8/14/2019 newhak20
1/2
Password File UpdaterVersion 2.0NEWHACK
for OS/2 and DOSby John Deere
FILES INCLUDED:
NH2OS2.EXE -The OS/2 version of NEWHACK 2.0NH2DOS.EXE -The DOS
version of NEWHACK 2.0NEWHAK20.DOC -Documentation for both versions
(this file)
WHY THE NEW VERSION?
Well, basically for 2 reasons: my hard disk crashed, and I got
OS/2.When my hard disk crashed, I temporarily lost my source to
NEWHACKversion 1.0, so I started rewriting it. Since I now have
OS/2, Idecided to compile a version for OS/2 as well.
WHY THE JUMP FROM VERSION 1.0 TO VERSION 2.0?
Well, hey, the first version of Windows NT was 3.1, so why can't
I becool too? :) No, anyway, it's because the ENTIRE program has
beenre-coded from scratch. NEWHACK version 1.0 was coded in Turbo
Pascal7.0. This new version was coded in Borland C++ for OS/2 and
also compiledwith Borland C++ for DOS. So, since I changed
everything, I decided ajump in the version number was
necessary.
IS IT CALLED NEWHACK OR PASSWORD FILE UPDATER?
I prefer NEWHACK, but I kept the old name because version 1.0
used it.
WHAT IT DOES
You know when you get a new version of the passwd file from
yourfavorite hack site, but you don't want to bother hacking all
theaccounts? You should just be hacking the new and changed
accounts,since those are the only ones worth hacking. Well this
will do itfor you. Basically, it compares the old passwd file and
the newpasswd file, generates a new file with only the
new/changedaccounts, and also generates a status file just listing
the accountnames that have been changed/new (for your
reference).
WHY USE PASSWORD FILE UPDATER?
Well, here's a quickie chart showing the speed improvementof
NEWHACK versus the *other* program on the market, Hacker'sPassword
Accountant (HPA).
Version # of times FASTER than
HPA------------------------------------------------NEWHACK for DOS
1.7version 1.0
8/14/2019 newhak20
2/2
NEWHACK for DOS 2.3version 2.0
NEWHACK for OS/2 3.0version 2.0
So, as you can see, if you were to run the OS/2 version
ofNEWHACK, you'd be done in 1/3 the time it would take to runHPA.
Quite an improvement.
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
Make sure the passwd files are cleaned up. Don't have any
extratext or carriage returns in the files. Remember that each
accountshould consist of ONE string. Both versions will accept
lines upto 254 (yes, 254) characters. Keep in mind that there IS a
differencebetween UNIX and DOS end-of-line markers (DOS uses
CR-LF), and don'texpect the program to work properly unless you use
the DOS format.
If the password file itself has errors in it (like a missing
':') thiswill cause a bit of a problem. In fact, the program MIGHT
crash. I thinkI've put enough error-checking in, but there's always
the possibility.If you run a program like QEMM386 (for the DOS
version) it will break theprogram and return a 386 instruction
error. On the OS/2 version, you'llget a SYS3175 or a SYS1808 with
an exception code of 0005. The chance ofeither version crashing is
VERY slim, so don't worry about it. Usually,the worst that will
happen (and only on the DOS version) is that your statfile will
contain a one-character username instead of the whole thing, butit
will still output correctly to the re-hack file.
LIMITATIONS
The DOS version will only accept 32,767 user accounts, and the
OS/2 versionwill only accept about 2.14 million user accounts. This
shouldn't be aproblem. The DOS version has been compiled for 286's
and above, so theremay be problems if NEWHACK is run on anything
below a 286.
WHAT'S NEXT?
This will probably be my last version of NEWHACK, unless there's
some majorbug that I didn't catch. The next program you'll see from
me is a bruteforce passwd cracker for DOS and OS/2 that will try as
many combinationsand iterations as you want it to. Naturally, it
will be the fastest
available because I wouldn't release it if it wasn't.
If there's any problems, or you need an 8088/8086 version, or
you findsomething faster than NEWHACK, drop me an e-mail
[email protected]
John Deere26 February 1994
