Computer Tips and Tricks

WINDOWS REGISTRY HACKS PART 2

2014-02-02T15:17:00.000+01:00

Hacking the Windows Registry continued...

THE PROBLEM

Hello guys, this is the second article on Windows Registry hacking. Here I will give you examples of some of the most common Windows Registry hacks and tweaks.

THE PRINCIPLE:

If you are not yet familiar with the Windows Registry, please consider reading the first article of the series [here] before reading on. All the hacks that follow are fully functional and have been tested on Windows XP and Windows 7 (equally work on Windows Vista and Windows 8).

DISCLAIMER: I strongly recommend you NOT to run these hacks on your working computer, If you want to test them personally or modify them, consider setting up a Virtual Machine. Moreover, the content of this article is exclusively meant for educational purpose. Use the information provided at your own risk. Neither Computer Tips and Tricks nor its authors are responsible for what you do of this knowledge.

THE SOLUTION:

Task Manager Hack

This basically consists in disabling/enabling the task manager of any Windows based computer. The key in which we will apply modifications to perform the hack is

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

Copy paste the 3 lines of text below in an empty file in notepad and save it as filename.reg where filename is any name of your choice.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"DisableTaskMgr"=dword:00000001

What this lines of code do basically is tell the OS to create a new dword value with name DisableTaskMgr and data value 1, as easy as that. Double clicking on this file will disable the Task Manager on that machine. To reanable the Task Manager, just change the value from 00000001 to 00000000

Command prompt (cmd) Hack

This consists in disabling/enabling the command prompt of any Windows based computer. The key in which we will apply modifications to perform the hack is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System.

Copy paste the 3 lines of text below in an empty file in notepad and save it as filename.reg where filename is any name of your choice.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System]

"DisableCMD"=dword:00000001

To reanable the command prompt, just change the value from 00000001 to 00000000. To disable the command prompt but allow batch files to be run change the value from 00000001 or 00000000 to 00000002.

Registry Editor Hack

This is one of my favorite, after messing up with your victims computer use this one as the finishing move. After applying this hack, he will no longer be able to manually apply any modifications to the registry nor even to open the registry editor. (NOTE: There are other ways indeed to bypass this restriction, I will cover that in a future article :)).The key in which we will apply modifications to perform the hack is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

Copy paste the 3 lines of text below in an empty file in notepad and save it as filename.reg where filename is any name of your choice.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

"DisableRegistryTools"=dword:00000001

Run Command Hack

This consists of disabling / enabling the ability to launch commands or processes from the Start menu by removing the Run option. The key in which we will apply modifications to perform the hack is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer to disable the run command for the actual user or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer to disable the run command for the whole system.

Copy paste the 3 lines of text below in an empty file in notepad and save it as filename.reg where filename is any name of your choice.

NOTE: Log off or restart the computer for the change to take effect.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

"NoRun"=dword:00000001

To re-anable the run command , just change the value from 00000001 to 00000000 then log off or restart the computer.

Microsoft Management Console Hack (gpedit.msc)

gpedit is a feature of the Microsoft family of operating systems that control the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides the centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and users' settings in an Active Directory environment. In other words, It controls amongst other what users can and cannot do on a computer system. This is something you should definetly consider disable after using all the above hacks if you really want to mess up a computer, because any savvy computer user can re-enable all what we just hacked above and much more just by using this feature. The key in which we will apply modifications to perform the hack is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\MMC\{8FC0B734-A0E1-11D1-A7D3-0000F87571E3}.

Copy paste the 3 lines of text below in an empty file in notepad and save it as filename.reg where filename is any name of your choice.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\MMC\{8FC0B734-A0E1-11D1-A7D3-0000F87571E3}]

"Restrict_Run"=dword:00000001

To reanable the gpedit.msc , just change the value from 00000001 to 00000000.

Temporary Files Cleaner Tweak

Temporary files are created by running applications to store files while they work on them. Nevertheless the temporary file folder, if not cleaned on a regular basis can occupy tremendous amounts of space. By default, disk cleanup utilities only delete temporary files that are 7 days old. What if you want to delete all the temporary files at the end of each day? The key in which we will apply modifications to perform this tweak is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Temporary Files.

Copy paste the 3 lines of text below in an empty file in notepad and save it as filename.reg where filename is any name of your choice.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Temporary Files]
"LastAccess"=dword:00000001

To change, just modify the dword value. For example if I prefer it to delete files that are 3 days old, I should have 00000003 instead of 00000001.

Verbose boot messages Tweak

This is a very handy tweak if you are the kind of computer guy that always wants to know what is the cause when things go wrong. This tweak enables verbose messages during the boot process which could help you identify with absolute precision which driver(s) or application(s) are responsible for slow boot and startup and to troubleshoot them. The key in which we will apply modifications to perform this tweak is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Copy paste the 3 lines of text below in an empty file in notepad and save it as filename.reg where filename is any name of your choice.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]

"VerboseStatus"=dword:00000001

Click here to download all the above hacks (.reg files)

Hope it helps! Stay Tunned!

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to receive a copy of the source codes of the program, please leave a comment below with your request and email address or

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WINDOWS REGISTRY HACKS

2014-01-19T14:51:00.002+01:00

How to hack the windows registry

THE PROBLEM:

What is the Windows Registry?

Why would I need to hack it?

How can I actually Hack it?

THE PRINCIPLE:

The Windows Registry, usually referred to as "the registry," is a hierarchical database that contains most (90%) of the important configuration information and settings about software programs, system hardware devices, user preferences, operating system configurations, and much more.

Normally, you should not need to make any manual changes to the registry because programs and applications typically make all the necessary changes automatically. Furthermore, an incorrect change to your computer's registry could render your computer inoperable. However, by knowing how to hack into the windows registry you will also be able to secure a computer or to fix computers broken by hackers.

The Windows registry as a whole is a very broad topic, so this will not be a in depth class. Basically, I will show you how to find which registry key(s) you need to modify to perform a task of your choice, then how to change that knowledge into a hack. To conclude, I will give some examples of the most common registry hacks such as enabling/disabling the task manager, enabling/disabling the command prompt and much more...

Enough of talking, now let’s do some hacking :)

THE SOLUTION:

DISCLAIMER: Neither Computer Tips and Tricks nor its authors are responsible for any damage the application of these hacks may cause on your computer. We strongly recommend that you try them in a virtual machine or backup the registry before making any changes. You can learn more on how to backup the registry on one of my previous articles here

First of all you must know how to find which key(s) to modify to perform a task of your choice. Here all you will need is the Google search engine. Let’s say I am looking for which registry key I need to modify in order to disable usb drives in my computer, I will just have to open up google and type the string “disabling usb drives in my computer + registry “ (Note: the ‘+’ is a special operator for google searches which can be used amongst others to refine results of google searches, I will be writing a series of articles on Google hacking very soon :).

As you can see on the screenshot below, you are quickly served with a lot of relevant information on how to disabling usb drives in your computer using the registry.

As shown on the screenshot below, I have selected the first result and I am given a step by step guide on how to perform the task, you just need to follow the steps and you are done.

So that is how you can get the keys for any hack you can think about.

Now that you know how to find which keys to modify in order to perform the task of your choice, I will now show you how to transform that simple knowledge into a hack.

Basically there are two ways with which you can apply changes to the registry

The classic way using the regedit (Registry Editor) tool this is built-in in all Windows 95 and later OS’s. Here you have to run regedit, navigate to the specific key you want to modify and then play with it. I’m sure you agree with me that it’s quite cumbersome, unlike the second way…
By creating a .reg file which will, upon double clicking perform all the changes to the registry automatically J cool, isn’t it?

So coming back to our example - disabling usb drives in a computer, let’s say we want to do that to someone else’s computer? How would you go along it? Quite easy! You will just have to export that modified key into a .reg file (See screenshots below), First of all navigate to the desired key then apply the necessary modification. Then from the Registry Editor menu, choose File and then Export. You can then store the .reg file where you want and give it any name of your choice. If you double click on it on another computer, it will automatically disable usb drives and the victim will be like OMG WTF is wrong with my Computer while you will be like cooool...

NOTE: In recent operating systems (Windows Vista and later) you will be prompted to confirm that you want to make changes to the registry, just press OK, if successful, a confirmation window will then appear.

Now that you know how to create the .reg files, I will show you more examples of cool registry hacks like disabling the task manager, the command prompt and even the registry editor itself, but that will be in my next article because this one is getting too long already. So see you guys.

Stay Tuned!!!

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to receive a copy of the source codes of the program, please leave a comment below with your request and email address or

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BACKING UP AND RESTORING THE WINDOWS REGISTRY

2014-01-18T11:12:00.000+01:00

How to restore and backup the Windows Registry

THE PROBLEM:

I messed up with values in my registry and now my whole computer is messed up.

THE PRINCIPLE:

Fortunately, the specific keys or the whole windows registry can be backed up into a .reg file and restored if things go wrong. Backing up your registry can one day save you from a delicate situation and its as easy as ABC to do and takes just a few minutes.

THE SOLUTION:

First, you must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps. If you aren't logged in as an administrator, you can only change settings that apply to your user account.

1) Open the Registry Editor by clicking the Start button (Widows Vista & 7) or by pressing the Windows key (Windows 8), typing regedit into the search box, and then pressing Enter, If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. (for Windows XP users, to open the Registry Editor follow the steps Start > Run > 'regedit' then press OK and you are done).

2) Navigate to the very top of the registry key branches until you reach Computer.

3) Highlight Computer by clicking on it once.

4) From the Registry Editor menu, choose File and then Export or right click on Computer and choose Export from the menu.

5) In the Export Registry File window that appears, choose a location to save the registry backup file.

6) In the File name text field enter a name for the backup file. Anything will do but I recommend you to use explicit files names. for example Registry Backup 01/14

7) Click the Save button.

Upon clicking, a registration File with a .reg file extension will be created in the location you selected in Step 5 and with the file name you chose in Step 6. So if you chose the file name of my example you should have a file 'Complete Registry Backup 01/14.reg' in the location you selected.

You are now free to play with your registry keys :p .

RESTORING THE REGISTRY

If after making some registry changes, you realize that they did not give you the results you were looking for, or messed up your system settings, you can simply restore the Windows registry back to the point at which you backed it up by double clicking on the .reg file created after step 7 above.

   Depending on how your OS is configured, you could see a User Account Control dialog box appear next in which you will need to confirm that you want to open Registry Editor and import keys. Just click the OK button on this dialog box.

    Assuming the registry key(s) import was successful, you should receive the following message in a Registry Editor window: 'The keys and values contained in [REG file location] have been successfully added to the registry'. Click the OK button on this window.

    Depending on which key(s) are imported, you may also have to restart your computer to have the changes take effect, just do that and you are through importing your working registry settings back.

Hope It Helps :)

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to receive a copy of the source codes of the program, please leave a comment below with your request and email address or

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HOW TO STEALTHILY COPY FILES FROM A USB DEVICE TO YOUR COMPUTER

2012-11-02T18:40:00.002+01:00

HOW TO COPY FILES FROM YOUR FRIENDS USB DEVICE WITHOUT THEM KNOWING

THE PROBLEM:

You notice some good stuff in your friends USB Device but for some reason he does not want to give them to you.

You want to have those files by all means without him been aware of it.

THE PRINCIPLE:

It is possible to copy the content of a USB Device without the owner being aware of it, all you need is to connect it to your computer (find a good reason to let your victim leave you do it. You might tell him you have got a cool music or video you want to share with him etc). Read on to find out how to do copy data from a friends USB Device without him knowing.

THE SOLUTION:

AzertiSoft's DOS-FIS (DOS File Integrity Scanner) whose internal name is CopyCat.
CopyCat is a small program that simulates a chkdsk scan (for more information about chkdsk, click here) of a USB Drive.Once your victims USB Drive is connected to your computer, you just have to open the program (DOS-FIS.exe). Once open you are prompted for the Drive letter of the USB Device you want to "scan", a folder called copycat is automatically created in the Windows folder found in the system drive (hard disk or partition containing the operating system. Usually Drive or partition "C"). It is in this folder that all the copied files will be pasted.While copying the files, the program makes as if it is carrying out a chkdsk scan.
NOTE: The "scanning" time is logically directly proportional to the size of the files to be copied.

Below are some screenshots

Click Here to download DOS-FIS by AzertiSoft Creations

Once complete you can see the files by opening the Windows folder found in your system drive (usually "C") in which you will find a folder called copycat in which you will find the files in the same directories and subdirectories as they were in the USB Device.
Below is a video of how it is done. In this video, I will stealthily copy all audio files (.mp3,.wma etc) found in a USB Device with mount letter "J". Then I go to the folder where it is stored on my computer.

Soon a direct download link of the video will be added on our download page

Below is a screenshot of the a original chkdsk scan vs a DOS-FIS "scan". Notice how the program simulates the chkdsk scan.

I am actually working on a way to make the program automatically once the USB Device is connected to the PC to make the "scanning" more credible. As soon as im done i will upload it.

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to receive a copy of the source codes of the program, please leave a comment below with your request and email adress or

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BYPASS BIOS PASSWORDS

2012-11-01T14:22:00.000+01:00

HOW TO BYPASS BIOS PASSWORDS

THE PROBLEM:

You had set a boot password on your computer (BIOS password) and you forgot it!

Consequence:

You cant modify your BIOS settings!

Your computer cant boot!

THE PRINCIPLE:

BIOS stands for BASIC INPUT OUTPUT SYSTEM. It is nothing but a set of procedures or programs contained in a small ROM (Read Only Memory) chipset on the motherboard of PC based computers. These procedures handle all input-output functions so that programs installed on your hard disk should not have to manipulate the hardware directly.

BIOS passwords add an extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers. They are used to either prevent a user from accidentaly changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the computer from booting without a password. This is also a good but dangerous way of preventing unwanted users from having access to your files. It is dangerous in the sense that you might forget the password and find yourself unable to use your own computer.

DISCLAIMER:This article is mainly for information purposes, It is not intended for hackers, or computer
thieves attempting to crack the password on a stolen PC or laptop. Computer Tips and Tricks nor its authors are therefore not responsible for the use or misuse of the material presented in this article and eventual physical or logical damage that may result from its usage or misusage on your computer or yourself.

THE SOLUTION:

There are many metods that you can use to bypass or reset the BIOS password yourself. I have listed them in increasing level of difficulty and risk so start by trying out the first method, if it does not work go to the next one and so on. One thing is sure - It is IMPOSSIBLE that after trying all methods, your problem is not solved.

The methods I will explain are:

    1) Removing the CMOS battery for at least 10-15 minutes

    2) Using a manufacturers backdoor password to access the BIOS

    3) Using the "DEBUG" MS-Dos command

    4) Using the Motherboard "Clear CMOS" Jumper or Dipswitch settings

    5) Short-circuiting the BIOS chip

There are other methods but these are the best statistically.


NOTE: Remember that most BIOS passwords do not protect the hard drive, so if your only problem is to recover data from a BIOS coded computer, simply remove the hard disc drive and install it in an identical system, or configure it as a slave drive in an existing system. The exception to this rule are laptops, which most of the time silently lock the hard drive if the BIOS password is enabled. If the BIOS password is reset
without resetting the hard drive as well, you will be unable to access the data on the drive.

SOLUTION 1) Removing the CMOS Battery

This is the most easy and straight forward method and it does not require much hardware knowledge (for laptops, will require you to dismount it. If you are not comfortable with that, have it done by a pro) and is very efficient especially for desktops.

The BIOS settings on most computers are buffered (stored) by a small battery that is attached to the motherboard (The CMOS battery - which looks like a small watch battery). If you unplug the power cable of the PC and remove the battery for 10-15 minutes, it should reset itself (loose all the information it contains - including the password) so the password should be wiped out(along with any other machine specific settings such as system time and date, boot order etc.) Some manufacturers backup the power to the CMOS chipset by using a capacitor, so if your first attempt fails, leave the battery out (with the system unplugged) for at least 24 hours or buy a new one and put it in your computer. Below are screenshoots of sample CMOS Batteries of desktops and laptops as well as their possible locations on the motherboard.

NOTE: Removing the battery to reset the CMOS will not work for all PC's and almost all of the newer laptops store their BIOS passwords in a manner which does not require continuous electric power, so removing the CMOS battery may not work at all for them.

SOLUTION 2) Using manufacturer backdoor passwords

This is the second easiest method and does not need you to open your system unit.

Most BIOS manufacturers have provided backdoor passwords that can be used to access the BIOS setup in the event you have lost your password.

WARNING: Some BIOS configurations will lock you out of the system completely if you type in an incorrect password more than 3 times. If possibly read your manufacturers documentation for the BIOS settings before you begin typing in passwords and if it is their case, try solution 2 after 2 unsuccessful password trials.

The list being too long, I have compiled it in a pdf that you can download in .doc or .pdf format below.

list of BIOS backdoor passwords by BIOS and manufacturer (.doc)

list of BIOS backdoor passwords by BIOS and manufacturer (.pdf)

list of BIOS backdoor passwords by BIOS and manufacturer (.rar contains both .doc and .pdf)

All you need to do is identify your BIOS or Computer (System unit) manufacturer and try out the
corresponding backdoor passwords.

NOTE: If you dont know how, you can learn how to identify your computers BIOS manufacturer without having to open your system unit by reading one of my previous posts here How to fix your computer yourself !Complete list of all BIOS Beep Codes

SOLUTION 3) Using the "DEBUG" MS-Dos command

This method clears the BIOS such that the next time you start the PC, you are not asked for any password. It does not require you to open your system unit but for you to use this method you must have access to the original DOS prompt (from the MS-DOS operating system, not from a MS-DOS shell window in Windows). That is where all the difficulty lays because on most advanced computer systems (mostly laptops) you cant boot from anything else (neither Floopy disc nor CD/DVD) without typing in the BIOS password so you will not even be able to run MS-DOS from either Floppy Disc or CD/DVD. Nevertheless on some computers you might have the possibility of doing that. If that is your case then identify your BIOS manufacturer and after opening the DOS prompt type in the commands corresponding to your BIOS manufacturer.

NOTE: Hit enter after each line of commands, at the end of the 3 lines type "exit" and hit enter then restart the machine. The BIOS ROM should have beéen cleared and the computer should boot normally.

For AMI/AWARD BIOS type

o 70 17
o 71 17
q

For PHOENIX BIOS Type

o 70 FF
o 71 17
q

For Generic BIOS or all other motherboards type

o 70 2E
o 71 FF
q

NOTE: The first letter is a "O" not the number "0".

WARNING: The methods described below are for advanced computer users, If you are not comfortable with computer hardware and if none of the 3 methods described above worked, please contact me (by comment, email or facebook page or group) or a computer hardware professional to avoid damaging your computer.

SOLUTION 4) Using the Motherboard "Clear CMOS" Jumper or Dipswitch settings (For advanced users)

The canonical way to flash the BIOS via hardware is to plug, unplug, or switch a jumper/dipswitch on the motherboard (for "switching a jumper" I mean that you find a jumper that joins the central pin and a side pin of a group of three pins, you should then unplug the jumper and then plug it to the central pin and to the pin on the opposite side, so if the jumper is normally on position 1-2, you have to put it on position 2-3, or vice versa). This jumper is most of the time located near the BIOS, but could be as well anywhere on the motherboard. To find the correct jumper/dipswitch you should read the motherboard's manual. Once you've located the correct jumper, switch it (or plug or unplug it, depending of what the manual says) while the computer is turned OFF. Then wait a couple of seconds then put the jumper back to its original position and turn the computer back on. On laptop computers, the dipswitches are usually found under the keyboard or within a compartment at the bottom of the laptop. You should then move the switch to the indicated position.

If you don't have the motherboard's manual, the jumpers may be found along the edges of the motherboard, next to the CMOS battery or near the processor and will be labelled CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - RESET CMOS CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD or J4. Look at your motherboard attentively and you should see such a label on your motherboard with a jumper besides it. For laptops, you should test all the possible switch positions. Below are some images showing you were these jumpers can be found and their labels on the motherboard.

If you dont find any of the labels above, then you'll have to "brute force" your motherboard that is trying out all the jumpers/dipswitches of your motherboard. In this case, try first the isolated ones (those that are not in a group), the ones near to the BIOS, along the edges of the motherboard and the ones you can switch (as I explained before). If all of them fail, try all the others. However, you must modify the status of ONLY ONE
jumper at a time, otherwise you could damage the motherboard (since you don't know what the jumper you switched, plugged or unplugged is actually meant for). If the password request screen still appears, try another one until you find the good one... and you will find it, sooner or later!

If after flashing the BIOS, the computer won't boot when you turn it on, turn it off, wait for some seconds and try again.

NOTE: Remember to unplug your PC before touching the motherboard of your computer. Once you locate and remove the jumper/dipswitches, turn the computer on and check if the password has been cleared. If it has, turn the computer off and return the jumpers or dipswitches to their original position.

SOLUTION 5) Short-circuiting the BIOS chip
(For highly advanced users. Can irreversibly damage your computer)

Another way to clear the BIOS password is to reset it by short circuiting two pins of its chip for a few seconds. The chip looks like what is shown on the images below.

You can do that with a small piece of electric wire or with a bent paper clip.

WARNING: Always make sure that the computer is turned OFF before trying this operation.

Below is a list of EPROM chips that are commonly used in the BIOS industry. You may find similar chips with different names if they are compatible chips made by another brand. If you find the BIOS chip you are working on matches with one of the following you can try to short-circuit the appropriate pins. Once again be careful, because this operation may damage the chip and/or the computer

CHIPS P82C206 (square)
"Short together pins 12 and 32" (the first and the last pins on the bottom edge of the chip)
"or pins 74 and 75" (the two pins on the upper left corner).

OPTi F82C206 (rectangular)
"Short together pins 3 and 26" (third pin from left side and fifth pin from right side
on the bottom edge).

Dallas DS1287, DS1287A and Benchmarq bp3287MT, bq3287AMT
The Dallas DS1287 and DS1287A, and the compatible Benchmarq bp3287MT and bq3287AMT chips have a built-in battery. This battery should last up to ten years. Any motherboard using these chips should not have an additional battery (this means you can't flash the BIOS by removing a battery). When the battery fails, the RTC chip would be replaced. CMOS RAM can be cleared on the 1287A and 3287AMT chips by "shorting pins 12 and 21."

NOTE: The 1287 (and 3287MT) differ from the 1287A in that the BIOS can't be cleared.
If there is a problem such as a forgotten password, the chip must be replaced.
(In this case it is recommended to replace the 1287 with a 1287A).

Dallas DS12885S, Benchmarq bq3258S, Hitachi HD146818AP, Samsung KS82C6818A
This are rectangular 24-pin DIP chips, usually in a socket. The number on the chip should end in 6818.
Although this chip is pin-compatible with the Dallas 1287/1287A, there is no built-in battery. "Short together pins 12 and 24."

Motorola MC146818AP
"Short pins 12 and 24." These are the pins on diagonally opposite corners -
lower left and upper right. You might "also try pins 12 and 20."

If nothing above works, you could replace the existing BIOS chip with a new one, you can buy a compatible one from any computer maintenance workshop. It's a quick operation if the chip is inserted on a base and not soldered to the motherboard, otherwise you'll have to unsolder it and then put the new one (see a profesional if you are not very comfortable with soldereing).In this case, it would be more convenient to
solder a base on which you'll then plug the new chip, in the eventuality that you'll have to change it again. If you can't find the BIOS chip specifically made for your motherboard, you should buy and solder one of the same type (probably one of the ones shown above)

REMEMBER: Whatever method you use, when you flash the BIOS not only the password, but also all the other configuration data will be reset to the factory defaults, so when you are booting for the first time after a BIOS flash, you should enter the CMOS configuration menu and configure up some things (date/time, boot order, etc). Also, when you boot Windows, it may happen that it finds some new device, because of the new configuration of the BIOS, in this case you'll probably need the Windows installation CD because Windows may ask you for some external files.

Hope it helped! Stay Tuned!

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query please leave
a comment below with your request and email adress or

- at freecomputertipsandtricks@gmail.com

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BOOST UP THE LIFE SPAN OF YOUR LAPTOPS BATTERY

2012-09-17T21:40:00.000+02:00

How to increase the life span of your laptop's battery

THE PROBLEM:

My Laptops battery autonomy decreases from day to day.

THE PRINCIPLE:

People use laptops for a lot of reasons, ranging from its portability to its reliability, but the major reason is the power autonomy it provides. Did you know that a laptop battery is desinged to last for 18 to 36 months, period through which its autonomy will decrease at a very slow, non alarming and steady rate as time goes.

With most laptops you can enjoy as much as a 2 hour autonomy if your laptop is properly charged, and there are even laptops that can last up to 10 hours, but now it is very common ,to see a laptop that used to last 3 hours only lasting 30 minutes, and see a laptop that used to last 2 hours only lasting 5 minutes. This decrease rate is alarming and too great to be normal, reason for this article. Below ,I will list some tips to boost your laptop battery life.

THE SOLUTION:

TIP 1) NEVER EVER let your laptop battery get fully empty

Some people think that leaving the battery of their laptop to get totally empty from time to time will boost up their batteries performance and life span but that is a myth! It does just the contrary. In fact, the lithium-ion batteries (the type of battery found in laptops) loose about up to 20% of their autonomy each time they are totally emptied because it causes a chemical degradation of the batteries components. That is why most operating systems have a threshold limit beyond which they automatically shut down the computer (usually 9%) to avoid the battery from going empty. The idea is to increase this limit. Below is a video showing you how to do that on Windows 7. You can download the video here

In this video, I reduce the low battery and critical battery levels to 15% and 10% respectively and set the critical and low battery actions to "hibernate" so the system will start low battery notification earlier (at 15% rather than the default 10%) and will hibernate when the critical value of 10% is reached. You can modify this setting to your convenience.

TIP 2) Avoid Using Too Many Applications Simultaneously You should avoid using too many applications simultaneously. By this, I mean you should not over multitask your laptop. The amount of tasks your laptop can handle simultanouesly depends on your CPU clock speed and RAM but running too many applications at a time uses up much more energy and hence worns out the battery at a greater rate. To illustrate what i mean by over multitasking I will take the example of someone wathching a movie and from time to time changing tabs to browse the net, play the latest video game, listen to his favorite music and doing some rough work on Adobe Photoshop CS5 on his laptop. Even if your CPU and RAM can handle all that (recent laptops can), it remaind DEADLY for your battery.

TIP 3) Use Your Autonomy ONLY When Neccessary You are at home for example, or at school or anywhere there are power switches, why use your batteries autonomy when you have your power cable with you? Only use your battery autonomy in situations where you cant do otherwise.

TIP 4) Reduce Your Laptop Brightness to a Comfortable, but Battery Saving, Level You can also boost your laptop battery life by reducing your laptop’s brightness. The brighter your laptop is the more of your battery is used up to satisfy its brightness, and the more impact on your battery life span. You can significantly reduce the chances of your laptop battery experiencing any problems by adjusting its brightness, or by choosing one of the power-saver plans that comes with your laptop. The video in tip 1 shows you how you can do this.

TIP 5) Dont Let Your Laptop Run When You Are Not Using It Another step you should take towards saving your laptop battery is to ensure your laptop is not running when you are not using it. A lot of us make the mistake of letting our laptopsrun when we are not using it, and this can have a lasting impact on their batteries life span. I am not saying you should shut down your laptop completely if you want to take a 5 or 10 minute break before getting back to work, because I know there are situations when you want or need to take a short break on a particular task, but I am saying you can and should configure your laptop to go to sleep mode when you don’t touch it for a particular period of time say, 10 minutes. By doing this, you will be able to save your laptop battery life without your work being affected. The video in tip 1 shows you how you can do this.

Hope It Helps! Stay Tuned!

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to obtain more tips on how to efficiently use your laptop or desktop, please leave a comment below with your request and email adress or - email me at freecomputertipsandtricks@gmail.com

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INSTALL WINDOWS XP FROM A USB KEY

2012-09-12T20:34:00.000+02:00

How to install Windows from a USB Disk

THE PROBLEM:

- How can I install Windows XP from a USB Device.

THE PRINCIPLE:

I have already explained how to install Windows 7 from a USB Disk in a previous post but you might ask what about XP? Read on and you will learn how to install Windows XP from a USB Disk.

Installing Windows XP from a USB Device is far more complicated than with Windows 7 because the Windows XP does not have the feature of booting from a USB flash drive integrated. But dont worry, there are many ways to do this. Here I will show you an easy method of doing this and in the next post, I will explain a more complex but more efficient method.

We are going to use a small software called Win to Flash, you can download it here.

THE SOLUTION:

Follow this steps:

1) Download Win to Flash. It is a small utility that does not need to be installed. After unzipping it and running the WintoFlash.exe file, the following screen should appear.

2) Now click on the task tab, you should see a wide range of options. The task you should choose is the first task "Transfer Windows XP/2003 setup to flash".

3) Click on the "next" button.

4) Next a screen will prompt, where you can select the source path of the Windows XP installation CD or copy and then the path of your USB flash drive.

You can then click on the "next" button and an exact bootable copy of the Windows XP installation CD will be created in the USB Flash Disc. You can now install Windows XP from Flash drive, simply boot your computer from the USB Device (Change the boot option in your BIOS setup. Make the USB Device as the first boot option).

This method is quite easy but does not always work. In my next post, i will explain you how to manually create a bootable USB Disc to install XP.

Stay Tuned!

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query
or to obtain download links of other software to install Windows XP from a USB Disc, please leave
a comment below with your request and email adress or

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SECURE DATA IN YOUR HARD DRIVE WITHOUT SOFTWARE

2012-09-05T21:55:00.001+02:00

SECURE DATA IN YOUR HARD DRIVE BY HIDING PARTITIONS

THE PROBLEM:

- How can I protect my confidential data found in a partition.

THE PRINCIPLE:

Securing confidential data is very essential and there are many ways or tools to hide or password protect your files and folders. I have already described a way to hide a file(s) in a file in a previous article. Here is another way. If you have your hard drive partitioned and have a particular partition in which you put all your sensible and private files, this will be very useful to you. I personally use this process amongst others to hide my sensible data.

We will use the DISKPART command to hide a partition of your choice, making it invisible in the Windows Explorer. This Works on XP, Vista and Seven.

THE SOLUTION:

Follow these steps:

1) Open the command prompt (Start> Run> "cmd" OR WINDOWS + R then type "cmd")

2) Once upon type "diskpart" without the quotes, you should see something like what is shown below.

3) Type "list volume" without the quotes, this command displays a list of all the partitions present in your computer.You should see something like what is shown below.

You can notice that there are 3 partitions, C, D and E respectively. Now you must note the number of the volume you want to hide. For example, If you want to hide the D partition (DATA), you should note the number "1".

4) Type "select volume " without the quotes, for example type "select volume 1", to select the D partition. You should see something like what is shown below.

The system language on the screenshot is in french, but the text simply tells you that volume 1 has been selected.

5) Type "remove letter " without the quotes, for example "remove letter D" to hide partition D. This command will remove the drive letter from the partition and make the partition hidden in Windows explorer.

NOTE: You must restart your computer to see the effect.

You should see something like what is shown below.

And after computer restart, you can notice the D partition has turned invisible.

6) To get back the drive again, just type the following command : "assign letter "

NOTE: When assigning the letter back to the partition, you must have to select the volume again as you had done before.

Immediately after typing this command and pressing enter, you can notice that the partition re-appears on the Windows explorer.

Using the above method, you can keep all your private data in a partition of your choice, hide the partition.

When you need to access them just make the partition visible again.

Hope it helps! Stay tuned!

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to obtain FREE tutorials on more advanced cryptography and file hiding techniques , please leave a comment below with your request and email adress or

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INSTALL WINDOWS SEVEN FROM A USB DISK WITHOUT ANY SOFTWARE

2012-09-03T22:00:00.001+02:00

How to create a bootable usb device and install WINDOWS 7 from it

THE PROBLEM:

- How can I install Windows 7 from a USB Device.

THE PRINCIPLE:

Windows 7 can be easily installed from a USB Device. All you need is a USB Disk of atleast 4GB and some time (30 seconds) to make it bootable. You will not need any other software and you can do it as often as you want without damaging your USB Disk. We will use the DISKPART command-line utility.

Diskpart is one of Windows essential command-line utilities, it is the successor to Fdisk that appeared first in Windows XP. This tool lets you perform a wide range of hard disk related tasks such as

creating partitions

formatting partitions

initialising partitions

making partitions bootable

resize drives or partitions

setting up RAID partitions... and much more

For this tutorial, we will concentrate on the making partitions bootable with the "active" sub command.

Note For the Geeks andd curious readers: you can download a complete list of ALL the DISKPART sub commands HERE.

THE SOLUTION:

First we have to make the USB device bootable, to do this follow these steps:

1) Plug in the USB Device with which you want to install WINDOWS 7 on your computer.

2) Open the command line (Start > Run > cmd OR WINDOWS + R), once open, type diskpart and press Enter.

3) Once you’re in the tool, you will notice that Diskpart has its own command prompt. Diskpart is a sort of command line interface (CLI) inside a CLI

4) Type "list disk" without the quotes. This command displays a list of all physical disks connected to the computer. You notice there are 2 disks listed. Here the first one is my hard disk (74 Gb) and the second is the USB key i want to make bootable (7660 Mb).

NOTE: Only Physical disks are listed. This means that even if my hard is partitioned (it is!)
only the physical disk containing the partition will be listed.

5) Type "select disk <number of the Disk of the USB device >" without the quotes. This command as its name suggests selects the specified disk. For my USB Device I type "select disk 1".

6) Type "clean disk" without the quotes. This command cleans all the configuration information off the disk, or all other information.

7) Type "create partition primary" without the quotes. Self explanatory command.

8) Type "select partition <number of the Disk of the USB device >". This selects the newly created partition.

9) Type "active" without the quotes. This is the command that actually makes the device bootable.

10) Finally you have to format the USB Device and assign it a letter. To do this, use the commands "format" (with fs option fat32 or ntfs for faster installation eg "format fs=ntfs") and "assign". And you are done!

The Screenshot below summarises all the above steps, assuming the USB Device in which to install WINDOWS 7 is "disk 1"

Now just copy ALL the files from the WINDOWS 7 installation DVD to your USB Device. After completion of copying you can boot computer from the USB Device (Change the boot option in your BIOS setup. Make the USB Device as the first boot option).

Thats it.

I know it will be useful! Stay tuned...

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to obtain more details on other DOS commands, please leave a comment below with your request and email adress or

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CLOSING OPEN PORTS ON OURY COMPUTER

2012-08-25T21:06:00.001+02:00

How to close open ports on your computer

THE PROBLEM:

What is a port?

Why would I even need to close open ports?

How can I close opened ports on my computer?

THE PRINCIPLE:

A port can be simply defined as any physical or logical connection through which a computer can connect to an external device such as a modem, printer ,tape drive or remote computer. Physical ports include

(PARALLEL; SCSI; SERIAL; USB...etc). Logical ports can be simply considered as numbers identifying the type of connection requested by a remote computer on the Internet.

Sometimes you will have to close open ports on your computer, especially port 80 (localhost) which is usually opened by some computer software like Skype or by local http/web servers like Apache. This is sometimes dangerous especially when your machine is connected to a network like internet because through open ports on your computer, hackers can use your network and even have access to your private files and folders using special software called port scanners. In fact there are many ports that are said to be very "vunerable" to penetration (port 80 is one of them as well as 3080...etc).

Read on to learn how to close any open port on your computer.

THE SOLUTION:

Closing an open port is actually quite simple. We will use the "netsh" DOS command.

SOLUTION 1)

To close an open port manually follow the following steps:

1) Go to START -> RUN -> CMD

2) On the DOS prompt type in "netsh firewall delete portopening TCP portnumber" (replace "portnumber" with the number of the port you want to close) without the quotes. For example, if you want to close port 80 you should type this "netsh firewall delete portopening TCP 80"

3) Press Enter and youre done, you should get a message like "Command completed successfully".

NOTE: On Windows Seven you will have to run cmd.exe as administrator for it to work.

SOLUTION 2) Easiest Solution

I have written a program that does all this automatically.

Follow the steps below:

1) Download it FOR FREE here EasyPort.exe V1.0BETA by AzertisoftCreations

2) Unzip and run the program (Run as Administrator on Windows Seven) then choose an interface language.

3) You are asked for the number of the port you want to close, type it in then press ENTER.

4) A status message is printed on the screen.

5) You can close another port by pressing the "y" key or you can exit by pressing the "n" key.

Below are some screenshots:

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to receive the source code of the program, please leave a comment below with your request and email adress or

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HIDE YOUR PRIVATE FILES IN A PICTURE FILE!

2012-08-20T21:50:00.001+02:00

How to hide any file in a picture (.jpg, .gif, .png etc)

THE PROBLEM:

You want to hide your private files in your computer without arousing anyones curiosity.

THE PRINCIPLE:

There are many software that have tools to password protect files and or folders Also, WINDOWS enables us to modify a files attributes by opening the property box (ALT + ENTER), there, we can set a files attributes to read-only or hidden.

As the Windows Explorer does not show hidden files by default, it will be invisible to everybody, you can then access your file(s) anytime through the adress box.

The above methods have many limitations:

- They increase peoples curiosity (they would asks themselves: Why has he password protected this file/folder?).

- A hidden file is very easy to unhide (you just have to go to folder options and turn on hidden files view in explorer).

Read on to learn an untracable way to hide your private files in your computer without arousing anybody's curiosity. Below you will learn in few steps how to hide any other file in a picture file without changing the pictures appearance.

THE SOLUTION:

NOTE: This trick applies to ALL file types, you can hide a picture in a pdf, a video in a pdf, a .rar in an .exe and so on.... in fact you can hide any file in any other file, you can even hide a hidden file in another hidden file but the following steps are specific to hidding files in a picture.

With some knowledge and much imagination you can acheive great things with DOS commands. In this tutorial we will use the very simple DOS commands (copy and ren) with the binary file switch (/b) and the concatenation operator (+). All those big words dont mean a big deal, the trick is very simple! (To learn more about the /b switch and +, type copy/? in the DOS command line).

For this tutorial you will need:

A picture file (.jpg,.png,.jpeg extensions etc) that will camouflage (hide) your files. In this tutorial I use a .jpg but it works with any other image file extension.
The file(s) you want to hide (executables,text,audio,video etc).

NOTE: If you want to hide many files or audio,video or executable files(.exe,.bat, .reg,.vbs etc) files you MUST create a .zip or .rar archive and put them there if not they will become unreadable.

NOW FOLLOW THIS STEPS:

As usual, I have provided a video tutorial on how on how to hide files in an image which you can download HERE or watch on youtube at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCUjee8qwIg or on streaming below

Open command prompt (Start > Run then type cmd in the box or WINDOWS + R then type cmd in the box)
Type the following exactly without the quotes "copy /b (full path to picture file) + (full path to archive file) (full path to destination file)" And you are done hiding your files in a picture. Double click it to open the picture and check it out.(notice it still displays normally like every ordinary image should) For example if you want to hide files contained in an archive called files.zip or files.rar found on your desktop in a picture called picture.jpg also found on your desktop to a file hiding picture called new.jpg, you should type this: copy /b c:\desktop\picture.jpg + c:\desktop\files.jpg c:\desktop\new.jpg.This will create the file new.jpg in which your files are hidden.
To unhide your files, still in the command prompt type the following: ren outputfilename.jpg outputfilename.rar (or outputfilename.zip if you used .zip). You can now extract your files and then type ren outputfilename.rar outputfilename.jpg to hide them back.

Tired of doing and redoing all this typing again and again? I have written a program that does all this automatically, all you have to do is copy it to the folder containing your files, run it and follow the instructions.I have called it cameleon, you can download it FOR FREE HERE.

Below are some screenshots of cameleon:

Now that you know this trick you can extend its uses and applications to what you want, you can for example share private files with your close friends without fear etc The only limit to this tricks possibilities is your imagination.

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to obtain FREE tutorials on more advanced cryptography techniques and algorithms or to receive the source code of the program, please leave a comment below with your request and email adress or

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SPEED UP U TORRENT IN 30 SECONDS

2012-08-15T22:36:00.000+02:00

Increase your utorrent download speeds!

THE PROBLEM:

My utorrent torrent downloads are way too slow!

THE PRINCIPLE:

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (a network architecture in which there is no central server; all computers are equal participants) file sharing system that reduces dependency on the original uploader by making it possible for everyone who downloads the file to be capable of offering it to others by automatic anonymous

upload. The more people who download the file (and therefore host the pieces they already have), the faster the file is downloaded. This format is especially useful for large files such as games,movies, music etc.

The terms seed (or seeder) and leech (or leecher) are widely used in BitTorrent Clients.Understanding these 2 terms will help you to choose good torrent files. A seed (or seeder) is anyone who has one complete copy of the file being shared across the torrent network. A leech (or a leecher) is the person who does not have the complete file yet but has joined the network to download it. A BitTorrent Client is a software that uses the peer-to-peer file sharing protocol to download files. There exist many BitTorrent Clients (for a list of BitTorrent Clients visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BitTorrent_clients) but the most used is utorrent. Read on to discover how to increase utorrent download speeds in few steps.

As usual I have provided a video tutorial on how to speed up utorrent

+ utorrent 3.1.3 Stable version which you can Download for HERE or watch in streaming below

THE SOLUTION:

Open utorrent and go to Options>Preferences (or use the shortcut CTRL + P) For easier readability, i have provided screenshots showing how your preferences must be set (NOTE: This screenshots are taken on utorrent 3.2 eventhough most of the options are identical,they might have different a appearence on earlier versions)

Once you are done,you can start downloading. Choose good torrents for even betterspeeds. A good torrent is simply one whose seeder:leecher ratio is very high (there are many more uploaders than downloaders).If the ratio is less than or equal to 1 (number of seeders less than or equal to number of leechers) you might faceproblems to have the download finished even after applying the above tricks.

For any other question, suggestion, remark or special query please leave a comment below
or

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USE A TIME TRIAL PROGRAM FOREVER!

2012-08-10T21:02:00.002+02:00

how to make trial version Programs never expire and use them forever!

THE PROBLEM:

You badly need a Software, but all the versions you find on the web for free download are trial versions and the crack or serial number seems not to exist.

THE PRINCIPLE:

It happens to everybody! I have myself faced this problem (not only once lol). First you must understand the principle behind time trial Software. When we talk about time trial software we mean those software that give the user a number of days (usually 30) to evuluate the software, period after which the user
will not be able to use it again until he enters a license key or serial number. When these software's are installed for the first time, they make an entry into the Windows Registry with the details such as installed Date and Time, installed path etc. After installation every time you run the software, it compares the current
system date and time with the installed date and time. So, with this it can make out whether the trial period is expired or not. Read on to learn how to "fool" your computer and use the program for as long as you want.

THE SOLUTION:

SOLUTION 1)

The easiest solution is to send us a mail containing the software name andversion, we then search our database for cracks or serials then we mail it back to you (if found) or send you another version of the software + its serial number (in a maximum respond time of 5days).

SOLUTION 2)

An easier way is to uninstall the software (start > run > appwiz.cpl or WINDOWS + R then type in appwiz.cpl in the box). After uninstalling the Software you need to delete all its registry entries so that your computer will never know you had already finished the trial period, if not, after reinstalling it you will still get the annoying message "Trial Period has Expired" to do this follow the following steps:

Open regedit (start > run > appwiz.cpl or WINDOWS + R then type in regedit in the box).
Once regedit is open press CTRL + F to open the find box, enter thesoftware name in the blank box and click on find next,
Once found righ click on the entry and delete it.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you get the message "finished searching the registry" (screenshot below shows details).

You can now reinstall the software and benifit again of the trial period.

SOLUTION 3)

The fastest solution is to use a small utility called RunAsDateavailable for FREE download HERE (32bits and 64bits). RunAsDate is a small utility that allows you to run a program in the date and time that you specify. It doesn’t change the current system date, but it only injects the date and time that you specify into the desired application. This is not its only application, with it you can do many other things like changing the creation date of a docx or pdf etc.

NOTE: This may not work sometimes because many sofware can detect that the date/time
was modified and when they detect this, they end the trial period immediately. If so,
try solutions 1 or 2.

TO USE RunAsDate, FOLLOW THESE TIPS CAREFULLY:

Download it for FREE HERE
Try to remember the system date and time when you installed the software (not the date and time on your wrist watch or calendar but from your computer ) for the first time. It is the key to succesfuly using this trick.
Once the trial period expires, you must always run the software using RunAsDate if not it will not work and you will still get that annoying message "Trial Period has Expired".
Now do some arithmetic to get any date between the date you kept in step 2 (the date on which you installed the software) and the date the trial period expires. For example if you installed the software on the date 01/01/2012 and it is supposed to expire on the date 31/01/2012, you can write down any date in the interval 02/01/2012 - 30/01/2012.
Open RunasDate. It should look like the image below

   6. Click on the Rrowse button to choose the application to run.

   7. In the Date/Time: area, put the date you kept in step 4 and click on run. If it worked your application should open normally, if not try solutions 1 or 2.

To receive a full interactive tutorial on how to crack any software, send a request
email to freecomputertipsandtricks@gmail.com (subject of the mail should be Software on Demand)

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AUTORUN.INF!

2012-08-03T20:47:00.003+02:00

You Said autorun.inf?

THE PROBLEM:

Most if not all Antivirus Software detect all autorun.inf files as viruses.What exactly is autorun.inf? IAre they really viruses?

THE PRINCIPLE:

autorun.inf IS NOT A VIRUS! It is the primary instruction file associated with the autorun function.

autorun.inf itself is a simple text-based file that tells the operating system which executable file to start

(open instruction),which icon to display(icon instruction) and which additional menu commands to make available (menu instruction). To make simple, autorun.inf is a configuration file that tells the operating system what to do when you plug in a USB device or insert a CD/DVD drive in your computer. When plugged in or inserted,if the "Auto insert notification" feature is enabled (it is by default) Windows checks in the USB device or CD/DVD root directory for the existence of an "autorun.inf" file. If found, Windows then reads and follows the specific instructions this file defines. If no autorun.inf file is found, then Windows refers to the USB device or CD/DVD by its serial number and executes the default actions associated with the content (data,audio etc) on the disk.

NOTE: Most virus programmers use the properties of the autorun.inf file to increase their virus replication capacity especially via USB Devices but also through Hard Disk Drives.They do this by adding a piece of code in their virus that modifies the original autorun.inf file and instead tells it to open the virus (using the open instruction). Upon double clicking on the USB Device or Hard Disk in the Windows Explorer or "My Computer", the autorun.inf file executes the virus ad infects your computer. That is why you should never double click on any USB Device or Hard Disk before you have checked it is virus free.

You can download the video tutorial on how to determine wether an autorun.inf file in a USB Device is safe or not and how to open unsure USB Devices and Hard Disk Drives HERE

Lets Summarise

The autorun.inf file thus defines:

The process or application that will automatically run when a USB device is plugged in or CD/DVD is inserted (You can optionally define the process or application that will run for specific Operating environments.)
The icon that will represent the application in the USB Device or CD/DVD when viewed with "My Computer" or Explorer.
Menu commands displayed when the user right-clicks the CD-ROM icon from My Computer or Explorer.

THE SOLUTION:

After watching the above video, you will have learned how to identify a corrupted autorun.inf file.That will be enough to never have your computer infected by corrupted autorun.inf files.

download the video tutorial on how to determine wether an autorun.inf file in a USB Device is safe or not

and how to open unsure USB Devices and Hard Disk Drives HERE.

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to obtain other FREE video tutorials on how to create a personalised autorun.inf file for your USB Device or for a CD/DVD please leave a comment below

with your request and email adress or

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COMPLETE LIST OF ALL MS-DOS COMMANDS

2012-08-02T20:14:00.000+02:00

A complete list of all internal and external DOS commands

THE PROBLEM:

What is MS-DOS?
An Operating System! Really?
Why use MS-DOS? Im ok with XP, VISTA, SEVEN!
What can I do of special with MS-DOS?

THE PRINCIPLE:

MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk operating system) is the first Microsoft Operating System (aka OS). It was also the fist PC OS to be widely spread. Unlike other Microsoft OS's (WINDOWS 98 upwards) that have a GUI (Graphical User Interface), MS-DOS is a CLI (Command line interface) based OS.

The first particularity of MS-DOS is its light weight (less than 10Mb) and fast booting. Up till today, it has proven itself to be very handy for maintenance tasksand low level tasks on file systems like simultanouesly changing the extension of many files, deleting all files by name or extension, performing low level formats etc all of which no other Microsoft OS can do without other installed 3rd party applications.

MS-DOS has 2 basic types of commands:

1) Internal Commands:

They are built-in commands that are shipped along with the operating system for example echo, cls, del, dir.

2) External Commands:

They are command often created while installing a new application. Some external commands can only be executed in the ‘Run’ dialog box (start > Run), but not on the command prompt (for example, the ‘firefox’ command can be executed only from the run line, that too if the firefox application is installed on that machine and it will not work on the command prompt).

In addition to the 2 types listed above, we also distinguish the run line commands

3) Run Line Commands:

That are mostly commands that open other applications or start other programs.Other examples include diskpart, explorer etc

THE SOLUTION:

With MS-DOS, you can do very cool things like:

Repairing damaged disk partitions and sectors
Recovering files from damaged hard disks
Writing deadly viruses
Automating common tasks (shutting down, logging off etc)
Repairing boot sectors of hard disk drives ...

In fact the only limit of what you can do with MS-DOS is your imagination. But to get started you must know the commands and what they do. You can get a list of basic DOS commands by opening the DOS command prompt (start > run > cmd or WINDOWS + R then type cmd in the box) and typing in the command help, but if you are willing to take out the best from DOS you need more than those basic commands. You can download the FULL COMPLETE list of ALL internal and external DOS commands HERE. For the run line commands you can download them HERE because i had already wrote a post on them.

For any question, suggestion, remark, request or special query or to obtain FREE samples of viruses written entirely with DOS commands and tutorials on batch file programming please leave a comment below

with your request and email adress or

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FIX YOUR COMPUTER YOURSELF! Complete list of all BIOS Beep Codes

2012-08-01T19:03:00.000+02:00

How to fix your computer yourself ! Complete list of all BIOS Beep Codes

THE PROBLEM:

What are those Beeps I hear when my computer starts up?

Where are they from?

What do they mean?

Do they have any meaning?

Can they be helpful?

THE PRINCIPLE:

Those sounds come from a little speaker integrated in all motherboards, they are induced by the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) that can be simply defined as an elementary computer component that controls computer hardware. When a computer is turned on, it goes through what is called a POST (power-on self test). This is a short diagnostic procedure incorporated into the boot sequence by the BIOS manufacturer for troubleshooting purposes. In fact, to every Beep sent out by the BIOS corresponds a specific message (NORMAL or ERROR) concerning a specific computer hardware. These messages differ from one BIOS manufacturer to the other. We now answer the last question by saying YES! knowing how to "listen" and interprete those Beeps can save you much time and money because they tell you exactly what is wrong with your computer. You can Download the FULL list of BIOS Beep codes listed by manufacturer HERE.

THE SOLUTION:

First you need to identify your computers BIOS manufacturer.Its easy to do that, just put off your computer, then put it back on. You see the first "things" that your screen prints out (that white text on black background that look so weird)? On the first lines you should see something like "something" BIOS followed by a date and time, that "something" is the BIOS manufacturer. Jot it somewhere and youre done. Another way is to use the Software Everest Ultimate downloadable HERE (Includes a video tutorial on how to identify your computers BIOS manufacturer using Everest Ultimate). Now anytime your computer does not start up normally and gives out Beeps, you just have to "listen" then refer to the Beep code list to know whats wrong. You can then fix it yourself or see a professional who will not be able to dupe you because you would have known already what is wrong with your computer.

Download the FULL list of BIOS Beep codes listed by manufacturer HERE.

Download Everest Ultimate Free Version + Video tutorial HERE

If you need help to interprete the message, or have any request, suggestion, or special query, leave a comment or

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2012-07-31T13:39:00.000+02:00

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2012-07-31T13:27:00.000+02:00

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USE YOUR COMPUTER WITHOUT A MOUSE: THE COMPLETE LIST OF ALL WINDOWS SHORTCUTS

2012-07-25T21:01:00.001+02:00

HOW TO USE YOUR COMPUTER WITHOUT A MOUSE: THE COMPLETE LIST OF ALL WINDOWS SHORTCUTS

Hello dear readers...this new post is about WINDOWS KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS. Read on and you will learn how to use your desktop or laptop without a mouse or touchpad.

THE PROBLEM:

How can I use my Computer running on WINDOWS Operating System without a mouse?

THE PRINCIPLE:

YES! IT IS POSSIBLE TO USE YOUR COMPUTER WITHOUT A MOUSE regardless of the Operating System platform you use (Windows, Linux or MacOS).In fact, the WINDOWS Operating System GUI (Graphical User Interface) has an associated keyboard shortcut for all the tasks it can perform be it simple (Copying,Pasting etc) or complex (Editing text,Browsing etc).

You might not really feel the pertinence of this fact until the day you find yourself infront of a computer,

looking for the keyboard but not finding it. Unlike many people think, using only the keyboerd will save you alot of time and increase your effectiveness once you get familiar with the shortcuts and i promise you that by using them you will feel and look smarter.

THE SOLUTION:

Below is a COMPLETE list of ALL the WINDOWS SHORTCUTS. Im sure you alredy know some of them but im also sure you will be surprised to discover that there are many more that perform tasks you could not imagine. It is a very long list which you can download Here (in pdf format) and then print or keep in your computer, then take your time to

familiarise yourself with those that perform tasks you do the most with your mouse

(opening,copying,pasting,deleting files and folders etc). It is divided into 4 categories:

1) RUN MENU COMMANDS

2) WINDOWS EXPLORER AND KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS (The most interesting)

3) MICROSOFT OFFICE SHORTCUTS

4) MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER SHORTCUTS (Most of which also work on Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome)

Download the Complete list of all Windows shortcuts Here

HOW TO SPEED UP MOZILLA FIREFOX

2012-07-21T14:09:00.002+02:00

HOW TO SPEED UP MOZILLA FIREFOX

THE PROBLEM:

You feel mozilla is too slow or you are quite comfortable with its speed but want more! This tuto is for you...Learn here how to quickly and easily SPEED UP MOZILLA!

THE PRINCIPLE:

The Key word is pipelining.To make simple,Mozilla will normally make one request to a web page at a time.
When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading hence browsing speed.

THE SOLUTION:

If you dont like reading download and watch the 1 minute video tutorial in avi format here or in flv format here

Mozilla being open source,any one can change its advanced settings to his or her convenience. In this tutorial we will only change the pipelining settings (4)
whose default values are as follows
network.http.pipelining set to false
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests 8 or something like that
network.http.pipelining.ssl set to false
network.http.proxy.pipelining set to false

To change them do the following
1. Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return (or ENTER).
2. Type pipelining in the filter bar (note how the 4 settings appear well before you type all the word,typing just the first 3 letters "pip" will be enough)
You can now see the following entries:
network.http.pipelining
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
network.http.pipelining.ssl
network.http.proxy.pipelining

3. Modify the entries as follows: (by double clicking on them or right clicking on them and choosing the option modify or toogle)
modify network.http.pipelining from false to true
modify network.http.pipelining.maxrequests from whatever it is to say 29,which means it will make 29 requests at once.
modify network.http.pipelining.ssl from false to true
modify network.http.proxy.pipelining. from false to true

AND YOURE DONE WITH SPEEDING UP MOZILLA

TO GO FURTHER...
4.right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer.
Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0".
This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it
recieves.

NOTE:It works for any type of connection,but if you are using a broadband connection;you will feel the effects to the best!

DISABLING USB DRIVER TO LIMIT VIRAL INFECTIONS

2012-07-17T10:20:00.000+02:00

Most of the virus that enter our computer do so through our usb port. especially by users who to not care if their USB drive is infected or not. when you are not around to control what enters through your USB what do you do? disable the USB port, of-course.

this is how it is done.

go to reg edit. (startmenue -> Run -> type "regedit")

in regedit window follow the link [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\usbstor]

change the value 'start', at the right pane from 3 to 4 to disable the usb driver, and do the reverse to restore it.

hope it will be helpfull

HOW TO RESTORE FILES HIDDEN BY VIRUSES

2012-07-06T10:05:00.001+02:00

THE PROBLEM:
some virus hide files in usb flash drives. this same virus destroys the ability of windows to display hidden files. we may scan an destroy the virus but windows ability to see hidden files wount be restored.as a result we may think that the files are lost whereas they are still in the usb flash dirve..

THE PRINCIPLE:
In fact most viruses have the ability to change the attributes(that is properties,characteristics) of any files.They can either make the files read only,archive and most often set them as hidden files. Fortunately with DOS commands we can easily change those attributes.

THE SOLUTION:
what do we do in this situation then?
it is quit simple -> pluck in the usb drive -> verify the drive letter (e.g F:) open command prompt (startmenu -> Run -> type cmd) navigate into the flash drive using this command " cd /d F:".then type " attrib -s -h /s /d *.*" (without the quotes). this will restore all the hidden files.

Here are some screenshots of the command file that those the work automatically. Free download available here

Hope it Helps! Stay Tuned

Welcome to My Blog

2012-07-02T16:19:00.000+02:00

Hello and Welcome To Computer Tips and Tricks!

Free Computer Tips and Tricks

If you are looking for a place to obtain free tips,tricks and how to's about computer hardware and software, you are at the right place.Our team will post any thing they consider useful and/or interesting and you will be able to comment or ask any questions and we engage to answer all your queries within a week at most.We also keep you up to date with the latest hardware and software information.

Easy to do and Comprehensive Approach

Our Posts are designed in an easy to do and very comprehensive approach. Each Posts has 3 major parts:

The PROBLEM: Where the Problem is clearly but briefly exposed and commented.
The PRINCIPLE: Where the Principle(s) that governs the Problem is given first in the lay mans language and then with all the necessary technical details.
The SOLUTION: Where the attempted Solution(s) to the Problem is(are) outlined in a lay mans language and the associated necessary tools (if need be) freely given out.

This Approach makes our Posts Relevant and Useful for Everybody be it the lay men or the geeks.

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Computer Tips and Tricks

WINDOWS REGISTRY HACKS PART 2

Hacking the Windows Registry continued...

THE PROBLEM

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

WINDOWS REGISTRY HACKS

How to hack the windows registry

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

BACKING UP AND RESTORING THE WINDOWS REGISTRY

How to restore and backup the Windows Registry

THE PROBLEM:

I messed up with values in my registry and now my whole computer is messed up.

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

RESTORING THE REGISTRY

HOW TO STEALTHILY COPY FILES FROM A USB DEVICE TO YOUR COMPUTER

HOW TO COPY FILES FROM YOUR FRIENDS USB DEVICE WITHOUT THEM KNOWING

THE PROBLEM:

You notice some good stuff in your friends USB Device but for some reason he does not want to give them to you.

You want to have those files by all means without him been aware of it.

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

BYPASS BIOS PASSWORDS

HOW TO BYPASS BIOS PASSWORDS

THE PROBLEM:

You had set a boot password on your computer (BIOS password) and you forgot it!

Consequence:

You cant modify your BIOS settings!

Your computer cant boot!

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

BOOST UP THE LIFE SPAN OF YOUR LAPTOPS BATTERY

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

INSTALL WINDOWS XP FROM A USB KEY

How to install Windows from a USB Disk

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

SECURE DATA IN YOUR HARD DRIVE WITHOUT SOFTWARE

SECURE DATA IN YOUR HARD DRIVE BY HIDING PARTITIONS

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

INSTALL WINDOWS SEVEN FROM A USB DISK WITHOUT ANY SOFTWARE

How to create a bootable usb device and install WINDOWS 7 from it

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

CLOSING OPEN PORTS ON OURY COMPUTER

How to close open ports on your computer

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

HIDE YOUR PRIVATE FILES IN A PICTURE FILE!

How to hide any file in a picture (.jpg, .gif, .png etc)

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

SPEED UP U TORRENT IN 30 SECONDS

Increase your utorrent download speeds!

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

USE A TIME TRIAL PROGRAM FOREVER!

how to make trial version Programs never expire and use them forever!

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

AUTORUN.INF!

You Said autorun.inf?

THE PROBLEM:

THE PRINCIPLE:

THE SOLUTION:

COMPLETE LIST OF ALL MS-DOS COMMANDS

A complete list of all internal and external DOS commands

THE PROBLEM: