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How to Start Windows in Safe Mode

November 28th, 2012 by Admin

Safe Mode is a special boot mode available in all versions of Windows, which is mainly used for troubleshooting purposes. Many times when you can’t boot into Windows because of a virus infection, a faulty software or driver installation, you can boot into Safe Mode and fix the problem.

While in Safe Mode, only basic files and drivers absolutely necessary to run the operating system are loaded. Graphic drivers are among the dispensable ones and do not load, hence Safe Mode looks rather bleak. However, because just the essential programs and files are loaded in Safe Mode, this allows us to remove some spyware, hardware, viruses and such that cannot be removed in Normal Mode.

This article explains how to start Windows in Safe Mode. Note that you will need an Administrator account in order to log into Safe Mode. If you forgot the administrator password, please reset the password first using Reset Windows Password utility.

How to Start Windows in Safe Mode?

  1. Restart or turn on the computer.
  2. Press and hold the F8 key while you wait for the Windows logo to appear. If the Windows logo appears or if the operating system begins to load, you may need to restart the computer and try again.
  3. The Advanced Boot Options screen for Windows will appear. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select Safe Mode, and press Enter key.

  4. Windows will boot into Safe Mode. When the desktop appears, it will display ‘Safe Mode’ in all four corners to let you know that you’re in this special mode.

After booting into Safe Mode, you can scan your system with antivirus, uninstall faulty software or driver which you’ve installed recently so you’ll be able to boot into Windows normally without any problem.

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How to Encrypt Your Files with EFS in Windows

November 20th, 2012 by Admin

EFS (Encrypting File System) is a built-in component of the NTFS file system, which comes with all professional versions of Windows since Windows 2000. Using EFS, you can encrypt files and folders so that only authorized logged-on users can view the data. If someone else logs in with unauthorized users, or boots from a Windows PE or Linux CD, or removes the hard drive, the files remain encrypted and they are inaccessible.

To use EFS, you simply change the property of a folder and enable encryption. Once a folder is encrypted with EFS, all the files you create within that folder or move into that folder are automatically encrypted.

How to Encrypt Your Files with EFS in Windows?

Select one or multiple files and folders in Windows Explorer, right-click the selection afterwards and select Properties from the context menu.

Click on Advanced button from the Properties window.

Tick the Encrypt contents to secure data checkbox on the new window, and click OK.

If you have selected at least one folder, you will be asked if you only want to encrypt the root files of that folder, or files in sub-folders as well.

The files and folder in question are then displayed in green in Windows Explorer. Congratulations, you have just encrypted your first files or folders with EFS.

Note: If the original EFS certificate is lost or corrupted in your system, you’ll lose access to your EFS encrypted files. It is important to backup your EFS certificate in a safe location.

Conclusion

Because it is already included in a typical Windows installation, EFS is the quickest way to encrypt your files if you’re already using Windows. There’s nothing to download or install and encrypting a folder can be done with just a few clicks. Unless you really have very sensitive information that requires a very strong encryption solution, EFS should suffice.

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

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Set Time Interval to Automatically Check Mail in Outlook 2010

November 7th, 2012 by Admin

Microsoft Outlook 2010 has option to automatically send or receive emails at a specified time interval. By default, the time interval is 30 minutes in Outlook 2010. If you need to keep up with your emails, you might want Outlook to check for new messages every few minutes. Here we’ll show you how to set the time interval to automatically check mail in Outlook 2010.

Tips: If you lost or forgot email account password set up in Outlook 2010, you can reveal the saved email password using Outlook Password Recovery program.

How to Set Time Interval to Automatically Check Mail in Outlook 2010?

In Outlook 2010, click on the File tab then click Options to bring up the Outlook Options window.

Navigate to Advanced tab and scrolled down to Send and receive section. Then click on the Send/Receive button.

In the Send/Receive Groups window, select the group named All Accounts. From bottom of the dialog, there is a list of send/receive options for selected group. If you want to remove any selected group from sending and receiving items, disable the first option. From Schedule an automatic send/receive, enter the desired time interval after which it will automatically schedule send/receive mail.

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How to Enable GodMode in Windows 8/7

October 31st, 2012 by Admin

GodMode is actually a hidden (or, at least it used to be hidden) developer shortcut in Windows 8/7 that provides more direct access to features and functions of the operating system. To be clear, GodMode doesn’t add functionality. But it helps administrators work more efficiently by collecting all these tweaks and controls in one place.

To access the special capabilities of the GodMode folder, create a new folder anywhere on your Windows 8/7 computer and name it:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Once renamed, the icon will change to a control panel looking icon, and when opened you will be presented with a plethora of different tweaking options.

On my Windows 7 Professional machine, I was shown nearly 50 sections with quick links to configuration options. I find placing this GodMode icon in my desktop very helpful. Whenever I need to open options like network and sharing,printers etc, it makes it very easy to find all this icons placed inside one icon rather than going for the control panel.

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Backup and Restore Saved Passwords in Windows Vault

October 24th, 2012 by Admin

Windows 7 includes a new feature called Windows Vault, which is actually a new name for Stored User Names and Passwords in Windows Vista/XP. Whenever you access a file share on another machine, map a drive to a remote server, or connect to a Windows domain, you will be prompted to provide a username and password as shown below.

If you select the “Remember my credentials” checkbox, it will store the credentials in Windows Vault. Next time, when you connect to the same resource, your saved credentials will be used automatically, and you will not be prompted for credentials. This can be a great time-saving feature if you need to access the same resource frequently.

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to backup and restore the save passwords in Windows Vault. You can access the Windows Vault through the Credential Manager. The easiest way is by just typing “Credential Manager” in the Windows 7 Start Menu search prompt. You can also access the Credential Manager through the Control Panel.

How to Backup Saved Passwords in Windows Vault?

  1. Click on the Back up vault link in the Credential Manager. This will bring up the Stored User Names and Passwords wizard.
  2. Select a file location to backup the stored logon credentials on your computer. Click Next.
  3. In next window, you will be asked to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete on your keyboard.
  4. Enter a new password to protect the backup file. Confirm the password and click Next.
  5. Your screen will turn black. Click Finish to complete the backup wizard.

How to Restore Windows Vault Passwords?

  1. Click on the Restore vault link in the Credential Manager. This will bring up the Stored User Names and Passwords wizard.
  2. Select your credential backup file which you have created previously. Click Next.
  3. You are asked to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete in order to continue.
  4. Type the password for your password-protected credential backup file. Click Next.
  5. Your Windows credentials have been restored. Click Finish.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 7

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How to Copy and Paste Files Across Remote Desktop

October 23rd, 2012 by Admin

There are occasions when you need to copy or transfer files between your local and remote computers via remote desktop. However the copy and paste generally doesn’t work. The well-known solution is to enable drive mapping in remote desktop, so you can access your local drive from the remote computer. But it will expose your personal local drive to that computer, which can also lead to virus attack.

Actually, you can make the copy and paste function work by starting the Rdpclip utility. Rdpclip (remote desktop clipboard) is responsible for providing copy/paste functionality over a remote desktop connection, which is available in all versions of Windows. To regain the copy and paste function, you’ll need to manually restart the Rdpclip.exe utility.

How to Copy and Paste Files Across Remote Desktop?

  1. Click Start, type mstsc in the Run box to start up a remote desktop connection dialog.
  2. Then expand the dialog by clicking on Options, then check the Local Resources tab.
  3. Make sure the Clipboard is checked, so the Rdpclip utility will be automatically started in your remote computer after setting up a remote desktop connection.
  4. The next step is to launch the Rdpclip utility on your local computer. Just click Start menu, type rdpclip in the Run box, press Enter key. The program will run in the background.
  5. Now you should be able to copy and paste files from your local computer to a remote desktop session, drag and drop files from the remote desktop machine to your local machine.

If the copy and paste function still does not work or stops working all of a sudden, you may need to kill the Rdpclip process and start it again.

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

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How to Locate and Encrypt PST File in Outlook 2010

October 12th, 2012 by Admin

Microsoft Outlook 2010 stores your email in a .pst file. The PST file format is also be known as a Personal Folder File. Outlook uses this file format to store your data including emails, contacts, calendars, email account settings, etc. When you install Outlook 2010 and set up an email account, Outlook creates the .pst file for that account in a specific folder on your computer’s hard drive. In this tutorial we’re going to show you how to locate and encrypt .pst file with a password in Microsoft Outlook 2010.

The Quickest Way to Locate PST File in Outlook 2010:

  1. Launch Microsoft Outlook 2010.
  2. Right-click on the Data Store for your email account on the left panel in Outlook 2010 and select Open File Location.
  3. It will quickly locate the .pst file in Windows Explorer.

How to Encrypt PST File in Outlook 2010?

  1. Launch Microsoft Outlook 2010.
  2. Right-click on the Data Store for your email account on the left panel in Outlook 2010 and select Data File Properties.
  3. This will bring up the Properties window. Click on the Advanced button.
  4. Click on the Change Password button on the Outlook Data File window.
  5. Set a new password for your .pst file. If the .pst file is already protected with a password, you also need to enter the old password. Click OK.

After setting up a password to encrypt the .pst file, you need to enter the password to access all your data in Outlook every time you launch Microsoft Outlook application. MS Outlook users often encrypt PST file to ensure their confidential data are not accessed by unauthorized users. But sometimes when you lost your pst file password then you need to use Outlook Password Recovery program to recover lost password.

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How to Install Windows 8 on a Virtual Hard Drive for Dual Booting

October 8th, 2012 by Admin

In my previous blog post, Dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows 8, I showed you how to configure your Windows 7/Vista system to dual-boot Windows 8 from a new partition on your existing Windows 7 hard disk. Here I’ll show you how to install Windows 8 on a virtual hard drive (VHD) for dual booting. No need to shrink your existing partition or repartition your hard drive.

How to Install Windows 8 on A Virtual Hard Drive for Dual Booting?

The first step is to create a virtual hard drive on your Windows 7 system. Microsoft recommends a minimum of 20 GB for Windows 8 64-bit. I suggest setting the VHD disk size to at least 30 GB so you have disk space for apps. If you don’t know how to create one, please refer to this step-by-step guide: How to Create a Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) in Windows 8/7.

Next, reboot your computer and boot up with a Windows 8 DVD or USB flash drive. After a few minutes, you’ll see the Windows Setup screen. Specify your language settings before clicking Next.

You’ll see the Windows Setup screen shown as follow. Click the Install Now button.

When you see the next Windows Setup screen, you will immediately press Shift +F10 to open the Command Prompt.

The virtual hard drive that you created earlier needs to be attached so you can select the VHD as the install destination. Once the command prompt is open, run the following:
diskpart
select vdisk file=c:\VHDs\Windows8RP.vhd
attach vdisk

Replace c:\VHDs\Windows8RP.vhd with the full path to the VHD file you created. The drive letter may be different from what you see in Windows 7. You can use the dir command to confirm the VHD file path.

Once you are done, you can type exit to leave the Diskpart environment and then click the Close button the close the Administrator Command Prompt window. When you return to the Windows Setup screen, you select the Custom option.

Windows Setup will prompt you to choose the location to which you want to install Windows 8 and you can now select your VHD. Keep in mind that when you select the VHD, you’ll see a warning message that says that Windows cannot be installed to this disk. Just ignore it as the procedure does indeed function correctly.

As soon as you click Next, the installation will begin. When the installation is complete, Windows Setup will reboot your system and you will then see the new Windows 8 style dual boot screen. Done!

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How to Create a Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) in Windows 11/10/8/7

October 8th, 2012 by Admin

Have you ever wished you had an extra hard drive or partition to setup a dual-boot or multi-boot operating system? You can shrink your existing partition to create a new partition but it always carries some risk of data loss. Beginning with Windows 7, you can create a virtual hard drive (VHD) which acts as a separate hard drive in your computer.

The virtual hard drive (VHD) is stored as a .vhd or .vhdx file on your physical disk. By mounting a virtual hard drive, you can easily copy files to and from the virtual disk. Additionally, Windows 11/10/8/7 can be configured to boot from a VHD. In this tutorial we’ll go through the steps of creating a virtual hard drive (VHD) in Windows 11/10/8/7.

How to Create a Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) in Windows 11/10/8/7?

  1. Press the Windows + R key combination to bring up a Run box, type compmgmt.msc and hit Enter.

  2. The Computer Management dialog opens, click Disk Management in the left pane of the window and wait until you see all currently installed disks in the right pane.
  3. Right-click Disk Management and then select Create VHD.

  4. Click Browse to choose the location where you want your VHD stored, and give it a descriptive name. Choose the size you want it to be, and select dynamic or a fixed. If you want the disk to expand in size as you add files to it, then pick Dynamically expanding. Check Fixed size if you want a specific size and for it to stay that way. Click OK.

  5. You will see the virtual hard drive listed as unallocated space in Disk Management. Right click on the virtual hard drive (Disk 1) and select Initialize Disk.

  6. Press OK in the Initialize Disk box.

  7. Now it is time to create a volume by right-clicking the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.

  8. The New Simple Volume Wizard starts up and just press Next until the wizard is complete.

  9. Now the new virtual disk is ready to be used, just like any other disk. You can see the virtual hard drive on your computer.

    Windows will automatically dismount the virtual hard drive after a restart. You can also manually dismount the drive by right-clicking it in File Explorer and selecting Eject.

  10. Whenever you need to mount a vhd/vhdx file as a virtual hard disk, just right-click it in File Explorer and choose Mount.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 7, Windows 8

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How to Dual Boot Windows 8 and Windows 7

October 7th, 2012 by Admin

Want to install Windows 8 and explore the new features but don’t want to overwrite your current Windows setup? You can easily create a dual boot setup of Windows 8 along with your current Windows 7 or Vista system.

Note: Since the boot manager of Windows 7/Vista is not well compatible with Windows 8, please make sure that you install 7/Vista before installing Windows 8. If you install Windows 8 first and then install the old versions of Windows, the Windows 8 boot menu will be lost in the dual-boot menu and you won’t be able to boot into Windows 8 anymore.

How to Dual Boot Windows 8 and Windows 7?

Follow this guide to configure your Windows 7 or Vista system to dual-boot Windows 8. The whole procedure can be divided into 3 steps: Create a new partition, Install Windows 8 and optionally set default boot operating system.

Step 1: Create A New Partition

You need to create a new partition of at least 16GB ( 20GB for 64-bit Windows 8 ) for your Windows 8 installation. If there is already a free partition up to the requirement, just skip this step. Otherwise you need to shrink the existing partition to create unallocated disk space, from which you create a new partition during the installation of Windows 8.

  1. Open the Start Menu and right click on the Computer option. Click Manage, and in the window that appears, click on Disk Management in the left sidebar.
  2. Right-click the volume you want to shrink, and then click Shrink Volume.
  3. Shrink it down so you have at least 16GB of space left on the end of the drive, and click OK.

Step 2: Install Windows 8

Create a Windows 8 installation disk, boot from it and start the Windows 8 setup. Follow this step-by-step guide: How To Install Windows 8 from USB Flash Drive.

For a dual-boot setup, the steps are the same as in that guide. The only difference is that when you are asked to select where to install Windows 8, select the partition that you created and make sure you don’t select the partitions where other operating systems are installed.

Step 3: Set Default Boot Operating System

When the installation is complete, Windows Setup will reboot your system and you will then see the new Windows 8 style dual boot screen shown as follow.

As you can see, Windows 8 is set as your default boot operating system.If you plan to use it as a secondary operating system and change the default boot operating system, you can click the Change defaults or choose other options at the bottom of the boot screen.

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