4 Tips for Better Computer Life in 2012

Posted on February 2, 2012 by admin

It’s the start of 2012 now. Windows 8 is coming. Will you update your PC to this upcoming operating system or stick to the one you’ve used to? No matter which Windows version you use, it’s better to follow some good tips if you want to better computer life in 2012. Here’re some.

Encrypt your files

If you don’t want others to access your computer without permission, then you can add a strong login password over the operating system. This can stop the unauthorized access, but not enough. It’s better to encrypt your hard drive or files to add another strong layer protection for your computer data. As we’ve reported a few times in the past, there’re many free encryption options available. TureCrypt and AxCrypt are good examples.

Here I also want to remind you that please set a strong password while it is easier for you to remember. Otherwise, you might get into trouble if you forgot the password. As for a strong password, it must be 8 characters long and composed of letters, numbers and symbols. If you are a Windows 7/Vista/XP user, you can create a Windows password rest disk in advance to in case that you forget the Windows login password in future.

Backup your files

As we know, computers aren’t perfect. You files become lost resulting from various factors, like accidental deletions, virus attacks, system crash, etc. The best defense is data backup software. Backing up data is vital for businesses; lost information can cause a major crisis or worse, lead to business failure. Moreover, online storage is available now. It can keep your files away from local harm (such as theft, fire, virus or power surge) and you can access them from anywhere in the world.

Clean computer regularly

After you back-up your important files, it’s time to clean your computer to help it run faster with more stability. Delete the programs and tool bars that you no longer need. Don’t just delete the desktop icon, of course, but click Start, Control Panel and finally Uninstall a Program (or for older PCs, Add/Remove Programs). You should clear up a lot of hard drive space, and also clean up the icons on your desktop, so you can see your wallpaper again. Degfragging is another way. Click on the Start button and type “defrag” in the search box Run the program and while it might take a while, you should notice a marked performance improvement when it’s done.

Update your software

The last tip is to download the latest free software updates for your operating system as these updates plug security holes and add functionality. To do this, simply click Start > All Programs > Windows Update. Of course, you can choose to enable automatic updates. Besides, download all the updates to your favorite programs – such as a web browser or media player – as they usually fix issues or add new features. There are often new updates for hardware accessories, too, such as a printer, monitor and webcam.

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I forgot my password for my Windows 7 PC?

Posted on January 14, 2012 by admin

Problem: I changed my password a few days ago and I can’t remember it. I have Windows 7 home premium. I only have one account on my laptop, and I am currently using someone else’s laptop. I have a lot of drawing programs on my laptop and I don’t want to lose them. Is there any way to reset my PC password without losing any data?

Solution: Use Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery

Resetting a forgotten Windows password is not as difficult as you think. Windows 7 has a feature to help you in case of Windows 7 forgot password. After adding a password to your Windows 7 user account, you can click the “Create a password reset disk” link on the User Accounts window to create a password reset disk in seconds. With this disk, you can reset your lost Windows 7 password in seconds when you are locked out of PC. As for how to access the User Account window, just go to Start button, and then select Control Panel – Family Safety and User Accounts – User Accounts.

Forgot to create a password reset disk in advance? It doesn’t matter. A variety of third-party Windows password reset apps are out there to enable you to reset a forgotten Windows 7 password. Of the numerous Windows password reset tools, I highly suggest Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery. By suing this tool, you are able to reset your PC password and access the computer gain in 5 minutes without any data loss or damage.

Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery comes in easy GUI interface. Anyone can reset his lost Windows password within a few clicks, regardless of the level of his computing level. To get started, you just need to burn a bootable Windows password reset disk in seconds, next boot the locked computer from the burned disk and then you can reset the forgotten password within a few clicks. The overall steps are as follows:

Step 1. Download and install Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery in any PC.

Step 2. Create a bootable password reset disk with CD/DVD/USB drive in seconds.

Step 3. Reset lost Windows password within a few clicks under Win PE in a few clicks.

More details about how to use this Windows password reset tool, you can visit How to reset Windows 7/Vista/XP password.

Before download, please note that there’re 3 editions of Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery: Standard, Professional and Enterprise. For Windows 7/Vista/XP users, Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery is highly recommended.

Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery Standard: Allow you to create a bootable password rest disk with CD/DVD to reset local admin and other user passwords on Windows 7/Vista/XP.

Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery Professional: Allow you to create a bootable password rest disk with CD/DVD/USB to reset local password on Windows 7/Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000.

Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery Professional: Allow you to create a bootable password rest disk with CD/DVD/USB to reset both local password and domain password on Windows 7/Vista/XP/2008/2003/2000.

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How to create PIN logon in Windows 8?

Posted on January 14, 2012 by admin

According to Microsoft, Windows 8 is to have picture password and PIN logon as the alternatives to the traditional text password that we’ve used for years. In previous article, we had discussed How to create a picture password in Windows 8? In this article, you will learn how to create PIN logon in Windows 8?

PIN allows you to setup Windows 8 login password at the most four digits. This may not be as secure as a picture password but is a faster method to logon to Windows 8. If you want to create a PIN for logon, please follow the steps listed below:

Step 1. Click Control Panel on the Metro style home window.

Step 2. Select Users and then click Create a PIN on the Control Panel window.

Step 3. Enter the text password of your current user account and click on OK button.

Step 4. Enter the four digit PIN, reenter the PIN to confirm it, and then click on “Finish” to end your operation.

If you often forgot Windows password, it’s really a good choice to use this alternative logon when it comes to Windows 8. By doing this, you’ll not get into trouble due to a forgotten Windows 8 password. If you think this is not secure enough, you can use picture password instead. This visual-level password is also easier for you to remember.

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Windows 8 Picture Password

Posted on January 9, 2012 by admin

Refer to Windows 8, there are a large number of things we can talk about, like its Metro UI, access to the Windows Store, native USB 3.0 support, “Refresh and Reset” features, etc. But recently, the hot topic concerning this upcoming operating system is the picture password that Microsoft is building into Windows 8 as a supplement to the conventional password system.

The essence of Picture Password is to use one of your own personal photos as a key to the device. In a post from Microsoft’s building Windows 8 blog, they’ve gone into more detail on how it works.

At first, the picture that the user chooses is broken up into a system of grids. Then, as you place gestures on the picture, the system records the (X1,Y1) co ordinates of the starting point and then records the (X,Y) co ordinates for each point in the pattern that you draw as well as the ending co ordinates for lines. For circles it will record the radius and the direction of the circle.

Users don’t have to be 100 percent accurate with the placement of the gestures. 90% accurate will allow you to gain access to the system. However, if the login failed for 5 times, Windows 8 will require you to use a text password for login.

Microsoft also outlined how security is increased with the Picture Password method. For instance, if a user creates a six-character text password with at least one uppercase letter and one number, there would be 7 billion combinations available. But if a user creates a picture password with six gestures using only taps, that number increases to 1.3 trillion combinations.

For more information about Windows 8 picture password, you can visit Windows 8 blog. Of course, you can also get the developer preview version from Microsoft official website. (Microsoft announced that the download of Windows 8 developer preview has been over 300 million and its users include developers, operating system enthusiasts and early adopters of the ordinary user.) On the developer preview version, you are able to create a picture password on your own. As for how, please visit How to create a picture password in Windows 8?

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Forgot password for Windows 7 on HP pavilion dv6! No password reset disk!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by admin

Question: my mom got this laptop a while back. It is a HP pavilion dv6. We had set it up and everything. We haven’t used it for a while, and now I’ve forgotten the password. I didn’t create a password reset disk it asks for. How can I get access to it again?

Answer: at first, check if there are other accessible user account with admin rights on the HP computer. If have, just reset the forgotten Windows 7 password as follows. If not skip it and have a try of the apps listed below.

1. Log into that admin account.

2. Enter lusrmgr.msc in the Start search box and press Enter.

3. Double-click the Users folder to view all users on the Windows 7 machine. Then you can easily reset a forgotten Windows 7 password by right-clicking its user name to select Set Password.

If there’s no such a admin account, additional programs are your best choice. It’s highly recommended you to use Windows password reset applications like Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery. This is the easiest tool I have ever found when it comes to reset a forgotten Windows password. By using it, you can easily and fast reset your forgotten Windows 7 password on HP pavilion dv6 in minutes.

Its overall steps as below:

1. Download and install Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery in any computer.

2. Burn a bootable USB/CD/DVD in seconds.

3. Insert the bootable disk in your HP computer.

4. Boot HP from the bootable disk.

5. Reset forgotten Windows 7 password within a few clicks.

The whole process will cost you about 2-3 minutes.

Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery is professional Windows password recovery software. This software can help you create a bootable password reset CD/DVD or USB flash drive to reset the forgotten Windows password. With this software you can reset local administrator or user password from any Windows system, and domain administrator password from Windows Server.

Note: Rekeysoft Windows Password Recovery has 3 editions. Please select the right edition to reset your Windows password before download.

Rekeysoft is released as shareware. This means you have to pay for it if you’d like to use it to fix your problem. If you like to reset the lost Windows 7 password for free, you’d better have a try of Ophcrack. Ophcrack is a free open source (GPL licensed) program that cracks Windows passwords by using LM hashes through rainbow tables. The program includes the ability to import the hashes from a variety of formats, including dumping directly from the SAM files of Windows. But it may take you a long time to recover the forgotten password.

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Windows 8 Developer Preview Downloaded for 3 Million Already

Posted on December 15, 2011 by admin

Windows 8 Developers preview, launched in September, has already been downloaded for over 3 million times up to now, according to Microsoft.

The Windows 8 Developer Preview is only a pre-beta version of Windows 8 for developers. But the people who have downloaded this upcoming operating system include developers, enthusiasts and general users who are desperate to get their hands on the latest operating system from Microsoft.

This new operating system of Microsoft brings a fresh new interface, a bunch of new features, greater performance for desktops and a brand new interface for tablet users called Metro, which will give tablet users a larger interface for touch screens, with a tile based operating system, similar to Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft is currently preparing a beta copy of Windows 8 with more features. It is said it will launch in late February 2012. Little is known about the feature set of this beta version. But indicated by the recently leaked screenshots, Microsoft will allow users to change the Start Screen color and the Start Screen background image in beta copies of Windows 8.

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How to create a picture password in Windows 8?

Posted on December 7, 2011 by admin

With the development, passwords are not merely limited to numbers, letters and symbols. Your fingerprint, your voice, and other things also used as the password. Now Microsoft’s upcoming operating also enables you to use personal picture as your password.

Microsoft introduced the feature as part of its Windows 8 Developer Preview. This picture password feature allows you to select your own personal picture and sketch three different patterns over the picture to login Windows 8. The new authentication system makes it easier for tablet and touch users to login to a Windows 8 PC. In this article, it will show you how to create a picture password in Windows 8 Developer Preview.

1. Open Users tab by clicking Start button – Control Panel – Users.

2. Under this user tab, click on the “Create a Picture password” button.

3. You will be asked to enter your account’s password. Enter the password and click OK button.

4. Click on “Choose picture” button on the coming window.

5. Select your desired image from your hard drive, and then click Open button.

6. Click “Use this picture” button in new window. If you are not happy with this picture, you can click “Choose different picture” button.

7. Picture password is set with 3 gestures: size, position and directions of gestures. Set the 3 gestures. And then confirm it by setting the gestures again. Next click OK button.

Note: Make sure all the three are in different place and are easy to remember.

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Computer Security: Encrypt Your Computer Data

Posted on December 2, 2011 by admin

To protect your computer data from prying eyes, it’s not limited to set a computer login password via OS or BIOS password. You can another layer of protection by encrypting the files, folders, even full hard drive on your computer with encryption software. This is highly recommended if you want to keep your computer more secure.

Encryption software scrambles useful data into seemingly random bits to prevent eavesdropping. When used within a closed system, there need not be any identifying features of encrypted data to allow third parties to determine the type of encryption software used to scramble the data. There is lots of free and good encryption software on market. Here will introduce you 3.

1. TureCrypt

TureCrypt is the most popular encryption software on market. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mount it as a real disk in order to encrypt the contents of the file. By doing this, TrueCrypt is able to encrypt a file, directory, partition, or entire storage device. This open source disk encryption software supports various platforms like Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac, Linux, and Unix operating systems.

2. DiskCryptor

DiskCryptor is free whole disk encryption software. It can encrypt entire hard drive partitions, including the system partition as well as flash drives in real time without affecting performance. It can also create encrypted CDs/DVDs. It offers excellent performance for mounted encrypted volumes and a good range of features and options.

3. AxCrypt

AxCrypt is the leading open source file encryption software for Windows. It integrates seamlessly with Windows to compress, encrypt, decrypt, store, send and work with individual files. This free program that uses sophisticated algorithms (128-bit primitive keys) to make sure your files can’t be cracked. Once encrypted, your files can only be opened if the proper passphrase is provided.

4. MEO Free Data Encryption Software

MEO is free file encryption software. It enables you to encrypt or decrypt various files, including Microsoft Word, Excel and PDF documents. MEO allows you to protect your sensitive data against un-authorized viewers by utilizing the latest data encryption technologies. This free file encryption software supports both Mac and Windows.

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How to password-protect your BIOS Boot Screen?

Posted on November 23, 2011 by admin

Do you think that your computer is safe if you have a strong Windows login password for your computer? This is not true at all. Unauthorized users can files and passwords on your computer, even without your Windows password. They can put a special disc in your computer to read your data, or slave your hard drive to their computer.

If you want to protect your computer from this type of attack, you can password-protect your BIOS Boot Screen or encrypt your hard drive with encryption software. In this article, we’re going to show you how to create a BIOS password on computer.

What is a BIOS password?

The Basic Input Output system (BIOS) is a type of software that provides an interface between the hardware components of a computer and its operating system. It is usually stored in a Read Only Memory (ROM) chip. As it is stored in a ROM chip, its contents can never be erased and can be accessed by the computer at all times.

So a BIOS password refers to a password set on the BIOS or security chip.I t is the first password that comes up when a computer is turned on. A user can set a BIOS password in system set up. Once it’s set, it’s impossible to get to the operating system without entering the password.

How to set a BIOS password?

1. Start or restart you computer, and press the right key to access BIOS Utility while booting. “F2″ and “Delete” is the most commonly used keys to access BIOS.

2. Navigate through the menus until you can find anything to do with passwords or security and set the password.

3. Navigate to the menu that contains the boot order in it. Change your HDD to be first on the list, so if someone wanted to boot from a CD or USB etc, they would be hit with a password.

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How to change user account to administrator in Windows 7?

Posted on November 18, 2011 by admin

You are able to decide the account type whenever you creates a new user account in Windows 7. If you want to change your mind after creating the user account, you can simply do that as you wish. The following information will show you how to change your user account type in Windows 7.

1. Go to Start button – Control Panel – User Accounts and Family Safety – User Accounts.

2. Click Manage another account. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. Click the account you want to change, and then click Change the account type.

4. Select the account type you want, and then click Change Account Type.

Before taking the above steps, you should know what’s the difference between standard user and administrator. Please note Each account type gives the user a different level of control over the computer. The standard account is the account to use for everyday computing while the administrator account provides the most control over the computer, and should only be used when necessary.

According to Microsoft, Standard user lets you use most of the capabilities of the computer, but permission from an administrator is required if you want to make changes that affect other users or the security of the computer. Whereas, administrator lets you make changes that will affect other users. Administrators can change security settings, install software and hardware, and access all files on the computer. Administrators can also make changes to other user accounts.

One more tip: Please remember to create a password reset disk if you add a password to your new use account. It will be helpful when you cannot remember the password.

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