Thread 106088625

I'm currently going down a rabit hole about an encrypted old image file from the 2000s. Details don't matter, but basically, I need this very specific software which I only found on various usenet forums. I know this is kind of a dick move, but I don't want to pay for a usenet subscription just to download a couple files, so would anyone here be so kind to download and re-upload the files elsewhere? Links to the files (they all lead to the same files):

https://www.downloadbound.com/db/photo-assistant-2000/
https://www.filefortune.com/search/photo-assistant-2000/
https://www.downloadkeeper.com/photo-assistant-2000-crack-serial-download.html

>>106088625 (OP)
>Details don't matter
Give us details or you ain't getting help, nigga.

>>106088625 (OP)
The FBi had already been notified

Bumping this because it's a cool thread
We really do deserve to have more details though.

>>106089365
also bumping

>>106090352
>>106089365
>>106089313
Thanks for the bump. I'll try to explain it a bit more if you're curious. So basically, I found an old floppy disk from a family member that comes from a photoshooting in the early 2000s. Reading it reveals a single image file with a weird .pjg extension, and the file identifier string "Photo Assistant Image File". Goggling it didn't help, and I tried various jpeg extraction utilities, hexdumps and signature identifiers, but nothing yielded results. After some digging I found old forum posts discussing this format, claiming it's a proprietary encrypted image format that photographers used to scam their customers out of more money. It was made by a german company called Silverlab Solutions and allowed photographers to encrypt files with a password before handing them out to customers, so that they'd have to come back again and pay money for decryption. According to these forum threads, german law states that the photographer owns the rights to the images, not the customer, which is what allows them to pull off these stupid DRM scams. The software used to encrypt and decrypt .pjg files was called "Photo Assistant 2000" and used a sort of PGP-like encryption (whatever that means exactly), and apparently had limitations on the password length too. People also say that photo studios often just used their own name as the password. All that and the mere age of this program gives me reason to believe it's probably crackable if I can get my hands on it. These usenet links seem to be the only place that has this software, or at least something with the same name. So, if anyone wants to help me crack this BS, I'd greatly appreciate access to these files.

>>106088625 (OP)
The best my googlefu can find is this german article
https://www.digitalkamera.de/Meldung/Silverlab_Software_GmbH_bietet_nicht_nur_Profi-Losungen/726.aspx
The only things I can find on the software or the format you spoke about all goes back to german forums
sorry anon

bah i found this as well
https://www.silverlab-solutions.de/FAQ/DE/leistungskatalog.html
it is the company that made the software

>>106088625 (OP)
least mentally ill child porn requester

>>106091290
Have you tried "admin", sar?

>>106091371
lmao

>>106091359
>>106091351
Thanks for looking, but I already found that too. Getting the software from someone with usenet access is the missing puzzle piece now. Maybe I'll try my luck on /t/ next.
>>106091371
No idea what made your mind go to that but okay bud.

>>106091485
just because it was posted on usenet does not mean it will still be on usenet. retention times are long but not forever and the retention is not equal.
do you have an nzb pointing to the file?

Post a hexdump of the file header, maybe it was something really basic (especially if it was from the 90s when crypto was restricted, and some EU countries unironically needed a license to use)

Might have a lead for you OP

https://groups.google.com/g/de.comp.graphik/c/azxpo0zsu9Q/m/Arkr6pS7IqYJ
>Früher hieß das Programm Ulead PhotoAssistant Light.
>Eine ältere (aber keine "Light") Version von 1998 gibt es unter

>http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10077-100-885467.html?tag=st.dl.10001_103_1.lst.td

Cnet link is dead, but: https://archive.org/details/download.cnet.com_1995-1999_20190830000000
https://archive.org/details/download.cnet.com_2000-2004_20190830000000

I didn't dig into the tar files there, but hopefully might be able to find something

>>106088625 (OP)
> don't want to pay for a usenet subscription
free trial? There were plenty available last time I checked.

>>106091624
not that anon but that is a cool archive
i don't need to mirror that locally but i kind of want too. it would be cool for a retro setup.
thanks random anon

>>106088625 (OP)
>>106091359
biggest red flag here is
>by a german company called Silverlab Solutions
google what Abmahnung is,
google what actions german anti piracy is known for.
and ask yourself: who hasn't way less than 5 euro to get this by himself?
...
I could point out more things, I'll leave it with these points.

>>106092120
and there is a new situation in Germany now, where you don't get the photos when you want to get a new passport (from the photo shop), instead the photos are sent to the authorities (institution/Amt) electronically. this company silverlab solutions offers licensed hard and software for this purpose.

>>106088625 (OP)
Those aren't 'Usenet' links op, rather some guppies coining it from Usenet provider signup referrals. I doubt you'd ever see the program, even if you did sign up via these links. Usenet is not dissimilar to torrents, you need an nzb file, or to find the actual prog in nzb indexers. Which I can't, someone else might.
>>106091624
I don't think Ulead and Silverlab were the same programs, similar name maybe. Here's a Ulead photo prog from around 2000, extensions it handles are as picrel. OP prob calling it right and Silverlab seem to have run photo booth type kiosk setups. Their .pjg file format is probably just a middle man encryption hijack of jpeg or whatever to keep the customer coming back to the kiosk shop/provider. Silverlab seem to have dropped 'Photo Assistant' altogether as flash dependent. Regardless, I can't find a copy and I suspect the Ulead stuff is a blind alley. Afaik Uleads photoprogs ended up part of Paint Shop Pro, pre Corel. And if any 'commonly available' prog could open this .pjg, it would be PsPro. But I doubt it.

>>106088625 (OP)
Mmh, good old slrn. That's the patrician way to navigate one's usenet feed.

bump

>>106088625 (OP)
these links are all bullshit seo farms

What about
https://github.com/packjpg/packJPG
?

>>106091580
Interesting. I admit I don't know anything beyond surface level stuff about Usenet, and I'm not even entirely sure if these download websites are a proper part of Usenet or not. I don't have a nzb file. These links seem to be the only source that supposedly has the software, and if it doesn't, I'd consider it lost media. Since no one here seems to have access to it, I might try to abuse their free trail later.
>>106091624
Thanks, I found that discussion thread too. It's one of the only mentions of .pjg belonging to a different software, and it's a good lead, but I'll first try to exhaust all the options regarding Photo Assistant 2000, as that's much more likely the actual software used here.
>>106092120
It's a 20 year old legacy software that no one cares about anymore and which virtually nothing is known about. I know german authorities are strict, but come on.
>>106092698
The info is much appreciated. So if those are not part of Usenet, where are they hosting these files? Is it even real? I guess I'll have to find out myself.
>>106095868
it's encrypted, not just compressed, so sadly that won't help.

>>106088625 (OP)
>>106096729
Never fucking mind. It's a complete scam, you can type in anything you want in there and they'll supposedly have a download link for it. How did I not notice? My bad. Don't click on these links.
Alright then, seems like the software doesn't exist anymore and my file will never be decrypted.

>>106096797
Maybe this is retarded but perhaps you could just reach out to the company or check LinkedIn and see if you can find someone who used to work there and ask.

Curious, can you see what info you can get from the exif?

>>106097035
Yup, just did that and wrote them an email. I'll post an update if I ever hear back from them and it leads to something. Tbh I don't even care about the image that much, I just passionately hate DRM.
>>106097247
Exif? There is no exif data, it's an encrypted file.

Yeah, no Usenet provider has retention that long on binary files unfortunately. I thought it was wild when I got a file I remembered from 2010 here maybe seven or eight years ago, and it had almost dropped off the server by then. Only text files go back decades. But here's something, back in 2009 user tc-maxx on the Raid.Rush forum said he was working on a PJG-cracker:
>https://raidrush.net/threads/rce-programm-cracken-wie-anfangen.634715/
The link in the thread is dead, but it's obviously this guy:
>https://github.com/tc-maxx
You could just contact him on Github and ask him if he ever got the cracker working or would be willing to share what he's got so we can try to finish it.

I've got nothing to contribute, but this thread is fascinating. I hope it works out for you in the end OP!

>>106097980
NotOP, but that's a good find, we have the naming format for the installer of this POS now - pa2k*.exe. Figure 'Photo Assistant' is white label software that got punted by a few kiosk suppliers. Not sure how much it would help as your link notes, Demo v. seems not to use the same .pjg format as full version, which doubtless makes commercial sense. But it's Furthur, and implies there should be multiple sources of this prog . I've got a desktop photo kiosk somewhere, gonna go have a look what shit it's running, just on the off chance. Unless I already robbed the hard drive. Your photo better be worth it op ;)

Just ask these guys if it handles passwords or if they'll be willing to incorporate that:
https://convert.guru/pjg-converter

>>106094179
>Binary News Reader
This is/was the absolute king of alt/bin

I never understood usenet
Its just files you are looking for on some dedicated server with fast internet? Who is hosting all this? Where does my money go for the subscription?

>>106099049
>What's a protocol?
Really?
Why don't you just look it up? It won't bite you...

>>106097980
That's an awesome find anon. Thank you!
>>106098994
That's very much a different thing

>>106099368
Where did you get the file op, eg, is it on a disc from a passphoto shop? If so, has it got he name of the shop stamped on it anywhere eg, Foto Germanski (all this shit seems German) on it?
If so, that's - germanski - probably the file password, or the dongle number would also work. Stil need to find a copy of the Photo Assistant 2000 installer tho, which should be, as said, called pa2k*.exe and about 37MB in size.

>>106099498
Yes, I found all of that too already. I have some reasonable guesses of the password ready, I just need the software. If the passwords don't work, no big deal, it should be brute forceable with modern hardware as the password is apparently limited to 8 characters (according to a forum post). I found the file on an old floppy disk.

>>106088625 (OP)
I just check alt.circumcision, and it looks like it was dropped by most services a few years ago, but the pro-circ schizo poster Darrin T. Roth was still posting as recently as 2022.

>>106096729
>it's encrypted, not just compressed, so sadly that won't help.
ah sorry, good luck anyway
it gets harder and harder to find anything on this censored shit internet of today

>>106088625 (OP)
you're in luck op

>>106091290
>that the photographer owns the rights to the images, not the customer,

That is very standard, even in the US.

>>106105061
And they've got EVERYTHING. Guppy cunts.
Again, anyone fancies their Google-Fu, we are hunting an installer for a photo kiosk software called Photo Assistant 2000. Filename probably pa2k(version)(language).exe - example pa2k301igr.exe, think around 37MB. Any version, any language should work. OPs Mom will be grateful.

>>106088625 (OP)
>>106091290
>>106105331
Try this: https://web.archive.org/web/20010513225121/http://www.silverlab.de:80/ger/download/files/pfit99_195home.exe

It is a program called PhotoFit 99 from the same developer (Easytek/Silverlabs). It lists PJG as an input format.

>>106107727
forgot screenshot

>>106107727
>>106107737
Good Lad! Looks promising actually, think PhotoFit was intended as a home user soft, surprised it has .pjg. See if this works for OP now..

>>106099049
Usenet is an archaic file sharing system that you have to pay for (or steal login info for, like they do in one general here). It's basically an unfortunate combination of torrents and DDL websites like Mega, that you need to pay a subscription fee to access. You have an indexer (which is basically like a torrent site) that knows where its .nzb files (basically like torrents) are on the providers' (basicaly Mega, etc) servers.
You then need a client to download from those servers using the .nzb file. It has a lot of downsides. One is long term retention. Not only do all of them delete old files, but they all lie about their retention and delete newer but less downloaded files as well. Not only that, but the system cannot scale to modern demands. There just isn't enough server space or will to keep all the files that get posted (uploaded) to Usenet daily.
Usenet is also a forum, used way back in the 80s or whatever. There's probably still some kind of activity there, mostly by actual schizos. But it's basically been 100% piracy for many, many years.

>>106108117 (me)
>>106099049
To answer your questions directly:
>Its just files you are looking for on some dedicated server with fast internet?
At a really high level, yes
>Who is hosting all this?
A variety of companies, but the best ones don't allow crypto payments at all. It's kind of confusing because of all the resellers, but here's a good visualization:
https://usenet.rexum.space/tree
>Where does my money go for the subscription?
The money goes to these providers. You can think of it like a Netflix subscription, except instead of getting access to a streaming service you get access to a DDL service.

I forgot to mention that another downside of Usenet is the takedowns. IP protection companies monitor the uploads to these providers and DMCA a bunch of them. Since they all communicate with each other and share the uploads between, files uploaded to one provider will be available on other providers. It's a bit unclear what happens if one provider gets DMCA'd, but what usually happens is all providers DMCA the file as well.

>>106108117
>>106108194
anon is underselling this here
>or gatekeeping
You need a Usenet provider, biggest cost but cheaper if you book a longer plan, pick one with long retention and few/no restrictions, eweka r good.
Then some nzb indexers, nzbgeek has trial. Nzbget to download, all good. And fast as fuck. Usenet predates the internet and some of the newsgroups are legendary internet lore, rightfully so. And there's no Cloudflare, adverts or cunts demanding ID. It's Internet, Old Skool.

>>106097498
Update: An employee there got back to me and kindly explained why they can't help me with my request. Apparently the rights to PA2k got bought up by HP in 2006 and they had to delete all their copies of it. The HP location that bought it is now out of business, and he explained that I'd most certainly have no luck there either. Seems like the software really doesn't exist anymore.
>>106107727
Great find, I'll take a look at it.
>>106105331
lol. Yeah I feel pretty stupid about that link now too

any updates?

>>106114026
I suspect OP is German
He obv. doesn't understand the concept of 'emotionally invested'.