Author Archive

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

How to Change SATA Hard Disk Mode from AHCI / RAID to IDE in BIOS

July 7th, 2012 by Admin

When you install Windows XP on a SSD or SATA hard disk, Windows installer may give you a blue screen on boot. There is also a problem when we’re going to boot a crashed computer from Windows PE bootdisk to repair your computer, the Windows PE bootdisk may can’t recognize your SATA hard drive. What’s the root cause of these problems? Let me uncover the real truth and offer an easy way to get around this issue.

Windows XP is incompatible with SATA?

SATA is a new type of interface that connects hard drives to computers’ mainboard (motherboard) and replaces the older IDE standard. As of 2009, SATA has replaced IDE in most desktop and laptop computers. The difference between a SATA hard drive and the old IDE drives, among other things, is that SATA can provide for a faster data rate and speed.

This should not affect you unless you just bought a new computer with SATA hard drive and then decided that you want to install your old version of Windows XP on that instead of the new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system that it comes with.

Well the problem is that your good old Windows XP installation CD, when it was made, never knew about SATA drives so obviously, it doesn’t include the driver. When you try to install your operating system, you will notice that the installation procedure fails and usually a blue screen is displayed declaring a missing driver for the hard drive.

Solution to fix the compatibility issue:

No reason to worry. There is a very easy solution that will make the SATA hard drive act as if it were an IDE one. By following the simple steps below, you can put your computer into SATA Compatibility mode and once again be able to use your Windows XP operating system.

  1. Turn on your computer. While the computer starts keep pressing and releasing the F2 button to enter the BIOS setup utility.  (Some computers may use a different key to load BIOS such as Del, F1, F12, Esc, etc. )
  2. When you enter BIOS, navigate to the Advance menu and under that section choose SATA Controller Mode.
  3. Change SATA controller Mode to [Compatibility].
  4. Save the new settings and exit BIOS. Let your computer start up.

The exact menu option in your motherboard’s BIOS may differ but look for phrases like “SATA Configuration”, “SATA Mode”, “SATA Controller Mode”, “SATA Operation”, “Configure SATA as”, etc. Change SATA mode from AHCI / RAID to IDE compatible mode.

Restart your computer. The SATA drive will be emulated as an IDE drive. Everything should be working again.

PS: Take a look at the following pictures, you should be able to find out how to change SATA mode in different BIOS:

Comments Off on How to Change SATA Hard Disk Mode from AHCI / RAID to IDE in BIOS »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks

Tags:

Ultimate Guide to Make Windows 7 Run Faster

July 6th, 2012 by Admin

After the debacle of Windows Vista on different performance issues, Microsoft was under a deep pressure and stress to get into the league of repeating the success that it made with Windows XP.

Windows 7 was engineered to answer all shots of questions that Windows Vista raised during its time period. The factor on which Windows 7 in cashes the market as compared to its predecessors is Speed. Special attention was paid by Microsoft team for making Windows 7 run faster than the previous operating systems (Windows XP, Windows Vista).

Although Windows 7 is much faster than Vista but still a lot of users tend to find the OS not convincing enough to accept that fact, there are different reasons that come into play if you are experiencing a slow windows 7 performance. A lot of users have upgraded Windows 7 on their Old PC’s. Installing Windows 7 on a old PC can not give you that soothing and satisfactory experience as compare to having Windows XP on them in past. The possible reasons for that is the enhanced hardware requirements that Windows 7 demands.

If you are having a slow Windows 7, there are some tweaks with the help of which we can optimize Windows 7 to the maximum possible extent. So, for all those who are looking forward to tweak their Windows 7 here is a top 5 steps that we are going to discuss.

So lets start the ultimate guide to make Windows 7 run faster.

Step 1 : Disable the Search Indexing feature of Windows 7

The Search Indexing service in Windows 7 index’s to keeps track of the files so that they can be found quickly when asked at some other time. This feature is useful only if you perform frequent searches on your system. Most of the Windows 7 users do less searches in there system.

For occasional file searchers the Search Indexing service in Windows 7 is a total resource hog. It unknowingly eats up your system resources. What you need from windows 7 is maximum performance from it then I would certainly recommend you to disable this resource hogging Windows 7 Search Indexing Feature.

  • Right Click the “Computer” Icon in the desktop and select “Manage”.
  • Click “Services and Applications” in the “Computer Management” window.
  • Click on “Services”.
  • You can see a lot of services listed there. Look for “Windows Search” in that.
  • Right Click on “Windows Search” from the list and choose “Properties”.
  • The “Windows Search Properties Window” will open up. From “Startup type” click on the drop down menu and choose “Disabled”.
  •  Click “Apply” then “OK” and that’s it. The Windows 7 Search Indexing Feature is now disabled.

Step 2 : Disable the Aero Theme to make Windows 7 faster

The aero user interface certainly adds some “Eyecandy” to Windows 7 but certainly is a resource hog especially when, what you expect from windows 7 is more performance juice. Aero user interface squeezes your graphics or video card to its maximum. Disabling the aero theme alone in Windows 7 will really speed things up.

  • Right Click on your Desktop and select “Personalize” click the Window Color Tab.
  • Uncheck the Box saying “Enable Transparency” and then click on “Open classic appearance properties for more color options”.
  • Then a window will open up. Apply a Standard or Basic theme from it. The Standard Windows 7 theme is more preferred.

Step 3: Disable the unwanted Visual Effects to make Windows 7 run faster

There are many unwanted visual effects that can be safely disabled to speed up windows 7.

  • For this right click on “Computer” and select “Properties” from the right click menu.
  • Click on “Advanced System Settings” from the left pane to open up the “System Properties” window.
  • Select the “Advanced” tab from it. Then Under “Performance” click “Settings”. Choose “Custom” options from it.
  • Now untick all the options and select only the last four options (actually three only needed; you can untick the second option from the last four). See the screen shot if you have any doubt.
  • Now just logoff your system and turn logon.

Step 4: Disable the unwanted services to make Windows 7 run faster

There are many services in windows 7 that we don’t require for our daily use. There are some exceptional cases though. Services such as “print spooler” is only needed when we use a printer. If we use a printer only occasionally we can safely turn off that service in Windows 7 and turn it on only when we need to take a print.

Step 5 : Disable the User Account Control (UAC) feature in Windows 7

The User account control (UAC) feature in Windows 7 is very annoying though it says it can protect your computer from harmful virus activity etc. But if you are a daily user of your computer this windows 7 feature will be a total nuisance to you.

  • From the Control Panel open the “User Accounts and Family Safety” > User Account.
  • Click the User Account Control settings link.
  • Now just Drag the Slider towards “Never Notify”.
  • Click “OK” and Reboot your system.

Comments Off on Ultimate Guide to Make Windows 7 Run Faster »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7

Tags:

How to Reset Mac OS X Password with a Installation CD

July 5th, 2012 by Admin

If you cannot remember your Mac administrator password, you may need to recover or reset your password to log onto your system. Although you can change passwords within Mac OS X, resetting a forgotten password requires that you use a Mac OS X installation disc. The installation disc allows you to create a new password for the administrator account so that you can gain access to your system again.

Let’s say you totally forgot the password to log on to your Mac. Or maybe you purchased a used Mac from someone else and they’ve got it locked down. Follow the steps below you can reset Mac OS X password easily with a installation CD.

Step 1

Insert your Mac OS X CD into your computer’s optical drive and reboot the computer. Hold down the “C” key as the computer starts to boot the computer using the CD.

Step 2

Click to select your language when prompted and click the right arrow icon. Click “Utilities” on the toolbar and select “Password Reset”. Select your system hard drive and choose the original administrator account name from the drop-down menu. Type a new password for the account and reenter the password to confirm. Type a password hint if you wish.

Step 3

Click “Save” to change the password and click the red icon on the top of the window to exit. Click “Mac OS X Installer” on the toolbar and select “Quit Mac OS X Installer”. Restart your computer when prompted.

Note:

If Mac OS X prompts you for the new password each time you log in, you can change this setting from the “Keychain Access” utility. Click “Edit” and select “Keychain List”. Select your previous administrator key chain and select “Delete”. You can add your new password in the key chain at the next login.

Comments Off on How to Reset Mac OS X Password with a Installation CD »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks

Tags:

Reset Domain Controller Password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000

July 4th, 2012 by Admin

My company has a remote location with a rogue domain controller in which no one has the password for. This was set up by my predecessor who was fired and never told anyone the password.  I want to migrate this location to our national domain, and it is currently in production at as a file server and print server also. My question is how can I safely reset the password on this server?

There are many password reset tools out there, that will allow you to reset Windows local passwords, but I haven’t come across one before, that will let you reset the password of a domain admin account on a domain controller. In this tutorial I will walk you through how to reset the domain administrator password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000 domain controller.

Reset Windows Password is the software that can help you instantly regain access to your domain controller by resetting the forgotten domain administrator password. The software comes as an ISO image, which you have to burn to a CD or USB drive. As long as you have physical access to the domain controller, you can easily reset domain controller password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000.

How to Reset Domain Controller Password:

  1. Download the zip archive of Reset Windows Password utility. Unzip it and burn the ISO image to a blank CD or USB stick.
  2. Insert the CD or USB stick into your locked computer and let your computer boot from it.
  3. After a while the bootdisk will launch the Reset Windows Password utility, which shows all user accounts available for your Windows installation. By default the Reset Local Admin/User Password option will be selected, the program will display a list of Windows local user accounts. The Reset Active Directory Password option is intended for resetting domain administrator password on domain controller. So we choose the Reset Active Directory Password option.
  4. The program will display a list of domain user accounts on your domain controller.
  5. Choose the user account whose password you forgot, then click Reset Password button. The domain user password will be changed to Password123 by default.

The last step is to remove the CD or USB stick, then restart the domain controller. You’ll be able to log into your domain user account with the new password. After logging into domain controller you can set a new password for the administrator account.

Comments Off on Reset Domain Controller Password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000 »

Posted in Active Directory Password, Tips & Tricks

Tags:

How to Remove Excel Workbook Password for Free

July 3rd, 2012 by Admin

How many times have you forgotten password of a Microsoft Excel workbook/sheet and then had a sinking face?

Microsoft Excel has a protection feature that allows users to lock a workbook or sheet with a password. When the Excel workbook/sheet is protected with a password, any user attempt to edit data shows an error message as follow.

Here comes an handy Excel plug-in called Excel Password Remover utility which can remove the password protection from Excel workbooks and spreadsheets. You can install the plug in by downloading it from here. Once installed, it adds options Unprotect workbook and Unprotect sheet to Excel’s Tools menu, and choosing these options does what they are meant to.

Download Excel Password Remover

Note:

To install the plugin you should set security level of Macros to medium by following the menu Tools->Macros->Security in Microsoft Excel.

Excel Password Remover can’t be used to remove password set to open a spreadsheet. If you are unable to open the file because it asks you for a password, this program won’t help you. Then you need to get this Excel Password Recovery program to crack the file open password.

Comments Off on How to Remove Excel Workbook Password for Free »

Posted in Free Software, Others, Tips & Tricks

Tags:

How to Repair Windows 7 Installation

July 3rd, 2012 by Admin

Every operating system needs an occasional repair job, and Windows 7 is no exception. Whether the source of the problem is corrupt data, a particularly brutal piece of malware, or some other serious issue, you’ll occasionally have to reinstall your copy of Windows.

Wiping your hard drive and performing a fresh installation can be a huge headache; but fortunately there’s a way to repair a corrupt Windows 7 installation while keeping all your programs, personal data, and user accounts intact. This article will show you how to do a repair install to fix Windows 7 issues.

Step 1

Put the Windows 7 installation disc in the CD drive and Click on Setup.

Step 2:

Then Click on “Install Now“.

Step 3:

Now click on “Go Online and get the latest updates for Installation“, then it might take few minutes to download the critical updates and apply them depending upon your Internet speed.

Step 4:

Then Accept the Terms and Conditions and Click Next.

 

Step 5

Now click on “Upgrade” to begin the Repair.

Step 6:

Once the Repair is complete the setup will reboot your computer.

Step 7:

You need to activate your Windows 7 and do the initial setup like setting up date time etc.

Step 8:

In case your missing any user setting copy them from C:\Windows.old folder or under C:\$INPLACE.~TR and C:\WINDOWS.~Q backup folders ( Thanks to Shawn Brink, MVP for the Tip).

Make sure you enable Hidden Files folder. Once you confirmed everything run the Windows Disk Cleanup to remove the old installation files.

select “Files discarded by Windows Upgrade“.

Congratulations, you’ve successfully brought your Windows 7 PC back from the brink of corruption! Make sure to keep this guide handy, in case you ever need to repair a corrupted copy of Windows 7 again.

Note: If the Upgrade option is unavailable for some reason, you can still perform a repair by using a simple workaround: Right-click the Setup.exe file before you run it, and select the Properties menu. From there, navigate to the Compatibility tab, and check Run this program in compatibility mode for:. Then select Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down menu. Be sure to also check the box at the bottom labeled Run this program as an administrator; then click OK. Run the Setup utility again, and the upgrade installation option should be available.

Comments Off on How to Repair Windows 7 Installation »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7

Tags:

How to Recover Windows Vista Password When Forgot It

July 2nd, 2012 by Admin

I have a Dell laptop running Windows Vista Business. I lost my Administrator Password on it when my organizer software crashed.

Now, when I try to uninstall and reinstall Mozilla Firefox I was prompted to key in the password. I have installed it several times, but was never required to provide the password. But as I realized not having the password now I can’t reinstall the Mozilla Firefox.

Is there any way to recover the password or resolve the problem?

There are times we forget login password for Windows Vista because we tend to create complex and secure passwords which are hard to remember. In this article I’ll tell you how to recover Windows Vista password with a password recovery disk. Instantly regain access to your Windows Vista system in the event that you forgot your computer password.

How to Recover Windows Vista Password:

  1. Before the work, prepare a blank CD/DVD. Then install and run Password Recovery Bundle on another accessible computer. Click Windows Password button to bring up the CD recording dialog, then burn the default ISO image onto your CD. The CD is the Vista password recovery CD we’ll later use to recover Windows Vista password.
  2. Insert the Vista password recovery CD into your locked computer. Set the computer to boot from the CD.
  3. Restart the computer, it will start to boot from the CD. After a while, your computer will launch the Reset Windows Password program. The software automatically detects the Windows SAM registry hive and show a list of user accounts existing in your Windows Vista system.
  4. Choose the user account whose password you already forgot, then click Reset Password button. The program will reset your Windows Vista password instantly.
  5. Remove the CD and restart your computer.

Now you should be able to log into your computer with an empty password. You also will not be asked for a password when you uninstall any software on your computer. Never need to worry about forgetting Windows Vista password.

Comments Off on How to Recover Windows Vista Password When Forgot It »

Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows Vista

Tags:

How to Disable Windows 8 Metro UI

July 1st, 2012 by Admin

Microsoft did a huge change in upcoming Windows 8 and added so called Metro User Interface (UI) which is very good familiar to Windows mobile users. However not all of us like it or navigate through it very easily so that’s why many of you will want to restore the classic Start menu and desktop view. In this tutorial I will show what change you need to perform inside Windows registry and disable Windows 8 Metro UI.

To get started follow steps below:

Step 1: From your Windows 8 Metro Interface type regedit.

Step 2: As soon as you start typing a Search Apps filed will appear on right side with search results on right side.

Step 3: From right side click regedit icon and if User Account Control dialog window appear click Yes.

Step 4: Now the registry window will open. Follow this path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer.

Step 5: Now double click on RPEnabled.

Step 6: Inside Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window, under Value data filed change value 1 into 0 and click OK to save changes.

Step 7: Now close all windows and restart your computer.

Next time when you go back to Windows 8 there won’t be Metro style anymore. You can also re-enable the Metro UI by change the RPEnabled value back to 1.

Comments Off on How to Disable Windows 8 Metro UI »

Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

Tags:

How to Recover Windows Product Key

June 28th, 2012 by Admin

I’ve got a virus on my machine and have to reinstall windows 7. I bought a copy from software for students so it was downloaded. I can’t really remember but I assume I must have also downloaded the product key. I usually keep all my product keys backed up but I can’t find it anywhere. My Question is, is there any way to recover Windows product key from my laptop?

Need to reinstall the OS of your computer but have misplaced the product key? The product key sticker in the bottom of your notebook is scratched? Reinstalling Windows requires you to have the original product key. If you’ve lost your product key, it could become a real nightmare until you can retrieve them back.

It doesn’t have to be this way, though. If you install Product Key Finder now, then it will scan your PC, and recover Windows product key and all the serial numbers for the applications installed. Print out the product keys or save them to disc and you’ll always have your keys to hand.

How to Recover Windows Product Key:

  1. Download and install Product Key Finder on your computer.
  2. Launch Product Key Finder and click the Start Recovery button. It will bring up a drop-down menu that provides three recovery mode: From current system, From non-booting system and From remote computer.
  3. To recover product keys from your current Windows installation, choose the first recovery mode.
  4. The program will scan your Windows registry and recover product keys for Windows, Office and many other software you’ve activated.

If by any chance, you’ve lost your Windows 7/Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000 product key, no need to worry, Product Key Finder can recover it for you. Additionally, Product Key Finder can also recover CD keys for many other applications such as Microsoft Office, SQL Server, VMware, Adobe Reader, etc. It’s very useful when you are going to reinstall or repair your Windows or Office setup but find you’ve lost the keys.

Comments Off on How to Recover Windows Product Key »

Posted in Others, Product Key, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Tags:

How to Reset Windows 7 Password on A Netbook

June 28th, 2012 by Admin

Got a heck of a deal on a netbook the other day as someone forgot the admin password on Windows 7. I didn’t really thing about it till I went to change it and it dawned on me the thing don’t have a CD-ROM! I’ve used the NT offline password and registry editor before on a few different computers but I don’t see a way to use it on something that only has USB ports. Any ideas on how to make it work? Anyone know of a bootable USB flash drive with such software on it?

Forgot Windows login password and you are unable to log onto your netbook? You may have read through many password cracking tricks to no avail. As netbook doesn’t have CD-ROM, we can’t reset Windows 7 password with a CD or DVD. To unlock Windows password and regain access to your netbook, you need to create a bootable USB flash drive, then get your netbook to boot off it and reset Windows 7 password.

 Part 1: Create a Windows 7 Password Reset USB

You’ll need to create a Windows 7 password reset USB using another PC. If you don’t have another PC, you’ll have to bug one of your friends to use theirs. Download the ISO image of Reset Windows Password utility, then burn it to a USB flash drive with ISO2Disc.

 Part 2: Boot Netbook from USB Flash Drive

Plug your newly created USB flash drive into your netbook and power it up. In order to go into the BIOS settings, hit F2 as it is starting. Once you are in the BIOS settings, navigate to the Boot tab and move ‘USB-HDD’ to the top of boot priority order list. Hit F10 to save your settings.

Part 3: Reset Windows 7 Password

After booting your netbook from the USB flash drive, the bootdisk will launch the Reset Windows Password utility. On the main screen, you can see the Windows SAM registry file and a list of Windows user accounts.

Choose your desired user account, then click Reset Password button. The program will reset your forgotten Windows 7 password and unlock the account if it is already locked out.

Reboot your netbook and remove the USB drive. Now you can log in to your computer with an empty password. A password reset USB could really come in handy if you ever forget your account password. With it, you can easily reset Windows 7 password and get right in to your PC.

Comments Off on How to Reset Windows 7 Password on A Netbook »

Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7

Tags: