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Phruwt Issue 04 003
At Ease For Work Groups Esoterica and More
By Moral Phibre
My experience with the nefarious At Ease for Workgroups (AEfW) comes from two
years of being on both sides of the fence. Here are some nifty things about
AEfW:
Before you begin:
AEfW can create a log file of everything that was done, so watch out. You
can't even have the machine generate this file unless you have
adminsistrator's priviledges, so wacth out. If you have the resources, copy
the system onto an external drive, hack around, and then replace the system,
covering your tracks.
(1) Ways to crash a system using Norton.
AEfW when installed creates a "shadow" partition. If you run Norton
Disk Doctor, you can see this partition...It has a screwed up name, and if
you examine it, it will say that the drive is screwed,a nd that there is all
sorts of stuff you need to fix. If you try to fix even one thing on this At
Ease partition, YOU WILL SCREW UP THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. When you restart, the
machine will NOT boot up off the drive, and you must boot up off a different
drive, and reinstall a driver. BTW, All the Apple Tech Support people I've
talked to deny that AEfW does this, but it really does, so check it out
sometime. Just be careful not to try to "fix" anything :-)
(2) Unlock
Included with your purchase is a disk called At Ease Utilities. On there
is a program called Unlock. Thing is, you need a password to use unlock.
How do you get it? Call up Apple, and tell them that you have a machine
with a damaged driver, and since AEfW locks this, you can't do anything.
Then you give them your serial number for the software. They give you a
code which you type in, and it unlocks the disk. This code changes weekly!
If you manage to steal a copy of the registration and the disk, then you
might want to use this to hacke through, but otherwise forget it, because
there are many easier ways. I won't go into these, becasue they've already
been beaten to death before, and there is no sense in me repeating them.
(3) Uninstall
As long as you are stealling disks, steal disk number one of the
install disks. "What da ph*ck?!?" you are saying right now, "Why would I
ph*kin want to unstall that sh*t on my computer." You don't, dumbass! If
you insert the install disk in, then hold down the option key, the pull down
menu changes from install to deinstall! It's been a little while since I've
done this, so it might be the command key, but I am like 90% sure it is
option. Just select deinstall, and your problems are gone. You need to run
this in order to get rid of the program, because if you thorugh it in the
trash you just fuck up the system, cause of those hidden partitions I told
you about. If you don't remember that then you must be stoned :-)
(4) Conflicts
In my experience, AEfW sucks! It can cause major problems, and besides,
FoolProof is much better. One of these conflicts is that LocalPathx when
installed for a month or two, then causes problems (like the machine taking
15-20 mintues to start up!, or random crashing) This can be repaired by
getting rid of the software and reinstalling, or just getting rid of At Ease
:-) If you can install LocalPath onto a whole load of machines, it will make
the Sys Admin crazy, if they don't know where to look. Speaking of
FoolProof, the two can be run together, but it is really not a pleasant thing
because they cause all sorts of trouble.
(5) Starting up off a boot volume
Apple say that you can't boot up from a different volum if you use AEfW.
This is wrong. Although I have had little success in using a disk to start
it up, you can use the system CD-ROM that comes with most late-model macs
that have CD-ROMS. Out the bugger in and hold down
delete-option-command-shift (D-O-C-S) to boot off of it instead. Wait a
couple minutes and you will see the familiar At Ease folder. By now you are
thinking that it didn't work, because here is At Ease...Just click the button
"Go to finder' and you're there, with No AEfW. If you are lucky, then At
Ease might even be on the disk, and you can de-install it then!
(6) How AEfW deals with files 'n applications
One sneaky thing about At Ease is that it will let you open a document
that "belongs" to any application on the hard drive, even if that application
is not available to you through At Ease. This can be helpful, if you need to
type up reports, and the only machine available is a CD-ROM workstation that
only lets you run reference CD's (but the librarian uses Claris Works or
whatever to type stuff up on off hours). Just insert a disk containing a
file from that program, and then open it. Now you can create new files,
whatever. One good way to do this is to use Apple File Exchange to bury a
game deep somewhere, and then put a saved game on a disk. That way, only
those who know can use it, and you are less likely to be caught.
(7) Annoying things sysops face:
* People taking loads of screen-snapshots (Shift-Command-3) and filling up
the volume.
* Take screen snapshots of trying to break into the Administrator account.
* Running Res Edit and modifiying the At Ease Preferences File, so that it
ways things like "Sacrifice a disk to the great Jobs".
* Using Apple File Exchange to put programs into the the setups folders in
the System's folder, so that grade school kids get access to stuff like Ooze
E-Zine.
* Reverse the process so people can't run anything :-)
* Create an obscene startup screen about certain teachers been members of
NAMBLA and then put it into the startup folder using Apple File Exchange :-)
Use your imagination, be creative, and most of all, don't get caught.
Next time: Hacking TRW
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| Moral Phibre | Political Insight and Mac Programming |
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| "If AT&T owned all the caves, then would we regard |
| spelunkers as desperate criminals?" |
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