Having fun with Netzero

By _Sli-p\_

Release Date: Wednesday, August 17, 1999


Introduction:

This text-file deals with taking full advantage of Netzero.

Basic background info on Netzero:

Netzero is a free dial-up ISP.  There are local access numbers in every major city in the United
States.  In exchange for free net access and POP email they require that you display a standard
size ad on your screen.  There is no way to move the ad window off of the screen or hide it
behind other applications.  

To dial up you access a local Netzero java applet at which point you enter your nick and pass. 
You then are connected with Netzero's dial-up server.  Once a connection is established, an
application called Zcast is launched.  Zcast's job is to: 1) put the ad banner on your screen, 2)
every 30 seconds put a new ad on your screen (taking up a nice amount of bandwidth), 3) make
sure that the ad banner stays on the screen, 4) upon connection, launch your web browser
towards Netzero's home page, 5) In an obvious and obnoxious way inform you when there is an
update in Netzero's software, 6) and disconnect you if you try to hide the ad banner.

The computer mask for all Netzero dial-ups is something like Resale<yourcity>.saturn.bbn.com
with a few rare exceptions.  The netzero dial up numbers are shared with the standard roaming
program that most ISP's use.  So for example if you have roaming set up with your ISP, and you
travel to another city, almost always the dial-ups for your roaming program are the same as
Netzero.  The way that the dial-up server recognizes you as a "roamer" is that for roaming your
ISP requires you to add a @<yourisp>.com to your user name.  

Removing the ad banner:

NOTE: The following explains how to remove the Netzero ad banner.  THIS INFORMATION IS
FOR REFERENCE ONLY.  Trying to remove the ad banner is a violation of the Netzero Terms
of Service and the Netzero User Agreement.  Do not hold me responsible for the following
information.  I do not endorse the following information.  Again, to sum up:  Don't do this, you
didn't hear it from me, and it's your fault. 

On to the fun stuff.  As far as I know, one of the only ways to remove the ad banner is to prevent
Zcast from starting in the first place.  This is very simple.  

-->Start up the Netzero software.  Wait for it to get to the logon screen.
-->Explore to C:\Program Files\Netzero\Bin
-->Take the Net.dll file and move it anywhere, just remove it from the Bin folder.
-->Continue the dial-up process
-->Netzero will connect, and because the net.dll file is what launches Zcast, there will be no
irritations.
-->When you want to connect to Netzero again, just replace the net.dll file into the bin folder
and start over.

It is important that you wait for the logon screen to come up before you remove net.dll from the
bin folder, otherwise Netzero will terminate.  Now I'm sure that soon enough they will come out
with a new software release that makes this useless, but as long as Zcast never starts, they can't
force you to download anything.  This will also remove the "You have been idle, you will be
disconnected in 60 seconds".  Kinda nice, eh?

Replacing the Netzero graphics:

When you initially launch Netzero, a splash screen comes up that you must wait to time out. 
This takes around 4 seconds.  I suggest replacing this image with something more interesting. 
The name of the graphic is nzs.bmp in the following directory ----->  C:\Program Files\Netzero

After the logon screen, when you are connecting, the image that has a big Netzero icon on the
left, and "We believe in a Free Internet" on the right is netzerobig3.gif and can be found in
-----------> C:\Program Files\Netzero\images

The icon that is found in the upper left hand corner depicting a N and a Z when connection is
netzero.gif in the following folder ----------> C:\Program Files\Netzero\images

Peace,
Slip

Shoutouts to: _AW0L_, Neuro, Nudemonk, and Polarfire

Visit http://www.hacktech.org

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Slip Pin
slip@hacktech.org
Find me on Dalnet, my nick is _sli-p\_ 
#hackersusa, #hackersunited, #hra, and #uwa
Affiliated with the United Alliance
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