Enable the (Hidden) Administrator Account on Windows 7 or Vista

Many people familiar with prior versions of Windows are curious what happened to the built-in Administrator account that was always created by default. Does this account still exist, and how can you access it?

The account is created in Windows 7 or Vista, but since it’s not enabled you can’t use it. If you are troubleshooting something that needs to run as administrator, you can enable it with a simple command.

Note: You really shouldn’t use this account for anything other than troubleshooting. In fact, you probably shouldn’t use it at all.

Enable Built-in Administrator Account

10 Tips to Enhance your PC Security

Today almost everyone of us have a PC with an internet connection but how many of us think about it’s security? In fact most of the people are least bothered about their PC’s security. Especially if you have an internet connection safeguarding your PC against network threats is a must. If your PC is not secured then it might be vulnerable to various threats. The threat may be as simple as a virus which corrupts your data or as complex as an identity theft where there are chances of huge loss of money. Did you know that unsecured PCs can be hijacked in minutes ? If you are really concerned about PC security then here are the top 10 security enhancements for your PC.

Is your Nokia Cell Phone Original

Nokia is one of the largest selling phones across the globe. Most of us own a Nokia phone but are unaware of it’s originality. Are you keen to know whether your Nokia mobile phone is original or not? Then you are in the right place and this information is specially meant for you. Your phones IMEI(International Mobile Equipment Identity) number confirms your phone’s originality.

Press the following on your mobile *#06# to see your Phone’s IMEI number(serial number).

Then check the 7th and 8th numbers

Phone serial no. x x x x x x ? ? x x x x x x x

Run Program at Startup Only Once

This hack allows you to run a program at startup only once. This hack also avoids the need of startup folder and the autorun is configured in the registry itself. In this hack the specified program runs only once at startup (Right after the first boot of configuration) and will not continue to run for the subsequent startups. Here’s the hack. If you need to run the program at startup everytime then refer the followint link: Run Program At Startup Without Using Startup Folder

 

How to Change IE Title Bar Text

This hack allows you to change the text on the Internet Explorer title bar. The default text or title is “Windows Internet Explorer”. You can change this title text to your own choice.

 

 

Advanced Google Search

In this post I will show you some of the secrets of Advanced Google Search.

Disable Task Manager

The following registry hack enables us to disable the Task Manager. Here is a step by step procedure to disable Windows task manager.

Step1: Goto start>run and type “regedit” in the run.

Step2: In the registry navigate to

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

Inside GoOgLe – A Collection of Strange Links on Google

Although Google is a search engine, it’s also a website. It has millions of it’s own pages indexed in it. When i was digging deep inside Google i found some strange links inside it. So I decided to compile a list of strange Google links. Enjoy!

Run Programs at Startup without using Startup folder

This tweak allows a program to be launched when the user logs onto the computer. It can be set to run minimized and there is no trace of the executable in the Startup folder on the Start Menu nor in the Documents and Settings folder accessible via Windows Explorer.

 

 

1. Click Start, click Run, and type regedit to run Registry Editor. Navigate to

How to Change User Information in Windows

On a regular basis, people ask me questions about changing user information, the information you provided when you installed Windows. You can change it. Here is a step-by-step instruction.

 

 

 

1. Open the Registry Editor (Type regedit inside the Run box and hit Enter)

2. Navigate to the following key

Forgot Windows XP Password ?

Yes it is possible to change Adminstrator password both in Win XP and Vista without knowing it. If you somehow manage to login as an Administrator then you can change the password without knowing it.

Here’s the Step-By-Step instructions

Get Rid of the Recycle Bin on your Desktop

Here is a way to remove the recycle bin from your desktop. This trick help’s people who want to get rid of the recycle bin on the desktop.

 

 

 

 

1. Goto start, Run, Type “gpedit.msc” (Type without quotes)

2. On the left panel, under User Configuration expand the tree Administrative templates

3. Click on the subtree desktop (single click, do not expand it)

4. On the right panel, Select the option-Remove Recycle Bin icon from desktop properties

5. Double click the option, on the settings tab just select the option enabled, press OK & exit the window.

6. Refesh the desktop (press F5), Your Recycle Bin vanishous. If not you need to logout and then re-login.

NOTE: This trick works on Win XP, Vista and Win 7

C Program to display the No. of Digits in an Entered Number

This program displays the number of digits present in the number that is entered through the input.

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>

void main()
{
unsigned long int num;
int i=0;
clrscr();
printf(“Enter the digit\n”);
scanf(“%lu”,&num);
while(num!=0)
{
num=num/10;
++i;
}
printf(“Length=%d”,i);
getch();
}

Popularity: 1% [?]

Modifying the Vista Operating System Boot

You can use several different tricks to shave a few more seconds off the boot time. For example, you can reduce Timeout values and slim down the system to get rid of all the extra features and services that you do not use or need. Check out the following ways to do so.

 

Windows Boot Manager

 

If you have more than one operating system installed on your computer, you’ll have to deal with the Windows Boot Manager installed by Windows Vista. By default, the Windows Boot Manager gives you 30 seconds to select an operating system before it reverts to the default operating system. The only way not to wait 30 seconds is to select the operating system you want to use right away. If you use one operating system the majority of your time, you will definitely save time if you set that operating system as the default and lower the Timeout value to 1 or 2 seconds. That way, you will not have to select an operating system every time you turn on your system or wait 30 seconds before your computer actually starts to load the operating system.

 

Tip

Before you make any changes to the Windows Boot Manager (WBM), it is a good idea to back it up using the Boot Configuration Data Editor (bcdedit.exe) so that you can easily revert back to an earlier version should you have any problems. At a command prompt running under an administrator account, type bcdedit /export “C:\Backup File”. This will save the WBM to a file that you can use to import using the /import flag.

 

Lowering OS Timeout values

 

As mentioned earlier, if you have multiple operating systems installed on your computer and the Windows Boot Manager is installed, the default selection timeout is often way too high. It is much better to set a lower timeout so that if you do not make a selection, it quickly reverts to the default OS, making your boot time much faster.

Changing the Timeout value is simple with the System Configuration utility. Follow the steps here to use the System Configuration utility to lower the OS Timeout value:

1. Click the Start button, type msconfig in the Search box, and press Enter.
2. When the System Configuration utility loads, click the Boot tab.
3. Locate the Timeout box and replace 30 with a much lower value. I recommend you use between 2 and 5. I use 2 because that gives me just the right amount of time to press a key on my keyboard when the Windows Boot Manager is displayed on the screen.
4. After the value has been updated, click OK to exit.

Now that the Timeout value has been updated, the Boot menu will no longer increase your system startup time. Even though this is a simple tip, it really helps a lot on systems that have multiple operating systems installed. Now let’s look at setting the default operating system on the Windows Boot Manager.

 

Setting the default OS

 

In the preceding section, I set a new Timeout value that will cut down on the amount of time that is wasted before the operating system starts to load. That works great when your primary operating system is the default; but if it is not, you must remember to press a key at the right moment on every single boot. There is a much better way to handle the situation. Just make your primary operating system the default operating system in the Windows Boot Manager. This will allow you to benefit from the lower Timeout value and speed up the overall boot time.

Setting the default operating system is a little more difficult because you need to use the command-line Boot Configuration Editor, bcdedit.exe. The Boot Configuration Editor is part of Windows Vista, but it requires an account with administrative rights to run. Even if you are logged in with an account that has administrator rights but have user account control enabled, by default the tool will not run as administrator. Follow these steps to use the Boot Configuration Editor to set the default operating system:

1. Click the Start button and navigate through All Programs and Accessories.
2. Locate the Command Prompt shortcut and right-click it to bring up the context menu.
3. Select Run as administrator from the context menu.
4. When the command prompt has loaded, you are ready to use the bcdedit.exe command. First, you need to get the ID of the operating system that you want to set as the default. To do this, type bcdedit /enum all in the open command prompt window. Scroll through the list of different entries and look for the one with the description matching “Microsoft Windows” for Windows Vista.
5. After you have found the correct entry, note its identifier. That is used in the next step.
6. While still at the command prompt, run bcdedit /default (entry identifier). For example, I ran bcdedit /default {}.

The default operating system on the Window Boot Manager is now set. The next time you reboot, your changes will be in use.

 

Tip

The Boot Configuration Editor is a powerful utility that you can also use to change many other settings of the Windows Boot Manager. Experiment with bcdedit.exe by running bcdedit /? from command prompt. This will show you all the other available options and flags that you can use with the Boot Configuration Editor.

Program To Print A String Without Using Any Output Statements

This program can be used to print a string without using any output statements such as printf, puts etc. However this program only works in 16-bit mode since it directly writes to VDU Memory
 

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
char str[]=”Hello Srikanth”;
char far *v=(char far *)0xb8000000;
void main()
{
int i;
for(i=0;i<14;i++)
{
*v=str[i];
v+=2;
}
getch();
}

Activating the hidden Boot Screen in Vista

Customizing the Boot Screen

Every time I turn on my computer, I am forced to stare at the boring Windows boot screen. I must admit that I found the moving bars amusing at first, but after a few months I became bored and wanted something different. Changing the boot screen is not something that Microsoft made easy; however, it is still possible with a few cool hacks.

Activating the hidden boot screen

Over the several years that Windows Vista was in the planning stages and in development, many promises were made about new features and enhancements. One of those promises had to do with high-resolution boot screens. This was going to be a great feature replacing the ancient 256-color boot screen that has been with Windows since Windows 95. Over time, as development of Vista was slipping behind schedule and developers were plagued with hardware compatibility problems with the high-resolution boot screen code, the feature was pulled from the final product.

Although this feature never made it into the released version of Windows Vista, there appears to be some parts of it left in the system. This section shows you a cool trick that will enable a hidden boot screen that looks like it was part of the high-resolution feature, as shown in Figure 1-1. It is nothing super fancy or elegant, but it sure is better than the boring boot screen that Vista shipped with, which looks like it is missing the Vista logo.

Figure 1-1

Before we proceed, note that some users have problems with using the hidden boot screen-possibly the reason why Microsoft hid it in the first place. If you are one of those users, simply boot into Safe mode and undo the steps for enabling the boot screen. Unfortunately, it is not currently known exactly what hardware has problems with the hidden boot screen. When you are ready, follow these steps to enable this boot screen on your PC:

1. Click the Start button, type msconfig in the Search box, and then press Enter.
2. When the System Configuration Utility loads, click the Boot tab.
3. Locate the No GUI boot box and select it, as shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2

4. Click OK and reboot your computer.

You should see the hidden boot screen after you reboot your PC. As I mentioned earlier, if you have problems with the hidden boot screen, just boot into Safe mode (hold down F8 when you boot up) and remove the check from the No GUI Boot box.

Customizing the boot screen image

The alternative boot screen that you just enabled in the preceding section is a great improvement compared to the boring moving progress bar that shows by default. However, this is still not good enough. With the help of a few cool tricks, you can create your own high-resolution, 24-bit boot screen without hacking any system files.

How is that possible? Thanks to the new language-independent operating system components in Windows Vista, some resources are stored in regional language files rather than the actual system components. This allows Microsoft to easily create a localized version of Windows Vista in any language by just creating new MUI (multilingual user interface) files that contain localized versions of bitmaps and text. Because MUI files are not digitally signed by Microsoft, you can make your own that has your own boot screen image in it, which allows you to customize the alternative boot screen to use any image you desire.

This new feature in Windows Vista provides a great enhancement and alternative to the traditional method of hacking system files as you had to do in previous versions of Windows to do things such as changing the boot screen. In addition, there is a great tool developed by Dan Smith called the Vista Boot Logo Generator that will automatically compile the boot images you select into an MUI file. This makes the overall process simple compared to trying to change boot screens, as you did in the past.

To get started, you need two images, one 800 × 600 and one 1024 × 768 image, both saved as 24-bit bitmap images. When you have those images picked out, resized, and saved, you are ready to follow these steps:

1. Visit http://www.computa.co.uk/staff/dan/?p=18 and download the latest copy of the Vista Boot Logo Generator and install it.
2. Click the Start button, type vista boot logo, and press Enter.
3. After the boot logo is downloaded, click the Browse for Images button in the 800 × 600 section and select your 800 × 600 24-bit bitmap image. Do the same for the 1024 × 768 section.
4. After you have both images selected, click File and select Save Boot Screen file as to save your MUI file. Save it to your desktop.
5. Next you need to replace the winload.exe.mui file located in c:\windows\system32\en-us with the file you just created. However, it is not as easy as a simple copy and paste because the Windows system files are protected. First, I recommend making a backup of the existing winload.exe.mui file so that you can copy it back if you have problems later. To get around the file protections, you need to take ownership of all the files in the en-us folder. Right-click the en-us folder and select Properties.
6. Select the Security tab and then click the Advanced button at the bottom of the window.
7. Select the Owner tab, and then click the Edit button.
8. Select your account from the Account list and check Replace owner on subcontainers and objects. Click OK to apply your changes.
9. Click OK to exit all the open Properties windows. You need to go back into the folder properties to change the file permissions. This time you will have more rights because you are now the folder owner. Right-click en-us and select Properties again.
10. Click the Security tab, and this time click Edit.
11. Click the Add button. Type in your username and click OK. Your account name should now appear on the Permissions list.
12. Select your account, and then select the Allow column for Full control, as shown inFigure 1-3.

Figure 1-3

Click OK to save your changes and OK once more to close the Properties screen. You will now be able to copy the winload.exe.mui file you made and saved to your desktop toc:\windows\system32\en-us. After you copy the file and reboot, you should see your new boot screen.

If you do not see your new boot screen and instead see the progress bar, make sure that you turned on the alternative boot screen as shown in the previous section. If you have any problems with your new boot screen MUI file, you can always boot using your Windows Vista install CD into a command prompt and can copy back the old winload.exe.mui file.

C Program to Print a Character without using any Output Statements

This program can be used to print character without using any output statements. This program only works in 16-bit mode since it directly writes to VDU Memory.

 

 

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
char far *p=(char far *)0xb8000000;
*p=’A';
getch();
}

C Program to Remove Comments and Blank lines from a valid C Program

This program accepts any valid C Program as an input and removes the comments and blanks from it. The output is a program that has no comments and blank lines.

#include<stdio.h>

#include<conio.h>

#include<process.h>

#include<dos.h>

void main()

{
FILE *a,*b;

char fname[20],ch,tch=NULL,tch1=NULL;

int flag1=0,flag=0,count=0,count1=0,count2=0;
clrscr();

printf(“Enter the file name (.C or .TXT)\n”);

gets(fname);

a=fopen(fname,”r”);

if(a==NULL)

{

puts(“Cannot open the source file!!!”);

delay(500);

exit(1);

}

b=fopen(“target.c”,”w”);

if(b==NULL)

{

puts(“Cannot create target file!!!”);

delay(500);

exit(1);

}
while(1)

{

ch=fgetc(a);

if(ch==EOF) break;
else

{
if(ch==’\n’)

{

count1=1;

tch1=ch;

continue;

}
else if(ch==’\n’&& count1==1)

continue;

else if(ch==’/'&&count==0)

{

flag1=1;

tch=ch;

count=1;

continue;

}
else if(ch==’*'&& flag1==1)

{

flag=1;

flag1=0;

tch=NULL;

}
else if(ch==’*'&&flag==1)

{

count2=1;

count=1;

continue;

}
else if(ch==’/'&&count2==1)

{

flag=0;

count=0;

tch=NULL;

continue;

}
else if(count==1&&flag==1)

count=0;
else if(flag1==1)

flag1=0;

}
if(flag!=1)

{

if(tch>0)

fputc(tch,b);

if(tch1>0)

fputc(tch1,b);

tch1=NULL;

tch=NULL;

count=0,count1=0,count2=0;

fputc(ch,b);

flag1=0,flag=0;

}
}
puts(“DONE!! OP FILE IS \”TARGET.C\”\n”);

fcloseall();

getch();

}