Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: Whitecap18 on January 01, 2013, 12:46 am
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Hey,
I've got a new laptop with windows 8 and I can't seem to find a way to access TOR on it. I used TOR Browser Bundle for my old one, and ORBOT on my phone. Also, GPG 4 WIN won't install. Anyone have any luck with a windows 8 laptop and finding TOR and GPG programs that will work?
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Hey,
I've got a new laptop with windows 8 and I can't seem to find a way to access TOR on it. I used TOR Browser Bundle for my old one, and ORBOT on my phone. Also, GPG 4 WIN won't install. Anyone have any luck with a windows 8 laptop and finding TOR and GPG programs that will work?
You might be wiser to downgrade to Windows 7, if that's at all possible.
NC
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I would not use TOR on a Windows 8 computer unless you were running a VPN router program such as HideMyAss as well that encrypts and hides all your internet activities, and even then you aren't %100 with Windows 8.
You can however use TOR on it by installing the program onto another medium such as flash drive, and access it that way. Doing this also allows you to remove said program once you have finished along with any other information on the drive and hide it.
Personally I use a 32GB mini flash to store all my Bitcoin data, files I want safe and TOR and remove it once I have finished.
Make sure you create a fake backup version of your Bitcoin wallet and swap it for your genuine one that you keep backed up on the exterior drive that you need to put into the following directory
(Drive):\User Name\App Data\Roaming\Bitcoin\wallet.dat but this applies to Vista/Win7 computers and I am unsure where it would be stored on a Win8 Computer as I uninstalled Win8 as soon as I received it as I soon learned it sucked donkey nuts.
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I would not use TOR on a Windows 8 computer unless you were running a VPN router program such as HideMyAss as well that encrypts and hides all your internet activities, and even then you aren't %100 with Windows 8.
HMA is the worse recommendation you could make. It is based in the US and will gladly provide LE with your surfing history. HMA also retains your records for 2 years! You would best served using https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/how-it-works/ or number of other ones which are NOT based in the USA.
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I'm after a new laptop myself and I will be specifying NOT windows 8. I'm not even sure I want to leave XP! A dual boot with Ubuntu and Windows7 is the aim; although I have been hearing worrying things about Ubuntu 12.x releases.
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I'm after a new laptop myself and I will be specifying NOT windows 8. I'm not even sure I want to leave XP! A dual boot with Ubuntu and Windows7 is the aim; although I have been hearing worrying things about Ubuntu 12.x releases.
Good luck trying to get a machine without WIndows 8 on it. As far as not wanting to leave Windows XP, XP has just over another year year until it reaches end of life on April 1st, 2014, after which there will be NO more security updates. By that point, XP will be 13 years old. Windows 7 is now about 5 years old, and has been dubbed the new Windows XP, in that people are expected to hang on to it for as long as they can, just as people have with Windows XP.
As far as Ubuntu goes, it used to be a good distro, until a couple of the developers decided to switch to the Unity interface, instead of the traditional KDE or Gnome. Unity is hated by just about everyone -- when I tried it, I found its colour scheme nausea-inducing -- it was literally painful to look at. You'd be better off using one of the KDE distros, like Mepis.
NC
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I had no issues with my new windows 8 laptop installing TOR and GPG. Still I only use them on a virtual windows 7 machine in VMware.
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I would not use TOR on a Windows 8 computer unless you were running a VPN router program such as HideMyAss as well that encrypts and hides all your internet activities, and even then you aren't %100 with Windows 8.
HMA is the worse recommendation you could make. It is based in the US and will gladly provide LE with your surfing history. HMA also retains your records for 2 years! You would best served using https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/how-it-works/ or number of other ones which are NOT based in the USA.
You obviously don't know how it works at all. It's simply a program that once it verifies your password lets you have access to different routers from all over the world. Where did you get they keep your surfing history for 2 years? That's not right at all. It's an excellent service and it's not just a program for surfing it runs your entire internet through whichever router you choose out of 35,000+ different ones.
Just because a company is based out of the US doesn't mean they keep your internet traffic, they aren't Google!
Also I might add, when I connect to local routers I can watch YouTube perfectly fine while doing numerous other tasks so you don't notice it unless you use one at the North Pole or some shit.
I appreciate that may be the company you use and were probably fooled by their sales pitch since HMA is probably No.1 in the world but they really do provide a superior product, coupled with program secure IP binding so they won't function without HMA running etc increases your security completely, and furthermore everything is encrypted using HMA. Personally I discovered it years ago and have never missed a subscription renewal because to me it's as important as any other security software.
The program to use it is updated every month for security reasons just as TOR is, but it's TOR on meth, cocaine, MDMA and vodka mixed together and worth the $60!
Happy New Year and trust me if you get it you will thank me ;)
*Edit: Not everyone lives in the US either I might add and personally I have a place in Portugal where I reside most of the time when I'm not in Australia visiting family and friends, and an apartment in Brazil also (that I bought for the purpose of being able to explore Amazonian cultures and consuming ayahuasca), and if the US is so interested in my drug habits they are welcome to come and ask me about it at my place in Portugal and I will personally offer them some of my stash. It was my initial search of freedom to consume what I please that lead me to buy property overseas and coming home for the past few months it's been a constant reminder of why I hate living in oppressed countries like Australia and the US. Peace be with you and good luck if you are a citizen of the US, I hope they don't round you all up into FEMA Camps like Alex Jones thinks they will :)
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I recently purchased a laptop with windows 8 truecrypt doesnt work with it yet, not does the ubuntu dual boot program. Im taking it back ASAP going to buy a windows 7 laptop fromm the interweb, i can still find them shipping with windows 7... every program that I tried to install wouldnt work with 8...
Maybe they do now, but not 2 weeks ago... I still use xp on my desktop, but windows 7 ive heard is okay too... but windows 8, good hell, maybe it wont be so bad once the software will work with it..Ill look at it again in a few months or a year from now, but so far, Im not liking it...
~Flush
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I would not use TOR on a Windows 8 computer unless you were running a VPN router program such as HideMyAss as well that encrypts and hides all your internet activities, and even then you aren't %100 with Windows 8.
HMA is the worse recommendation you could make. It is based in the US and will gladly provide LE with your surfing history. HMA also retains your records for 2 years! You would best served using https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/how-it-works/ or number of other ones which are NOT based in the USA.
You obviously don't know how it works at all. It's simply a program that once it verifies your password lets you have access to different routers from all over the world. Where did you get they keep your surfing history for 2 years? That's not right at all. It's an excellent service and it's not just a program for surfing it runs your entire internet through whichever router you choose out of 35,000+ different ones.
Just because a company is based out of the US doesn't mean they keep your internet traffic, they aren't Google!
Also I might add, when I connect to local routers I can watch YouTube perfectly fine while doing numerous other tasks so you don't notice it unless you use one at the North Pole or some shit.
I appreciate that may be the company you use and were probably fooled by their sales pitch since HMA is probably No.1 in the world but they really do provide a superior product, coupled with program secure IP binding so they won't function without HMA running etc increases your security completely, and furthermore everything is encrypted using HMA. Personally I discovered it years ago and have never missed a subscription renewal because to me it's as important as any other security software.
The program to use it is updated every month for security reasons just as TOR is, but it's TOR on meth, cocaine, MDMA and vodka mixed together and worth the $60!
Happy New Year and trust me if you get it you will thank me ;)
*Edit: Not everyone lives in the US either I might add and personally I have a place in Portugal where I reside most of the time when I'm not in Australia visiting family and friends, and an apartment in Brazil also (that I bought for the purpose of being able to explore Amazonian cultures and consuming ayahuasca), and if the US is so interested in my drug habits they are welcome to come and ask me about it at my place in Portugal and I will personally offer them some of my stash. It was my initial search of freedom to consume what I please that lead me to buy property overseas and coming home for the past few months it's been a constant reminder of why I hate living in oppressed countries like Australia and the US. Peace be with you and good luck if you are a citizen of the US, I hope they don't round you all up into FEMA Camps like Alex Jones thinks they will :)
Hide My Ass (HMA) is based in the UK, and is most notorious for turning over two alleged LulzSec participants, who were unwise enough to mention in an IRC channel that they used HMA as their VPN provider. Within 24 hours, HMA served with legal paper demanding the identities of the two individuals involved. Both these individuals are now being prosecuted.
See: http://www.securityweek.com/vpn-service-snitched-alleged-lulzsec-member
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I'm after a new laptop myself and I will be specifying NOT windows 8. I'm not even sure I want to leave XP! A dual boot with Ubuntu and Windows7 is the aim; although I have been hearing worrying things about Ubuntu 12.x releases.
Good luck trying to get a machine without WIndows 8 on it. As far as not wanting to leave Windows XP, XP has just over another year year until it reaches end of life on April 1st, 2014, after which there will be NO more security updates. By that point, XP will be 13 years old. Windows 7 is now about 5 years old, and has been dubbed the new Windows XP, in that people are expected to hang on to it for as long as they can, just as people have with Windows XP.
As far as Ubuntu goes, it used to be a good distro, until a couple of the developers decided to switch to the Unity interface, instead of the traditional KDE or Gnome. Unity is hated by just about everyone -- when I tried it, I found its colour scheme nausea-inducing -- it was literally painful to look at. You'd be better off using one of the KDE distros, like Mepis.
NC
Thanks for the advice. I don't know a great deal about Linux; I have experimented a little but its kind of daunting. I am absolutely fascinated and compelled by it however, ever since I read an essay by Neal Stephenson "In the beginning was the Command Line" in which he makes the analogy of a crossroads where there are competing car dealerships. One (microsoft) sells Station wagons. They have got better over the years and dont break down so much these days and they pretty much get the job done and are cheap. Another (Apple) sells sleek sports cars; highly engineered but you cant get under the hood to tinker. Across the way another (Linux) are giving away Tanks. Indestructible Super fast Tanks. They just keep rolling whatever happens. For free. And yet 90% of people walk past.
Anyway, as far as windows 7 goes I'm in UK and plenty of places are still bundling windows 7 with laptops. I'm after something about £300-£400 with i3 or i5 processor and dedicated graphics. I heard NVIDIA cards work well with linux? This surprised me as the main reason I gave up on linux with my current machine was problems getting drivers for my ancient Geforce 440. It might have been childs play to an experienced Linux user but it baffled me until I decided I was spending far too much time on this shit!
Failng that surely I could get a pirate version of windows 7?I realise that XP is on its way out, I wasn't serious. ?But windows 8 looks like as load of bells and whistles. I like my tech devices to have a traditonal system of nested directorys, not some weird touch screen tiles.
Also tempted by the google Nexus 7 tablet. Seems like excellent value.
Anyway I guess this isn't my shopping list thread, sorry.
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I recently purchased a laptop with windows 8 truecrypt doesnt work with it yet, not does the ubuntu dual boot program. Im taking it back ASAP going to buy a windows 7 laptop fromm the interweb, i can still find them shipping with windows 7... every program that I tried to install wouldnt work with 8...
Maybe they do now, but not 2 weeks ago... I still use xp on my desktop, but windows 7 ive heard is okay too... but windows 8, good hell, maybe it wont be so bad once the software will work with it..Ill look at it again in a few months or a year from now, but so far, Im not liking it...
~Flush
TrueCrypt works fine on Windows 8 for me. Tor and GPG4Win/Kleopatra also work fine.
Anyone using Win8 would be advised to disable SmartScreen and utilize some basic egress filtering.
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crap i just wanted to buy a new laptop that comes with w8, there are way better vpns than hidemyass and insisting on legitimacy makes you look suspicious!
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crap i just wanted to buy a new laptop that comes with w8, there are way better vpns than hidemyass and insisting on legitimacy makes you look suspicious!
The problem you're going to have is to find a VPN provider that will let you signup for, and pay for the service, anonymously. There are damn few of them that allow this. Many VPN operators do not wish to do business this way, because they believe (with some justification) that such practices attract scammers, thieves and other assorted criminal elements.
When push comes to shove, any VPN operator is going to hand over information on their customers; NO VPN provider, ISP or other service provider for that matter is going to go to jail for his customers, regardless of how much the customer pays them.
NC
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I recently purchased a laptop with windows 8 truecrypt doesnt work with it yet, not does the ubuntu dual boot program. Im taking it back ASAP going to buy a windows 7 laptop fromm the interweb, i can still find them shipping with windows 7... every program that I tried to install wouldnt work with 8...
Maybe they do now, but not 2 weeks ago... I still use xp on my desktop, but windows 7 ive heard is okay too... but windows 8, good hell, maybe it wont be so bad once the software will work with it..Ill look at it again in a few months or a year from now, but so far, Im not liking it...
~Flush
TrueCrypt works fine on Windows 8 for me. Tor and GPG4Win/Kleopatra also work fine.
Anyone using Win8 would be advised to disable SmartScreen and utilize some basic egress filtering.
You would also be well advised to disable fast startup.
Here is an article you might find of interest:
LANGALIST PLUS
With Windows 8, "off" isn't really off
By Fred Langa
Win8's default shutoff and startup processes are unlike those of any previous Windows version.
Completely shutting Win8 down — or doing a truly cold boot — requires a few extra steps!
Why Win8 doesn't fully power down by default
Reader Pete was surprised he couldn't access the BIOS in his new Win8 notebook by restarting the machine.
"I just bought a new laptop with Windows 8 on it and ran into quite an interesting problem that I thought Fred (and the rest of the Windows Secrets gang) might find interesting. The machine in question is an Acer V5 Aspire laptop.
"I wanted to get into the BIOS. The instructions and posts on the Acer forums both said to tap the F2 key repeatedly when the Acer logo screen appears during power-up. No matter how quickly I began tapping the F2 key after a cold restart, I could never get into the BIOS. I called Acer tech support and they described how I could boot to the BIOS from within Windows. Although this worked, it didn't solve the problem of getting into the BIOS at power-up. I then spoke with a Level 2 technician who was quite knowledgeable.
"Acer's shutdown icon lets you select Sleep, Hibernate, Restart, or Shutdown. According to the tech, you must hold down the Shift key while clicking the shutdown icon — and continue to hold Shift until the machine fully powers off. I was then able to enter the BIOS during system startup.
"The tech stated that Windows 8 doesn't really shut down when you click the shutdown icon (or go to Power via the Charms bar/Settings). Instead, Win8 goes into a sort of 'deep sleep' mode, similar to hibernate. This is one of the techniques the OS uses for fast boots. However, when booting from this 'deep sleep' mode, you can't enter the BIOS via F2. You can get into the BIOS only after a 'hard' shutdown (for lack of a better term).
"I then tried the shutdown command Fred used to create a custom shutdown tile [Nov. 1, 2012, item]. That command also performed the necessary 'hard' power-down needed to access the BIOS.
"Have you heard of this power-down mechanism — where power-down is really just a form of hibernate/deep sleep? Do you suppose this is something unique to Acer machines or common to all Windows 8 machines?"
It's normal behavior for Win8, Pete. By default, that operating system's core never shuts down all the way! It's part of a new feature — fast startup.
When you issue a standard power-down command to Win8, it carries out a hybrid shutdown. Win8 first closes and terminates all user sessions in the expected way. Next, it copies what's still running in RAM (primarily, the live core of the operating system — the system kernel) onto the hard drive. It then turns off the system hardware.
When Win8 starts up after a hybrid shutdown, it performs a hybrid boot. As soon as the hardware's ready, the core of the OS reloads from the hard drive; Win8 then picks up right from where it left off. Thus, the OS itself is up and ready to go in a flash. You still have to reload your apps and data the normal way, from scratch.
For more info on Win8's Fast Startup hybrid shutdown/hybrid boot, see the MSDN blog post, "Delivering fast boot times in Windows 8."
That's how it works on most current hardware. However, on some of the newest systems, Win8 can employ an even faster option via a new kind of low-level firmware — Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI; Wikipedia info). The UEFI replaces the traditional BIOS that's been a part of every PC since the first IBM PC shipped in 1981.
Simply put, the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) boots and runs the PC until an operating system (Windows, Linux, etc.) wakes up and takes over. The BIOS has worked well for over 30 years, but with new hardware and software, it's showing its limitations.
UEFI acts like a BIOS for operating systems that expect to see a BIOS, but it also adds new functions for UEFI-aware OSes, such as Win8.
On a UEFI-equipped PC, Windows 8 can have astonishingly fast startups — especially if the system is also equipped with a solid-state hard drive. How fast? Check out this YouTube Microsoft video, which shows a Win8 laptop booting from dead-off to Start Screen in about seven seconds!
(For a more detailed explanation of Win8/UEFI technology, see the MSDN blog post, "Designing for PCs that boot faster than ever before.")
As you discovered, Pete, you need to take an extra step to fully shut down Windows 8. There are actually several ways to do so:
To bypass the hybrid shutdown/boot process, do a command-line shutdown (e.g., shutdown.exe /s /f /t 00). Or embed the command in a custom tile, as I describe step by step in the Nov. 1, 2012, LangaList Plus item, "Add custom tiles to the Win8 start screen."
Use Acer's Shift-key trick — other vendors probably provide something similar to trigger a complete shutdown.
Disable fast startup via the Shutdown settings in Win8's Power Options menu. Open the Win8 Control Panel and click Hardware and Sound/Power Options/System Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the dialog box and deselect Turn on fast startup (highlighted in Figure 1).
Figure 1. Disabling Win8's fast-startup option will let the OS shut down completely.
New technologies often require some rethinking and/or relearning of the traditional ways of doing things. You're among the first to run into this, Pete, but many of us are right behind you!
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The problem you're going to have is to find a VPN provider that will let you signup for, and pay for the service, anonymously.
Does anybody know of a VPN provider that allows registering and paying for an account over Tor? Or maybe a VPS provider? Here is a clear net link to instructions on setting up an OpenVPN server on a VPS: http://samj.net/2010/01/howto-set-up-openvpn-in-vps.html
The VPN (or VPS) provider would have to accept anonymous payment via Bitcoin or MySimon (fully anonymous) credit card.