Extract files/drivers from Install Shield packages

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So you would like to extract some files from an Install Shield (IS) installer package you have, you may as I just need a few driver files from a package.

Well first you try the extract command from Windows (as some of the Install Shield files come as .cab files) however you quickly discover that the IS.cab files are not compatible with the Windows .cab files.  WinRar is often good at extracting all sorts of files, but not the IS files. You can forget all about -e or -x for extract that does not work either.

But there is a way, you need an utility called “ISCabVu.exe”, sadly this utility is not just lying around on the net, so you need to do a bit of fiddling around to get hold of it.. 

1. Download an evaluation copy of Install Shield (any never version will likely do, do go for the latest).
2. Install it (if you don’t want to pollute your system use SandboxIE (requires 32bit os)).
3. Copy the files under “Program Files\InstallShield\2010\System” to a different location.
4. Now just run the “ISCabVu.exe” file.
5. You may be able to thin out this directory (150mb) but this may take some time and may not be worth your time.

Now the extract part is easy, see image below;
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Creating and using a custom Policy file (adm template)

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So you for some reason or other need a custom GroupPolicy template (.adm template) to set some strange setting for some odd software.

You can use a Policy.ADM file to set custom registry values either for your own pc (may seem like a bit overkill) or more likely for your domain.

Well I have created a few of these back in the good old NT4 days and it was not all that difficult once you got the hang of it, and thus when I had the need again lately I was confident I could get it to work without too much of a hassle.

I was wrong :-/

Ok, creating a simple policy.adm file is easy;

policy1

And if you enter a keyname like;
”SoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftwhatever”

Things will work brilliantly, however lets say you want to change some obscure value for the adobe reader!?  This is outside the “Policies” section of the registry.. things will look like this when you enter the GPM MMC console.

policy2

This is where I lost my temper and started cursing at my monitor, see again once I put “Policies” in the keyname everything worked like a charm (but my setting was NOT in the Policy region of the registry)..

So Google to the rescue, it would seem that things have changed since the good old Poledit days, and that you need to do a bit of editor tweaking to get those ‘dirty’ settings available under NT4+ systems now-er-days.

Here is the secret;

policy3 
View, Filtering, “Only show policy settings that can be fully managed”..

Once this is done you can see everything – just like in the good old days 😀

policy4

Also it’s worth noting the other filter settings, I did not even know they existed, now you can actually limit your view to only those settings that are set, and this DO make it a lot easier to overlook the more complex policies.

Good luck making your new policies its easy as pie you know..

Links;
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/12009443/m/645000852731/inc/-1
http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/ADM-Template-Repository.html
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738443.aspx

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SandboxIE a virtual sandbox for all your applications

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sandboxieYou must have heard of virtual machines and virtual software (Softgrid and ThinApp former Thinstall) these solutions are really cool and offer a lot in security and ease, however they are not really good for adhoc projects.

Say you need to test a new application but are not sure you want to keep it, well you can fire up a virtual machine and install the software here, however fireing up a virtual machine takes time, memory and ressources so in other words its not ‘easy’ and convient.  Well a little known program takes care of this, SandboxIE, with this baby you can download your application and just right click on it and say run sandboxed.

So how does it work, well its quite ingenious actually. The software will create a “sandbox” for the application (could be anything – a single exe file – Microsoft office or an installation software) anything this software does is written in the sandbox and NOT in your filesystem (both filesystem and registry are sandboxed), however the software can READ anything on your filesystem/registry – the software thus does not know its sandboxed it will preform just as it would in real world.  You can even browse the sandbox and see what files are installed and where (or what changes would be made by the software).

SandboxIE has buildin support for internet browsing security, hence you will by default have a shortcut for launching your Internet browser in a sandboxed environment, this is really cool as if will offer you a VERY high level of security when browsing – any evil stuff you stumble across during your browsing can be undone (activex components installed, Google-Yahoo-Live toolbar, trojans installed).

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What are the applications of this software?

  • Security for one, you can now safely run an application (suspected spyware etc) and the changes it makes are NOT permanent, you can simply empty the sandbox afterwards.
  • Installation tests, say you are installing new software but need to figure out which settings etc are right, well now you can install the same software as many times as you like.
  • Launch your internet browser in a sandbox, none of the trojans and evil scripts on the net can harm your windows installation – any evil stuff installed (including Google Toolbar etc) can be undone by clearing your sandbox.

A word of caution though, even though the software can NOT write to your filesystem it can still read everything on it (registry and files), thus if we are talking spyware or the likes it can still read your confidential information, also spyware/trojans installed while you browse may compromise your privacy even though they cant do permanent damage to your system.

SandboxIE is very easy to get started with, but offers very complex configuration.  If you are interested in or use Virtual Machines of software virtualization you should really check this our, but also if you are concerned with security while you browse the net.

You get a free 30 day trial and then the price is 22€ (well worth its price).
Download and get all the details here; http://www.sandboxie.com/

Get a great podcast intro to SandboxIE here

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Free Drive Backup 9.0 Express

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Paragon now offers a free (only for non commercial usage) version of their Drive backup software (Drive Backup 9.0 Express) a Ghost like product, I have not tested the product myself but Paragons products are usually very high class so I would suspect it to be good.

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/features.html

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CMAK additional

Another CMAK tip is to install the Windows 2008 CMAK version, this has new features and is fully compatible with Windows Vista.

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Setting up VPN using CMAK

REPOST: A simple way of distributing a VPN client installation is to create one with CMAK (Found on your WIndows 2003 CD), even though this is mostly aimed at Microsofts ISA server VPN it should work fine with other providers (supports L2TP and PPTP). Its fairly easy to get started and you end up with a single .exe file you can distribute to your users.
One minor glitch seem to be in regard to DNS, you may need to configure a script to deal with this (to ensure that the PPP adapter is the first in the search path. There is a lot more on this in the links below.

Anyway, here is a few links to get you started;
http://blog.msfirewall.org.uk/2008/06/using-cmak-to-configure-isa-server-vpn.html
http://blog.msfirewall.org.uk/2008/06/using-cmak-to-configure-isa-server-vpn_10.html
http://www.carbonwind.net/ISA/VPNQ2006/vpnq2006_4.htm
https://207.46.19.190/windows/windows2000/en/advanced/help/cmak_ops_65.htm
http://www.isaserver.org/img/upl/vpnkitbeta2/cmak.htm

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Forefront Client Security Deployment

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You may have heard about Microsoft’s antivirus solution (Forefront Client Security, the corporate version – there is also a home user version), well now there is an additional way of deploying it (see button link) – untested, but sounds like piece of pie 🙂

Microsoft’s Live Care (home user version);
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm

Microsoft Forefront Client Security;
http://www.microsoft.com/forefront/clientsecurity/en/us/default.aspx

Corporate deployment (New method);
http://www.codeplex.com/fcscompete/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=14440

A few web-casts that may also be interesting (have not seen them myself yet);
http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=348503
http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=348463

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100 portable apps for your USB pen

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With a 8 or 16gb usb pen you may be wandering what to fill it up with?

Well dont, here is a “getting started” list to fill it up 🙂

Link for the list;
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/

100 Portable Apps for your USB Stick (both for Mac and Win)
Apr. 17th, 2007 | by Aibek

Free Portable Apps This stuff can be installed on any portable drive, i.e. USB thumbdrive, PDA or an iPod. You can use them at work, school, or any other place where you can plugin your device. Check them out, you can either scroll-down for relevant category, i.e office software, email tools, messengers, games, etc. or get a ‘all-in-one’ package (all essential tools) . While there are more apps for windows users, I tried to include a mac version for each essential tool. All free. Enjoy!

What is a portable program ? : A portable program is a piece of software that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any other computer. It can be your email program, your browser, system recovery tools or even an operating system. The coolest part about it, is that all of your data and settings are always stored on a thumbdrive so when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind.

Portable Office Software

  • Abiword [Win (6.3 mb) / Mac (9.5 mb)] – word processor (compatible with Microsoft word)
  • OpenOffice [Win (65 mb) / Mac (127 mb)] – free alternative to Microsoft Office (fully compatible with Microsoft Office docs)
  • PDF Viewers: Sumatra [Win (1.1 mb) ], Foxit PDF Reader [Win, (1.8 mb) ]
  • Notepad ++ – feature-rich Notepad replacement.

Portable Email/Calendar/ToDo Programs

Portable Text and Voice Messengers

  • All-in-One (Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, etc.): Gaim [Win, 6.9 mb], Miranda IM [Win, 1.2 mb], Adium [Mac, 15.5mb], Trillian [Win]
  • iChat [Mac] – requires locally installed iChat
  • Newspeak [Mac, 1mb] – Newspeak Cocoa IRC client
  • Skype – exlpains how to make skype portable

Portable Media Tools (Audio / Video)

  • Audacity [Win (2.4 mb), Mac (5mb)] – simple audio editor and recorder
  • VLC [Win (9.3 mb), Mac (24 mb)] – powerful media player that plays almost all popular audio and video formats
  • K-Lite Mega Codec Pack with Media Player (resource unaccessible) – another powerful media player for playing all conceivable formats
  • iShout [Mac, 7mb] – record and listen to your favorite internet radios.
  • CocoaJT [Mac, 8.7mb] – stream live TV programs from major broadcast channels.

Portable Graphics Viewers and Image Editors

     

  • GIMP [Win (8.6 mb), Mac (87.5 mb)] – free alternative to Photoshop
  • IrfanView [Win, 1013kb] – fast graphic viewer with basic image editing features
  • XNView [Win, Mac, Linux] – image viewer and converter (supports more then 400 image formats)
  • Inkscape [Mac, 24.6mb] – scalable vector graphics editor

Portable Browsers and Internet Tools (FTP, Feedreaders, Torrent Clients…)

Portable Security Software

  • Antivirus: ClamWin [Win, 5.9mb], Dr.Web CureIt [Win, 5.5 mb]
  • Keepass Password [Win, 1mb] – securely store and manage your passwords
  • Omziff [Win, 0.5mb] – lets you encrypt/decrypt a file, using secure encryption algorithms. Also includes a password generator, file shredder, file splitter and some more tools.
  • LockNote [Win] – simple text file that lets you store sensitive info with 256bit password encryption.
  • RoboFor2Go [Win] – secure password manager and form filler
  • Smart Sniff [Win, 57kb] – lets you inspect network traffic that passes via your network adapter.

Portable Games

Other Portable Utilities

  • 7Zip [Win, 1.1 mb] – file archiver and compressor, supports 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR and more
  • Registry Tweaker [Win, 1.52mb] – registry tweaking tool
  • Restoration [Win, 229kb] – handy program for recovering deleted (or formatted) files
  • YamiPod [Win] – powerful iPod manager (copy mp3/AAC files to and from your iPod, import/export playlists, search for songs, remove duplicates,..). More iPod tools
  • Drive Manager [Win, 1191 kb] – quick summary for each local and removable drive.
  • PStart – lets you organize and create menu-like list for quicker access to your portable programs.
  • SyncPAppX – script that syncs preferences between portable and local applications.
  • RQ Money – handy utlity to manage your credits and debts
  • SIW – a system analysis tool that tells you almost everything you need to know about a computer, i.e. hardware, configuration settings, etc.
  • WinAudit – one more analysis tool
  • Convert [Win, 155 kb] – fast metric unit conversion tool (distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, mass…)
  • UK Calender [Win, 321kb] – straightforward calendar with ToDo and reminders
  • CPU-Z [Win] – provides detailed info about your processor and other components
  • Country Codes [Win, 1358 kb] – a small database of country codes and additional information for all countries.
  • TreePad Lite [Win, 866kb] – personal database program, lets you store all your notes, emails, bookmarks, etc. into one well-structured file
  • StartupList [Win, 158 kb] – displays all items that are in any way related to your computer startup and are executed without any user interactions
  • eTextReader [Win, 279kb] – read plain text files provided by Project Gutenberg in a book-like manner.
  • Index Your Files [Win, 640kb] – provides an easy way to create index databases (of specified folders and drives) for quick file/term search
  • RockXP [win, 768kb] – handy utility for retrieving Win XP’s product key
  • WhoisThisDomain [Win, 42kb] – view owner and registration info for any domain name
  • Converter – portable unit convertsion utility

Portable Developer Tools (Techies Only)

  • Nvu [Win (7.3 mb), Mac (12 mb)] – easy-to-use webpage editor. Simpler alternative to Dreamweaver and Microsft Frontpage
  • Server2Go – apache webserver (no configurations needed)
  • InstantRails[Win, 60mb] – contains Ruby, Rails, Apache, and MySQL, all preconfigured and ready to run.
  • Putty [Win, 0.9 mb] – lightweight telnet and SSH client
  • Follow-Me IP – displays your external IP address
  • XAMPP [Win, 25/17 mb] – integrated server package of Apache, mySQL, PHP and Perl. Just Unzip and Run
  • HTTP File Server [Win] – simple and easy-to-use file server for personal file sharing.
  • CurrPorts [Win, 46kb]- lets you view a list of ports that are currently in use, along with applications that use them
  • FTP Servers: Quick’n Easy FTP Server [Win, 355kb], PureFTPdManager [Mac, 10.9mb]

All-In-One Packages

  • PortableApps Suite [Win, 89.5mb] – includes 7 programs for essential needs (office, email, IM client, etc.) + cool Startup manager and backup utility
  • FSuite [Mac, 668.3mb] – over 30 useful tools in one file (Office, Graphic, Audio, Video, Internet, Developer Tools and Games)

Portable Operating Systems (’HowTo’ Articles)

USB ThumDrive Tips

That’s mainly it… In case you’re looking for something that wasn’t mentioned above, there are a couple of resources you may want to check out. These are Portablefreeware.com and Tinyapps.org

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Resultant Set of Policy

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Have you ever tried debugging GPO’s (Group Policies), was this and that setting been ‘stamped’ onto my machine etc?

Well then you know what a drag this can be 🙁  Anyhow, here is a simple ‘trick’ to assist you in debugging.

Select run from the start-menu, type “rsop.msc” and hit enter, this is sure to make it a bit easier to find that ……. gpo setting 😀

keywords; Group Policy, gpmc

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MS-Steadystate

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steadystate.jpg
Microsoft has (some time ago actually) released a utility (or security addon if you wish) for Windows XP called Steadystate;

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx

What is does is basically to add very strict control to your desktop and to allow for guest or kiosk pc’s.
steadystate2.png
Lets say you administer a library pc, and daily have to deal with users changing settings downloading strange software/malware and basically just giving you a hard time.  Well with Steadystate you can inflict strict rules on what a user can and can not do, you can add time-limits for usage and finnaly (and this is the neat part) you can have the computer restore to a predefined setup at fixed intervals (or at every boot/logoff if you prefer).

In a corporate domain setup the software does not seem that interesting as many of the settings can be set via GPO’s, but for kiosk pc’s it’s neat.  And as the author of a commercial predecessor I should know 😉 www.security-setup.dk did basically the same thing just not in the same dept and detail.

If you have a kiosk pc environment, hared pc’s or your kids just keep messing their installations up this may be worth a look.  and the final good news, ITS FREE!!

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