Archive for June, 2012

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How to Password Protect Your Running Programs

June 13th, 2012 by Admin

You might have faced a situation where you have to leave your work in front of somebody and move away from them. You only have the choice to leave the system and can’t logoff Windows. Think of such a situation. Yes it can happen some times. So how can we protect your running programs from being seen by somebody else?

Here’s where LockThis! comes into your rescue. LockThis! is a tiny Windows utility that makes it possible to password protect almost any programs or documents that’s currently running/open. This tool is perfect for people who often lend their PC to others, because with this tool they can keep the content of some programs or documents from other people eyes without need to close them first. Huge time saver if you really often lend your PC.

It’s very easy to apply the protection. Mostly it only involves pressing keyboard Ctrl button when minimizing the window of the program/document and supply the password in the dialog that follows (or you might had chosen to use a predefined common password, which in this case you won’t be asked for password). Now the content is save because the window can not be restored or maximized without supplying correct password. Whenever the window is about to restore or maximize a dialog asking for password will pop up. If the correct password is not supplied, the restore or maximize request will be ignored and the window stays minimized.

Pros: A great freeware app that assure you more privacy and you can safely give your laptop with opened windows to any body without the fear of them seeing it.

Cons: LockThis doesn’t work with Internet Explorer 8/9, it can’t be used to protect 64-bit applications , so if you want to hide the open windows contents from them, think of it before giving your laptop or pc to any body else.

Download LockThis!

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How to Reset Domain Administrator Password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000

June 12th, 2012 by Admin

An important part of any client/server network architecture is the user accounts that are created in the domain. User accounts are known as domain accounts as they are authenticated by the domain controller and can be logged on using any computer that is a member of the domain. As an administrator of any LAN infrastructure you are required to handle several tasks in a day and manage hundreds of passwords in order to make the network infrastructure run smoothly.

If someone in your organization forgot his domain user password, we can log on the domain controller using administrator account to help him reset the password to a new one. But if we forgot domain administrator password, we’ll lose full control over the domain controller. It might sometimes cause a big inconvenience if we need to access the domain controller urgently.

Here I’ll show you an easy way to reset Windows domain password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000. Unlock domain controller instantly if you forgot domain administrator password or you are locked out of the computer for various reasons.

How to Reset Windows Domain Administrator Password?

  1. First we need to find another computer which we can log on with administrative rights. Insert a blank CD/DVD into the CD-ROM drive in order to create a password reset disk.
  2. Download and install Password Recovery Bundle onto the computer. Launch Password Recovery Bundle, then click Windows Password button.
  3. The pop-up dialog allows you to create a password reset disk. Select your CD/DVD device and then click Start Burn button. The password reset disk will be fine after a while.
  4. Boot your domain controller from the password reset disk. You may need to modify computer’s BIOS setting and set CD/DVD as the 1st boot device.
  5. Once the boot procedure is complete, the password reset disk will launch the Reset Windows Password utility.
  6. Choose your Active Directory database (ntds.dit) file from the drop-down list. It’ll immediately display a list of domain user accounts.
  7. Select the administrator account and then click Reset Password button. After confirmation, the domain administrator password will be set to Password123 by default.

Now eject the password reset disk and restart the domain controller, you can then immediately log in to Windows Server with the new domain administrator password. With the password reset disk in your hand, no need to worry about forgetting domain user account passwords again!

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Posted in Active Directory Password, Tips & Tricks

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3 Best Free Password Managers

June 12th, 2012 by Admin

Most of us end up having so many different passwords for different websites, that sometimes it becomes really hard to remember them. Writing them anywhere would defeat the whole purpose of having a password. A very simple solution is a Password Manager. Password Manager is a software that securely stores all your passwords, and you are provided with one master password to access all your passwords. This means that you need to remember just one password.

We have reviewed many free password managers. Here is a list of the best 3 free password managers that we have come across. All of these are extremely easy to use, very secure, and completely free. Some have more features than others. So, go through the list, and see which one fits your needs.

Note:  Almost all available password manger utilities use some kinds of irreversible encryption algorithms to secure your password. So if you forgot the password to log in to your password manager software, it’s unable to recover all logins and passwords saved by the application. But you can still give a try with Password Recovery Bundle, it can help you reset forgotten Windows login password, unlock MS Office / PDF document, recover passwords from email clients and instant messengers, etc.

1. KeePass

KeppPass Password Manager is my favorite Password Manager. It is extremely secure, and uses advanced algorithms for encrypting your information. Apart from passwords, it stores website URL, login name, and password. So, if you want to open a website, and add login information to that, just double click on that in KeePass Safe, and it will take care of that for you. This makes it extremely useful. Apart from that, you can carry it in your Flash drive so you can use it on any system. It works on almost all OS, including, Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and FreeBSD.

2. iPassMan

iPassMan is another useful password manager. It works a lot like KeePass. You can store name of website, and the corresponding login information. You can also add some notes for your login information. To run a website, you can directly click on it in iPassMan, and it will open the website for you, and also fill in the login information. It works only on Windows.

3. MyPadlock

MyPadlock Password Manager is a secure and simple password manager that allows the user to keep all the password under “lock and key” on their PC and is only accessible if they know a master password that is created by the user on initial configuration. This master password will be the only password which needs to be created.

MyPadlock has using 128-bit AES encryption to encrypt all the password into an encrypted file and keep into hard drive. The file is also encrypted with password and will automatically logged off in a few minutes to ensure that the users don’t leave the password open to anyone while they were away from their desk.

So which password manager is right for you? Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what features you want. If these free password manager utilities can’t meet your needs, you can also consider purchasing commercial software such as LastPass, RoboForm, 1Password, etc.

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Posted in Free Software, Others, Software Reviews, Tips & Tricks

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3 Handy Password Recovery Tips In Case You Forgot Windows Password

June 12th, 2012 by Admin

As it’s known to us, a strong password is an important aspect of computer security. Many computer users set an extremely complicated Windows password consisting of various numbers, characters and symbols. It will greatly improve the system security without doubt. But if the user has bad memory, the complex Windows password can be easily forgotten. At that time, one has to find some Windows password recovery tips to unlock the computer.

Have you thought of some tips to avoid the problem of forgetting Windows password? Never write your password on a sticky note plastered to a desk or monitor. If you are easy to forgot Windows password, you can make full of features in Widows: set a password hint to help you recover your Windows password, and create a password reset disk to reset Windows password if your password is forgotten or lost.

1. Set a Windows password Hint

Some systems, like Windows 7, Vista and XP, allow you to create a password hint so that you can get some clues to recall your forgotten Windows password. You can create a password hint easily when you set a Windows password to log on to computer. Please note if your computer is on domain (Active Directory), you cannot create a password hint.

The Windows password hint should be something that can help you recall your forgotten Windows password while it will not leak your Windows password to others. But don’t set a password hint that is easy for others to guess your actual Windows password.

2. Create Windows Password Reset Disk

If you think password hint is not a good option or you can’t think of a good password hint, you can turn to the option of creating a Windows password reset disk. It will be useful for you to reset Windows password if you forgot Windows password in further. Follow these steps to create a Windows password reset disk in advance:

  1. Click Start button, Control Panel, User Accounts and Family Safety and User Accounts.
  2. Click Create a password reset disk in the left pane.
  3. The Forgotten Password Wizard will open, insert a USB flash drive and then click Next.
  4. Select the USB drive which you want to create a password reset disk on, and then click Next.
  5. Enter your current password, and then click Next.
  6. When the progress indicator shows 100% complete, and then click Finish.

Once the Windows password reset disk is created, it can be repeatedly used to reset Windows password without limitation. If it falls into hands of others, he or she will be able to enter your computer by performing Windows password reset with the USB drive. So please keep your password disk in a safe place.

3. Windows Password Recovery

With the development of technology, you can not only set a Windows password composed of letters, numbers and symbols, but also create a password with fingerprint. If you are a Window 7 user, you can enable fingerprint logon.

If you forgot Windows password and don’t have a password disk, you can resort to Windows Password Recovery software such as Password Recovery Bundle. It allows you to easily reset lost or forgotten Windows password by burning a bootable password reset disk. Boot your locked computer from it and you can remove forgottten Windows password instantly.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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Create a Windows System Repair Disc for Emergency Use

June 11th, 2012 by Admin

When faced with a computer that won’t start most people tend to panic, worried that all the data on their PC is gone forever. There are many reasons why a computer won’t boot up, it may be due to a blue screen, virus infect or some critical system files are missing or damaged. I don’t know when you are going to have your next computer disaster but I’m sure you are going to have one. So it is always a good idea to prepare a Windows System Repair Disc for emergency use.

Windows System Repair Disc allows users to boot the computer and load Windows Recovery Environment. Windows Recovery Environment offers users a set of recovery tools to help diagnose the problems, recover serious technical errors and restore the computer from a system image. Users can create this repair disc and bring along with their computer/laptop for any emergency use.

Let’s go through the steps you need to do to create a system repair disc that you can use to repair your system.

Part 1: Creating A System Repair Disc

Before you proceed, insert a blank CD/DVD into your CDROM in order to create a system repair disk.

Press Windows + R key combination to bring up the Run box. Type recdisc and press Enter. Another option is to click Start > All Programs > Maintenance > Create a System Repair Disc.

The dialog box opens where you select the right drive and click Create disc.

Windows system will start to prepare the necessary files.

And proceed to create the disc.

After a while, a System Repair Disc will be fine. It only takes up 142MB of space.

Part 2: How To Use A System Repair Disc

If you are having problems with your machine  or the system is failed to boot, just pop in the System Repair Disc and boot from it and enter into Windows Setup [EMS Enabled].

 After it boots up you can access recovery tools or restore the computer back to a system image.

Now you can choose from different recovery options to help you get your machine back up and running.

You never know when an operating system disaster might occur, but having a System Repair Disc is advisable in case it does. Even though this repair disc doesn’t allow users to reinstall the whole Windows OS, it can be a pretty useful tool to boot up Windows and allow users to backup some important data without much delay.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista

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How to Log on to Windows if You Forgot Administrator Password

June 11th, 2012 by Admin

I’m having trouble logging into my user account under Windows 7. It seems that my password is no longer valid and now I can’t get in. The only way I can login to the system is to do so under my son’s account which does not have administrative rights. Also, when I go to Control Panel -> Users (under my son’s account), my user account is not listed. Any ideas how I can resolve this? “

Depending on the access level applied to your son’s account, he may / may not be able to see any other accounts listed on the system. In his case, the access level is low enough that Windows 7 will not display any other user accounts.

The best option here is to reset your account password. You can do this using Password Recovery Bundle. To reset Windows administrator password, first you need to download Password Recovery Bundle onto any other accessible computer (not your locked PC), then follow the steps below:

Part 1: Create a Windows Password Reset Disk

before the work, prepare a blank CD/DVD or a USB drive. Then install and run Password Recovery Bundle on your computer, and you’ll get the interface as follow.

Insert a blank CD, DVD or USB drive into the computer, and click on the Windows Password button. It will prompt a ISO Burning dialog. Choose your prepared disc and click Start Burn button, you’ll get a bootable Windows Password Reset Disk.

Part 2:  Set Your Locked PC to Boot from Windows Password Reset Disk

Boot your locked computer. When it is powered on, check the boot-screen for setup key (i.e. DELETE key, F8 key, F2 key) to enter BIOS Setup Utility.Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab, then change the Boot Device Priority:  Set 1st Boot Device to CDROM or Removable Device. Press F10 to save your changes.

Part 3: Reset Windows Administrator Password

Insert the Windows password reset disk you’ve created into the locked computer. Restart the computer. The computer will load the Windows password reset disk. Once it launches the Reset Windows Password program,  you can see Windows SAM registry hive and all user accounts available on your computer.

Choose the administrator account and click Reset Password button. The program will reset your forgotten administrator password immediately. The last step is to take out of the Windows password reset disk and restart your computer. You’ll find that the computer doesn’t ask you for any password, and you can log on to Windows successfully. To set a new password, make sure that it’s a safe password and you’ll never forget it anymore.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

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How to Change SA Password in SQL Server 2005

June 11th, 2012 by Admin

Forgot SQL Server password and unable to login using the SA account? If you happen to forget your SQL Server password for sa account, then here’s a simple query to help you reset it:

GO
ALTER LOGIN sa WITH DEFAULT_DATABASE=master
GO
USE master
GO
ALTER LOGIN sa WITH PASSWORD=N'MyNewPassword' MUST_CHANGE
GO

In case you remember your old password and want to change the sa password, use this query:

ALTER LOGIN sa WITH PASSWORD = N'MyNewPassword' OLD_PASSWORD = 'MyOldPassword';
GO

You aslo can get a third-party tool to change SQL password. SQL Server Password Changer is one of the best MS SQL password reset tools which can help you change SQL Server password in a few seconds. It allows you to change SQL sa password on SQL Server and Express 2000/2005/2008.

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Posted in Others, SQL Server, Tips & Tricks

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How to Recover MDB Password of MS Access Database

June 10th, 2012 by Admin

MS Access MDB files are used to save data in database form. We can protect MS Access database with password for the security reasons. Sometimes you may forget the password of those files. In some cases we have to search for sample databases or project source databases on the internet or copying from friend’s computer. After the downloading, the Ms Access files encrypt with password by provider. If there is no hint or password from the uploader, what will you do? There is always a way to recover or unlock MDB password of MS Access database.

Access Password Recovery is a small yet powerful software to recover MDB password from protected MS Access database.  Instantly unlock MS Access database, if you don’t know the original password. This software recovers the password-protected MDB files created with Microsoft Access 95/97/2000/Xp/2003.

How to Recover MDB Password of MS Access Database?

  1. Launch the Access Password Recovery program.
  2. Click the Start Recovery button, the File Open dialog box will appear. Select your password-protected MS Access database, then click the Openbutton.Access Password Recovery
  3. The program will decrypt and recover your MS Access password instantly.Access Password Recovery

MS Access uses a very weak encryption algorithm to encode the password, so you can recover MDB file password easily and quickly, no matter how strong the password is set.

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Cisco Router Password Recovery Tutorial

June 7th, 2012 by Admin

If you work with Cisco routers I guarantee you will at some stage attempt to login to a router only to discover you can’t remember the password. When this happens you will be forced to execute the Cisco router password recovery process. Please note this specific process is primarily for Cisco 3600 and 3800 routers although may work on other models. Please check the Cisco website for more details.

1. Connect a standard rollover cable (console cable) to the router using the console port. Open a terminal emulation application (such as Hyper Terminal on Windows) and connect with the following settings:

  • 9600 baud rate
  • No parity
  • 8 data bits
  • 1 stop bit
  • No flow control

2. Power on the router and execute the break sequence in the first 90 seconds. Each terminal emulation application has its own break sequence, for example in Hyper Terminal on Windows simply click the “Break” key.

3. The router will now enter ROMMON. Enter “config-register 0x2142” and press return. This step bypasses the startup configuration where the existing passwords are stored. Next type “reset”, which reboots the router but ignores the saved configuration.

4. Once the router has rebooted answer “No” to all the initial setup procedure questions. Next enter enable mode by typing “en” and copy the start-up configuration to the running configuration by typing “copy startup-config running-config”.

5. Type “conf t” and then “enable secret <password>” in order to change the enable password.

6. Finally type “config-register 0x2102” and “write mem” to save the running-configuration to the startup configuration.

When the router re-boots, you will be able to access it using the new password you previously configured.

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