Archive for the ‘Others’ category

2 Ways to Recover BitLocker Recovery Key for Surface Pro

November 3rd, 2016 by Admin

Surface Pro keeps asking you for BitLocker recovery key at startup? If you’re locked out of the tablet, there is no way to backup your files even if you boot it from Linux/WinPE bootable media, because Surface Pro has BitLocker encryption turned on by default. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 ways to find, retrieve and recover the BitLocker recovery key for Surface Pro tablet.

Method 1: Recover Surface Pro BitLocker Recovery Key from Command Prompt

If you can still log on to your Surface Pro tablet as administrator, you can find and recover BitLocker recovery key easily, by using the Command Prompt. Here’s how:

  1. Press the Windows key + X to open the Power User menu. Select “Command Prompt (Admin)“.
  2. At the Command Prompt, type the following command and press Enter.
    manage-bde -protectors C: -get

    recover-bitlocker-recovery-key-from-cmd

  3. You’ll see the output screen similar to the picture above. The 48-digit password is the BitLocker recovery key that was used to encrypt your hard drive. Write it down on a piece of paper that you keep somewhere safe, or store in an external USB flash drive.

Method 2: Recover Surface Pro BitLocker Recovery Key from Microsoft Account

When you’re locked out of Surface Pro, you still have chance to recover the BitLocker recovery key from Microsoft account. The first time you log into Surface Pro with Microsoft account, the BitLocker recovery key is automatically uploaded to iCould. Here’s how to find it:

  1. Using a working PC or phone connected to the Internet, open the the Microsoft OneDrive Recovery Key page and sign in with the same Microsoft account you used on your Surface Pro.
  2. After logging into your online Microsoft account, you’ll see the actual key ID and long BitLocker recovery key number. You can either write the key down or print it out to a piece of paper.

    onedrive-bitlocker-recovery-key

If your Surface Pro is displaying a BitLocker recovery screen each time it boots but you’re still unable to find the recovery key, you might have to reset Windows to factory defaults. You’ll be able to use your tablet again, but you’ll lose all the files stored on it.

How to Disable Any Shortcut Keys in Windows 10 / 8 /7

October 31st, 2016 by Admin

Is there a way to disable certain keyboard shortcuts in Windows? Sometimes or even frequently you might press a hotkey accidentally that can disrupt your productivity. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use the freeware AutoHotkey to disable any certain global hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts) in Windows 10 / 8 / 7.

How to Disable Any Shortcut Keys in Windows 10 / 8 /7?

In this example, we’ll demonstrate how to disable the [Windows] + [+] hotkey in Windows 10. Just make a few changes with the AutoHotkey script and you can disable other keyboard shortcuts as well.

  1. AutoHotkey is a free, open-source automation and scripting tool for Windows platform. Go to AutoHotkey’s website and download the installer.
  2. After the download is complete, double-click the installer. When you’re asked to choose the installation type, select Express Installation.

    autohotkey-install-type

  3. When the installation is complete, click Exit. Now it’s time to create your first script.

    complete-install-autohotkey

  4. Right-click any empty space on your desktop (or any directory), and then select New -> AutoHotkey Script from the context menu.

    new-autohotkey-script

  5. Name the script file whatever you like, then open it up with your favorite text editor or NotePad.

    edit-autohotkey-script

  6. Place your cursor at the end of the last sentence and press Enter. Copy and paste the following line which tells AutoHotkey to disable the [Windows] + [=] / [+] shortcut key.
    #=::Return

    disable-windows-plus-hotkey

    In this case, the # symbol represents the Windows key. Here’s an example script to disable Alt + Tab, Windows + Tab, Left/Right Windows key:

    ; Disable Alt+Tab
    !Tab::Return

    ; Disable Windows Key + Tab
    #Tab::Return

    ; Disable Left Windows Key
    LWin::Return

    ; Disable Right Windows Key
    RWin::Return

  7. Save the script file. Right-click on it and select Run Script. Now press the [Windows] + [+] keyboard shortcut and you’ll find nothing happen. This way allows you to temporarily disable your desire shortcut keys by running the script manually.

    run-autohotkey-script

If you want to permanently disable the shortcut key, you can create a scheduled task to run your AutoHotkey script when your PC starts up.

3 Ways to Turn Off / Disable Magnifier in Windows 10

October 31st, 2016 by Admin

Accidentally activate the Magnifier that disrupts your work? Look for a way to prevent the Magnifier from starting up automatically at every startup?

windows-magnifier

When you press the (Win & +, Win & ) keyboard shortcuts, it will open the Magnifier immediately and you then have to press the Win & ESC keys to close it. In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 ways to turn off or disable Magnifier permanently in Windows 10.

Method 1: Stop Magnifier Loading Up When Windows 10 Starts

If the Magnifier starts up automatically every time you turn on the computer, you can turn off Magnifier from Control Panel and get it to stop loading up at the boot time.

  1. Open the Control Panel in Windows 10, select Large icons or Small icons from the View by menu. Click Ease of Access Center.

    ease-of-access-center

  2. In the “Explorer all settings” section, click the “Make the computer easier to see” link.

    make-pc-easier-to-see

  3. Scroll down until you find a section that says “Make things on the screen larger”. Uncheck the box next to “Turn on Magnifier” and click OK.

    turn-off-magnifier

Method 2: Disable Windows 10 Magnifier Permanently

Even if you’ve turned off Magnifier at startup, the Magnifier can also be activated if you press the (Win & +, Win & ) keyboard shortcuts mistakenly. Then you can consider disabling Windows 10 Magnifier permanently. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Command Prompt in Administrator mode. This can be done in Windows 10 by pressing the Win + X keys and selecting “Command Prompt (Admin)“.

    winx

  2. Run the following two commands to change the ownership of the Magnify.exe app and grant full permissions to Administrators. Without this step you’re unable to rename or make any change to the Magnify.exe file.
    takeown /f C:\Windows\System32\Magnify.exe
    cacls C:\Windows\System32\Magnify.exe /G administrators:F

    change-magnify-ownership

  3. Open your File Explorer and go to your system directory: C:\Windows\System32. locate the Magnify.exe file. Right-click on it and rename the filename to Magnify.exe.bak.

    rename-magnify

  4. Now when you press the (Win & +/) shortcut keys, the Magnifier application will not start any longer.

Method 3: Disable Keyboard Shortcut for Activating Magnifier

AutoHotkey is a free macro-creation and automation-oriented scripting utility for Windows. Just create a simple script and you can disable the keyboard shortcut (Win & +) which can activate Magnifier accidentally. To get started, please check out the next post: How to Disable Any Shortcut Keys in Windows 10 / 8 /7

6 Ways to Open On-Screen Keyboard in Windows 10

October 28th, 2016 by Admin

On-Screen Keyboard is a virtual keyboard that can be used in place of a physical keyboard. You can use your mouse or other pointing device to type the keys. In this tutorial we’ll show you 6 ways to turn on / open On-Screen Keyboard in Windows 10.

on-screen-keyboard

Method 1: Open On-Screen Keyboard from Control Panel

Open the Control Panel and select either Large icons or Small icons in the View by menu. Click Ease of Access Center.

ease-of-access-center

Click Start On-Screen Keyboard.

start-on-screen-keyboard

Method 2: Open On-Screen Keyboard from Run or Command Prompt

Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box, or open the Command Prompt. Type osk and hit Enter. This will open the On-Screen Keyboard immediately.

run-osk

Method 3: Open On-Screen Keyboard from PC Settings

Press the Windows key + I to open the PC Settings app. Click Ease of Access.

ease-of-access-settings

In the left sidebar, select the Keyboard option. Under On-Screen Keyboard on the right side, move the slider to the right to turn it on. This will launch On-Screen Keyboard immediately. After closing it, the slider will be automatically put back to Off.

turn-on-onscreen-keyboard

Method 4: Open On-Screen Keyboard via Cortana Search

Click the Cortana Search box on the taskbar, type osk and then click the “On-Screen Keyboard” desktop app to launch it.

search-on-screen-keyboard

Method 5: Open On-Screen Keyboard from Start Menu

Click the Start button. From the Start Menu, expand the Windows Ease of Access folder and you can access On-Screen Keyboard.

on-screen-keyboard-in-start-menu

Method 6: Open On-Screen Keyboard from Login Screen

At Windows 10 login screen, click the Ease of Access icon at the bottom-left corner. From the popup menu, you can select On-Screen Keyboard, and then use it to type your Windows password.

on-screen-keyboard-at-login

Prevent Windows 10 Users from Changing or Adding Password in PC Settings

October 26th, 2016 by Admin

How to stop a user from changing their password? Look for a way to disable admin’s ability to change password? In this tutorial we’ll show you how to prevent both administrators and standard users from changing or adding Windows 10 password in PC Settings.

Note: Users can still open an elevated Command Prompt to change Windows password. To prevent changing a password from Command Prompt, you have to disable Command Prompt completely.

How to Prevent Windows 10 Users from Changing or Adding Password in PC Settings?

  1. To get started, you need to open up the Computer Management console. This can be done by pressing the Windows key + R and type compmgmt.msc in the Run box.

    compmgmt

  2. Expand the Local Users and Groups category in the left pane. Click on the Users folder and you will see a list of Windows accounts on your computer in the right pane.
  3. Right-click on the account that you wish to deny permission to change their password, and select Properties from the drop-down menu.

    account-properties

  4. Uncheck the checkbox labeled User cannot change password. Click Apply and then OK.

    user-cannot-change-password

    If your selected user is an administrator, you’ll received the error message “This operation is disallowed as it could result in an administration account being disabled, deleted or unable to logon.

    disallow-saving-account-properties

    To get around this issue, you can change that administrator account to a standard/limited user, then follow the steps above to apply the “User cannot change password” option. When it’s done, change the account back to administrator.

  5. Now log off and log on to your selected account, open the PC Settings, select Accounts -> Sign-in options and you’ll find the option of changing or adding password is greyed out.

    prevent-users-change-password

How to Disable or Turn Off Notification Sounds in Windows 10

October 25th, 2016 by Admin

Keep hearing the annoying notification sound? Windows 10 notification sounds might drive you crazy. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to disable or turn off notification sounds in Windows 10.

Method 1: Turn Off Windows 10 Notification Sounds from Settings App

  1. Click the Start button and then click the Settings icon, or press Windows key + I to open the Settings app.

  2. On the main settings screen, click System.

    system-settings

  3. On the left side of the window, click on Notifications & actions. Then, on the right side, scroll down to the “Get notifications from these senders” section, and click on the app that you want to block from playing notification sound.

    notifications-actions

  4. Turn off the option named “Play a sound when a notification arrives“. Repeat these steps and you can disable notification sounds from other apps.

    not-play-sound-for-notification

Method 2: Turn Off Windows 10 Notification Sounds from Control Panel

  1. Open the Control Panel in Large or Small icons view. Click the Sound option.

    control-panel

  2. When the Sound Settings dialog opens, click the Sounds tab.
  3. Select the Notification option under the Program Events section. Click the Sounds drop-down list at the bottom and select None. Click OK to save your change.

    sound-settings

  4. Now your Windows 10 system will still be able to receive all the notifications, but it won’t play sounds any longer.

How to Export and Copy Local Group Policy Settings to Another PC

October 14th, 2016 by Admin

“I am editing local group policies here and would prefer not to edit each machine manually. How do I export the policy, and then import it to other machines? Please help!”

LGPO.exe (Local Group Policy Object Utility) is a small command-line utility released by Microsoft, which allows you to export and import local group policy easily. It’s really convenient if you want to make a backup of local group policy, or import it later on another computer.

This tutorial shows you how to use Microsoft’s command line tool LGPO to export / backup local group policy settings, and import them into another computer.

Download LGPO from Microsoft

Download the LGPO zip archive from Microsoft’s website. Unpack it locally and copy the resulting LGPO.exe file to C:\Windows\System32. Afterwards you can open an elevated Command Prompt for running the LGPO command to automate the management of local group policy.

LGPO

Export Local Group Policy Settings

To create a backup for local policy policy settings on your local PC, run this command at Command Prompt:
LGPO.exe /b backup_path

backup-local-group-policy-via-cmd

A new folder with GPO GUID appears in the target directory. It will contain all local policy settings for this computer. You can restore this backup to your local machine at any time you need it, or import it later into another computer.

group-policy-backup

Import GPO into Another PC

To restore Local Group Policy settings from the backup, import them by running the following command:
LGPO.exe /g backup_path

import-group-policy-via-cmd

Once imported, restart your computer for the local group policy settings to take effect.

Conclusion

This method can help you easily deploy local group policy settings to other computers. As we all know, the Local Group Policy Editor is not present in Windows Home edition so you’re unable to edit the group policy locally. The LGPO utility makes it possible to copy the group policy settings from Windows Pro/Enterprise to Windows Home.

Fix: Sound Icon Missing from Taskbar in Windows 10

October 13th, 2016 by Admin

The sound / volume icon is missing from the taskbar….how do you get it back? With the sound icon disappeared, it’s extremely inconvenient to adjust the sound volume on your PC. In this tutorial we’ll show you 3 ways to fix the issue: sound icon missing from taskbar in Windows 10.

sound-icon-at-taskbar

Method 1: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon from Settings

  1. Open Settings app by clicking its icon in Start menu or pressing Windows logo + I hotkey.

  2. Click on Personalization.

    personalization

  3. Select Taskbar from the left-hand navigation, then click the Turn system icons on or off link.

    taskbar-settings

  4. Make sure that the Volume is set to On.

    turn-volume-system-icon-on

    If it’s greyed out, you need to turn on Windows 10 Sound Icon using the following group policy or registry hack.

Method 2: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon Using Group Policy

  1. Press Windows Key + R and enter gpedit.msc. Press OK to open Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. In the left pane navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. In the right pane locate “Remove the volume control icon” and double-click it.

    remove-volume-control-icon

  3. Make sure that Not Configured or Disabled option is selected. Click Apply and then OK.

    enable-volume-icon

    Restore your computer and the sound icon should be back at Windows 10 taskbar.

Method 3: Restore Windows 10 Sound Icon Using Registry Editor

If Local Group Policy Editor is not available in your PC, try this registry hack to restore the sound icon in Windows 10. Follow these steps:

  1. Press Windows Key + R and enter regedit. Press OK to launch Registry Editor.
  2. In the left pane, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
  3. On the right-side, look for the HideSCAVolume entry, double-click on it, change value date to 0 and then click OK.

    HideSCAVolume

  4. Restart your computer and you should see the Volume / Sound icon at the taskbar in Windows 10.

Reset Windows 10 Password for HP Spectre x360 Laptop

October 12th, 2016 by Admin

Forgot Windows 10 password on your HP Spectre x360 laptop? How can you unlock the computer without a factory reset? If you don’t know how to reset Windows 10 forgotten password, then you’re at very right post. The following is a complete guide on how to reset lost Windows 10 password for HP Spectre x360 laptop when you get locked out.

Part 1: Create a Bootable USB Drive

When you’re locked out of HP Spectre x360 laptop, you need to use another PC for creating a bootable USB drive. Begin by download the PCUnlocker Enterprise (trial version), and then extract the ISO file from the downloaded file (in .zip format).

Download and install the free USB creator software ISO2Disc. Launch ISO2Disc and select the PCUnlocker ISO file you’ve extracted. Select the “GPT (required for UEFI boot)” option and click Start Burn.

Part 2: Boot HP Spectre x360 with USB

Insert the bootable USB drive into your HP Spectre x360 laptop. While turning on the machine, quickly and repeatedly press a key (might be F9 or ESC + F9) to access the Boot Options. Select your USB drive and let your laptop boot from it.

If you still couldn’t access the Boot Options, you can press F10 key to enter into BIOS and change the boot order to USB. Additionally, you can also access BIOS/UEFI from Windows 10 login screen: 2 Options to Access UEFI BIOS Setup in Windows 8 / 10

Part 3: Reset Windows 10 Password

Once the laptop successfully boots from USB drive, you’ll see the PCUnlocker program and it lists all user accounts detected in your Windows 10 SAM file. Select a user and click on “Reset Password” button.

A pop-up window will appear, asking to confirm you are ready to reset the password. Click Yes. Reboot your laptop and unplug the USB drive. You can then log on to your HP Spectre x360 laptop without a password!