Web Talk

A few months ago I spoke about a nice piece of tool by the Dev Team which let you jailbreak your iPhone to load whatever firmware and unauthorized software you wished in your iPhone. During this lapse of time the Dev Team’s work has gone further and now, thanks to their new PwnageTool 2.0.1 you can  activate, jailbreak and unlock your iPhone 2G in order to  use whatever SIM you wish, and jailbreak your iPod to run whatever unauthorized third party and nor supported application software you want. As far as iPhone 3G, the Dev Team Tool doesn’t support such a phone yet( edit: the tool to jailbreak the 3G iPhone should be ready. To know more visit the Dev Team’s website). I have already spoken about this tool when it was in its 2.0 version. Here is the link to read the article of mine and watch a brief video by the Dev Team, explaining how to pwn the iPhone firmware 2.0 and iPhone 3G. Anyway, since the tool was a little buggy, a version 2.0.1 has been recently released for everybody to download and use. This new release, as stated in the Dev Team blog, fixes several bugs and contains a lot of enhancements. Here is the complete list of changes:

• It auto-finds the bl39 and bl46 files better, if they’re on your computer.
• It creates the ~/Library/iTunes/Device Support/ folder if not present, which should help with some 1600 errors people have been having.
• Many people have reported the PwnageTool not starting up at all (the icon never stops bouncing). This issue should be resolved now.
• The Sparkle AppCast URL is fixed in this version, so automatic updates should work for future releases.

If you wish to download the PwnageTool v2.0 and v2.0.1, here are the links:

• As far as the PwnageTool 2.0.1, you can download the files  on this server here at _BigBoss_’s repository, or also at Hackint0sh.
• If you wish to download the PwnageTool 2.0, just follow these links: PwnageTool_2.0.zip (mirror)

The official PwnageTool works on Mac OS X only. (But there is also a nice tool which works on Windows only. If you want to know more infos, read the complete instructions and download the tool, here is the link to the WinPwn.com website). What follows instead is a complete list of errors you might face while using the tool:

• Error 1600 from iTunes or “failure to prepare x12220000_4_Recovery.ipsw” in the log. Fix the error or problem by creating the Device Support directory using mkdir ~/Library/iTunes/”Device Support” command. If the directory already exists, remove any files in it. Then re-run PwnageTool.
• If DFU restores are giving you trouble, another route to pwned 2.0 for 1G owners is to use our first pwnage at 1.1.4. Once you are pwned there, you can do a normal recovery-mode restore to your custom 2.0 ipsw. BTW the iPhone does *not* need to be pre-pwned to be able to DFU-restore into a pwned ipsw — it needs to be pre-pwned only for normal recovery-mode restores of custom ipsw’s.
• Mail application not working at 2.0? Please restore to your custom ipsw (you don’t need to DFU restore if you are pwned, normal restore will work now too) but then select “Set up as a new iPhone” when iTunes asks. Your first sync will bring back all of your settings anyway.

Users coming from old Windows versions know what I am talking about pretty well. As a matter of fact the Classic Menu Bar is available (and it is one of the main features) in all of the Microsoft operating systems. It is recognizable because it contains a lot of drop-down menus labeled: File, Edit, View, Tools etc. In Windows Vista, if you want, you can use (or you can disable) the Classic menu by clicking: Organize — Layout — Menu Bar. Anyway this menu might originate a little issue. As a matter of fact, if  users try to disable or hide it, they could face the fact that it just refuses to obey and  will continue to stay in the Windows Vista theme. To solve this issue follow these tricks here.

A possible cause because the Classic menu refuses to disappear is that the user turned the classic folders visualization on to get the classic style. To ensure that Classic Menu is not enabled follow this procedure:

1. Click Organize.
2. Click on Folder and Search Options.
3. In the general tab, under Folder Options check the Show previews and filters radio button.

If the above trick didn’t work for you, try to apply this little hack.

1. Close all of the windows in the computer desktop.
2. Once the desktop is clean, press Start.
3. In the Search bar type regedit and hit Enter.
4. Locate the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\ Toolbar\ ShellBrowser
5. Delete the following subkey: ITBar7Layout
6. Turn off and on your computer.
7. Now open Windows Explorer and you should see that the Classic menu has disappear. If it is still there unselect the Menu Bar on Layout and turn on the showing of previews and filters.

If you are a hard gamer and you like playing on your Windows Vista with games which change your screen resolution when they are launched, you should know only too well that, once you close your games and the screen goes back to its original resolution, all of your desktop icons are switched and relocated in different sections of the desktop. At this point the only way out you have got to put them back to their original positions, is to drag them one by one. Let’s learn how to save and restore your desktop icons’position with this simple hack.

1. Download this file for Vista 32-bit or Vista 64-bit.
2. Open the zipped file and extract all of its content in  C:\Windows\System32 directory
3. Double click on the Layout.reg file. This file will modify your Windows registry.
4. Now, click Start.
5. Right click on Computer.
6. In the Computer menu, you should be able to see 2 new options: “Save Desktop Icon Layout” and “Restore Desktop Icon Layout”.
7. Arrange the icons on the desktop the way you like and save their position by clicking on “Save Desktop Icon Layout”.
8. Done! Next time your icons will be all messed-up just click on “Restore Desktop Icon Layout” and they will go back to their original position.
9. To uninstall the registry hack delete the layout.dll file. After that  download this zipped file, open it, double click on the registry file, turn off and on your computer and you are done.

Windows Update is a Windows Vista feature which works in the background downloading the most important hotfixes from Microsoft in order to fix bugs and add services to your operating system. Nothing to say, Windows Update is a very useful application, but what about its annoying dialog pop up which reminds you that Windows can’t update important updates and service while the system is using them? Sometimes I think it has especially designed to bother people while they are working, since it appears when the only thing you need is working without anything or anyone harassing you. Anyway all this is going to change. Here is a little hack to stop it once for all.

1. Click Start.
2. In the Search bar type regedit and press Enter.
3. Look for the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Policies\ Microsoft\ Windows\ WindowsUpdate\AU
4. Right click in the right pane and create a new 32-bit DWORD called NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers
5. Give NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers the following value : 1 to prevent the system from automatic rebooting while users are logged on.
6. Turn your computer off and back on to apply the change.

One of the nastiest surprise in Windows Vista after installing SP1 is the removal of some of the easy ways to get to the Search function. Of course you can still access to it by pressing the F3 key while you have a folder open. Anyway if you are looking for a simpler and faster way to reach the Search window, here is a simple hack which will add the “Search…” item back to the context menu.

1. Click Start.
2. Type regedit in the Search Bar and press Enter.
3. Browse to the following registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Directory\ shell\ find
4. Locate the LegacyDisable subkey. Rename it to LegacyDisabl.bak
5. That’s it. The hack is over. From now on whenever you will right-click on any folder you will see  the Search… option again.

There are a lot of annoying features in Windows Vista, some of them have to do with all the candy-eye features which slow your computer down, other ones have to do with the security notification and its icon, one of it has to do with the nagging notification balloons which pop-up every now and then reminding and warning you to do things you have decided not to perform long ago. To stop this steady trickle of balloons which make you feel as if you are in a circus, here is a simple hack to apply.

1. Click Start.
2. In the Search bar type: regedit and press Enter.
3. Look for this registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Advanced
4. Right click on the right pane and create a new 32-bit DWORD named EnableBalloonTips
5. Give EnableBalloonTips the value: 0
6. Turn your computer off and on to apply the change.

Of course it was going to happen, but I didn’t expect it was going to hit us all so quickly. As a matter of fact, after the Dev Team managed to crack the iPhone (they even released a nice tool to hack Apple’s phone), it looks like a Brazilian team has just successfully managed to hack (read unlock) the new iPhone 3G. The system these guys use consists of a thin, really thin card that piggybacks on your SIM while in the phone. No extra software difficult to get or special knowledge is required. The trick used by the team dwells in the software contained in the small card which tricks the iPhone into believing that a test SIM has been inserted. At this point the iPhone allows any kinds of services, and functionality is handed back to your SIM. Here is a quick video which explains how the DesbloqueioBr’s hack works.

Source: Engadget.com

Are you one of those geeks who likes having tons of software on your computer? If so, then this little hack is for you! Having a lot of software in your computer is nice and make you feel you better, right? But what happen to your system tray?  (right bottom of your screen). Have a look at it right now. Isn’t it full of dozens of icons, most of which you don’t even know what they are for? Would you like to get rid of them to have a tidy, ordered notification area where the only thing you see is the clock? If so here is the hack to follow.

1. Click Start.
2. In Windows XP, click Run and type regedit.
3. In Windows Vista, type regedit in the Search Bar.
4. Press Enter.
5. Spot the following Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
6. Click Edit (top left in the Registry Editor) and create a new D-Word (32 bit). Name it NoTrayItemsDisplay and give it the value: 1
7. Reboot the system to apply the change.

To deactivate this hack, just delete the NoTrayItemsDisplay key.