Compression and Cracks for Dummies. By Bad Boy! The WareZhouse BBS (209) 772-9165 **NOTE*****NOTE******NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE** This document has been completly updated as of 05-27-95 to include Information on the instalation of CD-Rom rips. If you have read this document reguarding Compression and Cracks and are have some problems with some of the CD-Rom Rips proceed to the Authers notes #2 on page 16. **NOTE*****NOTE******NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE*****NOTE** January 23 1994 The following is a comprised collection of the many problems and solutions when working with .Zip and .Arj file compression and cracks. First you should understand that most software comes on floppy disks stored as many files and subdirectories on each disk. Now days most of the software is compressed on the floppies so the software manufactures don't have to buy so many disks. There install programs usually uncompress the files as there installed onto the hard disk. Therefore very few programs these days can be file copied to a hard disk directory and expect the program to run. Therefore about the only reason we use programs like Pkzip and Arj is so that we can create one simple file per disk. This is the only way we can effectively work with these programs when Uploading and Downloading from the Bulletin boards. The following is a detailed explanation of the process that takes place from the time a cracking group buys the originals and you type the command to play the game on your hard drive. All examples given will be using a IBM or compatible computer running MsDos Version 6.0. If you don't have Dos 6.0 or higher installed in your computer then get with it. Before we start make sure you have MsDos version 6.0 or higher installed and that you have the following files in your C:\Dos Directory. Pkzip.exe Version 2.04 or higher Pkunzip.exe Version 2.04 or higher Arj.exe Version 2.41 or Higher Also note that your C:\dos directory must be in your Path statement in your autoexec.bat file. This is done so that from any dos prompt you can type Pkzip, Pkunzip or Arj and that program will load. You see for example If you are in the C:\downloads Directory and you issue the Pkunzip command, Dos looks first in the current directory which is C:\downloads for the Pkzip.exe file and does not find it . It then looks every where your Path statement says to look and finds it in your C:\dos directory and loads it. OK so the originals for the game SpaceX just arrived and the program consists of four 1.44 kb floppy disks. A quick look at the disks shows that the disks contain disk Labels as follows. spacex1 spacex2 spacex3 spacex4 As a quick test diskcopy was used to copy the disks to four formatted floppies and the disk labels were removed by putting each floppy disk in the B: drive and then from the B: prompt typing Label and then return. Then instead of giving the disk a new name we just hit return to delete the volume label. Then we tried to install the game from the new floppies and the install program just kept saying please put disk 1 in drive B: , OK this proved that the install program looks for the Volume Label so we will have to save the volume label when we Pkzip these disks for Uploading. After returning the volume labels to the copied disks we did a normal install and then ran the program. After the normal boot up sequence we were asked for some word from the documentation on Page 3 line 6 word 3 or some shit like that. This proved to us that the protection was the basic word look up version and a simple crack patch was written by one of our Hackers to intercept the doc check and allow us to use the program no matter what our answer is. OK now that we have a good copy of the four floppies with the correct volume labels and we have put the crack patch file spccrk.com and the Group.nfo file on disk one we are now ready to .Zip the files and Upload them to our BBS. Putting Disk #1 in the B: Drive, and we have the file Pkzip.exe in the Dos directory or in any directory that is always in the Path command. from a dos prompt we issue the following command. c:\> Pkzip -P -R -$B c:\upload\spacex-1.zip b:\*.* OK the first command calls the Pkzip program. The next commands are Switches for the Pkzip Command. -P is the Path switch. In other words if the files contained on the floppy disk are in subdirectories then by using the -P the directory structure will be saved in the .Zip file. -R is recurse subdirectories. This command switch always goes with the -P switch so that the directory structure remains intact. Note. even if the Floppy disk contains no subdirectories it is a good habit to always use the -P -R switches. -$B is the Volume label switch which simply says store the volume label from the disk in drive B in the .Zip file. Remember always use the -$(drive) switch so that the (drive) is the drive in which the Floppy you are zipping is in. In other words if you were to simply use the -$ switch with out a (drive) the volume label saved to the .Zip file would be the Volume label of your C:\ hard drive. OK so now you have a zip file Named Spacex-1.zip in the upload directory all you need to do now is zip up the other 3 files and your done. These commands will do the trick. c:\> Pkzip -P -R -$B c:\upload\spacex-2.zip b:\*.* c:\> Pkzip -P -R -$B c:\upload\spacex-3.zip b:\*.* c:\> Pkzip -P -R -$B c:\upload\spacex-4.zip b:\*.* OK so now you have just Downloaded the following four zip files and cant wait to install the damn thing and play the game. For now we will unzip to floppies and install. Later I will explain how to install using a Subst drive. First judging by the size of the zip files its pretty easy to tell we will need four 1.44 floppies formatted for this game. With the first disk in Drive B: issue the following command. Dir B: return. Hopefully you will receive a File not found from the dos . If not delete the files on the disk or format it, whichever you prefer. Taking into account that the four zip files are in you Download directory change to that directory and with your floppy in drive B: Issue the following command from dos. C:\download > pkunzip -d -$ spacex-1 b: OK well the following explanation will be as follows. The pkunzip command calls the program Pkunzip located in your c:\dos directory just the same as when you called the Pkzip program earlier. The Switches are as follows. -D simply tells Pkunzip to put the files back onto the disk with the correct directory structure and subdirectories as when it was created using the -r -p switches. -$ tells Pkunzip to label the destination disk with the Volume label stored in the Zip file if it is . And in which in this instance it was stored. OK now so after that floppy number 1 is done issue the following commands to do the other 3 floppy disks and you will be ready to install. C:\download > pkunzip -d -$ spacex-2 b: C:\download > pkunzip -d -$ spacex-3 b: C:\download > pkunzip -d -$ spacex-4 b: Now remember after you Unzip all four disks you need to use some kind of text file viewer to look for files on disk 1 for installation info or etc before you install and try to run the program. In this example you would find the file on disk 1 called group.nfo and in that file would be the typical information as to when the program was cracked. Who cracked it and the most important thing is that you need to install the program as normal then copy the file strcrk.com into the game directory after installation and then switch to that directory and run that crack program once before you try to play the game so that you will be able to Bypass the protection. Will that's about it. for the first example . Most programs will be somewhat similar to that but below are some more detailed explanations of most of the things you can expect to run up against. Answers to common asked questions. Q. Why are some Zip files larger that a 1.44 Floppy disk. A. Will most software companies will use the entire 1.44 floppy disk before starting another and because most companies use there own compression method when they store the files zipping the disk does not make it any smaller. Then with the crack patch and .Nfo files added they are larger than the floppy. Then when the file is uploaded to some Elite BBS the BBS software will automaticly append there BBS advertisement to the disks and over and over. Sometimes the zip files are 1.48 or so in size.... This is no problem and also the reason that when you are Unzipping a file to your floppy disk you get a Disk full error... That is not usually a problem as the files are unzipped to a floppy in the same order as they were zipped so the Program files are always restored and its usually the BBS advertisements that get left off. NOTE: Remember that the important crack files and .nfo files may also be left off and even though they are not required to install the game they will probably be required to defeat the protection. Just remember that after you install to the floppies and you receive a disk full message then Unzip the same file to your Hard drive in a temporary directory so that you can read the files in case you need them. Then delete them after you are finished with them. Q. What do I do if the Install program wont work to install the program. A. I find that occasionally some people install the program and in doing so all the files from the program are copied into a directory on the hard drive. Then that person does not have the original disks decides to Pkzip the installed game and upload it to a BBS. The problem is that when you unzip it and try to run the Install program it looks for what used t...
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