Archive for the ‘Others’ category

Prevent Other Users from Accessing Windows Apps with AppLocker

May 9th, 2016 by Admin

AppLocker is a Window’s built-in application that gives the administrator a very granular control over which applications are allowed to execute and which are blocked for a Windows account. This feature is really useful if you share a computer and don’t want other users accessing certain applications.

Today we’ll walk you through how to create rules in AppLocker to prevent other users from accessing certain applications in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

How to Restrict Access to Programs with Windows AppLocker?

Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
Under Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to:
Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Application Control Policies -> AppLocker -> Executable Rules
Right-click on Executable Rules in the left pane, and then select Create New Rule.
Click Next to bypass the Before You Begin screen. On the Permissions page, select Deny (Click Allow if you want to restrict what programs other users can access only).

Click on the Select button to choose the user or groups you want the rule to apply. When it’s done, click Next to reach the Conditions page.
AppLocker rules can identify programs using the following conditions: Publisher, Path and File hash. Publisher condition relies on the digital signature of the executable file.

Here we’ll choose File hash because AppLocker can still identify the program even if it’s renamed or moved.
On the File Hash page, click Browse Files and find the executable file for the application to which you want this rule to apply, or click Browse Folders if you want the system to calculate a hash for all of the executable files in a folder. Click Next.
Type a name for the rule that will make it easy for you to remember what it is, and then click on Create.
When prompted to create the default rules, make sure you click Yes. This is to ensure that the rules you created don’t block operating system files from running.
Now you will see three default rules and the new one you created.

Restart your computer for the AppLocker rules to come into effect. When you try to run the blocked application, you’ll receive an error: “This app has been blocked by group policy. For more information, please contact your system administrator.”

AppLocker Doesn’t Work?

AppLocker doesn’t work under either an admin account or a standard account? AppLocker not blocking application even if you set up the executable rule correctly? AppLocker relies on the built-in Application Identity service, which is normally set to manual startup type by default. Administrators should configure the service to start automatically.

To bring AppLocker back to work, follow these steps to start the Application Identity service:

Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type services.msc and press Enter.
Right-click on the Application Identity service, and select Properties.
Set the Startup type to Automatic and click on the Start button to run the service.
Click on Apply and then OK.

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

Tags: applocker block application applocker not working block programs with applocker configure applocker group policy prevent windows program from running

How to Block An Application from Running in Windows 10

May 9th, 2016 by Admin

Whether you’re sharing a computer with other family members or friends at home, or securing computers in a corporate environment, there may be some situations where you need to block a user account from running a certain application.

In previous post we’ve explained a way to prevent a program from running using Group Policy. Here’s another way to block a certain application from running in Windows 10, by using a registry hack. This method works with all editions of Windows 10, 8 and 7.

How to Block An Application from Running in Windows 10?

Hold down the Windows Key and press R to bring up the Run dialog box. Type regedit and press Enter.
In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
In the left pane, right-click on Policies, and then select New -> Key, type in Explorer and press Enter. If the Explorer key already exists, just skip this step.
Select the Explorer key on the left pane. Right-click a blank area on the right side, select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Rename the newly-created entry to DisallowRun, and set its value to 1.
Right-click on the Explorer key on the left pane, and then select New -> Key, type in DisallowRun and press Enter.
Select the DisallowRun key on the left pane. Right-click on an empty space and select New -> String Value.
Name the new entry with the number 1 and set its value to the name of the application(.exe) that you want to block. If you want to restrict more programs, simply create more String entries with names 2, 3 and so on and set their values to the program’s exe file.
Restart your computer and try to run the blocked applications and you’ll get the error message “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.”

I should mention that if the user is smart enough to rename the program file, they will be able to run the program again. If this method does not meet your needs, you can use the Protect My Folders to deny access (read/modify/run/rename/copy/delete) to any application in Windows 10.

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Tags: block a program from running in windows block a program from running in windows 10 block exe from running prevent application from running prevent program from running

2 Ways to Configure Windows Firewall to Allow SQL Server Access

May 2nd, 2016 by Admin

By default, Windows Firewall doesn’t allow inbound / outbound requests for SQL Server. If you try to connect to a SQL Server instance from network, you might get the error saying “The server was not found or was not accessible”. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to configure Windows Firewall to allow SQL Server access.

Method 1: Allow SQL Server Access Through Control Panel

Open Control Panel in Large icons or Small icons view, click on Windows Firewall.
Click the link “Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall” on the left of window.
You will now see a list with all the apps which are allowed to communicate through the Windows Firewall. To change the rules, you need to click the Change Settings button. The list of rules will no longer be gray and you will be able to edit it.
Click the “Allow another program…” button.
From the “Add a Program” window, click the Browse button.
Navigate to the installation path for your SQL Server instance and select sqlservr.exe, and click Open. In my example, the location is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe.
You’ll back to the “Add a Program” window and see SQL Server is added to the list. Click the Add button.
SQL Server now appears in the list of Allowed programs and features. You can check any of the location types: private or public. When done, press OK.

Method 2: Allow SQL Server Access Through Command Prompt

Open an elevated Command Prompt.
You can run the Netsh advfirewall command to open all ports for SQL Server connections. Assuming the path of your SQL Server service is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe, copy / and paste the following commands in the Command Prompt, press Enter after each.

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="SQL Server TCP" protocol=tcp dir=in action=allow program="C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe" enable=yes profile=any localip=any localport=any remoteip=any remoteport=any

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="SQL Server UDP" protocol=udp dir=in action=allow program="C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Binn\sqlservr.exe" enable=yes profile=any localip=any localport=any remoteip=any remoteport=any
When it’s done, you’ve successfully opened up all ports to allow SQL Server access through Windows Firewall.

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

Tags: allow sql server through firewall configure windows firewall for sql server

How To Shrink & Expand Partition in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

April 25th, 2016 by Admin

Keep getting low disk space on C:\ drive even if you’ve deleted all files you can delete? There is no spare partition for another operating system? In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use the built-in Disk Management to shrink & expand partition in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

Part 1: Open Disk Management

To access Windows build-in Disk Management tool, just press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter. This will open the Windows Disk Management utility. From there you can resize (shrink or expand) your hard drive partition without data loss.

disk-management

Part 2: Shrink Partition

Need to create a new partition but you don’t have unallocated space? Just shrink an existing partition to free up space from which you can create a new partition. Here’s how to shrink a partition:

Right-click the partition you want to shrink (C: in our example) and select Shrink Volume.
Windows will take a moment to query the volume for available shrink space. Enter the amount of space you want to shrink. For example if want to free up 15GB space, enter 15000 Mb (1000 MB = 1 GB) in the text box. Next click Shrink.
When the process is complete, you will see a new unallocated partition right next to your shrinked partition.

Part 3: Expand Partition

Run out of space on one of your Windows partitions? You can also expand disk partitions, as long as there is free (unpartitioned) space available only after the partition you’re trying to expand. Here’s how to expand a partition:

Right-click the partition you want to expand (C: in our example) and select Extend Volume. Note that the Extend Volume option might be greyed out when there is no unallocated space right after your selected partition.
Now when the Extend Volume Wizard opens, click Next.
It will select the maximum number of unallocated space itself. But you can set any amount yourself too, keep in mind that it is calculated in MB not GB. After you are done here, click Next.
You’ll see a brief summary of the changes. Click Finish to apply them. Now you’ll see your partition is larger and the unallocated partition has been merged.

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Tags: extend windows partition resize windows partition shrink windows partition

How to Disable Caps Lock Key in Windows and Mac

April 14th, 2016 by Admin

“Whenever I type, my baby finger hits the Caps Lock key and all my typing ends up in caps. I want to disable it completely and just use the Shift key for capitals. How do I disable the Caps Loks key in Windows 10? Please help!”

Without the Caps Lock key, you can still type the letter you want to capitalize by holding down the Shift key. Pressing the Shift key once is much more efficient than pressing the Caps Lock key twice. If you don’t need to use the Caps Lock key, you can disable it permanently. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to disable Caps Lock key in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and Mac OS X.

Part 1: Disable Caps Lock in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP

There is no built-in settings available in Windows that allow you to disable Caps Lock key, so we have to use a registry hack to map the Caps Lock key to doing nothing. Follow these steps:

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type notepad and press Enter.
Copy the lines below and then paste them into the NotePad:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout] "Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00
Click the File menu and select Save as. Select “All Files” from the “Save as type” drop-down box. Type the file name as Disable_Caps_Lock.reg. Click Save.
Double-click the .reg file, or right-click on it and select “Open with” -> “Registry Editor“. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes.
Registry Editor will confirm if you want to import the registry settings in your .reg file, click Yes.

Now log out (and back in) or reboot to make this registry trick to take effect.

If you want to enable the Caps Lock key again, open the Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout, then delete the Scancode Map entry entirely.

enable-caps-lock

Part 2: Disable Caps Lock in Mac OS X

It’s pretty easy to actually turn the Caps Lock key off if you’re using a Mac. Here’s how:

Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your desktop, then select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.
Click on the Keyboard icon to launch the preferences pane.
Click the Modifier Keys button in the bottom-right corner.
A new window will slide down with a setting for the Caps Lock key at the top. click on the drop-down menu next to the Caps Lock Key title, and choose No Action.
Click OK. Now, whenever you hit the Caps Lock key by mistake, nothing will happen.

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

Tags: disable caps lock disable caps lock in windows disable caps lock on mac turn off caps lock

How to Delete / Remove A Child Account in Windows 10

April 13th, 2016 by Admin

If you want to remove a child user account from your Windows 10 computer because you don’t need it anymore, it’s not hard to do at all. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to remove the child account from a Microsoft Family, and then delete the child account locally in Windows 10.

Part 1: Remove Child Account Online from The Family

As a parent, sign into the Microsoft Family webpage with your Microsoft account on any PC or device. You’ll be able to see and manage all the child/adult accounts configured on your computer.
Under the Children section, find the child account you want to delete, and click More and then Remove from family.
click Remove to confirm that you want to remove the family member. Your child will now get an email confirming that he/she has been removed from the family.

Part 2: Delete Child Account in Windows 10

After removing the child account from Microsoft Family, the kids can still log in to your Windows 10 computer with their Microsoft account. If you want to delete the child account completely, please follow these steps:

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type netplwiz and press Enter. If prompted by UAC, then click Yes.
Select the child account you want to delete and click on Remove. If the Remove button is greyed and disabled, you need to check the “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” option firstly.
After deleting the child account locally, the kids should be unable to log on to your Windows 10 computer any longer.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10

Tags: delete windows 10 child account remove child account remove windows 10 child account windows 10 child account

Add Child Account in Windows 10 and Enable Parental Controls

April 13th, 2016 by Admin

Windows 10 allows you to create a child account to monitor your child’s PC activity and online activities. Combined with Microsoft Family Safety, you can remotely control how your kids use the computer from anywhere using your Microsoft account. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to add a child account in Windows 10 and manage it online with Microsoft Family Safety.

Part 1: Add A Child Account in Windows 10

Before getting started, you need to log in to Windows 10 with a Microsoft account. The child account we’ll created will also have to be a Microsoft account. Here’s how to add a child account in Windows 10:

Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings app, or click Settings from the Start menu.
Click Accounts, then click Family and Other Users in the left side panel. From here, click add a new family member. As I said before, you need to be logged in with your Microsoft account, otherwise you won’t have this option.
Select the radio button “Add a child“, and enter the child’s Microsoft email address and click Next.

If your kids do not have a Microsoft account, click the “The person I want to add doesn’t have an email address” link to create a new Microsoft account for them.
Now, you will be asked to confirm the action. Simply click the Confirm button.
Just after the confirmation, the invitation will be sent to your child’s email address. Click Close.
You’ll need to login to the child email account and accept the invitation by clicking on the “Accept Invitation” link.
Now the child account is created successfully and the kids can use their Microsoft account to log in to the Windows 10 machine.

Part 2: Enable Parental Controls

With your child account added, you’re ready to head to the Family Safety website. From there you can block certain websites, limit screen time and enable the activity reporting. Here’s how:

To enable parental controls, visit the Family Safety website and login with your Microsoft account. This can be done from any computers or phones with Internet connection. In the Microsoft Family settings page, select the child account you want to enable parental controls for, and click the “Check recent activity” link.
First, turn on Activity reporting if you want to track the kids’ PC activity. You can also choose to receive a weekly report on their activity via email.
Click the Web browsing tab and turn on “Block inappropriate websites“. Scroll down and you’ll find options for allowing specific websites, or alternatively blocking unwanted sites.
Click the Screen time tab and you can limit the time your child has access to your PC. Turn on “Set limits for when my child can use devices“, and then set the earliest and latest times they’re allowed to use the computer for each day of the week.
Click the Apps & games tab and turn on “Block inappropriate apps and games“. Select the age group which you think is appropriate for your child and games belonging to that age group only will be available for playing.

Part 3: What Will Happen After Enabling Parental Controls

When the kids tries to access a blocked website or application, this warning will appear and they can click the “Ask by email” button to ask for parental approval to view the website or run the application.

ask-for-permisson

Once the screen time limit is reached, kids will see a notification saying “Time’s up” if they try to log in to Windows 10. Click the “Get more time” button and the system will notify parents via email that the kids would like more time.

win10-computer-locked

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Tags: add windows 10 child account windows 10 parental controls

Block Switching from Microsoft Account to Local Account in Windows 10

April 12th, 2016 by Admin

Is there a way to restrict switching from Microsoft account to local account? If you’ve set up a child account in Windows 10, switching to a local account will put Family Safety in an unworkable condition, and parents couldn’t monitor the kids’ accounts any longer. So we come up with a method to block switching from Microsoft account to local account in Windows 10.

Notes: This method works with Windows 10 only. It won’t block you switching from local account to Microsoft account and you can still create a new local/Microsoft account.

Block Switching from Microsoft Account to Local Account in Windows 10

This method works by renaming a system file named UserAccountBroker.exe. After renaming, go to PC Settings -> Accounts -> Your account, click on the “Sign in with a local account instead” link and you’ll get no response.

block-switching-to-local-account

In Windows 10, most system files have TrustedInstaller as owner. If you want to modify, rename or delete a system file, you have to take ownership and grant full access permission to your current logged on account. Here’s how to take ownership of UserAccountBroker.exe and rename it:

Download and install the freeware TakeOwnershipPro. After installing, the program will add the “TakeOwnershipPro” shortcut to Windows Explorer’s right-click context menu.
Open File Explorer, navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 directory. Right-click on the UserAccountBroker.exe file, and then select “TakeOwnershipPro” from the context menu.
You’ll see a pop-up window showing the process of taking ownership is complete. Click Exit to close it.
Next rename the UserAccountBroker.exe file by by adding a .bak extension. If you’re running 64-bit version of Windows 10, you also need to rename another copy of UserAccountBroker.exe under the C:\Windows\SysWOW64 directory.
Now you’ll be unable to switch from a Microsoft account to a local account from PC Settings charm. If you want to convert back to a local account later, you have to rename the UserAccountBroker.exe.bak file by removing the .bak extension. That’s it!

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Tags: block convert Microsoft account to local account block switching to local account

2 Ways to Recover iTunes Backup Password on Mac OS X

April 7th, 2016 by Admin

“Hi! I’ve forgotten the password for the local iTunes backup on Mac OS X. How do I reset or recover my iTunes password? Please help!”

Forgotten iTunes backup password is a common problem, because the password is rarely used until we need to restore iPhone or iPad from iTunes backup. What should you do if you’ve lost the password for your iTunes backup? In this tutorial we’ll show you two simple ways to recover iTunes backup password on Mac OS X.

Method 1: Recover iTunes Backup Password with Keychain Access on Mac

The Keychain Access application is Mac OS X’s built-in password manager. It stores a wide variety of passwords for email account, website, servers, itunes backup, etc. When you change or reset the password for iTunes backup, the password will also be stored in Keychain if you’ve checked the “Remember this password in my keychain” option.

If your iTunes backup password is stored in Keychain, you can recover it easily by following these steps:

On your Mac, go to /Applications/Utilities/ and open Keychain Access app.
Under the Keychains section on the left-hand side of the app, select login. You should now see a list of websites and applications that use Keychain Access to store login information. Scroll down through this list until you get to the login item named “iPhone Backup“.
Double-click the “iPhone Backup” login item. This will open a new window with more details about your iTunes backup account. From this screen, check the “Show password” checkbox.
You will be prompted to enter your Mac OS X user password to authenticate. Once entered, click the Allow button to continue.
Once that’s done, you’ll return to the previous window showing all the details including the password in plain text. Make a note of it and ensure it’s kept somewhere secure so you can remember it the next time.

Method 2: Recover iTunes Backup Password with iTunesKey

What to do if your forgotten iTunes backup is not stored in Keychain access? Is there any hope? Luckily there is a handy iTunes password recovery tool – iTunesKey, which allows you to recover / decrypt iTunes backup password. But this program needs to run from within Windows. So if your iTunes backup is created and saved in Mac OS X, simply transfer the Manifest.plist file to a Windows-based PC and you can then use iTunesKey to recover your password. Here’s how:

To get started, we need to find the iTunes backup location in Mac OS X. Simply hit Command + Shift + G on keyboard to open the Go To Folder screen. Type the following path and click Go.
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/
A Finder window will open and you can see a folder named with the UDID (unique device identifier) of your iPhone. Open that folder and copy the Manifest.plist file to your external USB thumb drive.
Attach the USB thumb drive to a Windows-based computer and run the iTunesKey application. When iTunesKey launches, click on the … button to select the Manifest.plist file.
Select one of the recovery methods: Brute-force attack, Mask attack and Dictionary attack, and click Next. Follow the instructions to perform the password cracking. After your iTunes backup is recovered, write it down so you’ll never forgot it.

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Tags: forgot iPhone backup password forgot iTunes backup password iTunes password recovery recover iPhone backup password recover iTunes backup password

Reset Lost Admin Password on Dell PowerEdge with RAID

April 6th, 2016 by Admin

Forgot Windows Server admin password for your Dell PowerEdge server? Most of password recovery Live CDs lack the RAID drivers so your hard drive won’t show up after booting. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of resetting lost admin password on Dell PowerEdge with PCUnlocker Enterprise.

What You’ll Need:

A USB thumb drive (or a blank CD)
The ISO image of PCUnlocker Enterprise – You can try the trial version before purchasing the full version
Dell RAID drivers – Click here to download the RAID drivers for Dell PowerEdge, or check out this article on how to download / extract Dell drivers directly from Dell official website
A working PC for making the Live CD/USB

Reset Lost Admin Password on Dell PowerEdge with RAID Controller

Before getting started, use a working PC to download and install ISO2Disc, a free utility that specifically designed to create bootable CD / USB drive from ISO image.
Launch ISO2Disc and click on Browse button. Select the ISO image of PCUnlocker Enterprise in your PC. Select “Burn to USB Flash Drive” and click on Start Burn.

After the burning is complete, copy the RAID driver files you’ve downloaded and paste them in the root directory of your USB drive.
Once you have your bootable USB drive, plug it in to a USB port on your Dell PowerEdge server. Power on the server and quickly and repeatedly press the F2 key to enter the BIOS Setup.
In the BIOS menu, scroll down to the option for “USB Flash Drive Emulation Type“. Use the space bar to change this to “Hard disk“.
Then go to the Boot Sequence option and press Enter. The USB device will now appear as a hard drive in your boot options. Use the space bar to enable or disable boot options and the + or – keys to change their order in the boot sequence.
After making these changes in your BIOS settings, press ESC and choose “Save and Exit“. Your server will reboot from your USB drive.
Wait for the PCUnlocker program to launch. The program might prompt you to select the SAM file because it can’t recognize your hard drive. So you have to load the RAID driver on the fly. Click on the Options button at the bottom of the screen, and then select “Load IDE/SCSI/SATA/RAID Driver“.
When the file open dialog appears, choose the RAID driver setup .inf file stored on your USB drive. Click Open.
Once the driver is loaded successfully, you’ll see a list of user accounts stored in the Windows SAM file. Choose the administrator account and click on Reset Password button to remove the password.
Reboot your server and unplug the USB thumb drive, you can then log back in to your Windows Server admin account without password. Done!