Archive for the ‘Others’ category

How to Password Protect A Folder in Mac OS X

September 25th, 2013 by Admin

Have confidential data in your Mac that needs to be locked with a passwords to prevent unwanted access? If you’re using a Windows computer, you need to use some third-party software such as Protect My Folders to achieve this. But things get much more easier with a Mac computer. Apple has provided a way to password protect certain files and folders no matter what your situation might be. Here’s how it’s done.

How to Password Protect A Folder in Mac OS X?

  1. Click “Applications”, then “Utilities”, and then open up “Disk Utilities”.
  2. Once disk utility has launched, click on ‘new image’ on the top. Depending on your Macintosh’s security settings, you may be prompted to enter your administrator password to do this.
  3. Name you image file, and choose your preferred location.
  4. Select a disk size depending on the size of the files or folder you want to place inside.
  5. Make sure you select ‘128-bit encryption’ under the ‘Encryption’ drop down.
  6. Under ‘image format’, select ‘sparse disk image’ and click on create.
  7. A window should appear where you need to set your password. Uncheck the “add password to keychain” box.
  8. Once you’ve done that, the image will mount automatically.
  9. Copy-paste all the files you need to protect to this image, and unmount the image once it’s done.
  10. The next time you mount the image again, it will ask you to enter your password!

How to Protect Files from Being Deleted Accidentally

September 21st, 2013 by Admin

Is it possible to protect files/folders from being deleted? I have some files that have been encrypted so they cannot be read but wondered if there was an way to protect them from being deleted. I know I could hide the file in the “Properties” menu but I want to stop them from being deleted if possible.

Looking for a way to protect your important files from being deleted by mistake in Windows 8, 7, Vista or XP? Sometimes you need to ensure that your valuable photos or videos cannot be deleted accidentally by yourself or other family members. In this situation, Protect My Folders will really come in handy.

How to Protect Files from Being Deleted Accidentally?

  1. Download and install Protect My Folders program on your computer. After installing, double-click the shortcut on your Desktop to start the program.
  2. The first time you start the program, it will require you to set a new password for Protect My Folders. Don’t forgot this program as you need it to open and use the program next time.
  3. When you see the main interface of Protect My Folders, click on Settings button. Check the “Read Only” option under the Lock Options section. If you don’t want to hide your private files, you can uncheck the “Hide” option. Close the Settings dialog.

  4. Click on Add/Lock button to add your desired folders or files. It allows you to add one or multiple folders or files at a time. Afterwards, you can exit this program.

  5. Open the Windows Explorer and try to delete your protected folders or files, you’ll keep getting the “Access Denied” error message. The protected files will remain there even if you try to delete the top-level folder.

This is how can you protect your files from being deleted in Windows 8/7/Vista/XP. If you need a better security protection for your private data, you can hide and block any access to your files with Protect My Folders.

How to Password Protect Any Windows Application

September 18th, 2013 by Admin

Need to lock your application so that other can’t open it? Or don’t want an unauthorized people to look at your e-mail or calendar while you’re away from your computer? Protect My Folders is what you need. It is a small application that lets you password protect any executable file in Windows 8/7/Vista/XP, without altering the program itself.

How to Password Protect Any Windows Application?

Protect My Folders is a simple tool to use. In order to use it to password protect your Windows application, first download the installer from this link and then install it.

Once installed, run Protect My Folders. During the first startup, you will be asked to create a new password. Put your desired password in that filed and then confirm the password. Once done, click OK. Remember that you are going to need that password each time you start the application.

Now the main window of Protect My Folders will be show. Click on the “Add/Lock” button, a file explorer will open and select the executable file of your application from there to protect. Now others can’t run or open your application without the password you used.

Conclusion

To sum up with, Protect My Folders is a robust small application which lets you protect your Windows application with a password so that others can’t open or use it. In case you forget the password there is no way to access your protected Windows application since it will remain permanently locked. Try it if you remain concerned with privacy of your Windows application.

PCUnlocker: Unlock Any Computer without A Password

August 29th, 2013 by Admin

Whether you forgot Windows login password or your administrator account got locked out or disabled accidentally, there is a simple way to unlock your computer without a password. Here we’ll get you through the process of unlocking any password protected computer with PCUnlocker Live CD.

How to Unlock Any Computer without A Password?

Step #1: First, you are required to create a PCUnlocker Live CD from another computer that you have access to. This can be your work PC, or a friend or family member’s PC (any PC within your reach). Download the ISO image of PCUnlocker and burn it to a blank CD or DVD using ISO2Disc program. If you don’t have a CD burner, A USB flash drive can also be used to make a bootable PCUnlocker USB drive.

Step #2: Next thing is, insert the PCUnlocker Live CD into your own machine and boot the computer from it. Before that ensure you haven’t set your BIOS to boot from any other drive than the optical one. After successfully booting from PCUnlocker Live CD, it will load the operating system that is installed on the CD drive.

Step #3: When the boot process is complete, it will start the PCUnlocker program. This program automatically searches your Windows installations and displays all user accounts existing in Windows SAM registry file. In the list box, you can also find out which user account is password protected, disabled or locked out.

Step #4: Choose one of your user accounts and click on “Reset Password” button. The program will remove the account password, and also change the properties of your user account so it is enabled, unlocked and never expired. It will also turn off the logon hours restriction and fix the local security policy that may prevent you from logging in.

Step #5: Restart the computer and remove the Live CD. The account that you’re trying to regain access to will no longer require a password. Quickly regain access to a password-protected computer without a password! No need to start over with a fresh Windows installation when you are locked out of your computer.

Conclusion

With PCUnlocker Live CD you can reset forgotten computer passwords for both local administrator accounts and Active Directory user accounts. It works on all versions of Windows systems, including Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Besides the features mentioned above, PCUnlocker can also help you promote standard or limited user account to administrator, reset Windows 8 Microsoft account password, and more.

How to Reset Windows 8/7/XP Local Administrator Password

August 26th, 2013 by Admin

Lost or forgot your Windows 8/7 or XP local administrator password? Suppose a situation where you find yourself locked out without an administrator password but you need to use the computer urgently, No problem. There is a quick way to reset lost Windows 8/7/XP local administrator password easily!

PCUnlocker is the utterly awesome Windows password recovery software that allows you to reset Windows local administrator password from a bootable CD or USB drive. It’s instant and simple!

How to Reset Windows 8/7/XP Local Administrator Password?

  1. Download the PCUnlocker software, which comes as an ISO image. Unzip the download file, you’ll find the pcunlocker.iso file.
  2. Burn the ISO image file to a blank CD or USB stick using any ISO burning freeware such as ISO2Disc or BurnCDCC.
  3. Insert the CD or USB stick into the target computer that you want to reset lost Windows local administrator password for.
  4. Set the computer to boot from the CD/USB. To do this you need to set CD or removal device as the first boot device in computer BIOS.
  5. After booting from the CD/USB, it will launch the PCUnlocker program which shows you a list of local accounts existing on your Windows system.

  6. Select the local administrator account and then click on the Reset Password button, it will reset Windows local administrator password immediately.

Restart the computer and remove the CD/USB drive, you can then log back into Windows local administrator account without a password! If you ever need to reset forgotten Windows local administrator password, this is the right place for you to learn how it can be done.

How to Change Guest Account to Administrator in Windows XP and Windows 2003

August 22nd, 2013 by Admin

Can’t login to Windows because your administrator account is deleted, disabled or corrupted? Or administrator account disappears from Windows logon screen? There are many situations that we can’t login with administrator accounts but we can with guest account. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to elevate a guest account to administrator in Windows XP and Windows 2003, without requiring that you already have administrative privileges.

How to Change Guest Account to Administrator in Windows XP and Windows 2003?

PCUnlocker is a bootable Windows password recovery utility which can run from a CD or USB drive. It is mainly used to reset / unlock lost Windows admin/user passwords, but it can also be used to promote a guest account to administrator easily. Here are steps of using a PCUnlocker Live CD to change guest account to administrator in Windows XP and Windows 2003:

  1. First of all, we need to create a PCUnlocker Live CD using another computer. Download the ISO image of PCUnlocker and burn it to a blank CD using ISO2Disc program.
  2. Boot your target computer from PCUnlocker Live CD (you might have to adjust the BIOS to allow booting from the CD). When the PCUnlocker program launches, it displays a list of local user accounts on the screen.
  3. Choose the guest account and click on “Reset Password” button. You’ll be prompted to confirm your operation as shown below.

    change-guest-to-administrator

  4. Click Yes to continue. The program will remove your current password and make the guest account an administrator account quickly.
  5. Restart the computer and remove the PCUnlocker Live CD. You can then log in to Windows guest account with a blank password. After getting into Windows, you can perform any administrative task as usual become you’ve successfully changed the existing guest user account to administrator.

Besides changing guest account to administrator, you can also use the same steps above to elevate a limited / standard account or a child’s account to administrator easily!

How to Prevent Users from Uninstalling Metro Apps in Windows 8

August 15th, 2013 by Admin

The Windows 8 Start screen comes with many useful metro apps such as Mail, Calendar, Photos, Weather, etc. There are also thousands of third-party metro apps that can be downloaded from the Windows Store, and many of them are very useful and great to have.

windows-8-uninstall

Removal of metro apps is very easy. Simply right-click on the metro app on your Start screen and you will see an icon to uninstall it in the bottom ribbon. The drawback is that even kids can uninstall your required apps in just a few mouse clicks. So if you want to prevent users from uninstalling metro apps in Windows 8, here is a quick trick!

How to Prevent Users from Uninstalling Metro Apps in Windows 8?

  1. Press Windows + R key combination to bring up the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.
  2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

    Right-click the Windows key, point to New -> Key to create a sub key called Explorer.

  3. Click on the Explorer key. In the right panel, right-click in the empty space to new a DWORD item and name it NoUninstallFromStart.
  4. Double-click the NoUninstallFromStart. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, type 1 and then click OK.

    prevent-app-from-uninstall

  5. Exit Registry Editor. Sign out your Windows 8 user account and log in again.
  6. When you right-click on a metro app, the Uninstall option will no longer appear.

The Fastest Way to Remove A Forgotten Windows XP Password

August 13th, 2013 by Admin

What to do if you forgot Windows XP password? If you don’t have a password reset disk and the password hint doesn’t help you, there is no other way around it years ago. But nowadays you can remove a forgotten Windows XP password right away.

PCUnlocker is probably the fastest and easiest way to remove a Windows password. All you have to do is insert the PCUnlocker boot CD, and the tool enables you to reset password in just a few mouse clicks!

How to Remove A Forgotten Windows XP Password?

PCUnlocker comes as an ISO image which you have to burn to a CD. It is also possible to boot from a USB stick. The freeware ISO2Disc enables you to burn the ISO image of PCUnlocker to a CD or USB stick easily.

Shortly after the PCUnlocker boot CD starts loading, you’ll see the PCUnlocker program itself. This program displays a list of user accounts for your Windows XP system. If you’ve set up a dual-boot system, make sure you choose the SAM file of your desired operating system.

Choose a user account that you want to remove the password of, and then click on “Reset Password” button. The program will remove your forgotten Windows XP password instantly, and also tweak your account’s improper settings that prevent you from logging in to Windows.

Now restart the computer and remove the PCUnlocker boot CD. You can then log back into Windows XP user account without a password! It’s that simple!

You can now bookmark this page so you can come back in a few months when you have again forgotten your password, or you could create a PCUnlocker boot CD right away.

Reset Forgotten Root Password on VMware ESXi 5 and ESXi 4

August 10th, 2013 by Admin

Forgot your VMware ESXi Server root password? Try to log on to your ESXi server but for some reason your root password isn’t working anymore? Here we’ll show you a way to reset forgotten root password on VMware ESXi 5 and ESXi 4. But this trick is not officially supported by VMware, so do it on your own risk.

How to Reset Forgotten Root Password on VMware ESXi 5 and ESXi 4?

  1. First of all, you need to boot your ESXi server with a Linux live CD. I prefer GRML, but any live CD will do. Of course, you can also boot from a USB stick.
  2. Find the partition containing a file named “state.tgz”. For my installation, it was on a VFAT filesystem labelled “Hypervisor3”, which is accessible in GRML at “/mnt/Hypervisor3”. You might need to mount it manually with the command

    mount /mnt/Hypervisor3

  3. Unpack the “state.tgz” file somewhere. It contains exactly one file, which is another archive named “local.tgz”.

    cd /tmp
    tar xzf /mnt/Hypervisor3/state.tgz

  4. Unpack the “local.tgz”, and find an “etc” directory containing several configuration files.

    tar xzf local.tgz

  5. Edit the file etc/shadow to change the password.

    vi etc/shadow

    Probably the easiest way is to replace the line starting with “root” with the line of another user account of which you know the password. You only need to change the name at the beginning of the line (before the first colon) to “root”. You’ve then set the root password to a password you know.

    Alternatively, you can just remove the hash altogether (everything between the first and the second colon) and login to the service console as root with no password at all.

    vmware-esxi-password

  6. Re-pack the files and move the modified state.tgz back to the VFAT partition. Probably it is a good idea to make a backup copy of the original state.tgz in case something goes wrong:

    mv /mnt/Hypervisor3/state.tgz /mnt/Hypervisor3/state.tgz.bak
    rm local.tgz
    tar czf local.tgz etc
    tar czf state.tgz local.tgz
    mv state.tgz /mnt/Hypervisor3/

  7. Reboot back into ESXi and you’re done.

How to Reset Lost Windows Password of Virtual Machine in VMware ESXi / vSphere

August 8th, 2013 by Admin

Once you’ve installed VMware ESXi Server and vSphere client, you can create many virtual machines for your own purposes. It’s a good habit to use different password for every VM but the downside is that you have to remember many passwords. What to do if you forgot Windows password to one of your virtual machine in VMware ESXi / vSphere?

PCUnlocker is a powerful Windows password recovery tool that can successfully reset lost Windows password in a simple and easy way. It can be used to unlock passwords for both physical machine and virtual machine. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial to reset lost Windows password of virtual machine in VMware ESXi / vSphere.

How to Reset Lost Windows Password of Virtual Machine in VMware ESXi / vSphere?

  1. Download the zipped ISO image of PCUnlocker and save it on your physical machine. Unzip the download file and you’ll get a bootable ISO image file: pcunlocker.iso.
  2. Open up your VMWare vSphere Client and log into your ESXi server. Turn off the virtual machine that you want to reset password for if it is running. Right-click the virtual machine and select “Edit Settings”.
  3. In the Hardware tab, select the “CD/DVD drive 1”. Under Device Type, check the “Client Device” to enable remote CD drive.

    vm-cd-drive

  4. Switch to the Options tab, then select the “Boot Options”. Under the “Power-on Boot Delay” you can specify how long the delay will be when you start / restart a VM. I’ve set 2s delay on booting to give myself time to press the Esc key to access the Boot Menu.

    vm-boot-delay

  5. Power on your virtual machine, it should display a BIOS screen with options at the bottom and a counter. press Esc key to access the Boot Menu.

    vm-post-screen

  6. In the top menu of vSphere client, click on the CD-ROM icon and select “CD/DVD Drive 1” -> “Connect to ISO image on local disk”. Browse to the pcunlocker.iso file you’ve downloaded and click Open. The image is now mounted.

    vm-mount-iso

  7. Choose the CD-ROM Drive from the Boot Menu and press Enter. It will boot off of the CD image.

    vm-boot-menu

  8. In less than one minute, PCUnlocker program will start and it displays a list of Windows local accounts existing in your virtual machine. Choose a user account and click on “Reset Password” button. It will unlock / reset your forgotten Windows password instantly.

  9. Restart the virtual machine. you can then log back in to your VMware vSphere virtual machine without a password! It’s that simple!