Working with Files
• To rename several files at once, select all of them in any folder view, or in the Windows Explorer, rename the FIRST one in the list, and the rest will follow.
• To turn off filenames, hold down the Shift key when you click to open a folder in Windows Explorer or when you switch into thumbnail view. This will turn of the file names, giving more space for the thumbnails. Doing it again turns them back on.
• Try grouping your files. In the top menu bar select View – Arrange icons by… - Type, and then View – Arrange icons by… - Show in groups.
You can change the size and quality of the shell's thumbnails. Start regedit, expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER (only for you) or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (for all the users in this computer) and in Software – Microsoft – Windows – CurrentVersion – Explorer, add or modify the following entries:
• ThumbnailSize – Double Word, decimal value between 32 and 256
• ThumbnailQuality – Double Word, decimal value between 50 and 100
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
How to logoff your computer automatically after a period of inactivity?
How to logoff your computer automatically after a period of inactivity?
Today tip will help you to log off your computer automatically after some specific period of inactivity. Because most of the users left logged on their computer may represent a security threat for the company. For this purpose, first install the Winexit.scr tools that includes in Windows 2003 Resource Kit (rktools.exe) and you can free download it from Microsoft site.
To use this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.
After installing the rktools.exe setup, locate the Winexit.scr file in the following location
Today tip will help you to log off your computer automatically after some specific period of inactivity. Because most of the users left logged on their computer may represent a security threat for the company. For this purpose, first install the Winexit.scr tools that includes in Windows 2003 Resource Kit (rktools.exe) and you can free download it from Microsoft site.
To use this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.
After installing the rktools.exe setup, locate the Winexit.scr file in the following location
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Disable Shared Documents
Disable Shared Documents
To disable the Shared Documents folder that shows up on the network
1.
Start Regedit
2.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer \
3.
Create a new DWORD Value
4.
Give it the name NoSharedDocuments
5.
Give it a value of 1
6.
Log off or reboot
To disable the Shared Documents folder that shows up on the network
1.
Start Regedit
2.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer \
3.
Create a new DWORD Value
4.
Give it the name NoSharedDocuments
5.
Give it a value of 1
6.
Log off or reboot
Creating a Password Recovery Disk
Creating a Password Recovery Disk
In case you forget your password, you can create a password recovery floppy disk beforehand to help you out of this problem.
1. Single-click Start menu
2. Go to the Control Panel / User Accounts
3. Click the User Account
4. On the left hand side, click on Prevent forgotten password
5. You will need to know your password to create the disk.
6. If you don't remember your password sometime in the future, click on the green arrow like normal at the login and you will be prompted to insert the password recover disk.
In case you forget your password, you can create a password recovery floppy disk beforehand to help you out of this problem.
1. Single-click Start menu
2. Go to the Control Panel / User Accounts
3. Click the User Account
4. On the left hand side, click on Prevent forgotten password
5. You will need to know your password to create the disk.
6. If you don't remember your password sometime in the future, click on the green arrow like normal at the login and you will be prompted to insert the password recover disk.
Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks
Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks
3. Set the value to be 1
4. In the same section, change the WaitToKillAppTimeout to the number of milliseconds you want.
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks
3. Set the value to be 1
4. In the same section, change the WaitToKillAppTimeout to the number of milliseconds you want.
Enabling NumLock on by Default
Enabling NumLock on by Default
To have numlock turned on for each user:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
3. Change the value from 0 to 2
4. Turn Numlock on manually
5. Log off and back on again.
6. For all users, make the same change to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
To have numlock turned on for each user:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
3. Change the value from 0 to 2
4. Turn Numlock on manually
5. Log off and back on again.
6. For all users, make the same change to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
Increasing System Performance
Increasing System Performance
If you have 512 megs or more of memory, you can increase system performance
by having the core system kept in memory.
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive
3. Set the value to be 1
4. Reboot the computer
If you have 512 megs or more of memory, you can increase system performance
by having the core system kept in memory.
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive
3. Set the value to be 1
4. Reboot the computer
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Renaming the recycle bin
You can change the name of Recycle Bin of your system if you wish. It is very easy and interesting but it require some changes in windows registry,
First click on Start button > click on Run option.
Type here regedit.exe and press enter then you will find there regedit editor.
In regedit editor you will open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder, In this folder open the CLSID folder then open the {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} folder >ShellFolder folder at last.
Here simply change the data value from "40 01 00 20" to "70 01 00 20".
First click on Start button > click on Run option.
Type here regedit.exe and press enter then you will find there regedit editor.
In regedit editor you will open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder, In this folder open the CLSID folder then open the {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} folder >ShellFolder folder at last.
Here simply change the data value from "40 01 00 20" to "70 01 00 20".
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen
Disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen
By default, the Microsoft Windows XP logon screen displays a Turn off computer button. This display seems convenient, until one of your kids happens to shut down your computer and close all your programs. To prevent this from happening, you can disable the Turn off computer button. You can still shut down your computer; you just have to log on with a computer administrator account first.
To disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen
1.
Log on to your computer as an administrator. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.
Click Performance and Maintenance.
3.
Click Administrative Tools.
4.
Double-click Local Security Policy.
5.
Expand Local Policies by clicking the plus sign next to it, and then click Security Options.
6.
In the right pane, double-click the Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on policy.
7.
Click Disabled, and then click OK.
Windows XP removes the Turn off computer button from the Welcome screen—so no more shutting down without logging on!
By default, the Microsoft Windows XP logon screen displays a Turn off computer button. This display seems convenient, until one of your kids happens to shut down your computer and close all your programs. To prevent this from happening, you can disable the Turn off computer button. You can still shut down your computer; you just have to log on with a computer administrator account first.
To disable the Turn off computer button on the Welcome screen
1.
Log on to your computer as an administrator. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.
Click Performance and Maintenance.
3.
Click Administrative Tools.
4.
Double-click Local Security Policy.
5.
Expand Local Policies by clicking the plus sign next to it, and then click Security Options.
6.
In the right pane, double-click the Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on policy.
7.
Click Disabled, and then click OK.
Windows XP removes the Turn off computer button from the Welcome screen—so no more shutting down without logging on!
Help save energy and the environment by putting your monitor to sleep
Help save energy and the environment by putting your monitor to sleep
You can save electricity and reduce your impact on the environment by activating your monitor’s sleep feature in Microsoft Windows XP. Activating sleep settings on just one computer may prevent considerable CO2 emissions each year. Letting your monitor sleep allows it to go into a low-power mode when you’re not using it. To wake your monitor, you simply touch your mouse or keyboard.
To set Windows XP to automatically turn your monitor off when your computer isn’t being used
1.
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.
2.
In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Screen Saver tab. Then, click the Power button.
3.
In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Turn off monitor list, and select a time to automatically turn off your monitor. Five minutes is a realistic setting. If you have a portable computer, set the time for both Plugged in and Running on batteries.
4.
Click OK twice.
Windows XP will let your monitor sleep after your computer has been idle for the specified number of minutes. To reactivate your monitor, move your mouse, or press a key. You’ll save almost as much power as if you had manually turned your monitor off, but you won’t have to press your monitor’s power button.
You can save electricity and reduce your impact on the environment by activating your monitor’s sleep feature in Microsoft Windows XP. Activating sleep settings on just one computer may prevent considerable CO2 emissions each year. Letting your monitor sleep allows it to go into a low-power mode when you’re not using it. To wake your monitor, you simply touch your mouse or keyboard.
To set Windows XP to automatically turn your monitor off when your computer isn’t being used
1.
Right-click the desktop, and then click Properties.
2.
In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Screen Saver tab. Then, click the Power button.
3.
In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Turn off monitor list, and select a time to automatically turn off your monitor. Five minutes is a realistic setting. If you have a portable computer, set the time for both Plugged in and Running on batteries.
4.
Click OK twice.
Windows XP will let your monitor sleep after your computer has been idle for the specified number of minutes. To reactivate your monitor, move your mouse, or press a key. You’ll save almost as much power as if you had manually turned your monitor off, but you won’t have to press your monitor’s power button.
Un lock ur tool bar
Unlock toolbars to work with them
A toolbar is a collection of buttons or icons—usually displayed across the top of the screen—that represents the different tasks you can do within a program. For example, in Microsoft Internet Explorer, there is a toolbar for the standard Internet Explorer command buttons, one for entering an Internet address, and one for quick links you can set up.
When you open a toolbar, it will appear in a particular spot on the screen. If you want to change the location of the toolbar you can move it by dragging it to the new location. You can also resize the toolbar by dragging its edge. If you find a toolbar that cannot be moved or resized, the toolbar may be locked.
To unlock a toolbar
1.
Make sure you have only one window open for the program. (You can look at the taskbar at the bottom of your screen to verify this.) Then, right-click the toolbar.
2.
If Lock the Toolbars appears on the shortcut menu and is selected (a check mark appears to the left of it), click Lock the Toolbars to unlock the toolbar. If you see Lock the Toolbars, but no check mark appears to the left of it, the toolbar is already unlocked.
Note: If Lock the Toolbars does not appear on the shortcut menu, you may not be able to move or resize the toolbar.
If you are able move the toolbar, once you’ve moved the toolbar to the location where you want it, select Lock the Toolbars so that it isn’t inadvertently moved. To make sure the change is permanent, lock the toolbar, exit the program, and then reopen it. The toolbar should be locked.
A toolbar is a collection of buttons or icons—usually displayed across the top of the screen—that represents the different tasks you can do within a program. For example, in Microsoft Internet Explorer, there is a toolbar for the standard Internet Explorer command buttons, one for entering an Internet address, and one for quick links you can set up.
When you open a toolbar, it will appear in a particular spot on the screen. If you want to change the location of the toolbar you can move it by dragging it to the new location. You can also resize the toolbar by dragging its edge. If you find a toolbar that cannot be moved or resized, the toolbar may be locked.
To unlock a toolbar
1.
Make sure you have only one window open for the program. (You can look at the taskbar at the bottom of your screen to verify this.) Then, right-click the toolbar.
2.
If Lock the Toolbars appears on the shortcut menu and is selected (a check mark appears to the left of it), click Lock the Toolbars to unlock the toolbar. If you see Lock the Toolbars, but no check mark appears to the left of it, the toolbar is already unlocked.
Note: If Lock the Toolbars does not appear on the shortcut menu, you may not be able to move or resize the toolbar.
If you are able move the toolbar, once you’ve moved the toolbar to the location where you want it, select Lock the Toolbars so that it isn’t inadvertently moved. To make sure the change is permanent, lock the toolbar, exit the program, and then reopen it. The toolbar should be locked.
§peed up menu di§play
Speed up menu display
Published: September 7, 2006
Microsoft Windows XP uses many visual effects to provide a rich, friendly interface. One of these settings allows menus to fade into view when you open them. This visual effect is so smooth that you may never have noticed it; however, the effect does cause menus to take a little longer to appear.
On a fast computer, this shouldn't be an issue. But on a computer that isn’t responding as quickly as you'd like, you can make menus display faster.
To speed up menu display
1.
Click Start. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.
Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance area, click Settings.
3.
On the Visual Effects tab in the Performance Options dialog box, clear the Fade or slide menus into view check box.
4.
Click OK.
5.
In the System Properties dialog box, click OK.
Now when you click a menu, it will appear almost instantly
Published: September 7, 2006
Microsoft Windows XP uses many visual effects to provide a rich, friendly interface. One of these settings allows menus to fade into view when you open them. This visual effect is so smooth that you may never have noticed it; however, the effect does cause menus to take a little longer to appear.
On a fast computer, this shouldn't be an issue. But on a computer that isn’t responding as quickly as you'd like, you can make menus display faster.
To speed up menu display
1.
Click Start. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.
Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance area, click Settings.
3.
On the Visual Effects tab in the Performance Options dialog box, clear the Fade or slide menus into view check box.
4.
Click OK.
5.
In the System Properties dialog box, click OK.
Now when you click a menu, it will appear almost instantly
Defrag the hard drives
Defrag your hard drive
Defragmentation of a hard drive is the act of re-ordering the data on the drive so that each file can be read continuously from the disk. By default, Windows XP will attempt to store any files it needs to write to the hard drive in consecutive clusters (a cluster is the smallest unit of storage space available on a hard drive) on the drive, so that the file can then be read continuously.
A hard drive which has been frequently used over a long period of time will have developed many fragmented files, files which are scattered over different clusters on the surface of the disk. This can occur because of many factors, for example uninstall programs that leave files behind, system crashes while in the act of writing to the hard drive, regular deletion of files, etc.
A file becomes fragmented when the portion of consecutive clusters on the disk that Windows begins to write into is not large enough to hold the whole file. The remainder of the file then needs to be written to a different physical area of the disk. This does not have any effect on the operating system's ability to access the files themselves, but it does slow down disk access times (and by extension, any application that depends on disk access) due to the extra time needed to reposition the read heads of the hard drive to access the rest of the fragmented file.
Windows XP includes a disk defragmentation utility which you can use to re-arrange the files on the drive and eliminate fragmentation. This can have a significant affect on the speed of your computer. To access this utility, go to 'start\programs\accessories\system tools\disk defragmenter.'
To begin with, you need to analyze your hard disk(s) to see if defragmentation is needed. Select a drive and hit the 'analyze' button. This could take a little while depending on the amount of data on the drive. Whille the system is analyzing, it is best to leave your computer alone or the process may need to restart.
Once the analysis is finished, you will have a graphical representation of your disk's level of fragmentation. See the pic below for an example of a highly fragmented drive.
Windows will also inform you if it recommends defragmenting the drive. You must have 15% of the drive free in order to fully defragment it. Anything less will result in only a partial re-ordering of the files. You may need to delete a few things to obtain this free space.
To defragment the drive, select it and hit the 'defragment' button. Note that depending on the size of the drive and the level of fragmentation, this can take a long time. It's a good thing to leave overnight, since you should not run anything else while doing the defrag either.
Defragmentation of a hard drive is the act of re-ordering the data on the drive so that each file can be read continuously from the disk. By default, Windows XP will attempt to store any files it needs to write to the hard drive in consecutive clusters (a cluster is the smallest unit of storage space available on a hard drive) on the drive, so that the file can then be read continuously.
A hard drive which has been frequently used over a long period of time will have developed many fragmented files, files which are scattered over different clusters on the surface of the disk. This can occur because of many factors, for example uninstall programs that leave files behind, system crashes while in the act of writing to the hard drive, regular deletion of files, etc.
A file becomes fragmented when the portion of consecutive clusters on the disk that Windows begins to write into is not large enough to hold the whole file. The remainder of the file then needs to be written to a different physical area of the disk. This does not have any effect on the operating system's ability to access the files themselves, but it does slow down disk access times (and by extension, any application that depends on disk access) due to the extra time needed to reposition the read heads of the hard drive to access the rest of the fragmented file.
Windows XP includes a disk defragmentation utility which you can use to re-arrange the files on the drive and eliminate fragmentation. This can have a significant affect on the speed of your computer. To access this utility, go to 'start\programs\accessories\system tools\disk defragmenter.'
To begin with, you need to analyze your hard disk(s) to see if defragmentation is needed. Select a drive and hit the 'analyze' button. This could take a little while depending on the amount of data on the drive. Whille the system is analyzing, it is best to leave your computer alone or the process may need to restart.
Once the analysis is finished, you will have a graphical representation of your disk's level of fragmentation. See the pic below for an example of a highly fragmented drive.
Windows will also inform you if it recommends defragmenting the drive. You must have 15% of the drive free in order to fully defragment it. Anything less will result in only a partial re-ordering of the files. You may need to delete a few things to obtain this free space.
To defragment the drive, select it and hit the 'defragment' button. Note that depending on the size of the drive and the level of fragmentation, this can take a long time. It's a good thing to leave overnight, since you should not run anything else while doing the defrag either.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Re§trict u§er with application(§ystem)
1. Open Registry Editor.(Start-->Run-->Type regedit)
2. Move to the following Key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\Explorer
3. Create a new DWORD and name it DisallowRun.
4. Set the value 1 to Enable application restriction and set the value 0 to Disable the application restriction.
5. Then create a Sub-Key and name it
Note : careful with Regsiter Editor
2. Move to the following Key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\Explorer
3. Create a new DWORD and name it DisallowRun.
4. Set the value 1 to Enable application restriction and set the value 0 to Disable the application restriction.
5. Then create a Sub-Key and name it
Note : careful with Regsiter Editor
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
How to re§et the §creen§aver pa§§word
How to Reset the Screensaver Password
1. Open the Registry Editor.(Start--> Run--> type : regedit
2. Navigate to the following Registry Value:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
3. To remove the Password, in the Right Pane delete the value "ScreenSave_Data".
4. Restart the System.
Note : careful while using register editor
1. Open the Registry Editor.(Start--> Run--> type : regedit
2. Navigate to the following Registry Value:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
3. To remove the Password, in the Right Pane delete the value "ScreenSave_Data".
4. Restart the System.
Note : careful while using register editor
Friday, February 15, 2008
windoes xp tweaks
Here's some performance tweaks for Windows XP SP2 -
First go to the Registry, Start > Run > type regedit -or- regedt32
Then apply the following as necessary:
Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions - and keep XP from nagging about it:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
"FirewallDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride"=dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride"=dword:00000001
;Disable antivirus and firewall check at boot time
SP2 enables Auto Updates by default. This is good for you, but some folks disagree, so here is how to turn it off:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
;Stop nagging about AU being turned off
How to turn off the SP2 firewall (if you must):
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
; turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
;disable firewall policy for standard profile
First go to the Registry, Start > Run > type regedit -or- regedt32
Then apply the following as necessary:
Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions - and keep XP from nagging about it:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
"FirewallDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride"=dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride"=dword:00000001
;Disable antivirus and firewall check at boot time
SP2 enables Auto Updates by default. This is good for you, but some folks disagree, so here is how to turn it off:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
;Stop nagging about AU being turned off
How to turn off the SP2 firewall (if you must):
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
; turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
;disable firewall policy for standard profile
un told secrets of windows xp
Untold Secrets about Windows Operating System [ Tricks ]
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.
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.
Tips and tricks in networking
Trace the Route
You can troubleshoot your Internet connection with the Trace Route option. To use Trace Route, type 'tracert' followed by the Web address or IP, in the command line. Trace route traces every hop or router on the Internet, that a packet takes to reach its destination, giving the path and the amount of time taken between each hop. On a LAN, this can be used to diagnose problems in routing. Use it on the Internet to choose the nearest and fastest download sites. Fewer hops usually make for a better connection.
Network Statistics
Use the netstat utility to display protocol-based statistics, as well as all current inbound and outbound connections. It can be configured to display all connections, listening (open) ports and Ethernet statistics, as well as statistics on a protocol basis for your network connection. This would include statistics for TCP, UDP, ICMP and IP. This is a very useful command line utility that shows you all network activity on your machine.
Instant Messages across the LAN on Windows 98/Me
You can send a quick message across the LAN using a standard tool within Windows 98/Me. WinPopUp is a standard and easy-to-use messaging utility within Windows. To use WinPopUp, go to Start > Run and type in 'winpopup' in the Open field, and click OK. This will open the WinPopUp window. To send a message through WinPopUp, click on Send-this opens up the Send Message window. Type message in the Message text field, and the name of recipient-the computer name-and click on OK. Incoming messages are also displayed in the WinPopUp window.
NOTE: Keep in mind that for the recipient to be able to receive your message, he or she would also need to have WinPopUp running.
Utilise your Network
You can view the current percentage of network utilisation in the Windows XP task manager. Open the Task Manager by holding down [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc] and click on the 'Networking' tab. You will see a real-time graph of network utilisation.
Pathping
The Pathping command line utility in Windows 2000 gives you the best of ping and tracert, by sending out packets to each router on the way to a final destination over a period of time, and then computes the results based on the packets returned from each hop. Since Pathping shows the degree of packet loss at any given router or link, you can use it to determine which routers or links are causing network problems.
Type 'pathping /?' at the command prompt, to get additional information on syntax and options.
Send 2 all
You can use the 'net send' command line utility in Windows 2000, to send messages to another computer, or choose to send messages to everybody in the domain. Just typing in 'net send domain_name your message' should do it! For more syntax and options type in 'net send /?' at the command prompt.
Find your way
Windows 2000 has a very powerful command line tool, the route command that can be used to view, and even change the computer's routing table. This can affect the path that the network traffic takes to get from one place to the other. Be careful while editing the routing table though-a tiny mistake could play havoc with your network communications. You can find out the different options for usage by typing 'route /?' at the command line.
Network indicator
On a PC with a modem, you can see the little flashing computers in the System Tray, that show you that there is some data flowing. Now, in Windows 2000, you can see the same indicator for your local network. Right-click on 'My Network Places', click on the 'Local Area Connection' and then the 'Properties' button. At the bottom of the Properties window, you will see the 'Show Icon in taskbar' when connected option. Enable this and you will see the indicator.
Not through the Maze
If you are working on a large LAN, then getting into a shared network resource or folder, could mean making your way through the Network Neighbourhood, and the various workgroups. The entire list of computers across the network could take quite a while to show up. Instead, you can access a computer directly, by typing \\computer_name. You can also go to the Start > Run menu and type \\computer_name to access the computer. This is called the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) style network name.
File and Printer Sharing
To share resources across the network, you will need to enable the 'File and Printer sharing' option. If you do not intend to share any folders or printers from your computer, you can uninstall the same for Microsoft Networks. To do this, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network and click on 'File and Print Sharing'. Uncheck both the 'Give access to files' and 'Give access to printer' options. You will have to restart your computer for the changes to take place. Now no one will be able to access any files on your machine, as your computer will not appear on the network. You will, however, be able to access files and folders on other computers on the network as long as Client for Microsoft Networks is installed.
To enable file and printer sharing, in Windows 2000/XP, go to Control Panel > Network Connections > Local Area Network click on Properties. This will pop up a window, where you can change all the network settings. Here select the 'File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks' option. Similarly deselect it to turn off sharing. You can still use shared folders or devices such as drives and printers on other network machines.
Internet Connection Firewall
Windows XP comes with a firewall known as the Internet Connection Firewall or ICF. ICF provides only inbound protection-unlike a full-fledged firewall, it only monitors incoming data. To turn on ICF, go to the Control panel and select Network Connections. Right-click on the displayed connection, and click on Properties. Under the Advanced tab, you can enable ICF. While the default settings may work fine, you may want to tweak the settings. Click on the Settings button to access all the ICF features and settings. You can fine tune the network services under the Services tab, set logging details under Security Logging, and details about ICMP under the ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) tab.
ICF - Do you need it?
Keep in mind that ICF is for use only with a direct connection to the Internet, such as a dial-up or cable modem connection. This means that computers connected to the Internet through a LAN, or Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), or a hardware router doesn't need an ICF. Moreover, you may tend to have some trouble with networking other computers on a LAN, as File and Printer Sharing services are blocked. It would make sense to disable the ICF, if you intend to use File and Printer Sharing services that would be essential in a LAN environment. To disable the ICF, go to the Control Panel, and select the Network Connections. Open this and right-click on the desired connection, click on Properties and under the Advanced tab, disable ICF.
Faster Windows sharing
When you try to view the shared folders on a computer running Windows 98 or ME, from a PC running Windows 2000/XP, there may be a delay of up to 30 seconds. This is because Windows 2000/XP tries to determine if any 'Scheduled Tasks' are enabled on the other computer. You can fix this delay by deleting a Registry entry on the Windows 2000 machine-but only after backing up the Registry before making any edits.
Note: this tip requires expert level acquaintance with registry editing.
Go to Start > Run and type regedit to open the Registry Editor. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer
\NameSpace, and locate the sub-key that reads {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}.
First click on File > Export and save the selected branch as, say, restoreshare.reg in a folder. Once you have exported a copy of the key, right-click on this sub-key and click on Delete. This should fix the problem.
System monitor
System Monitor is a standard utility in Windows 98/ME. If it is not already installed, you can install it from Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs; here navigate to Windows Setup > System Tools > Details. Scroll down and select System Monitor.
Start System Monitor, click on the Add button and choose Microsoft Network Server from the category field. Choose the parameters that you want to track. This will be added to the chart. Use this to determine whether your system is slowing down due to shared resources. You may need to disconnect a user or un-share a resource to remedy it.
Permissions & Dollars
Windows 98 is not very secure when it comes to sharing files. However, there are some things you can do to prevent people from accessing your files. The simplest of all is to use passwords. When sharing a folder, you can specify two passwords, one that will allow a person to only read files, and the other that will also allow him or her to modify them. Secondly, you can share folders so that they are not visible on the network. When sharing a folder, if the share name ends with a dollar sign, it will not be visible in Network Neighborhood, but a person can access it by typing the full path to it (\\machinename\share$) in Windows Explorer. Thus, only the people who know that such a share exists can access it.
Access Control
Another security option in Windows 98 is to create user level shares. For this, your network must be controlled by a Windows NT/2000/2003 server as Domain Controller, with users and groups already defined on it. Right-click on Network Neighbourhood, click Properties, switch to the Access Control tab, and select 'User-level access control'. You must give the name of your Domain Controller server. All existing shares will be disabled. After rebooting, when you share a folder, you can add a list of users allowed to access the share, and also define what they are authorised to do with the files-read, write, delete, create files and folders, change file attributes, list files and change access control.
TCP/IP Configuration
TCP/IP Configuration can be accessed in Windows 9X/ME by going to Start > Run and typing in winipcfg in the open dialog box. This utility lets you view all your current TCP/IP settings in a single place. By clicking on More Info, additional information regarding the network can be viewed. If the IP address was dynamically allocated by a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, then you can use the Release and Renew buttons to manage your allocatedIP address.
The information displayed on the screen is described below.
Adapter address
This is a hexadecimal address, also called the MAC address, unique to every network adapter. It is hard coded into the card by the manufacturer, and consists of six 8-bit numbers. However remember that modems do not have this address-this is restricted to network adapters-the number for a modem or dial up adapter is set to a meaningless default number.
IP address
This is the current IP networking address. Depending on whether the DHCP is used, this may be static or dynamically allotted. The static value is entered in the TCP/IP network configuration menu.
Subnet Mask
This is used to mask a portion of the IP address, to determine the subnet where the computer is located-within the internal network. All computers running TCP/IP must have the subnet mask defined.
Default Gateway
This is the IP address of the computer that provides the connection to a remote network. The gateway computer is the computer that TCP/IP will use to communicate and route data destined for computers on remote networks.
Clicking on it will display the following details:
DHCP Server
This entry indicates the IP address of the DHCP server. The DHCP server, when present, will dynamically assign an IP address to the machine upon connecting to the network. Clicking on the Release button will release the IP address, and the Renew button requests a new IP address from the DHCP server.
Primary and Secondary WINS Server
These settings specify the IP address of the Primary and Secondary WINS Server, if present. The WINS servers translate the NetBIOS names into the corresponding IP addresses.
Lease Obtained and Leased Expired
These values show when the current IP address was obtained and when it is due to expire. You can use the Release and Renew buttons to release and renew your current IP address. In any case, the DHCP client automatically attempts to renew the lease, when 50 per cent of the lease time has expired.
Ping-Pong
The Ping utility will let you determine whether a specific IP address is accessible. It works by sending a data packet to the specified address and waiting for the reply. Ping is a simple, yet very useful diagnostic tool.
You can troubleshoot your Internet connection with the Trace Route option. To use Trace Route, type 'tracert' followed by the Web address or IP, in the command line. Trace route traces every hop or router on the Internet, that a packet takes to reach its destination, giving the path and the amount of time taken between each hop. On a LAN, this can be used to diagnose problems in routing. Use it on the Internet to choose the nearest and fastest download sites. Fewer hops usually make for a better connection.
Network Statistics
Use the netstat utility to display protocol-based statistics, as well as all current inbound and outbound connections. It can be configured to display all connections, listening (open) ports and Ethernet statistics, as well as statistics on a protocol basis for your network connection. This would include statistics for TCP, UDP, ICMP and IP. This is a very useful command line utility that shows you all network activity on your machine.
Instant Messages across the LAN on Windows 98/Me
You can send a quick message across the LAN using a standard tool within Windows 98/Me. WinPopUp is a standard and easy-to-use messaging utility within Windows. To use WinPopUp, go to Start > Run and type in 'winpopup' in the Open field, and click OK. This will open the WinPopUp window. To send a message through WinPopUp, click on Send-this opens up the Send Message window. Type message in the Message text field, and the name of recipient-the computer name-and click on OK. Incoming messages are also displayed in the WinPopUp window.
NOTE: Keep in mind that for the recipient to be able to receive your message, he or she would also need to have WinPopUp running.
Utilise your Network
You can view the current percentage of network utilisation in the Windows XP task manager. Open the Task Manager by holding down [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc] and click on the 'Networking' tab. You will see a real-time graph of network utilisation.
Pathping
The Pathping command line utility in Windows 2000 gives you the best of ping and tracert, by sending out packets to each router on the way to a final destination over a period of time, and then computes the results based on the packets returned from each hop. Since Pathping shows the degree of packet loss at any given router or link, you can use it to determine which routers or links are causing network problems.
Type 'pathping /?' at the command prompt, to get additional information on syntax and options.
Send 2 all
You can use the 'net send' command line utility in Windows 2000, to send messages to another computer, or choose to send messages to everybody in the domain. Just typing in 'net send domain_name your message' should do it! For more syntax and options type in 'net send /?' at the command prompt.
Find your way
Windows 2000 has a very powerful command line tool, the route command that can be used to view, and even change the computer's routing table. This can affect the path that the network traffic takes to get from one place to the other. Be careful while editing the routing table though-a tiny mistake could play havoc with your network communications. You can find out the different options for usage by typing 'route /?' at the command line.
Network indicator
On a PC with a modem, you can see the little flashing computers in the System Tray, that show you that there is some data flowing. Now, in Windows 2000, you can see the same indicator for your local network. Right-click on 'My Network Places', click on the 'Local Area Connection' and then the 'Properties' button. At the bottom of the Properties window, you will see the 'Show Icon in taskbar' when connected option. Enable this and you will see the indicator.
Not through the Maze
If you are working on a large LAN, then getting into a shared network resource or folder, could mean making your way through the Network Neighbourhood, and the various workgroups. The entire list of computers across the network could take quite a while to show up. Instead, you can access a computer directly, by typing \\computer_name. You can also go to the Start > Run menu and type \\computer_name to access the computer. This is called the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) style network name.
File and Printer Sharing
To share resources across the network, you will need to enable the 'File and Printer sharing' option. If you do not intend to share any folders or printers from your computer, you can uninstall the same for Microsoft Networks. To do this, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network and click on 'File and Print Sharing'. Uncheck both the 'Give access to files' and 'Give access to printer' options. You will have to restart your computer for the changes to take place. Now no one will be able to access any files on your machine, as your computer will not appear on the network. You will, however, be able to access files and folders on other computers on the network as long as Client for Microsoft Networks is installed.
To enable file and printer sharing, in Windows 2000/XP, go to Control Panel > Network Connections > Local Area Network click on Properties. This will pop up a window, where you can change all the network settings. Here select the 'File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks' option. Similarly deselect it to turn off sharing. You can still use shared folders or devices such as drives and printers on other network machines.
Internet Connection Firewall
Windows XP comes with a firewall known as the Internet Connection Firewall or ICF. ICF provides only inbound protection-unlike a full-fledged firewall, it only monitors incoming data. To turn on ICF, go to the Control panel and select Network Connections. Right-click on the displayed connection, and click on Properties. Under the Advanced tab, you can enable ICF. While the default settings may work fine, you may want to tweak the settings. Click on the Settings button to access all the ICF features and settings. You can fine tune the network services under the Services tab, set logging details under Security Logging, and details about ICMP under the ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) tab.
ICF - Do you need it?
Keep in mind that ICF is for use only with a direct connection to the Internet, such as a dial-up or cable modem connection. This means that computers connected to the Internet through a LAN, or Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), or a hardware router doesn't need an ICF. Moreover, you may tend to have some trouble with networking other computers on a LAN, as File and Printer Sharing services are blocked. It would make sense to disable the ICF, if you intend to use File and Printer Sharing services that would be essential in a LAN environment. To disable the ICF, go to the Control Panel, and select the Network Connections. Open this and right-click on the desired connection, click on Properties and under the Advanced tab, disable ICF.
Faster Windows sharing
When you try to view the shared folders on a computer running Windows 98 or ME, from a PC running Windows 2000/XP, there may be a delay of up to 30 seconds. This is because Windows 2000/XP tries to determine if any 'Scheduled Tasks' are enabled on the other computer. You can fix this delay by deleting a Registry entry on the Windows 2000 machine-but only after backing up the Registry before making any edits.
Note: this tip requires expert level acquaintance with registry editing.
Go to Start > Run and type regedit to open the Registry Editor. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer
\NameSpace, and locate the sub-key that reads {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}.
First click on File > Export and save the selected branch as, say, restoreshare.reg in a folder. Once you have exported a copy of the key, right-click on this sub-key and click on Delete. This should fix the problem.
System monitor
System Monitor is a standard utility in Windows 98/ME. If it is not already installed, you can install it from Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs; here navigate to Windows Setup > System Tools > Details. Scroll down and select System Monitor.
Start System Monitor, click on the Add button and choose Microsoft Network Server from the category field. Choose the parameters that you want to track. This will be added to the chart. Use this to determine whether your system is slowing down due to shared resources. You may need to disconnect a user or un-share a resource to remedy it.
Permissions & Dollars
Windows 98 is not very secure when it comes to sharing files. However, there are some things you can do to prevent people from accessing your files. The simplest of all is to use passwords. When sharing a folder, you can specify two passwords, one that will allow a person to only read files, and the other that will also allow him or her to modify them. Secondly, you can share folders so that they are not visible on the network. When sharing a folder, if the share name ends with a dollar sign, it will not be visible in Network Neighborhood, but a person can access it by typing the full path to it (\\machinename\share$) in Windows Explorer. Thus, only the people who know that such a share exists can access it.
Access Control
Another security option in Windows 98 is to create user level shares. For this, your network must be controlled by a Windows NT/2000/2003 server as Domain Controller, with users and groups already defined on it. Right-click on Network Neighbourhood, click Properties, switch to the Access Control tab, and select 'User-level access control'. You must give the name of your Domain Controller server. All existing shares will be disabled. After rebooting, when you share a folder, you can add a list of users allowed to access the share, and also define what they are authorised to do with the files-read, write, delete, create files and folders, change file attributes, list files and change access control.
TCP/IP Configuration
TCP/IP Configuration can be accessed in Windows 9X/ME by going to Start > Run and typing in winipcfg in the open dialog box. This utility lets you view all your current TCP/IP settings in a single place. By clicking on More Info, additional information regarding the network can be viewed. If the IP address was dynamically allocated by a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, then you can use the Release and Renew buttons to manage your allocatedIP address.
The information displayed on the screen is described below.
Adapter address
This is a hexadecimal address, also called the MAC address, unique to every network adapter. It is hard coded into the card by the manufacturer, and consists of six 8-bit numbers. However remember that modems do not have this address-this is restricted to network adapters-the number for a modem or dial up adapter is set to a meaningless default number.
IP address
This is the current IP networking address. Depending on whether the DHCP is used, this may be static or dynamically allotted. The static value is entered in the TCP/IP network configuration menu.
Subnet Mask
This is used to mask a portion of the IP address, to determine the subnet where the computer is located-within the internal network. All computers running TCP/IP must have the subnet mask defined.
Default Gateway
This is the IP address of the computer that provides the connection to a remote network. The gateway computer is the computer that TCP/IP will use to communicate and route data destined for computers on remote networks.
Clicking on it will display the following details:
DHCP Server
This entry indicates the IP address of the DHCP server. The DHCP server, when present, will dynamically assign an IP address to the machine upon connecting to the network. Clicking on the Release button will release the IP address, and the Renew button requests a new IP address from the DHCP server.
Primary and Secondary WINS Server
These settings specify the IP address of the Primary and Secondary WINS Server, if present. The WINS servers translate the NetBIOS names into the corresponding IP addresses.
Lease Obtained and Leased Expired
These values show when the current IP address was obtained and when it is due to expire. You can use the Release and Renew buttons to release and renew your current IP address. In any case, the DHCP client automatically attempts to renew the lease, when 50 per cent of the lease time has expired.
Ping-Pong
The Ping utility will let you determine whether a specific IP address is accessible. It works by sending a data packet to the specified address and waiting for the reply. Ping is a simple, yet very useful diagnostic tool.
Pc user tips
Here are the things you need to do to keep your PC free from all the virus attacks and irritating errors:
1] INSTALL ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE:
The FIRST and FOREMOST thing you need to do is to install anti-virus software. Anti-virus software is your best friend when it comes to fighting viruses! It not only detects the virus but also prevents it from damaging your system. All you need to do is install the updates available on the anti-virus company’s site regularly and it will do its job. Anti-virus software includes paid ones like McAfee, Norton, Kaspersky etc and free ones like AVG and FIRE.
2] INSTALL FIREWALL!
Are you a regular net surfer? Are you unsure of visiting unknown sites for the fear of infecting your PC with a virus? Then a firewall is the perfect remedy for your fears. A firewall, in simple words, blocks unwanted content and protects your PC. In view of the recent worms which spread through networks, a firewall is extremely essential. If you are using Windows XP, then a firewall comes built in. Otherwise, using ZoneAlarm Pro is a good and safe alternative.
3] DONT OPEN UNKNOWN MAIL?
The GOLDEN RULE now-a-days is,” DON’T OPEN THAT ATTACHMENT”. Millions and millions of Pc’s and a large number of networks get affected due to ignorant people opening attachments from unknown mail ids. You can easily identify culprit mails if you observe closely. Most probably such mails contain attachments offering free passwords or free software. Also be careful not to download and open any attachment with the .pif extension. A new variant of a known virus may even cause damage to the system in spite of anti-virus software installed.
4] INSTALL SERVICE PACKS
Now-a-days, virus writers are targeting different areas of an operating system like Windows XP to spread their worms more quickly. For this reason, the companies release service packs to update the operating system so that the customers don’t suffer. But, NEVER ignore such security updates. Keep visiting the company’s site to be aware of such updates and to install them regularly. Microsoft has recently released SP2 for Windows XP. All readers using Windows XP are recommended to install this service pack from Microsoft.com or else order a FREE CD offered by Microsoft on their site.
5] NEVER VISIT DOUBTFUL SITES
Even if you have anti-virus software and firewall installed, avoid visiting doubtful sites or unusual sites. Such sites offer people free offers, free software and other such things. Innocent and ignorant surfers fall to their trap and in turn help in spreading the
worms.
6] DE-FRAGMENT & SCAN YOUR HARD DISK
One step that you can take for ensuring effective computing is de-fragmenting your hard disk. This feature is available in all popular operating systems and should be used atleast once every month. De-fragmenting basically re-organizes your files properly for quick access and better hard disk utilization. After you finish with this, Scan your drives completely
7] NEVER GIVE YOUR PASSWORDS
Many people get influenced by others and give their passwords and other sensitive info to such people. These people may be spammers or virus writers who may spread viruses using your mail ids and may get you in trouble. So, NEVER give out your passwords especially in Instant Messenger (IM) Conversations. This can be dangerous not only to you but also to others.
8] AVOID SIGNING UP ON UNRELIABLE SITES
Often, people sign up with their mail ids on sites which offer certain freebies or adult content. These sites are nothing but sources for the spammers who spam your mail id and fill it with unwanted mails. Spamming causes a great loss to e-mail service providers and can prove fatal.
1] INSTALL ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE:
The FIRST and FOREMOST thing you need to do is to install anti-virus software. Anti-virus software is your best friend when it comes to fighting viruses! It not only detects the virus but also prevents it from damaging your system. All you need to do is install the updates available on the anti-virus company’s site regularly and it will do its job. Anti-virus software includes paid ones like McAfee, Norton, Kaspersky etc and free ones like AVG and FIRE.
2] INSTALL FIREWALL!
Are you a regular net surfer? Are you unsure of visiting unknown sites for the fear of infecting your PC with a virus? Then a firewall is the perfect remedy for your fears. A firewall, in simple words, blocks unwanted content and protects your PC. In view of the recent worms which spread through networks, a firewall is extremely essential. If you are using Windows XP, then a firewall comes built in. Otherwise, using ZoneAlarm Pro is a good and safe alternative.
3] DONT OPEN UNKNOWN MAIL?
The GOLDEN RULE now-a-days is,” DON’T OPEN THAT ATTACHMENT”. Millions and millions of Pc’s and a large number of networks get affected due to ignorant people opening attachments from unknown mail ids. You can easily identify culprit mails if you observe closely. Most probably such mails contain attachments offering free passwords or free software. Also be careful not to download and open any attachment with the .pif extension. A new variant of a known virus may even cause damage to the system in spite of anti-virus software installed.
4] INSTALL SERVICE PACKS
Now-a-days, virus writers are targeting different areas of an operating system like Windows XP to spread their worms more quickly. For this reason, the companies release service packs to update the operating system so that the customers don’t suffer. But, NEVER ignore such security updates. Keep visiting the company’s site to be aware of such updates and to install them regularly. Microsoft has recently released SP2 for Windows XP. All readers using Windows XP are recommended to install this service pack from Microsoft.com or else order a FREE CD offered by Microsoft on their site.
5] NEVER VISIT DOUBTFUL SITES
Even if you have anti-virus software and firewall installed, avoid visiting doubtful sites or unusual sites. Such sites offer people free offers, free software and other such things. Innocent and ignorant surfers fall to their trap and in turn help in spreading the
worms.
6] DE-FRAGMENT & SCAN YOUR HARD DISK
One step that you can take for ensuring effective computing is de-fragmenting your hard disk. This feature is available in all popular operating systems and should be used atleast once every month. De-fragmenting basically re-organizes your files properly for quick access and better hard disk utilization. After you finish with this, Scan your drives completely
7] NEVER GIVE YOUR PASSWORDS
Many people get influenced by others and give their passwords and other sensitive info to such people. These people may be spammers or virus writers who may spread viruses using your mail ids and may get you in trouble. So, NEVER give out your passwords especially in Instant Messenger (IM) Conversations. This can be dangerous not only to you but also to others.
8] AVOID SIGNING UP ON UNRELIABLE SITES
Often, people sign up with their mail ids on sites which offer certain freebies or adult content. These sites are nothing but sources for the spammers who spam your mail id and fill it with unwanted mails. Spamming causes a great loss to e-mail service providers and can prove fatal.
log in without xp administrator password
If you forgot your Windows administrator’s password, doesn’t matter if you did or you just say you did Your problem can be fixed with out password recovery tool? like ERD , Windows Password Recovery, Open wall’s John the Ripper , Austrumi, est.
You only need bootable Windows XP CD and little know access hole in Windows XP
Let’s get started
1. Place your Windows XP CD and start your comp (before that set your bios set to boot from CD)
2. Screen messages for booting is typically “Press any key to boot from cd”
3. The first screen will indicate that Setup is inspecting your system and loading files.
4. When you get to the Welcome setup screen press Enter to setup Windows now
5. The licensing Agreement comes next – Press F8 to accept it.
6. The next screen is the SETUP screen which gives you the option to do a Repair. It should read something like “if on of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it”
Use the up and down arrow keys to select your XP installation (in case you have more than one Windows on your comp – if you have one, it should already be selected) and PRESS R TO BEGIN REPAIR process.
7. Let the Repair run. Setup will now check your disks and then start copying files which can take several minutes.
8. Shortly after the Copying Files stage, you will be required to reboot.(this will happen automatically – you will see a progress bar stating “Your computer will reboot in 15 seconds”
9. During the reboot, do not make the mistake of “pressing any key” to booth from CD again! Setup will resume automatically with the standard billboard screens and you will notice INSTALLING WINDOWS is highlighted.
10. Keep YOUR EYE ON THE LOWER LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN AND WHEN YOU SEE THE INSTALLING DEVICES progress bar, PRESS (SHIFT + F10). This is security hole! A command console will now open up giving you the potential for wide access to your system.
11. At the prompt type NUSRMGR.CPL and press ENTER. Bingo! You have just gained graphical access to your User Accounts in the Control Panel.
12. Now simply pick the account you need to change and remove or change your password as you prefer. If you want to log on without having to enter your new password, you can type userpasswords2 at the prompt and choose to log on without being asked for password. After you’ve made tour changes close the windows, exit the command box and continue on with Repair.
13. Once Repair is done you will be able to log on with your new password (or with out if you chose not to be asked for password) and so lives go one.
You only need bootable Windows XP CD and little know access hole in Windows XP
Let’s get started
1. Place your Windows XP CD and start your comp (before that set your bios set to boot from CD)
2. Screen messages for booting is typically “Press any key to boot from cd”
3. The first screen will indicate that Setup is inspecting your system and loading files.
4. When you get to the Welcome setup screen press Enter to setup Windows now
5. The licensing Agreement comes next – Press F8 to accept it.
6. The next screen is the SETUP screen which gives you the option to do a Repair. It should read something like “if on of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, Setup can try to repair it”
Use the up and down arrow keys to select your XP installation (in case you have more than one Windows on your comp – if you have one, it should already be selected) and PRESS R TO BEGIN REPAIR process.
7. Let the Repair run. Setup will now check your disks and then start copying files which can take several minutes.
8. Shortly after the Copying Files stage, you will be required to reboot.(this will happen automatically – you will see a progress bar stating “Your computer will reboot in 15 seconds”
9. During the reboot, do not make the mistake of “pressing any key” to booth from CD again! Setup will resume automatically with the standard billboard screens and you will notice INSTALLING WINDOWS is highlighted.
10. Keep YOUR EYE ON THE LOWER LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE SCREEN AND WHEN YOU SEE THE INSTALLING DEVICES progress bar, PRESS (SHIFT + F10). This is security hole! A command console will now open up giving you the potential for wide access to your system.
11. At the prompt type NUSRMGR.CPL and press ENTER. Bingo! You have just gained graphical access to your User Accounts in the Control Panel.
12. Now simply pick the account you need to change and remove or change your password as you prefer. If you want to log on without having to enter your new password, you can type userpasswords2 at the prompt and choose to log on without being asked for password. After you’ve made tour changes close the windows, exit the command box and continue on with Repair.
13. Once Repair is done you will be able to log on with your new password (or with out if you chose not to be asked for password) and so lives go one.
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