Mr Dude who was a member of this forum in one if its previous incarnations.
Where is final SP2 ?
Following PID IDs will be banned in blue list prepared by Microsoft (thought to be pirated) to prevent from activating forthcoming service pack SP 2 for Windows XP home & Pro editions.
Windows XP Pro/Home Edition.
XXXXX-640-0000356-23XXX
XXXXX-640-2001765-23XXX
XXXXX-640-643718x-23XXX
XXXXX-641-309376x-23XXX
XXXXX-642-064580x-23XXX
XXXXX-642-464364x-23XXX
XXXXX-643-334701x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-081772x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-451265x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-874896x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-933704x-23XXX
XXXXX-644-962396x-23XXX
XXXXX-645-833254x-23XXX
XXXXX-645-994962x-23XXX
XXXXX-646-031843x-23XXX
XXXXX-646-104081x-23XXX
XXXXX-646-105103x-23XXX
XXXXX-647-318838x-23XXX
XXXXX-647-592029x-23XXX
XXXXX-647-677834x-23XXX
XXXXX-648-301691x-23XXX
XXXXX-648-819992x-23XXX
XXXXX-649-106765x-23XXX
XXXXX-649-941392x-23XXX
XXXXX-650-292312x-23XXX
3 ways of bypass the StarForce CD Protection that comes with some games
The 2 first ways, were used to bypass the StarForce Protection of «Codename Panzers Phase», the last one, is the way of play «D-Day», but they might work with other games:
First:
1) Do not put any cd...;
2) Run Daemon-Tools with RMPS on (don't know how necessary is this);
3) Run the game...it will say Error, No CD Found or something like this;
4) Turn off Daemon-Tools rpms...
5) Eject the CDrom/DVDrom and put it in...and when it's beginning to retract back the CD tray... i click retry immediately! Before it even goes in.
When doing this i get 100% success loading the game with the backup CD!...If i waited until the CD goes all the way in, it never worked for me.
================================================================================
Second:
1) CD1 & CD2 has to be burned on a 700MB CD-R or CD-RW, burn CD3 on a 700MB CD-RW!!!
2) Select the following preferences with Alcohol 120% and then burn the CD:
Filetype:...............................:Useradvan ced (as the user want´s it?)
Murnmethod:.........................AO/SAO
Buffer Underrun Technology activate:.oh.gifN
Don´t Close The Last Session:........:OFF
Ignore EFM Error :.....................:OFF
Correct Sub-Channel :................oh.gifN (default)
"RMPS" write on disc (or write on medium I don´t know):............:OFF
3) Install the game and start it;
4) Reboot your pc that the Starforce 3 driver is going to activate itsself;
5) Insert the disc 3 an play the game;
NOTE: Before the Start you aren´t allowed to activate Emulations with alcohol or to run any kind of deamontool
Don´t Mount the Images! The game starts only if you have Disc 3 in your drive!
Addition:
Burn CD1, CD2, CD3 as it´s described in the upper part, than remove alcohol 120.
Remove all CD´s of your drives.
Start Deamon-Tools and activate RMPS.
Start Panzers.
Than there is a ERROR: CD not found (or something like that)- but thats ok.
Now deactivate the RMPS in your DeamonTools but still run the program in the background . Deactivate only PMPS . Now insert CD3 to your drive an click on the button retry
Now the game starts.
================================================================================
Third:
1) Install D-Day;
2) Shut Down PC;
3) Turn off the power from yor CD/DVD-Roms manually;
4) Turn on your PC;
5) Mount the D-Day CD1 with Deamon-Tools, use RMPS Emulation;
6) Play and have fun.
First:
1) Do not put any cd...;
2) Run Daemon-Tools with RMPS on (don't know how necessary is this);
3) Run the game...it will say Error, No CD Found or something like this;
4) Turn off Daemon-Tools rpms...
5) Eject the CDrom/DVDrom and put it in...and when it's beginning to retract back the CD tray... i click retry immediately! Before it even goes in.
When doing this i get 100% success loading the game with the backup CD!...If i waited until the CD goes all the way in, it never worked for me.
================================================================================
Second:
1) CD1 & CD2 has to be burned on a 700MB CD-R or CD-RW, burn CD3 on a 700MB CD-RW!!!
2) Select the following preferences with Alcohol 120% and then burn the CD:
Filetype:...............................:Useradvan ced (as the user want´s it?)
Murnmethod:.........................AO/SAO
Buffer Underrun Technology activate:.oh.gifN
Don´t Close The Last Session:........:OFF
Ignore EFM Error :.....................:OFF
Correct Sub-Channel :................oh.gifN (default)
"RMPS" write on disc (or write on medium I don´t know):............:OFF
3) Install the game and start it;
4) Reboot your pc that the Starforce 3 driver is going to activate itsself;
5) Insert the disc 3 an play the game;
NOTE: Before the Start you aren´t allowed to activate Emulations with alcohol or to run any kind of deamontool
Don´t Mount the Images! The game starts only if you have Disc 3 in your drive!
Addition:
Burn CD1, CD2, CD3 as it´s described in the upper part, than remove alcohol 120.
Remove all CD´s of your drives.
Start Deamon-Tools and activate RMPS.
Start Panzers.
Than there is a ERROR: CD not found (or something like that)- but thats ok.
Now deactivate the RMPS in your DeamonTools but still run the program in the background . Deactivate only PMPS . Now insert CD3 to your drive an click on the button retry
Now the game starts.
================================================================================
Third:
1) Install D-Day;
2) Shut Down PC;
3) Turn off the power from yor CD/DVD-Roms manually;
4) Turn on your PC;
5) Mount the D-Day CD1 with Deamon-Tools, use RMPS Emulation;
6) Play and have fun.
Tired Of Reinstalling Windows
My Suggestions For A Better And Easier Computing:
-> First partition ur HDD as follows. C: (primary, bootable) 10GB, D: (ur choice), E: (10 GB)
-> Next install 2 OSs, it can be XP,XP or XP,9X. One OS in C: and other E:
Let OS in C:\ be called "TRASH" and that in E:\ be called "GOOD"
-> Boot into GOOD OS. Install all the important software (image viewer, winamp, winrar, acrobat, ms-office etc) in E:\program files\. Tweak all you settings, Install all the latest drivers, AV, service packs, patches etc and do the same for TRASH if you want! ALSO INSTALL THE IMAGING SOFTWARE.
-> Now boot to TRASH OS and move the "E:\Documents and Settings" to D:\ and change the default Desktop folder and My Documents folder to d:\doc & settings of TRASH OS. (right click on My Doc, Properties. There just change E: to D:\ or manually "MOVE") for changing desktop u need a tweak program (I use X-Setup, fast and free) NOW INSTALL THE IMAGING SOFTWARE.
-> Depending on ur requirements, allocate pace for D: (say 15 GB). Now OS in E: is the main OS is called GOOD (just for easy identification). and the OS in C:\ is standby and is called TRASH (again this is for easy identification)
DONT FORGET TO ON BOTH THE OS. (I use Paragon HDD Manager, it is fine. The compression is good)
-> Boot into GOOD OS. and change the default Desktop folder and My Documents folder to d:\documents and settings.
-> Boot into TRASH OS. Defragment E:. Now load the imaging program, take the image or save image to file (NOT DRIVE COPY) and store safely (if it is on secondary hdd it is good) or if dont have one, save it to different partition or save on CD.
For installing image viewer, winamp, winrar, acrobat, ms-office and other must have apps use the Program Files folder (E:\)
Now you are done!
Since documents and settings is in D:\, if u restore from image, your private files are NOT lost.
The OS in C: is TRASH and the OS in E: is GOOD. These are just labels for better identification.
Use E:\ OS or GOOD as your primary OS. After this install any software utls to D:\. Sort software in categories like video, audio, dvd, cd, internet, graphics, protection etc. and install each app in thier sub-folder under the category.
If anything goes bad, goto standby OS, load Imaging app, restore the E-drive.
-> First partition ur HDD as follows. C: (primary, bootable) 10GB, D: (ur choice), E: (10 GB)
-> Next install 2 OSs, it can be XP,XP or XP,9X. One OS in C: and other E:
Let OS in C:\ be called "TRASH" and that in E:\ be called "GOOD"
-> Boot into GOOD OS. Install all the important software (image viewer, winamp, winrar, acrobat, ms-office etc) in E:\program files\. Tweak all you settings, Install all the latest drivers, AV, service packs, patches etc and do the same for TRASH if you want! ALSO INSTALL THE IMAGING SOFTWARE.
-> Now boot to TRASH OS and move the "E:\Documents and Settings" to D:\ and change the default Desktop folder and My Documents folder to d:\doc & settings of TRASH OS. (right click on My Doc, Properties. There just change E: to D:\ or manually "MOVE") for changing desktop u need a tweak program (I use X-Setup, fast and free) NOW INSTALL THE IMAGING SOFTWARE.
-> Depending on ur requirements, allocate pace for D: (say 15 GB). Now OS in E: is the main OS is called GOOD (just for easy identification). and the OS in C:\ is standby and is called TRASH (again this is for easy identification)
DONT FORGET TO ON BOTH THE OS. (I use Paragon HDD Manager, it is fine. The compression is good)
-> Boot into GOOD OS. and change the default Desktop folder and My Documents folder to d:\documents and settings.
-> Boot into TRASH OS. Defragment E:. Now load the imaging program, take the image or save image to file (NOT DRIVE COPY) and store safely (if it is on secondary hdd it is good) or if dont have one, save it to different partition or save on CD.
For installing image viewer, winamp, winrar, acrobat, ms-office and other must have apps use the Program Files folder (E:\)
Now you are done!
Since documents and settings is in D:\, if u restore from image, your private files are NOT lost.
The OS in C: is TRASH and the OS in E: is GOOD. These are just labels for better identification.
Use E:\ OS or GOOD as your primary OS. After this install any software utls to D:\. Sort software in categories like video, audio, dvd, cd, internet, graphics, protection etc. and install each app in thier sub-folder under the category.
If anything goes bad, goto standby OS, load Imaging app, restore the E-drive.
Translating Binary to Text
Tutorial for those willing to Learn
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Binary System
3. Converting Binary to ASCII (Text)
Introduction:
We’ve all seen binary code. We’ve come to think of them as a bunch of ones and zeroes in long strings…
010010101010101001101011
But these ones and zeroes can also represent decimal numbers. First off, I will show you how to read these numbers as the decimal numbers we’re used to in our daily life. Then, I will show you how to use those numbers and your keypad to translate them into text. Note that your computer doesn’t use the decimal system, so technically, when it converts binary to text, it doesn’t go through the process I will show you. This is just a divertive way of explaining you how the binary system works.
The Binary System:
Here’s a simple example of binary:
10101
Let’s think of the example above as empty slots:
_ _ _ _ _
First off, you read binary from right-to-left. It’s just the way it’s designed. The first slot from the right represents a value of one, the second from the right a value of two, the third from the right a value of four, the fourth from the right a value of eight, the fifth from the right a value of sixteen, and the cycle continues by multiples of 2. This will never change.
By putting a 1 or a 0 in those slots you are either saying you want to corresponding value that’s attached to that slot or you don’t. A 1 means yes, and a 0 means no. For example, putting a zero in the first slot from the right, but a 1 in the second slot from the right means you want a two, but not a one:
_ _ _ 1 0
As such, the number above equals to a decimal value of two.
As an example, let’s say you want to represent eight in binary form. Well, thinking about the slots, you want the first slot to be 0 because you don’t want a one, you want the second slot to also be 0 because you don’t want a two, you want the third slot to also to be 0 because you don’t want a four, but you want the fifth slot to be 1 because you want a value of eight. As such, eight in binary form is:
1 0 0 0 (or simply 1000 without those underlines)
Now it is important to note that the amount of zeroes that precede the first value of one from the left is unimportant. So for example:
1 0 0 0 is the same as 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 (1000 = 000100)
To get it cleared up, here’s another example:
0 1 is the same as 1
Exercises: What do the following equal in decimal terms?
a) 100
b] 000100
c) 100000
d) 0010
Answers:
a) 4
b] 4
c) 32
d) 2
If you got the answers above right, then you pretty much understand the basics of binary.
Let’s now understand how to get the corresponding decimal values to the numbers which are not multiples of 2.
To get the total value of a binary number, add the values corresponding to each slot. So, for example, three in binary would be:
11
The above corresponds to three because if you add the total values of all the slots, that is to say a one from the slot to the right, and a two from the second slot to the right, then it equals three.
As another example, let’s say you want to represent 5 in binary terms. Then you would need a value of one to be added to a value of four, and you would not want a value of two:
101 [Reading from the right: 1(one) + 0(two) + 1(four) = five]
Here’s an additional example:
001011 [Reading from the right: 1(one) + 1(two) + 0(four) + 1(eight) + 0(sixteen) + 0(thirty-two) = eleven)
Exercises: What do the following equal in decimal terms?
a) 11011
b] 110
c) 010101
d) 10110
Answers:
a) 27
b] 6
c) 21
d) 22
If you got the above questions correct [without cheating], then you essentially understand the binary system. Understanding the binary system was the hard part. What follows is pretty easy.
3. Converting Binary to ASCII (Text)
ASCII is essentially the letters, numbers and symbols that are stored in our computers through the use of fonts. When the keyboard relays the buttons you pressed, it sends in a code which is then converted to the ASCII equivalent of “k” or “5” or whatever key you pressed.
Here’s an example of a message “hidden” in binary text:
0100100001100101011011000110110001101111
Now there are only so many letters, numbers and symbols stored for ASCII. Having sets of 8 digits for their binary equivalent is more than enough to represent all of these letters and the like. As such, all strings that represent text like in the above are separated into bits of 8 for simplicity:
01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111
Okay, so our example message was separated into 8 digit strings. The decimal value for each of these strings in the example was calculated for you.
01001000 = 72
01100101 = 101
01101100 = 108
01101100 = 108
01101111 = 111
The result was 72,101,108,108,111. Now, there is something called the ASCII table. It essentially corresponds to the binary numbers from yore to the equivalent letters/symbols/numbers. But since we found the decimal values of these binary strings, we can use a major shortcut.
By pressing ALT + [The Number], you will get the ASCII equivalent of that number. For example, by pressing the ALT key and at then (while keeping it down) the numbers 72 in any text editor, you will get the corresponding “H” to show up.
Let’s do so for the entire example message:
72 = H
101 = e
108 = l
108 = l
111 = o
So the entire “hidden” message translates to “Hello”.
Exercise: Decode the following message
010000110110111101101110011001110111001001100001011101000111010101101100011000010111010001
101001011011110110111001110011 00100001
Hint: The first step on your way to decoding the message (separated into bytes for you)
01000011 01101111 01101110 01100111 01110010 01100001 01110100 01110101 01101100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100001
PS. Please note that this is the information as I've come to understand it. As such, it's somewhat easier to understand, but it may not necessarily be accurate. In other words, if another source contradicts what has been indicated here, that source is probably right. This text was completely written up by me, with no other sources for aid. If you wish to distribute this text, feel free to do so, but I would appreciate it if you contacted me first.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Binary System
3. Converting Binary to ASCII (Text)
Introduction:
We’ve all seen binary code. We’ve come to think of them as a bunch of ones and zeroes in long strings…
010010101010101001101011
But these ones and zeroes can also represent decimal numbers. First off, I will show you how to read these numbers as the decimal numbers we’re used to in our daily life. Then, I will show you how to use those numbers and your keypad to translate them into text. Note that your computer doesn’t use the decimal system, so technically, when it converts binary to text, it doesn’t go through the process I will show you. This is just a divertive way of explaining you how the binary system works.
The Binary System:
Here’s a simple example of binary:
10101
Let’s think of the example above as empty slots:
_ _ _ _ _
First off, you read binary from right-to-left. It’s just the way it’s designed. The first slot from the right represents a value of one, the second from the right a value of two, the third from the right a value of four, the fourth from the right a value of eight, the fifth from the right a value of sixteen, and the cycle continues by multiples of 2. This will never change.
By putting a 1 or a 0 in those slots you are either saying you want to corresponding value that’s attached to that slot or you don’t. A 1 means yes, and a 0 means no. For example, putting a zero in the first slot from the right, but a 1 in the second slot from the right means you want a two, but not a one:
_ _ _ 1 0
As such, the number above equals to a decimal value of two.
As an example, let’s say you want to represent eight in binary form. Well, thinking about the slots, you want the first slot to be 0 because you don’t want a one, you want the second slot to also be 0 because you don’t want a two, you want the third slot to also to be 0 because you don’t want a four, but you want the fifth slot to be 1 because you want a value of eight. As such, eight in binary form is:
1 0 0 0 (or simply 1000 without those underlines)
Now it is important to note that the amount of zeroes that precede the first value of one from the left is unimportant. So for example:
1 0 0 0 is the same as 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 (1000 = 000100)
To get it cleared up, here’s another example:
0 1 is the same as 1
Exercises: What do the following equal in decimal terms?
a) 100
b] 000100
c) 100000
d) 0010
Answers:
a) 4
b] 4
c) 32
d) 2
If you got the answers above right, then you pretty much understand the basics of binary.
Let’s now understand how to get the corresponding decimal values to the numbers which are not multiples of 2.
To get the total value of a binary number, add the values corresponding to each slot. So, for example, three in binary would be:
11
The above corresponds to three because if you add the total values of all the slots, that is to say a one from the slot to the right, and a two from the second slot to the right, then it equals three.
As another example, let’s say you want to represent 5 in binary terms. Then you would need a value of one to be added to a value of four, and you would not want a value of two:
101 [Reading from the right: 1(one) + 0(two) + 1(four) = five]
Here’s an additional example:
001011 [Reading from the right: 1(one) + 1(two) + 0(four) + 1(eight) + 0(sixteen) + 0(thirty-two) = eleven)
Exercises: What do the following equal in decimal terms?
a) 11011
b] 110
c) 010101
d) 10110
Answers:
a) 27
b] 6
c) 21
d) 22
If you got the above questions correct [without cheating], then you essentially understand the binary system. Understanding the binary system was the hard part. What follows is pretty easy.
3. Converting Binary to ASCII (Text)
ASCII is essentially the letters, numbers and symbols that are stored in our computers through the use of fonts. When the keyboard relays the buttons you pressed, it sends in a code which is then converted to the ASCII equivalent of “k” or “5” or whatever key you pressed.
Here’s an example of a message “hidden” in binary text:
0100100001100101011011000110110001101111
Now there are only so many letters, numbers and symbols stored for ASCII. Having sets of 8 digits for their binary equivalent is more than enough to represent all of these letters and the like. As such, all strings that represent text like in the above are separated into bits of 8 for simplicity:
01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111
Okay, so our example message was separated into 8 digit strings. The decimal value for each of these strings in the example was calculated for you.
01001000 = 72
01100101 = 101
01101100 = 108
01101100 = 108
01101111 = 111
The result was 72,101,108,108,111. Now, there is something called the ASCII table. It essentially corresponds to the binary numbers from yore to the equivalent letters/symbols/numbers. But since we found the decimal values of these binary strings, we can use a major shortcut.
By pressing ALT + [The Number], you will get the ASCII equivalent of that number. For example, by pressing the ALT key and at then (while keeping it down) the numbers 72 in any text editor, you will get the corresponding “H” to show up.
Let’s do so for the entire example message:
72 = H
101 = e
108 = l
108 = l
111 = o
So the entire “hidden” message translates to “Hello”.
Exercise: Decode the following message
010000110110111101101110011001110111001001100001011101000111010101101100011000010111010001
101001011011110110111001110011 00100001
Hint: The first step on your way to decoding the message (separated into bytes for you)
01000011 01101111 01101110 01100111 01110010 01100001 01110100 01110101 01101100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00100001
PS. Please note that this is the information as I've come to understand it. As such, it's somewhat easier to understand, but it may not necessarily be accurate. In other words, if another source contradicts what has been indicated here, that source is probably right. This text was completely written up by me, with no other sources for aid. If you wish to distribute this text, feel free to do so, but I would appreciate it if you contacted me first.
here is a list of services that can be turned off
this will speed up your pc a bit
right click my computer
manage
services and applications
services
set these to disabled you will need to reboot for them to take effect if you have a problem with any just reenable them again ie if you have a smart card and you disable it wont work
alerter
application layer gateway service
application management
ati hotkey poller
automatic updates
background intelligent transfer service
clipbook
com+ event system
com+ system application
distributed transaction coordinator
error reporting service
fast user switching compatibility
help and support
human interface device access
imapi cd burning com service
indexing service
internet connection firewall(icf)/internet connecton sharing(ics)
ipsec services
logical disk manager
logical disk manager administrative service
messenger
ms software shadow copy provider
net logon
netmeeting remote desktop sharing
network dde
network dde dsdm
nt lm securtiy support provider
performance logs and alerts
portable media serial number service
qos rsvp
remote desktop help sesson manager
remote registry
removable storage
secondary logon
security accounts manager
server
smart card
smart card helper
ssdp discovery service
system restore service
task scheduler
tcp/ip netbios helper
telnet
terminal services
uninterruptible power supply
universal plug and play device host
upload manager
video proes
volume shadow copy
webclient
windows time
wireless zone configuration
wmi performance adapter
workstation
right click my computer
manage
services and applications
services
set these to disabled you will need to reboot for them to take effect if you have a problem with any just reenable them again ie if you have a smart card and you disable it wont work
alerter
application layer gateway service
application management
ati hotkey poller
automatic updates
background intelligent transfer service
clipbook
com+ event system
com+ system application
distributed transaction coordinator
error reporting service
fast user switching compatibility
help and support
human interface device access
imapi cd burning com service
indexing service
internet connection firewall(icf)/internet connecton sharing(ics)
ipsec services
logical disk manager
logical disk manager administrative service
messenger
ms software shadow copy provider
net logon
netmeeting remote desktop sharing
network dde
network dde dsdm
nt lm securtiy support provider
performance logs and alerts
portable media serial number service
qos rsvp
remote desktop help sesson manager
remote registry
removable storage
secondary logon
security accounts manager
server
smart card
smart card helper
ssdp discovery service
system restore service
task scheduler
tcp/ip netbios helper
telnet
terminal services
uninterruptible power supply
universal plug and play device host
upload manager
video proes
volume shadow copy
webclient
windows time
wireless zone configuration
wmi performance adapter
workstation
Get the serial number you need !
Go to Google.
* In the search field type: "Product name" 94FBR
* Where, "Product Name" is the name of the item you want to find the serial number for.
* And voila - there you go - the serial number you needed.
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Quite simple really. 94FBR is part of a Office 2000 Pro cd key that is widely distributed as it bypasses the activation requirements of Office 2K Pro. By searching for the product name and 94fbr, you guarantee two things. 1) The pages that are returned are pages dealing specifically with the product you're wanting a serial for. 2) Because 94FBR is part of a serial number, and only part of a serial number, you guarantee that any page being returned is a serial number list page.
See these example searches:
"Photoshop 7" 94FBR
"Age of Mythology" 94FBR
"Nero Burning Rom 5.5" 94FBR
* In the search field type: "Product name" 94FBR
* Where, "Product Name" is the name of the item you want to find the serial number for.
* And voila - there you go - the serial number you needed.
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
Quite simple really. 94FBR is part of a Office 2000 Pro cd key that is widely distributed as it bypasses the activation requirements of Office 2K Pro. By searching for the product name and 94fbr, you guarantee two things. 1) The pages that are returned are pages dealing specifically with the product you're wanting a serial for. 2) Because 94FBR is part of a serial number, and only part of a serial number, you guarantee that any page being returned is a serial number list page.
See these example searches:
"Photoshop 7" 94FBR
"Age of Mythology" 94FBR
"Nero Burning Rom 5.5" 94FBR
Tutorial : How to create a bootable Windows XP SP1 CD (Nero)
Step 1
Create 3 folders - C:\WINXPSP1, C:\SP1106 and C:\XPBOOT
Step 2
Copy the entire Windows XP CD into folder C:\WINXPSP1
Step 3
You will have to download the SP1 Update, which is 133MB.
Rename the Service Pack file to XP-SP1.EXE
Extract the Service Pack from the Run Dialog using the command:
C:\XP-SP1.EXE -U -X:C:\SP1106
Step 4
Open Start/Run... and type the command:
C:\SP1106\update\update.exe -s:C:\WINXPSP1
Click OK
Folder C:\WINXPSP1 contains: Windows XP SP1
How to Create a Windows XP SP1 CD Bootable
Step 1
Download xpboot.zip
http://thro.port5.com/xpboot.zip
( no download manager !! )
Extract xpboot.zip file (xpboot.bin) in to the folder C:\XPBOOT
Step 2
Start Nero - Burning Rom.
Select File > New... from the menu.
1.) Select CD-ROM (Boot)
2.) Select Image file from Source of boot image data
3.) Set Kind of emulation: to No Emulation
4.) Set Load segment of sectors (hex!): to 07C0
5.) Set Number of loaded sectors: to 4
6.) Press the Browse... button
Step 3
Select All Files (*.*) from File of type:
Locate boot.bin in the folder C:\XPBOOT
Step 4
Click ISO tab
Set File-/Directory length to ISO Level 1 (Max. of 11 = 8 + 3 chars)
Set Format to Mode 1
Set Character Set to ISO 9660
Check all Relax ISO Restrictions
Step 5
Click Label Tab
Select ISO9660 from the drop down box.
Enter the Volume Label as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the System Identifier as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Volume Set as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Publisher as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Data Preparer as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Application as WB2PFRE_EN
* For Windows XP Professional OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXPOEM_EN
* For Windows XP Home OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXHOEM_EN
Step 6
Click Burn tab
Check Write
Check Finalize CD (No further writing possible!)
Set Write Method to Disk-At-Once
Press New button
Step 7
Locate the folder C:\WINXPSP1
Select everything in the folder and drag it to the ISO compilation panel.
Click the Write CD Dialog button.
Press Write
You're done.
Create 3 folders - C:\WINXPSP1, C:\SP1106 and C:\XPBOOT
Step 2
Copy the entire Windows XP CD into folder C:\WINXPSP1
Step 3
You will have to download the SP1 Update, which is 133MB.
Rename the Service Pack file to XP-SP1.EXE
Extract the Service Pack from the Run Dialog using the command:
C:\XP-SP1.EXE -U -X:C:\SP1106
Step 4
Open Start/Run... and type the command:
C:\SP1106\update\update.exe -s:C:\WINXPSP1
Click OK
Folder C:\WINXPSP1 contains: Windows XP SP1
How to Create a Windows XP SP1 CD Bootable
Step 1
Download xpboot.zip
http://thro.port5.com/xpboot.zip
( no download manager !! )
Extract xpboot.zip file (xpboot.bin) in to the folder C:\XPBOOT
Step 2
Start Nero - Burning Rom.
Select File > New... from the menu.
1.) Select CD-ROM (Boot)
2.) Select Image file from Source of boot image data
3.) Set Kind of emulation: to No Emulation
4.) Set Load segment of sectors (hex!): to 07C0
5.) Set Number of loaded sectors: to 4
6.) Press the Browse... button
Step 3
Select All Files (*.*) from File of type:
Locate boot.bin in the folder C:\XPBOOT
Step 4
Click ISO tab
Set File-/Directory length to ISO Level 1 (Max. of 11 = 8 + 3 chars)
Set Format to Mode 1
Set Character Set to ISO 9660
Check all Relax ISO Restrictions
Step 5
Click Label Tab
Select ISO9660 from the drop down box.
Enter the Volume Label as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the System Identifier as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Volume Set as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Publisher as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Data Preparer as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Application as WB2PFRE_EN
* For Windows XP Professional OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXPOEM_EN
* For Windows XP Home OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXHOEM_EN
Step 6
Click Burn tab
Check Write
Check Finalize CD (No further writing possible!)
Set Write Method to Disk-At-Once
Press New button
Step 7
Locate the folder C:\WINXPSP1
Select everything in the folder and drag it to the ISO compilation panel.
Click the Write CD Dialog button.
Press Write
You're done.
How to Bypass BIOS Passwords
BIOS passwords can add an extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers. They are used to either prevent a user from changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the PC from booting without a password. Unfortunately, BIOS passwords can also be a liability if a user forgets their password, or changes the password to intentionally lock out the corporate IT department. Sending the unit back to the manufacturer to have the BIOS reset can be expensive and is usually not covered in the warranty. Never fear, all is not lost. There are a few known backdoors and other tricks of the trade that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS
DISCLAIMER
This article is intended for IT Professionals and systems administrators with experience servicing computer hardware. It is not intended for home users, hackers, or computer thieves attempting to crack the password on a stolen PC. Please do not attempt any of these procedures if you are unfamiliar with computer hardware, and please use this information responsibly. LabMice.net is not responsible for the use or misuse of this material, including loss of data, damage to hardware, or personal injury.
Before attempting to bypass the BIOS password on a computer, please take a minute to contact the hardware manufacturer support staff directly and ask for their recommended methods of bypassing the BIOS security. In the event the manufacturer cannot (or will not) help you, there are a number of methods that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password yourself. They include:
Using a manufacturers backdoor password to access the BIOS
Use password cracking software
Reset the CMOS using the jumpers or solder beads.
Removing the CMOS battery for at least 10 minutes
Overloading the keyboard buffer
Using a professional service
Please remember that most BIOS passwords do not protect the hard drive, so if you need to recover the data, simply remove the hard drive and install it in an identical system, or configure it as a slave drive in an existing system. The exception to this are laptops, especially IBM Thinkpads, which silently lock the hard drive if the supervisor password is enabled. If the supervisor password is reset without resetting the and hard drive as well, you will be unable to access the data on the drive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Backdoor passwords
Many BIOS manufacturers have provided backdoor passwords that can be used to access the BIOS setup in the event you have lost your password. These passwords are case sensitive, so you may wish to try a variety of combinations. Keep in mind that the key associated to "_" in the US keyboard corresponds to "?" in some European keyboards. Laptops typically have better BIOS security than desktop systems, and we are not aware of any backdoor passwords that will work with name brand laptops.
WARNING: Some BIOS configurations will lock you out of the system completely if you type in an incorrect password more than 3 times. Read your manufacturers documentation for the BIOS setting before you begin typing in passwords
Award BIOS backdoor passwords:
ALFAROME ALLy aLLy aLLY ALLY aPAf _award AWARD_SW AWARD?SW AWARD SW AWARD PW AWKWARD awkward BIOSTAR CONCAT CONDO Condo d8on djonet HLT J64 J256 J262 j332 j322 KDD Lkwpeter LKWPETER PINT pint SER SKY_FOX SYXZ syxz shift + syxz TTPTHA ZAAADA ZBAAACA ZJAAADC 01322222
589589 589721 595595 598598
AMI BIOS backdoor passwords:
AMI AAAMMMIII BIOS PASSWORD HEWITT RAND AMI?SW AMI_SW LKWPETER A.M.I. CONDO
PHOENIX BIOS backdoor passwords:
phoenix, PHOENIX, CMOS, BIOS
MISC. COMMON PASSWORDS
ALFAROME BIOSTAR biostar biosstar CMOS cmos LKWPETER lkwpeter setup SETUP Syxz Wodj
OTHER BIOS PASSWORDS BY MANUFACTURER
Manufacturer Password
VOBIS & IBM merlin
Dell Dell
Biostar Biostar
Compaq Compaq
Enox xo11nE
Epox central
Freetech Posterie
IWill iwill
Jetway spooml
Packard Bell bell9
QDI QDI
Siemens SKY_FOX
TMC BIGO
Toshiba Toshiba
TOSHIBA BIOS
Most Toshiba laptops and some desktop systems will bypass the BIOS password if the left shift key is held down during boot
IBM APTIVA BIOS
Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Password cracking software
The following software can be used to either crack or reset the BIOS on many chipsets. If your PC is locked with a BIOS administrator password that will not allow access to the floppy drive, these utilities may not work. Also, since these utilities do not come from the manufacturer, use them cautiously and at your own risk.
Cmos password recovery tools 3.1
!BIOS (get the how-to article)
RemPass
KILLCMOS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using the Motherboard "Clear CMOS" Jumper or Dipswitch settings
Many motherboards feature a set of jumpers or dipswitches that will clear the CMOS and wipe all of the custom settings including BIOS passwords. The locations of these jumpers / dipswitches will vary depending on the motherboard manufacturer and ideally you should always refer to the motherboard or computer manufacturers documentation. If the documentation is unavailable, the jumpers/dipswitches can sometimes be found along the edge of the motherboard, next to the CMOS battery, or near the processor. Some manufacturers may label the jumper / dipswitch CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD. On laptop computers, the dipswitches are usually found under the keyboard or within a compartment at the bottom of the laptop.
Please remember to unplug your PC and use a grounding strip before reaching into your PC and touching the motherboard. Once you locate and rest the jumper switches, turn the computer on and check if the password has been cleared. If it has, turn the computer off and return the jumpers or dipswitches to its original position.
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Removing the CMOS Battery
The CMOS settings on most systems are buffered by a small battery that is attached to the motherboard. (It looks like a small watch battery). If you unplug the PC and remove the battery for 10-15 minutes, the CMOS may reset itself and the password should be blank. (Along with any other machine specific settings, so be sure you are familiar with manually reconfiguring the BIOS settings before you do this.) Some manufacturers backup the power to the CMOS chipset by using a capacitor, so if your first attempt fails, leave the battery out (with the system unplugged) for at least 24 hours. Some batteries are actually soldered onto the motherboard making this task more difficult. Unsoldering the battery incorrectly may damage your motherboard and other components, so please don't attempt this if you are inexperienced. Another option may be to remove the CMOS chip from the motherboard for a period of time.
Note: Removing the battery to reset the CMOS will not work for all PC's, and almost all of the newer laptops store their BIOS passwords in a manner which does not require continuous power, so removing the CMOS battery may not work at all. IBM Thinkpad laptops lock the hard drive as well as the BIOS when the supervisor password is set. If you reset the BIOS password, but cannot reset the hard drive password, you may not be able to access the drive and it will remain locked, even if you place it in a new laptop. IBM Thinkpads have special jumper switches on the motherboard, and these should be used to reset the system.
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Overloading the KeyBoard Buffer
On some older computer systems, you can force the CMOS to enter its setup screen on boot by overloading the keyboard buffer. This can be done by booting with the keyboard or mouse unattached to the systems, or on some systems by hitting the ESC key over 100 times in rapid succession.
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Jumping the Solder Beads on the CMOS
It is also possible to reset the CMOS by connecting or "jumping" specific solder beads on the chipset. There are too many chipsets to do a breakdown of which points to jump on individual chipsets, and the location of these solder beads can vary by manufacturer, so please check your computer and motherboard documentation for details. This technique is not recommended for the inexperienced and should be only be used as a "last ditch" effort.
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Using a professional service
If the manufacturer of the laptop or desktop PC can't or won't reset the BIOS password, you still have the option of using a professional service. Password Crackers, Inc., offers a variety of services for desktop and laptop computers for between $100 and $400. For most of these services, you'll need to provide some type of legitimate proof of ownership. This may be difficult if you've acquired the computer second hand or from an online auction.
DISCLAIMER
This article is intended for IT Professionals and systems administrators with experience servicing computer hardware. It is not intended for home users, hackers, or computer thieves attempting to crack the password on a stolen PC. Please do not attempt any of these procedures if you are unfamiliar with computer hardware, and please use this information responsibly. LabMice.net is not responsible for the use or misuse of this material, including loss of data, damage to hardware, or personal injury.
Before attempting to bypass the BIOS password on a computer, please take a minute to contact the hardware manufacturer support staff directly and ask for their recommended methods of bypassing the BIOS security. In the event the manufacturer cannot (or will not) help you, there are a number of methods that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password yourself. They include:
Using a manufacturers backdoor password to access the BIOS
Use password cracking software
Reset the CMOS using the jumpers or solder beads.
Removing the CMOS battery for at least 10 minutes
Overloading the keyboard buffer
Using a professional service
Please remember that most BIOS passwords do not protect the hard drive, so if you need to recover the data, simply remove the hard drive and install it in an identical system, or configure it as a slave drive in an existing system. The exception to this are laptops, especially IBM Thinkpads, which silently lock the hard drive if the supervisor password is enabled. If the supervisor password is reset without resetting the and hard drive as well, you will be unable to access the data on the drive.
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Backdoor passwords
Many BIOS manufacturers have provided backdoor passwords that can be used to access the BIOS setup in the event you have lost your password. These passwords are case sensitive, so you may wish to try a variety of combinations. Keep in mind that the key associated to "_" in the US keyboard corresponds to "?" in some European keyboards. Laptops typically have better BIOS security than desktop systems, and we are not aware of any backdoor passwords that will work with name brand laptops.
WARNING: Some BIOS configurations will lock you out of the system completely if you type in an incorrect password more than 3 times. Read your manufacturers documentation for the BIOS setting before you begin typing in passwords
Award BIOS backdoor passwords:
ALFAROME ALLy aLLy aLLY ALLY aPAf _award AWARD_SW AWARD?SW AWARD SW AWARD PW AWKWARD awkward BIOSTAR CONCAT CONDO Condo d8on djonet HLT J64 J256 J262 j332 j322 KDD Lkwpeter LKWPETER PINT pint SER SKY_FOX SYXZ syxz shift + syxz TTPTHA ZAAADA ZBAAACA ZJAAADC 01322222
589589 589721 595595 598598
AMI BIOS backdoor passwords:
AMI AAAMMMIII BIOS PASSWORD HEWITT RAND AMI?SW AMI_SW LKWPETER A.M.I. CONDO
PHOENIX BIOS backdoor passwords:
phoenix, PHOENIX, CMOS, BIOS
MISC. COMMON PASSWORDS
ALFAROME BIOSTAR biostar biosstar CMOS cmos LKWPETER lkwpeter setup SETUP Syxz Wodj
OTHER BIOS PASSWORDS BY MANUFACTURER
Manufacturer Password
VOBIS & IBM merlin
Dell Dell
Biostar Biostar
Compaq Compaq
Enox xo11nE
Epox central
Freetech Posterie
IWill iwill
Jetway spooml
Packard Bell bell9
QDI QDI
Siemens SKY_FOX
TMC BIGO
Toshiba Toshiba
TOSHIBA BIOS
Most Toshiba laptops and some desktop systems will bypass the BIOS password if the left shift key is held down during boot
IBM APTIVA BIOS
Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot
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Password cracking software
The following software can be used to either crack or reset the BIOS on many chipsets. If your PC is locked with a BIOS administrator password that will not allow access to the floppy drive, these utilities may not work. Also, since these utilities do not come from the manufacturer, use them cautiously and at your own risk.
Cmos password recovery tools 3.1
!BIOS (get the how-to article)
RemPass
KILLCMOS
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Using the Motherboard "Clear CMOS" Jumper or Dipswitch settings
Many motherboards feature a set of jumpers or dipswitches that will clear the CMOS and wipe all of the custom settings including BIOS passwords. The locations of these jumpers / dipswitches will vary depending on the motherboard manufacturer and ideally you should always refer to the motherboard or computer manufacturers documentation. If the documentation is unavailable, the jumpers/dipswitches can sometimes be found along the edge of the motherboard, next to the CMOS battery, or near the processor. Some manufacturers may label the jumper / dipswitch CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD. On laptop computers, the dipswitches are usually found under the keyboard or within a compartment at the bottom of the laptop.
Please remember to unplug your PC and use a grounding strip before reaching into your PC and touching the motherboard. Once you locate and rest the jumper switches, turn the computer on and check if the password has been cleared. If it has, turn the computer off and return the jumpers or dipswitches to its original position.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removing the CMOS Battery
The CMOS settings on most systems are buffered by a small battery that is attached to the motherboard. (It looks like a small watch battery). If you unplug the PC and remove the battery for 10-15 minutes, the CMOS may reset itself and the password should be blank. (Along with any other machine specific settings, so be sure you are familiar with manually reconfiguring the BIOS settings before you do this.) Some manufacturers backup the power to the CMOS chipset by using a capacitor, so if your first attempt fails, leave the battery out (with the system unplugged) for at least 24 hours. Some batteries are actually soldered onto the motherboard making this task more difficult. Unsoldering the battery incorrectly may damage your motherboard and other components, so please don't attempt this if you are inexperienced. Another option may be to remove the CMOS chip from the motherboard for a period of time.
Note: Removing the battery to reset the CMOS will not work for all PC's, and almost all of the newer laptops store their BIOS passwords in a manner which does not require continuous power, so removing the CMOS battery may not work at all. IBM Thinkpad laptops lock the hard drive as well as the BIOS when the supervisor password is set. If you reset the BIOS password, but cannot reset the hard drive password, you may not be able to access the drive and it will remain locked, even if you place it in a new laptop. IBM Thinkpads have special jumper switches on the motherboard, and these should be used to reset the system.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overloading the KeyBoard Buffer
On some older computer systems, you can force the CMOS to enter its setup screen on boot by overloading the keyboard buffer. This can be done by booting with the keyboard or mouse unattached to the systems, or on some systems by hitting the ESC key over 100 times in rapid succession.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jumping the Solder Beads on the CMOS
It is also possible to reset the CMOS by connecting or "jumping" specific solder beads on the chipset. There are too many chipsets to do a breakdown of which points to jump on individual chipsets, and the location of these solder beads can vary by manufacturer, so please check your computer and motherboard documentation for details. This technique is not recommended for the inexperienced and should be only be used as a "last ditch" effort.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using a professional service
If the manufacturer of the laptop or desktop PC can't or won't reset the BIOS password, you still have the option of using a professional service. Password Crackers, Inc., offers a variety of services for desktop and laptop computers for between $100 and $400. For most of these services, you'll need to provide some type of legitimate proof of ownership. This may be difficult if you've acquired the computer second hand or from an online auction.
Unlimited Rapidshare Downloads
Its very easy to fool Rapid Share server if your IP address is assigned by your ISP. Just follow these simple steps:
clean up IE or netscape cookie( In this case the one that belong to rapidshare website)
On Command prompt
type -----> ipconfig /flushdns <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /release <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /renew <---Enter type -----> exit <--------Enter
Or save these commands in a bat file and run it everytime you need to fool Rapidshare server.Remember to clean up rapidshare cookie in your temp Internet files folder.
Now you should be ready to download as many files as you want from their server.
And there is this cool link: paste it in the browser and see
CODE
http://www.google.com/search?lr=&as_qdr=all&q=+.rar+OR+.zip+OR+.pdf+OR+.exe+site%3Arapidshare.de
clean up IE or netscape cookie( In this case the one that belong to rapidshare website)
On Command prompt
type -----> ipconfig /flushdns <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /release <---Enter type -----> ipconfig /renew <---Enter type -----> exit <--------Enter
Or save these commands in a bat file and run it everytime you need to fool Rapidshare server.Remember to clean up rapidshare cookie in your temp Internet files folder.
Now you should be ready to download as many files as you want from their server.
And there is this cool link: paste it in the browser and see
CODE
http://www.google.com/search?lr=&as_qdr=all&q=+.rar+OR+.zip+OR+.pdf+OR+.exe+site%3Arapidshare.de
Untold Windows Tips and Secrets
Welcome to another Hacking Truths Manual. This time I have a collection of Tips and Tricks which no body normally knows, the secrets which Microsoft is afraid to tell the people, the information which you will seldom find all gathered up and arranged in a single file. To fully reap this Manual you need to have a basic understanding of the Windows Registry, as almost all the Tricks and Tips involve this file.
****************
Important Note: Before you read on, you need to keep one thing in mind. Whenever you make changes to the Windows Registry you need to Refresh it before the changes take place. Simply press F5 to refresh the registry and enable the changes. If this does not work Restart your system
****************
Exiting Windows the Cool and Quick Way
Normally it takes a hell lot of time just Shutting down Windows, you have to move your mouse to the Start Button, click on it, move it again over Shut Down, click, then move it over the necessary option and click, then move the cursor over the OK button and once again (you guessed it) click.This whole process can be shortened by creating shortcuts on the Desktop which will shut down Windows at the click of a button. Start by creating a new shortcut( right click and select New> Shortcut). Then in the command line box, type (without the quotes.)
'C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec'
This Shortcut on clicking will restart Windows immediately without any Warning. To create a Shortcut to Restarting Windows, type the following in the Command Line box:
'c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows'
This Shortcut on clicking will shut down Windows immediately without any Warning.
Ban Shutdowns : A trick to Play on Lamers
This is a neat trick you can play on that lamer that has a huge ego, in this section I teach you, how to disable the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. This trick involves editing the registry, so please make backups. Launch regedit.exe and go to :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane look for the NoClose Key. If it is not already there then create it by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New > String Value.(Name it NoCloseKey ) Now once you see the NoCloseKey in the right pane, right click on it and select Modify. Then Type 1 in the Value Data Box.
Doing the above on a Win98 system disables the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. But on a Win95 machine if the value of NoCloseKey is set to 1 then click on the Start > Shut Down button displays the following error message:
This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.
You can enable the shut down option by changing the value of NoCloseKey to 0 or simply deleting the particular entry i.e. deleting NoCloseKey.
Instead of performing the above difficult to remember process, simply save the following with an extension of .reg and add it's contents to the registry by double clicking on it.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoClose"="1"
Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer
This is yet another trick you can play on your geek friend. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer go to :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives. Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item. It's .reg file is as follows:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoDrives"=dword:03ffffff
Take Over the Screen Saver
To activate and deactivate the screen saver whenever you want, goto the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ScreenSavers
Now add a new string value and name it Mouse Corners. Edit this new value to -Y-N. Press F5 to refresh the registry. Voila! Now you can activate your screensaver by simply placing the mouse cursor at the top right corner of the screen and if you take the mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen, the screensaver will deactivate.
Pop a banner each time Windows Boots
To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user is going to log on, go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon
Now create a new string Value in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create yet another new string value and name it: LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to display the company's private policy each time the user logs on to his NT box. It's .reg file would be:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."
Delete the Tips of the Day to save 5KB
Windows 95 had these tips of the day which appeared on a system running a newly installed Windows OS. These tips of the day are stored in the Windows Registry and consume 5K of space. For those of you who are really concerned about how much free space your hard disk has, I have the perfect trick.
To save 5K go to the following key in Regedit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips
Now simply delete these tricks by selecting and pressing the DEL key.
Change the Default Locations
To change the default drive or path where Windows will look for it's installation files, go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath
Now you can edit as you wish.
Secure your Desktop Icons and Settings
You can save your desktop settings and secure it from your nerdy friend by playing with the registry. Simply launch the Registry Editor go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane create a new DWORD Value named NoSaveSettings and modify it's value to 1. Refresh and restart for the settings to get saved.
CLSID Folders Explained
Don't you just hate those stubborn stupid icons that refuse to leave the desktop, like the Network Neighborhood icon. I am sure you want to know how you can delete them. You may say, that is really simple, simply right click on the concerned icon and select Delete. Well not exactly, you see when you right click on these special folders( see entire list below)neither the rename nor the delete option does not appear. To delete these folders, there are two methods, the first one is using the System Policy Editor(Poledit in the Windows installation CD)and the second is using the Registry.
Before we go on, you need to understand what CLSID values are. These folders, like the Control Panel, Inbox, The Microsoft Network, Dial Up Networking etc are system folders. Each system folder has a unique CLSID key or the Class ID which is a 16-byte value which identifies an individual object that points to a corresponding key in the registry.
To delete these system Folders from the desktop simply go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
To delete an icon simply delete the 16 byte CLSID value within "NameSpace". The following are the CLSID values of the most commonly used icons:
My Briefcase:{85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Desktop: {00021400-0000-0000-C000-0000000000046}
Control Panel:{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Dial-Up-Networking:{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}
Fonts: {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}
Inbox :{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
My Computer :{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Network Neighborhood:{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}
Printers :{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B30309D}
Recycle Bin :{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
The Microsoft Network:{00028B00-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
History: {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Winzip :{E0D79300-84BE-11CE-9641-444553540000}
For example, to delete the Recycle Bin, first note down it's CLSID value, which is: 645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E. Now go to the Namespace key in the registry and delete the corresponding key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}
Sometimes, you may need to play a trick on your brother or friend, well this one teaches you how to hide all icons from the Desktop. Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane create a new DWORD value by the name: NoDesktop and set its value to: 1. Reboot and you will find no icons on the desktop.
Till now you simply learnt how to delete the special system folders by deleting a registry key, but the hack would have been better if there was a way of adding the DELETE and RENAME option to the right click context menus of these special folders. You can actually change the right click context menu of any system folder and add any of the following options: RENAME, DELETE, CUT, COPY, PASTE and lots more.
This hack too requires you to know the CLSID value of the system folder whose menu you want to customize. In this section, I have taken up Recycle Bin as the folder whose context menu I am going to edit.
Firstly launch the registry editor and open the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder.
In Case you want to edit some other folder like say the FONTS folder, then you will open the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CLSID VALUE HERE}\ShellFolder.
In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes. Now consider the following options:
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_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\Shell-Folder]
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20
To access say the Modem Properties in the Control Panel Folder, the normal procedure is: Click on Start, Click on Settings> Control Panel and then wait for the Control Panel window to pop up and then ultimately click on the Modems icon.
Wouldn't it be lovely if you could shorten the process to: Click on Start> Control Panel>Modems. Yes you can add the Control Panel and also all other Special System Folders directly to the first level Start Menu. Firstly collect the CLSID value of the folder you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Control Panel hence the CLSID value is: 21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D
Now right click on the Start Button and select Open. Now create a new folder and name it: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
NOTE: Do not forget the period after the 'l' in Panel. Similarly all system folders can be added to the Start Menu.(accept My Briefcase, I think)
Deleting System Options from the Start menu
You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start menu by performing a simple registry hack. Again like always Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value. Name it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click the newly create DWORD to edit it's value and enter 1 as its value. This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also disable the default Shortcut key(F3 for Find.)
To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the DWORD to 0 or simply Delete the DWORD value.
Fed Up of the boring Old Yellow Folder Icons?[Drive Icons Included]
NOTE: This trick hasn't been tried on Win98.
You can easily change the boring yellow folder icons to your own personalized icons. Simply create a text file and copy the following lines into it:
[.ShellClassInfo]
ICONFILE=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension
Save this text file by the name, desktop.ini in the folder, whose icon you want to change. Now to prevent this file from getting deleted change it's attributes to Hidden and Read Only by using the ATTRIB command.
To change the icon of a drive, create a text file containing the following lines:
[Autorun]
ICON=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension
Save this file in the root of the drive whose icon you want to change and name it autorun.inf For Example, if you want to change the icon of a floppy, SAVE THE icon in a:\icon_name.ico One can also create a kewl icon for the Hard Disk and create a text file [autorun.inf] and store it in "c:\".
Securing NT
By default, NT 4.0 displays the last person who logged onto the system. This can be considered to be a security threat, especially in the case of those who choose their password to be same as their Username. To disable this bug which actually is a feature, go to the following key in the registry editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Click and select the ReportBookOK item and create a new string value called DontDisplayLastUserName. Modify it and set it's value to 1.
As a system administrator, you can ensure that the passwords chosen by the users are not too lame or too easy to guess. NT has this lovely utility called the User Manager which allows the administrator to set the age limit of the password which forces the users to change the password after a certain number of days. You can also set the minimum length of passwords and prevent users to use passwords which already have been used earlier and also enable account lockouts which will deactivate an account after a specified number of failed login attempts.
When you log on to Win NT, you should disable Password Caching, this ensures Single NT Domain login and also prevents secondary Windows Logon screen.
Simply copy the following lines to a plain text ASCII editor like: Notepad and save it with an extension, .reg
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
To Enable Password Caching use the following .reg file:
--------------Enable.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000000
--------------Enable.reg-----------------
Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN MRU
The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes.
You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key:
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU
and delete.
Customizing the Right Click Context Menu of the Start Menu
When you right click on the start menu, only 3 options pop up: Open, Explore, and Find. You can add your own programs to this pop up menu( which comes up when we right click on it.) Open Regedit and go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell
Right click on the shell and create a new Sub Key (You can create a new SubKey by right clicking on the Shell Key and selecting New > Key.). Type in the name of the application you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Notepad to the Start Menu and hence I name this new sub key, Notepad. Now right click on the new registry key that you just created and create yet another new key named Command. Enter the full path of the application, in this case Notepad in the default value of Command in the right
pane. So I Modify the value of the default string value and enter the full pathname of Notepad:
c:\wndows\notepad.exe.
Now press F5 to refresh. Now if you right click on the Start Button you will find a new addition to the Pop Up Menu called Notepad. Clicking on it will launch Notepad.
We can not only add but also remove the existing options in this pop up box.
To delete the Find option, go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\Find
Delete Find. DO NOT delete Open else you will not be able to open any folders in the Start Menu like Programs, Accessories etc.
BMP Thumbnail As Icon
You can actually change the default BMP icon to a thumbnail version of the actual BMP file. To do this simply go to HKCU\Paint.Picture\Default. In the right pane change the value of default to %1. Please note however that this will slow down the display rate in explorer if there are too many BMP thumbnails to display. You can use other icons too, simply enter the pathname.To restore back to the normal change the vale of default back to: C:\Progra~1\Access~1\MSPAINT.EXE,1.
Customizing The Shortcut Arrow
All shortcuts have a tiny black arrow attached to it's icon to distinguish from normal files. This arrow can sometimes be pretty annoying and as a Hacker should know how to change each and everything, here goes another trick. Launch the Registry Editor and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Shell Icons.
Now, on the right pane is a list of icons ( we found out that on some systems, Windows 98 especially, the right pane is blank. Don't worry, just add the value as required ). Find the value 29. If it isn't there, just add it. The value of this string should be C:\Windows\system\shell32.dll, 29 ( which means the 30th icon in shell32.dll - the first one begins with 0 ). Now, we need blank icon to do this. Just create one with white as the whole icon. Go here to learn how to create an icon. Once done just change the value to C:\xxx.ico, 0 where "xxx" is the full path of the icon file and "0" is the icon in it.
Now for some fun. If the blank icon is a bit boring, change it again. You will find that under shell32.dll there is a gear icon, a shared folder ( the hand ) and much more. Experiment for yourself!
Use Perl to Get List or Services Running on your NT box
Use the following Perl Script to get a list of Services running on your NT system
--------------script.pl-----------------
#!c:\per\bin\perl.exe
use Win32::Service;
my ($key, %service, %status, $part);
Win32::Service::GetServices(' ',\%services);
foreach $key (sort keys %services) {
print "Print Name\t: $key, $services{$key}\n";
Win32::Service::GetStatus( ' ',$services{$key};
\%status);
foreach $part (keys %status) {
print "\t$part : $status{$part}\n" if($part eq "CurrentState");
}
}
-------------script.pl-------------------
Internet Explorer Tricks and Tips
Resizable Full Screen Toolbar
The Full Screen option increases the viewable area and makes surfing more enjoyable but sometimes we need the Toolbar but also need to have extra viewing area. Now this hack teaches you how to change the size of the Internet Explorer toolbar. This registry hack is a bit complicated as it involves Binary values, so to make it simple, I have included the following registry file which will enable the resizable option of the Internet Explorer toolbar which was present in the beta version of IE.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]
"Theater"=hex:0c,00,00,00,4c,00,00,00,74,00,00,00,18,00,00,00,1b,00,00,00,5c,\
00,00,00,01,00,00,00,e0,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,05,00,00,00,22,00,00,00,26,00,\
00,00,02,00,00,00,21,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,04,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,\
00,03,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
*******************
HACKING TRUTH: Internet Explorer 5 displays the friendly version of HTTP errors like NOT FOUND etc . They are aimed at making things easier for newbies. If you would rather prefer to see the proper error pages for the web server you're using, go to Tools, Internet Options and select the Advanced tab. Then scroll down and uncheck the Show friendly http errors box.
*******************
Making the Internet Explorer & the Explorer Toolbars Fancy
The Internet Explorer toolbar looks pretty simple. Want to make it fancy and kewl? Why not add a background image to it. To do this kewl hack launch the Windows Registry Editor and go to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Toolbar\.
Now in the right pane create a new String Value and name it BackBitmap and modify it's value to the path of the Bitmap you want to dress it up with by rightclicking on it and choosing Modify. When you reboot the Internet Explorer and the Windows Explorer toolbars will have a new look.
Change Internet Explorer's Caption
Don't like the caption of Internet Explorer caption? Want to change it? Open the registry editor and go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
In the right pane create a new String Value names Window Title (Note the space between Window and Title). Right click on this newly created String Value and select Modify. Type in the new caption you want to be displayed. Restart for the settings to take place.
Now let's move on to some Outlook Express Tricks.
Colorful Background
Don't like the boring background colors of Outlook Express? To change it launch the Windows Registry Editor and scroll down to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Mail And News key.
On the left pane, click on ColorCycle or select Edit and Modify in the menu. Now change the value to 1. Close and restart. Now, launch Outlook Express and whenever you open up a New Message, hold down ctrl-shift and tap the z key to scroll to change the background color. Repeat the keystroke to cycle through the colors.
Internet Explorer 5 Hidden Features
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 has several hidden features which can be controlled using the Windows Registry. Open your registry and scroll down to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions
Create a new DWORD value named x(See complete list of values of x below) and modify it's value to 1 to enable it and to 0 to disable it.
NoBrowserClose : Disable the option of closing Internet Explorer.
NoBrowserContextMenu : Disable right-click context menu.
NoBrowserOptions : Disable the Tools / Internet Options menu.
NoBrowserSaveAs : Disable the ability to Save As.
NoFavorites : Disable the Favorites.
NoFileNew : Disable the File / New command.
NoFileOpen : Disable the File / Open command.
NoFindFiles : Disable the Find Files command.
NoSelectDownloadDir : Disable the option of selecting a download directory.
NoTheaterMode : Disable the Full Screen view option.
Hacking Secrets
Almost all system administrators make certain changes and make the system restricted. System Administrators can hide the RUN option, the FIND command, the entire Control Panel, drives in My Computer like D: A: etc. They can even restrict activities of a hacker my disabling or hiding, even the tiniest options or tools.
Most commonly these restrictions are imposed locally and are controlled by the Windows Registry. But sometimes the smart system administrators control the activities of the hacker by imposing restrictions remotely through the main server.
Poledit or Policy Editor is a small kewl tool which is being commonly used by system administrators to alter the settings of a system. This utility is not installed by default by Windows. You need to install in manually from the Windows 98 Installation Kit from the Resource Kit folder. user.dat file that we saw earlier.
The Policy Editor tool imposes restrictions on the user's system by editing the user.dat file which in turn means that it edits the Windows Registry to change the settings. It can be used to control or restrict access to each and every folder and option you could ever think of. It has the power to even restrict access to individual folders, files, the Control Panel, MS DOS, the drives available etc. Sometimes this software does make life really hard for a Hacker. So how can we remove the restrictions imposed by the Policy Editor? Well read ahead to learn more.
You see the Policy Editor is not the only way to restrict a user's activities. As we already know that the Policy Editor edits the Windows Registry(user.dat) file to impose such restrictions. So this in turn would mean that we can directly make changes to the Windows Registry using a .reg file or directly to remove or add restrictions.
Launch Regedit and go to the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies
Under this key, there will definitely be a key named explorer. Now under this explorer key we can create new DWORD values and modify it's value to 1 in order to impose the restriction. If you want to remove the Restriction, then you can simply delete the respective DWORD values or instead change their values to 0. The following is a list of DWORD values that can be created under the Explorer Key-:
NoDeletePrinter: Disables Deletion of already installed Printers
NoAddPrinter: Disables Addition of new Printers
NoRun : Disables or hides the Run Command
NoSetFolders: Removes Folders from the Settings option on Start Menu (Control Panel, Printers, Taskbar)
NoSetTaskbar: Removes Taskbar system folder from the Settings option on Start Menu
NoFind: Removes the Find Tool (Start >Find)
NoDrives: Hides and does not display any Drives in My Computer
NoNetHood: Hides or removes the Network Neighborhood icon from the desktop
NoDesktop: Hides all items including, file, folders and system folders from the Desktop
NoClose: Disables Shutdown and prevents the user from normally shutting down Windows.
NoSaveSettings: Means to say, 'Don't save settings on exit'
DisableRegistryTools: Disable Registry Editing Tools (If you disable this option, the Windows Registry Editor(regedit.exe) too
will not work.)
NoRecentDocsHistory: Removes Recent Document system folder from the Start Menu (IE 4 and above)
ClearRecentDocsOnExit: Clears the Recent Documents system folder on Exit.
Nolnternetlcon: Removes the Internet (system folder) icon from the Desktop
Under the same key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies you can create new subkeys other than the already existing Explorer key. Now create a new key and name it System. Under this new key, system we can create the following new DWORD values(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
NODispCPL: Hides Control Panel
NoDispBackgroundPage: Hides Background page.
NoDispScrsavPage: Hides Screen Saver Page
NoDispAppearancePage: Hides Appearance Page
NoDispSettingsPage: Hides Settings Page
NoSecCPL: Disables Password Control Panel
NoPwdPage: Hides Password Change Page
NoAdminPaqe: Hides Remote Administration Page
NoProfilePage: Hides User Profiles Page
NoDevMgrPage: Hides Device Manager Page
NoConfigPage: Hides Hardware Profiles Page
NoFileSysPage: Hides File System Button
NoVirtMemPage: Hides Virtual Memory Button
Similarly, if we create a new subkey named Network, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides Network Security Page
NoNelSetup: Hides or disables the Network option in the Control Panel
NoNetSetupIDPage: Hides the Identification Page
NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides the Access Control Page
NoFileSharingControl: Disables File Sharing Controls
NoPrintSharing: Disables Print Sharing Controls
Similarly, if we create a new subkey named WinOldApp, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
Disabled: Disable MS-DOS Prompt
NoRealMode: Disable Single-Mode MS-DOS.
So you see if you have access to the Windows Registry, then you can easily create new DWORD values and set heir value to 1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option. But Sometimes, access to the Windows Registry is blocked. So what do you do? Go to the Windows Directory and delete either user.dat or system.dat (These 2 files constitute the Windows Registry.) and reboot. As soon as Windows logs in, it will display a Warning Message informing you about an error in the Windows Registry. Simply ignore this Warning Message and Press CTRL+DEL+ALT to get out of this warning message.(Do not press OK) You will find that all restrictions have been removed.
The most kind of restriction found quite commonly is the Specific Folder Restriction, in which users are not allowed access to specific folders, the most common being the Windows folder, or sometimes even access to My Computer is blocked. In effect, you simply cannot seem to access the important kewl files which are needed by you to do remove restrictions. What do you? Well use the RUN command. (START >RUN). But unfortunately a system administrator who is intelligent enough to block access to specific folder, would definitely have blocked access to the RUN command. Again we are stuck.
Windows is supposed to be the most User Friendly Operating System on earth. (At least Microsoft Says so.)
It gives the User an option to do the same thing in various ways. You see the RUN command is only the most convenient option of launching applications, but not the only way. In Windows you can create shortcuts to almost anything from a file, folder to a Web URL. So say your system administrator has blocked access to the c:\windows\system folder and you need to access it. What do you do? Simply create a Shortcut to it. To do this right click anywhere on the desktop and select New > Shortcut. A new window titled Create Shortcut pops up. Type in the path of the restricted folder you wish to access, in this case c:\windows\system. Click Next, Enter the friendly name of the Shortcut and then click Finish. Now you can access the restricted folder by simply double clicking on the shortcut icon. Well that shows how protected and secure *ahem Windows *ahem is.
****************
HACKING TRUTH: Sometimes when you try to delete a file or a folder, Windows displays an error message saying that the file is protected. This simply means that the file is write protected, or in other words the R option is +. Get it? Anyway, you can stop Windows from displaying this error message and straightaway delete this file by changing its attributes to Non Read Only. This can be done by Right Clicking on the file, selecting Properties and then
unselecting the Read Only Option.
***************
There is yet another way of accessing restricted folders. Use see, DOS has a lovely command known as START. Its general syntax is:
START application_path
It does do what it seems to do, start applications. So in you have access to DOS then you can type in the START command to get access to the restricted folder. Now mostly access to DOS too would be blocked. So again you can use the shortcut trick to launch, c:\command.com or c:\windows\command.com. (Command.com is the file which launches MS DOS).
Accessing Restricted Drives.
The problem with most system administrators is that they think that the users or Hackers too are stupid. Almost all system administrators use the Registry Trick (Explained Earlier) to hide all drives in My Computer. So in order to unhide or display all drives, simply delete that particular key.(Refer to beginning of Untold Secrets Section.)
Some systems have the floppy disk disabled through the BIOS. On those systems if the BIOS is protected, you may need to crack the BIOS password. (For that Refer to the Windows Hacking Chapter). Sometimes making drives readable (Removing R +) and then creating Shortcuts to them also helps us to get access to them.
Further Changing your Operating System's Looks by editing .htt files
If you have installed Windows Desktop Update and have the view as Web Page option enabled, you can customise the way the folder looks by selecting View > Customise this folder. Here you can change the background and other things about that particular folder. Well that is pretty lame, right? We hackers already know things as lame as that. Read on for some kewl stuff.
Well, you could also change the default that is stored in a Hidden HTML Template file (I think so..) which is nothing but a HTML document with a .htt extension. This .htt file is found at: %systemroot%\web\folder.htt.
The %systemroot% stands for the drive in which Windows is Installed, which is normally C:
You can edit these .htt files almost just like you edit normal .HTM or .HTML files. Simply open them in an ASCII editor like Notepad. The following is a list of .htt files on your system which control various folders and which can be edited to customise the way various folders look.
controlp.htt Control Panel
printers.htt Printers
mycomp.htt My Computer
safemode.htt Safe Mode
All these files are found in the web folder in %systemfolder%. The folder.htt file has a line:
'Here's a good place to add a few lines of your own"
which is the place where you can add your own A HREF links. These links would then appear in the folder whose folder.htt file you edited. All this might sound really easy and simple, but you see these .htt files do not contain normal HTML code, instead they contain a mixture of HTML and web bots. Hence they can be difficult for newbies to understand.
Well that's it for now, more tricks later, till then goodbye.
Ankit Fadia
ankit@bol.net.in
Get the Archive of Manuals [EVERYTHING YOU DREAMT OFF] written by Ankit Fadia
At his mailing list.
To get the manuals in your Inbox join his mailing list by sending an email to:
programmingforhackers-subscribe@egroups.com
****************
Important Note: Before you read on, you need to keep one thing in mind. Whenever you make changes to the Windows Registry you need to Refresh it before the changes take place. Simply press F5 to refresh the registry and enable the changes. If this does not work Restart your system
****************
Exiting Windows the Cool and Quick Way
Normally it takes a hell lot of time just Shutting down Windows, you have to move your mouse to the Start Button, click on it, move it again over Shut Down, click, then move it over the necessary option and click, then move the cursor over the OK button and once again (you guessed it) click.This whole process can be shortened by creating shortcuts on the Desktop which will shut down Windows at the click of a button. Start by creating a new shortcut( right click and select New> Shortcut). Then in the command line box, type (without the quotes.)
'C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec'
This Shortcut on clicking will restart Windows immediately without any Warning. To create a Shortcut to Restarting Windows, type the following in the Command Line box:
'c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows'
This Shortcut on clicking will shut down Windows immediately without any Warning.
Ban Shutdowns : A trick to Play on Lamers
This is a neat trick you can play on that lamer that has a huge ego, in this section I teach you, how to disable the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. This trick involves editing the registry, so please make backups. Launch regedit.exe and go to :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane look for the NoClose Key. If it is not already there then create it by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New > String Value.(Name it NoCloseKey ) Now once you see the NoCloseKey in the right pane, right click on it and select Modify. Then Type 1 in the Value Data Box.
Doing the above on a Win98 system disables the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. But on a Win95 machine if the value of NoCloseKey is set to 1 then click on the Start > Shut Down button displays the following error message:
This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.
You can enable the shut down option by changing the value of NoCloseKey to 0 or simply deleting the particular entry i.e. deleting NoCloseKey.
Instead of performing the above difficult to remember process, simply save the following with an extension of .reg and add it's contents to the registry by double clicking on it.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoClose"="1"
Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer
This is yet another trick you can play on your geek friend. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer go to :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives. Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item. It's .reg file is as follows:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoDrives"=dword:03ffffff
Take Over the Screen Saver
To activate and deactivate the screen saver whenever you want, goto the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ScreenSavers
Now add a new string value and name it Mouse Corners. Edit this new value to -Y-N. Press F5 to refresh the registry. Voila! Now you can activate your screensaver by simply placing the mouse cursor at the top right corner of the screen and if you take the mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen, the screensaver will deactivate.
Pop a banner each time Windows Boots
To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user is going to log on, go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon
Now create a new string Value in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create yet another new string value and name it: LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to display the company's private policy each time the user logs on to his NT box. It's .reg file would be:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."
Delete the Tips of the Day to save 5KB
Windows 95 had these tips of the day which appeared on a system running a newly installed Windows OS. These tips of the day are stored in the Windows Registry and consume 5K of space. For those of you who are really concerned about how much free space your hard disk has, I have the perfect trick.
To save 5K go to the following key in Regedit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips
Now simply delete these tricks by selecting and pressing the DEL key.
Change the Default Locations
To change the default drive or path where Windows will look for it's installation files, go to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath
Now you can edit as you wish.
Secure your Desktop Icons and Settings
You can save your desktop settings and secure it from your nerdy friend by playing with the registry. Simply launch the Registry Editor go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane create a new DWORD Value named NoSaveSettings and modify it's value to 1. Refresh and restart for the settings to get saved.
CLSID Folders Explained
Don't you just hate those stubborn stupid icons that refuse to leave the desktop, like the Network Neighborhood icon. I am sure you want to know how you can delete them. You may say, that is really simple, simply right click on the concerned icon and select Delete. Well not exactly, you see when you right click on these special folders( see entire list below)neither the rename nor the delete option does not appear. To delete these folders, there are two methods, the first one is using the System Policy Editor(Poledit in the Windows installation CD)and the second is using the Registry.
Before we go on, you need to understand what CLSID values are. These folders, like the Control Panel, Inbox, The Microsoft Network, Dial Up Networking etc are system folders. Each system folder has a unique CLSID key or the Class ID which is a 16-byte value which identifies an individual object that points to a corresponding key in the registry.
To delete these system Folders from the desktop simply go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
To delete an icon simply delete the 16 byte CLSID value within "NameSpace". The following are the CLSID values of the most commonly used icons:
My Briefcase:{85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
Desktop: {00021400-0000-0000-C000-0000000000046}
Control Panel:{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Dial-Up-Networking:{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}
Fonts: {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}
Inbox :{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
My Computer :{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Network Neighborhood:{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}
Printers :{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B30309D}
Recycle Bin :{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
The Microsoft Network:{00028B00-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}
History: {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Winzip :{E0D79300-84BE-11CE-9641-444553540000}
For example, to delete the Recycle Bin, first note down it's CLSID value, which is: 645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E. Now go to the Namespace key in the registry and delete the corresponding key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}
Sometimes, you may need to play a trick on your brother or friend, well this one teaches you how to hide all icons from the Desktop. Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
In the right pane create a new DWORD value by the name: NoDesktop and set its value to: 1. Reboot and you will find no icons on the desktop.
Till now you simply learnt how to delete the special system folders by deleting a registry key, but the hack would have been better if there was a way of adding the DELETE and RENAME option to the right click context menus of these special folders. You can actually change the right click context menu of any system folder and add any of the following options: RENAME, DELETE, CUT, COPY, PASTE and lots more.
This hack too requires you to know the CLSID value of the system folder whose menu you want to customize. In this section, I have taken up Recycle Bin as the folder whose context menu I am going to edit.
Firstly launch the registry editor and open the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder.
In Case you want to edit some other folder like say the FONTS folder, then you will open the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CLSID VALUE HERE}\ShellFolder.
In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes. Now consider the following options:
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_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\Shell-Folder]
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20
To access say the Modem Properties in the Control Panel Folder, the normal procedure is: Click on Start, Click on Settings> Control Panel and then wait for the Control Panel window to pop up and then ultimately click on the Modems icon.
Wouldn't it be lovely if you could shorten the process to: Click on Start> Control Panel>Modems. Yes you can add the Control Panel and also all other Special System Folders directly to the first level Start Menu. Firstly collect the CLSID value of the folder you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Control Panel hence the CLSID value is: 21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D
Now right click on the Start Button and select Open. Now create a new folder and name it: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
NOTE: Do not forget the period after the 'l' in Panel. Similarly all system folders can be added to the Start Menu.(accept My Briefcase, I think)
Deleting System Options from the Start menu
You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start menu by performing a simple registry hack. Again like always Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value. Name it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click the newly create DWORD to edit it's value and enter 1 as its value. This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also disable the default Shortcut key(F3 for Find.)
To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the DWORD to 0 or simply Delete the DWORD value.
Fed Up of the boring Old Yellow Folder Icons?[Drive Icons Included]
NOTE: This trick hasn't been tried on Win98.
You can easily change the boring yellow folder icons to your own personalized icons. Simply create a text file and copy the following lines into it:
[.ShellClassInfo]
ICONFILE=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension
Save this text file by the name, desktop.ini in the folder, whose icon you want to change. Now to prevent this file from getting deleted change it's attributes to Hidden and Read Only by using the ATTRIB command.
To change the icon of a drive, create a text file containing the following lines:
[Autorun]
ICON=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension
Save this file in the root of the drive whose icon you want to change and name it autorun.inf For Example, if you want to change the icon of a floppy, SAVE THE icon in a:\icon_name.ico One can also create a kewl icon for the Hard Disk and create a text file [autorun.inf] and store it in "c:\".
Securing NT
By default, NT 4.0 displays the last person who logged onto the system. This can be considered to be a security threat, especially in the case of those who choose their password to be same as their Username. To disable this bug which actually is a feature, go to the following key in the registry editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Click and select the ReportBookOK item and create a new string value called DontDisplayLastUserName. Modify it and set it's value to 1.
As a system administrator, you can ensure that the passwords chosen by the users are not too lame or too easy to guess. NT has this lovely utility called the User Manager which allows the administrator to set the age limit of the password which forces the users to change the password after a certain number of days. You can also set the minimum length of passwords and prevent users to use passwords which already have been used earlier and also enable account lockouts which will deactivate an account after a specified number of failed login attempts.
When you log on to Win NT, you should disable Password Caching, this ensures Single NT Domain login and also prevents secondary Windows Logon screen.
Simply copy the following lines to a plain text ASCII editor like: Notepad and save it with an extension, .reg
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001
----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------
To Enable Password Caching use the following .reg file:
--------------Enable.reg-----------------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000000
--------------Enable.reg-----------------
Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN MRU
The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes.
You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key:
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU
and delete.
Customizing the Right Click Context Menu of the Start Menu
When you right click on the start menu, only 3 options pop up: Open, Explore, and Find. You can add your own programs to this pop up menu( which comes up when we right click on it.) Open Regedit and go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell
Right click on the shell and create a new Sub Key (You can create a new SubKey by right clicking on the Shell Key and selecting New > Key.). Type in the name of the application you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Notepad to the Start Menu and hence I name this new sub key, Notepad. Now right click on the new registry key that you just created and create yet another new key named Command. Enter the full path of the application, in this case Notepad in the default value of Command in the right
pane. So I Modify the value of the default string value and enter the full pathname of Notepad:
c:\wndows\notepad.exe.
Now press F5 to refresh. Now if you right click on the Start Button you will find a new addition to the Pop Up Menu called Notepad. Clicking on it will launch Notepad.
We can not only add but also remove the existing options in this pop up box.
To delete the Find option, go to the following registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\Find
Delete Find. DO NOT delete Open else you will not be able to open any folders in the Start Menu like Programs, Accessories etc.
BMP Thumbnail As Icon
You can actually change the default BMP icon to a thumbnail version of the actual BMP file. To do this simply go to HKCU\Paint.Picture\Default. In the right pane change the value of default to %1. Please note however that this will slow down the display rate in explorer if there are too many BMP thumbnails to display. You can use other icons too, simply enter the pathname.To restore back to the normal change the vale of default back to: C:\Progra~1\Access~1\MSPAINT.EXE,1.
Customizing The Shortcut Arrow
All shortcuts have a tiny black arrow attached to it's icon to distinguish from normal files. This arrow can sometimes be pretty annoying and as a Hacker should know how to change each and everything, here goes another trick. Launch the Registry Editor and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Shell Icons.
Now, on the right pane is a list of icons ( we found out that on some systems, Windows 98 especially, the right pane is blank. Don't worry, just add the value as required ). Find the value 29. If it isn't there, just add it. The value of this string should be C:\Windows\system\shell32.dll, 29 ( which means the 30th icon in shell32.dll - the first one begins with 0 ). Now, we need blank icon to do this. Just create one with white as the whole icon. Go here to learn how to create an icon. Once done just change the value to C:\xxx.ico, 0 where "xxx" is the full path of the icon file and "0" is the icon in it.
Now for some fun. If the blank icon is a bit boring, change it again. You will find that under shell32.dll there is a gear icon, a shared folder ( the hand ) and much more. Experiment for yourself!
Use Perl to Get List or Services Running on your NT box
Use the following Perl Script to get a list of Services running on your NT system
--------------script.pl-----------------
#!c:\per\bin\perl.exe
use Win32::Service;
my ($key, %service, %status, $part);
Win32::Service::GetServices(' ',\%services);
foreach $key (sort keys %services) {
print "Print Name\t: $key, $services{$key}\n";
Win32::Service::GetStatus( ' ',$services{$key};
\%status);
foreach $part (keys %status) {
print "\t$part : $status{$part}\n" if($part eq "CurrentState");
}
}
-------------script.pl-------------------
Internet Explorer Tricks and Tips
Resizable Full Screen Toolbar
The Full Screen option increases the viewable area and makes surfing more enjoyable but sometimes we need the Toolbar but also need to have extra viewing area. Now this hack teaches you how to change the size of the Internet Explorer toolbar. This registry hack is a bit complicated as it involves Binary values, so to make it simple, I have included the following registry file which will enable the resizable option of the Internet Explorer toolbar which was present in the beta version of IE.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]
"Theater"=hex:0c,00,00,00,4c,00,00,00,74,00,00,00,18,00,00,00,1b,00,00,00,5c,\
00,00,00,01,00,00,00,e0,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,05,00,00,00,22,00,00,00,26,00,\
00,00,02,00,00,00,21,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,04,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,\
00,03,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00
*******************
HACKING TRUTH: Internet Explorer 5 displays the friendly version of HTTP errors like NOT FOUND etc . They are aimed at making things easier for newbies. If you would rather prefer to see the proper error pages for the web server you're using, go to Tools, Internet Options and select the Advanced tab. Then scroll down and uncheck the Show friendly http errors box.
*******************
Making the Internet Explorer & the Explorer Toolbars Fancy
The Internet Explorer toolbar looks pretty simple. Want to make it fancy and kewl? Why not add a background image to it. To do this kewl hack launch the Windows Registry Editor and go to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Toolbar\.
Now in the right pane create a new String Value and name it BackBitmap and modify it's value to the path of the Bitmap you want to dress it up with by rightclicking on it and choosing Modify. When you reboot the Internet Explorer and the Windows Explorer toolbars will have a new look.
Change Internet Explorer's Caption
Don't like the caption of Internet Explorer caption? Want to change it? Open the registry editor and go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
In the right pane create a new String Value names Window Title (Note the space between Window and Title). Right click on this newly created String Value and select Modify. Type in the new caption you want to be displayed. Restart for the settings to take place.
Now let's move on to some Outlook Express Tricks.
Colorful Background
Don't like the boring background colors of Outlook Express? To change it launch the Windows Registry Editor and scroll down to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Mail And News key.
On the left pane, click on ColorCycle or select Edit and Modify in the menu. Now change the value to 1. Close and restart. Now, launch Outlook Express and whenever you open up a New Message, hold down ctrl-shift and tap the z key to scroll to change the background color. Repeat the keystroke to cycle through the colors.
Internet Explorer 5 Hidden Features
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 has several hidden features which can be controlled using the Windows Registry. Open your registry and scroll down to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions
Create a new DWORD value named x(See complete list of values of x below) and modify it's value to 1 to enable it and to 0 to disable it.
NoBrowserClose : Disable the option of closing Internet Explorer.
NoBrowserContextMenu : Disable right-click context menu.
NoBrowserOptions : Disable the Tools / Internet Options menu.
NoBrowserSaveAs : Disable the ability to Save As.
NoFavorites : Disable the Favorites.
NoFileNew : Disable the File / New command.
NoFileOpen : Disable the File / Open command.
NoFindFiles : Disable the Find Files command.
NoSelectDownloadDir : Disable the option of selecting a download directory.
NoTheaterMode : Disable the Full Screen view option.
Hacking Secrets
Almost all system administrators make certain changes and make the system restricted. System Administrators can hide the RUN option, the FIND command, the entire Control Panel, drives in My Computer like D: A: etc. They can even restrict activities of a hacker my disabling or hiding, even the tiniest options or tools.
Most commonly these restrictions are imposed locally and are controlled by the Windows Registry. But sometimes the smart system administrators control the activities of the hacker by imposing restrictions remotely through the main server.
Poledit or Policy Editor is a small kewl tool which is being commonly used by system administrators to alter the settings of a system. This utility is not installed by default by Windows. You need to install in manually from the Windows 98 Installation Kit from the Resource Kit folder. user.dat file that we saw earlier.
The Policy Editor tool imposes restrictions on the user's system by editing the user.dat file which in turn means that it edits the Windows Registry to change the settings. It can be used to control or restrict access to each and every folder and option you could ever think of. It has the power to even restrict access to individual folders, files, the Control Panel, MS DOS, the drives available etc. Sometimes this software does make life really hard for a Hacker. So how can we remove the restrictions imposed by the Policy Editor? Well read ahead to learn more.
You see the Policy Editor is not the only way to restrict a user's activities. As we already know that the Policy Editor edits the Windows Registry(user.dat) file to impose such restrictions. So this in turn would mean that we can directly make changes to the Windows Registry using a .reg file or directly to remove or add restrictions.
Launch Regedit and go to the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies
Under this key, there will definitely be a key named explorer. Now under this explorer key we can create new DWORD values and modify it's value to 1 in order to impose the restriction. If you want to remove the Restriction, then you can simply delete the respective DWORD values or instead change their values to 0. The following is a list of DWORD values that can be created under the Explorer Key-:
NoDeletePrinter: Disables Deletion of already installed Printers
NoAddPrinter: Disables Addition of new Printers
NoRun : Disables or hides the Run Command
NoSetFolders: Removes Folders from the Settings option on Start Menu (Control Panel, Printers, Taskbar)
NoSetTaskbar: Removes Taskbar system folder from the Settings option on Start Menu
NoFind: Removes the Find Tool (Start >Find)
NoDrives: Hides and does not display any Drives in My Computer
NoNetHood: Hides or removes the Network Neighborhood icon from the desktop
NoDesktop: Hides all items including, file, folders and system folders from the Desktop
NoClose: Disables Shutdown and prevents the user from normally shutting down Windows.
NoSaveSettings: Means to say, 'Don't save settings on exit'
DisableRegistryTools: Disable Registry Editing Tools (If you disable this option, the Windows Registry Editor(regedit.exe) too
will not work.)
NoRecentDocsHistory: Removes Recent Document system folder from the Start Menu (IE 4 and above)
ClearRecentDocsOnExit: Clears the Recent Documents system folder on Exit.
Nolnternetlcon: Removes the Internet (system folder) icon from the Desktop
Under the same key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies you can create new subkeys other than the already existing Explorer key. Now create a new key and name it System. Under this new key, system we can create the following new DWORD values(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
NODispCPL: Hides Control Panel
NoDispBackgroundPage: Hides Background page.
NoDispScrsavPage: Hides Screen Saver Page
NoDispAppearancePage: Hides Appearance Page
NoDispSettingsPage: Hides Settings Page
NoSecCPL: Disables Password Control Panel
NoPwdPage: Hides Password Change Page
NoAdminPaqe: Hides Remote Administration Page
NoProfilePage: Hides User Profiles Page
NoDevMgrPage: Hides Device Manager Page
NoConfigPage: Hides Hardware Profiles Page
NoFileSysPage: Hides File System Button
NoVirtMemPage: Hides Virtual Memory Button
Similarly, if we create a new subkey named Network, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides Network Security Page
NoNelSetup: Hides or disables the Network option in the Control Panel
NoNetSetupIDPage: Hides the Identification Page
NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides the Access Control Page
NoFileSharingControl: Disables File Sharing Controls
NoPrintSharing: Disables Print Sharing Controls
Similarly, if we create a new subkey named WinOldApp, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):
Disabled: Disable MS-DOS Prompt
NoRealMode: Disable Single-Mode MS-DOS.
So you see if you have access to the Windows Registry, then you can easily create new DWORD values and set heir value to 1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option. But Sometimes, access to the Windows Registry is blocked. So what do you do? Go to the Windows Directory and delete either user.dat or system.dat (These 2 files constitute the Windows Registry.) and reboot. As soon as Windows logs in, it will display a Warning Message informing you about an error in the Windows Registry. Simply ignore this Warning Message and Press CTRL+DEL+ALT to get out of this warning message.(Do not press OK) You will find that all restrictions have been removed.
The most kind of restriction found quite commonly is the Specific Folder Restriction, in which users are not allowed access to specific folders, the most common being the Windows folder, or sometimes even access to My Computer is blocked. In effect, you simply cannot seem to access the important kewl files which are needed by you to do remove restrictions. What do you? Well use the RUN command. (START >RUN). But unfortunately a system administrator who is intelligent enough to block access to specific folder, would definitely have blocked access to the RUN command. Again we are stuck.
Windows is supposed to be the most User Friendly Operating System on earth. (At least Microsoft Says so.)
It gives the User an option to do the same thing in various ways. You see the RUN command is only the most convenient option of launching applications, but not the only way. In Windows you can create shortcuts to almost anything from a file, folder to a Web URL. So say your system administrator has blocked access to the c:\windows\system folder and you need to access it. What do you do? Simply create a Shortcut to it. To do this right click anywhere on the desktop and select New > Shortcut. A new window titled Create Shortcut pops up. Type in the path of the restricted folder you wish to access, in this case c:\windows\system. Click Next, Enter the friendly name of the Shortcut and then click Finish. Now you can access the restricted folder by simply double clicking on the shortcut icon. Well that shows how protected and secure *ahem Windows *ahem is.
****************
HACKING TRUTH: Sometimes when you try to delete a file or a folder, Windows displays an error message saying that the file is protected. This simply means that the file is write protected, or in other words the R option is +. Get it? Anyway, you can stop Windows from displaying this error message and straightaway delete this file by changing its attributes to Non Read Only. This can be done by Right Clicking on the file, selecting Properties and then
unselecting the Read Only Option.
***************
There is yet another way of accessing restricted folders. Use see, DOS has a lovely command known as START. Its general syntax is:
START application_path
It does do what it seems to do, start applications. So in you have access to DOS then you can type in the START command to get access to the restricted folder. Now mostly access to DOS too would be blocked. So again you can use the shortcut trick to launch, c:\command.com or c:\windows\command.com. (Command.com is the file which launches MS DOS).
Accessing Restricted Drives.
The problem with most system administrators is that they think that the users or Hackers too are stupid. Almost all system administrators use the Registry Trick (Explained Earlier) to hide all drives in My Computer. So in order to unhide or display all drives, simply delete that particular key.(Refer to beginning of Untold Secrets Section.)
Some systems have the floppy disk disabled through the BIOS. On those systems if the BIOS is protected, you may need to crack the BIOS password. (For that Refer to the Windows Hacking Chapter). Sometimes making drives readable (Removing R +) and then creating Shortcuts to them also helps us to get access to them.
Further Changing your Operating System's Looks by editing .htt files
If you have installed Windows Desktop Update and have the view as Web Page option enabled, you can customise the way the folder looks by selecting View > Customise this folder. Here you can change the background and other things about that particular folder. Well that is pretty lame, right? We hackers already know things as lame as that. Read on for some kewl stuff.
Well, you could also change the default that is stored in a Hidden HTML Template file (I think so..) which is nothing but a HTML document with a .htt extension. This .htt file is found at: %systemroot%\web\folder.htt.
The %systemroot% stands for the drive in which Windows is Installed, which is normally C:
You can edit these .htt files almost just like you edit normal .HTM or .HTML files. Simply open them in an ASCII editor like Notepad. The following is a list of .htt files on your system which control various folders and which can be edited to customise the way various folders look.
controlp.htt Control Panel
printers.htt Printers
mycomp.htt My Computer
safemode.htt Safe Mode
All these files are found in the web folder in %systemfolder%. The folder.htt file has a line:
'Here's a good place to add a few lines of your own"
which is the place where you can add your own A HREF links. These links would then appear in the folder whose folder.htt file you edited. All this might sound really easy and simple, but you see these .htt files do not contain normal HTML code, instead they contain a mixture of HTML and web bots. Hence they can be difficult for newbies to understand.
Well that's it for now, more tricks later, till then goodbye.
Ankit Fadia
ankit@bol.net.in
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