Frontpage Story #40

I just posted a message and forgot to tell you about something...

I figured out a way to crack the quick restore CD so you can get the instalation programs of all the software that comes with your computer. That would be very useful in cases like this that happened to me: one of the programs that came with my computer got damaged and the Comcrap lame
support attendant said I would have to do a quick restore. She said I couldn't extract the files from the CD because the *.zip files are encrypted (as if I didn't notice before). Also, she said it would be
illegal to extract the software. Now I ask: is it illegal to have backup copies of the software YOU PAIED MONEY FOR?! NO!!

So this is the deal:

First, a serious recommendation:
Do not redistribute the software you're about to extract, because in that case, YES, it would be illegal. And it would be stupid too, because you payed and now are giving copies away for free.

PLEASE NOTE: This solution will only work on the models that use a boot disk to start the quickrestore process. I mean the models where you place the quickrestore CD and the quickrestore diskette at their drives and reboot the machine (mostly older models, like my 5226 that is not even sold anymore).

To extract whatever programs you want from the QuickRestore CD: First, the bad news. You will have to engage the QuickRestore process. I recommend to print this text and keep it safe so you can use it the next time you have to quick-restore your system. It should not take too much,
though. You know.

Before you start: have a diskette with the PKUNZIP program (way easy to find) and your preferred file compressor for DOS (like PKZIP, ARJ, RAR, LHA, etc). Be sure you know how to use their "multiple disk spanning" features (I mean making the program store a big compressed file using
multiple disks), I'm not teaching you that now because it's not the purpose of this message, but you can email me. If you do so, please mention this URL.

After the QuickRestore process starts, the first thing it will do is to format your HD, decrypt the .zip files from the CD and save them on your HD, and then it will reboot and start the installation process. When it reboots, you'll see the "Starting Windows..." message at the top of the screen. When you see the message, press F8 (You'll have only two seconds, so be fast). The win95 boot menu will appear. Choose "Safe mode command prompt only" and press enter. Bingo! Type DIR and have fun! :-) The installation programs are probably under a "APPL.ZIP" or similar directory.
Note that it is a directory, not a zip file. Now you can make back-up diskette copies of all the stuff you want, cos the files are not-encrypted and ready to install :-)

To deal with bigger than 1.4Mb files (larger than a single disk) have the PKZIP, ARJ or similar compression program on a diskette and then do this:

1) If the installation progs are in the executable compressed file format: copy the file to a new directory, execute the file, it will extract the files itself for you. Then you may compress them again with pkzip, arj, rar, etc. using multiple disk spanning.

2) If the files are in .ZIP format: simply copy the file you want to a new folder, run PKUNZIP and extract all the files. Then compress them again using multiple disk spanning.

After you made backups of all you wanted, simply reboot and the QuickRestore installation will continue. Before rebooting, make sure you left everything where it was ;-)

Tip: Advanced users may even edit the installation scripts so the
quickrestore will not waste your time by installing stuff you don't want :-) Just browse around and you'll find them, have the DOS EDIT program in a disk and have fun.

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And please, read this:
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IF YOU CAN PROVE ME THAT THIS IS ILLEGAL, JUST E-MAIL ME AND I WILL ASK FOR
THIS MESSAGE TO BE DELETED. I'M PUBLISHING MY EMAIL ADDRESS BECAUSE I'M
PRETTY SURE THAT THIS PROCESS IS NOT ILLEGAL. IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO HAVE
BACK-UP COPIES OF THE SOFTWARE YOU OWN AND PAYED MONEY FOR.

(by the way, did you notice how compaq is similar to windows? They both are beatiful, have a great appearance, lots of acessories and the latest technology resources available. Then you start to use them, and a little later, both will give you a bad time. I think compaq really mean it when they put that "made for windows 95" or "made for windows 98" logo on their computers. They fit perfectly well to each other.)