Simple methods to get a System Shell in Windows

There are several ways to get a system shell in Windows without knowing the admin password.

One way is to see whats tasks on the taskbar are launched by System, explore them and look for a open file dialog box which can then be used to launch cmd.exe.  Another way is to see if the cmd.exe can be launched as a service with system privileges.

If you can bring up a local command prompt, with basic user privileges you can try to run the following:


sc create testsvc binpath= "cmd /K start" type= own type= interact
sc start testsvc


You can rename testsvc to whatever you want, like WindowsUpdateDaemon and the best part is that the service can be stopped and restared at any time.

And of course to remove the service:

sc delete testsvc


So what can you do with this?
If you were locked out from removing programs, editing services, checking system properties, things that involve the mmc console...
You could probably invoke these now using the command line.  Most of these programs exist in system32 folder.  Some may not be there or disabled, but there is no harm in trying.
Services Management     services.msc
Shared Folders     fsmgmt.msc
Remote Desktops     tsmmc.msc
Group Policy Management     gpmc.msc
Computer Management     compmgmt.msc

Bigger list here:  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/417.windows-mmc-snap-ins-msc.aspx


Ref: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/adioltean/archive/2004/11/27/271063.aspx

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OMG the scourge of M$ is coming to Ubuntu Linux

For some unknown reason, the guys that develop gedit, still have not managed to integrate editing of encoded files in their code, not even a plugin.  What that means is that whenever a non text file is opened with gedit, it has a spaz and decides not to show it.
The equivalent to gedit in Windows, notepad has been able to display any file since time dot so I don't understand why gedit cant do it.

Reading through some of the gedit forums, it seems there is a negative culture in achieving this task, they don't want to accept that people want to edit hex files in gedit.

When I was looking though the Ubuntu Software Center that other day I cam across a program called Ultraedit.  It seemed that this program was able to display all text files and was able to be easily integrated into the gnome desktop environment.

Install....

Sometimes I deserve to get it, it was one of those too good to be true instances, where a program released for Linux was capable of doing simplistic tasks that have been available in Windows for ages.

After installation was complete, I executed the program and was presented with a sight that I have never seen in Liunx before.

One of my main reasons for jettisoning Windows years ago was because of this bullshit, nagging trial-ware ads cursing my screen.

I did not even use the program a second more, it was back to the Synaptic to remove it for good.

Finding it was not walk in the park either, it was cleverly hidden, calling itself uex.

I'm still washing, but the dirt wont come off.

OpenOffice is Dead, move on to LibreOffice NOW!

OpenOffice has being the saviour from the M$ wage, but now it has being
brought out by Oracle so it's future is unknown.

A group of OpenOffice people have started LibreOffice, which is a free and
open source improvement on the current OpenOffice program, adding heaps more
features and functionality. It drives exactly the same way as OpenOffice
BTW.

LibreOffcie is being rolled out in the next version of Ubuntu, 11.04 and is
available to download right now. Windows users are also encouraged to
remove OpenOffice and replace it with LibreOffice.
http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

On Ubuntu to remove Openoffice and replace it with LibreOffice, copy and
paste the foloowing text into your browser.

sudo apt-get remove openoffice*
udo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libreoffice

Yeah!