Work Market questions

NetworkingStudent · May 2012

Work market questions

OK, so...... I completed my first job on Work Market, and I loved it!

The user forgot his/her password, and I couldn't crack it with the tools I had, so I just reinstalled Windows. They were fine with doing a reinstall. I showed them how to set up personalize their computer (wallpaper), make a windows 7 reset disk on their USB, set up user accounts, and I secured their wireless connection for them as well. I did a bunch of extra stuff that was out of the scope of the assignment, but I just felt bad if I would have left these guys hanging.

Has anyone done the background check, or the drug test,…. or both? If passed do you get more work?

Also, do you upload the certs you have, or do you just upload a scanned copy of the certs?

Iristheangel · May 2012

I uploaded a scanned copy of the certs. I guess that's the format they want to use, but it takes awhile for them to approve it.

i got my background check done and joined a ton of groups. both of these actions helped me get more work orders. i get routed about 6 a day but im never quick enough to accept them so i just stick to onforce.

BTW, I have a trick from Technibble.com on how to bypass passwords. i would recommend signing up for their mailing list since they send out tons of free apps to use for your side work. Hopefully it helps you in the future:

Bypass Windows Logons with the Utilman.exe Trick
2012-04-20 13:50:52-04

Utilman.exe is a built in Windows application that is designed to allow the user to configure Accessibility options such as the Magnifier, High Contrast Theme, Narrator and On Screen Keyboard before they log onto the system.
This was designed to help people who are hard of sight, hearing or mobility to log onto Windows themselves without the need of outside help. Its a great feature for disabled people but it opens up a security hole that we can take advantage of to bypass Windows logons.
Bypassing the Windows logon comes in handy if our clients have forgotten their logon password, their user profiles were corrupted or malware was interfering with the system before login.
This works because the user can trigger Utilman by pressing Windows Key + U before Windows logon. This will load up the Utilman.exe executable which resides in the Windows\System32 directory. If you swap the Utilman.exe file with something else like cmd.exe, you have access to the command prompt running SYSTEM privileges. SYSTEM is an account with the highest possible privileges on Windows which similar to the root account on Unix systems.
Here are the step by step instruction on how to do this.

WARNING:
You can do a lot of damage to a system if you dont know what you are doing. Technibble accepts no responsibility if something goes wrong.

First of all, we will need a way to access the file system to swap out Utilman.exe with something else like cmd.exe. There are a few ways to achieve this:

Remove the operating system hard drive from the target system and slave it into another system with a working operating system. From there you can swap out the files on the slave drive
Use a Boot CD like UBCD4Win and use the file management software there
Use the Windows Vista or 7 DVD

In this example we will be using the Windows 7 DVD. To begin, boot from your Windows 7 DVD and when you reach the first screen asking about the language, currency and keyboard format, Click Next.
On the next page, down in the lower left hand side, click on the “Repair your computer” link.
Next, select the “Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows. Select an operating system to repair” option, choose an operating system from the list and Click Next.
You will now have an option to “Choose a recovery tool”. Select Command Prompt.
You should now have a Command Prompt Window open. Type in the following commands:
C:\
cd windows\system32
ren utilman.exe utilman.exe.bak
copy cmd.exe utilman.exe
This will navigate to the system32 directory, rename utilman.exe to utilman.exe.bak, make a copy of cmd.exe and name it utilman.exe.
Remove the DVD and reboot the system.
Once the computer boots up normally, press the key combination Windows Key + U and you should get a Command Prompt. If the Command Prompt doesnt appear, press Alt+Tab as the Command Prompt may appear behind the Logon screen. From here, you can run many (if not all) of the commands you can normally use in Command Prompt.
Resetting an Existing Users Password

WARNING:
If you reset a users account password. This will permanently lose access to the users encrypted files. Be sure to back these up.

To reset an existing users password, we need type the text below. In this example, we will be changing JohnDoe’s password to “hunter2″.
net user JohnDoe hunter2
You should be able to log in with this new password straight away.
If you dont know what the username on the system actually is, you can see a list of the users by typing:
net user
Creating a New User Account

To create a new user account in the Command Prompt (Username: NewGuy. Password: abc123), and add them to the Administrators usergroup type:
net user NewGuy abc123 /add
net localgroup Administrators NewGuy /add

Again, you should be able to login straight away with this new account.
Reverting Changes

To restore utilman.exe, in the Command Prompt type in:
C:
cd windows\system32
del utilman.exe
ren utilman.exe.bak utilman.exe
Then reboot the system.
To remove the new user account you just created earlier, type in:
net user NewGuy /delete
That’s all there is to it.

themagicone · May 2012

Workmarket is great... MN market is saturated though. There is a lot of competition between about 4 of big people (that includes me). Trick is to get in with a few companies and become their go to person. I think last month I did about $2500 in work. I've diversified though. There is about 2-3 other work sites I work with now. But, since your in MN I have to decline to share -sorry don't need more competitors. Get the background check, get your certs up and work will come in time.

If you are looking for work I posted yesterday about needing a tech with me in St. Paul for some rack/stack work then I need a few techs in Eau Claire, WI for 8 weeks. The WI job is around $25 to $28/hour and hotel is paid M-Th.

pizzaboy · May 2012

@Iristheangel that should come in mighty handy thanks.

NetworkingStudent · June 2012

Iristheangel wrote: »

I uploaded a scanned copy of the certs. I guess that's the format they want to use, but it takes awhile for them to approve it.

i got my background check done and joined a ton of groups. both of these actions helped me get more work orders. i get routed about 6 a day but im never quick enough to accept them so i just stick to onforce.

BTW, I have a trick from Technibble.com on how to bypass passwords. i would recommend signing up for their mailing list since they send out tons of free apps to use for your side work. Hopefully it helps you in the future:

Bypass Windows Logons with the Utilman.exe Trick
2012-04-20 13:50:52-04

Utilman.exe is a built in Windows application that is designed to allow the user to configure Accessibility options such as the Magnifier, High Contrast Theme, Narrator and On Screen Keyboard before they log onto the system.
This was designed to help people who are hard of sight, hearing or mobility to log onto Windows themselves without the need of outside help. Its a great feature for disabled people but it opens up a security hole that we can take advantage of to bypass Windows logons.
Bypassing the Windows logon comes in handy if our clients have forgotten their logon password, their user profiles were corrupted or malware was interfering with the system before login.
This works because the user can trigger Utilman by pressing Windows Key + U before Windows logon. This will load up the Utilman.exe executable which resides in the Windows\System32 directory. If you swap the Utilman.exe file with something else like cmd.exe, you have access to the command prompt running SYSTEM privileges. SYSTEM is an account with the highest possible privileges on Windows which similar to the root account on Unix systems.
Here are the step by step instruction on how to do this.

WARNING:
You can do a lot of damage to a system if you dont know what you are doing. Technibble accepts no responsibility if something goes wrong.
First of all, we will need a way to access the file system to swap out Utilman.exe with something else like cmd.exe. There are a few ways to achieve this:
Remove the operating system hard drive from the target system and slave it into another system with a working operating system. From there you can swap out the files on the slave drive

Use a Boot CD like UBCD4Win and use the file management software there

Use the Windows Vista or 7 DVD

In this example we will be using the Windows 7 DVD. To begin, boot from your Windows 7 DVD and when you reach the first screen asking about the language, currency and keyboard format, Click Next.
On the next page, down in the lower left hand side, click on the “Repair your computer” link.
Next, select the “Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows. Select an operating system to repair” option, choose an operating system from the list and Click Next.
You will now have an option to “Choose a recovery tool”. Select Command Prompt.
You should now have a Command Prompt Window open. Type in the following commands:
C:\
cd windows\system32
ren utilman.exe utilman.exe.bak
copy cmd.exe utilman.exe
This will navigate to the system32 directory, rename utilman.exe to utilman.exe.bak, make a copy of cmd.exe and name it utilman.exe.
Remove the DVD and reboot the system.
Once the computer boots up normally, press the key combination Windows Key + U and you should get a Command Prompt. If the Command Prompt doesnt appear, press Alt+Tab as the Command Prompt may appear behind the Logon screen. From here, you can run many (if not all) of the commands you can normally use in Command Prompt.
Resetting an Existing Users Password

WARNING:
If you reset a users account password. This will permanently lose access to the users encrypted files. Be sure to back these up.
To reset an existing users password, we need type the text below. In this example, we will be changing JohnDoe’s password to “hunter2″.
net user JohnDoe hunter2
You should be able to log in with this new password straight away.
If you dont know what the username on the system actually is, you can see a list of the users by typing:
net user
Creating a New User Account

To create a new user account in the Command Prompt (Username: NewGuy. Password: abc123), and add them to the Administrators usergroup type:
net user NewGuy abc123 /add
net localgroup Administrators NewGuy /add

Again, you should be able to login straight away with this new account.
Reverting Changes

To restore utilman.exe, in the Command Prompt type in:
C:
cd windows\system32
del utilman.exe
ren utilman.exe.bak utilman.exe
Then reboot the system.
To remove the new user account you just created earlier, type in:
net user NewGuy /delete
That’s all there is to it.

Hello, Iristheangel
Thanks for the reply. Thank you for the technibble link. I do notice that I need to be quick on the draw to get those jobs. They seem to go pretty fast. I remember looking at one for two minutes after I got the email for it, and bam it was gone, just like that.

I would like to do some Onforce jobs, but they require 2 years of IT experience.

NetworkingStudent · June 2012

themagicone wrote: »

Workmarket is great... MN market is saturated though. There is a lot of competition between about 4 of big people (that includes me). Trick is to get in with a few companies and become their go to person. I think last month I did about $2500 in work. I've diversified though. There is about 2-3 other work sites I work with now. But, since your in MN I have to decline to share -sorry don't need more competitors. Get the background check, get your certs up and work will come in time.

If you are looking for work I posted yesterday about needing a tech with me in St. Paul for some rack/stack work then I need a few techs in Eau Claire, WI for 8 weeks. The WI job is around $25 to $28/hour and hotel is paid M-Th.

Hello, magicone

I added a background check, which went surprisingly fast! I will try to add the certs this Monday. I have gotten more jobs in my email box, after I added the background check. However, like you said there is a lot of competition and a lot of quick replies from other techs. You need to make a snap decision, if you want to take a job.

Thank you posting the jobs in Mn and Wisconsin.

cgrimaldo · June 2012

I signed up a while back but never could get jobs that interested me...at least in the San Antonio area. I think the market is too saturated or maybe I just don't have the qualifications based on what they are looking for with WM. Most of the stuff I see is for surrounding areas with payouts that just aren't worth the time.

Work Market questions

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