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By
Pradeep Kishanani
Windows the most widely used Operating System has many
holes. With some operations you can easily customize (hack)
your Windows Operating System. Now let?s see some usable and
funny tips and tricks..
Change the Windows start-up and shutdown screens:
Using this trick you can easily change the boring startup
and shutdown screens. In Windows the screens are stored in
the disk as logo.sys, logow.sys, logos.sys. Find them on the
disk and open them with ?Mspaint?. Now you can do any thing
with these files.
You can even add your pics as the startup screen. But
remember that the width should be 320 pixels and height
should be 400 pixels and save it the Windows directory as
the logo.sys/logow.sys/logos.sys.
Get out of Windows without warning:
Using this trick you can shutdown or restart your Windows
without any warning. For using this right-click on desktop
and create a short-cut and enter the command line as
follows:
Shutting down: ?rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows? (without
quotes)
Restarting: ?rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec? (without
quotes)
Note: you can even shutdown Windows by running this command
in Windows directory.
Catch your desktop:
To get the contents of your screen as an image file, press
the ?print screen? key on your desktop and open Microsoft
Paint and click paste in the edit menu (or press Ctrl+V).
You can it as an image file.
Note: This trick doesn?t work for saving video screenshots.
There are many other freeware programs for taking the
screenshots of a video file.
Hack the Windows login passwords:
During Windows startup press F8 key (i.e., before the
startup splash screen) and select ?command prompt only?. Go
to c:\windows directory and delete the password file(*.pwl ?
where * is the username) and restart the system. When the
password dialog box pops up, type the username and enter any
password. Windows should accept any password.
Internet Explorer- Some tips to clean your tracks on your
system:
If you are using Internet Explorer for surfing the net, it
is the program which spies on your browsing habits and
stores the files you viewed in the hard disk. Any hacker by
introducing a small Trojan program to your system can
easily know your surfing habits.
Clear History:
The sites you visited over the internet with the Internet
Explorer engine are stored in the history folder in your
Windows directory. You can delete the entries in the history
folder by clicking the ?Clear History? button in the
Internet options dialog box. To delete only a specific entry
go the history folder in c:\windows and delete the entry.
Remove the temporary internet files:
Internet Explorer stores the images and pages viewed
through it in the ?Temporary Internet Files? folder in
c:\windows directory. Delete the files in it by clicking the
?Delete Files? in the Internet Options dialog box in
Internet Explorer. You can even delete the files by browsing
through the ?Temporary Internet Files? folder in Windows
directory.
Remove Cookies:
Cookies are the files used by the websites to know
information about your last login to that site, your
username in the site etc. The information in these files is
not user readable language. But, the cookie name tells the
name of the site you visited. Delete the cookies by browsing
through the ?Cookies? folder in Windows directory.
The above mentioned are some basic tricks you can play on
Windows. But, to really hack your Windows, there is no
other better tool than REGEDIT.
Working with registry:
Registry as its name indicates it is the central core
registrar of windows system. It contains all information
about the programs installed on the system and how to
respond to inputs of the user. Customizing windows is very
easy by working with the registry. In windows 95/98 the
entire registry is stored in USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT; in
windows Me there is another file called CLASSES.DAT. In
windows NT/2000 the registry is stored in %system
root%\system32\config directory. But, you cannot edit these
files directly to change the values in registry. To change
the registry settings there is an utility in windows known
as ?REGEDIT?. Using this utility you can comfortably edit
the registry to hack your windoze.
The registry has a tree structure and it looks similar to
windows explorer. The entire registry is divided to six
hives with further have sub-keys and values. The six main
hives in the windows registry are
HKEY_USERS ? This hive contains all information about the
settings for each user on the system. If there is only one
user then only ?.default? key will be present.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER ? This is the link to HKEY_USERS. It
loads the appropriate settings like desktop settings, start
menu settings etc. for the current logged on user.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - This hive contains all information
about the system starting from the hardware settings,
software etc. to information about the users on that system.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT ? This hive contains all information
about windows shortcuts, file associations.
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG ? This is an alias to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and stores information about the current
hardware configuration.
HKEY_DYN_DATA ? In this hive, changes in the values of
registry take place dynamically. So, this key is known a
?Dynamic Data Key?.
The values to the sub-keys in the registry are defined by
three types.
String: This type is used to represent human readable
values
Binary: In this type the information is stored in
hexadecimal
format. It mainly stores information regarding hardware
configuration.
Dword: This is a Boolean format. To disable a Key change
its value to ?0? and ?1? to enable the key.
When you right click on any key in the left pane of
registry, the following options popup:
Expand: To expand the tree.
New: Creates a new key
Find: To find a sub-key in that key
Delete: Deletes the key
Rename: Renames the key
Copy Key Name: Copies the entire key
When you click on a key in the right pane the following
options popup:
Modify: Modifies the value of the key
Delete: Deletes the selected key
Rename: Renames the key
Registry Editor is included with the windows operating
system. To launch Registry Editor, click start and select
run. In the Run dialog box, type ?regedit? (without quotes)
and click OK. You will now see the Registry Editor launched
to the screen. In the windows registry you can neither add
nor delete the main hives. You can add or delete keys to
these hives and even modify the values to the keys.
With this concept you can easily hack your windows system.
But, be careful while working with registry. Editing the
registry could crash programs and even the entire Operating
System. Now we shall see some tricks you can play on
windows registry to customize (hack) your Windows using
registry.
Run a program every time Windows starts:
You can run a program every time when the Windows startup.
To do this go
?HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Run?
And create a new string Value and modify its value to the
path of the program (Example: C:\program
files\winamp\winamp.exe) you want to start every time when
Windows starts and restart the Windows. Your program should
automatically start on Windows startup. Note: You can stop a
program from loading at Windows startup by removing the
appropriate value from the ?Run? directory in registry.
Display a notice every time Windows starts:
You can use this trick if you want a message to be
displayed every time Windows starts. Go to
?HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Winlogon?.
Create a new string values as follows.
Name: LegalNoticeCaption and Value: Caption of the dialog
box here
Name: LegalNoticeText and Value: Your message here
After adding the values, restart your Windows, a dialog box
should appear before the Windows startup.
Remove the ?shortcut to?? on shortcuts:
To do this go to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\windows\currentversion\explorer
Create a new Binary value with name ?Link? (without quotes)
and change its value to ?00 00 00 00?.
Restart your system for applying your new settings.
Automatically logon to Windows:
Using this operation you can logon to your personal
settings without every time typing your passwords. Go to
the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
And create a new string value with name ?Default Password?
(Without quotes) and modify its value to your exact
password.
Note: The default username can be found at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon\username.
Remove the internet icon form Desktop:
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\EXplorer
and Create a new DWORD value named ?NoInternetIcon? and set
its value to ?1?.
Disable the Shutdown command:
To disable the Shutdown command go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\EXplorer
and create a new DWORD value ?NoClose?(Without quotes) and
set it?s value to ?1? (Without quotes). Restart the system
for the new settings to apply. To enable the Shutdown
command change the value of ?NoClose? to ?0? (Without
quotes).
Hide icons on desktop:
To hide all the items on the desktop go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\EXplorer
and create a new DWORD value ?NoDesktop? (Without quotes)
and set its value to ?1?. Restart the computer for the new
settings to take place.
Hide the Network Neighbourhood icon from desktop:
To do this operation go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\EXplorer
and create a new DWORD value ?NoNetHood? (Without quotes)
and set it?s value to ?1? (Without quotes).
Automatically close Non-Responding programs:
In Windows often users encounter Non-responding programs
due to several reasons like low ram availability, low
processing power etc. This helps to close automatically the
Non-responding programs in Windows. To do this operation go
to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop and a new
string value to this folder. Ad name the string value to
?AutoEndtasks? (Without quotes) and set it?s value to ?1?
(Without quotes).
Get the Windows update without registering with Microsoft:
Microsoft often releases updates to the Windows Operating
System. To receive these updates, Windows must be
registered with Microsoft. This tweak helps you to receive
updates without registering with Microsoft.
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current
Version and create anew string value named ?RegDone?
(Without quotes) and set its value to ?1? (Without quotes).
Take control over the auto complete mode:
In Windows Operating System there is an option called auto
complete mode. This helps to avoid the repeated typing of
the same text in text boxes.
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AUtocomplete
and create a new string value named ?Append Completion?
(Without quotes) and set it value to ?yes? (Without quotes)
to enable the auto completion and ?No? (Without quotes) to
show only a list of relevant text.
Model your explorer toolbars:
This helps you add an image to the background of your
explorer toolbar. To do this go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\toolbar and add a new string value named
?BackBitmapShell? (Without quotes) to it and set its value
to the path of the image file.
Clear the recent documents on windows exit:
This tweak helps you to remove the recent documents upon
exiting the Windows.
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\EXplorer
and add a new DWORD valus named ?Clearrecentdocsonexit?
(Without quotes) and set its value to ?1?.
Customize your start menu:
In Windows the start menu acts as a barrier between the
user and the programs installed on the computer. But, the
main Start menu cannot be edited easily. To do this one
should edit the registry. All these operations are required
to be done to the same key i.e.,
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
Remove Favorites from start menu:
Create a Dword value named ?Nofavoritesmenu? and set its
value to ?1?
Remove folders from settings on the start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSetFolders? (Without
quotes) and set its value to ?1?
Remove Documents folder from start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoRecentDocsMenu? and set
its value to ?1?.
Remove the help option from start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSMHelp? and set its value
to ?1?.
Remove My documents from documents in start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSMMyDocs? and set its
value to ?1?.
Remove the find command from start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoFind? and set its value
to ?1?.
Remove Run command from start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoRun? and set its value to
?1?.
Remove the control panel from start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoControlPanel? and set its
value to ?1?.
Remove the taskbar from the settings option on start menu:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSetTaskbar? and set its
value to ?1?.
Disable shutdown:
Create a new DWORD value named ?NoClose? and set its value
to ?1?.
Note: To disable any registry value mentioned above change
its value form ?1? to ?0?.
Hack Internet Explorer:
Hiding the Internet Explorer icon from desktop:
To do this go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
and create a new DWORD value named ?NoInternetIcon? and set
its value to ?1?.
Disable the Go Button in Internet Explorer:
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main and create a new string value named
?ShowGoButton? and set its value to ?no?.
Change the Internet Explorer Search Engine:
Go to
?HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Search
url? and create a new string value named ?Default? (Without
quotes) and set its value to the address of the search
Engine. (Example: For Altavista the value should be
?http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?q=%s?)
Changing the Internet Explorer window title:
Just go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Main
and create a string value named ?Window Title? With the new
caption as its value.
Hidden features in Internet Explorer 5 and above versions:
Internet Explorer 5 comes with many hidden features. These
features make Internet Explorer 5 more customizable than
its previous versions.
Add a background bitmap to the Internet Explorer toolbar:
One can easily add a bitmap to the Internet Explorer
toolbar.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Toolbar and create a new string value named
?BackBitmapIE5?(for Internet Explorer 5) and set the path of
the bitmap as it value.
Customize Internet Explorer 5:
The following all values are to be added to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Restrictions
for playing the trick. Set the values of the below give
DWORD values to ?1? to enable it and ?0? to disable it.
Disable closing Internet Explorer: NoBrowserClose Hide the
Internet Options dialog box:
NoBrowserOptions
Disable Save As..: NoBrowserSaveAs
Disable New command in File menu: NoFileMenu
Disable Full screen option: NoTheaterMode
Disable the right-click context menu: NoBrowserContextMenu
CLSID folders- What they really are?
In Windows Operating System, the system folders are
protected from accidental deletion. Each system folder is
represented by a 16-bit value known as CLSID value in the
Windows registry. These values point to the specific system
folders. These values are stored in the registry in
?HKCR\CLSID?. Below given are some of the CLSID values of
some folders
Recycle Bin- {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F9554E}
Network Neighbourhood-
{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}
My Computer- {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Control Panel- {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
My Briefcase- {85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
History- {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Printers- {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B0309D}
Dial-up Networking- {992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}
Fonts- {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}
To delete a folder simply delete the corresponding value to
the folder in the above key mentioned.
Note: To delete a key from the desktop go to
?HKLM|Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace?
and delete the corresponding key.
Customize the right-click menu of the CLSID folders:
The above explained process is not an efficient one to
delete the system folders. There is another method by which
you can customize the right-click menu of the folder after
which you can delete the folder or even rename the folder.
Let?s look at this process.
This operation deals with editing the DWORD value of
?attributes? in the shellfolder of the corresponding CLSID
folder. To do this go to ?HKCR\CLSID\{CLSID
VALUE}\Shellfolder? and find the DWORD value named
?Attributes? in it and change its value to the following
values according to your requirement.
70 01 00 20 ?Adds both rename and delete to the menu
50 01 00 20 ? Adds only rename option to the menu
60 01 00 20 ? Adds only delete to the menu
47 01 00 20 ? Adds cut, copy, paste to the menu
40 01 00 20 ? Changes the menu to its default condition
Now you can do anything to the folders. But, remember
editing these values could eve crash your system. So, be
careful while editing them.
Playing with Explorer.exe:
Explorer is like the heart to Windows Operating System. It
is mainly responsible for the originating windows in
Windows OS.
So, the life of Windows lies in Explorer.exe. Now we shall
see editing this file. Remember, editing explorer.exe is a
complicate issue to take a backup of all the important data
you have and also have a copy of explorer.exe.
You can use DOS for hex-editing your explorer.exe or even
any .exe file.
Change the ?Start? text on Start button:
To do this restart your computer in MS-Dos and go to
C:\Windows> and type the following command. ?edit /70
explorer.exe? (without quotes). The /70 option helps you to
see only 70 columns on the screen. It is in the line 2390
of the editor window, there is a text ?S t a r t?. Now you
can replace the text on start button with any word of 5
characters. Simply replace the letters in ?S t a r t? with
any the required letters with null characters (remember not
spaces) in between them. Example: Replace the ?S t a r t?
with ?S n e h a?.
If by mistake you typed a space between the letters, copy a
null character from the remaining document and paste it
over the typed space.
Change the text over Clear button in Taskbar properties:
Follow the same procedure to open the Dos editor and to the
line 1354 in the editor. You can find the word ?& C l e a
r?. Now just replace the word with any other word with
exactly 5 characters. The ?&? signifies the shortcut key
for the operation i.e., the command gets executed when you
press ?Alt + C?. Example: I changed the ?& C l e a r? to ?&
S n e h a?.
Restart your computer for the settings to take place. Like
wise there are many operations that you can do to change
the taskbar properties and start menu items. All these can
be found in between the lines 1336 to 2348. But be careful
while editing it.
Note: The lines mentioned here are with reference to
explorer.exe in a Win98 system. These lines may vary with
explorer.exe in other OSs.
That?s it for now. In my next article I will be dealing
with hacking rediffmail passwords by tricking fake login
screen.
So, stay tuned to astalavista.com regards pradeep kishnani
rockystone@rediffmail.com
Disclaimer: Editing the registry and explorer.exe is a
complicate issue. Operations above mentioned could even
crash your system. So, always maintain a back-up copy while
editing the registry or explorer.exe. Perform the
operations at your own risk. I am not responsible for any
kind of damage.
Credits
pradeep kishnani
rockystone@rediffmail.com |