posted on September 9, 2009 by Maurice
On Tuesday, some no-good hackers decided to post a vulnerability, complete with a proof-of-concept Python script, that can remotely crash any Windows-based computer that has the SMB 2.0 network protocol enabled, which includes any system running Windows Vista or later. So like anybody with a bunch of free time would do, I cracked open a couple of VM’s and had some BSoD fun with Vista but noticed that 7 didn’t budge whenever I sent the exploit packets, so I suspected that they probably tested the RC version against this exploit
Well my gut feeling was right, and Microsoft released a security advisory later that day stating that it only affected Windows Vista and Server 2008, as well as the Windows 7 RC, but no mention of the 7 RTM (or Server 2008 R2). Plus, the scope was narrowed further when it was revealed that Public network locations were unaffected (they blocked incoming connections anyway). So nothing that bad to get riled over.
Of course, until a hotfix is released, if you’d like to completely protect yourself from the exploit you can follow the directions to either
- Block ports 139 and 445 from inbound connections using a firewall
- Disable the SMB2 driver
- Both (why not? unless you’re actively using file/printer sharing)
posted on June 10, 2009 by Bryant Zadegan
This is the final part in a series of two.
Yesterday, I focused on the un-selling points of the new MacBook Pro line as announced during the WWDC keynote. Today, my focus is going to be on Snow Leopard, Apple’s rather depressing tendency to bash Microsoft, and the rather nasty turn-off this all happens to be. Granted, most of Apple’s recent ad campaigns have comprised of “let’s make things up about Windows!” in order to try and gain market share. Microsoft is only avoiding suing Apple because of the potential for the world’s worst Streisand effect, which is depressing given the libelous nature of the ads themselves.
Having said this, it’s no surprise to see this mentality persist throughout this year’s WWDC keynote, so I’ll pick up from yesterday and explain just why Snow Leopard in and of itself is nothing more than hypocrisy.
Read More »
posted on June 5, 2008 by UK.Intel
Goodbye Resource Hackers and Hex-Editors. Hello Visual Style Builders.
Yes that’s right, Builders! This week, AeroXperience was the first to get exclusive previews from Andreas Verhoeven’s Vista Style Builder.
I happen to be one of the fortunate people testing this application and giving feedback to Andreas mostly from an End-users Perspective. This Application does everything we could do before plus loads more. Whereas before we could only see numbers for images, now we will be looking at descriptions or, at the very least, class names. Instead of Hex-editing, we can insert/edit class properties using a language we can one day understand. At the moment, most of us will not understand what each Visual Style class does as they have not been publicly documented, so this is where I hope to step in and help.
I don’t want to Speak for Andreas as I am sure you will be hearing from him soon, but from what I gather, his plan is to make an application that the end-user can understand and use easily. Due to the large content of .msstyles, that will not be an easy thing to do. At the moment Avestyle is a Work in progress, but Andreas worked hard to make the application as usable and functional as possible. The actual core of the application works beautifully, but the UI is still in the process of being built. In the early builds, the Vista classes will be displayed in the application with the class name and a description.I am currently researching these classes to organize the Treeview in the application in a way where the user can find what he/she is looking for.
So Instead of researching image numbers and variant hex-edits, I will be focusing my attention on researching Vista class names and property names. This will most likely be more useful to us all as I am really confident that AveStyle is the way forward. Look out for more blog’s right here at AeroXperience about the new Customizing possibilities avestyle has to offer.
www.vistastylebuilder.com | Aves Pages | AeroXperience Forum Discussion
If anybody else would like to start getting familiar with class and property names, you will find the following links useful.
posted on June 4, 2008 by UK.Intel
This is my first blog post, so I am just going to take a minute to introduce myself. I joined AeroXperience mostly for tips and tricks on customizing Vista. It didn’t take long before I realised that customizing Vista was not an easy thing to do. For me, AeroXperience has always been the place to discuss this. So, with no builders to make visual styles, our only tools have been Resource Hackers and Hex-Editors.
After I created a few Visual styles and struggled with the graphic design side of things, I turned my efforts to researching and documenting my methods for Resource Hacking and Hex-Editing. Resource Hacking is where it all starts. The first time I opened the .msstyle with Restorator, I did not know where to begin. All those image numbers meant nothing to me, but 12 months of research for much of what we need has already been documented.
In October 2007 Stardock released their solution to Customizing Vista; WindowsBlinds 6.0 adds full support for skinning Windows Vista as well as applying a host of new special effects to skins (blurred glass, advanced animations, etc.) Users also can create their very own WindowBlinds skins using SkinStudio 6 Pro.
However Stardocks solution does not suit everyone and In the last 12 months, skinners using the hacking methods have been documenting what they find; the vista customization community has really pulled together to share expertise.
UxTheme Patches: (To Date)
Tools:
Documentation: (Threads and Tutorials)
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