Easy Breakin | Boot Disk | Edit Registry | More Hack

How to edit the Registry:

Step zero: Back up all your files. Have a boot disk handy. If you mess up the Registry badly enough you may have to reinstall your operating system.

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You can get fired warning: If you edit the Registry of a computer at work, if you get caught you had better have a good explanation for the sysadmin and your boss. Figure out how to edit the Registry of a LAN server at work and you may be in real trouble.
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You can go to jail warning: Mess with the Registry of someone else's computer and you may be violating the law. Get permission before you mess with Registries of computers you don't own.
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Step one: Find the Registry. This is not simple, because the Microsoft theory is what you don't know won't hurt you. So the idea is to hide the Registry from clueless types. But, hey, we don't care if we totally trash our computers, right? So we click Start, then Programs, then Windows Explorer, then click on the Windows directory and look for a file named "Regedit.exe."

Step two: Run Regedit. Click on it. It brings up several folders:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKEY_USERS
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
HKEY_DYN_DATA

What we are looking at is in some ways like a password file, but it's much more than this. It holds all sorts of settings -- how your desk top looks, what short cuts you are using, what files you are allowed to access. If you are used to Unix, you are going to have to make major revisions in how you view file permissions and passwords. But, hey, this is a beginners' lesson so we'll gloss over this part.

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Evil genius tip: You can run Regedit from DOS from a boot disk. Verrrry handy in certain situations...
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Step three. Get into one of these HKEY thingies. Let's check out CURRENT_USER by clicking the plus sign to the left of it. Play around awhile. See how the Regedit gives you menu choices to pick new settings. You'll soon realize that Microsoft is babysitting you. All you see is pictures with no clue of who these files look in DOS. It's called "security by obscurity." This isn't how hackers edit the Registry.

Step four. Now we get act like real hackers. We are going to put part of the Registry where we can see -- and change -- anything. First click the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT line to highlight it. Then go up to the Registry heading on the Regedit menu bar. Click it, then choose "Export Registry File." Give it any name you want, but be sure it ends with ".reg".

Step five. Open that part of the Registry in Word Pad. It is important to use that program instead of Note Pad or any other word processing program. One way is to right click on it from Explorer. IMPORTANT WARNING: if you left click on it, it will automatically import it back into the Registry. If you were messing with it and accidentally left click, you could trash your computer big time.

Step six: Read everything you ever wanted to know about Windows security that Microsoft was afraid to let you find out. Things that look like:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlctl.PasswordCtl\CurVer]
@="htmlctl.PasswordCtl.1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlctl.PasswordCtl.1]
@="PasswordCtl Object"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlctl.PasswordCtl.1\CLSID]
@="{EE230860-5A5F-11CF-8B11-00AA00C00903}"

The stuff inside the brackets in this last line is an encrypted password controlling access to a program or features of a program such as the net censorship feature of Internet Explorer. What it does in encrypt the password when you enter it, then compare it with the unencrypted version on file.

Step seven: It isn't real obvious which password goes to what program. I say delete them all! Of course this means your stored passwords for logging on to your ISP, for example, may disappear. Also, Internet Explorer will pop up with a warning that "Content Advisor configuration information is missing. Someone may have tried to tamper with it." This will look really bad to your parents!

Also, if you trash your operating system in the process, you'd better have a good explanation for your Mom and Dad about why your computer is so sick. It's a good idea to know how to use your boot disk to reinstall Win 95 it this doesn't work out.

Step eight (optional): Want to erase your surfing records? For Internet Explorer you'll have to edit HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_USERS. You can also delete the files c:\windows\cookies\mm2048.dat and c:\windows\cookies\mm256.dat. These also store URL data.

Step nine. Import your .reg files back into the Registry. Either click on your .reg files in Explorer or else use the "Import" feature next to the "Export" you just used in Regedit. This only works if you remembered to name them with the .reg extension.

Step nine: Oh, no, Internet Explorer makes this loud obnoxious noise the first time I run it and puts up a bright red "X" with the message that I tampered with the net nanny feature! My parents will seriously kill me!

Or, worse yet, oh, no, I trashed my computer!