Free Windows 7 Password Reset & Recovery Tool

f you have been using a computer for any amount of time you have no doubt forgotten a Windows 7 password or two and have had to have it reset or recovered from you administrator at the office.  With the increase of security on home computers Windows 7 now by default requires you to have a Windows password for the administrator account.  If you forget or lose this at home there is no help desk to call unless you have a relative that does computer work, which is what most of my “extended family” does when something happens.  In this case you are on you own, unless you want to pay a premium price to one of the “geek squad” out there to take care of it for you.  Instead of bothering your second cousin on your sister in laws side of the family or paying out the nose from some “expert” that couldn’t work anywhere but a big box store for technology, I will walk you through how to reset your Windows 7 password for free.

This utility is free but requires you to be able to make a bootable disk or USB. I’ll go through the utility and post instructions with a video.

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

This one has been around for awhile as it will work on versions of Windows all the way back to NT.  It currently supports Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 for reset and also has a registry editor with utilities for other things.  It works by booting from a CD that you create on another system or create before you forget your login!

In testing I had some issues in changing a lost Windows 7 password, but I was able to clear the users Windows password every time.  I would recommend clearing the password instead of trying to change it on Windows 7 at least.  That way on reboot Windows 7 will just login as that user and you can then set a new password through the windows user interface by selecting CTRL-ALT-DEL and then change password.

1. Create a bootable CD from http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/
2. Boot from the Bootable CD
3. First we select the disk where the windows system partition resides.  In the case of this demo it is the number 2 dislk, you can see the disks listed in the output.  I’m going to enter 2 and hit Enter
   
   
4. The next choice is to select the PATH to the windows system directory and registry.  The program will find what it thinks is the correct path and put it in for default.  Unless you know for sure this isn’t correct just hit Enter to accept the found path.
   
   
5. Next you will choose what part of the registry you want to work with, in this case we are going to go with “Password Reset” which is the SAM.  For this we select 1 and hit Enter
   
   
6. Now you will select “Edit User Data and Passwords” by typing 1 and Enter
   
   
7. Finally!  We now see a list of the users on this machine and whether they are an ADMIN or not.  Type in the user name you want to reset, in this case it is WS Training and hit Enter
   
    
8. You will now see all the information about this account that is in the SAM.  You have a few options here like including:
   Clear User Password – Always works for me
   Edit User Password – I have had iffy success with this
   Promote User – Makes them an administrator account
   Unlock & Enable User Account – In case you have locked out or disabled the account
   
   In this instance I am going to choose 1 for “Clear User Password” and hit Enter
   
   
9. You should see the message Password Cleared! and then it will ask if there is another user to reset.  If your done with recovery at this point then enter ! and hit Enter to quit.
   
   
10. Now you have to work your way out of the program just the way you came in.  Hit q to quit out and hit Enter
    
    
11. The program now lists the files that have changed and if it should make the changes permanent.  It is important to note that at this point you have been working with a copy of the account data and once you complete this step it will be saved to disk permanently.  Click Y and Enter
    
    
12. You should see a ***Edit Complete*** message to show that the password reset has been saved and then you can choose to run the program again or exit by hitting Enter.
    
    

Now you can restart your machine and let it boot into the OS.  You should be able to go straight to your desktop for the user that you removed the security for!  Congratulations on recovering your Windows 7 password and not having to reinstall your OS and lose your data.  You can now set your password again by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL and choosing Change Password.  In your old password just leave it blank, and fill in your new password in the two text spots, then click OK.

Hard drive Recovery

Just imagine this: you've been working on that important paper for the past 2 weeks, and you are just about to finish it. The deadline is in a few days. You save your document, go for a coffee and when you get back, your screen is black. Your computer rebooted itself automatically and is now stuck in the bootup process with a message similar to this: No boot device, please insert a bootable media. You try to restart your computer a few times, but it does not fix your problem. At this point, it's important do stay calm, don't PANIC! There may hope yet!

First, you'll have to make sure that your problem isn't related to something else then the hard drive. The failure of your hard disk controller may also be causing this. You could always try to switch your hard drive from IDE1 to IDE2 and see if it fixes your problem. If it's not, remove the hard drive from your system, and bring it with you to a friend's house. If it still doesn't work over there, then you know what the problem is.

The only solution to your problem now is to use a data recovery software, like PC Inspector File recovery. This application is completely free, and it works beautifully. It helped me once or twice in the past few years. Don't make yourself any illusion, it's not perfect, and doesn't work all the time (Like any other hard drive recovery utility). Sometimes, data cannot be recovered out of a broken hard drive, unless you are ready to take your disk to a specialized recovery shop and pay 1000's of dollars to have your data recovered.

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Hard Drive Recovery Tips

f you've been using computers for a decent amount of time there is a good chance someone has told you that data stored on a hard drive is not exactly safe. My blog is here to assure you that this is indeed true.

Tips on How to Recover Your Hard Drive 

The first thing that you should know about hard drive recovery is that not all hard disk crashes are fatal and in most cases, recovery of data is possible with fairly good data accuracy rates. However, you will be able to decide on recovery options only if you know what exactly is wrong with the disk.
So, if ever you are that unfortunate computer user to face a hard drive recorvery scenario, here are a few tips that might come in handy before you start knocking on the doors of a hard drive recovery expert.
There are a few things you can do which would give you a fair idea about the nature of the hard disk problem and more importantly, these will put you in a position to bargain with the data recovery expert, if you are forced to go to him! 
Get into the hard drive recovery expert's shoes!
Ask yourself what is the problem. It could be a logical problem, meaning there is something wrong with the boot sector of the hard drive rendering it un-bootable. In worse scenarios, it could be an electrical problem where the circuit board on the hard disk has been damaged due to a higher than allowed electrical current passing through it. In the worst scenario, it could be a physical problem where the head that reads the data stored on the different platters arranged inside a hard drive has been damaged or the alignment of the platters themselves could have been affected.
Depending on whether it is a logical, electrical or mechanical problem, you will be able to make a realistic assessment about the success chances of a paid hard drive recorvery effort.
Do these yourself before you go begging to a hard drive recovery expert
Boot from a floppy and do a read only scan of the disk. This would tell you if it is a logical error. Therefore, you will be able to decide on an appropriate strategy for fixing the master boot record. If the boot sector is lost then you should be able to decide how to go about recovering the data. If there are bad sectors in the master boot record, then attach the hard drive to another working computer as a secondary hard drive and try to recover data using data recovery software
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Open up your system's ATX cabinet box, take out your hard drive, and closely examine the circuit board under the hard drive. Do not touch the board as static discharge can damage the disk's head. If there are tell-tale signs of a burnt circuit board or burnt components, then you can decide for sure that its a board problem. Now that you know its a board problem, you must consult your hardware supplier or service agent to decide what to do about it.

The sure sign of a mechanical problem is the clicking sound that you will hear from the hard drive when it is trying to spin up or spin down. If this click sound is coming, then the problem is related to mechanical trouble inside the hard disk platter assembly. This, more often than not is beyond repair. If a hard drive recorvery expert claims it can be repaired, then make sure that is a "no data, no pay" agreement! 


Never mind the fact that unlike tapes or CDs or other methods of storage, hard drives are mechanical, active devices and are thus subject to comparatively rapid breakdown. 
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Windows XP Pro Password Re-set

Have you ever forgot your login password. Don't worry, I will show you how to fix it. 
Windows XP Pro Password Re-set. 
The purpose of this post is to show you how to  log on to a computer as the administrator to reset a password, when that computer is in a workgroup of more than one member, follow these steps:

1. Restart the computer, and then press the F8 key during startup until theWindows Advanced Options menu appears.
2. On the Windows Advanced Options menu, use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.
3. Select,  Microsoft Windows XP edition, and then press ENTER.
4. Log on as, Administrator. (Windows is running in safemode, select, Yes)
5. Go to your Control Panel
6. Go to User Accounts
7. Select the user account of the password you want to change
8. Then select, "Change the password or Remove the password"

Restart the computer, and then try to log on to Windows XP again.

How to make a Fake Virus

 I WILL WALK YOU THROUGH THIS STEP BY STEP.  THIS IS A HARMLESS VIRUS THAT WILL ONLY SHUT DOWN THERE COMPUTER.  BUT DON’T WORRY, THE COMPUTER WILL TURN ON AGAIN.

FIRST, RIGHT CLICK ON YOUR DESKTOP.

NEW --> SHORTCUT.  TYPE THE FOLLOWING.

SHUTDOWN -S -T 300 -C "YOU HAVE EXACTLY 5 MIN.  I WILL NOW SHUT DOWN YOUR COMPUTER. 

 ***THIS INFORMATION IS FOR VIEWING ONLY, USE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION***  

In this post, I will show you how to remove a virus with out downloading anything. Just follow my easy steps.

1. Restart your computer and, Boot your computer into Safe Mode by holding down the F8 key.
2. Click on à Start à All Programs à Accessories à System Tools àSystem Restore 

Now you want to restore your computer to an earlier date.

Scroll back to the date you wish to restore to then click next.
The computer  will start to shutdown, then will restore then shut down and restart itself.

How To Format A PC

There are different ways to format a PC depending on whether you have an original disc of whatever operating system you are using, or you don’t. In the absence of an original Windows (or Ubuntu or any other operating system) disc, you must create a bootable disc so that you can reinstall the operating system once all system files have been removed. Using licensed software is highly recommended not just because of piracy but also considering the advantages of getting free upgrades whenever there is a security or bug-correcting update. Windows makes it easy for its users to format their computer while running windows, by providing step-by-step user-friendly instructions. This can be found by opening Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Storage -> Disc Management. When this window is open, right click on any folder that you wish to format and select the “Format” option. Choose “NTSC” from the drop down menu that allows you to choose the file system. If you intend to format all the folders, remember to format the folder in which the operating system is installed, only at the last when all other folders have been formatted. Technically, formatting doesn’t physically remove the data stored on your hard-disc. All memory locations are freed so that they can be overwritten. This allows us to be able to recover information even from computers that have been formatted unless they have been formatted by techniques that are meant to clear all evidence. Certain software can replace all memory locations with random characters after formatting. Data become irrecoverable from computers that have been formatted several times and junk data is copied between each formatting session.

Formatting A Computer

• The following steps are useful to format your computer when you don’t have an original disc of the required operating system; however, creating a bootable disc is indispensable. If you do format your computer through “DOS” without having a bootable disc, your computer will be useless until you install some operating system through DOS.
• If you don’t have a bootable disc then you need to make one. You can download the required files online and copy them onto a floppy or CD. Files can be directly copied onto a floppy but if you intend to burn a CD, you’ll need to run the software that copies the required files onto your CD and select the option, “Make this CD bootable”.
• The next step is to reconfigure your “BIOS” settings such that it will boot from this new bootable device when the system turns on. As soon as you turn on your computer, the computer will run a basic set of instructions stored in the ROM; this is known as “bootstrap algorithm”. Immediately after there’ll be a line that says “Press ___ key to enter BIOS”. The key that you need to press depends on the CPU. Some computers require the “F1” or any other function key to be pressed while others may ask for the “Delete” key to be pressed; whatever it needs will be displayed onscreen. When you press that required key a blue screen will appear on screen where you can adjust several hardware and software settings. Go to the BIOS settings tab and change the primary bootable device to floppy or CD, depending on your bootable disc.
• When you save the settings and exit the blue screen, your computer will restart again. Make sure to insert your bootable disc before your computer starts so that it can boot through this device when it starts. If you’re using DOS, you will need to type the command “format C:” (considering your operating system is installed on C drive). As said earlier, always format all other drives before you format the drive that the operating system is stored on.

After formatting, your computer will be free from all virus, trojans, worms, malwares and spywares after formatting; hence it may work faster. The only disadvantage is that you will lose all your data and must reinstall all application software again.