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How to Clone a Hard Drive

Posted: August 19, 2009 in System Basics, System Information
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Did know that you could clone your current Hard Drive without having to by extra software? Maybe you didn’t know that all that you needed, was already set up on your current system? Well, it is… and if you follow this tut, you shouldn’t have much of a problem.

Make sure that you have a Master and a Slave setup on your system. The Slave drive, in this case, is where all the data on the Master is going to go to.

First: Perform a Scandisk your Master drive and follow that with a thorough Defrag. If you have an Antivirus program, do a thorough sweep with the AV first, then do the Scandisk, followed by the Defrag.

Second: Do the same thing to the target drive, as you did the Master: Scandisk then a thorough Defrag.

Third: Right-click on the Target drive and click on Format. When the box comes up, click your mouse onto the “Full” button.

Fourth: After Formatting the Target drive, run a Scandisk again and click on the button that says “Autofix Errors”.

Fifth: In this final part, you might want to cut-and-paste to code in, unless you are sure that you can do it without making any mistakes:

Click on the “Start” button, then click on the “Run…” button, then place the following into the Runbox:

“XCOPY C:\*.*D:\ /c/h/e/k/r” (minus the quotes, of course) then press the “Enter” button.

If you receive an error message, then remove the space from between XCOPY and C:\

Anything that should happen to come up in the DOS box, just click “Y” for “Yes”. When its all finished, pull the original Master from the system, designate the Slave as the Master (change your jumpers), then check your new Master out.

This tut has worked and has been tested on all systems except for Windows 2000, so you really shouldn’t have any problems.

Hack Admin Password From User Mode

Posted: August 19, 2009 in Hack, System Information, Tricks
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Hack Admin Password From User Mode

Follow these steps:
1. Open command prompt (Start->Run->cmd),
2. Enter the following command, then press ENTER

compmgmt.msc
This should open the computer management console.
3. Go to local users & groups->users. Right click on any user and select “set password”.

If you get a “access denied” do the following:

start>run>cmd
then use following commands
1) net user test /add (this command will make test named user)
2) net localgroup administrators test /add (this command will make test user as administrators rights)

and use net user command to reset your admin. password

Google Talk Tips and Tricks

Posted: August 19, 2009 in Google Talk, Tricks
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Shortcuts

* CTRL + Mousewheel up/down over input textbox: Change the font size of the textbox.
* F9: Open Gmail to send an email to your friend
* F11: Start a call with your friend
* F12: Stop the current call
* ESC: Close the current window
* ALT + ESC: Minimize the current window
* TAB: Switch between multiple chat windows
* CTRL + I: Same as TAB
* SHIFT + TAB: Same as TAB but in reverse order
* CTRL + TAB: Same as SHIFT + TAB
* Windows + ESC: Open Google Talk (if it’s minimized, or in the tray)

Conversation Text

* A message can be 32767 characters long.
* Certain smileys are recognized by Google Talk and will be shown in blue.
😐 :-O 😡 😛 😀 😉 😦 😐 :O 😡 😛 😀 🙂 😦 ;-| ;-O ;-x ;-P ;-D 😉 ;-( ;| ;O ;x ;P ;D 😉 ;( B-| B-O B-x B-P B-D B-) B-( B'( BO Bx BD B) B( B) And you can put a ‘ between the characters to get another one shown in blue.
* To write text in bold, put it between *asteriks*
* To write text in italic, put it between _underscores_
* You can insert special characters like ♥♫☺ with ‘Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Character Maps’.

Conversation Window

* Drag a conversation window on top of another and they will dock together.
* Drag a file onto the chat history and you’ll send the file to the selected contact.
* When you see a message notification, you can right click it to close it without focusing the conversation window.

Conference Calls

* What you need to do to have conference calls: Open up a copy of Google Talk on all computers with which you wish to conference. After one copy is opened make a new shortcut for Google Talk but at the end of it add /nomutex. If you installed it to the default folder then your shortcut should read “C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe” /nomutex. Open 2 instances of the software on every user’s computer. After this start a chain: User 1 should connect on one instance to user 2. User 2 will connect on his second instance to user 3. User 3 will connect using his second instance back to user 1. With this chain everyone is connected to everyone.

Nickname & Status Message

* You can change your name in the Google Account page.
or To change the nickname need to go to your Gmail account and change the name there. Choose Settings, Accounts, and then Edit info. Click on the second radio button, and enter your custom name.
As a result all of your emails will have that nick as well, there is no way to seperate the two.
* You can add a website in your custom message, it will be clickable when someone opens a conversation window with you.

Contacts

* You don’t need to say Yes or No when someone wants to add you as a friend; you can simply ignore it, the request will go away. (On the other hand, someone with whom you chat often will automatically turn to be your friend, unless you disable this).
* The Gmail account ‘user@gmail.com’ can’t be invited as your friend.

Sound & Video

* It’s possible to broadcast music, MP3, etc.. through Google Talk.
Unplug your microphone. Double click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner. This will open
up “Volume Control”. Select “Options” and then “Properties”. Then check the button
next to “Recording” then click OK. You may also have to change your setting under
Mixer Device. Now the Recording Control screen should be up. On my computer I selected “Wave Out Mix”. Click on the green phone in Google Talk and call your friend.

Secret Startup Parameters

* /nomutex: allows you to open more than one instance of Google Talk
* /autostart: when Google Talk is run with this parameter, it will check the registry settings to see if it needs to be started or not. If the “Start automatically with Windows” option is unchecked, it won’t start.
* /forcestart: same as /autostart, but forces it to start no matter what option was set.
* /S upgrade: Used when upgrading Google Talk
* /register: registers Google Talk in the registry, includig the GMail Compose method.
* /checkupdate: check for newer versions
* /plaintextauth: uses plain authentication mechanism instead then Google’s GAIA mechanism. Used for testing the plain method on Google’s servers.
* /nogaiaauth: disables GAIA authentication method. The same as above.
* /factoryreset: set settings back to default.
* /gaiaserver servername.com: uses a different GAIA server to connect to Google Talk. Used for debug purposes only, there are no other known GAIA servers.
* /mailto email@host.com: send an email with Gmail
* /diag: start Google Talk in diagnostic mode
* /log: probably has something to do with the diagnostic logging

Get DOUBLE Speed in Broadband net !!

Posted: August 19, 2009 in Broadband, Internet, Tricks, Tweaking
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Tuning up MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) to speed up Internet access

Now let me tell you one important fact related with tuning. Value of MTU depends upon how fast a connection you have, what kind of activities you perform (ask yourself a question. Are your a mild, average or high end user of Internet ? To put it in other words, Do you download little or nothing, or are an average surfer or are Internet savvy individual and download everything from programs,apps,patches to watching Internet audio/video real-time content?) Depending upon who you are as a user and what kind of connection (modem,dsl,cable or in rare cases T1/T3), this tuning may have little to significant effect on your Internet experience. All right MTU stand for Maximum Transmission Unit.

Value of MTU decides the size of Internet data packet. Bigger the size, more you can transfer.

Analogy could be made with a bucket. If bucket is small, you can carry little but it would be no strain on your strength. Bigger the bucket, more you can carry but it strains your physical strength. (Well! Its not that simple but good enough to understand). Objective should be find a perfect balance which works for you. I think maximum that you can put is as value of MTU is 1500 (but could be higher for your specific network) and it may not make sense making it smaller than 68.Again this is a registry tweak unless and until you have a tweaking utility that can do it for you.Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ ID for Adapter. For this right click on right pane and add a key by the name MTU. For this key you can add a DWORD value from 68 to 1500 (or higher value is certain cases).If you put less than 68, it will default to 68.

If you put a value higher than 1500 or your Network permitted max, it will default to permitted max.

Fix Master Boot Record in Vista

Posted: August 19, 2009 in Restore, Vista
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If your hard drive encounters a serious error (perhaps a failed operating system install, corruption or a virus) then you may get an “Error Loading Operating System” message on boot.

This often means that you have a corrupt Master Boot Record (MBR) which can be fixed with the Vista repair tool. This should be one of the first things done to resolve the above error message, as performing a format and reinstall will cause a loss of data.

First, insert the Vista DVD into the computer and restart it (to start the boot process). You will be asked to press any key to boot from the DVD

Then, fill in the language and location options and click Next

Now, click Repair your Computer in Left Hand Corner.

Then, select your Vista partition and click Next

Select Command Prompt from the system recovery options window

Once you are at the command prompt, run the following commands

Bootrec.exe /fixMBR
Bootrec.exe /fixBoot

The first command fixes the Master Boot Record, and the second fixes the Boot Sector (just in case it is also damaged).

You can now close the command prompt, remove the Vista DVD and click Restart. This should reload Windows with a repaired MBR

You may have noticed there was a “startup repair” option in the Vista boot application. This may also be able to fix your startup problems, but this slightly longer method will fix MBR problems.

Steps to Restore Vista

Posted: August 19, 2009 in Restore, System Information, Vista
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One of the most useful tools in Windows Vista is without a doubt the System Restore tool. This handy little feature can roll back your system to a previous point in time, potentially eliminating any problematic errors caused by a recent change.

System restore points are created automatically (during installation or new updates/applications), however you can create your own should you wish. It should be noted that documents, photos, e-mails and other such items will not be backed up or restored – only major system settings and applications.

To open system restore, run “rstrui” from the run menu (Press WINDOWS KEY + R to access this). You can either restore the most recent backup, or select from an older restore point. Once you have made your selection, click next

You will then be asked to confirm your selection by checking the details and clicking next

Your system will then restart and roll back the system to how it was at the previous restore point. Hopefully fixing the problem that necessitated this action. You are given the option of undoing the system restore option if you so wish

How to check whether you can run 64-bit Windows Vista.

Posted: August 19, 2009 in System Information, Vista
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Windows Vista comes in 32-bit and 64-bit editions depending on which CPU type you have. The 64-bit version will only work on 64-bit processors, however the 32-bit version can run on all types.

Some users will have a processor capable of running the 64-bit version of Vista but have the 32-bit version installed by default. This won’t cause any problems, but it does mean you may miss out on some advantages (such as being able to utilise large amounts of memory). If you are in this situation, you can check to see if your computer can handle the 64-bit version of Windows Vista using the following steps.

First, open the Control Panel by clicking on the Start Menu > Control Panel

Then click System and Maintenance

Then select Performance Information and Tools

This will display your computers performance index rating, allowing you to View and Print details

In the System information section, you will notice a “64-Bit Capable” box. If this says Yes (like below), then you can run the 64-bit edition of Vista

Speed Up Internet Explorer in Vista

Posted: August 19, 2009 in Vista
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It may be possible to speed up the browsing performance of Internet Explorer with some careful tweaking (assuming you already have a reasonably high speed connection, i.e over 512kbps).

Normally Internet Explorer makes use of a maximum of 2 connections to a server when downloading a webpage. For example, this page is made up of a single HTML file, several images and other scripts. All of them are needed to render the page, so Internet Explorer uses 2 connections to download them as quick as possible.

Two connections are used as this is a defined in the HTTP standards, however increasing this limit may speed up some pages made from many elements. This does involve modifying the registry, so should only be attempted if you are confident in doing so (and have appropriate backups).

To start, load the Registry Editor by starting “regedit” from the run box (press WINDOWS KEY + R to load this)

Then browse to the following folder:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]

In the right panel there are two entries called MaxConnectionsPerServer and MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server that store the maximum connection values. Double clicking each of them and selecting a decimal value will create a new connection limit. 8 Connections is a sensible limit to see how the performance changes

Once you have restarted your computer, the new connection limit will be in place. To revert the changes, simply change the connection limit back to 2.

How to Disable Data Execution Prevention

Posted: August 19, 2009 in System Information, Vista
Tags:
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Data Execution Prevention is a relatively new technology in Windows that performs some additional memory checks to help prevent malicious code from being executed on a PC.

This is generally excellent news for PC users, as it can prevent many viruses and malware from being run (even if a virus scanner misses them). However, it can also prevent legitimate applications from running if they execute code in a forbidden way.

Unless you have a specific problem with DEP, it wouldn’t be recommended to disable this useful feature.

To disable DEP completely, launch the command prompt in administrator mode by typing CMD into the start menu and pressing CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER:

Once the command prompt has loaded, type the following command and then press Enter:

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff

You can then close the command prompt window, and DEP will be disabled. Should you wish to re-enable Data Execution Prevention follow the same method but run the following command:

bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx OptIn

What is the keyboard shortcut key to display the 3D?

Posted: August 19, 2009 in Vista
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Windows Vista has two modes to switch from one application to another: the classic mode (which displays a miniature view of the application rather than its icon), and a mode called “Flip 3D” tilt windows applications by a movement of rotation in 3 dimensions.

To activate Flip 3D, use: The key combination [Windows] + [Tab] (in this instant you exit the Flip 3D mode when you release the Windows key). Or the [Ctrl] + [Windows] + [Tab] (in this mode to the PC remains in Flip 3D mode after releasing the [Windows] until you select a window).

Tip one: once the Flip 3D mode activated, press [Down Arrow] or [Right Arrow] to scroll through the applications forward. [Up Arrow] or [Left Arrow] to scroll through the applications to the back. You can also use the mouse wheel to scroll through windows. Remember that the switch uses classical him, the key combination [Alt] + [Tab]. Note: Some old keyboards do not have the [Windows] button.

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