Windows 7 Commands Every Administrator Should Know

PC troubleshooting is becoming less common in larger organizations, but consultants and techs in smaller shops still have to get their hands dirty identifying and fixing desktop problems. Oftentimes, troubleshooting Windows 7 means delving into the command line. Here are 10 fundamental Windows 7 commands you might find helpful.

1: System File Checker

Malicious software will often attempt to replace core system files with modified versions in an effort to take control of the system. The System File Checker can be used to verify the integrity of the Windows system files. If any of the files are found to be missing or corrupt, they will be replaced. You can run the System File Checker by using this command:

sfc /scannow

2: File Signature Verification

One way to verify the integrity of a system is to make sure that all the system files are digitally signed. You can accomplish this with the File Signature Verification tool. This tool is launched from the command line but uses a GUI interface. It will tell you which system files are signed and which aren’t. As a rule, all the system files should be digitally signed, although some hardware vendors don’t sign driver files. The command used to launch the File Signature Verification tool is:

sigverif

3: Driverquery

Incorrect device drivers can lead to any number of system problems. If you want to see which drivers are installed on a Windows 7 system, you can do so by running the driverquery tool. This simple command-line tool provides information about each driver that is being used. The command is:

driverquery

If you need a bit more information, you can append the -v switch. Another option is to append the -si switch, which causes the tool to display signature information for the drivers. Here’s how they look:

driverquery -v

driverquery -si

4: Nslookup

The nslookup tool can help you to verify that DNS name resolution is working correctly. When you run nslookup against a host name, the tool will show you how the name was resolved, as well as which DNS server was used during the lookup. This tool can be extremely helpful when troubleshooting problems related to legacy DNS records that still exist but that are no longer correct.

To use this tool, just enter the nslookup command, followed by the name of the host you want to resolve. For example:

nslookup dc1.contoso.com

5: Ping

Ping is probably the simplest of all diagnostic commands. It’s used to verify basic TCP/IP connectivity to a network host. To use it, simply enter the command, followed by the name or IP address of the host you want to test. For example:

ping 192.168.1.1

Keep in mind that this command will work only if Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) traffic is allowed to pass between the two machines. If at any point a firewall is blocking ICMP traffic, the ping will fail.

6: Pathping

Ping does a good job of telling you whether two machines can communicate with one another over TCP/IP, but if a ping does fail, you won’t receive any information regarding the nature of the failure. This is where the pathping utility comes in.

Pathping is designed for environments in which one or more routers exist between hosts. It sends a series of packets to each router that’s in the path to the destination host in an effort to determine whether the router is performing slowly or dropping packets. At its simplest, the syntax for pathping is identical to that of the ping command (although there are some optional switches you can use). The command looks like this:

pathping 192.168.1.1

7: Ipconfig

The ipconfig command is used to view or modify a computer’s IP addresses. For example, if you wanted to view a Windows 7 system’s full IP configuration, you could use the following command:

ipconfig /all

Assuming that the system has acquired its IP address from a DHCP server, you can use the ipconfig command to release and then renew the IP address. Doing so involves using the following commands:

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

Another handy thing you can do with ipconfig is flush the DNS resolver cache. This can be helpful when a system is resolving DNS addresses incorrectly. You can flush the DNS cache by using this command:

ipconfig /flushdns

8: Repair-bde

If a drive that is encrypted with BitLocker has problems, you can sometimes recover the data using a utility called repair-bde. To use this command, you will need a destination drive to which the recovered data can be written, as well as your BitLocker recovery key or recovery password. The basic syntax for this command is:

repair-bde -rk | rp

You must specify the source drive, the destination drive, and either the rk (recovery key) or the rp (recovery password) switch, along with the path to the recovery key or the recovery password. Here are two examples of how to use this utility:

repair-bde c: d: -rk e:\recovery.bek

repair-bde c: d: -rp 111111-111111-111111-111111-111111-111111

9: Tasklist

The tasklist command is designed to provide information about the tasks that are running on a Windows 7 system. At its most basic, you can enter the following command:

tasklist

The tasklist command has numerous optional switches, but there are a couple I want to mention. One is the -m switch, which causes tasklist to display all the DLL modules associated with a task. The other is the -svc switch, which lists the services that support each task. Here’s how they look:

tasklist -m

tasklist -svc

10: Taskkill

The taskkill command terminates a task, either by name (which is referred to as the image name) or by process ID. The syntax for this command is simple. You must follow the taskkill command with -pid (process ID) or -im (image name) and the name or process ID of the task that you want to terminate. Here are two examples of how this command works:

taskkill -pid 4104

taskkill -im iexplore.exe

Turn Windows 8 PC into Wi-Fi Hot Spot

In Windows 8, Microsoft quietly removed a useful networking feature: ad-hoc networks.
In Windows 7 (and previous OSes), the tool could turn your PC into a Wi-Fi hot spot, allowing it to share its Ethernet or other Internet connection with other devices by broadcasting its own network.

So, if you paid for Internet access at a cafe, or you're at work, and want to share your PC's Internet with your phone or tablet, this feature would let you do that.

It is very possible to do this in Windows 8, but the built-in method requires fiddling with the command prompt. And for some of us, walking into that black abyss is daunting.

Instead, check out Virtual Router Plus. It's a free, open-source program that does the geek work for you, allowing you to quickly fire up an ad-hoc network whenever you need one.

Once you've downloaded the file, extract it, and launch the VirtualRouterPlus file within that folder. There's no real installation here -- the program will simply launch.

At this point, setup is easy. Enter a name for your network, then choose a secure password with at least eight characters. Finally, choose the connection you want to share (there will most likely only be one choice), and click Start.

To test it out, grab your phone or tablet and connect to your newly created Wi-Fi network. If it doesn't show up, stop the connection on your computer, and hit Start again.

Also remember that your computer needs to stay awake and running to keep its ad-hoc network alive. So, tweak your power settings if need be.

LulzSec Hacker Sabu’s Sentencing Postponed

The sentencing of Hector Xavier Monsegur – better known as Sabu, the leader of the infamous LulzSec hacker collective – has been postponed once again without any explanation.

According to The Guardian, Monsegur was scheduled to appear at a Manhattan federal court on Friday where he should have been sentenced for 10 counts of hacking, one count of identity theft and one count of bank fraud.

This is not the first time when the hacker’s sentencing is postponed. Back in August, 2012, authorities requested a six-month adjournment because Sabu was still cooperating with the government.

Cooperation with the government is what made Monsegur become the symbol of treason among hacktivists. In March 2012, the alleged members of the LulzSec group were arrested after being ratted out by Sabu.

He was first arrested in June 2011, but the FBI released him in exchange for his assistance in apprehending other hackers.

Pakistani Cyber Army Defaces 7 Indian Government Website

Hackers of the Pakistan Cyber Army (PCA) have breached and defaced 7 websites owned by the Indian government.

The affected websites are the ones of the Bihar Tourism from Ministry of Tourism India (bihartourism.gov.in), Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan (mpowerraj.gov.in), the Directorate of Medical Education of the Government of Kerala (nurses.kerala.gov.in), the Salary Revision Commission of Government of Kerala (src.kerala.gov.in).

Other victims are the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi (cdrcestat.gov.in), the Works Information & Monitoring System (pwddelhi.gov.in) and the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (sameer.gov.in)

The hack comes in response to the attacks launched by Indian hackers against Pakistani websites. According to the deface message.

Here u g0 KiDs! Indian Government Servers Own3D! Hello GaY HinD People! Now Where’s SecuritY? ;) Listen U Fucked Up Indishell Kids! We Were Trying To Be in Peace! BuT We Don’t Think U Want It to Be Like That Anymore! So Here comes The Fuck From Us.

U abused All Pakistanis ( Which Includes Our Parents as Well )..I Had Told U AlreadY We have access to more than 50% of Indian GOV servers! BuT U ThoughT We MighT Be Kidding & U KepT Trying ur Lame ShiTs on .PK siTeS! When I see ur lame ShiTTy defaces on .PK SiTeS, It Drives me Real CrazY..Shame on U kids! :D

I Also Told U noT To Hack .PK Otherwise U will see Zone-h Full Of StarWhite Indian FLAG :D..Now Is The Time For Doing ThaT ShiT! In Other Words! We have Done this ShiT..

At the time of writing, three of the websites were restored, two of them were still defaced, while the last two were taken offline altogether.

It appears the site’s administrators haven’t patched the vulnerabilities, since the sameer.gov.in has been defaced for the second time.

Hacking Books for Serious Beginners Learning The Art of Hacking

Learning to hack, is a vague word that has been misunderstood by so many. You see people buzzing around with phrases like "Teach me how to hack facebook", "I need to hack my girlfriends gmail account" bla bla bla, not having the slightest clue about what they are taking about.

Like I tell folks close to me, hacking involves so many things, and it requires an open minded individual with abundance of patience to succeed in this field, and believe when I say the road is not always pleasant. It's not always about using that point and click tool to ddos a web server or hijacking a user session or even installing backtrack thinking you've setup hacker's lab like any other hacker.

A hacker is a know all specie, an addicted reader with a logical frame of mind. I present this books that will help any motivated individual who is ready to explore the world of hacking.

The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing: Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing Made Easy

The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing serves as an introduction to the steps required to complete a penetration test or perform an ethical hack. You learn how to properly utilize and interpret the results of modern day hacking tools; which are required to complete a penetration test. Tool coverage will include, Backtrack Linux, Google, Whois, Nmap, Nessus, Metasploit, Netcat, Netbus, and more. A simple and clean explanation of how to utilize these tools will allow you to gain a solid understanding of each of the four phases and prepare them to take on more in-depth texts and topics. This book includes the use of a single example (pen test target) all the way through the book which allows you to clearly see how the tools and phases relate.

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Edition

Hacking is the art of creative problem solving, whether that means finding an unconventional solution to a difficult problem or exploiting holes in sloppy programming. Many people call themselves hackers, but few have the strong technical foundation needed to really push the envelope.

Rather than merely showing how to run existing exploits, author Jon Erickson explains how arcane hacking techniques actually work. To share the art and science of hacking in a way that is accessible to everyone, Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Edition introduces the fundamentals of C programming from a hacker's perspective.

The included LiveCD provides a complete Linux programming and debugging environment-all without modifying your current operating system. Use it to follow along with the book's examples as you fill gaps in your knowledge and explore hacking techniques on your own. Get your hands dirty debugging code, overflowing buffers, hijacking network communications, bypassing protections, exploiting cryptographic weaknesses, and perhaps even inventing new exploits.

Hackers are always pushing the boundaries, investigating the unknown, and evolving their art. Even if you don't already know how to program, Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Edition will give you a complete picture of programming, machine architecture, network communications, and existing hacking techniques. Combine this knowledge with the included Linux environment, and all you need is your own creativity.

Hacking Exposed 7: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, Seventh Edition

The first version of Hacking Exposed came out in 1999. The book was a game changer that made penetration and vulnerability testing available to the masses. Needless to say that in the ensuing 13 years, there has been a huge amount of change in the world of information security.

With the release of Hacking Exposed 7: Network Security Secrets & Solutions, authors Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray and George Kurtz (along with over 10 contributing authors) provide an up to date version to the original classic. The book builds on the fundamentals of the first edition, and does include essentials of hacking on topics such as enumeration, foot printing, scanning, operating system detection and a lot more.

The latest edition gets into current threats and details the new menace of APT (advanced persistent threats), embedded hacking, database hacking, and significant coverage of mobile devices.

Bolster your system’s security and defeat the tools and tactics of cyber-criminals with expert advice and defense strategies from the world-renowned Hacking Exposed team. Case studies expose the hacker’s latest devious methods and illustrate field-tested remedies. Find out how to block infrastructure hacks, minimize advanced persistent threats, neutralize malicious code, secure web and database applications, and fortify UNIX networks. Hacking Exposed 7: Network Security Secrets & Solutions contains all-new visual maps and a comprehensive “countermeasures cookbook.”

How to Bypass the Lockcode Screen on iOS 6.1 and Use Anyone’s iPhone

Apple has had a few problems with its latest iPhone and iPad software update.

Released just last month, iOS 6.1 was meant to be a relatively significant update bringing enhanced Siri capabilities, LTE support to more countries, and more iTunes Match features.

But it seems as if the update is doing more harm than good.

The Verge reports that a new bug, "lets anyone bypass your iPhone password lock and access your phone app, view or modify contacts, check your voicemail, and look through your photos (by attempting to add a photo to a contact)."

The instructions are pretty simple. First you have to pretend to turn the phone off, then make an aborted emergency call, then a quick bit of off button and cancel pressing. That boots you into the full phone app where you can pretty much call or message anyone you like, or edit phone contacts.

Besides allowing anyone access to your phone, Apple's latest software update also drains your battery much faster than usual, and Microsoft recommended users not upgrade because of an Exchange bug, which causes iPhones to continuously loop when syncing a recurring calendar meeting invitation to Microsoft Exchange.

Apple has not issued a statement on this latest bug but here is a video of it in action:

Google Drive can now host your Static Webpage

Google Drive has turned on a feature that lets the cloud storage service become a limited web host.

It's long been possible to allow others to access data stored in the service, which can produce a URL for files. The new tweak means it's possible to ask for a “Preview” of an HTML file stored in Google Drive. Doing so renders the page and produces a URL that, once copied and pasted, can be used by anyone to access the page.

The feature is sophisticated enough that a quick bit of coding produced this page, with a lengthy JavaScript and graphics stored in the same Google Drive folder appearing just as the code intends. We've not tested the promised ability to handle CSS.

The Cloud Storage provider's have not said how far the service will scale, but it seems unlikely that will be much of a problem given this is hardly a heavyweight hosting platform. Google's not alone in offering a simple service: Amazon Web Services allows users of its simple storage service to serve static HTML from the “buckets” it uses to contain files.

Amazon charges for the privilege of doing so. Google does not, unless one uses paid versions of its Apps.

In these days of widget-populated free blogging platforms and Facebook it is hard to imagine a stampede towards this new service. Developers, however, may appreciate the extra collaborative opportunities it presents.

Completely Hack Facebook News Feed Appearance

Are you the type that's not scared of trying out new stuffs? Do you think Facebook design is becoming too boring and not challenging the likes of Google Plus or Pinterest? Roll up your sleeves. Wonderful designers at Thinktek Studio just rolled out a new extension that alters some significant part of facebook. It's tagged NewGenBook 'Facebook the way it should've been'.

Once you have the extension installed and visit Facebook, you'll notice a considerable amount of change in the newsfeed. The top right menu where you have access to logout, change privacy settings and advertise have been moved to the left hand side close to the logo but the layout still maintains the same 3 column.

This extension is available for all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari & Opera) except Internet Explorer and plan to release Iphone version is on the way, according to the developer.

You must note that this extension adds nothing to Facebook's functionality. It only re-arranges certain items and changed the overall look, the chat box design was also altered. The only part of the site that remains untouched so far is the fan page and timeline i.e. profile.

NB: If you noticed any discomfort after installing this extension while browsing you can remove and restore previous experience.

How to Jailbreak iOS 6.1 with Evasi0n 1.0 – OS X, Including iPhone 5

Evasi0n is finally here to enable all iDevice owners to break the shackles and install mods, themes and tweaks on their iOS 6 iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch players. This guide here will show you how to do that.

Before we begin, we need to stress that Apple doesn’t condone jailbreaks. In the offset chance that something goes wrong with your device in the future, the company may refuse service on the count of your hacking it.

With that out of the way, the team responsible for Evasi0n (the evad3rs) also has some important notes for would-be jailbreakers.

“Backup your device using iTunes (or iCloud) before using evasi0n. If something breaks, you'll always be able to recover your data.

Here are some important notes from Evasi0n’s release notes:

Those who use backup passwords in iTunes must disable them for now. After doing so, iTunes makes a brand new backup. Please wait for that backup to complete before proceeding! Feel free to re-enable your backup password after jailbreaking.

Please disable the lock passcode of your iOS device before using evasi0n. It can cause issues.

Avoid all iOS and iTunes related tasks until evasi0n is complete. Why not just enjoy a brief break from the computer to stretch your legs?

If the process gets stuck somewhere, it's safe to restart the program, reboot the device (if necessary by holding down Power and Home until it shuts down), and rerun the process.”

With that out of the way, here are the actual steps required to jailbreak an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad running iOS 6.0 through iOS 6.1 using Evasi0n.

How To Jailbreak

Step 1: Once you’d downloaded the Evasi0n tool, drag it onto your desktop. Open it and plug in the iOS device you wish to jailbreak.

Step 2: Evasi0n will recognize your device, and then it’s safe to click the “Jailbreak” button. Sit back and relax while Evasi0n does its thing.

Step 3: The tool will do its magic, and along the way it will ask you to unlock your device and tap a new “Jailbreak” icon that has been miraculously added to your Home screen.

Step 4: Let Evasi0n install the rest of the jailbreak, and your device will reboot. Cydia should now be sitting there next to your other app icons. This is really one of easiest jailbreaks ever.

Disclaimer
Prohackingtricks provides this tutorial solely for informational purposes. We take no responsibility should your device malfunction as a result of using Evasi0n.

Wine Making It Possible to Run Windows Apps on Android Platform

The man behind Wine, the not-an-emulator which runs Windows applications on Linux, has been showing off an early version for those desperate to run MS Office on their Android device.

It was, according to Phoronix - who witnessed the demo - "horrendously slow", and running on a Mac which was itself running an Android emulator. Nevertheless, he added, the demonstration at the FOSDEM open source meeting in Brussels did show Windows applications running on an Android platform, which is technically impressive even if difficult to justify.

This is a step forward for Wine (originally an acronym for "Wine Is Not an Emulator") as it would extend its capability of running Windows applications on other operating systems. At the moment, it can load them on Linux, Mac OSX, & BSD. It achieves this by real-time translation of Windows API calls into POSIX calls.

Wine is funded largely by CodeWeavers, which makes money selling a supported version branded CrossOver, though Google has been known to send money Wine's way and other companies have been involved when getting their Windows applications ported to Linux.

The idea of Wine isn't to provide a Windows desktop, but to support the single killer application which is keeping someone from switching... of course, the problem is that everyone has a different reason not to switch. If Android proves popular on tablets then Windows apps could be similarly sticky, and CodeWeavers could make money selling CrossOver for Android.

But that's for the future. What we have now is a very flaky demo which proves it can be done. While CodeWeavers sponsors some staff, the majority of Wine is the usual open-source mix of hobbyists and fanatics (sign up here), so future development will depend on that community, as well as the commercial potential of running Windows apps on Android devices.

Linux Kernel 3.4.29 LTS Is Available for Download

Linux kernel 3.4.29 introduces a lot of various fixes, as well as driver improvements and improved Arch support.

Greg Kroah-Hartman announced the immediate availability for download of Linux kernel 3.4.29 LTS (long-term support).

Highlights of Linux kernel 3.4.29 LTS:

• Incorrect strncpy() has been fixed in hidp_setup_hid();
• A typo in PCIe adapter NULL check has been fixed;
• DMAR has been disabled for g4x integrated gfx;
• Pass a proper identity mapping in efi_call_phys_prelog;
• A fixup for Packard-Bell desktop with ALC880 has been implemented.

A complete list of changes and fixes can be found in the official mailing list.

“I'm announcing the release of the 3.4.29 kernel. All users of the 3.4 kernel series should upgrade or risk being turned into pumpkins.”

“The updated 3.4.y git tree can be found at: git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git linux-3.4.y and can be browsed at the normal kernel.org git web browser: http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git,” said Greg Kroah-Hartman in the email announcement.

Users of the Linux kernel 3.4.x branch are urged to update to the new version as soon as possible.

Download Linux kernel 3.4.29 LTS right now from Softpedia.

Anonymous Compromises Alabama Government Site, Details of 4,000 Bankers Exposed

Anonymous hackers continue Operation Last Resort (OpLastResort). In the latest phase of the campaign, the hacktivists have leaked the details of more than 4,000 bank executives.

It’s interesting that the hackers haven’t used Pastebin or other similar websites to publish the data. Instead, they have hacked the website of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (acjic.alabama.gov) and have posted the information in its “documents” folder under the name “oops-we-did-it-again.”

The file published by Anonymous contains names, titles, email addresses, physical addresses, fax numbers, mobile phone numbers, login IDs, IP addresses, password hashes, and other details. The information appears to belong to presidents, vice presidents, managing officers, CEOs, SVPs, and others.

ZDNet has analyzed the list of names and has learned that most of them show up as current employees on the banks’ websites.

Reddit users have also studied the leaked information.

“OK, I called a few of them. What must be so problematic for the Federal Reserve is not the information so much as this file was stolen from their computers at all. The ramifications of that kind of loss of control is severe,” one user noted.

Others, on the other hand, don’t agree with Anonymous.

“#OpLastResort has shown up out of nowhere to leak the have personal information of a lot of innocent people and should not be regarded as part of 'Anonymous'. There is no reason for what they did and they didn't even attempt to justify or even give meaning to their actions. They are simply destructive,” another user argued.

Operation Last Resort, a campaign that comes in response to the suicide of Aaron Swartz, was initiated around one week ago with a hack which targeted the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC).

Twitter Hacked, 250,000 Email and Password Compromised

If you find that your Twitter password doesn't work the next time you try to login, you won't be alone. The service was busy resetting passwords and revoking cookies on Friday, following an online attack that may have leaked the account data of approximately 250,000 users.

"This week, we detected unusual access patterns that led to us identifying unauthorized access attempts to Twitter user data," Bob Lord, Twitter's director of information security, writes in a blog post.

According to Lord, Twitter was able to shut down the attack within moments of discovering it, but not before the attackers were able to make off with what he calls "limited user information," including usernames, email addresses, session tokens, and the encrypted and salted versions of passwords.

The encryption on such passwords is generally difficult to crack – but it's not impossible, particularly if the attacker is familiar with the algorithm used to encrypt them.

As a precaution, Lord says Twitter has reset the passwords of all 250,000 affected accounts – which, he observes, is just "a small percentage" of the more than 140 million Twitter users worldwide.

If yours is one of the accounts involved, you'll need to enter a new password the next time you login. Lord reminds all Twitter users to choose strong passwords – he recommends 10 or more characters, with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols – because simpler passwords are easier to guess using brute-force methods. In addition, he recommends against using the same password on multiple sites.

Lord says Twitter's investigation is ongoing, and that it's taking the matter extremely seriously, particularly in light of recent attacks experienced by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal:

This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident. The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked. For that reason we felt that it was important to publicize this attack while we still gather information, and we are helping government and federal law enforcement in their effort to find and prosecute these attackers to make the Internet safer for all users.

Although the attack took place this week, it seems to have no relationship to the outage that took Twitter offline for several hours on Thursday. On the other hand, however, Lord's post does make rather cryptic mention of the US Department of Homeland Security's recent recommendation that users disable the Java plug-in in their browsers. He mentions Java twice, in fact.

While it's true that the Java plug-in contains multiple known vulnerabilities and that numerous security experts have warned that it should be considered unsafe, the connection between Java and the attack Twitter experienced isn't clear and twitter is yet to respond to our request for clarification.