Windows XP / Vista have a built in feature of supporting compressed archive files. The file types supported are .zip and .cab. Windows treats these as folders and displays it in the windows explorer tree and also includes these files during the search. This would a hindrance to the users who had used their favorite compression utility like winzip, winrar or 7-zip in their previous versions of operating system. Windows file search functionality will be slow when there are lots of compressed files in the search folder. We can overcome this hurdle by disabling this feature. This can be later enabled when required.

For Window XP to Disable

1. Open start > Run

2. Type the command regsvr32 %systemroot%\zipfldr.dll /u

3. Press ok on the popup message

4. The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all features of the built-in ZIP support to disappear

For Windows XP to Enable

1. Open start > Run

2. Type the command regsvr32 %systemroot%\zipfldr.dll /u

3. Press ok on the popup message

4. The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all features of the built-in ZIP support to be available

Where %systemroot% normally is C:\windows\system32

For Windows vista to Disable

1. Open Start > Run

2. Type “regedit.exe and click ok

3. Navigate to the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID

4. Export the values under the key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E88DCCE0-B7B3-11d1-A9F0-00AA0060FA31} and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262}

(This process is to backup those keys incase later if this feature needs to be enabled)

5. Delete the keys HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E88DCCE0-B7B3-11d1-A9F0-00AA0060FA31} and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262}

(The key keys HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E88DCCE0-B7B3-11d1-A9F0-00AA0060FA31} is associated with the zip file and the key

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0CD7A5C0-9F37-11CE-AE65-08002B2E1262} is associated with cab files. In case you need to disable one of the feature zip/cab you can do it by deleting the corresponding keys.)

6. Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Alternate Method:

1. Download the reg file here

2. Double click to install

3. It is successful, restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

For Windows Vista to Enable

1. Open Start > Run

2. Type “regedit.exe and click ok

3. Go to File > Import and select the files that are taken backup in step 4 (For Windows vista to Disable).

4. On successful import, restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Alternate Method:

1. Download the reg file here

2. Double click to install

3. It is successful, restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Finally have found out a way to terminate the telnet session with out killing the foreground process which is running. Anyone struck with the above situation can follow this

Assume a script “script1″ is running in the foreground for a long time and this script needs to be retained even if the telnet session is closed. Here are the steps which needs to be followed.

1. On the telnet screen press <CTRL + Z>. This will temporarily stop the script or process to run.

$ ./script1.ksh
[1] + Stopped (SIGTSTP)        ./script1.ksh

2. Type in the command “bg” to run the process in background

$ bg
[1]     ./script1.ksh&

3. Identify the session process ID. This can be done by giving the “ps” command in the prompt.

$  ps
PID      TTY   TIME  CMD
4882522  pts/7  0:00 ps
4984988  pts/7  0:00 -sh

4. Identify the PID of the script which is is shifted to background. In our case “script1″ This can be done by ps command piped with grep as below.

$ ps -ef | grep script1.ksh
user1 4399240 4984988   0 08:57:49  pts/7  0:00 grep script1.ksh
user1 5029960 4829226   0 07:57:23      -  0:00 /usr/lpp/ars/bin/script1.ksh

5. Now with all the PID’s collected, use “nohup” command

$ nohup -p 4984988
$ nohup -p 5029960

This will make the script or process not to be terminated even if the telnet session is closed.

NB: The telnet session process 4984988, will be running at the background unless it is killed.

Courtesy: Santhosh Fabian

Installation of windows will not be a new thing for one who owns a laptop/computer with Windows OS running on it. This comes true when coming to re-installation too. Here is a way where you can make your installation much easier. A freeware tool nLite or vLite can be used to customize your windows installation to make it easier.

Advantages of nLite and vLite:

1. These software are freewares.
2. Windows service packs can be slipstream to the original installation disk
3. The hot fix or patches can be integrated.
4. Drivers can be integrated
5. Customized boot can be created.]
6. Installation can be made unattended by giving default values.
7. Windows installation components can be added / removed.
8. Registry tweaks can be done before installation.
9. Burn it into a bootable image file or CD.
10. Saves installation time and reduces manual intervention

Freeware usage:

nLite -> Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003

vLite -> Windows Vista, Windows 2008

*All editions of the above OS is supported.

How to use it?

1. Download nLite or vLite from their official websites.
2. Install the nLite/vLite package.
3. Choose the location of original windows installation disk.
4. Choose the modification that needs to be done in windows installation in the tabs Integrate/Remove/Setup/Create.
5. Provide all the inputs as a part of customization.
6. Finally burn it to CD/DVD.
7. Use it for your future installation.

Note: The developers claim that not to get support from Microsoft for any installation errors which is created by nLite/vLite.

In windows vista by default the hidden default shares like c$, ADMIN$, IPC$ and Print$ are disabled due to User Account Control (UAC) feature avoiding it to be connected in the network. So when you try to connect from other computers in the network you might possibly get the below errors.

Logon unsuccessful:
Windows is unable to log you on.
Make sure that your user name and password are correct.

You may get the below error when you try to connect using “Net Use” command:

System error 5
has occurred. Access is denied.

How to get rid of it?

There are 2 solution for this problem

1. You can create an explicit share of the required device.
2. You can modify the registry to enable LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy key.

Creating explicit share for the device:

1. Open Explorer
2. Choose the folder or drive
3. Right click on the folder or drive and click on share
4. If you have password protected sharing enabled, select which users can access the shared folder and their permission level. To let all users have access, select Everyone in the list of users. By default, the permission level is “Reader.” Users who have this permission level cannot change files or create new files in the share. To let a user change files, change folders, create new files, and create new folders, use the “Co-owner” permission level.
   If you have password protected sharing disabled, select the Guest account or the Everyone account. This is the same as simple sharing in Windows XP.
5. Click on share and then press OK

This method is safe and can be done by beginners.

Modify registry to enable LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy Key:

Here is also an alternate which requires some expertize in the operating system. Here are the steps.

1. In Run prompt type regedit to open registry editor
2. Browse through the following sub key
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
3. Create a new entry with the below information
   Key Name : LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy
   Key Type : DWORD (32-bit)
   Key Value : 1
4. Exit registry editor.

To disable this option modify the registry key value to 0.

Warning: If you are trying out this method user need to have a knowledge on windows registry. If some of the keys are modified incorrectly it may cause a serious problem to the operation system for proper functioning. Backup registry before doing any changes.

If you in a software service based industry you may get many questions in Microsoft Excel. One such question is “How to compare two columns in the excel if the data is in thousands of rows”. Here is a solution for it.

Imagine you have two columns A and B. Column A has the data which needs to be compared against column B. Here I would show you 3 excel formulas to archive this.

1. MATCH
2. COUNTIF
3. VLOOKUP

Here is the syntax

1. =Match( value, array, match_type )
2. =CountIf( range, criteria )
3. =VLookup( value, table_array, index_number, not_exact_match )

Here is a example usage :

1. =IF(ISNA(MATCH(A1,$B$1:$B$100,FALSE)),”N”,”Y”)
This can be used if we want to find out a match and mark the result as ‘Y’ or ‘N’ and consolidate it.

2. =COUNTIF($B$1:$B$100,A1)
This can be used to find the count of the matches in the resultant column. If the count is 0, then there is no match. If the count is 1 then there is 1 match. If the count is 2 then the matched data count is 2 and so on.

3. =IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(A1,$B$1:$B$100,1,FALSE)),”N”,”Y”)
This is again again similar to the first option where there is change in the function idiom

Where to use what?
Now the question is, of all of them which performs the same function and now where to use what function. The MATCH/VLOOKUP can be used to find out the existence of the data in the column but COUNTIF can be used to find out the existence of data and to find the number of instances the data exists.

Which one is faster?
MATCH/VLOOKUP is more faster than the COUNTIF, since COUNTIF has to look up the entire array to throw out the count. But MATCH/VLOOKUP terminates it loop once it find the data in the array.

There are more functions too in excel for comparison of data. I shall explain it when I come across it.

One fine morning I was surprised to see the error “Multiple connections to a server or shared resource by the same user using more than one user name are not allowed” when I was trying to connect a network drive. I  verified for network connection in  windows explorer but I could not find any connections. Here is a way to solve it.

1. Goto command prompt.
2. Type “NET USE” (with out codes) to view all the connections active or inactive.

Status       Local     Remote                    Network
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unavailable  M:        \\192.168.0.100\Music     Microsoft Windows Network
OK                     \\192.168.0.103\m$        Microsoft Windows Network
The command completed successfully.

3. Type “NET USE \\<remote_resource_name>” (with out codes and replace <remote_resource_name> with the actual name) to display the complete details.

Local name        Z:
Remote name       \\<remote_resource_name>
Resource type     Disk
Status            OK
# Opens           2
# Connections     1
The command completed successfully.

4. To disconnect this resource use the command without codes as “NET USE \\<remote_resource_name> /DELETE
5. Now you are available to connect the remote resource.

Here are the other ways to disconnect through GUI if the connection is visible.

If the connection is mapped to the drive letter.
1. Open the Windows explorer
2. Goto Tools and choose the option Disconnect Network Drive
3. Choose the drive letter and click Disconnect.

If the connect is not mapped to the drive letter.
1. Right click on MyComputer
2. Choose Disconnect Network Drive and it display the all the resources connected
3. Choose the resource name or the drive letter and click OK

Forgetting things in life is more common, but some somethings you will not have any impact. Imagine you have forgot a windows administrator password. You are really into trouble. You can’t really find any one to make you to get into your system. But here is a way to reset it.

If you are the old version of windows the the problem is much simple. To reset a password in windows 98, there is nothing much complex since the there is not much tight security.

For Windows 9x

1. Boot the system in dos mode
2. Go the windows directory
3. Search for *.PWD file
4. Delete the *.PWD file.
5. Reboot it and now you are in with the blank password.

But on later versions of the windows the security features are made so complex that it involves some complex steps to reset your password in case you forget it.

For Windows 2000/XP

1. Get back you windows bootable CD. Boot it.

2. Proceed to the the screens until you get the option to a) install windows or b) repair windows

3. Press ‘R’ to repair windows and then choose the appropriate options until reboot.

4. Your machine will be back in windows GUI mode. You need to enter to the command prompt by pressing “Shit + F10″. This step differs for windows 2000 and XP.

• For windows 2000 press “shift + F10″ when you see the screen “Registering Components”
• For windows XP press “shift + F10″ when you see the screen “Installing devices”

5. Now you are in the command prompt. From here you need to invoke the control panel.

• For Windows 2000, Type “control.exe” in command prompt
• For Windows XP, Type “nusrmgr.cpl” in command prompt

6. Now you could be able to access control panel.
7. From there choose user management to reset your password.
8. Once done, close the control panel and allow the repair process to get completed.
9. Finally reboot your computer
10. Now you can be in with your new password.

Here is an alternate way too if you have a free distribution of Linux know as Knoppix. Here are the steps.

1. Download the free version of Linux from http://www.knoppix.org/
2. Download the a package to change the windows password from here
3. Install the package chntpw as below

Knoppix@ttyp1[knoppix]$ alien –to-tgz chntpw_.deb
Knoppix@ttyp1[knoppix]$ tar xvzf chntpw.tgz ./usr/sbin/chntpw
Knoppix@ttyp1[knoppix]$ mv ./usr/sbin/chntpw ./

4. Find the windows partition using the command

cat /etc/fstab

5. Mount the windows NTFS partition using the command

mount -o rw /dev/hdax /mnt/windows


x – replaces with the numeric depending on the configuration

6. Change your directory where the SAM file is available

cd /mnt/windows/WINDOWS/system32/config

7. Run the command

chntpw -u administrator SAM system SECURITY

8. This will ask you to enter a new password for the administrator account.
9. Just hit enter so that blank password will be entered.
10. Write the changes when it prompts to do so.
11. Reboot your machine on your hard drive and log in to windows with blank password.

NB: The author is not responsible for any kind of misuse by the readers.

How To? This would be a million dollar worth question when we get struck in midst of something. We here at HowTo blog are aiming to provide you better way of find quick answers. This blog is indented to provide complete howto guide on anything; almost everything. This would be useful for you to act quicker and reach your purpose.

You could also share your experience if you have come across on any which would be helpful for the others. You can either directly register or post your experience or in case of any problems in registering / if you don’t want to register to this site, you can very well drop a mail to howto (at) expertsheaven (dot) com so that the information is shared.

We are looking towards full support from all of you. We are hoping to build a better howto community.