Archive for the ‘Windows 8’ 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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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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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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Reset Forgotten Windows Password for Xen Virtual Machine

August 5th, 2014 by Admin

Forgot Windows password to a Xen virtual machine? How can I reset a Windows 2008 (Xen HMV) VPS administrator login? To reset a lost VM password, you will need a tool called PCUnlocker. This software exists of a bootable CD image which can be burned to a CD or USB drive. Basically, you boot a Xen VM from the CD image and it allows you to reset forgotten Windows password offline.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows Password for Xen Virtual Machine?

  1. Download the self-extracting Zip archive of PCUnlocker and save it to your host OS. Extract the CD image (pcunlocker.iso) from the downloaded file. If you’ve enabled EFI/UEFI in your Xen VM, you need to use PCUnlocker Enterprise which supports UEFI booting.
  2. Start virt-manager (also known as Virtual Machine Manager). Select your Windows VM that need a password reset, click on EDIT menu at the top and then select Virtual Machine Details.
  3. In the Details window, click on IDE CDROM 1 tab. Click Connect to mount the PCUnlocker ISO image (pcunlocker.iso) to the virtual CD drive.
  4. Click on the Boot Options tab. Tick Enable boot menu. Check the CDROM item and put the CDROM item on top of the boot device list. Click Apply to save your changes.

    xen-boot-order

  5. Power on your Windows virtual machine and Xen will now boot from the PCUnlocker CD image, loading the WinPE OS and taking you directly into the tool. This program automatically finds your Windows SAM file and show you a list of local accounts.

  6. Select one of your user accounts and click on Reset Password button. It will reset your Windows VM password quickly, as well as unlock the account in the event it is locked out, disabled or expired.
  7. Disconnect your CD drive and restart the VM. Now you can enjoy log on to your Windows virtual machine without entering any password.

Using the same method you can reset lost Windows password for any virtual machine running in KVM, Xen, Qemu. This works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012.

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

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Reset Forgotten Windows 8 Password on ASUS Transformer Book T300/T100

July 4th, 2014 by Admin

How to unlock ASUS Transformer Book T300 after forgotten Windows 8 password? If you’ve tried the free password cracking Live CDs like Ophcrack or BartPE, you’ll soon realize that they won’t boot up on ASUS Transformer Book T300/T100. That is because ASUS Transformer Book T300/T100 is shipped with UEFI firmware instead of traditional BIOS.

In this situation, PCUnlocker can be of help and it fully supports UEFI booting. This guide will help you make a PCUnlocker Live USB with UEFI bootloader, and then use it to reset forgotten Windows 8 password on ASUS Transformer Book T300/T100.

Part 1: Preparing a bootable PCUnlocker USB drive

1. Download the zipped ISO image of PCUnlocker and save it on your local hard drive. Unzip it and you’ll see an ISO image named pcunlocker.iso.

2. Plug a 1GB or larger USB flash drive into your computer.

3. Download Rufus, a tool for creating bootable USB drives. Double-click the Rufus file to launch the utility.

4. Choose the drive letter for the flash drive you jut plugged in under the “Device” drop-down menu. Choose “GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer” and “FAT32”.

5. Make sure the box that says “Create a bootable disk using” is checked, and choose “ISO Image” and click the drive icon on the right to open an Explorer window and find your pcunlocker.iso image.

rufus

6. Click start. The computer will format your USB flash drive and prepare it as a bootable drive with UEFI bootloader. When the process is complete, eject it from your PC and move on to the next step.

Part 2: Booting PCUnlocker on the Asus Transformer Book T300/T100

1. Plug the PCUnlocker USB drive into the USB port of your Asus Transformer Book T300/T100.

2. While turning on the Asus Transformer Book, press and hold the F2 key so that you can enter into BIOS Setup. Another method is to hold down the volume down button while switching on. You then get 2 options to continue to boot into Windows or BIOS Setup. Then if you haven’t attached the keypad use the volume buttons to select “Enter Setup”.

3. In the BIOS Setup, navigate to the “Save and Exit” menu, you should see an option under Boot Override that has the name of your USB flash drive. Select your USB drive under the boot override option and hit Enter. Your computer should now boot from PCUnlocker USB drive.

Part 3: Reset Forgotten Windows 8 Password

Once you’ve booted into PCUnlocker, you’ll see a list of Windows 8 local accounts that are extracted from your Windows SAM database. Select a user account and click on “Reset Password” button, the program will remove your forgotten password in seconds.

If you’re using a Microsoft account as your machine’s login, there should be a local account that is linked to your Microsoft account, select that local account and reset the password. The program will assign a new password: Password123 so you can later log into your Windows 8 system locally.

So this is how can you easily reset forgotten Windows 8 password on ASUS Transformer Book T300/T100!

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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How to Bypass Windows 8.1 Password on Lenovo Yoga Laptop

July 3rd, 2014 by Admin

Forgot the admin password to your Lenovo Yoga laptop? Ever wondered how to recover or reset a forgotten password in Windows 8.1? PCUnlocker is a reliable, self-booting recovery CD that can reset the password of Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP. Just boot up your Lenovo Yoga laptop with PCUnlocker Live CD and you can bypass Windows 8.1 password easily!

Note: This method works on all Lenovo Yoga series laptops that come with Windows 8.1 pre-installed, including Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro. Of course, you can also use PCUnlocker to bypass Windows 8.1 passwords on HP, Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Acer and other laptops or tablets.

How to Bypass Windows 8.1 Password on Lenovo Yoga Laptop?

Before getting started, you need to make a PCUnlocker Live CD on an alternate computer. Download the zipped ISO image of PCUnlocker and extract it. Next burn the resulting pcunlocker.iso file to a blank CD (or USB stick) using the ISO2Disc program.

Put the CD in the CD drive of your Lenovo Yoga laptop. To get the laptop to boot from CD, we need to go into the BIOS and switch the Boot Mode from Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) to Compatibility Support Mode (CSM). When the computer is off, press the Novo button and then select BIOS Setup.

In the BIOS Setup Utility, go to Security tab, and disable the Secure Boot option. Next, on the Boot tab, change the Boot Mode from UEFI to Legacy Support. Save the changes and exit BIOS. Shut down the laptop and then press the Novo button again and then choose Boot Menu. Choose to boot from PCUnlocker Live CD.

The laptop will load the WinPE OS from CD and open up the PCUnlocker utility. At this point the program can directly access the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database and extract all your Windows user accounts.

Select your user account and click on “Reset Password” button. The program will reset your forgotten password by modifying the stored password hashes in the SAM registry file. Restart the computer and take out the CD. You can then log back into your Lenovo Yoga Windows 8.1 laptop with a blank password!

Conclusion

The advantage of this method is that it is very quick if you already have the PCUnlocker Live CD in your tool box. Thus it is useful for admins who have to perform this procedure often.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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Reset Forgotten Panasonic Toughpad Windows 8 Tablet Password

June 26th, 2014 by Admin

Can’t log into your Panasonic Toughpad Windows 8 tablet because you’ve forgotten the password? All your need is to create a PCUnlocker bootable USB drive with UEFI support, then boot your Panasonic Toughpad tablet from USB and it enables you to reset lost Windows 8 password quickly! This method works with Toughpad FZ-G1, Toughpad FZ-M1 and Toughpad 4K tablets.

How to Reset Forgotten Panasonic Toughpad Windows 8 Tablet Password?

  1. Download the PCUnlocker Enterprise and save it on an alternate PC. Extract the pcunlocker.iso file from the downloaded .zip archive.
  2. Burn the ISO image file to your USB flash drive using the freeware ISO2Disc or Rufus. Make sure you choose the “GPT” or “GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer” option while burning the USB drive.

  3. Once your USB drive has finished burning, insert it into the USB port of your Panasonic Toughpad tablet.
  4. Turn on the tablet while touching top left of the screen to enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
  5. Touch [Exit], then double-touch your USB drive in [Boot Override]. Double-touch [Yes], the computer will restart and then boot from your USB drive.
  6. The computer temporarily loads the Windows 8 PE OS from the USB drive. When it’s done, the PCUnlocker application will start and display a list of Windows 8 accounts detected from your Windows 8 SAM registry hive.

  7. Select your administrator account and click on “Reset Password” button. It will reset your forgotten Windows 8 tablet password quickly! Restart the computer and you can then log into your Panasonic Toughpad Windows 8 tablet without a password!

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Bypass Windows 8/8.1 Password on Toshiba Satellite Laptop

June 23rd, 2014 by Admin

Lost Windows 8 admin password to your Toshiba Satellite laptop? You can use some bootable utilities like BartPE to reset your lost Windows password, but such disks are Windows XP based operating systems which can be used to unlock only Windows 7, Vista and XP (not including Windows 8 and 8.1).

The reason behind this is, most of Windows 8/8.1 laptop is configured in UEFI mode (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). The UEFI mode does not allow to boot legacy OS like Windows XP, DOS etc. So to reset Windows 8/8.1 password, the conventional method does not work.

Luckily, the latest version of PCUnlocker came out that can boot in UEFI mode. This article will introduce how to make a PCUnlocker Live USB and then use it to bypass Windows 8/8.1 password on Toshiba Satellite laptop.

Create A PCUnlocker Live USB

If you can’t boot into your Toshiba Satellite Laptop, you’ll need to borrow one from a friend to make your own PCUnlocker Live USB drive, but other than that, all you really need is a USB flash drive. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Download the PCUnlocker Enterprise and save it on your spare computer. Please note both the Standard and Pro editions don’t support UEFI booting. The downloaded file is a self-extracting .zip file which contains a UEFI bootable ISO image: pcunlocker.iso. Extract the ISO image file from it.
  2. Burn the ISO image file to your USB flash drive using the freeware ISO2Disc or Rufus. Make sure you choose the “GPT” or “GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer” option while burning the USB drive. If you don’t have a USB drive at hand, you can use a blank CD to make a PCUnlocker Live disc.

  3. Once your USB drive has finished burning, insert it into your Toshiba Satellite laptop.

Bypass Toshiba Satellite Windows 8/8.1 Laptop Password

Now that you’ve successfully created a PCUnlocker Live USB drive. It’s time to boot into the USB drive and bypass Windows 8/8.1 password. Here is what you need to do:

  1. Turn on your Toshiba Satellite laptop. As soon as the Toshiba logo appears, press F12 to get into Boot Menu. Using the arrow keys to select the DVD option and press Enter. In some Toshiba notebooks or laptops, in order to access the Boot Menu you might need to press the ESC key or the “C” key as you boot.
  2. Once you’ve booted into the PCUnlocker Live USB, you’ll be presented with the screen of PCUnlocker. This program automatically locates the SAM database file for your installed Windows operating system, and shows you a list of local user accounts.

  3. Choose your administrator account and click on “Reset Password” button. The program will remove your forgotten Windows 8/8.1 password quickly! If you’re using a Microsoft account as your computer’s login, make sure you choose the associated local account and the program will unlock your Microsoft account password locally.
  4. When it’s done, reboot your system and you can log back into your Windows 8/8.1 account. Besides bypassing Windows 8 password, you can also use PCUnlocker Live USB drive to reset Windows 7, Vista and XP passwords on your Toshiba Satellite laptops.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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How to Prevent A Program from Ever Running in Windows

June 13th, 2014 by Admin

If you have kids you may don’t want them to run certain applications like Skype or BitTorrent on your computer. Today we take a look at a setting in Local Group Policy that allows you to prevent specified programs from ever running in Windows. This is also useful if you don’t want other people to open applications on your work computer.

How to Prevent A Program from Ever Running in Windows?

  1. The first thing you must do is open the Local Group Policy Editor. You won’t find a menu entry for this tool. Instead you start the tool by pressing Windows + R to bring up the Run box and then entering the command gpedit.msc.

  2. Navigate to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System in the left panel, and double click on Don’t run specified Windows applications.

  3. In the pop up window, first set it to Enabled, then under the Options section click on the Show button next to List of disallowed applications.

  4. A Show Contents dialog comes up where you can type in the apps you want to block users from running. In the Value column, type the application executable name (don’t use the full path), e.g. firefox.exe, notepad.exe.

  5. The change takes effect immediate right after you click OK or Apply. From this point on, if a user tries to access an application that is not on the specified list they will get the following warning message.

This is a nice feature for preventing unwanted programs from running in Windows. However, Local Group Policy Editor is not available in Home versions of Windows 7/8/10. This trick only prevents users from accessing applications that are started by Windows Explorer process, but you can still run the disallowed programs in the Command Prompt. If you need a reliable and more secure solution, I would recommend you to use the professional privacy protection program – Protect My Folders.

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

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