Archive for the ‘Windows 10’ category

Create A Custom Image to Refresh Your Windows 8 or 10 PC

February 28th, 2015 by Admin

PC Refresh and Reset has been available since the first release of Windows 8. In my previous post we’ve showed you how to reset your computer to factory default settings, or refresh your installation while keeping your settings and data files intact. One drawback is that you have to reinstall all your desktop applications after performing a PC reset or refresh.

If you have installed a lot of applications, or misplace the necessary installation discs or product keys, it can be an annoying and time-consuming task to get your computer back up and running. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use the Windows built-in tool recimg.exe to create a custom image that contains all your desktop applications, so you won’t have to reinstall them after a refresh.

Part 1: Create A Custom Refresh Image in Windows 10 or Windows 8

A custom image will be a snapshot of the current state of Windows 10 / 8 and that will include all desktop applications that are currently installed on your computer. You should create a custom refresh image immediately after setting up your computer the way you want it so it’s clean and customized.

When you have your PC set up just the way you like it, here’s how to create your custom refresh image:

  1. Press the Windows key + X to bring up the Power User menu, and then select Command Prompt (Admin). When the UAC warning appears, click the Yes button.
  2. From the command prompt, run the recimg.exe tool to create a custom image file in your specified folder.

    recimg /CreateImage C:\CustomImage

    Enter the above command will create a new custom refresh image under the directory C:\CustomImage. If the folder doesn’t exist, it will create one for you.

    recimg

  3. It could take at least 30 minutes or more to finish creating the image, depending on how many applications you have installed. Once it’s done, you will see a new CustomRefresh.wim file created under your specified folder. And this .wim file will be set as the default refresh image and will be used next time when you use Refresh your PC operation.

    custom-refresh-image

Note: The recimg.exe tool is not included in the Windows 10 version released on July 29. You can only use it in Windows 10 Insider Builds up to Build 10122 or Windows 8/8.1.

Part 2: Refresh Your Windows 10 / 8 PC with Custom Image

  1. From the Windows 10 or 8 login screen, hold down the SHIFT key and click on the Power icon visible on the bottom right of the screen, then click Restart option.

    windows-8-login-screen

  2. In a moment you’ll see the recovery screen. click on the Troubleshoot option.

    recovery-mode

  3. Now click on the Refresh your PC option.

    troubleshoot

  4. Click Next. The system will reboot and begin preparing to refresh your PC. After Refresh your PC, you will notice all your previous installed application are right back to where they were. But you might lose some personal settings from those applications.

Last but not least, have a look on your C: drive and you’ll find a new folder named Windows.old, contains all the program files and Windows directory from your previous installation. If any of your applications had additional information stored in their installation directory, you can recover it from this folder.

The Windows.old folder could take up a large amount of disk space. Once you’re sure you don’t need anything from it, you can delete it to reclaim free disk space. But you might receive the “Access denied” error when you try to delete this folder. In that case, you need to take ownership of that folder using the freeware TakeOwnershipPro before deleting it.

take-ownership

Windows 10 to Add Native Support for FLAC and MKV

February 10th, 2015 by Admin

Microsoft has already confirmed that Windows 10 will come with native support for MKV (Matrsoka Video) and FLAC. FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is a commonly used lossless audio format that provides a more accurate reproduction of recordings. In other words, it sounds better than other formats, such as MP3, which compress recordings down to a more manageable size but lose quality in the process.

It’s also worth mentioning that MKV and FLAC are currently supported in Windows 10 Technical Preview and that file support will continue on to the final version when it hits the market. Here’s a look at playing some .flac audio files with Windows Media Player on Windows 10 build 9901 (The download is available through the Windows Insider Program website).

windows-media-player

MKV and FLAC are two file formats that have been increasing in popularity over the years. They produce great quality audio and video, are compressed so the files aren’t too large and are feature rich. Windows 8.1 and prior did not provide any supporting software out of the box, requiring end users to download third party apps to convert FLAC/MKV formats, such as the Video Converter Assist. With Windows 10, Windows Media Player will be able to handle those duties.

5 Methods to Open File Explorer in Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8

February 4th, 2015 by Admin

Since Windows 8, Windows Explorer has been renamed to File Explorer and updated in significant ways. One of the first things I do after installing a new Windows OS is to find the explorer. In this article we’ll show you 5 methods to access File Explorer in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

Method 1: Open File Explorer with Win + E Shortcut

The easiest and quickest way to open File Explorer on all Windows is to press the Windows Key + E combination. Just press Win + E keyboard shortcut and you’ll see the File Explorer open where you can browse through all files on your hard drive.

Method 2: Open File Explorer from WinX Menu

You can bring up the WinX Menu (also known as Power User Menu) with your keyboard by pressing the Windows key and the X key together. This menu contains quick access to system utilities like the File Explorer, Control Panel, Command Prompt, Task Manager, Device Manager, and more.

winx-menu

Method 3: Open File Explorer from the Taskbar

By default, Windows 8.1 includes a File Explorer shortcut pinned to your taskbar. Simply click the shortcut icon on the taskbar and it will launch File Explorer immediately.

taskbar

Method 4: Using the Search Charm

Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Search (or if you’re using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search), enter File Explorer in the search box, and then tap or click File Explorer.

search-app

Method 5: Add a Shortcut on the Desktop

However, most computer users have become accustomed to the way of opening the File Explorer by double-clicking the “My Computer” icon or “This PC” icon on the desktop.

my-computer-shortcut

To bring the “My Computer” icon back to your desktop, please refer to this article: Display My Computer Icon on Desktop in Windows 10.

Disable Command Prompt Using Group Policy or Registry Trick

February 2nd, 2015 by Admin

Command Prompt is a built-in tool in Windows that is rarely used by the average user. It’s not so user-friendly but advanced computer users with malicious intent can use the Command Prompt to bypass most restrictions that are enforced on the Windows Explorer based GUI. In this post, we will explain how to disable Command Prompt in Windows 11/10/8/7.

Note: If you need to use the Command Prompt frequently, or run batch scripts or use the Terminal Services, disabling Command Prompt is not recommended.

Option 1: Disable Command Prompt Using Group Policy

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

  2. This will open the Local Group Policy Editor. Now, go to the following location in the left pane:
    User Configuration/Administrative Templates/System

    Make sure click on the System node rather than expanding it. In the right side pane you will see the “Prevent access to the command prompt” policy. Double-click it to modify.

  3. In the pop-up window, select Enabled. If you also want to prevent running .bat or .cmd script files, select Yes from the dropdown under the Options section. Click Apply/OK and you are done.

  4. You do not have to restart your computer for the setting to take effect. If you try to launch the Command Prompt, you’ll see the message “The command prompt has been disabled by your administrator.

Option 2: Disable Command Prompt with Registry Trick

Unfortunately, the Local Group Policy (gpedit.msc) is not available in all editions of Windows. For those users running the Home edition of Windows, you can still disable Command Prompt with this registry tweak:

  1. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the Run box, type regedit and hit Enter.

  2. This will open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows. Right-click the Windows key in the left sidebar and choose New -> Key.

  3. Name the newly-created as System. When the System key is selected, right-click the blank area in the right pane and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  4. Name the DWORD as DisableCMD and then give it a value 1 for disabling the Command Prompt and preventing batch files from running. If you want to disable the Command Prompt but allow batch files, set the value to 2. This change will take effect immediately.

    To enable the Command Prompt again, just change the value to 0.

Conclusion

So this is how you can disable the Command Prompt in all versions of Windows. If you need a more secure method to lock the Command Prompt, you can use the third-party software – Protect My Folders, which allows you to protect c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe with a password.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows Password with Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD)

January 15th, 2015 by Admin

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to crack and reset Windows password when you forget it or want to unlock a computer with an unknown password. There are tons of recovery tools available to bypass password, but here I’ll use the freeware Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD).

Ultimate Boot CD is a Linux-based bootable disc with loads of useful software for repairing or fixing almost any Windows problem. The built-in chntpw utility could be used to wipe windows passwords and view/edit the registry. Here’s how.

Note: Ultimate Boot CD is a freeware so don’t expect it to work with domain controllers. If you want to find a more powerful yet easy-to-use password recovery software, try the PCUnlocker Live CD.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows Password with Ultimate Boot CD?

Before getting started, you need to download the Ultimate Boot CD (about 588Mb) from its official website, and then burn it to a CD. With the CD you can follow the steps below to reset forgotten Windows 8/7/Vista/XP password:

  1. Boot your locked computer from Ultimate Boot CD. On the boot menu of Ultimate Boot CD, choose Parted Magic and press Enter.

    ultimate-boot-cd

  2. The next screen you have to select your graphic settings. Just select option 1 and press Enter to use the default settings.

    parted-magic

  3. Once you are presented with the Parted Magic desktop, go to the left bottom corner of the screen and choose System Tools -> Change Windows Password.

    change-windows-password

  4. A new small window will open. It lists all Windows partitions detected on your local hard drive. Click on the correct drive and it will start the chntpw utility in the console.

    select-windows-installation

  5. You will now be presented with the chntpw Main Interactive Menu. Type 1 and press Enter.

    chntpw

  6. This will list out all of the Windows users on the system. Type the name of your desired user and press Enter.

    enter-username

  7. You will now be given the option to blank out the password, as well as several other ways to promote or unlock the user account. Type 1 and press Enter, it will remove the existing password.

    user-edit-menu

  8. If you don’t want to reset other user password, type ! and press Enter.

    quit-edit-menu

  9. Type q and hit Enter at this point to quit the User Edit Menu.

    quit-chntpw

  10. You will then be asked to write the registry hive to disk. Type y to confirm and save your changes.

    write-hive-files

  11. Now you can reboot, and you can log into your Windows account with a blank password. Once you’re logged in, you can go to the Control Panel to change your password to something else — something you can remember.

How to Turn Off Drop Shadow Effect in Windows 10

December 26th, 2014 by Admin

If you have used Windows 10 for some time, you probably notice that the drop shadows on applications are really big and and suspiciously similar to the ones in Mac OS X.

show-shadows-under-window

The drop shadow effect for window borders looks cool but personally I don’t like it. Here’s how to turn off / remove the drop shadow effect in Windows 10.

How to Turn Off Drop Shadow Effect in Windows 10?

  1. From Windows Explorer, click on Desktop shortcut in the left navigation pane. Right-click on This PC and select Properties.

    windows-10-explorer

  2. When the System window opens, click on Advanced system settings.

    advanced-system-settings

  3. Go to the Advanced tab and click the Settings button under the Performance section.

    system-properties

  4. From here, under the Visual Effects tab, find and uncheck the box labeled “Show shadows under windows“.

    hide-shadows-under-window

  5. When you click OK, it will immediately remove the drop shadow effect from window borders in Windows 10, and you’ll get a clean flat interface.

How to Hide A Drive / Partition from Windows Explorer

December 24th, 2014 by Admin

Do you have some private files that you want to hide from your children? Here is a registry trick to hide a drive or partition in Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP, so it cannot be accessed from Windows Explorer by inexperienced users.

The method is not foolproof though, and users can still access the contents of the hidden drive from Command Prompt or Disk Management. If you have some confidential or sensitive data on a local disk and want to lock / protect it securely, I recommend you use the Protect My Folder application.

How to Hide A Drive / Partition from Windows Explorer?

  1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. In the right pane, right-click the blank area and choose New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

  2. Name the newly-created DWORD as NoDrives and then double-click it. In the pop-up window, choose Decimal, enter a proper number for hiding your desired partition. In my example, I want to hide the network drive Z:, so I type in the value 33554432.

    Here’s a list of the values (decimal number) you’ll want to enter for different drive letters:

    • A: 1
    • B: 2
    • C: 4
    • D: 8
    • E: 16
    • F: 32
    • G: 64
    • H: 128
    • I: 256
    • J: 512
    • K: 1024
    • L: 2048
    • M: 4096
    • N: 8192
    • O: 16384
    • P: 32768
    • Q: 65536
    • R: 131072
    • S: 262144
    • T: 524288
    • U: 1048576
    • V: 2097152
    • W: 4194304
    • X: 8388608
    • Y: 16777216
    • Z: 33554432
    • ALL: 67108863

    But what to do if you want to hide more than one drive in Windows? Just add the values of the drives that you want to hide. For example, if you want to hide the drives E:, F: and A: you would enter 49 (16+32+1) in NoDrives as the decimal value.

  3. Restart your computer and your target drive will disappear from Windows Explorer.

    You can even hide the C: drive without corrupting your system. When you want to get your drives back, just set NoDrives to 0 or simply delete NoDrives altogether.

PXE-Boot: Reset Forgotten Windows Password without CD or USB Drive

December 23rd, 2014 by Admin

Many Windows password tools require creating a bootable CD or USB drive, and then booting it to recover / reset lost admin password. However, what if you encounter an old computer that doesn’t support USB booting, neither have a CD drive? Thankfully, you can reset forgotten Windows password via PXE network boot.

PCUnlocker is a bootable utility that can reset lost Windows password from a bootable CD, USB device or network over PXE. Just set up a PXE server on your LAN to store the PCUnlocker CD image, and you can then boot any other PC on the same LAN to reset a lost password. Here’s how.

Part 1: Set Up A PXE Server

A PXE server can be any accessible Windows PC on your LAN network. Before get started, you need to disable DHCP in your router and use a static IP address for your PXE server. Follow the steps below to set up a PXE server which is required for PXE booting.

  1. After you’ve purchased PCUnlocker Enterprise, download the pxe-boot version (pxeboot_x64.zip) via this link included in your order confirmation email. Extract all files from pxeboot_x86.zip to a folder of your choice. Here, I extracted the ZIP file to the folder C:\pxeboot_x64.

  2. Download and install the freeware Serva from this link (Use the Serva_Non-Supporter_64 version if you are running 64-bit Windows). Run the program and click on the Settings button at the bottom.
  3. If the Windows firewall displays a prompt named Windows Security Alert, asking you to allow Serva to access the network, click Allow Access.

  4. In the Serva Settings window, click on TFTP tab. Tick TFTP Server and set the root directory to the folder where you extracted the pxeboot_x64.zip file (in my case D:\pxeboot_x64). Check the Allow ‘\’ As virtual root option.

  5. Click on DHCP tab. Setup the IP pool starting address and Size of pool for your network. Type Boot\pxeboot.n12 in the Boot File box.

  6. Click OK to save your settings and restart Serva.

Part 2: PXE-Booting Your Locked PC on LAN

  1. Power on your locked PC and press a proper key to access the Boot Menu. Select Realtek PXE or your network device and press Enter.

    If your PXE NIC device is not listed in the boot order, you need to enable an option labeled “PXE”, “PXE ROM”, “Network ROM” or “Realtek PXE OPROM” in the BIOS.

  2. Once you’ve chosen to boot from PXE Network, your computer will broadcast a DHCP request over the network. After receiving a IP address from the PXE server, it begins to download the PCUnlocker CD image that is stored on the PXE server.

Part 3: Reset Forgotten Windows Password

  1. After loading the PCUnlocker CD image into RAM, Windows 8 PE will start and boot directly to the PCUnlocker program itself. The program automatically searches Windows SAM file on the local hard drive and lists all your user accounts.

  2. Select a user account whose password you forgot, and click on Reset Password button. It will unlock / reset your Windows login password in no time.
  3. Reboot your computer and boot it from local hard drive. You can then login without a password!