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AskTheAdmin is upgrading...

Some strange things might come and go over the next few days but all of our geeky content will still be here! So just kick back and enjoy the ride!

I will see you all over at Wordpress in less than a week. No need to update your links as the domain will be forwarded for you. Intense Debate is getting kicked to the curb and we have a whole bunch of surprises in store for you out there in Admin land!

Stay tuned...

Microsoft wants you to like Vista so bad they are going to lie to you.

Wow so Microsoft is going to crazy lengths to prove how great Vista is... By tricking its loyal XP uisers into thinking they are getting a glance at the next release of a Windows Operating System. They called it code name Mojave.

We get to hear all about what really happened, later today... Check it out here

REDMOND, Wash.--After months of searching for ways to defend its oft-maligned Windows operating system, Microsoft may just have found its best weapon: Vista's skeptics.

Spurred by an e-mail from someone deep in the marketing ranks, Microsoft last week traveled to San Francisco, rounding up Windows XP users who had negative impressions of Vista. The subjects were put on video, asked about their Vista impressions, and then shown a "new" operating system, code-named Mojave. More than 90 percent gave positive feedback on what they saw. Then they were told that "Mojave" was actually Windows Vista.

"Oh wow," said one user, eliciting exactly the exclamation that Microsoft had hoped to garner when it first released the operating system more than 18 months ago. Instead, the operating system got mixed reviews and criticisms for its lack of compatibility and other headaches.

To be sure, the focus groups didn't have to install Vista or hook it up to their existing home network. Still, the emotional appeal of the "everyman" trying Vista and liking it clearly packs an emotional punch, something the company has desperately needed. Microsoft is still trying to figure out just how it will use the Mojave footage in its marketing, though it will clearly have a place.

The Mojave project is likely to be just one of many efforts designed to resuscitate Vista's image as well as lend strength to the Windows platform among stepped-up competition from Apple and Google. In an interview Wednesday, Windows unit business chief Bill Veghte told CNET News that he wants to see his unit try new things to get the message across.

"We have a huge perception opportunity," he said, offering a glass half-full assessment of things. "We are going to try a bunch of stuff." [Continue Reading on Cnet]

Boy would I be pissed if I was in this group! How about you????

_TheVistaLovingAdmiN_

Using Google as a password cracker.

A website we read Hackaday posted this interesting a while back on how to use Google as a password cracker.

If you don't know what md5 hashed passwords are then this isnt for you and you should stop reading (Check back in a bit for a piece of password cracking) or see what they are here.

But if you are like me and need to um recover passwords on a system you have physical access to you know you can dump passwords from the local sam database as hashed passwords.

Using a program like l0pht crack (LC5 to those in the know - more on this later) to decpypher them is time consuming but according to this post you can simply Google the hash - if it is even a fairly common password google will return the answer. How fucking cool is that?


In the following example they use it after a machine was hacked they wanted to be able to login as that user and spy on the enviroment for some forensic goodness.

Usually we're into hardware hacks, but once in a while I run across something that's just too good. [Steven]'s blog was cracked a while back, and while he was doing forensics, he was trying to crack the md5 hashed password for the unauthorized account. Eventually he slapped the hash into Google, and guess that it was 'Anthony' based on the results that came up. Thanks to [gr] (Yes, I know it was on Slashdot a few days ago, but I don't care."

I missed it on slasdot so thanks hackaday.com! This will be a big time saver for me in the future.

_TheHashedOutAdmiN_

Find all your drivers with Double Driver.

Do you hate looking for and downloading drivers on every re-format?

Well if you can get to your desktop you should be able to run Double Driver and copy your drivers off your machine to a USB stick and then restore them right back into your fresh clean formatted system! We covered something a little while ago for backing up and restoring printers/print drivers.

Combine these two small apps with the Windows Files and Settings Transfer Wizard and you have yourself a powerful tool kit.

With Double Driver you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the drivers list, and more.

Double Driver is freeware. Feel free to use and give this program to anyone you know. Your donation or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Via Lifehacker Via Ghacks]

_TheBackUpAdmiN_