This is the Library Hack Chronicles. It contains the history of how I (Ali Baba) and my friends hacked the library computer systems.
~2000~
I found out how to get unlimited internet without logging on. Go to Shutdown, press Help, then go to Web Help and go to the Microsoft Home Page. Internet Explorer started up and you could go around without your library card. I also found the file that controlled the Login progam, VPLreg. By changing it, I was able to change how long the session would be. Me and my friends had a lot of fun with this. I also screwed around with the book search computers. I found a hidden shortcut that took you to the options menu. You could screw up the computer a lot from there.
~Early 2001~
It all mainly started when I was bored one day. I was screwing around with the library computers and discovered that you could save files in one directory, Access Control in Program Files. Access Control was a program that measured and limited your time on the computer and logged you off when your time was up. To log in, you have to enter your library card number and the last 4 digits of your phone number. It checked what you entered against the database and logged you in if you put in a valid code & phone #. It saved all new library card numbers in the folder Access Control. This was probably why other stuff was saveable into the folder. I found that some other folders in the Program Files folder weren't write-protected (you could save stuff into them). So I experimented and saved a few programs and picture files in a folder. When I opened them, everything worked fine and by opening the pic files, I could get to Paint, and edit my own picture files at the library (very important in the making of my websites). I tried saving an html file, and by opening it, there was another way to get free internet. There was also a program that if you opened, you got access to the Start Menu and the whole computer. My friend discovered randomly that if you press all the keys, sometimes a password box comes up. These were the fun times.
~Late 2001~
The librarians soon found my tricks, and tried to stop them. In some places they succeeded, but in some they didn't. They fixed the Shut Down trick, and made some other minor inconveniences. I was able to get around the Shut Down trick by booting up Paint from the Help menu with a very useful trick I discovered - dragging a file into an application file. From Paint, I browsed to the Internet Explorer application and booted it up. So free internet was still available, just it was harder to get to it. I also found a way to open Telnet and hack through the library computer. The fun times continued, but soon the librarians took another step.
~2002~
The librarians decided to take even tighter measures. Or maybe it was just that they were updating their security systems. Anyway, the next day I showed up at the library, I noticed that I couldn't save almost anywhere anymore. The only saveable directory now was Access Control. Also, I couldn't access Telnet and some other applications anymore. I had to change some things. Also, the book search computers were renewed. The new ones didn't run on Telnet, and I couldn't do the tricks.
~2003~
Then they decided to make even tighter security. The help menu was disabled, so no more free internet. Now I couldn't even browse to some folders. And they installed new software called PublicBrowser. PublicBrowser automatically closed Internet Explorer whenever it ran. But I had no idea of what they were planning to do......
~2004~
One day, I came to the library after the weekend and saw that they got new computers. And when I used them, I saw that the whole system had changed. The library majorly updated their systems, and with them, the security systems. The tricks that worked on the old versions became useless. Access Control was secured. My files were still there, but I couldn't save anything new. This was the beginning of the Dark Age. It was a few days before I discovered that the new systems were run by a network. I found the name of the network - it was Trail. I later found that by typing \\trail in the address bar I could access the network - which wasn't save-protected! I made a lot of folders here and saved my stuff. What was good is that I could access the files from any computer in the library with internet. A folder on the network became my file stash. I also discovered that in the new versions, by pressing WindowsKey + F1 on the desktop, I went to a help menu. This one was even more useful than the old one. From here, I could go to Paint, Windows Media Player, and a lot of other things. Free internet came back. I also discovered that by pressing Ctrl + Shift + F I could go to the password screen that my friend found. I found that a program called Fortres was responsible this password. This program controlled the security system, so I tried to get the password without success. Still, things were looking good until......
~Early 2005~
One day, I came and saw that all my files were gone. The whole network had been deleted! They had moved to a new network. I soon found that it was called Chase. Some folders on Chase were locked. I could only save my stuff in some directories. Also, the whole c:/ drive was locked so I couldn't even browse to it anymore! So I downloaded a program called 7-Zip that let me browse to folders without being "in" them. With this, I got inside the security system, but I still couldn't do anything there. But I did find that PublicBrowser was customizable. So I took a copy of PublicBrowser and the settings file, copied it to my stash, and put all the useful features of Internet Explorer that got disabled (Save Target As, Save Picture As, etc) back in PublicBrowser. I also accidentally unleased a virus I made on one of the library computers. It was on the desktop and in startup, so I quickly made a harmless program called the same name as the virus and put it in those 2 locations. I think this got me discovered.
~Summer 2005~
I was gone for a long time, and when I came back, they put a new network in place. It took me a few months, but I finally found the its name, Golden, in October. Now I'm trying to break the new systems. So far, there's been no progress.
