Posts Tagged ‘UEFI’

How to Reset Forgotten Windows 8/7/Vista/XP User Password

July 2nd, 2013 by Admin

Forgot your Windows user password? How can I reset it? Sometimes we forget our Windows administrator password which leads to chaos as we cannot even change any system settings or install any software for the user account, but luckily there’s a really easy way to reset the password. All you need is a bootable USB stick and you can reset forgotten Windows 8/7/Vista/XP user password immediately.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows 8/7/Vista/XP User Password?

First, download the zipped ISO image of PCUnlocker on an alternate PC you have access to. After unzipping the download file you’ll find a bootable ISO image file: pcunlocker.iso, which needs to be burned onto a USB stick.

Download and install the free ISO burning software ISO2Disc on your computer, and then launch ISO2Disc program. Click on Browse button to select the ISO image file you’ve gotten, then choose your USB stick and select GPT partition style. Click on Burn. The program will create a GPT bootable password reset USB stick, which could be used to reset password on any computers, including UEFI-based Windows 8 tablet PCs.

Plug the USB stick into your locked computer that you want to reset the Windows user password for. Just turn on the machine and press a key like F12 to bring up the Boot Menu. The exact key depends on your computer.

Choose your USB stick from the Boot Menu and press Enter. The computer will load the WinPE operating system from the USB stick. After a while, you’ll see the PCUnlocker program open up, which shows you a list of user accounts for your Windows system.

Select a user account and then click on Reset Password button. It will reset your lost Windows user password instantly. Unplug the USB stick and restart the machine, you can then log back into your Windows user account without a password!

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

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How to Know If Your Computer Supports UEFI

July 1st, 2013 by Admin

One of the largest underlying changes to Windows 8 is the long-overdue shift from BIOS to UEFI. Secure Boot is one of the new features introduced by UEFI and it has received by far the most attention, as it prevents Linux distributions from being installed on Windows 8 machines. In this article we’re going to tell you a few methods to know if your computer supports UEFI.

The simple way to tell if you have UEFI boot mode or not is to watch Windows starting up. If you see the Windows logo when it boots, you are in old fashioned BIOS boot mode. However if you see your manufacturer or custom BIOS logo remaining whilst Windows starts you are in UEFI mode! In my Windows 8 Dell computer which comes with UEFI BIOS, every time I turn on the machine, it will display a Dell logo with the looping circles at the bottom.

dell-boot-screen

Another method is to use the MSInfo command. Press Windows + R key combination to bring up the Run box in Windows 8. Type the “MSInfo” command and press Enter. It will display all your system information and hardware configuration in detail. From the System Information window, you’ll see BIOS Mode listed as UEFI if your computer supports UEFI.

msinfo

If you’re still uncertain if your computer comes with UEFI BIOS, you can check out the Secure Boot option by booting your computer into BIOS. Try to go through all your BIOS settings to look for an option such as “Secure Boot”, “Secure Boot Control”, “Attempt Secure Boot”, etc. If you can find that option, your computer is using the latest UEFI BIOS.

How to Know If Your UEFI is 32-bit or 64-bit?

If your UEFI computer comes with Windows 8 64-bit pre-installed, it uses 64-bit UEFI firmware. If your UEFI computer comes with Windows 8 32-bit pre-installed, it uses 32-bit UEFI firmware.

While in UEFI mode, the Windows version must match the PC architecture. A 64-bit UEFI PC can only boot 64-bit versions of Windows. A 32-bit PC can only boot 32-bit versions of Windows. If you want to run a 32-bit Windows on a 64-bit UEFI PC, you need to change the boot mode from UEFI to Legacy/CSM and disable the Secure Boot option in BIOS. However, not all UEFI computers provide with the compatibility support module (CSM) that enables UEFI firmware to emulate a legacy BIOS.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks

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