Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

Rikard Johnels

11 Apr 2006 11 Apr '06

21:12

Hello list! Maybe someone here can help me. I have a friend who is a computer illiterate (More or less) And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable. Now, as my evil plan is to make a convert of the poor guy, i have installed Linux on his machine :) But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues. So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup? -- /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78 46 1C EE 56 >

Attachments:

attachment.sig (application/pgp-signature — 189 bytes)

Show replies by date

Sunny

11 Apr 11 Apr

21:24

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On 4/11/06, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

Hello list! Maybe someone here can help me. I have a friend who is a computer illiterate (More or less) And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable. Now, as my evil plan is to make a convert of the poor guy, i have installed Linux on his machine :)

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

-- /Rikard

At least he has to pay somebody, don't he? Anyway, take a look at this: http://lastbit.com/vitas/pwlview.asp looks like what you want. Also, I can not remember, but the dial-in info (like phone no) was in some .lnk files. -- Svetoslav Milenov (Sunny)

Kevanf1

21:38

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On 11/04/06, Sunny wrote:

...

On 4/11/06, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...
Hello list! Maybe someone here can help me. I have a friend who is a computer illiterate (More or less) And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable. Now, as my evil plan is to make a convert of the poor guy, i have installed Linux on his machine :)

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

-- /Rikard

At least he has to pay somebody, don't he?

Anyway, take a look at this: http://lastbit.com/vitas/pwlview.asp

looks like what you want.

Also, I can not remember, but the dial-in info (like phone no) was in some .lnk files.

--

You could also check his old phone bill. I assume you have the numbers listed where you live? If not, surely the phone company would be able to supply the numbers called. -- ============================================== I am only human, please forgive me if I make a mistake it is not deliberate. ============================================== Xmas may be over but, PLEASE DON'T drink and drive you'll make it to the next one that way. Kevan Farmer Linux user #373362 Cheslyn Hay Staffordshire WS6 7HR

Rikard Johnels

22:08

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On Tuesday 11 April 2006 23:38, Kevanf1 wrote:

...

On 11/04/06, Sunny wrote:

...
On 4/11/06, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...
Hello list! Maybe someone here can help me. I have a friend who is a computer illiterate (More or less) And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable. Now, as my evil plan is to make a convert of the poor guy, i have installed Linux on his machine :)

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

-- /Rikard

At least he has to pay somebody, don't he?

Anyway, take a look at this: http://lastbit.com/vitas/pwlview.asp

looks like what you want.

Also, I can not remember, but the dial-in info (like phone no) was in some .lnk files.

--

You could also check his old phone bill. I assume you have the numbers listed where you live? If not, surely the phone company would be able to supply the numbers called. -- ============================================== I am only human, please forgive me if I make a mistake it is not deliberate. ============================================== Xmas may be over but, PLEASE DON'T drink and drive you'll make it to the next one that way.

Kevan Farmer

Linux user #373362

Cheslyn Hay Staffordshire WS6 7HR

-- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com

Specified bill is a "addon" here. And he didn't "add".. :) And the phone company is NOT too keen on revealing the numbers. Go figure... Its a "free number" modempool. Charged as ordinary phone calls. (By the minute). I thought of telling him to call the ISP and ask them, if he only could remember which one he used :D Seems like a best shot is to get him a new ISP.... -- /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78 46 1C EE 56 >

Carl Hartung

23:32

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On Tuesday 11 April 2006 18:08, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

Specified bill is a "addon" here. And he didn't "add".. :) And the phone company is NOT too keen on revealing the numbers. Go figure... Its a "free number" modempool. Charged as ordinary phone calls. (By the minute).

I thought of telling him to call the ISP and ask them, if he only could remember which one he used :D

Seems like a best shot is to get him a new ISP....

More ideas: a) does he remember his e-mail address? (you know, 'account'@isp'?) ;-) b) if not, his e-mail data should be under C:\Windows\Application Data\Identities\... under the {e-mail client name} subfolder c) if he copied the connection icon from the Dial-Up Networking folder to his desktop or to the quicklaunch bar, creating such a 'shortcut' would actually have produced a *.DUN file (not a *.lnk file) that can be copied to another Win98 system and used/edited instead of recreating the connection info. Good luck! Carl

Rikard Johnels

23:48

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On Wednesday 12 April 2006 01:32, Carl Hartung wrote:

...

On Tuesday 11 April 2006 18:08, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...
Specified bill is a "addon" here. And he didn't "add".. :) And the phone company is NOT too keen on revealing the numbers. Go figure... Its a "free number" modempool. Charged as ordinary phone calls. (By the minute).

I thought of telling him to call the ISP and ask them, if he only could remember which one he used :D

Seems like a best shot is to get him a new ISP....

More ideas:

a) does he remember his e-mail address? (you know, 'account'@isp'?) ;-)

b) if not, his e-mail data should be under C:\Windows\Application Data\Identities\... under the {e-mail client name} subfolder

c) if he copied the connection icon from the Dial-Up Networking folder to his desktop or to the quicklaunch bar, creating such a 'shortcut' would actually have produced a *.DUN file (not a *.lnk file) that can be copied to another Win98 system and used/edited instead of recreating the connection info.

Good luck!

Carl

-- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com

The poor thing only uses Yahoo mail.. -- /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78 46 1C EE 56 >

Carlos E. R.

12 Apr 12 Apr

00:04

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 The Wednesday 2006-04-12 at 00:48 +0100, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

The poor thing only uses Yahoo mail..

X'-) Do you have any email sent by him? Or a friend of his might have one. The headers will contain the IP he had when using yahoo. The IP can be traced to the ISP (host and whois commands). - -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Made with pgp4pine 1.76 iD8DBQFEPEP6tTMYHG2NR9URAsGSAJ4mNPNFYvmftlkjEXHy1f3r/HVzigCghD0u YxTVcw7Nk56fNTcCbpWcOdg= =YLzX -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Sunny

15:29

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On 4/11/06, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

The poor thing only uses Yahoo mail..

Ok, lets try a different approach :) Try google, or use local listings, etc., to find such a provider, which allows anyone to connect, billing only the local call. Just set him with this one, he'll not find the difference :) -- -- Svetoslav Milenov (Sunny)

James Knott

11 Apr 11 Apr

23:35

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

Kevanf1 wrote:

...

You could also check his old phone bill. I assume you have the numbers listed where you live? If not, surely the phone company would be able to supply the numbers called.

IN North America, local calls are not generally recorded on wired phone bills, though they often are for cell phones. Most places in North America have unmetered local calling.

Doug McGarrett

22:23

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

At 04:24 PM 4/11/2006 -0500, Sunny wrote:

...

Content-Disposition: inline

On 4/11/06, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...
Hello list! Maybe someone here can help me. I have a friend who is a computer illiterate (More or less) And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable. Now, as my evil plan is to make a convert of the poor guy, i have installed Linux on his machine :)

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

-- /Rikard

Doesn't his ISP send him a bill? Maybe it's listed on his credit card bill. Then call them up and explain. If he has a connection from his local library, as is possible where I live, then he should go there and ask them. If he's using the phoneco, it should show up on the phone bill. This seems like child's play. I may be missing something, and if so, I apologize. --dm -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.4.1/307 - Release Date: 4/10/2006

Rikard Johnels

22:43

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On Wednesday 12 April 2006 00:23, Doug McGarrett wrote:

...

At 04:24 PM 4/11/2006 -0500, Sunny wrote:

...
Content-Disposition: inline

On 4/11/06, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...
Hello list! Maybe someone here can help me. I have a friend who is a computer illiterate (More or less) And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable. Now, as my evil plan is to make a convert of the poor guy, i have installed Linux on his machine :)

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

-- /Rikard

Doesn't his ISP send him a bill? Maybe it's listed on his credit card bill. Then call them up and explain. If he has a connection from his local library, as is possible where I live, then he should go there and ask them. If he's using the phoneco, it should show up on the phone bill. This seems like child's play.

I may be missing something, and if so, I apologize.

--dm

-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.4.1/307 - Release Date: 4/10/2006

-- Check the headers for your unsubscription address For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the archives at http://lists.suse.com Please read the FAQs: suse-linux-e-faq@suse.com

The charges are not withdrawn from his creditcard, its charged on his ordinary phonebill as an ordinary local phonecall. And even though the phone company does specify bills, you have to ask for it specifically, and he hasnt done that. And as stated, the phone company aren't too keen on revealing the numbers called. I have no idea why, but that is what they have said... -- /Rikard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- email : rikard.j@rikjoh.com web : http://www.rikjoh.com mob: : +46 (0)763 19 76 25 ------------------------ Public PGP fingerprint ---------------------------- < 15 28 DF 78 67 98 B2 16 1F D3 FD C5 59 D4 B6 78 46 1C EE 56 >

Bruce Marshall

22:57

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On Tuesday 11 April 2006 18:43, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

And as stated, the phone company aren't too keen on revealing the numbers called. I have no idea why, but that is what they have said...

Maybe try one of the 'reverse lookups' for phone numbers found on the web? But probably not something they would have info for..... Maybe dialing the number with minicom would elicit an opening line before the signon?

Rob Wright

23:26

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On Tuesday April 11 2006 17:57, Bruce Marshall wrote:

...

On Tuesday 11 April 2006 18:43, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...
And as stated, the phone company aren't too keen on revealing the numbers called. I have no idea why, but that is what they have said...

Maybe try one of the 'reverse lookups' for phone numbers found on the web?

But probably not something they would have info for.....

Maybe dialing the number with minicom would elicit an opening line before the signon?

I want to be clear here. He doesn't know the ISP name. He doesn't know the phone number. He doesn't know any of his ISP information. What about his email, does he have an email address with the ISP that might tell him who it is? Is he sure he had an ISP? If you've managed to rescue any of the registry you might be able to grep out some settings names in there. Look for any modem or dial-up logs. Trying to connect via a modem and looking for a banner was my first though, but since you don't even know the phone number that's not going to work either. Best bet seems to be to lean on the phone company for the phone number, they're the ones collecting payment for the ISP, I wouldn't think that'd be some super secret information they couldn't give out. Failing that, just start with a new ISP. Good lukc,

Carlos E. R.

12 Apr 12 Apr

00:01

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 The Tuesday 2006-04-11 at 23:43 +0100, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

And as stated, the phone company aren't too keen on revealing the numbers called. I have no idea why, but that is what they have said...

Because it is not a normal request. Let me give an educated guess... If he had specified a detailed bill, the process would be automated. If he didn't, to dig now that data out of the records (if not already deleted) means manual action by somebody that knows how to dig that info from the records, even if possible (the information would be perhaps in the raw files from the exchange, not in the billing database). Furthermore, not been a "normal request" means there is no "procedure" in the books, and that it has to authorized by somebody, so they balk out. :-P By the way, the modem might have stored the last number dialed - but I doubt it is kept after power down. - -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Made with pgp4pine 1.76 iD8DBQFEPENrtTMYHG2NR9URAkaeAKCGEtznWHh8S4bRa1V5j9uFjIOZtgCeI0/4 NBKfmginM3lfQ/0LbWljC2c= =AEBJ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Frank Bax

11 Apr 11 Apr

23:08

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

At 05:12 PM 4/11/06, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable.

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

Connection data is stored in "Dialup Networking". This is not a real folder, the info is actually stored in registry. HKEY_USERS\.?????\RemoteAccess\Addresses HKEY_USERS\.?????\RemoteAccess\Profile\?????\user The first set of ???? refers to Win98 login name, the second refers to connection name (usually the name ISP). This will get you the ISP and username, but there could be multiple entries - I don't know how to identify the default one. Sunny mentioned pwlview - it only works on a system booted to Win98; it is required to decrypt the connection password stored in PWL file. For this program to work, you must find C:\WINDOWS\*.PWL, copy the files to a new Win98 system, then login as the appropriate user. For a mapping of username to PWL file, have peek inside C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI The pwlview program will only give you information from the PWL file for the currently logged in user. I was unable to figure out where the ISP telephone number is stored. Frank

Felix Miata

12 Apr 12 Apr

03:16

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

On 06/04/11 17:12 (GMT-0400) Rikard Johnels apparently typed:

...

I have a friend who is a computer illiterate (More or less) And he's old Win98 crashed due to a bad disk. I managed to dd_rescue most of it, but of course its not bootable. Now, as my evil plan is to make a convert of the poor guy, i have installed Linux on his machine :)

...

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

...

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

ISPs who provide installation CDs for doze usually leave some revealing installation CD content in the \Program Files\Internet Explorer directory tree, in part so that when they run IE its titlebar can display the ISP name. -- "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5:11 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/

scsijon

04:26

New subject: [SLE] Slightly OT. How to retrieve ISP settings from a dead win98

At 07:12 AM 12/04/2006, Rikard Johnels wrote:

...

Hello list!

cut

...

nux on his machine :)

But the difficult thing is: He doesnt know his ISPsetup. It seems he doesnt even know WHAT provider he has.... No papers no nothing in place to look for clues.

So my question is: How the *bad words* can i retrieve the ISP settings from the dead Win98 setup?

have you a mail message from him? Maybe you could use one of the online reverse lookups with the header info regards scsijon

6599

Age (days ago)

6600

Last active (days ago)

List overview

Download

16 comments

12 participants

participants (12)

Bruce Marshall
Carl Hartung
Carlos E. R.
Doug McGarrett
Felix Miata
Frank Bax
James Knott
Kevanf1
Rikard Johnels
Rob Wright
scsijon
Sunny