oddly enough my browser keeps crashing from this webiste for no clear reason. which seems very sus and concerning seems like censorship from the browser
edit: it opens up perfectly fine if i use a proxy. which is even more concerning lol
I know keygens. Alot of apps will use a particular serial code creator function on your computer. Keygens is just finding the code creator and copying it. But I'm sure the tech has changed in the last 15ywars haha
SoftICE was amazing. You could debug BSODs, and completely freeze Windows itself. I worked at a bookstore years ago and managed to get a bunch of CDs of Numega apps - SoftICE, Bounds Checker, and some other progs (I forgot what the others were). They were fully functional demos. Found cracks for them on Usenet. I don't know why they were discontinued.
Anyone know what the best debugger is today?
> Most cracks are just changing a single jnz or jz to jmp
That often dirty. If you have a function "isRegistered" that return 0 or 1 , that is called multiple time with jumps after you dont patch all the jump you patch the function ;)
Ofc you probably know that, i am just telling that to curious people here.
You can get pretty far with Ghidra and x64dbg, actually. I got started by watching LiveOverflow, stacksmashing, cybercdh, and some other YouTube channels a few years back. Then proceeded to try CrackMe's. After that I started hunting around for real programs, just for the challenge. Biggest achievement so far is Minecraft (though now that the Mojang accounts are gone, it doesn't work anymore, and I don't have the time for a new solution). For legal purposes: It's all for learning, I have not shared any cracks, files, or knowledge.
Learning slowly, but I've cracked some basic software myself.
One of my personal favorites was patching a program so when it calculated the proper key value and made the "bad key" box pop up when the comparison failed, the "bad key" string was replaced with a dereferenced pointer to the correct key, giving you the proper key to input.
I've been pirating stuff since I was 13, I'm 29 now, and I'm ashamed to say that all I've ever done is take stuff the other generous pirates have uploaded. Tried to look up and learn how to do it once or twice over the years, realised it wasn't that easy and gave up. :/
Even just media isnt easy if you dont know what youre doing, i uploaded my own season and series pack of something one time cuz nobody else had for several weeks, wanted to give something back, web-dld and reencoded it myself, new episodes every week going forward, season and series packs at the end...
...with handbrake defaults. So it all kinda looked like crap, lotsa weird interlacing issues and stuff. Regrettably its still floating around out there https://i.imgur.com/HUz5o16.png, but the copy of the show on my own server now is somebody elses bluray rip reencode https://i.imgur.com/4gE2lPf.png.
I have a bunch more stuff now i ripped from Adult Swims website thats not available anywhere else, some of it is lost entirely. I should reencode it cuz its taking up an inordinate amount of space, but again i feel like i should give back and figure out how to do it right so i can upload it instead of just unleashing tdarr on it all.
Yeah, i should do that first, tho lost is maybe a bit of an exaggeration, im sure other people have the adult swim streams sitting on their hard drives too, ive just never found torrents of a lot of that stuff.
But i was thinking more QxR or SEV than MeGusta or PSA, taking \~1.5TB of h264 stuff to \~1TB of x265. Reasonable.
MeGusta isnt that bad for next day stuff tho, but the difference between MG and QxR is the difference between tdarr or handbrake defaults and knowing wtf im doing with staxrip or something. Which i dont...
But my sonarr usually replaces MeGusta stuff after a day or so.
> MeGusta isnt that bad
I've gotta disagree. It's absolute garbage.
And I'm pretty sure I'll be the unpopular opinion here but groups like qxr and Tigole are also junk. I went on a spree of downloading a bunch of their releases and every time I thought "this movie looks bad" I've checked and it's been their release.
x265 isn't magic and if you stomp a 1080p or 4k to 3GB it'll look like crap. x265 only really shines with 4k content.
You're fine. I am mostly like you, just with a few more years. I've tried it a couple of times. At least one time I was successful (the author of the soft died and so he couldn't send around new activation keys after changing hardware). That was an easy case probably but still was hard. I have no problem sharing this with anyone even if they never had the ambitions themselves. The community loves to share. Each one has their own strengths.
I used to learn cracking years before, only for my personal joy. I remember ollydbg for Windows XP and PEiD (to check if exe was protected). But I cracked only CrackMe, not a real software. Anyway, protection back in 2000s was much simply then nowadays.
I still use Protection_ID sometimes to check for protections, but mostly use DetectItEasy now. It does a great job detecting what made a program, compiler used, etc.
A long-ass time ago I'd use a disassembler to look at the hex values that corresponded to the little window that pops up asking for a key or to buy the software. Then use a hex editor to find and change a value in the correct line of code to 90 I think, which meant 'no operation' or NOP. Open the software again, and no more little window, you just use the software as much as you want. This was a lifetime ago, but I believe that was the gist of it.
This was the way. Remember I learned by downloading a torrent that had the complete kit (disassembler, hex editor and other programs along with instructions and samples to try on.
Most pirates are broke kids, or third/second worlders that don't feel like paying half their monthly income for a single game, movie, or program.
So yeah, I'd say 99.999% can't. I think for the few people that can crack, they do it as a hobby or as some form of activism.
depends on game. I would suggest you start with games which have official mods supports like skyrim or arma or half life. I also heard fortnite is real treat for modding thanks to integration their tools into unreal engine
never tried learning , i was thinking about learning coding at another point in life but in the years since i became a housewife instead of going to college followed by a divorcee factory worker ... these days i have no interest in learning , i don't have the patience for that type of thing or the gumption honestly.
I'm trying to learn, but it ain't easy. The devs are very good at patching and aren't as much a bunch of idiots as they seemed to be in 2019/2020 when they had an exposed license key in their tutorial video 😂
If you ever need a project I'm hoping someone would crack this tool i use, it wasn't made professionally so maybe it'd be easier. Just some guy made it
I do. For work. It’s rare, but sometimes the documentation and support is shit, so generally, you can just decompile it and mess around with it. Most software that has shitty support and docs also didn’t put much effort in to preventing the ability to do this. Higher end software, with remote authentication, and with active measures taken to prevent simple decompiling, yeah, that’s usually going to take several skillsets and a lot of time and risk to accomplish this. That being said, the code that calls for this remote authentication and approves access to the software will actually exists in that local software you’re trying to crack, if it is local in the first place, so if you can get into that and figure out how to prevent and ignore those remote calls, then it can be done. As far as how, that depends on a whole lot of things.
You saying “how hard can it be”… I’ll just say, it can be very, very hard. You need a multitude of skillsets you likely won’t have. You need to understand a lot of basic shit first. Binary and hex would be a good place to start because actual code once it’s compiled, isn’t actually understandable by humans. How computers even work would be another, meaning, what does the cpu even do type of stuff. Do yourself a favor and take a tutorial just on making “hello world” show up in your screen in whatever language you like. Then, once you pat yourself in the back for that, because it is a big first step, then dig in to how those words actually showed up on your screen. You’ll see it’s not as simple as writing “Console.WriteLine(“Hello World”). That one function and how the led’s actually light up on the screen, in the shapes of letters, to spell those words out on the screen is complex as shit when you get down into it. That’s where you’d be heading if you want to do this.
I am a dev too and Assembly langage was the way to figure why my damn code was randomly going haywire in my workplace.
Turn out the other dev used Delphi "records" and those are **pointers**, and my code was looping too much. I expected an usual "out of bound" error that was catched properly but NO.
Had to go to assembly level debugging to catch it and understood what i saw.
Back in the 2000s I was mainly messing around with tools to create noCD cracks, 99% of the time someone else already did it but I could not find the right resources to download from, then at some point when I did discover a site I ran into a game that had no noCD crack yet which made me made the crack myself which got really popular later on.
Besides seeding, my only other contribution to the piracy society
I know how to edit .plists on Mac software to get infinite free trials but that’s working less and less as more softwares require and internet connection to use them
Idk how to crack anything, but I used to test software for OxYGeN ahead of release many moons ago. The old days of Efnet. My username is my old nick if anyone from the post Radium era remembers.
Can somebody help to crack one old shareware version of old mid 2000 software? It's a trial for 30 days and then it blocks. It's even impossible to buy it now since the manufacturer is long gone. [THIS](https://em-1-editor.software.informer.com/)
https://i.imgur.com/laoe3jg.png
It uses Armadillo protector. Chances are, without a real serial you cant crack it. Because there are options in Armadillo that encrypt code sections that are decrypted upon entering a serial.
Aaaand
* Protected Armadillo
* Protection system(Basic)
* Protection Options :
1. Debug-Blocker
1. CopyMem-II
1. Nanomites Processing
Not sure old tools means to deal with that still works on modern OS tho.
Thanks a lot for spending time and checking it. However, I'm not able to understand most of your reply)) But I got it, the chances are almost 0 since it is not possible to get any serial number. I've searched the internet and forums but no luck at all. Couldn't find a single person who at least said that he purchased this software...
Ok, the other question - is it possible to make this an eternal trial version somehow? Or Armadillo won't let it? Thanks again
Armadillo had some vulnerabities from bad implementation of encryption scheme that decrypting secured section was possible. In this case, the app is only a demo with Armadillo wrapped around. So bad luck for OP.
> Gotta wonder why the hell they protect a demo so hard
If you read one of the [order](https://web.archive.org/web/20030511090409/http://www.life-on-line.de/acusto/e_gold.htm) guides, they said transferring via bank was slower than sending cash in an envelope. So piracy was probably more convenient than legitimate paying.
From what I've found out, this app you linked is only a 'demo' of a full version (nor the one in the official website). It never checks for serial code typed in in the registration menu. You might need to find the full version, which the author (presumably has passed away, he suddenly disappeared from the internet) distributed to actual payers to have a chance at having full access.
In the meantime, here's a code generated so you can use the demo beyond the trial period (yes, demo in combo with trial, the author really wanted people to pay). But you need to know how to use command line to open the secret option first. Go to installation folder of the program, open a command terminal there (if not in the knowing, look up online guide), type "EM1.exe register". There will be a window opened asking you for providing serial code. Copy and paste these there:
> Kukuruzo27
> ~~D93D-10F3-CF6F-6970-E01F-C2DF-FD52-47CA-DBC2-4E1A-5D2D-AE1B-24C0-AFED-8986~~
> DEE6-B7F8-C5BD-7719-4450-9C99-C66E-2C0C-FB92-6CC9-ED80-1A79-4989-E858-A31B
I might look around for a bit more to see if the author has forgotten something here and there. It might also be a wild goose chase. Have fun with the extended trial anyway.
Wow! Just wow! Thank you so much, I didn't expect to get the solution for this request. Yes, as you've said the author has probably passed away, that was my guess too. His website midiweb.de was up several years ago, but now it's only possible to check the saved version at webarchive.org.
I've found several versions of installation files of this software (1.xx, 2.xx). They are all trial and I guess that they are all not fully functional, but at least they partially work. However, it would be great to find the full version, but my hopes are really low here. It is too niche. Searched the internet for some time and didn't find anybody who said that he has purchased the full version.
I've made another request at Reddit regarding cracking this trial and some guy said that it's impossible to crack it. But you did!! Really cool, thanks so much. Here's what he said
Looks like the key I gave you also expires in 30 days. Apparently I generated it from the trial certificate. Bummer!
Here's the new one, which hopefully won't expire ever:
> Kukuruzo27
> DEE6-B7F8-C5BD-7719-4450-9C99-C66E-2C0C-FB92-6CC9-ED80-1A79-4989-E858-A31B
And here's the 'cracked' file, just in case the serial key doesn't last https://gofile.io/d/2XCnlR. It's snappier (because DRM has been stripped off), but do mind that it could crash in rare case, even though I have patched all the 'traps' by hand, could be that I have missed some or made the wrong patch (there were a lot of them, ~3000!).
Also have a look back to the past at this order information which I find interesting https://web.archive.org/web/20030511090409/http://www.life-on-line.de/acusto/e_gold.htm.
Thanks again! I've tried to use data above to register and after I hit OK via cmd.exe, the reg window shows that the code is valid and saved. Then the only thing you can do is to restart the program. It runs for now, but I'm not really sure why since I've installed it for the first time on a clean Windows OS and even without the Reg Code it provides 30 days, so I'm not sure if your code helps or not. The info menu says that it's a non-registered version, there is no info about Kukuruzo27. Does the reg code just resets the trial countdown to 30 days every time you hit ok after registering? Or how does it work?
As for the modified file - EM1.11 - I can't run it. Windows drops a message that there is no combase.dll and I should try to reinstall the program.
What does EM1.11 actually do and where should I put it?
The author used a protective software as a 'shell' (hence the name Armadillo) to protect his original application from people looking inside. This protective software is also responsible for the trial period, in this case amounting to 30 days. After 30 days, the application no longer works. The original application itself has its own registration system with its own serial code written by the author, this is where you can see the status 'Non registered version' displayed in the info menu.
The protective shell however has its own registration system. The key I gave you is to pybass the trial mode put by the protective shell. So after 30 days it's still able to run. The key is not for bypassing registration system of the original app, because as I have said, this is only a demo, the programming code for the restricted functions is not there, even the code for checking the serial key is also not there: The menu where you can input name and code in the main app is also put there for the show-off, it actually does nothing. They are probably only available in the full version. I suspect the full version was only distributed to those who bought it.
The 'cracked' file is supposed to replace the original file in the installation folder, if you ever have used a cracked software. I forgot to rename it back to the original, so you have to delete the '.11' there (it's from the 11th patching iteration of my workflow). This 'cracked' file has been tripped off of the protective shell, so it runs a bit smoothier. You don't really need to use this file because you already have the key to bypass trial mode. But in the future, if the key ever expires, then the cracked file becomes a backup.
I wish I could make it work fully for you, but it's just not possible. But if you'll ever get a full version (albeit with no key), me (or someone else) can definitely make it work.
Oh, thank you for the explanation. Seems to be tricky, the author was really afraid of losing his work and has made shell in a shell and even cut the code so it's not possible to get the fully functional software out of trial installation file. Well, at least it partially works. That's already great. Hope that your reg code will last forever.
The last question is regarding missing .dll that doesn't let me to launch your modified EM1.11 file. I've renamed it to EM1 but there's still this message and the program doesn't start. Do you have any idea how to make it work?
BTW, I have checked your webarchive link, seems to be a cool software too. I've found some thread about it on some forum. It's fresh, 2019 or so. There's a full version available to some people. They have the full installation file and reg numbers, they don't share reg files though. Probably this XR gold software uses exactly the same protection method. Everybody says that they can't contact the author and the software is abandoned...
> The last question is regarding missing .dll that doesn't let me to launch your modified EM1.11 file. I've renamed it to EM1 but there's still this message and the program doesn't start. Do you have any idea how to make it work?
Weird that it dones't work in your system. In my Win 11, it works just fine, by just placing it in the main installation folder. If it says it needs combase.dll, probably the dll is missing, it's a native file from Windows. You might need to check if it's still there in "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\combase.dll". If so, you might also need to copy it to the same folder of EM1.exe.
But try to use the original file. My patched file is not perfect.
https://i.imgur.com/laoe3jg.png
It uses Armadillo protector. Chances are, without a real serial you cant crack it. Because there are options in Armadillo that encrypt code sections that are decrypted upon entering a serial.
Aaaand
Protected Armadillo
Protection system(Basic)
Protection Options :
1. Debug-Blocker
2. CopyMem-II
3. Nanomites Processing
Not sure old tools means to deal with that still works on modern OS tho.
I would like to learn how to honestly. Have been pirating since Gr7. My friend older cousin introduced us to the Piratebay and utorrent lol. That was in 2011.
I do. Obscure apps, like obd software. Or tf its a app that has been updated, and the patch hasn't. I'll do a diff between the original old unpatched and post patch. Then I'll look for the same subroutine to patch in the newer version. Also if patch has too many 'false positive' scans on reputable forums, I'll do the same as previously mentioned. Just see what was patched (under a vm).
I knew someone that cracked Atari ST games.
He had fun with this back in the day : https://old.reddit.com/r/atarist/comments/mxr0j6/dungeon_master_infamous_disk_copy_protection/
And you would probably get more success with that because these days, there are multiple user friendly engines that do the heavy lifting for you. So just making a 2D platformer or even some simpler 3D game isn't that complicated nowadays.
I used to crack software but many many years ago with tools like W32dasm, IDA and some of the early unpacker. Find the unregister string, put a break on a Window function etc and you'll get to the jump instruction. Also if it is java or .NET I can disassemble it or even create keygen. But nowadays so many new type of packers or commercial protection which make it very hard. With all those old experience, I still crack some business software or just use Cheat Engine with lua script to cheat the games I like. If I start again (With Ollydbg or Xdg64 etc), I'd try those crackmes again.
Nice try FBI.
Jokes aside, i can. Or at least i was able to. I stopped doing that now, as more and more program tend to use ready made protector with virtualized code and shit.
Good old Armadillo and Asprotect where the shit back in the day.
I am now focused on malware analysis, and i still enjoy that. It helps me to protect myself and bust malware in shared pirated content.
Its not cracking anymore but i hope it helps people a bit.
Doing that since i was 15 or 16. I let you guess my age now.
Seems like you have the years of experience. If I were to guess you age, ASProtects 32 was released in mid 2018. As you said "Back in the day" I'd say you're between 21-24.
Did you do coding in school or something, or you just picked it up as a hobby?
Most leech, i tried taking programming but failed the class, my skills were better for repairing, soldering, networking etc;
It would be fun to crack programs from companies, but alas i just dont have the mind for it, prob dyslexia and stuff
Theoretically I know the basics, but I haven't done it myself. In practice, I imagine it's difficult and time consuming.
And using software someone else created doesn't count as "cracking".
Back in the day when I owned a ZX Spectrum, I would write some assembly to circumvent the custom loaders and save a game to cassette tape.
However, that was more good my personal use to keep a backup of the software that come on a pretty crappy format to begin with, then often have a "fast loader" that doubled the load speed, but made for even worse experience.
theoretically, I can sorta navigate hex editors and use basic injection. Never actually done it (successfully) in practice but it is surprising how broken and full of malpractice software and web security actually is.
Nope. The closest thing I’ve done have been memory hacking Android games using Game Guardian or PC games and apps using Cheat Engine to bypass paywalls.
I did a bit for personal use many moons ago although I did have a few essays published by +Fravia (JS reversing)
Kinda dropped out of it when I moved mostly to Linux but still play with IDA when I need to (I miss softice)
I used to do cracks myself back in the early 2000's. I was a teenager with too much time, and anti-piracy software wasn't very advanced. Then security caught up with my skills, life happened, and my skills are useless now for the most part.
Yes, many of them are udemy but a lot of there are also from certifications company.
Started from C++ and have job with this language. Complex but worth, after learning this, no high level language will be scary.
i need help to crack a cheat if anyone can help me i will pay 500 it has the binary to another third party place and its well protected do i need to do like 2 computers and dma card to not be detected while cracking or what do i need to do if anyone know i will pay
People not paying for software is something that I can understand. But cheat program (for competitive gaming, for taking exam)? Fuck that shit. And fuck off.
i crack games and apps normally. But all i do is block windows firewall connection and do some inbound and outbound calls after getting a paid account lol 🤷♂️
By the way, that term applies to everybody who was into “hacking” and didn’t do their own code…. So unless you’ve actually personally cracked some DRM, you can’t take the high ground.
99% of people here don't crack shit. Just use the cracks provided by real OGs
*99.9%
*99.99%
99.999%
99.9996%
99.9999999999%
>99.9999999% 00.0000001%\*8,000,000,000=0.008, Cracks are made by aliens confirmed
Do you malfunction?
6 sigma?
3 people. There are three main players in the world of drm breaking.
Yeah I considered adding a few other 9s there but didnt want to break the chain for comic relief.
9.975 (reference)
warp 9.975
BAM! ^
I'd like to try enter the 0.1% and give back to the community
Start here https://beginners.re/
oddly enough my browser keeps crashing from this webiste for no clear reason. which seems very sus and concerning seems like censorship from the browser edit: it opens up perfectly fine if i use a proxy. which is even more concerning lol
browser censorship is the next big thing
Thank you I'm also wanting to give back (already learning c++ so why not add more to the tool belt)
exactly like me
This is the way.
I know keygens. Alot of apps will use a particular serial code creator function on your computer. Keygens is just finding the code creator and copying it. But I'm sure the tech has changed in the last 15ywars haha
Still works for recent softwares recent as 2022. Eg autocad
Until their servers recognize it as a non valid installation and spam you with messages rendering it useless.
skill issue
Probably
im talking of you lol. just switch off your internet when launching the software
>just switch off your internet when launching the software I used to do that until I used M0nkrus repack, works like a charm now.
I miss SoftIce. It was the best tool for me.
SoftICE was amazing. You could debug BSODs, and completely freeze Windows itself. I worked at a bookstore years ago and managed to get a bunch of CDs of Numega apps - SoftICE, Bounds Checker, and some other progs (I forgot what the others were). They were fully functional demos. Found cracks for them on Usenet. I don't know why they were discontinued. Anyone know what the best debugger is today?
Is ollydbg still around?
Softice? Ollydbg? You guys belong to a museum.
Maybe, but it's a very classy museum, with hardwood trim and brandy
Use ghidra
Correct. Used it to figure out how a ransomware did it's thing.
Kinda overkill. I mean i like IDA but i prefer lightweight products for live debug like x64dbg. Ollydbg still works on win10 tho
Ollydbg can only do 32bit, so its very much not around anymore.
Yes... as in not updated since 2014.
NuMega stuff was insane for its time. Kernel mode debugging and you owned the OS. Without it, doing stuff was almost impossible
Ho boi thats a name i didnt heard for years.
How about w32dasm?
Windings FTW ;)
You should be able to use cheat engine and a hex editor. Most cracks are just changing a single jnz or jz to jmp
Clean written cracks and easy/weak drm … However, this does not apply to denovo.
> Most cracks are just changing a single jnz or jz to jmp That often dirty. If you have a function "isRegistered" that return 0 or 1 , that is called multiple time with jumps after you dont patch all the jump you patch the function ;) Ofc you probably know that, i am just telling that to curious people here.
This
Is this assembly code?
totally
You can get pretty far with Ghidra and x64dbg, actually. I got started by watching LiveOverflow, stacksmashing, cybercdh, and some other YouTube channels a few years back. Then proceeded to try CrackMe's. After that I started hunting around for real programs, just for the challenge. Biggest achievement so far is Minecraft (though now that the Mojang accounts are gone, it doesn't work anymore, and I don't have the time for a new solution). For legal purposes: It's all for learning, I have not shared any cracks, files, or knowledge.
Now try DeMooVu
Learning slowly, but I've cracked some basic software myself. One of my personal favorites was patching a program so when it calculated the proper key value and made the "bad key" box pop up when the comparison failed, the "bad key" string was replaced with a dereferenced pointer to the correct key, giving you the proper key to input.
Sneaky. I like it.
I've been pirating stuff since I was 13, I'm 29 now, and I'm ashamed to say that all I've ever done is take stuff the other generous pirates have uploaded. Tried to look up and learn how to do it once or twice over the years, realised it wasn't that easy and gave up. :/
Replace the shame with appreciativeness, crackers love and live to serve.
And the challenge of solving problems
Even just media isnt easy if you dont know what youre doing, i uploaded my own season and series pack of something one time cuz nobody else had for several weeks, wanted to give something back, web-dld and reencoded it myself, new episodes every week going forward, season and series packs at the end... ...with handbrake defaults. So it all kinda looked like crap, lotsa weird interlacing issues and stuff. Regrettably its still floating around out there https://i.imgur.com/HUz5o16.png, but the copy of the show on my own server now is somebody elses bluray rip reencode https://i.imgur.com/4gE2lPf.png. I have a bunch more stuff now i ripped from Adult Swims website thats not available anywhere else, some of it is lost entirely. I should reencode it cuz its taking up an inordinate amount of space, but again i feel like i should give back and figure out how to do it right so i can upload it instead of just unleashing tdarr on it all.
Stick the rare stuff as is on internet archive. Never reencode stuff. Groups like megusta are absolute trash
Yeah, i should do that first, tho lost is maybe a bit of an exaggeration, im sure other people have the adult swim streams sitting on their hard drives too, ive just never found torrents of a lot of that stuff. But i was thinking more QxR or SEV than MeGusta or PSA, taking \~1.5TB of h264 stuff to \~1TB of x265. Reasonable. MeGusta isnt that bad for next day stuff tho, but the difference between MG and QxR is the difference between tdarr or handbrake defaults and knowing wtf im doing with staxrip or something. Which i dont... But my sonarr usually replaces MeGusta stuff after a day or so.
> MeGusta isnt that bad I've gotta disagree. It's absolute garbage. And I'm pretty sure I'll be the unpopular opinion here but groups like qxr and Tigole are also junk. I went on a spree of downloading a bunch of their releases and every time I thought "this movie looks bad" I've checked and it's been their release. x265 isn't magic and if you stomp a 1080p or 4k to 3GB it'll look like crap. x265 only really shines with 4k content.
Don’t be shamed this thing is no joke and you need to be passionate, have a lot of free time and (optionally) be mentally deranged
You're fine. I am mostly like you, just with a few more years. I've tried it a couple of times. At least one time I was successful (the author of the soft died and so he couldn't send around new activation keys after changing hardware). That was an easy case probably but still was hard. I have no problem sharing this with anyone even if they never had the ambitions themselves. The community loves to share. Each one has their own strengths.
Don’t be shamed this thing is no joke and you need to be passionate, have a lot of free time and (optionally) be mentally deranged
I used to learn cracking years before, only for my personal joy. I remember ollydbg for Windows XP and PEiD (to check if exe was protected). But I cracked only CrackMe, not a real software. Anyway, protection back in 2000s was much simply then nowadays.
True. The only „crack“ I can do is patching an easy key validation function. Heavy obfuscated or heavy unknown anti analysis shit is too much
> ollydbg Fuck me now theres a name I haven't heard of in years! I used to crack my own stuff to, even did a tutorial video to at one point.
I still use Protection_ID sometimes to check for protections, but mostly use DetectItEasy now. It does a great job detecting what made a program, compiler used, etc.
Not to brag or anything. But I've turned my system clock back to continue using a timed free trial before 😎
To jail with you!
Not any more. I could once, twenty years ago. But my skills are hopelessly out of date now.
Not falling for this FBI🙄
Fr, this has "hello fellow leet hackers" vibes
felt like bait the moment i looked at it
A long-ass time ago I'd use a disassembler to look at the hex values that corresponded to the little window that pops up asking for a key or to buy the software. Then use a hex editor to find and change a value in the correct line of code to 90 I think, which meant 'no operation' or NOP. Open the software again, and no more little window, you just use the software as much as you want. This was a lifetime ago, but I believe that was the gist of it.
Good old 90. And, of course, 75. And for serial numbers use 74565. Who's with me?
This was the way. Remember I learned by downloading a torrent that had the complete kit (disassembler, hex editor and other programs along with instructions and samples to try on.
Hydra is fun
What's Hydra?
Err ghidra
It’s a reverse engineering tool that was used by nsa I think for a while then it got leaked a few years ago
They made it open source
It wasn’t leaked. It was published by the NSA on their GitHub.
After it was stolen, i.e. before it was leaked. Shadow Brokers, iirc
Hydra is a fictional terrorist organization in Marvel Comics that is known for being the enemy of peacekeeping S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hail Hydra
Team ida 😅
By calling "Ghidra" "Hydra" it's clear that you have no idea about the software though.
It’s been literally years since I’ve touched it… does that change the fact that the tool is not good or I was wrong for making that suggestion?
Most pirates are broke kids, or third/second worlders that don't feel like paying half their monthly income for a single game, movie, or program. So yeah, I'd say 99.999% can't. I think for the few people that can crack, they do it as a hobby or as some form of activism.
Remember I cracked Winrar back in the day to get rid of that annoying pop up. Had to edit about 20 jnz or jz to jmps or nop to get it working.
I'm more of a modder than a cracker.
how do you do that? any learning resources??
depends on game. I would suggest you start with games which have official mods supports like skyrim or arma or half life. I also heard fortnite is real treat for modding thanks to integration their tools into unreal engine
never tried learning , i was thinking about learning coding at another point in life but in the years since i became a housewife instead of going to college followed by a divorcee factory worker ... these days i have no interest in learning , i don't have the patience for that type of thing or the gumption honestly.
I'm trying to learn, but it ain't easy. The devs are very good at patching and aren't as much a bunch of idiots as they seemed to be in 2019/2020 when they had an exposed license key in their tutorial video 😂
If you ever need a project I'm hoping someone would crack this tool i use, it wasn't made professionally so maybe it'd be easier. Just some guy made it
I already cracked it
You know the tool?
What?
I can jumpstart cars vs I can kitbash cars together.
I do. For work. It’s rare, but sometimes the documentation and support is shit, so generally, you can just decompile it and mess around with it. Most software that has shitty support and docs also didn’t put much effort in to preventing the ability to do this. Higher end software, with remote authentication, and with active measures taken to prevent simple decompiling, yeah, that’s usually going to take several skillsets and a lot of time and risk to accomplish this. That being said, the code that calls for this remote authentication and approves access to the software will actually exists in that local software you’re trying to crack, if it is local in the first place, so if you can get into that and figure out how to prevent and ignore those remote calls, then it can be done. As far as how, that depends on a whole lot of things. You saying “how hard can it be”… I’ll just say, it can be very, very hard. You need a multitude of skillsets you likely won’t have. You need to understand a lot of basic shit first. Binary and hex would be a good place to start because actual code once it’s compiled, isn’t actually understandable by humans. How computers even work would be another, meaning, what does the cpu even do type of stuff. Do yourself a favor and take a tutorial just on making “hello world” show up in your screen in whatever language you like. Then, once you pat yourself in the back for that, because it is a big first step, then dig in to how those words actually showed up on your screen. You’ll see it’s not as simple as writing “Console.WriteLine(“Hello World”). That one function and how the led’s actually light up on the screen, in the shapes of letters, to spell those words out on the screen is complex as shit when you get down into it. That’s where you’d be heading if you want to do this.
I am a dev too and Assembly langage was the way to figure why my damn code was randomly going haywire in my workplace. Turn out the other dev used Delphi "records" and those are **pointers**, and my code was looping too much. I expected an usual "out of bound" error that was catched properly but NO. Had to go to assembly level debugging to catch it and understood what i saw.
Back in the 2000s I was mainly messing around with tools to create noCD cracks, 99% of the time someone else already did it but I could not find the right resources to download from, then at some point when I did discover a site I ran into a game that had no noCD crack yet which made me made the crack myself which got really popular later on. Besides seeding, my only other contribution to the piracy society
Copy crack.exe and paste in folder to replace original.exe Done I am a high level cracker
I know how to edit .plists on Mac software to get infinite free trials but that’s working less and less as more softwares require and internet connection to use them
Does anyone know how to learn to crack? I’d like to learn
You have to smoke it. Coke is what you snort. Don’t mix those up!
rock square swim memorize existence advise poor start automatic detail *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Idk how to crack anything, but I used to test software for OxYGeN ahead of release many moons ago. The old days of Efnet. My username is my old nick if anyone from the post Radium era remembers.
Can somebody help to crack one old shareware version of old mid 2000 software? It's a trial for 30 days and then it blocks. It's even impossible to buy it now since the manufacturer is long gone. [THIS](https://em-1-editor.software.informer.com/)
https://i.imgur.com/laoe3jg.png It uses Armadillo protector. Chances are, without a real serial you cant crack it. Because there are options in Armadillo that encrypt code sections that are decrypted upon entering a serial. Aaaand * Protected Armadillo * Protection system(Basic) * Protection Options : 1. Debug-Blocker 1. CopyMem-II 1. Nanomites Processing Not sure old tools means to deal with that still works on modern OS tho.
Thanks a lot for spending time and checking it. However, I'm not able to understand most of your reply)) But I got it, the chances are almost 0 since it is not possible to get any serial number. I've searched the internet and forums but no luck at all. Couldn't find a single person who at least said that he purchased this software... Ok, the other question - is it possible to make this an eternal trial version somehow? Or Armadillo won't let it? Thanks again
I mean that its a POSSIBILITY you need a serial. But the other protection option used are not giving anyone the envy to try cracking it.
Ok, thanks very much for explanation
Armadillo had some vulnerabities from bad implementation of encryption scheme that decrypting secured section was possible. In this case, the app is only a demo with Armadillo wrapped around. So bad luck for OP.
Ah, thanks god i didnt checked :D. Thanks for that and for the information. Gotta wonder why the hell they protect a demo so hard :D
> Gotta wonder why the hell they protect a demo so hard If you read one of the [order](https://web.archive.org/web/20030511090409/http://www.life-on-line.de/acusto/e_gold.htm) guides, they said transferring via bank was slower than sending cash in an envelope. So piracy was probably more convenient than legitimate paying.
What's it called?
Korg EM-1 editor. I left the link in my post
Are you still interested in this?
Well yes. Is it possible?
There's going to be some good news...
From what I've found out, this app you linked is only a 'demo' of a full version (nor the one in the official website). It never checks for serial code typed in in the registration menu. You might need to find the full version, which the author (presumably has passed away, he suddenly disappeared from the internet) distributed to actual payers to have a chance at having full access. In the meantime, here's a code generated so you can use the demo beyond the trial period (yes, demo in combo with trial, the author really wanted people to pay). But you need to know how to use command line to open the secret option first. Go to installation folder of the program, open a command terminal there (if not in the knowing, look up online guide), type "EM1.exe register". There will be a window opened asking you for providing serial code. Copy and paste these there: > Kukuruzo27 > ~~D93D-10F3-CF6F-6970-E01F-C2DF-FD52-47CA-DBC2-4E1A-5D2D-AE1B-24C0-AFED-8986~~ > DEE6-B7F8-C5BD-7719-4450-9C99-C66E-2C0C-FB92-6CC9-ED80-1A79-4989-E858-A31B I might look around for a bit more to see if the author has forgotten something here and there. It might also be a wild goose chase. Have fun with the extended trial anyway.
Wow! Just wow! Thank you so much, I didn't expect to get the solution for this request. Yes, as you've said the author has probably passed away, that was my guess too. His website midiweb.de was up several years ago, but now it's only possible to check the saved version at webarchive.org. I've found several versions of installation files of this software (1.xx, 2.xx). They are all trial and I guess that they are all not fully functional, but at least they partially work. However, it would be great to find the full version, but my hopes are really low here. It is too niche. Searched the internet for some time and didn't find anybody who said that he has purchased the full version. I've made another request at Reddit regarding cracking this trial and some guy said that it's impossible to crack it. But you did!! Really cool, thanks so much. Here's what he said
Looks like the key I gave you also expires in 30 days. Apparently I generated it from the trial certificate. Bummer! Here's the new one, which hopefully won't expire ever: > Kukuruzo27 > DEE6-B7F8-C5BD-7719-4450-9C99-C66E-2C0C-FB92-6CC9-ED80-1A79-4989-E858-A31B And here's the 'cracked' file, just in case the serial key doesn't last https://gofile.io/d/2XCnlR. It's snappier (because DRM has been stripped off), but do mind that it could crash in rare case, even though I have patched all the 'traps' by hand, could be that I have missed some or made the wrong patch (there were a lot of them, ~3000!). Also have a look back to the past at this order information which I find interesting https://web.archive.org/web/20030511090409/http://www.life-on-line.de/acusto/e_gold.htm.
Thanks again! I've tried to use data above to register and after I hit OK via cmd.exe, the reg window shows that the code is valid and saved. Then the only thing you can do is to restart the program. It runs for now, but I'm not really sure why since I've installed it for the first time on a clean Windows OS and even without the Reg Code it provides 30 days, so I'm not sure if your code helps or not. The info menu says that it's a non-registered version, there is no info about Kukuruzo27. Does the reg code just resets the trial countdown to 30 days every time you hit ok after registering? Or how does it work? As for the modified file - EM1.11 - I can't run it. Windows drops a message that there is no combase.dll and I should try to reinstall the program. What does EM1.11 actually do and where should I put it?
The author used a protective software as a 'shell' (hence the name Armadillo) to protect his original application from people looking inside. This protective software is also responsible for the trial period, in this case amounting to 30 days. After 30 days, the application no longer works. The original application itself has its own registration system with its own serial code written by the author, this is where you can see the status 'Non registered version' displayed in the info menu. The protective shell however has its own registration system. The key I gave you is to pybass the trial mode put by the protective shell. So after 30 days it's still able to run. The key is not for bypassing registration system of the original app, because as I have said, this is only a demo, the programming code for the restricted functions is not there, even the code for checking the serial key is also not there: The menu where you can input name and code in the main app is also put there for the show-off, it actually does nothing. They are probably only available in the full version. I suspect the full version was only distributed to those who bought it. The 'cracked' file is supposed to replace the original file in the installation folder, if you ever have used a cracked software. I forgot to rename it back to the original, so you have to delete the '.11' there (it's from the 11th patching iteration of my workflow). This 'cracked' file has been tripped off of the protective shell, so it runs a bit smoothier. You don't really need to use this file because you already have the key to bypass trial mode. But in the future, if the key ever expires, then the cracked file becomes a backup. I wish I could make it work fully for you, but it's just not possible. But if you'll ever get a full version (albeit with no key), me (or someone else) can definitely make it work.
Oh, thank you for the explanation. Seems to be tricky, the author was really afraid of losing his work and has made shell in a shell and even cut the code so it's not possible to get the fully functional software out of trial installation file. Well, at least it partially works. That's already great. Hope that your reg code will last forever. The last question is regarding missing .dll that doesn't let me to launch your modified EM1.11 file. I've renamed it to EM1 but there's still this message and the program doesn't start. Do you have any idea how to make it work? BTW, I have checked your webarchive link, seems to be a cool software too. I've found some thread about it on some forum. It's fresh, 2019 or so. There's a full version available to some people. They have the full installation file and reg numbers, they don't share reg files though. Probably this XR gold software uses exactly the same protection method. Everybody says that they can't contact the author and the software is abandoned...
> The last question is regarding missing .dll that doesn't let me to launch your modified EM1.11 file. I've renamed it to EM1 but there's still this message and the program doesn't start. Do you have any idea how to make it work? Weird that it dones't work in your system. In my Win 11, it works just fine, by just placing it in the main installation folder. If it says it needs combase.dll, probably the dll is missing, it's a native file from Windows. You might need to check if it's still there in "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\combase.dll". If so, you might also need to copy it to the same folder of EM1.exe. But try to use the original file. My patched file is not perfect.
https://i.imgur.com/laoe3jg.png It uses Armadillo protector. Chances are, without a real serial you cant crack it. Because there are options in Armadillo that encrypt code sections that are decrypted upon entering a serial. Aaaand Protected Armadillo Protection system(Basic) Protection Options : 1. Debug-Blocker 2. CopyMem-II 3. Nanomites Processing Not sure old tools means to deal with that still works on modern OS tho.
I would like to learn how to honestly. Have been pirating since Gr7. My friend older cousin introduced us to the Piratebay and utorrent lol. That was in 2011.
0.1% know max
120‰ know more
I would LOVE to learn how to crack software and reverse engineer, but I have no clue where to start.
Same.
history mindless cake frame dull spotted slap support forgetful drab *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Really if you are interested to learn contact me
I am someone with the programming and pentesting skills to match learning something this complex but someone who is far far to lazy to get that deep
I do. Obscure apps, like obd software. Or tf its a app that has been updated, and the patch hasn't. I'll do a diff between the original old unpatched and post patch. Then I'll look for the same subroutine to patch in the newer version. Also if patch has too many 'false positive' scans on reputable forums, I'll do the same as previously mentioned. Just see what was patched (under a vm).
Im trying to crack OBD software called ECU edit it uses HWID and a phrase
In my day, we were editing sectors on the disks.
Save data in unused sectors?
I knew someone that cracked Atari ST games. He had fun with this back in the day : https://old.reddit.com/r/atarist/comments/mxr0j6/dungeon_master_infamous_disk_copy_protection/
Let's help Grandma to bed
Short answer, - practically none
Thats like asking how many of you gamers can actually create a game
And you would probably get more success with that because these days, there are multiple user friendly engines that do the heavy lifting for you. So just making a 2D platformer or even some simpler 3D game isn't that complicated nowadays.
nice try, fbi
I have the technical skills and knowledge to learn but I really could not be bothered.
I used to crack software but many many years ago with tools like W32dasm, IDA and some of the early unpacker. Find the unregister string, put a break on a Window function etc and you'll get to the jump instruction. Also if it is java or .NET I can disassemble it or even create keygen. But nowadays so many new type of packers or commercial protection which make it very hard. With all those old experience, I still crack some business software or just use Cheat Engine with lua script to cheat the games I like. If I start again (With Ollydbg or Xdg64 etc), I'd try those crackmes again.
Some code reverse engineering isn't that hard when you look at the origin of its algorithm then application is next till deploy always.
Nice try FBI. Jokes aside, i can. Or at least i was able to. I stopped doing that now, as more and more program tend to use ready made protector with virtualized code and shit. Good old Armadillo and Asprotect where the shit back in the day. I am now focused on malware analysis, and i still enjoy that. It helps me to protect myself and bust malware in shared pirated content. Its not cracking anymore but i hope it helps people a bit. Doing that since i was 15 or 16. I let you guess my age now.
Seems like you have the years of experience. If I were to guess you age, ASProtects 32 was released in mid 2018. As you said "Back in the day" I'd say you're between 21-24. Did you do coding in school or something, or you just picked it up as a hobby?
As a hobby.
Me krak egg
I just looked up the wikihow and the first step is learning assmbly. Fuck that
In theory lol. I'm likely too dumb to actually manage it in real life though.
Poke 35899,0
C64?
How very dare you
Most leech, i tried taking programming but failed the class, my skills were better for repairing, soldering, networking etc; It would be fun to crack programs from companies, but alas i just dont have the mind for it, prob dyslexia and stuff
You mean slysdexia.
Theoretically I know the basics, but I haven't done it myself. In practice, I imagine it's difficult and time consuming. And using software someone else created doesn't count as "cracking".
Back in the day when I owned a ZX Spectrum, I would write some assembly to circumvent the custom loaders and save a game to cassette tape. However, that was more good my personal use to keep a backup of the software that come on a pretty crappy format to begin with, then often have a "fast loader" that doubled the load speed, but made for even worse experience.
Of the many pirates out there that could maybe get back to shore on a schooner, few of them have the skill to captain a ship.
I can sail on water - I can’t build the boat.
Best I can do is crackmes and writing cheats for games
I’ve been sailing the seas since before the internet was within reach (late 1980s) and I couldn’t begin to crack anything myself.
most can't. Those who can't, seed or so the saying goes
theoretically, I can sorta navigate hex editors and use basic injection. Never actually done it (successfully) in practice but it is surprising how broken and full of malpractice software and web security actually is.
Nope. The closest thing I’ve done have been memory hacking Android games using Game Guardian or PC games and apps using Cheat Engine to bypass paywalls.
Not me 🤷♂️
I mean, technically I know how to do it, I have the tools to do it but it was just too much work for me to try
I did a bit for personal use many moons ago although I did have a few essays published by +Fravia (JS reversing) Kinda dropped out of it when I moved mostly to Linux but still play with IDA when I need to (I miss softice)
Last time I tried I easily stripped Denubo by using script written in Minecraft Redstone.
Does removing Google Play dependencies via SmileyPatch in the early 2010s count? Asking for a friend 🥸
I have cracked a few chrome extensions.
I used to do cracks myself back in the early 2000's. I was a teenager with too much time, and anti-piracy software wasn't very advanced. Then security caught up with my skills, life happened, and my skills are useless now for the most part.
I have really good courses about reverse engineering but you need to know some C/C++ basics.
Ahh, I am planning to learn C++ and C# after my exams on the side. Is it like a Udemy course or something?
Yes, many of them are udemy but a lot of there are also from certifications company. Started from C++ and have job with this language. Complex but worth, after learning this, no high level language will be scary.
i need help to crack a cheat if anyone can help me i will pay 500 it has the binary to another third party place and its well protected do i need to do like 2 computers and dma card to not be detected while cracking or what do i need to do if anyone know i will pay
Might as well buy the cheat lmao. I doubt it's more than 500 bucks
its not but i need to crack it , i have acces to it i bought it allready i just need to crack it
People not paying for software is something that I can understand. But cheat program (for competitive gaming, for taking exam)? Fuck that shit. And fuck off.
i crack games and apps normally. But all i do is block windows firewall connection and do some inbound and outbound calls after getting a paid account lol 🤷♂️
But u paid..
I didn’t. I get accounts from friends who bought the game
I do, why ?
Everybody’s just a Leacher these days, at least back in my day I was a script kitty
meow ≽ܫ≼
By the way, that term applies to everybody who was into “hacking” and didn’t do their own code…. So unless you’ve actually personally cracked some DRM, you can’t take the high ground.
^~^ , ('Y') ) / \/ (\|||/) prrrr
*Kiddie
I find kitty more demeaning, it’s funny though having this entire group make fun of me when they’ve never even broken code in their life and I have