Author: Brody Rethy

Activating Windows 10 LTSC

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Disclaimer

This article is for research purposes. If you do this, I will not be held responsible for any license violations that may occur.

Activating

Simply run the following command in a PowerShell window running as Administrator:

irm https://massgrave.dev/get | iex

After an activation Windows appears with options, choose the first option by hitting the 1 key on your keyboard.

Once the activation finishes, you can hit any key to quit, then the 0 key on your keyboard to quit fully.

On The Importance Of Encrypting VMware Workstation VMs

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Encrypting VMs is a best practice.

If you have any sensitive data, or something that needs to be hidden, encrypting your VMs is a necessity! Think about how vulnerable VMware files are to attackers. Instead of having to take your hard drive, they simply have to pull a file, then boot it up themselves, duplicate it, or who knows what.

In a day in age where VMs are so ubiquitous (especially VMware Workstation ones), this is extremely important.

Consider this: there are risks to not encrypting your VMs, but no risk to encrypting them. Why take the risk?

Basic Windows Security Tips

Posted on by Brody Rethy
  • Ensure your Windows device is on a supported version, and is always up-to-date.
  • Enable BitLocker Encryption on your boot drive.
    • You can enable BitLocker by pressing the Windows key, typing Manage BitLocker, and finally hitting Enter on your keyboard.
    • Using a computer without BitLocker (especially on a laptop) is a bad idea. If I was to take someone’s Windows laptop right now, I bet that 99% of those people would not be using BitLocker or any other form of encryption. This means I could simply remove the hard drive, put it in my computer, and copy everything stored on it, no passwords required. Use BitLocker.
  • Enable BitLocker on your secondary hard drive(s).
    • Same reason as the first, but a bit less necessary. That being said, it’s always good to encrypt your stuff. You never know what you might have on it that a nefarious person could find useful.
  • Use a password instead of a PIN.
    • Never use a Windows PIN. It’s much less secure than a password (assuming what you’re using isn’t completely moronic), and is easier to “guess”, assuming you’re doing what most people do, which is using a notable year or basic patterns/combos.
    • Note: Alternatively, you can use Windows Hello, or another form of biometric.
  • Use a local account rather than an online account.
    • Surprisingly, most do not know that you do not need to be logged in with a Windows account to use OneDrive, or other Microsoft native services. You can simply make an offline account, then login to OneDrive after, making sure to select “allow only Microsoft apps to sign in” upon doing so.
    • In addition, this is somewhat of a controversial step, as it also depends on your use case. Assuming you are using a strong password on your local account, you could be more secure than using a Microsoft Account, especially if you are using a PIN to login, or don’t use an authenticator of some sort. Secondly, using a Microsoft Account puts you at risk of a possible Microsoft data breach, though this is unlikely.
  • Use a password manager.
    • Don’t just depend on browser synching. Use a password manager and make sure you use secure passwords. I would recommend KeePassXC.
  • Lock your computer when away using Windows + L.

Securely Storing Files Over The Internet

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Requirements

Server

Generally install and activate your SSH service/daemon. Set the port to something other than the default 22. Finally, port forward it onto the Internet.

As an optional recommendation, disable PasswordAuthentication in your /etc/ssh/sshd_config and instead use SSH keys.

Client

Install sshfs-win-manager, sshfs-win, and WinFsp. These are three different types of programs that allow you to mount sshfs shares natively on Windows. Mount the server + directory you want to use via the sshfs-win-manager front-end.

After the directory is mounted, create a New Vault using Cryptomator. Set a secure and unique password, and ensure you keep the recovery password in a secure area.

Basic Android Security and Privacy Tips

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Very basic tips to “lockdown” your Android device. Obviously, the best recommendation would be to not use a phone at all, but realistically, in this day in age, that’s not possible.

  • Ensure your Android device is on a supported version, and is always up to date.
  • Use a passphrase (not a PIN).
  • Enable Lockdown mode and learn how to use it.
    • Note: Not all Android device will have this.
  • Change your notification type to Hide sensitive notification content in your Android settings.
  • Use DNS66 to block your Android device from accessing malicious hosts.
  • Remove unused apps and factory installed bloatware using Android App settings on your device.
    • Some apps can’t be uninstalled. In this case, you can force stop, disable them, then clean all app data and cache. This can all be found in the Android App Settings.
  • Alternatively, use Bromide instead of Chrome.
    • Disable Chrome in your App settings if you do install Bromide.
  • Set Screen timeout to the lowest possible setting.
    • It’s surprising considering how much this basic setting is overlooked.
  • Install an alternative Google Play Store, such as Aurora Store, which supports anonymous downloads/login.
  • Install F-Droid for FOSS and Open Source apps, as well as alternatives to closed source apps.
  • Review all privacy and security settings in your Google Account settings.
  • Setup your phone using a brand new Gmail account used only for your Android device. Ensure it’s used only for the purpose of phone syncing, etc.
    • This may not be possible or feasible for everyone.
  • Ensure SD card encryption and Android Filesystem encryption is turned on.
    • Depending on your Android version, and device, this is might be on by default.

Infinite VMware Workstation Pro Free Trials

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Disclaimer

This article is for research purposes. If you do this, I will not be held responsible for any VMWare license violations that may occur.

Steps

Once your initial trial is up, do the following steps:

  • Close VMware.
  • Navigate to the following registry key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\VMware, Inc.\VMware Workstation
  • Find the sub-key named License.... It will have extra text at the end. Delete this key.
  • Rerun VMware.

stable-diffusion-webui And Dealing With Multiple GPUs

Posted on by Brody Rethy

This article deals with AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui on Windows 11. Linux would have slightly different steps – more specifically around webui-user.bat/webui-user.sh – but they’re still both pretty similar and use the same environment variable names, just different scripting languages.

If you have multiple GPUs, you can use the following line to choose between each of them:

set CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0

Note that 0 is for GPU number 1, and 1 and for GPU number 2. If you have more, then the number would continue…

You can find out which GPU is assigned to which number by opening Task Manager -> Performance, where GPU 0 would have the value 0, and GPU 1 would have the value 1.

Using cwm On OpenBSD

Posted on by Brody Rethy

cwm actions are initiated either via key or mouse bindings. The following notations are used throughout this page:

C
    Control key.
M
    Meta key.
S
    Shift key.
4
    Mod4 (windows) key.
M1
    Left mouse button.
M2
    Middle mouse button.
M3
    Right mouse button.

The default key bindings are:

CM-Return
    Spawn a new terminal.
CM-Delete
    Lock the screen.
M-Return
    Hide current window.
M-Down
    Lower current window.
M-Up
    Raise current window.
M-slash
    Search for windows.
C-slash
    Search for applications.
CM-n
    Label current window.
M-Tab
    Cycle through currently visible windows.
MS-Tab
    Reverse cycle through currently visible windows.
M-grave
    Cycle through currently visible windows of the same window class.
MS-grave
    Reverse cycle through currently visible windows of the same window class.
CM-x
    Close current window.
CM-[n]
    Toggle visibility of group n, where n is 1-9.
CM-a
    Toggle visibility of all groups.
CM-g
    Toggle group membership of current window.
M-Right
    Cycle through active groups.
M-Left
    Reverse cycle through active groups.
CMS-f
    Toggle freezing geometry of current window.
CM-s
    Toggle stickiness of current window.
CM-f
    Toggle full-screen mode of current window.
CM-m
    Toggle maximization of current window.
CM-equal
    Toggle vertical maximization of current window.
CMS-equal
    Toggle horizontal maximization of current window.
M-[hjkl]
    Move window by a small amount.
MS-[hjkl]
    Move window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
CM-[hjkl]
    Resize window by a small amount.
CMS-[hjkl]
    Resize window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
M-question
    Spawn “exec program” dialog.
M-period
    Spawn “ssh to” dialog. This parses $HOME/.ssh/known_hosts to provide host auto-completion. ssh(1) will be executed via the configured terminal emulator.
CM-w
    Spawn “exec WindowManager” menu, allowing a switch to another window manager.
CMS-r
    Restart.
CMS-q
    Quit.

The default mouse bindings are:

M-M1
    Move current window.
CM-M1
    Toggle group membership of current window.
M-M2
    Resize current window
M-M3
    Lower current window.
CMS-M3
    Hide current window.

The following key bindings may be used to navigate search and exec dialogs:

[Return]
    Select item.
[Down], C-s or M-j
    Next item.
[Up], C-r or M-k
    Previous item.
[Backspace] or C-h
    Backspace.
C-u
    Clear input.
C-a
    List all available items.
[Esc]
    Cancel.

Enable BitLocker Without A TPM Chip (Password-Based Authentication)

Posted on by Brody Rethy
  1. Open Edit group policy.
  2. Navigate to the following directory:
    • Computer Configuration -> Administrative templates -> Windows Components -> BitLocker Drive Encryption -> Operating System Drives
  3. Open/configure the following setting: Require additional authentication at startup. Note, do not open the one named Require additional authentication at startup (Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista) unless you are using Windows Server 2008 or Vista.
  4. Change the option from Not Configured to Enabled.

If you try encrypting your OS drive without a TPM chip, you’ll now notice you have the option to setup a password or use a drive as a passkey as well.