Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

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How to Fix “Your connection is not private” in Chrome

May 27th, 2015 by Admin

Whenever you try to login to Yahoo Mail, Facebook or YouTube using Google Chrome, you might get the ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID error:

Your connection is not private
Attackers might be trying to steal your information from site (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards).

connection-not-private

After searching the web for solutions, most of which where pointing to system time not in sync. If your computer’s date and time is not correct, you’ll face this strange problem.

If you confirm the date is up to date, then check the anti-virus software installed on your computer which might block the website’s security certificate.

  • If you’re using Avast, you need to turn off HTTPS scanning in Avast: go to Settings > Active Protection > Web Shield > Customize, uncheck the “Enable HTTPS scanning” box.
  • For Bitdefender, open the main Bitdefender interface and go to Settings (upper right corner). From there, click on Privacy Control. Select the Antiphising tab. Switch Scan SSL to OFF.

For some situations, the problem might happen as the root certs were messed up. You have to clear all certs on your computer and rebuilt new once using Microsoft fix it tool.

Hope this helps others!

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How to Enable BitLocker Encryption without TPM Chip

May 17th, 2015 by Admin

BitLocker is a useful hard drive encryption feature in Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Windows 10/8/7/Vista, which allows you to encrypt an entire fixed drive. If you try to enable BitLocker on an old computer without TPM chip, you will receive one of the following error messages:

“A compatible Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Security Device must be present on this computer, but a TPM was not found. Please contact your system administrator to enable BitLocker.”

or

“This device can’t use a Trusted Platform Module. Your administrator must set the “Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM” option in the “Require additional authentication at startup” policy for OS volumes.”

However, not all computers include TPM and you can’t add a TPM chip to a computer. Luckily there is a group policy that allows you to configure BitLocker to work without a TPM chip. Here’s how:

  1. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box, type gpedit.msc and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
  2. Go to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > BitLocker Drive Encryption > Operating Systems. Double-click on “Require additional authentication at startup“.

  3. In the radio buttons at the top, select Enabled. Check the box marked “Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM“.

  4. Click OK and close out of Local Group Policy Editor.
  5. Now we will need to force the policy to take effect on your PC, to do this press the Windows + R key combination. When the Run box opens, type gpupdate /force and hit Enter.

Now you can use BitLocker to encrypt your system drive without having a TPM chip in your computer.

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

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Parallels Desktop: Reset Lost Windows VM Password

May 16th, 2015 by Admin

If we forget the Admin password for a Windows virtual machine running on Parallels Desktop, is there an easy way to reset it? With PCUnlocker you can reset lost Windows password and regain access to your Parallels VM. This is considerably faster than destroying and rebuilding your VM.

This tutorial will take you step by step through resetting a Windows login password inside a Parallels Desktop virtual machine running on your Mac.

How to Reset Windows VM Password on Parallels Desktop?

  1. Click here to download and save the PCUnlocker self-extracting Zip file on to your Mac. Once the download is complete, double-click on the .zip file and Archive Utility should appear and automatically extract your files. Open the folder you extracted to and you can see a CD image: pcunlocker.iso.

  2. Start Parallels Desktop but do not start your virtual machine. Right-click on your Windows virtual machine and choose Configure.
  3. In the Virtual Machine Configuration dialog, choose the Hardware tab and select CD/DVD 1. Make sure that Connected option is checked. From the “Connected to:” drop-down list, select “Choose an image file” and locate the pcunlocker.iso file you downloaded in step 1.

  4. Go to Hardware tab and click Boot Order. Move CD/DVD to the first place in the Boot order.

  5. Start your Windows virtual machine and it will boot directly to the PCUnlocker program which lists all user accounts on your Windows system.
  6. Select a user whose password you would like to reset and click on “Reset Password” button to clear the user’s password. The program should now alert you that the password was cleared.

  7. You can now power off your virtual machine. Be sure to go back to the Virtual Machine Configuration and change the boot order back to hard disk. Start the VM and you should be able to log into Windows without typing a password!

Besides resetting Parallels Desktop password, you can also use PCUnlocker to bypass the passwords for Windows virtual machines running in Parallels Workstation, VMware Workstation, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, Virtual PC, ESX/ESXi, and other virtualization software.

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

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Extend Windows 10/8/7/Vista Trial Period from 30 to 120 Days

May 14th, 2015 by Admin

During Windows installation, you can skip the product key screen to continue installing the OS for evaluation purpose. By default, you can use it for 30-day trial period. If your trial has run out before you’ve decided whether or not to purchase a license key, you can extend the trial period from 30 days to 120 days.

In this article we’ll show you how to renew the trial period once it has expired with just a simple command. This method works regardless of what edition of Windows you’re running, including Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and Windows Server 2012, 2008.

How to Extend Windows 10/8/7/Vista Trial Period from 30 to 120 Days?

  1. Open up a Command Prompt in Administrator mode.
  2. Type slmgr.vbs –rearm at the Command Prompt, and press Enter. In Windows 10 or 8.1, use slmgr.vbs /rearm instead.
  3. After a couple of seconds it will show you the message window that the command has completed successfully.
  4. Restart your computer and you can use the trial version for another 90 days for free. If you want to enjoy exact 120 days, run above mentioned command on the last day when your Windows trial period is going to expire.
  5. You can check how many days are left in your trial period, by running slmgr.vbs -dli in the Command Prompt.

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

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How to Install Windows 10 or 8 without Product Key

May 14th, 2015 by Admin

Unlike earlier versions of Windows, you can’t install Windows 10 or 8 without a product key. Microsoft has made it compulsory to provide a product key before proceeding with the installation. But what if you want to install and trial Windows 8 before purchasing? Luckily there is a workaround to bypass the product key screen during Windows installation.

windows-8-setup-product-key

Note: Skipping the product key doesn’t means you get a fully activated Windows installation. Once you skip the product key, your Windows installation will be limited to a 30 days trial period and you will have to purchase a genuine product key in order to activate your Windows 10/8 installation.

How to Install Windows 10 or 8 without Product Key?

  1. Follow this guide to download a official copy of Windows 10 / 8.1 directly from Microsoft’s servers.
  2. After you’ve downloaded the Windows 10 or 8 ISO image, burn it to a USB flash drive with the freeware ISO2Disc. It is easiest if you’ve created USB installation media, as you can later edit the files directly on your USB flash drive. If you created an ISO file, you’ll have to modify the files inside the ISO image before burning it to disc.
  3. Open your USB installation drive and navigate to the /sources folder. Look for the ei.cfg file and open it in a text editor such as Notepad. If the file doesn’t already exist, create a new text document and rename it as ei.cfg.
  4. Copy and paste the following text into the ei.cfg file and then save it. Make sure that anything that already exists in the file should be cleared first.

    [EditionID]
    Professional
    [Channel]
    Retail
    [VL]
    1

    ei_cfg

  5. That’s it. Now go ahead and boot from your USB installation media. This time you will see a Skip button when you are prompted to enter a product key during Windows Setup.

Once you have successfully installed Windows 10/8 through this method, you will then have 30 days to activate your Windows installation.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

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How to Bypass Windows 8, 7 and Vista Password without A Reset Disk

May 12th, 2015 by Admin

A password reset disk is essentially a USB drive that contains a small file: userkey.psw, which can be used to change your password from Windows logon screen. But the catch is that you have to create a password reset disk while you’re logged in. If you’ve already forgotten your password, it’s too late.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to bypass Windows 8, 7 and Vista password with a bootable media – PCUnlocker Live CD, which can be created on a spare computer after you forgot Windows password. PCUnlocker can be used to reset the password of any user on any Windows machine, while a password reset disk can only reset the password of the account for which it was created.

How to Bypass Windows 8, 7 and Vista Password without A Reset Disk?

If you don’t have a PCUnlocker Live CD, you can create it on any Windows computer that you still have full access to. Download the CD image of PCUnlocker and burn it to a blank CD (or USB thumb drive) with the freeware ISO2Disc.

Put the PCUnlocker Live CD in the CD drive of your locked computer. Once booted to the PCUnlocker program, it will detect all the partitions which contain a valid Windows installation.

Select the SAM file for the Windows installation whose password you need to bypass, it will list all the user accounts stored in your selected SAM file. If you’re running PCUnlocker on a dual-bot machine, there should be two SAM files and make sure you choose the desired one.

Choose a user account and click on “Reset Password”. This program will wipe the password, enable/unlock the account, and promote it to an Administrator if it’s a standard or limited account.

Take the CD out of the CD drive and reboot the computer. You can then log back into Windows without typing password. So this is how you can bypass the password for any version of Windows.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista

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How to Change Local or Domain Password Policy from Command Prompt

May 10th, 2015 by Admin

How to disable the password complexity policy for Windows Server Core installation? If your Windows system comes with a GUI interface, you change the password policy from within the Group Policy Editor, but the steps are still a bit complicated for a Windows domain controller.

In this tutorial we’ll show you a quick yet simple way to change local / domain password policy from the Command Prompt. This method works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and Windows Server 2012 (R2) / 2008 (R2) / 2003.

How to Change Local/Domain Password Policy from Command Prompt?

If your computer is a domain controller, follow the steps below and you can change the default domain password policy. To change the local password policy on a domain controller, you must boot your server in Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) and then perform the steps below:

  1. Open an elevated Command Prompt. If you’ve forgotten the local or domain administrator password and couldn’t log on, try the PCUnlocker bootdisk for bypassing the password.
  2. Type the following command and hit Enter:
    secedit.exe /export /cfg C:\secconfig.cfg

    export-group-policy

    This will dump the local policy or domain policy for the system, including account policies, audit policies, and so on.

  3. Open the C:\secconfig.cfg file with your text editor. For Windows Server Core, you can type notepad.exe in the Command Prompt. When Notepad launches, click the File -> Open menu to open C:\secconfig.cfg.
  4. Now you can view and edit all of the relevant policies as shown below. In this example, we’ll disable the password complexity policy. So we replace PasswordComplexity = 1 to PasswordComplexity = 0, and change the value of MinimumPasswordLength to 0.

    edit-group-policy

  5. When done, save your changes. To load the edited file as your new policy configuration, use the following command:
    secedit.exe /configure /db %windir%\securitynew.sdb /cfg C:\secconfig.cfg /areas SECURITYPOLICY

    update-group-policy

  6. The new password policy will apply to all password changes and new password. After disabling the password complexity policy, you should be able to change Windows account password to whatever you like.

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

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2 Options to Disable the Windows Store in Windows 8/8.1/10

May 6th, 2015 by Admin

Windows Store is integrated into Windows 8/8.1/10 that provides access to thousands of free and paid apps. If your computer is also shared among other individuals, it makes sense to turn off the Windows Store. In this post we’ll show you two options to disable the Windows Store in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

Option 1: Disable Windows Store with Group Policy

  1. Press the Windows + R key combination to bring up a Run box. Type gpedit.msc and hit Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. Navigate to the following location:
    User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Store
  3. On the right hand side you will see a setting named “Turn off the Store application“. Double-click on it to open the Settings box, select Enabled and click Apply.

    turn-off-store-application

  4. Now you will need to enforce the updated policy to take effect on your PC, to do this press the Windows + R key combination, when the Run box open, run this command:

    gpupdate /force

  5. Now you’ve successfully disabled the Windows Store. When you try to open Windows Store again, you’ll receive the following error message:

    Windows Store isn’t available on this PC. Contact your system administrator for more information

Option 2: Disable Windows Store with Registry Trick

If you are not using Windows 8 Professional or Enterprise you will not have access to the Group Policy Editor. Instead you can disable the Windows Store through this registry trick:

  1. Press the Windows + R key combination to bring up a Run box. Type regedit and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to the following registry key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsStore

    remove-windows-store

    Create a new DWORD value in the WindowsStore key. Name it RemoveWindowsStore and give it a value of 1. If the WindowsStore key does no exist, create it firstly.

  3. Restart your computer. The next time you try launch the Windows Store, you will notice it is disabled. If you want to re-enable the Windows Store later, just change the value of RemoveWindowsStore to 0.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 8

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Using Windows Firewall to Block A Program from Accessing The Internet

May 6th, 2015 by Admin

Have you ever installed a program that you only needed for offline use, but it kept on trying to connect to the Internet? Or need to stop a program from gathering your personal information and sending them out to the Internet? With Windows Firewall you can easily block any program of your choice from connecting to the Internet.

How to Block A Program from Accessing The Internet?

  1. To get started we need to open up Windows Firewall. One quick way to do this is from the Control Panel. Just click the Windows Firewall icon.

    control-panel-items

  2. On Windows Firewall window, click on the Advanced settings link.

    windows-firewall

  3. Here you can see all your Firewall rules: Inbound or Outbound. When it comes down to it I think Outbound rules are usually enough for most applications. When Outbound connections are blocked, this means that the application can’t send any of your data to the Internet.
  4. Right-click on Outbound Rules from the tree at the left, and then select “New Rule…”

    new-outbound-rule

  5. Select the Program as the rule type and click Next.

    rule-type

  6. Select the “This program path:” option and then click on Browse to locate the program which you want to stop from accessing the Internet.

    apply-rule-to-specific-app

  7. Select the “Block the connection” option and click Next.

    block-connection

  8. When comes to the Profile tab, select all of the available boxes: Domain, Private, and Public.

    when-rule-apply

  9. Give your new rule a name whatever you like. Click on Finish.

    set-firewall-rule-name

  10. In the Name column, your newly blocked program will be listed. In the Action column, you’ll see that your newly created rule is set to Block.

    firewall-rules

    Repeat the same steps to block as many programs as you want from accessing the Internet.

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

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How to Fix IE Issue “This program couldn’t be downloaded”

May 4th, 2015 by Admin

If you’re using Internet Explorer, you might frequently experience an issue with your download: “This program couldn’t be downloaded”. The file would appear to download but then after the last bit was done, it would fail and no further indicators of what the problem was.

couldnt-be-downloaded

I contacted Microsoft support and they suggested me to install the most recent cumulative security update for Internet Explorer. But it also doesn’t solve the problem. Eventually I figured out a way to fix the problem. Here’s how:

  1. From Internet Explorer main menu, click on Tools and choose Internet Options.
  2. Click the Advanced tab.

    don't-save-encrypted-pages

  3. Check the “Do not save encrypted files to disk” option, and then click OK.

Restart your Internet Explorer and you should then be able to download your application without any issue.

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