Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ category

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How to Reset Mac OS X Password with a Installation CD

July 5th, 2012 by Admin

If you cannot remember your Mac administrator password, you may need to recover or reset your password to log onto your system. Although you can change passwords within Mac OS X, resetting a forgotten password requires that you use a Mac OS X installation disc. The installation disc allows you to create a new password for the administrator account so that you can gain access to your system again.

Let’s say you totally forgot the password to log on to your Mac. Or maybe you purchased a used Mac from someone else and they’ve got it locked down. Follow the steps below you can reset Mac OS X password easily with a installation CD.

Step 1

Insert your Mac OS X CD into your computer’s optical drive and reboot the computer. Hold down the “C” key as the computer starts to boot the computer using the CD.

Step 2

Click to select your language when prompted and click the right arrow icon. Click “Utilities” on the toolbar and select “Password Reset”. Select your system hard drive and choose the original administrator account name from the drop-down menu. Type a new password for the account and reenter the password to confirm. Type a password hint if you wish.

Step 3

Click “Save” to change the password and click the red icon on the top of the window to exit. Click “Mac OS X Installer” on the toolbar and select “Quit Mac OS X Installer”. Restart your computer when prompted.

Note:

If Mac OS X prompts you for the new password each time you log in, you can change this setting from the “Keychain Access” utility. Click “Edit” and select “Keychain List”. Select your previous administrator key chain and select “Delete”. You can add your new password in the key chain at the next login.

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Reset Domain Controller Password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000

July 4th, 2012 by Admin

My company has a remote location with a rogue domain controller in which no one has the password for. This was set up by my predecessor who was fired and never told anyone the password.  I want to migrate this location to our national domain, and it is currently in production at as a file server and print server also. My question is how can I safely reset the password on this server?

There are many password reset tools out there, that will allow you to reset Windows local passwords, but I haven’t come across one before, that will let you reset the password of a domain admin account on a domain controller. In this tutorial I will walk you through how to reset the domain administrator password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000 domain controller.

Reset Windows Password is the software that can help you instantly regain access to your domain controller by resetting the forgotten domain administrator password. The software comes as an ISO image, which you have to burn to a CD or USB drive. As long as you have physical access to the domain controller, you can easily reset domain controller password on Windows Server 2008/2003/2000.

How to Reset Domain Controller Password:

  1. Download the zip archive of Reset Windows Password utility. Unzip it and burn the ISO image to a blank CD or USB stick.
  2. Insert the CD or USB stick into your locked computer and let your computer boot from it.
  3. After a while the bootdisk will launch the Reset Windows Password utility, which shows all user accounts available for your Windows installation. By default the Reset Local Admin/User Password option will be selected, the program will display a list of Windows local user accounts. The Reset Active Directory Password option is intended for resetting domain administrator password on domain controller. So we choose the Reset Active Directory Password option.
  4. The program will display a list of domain user accounts on your domain controller.
  5. Choose the user account whose password you forgot, then click Reset Password button. The domain user password will be changed to Password123 by default.

The last step is to remove the CD or USB stick, then restart the domain controller. You’ll be able to log into your domain user account with the new password. After logging into domain controller you can set a new password for the administrator account.

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Posted in Active Directory Password, Tips & Tricks

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How to Remove Excel Workbook Password for Free

July 3rd, 2012 by Admin

How many times have you forgotten password of a Microsoft Excel workbook/sheet and then had a sinking face?

Microsoft Excel has a protection feature that allows users to lock a workbook or sheet with a password. When the Excel workbook/sheet is protected with a password, any user attempt to edit data shows an error message as follow.

Here comes an handy Excel plug-in called Excel Password Remover utility which can remove the password protection from Excel workbooks and spreadsheets. You can install the plug in by downloading it from here. Once installed, it adds options Unprotect workbook and Unprotect sheet to Excel’s Tools menu, and choosing these options does what they are meant to.

Download Excel Password Remover

Note:

To install the plugin you should set security level of Macros to medium by following the menu Tools->Macros->Security in Microsoft Excel.

Excel Password Remover can’t be used to remove password set to open a spreadsheet. If you are unable to open the file because it asks you for a password, this program won’t help you. Then you need to get this Excel Password Recovery program to crack the file open password.

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Posted in Free Software, Others, Tips & Tricks

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How to Repair Windows 7 Installation

July 3rd, 2012 by Admin

Every operating system needs an occasional repair job, and Windows 7 is no exception. Whether the source of the problem is corrupt data, a particularly brutal piece of malware, or some other serious issue, you’ll occasionally have to reinstall your copy of Windows.

Wiping your hard drive and performing a fresh installation can be a huge headache; but fortunately there’s a way to repair a corrupt Windows 7 installation while keeping all your programs, personal data, and user accounts intact. This article will show you how to do a repair install to fix Windows 7 issues.

Step 1

Put the Windows 7 installation disc in the CD drive and Click on Setup.

Step 2:

Then Click on “Install Now“.

Step 3:

Now click on “Go Online and get the latest updates for Installation“, then it might take few minutes to download the critical updates and apply them depending upon your Internet speed.

Step 4:

Then Accept the Terms and Conditions and Click Next.

 

Step 5

Now click on “Upgrade” to begin the Repair.

Step 6:

Once the Repair is complete the setup will reboot your computer.

Step 7:

You need to activate your Windows 7 and do the initial setup like setting up date time etc.

Step 8:

In case your missing any user setting copy them from C:\Windows.old folder or under C:\$INPLACE.~TR and C:\WINDOWS.~Q backup folders ( Thanks to Shawn Brink, MVP for the Tip).

Make sure you enable Hidden Files folder. Once you confirmed everything run the Windows Disk Cleanup to remove the old installation files.

select “Files discarded by Windows Upgrade“.

Congratulations, you’ve successfully brought your Windows 7 PC back from the brink of corruption! Make sure to keep this guide handy, in case you ever need to repair a corrupted copy of Windows 7 again.

Note: If the Upgrade option is unavailable for some reason, you can still perform a repair by using a simple workaround: Right-click the Setup.exe file before you run it, and select the Properties menu. From there, navigate to the Compatibility tab, and check Run this program in compatibility mode for:. Then select Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down menu. Be sure to also check the box at the bottom labeled Run this program as an administrator; then click OK. Run the Setup utility again, and the upgrade installation option should be available.

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How to Recover Windows Vista Password When Forgot It

July 2nd, 2012 by Admin

I have a Dell laptop running Windows Vista Business. I lost my Administrator Password on it when my organizer software crashed.

Now, when I try to uninstall and reinstall Mozilla Firefox I was prompted to key in the password. I have installed it several times, but was never required to provide the password. But as I realized not having the password now I can’t reinstall the Mozilla Firefox.

Is there any way to recover the password or resolve the problem?

There are times we forget login password for Windows Vista because we tend to create complex and secure passwords which are hard to remember. In this article I’ll tell you how to recover Windows Vista password with a password recovery disk. Instantly regain access to your Windows Vista system in the event that you forgot your computer password.

How to Recover Windows Vista Password:

  1. Before the work, prepare a blank CD/DVD. Then install and run Password Recovery Bundle on another accessible computer. Click Windows Password button to bring up the CD recording dialog, then burn the default ISO image onto your CD. The CD is the Vista password recovery CD we’ll later use to recover Windows Vista password.
  2. Insert the Vista password recovery CD into your locked computer. Set the computer to boot from the CD.
  3. Restart the computer, it will start to boot from the CD. After a while, your computer will launch the Reset Windows Password program. The software automatically detects the Windows SAM registry hive and show a list of user accounts existing in your Windows Vista system.
  4. Choose the user account whose password you already forgot, then click Reset Password button. The program will reset your Windows Vista password instantly.
  5. Remove the CD and restart your computer.

Now you should be able to log into your computer with an empty password. You also will not be asked for a password when you uninstall any software on your computer. Never need to worry about forgetting Windows Vista password.

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, Windows Vista

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How to Disable Windows 8 Metro UI

July 1st, 2012 by Admin

Microsoft did a huge change in upcoming Windows 8 and added so called Metro User Interface (UI) which is very good familiar to Windows mobile users. However not all of us like it or navigate through it very easily so that’s why many of you will want to restore the classic Start menu and desktop view. In this tutorial I will show what change you need to perform inside Windows registry and disable Windows 8 Metro UI.

To get started follow steps below:

Step 1: From your Windows 8 Metro Interface type regedit.

Step 2: As soon as you start typing a Search Apps filed will appear on right side with search results on right side.

Step 3: From right side click regedit icon and if User Account Control dialog window appear click Yes.

Step 4: Now the registry window will open. Follow this path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer.

Step 5: Now double click on RPEnabled.

Step 6: Inside Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window, under Value data filed change value 1 into 0 and click OK to save changes.

Step 7: Now close all windows and restart your computer.

Next time when you go back to Windows 8 there won’t be Metro style anymore. You can also re-enable the Metro UI by change the RPEnabled value back to 1.

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Posted in Others, Tips & Tricks, Windows 8

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How to Recover Windows Product Key

June 28th, 2012 by Admin

I’ve got a virus on my machine and have to reinstall windows 7. I bought a copy from software for students so it was downloaded. I can’t really remember but I assume I must have also downloaded the product key. I usually keep all my product keys backed up but I can’t find it anywhere. My Question is, is there any way to recover Windows product key from my laptop?

Need to reinstall the OS of your computer but have misplaced the product key? The product key sticker in the bottom of your notebook is scratched? Reinstalling Windows requires you to have the original product key. If you’ve lost your product key, it could become a real nightmare until you can retrieve them back.

It doesn’t have to be this way, though. If you install Product Key Finder now, then it will scan your PC, and recover Windows product key and all the serial numbers for the applications installed. Print out the product keys or save them to disc and you’ll always have your keys to hand.

How to Recover Windows Product Key:

  1. Download and install Product Key Finder on your computer.
  2. Launch Product Key Finder and click the Start Recovery button. It will bring up a drop-down menu that provides three recovery mode: From current system, From non-booting system and From remote computer.
  3. To recover product keys from your current Windows installation, choose the first recovery mode.
  4. The program will scan your Windows registry and recover product keys for Windows, Office and many other software you’ve activated.

If by any chance, you’ve lost your Windows 7/Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000 product key, no need to worry, Product Key Finder can recover it for you. Additionally, Product Key Finder can also recover CD keys for many other applications such as Microsoft Office, SQL Server, VMware, Adobe Reader, etc. It’s very useful when you are going to reinstall or repair your Windows or Office setup but find you’ve lost the keys.

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

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How to Reset Windows 7 Password on A Netbook

June 28th, 2012 by Admin

Got a heck of a deal on a netbook the other day as someone forgot the admin password on Windows 7. I didn’t really thing about it till I went to change it and it dawned on me the thing don’t have a CD-ROM! I’ve used the NT offline password and registry editor before on a few different computers but I don’t see a way to use it on something that only has USB ports. Any ideas on how to make it work? Anyone know of a bootable USB flash drive with such software on it?

Forgot Windows login password and you are unable to log onto your netbook? You may have read through many password cracking tricks to no avail. As netbook doesn’t have CD-ROM, we can’t reset Windows 7 password with a CD or DVD. To unlock Windows password and regain access to your netbook, you need to create a bootable USB flash drive, then get your netbook to boot off it and reset Windows 7 password.

 Part 1: Create a Windows 7 Password Reset USB

You’ll need to create a Windows 7 password reset USB using another PC. If you don’t have another PC, you’ll have to bug one of your friends to use theirs. Download the ISO image of Reset Windows Password utility, then burn it to a USB flash drive with ISO2Disc.

 Part 2: Boot Netbook from USB Flash Drive

Plug your newly created USB flash drive into your netbook and power it up. In order to go into the BIOS settings, hit F2 as it is starting. Once you are in the BIOS settings, navigate to the Boot tab and move ‘USB-HDD’ to the top of boot priority order list. Hit F10 to save your settings.

Part 3: Reset Windows 7 Password

After booting your netbook from the USB flash drive, the bootdisk will launch the Reset Windows Password utility. On the main screen, you can see the Windows SAM registry file and a list of Windows user accounts.

Choose your desired user account, then click Reset Password button. The program will reset your forgotten Windows 7 password and unlock the account if it is already locked out.

Reboot your netbook and remove the USB drive. Now you can log in to your computer with an empty password. A password reset USB could really come in handy if you ever forget your account password. With it, you can easily reset Windows 7 password and get right in to your PC.

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Forgot Windows Administrator Password? Reset It Easily

June 27th, 2012 by Admin

This article will show you how to reset Windows administrator password (for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7) at times when you forgot it or when you want to gain access to a computer for which you do not know the password.

Most of us have experienced a situation where we need to gain access to a computer which is password protected or at times we may forget the administrator password without which it becomes impossible to login to the computer. So here is an excellent password recovery trick which you can use to reset the password or make the password empty (remove the password) so that you can gain administrator access to the computer. You can do this with a powerful Windows password recovery software – Reset Windows Password. This utility works offline, that means you need to shutdown your locked computer and boot off the computer using a CD or USB flash drive. The tool has the following features.

  • You do not need to know the old password to set a new one
  • It will detect and offer to unlock disabled or locked-out user accounts

How It Works?

Most Windows operating systems store the login passwords and encrypted passwords in a file called sam (Security Accounts Manager). This file can be usually found in the directory of \windows\system32\config. This file is a part of Windows registry and remains inaccessible as long as the OS is active. Hence it is necessary that you need to boot off your computer and access this sam file via boot. Reset Windows Password utility intelligently gains access to this file and will reset/remove the password associated with administrator or any other account.

Download the zip archive of Reset Windows Password

Once you download you’ll get a bootable image which you need to burn it onto your CD or USB flash drive. Now boot your locked computer from it and follow the screen instructions to reset the password.

Reset Windows Password can be used to reset lost local administrator/user passwords and change forgotten domain administrator/user passwords on all Windows systems.

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

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Recover Twitter Password from All Browsers

June 27th, 2012 by Admin

Twitter becomes most popular choice to connect with peoples right after Facebook. It has grown up to very large community and most of us have been using it everyday. Today I’ll show you an easy way to recover Twitter account password saved inside not only Firefox but also from Google Chrome, Opera, Apple Safari and Internet Explorer.

Most of us will be using the  remember me option during logging in Twitter and other websites. This saves the username, password and required email address to login afterwards automatically filling those fields. While this features is useful, this could make havoc in some situations. Password saved inside browsers is open to all people accessing your computer. This means anyone can log in your account without your intervention.

Password Recovery Bundle is a complete all-in-one password recovery toolkit which can recover Twitter account password saved inside web browser. While it would be unethical to access and uncover other peoples password, and this application does this without any hassle, this password recovery software could to put to good job to test security. Yes, Password Recovery Bundle is a good application to check if your own twitter password is saved inside any browser. Even saved by mistake, it would make wired results if it falls in wrong hands. And this software will uncover password saved in any browser so you can easily clear its history to erase username and password.

How to Recover Twitter Password from All Browsers:

  1. Download and install Password Recovery Bundle.
  2. Run Password Recovery Bundle, then click the Start Recovery button. It will bring up a drop-down menu that shows all supported password types.
  3. Under the drop-down menu, you can find the password recovery options for IE, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari. For example, if you want to recover Twitter passwords saved in Firefox, you can select the Firefox Password option.
  4. Once you have chosen the recovery option, your Twitter username/email and password will be recovered immediately.

Apart form recovering Twitter password saved in all of those browsers, Password Recovery Bundle can also reset lost or forgotten Windows login password on Windows 8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server 2008/2003/2000, even if you forgot Windows password and can’t log on to your computer.

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