Archive for October, 2016

2 Ways to Turn On or Off Screen Saver in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

October 20th, 2016 by Admin

Screen saver is a nice way to protect your computer from prying eyes when you walk away without locking it. After a short time of inactivity, screen saver will automatically lock the screen and apply password protection. But sometimes screen saver will bother you while playing movie. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to turn on or off screen saver in Windows 10 / 8 /7.

Method 1: Turn On / Off Screen Saver from Screen Saver Settings Dialog

  1. Right-click the empty space on your desktop and select Personalize.

  2. It now opens up the Personalization settings. Click on Lock screen in the left pane, then click the Screen saver settings link in the right pane.

    screen-saver-settings

    If you’re running Windows 7, simply click on the Screen Saver link at the bottom of the window.

    screen-saver-personalization

  3. Once Screen Saver Settings dialog is launched, you can customize the screensaver and change the idle time before the screen saver is activated. If you want to turn off screen saver, just set the screen saver as None and Uncheck the box to On resume, display logon screen.

    screen-saver

  4. Click Apply and then OK.

Method 2: Turn On / Off Screen Saver Using Group Policy

  1. Press Windows key + R and type gpedit.msc and hit Enter. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor.

    gpedit

  2. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization. Double-click on the policy labeled “Enable screen saver“.

    enable-screen-saver

  3. Set it to Disabled if you want to turn off screen saver. After disabling, all the screen saver settings options will be greyed out. If you want to turn on screen saver later, you need to set that option to Enabled.

    turn-on-off-screen-saver

  4. Click OK and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Fix: Screen Saver Settings Greyed out in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

October 17th, 2016 by Admin

Unable to change screen saver settings? All screen saver options are greyed out or disabled? This problem is caused by a group policy setting that got screen saver disabled. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to fix this problem in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

screen-saver-greyed-out

Method 1: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Group Policy

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

    gpedit

  2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to:
    User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization
  3. In the right pane, locate the following two policies:
    • Enable screen saver
    • Password protect the screen saver

    screen-saver-group-policy

  4. Double-click on each policy to modify, set both of them to Not Configured. Click Apply and then OK.

    enable-screen-saver

  5. Reboot your computer and you should be able to change the screen saver settings.

Method 2: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Registry Hack

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

    regedit-via-run

  2. In the left pane of Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop

    ScreenSaveActive

  3. Delete both ScreenSaveActive and ScreenSaverIsSecure in the right pane. Reboot your computer and the screen saver settings should be editable from now on.

4 Ways to Open Screen Saver Settings in Windows 10

October 17th, 2016 by Admin

To turn on or disable screen saver, you have to open the Screen Saver Settings dialog. Windows 10 has buried it where you might not be able to find it. It certainly isn’t in any obvious place, so here we’ll show you 4 ways to open Screen Saver Settings in Windows 10.

screen-saver-settings

Method 1: Open Screen Saver Settings by Right-clicking the Desktop

Right-click on any empty space of your desktop, and select Personalize from the context menu.

personalize

When the Settings app launches, select Lock screen on the left side. Click the Screen saver settings link on the right side at the bottom.

lock-screen-settings

Method 2: Open Screen Saver Settings from Run or Command Prompt

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type the following command and press Enter.
control desk.cpl,,@screensaver

open-screen-savers-settings-via-run

Or run the above command at the Command Prompt, it will also open Screen Saver Settings dialog in Windows 10.

Method 3: Open Screen Saver Settings Using Windows 10 Search

Click the Cortana Search box at the taskbar. Type in Screen Saver.

open-screen-saver-settings-via-search

Click on “Change screen saver” and it will take you to the Screen Saver Settings right away where you can turn on or off screen saver in Windows 10.

Method 4: Open Screen Saver Settings from Control Panel

Open the Control Panel in Windows 10. You’ll see a Search box in the upper right corner. Type Screen Saver and press Enter.

change-screen-saver-via-control-panel

Click on “Change screen saver” from the search result. This will open the Screen Saver Settings dialog immediately.

How to Export and Copy Local Group Policy Settings to Another PC

October 14th, 2016 by Admin

“I am editing local group policies here and would prefer not to edit each machine manually. How do I export the policy, and then import it to other machines? Please help!”

LGPO.exe (Local Group Policy Object Utility) is a small command-line utility released by Microsoft, which allows you to export and import local group policy easily. It’s really convenient if you want to make a backup of local group policy, or import it later on another computer.

This tutorial shows you how to use Microsoft’s command line tool LGPO to export / backup local group policy settings, and import them into another computer.

Download LGPO from Microsoft

Download the LGPO zip archive from Microsoft’s website. Unpack it locally and copy the resulting LGPO.exe file to C:\Windows\System32. Afterwards you can open an elevated Command Prompt for running the LGPO command to automate the management of local group policy.

LGPO

Export Local Group Policy Settings

To create a backup for local policy policy settings on your local PC, run this command at Command Prompt:
LGPO.exe /b backup_path

backup-local-group-policy-via-cmd

A new folder with GPO GUID appears in the target directory. It will contain all local policy settings for this computer. You can restore this backup to your local machine at any time you need it, or import it later into another computer.

group-policy-backup

Import GPO into Another PC

To restore Local Group Policy settings from the backup, import them by running the following command:
LGPO.exe /g backup_path

import-group-policy-via-cmd

Once imported, restart your computer for the local group policy settings to take effect.

Conclusion

This method can help you easily deploy local group policy settings to other computers. As we all know, the Local Group Policy Editor is not present in Windows Home edition so you’re unable to edit the group policy locally. The LGPO utility makes it possible to copy the group policy settings from Windows Pro/Enterprise to Windows Home.

Fix: Sound Icon Missing from Taskbar in Windows 10

October 13th, 2016 by Admin

The sound / volume icon is missing from the taskbar….how do you get it back? With the sound icon disappeared, it’s extremely inconvenient to adjust the sound volume on your PC. In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 ways to fix the issue: sound icon missing from taskbar in Windows 10.

sound-icon-at-taskbar

Method 1: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon from Settings

  1. Open Settings app by clicking its icon in Start menu or pressing Windows logo + I hotkey.

  2. Click on Personalization.

    personalization

  3. Select Taskbar from the left-hand navigation, then click the Turn system icons on or off link.

    taskbar-settings

  4. Make sure that the Volume is set to On.

    turn-volume-system-icon-on

    If it’s greyed out, you need to turn on Windows 10 Sound Icon using the following group policy or registry hack.

Method 2: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon Using Group Policy

  1. Press Windows Key + R and enter gpedit.msc. Press OK to open Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. In the left pane navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. In the right pane locate “Remove the volume control icon” and double-click it.

    remove-volume-control-icon

  3. Make sure that Not Configured or Disabled option is selected. Click Apply and then OK.

    enable-volume-icon

    Restore your computer and the sound icon should be back at Windows 10 taskbar.

Method 3: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon Using Registry Editor

If Local Group Policy Editor is not available in your PC, try this registry hack to restore the sound icon in Windows 10. Follow these steps:

  1. Press Windows Key + R and enter regedit. Press OK to launch Registry Editor.
  2. In the left pane, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
  3. On the right-side, look for the HideSCAVolume entry, double-click on it, change value date to 0 and then click OK.

    HideSCAVolume

  4. Restart your computer and you should see the Volume / Sound icon at the taskbar in Windows 10.

Reset Windows 10 Password for HP Spectre x360 Laptop

October 12th, 2016 by Admin

Forgot Windows 10 password on your HP Spectre x360 laptop? How can you unlock the computer without a factory reset? If you don’t know how to reset Windows 10 forgotten password, then you’re at very right post. The following is a complete guide on how to reset lost Windows 10 password for HP Spectre x360 laptop when you get locked out.

Part 1: Create a Bootable USB Drive

When you’re locked out of HP Spectre x360 laptop, you need to use another PC for creating a bootable USB drive. Begin by download the PCUnlocker Enterprise (trial version), and then extract the ISO file from the downloaded file (in .zip format).

Download and install the free USB creator software ISO2Disc. Launch ISO2Disc and select the PCUnlocker ISO file you’ve extracted. Select the “GPT (required for UEFI boot)” option and click Start Burn.

Part 2: Boot HP Spectre x360 with USB

Insert the bootable USB drive into your HP Spectre x360 laptop. While turning on the machine, quickly and repeatedly press a key (might be F9 or ESC + F9) to access the Boot Options. Select your USB drive and let your laptop boot from it.

If you still couldn’t access the Boot Options, you can press F10 key to enter into BIOS and change the boot order to USB. Additionally, you can also access BIOS/UEFI from Windows 10 login screen: 2 Options to Access UEFI BIOS Setup in Windows 8 / 10

Part 3: Reset Windows 10 Password

Once the laptop successfully boots from USB drive, you’ll see the PCUnlocker program and it lists all user accounts detected in your Windows 10 SAM file. Select a user and click on “Reset Password” button.

A pop-up window will appear, asking to confirm you are ready to reset the password. Click Yes. Reboot your laptop and unplug the USB drive. You can then log on to your HP Spectre x360 laptop without a password!

5 Ways to Stop or Start SQL Server Service

October 11th, 2016 by Admin

How to stop a local SQL Server instance from command line or PowerShell? In this tutorial we’ll show you 5 simple ways to stop or start SQL Server service in SQL Server 2016/2014/2012/2005.

Method 1: Stop / Start SQL Server Service from Microsoft Services Console

  1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run box. Type services.msc and press Enter.
  2. This will open the Microsoft Services console. Find the service called SQL Server (instant name) and then double-click on it.

    sql-server-service

  3. In the Properties dialog box, you can see that the service name of my SQL Server instance is MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS. From there you can click the Stop button if your SQL Server service is running, or click the Start button to get the service up and running.

    stop-sql-server-service

Method 2: Stop / Start SQL Server Service from Command Line

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt.
  2. To stop a named SQL Server instance, type the following command. Replace SQLEXPRESS with the instance name.
    net stop MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS

    start-sql-server-command-line

    To start a named SQL Server instance, type:
    net start MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS

Method 3: Stop / Start SQL Server Service from SQL Server Configuration Manager

  1. To get started, you need to open SQL Server Configuration Manager. In Windows Server 2008 or 2003, you can click Start > Programs -> Microsoft SQL Server > Configuration Tools > SQL Server Configuration Manager.
  2. In the left pane of SQL Server Configuration Manager, click SQL Server Services. We can see all services in right pane. Right-click on SQL Server service and you can then select Stop or Start from the context menu.

    sql-server-configuration-manager

Method 4: Stop / Start SQL Server Service from PowerShell

  1. Open the PowerShell as administrator.
  2. You can use the Start-Service cmdlet to stop your SQL Server service. Replace SQLEXPRESS with the instance name.
    Start-Service -Name 'MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS'

    start-sql-server-powershell

    Or use the Stop-Service cmdlet to start your SQL Server service.
    Stop-Service -Name 'MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS'

Method 5: Stop / Start SQL Server Service from SQL server Management Studio

  1. Open SQL server Management Studio and connect to your SQL Server instance.
  2. Right-click on the server in Object Explorer, you’ll have options to Stop, Start, Pause, Resume and Restart your SQL Server service. If we are not already connected, we can’t start a stopped instance.

    stop-sql-server-via-ssms

2 Ways to Reset Forgotten Windows Server 2016 Password

October 10th, 2016 by Admin

What to do if you forgot the administrator password in Windows Server 2016? As a IT administrator, you should have ever experienced trouble logging into a server with unknown password, so in this post we’ll show two simple ways to reset forgotten Windows Server 2016 administrator password. These methods work on other Windows versions as well.

forgot-server-2016-password

Method 1: Reset Windows Server 2016 Password with Installation Disk

If you have the original Windows installation disk, you can reset forgotten Windows Server 2016 password by following these steps:

  1. Boot the server from the Windows Server 2016 Installation DVD. When the Setup screen appears, press SHIFT + F10 keys to open Command Prompt.
  2. At the Command Prompt, run the following commands:
    d:
    cd Windows\System32
    ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.original
    copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe
    shutdown -r -t 0

    replace-utilman-with-cmd

  3. The server should now reboot and present the logon screen. Press Windows Key + U or click the Ease of Access button, Command Prompt will pop up and type:
    net user Administrator P@ssword123

    reset-windows-server-2016-passwordThis will set the password for the Administrator to be P@ssword123 (case sensitive).

  4. Close the Command Prompt and you should now be able to log back onto Windows Server 2016 using the password you have provided in the previous step. After logging in, browse to the directory C:\Windows\System32, delete Utilman.exe and rename Utilman.exe.original back to Utilman.exe.

Method 2: Reset Windows Server 2016 Password with PCUnlocker

PCUnlocker is easy to use bootable utility that can help you reset domain & local administrator password in Windows Server 2016. Here’s how:

  1. Boot your server from PCUnlocker Live CD (or USB drive). If you don’t have one, you need to create it from another working PC. Download the PCUnlocker ISO file and burn it to CD (or USB drive) using the ISO2Disc software.

  2. When booting to the PCUnlocker program, you’ll see two options: Reset Local Admin/User Password, Reset Active Directory Password. The latter option is for domain controller only.

    pcunlocker

  3. Select the Administrator account and click the Reset Password button. Depend on your account type (local account or domain account), the program will set the password to be empty or Password123.

    reset-server-2016-domain-password

  4. After resetting the password, reboot the server and take out CD. You can then log into Windows Server 2016 administrator account successfully.

How to Add Missing Disk Cleanup in Windows Server 2012

October 8th, 2016 by Admin

With the release of Windows Server 2008, the disk cleanup utility is no longer installed by default for Windows Server OS. Microsoft placed disk cleanup within an optional feature called “Desktop Experience”. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps to add missing disk cleanup in Windows Server 2012.

disk cleanup

How to Add Missing Disk Cleanup in Windows Server 2012?

  1. Launch Server Manager by clicking its icon on the taskbar. From the Server Manager Dashboard, select Add roles and features.

    add-roles-and-features

  2. Select Role-based or features-based installation from the Installation Type screen and click Next.

    select-installation-type

  3. The current server is selected by default. Click Next.

    select-destination-server

  4. Ignore the Server Roles page by clicking Next.

    select-server-roles

  5. From the Features page, expand the “User Interfaces and Infrastructure” feature and select the “Desktop Experience” component.

    desktop-experience

    A popup window will appear explaining additional roles services or features are also required to install Desktop Experience, click Add Features.

    add-required-features

  6. Review the installation and then click Install.

    confirm-installation

  7. After installing, reboot your computer. You can then open the disk cleanup utility from the Command Prompt or Control Panel.