Old Windows 95 box

[Chris Gerling]

jErikoATo:  Since you're a step closer than I already am to having recent experience on Win95, can you do me a favor and let me know if you know of any good exploits that work on it that might be interesting to see?  I was thinking of doing something a little retro and "pwn"ing a Win95 virtual machine for shits and giggles.

[Sparda]

remote blue screen = sending ICMP which has the source IP sent to the same IP as the destination.

[Chris Gerling]

Thanks. :)

[jErikoATo]

You didn't create a extended partition did you?

I tried both a primary DOS partition and an extended partition. I also tried making a primary DOS partition of 500Mb in case a large partition was making something mess up. For both of the primary DOSs, I got the same "invalid partition table" error.

I recall reading somewhere that for a FAT16 to be bootable, the first however many bits on the drive needed to be zeros (or something like that). Could this be the problem, and how would I fix it?

Hak5Chris: I've never used Win95 on any network other than a direct cable link. It's always a great masochistic experience to delete the contents of win.ini, but that's not really exploiting anything...

[Sparda]

remote blue screen = sending ICMP which has the source IP sent to the same IP as the destination.

Doesn't seem to work with 98 SE :(

That's the oldest version I have. I used icmpush to create the 'bad' ping.

sudo icmpush -echo -sp 192.168.0.2 192.168.0.2

I double checked with Wireshark. Packets with the same source and destination where indeed been created.

http://sparda.hopto.org/hak5/wireshark.png[/img]

[moonlit]

I recall reading somewhere that for a FAT16 to be bootable, the first however many bits on the drive needed to be zeros (or something like that). Could this be the problem, and how would I fix it?

You might want to try using an MSDOS  boot floppy (or CD) and FDISKing the drive first. Delete all the partitions on it, create a new primary partition, format it to FAT16 in MSDOS and then try the install.

[tabath]

You didn't create a extended partition did you?

I tried both a primary DOS partition and an extended partition. I also tried making a primary DOS partition of 500Mb in case a large partition was making something mess up. For both of the primary DOSs, I got the same "invalid partition table" error.

I recall reading somewhere that for a FAT16 to be bootable, the first however many bits on the drive needed to be zeros (or something like that). Could this be the problem, and how would I fix it?

Hak5Chris: I've never used Win95 on any network other than a direct cable link. It's always a great masochistic experience to delete the contents of win.ini, but that's not really exploiting anything...

[/quote

Fdisk /MBR then carry on as usual

[twocs]

A nice way to take care of that old system is to not install Windows 95 at all. Actually, IMO Windows is not well suited to running on these legacy computers. What you could do is to install Xubuntu or a similar system. It will be good enough for your basic needs. You can run Firefox or w3m and surf the net, too. I've just used a 450 MHz and Xubuntu, and it's working great. It sits in my dorm room and just works, letting me surf the net whenever I feel too lazy to carry my notebook all around campus. I did try to get Windows 98 running, but the system would never let me connect to the net, and it took so long to boot up, too. Try it. You can always remote access a faster computer somewhere else, if it's processing power you need.

[jErikoATo]

A nice way to take care of that old system is to not install Windows 95 at all. Actually, IMO Windows is not well suited to running on these legacy computers. What you could do is to install Xubuntu or a similar system. It will be good enough for your basic needs. You can run Firefox or w3m and surf the net, too. I've just used a 450 MHz and Xubuntu, and it's working great. It sits in my dorm room and just works, letting me surf the net whenever I feel too lazy to carry my notebook all around campus. I did try to get Windows 98 running, but the system would never let me connect to the net, and it took so long to boot up, too. Try it. You can always remote access a faster computer somewhere else, if it's processing power you need.

I was thinking of eventually putting some Linux on it. The problem right now is that the floppy drive is screwed, and the machine can't boot from the CD. I accidentally messed up the HDD, so I'm trying to get it back to a state where the machine can boot from it (I really don't care what it boots--Windows, Linux, MS-DOS, whatever. Would just be nice to get some life into it.).

[jErikoATo]

I recall reading somewhere that for a FAT16 to be bootable, the first however many bits on the drive needed to be zeros (or something like that). Could this be the problem, and how would I fix it?

You might want to try using an MSDOS  boot floppy (or CD) and FDISKing the drive first. Delete all the partitions on it, create a new primary partition, format it to FAT16 in MSDOS and then try the install.

Like I've said, I can't boot from a floppy or CD. I used fdisk on a Win98 to wipe the HDD and create a primary partition (FAT16). However, when I boot from this HDD, I get an "invalid partition table" message.

[Sparda]

You need to get the partition table in to a state that you don't get a lovely "invalid partition table" error. I'd say use using fdisk and do the following:

Delete all current partitions

n
p
1
return
return
t
1
6

then p to make sure it looks right and that the bootable flag (*) is set. if it is not set, press a then 1. Press w to save and exit.

This should have created a usable partition. You may want to create a blank file system on the partiton if your feeling lucky.

mkfs.vfat -F 16

[moonlit]

I recall reading somewhere that for a FAT16 to be bootable, the first however many bits on the drive needed to be zeros (or something like that). Could this be the problem, and how would I fix it?

You might want to try using an MSDOS  boot floppy (or CD) and FDISKing the drive first. Delete all the partitions on it, create a new primary partition, format it to FAT16 in MSDOS and then try the install.

Like I've said, I can't boot from a floppy or CD. I used fdisk on a Win98 to wipe the HDD and create a primary partition (FAT16). However, when I boot from this HDD, I get an "invalid partition table" message.

That would be why I meant to mention that my suggestion would be done on another machine.

[jErikoATo]

You need to get the partition table in to a state that you don't get a lovely "invalid partition table" error. I'd say use using fdisk and do the following:

Delete all current partitions

n
p
1
return
return
t
1
6

then p to make sure it looks right and that the bootable flag (*) is set. if it is not set, press a then 1. Press w to save and exit.

This should have created a usable partition. You may want to create a blank file system on the partiton if your feeling lucky.

mkfs.vfat -F 16

The problem seems to be that fdisk is not letting me set an active partition on a fixed disk other than fixed disk 1. I have the laptop's hard drive connected to another computer through USB, and when I try to set the new primary partition as an active partition, i get a message that tells me that an active partition can only be on fixed disk 1. How can I force fdisk to make another active partition?

[jErikoATo]

The problem seems to be that fdisk is not letting me set an active partition on a fixed disk other than fixed disk 1. I have the laptop's hard drive connected to another computer through USB, and when I try to set the new primary partition as an active partition, i get a message that tells me that an active partition can only be on fixed disk 1. How can I force fdisk to make another active partition?

I think I should be able to make the hard disk active if I booted from a floppy. The problem is that the Win98 I'm using to format this hard drive is a laptop with a broken screen, so I can only see the top 1/5 of the screen. When I run windows, I hook it up to a TV  since I don't have an actual monitor around. The thing is, without Windows running, the laptop isn't able to display stuff on a TV. I figure I would need to load some NeoMagic driver in MS-DOS to use the TV, and then load some USB drivers (this is USB 1.1, so I assume the drivers aren't loaded in MS-DOS) to connect to the messed up hard drive. The I could use fdisk to set the messed up hard drive to be active. Is this doable, and if so, how do I do it?