How to Bypass BIOS Passwords
BIOS passwords can add an extra layer of security for desktop and laptop computers. They are used to either prevent a user from changing the BIOS settings or to prevent the PC from booting without a password. Unfortunately, BIOS passwords can also be a liability if a user forgets their password, or changes the password to intentionally lock out the corporate IT department. Sending the unit back to the manufacturer to have the BIOS reset can be expensive and is usually not covered in the warranty. Never fear, all is not lost. There are a few known backdoors and other tricks of the trade that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS
DISCLAIMER
This article is intended for IT Professionals and systems administrators with experience servicing computer hardware. It is not intended for home users, hackers, or computer thieves attempting to crack the password on a stolen PC. Please do not attempt any of these procedures if you are unfamiliar with computer hardware, and please use this information responsibly. LabMice.net is not responsible for the use or misuse of this material, including loss of data, damage to hardware, or personal injury.
Before attempting to bypass the BIOS password on a computer, please take a minute to contact the hardware manufacturer support staff directly and ask for their recommended methods of bypassing the BIOS security. In the event the manufacturer cannot (or will not) help you, there are a number of methods that can be used to bypass or reset the BIOS password yourself. They include: Continue reading “How to Bypass BIOS Passwords” »
Hard drive gone bad
The most common problems originate from corruption of the master boot record, FAT, or directory. Those are soft problems which can usually be taken care of with a combination of tools like Fdisk /mbr to refresh the master boot record followed by a reboot and Norton disk doctor or Spinneret.
The most common hardware problems are a bad controller, a bad drive motor, or a bad head mechanism.
1. Can the BIOS see and identify the hard drive correctly? If it can’t, then the hard drives onboard controller is bad.
2. Does the drive spin and maintain a constant velocity? If it does, that’s good news. The motor is functioning.
3. If the drive surges and dies, the most likely cause is a bad controller (assuming the drive is cool). A gate allowing the current to drive the motor may not be staying open. The drive needs a new controller. Continue reading “Hard drive Gone Bad” »
Choosing A Good Domain Name
Choosing a domain name for your site is one of the most important steps towards creating the perfect internet presence. If you run an on-line business, picking a name that will be marketable and achieve success in search engine placement is paramount. Many factors must be considered when choosing a good domain name. This article summarizes all the different things to consider before making that final registration step!
Short and Sweet
Domain names can be really long or really short (1 – 67 characters). In general, it is far better to choose a domain name that is short in length. The shorter your domain name, the easier it will be for people remember. Remembering a domain name is very important from a marketability perspective. As visitors reach your site and enjoy using it, they will likely tell people about it. And those people may tell others, etc. As with any business, word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool to drive traffic to your site (and it’s free too!). If your site is long and difficult to pronounce, people will not remember the name of the site and unless they bookmark the link, they may never return. Continue reading “Choosing A Good Domain Name, ya..good name is important!” »
OK, so now you realize that you’ve got some spyware junk on your system.
Before you go headlong into deleting suspected files or editing the registry, try this simple disabling technique.
First, see if you can determine what the offending files are. You can do this by running “msinfo32″ if you’re using Win98. I only have experience with Win98, so I don’t know the corresponding run command for this “Microsoft System Information” utility in WinXP. Go to the “Software Enviroment” section and poke around to see if you can locate an offensive or out-of-place file that looks like it doesn’t belong. Make a note of the filename and location. Continue reading “Quick Fix For Spyware, Try This Before Doing Surgery on Your OS” »
Here’s a DOS trick for Windows 9x, that will reset (delete) your motherboard’s BIOS password (aka CMOS password) without any need to open up your computer to remove the battery or mess with jumpers.
This method can come in very handy in the event you ever lose and forget your BIOS password or if you acquire used computers where the unknown previous owners had BIOS passwords set (in fact, this happened to me long ago-I was given a used computer, but there was no way I could enter the CMOS to make changes). It’s important to note here that the password we are talking about is only the one that prevents a user from entering the BIOS setup at bootup, not the one that stops you from getting past the boot.
Normally, at bootup you can press a key (usually the DEL key) to access your BIOS allowing you to view it or make changes. With a password set, there is no way to enter setup. Though a password can provide a basic and very effective level of PC security, losing it can be a real headache if you don’t know how to fix the problem. Continue reading “Reset your lost Bios Password” »
Windows XP has a vast number of configuration dialogs, but some adjustments can be performed only by directly editing the Registry. Frequently, tips involving Registry tweaks include stern warnings to back up the Registry before making any change. The Windows XP Backup applet can back up the Registry along with other elements of the System State, but the resulting data file can occupy hundreds of megabytes. You’re better off saving a system restore point each time you’re about to edit the Registry. Better still, you can use Regedit to back up only the Registry keys that will be changed.
Click on Start | Run and enter Regedit to launch the Registry editor. To back up an individual key you plan to edit, navigate to the key and right-click on it. Choose Export from the menu, and save the key to a REG file. Open the REG file in Notepad and insert a few comment lines that describe the source and purpose of the tweak. (To create a comment line, simply put a semicolon at the start of the line.) Continue reading “Safely Editing the Registry…” »
Adjust the settings for your graphics board and display to improve image quality.
When it comes to your PC, looks definitely matter. Tiny text, blurry images, and flickering screens aren’t just annoying, they can lead to eyestrain, lost productivity, and a bill from the glazier for replacing the window you toss your monitor through out of frustration. But you don’t have to give your display the heave-ho: A few simple adjustments to your graphics card and other Windows settings can ensure peak visual performance.
Your PC’s graphics card is controlled by its Windows driver, so get the latest driver release for your board. To see what version you have, right-click the desktop and choose Properties to open the Display Properties dialog box, then click Settings, Advanced, Adapter (in Windows XP, also select Properties, Driver).
Visit your graphics-card vendor’s Web site to download the most recent version of the driver, but don’t install beta drivers. These are works in progress that may cause more trouble than they’re worth. Continue reading “Simple Tweaks For Peak Pc Graphics Performance” »
really easy. but this only works if the original motherboard and harddrive still work. so put it back together. for newbies, go to control panel, double-click the system icon, go to hardware tab, and click device manager button. find the IDE ATA/ATAPI CONTROLLERS and expand the tab. not the primary or secondary controller, but right-click the first controller. choose update driver. choose the option to install from a list or specific location. click next. now choose the (don’t search. I will choose the driver to install) option. click next. now highlight the Standard Dual Channel Pci Ide Controller. click next. the Standard controller will install. now reboot. log in. the standard controller is completely installed. you can now shutdown the computer, remove your harddrive, and it will boot with the new motherboard.
Trust me it work
Services You Can Disable
There are quite a few services you can disable from starting automatically.
This would be to speed up your boot time and free resources.
They are only suggestions so I suggestion you read the description of each one when you run Services
and that you turn them off one at a time.
Some possibilities are:
- Alerter
- Application Management
- Clipbook
- Fast UserSwitching
- Human Interface Devices
- Indexing Service
- Messenger
- Net Logon
- NetMeeting
- QOS RSVP
- Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
- Remote Registry
- Routing & Remote Access
- SSDP Discovery Service
- Universal Plug and Play Device Host
- Web Client
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Cleaning the Prefetch Directory
WindowsXP has a new feature called Prefetch. This keeps a shortcut to recently used programs.
However it can fill up with old and obsolete programs. Continue reading “How To Make XP Go Faster” »
Since defragging the disk won’t do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers’ PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
- To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
- If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
- Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives. Continue reading “23 Ways To Speed WinXP, Not only Defrag” »