This is a crackme I made 4 months ago and it has not been solved yet.

Target:

VistaSidebarGadgetCrackme by TiGa

on www.crackmes.de

Format:

Windows Vista Sidebar Gadget (.gadget)

Work to do:

Find out what is a .gadget

Remove the nags

Activate the backdoor

Turn the crackme into a keygen in .gadget format

Write a solution

Optional Work to do:

Write a keygen in a "traditional" programming language (.exe)

It doesn't absolutely require Vista to solve it but it helps a lot.

Prepare yourself to be amazed by M$'s new "proprietary" file format.

TiGa

VistaSidebarGadgetCrackme.by.TiGa.zip

Edited January 4, 200817 yr by TiGa

I dont have Vista (and dont intend to either ) but anyone who is going to have a look at this, I remember reading a good article by Mark Russinovich here:

http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/a...15/2178879.aspx

Might help you out with some pointers if you get stuck on this!

EDIT: itbetternotbesomethingreallybad.exe

Edited January 4, 200817 yr by Loki

I really expected the over-paranoid UAC to prevent the nags from opening but no...

With all their "improved security" on Vista, they could have spent more time thinking the Gadget format through.

As everybody who will solve it will see, a protection scheme in a Gadget is pretty much useless.

TiGa