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GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING



Microsoft-only version Number 1



Getting Serious with Win95

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by KeyDet89



	Too many times on the newsgroups I see posts like "teach me to hack" and

"all I have is Win95, will I ever learn to hack?"



************************************************************

In this Guide you will learn:

1.  Important files on your system.

2.  My first program.

3.  Getting help.

4.  Finding out about programs.

5.  What can I do with an Internet connection?

************************************************************



	Well, you're in luck, the answer is a resounding YES!!  

However, there is a very basic step that must first be taken, and that is to

define what is meant by "hacking."  We'll start with what hacking is

not...it's not denial of service (DoS) attacks, nuking, mail bombing, IRC,

or ICQ.  Anyone can run a program, but a hacker learns how things work, and

tries to push them to their limits.  Exposing vulnerabilities is only part

of what a hacker does, and when he finds them, the hacker has the maturity

and sense of responsibility to not use the vulnerability for his own gain.

The Hacker Manifesto clearly states "thou shalt do no harm."



**Historical Note:  If you want a role model for becoming a 

hacker, try these names:  Dennis Ritchie, Bob Metcalfe, Steve Wozniak, and

yes, Bill Gates.



	With that aside, on with the show.  Past editions of the Guides to (mostly)

Harmless Hacking have talked about how to make modifications to a Win95

system to WOW your friends.  The point of those articles was that you can

begin hacking by learning all there is to know about your system.  I know a

lot of text files out there talk about using Linux and FreeBSD, shell

accounts, Un*x tools, and telnet, but if you don't have any of these

available to you, not to worry.  You can still learn, which is the whole point.



**Note:  Linux and FreeBSD are freeware or commercial (depending upon where

you go) versions of Un*x that run on the Intel platform (a PC computer).

These systems have uses throughout academia and research facilities, but

maybe a bit difficult to get running on your own system unless you know

quite a bit about your system and the operating system. The word "Un*x" uses

the star to refer to the various flavors of 

the Unix operating system.



1.  IMPORTANT FILES ON YOUR SYSTEM.



	The first thing we'll look at are the important files of the Win95 

operating system.  The autoexec.bat, config.sys, win.ini, and

system.ini files are holdovers from DOS, but are also still used.

The config.sys file is used to configure hardware on your system

and the autoexec.bat file is used to load parameters and environment 

variables that are needed when your system first starts.  



	In the next section, we'll discuss how to load environment

variables for specific purposes using batch files.  We'll look 

specifically at the autoexec.bat file, as it will lead into 

batch file programming in the next section.



	To take a look at this file, go to the DOS prompt and type:



c:\>edit autoexec.bat



	Your screen will turn blue when the editor opens and the autoexec.bat file

will be loaded automatically, because it's located in the current directory.

If you had typed:



c:\>notepad autoexec.bat



the file would've been opened in NotePad.  Use whichever is easier.



**Note:  This leads us to the subject of paths.  Paths in DOS are

areas where DOS will look on your hard drive for programs that you

type in at the prompt.  You may have the program on your hard drive

but you won't be able to run it from the prompt unless it's in your

path or you are in the directory where the program resides.



	One command that should be visible in the autoexec.bat file is the

PATH statement.  It may look something like this:



SET PATH=.;c:\;c:\Windows;c:\windows\command



	You don't need much more than this in your path, and you don't want it to

get out of control, so it's best if you leave it like as it is.  The "."

(period) that is in the beginning of the line says to begin the search for

the command in the current working directory.



	You can add other tasks in the autoexec.bat file that you want run

upon startup, and you can even include command line parameters, as

necessary.



	Now let's change directories at the DOS prompt:



c:\>cd windows



	Now open the win.ini file in Notepad, and take a look at it.  We're not

going to make any changes to it, or go into a long explanation

of it's contents.  You can see that it contains different sections

that pertain to different components and applications on your 

system.  



**************************************************************

Evil Genius\Elite Hacker Tip:  Go to the section of the win.ini

file called "[Extensions]".  One of the first lines should be:



txt=notepad.exe ^.txt



You can use this line to plant messages on your computer.  Simply 

change the reference to a batch file that contains some commands 

and the line:



notepad %1 %2 %3 %4 



...at the end.

*************************************************************** 



	Now, open the system.ini file.  



**Note:  To avoid having to type the same commands over and over,

type in "doskey" at the prompt, or edit the autoexec.bat file

to include the command "doskey on".  Then when you are in a DOS

window, you can hit the up and down arrow keys to move amongst 

commands you've already typed in.



	You'll see that the system.ini file contains sections similar to

the win.ini file.  



*****************************************************************

Evil Genius\Elite Hacker Tip:  Go to the "[boot]" section and locate the

line that reads:



shell=Explorer.exe



	This is the line that tells Win95 which shell to use for your 

system.  The commands that control what colors to use are located

in the win.ini file.  However, you can change shells.  Change the

line to read:



shell=progman.exe



	The next time you reboot the computer, the old Win3.1 Program

Manager shell will be loaded.

******************************************************************



2.  MY FIRST PROGRAM.



	Most program languages that I have used have all started out

with the ubiquitous "Hello, World" program, so we'll start there.



	A batch file is really more of an interpreted file.  The system

reads the file, and executes the commands within the file one at a time.

You can run into problems if the command you put into the file requires

input from the user, but some useful tasks can be accomplished through the

use of batch files.  



	So, for our first program, type:



@echo off

echo Hello, World!



	Save the file as "hello.bat", and at the prompt, type:



c:\>hello



	You have now written your first program!



	Now, open hello.bat again, and type change the second line to:



echo Hello, %1



	Save this, and run the program again, but enter in an argument:



c:\>hello Dave



	What the "%1" does is take the first argument ("Dave") and includes it in

the echo statement.



	You can use batch file programming to load specific environment 

variables, as well.  If you do Java programming, for instance, you can leave

the autoexec.bat file the way it is, but you will need to load specific

environment variables so that you can use your development environment,

specifically the JDK from Sun.  So type:



@echo off

SET PATH=%PATH%;c:\java\;c:\java\bin

SET CLASSPATH=c:\java\lib\classes.zip

SET JAVAHOME=c:\java



	Save this file as "java.bat" and whenever you want to do some

development, run the file.  You can even include a reference to the batch

file in the autoexec.bat file.  Notice the "%PATH%" in the second

line...this is an environment variable that exists for the DOS environment.

It refers to the PATH variable, as it exists before you run the new batch

file.  To view the path, type:



c:\>path



3.  GETTING HELP.



	It's actually pretty easy to find out about particular things on

your Win95 computer.  The first and easiest way to find anything is to use

the Start -> Help (click on the Start button, then choose Help) feature.

>From there select a topic.  Some of the entries are pretty detailed, with

examples.



	A resource that is very often overlooked by folks who are new to 

computing in general is your local public library.  DOS has been available

for quite a while, and you will likely find books about DOS and Windows at

the library.  Some books even cover the specifics of batch files or other

aspects of DOS, and will prove to be very useful.  Now, you won't be

interested in sections on EDLIN, but you find lots of valuable information.



	After libraries are used bookstores.  Lots of folks would rather

sell their old books rather than donate them to a library.  You can find

many useful books on a wide range of subjects.



	Finally, new bookstores, such as Barnes and Noble, Borders, and

especially Computer Literacy are excellent sources of information. If you

can't afford some of the new books, don't worry.  Just drop by the

bookstore, look something up, and put the book back. Many of these

bookstores also carry a wide variety of magazines, many of which are

specific to computer systems.  There are even magazines available for Atari

and Amiga systems!



4.  FINDING OUT ABOUT PROGRAMS.



	While in DOS, if you want to get some quick information about a command on

your computer and don't want to go through the steps of opening the online

Help, just type the command, followed by "/?":



c:\>edit /?



	This provides a quick explanation of the command and a list of 

arguments that can be used with it.  Keep in mind that this 

technique works with DOS commands...programs written by folks

outside of Microsoft don't have to provide this functionality.



5.  WHAT CAN I DO WITH AN INTERNET CONNECTION?



	So you have an Internet connection, eh?  Well, you already have

a shell account, of sorts.  It's your DOS window.  Yes, you can run commands

from your DOS window, as well as from the GUI.  For example, once you have

connected, try this:



c:\>telnet rs.internic.net



	This will open up a telnet window directly to InterNIC.  After the

host, you can even specify a port:



c:\>telnet [host] [port]



	This is useful if you want to see if a host has a particular port

open.



	Your system also has a command line FTP program.  Just type:



c:\>ftp [host]



and it will attempt to connect you to the host.  You can use

this FTP client to connect to your own ftp sites, or to anonymous

ftp sites such as ftp.microsoft.com.



	There are also other commands that you can use in a networked

environment, but they will be covered in another article.



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Copyright 1998 KeyDet89 <keydet89@yahoo.com>. You may forward or post this

GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING on your Web site as long as you leave

this notice at the end.

___________________________________________________________

Carolyn Meinel

M/B Research -- The Technology Brokers

http://techbroker.com/