Get into any site that may be blocked - Just have access to My Computer

In this instructable I use a random webpage - yes.google.com to access instructables.com when it is blocked. This is possible because of domain remapping.

This idea is also in the instructable here.

Step 1: What You Need

A Windows PC (sorry Mac and Linux users)
Access to the system 32 folder located at C:\WINDOWS\system32
(If you can get into My Computer and Type that in the address bar - it will work!)
An Internet Connection
A Browser - All Windows computers come with IE but Firefox is Far Superior

If you have all of that move to step 2!

Comments

[TDJP]

Is there a way to ping youtube? it keeps on pinging google

[highvoltageguy]

use this command in telnet:
ping www.youtube.com

[fireblast_1212]

it won't let me save the hosts file. how do i then?

[RedFlash]

For the adverts in the last picture, install ad block plus... (hint) I thought you were Tony..... (innocent remark)

[thermoelectric]

Don't use adblock on Instructables, The ad's are helping to keep Instructables going!

[RedFlash]

But they are very annoying. Just because I can see them doesn't mean that I am not supporting Instructables

[thermoelectric]

Well, You might be supporting Instructables in your mind, but your not financially. I just ignore the ad's, I just look at the content of the pages, not them (that way I don't upset the admins)

[RedFlash]

But they are really annoying and even when you try to read what's on the page, you see something flashing or bobbing about and that interrupts your concentration...

[thermoelectric]

You should go pro then, They have less ad's and you're supporting Instructables too, and you get extra features.

[RedFlash]

Good Idea, but I haven't got any money. I'm saving up for a laptop. Maybe I could buy the book to get pro membership. Though what are the benefits of that? All that I can see is that you get a little PRO Icon beside your username. And anyway the other pro members are making more money than the ads themselves. All ads do is vandalize websites

[thermoelectric]

Ooh you get heaps, All I can remember is that they get allsteps and they can enlarge the small pictures when thwere is more than one in a step, I dunno what else, there is a page somewhere that tells you the features

[RedFlash]

I can do just that with my bog-standard account without anything special. Maybe only the newer members are restricted...

[thermoelectric]

Yeah, But that is actually a member feature. There is a two month trial period for members that were around before they brought out pro.

Here's the link to the page that tells you all the features you can get.

[RedFlash]

I am seriously not affected by the pro membership thing. I have not received any trial emails, I am just normal. Anyway, I am in Australia and the amounts for membership are too much for me. The two year membership alone is at least $70AUD

[thermoelectric]

You don't get any trial emails, you will just notice in around 1 months time your features that you have will drop significantly.

Anyway, I am in Australia and the amounts for membership are too much for me. That makes two of us :-)

[RedFlash]

No notice... I haven't had anything from instructables apart from emails informing me of comments

[thermoelectric]

I never said you were supposed to get a notice. I said You don't get any trial emails

[RedFlash]

Even now when I'm writing this comment, I'm viewing this instructable as all pages

[thermoelectric]

Exactly, But approximatly 2 months after the pro feature was released, We won't be able to use allsteps. It's just a matter of time.

[RedFlash]

It's been around for much longer than two months and I can use the ALLSTEPS option. I win...

[thermoelectric]

Okay, I admit I was wrong about the two months thing, But here's what Eric Wilhelm wrote:

We have not finalized the pricing, but it will be reasonable, and you will be able to join for periods of one month, one year, or two years. Initially, we'll only accept payment via PayPal. Every user who has registered prior to the release of pro accounts will receive at least 3 free months of access to the existing features we are turning pro. During this period, we hope to convince you that the features are useful enough to pay for.

[RedFlash]

ok. Eric most likely went back on that decision after he said that

[thermoelectric]

Well, maybe not, Because the pro account forum topic came out over 2 months, but less than 3 months ago, so if Eric is going to disable allsteps for us, It will be in the next couple of weeks.....

[thermoelectric]

And he also said Every user who has registered prior to the release of pro accounts will receive at least 3 free months of access to the existing features we are turning pro.

Which means that there isn't an exact number of weeks we have left...

[RedFlash]

That's scary..... I don't want to lose my normal privileges that stink anyway and I certainly don't want to have to pay to use my favorite website. Look at all the comment space we took up having this discussion... This has to be the longest chain of comments in Instructables' history!

[thermoelectric]

Yeah, I don't want to lose these privledges either.

Hehe, There has been some way longer comment chains that are just pointless, they just keep continuing OH RLY? and YA RLY!

[RedFlash]

I wish that they wouldn't screw up the comments by squashing them into the side of the window

[thermoelectric]

I actually think that is a good thing because then we would have to keep scrolling from left to right to see what the comment says (having to read each line geperatly)

[RedFlash]

It has it's limits. And anyway, they shouldn't have even shifted the comments to the right in the first place

[thermoelectric]

Why shouldn't they have shifted the comments to the right? It also helps to see who is replying to who, because I can't follow who's following who on Youtube in the comments because they dont indent the replys......

[RedFlash]

Couldn't they color code them?

[thermoelectric]

In what way? And wouldn't that just mean more for us to learn before being able to respond correctly?

[RedFlash]

Well, when You're on the internet, you've gotta think, so it's just another one added to the long list of usernames, passwords, fixes, and websites that we remember. First Comment: White Second Comment: Red Third Comment: Orange Fourth Comment: Yellow Fifth Comment: green

[thermoelectric]

Sounds interesting, Why not take it up with Eric, see if it gets anywhere

[RedFlash]

You wouldn't happen to know anything about k9 web protection would you?

[thermoelectric]

Pretty much no, Until I looked at their website. Why do you ask?

[RedFlash]

Cause, my Dad installed this crappy piece of software on MY computer. I have been trying to get rid of it for ages, but have failed. What part of Australia are you from?

[thermoelectric]

Oh I'm from Cairns, In FNQ (Far North Queensland)

[RedFlash]

Wow! In the same state!! I am in Caloundra on the sunshine coast

[thermoelectric]

:D I've been to Brisbane, But I don't think I have been to Caloundra :-/ Have you been near Cairns?

[RedFlash]

Nah, I have only been in Australia for 4 years. I am originally from England, but I am a citizen by descent. The only places in Australia that I have been is around South East Queensland and The central coast in NSW. There was a massive dust storm around here today!

[thermoelectric]

Ah, I've been a Aussie citizen my whole life. We didn't get any of the dust storm, but we sure saw it on the news Did you see the Broken Hills fottage? The dust made it pitch black!

[RedFlash]

Nope, not yet. The dus was so thick in Caloundra, I could look at the sun without getting blinded! It's all cleared up now though!

[thermoelectric]

Wow. I can't dp that unless its night :-P We're getting a tiny bit of dust up here, But it isn't red, just enough to lower visibility

[RedFlash]

Have a look at this: The Dust storm. I just cobbled this together and thought you might like to see it. Those photos were from the side of my house

[thermoelectric]

Oh, wow! Look out, The news people think it might happen again on the weekend, althought they think it will be less intense...

[RedFlash]

Hopefully! Did you like the photos?

[thermoelectric]

Yeah!

[RedFlash]

That's good. Are you into programming, like VBS, Batch, or anything like that?

[thermoelectric]

Not really, I'm more into electronics and computer hardware more than the software. At the moment I'm wiring up my 5 MOT (Microwave oven transformers) bank. It has 4 MOT's to bring the 240VAC mains voltage up to ~8800VAC at 500mA. The extra MOT is used for current limiting, so I don't blow a fuse when using them. I am still looking for switches and stuff for the control panel.

I got some pics of the light dust cover here in Cairns. (the sky was blue.)

Wanna start this conversation on one of our orangeboards? It's getting a bit too indented here...

[RedFlash]

Nice! There's supposedly a second one coming as well

[thermoelectric]

Hasn't it already been? I thought it had. The dust still hasn't cleared here, so we haven't had rain (which we expect from a grey sky) nor have we had a blue sky in the last 4-5 days :-(

[RedFlash]

We had two dust storms. Both have vanished. My deck is absolutely FILTHY. Every time I just put a foot on it, I end up covered in red dust. Here, the dust only lasted for a day...

[thermoelectric]

Lol, Just wear shoes when you go to the deck :-P The dust is still here, in the morning, the wind carries it out to sea, then a bit later it brings it all back in, so the blue skys haven't returned yet...

[RedFlash]

I tried that, but that brings the dust inside inside the house and makes the whole place dirty and when my mum finds out, it's like mount Vesuvius erupting...

[thermoelectric]

Lol. Let's start this thread again on somebodys orangeboard, I'll post this comment on your orangeboard aswell, so reply to the one on your ornageboard not the one on the 'ible

[RedFlash]

ok

[animan1]

facebook???

[twenglish1]

does it have to be yes and omg you are a genius i have been trying to find out how to bypass the blocks for so long and i might have finally found the answer

[wolfenok]

I'm using the www.strongvpn.com service and i think its pretty good! Now i can use skype and MSN! My ISP has blocked youtube and other services that has been an incredible s**t! But no it works, without any laggs. It was good choice of mine, really.

[twenglish1]

i just tried this instuctable in school and the school blocks access to C:\

[erikals]

yeah, they say it's 'secure' so if you put something in my documents u lose it overnight but if that is true, why doesn't adobe photoshop get deleted if it's in C:\ and C:\ is 'secure'?

[twenglish1]

our school uses a program called: "Deep Freeze" when it is set up you change the computer settings and install any software you want, then you turn deep freeze on, and everytime the computer is rebooted it reverts everything back to the way it was when you turned on deep freeze, you can also turn it off if you want to change something or add a new program

[dz0004455]

I have found that if you make a shortcut to C:\WINDOWS it will let you in, at least at my school :)

[Pinoy_TFC]

In my school, they do that too. My classmates and i just use proxys to bypass the firewall. You can go and Google some proxy sites. However, some firewalls block proxys too. So the question is: How do I get to my Facebook, Youtube, Myspace...porn..hehehe? Well the trick is to put it under a secure link. if your proxy is blocked, just type: https://www.fireglue.com instead of the normal http:// . Remeber, you need to have the "s" after the http. Then it most likely will say that the website has a certificate error. No Prob! just click the "continue to website" link and you're good to go. The thing that sucks is that some popups might slip through also. That when you can download a portable proxy at home, put it on your flash drive, load it in school, and check your stuff, WITHOUT POPUPS! YAYAY

[twenglish1]

dude thanks im defiantly going to try this and if it helps you i have an instuctable that tells you how to boot linux off your flash drive and it should work in school you just need to be able to boot usb check it out it might help too

[Pinoy_TFC]

Thanks. That would be great. Also, the proxy that I have that I use from my flash-drive is something called Ultra V.2.8 if I recall correctly. I guess you could google it and download it.

[twenglish1]

hey i couldn't find that proxy are you sure you got the right name

[Pinoy_TFC]

The exact name is UltraSurf 8.2
Sorry about the mixup =)

[twenglish1]

its ok i do it all the time, thanks

[twenglish1]

thanks i will

[yalin]

nice, but has problems. if the web server that you written its ip has more than one domains configured on (which is usually the case) the page you'll get will be the default site the server is configured. and this only works when URL is blocked. but its nice to play with hosts file, you can even block sites with it, just redirect a domainname to somewhere else (usually 127.0.0.1 (localhost) is used for that), and zzap it'll not work (on your computer of course)

[erikals]

you can use the hosts file to do that, and if you have photoshop cs4 or any other program (like acrobat) and no valid serial, you can edit the hosts file to block activate.adobe.com and you're home free mate, no activation for u

[MadMechanicMike]

if your being blocked at school by programs like bess, do the following: >Go to google.com >In the search box type in "spidergrapevine" (with out the ") and hit enter >Under the first result (should be www.spidergrapevine.com) click the "cache" button. >At spidergrapevine, type your URL in the appropriate box with out WWW >Hit enter.

[idiotjohn]

That is called a proxy and it may work with your school but it doesn't work with mine. Google Cache is blocked by itself. See previous post. "QUOTE ME" The only thing is - The DET (Department of Education and Training) have a very high sercurity blocking system on Australian schools internet. Proxys do not work... Even google cached doesn't work. But because of the particularly low security system on our computers at my school we can do it this way! "UNQUOTE ME"

[erikals]

mate, if you think you have a low security system, at my school it is 24/7 CCTV (in the comp lab only), keyloggers, website monitoring, screenshot recording, email monitoring, file monitoring. Sometimes the admin goes to have a lie down and eat a packet of crisps and I have to sit in front of his laptop and watch what everyone does. It's sort of fun, though.

[MadMechanicMike]

lol i know what its called and im sorry that you live in Australia. hah.

[Dorovan]

open IE or FF for example type: www.google.com and add .nyud.net:8080 (www.google.com.nyud.net:8080) its the faster way ;)

[erikals]

does that ping a server or shut it down

[ELMOHTARF]

i make all steps and put the dns for a block site then i try to open it but i have this message Network Error (dns_unresolved_hostname) Your requested host "yes.google.com" could not be resolved by DNS. For assistance, contact Customer Support.

[Erik Lindemann]

Be careful with that ping function. In the war between ytmnd.com and ebaumsworld.com the members from ytmnd ping'd ebaumsworld.com enough to max out their bandwidth.

[menkhaf]

4 pings with only 32 bytes of data has nothing to do with DOS'ing. It's less than nothing.

[Erik Lindemann]

I was just letting that out there for people who may just be finding out what ping is and may start experimenting. Wasn't directed at you, sorry.

[iBurn]

....I have to try that....

[Derin]

Fork pinger:

set /p password=:forkping %password%goto fork

[Derin]

Put @echo off first.

[iBurn]

=D

[Alacia]

Don't you just have a site that I can just type in where I wanna go to instead of going through all of this? It would be way much easier and less confusing

[blindskull13]

for step 2 you can just hit ctrl+alt+delete then go in to task manager and click new task, its a lot easier than notepad

[spasysheep]

lots of school systems won't let you do that, unfortunately.

[iBurn]

Go into cmd and type start taskmgr.exe

[spasysheep]

what about when they've modified the start menu so you don't have command prompt or Run

[Derin]

once that happened on my laptop which in i was admin and owned the laptop and it was on a work network and my command prompt run or task manager got blocked

[iBurn]

open notepad type command.com then save it as a batch file (.bat)

[hoWmAnyTiMeS]

how do you open command prompt at school

[peach_fart]

start>run>type cmd>press enter

[iBurn]

open notepad type command.com then save it as a batch file (.bat)

[Lance Mt.]

Try other extensions?

[spasysheep]

What about if the system is set up so the moment you save anything as a batch (or other executable) file it deletes it and logs you out?

[bicky 51]

use a thumbdrive

[spasysheep]

Deleted and logged out - message "2nd infraction of the rules - 3 more and yourr account will be permenantly deleted"

[erikals]

happened to a mate of mine at school but we don't get the messages like u do it just deletes and logs you off and when u log back on it tells you: 'Your account has been attempting to create an executable that is not allowed on school property. If you think this message was displayed in error, please contact the administrator.' And I am serious - I've seen that so many times

[snowpenguin]

With such harsh rules you really have no use for this anyway.

[bicky 51]

make at home

[idiotjohn]

Wow... That's a bit harsh...

[iBurn]

That's our rule too. But if they catch you looking at P0rn then you loose your account immediately

[spasysheep]

You know this from experience? :P

[erikals]

definitely. It happened to a kid at school who lost his account cause the Internet log detected a system override and porn being downloaded onto his 2 GB thumbdrive - the next day it was confiscated and almost all of the 2 GB was taken up by porn. He got to stay at school, but the admin barred him from computers by changing his password.

[snowpenguin]

Maybe he/she does...!

[Derin]

Hopefully not.

[snowpenguin]

You never know... :)

[iBurn]

Ummmmmmm.... Not a clue. I MIGHT be able to figure something out but........

[soulmemories]

I did exactly what you said, but when i typed in my fake domain, it still says " This URL is blocked." what should I do?

[A good name]

So would this work on vista? I personally hate vista, but it's the system I'm stuck with right now, but I do like it better since it does seem to run a bit faster than macs... But I'm getting off topic.

[loonatic_123]

I have to say i tried at school and it worked nice insrructable

[mitchell931993]

What happens if i did got to save as and replaced the host file with the exact same thing

[ozzyman15]

someone try this on vista i dont want to mess up my comp

[earagon]

very good (but will it work on vista) p.s. I had no luck in saving the file to make the changes jut wondering if anyone else has tried.

[idiotjohn]

I am not sure... There should still be the hosts file.

[earagon]

the file is there I just can save it in the windows folader that it is in (jut might no be able to save there) if anyone else tries let me know

[jgustin13]

when i get to the part where i save the host file, it says the administrator has denied students access to save on this file, is there anyway to get around it?

[idiotjohn]

I don't think so... Unless you use one of the hundreds of admin password cracking tools. Search google!

[Waffles Will Rule]

This is cool!
Thank you!
[I couldn't get the image into my library...]

Click here to see the picturehttp://img160.imageshack.us/img160/2496/48698630ci6.png

[Sypran]

grr C:\WINDOWS\system32 is disabled on my schools comps

[Shynobi]

im going to try this at my skool but can i do this for more than one web site a a time??

[idiotjohn]

yep - you can do it for as many websites as you want - but you will need a separate fake domain for each. If it was me i would use yes.google.com, yes1.google.com, yes2.google.com, etc., etc.

[Shynobi]

kool thanks and i have another question for u i tried this at my skool but it would not let me save the host file; it said that i needed permission any suggestions other than to hack my teachers account and give permission

[idiotjohn]

You could try doing it in safe mode (when windows is starting press F8) Or like you said you could hack your teachers password - you could either do this by getting he/she to type it in the user name box by mistake or by typing control userpasswords2 into the run dialog - correct me if i am wrong but I think you can reset the admin password from there!

[Shynobi]

ya good idea ill try the safe mode thing if i get a chance and the password thing would be fine if i could use comand prompt or sumthin to find out what the pass is instead of changin it cuz if i do that i am so suspened

[Shynobi]

hey i have another question
im trying to make my own bath files and sometimes it doesn't work and when it comes to the part where it says" msg * (then my message)" it will keep popping the message up over and over again
any1 know how to exit the file or do somthing (other than re-starting the computer) to get the message to go away?

[idiotjohn]

You could try alt-F4 but it is pretty hard to understand hat you are saying

[Shynobi]

ya sry umm what im saying is i made a batch file, and since im new to batch files, sometimes when i a file with a message in it sometimes the message wont go away even if i click the ok button, so i have to end up restarting the computer

[koolmuffin13]

where did you learn this? and on a random note, does anyone know h ow to change pictures?i try change profile but it doesnt work

[idiotjohn]

well i tarted off with the idea from http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-%22hack-this-site%22
from there on it was pretty much trial and error!

[koolmuffin13]

why do you say type in C:whatever but in your black box it says E:whatever? does it make a difference?

[koolmuffin13]

ok never mind but my box says microsoft windows xp [version 5.1.2600] Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp. C:\WINDOWS\systen32> what does it mean?

[idiotjohn]

You did the long way with the batch file right? You get that message because you used command.com instead of cmd... it doesn't really mean anything.

[yalin]

and for learning IP nslookup is sexier.

[josh92176]

Oh dear, you know its sad when people find MS-DOS commands sexy!

-josh

[josh92176]

Meant to say you know your sad

[hack124x768]

Mmmmm.... tracert to scare people....

[stranoster]

Zing!

[Wolf Seril]

This is cool, but I would rather just use a proxy.

Also some sites if you just type in https://(sitename).com instead of http://www.(sitename).com it goes around websense.

[idiotjohn]

The only thing is - The DET (Department of Education and Training) have a very high sercurity blocking system on Australian schools internet. Proxys do not work... Even google cached doesn't work. But because of the particularly low security system on our computers at my school we can do it this way!

[stranoster]

Darn our infernal "labour" government. Great work but next time I'd use a spellcheck. E.g. Fifefox instead of firefox, critisizms into criticisms. Whatever, Nice work and well written with most angles covered

[aneel]

On unix-style machines (including Linux and Mac OS X), the hosts file is /etc/hosts. You'll likely have to be an administrator to edit it. Try this in terminal on the Mac: sudo open /etc/hosts And this in a terminal on the Linux box: sudo emacs /etc/hosts or sudo vi /etc/hosts

[GorillazMiko]

ooh, cool, smart!

[idiotjohn]

Please give me a plus up the top is you liked it! Thanks, John

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

Instructables is blocked at my school! ===Why===?!

I was able to get on it for the first week, then, gone...
I might try this, but the computers are constantly being watched for hackers. Plus, I'm not very good at this kind of stuff.

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

*Whoops, ==Why?!==