Sunday, March 18, 2012

Change Text on XP Start Button

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Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

get this from h**p://delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.

The category we are going to be using is "String Table". Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!

You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.


Step 2 – Modify the Registry

!!!make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.[/b] 

How To Remove and Add Right-Click Menu Items from Files and Folders

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How To Remove and Add Right-Click Menu Items from Files and Folders
Removing Items
A lot of programs you install will add themselves to the right-click menu of your files and/or folders. And most times, you have no choice in the matter and, as a result, your right-click menu can get very long with added items you don't even use. The last person I was helping with this had a right context menu so long that the Rename option was no longer visible!
Fortunately, you can easily remove those unwanted menu items, if you know the registry values to edit. And it's not at all difficult once you know the keys responsible for the additions.

For Files, the secret lies in the "context menu handlers" under the shellex subkey for "All Files" which, in the registry, is nothing but an asterisk - like a dos wildcard, which means the values entered apply to all files. It is at the very top of the Root key, right here:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Click the the + sign next to the ContextMenuHandlers key, to expand it.
Now you will see some of the programs that have added items to your right-click menu. Simply delete the program keys you don't want.
Yup! It's that simple. If deleting makes you uneasy, just export the key before deleting it. Or, instead of deleting the values, disable them. Simply double click the default value for the program on the right hand pane and rename the clsid value by placing a period or dash in front of it.
ie; - {b5eedee0-c06e-11cf-8c56-444553540000}
Then exit the registry, refresh, and right click a file to see if the item was removed from the menu.
Some programs - like WinZip or WinRar - will add several items to your right click menu but all of them will be removed by deleting or disabling their one context menu handler.

Note that the above key only applies to the right click menu of files.
To remove entries from the right click context menu of folders, you need to navigate to the Folder and Drive keys:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

All you have to do is follow the same procedure as for Files - either disable or delete items you wish to remove.
Adding Items
Adding Items to the right click menu of Files and Folders is also fairly simple using the Registry. It just involves the creation of a few new keys for each item you wish to add. You edit the same keys used for removing items. Let's use Notepad as an example of an item you'd like to add to the right click menu of all your files or folders.

For folders, go to this key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder
Click the + sign next to Folder and expand it so that the Shell key is visible. Right click the Shell key and choose New>Key and name the key Notepad or whatever else you'd prefer (whatever the key is named is what will appear in the right-click menu). Now right click the new key you made and create another key named Command. Then, in the right hand pane, double click "Default" and enter Notepad.exe as the value.
Exit the registry, refresh, and right click any folder. Notepad should now be on the context menu.


For files, go here again:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*
Expand the * key and see if a Shell key exists. If it does exist, follow the same procedure as for folders. If it does not exist, you'll have to create a new Shell first. Just right click the * key and choose New>Key and name it Shell. Then right click the Shell key and continue on the same way you did for adding items to the right click menu of folders.
Once done, Notepad should appear as an option in the right click menu of all your files.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

some useful links

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wirless hack

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Wireshark

On September midweek wireshark has been listed as most important open source program which can help a network Administrator for the windows platform. It is available for all platforms including Mac OS and Linux. The windows version works with ease and can help you to perfectly determine all the loop holes in your wireless network. In short, you can count it as something which can provide you better security if used under ethical aspect and it can be lethal if used for ethical means. All manuals and working principles are provide with the program.

Kismet

A very simple yet effective program to find hidden wireless networks. There is nothing that a network admin can do to hide wireless channel from this program.It can easily identify802.11n,802.11g, 802.11a,  and 802.11b channels. All one can do is to provide a tough encryption (wep + wpa) so that the network is hard to break in. Though there are tools which can break it as well if cunningly exploited.

Network Miner

It is a very rarely used tool but I loved the way it functions. Many professional users are very much aware of it but wont easily share it up with all. It was developed as Forensic Analytic tool for Netresec, but every ethical tool has been blended to work for unethical purpose by hackers.
It supports a lot of features including Geo IP localization, command line scripting and OS fingerprinting. There are two version available for this tool – Free and Professional.  A little bit of digging in Google can help you find a full version.

Net Stumbler

A very old program and I guess the development has been discontinued after 2009. You can download the program form the official website. The best thing about this program is that it can help you with many things under one graphical user interface. Though it is not as much as efficient as the other tools listed in here but it is a good starter kit for beginners.
It was very popularly used for war driving during the last part of the decade. The tool is not much lethal for modern day encryption but it is definitely competent enough to challenge the wireless network.

Yersinia

The current version supports Cisco VTP DoS exploit. It is best suited to find some major flaws in the network protocol and rectify/exploit them. It is used by many ethical hackers to test the deployed network architecture. It can be used to test and compromise DHCP, Inter-switch Link protocol and VLAN Trunking protocol. If you are serious about learning the steps of wireless hacking, this tool can definitely be your helping and learning guide.

Nmap

Network Mapper is an open source program available under GPL. It was designed as security auditor and later implemented by many hackers for reverse engineering purpose. The basic steps are very easy to understand and it can be a good tool to carry out post process tasks after carrying out the wireless attack. It has a bunch of versatile functions and almost all of the functions can be easily used by any starter to pro hacker.

Air Snort

If there is any tool which can be used to test and penetrate any wireless network, we are definitely talking about Air Snort. It can sniff fragments of packets from the wireless channel and can easily arrange them to break the hash key to compromise the network. The only protection from this tool is to change your Authentication key frequently and manage an access list for granting the access permission.

How to clear Log files and Cache after the Attack

Wireless hacking tools are easy to download and implement but you might become a victim if a trace back is done. To ensure that you are always protected from ping back do remember to implement these feel safe steps:
  1. Change You MAC address before you start testing/ exploiting any network.
  2. Do not use or surf sites which can help identify your where about.
  3. Do not use Gmail, yahoo or any such sites which requires user-name, password.
  4. Clear all temporary file and cookies after you are done testing/ exploiting wireless networks.
  5. Clear all logs from the router settings by simply clearing them from the router settings. Different routers have different settings for storing log files. You will have to manually scan all the features to find this thing.
  6. Use Log deleter to ease your trouble.
  7. Follow the rules and regulations defined in your country and stay out of trouble.
Some people might find this article as negatively inclined, but in this field of ethics and exploitation you must learn what evil steps are so that you can counterfeit them to build a more secure network. Be curious, be wise.


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