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How to Change Screen Resolution in Windows PE 4 and 5

April 26th, 2014 by Admin

Windows PE (Windows Preinstallation Environment) is a lightweight version of Windows used for troubleshooting an operating system while it is offline. Previously I’ve written an article on how to create a bootable Windows PE CD or USB flash drive. But the default resolution of Windows PE is 800 x 600, Is there a way to change the screen resolution to fit on your screen?

To set screen resolution in WinPE, simply put an answer file named unattend.xml file in the root of the WinPE ISO image with the following content.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
  <settings pass="windowsPE">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64"
publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS"
 xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
          <Display>
          <ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth>
          <HorizontalResolution>1024</HorizontalResolution>
          <RefreshRate>60</RefreshRate>
          <VerticalResolution>768</VerticalResolution>
          </Display>
    </component>
  </settings>
</unattend>

If your Windows PE is a 32-bit Windows environment, remember to change the processor architecture from amd64 to x86. Also, since Windows PE 4.0, it doesn’t like 16-bit color depth, so when changing to 32-bit it would work perfect.

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2 Options to Convert Outlook .OST to .PST for Free

April 6th, 2014 by Admin

How to convert Outlook .ost file to a .pst file, so I can open it in a new Outlook installation on another computer? PST is a personal storage table used by Microsoft Outlook to store mailbox data of an Outlook user, while OST is an offline storage table used by Outlook Exchange Server that stores email messages and other mailbox data. However, you cannot open an .ost file in Office Outlook if it is not configured with Exchange Server.

There are many situations that we need to convert .ost file to pst format for future importing into Outlook. In this tutorial we’ll show you two options to convert Outlook .OST file to PST format for free, without using any third-party software.

Tips: In all versions of Microsoft Outlook, there is no option to password protected an .ost file. After converting ost to pst, you can set a password to protect the .pst file itself. However, pst file password is very weak and you can break pst password easily!

Method 1: Convert OST to PST with AutoArchive

Using the AutoArchive feature of Microsoft Outlook, you can manage space in your mailbox of an .ost file by moving older items to to a specific location in the PST file format. This should be the easiest way to convert an .OST file to PST format. However, AutoArchive is not enabled by default. Here are step-by-step instructions to enable AutoArchive in Outlook 2007:

  1. Open Outlook application. Click on the Tools menu and click on Options.
  2. The Outlook Options window will open. Click on Other tab and then AutoArchive button.
  3. The AutoArchive window opens and you’ll notice everything is grayed out. Check the box next to Run AutoArchive every…

    Outlook-AutoArchive

  4. Specify how often you want it to run. Click on the “Move old items to” option and specify a newly created .pst file to save the archive data. After you’ve made your selections click OK.
  5. You can then access the archive pst file at a later time after the AutoArchive feature runs.

Method 2: Migrate OST to PST with Outlook GUI

With Outlook GUI you can copy everything in the mailbox of your OST file to PST flawlessly. To get started, you need to create a new pst file and then follow these steps to migrate OST to PST:

  1. From the left-hand navigation pane of Outlook, select your desired ost folder such as inbox that you want to copy.
  2. On the Edit menu, click the Copy to Folder option.
  3. In the Copy to Folder dialog, select your newly created pst file. Click OK.

    Outlook-Copy-Items

  4. Repeat the steps for copying and saving the email items from each folder containing email messages. At this point in time, the email messages of OST file are copied to the newly created PST file.

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How to Reveal Internet Explorer 10 / 11 Password from Windows Vault

March 25th, 2014 by Admin

How to view or recover your saved website passwords from Internet Explorer 10 or 11? In versions 7, 8 and 9 of Internet Explorer, passwords are protected using DPAPI and the login URL as entropy before being saved in the registry. Since Internet Explorer 10, it no longer stores encrypted passwords in the registry, and they’re stored in the Windows Vault, which is the default storage vault for the credential manager information.

Internet Explorer 10 / 11 Stored Passwords

In this article we’ll show you how to reveal the Internet Explorer 10/11 saved passwords from Windows Vault. With the Internet Explorer Password Recovery program you can retrieve all autocomplete passwords that are stored in the Credential Manager. This can be useful if a user forgot the password before reinstalling Windows.

How to Reveal Internet Explorer 10 / 11 Password from Windows Vault?

  1. Download and install the Internet Explorer Password Recovery program on your computer.
  2. After you’ve installed it, start the program.
  3. Click on the Start Recovery button, and then select the Recover IE Password option from the drop-down menu.

  4. The program will decrypt your website passwords saved in Windows Vault, and display the login information (including website URL, username and password) immediately.

Besides revealing Internet Explorer 10/11 passwords, Internet Explorer Password Recovery program can also extract the saved passwords from Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8 and 9.

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Recover Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, Flock Passwords from Old Profiles

March 24th, 2014 by Admin

Did you know that all the settings you make in Firefox, like your home page, saved passwords and bookmarks are all stored in a special profile folder? It’s true. Your profile folder is kept in a separate place from the Firefox program so that if something ever goes wrong with Firefox your information will still be there. It also means you can uninstall Firefox without losing your settings.

Just like Firefox, other programs such as Thunderbird, SeaMonkey and Flock also store all your personal settings in a profile folder. So if you forgot the passwords saved in Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey or Flock, you can retrieve them easily from your profiles. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to recover all types of saved passwords from Firefox / Thunderbird / SeaMonkey / Flock profiles.

How to Recover Firefox / Thunderbird / SeaMonkey / Flock Passwords?

  1. Download the setup package of Firefox Password Recovery and save it on your computer.
  2. After you’ve downloaded it, double-click on the setup file to install it.
  3. Start the Firefox Password Recovery program. Click on the “Recover From File” button. This will bring up the Mozilla Password Recovery dialog.

  4. Click on the “Browse” button to select your Firefox / Thunderbird / SeaMonkey or Flock profile. For example, the typical path of a Firefox profile is usually C:\Users\<user_name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles. While in Windows XP, it’s C:\Documents and Settings\<user_name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles. If you are still unable to locate the profile folder, just search the signons.sqlite file which resides in the profile folder of your application.

  5. Click OK. The program will decrypt and recover all your saved passwords from the selected profile.

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What to Backup Before Reinstalling Windows

March 9th, 2014 by Admin

If your PC has been infected by a virus or has become slow to the point of being unusable, reinstalling Windows may be the best and quickest solution. But I always forget something like backing up product keys and email accounts. So, you are probably wondering what files you really need to backup before reinstalling Windows. Here’s a checklist of the things you should do before you make a clean install of Windows. Well, let’s take a look.

reinstall-windows

Stored Logins and Passwords

If you are using your browser to store the passwords for Web sites, you will be in for a rude awakening after reinstalling Windows – they will be gone. Your browser is a poor place to keep your website logins and passwords. Besides backing up website passwords, you might also need to export your email account settings (POP3, SMTP and passwords), and passwords stored in your FTP software, instant messengers and other applications.

If you can’t remember your passwords, you can take use of the Password Recovery Bundle program. This program can help you retrieve stored passwords from all popular instant messengers, email clients, web browsers, FTP clients and many other applications. After recovering, write down and back up them in a safe place because you need them after you reinstall Windows.

A List of Programs and License Keys

Reinstallation of Windows means that you are putting a new copy of the operating system on your hard drive, which will essentially delete all of the programs you installed. In order to restore your original settings and to know what programs you need to reinstall later, you might want to create a list of all the programs on the computer before reinstalling Windows.

Some of your core apps or drivers may be on DVD, CD, or comes as an ISO image. Pull out your media and set it in a stack ready for reinstallation later. It’s also important to keep track of valuable license keys for your Windows, Office or other programs installed on the local machine. While you can do this manually by typing the license keys up in a text document, there is a very easy way to do this, especially if you have KeyFinder Plus installed on your computer. All you need is to open KeyFinder Plus, click on the “Start Recovery” button then click “Save To File” and choose where you want to save it. From here, you can then back up all your license keys in a single file.

Emails, Address Book and Bookmarks

If you store your emails and your email address book on your PC via an email client, then you will want to back up your e-mail and address book before reinstalling Windows. This applies to you if you use a program like Outlook, Lotus, or Thunderbird. If you use a web-based email client like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, then you won’t have to worry about this. Also, if you would like to keep the bookmarks for your favorite Web sites, then you should back these up as well.

Important Documents, Video Files and Photos

Most people don’t want to lose their important photos, videos, or documents when reinstalling Windows. Before reinstalling Windows, make sure you backup all the important video and audio files as well as pictures to your storage media (DVD, USB drive or external hard drive) where they cannot be tampered with. By default, Windows will store these in sub-folders under the “My Documents” or “Documents” folder.

Conclusion

The above list is just about what you need to backup before installing Windows. However, you can also take an image of your whole hard drive using Norton Ghost so you won’t lose anything.

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How to Remove BIOS Password Using The Jumper Settings

March 7th, 2014 by Admin

Have you ever been locked out of your computer by a forgotten BIOS password? Without the password, you can’t access BIOS to change boot order. This also means you can’t change the boot order to boot into a CD or USB drive. Luckily you can reset all BIOS settings (including the BIOS admin/user password) by just removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard for a few moments and then putting it back in. However, this is not the case for some computers and you may also need to change the jumper settings. This trick works on Acer, Dell, HP/Compaq, Toshiba, Asus, Gateway, Samsung, Lenovo, Sony and Apple computers.

remove-bios-password

Warning: There is a risk of hardware damage and of personal injury. Follow this procedure exactly to avoid personal injury. Not all motherboards have removable CMOS batteries. If the battery won’t come loose, don’t force it.

How to Remove BIOS Password Using The Jumper Settings?

  1. Shut down the computer and then unplug the power cable.
  2. Disconnect all external devices and wait about 15 seconds.
  3. Press and hold the Power button while your computer is unplugged to dissipate static electricity from the motherboard.
  4. Before touching anything inside your computer, ground yourself with a wrist-grounding strap or by touching an unpainted metal surface, such as the metal at the back of your computer. While you work, periodically touch an unpainted metal surface to dissipate static electricity.
  5. Open up your computer case and remove the CMOS battery.
  6. Locate the password jumper on the motherboard, look for the letters PWD, PSWD, PSWDCLR, CLEAR CMOS, CLEAR, CLR, JCMOS1 or PASSWORD. The jumper is typically located on the edge of the motherboard or physically near the CMOS battery.
  7. To remove the BIOS password, you will need to change the jumper settings.

    • If there are 3 pins under the jumper, moving the jumper over one pin will change it. For example if the jumper is covering pins 1 and 2, move it so that it is covering pins 2 & 3. If the jumper is covering pins 2 and 3, reinstall the jumper over pins 1 and 2.
    • If there are only 2 pins under the jumper, simply remove the jumper from the pins.

    bios-jumper

  8. Put the CMOS battery back in and close the case.
  9. Reconnect the power cable and turn on your laptop. The BIOS password should be cleared. After the Windows logon screen appears, turn off your laptop again.
  10. Disconnect the power cable. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to release static electricity from the system. Replace the jumper to its original position. Close the case and the computer is ready to be used again.

This method works well for desktop computers, however this is not practical for laptop users unless the warranty expired long time ago. BIOS password can add an extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers but it is different from a Windows admin password. If you forgot Windows admin password, you need to take use of PCUnlocker Live CD to remove it.

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How to Reset HDD Password on Acer Laptop

March 7th, 2014 by Admin

There are many ways that could be used to password protected a computer or a laptop. You can set a BIOS password or a Windows administrator password to lock your system but these types of protection can be broken easily. BIOS password can be erased by removing the computer’s battery and Windows admin password can be reset with PCUnlocker Live CD.

The most securable method is to set a hard drive password (also known as HDD password). HDD password is stored inside of the hard drive’s firmware area (which is located on the platters). Since the firmware area cannot be read with any widely available software, the password cannot be read or removed. Most modern computers support HDD password. In this tutorial we’ll walk you through the steps of resetting HDD password on Acer laptop.

How to Reset HDD Password on Acer Laptop?

  1. To reset HDD password, you need to boot your laptop in BIOS. Start your Acer laptop and hold on pressing F2 key to access BIOS.
  2. Once you come to the BIOS Setup utility, use the arrow key on the keyword to select Security tab.

    set-hdd-password

  3. On the screen, there are three password protection options: Set Supervisor Password, Set User Password, Set HDD Password and Password on Boot. Move the cursor to Set HDD Password and press Enter.
  4. Enter your current password and set a new HDD password. If you want to remove the HDD password, just left the new password field blank. Confirm your password and save your changes.

    remove-hdd-password

Forgot Your HDD Password and How Can You Remove It?

Forgot your HDD password and can’t remember it? There is no other option but contact your computer manufacturer, send your hard drive to them for accessing the firmware area and remove the password.

However, if you don’t care about the data on your hard drive, pull out the hard drive and put it on as a secondary disk onto another working PC, format your hard drive and connect it back to the original computer and install a fresh copy of Windows again.

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