Archive for the ‘Windows 8’ category

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How to Reset Forgotten Windows Password

February 6th, 2013 by Admin

Lost or forgotten Windows password? This may happen to everyone. But what if you have lots of important data on the hard drive and need to access the computer urgently? Don’t worry you can reset the forgotten Windows password with easy way. For this you need a blank CD and an alternative computer you can login with administrator account. Here are simple steps for you to reset forgotten Windows password.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows Password?

  1. First, you will need to download and install Password Recovery Bundle on an alternative computer that you can access. This can be your work PC, or a friend or family member’s PC.
  2. Launch Password Recovery Bundle and click on Windows Password button, the pop-up dialog allows you to create a password reset boot CD.
  3. Next, place the password reset CD in the CD-ROM drive of your locked computer. Get the computer to boot from the CD. If you don’t know how to set your computer to boot from CD, please check out this guide: How to Boot A Computer from CD or USB Drive.
  4. The computer will load the mini operating system inside the password reset CD and open up the Reset Windows Password window as follow.Reset Windows Password
  5. From the window, you can see a list of user accounts existing in your Windows installation. For dual-boot or multi-boot computer, make sure you choose your desired Windows SAM registry hive from the drop-down list.
  6. Choose the user account with a forgotten password, and then click on Reset Password button. The program will reset your forgotten Windows password to blank.
  7. Restart the computer and remove the password reset CD, you should then be able to log into Windows without typing a password.

With the password reset CD you can reset forgotten Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password. You can also create a password reset boot USB to reset forgotten Windows password on your netbook or any computer which doesn’t come with a CD drive.

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

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How to Log into Windows without Knowing the Password

February 3rd, 2013 by Admin

Can’t remember Windows user password? How to log into the computer without knowing the password? If you have been running Windows on your computer, chances are high that you haven’t assigned a password for the build-in administrator account. By default installation, Windows 8/7/Vista/XP has a built-in administrator account. Most computer owners don’t even know such an Administrator account is actually existed, don’t even mentioned they will create or set a password for Administrator user account.

The problem is that in normal Windows Welcome Screen where you choose which user account you want to log onto, the Administrator account is not displayed and is not shown. You need to start your computer in Safe Mode and the administrator account will be visible in the login screen. Just left the password box as blank and you should be able to log into Windows. After getting into Windows, you can go to Control Panel and reset your lost or forgotten password for any user account existing in your computer.

If the built-in administrator account is password-protected and you can’t remember the password, don’t worry! You can still log back into Windows easily but more instructions are involved. First you need to download the bootable ISO image of Reset Windows Password to a CD on another computer you can login, then use it to boot up your locked computer, the boot CD enables you to remove login passwords for any user account. After removing the password, restart your computer and you can then log into Windows without a password.

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

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Add “Take Ownership” to Right-Click Context Menu in Windows

February 1st, 2013 by Admin

Guess what is the most annoying part of Windows 7 or Vista? Every time you try to access a system file/folder you get “Permission Denied” error. Windows 8/7/Vista doesn’t allow any user even the Administrator to modify (rename, delete, move) those system files. In order to gain full permissions to system files and folders, you need to take ownership & grant full control permissions to files & folder.

Taking ownership generally requires you to dive in and out of GUI menus, or break out the command prompt. It’s far more complicated than it needs to be, and thankfully, there is a free utility, called Ownership Changer, that makes this process easier.

Updated: We just released the first version of TakeOwnershipPro, a freeware to take ownership and grant yourself full permission to access any files or folders in Windows.

How to Add “Take Ownership” to Right-Click Context Menu in Windows?

Download and unzip the files contained in the TakeOwnership.zip file. Double-click the InstallTakeOwnership.reg file to install Take Ownership option in context menu.

Here’s what the new right-click menu will look like after installing Take Ownership option:

If the Take Ownership option doesn’t work for you, or simply doesn’t suit your needs, double-click the RemoveTakeOwnership.reg file to remove it from context menu.

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

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How to Take Ownership & Grant Full Control Permissions to Files & Folder in Windows 8/7/Vista

February 1st, 2013 by Admin

Starting with Windows Vista, Microsoft implemented additional security for system files that assigns TrustedInstaller as the only owner with full control permissions. All other administrators or user accounts including SYSTEM have been granted only read, execute or traverse permissions. Such a design is useful in the presence of inexperienced users, who might otherwise accidentally delete or modify important system files. However, for the tech savvy, it can be an aggravating obstacle.

Hence in case if you need to access, modify or delete system files or folder you need to take ownership first then assign rights or permission to respective users. Here is the step-by-step guide to help you take ownership and grant full control permissions to files & folder in Windows 8/7/Vista.

Updated: We just released the first version of TakeOwnershipPro, a freeware to take ownership and grant yourself full permission to access any files or folders in Windows.

How to Take Ownership & Grant Full Control Permissions to Files & Folder in Windows 8/7/Vista?

  1. In Windows Explorer, navigate and locate the file or folder which you want to take ownership and has full read/write/execute control access permission on.
  2. Right-click on the file or folder and select Properties from the context menu.
  3. On the File/Folder Properties dialog, go to Security tab and then click on Advanced button.

  4. In the Advanced Security Settings dialog, click on Owner tab, which will indicate the current owner as TrustedInstaller or some other user account.

  5. Click on the Edit button and select user from given Change Owner to list. If user or group is not in given list then click on Other users or groups. Enter name of user/group and Click OK.

  6. Click OK to exit from all Properties dialog boxes.
  7. Right-click on the file or folder and select Properties from the context menu to bring up the File/Folder Properties dialog again.
  8. Under Security tab, click on Edit button to change permissions.
  9. Highlight the user who wants the permissions on the object be changed in the Group or user names box.

  10. click on Full Control check box under the Permissions box to assign full read-write access control permissions to the user or group.
  11. Click OK to save your changes. The file or folder now belongs to you with full control permissions.

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

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How to Unlock A Laptop If You Forgot Your Password

January 23rd, 2013 by Admin

I just got a new laptop with Windows 7 on it and its really great. But, I went on a 2 month trip and forgot my password and I didn’t write it down either. Now I can’t even get pass the login screen to get into Windows! Please, can someone help me? I’d really appreciate it because I’ve tried everything I can think of.

Forgot the login password on your laptop? Your stupid annoying cousin has changed your password? Or something should have gotten mistyped while you was resetting your password and now you can’t log on your laptop? The most common method of unlocking a laptop is to boot up in Safe Mode by pressing F8 when the BIOS screen appears and log onto the built-in administrator account. Hopefully this account doesn’t have a password and it’s not disabled, but most of the time it does not.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to unlock a laptop if you forgot your Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password. No matter what situation you are in, you can always unlock/reset the forgotten password on your laptop by following the instructions below.

How to Unlock A Laptop If You Forgot Your Password?

  1. First, you will need to download the Reset Windows Password utility on another PC that you can access. This can be your work PC, or a friend or family member’s PC.
  2. Unzip the download file and you’ll get the ResetWindowsPwd.iso file. Just burn this bootable ISO image to a CD or USB flash drive using ISO2Disc software.
  3. Next, insert the CD or USB flash drive into your locked laptop and boot the laptop from it. If you don’t know how to set your laptop to boot from CD or USB drive, please refer to this guide: How to Boot A Computer from CD or USB Drive.
  4. The computer will load the mini operating system inside the CD or USB flash drive and open up the Reset Windows Password window as follow.Reset Windows Password
  5. Choose your desired Windows SAM registry hive from the drop-down list.
  6. Choose a user account and then click on Reset Password button. The program will remove your forgotten password and unlock/enable this user account instantly.
  7. Restart the computer and remove the CD or USB flash drive, you should then be able to log on your laptop without being asked to type a password.

It’s essential to have a copy of Reset Windows Password utility before something inevitably happens to your laptop. Especially when you forgot your password and need to use your laptop urgently, you can use it to unlock your laptop quickly and easily.

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

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Forgot Admin Password for Your Dell PC with Windows 8 Pre-installed in UEFI Boot Mode

January 17th, 2013 by Admin

I just bought my eleven year old daughter a Dell laptop with Windows 8 pre-installed. She changed the admin password, but didn’t write the new password down, and can’t remember what she changed it to. I have tried many Windows password reset bootdisk and can’t get it to boot up the laptop. How to recover or reset the forgotten password?

Can’t remember your Windows 8 administrator password and get locked of your Dell computer? How to reset a lost password on Dell laptop with UEFI BIOS? All new Windows 8 machines manufactured by Dell, HP, Microsoft, etc. will always ship with UEFI BIOS. UEFI is meant as a replacement for the legacy BIOS present in all Windows computers we used before. As a result, most Live CDs will fail to boot off UEFI-enabled computer.

In this tutorial we’ll explain the procedure of resetting forgotten administrator password on a Dell PC which comes with a Windows 8 pre-installed. Just create a Windows password reset CD or USB drive and you can then use it to remove Windows 8 password easily. Here I’ll use a Kingston USB flash drive to demonstrate the password recovery procedure on a Dell Inspiron 660 desktop computer.

Step 1: Create a Bootable Windows Password Reset USB Drive

First, downloaded the Zip archive of Reset Windows Password utility on to an alternative PC which you have full access. Right-click on the download file and then choose Extract All from the context menu. After extracting, you’ll find the ResetWindowsPwd.iso file. Just copy this file to a CD or USB and it won’t work! You need to burn it to USB flash drive using ISO2Disc tool.

Step 2: Boot Your Dell PC from Windows Password Reset USB Drive

If Windows 8 came pre-installed on your computer, it almost certainly boots in UEFI mode. To get your computer to boot from Windows password reset bootdisk, you’ll need to switch the boot mode from UEFI to Legacy and then disable the Secure Boot option.

Insert the Windows password reset USB drive into your Dell PC. Power on the computer and press the F12 key to bring up the Boot Menu when you see the initial screen displaying the BIOS provider information. If using other models of Dell computer, try to press F2 or Del key instead of the F12 key.

Use the arrow key to choose the BIOS Setup option. Under BIOS Setup Utility, move to the Boot tab and disable the Secure Boot Control option.

Next navigate down to the Boot Mode option. Press Enter key to switch the boot mode from UEFI to Legacy. Press F10 to save your changes.

Once your computer restarts, press F12 to bring up the Boot Menu again. This time you’ll see your USB flash drive show up in the boot list.

Just choose the USB flash drive and press Enter. The computer will boot off the USB flash drive immediately.

Step 3: Reset Forgotten Windows 8 Administrator Password

After you’ve booted from the Windows password reset USB drive, the Reset Windows Password program will launch automatically. The program will also display a list of user accounts existing in your Windows SAM registry hive. If you’re using a dual/multi-boot computer, just select the one for your Windows 8 installation.

Next choose the administrator account and click Reset Password button. It will remove/unlock your forgotten administrator password immediately. Restart your Dell computer and remember to go back into the BIOS and switch the boot mode back to UEFI, then your computer will boot normally from Windows 8 and you can log in to the administrator account with a blank password. It’s that simple.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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Can Log in to Windows with Fingerprint But Forgot Administrator Password

January 9th, 2013 by Admin

I forgot my new password to my only account on my new Windows 7 laptop. Luckily, the laptop has a fingerprint reader, and I am able to log in that way. Is there a way to manually reset it without losing all my data or doing too much work? Thanks.

Most modern laptops are equipped with a biometric fingerprint scanner, which you can use to log in to your Windows machine in the place of a password. But if you login with fingerprint all the time, there is a great possibility that you will probably forget the administrator password. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 options to reset forgotten Windows administrator password when you are in such a situation.

Option 1: Take Advantage of Fingerprint Logon

If you can still log in to Windows with fingerprint and the fingerprint logon is associated with a administrative account, you can open Control Panel -> User Accounts, and pick the administrator user account to change/remove its password. But for some security reasons you may be prompted to enter the current administrator password to proceed. In this case, you can try another alternative trick: create a new user account with admin privileges in Control Panel, and then log out of the computer. After logging in using the new user account, you can head over to the Control Panel and reset your forgotten administrator password easily.

Option 2: Reset Administrator Password with 3rd Party Software

If you still can’t reset forgotten administrator password using the trick above, or your fingerprint sensor stops working, here is a guaranteed way for you to reset/remove your Windows administrator password. Just follow this simple steps:

  1. First, you will need to download and install Password Recovery Bundle on any PC that you can access. This can be your work PC, or a friend or family member’s PC.
  2. Launch Password Recovery Bundle and click on Windows Password button, the pop-up dialog allows you to create a bootable password reset CD/USB.
  3. Next, insert the password reset CD/USB into your locked computer and boot the computer from it. If you don’t know how to set your computer to boot from CD or USB drive, please check out this guide: How to Boot A Computer from CD or USB Drive.
  4. The computer will load the mini operating system inside the password reset disc and open up the Reset Windows Password window as follow.Reset Windows Password
  5. Choose the administrator account and then click on Reset Password button. The program will remove your forgotten administrator password immediately.

Restart the computer and remove the password reset CD/USB, you should then be able to log in to your Windows administrator account with a blank password. The method works on Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP.

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

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