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How to Fix “Task Manager is Disabled or Greyed out” in Windows 10

July 27th, 2016 by Admin

Unable to access Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc? When you right-click on the taskbar, you might find that “Task Manager” option has been grayed out:

task-manager-greyed-out

Also when you press the Windows key + R and type taskmgr, you’ll receive the following error message:

“Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator.”

task-manager-disabled

Task Manager is probably disabled by an administrator or a virus or spyware. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to fix “Task Manager is disabled or greyed out” in Windows 10, by using Group Policy, Registry Editor or Command Prompt. Either way, you need to log in as administrator before following the steps.

Method 1: Fix ‘Unable To Access Task Manager’ Using Group Policy

  1. Press Win+R to open Run box, and type gpedit.msc command to start the Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. Navigate down to the following:
    User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Ctrl+Alt+Delete Options
  3. Since you’re facing the issue that Task Manager has been disabled by administrator, you’ll see that the “Remove Task Manager” policy in the right pane is enabled. Double-click on it to modify.

    remove-task-manager

  4. To enable Task Manager, you should set this policy to Not Configured or Disabled.

    fix-disabled-task-manager

    Click Apply followed by OK. Reboot and your problem should be fixed now!

Method 2: Fix ‘Unable To Access Task Manager’ Using Registry Editor

  1. Press Win+R to open Run box, and type regedit command to start the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to the following keys:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

    DisableTaskMgr

  3. In the right side panel, you’ll see a 32-bit DWORD value named DisableTaskMgr. In order to re-enable Task Manager, double-click and change the value to 0. (If you want to disable Task Manager, just change its value data back to 1.)
  4. Go ahead and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Method 3: Fix ‘Unable To Access Task Manager’ Using Command Prompt

  1. Press Win+X shortcut keys on the keyboard and select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the Power User Menu.
  2. At the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter. This will enable the Task Manager.
    REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

    enable-task-manager-via-cmd

    If you want to disable Task Manager again, just run this command instead:
    REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Note: If you receive the “access denied” error, it’s likely that you’re running Command Prompt in non-Administrator mode.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8

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3 Ways to Boot Windows Server 2012 into Safe Mode

July 24th, 2016 by Admin

How can I get into Safe Mode on the new Windows operating systems such as Windows 8, Windows 10 and Server 2012? Starting from Windows 8, the system boots very quickly and the time to press F8 key to access Safe Mode is smaller than 200 milliseconds, so it’s almost impossible to enter into the Safe Mode by pressing F8 during boot time.

In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 workable ways to boot Windows Server 2012 into Safe Mode. The methods should also work with Windows 10 and Windows 8/8.1.

Method 1: Boot Windows Server 2012 into Safe Mode Using Command Prompt

  1. Press the Windows key + X to open the WinX menu, select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the list.

    winx

  2. In order to make Windows display the Windows Boot Manager, type the following command at the Command Prompt and press Enter. You will get a confirmation stating that The operation completed successfully.

    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes

    enable-display-boot-menu

    If you want to stop displaying the Windows Boot Manager later, run this command instead:
    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu no

  3. Now restart your computer and you’ll see the Windows Boot Manager screen. Just press F8 to bring up the Advanced Boot Options.

    windows-boot-manager

  4. Select Safe Mode and press Enter. This will open Windows Server 2012 in Safe Mode.

    advanced-boot-options

Method 2: Boot Windows Server 2012 into Safe Mode Using System Configuration

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

    msconfig

  2. Now the System Configuration dialog box will be opened. Under the Boot tab, check the Safe boot option and click OK.

    safe-boot

  3. Reboot your computer and it will boot directly into Safe Mode automatically. If you wan to stop Windows from booting into Safe Mode next time, you need to open the System Configuration utility (msconfig) again and uncheck the Safe boot option.

Method 3: Boot Windows Server 2012 into Safe Mode Using Settings App

  1. To get started, you need to open the Settings panel. This can be done by hovering your mouse to the top right-hand corner of the screen, or press the Windows key + I on your keyboard.
  2. Hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard, and then click on Power icon and select Restart.

    shift-restart

  3. You will need to click on the Troubleshoot option.

    choose-an-option

  4. Click Startup Settings.

    advanced-options

  5. Click Restart.

    startup-settings

  6. The computer will boot automatically to the Advanced Boot Options screen. From there you can select Safe Mode to start Windows Server 2012 in Safe Mode.

    advanced-boot-options

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

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Tutorial: How to Restore iPhone from Encrypted iTunes Backup

July 12th, 2016 by Admin

Lost your iPhone notes due to accidental deletion? How can I restore SMS messages from a backup previously made by iTunes? Or you need to restore iTunes backup to a new iPhone? In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of restoring iPhone from encrypted iTunes backup.

How to Restore iPhone from Encrypted iTunes Backup?

Connect your iPhone to your computer and start iTunes. Wait until the little iPhone icon appears in the toolbar of iTunes. Click the iPhone icon and it will take you to the Summary page.

Under the Backups section, click the “Restore Backup…” button.

restore-backup

If you recently synced your iPhone with iTunes or performed an iPhone backup via iTunes, you will have several backup entries to choose from. Select the latest backup entry appearing under the most recent date and click Restore.

choose-itunes-backup

You’ll be prompted to enter the iTunes backup password. You are not be able to restore the encrypted backup to any device without the password. If you’ve forgotten it, you can crack the password with iTunesKey.

iphone-backup-password

Once your typed password is verified, iTunes will overwrite the iPhone contents and settings with the ones contained in the backup file. After the restore is complete, you’ll have your original iPhone data recovered.

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Recover Forgotten iPhone Backup Password on Windows

July 11th, 2016 by Admin

Lost your iPhone backup password? How to unlock your iPhone backup if you forgot the password? The encrypted local backup will be unusable and unreadable without that password. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to recover forgotten iPhone backup password on Windows 10, 8 or 7.

Method 1: Try Possible Passwords

The most obvious advice is to try some of your possible passwords! Very few computer users actually create unique passwords for each account. Most people have one or two passwords that they use across all of their accounts. Check out the clues below and hope you can remember your iPhone backup password:

  • Try your iTunes Store password, which is most commonly the password to restore your backup.
  • Try your 4 digit passcode for unlocking your iPhone device.
  • Try the default password 0000 or 12345.
  • If you are using a Mac, check if your iTunes backup password is stored in Keychain access. First, open Applications -> Utilities -> Keychain Access. Double-click on the entry for “iPhone backup” and click “Show password”.
  • Try the Windows administrator password.

If you have managed to attempt all the steps and nothing has worked, it seems like you will have to crack your iPhone backup password with third party password cracking software.

Method 2: Recover iPhone Backup Password with iTunesKey

iTunesKey allows you to recover iPhone backup password using Brute-force attack, mask attack or dictionary attack. It works by try all possible password combinations or most common passwords. Follow these steps to crack iPhone backup password on Windows:

  1. Download and install iTunesKey on your local computer. After installing, launch iTunesKey and then click on the … button.

    ituneskey

  2. When the File Open dialog opens, select the Manifest.plist file which is used by iTunes to store your iPhone backup password.

    open-manifest-plist

    If you don’t know where the Manifest.plist is located, please check out this article: How to Find iPhone Backup Location in Windows and Mac.

  3. Choose one of the recovery modes: Brute-force attack, Mask attack and Dictionary attack, and then click Next. In my example, I used Brute-force attack.
  4. Customize the password length and the characters your password may contains. Click Next.

    itunes-password-cracking-op

  5. Just wait for the program to try all possible combinations to guess your password. When the correct password is found, you’ll get a pop-up dialog box with your password shown on the screen.

    itunes-password-recovered

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Tutorial: How to Encrypt Your iTunes Backup with Password

July 11th, 2016 by Admin

It’s a good practice to create a backup of your iPhone in iTunes in case you accidentally delete your iPhone data. One important problem with iTunes backup is that it’s not encrypted by default. If you create a local backup stored on a computer, your backup could be accessed by anyone who has physical access to your computer. To prevent data leakage or data loss, I would recommend you encrypt your iTunes backup with a password.

How to Encrypt Your iTunes Backup with Password?

  1. Connect your iPhone to a computer (or Mac) with iTunes installed. Launch iTunes and then click on the little iPhone icon in the upper toolbar. This takes you to the Summary page.

    iphone-icon

  2. Under the Summary page, you will see a section called Backups. Check This computer and also check Encrypt iPhone backup checkbox.

    encrypt-itunes-backup

  3. You will be asked to create a password that will used to encrypt your iTunes backup. Make sure you set a good password you won’t forget.

    set-itunes-backup-password

    If you’re running Mac OS X, there is an additional option lets you save the password in Keychain access, and I don’t suggest you ticking that option.

  4. Once you clicked the Set Password button, iTunes will encrypt all your local backup immediately.

    backing-up-iphone

  5. When it’s done, you can verify that your backup is encrypted. Within iTunes, click the Edit menu and select Preferences.

    itunes-preferences

  6. Once the Preferences window opens, click the Devices tab. If you spot a tiny lock icon in the row of your latest backup, it indicates your iTunes backup is encrypted successfully.

    itunes-encrypted-backup

After encrypting your iTunes backup with a password, nobody can restore a device from the backup without knowing your password. The data in the backup is encrypted too, and no need to worry about data leak even when your computer is stolen.

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How to Turn Off or Disable Touch Keyboard in Windows 10

July 4th, 2016 by Admin

If your computer has a physical keyboard, then you might not need to use the Touch keyboard at all. In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way to turn off, remove or disable Touch keyboard in Windows 10.

touch-keyboard

How to Turn Off or Disable Touch Keyboard in Windows 10?

  1. Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run box. Type services.msc and press Enter.

    run-services

  2. When the Services applet opens, click on the Name column to sort the services by name, and then scroll until you locate the “Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service“. Double-click on that service.

    services

  3. In the resulting Properties window, change the Startup type to Disabled, and click the Stop button if this service is running now. Click OK to save your change.

    touch-keyboard-service

  4. If the Touch keyboard shortcut icon is displayed in the system tray, you can remove it by right-clicking on the taskbar and deselecting the “Show touch keyboard button” option.

    remove-touch-keyboard-button

  5. Reboot your computer. No more annoying keyboard icon in the system tray and the Touch keyboard will not pop up automatically and bother you anymore.

This will of course, disable both the Touch keyboard and handwriting service, so you won’t be able to use the handwriting. If you need to enable Touch keyboard again, just change the Startup type of the “Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service” service back to Automatic.

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How to Open and Use Windows 10 Touch Keyboard

July 4th, 2016 by Admin

Touch keyboard is Windows’s built-in tool that lets you type on touch devices, or even type with a mouse when you don’t have access to a physical keyboard. In this tutorial we’ll show you the simplest ways to open Touch keyboard and use it in Windows 10.

Part 1: Open Touch Keyboard in Windows 10

Just press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type tabtip and press Enter. It should be the fastest way to launch Touch keyboard in Windows 10.

tabtip

If you want to access Touch keyboard frequently, you can add the Touch keyboard shortcut to the taskbar. Simply right-click on the taskbar and select/check the “Show touch keyboard button” option in the context menu.

show-touch-keyboard-button

You’ll see a keyboard icon appear in the lower-right corner of the taskbar. Click that icon and you can open Touch keyboard immediately.

touch-keyboard-button

Part 2: Make Windows 10 Show Touch keyboard Automatically

By default, Windows 10 will not make the Touch keyboard appear when you type on the address bar or text fields. The good news is that you can change that behavior in just a few steps:

  1. Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app. Click on Devices.
  2. Select Typing in the left side, scroll down and toggle on: Automatically show the touch keyboard in windowed apps when there’s no keyboard attached to your device.
  3. The Touch keyboard will automatically pop up when tapping on text forms, address bars, or anywhere else that you need to type on.

Part 3: How to Use Touch Keyboard

Once the Touch keyboard is open, you can drag it around the screen or re-size it. Here are 4 main features for Touch keyboard:

touch-keyboard

  • To add languages to the keyboard, tap the button in the right corner and select Language Preferences. Or, add them from the Settings area in Settings > Time & language > Region & language.
  • Tap the button in the bottom right corner to change the keyboard layout to a standard keyboard, a minimal keyboard, or a handwriting panel for writing. After switched to standard keyboard layout, you’ll have access to the Alt, function, tab, and other keys missing from the default Touch keyboard.
  • Autocorrect and suggestions. As you type or write with your finger, word suggestions appear at the top of the keyboard. See the one you want? Just tap to select it, then keep typing.
  • Both the basic and split keyboards include a wide range of emoticons and emojis, including different skin tones. To view the many categories, click the smiley face icon, then tap the left arrow button to move through them.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10

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