Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

How to Get Around Windows Password to Log on Your Computer

October 17th, 2012 by Admin

How to get around Windows password when you forgot it? It seems to be extremely difficult if you don’t have the right tools. Here I would recommend Reset Windows Password utility, which enables you to get around Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password easily. The process can be undertaken with a basic knowledge of computer and a bit of time, and will allow you to reset the password on any user account.

How to Get Around Windows Password to Log on Your Computer?

1. Download the Reset Windows Password utility. Unzip the download file, you’ll get the CD ISO image: ResetWindowsPwd.iso, which contains a Windows password reset program.

2. Write the boot CD ISO image to a blank CD using a CD writer and CD writing program. If your computer doesn’t have a CD drive, you can burn the ISO image to a USB flash drive using ISO2Disc.

3. Insert the freshly-written boot CD into the computer whose administrator password needs to be reset. Restart the computer and boot from the CD.

4. After booting from the CD, it will load the operating system inside the CD and start the Reset Windows Password program.

5. Select the SAM registry hive from the drop-down list, it will display a list of local user accounts for your Windows installation.

6. Choose the user account whose password you forgot, then click on the Reset Password button, it will remove your forgotten password immediately.

7. Exit the password reset program and restart your computer. You can then log on your computer with a blank password.

With the password reset CD you can easily get around Windows password on almost all versions of Windows operating systems, quickly log on to your computer without losing any files.

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

Tags: forgot windows password get around windows password reset windows password

Bulk Change User Passwords and Account Attributes in Active Directory

October 17th, 2012 by Admin

I’ve been tasked with resetting the passwords on all users (about 2000 users) in an OU in Active Directory. I was given the proper permissions. Is there any way to reset all the passwords to one single password at one time?

There may be times when you need to bulk reset user passwords in a domain or OU, or change account attributes across user groups, such as force all users in Active Directory to change their password at next login. This is the most common problem that many consultants or network/system administrators face. How can you perform these tasks in a short time?

Tips: If you forgot domain administrator password in Active Directory and can’t log on the domain controller, you can reset/unlock any domain user account passwords easily with Reset Windows Password utility.

Password Control is a time-saver freeware that makes it easy for helpdesk staff to reset passwords for all Active Directory user accounts. The tool also enables you to unlock/disable/enable user accounts, updates Active Directory user account attributes, performs updates that previously would have been accomplished with scripts.

How to Bulk Change User Passwords and Account Attributes in Active Directory?

Download and install Password Control on your domain controller. You can get the latest version from this link.
Start Password Control. Click on the File menu and select Bulk Password Control.
Under Bulk Password Control dialog, click on the File menu and select Get Users and From OU.
The powerful searching interface allows you to select user accounts based on a variety of options. You can select users from a group or a particular organizational unit.
If you want to reset the passwords of all user account to one single password, un-check the Generate a unique password for each user option, type your desired password.
Click on the Change Password button. The program will change all your Active Directory user account passwords immediately.
You can also click on the Unlock Accounts button to unlock the AD user which are locked out. By click on the Modify Attributes button, you can bulk change various account attributes such as Password never expires, User must change password at next logon, update of phone numbers and additional information, etc.

Overall I was very impressed with the ease of use and functionality of Password Control. I know from experience that writing scripts to bulk change user passwords is quite complex and time consuming. This tool is very useful for system/network administrators to work with Active Directory.

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Posted in Active Directory Password, Free Software, Tips & Tricks

Tags: Active Directory bulk change user password bulk password control change user account attributes password control

How to Reset Local Administrator Password in Windows

October 16th, 2012 by Admin

Forgot Windows local administrator password? People often find themselves locked out of their Windows operating systems as a result of a lost password for the administrator account. Usually people consider the system a lost cause and start rebuilding it. However, you can use the following tip to work around this problem.

In this tutorial I’ll show you how to reset local administrator password in all versions of Windows, in case you forgot the admin password or you are locked out of your computer.

How to Reset Local Administrator Password in Windows?

Before resetting forgotten local administrator password, you need to find an alternative computer with internet access to download and create a password reset CD or USB stick. Boot your target computer from the CD or USB stick, you are allowed to reset the forgotten local administrator password easily! Here are the complete instructions:

Download the Reset Windows Password utility, which comes as an ISO image. Unzip the download file, you’ll find the ResetWindowsPwd.iso file.
Burn the ISO image file to a blank CD or USB stick using any CD-recording freeware: ISO2Disc or BurnCDCC.
Insert the password reset CD or USB stick into the target computer whose local administrator you want to reset.
Set the computer to boot from the CD/USB. To do this you need to set CD or removal device as the first boot device in computer BIOS.
After booting from the password reset CD/USB, it will launch the Reset Windows Password program.
Click on the Reset Local Admin/User Password option, the program will display a list of Windows local user accounts inside the SAM database.
Select the local administrator account and then click on the Reset Password button, it will remove your forgotten local admin password immediately.

With the created password reset CD/USB, you can reset local administrator password on Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/2000 and Windows Server 2008/2003/2000, including 64-bit operating system.

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

Tags: forgot local administrator password reset local administrator password reset windows administrator password windows local administrator password

How to Access the Directory Services Restore Mode on a Remote DC

October 15th, 2012 by Admin

When Active Directory (AD) isn’t working, the steps you’d typically follow would be to boot into Directory Services Restore Mode (DSRM) for repairing or recovering Active Directory. To access Directory Services Restore Mode, you typically press F8 prior to the machine booting into Windows, then select the Directory Services Restore Mode option from the menu that appears.

Tips: If you forgot DSRM password or domain admin password, you can reset the forgotten password easily with Reset Windows Password utility.

But sometimes you need to fix a problematic DC in a remote location, but nobody is close enough to troubleshot. Obviously, you can’t boot the domain controller into DSRM as usual. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to access Directory Services Restore Mode on a remote DC.

How to Access Directory Services Restore Mode on a Remote DC?

On your machine, select Run from the Start menu, type Mstsc /console, and click OK.
Type the IP address of the remote domain controller you want to connect to.
Log on to the server using the Active Directory account.
On the DC, right-click My Computer, click Properties, and then click the Advanced tab.
Click Settings for startup and recovery.
Click the Edit button to edit the startup options file.
Modify the default entry to include the /SAFEBOOT:DSREPAIR switch, as shown in the following example:multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="W2K DC \\ your server name " /fastdetect /SAFEBOOT:DSREPAIR
Save the modified Boot.ini file, and then close Notepad.
Restart the domain controller.
After waiting a few minutes, perform steps 1 and 2 again.
When you reconnect, the server should state that it’s in Directory Services Restore Mode. Log on using the Local Administrator account (not the Active Directory account).

Once you have restarted the server in Directory Services Restore Mode, you are ready to begin the repairing or recovery process.

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Posted in Active Directory Password, Tips & Tricks

Tags: Active Directory Directory Services Restore Mode domain controller

Install Windows 8 on a Windows 7 or XP Tablet

October 14th, 2012 by Admin

Microsoft’s public release of the Windows 8 operating system is coming, and tech-savvy users are eager to try it out. If you have a tablet running the Windows 7 or XP operating system, then you might be interested in trying out the more tablet-oriented Windows 8 system. In this post, we will provide you with a guide for installing Windows 8 on a Windows 7 or XP tablet.

How to Install Windows 8 on a Windows 7 or XP Tablet?

1). Download the edition of Windows 8 Release Preview you want (32-bit or 64-bit) from the links below.

Download 32-Bit US-EN Windows 8 Release Preview Here (ISO)

Download 64-Bit US-EN Windows 8 Release Preview Here (ISO)

(Product Key: TK8TP-9JN6P-7X7WW-RFFTV-B7QPF)

2). Create a bootable Windows 8 USB flash drive. To do this, you can refer the step 1 of the How To Install Windows 8 from USB Flash Drive guide.

3). After making a bootable Windows 8 USB flash drive, connect it with your tablet and boot your tablet selecting the option of “boot from USB”. Boot from USB can only be done from your BIOS settings. Your tablet will start showing Windows 8 installation screen, follow the on screen instructions and your Windows 8 is installed.

After installing Windows 8 successfully, you will need to install your essential drivers manually. To install drivers visit your manufacturer’s official website.

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

Tags: install windows 8 on tablet tablet windows 8

Active Directory Password Recovery

October 13th, 2012 by Admin

How to recover Active Directory password when you forgot it? It is not so simple to recover the Active Directory user password than Windows local account. You can use the freeware Ophcrack to reset your forgotten Windows local account password but it doesn’t work for Active Directory user account due to its superior security characteristics.

Actually, you can also recover forgotten Active Directory password easily if you pick up the right solution. Here we’ll recommend the Password Recovery Bundle, which allows you to create a bootable recovery CD or USB and use it to recover Active Directory password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000. Let’s see how it works!

Active Directory Password Recovery Procedure:

Download and install Password Recovery Bundle on another computer that you can log in.
Prepare a blank CD and insert it into the computer. If your computer doesn’t come with CD drive, you can use USB flash drive instead.
Launch Password Recovery Bundle and click on Windows Password button, it will display the ISO burning window.
Choose your CD you’ve plugged in and then click on Start Burn button to create a bootable recovery CD.
After you have the recovery CD, put it into the CD drive of your domain controller whose password you want to recover.
Turn on the domain controller and have it boot from the recovery CD. You may need to go into BIOS and set CD/DVD as the first boot device.
After booting from the recovery CD, it will load the Windows PE operating system inside the recovery CD and start the Reset Windows Password program.
Choose the Active Directory NTDS.dit database, it will display a list of domain user accounts inside the NTDS.dit database.
Choose a domain user account from the list, then click on Reset Password button, the program will replace the forgotten/unknown password with a new password: Password123.

Take out the recovery CD and reboot your domain controller. You can then log in to your Active Directory user account with the new password. The Active Directory password recovery solution works on both 32-bit and 64-bit domain controller.

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Posted in Active Directory Password, Tips & Tricks

Tags: Active Directory Active Directory password recovery Active Directory user account forgot active directory password recover Active Directory password

How to Reveal Email Account Password in Outlook 2010

October 12th, 2012 by Admin

Forgot the password of your email account setup in Microsoft Outlook 2010? You can still check email messages because you have the password remembered in MS Outlook. The problem is that you’ll lose access to your email account after re-installing OS or uninstall Office application. Is it possible to reveal the password in Outlook 2010?

In this guide I’ll show you how to reveal email account password in Microsoft Outlook 2010. The most important is that your email password is already stored in Outlook application, then you can reveal your forgotten password easily with Password Recovery Bundle.

How to Reveal Email Account Password in Outlook 2010?

Open Outlook 2010, click on the File tab to access the Backstage view.
Click on Account Settings and then Add and remove accounts or change existing connection settings.
In the Account Settings window, double-click your target email account under the E-mail tab.
It will bring up the Change Account window. You will see User Information, Server Information (Server Type, Incoming and Outgoing Server) and Logon Information (Email account and password).
If your email password is masked with some asterisk characters, you can go to next step to reveal the actual password hidden behind the password field. If the password field is empty, you need to contact your email provider to recover your password.
Download and install Password Recovery Bundle on your computer.
Launch Password Recovery Bundle and then click on Start Recovery button.
Choose the Asterisk Password option from the drop-down menu list. For 64-bit editions of Outlook 2010, please use the Asterisk Password (x64) instead.
The Asterisk Password Recovery window will appear. Click on the icon , drag the icon to the password field in Outlook 2010.
The actual email account password hidden behind asterisks will be revealed immediately.

With Password Recovery Bundle you can also reveal email account password stored in Microsoft Outlook 2007, 2003, XP and 2000.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks

Tags: outlook 2010 reveal email account password reveal email password in Outlook 2010 reveal outlook password

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:

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

How to Encrypt PST File in Outlook 2010?

Launch Microsoft Outlook 2010.
Right-click on the Data Store for your email account on the left panel in Outlook 2010 and select Data File Properties.
This will bring up the Properties window. Click on the Advanced button.
Click on the Change Password button on the Outlook Data File window.
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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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks

Tags: encrypt pst file locate pst file outlook 2010 Outlook PST File pst file

How to Reset Lost 2008 Active Directory Admin Password

October 11th, 2012 by Admin

We have a few customers, who have forgot their AD Administrator password on their Windows 2008 server. Is there really any way to recover it? I know it’s possible to reset your Windows 7, XP and Vista password. But is it possible to get the AD administrator password on a 2008 server? I hope we can avoid a re-install. Cheers.

Lost or forgot the administrator password on Active Directory 2008? There isn’t any efficient way to recover the password as Active Directory encrypts the password using some very strong encryption algorithms. But you can reset or replace the forgotten password easily. Today’s tutorial will be covering a technique that will allow you to reset your lost 2008 Active Directory Administrator Password.

How to Reset Lost 2008 Active Directory Admin Password?

Download and install Password Recovery Bundle on another computer that you can log in.
Prepare a blank CD and insert it into the computer.
Launch Password Recovery Bundle and click on Windows Password button, it will display the ISO burning dialog.
Choose your CD you’ve plugged in and then click on Start Burn button to create a Live CD.
After you have the Live CD, put it into the CD drive of your Active Directory server whose password you want to reset.
Turn on the Active Directory server and have it boot from the Live CD. You may need to go into BIOS and set CD/DVD as the first boot device.
After booting from the Live CD, it will load the Windows PE operating system inside the Live CD and start the Reset Windows Password program.
Choose the Active Directory NTDS.dit database, it will display a list of domain user accounts inside the NTDS.dit database.
Choose the administrator account from the list, then click on Reset Password button, the program will replace the forgotten/unknown administrator password with a new password: Password123.

Take out the Live CD and reboot the Windows 2008 server, you can then log in to your domain administrator account with your new password. With the Live CD you can also reset lost admin password on Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP.

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Posted in Active Directory Password, Tips & Tricks

Tags: Active Directory administrator password forgot domain administrator password reset lost admin password windows server 2008

How to Hack Windows 8/7/Vista/XP Login Password

October 9th, 2012 by Admin

It’s really easy to hack the login password of Windows 8/7/Vista/XP. This trick can be useful if you forgot what your login password is and want to reset/remove it so you can login again. I actually had this experience when I was trying to use my laptop which was deserted for almost a year. Here I’m going to demonstrate how to hack Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password in just a few steps, in case you forgot Windows password and can’t log on your computer.

How to Hack Windows 8/7/Vista/XP Login Password?

Click here to download the Reset Windows Password software. Once the download is complete, unzip the download file and you’ll find the CD ISO image: ResetWindowsPwd.iso.
Burn the ISO image to an empty CD using any CD/DVD recording software such as BurnCDCC or ISO2Disc.
Place the Live CD you’ve created in the CD drive of your computer with a password you want to hack. Head into the computer BIOS and set your computer to boot from CD. If you don’t know how to boot into BIOS, please refer to your computer’s manual.
The boot procedure may take one or two minutes, and the Reset Windows Password program will start.
From the main window of Reset Windows Password program, you could see the Windows SAM registry file and user accounts inside the SAM file.
Choose the user account whose password you want to hack, and then click on the Reset Password button. It will blank your forgotten/unknown password instantly.

Eject the CD and boot your computer from local hard drive, you can immediately log on your computer with a blank password. Easy, wasn’t it?

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

Tags: hack windows login password hack windows password windows 7 windows 8 windows vista windows xp