Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

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How to Downgrade from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 7 for Free

August 25th, 2014 by Admin

After the release of Windows 8, most of the new laptops and desktops are shipping with Windows 8 pre-installed. If you’ve become accustomed to Windows 7 and don’t like Windows 8’s new Metro UI, you can downgrade to Windows 7. Windows 8 Pro comes with a feature called Downgrade Rights, which means you can downgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 7 without paying a penny or having to format the hard drive.

If you want to try this, just make sure your new computer has downgrade rights because not all Windows 8 computers are on the list. These rights are available to PCs which come with Windows 8 Pro pre-installed and not for users who have upgraded to Windows 8 using the promo offer. So it is basically only Windows 8 Pro OEM users. You can only downgrade to Windows 7 Professional or Windows Vista Business, not Windows XP. To learn more about downgrade rights, please check out this complete guide from Microsoft.

Tips: You might need to provide your Windows 8 license key for validating your purchase during exercising your Windows 8 Pro downgrade rights. If you’ve lost the key, you can use KeyFinder Plus to recover it from your current Windows 8 installation.

How to Downgrade from Windows 8 Pro to Windows 7 Pro?

The actual downgrade process is tricky and not a straight forward one. You first need to create a recovery drive for your existing Windows 8 in case you want to bring it back to Windows 8 in future. Once done, you need to disable UEFI and enable Legacy/CSM boot support. You will need a Windows 7 Professional DVD. Insert the Windows 7 installation DVD and boot to it. During the Windows 7 setup, you might need to enter the license key to go past the installation. Here you can enter any used Windows 7 key since activation does not happen here.

Now wait for the install process to complete. Once the process is complete, your PC might show activation failed message or it will not be activated. This is because you have used a key which is already in use. For getting a new key, you need to call up Microsoft support and explain to them about your downgrade rights. Have your Windows 8 Pro key ready which you’ll need to prove your PC has downgrade rights.

Once this is validated, you will receive a new activation key for Windows 7. You will need to do this for all PCs which you have downgraded. You can install back Windows 8 anytime using the recovery drive.

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

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Bypass Windows 8 Login Screen on Wake up from Sleep

August 20th, 2014 by Admin

In my previous post I’ve covered how to disable the password login screen in Windows 8, so the computer will automatically logon to Windows 8. Though when you put your computer to sleep, the login screen might pop up after wakeup. In this article I’ll show you 2 methods to bypass Windows 8/8.1 login screen on wake up from sleep or standby.

Method 1: Disable Require Password on Wakeup in Control Panel

  1. Press Windows key + X and select Control Panel.
  2. Set your View by option to Small icons. Then select Power Options from the list of computer settings.

    control-panel

  3. From the Power Options window, click the link labeled Require a password on wakeup on the left-hand side.

    power-options

  4. Click the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link. Now, you can select Don’t require a password under Password protection on wake up. Click on Save changes.

    require-password-on-wakeup

Method 2: Disable Require Password on Wakeup in Charms Bar

  1. From the Start Screen, open the Charms Bar (Windows key + C).
  2. Go to Settings -> Change PC settings.
  3. Go to Accounts -> Sign-in Options.

    change-password-policy

  4. Under the Password Policy section, click on the Change button to get “Password is not required when waking this PC from sleep”.
  5. Reboot your system and it won’t ask you for a password next time you wake it up from sleep.

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3 Options to Disable “Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to Log on” in Windows

August 19th, 2014 by Admin

How to bypass the Ctrl+Alt+Del logon prompt? One way of adding an additional layer of security to your computer is by enabling secure logon. By enabling secure logon, users are required to press Ctrl+Alt+Del before they can enter their credentials and log on. However, if you’re tried of pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del every time you turn on the computer, there are 3 easy options to disable the secure logon.

Option 1: Disable Secure Logon in the User Accounts Applet

  1. Press Windows key + R to bring up the Run box. Type netplwiz or Control Userpasswords2 and press Enter.
  2. When the User Accounts applet opens, click on Advanced tab.

    secure-logon

  3. Uncheck the Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete checkbox. Click OK. The next time you start the computer it will boot directly to the login credential dialog box, without prompting your to press Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Option 2: Disable Secure Logon through Group Policy

  1. Press Windows key + R to bring up the Run box. Type secpol.msc and press Enter to open the Local Security Policy Editor.
  2. Navigate to Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options.
  3. In the right pane, double click on Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL.
  4. Select and set the radio button of Enabled.

    disable-ctrl-alt-del

  5. Save the policy change by clicking OK.

Option 3: Disable Secure Logon through Windows Registry

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

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

  3. You should see a DWORD (32-bit) entry named DisableCAD in the right pane. Double-click it and change its value from 0 to 1.

    DisableCAD

  4. Close Registry Editor and you’re done!

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

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Recover Forgotten Password for Outlook Data File (.PST)

August 13th, 2014 by Admin

If you have password protected a Outlook data file (.pst), when you try to import or open the .pst file in Outlook, a dialog box similar to the following appears.

outlook-pst-password

Without the password, you cannot open the .pst file, and you cannot access any of mail messages it contains. Microsoft is not able to help you retrieve lost file passwords. If you’ve forgotten or misplaced the password to a Microsoft Outlook data file (.pst), you can recover it easily with the Outlook Password Recovery program.

Outlook Data File Location

Before getting started, you need to know where your Outlook data file is saved.

  1. Open the Mail applet from the Control Panel.

    control-panel

  2. Click on Data Files button. This will open the Account Settings window.

    mail-setup

  3. Click the Data Files tab to see your Outlook data files, including PST and OST files. If you have multiple accounts in Outlook, you may notice several data files listed. In my example, I want to recover the password for the Test.pst file.

    outlook-pst-files

  4. Select your password protected PST file, and click Open Folder button to open the folder containing the PST in Windows Explorer.

Recover Outlook Data File Password

Have you forgotten the password to your Outlook data file which is required to access your email in Outlook? If you’ve figured out the location of your password-protected Outlook data file, you can import the .pst file to the Outlook Password Recovery program and recover your forgotten password. Here are step-by-step instructions:

  1. Download and install Outlook Password Recovery on your local computer.
  2. Open up the Outlook Password Recovery program and click on Unlock PST File button.

    outlook-password-recovery

  3. The File Open dialog will appear. Choose your password-protected Outlook data file (.pst), and click Open.

    locate-pst-file

  4. The program will start to decrypt the PST file and provide 3 different passwords. You can then use any of them to unlock and open your password-protected Outlook data file.

With this method you can recover forgotten password for Outlook data file (.pst) that was created in Microsoft Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2000. After opening your Outlook data file, you can then remove or change PST password within Outlook application.

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How to Fix the Error: Outlook data file cannot be accessed

August 12th, 2014 by Admin

When you try to send or to receive email in Outlook 2010 or 2013, you may receive one of these error messages:

0x8004010F: Outlook data file cannot be accessed.
or
0x8004010F: The operation failed. An object could not be found.

This proved to be a profile issue with Outlook application, which can be resolved by re-creating your Outlook profile and re-configuring the email accounts. However, some of you might have multiple accounts and the thought of re-creating each one is just far too much. Here is an easier trick to fix this issue.

Tips: If you forgot your PST file password, or need to retrieve email account passwords that are stored locally, the Outlook Password Recovery program can be of help!

How to Fix the Error: Outlook data file cannot be accessed?

A missing or corrupt Outlook data file (also known as PST file, Personal Folders File) can also result in the 0x8004010F error when attempting to send and receive emails. Simply set your problematic email account to use a new PST file for storing emails and this would fix your issue. Here are step-by-step instructions:

Go to the Control Panel and clicking on Mail.

control-panel

In the Mail Setup window, click on E-mail Accounts to open the Account Settings dialog box.

mail-setup

If you have multiple accounts in Outlook, you may notice several email accounts listed. In the E-mail tab, select your problematic email account and click on Change Folder button at the bottom.

outlook-email-accounts

Select the Inbox folder under a different personal folders (PST) file. If there is only one PST file out there, click on New Outlook Data File button to create a new one. Then select the Inbox folder in the newly created PST file. Click OK.

new-delivery-location

Close the Account Settings window and attempt to “Send/Receive All Folders”, it should be working now! Hope this trick helps whoever gets this issue in the future.

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Lost Admin Password on Windows 2000 Professional

August 11th, 2014 by Admin

Lost admin password on Windows 2000 Pro and can’t log on? How to bypass Windows 2000 password on an older server if you’ve forgotten what is is and want the files off the computer? You can use a PCUnlocker Live CD (or USB drive) to reset the lost password. This tutorial will show you how to do that, step by step.

Create A PCUnlocker Live CD/USB Drive

We’ll be using PCUnlocker. PCUnlocker is a bootable rescue CD that can reset local / domain administrator password on any Windows computer. It exists of a bootable CD ISO image. To get the software to work, you need to burn the PCUnlocker ISO image to a CD or USB flash drive using a burning software such as ISO2Disc.

Boot from PCUnlocker

Once you’ve completed the above step, put the CD in the optical drive or plug the USB drive into the Windows 2000 Pro computer you want to reset admin password for. Now you need to restart the PC and boot into the CD/USB.

You can do so by changing the boot order. See how you can change the boot order here.

Reset Lost Admin Password

Once you’ve set the boot order correctly, the computer will load the WinPE OS from the CD/USB drive and take you directly to the PCUnlocker program. This program automatically finds your Windows SAM registry file and extracts all your user accounts from it.

Select the administrator account and click on Reset Password. It will unlock / reset your lost Windows 2000 admin password immediately. Remove the CD/USB and restart your computer, and now you can enjoy log on to your Windows 2000 Pro without entering any password.

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How to Reset or Change Outlook PST Password with Ease

August 7th, 2014 by Admin

When you add a password to a PST file, every time you start Outlook, a dialog box will ask you for the password. Without entering the password correctly, you will not be able to see any information in Outlook at all.

It’s a good practice to change your password regularly. In this article we’ll show you how to reset or change Outlook PST password, if you know your current password. If you can’t remember the password, see Recover forgotten PST password for instructions.

How to Reset or Change Outlook PST Password?

First of all, you need to open the Account Settings dialog in Outlook application. In Outlook 2007, you can access it by clicking on Tools menu and then select the Account Settings option. In Outlook 2013 or 2010, click on the File tab, and then click on Info. On the right hand side of the screen, click on the Account Settings button.

outlook-account-settings

When the Account Settings dialog opens, click on the Data Files tab. It will show you a list of the PST files that are in use by MS Outlook. Make sure that you highlight the PST file that you want to change the password for and then click on Settings.

The Outlook Data File screen opens. Click Change Password. A new window will appear asking you for three pieces of information. If your PST file is not password protected, just leave the old password blank. If you already have a password for your PST file but want to remove it, enter the current password in the “Old password” field and leave the other two fields blank.

changepstpassword

Make sure that the checkbox for “Save this password in your password list” is left unchecked. This will ensure that a password will always have to be entered when you start Outlook. Click OK and close out of the remaining open screens. You’ve now successfully reset / changed your Outlook PST password!

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