My script for disabling DNS servers on WinXP

[MysteryMiner]

I made this BAT file for my own convenience to quickly disable DNS leaks on my computer. I use OpenVPN on Windows XP SP3 to bypass government requested censorship on ISP level. My ISP uses MITM DNS hijacking, replacing DNS requests for blocked domains with page serving warning and explanation. The OpenVPN works fine, but Windows XP have known bug that causes it to use it's physical adapter's DNS servers to do DNS lookup. The bug KB article can be found here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311218

Solution for this is to use Windows own facilities to change network configuration. It is easy, does not interrupt network connection and makes the DNS leaks to go to non-existant local address on my own LAN. Because if using Google's 8.8.8.8 it still is hijacked by ISP and replaced by censorship.

I found the writing this batch file rewarding that I even commented it so it can be read and understood by people with minimum knowledge on scripting. Also I learned new things since last time I created BAT files on Windows 3.1 machine with DOS 5.0 or 6.0. I learned that REM is no longer good on Windows XP command interpreter among other things like need for dot at the end of ECHO to print a new line.

I have no permanent webpage so I will share here.

http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=01651623404661347107
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=02806954083144568694

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[tspacepilot]

Good job getting around gov't censorship!

The only thing I can think after reading your post is that I'm shocked that you're still running windows 3.1 and windows XP machines.  Why not switch to GNU/Linux?---it runs great on old hardware and you can actually get several nice features of a modern OS.

[MysteryMiner]

Thanks, the censorship is actually very lame here. DNS hijacking and IP address blocking. Still it was very unpleasant news when I returned. When I left the internet was completely free from technical means of censorship, only form of censorship was secret police actions against people who voiced "unacceptable" views.

And no, I'm not running Windows 3.1 anymore. Last time I used my Win3.1 machine was in year 1999 or 2000. I was teenager who spent time at the old donated 80386 machine instead of doing my homework. Then I played around BAT files and tried to figure how they worked because I had no literature or manuals available.

I'm running WinXP now because my current hardware can't run anything more recent. I know I can run Linux or BSD but I also play some older game from time to time and emulation or dual-booting is not an option.

[tspacepilot]

[snip]
I'm running WinXP now because my current hardware can't run anything more recent. I know I can run Linux or BSD but I also play some older game from time to time and emulation or dual-booting is not an option.

Most likely, you'd get better performance out of your old hardware running GNU/Linux, I wonder why dual-booting isn't an option (if you only play your game from time-to-time, you could have more fun the rest of the time by booting into a better OS).

[xmaxbit]

Get back and post about the same thing on windows 7 , I would be waiting for your post and be sure to shoot a pm also so that I could be notified .

[MysteryMiner]

Most likely, you'd get better performance out of your old hardware running GNU/Linux, I wonder why dual-booting isn't an option (if you only play your game from time-to-time, you could have more fun the rest of the time by booting into a better OS).

Not entirely true. I tried Debian on this laptop and it took longer time to boot than XP. Maybe the infamous systemd makes a difference but it is not that important since I reboot once in week or two weeks. Also the Firefox works slower on Debian. I suspect that the compiled code is less optimized on Linux for Turion64 CPU than it is on Windows compilations of Firefox. Also Bluetooth module did not work well and I was unable to disable WiFi and Bluetooth separately using button. Linux have it's uses for me like Tails, Whonix and BackTrack, but it falls short on other usability and compatibility uses. I know people love opensource OSes like Linux and BSD and I like them too. I also have reserved feelings about WinXP because it was worst Windows until Vista and Win8 came out. But I have no other options and no harddrive space. Linux is not drop-in replacemet for Windows like ReactOS atttempts to be.

Get back and post about the same thing on windows 7 , I would be waiting for your post and be sure to shoot a pm also so that I could be notified .

As far as I know Windows7 does not have the bug that WinXP have that causes it to request DNS resolution trough physical adapted instead of OpenVPN. Win7 also uses slightly different commands for netsh utility that I cannot remember or test now. So I think this script will be pointless for Win7.

[tspacepilot]

Most likely, you'd get better performance out of your old hardware running GNU/Linux, I wonder why dual-booting isn't an option (if you only play your game from time-to-time, you could have more fun the rest of the time by booting into a better OS).

Not entirely true. I tried Debian on this laptop and it took longer time to boot than XP. Maybe the infamous systemd makes a difference but it is not that important since I reboot once in week or two weeks. Also the Firefox works slower on Debian. I suspect that the compiled code is less optimized on Linux for Turion64 CPU than it is on Windows compilations of Firefox. Also Bluetooth module did not work well and I was unable to disable WiFi and Bluetooth separately using button. Linux have it's uses for me like Tails, Whonix and BackTrack, but it falls short on other usability and compatibility uses. I know people love opensource OSes like Linux and BSD and I like them too. I also have reserved feelings about WinXP because it was worst Windows until Vista and Win8 came out. But I have no other options and no harddrive space. Linux is not drop-in replacemet for Windows like ReactOS atttempts to be.

Well, if you've done the experiment, then I assume you know the deal with your hardware.  One last thing I'd add is that it matters a lot which desktop environment you're using, and with GNU/Linux you have a lot of options.  I run debian on an older laptop (but I guess not as as old as the one you're talking about), I always use LXDE desktop (lightweight desktop envionment), and LXDM and that make a huuuuge difference compared to gnome or kde or even xfce.  Even faster is just a plain openbox desktop like with the fluxbox project.  And, on systemd, I did notice a big speedup when that came down the wire, but like you, I don't reboot very often so it doesn't matter a lot to me.