Q. I have a 160 gig extra hard drive i use for games saved files and music. was cleaning a freinds hard drive and clicked the wrong letter for a quick format. I cant afford anything at repair store.
A. First thing you have to do: stop!, don't write or install ANYTHING else new onto that hard drive. This will give you a chance to use data recovery software and try to salvage as much as possible. Don't let anyone tell you this is not possible. The usual Windows format is pretty superficial (I am not getting into anything technical, don't want to confuse you) but if you install new data on top of the one you 'erased' your chances will diminish.
I would install Windows on the hard drive opposite to the one you deleted and run a scan. Careful not to delete anything else on this other HD! (can't really think of any data recovery program off the top of my head right now, (Google "Top Rated Freeware Data Recovery), let the program run for as long as needed (some of them may take an entire night, it depends of how much data was crammed in that drive). You should be able to find a good amount of the stuff that's seemingly gone.
I would install Windows on the hard drive opposite to the one you deleted and run a scan. Careful not to delete anything else on this other HD! (can't really think of any data recovery program off the top of my head right now, (Google "Top Rated Freeware Data Recovery), let the program run for as long as needed (some of them may take an entire night, it depends of how much data was crammed in that drive). You should be able to find a good amount of the stuff that's seemingly gone.
I lost my password on Toshiba laptop?
Q. this laptop is my first laptop and I don,t have any discription .on the back of the laptop I can see
toshiba 1.9 15x256M 40RW/DV F WR 16v satellite 2410 systemunit
toshiba 1.9 15x256M 40RW/DV F WR 16v satellite 2410 systemunit
A. Try to restore a backed up System State (in Windows 2000/XP/2003) or a ERD (in NT 4.0) in which you do remember the password. The problem with doing so is that you'll probably lose all of the recently add users and groups, and all the changed passwords for all of your users since the last backup was made.
A third method might be to install a parallel operating system on a different partition on the same computer, then use a simple trick to gain access to the old system. Read more about it on my Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Alternate Logon Trick article. For Office document password removal, you can also check our tutorials on Excel password recovery.
Note: If you are looking for password cracking tools that can be used for miscellaneous objectives such as password-protected PDF documents, zipped archives, Office documents, BIOS protection and so on then this pages is NOT for you. See some links at the bottom of this page for hints on where to find such tools, but I can tell you right away that Google might be a better choice for you.
Try using 3rd party tools that will enable you to reset the lost password and logon with a blank password.
Update: You can also discuss these topics on the dedicated Petri.co.il Forgot Admin Password Forum.
Password Recovery Tools
Free Windows password-cracking tools are usually Linux boot disks that have NT file system (NTFS) drivers and software that will read the registry and rewrite the password hashes for any account including the Administrators. This process requires physical access to the console and an available floppy drive but it works like a charm! I've done it myself several times with no glitch or problem whatsoever.
Beware!!! Resetting a user's or administrator's password on some systems (like Windows XP) might cause data loss, especially EFS-encrypted files and saved passwords from within Internet Explorer. To protect yourself against EFS-encrypted files loss you should always export your Private and Public key, along with the keys for the Recovery Agent user. Please read more about EFS on my What's EFS? page. Out of the following list, the only tool that will no cause any harm to EFS-encrypted files on your hard disk is the Windows Password recovery system. Here are 5 of these tools:
Stellar Phoenix Password Recovery - Simple startup utility resets a forgotten admin or users' password using a familiar Windows-like program interface instead of command-line.
Password Kit - Top rated version of Passware's Password recovery app, supports Windows Vista and RAID/SCSI/SATA drives.
Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor - A great boot CD/Floppy that can reset the local administrator's password.
Openwall's John the Ripper - Good boot floppy with cracking capabilities.
EBCD â Emergency Boot CD - Bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults.
If you happen to know about other free tools please let me know.
Important note for Windows Vista users: At this time there is only one solution for Window Vista and that is Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
Note: These password resetting tools are usually good for local users on a stand alone computer. For Domain Admin password resetting procedures please see the Related Articles section at the bottom of this page. I'd like to put together all the info you have about these issues. If you have any tips, recommended links or any ideas about how to figure out a lost password - please e-mail me and I'll get back to you.
Windows Password recovery
www.loginrecovery.com This site provides a tool to recover lost Windows XP passwords. It works for administrator and user accounts, it doesn't change the password just tells you the old one. It works with encrypted files (EFS) and password hashes. It even works if no passwords at all are known for the machine (as long as you have another computer with internet access to view this website with). Author claims it also works with Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 and Windows Longhorn, but the BEST thing about it is the fact that it won't reset your passwords, but simply reveal them for you to remember and then use. Give it a try. The author would like to receive feedback. The fee for the service is very cheap, and is really just to cover server costs. Note: You'll need a blank floppy to run the process.
(NOTE) some of the information had to be removed, go to source for all the information
One other way to soulve this problen is to reinstall your operating system. Hope you got a Windows operating system disk with your laptop
A third method might be to install a parallel operating system on a different partition on the same computer, then use a simple trick to gain access to the old system. Read more about it on my Forgot the Administrator's Password? - Alternate Logon Trick article. For Office document password removal, you can also check our tutorials on Excel password recovery.
Note: If you are looking for password cracking tools that can be used for miscellaneous objectives such as password-protected PDF documents, zipped archives, Office documents, BIOS protection and so on then this pages is NOT for you. See some links at the bottom of this page for hints on where to find such tools, but I can tell you right away that Google might be a better choice for you.
Try using 3rd party tools that will enable you to reset the lost password and logon with a blank password.
Update: You can also discuss these topics on the dedicated Petri.co.il Forgot Admin Password Forum.
Password Recovery Tools
Free Windows password-cracking tools are usually Linux boot disks that have NT file system (NTFS) drivers and software that will read the registry and rewrite the password hashes for any account including the Administrators. This process requires physical access to the console and an available floppy drive but it works like a charm! I've done it myself several times with no glitch or problem whatsoever.
Beware!!! Resetting a user's or administrator's password on some systems (like Windows XP) might cause data loss, especially EFS-encrypted files and saved passwords from within Internet Explorer. To protect yourself against EFS-encrypted files loss you should always export your Private and Public key, along with the keys for the Recovery Agent user. Please read more about EFS on my What's EFS? page. Out of the following list, the only tool that will no cause any harm to EFS-encrypted files on your hard disk is the Windows Password recovery system. Here are 5 of these tools:
Stellar Phoenix Password Recovery - Simple startup utility resets a forgotten admin or users' password using a familiar Windows-like program interface instead of command-line.
Password Kit - Top rated version of Passware's Password recovery app, supports Windows Vista and RAID/SCSI/SATA drives.
Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor - A great boot CD/Floppy that can reset the local administrator's password.
Openwall's John the Ripper - Good boot floppy with cracking capabilities.
EBCD â Emergency Boot CD - Bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults.
If you happen to know about other free tools please let me know.
Important note for Windows Vista users: At this time there is only one solution for Window Vista and that is Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor
Note: These password resetting tools are usually good for local users on a stand alone computer. For Domain Admin password resetting procedures please see the Related Articles section at the bottom of this page. I'd like to put together all the info you have about these issues. If you have any tips, recommended links or any ideas about how to figure out a lost password - please e-mail me and I'll get back to you.
Windows Password recovery
www.loginrecovery.com This site provides a tool to recover lost Windows XP passwords. It works for administrator and user accounts, it doesn't change the password just tells you the old one. It works with encrypted files (EFS) and password hashes. It even works if no passwords at all are known for the machine (as long as you have another computer with internet access to view this website with). Author claims it also works with Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 and Windows Longhorn, but the BEST thing about it is the fact that it won't reset your passwords, but simply reveal them for you to remember and then use. Give it a try. The author would like to receive feedback. The fee for the service is very cheap, and is really just to cover server costs. Note: You'll need a blank floppy to run the process.
(NOTE) some of the information had to be removed, go to source for all the information
One other way to soulve this problen is to reinstall your operating system. Hope you got a Windows operating system disk with your laptop
Windows error help?! Operating system wont start.?
Q. I have an old Dell I wanted to make operational again but i keep getting an error when the system starts up. When i ran the diagnostics the DST test failed with a Code Error: 1000-0146
Does anyone know what this error means and how I can fix this? I have also tried format the disk and the system keeps saying its unable to format.
Does anyone know what this error means and how I can fix this? I have also tried format the disk and the system keeps saying its unable to format.
A. This belongs in the software section.
To fix:
1. Did you back up your personal data? Personal data is the hardest thing to replace when a computer has a problem: No matter how much you spend it's not coming back if you didn't back it up. That said, there is a way to get some of it back, but you'll have to learn a bit about computers. I'll go over this soon.
2. Assuming that you have all your personal data safely stored OFF your computer (On the internet, DVDs, etc), then you can re-install windows from your manufacturer's recovery DVD's/CD's that came with the computer. I hope you got some with your computer, and didn't toss them god knows where because if you don't have them you're stuck using Linux, buy a new computer, or paying Microsoft $200+ for a copy of windows.
If you didn't back up your personal data:
Note: You'll have to crack your hard drive if you have windows set to encrypt your hard drive (ie: if your using bit-locker). I would have to do tons of research to tell you how to do this, and there's probably a low success rate. Hopefully Windows didn't encrypt your hardrive.
I recommend installing Linux Mint onto a flash drive, then booting from a flash drive (You will have to set your BIOS's boot order to boot (turn on) from the usb before the hard disk). The easiest distro I've used is Linux Mint. Here's some info and downloads to get it on a flashdrive. The reason you want it on a usb is so that you can use your computer's optical drive to write some data DVDs (This way you'll have all your stuff somewhere once Windows is reinstalled):
Links:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/
http://www.linuxmint.com/index.php
http://www.wikihow.com/Change-Computer-BIOS-Settings
Note before I continue: Mint is essentially an easier to use version of Ubuntu. You can search for help on using Ubuntu and Mint to get help on using Mint.
Note: Once Linux Mint is started you can browse the internet with Firefox. For connecting to wireless, the icon is in the bottom right hand corner.
Okay, so now you've finally gotten your computer booting from the usb key. Don't touch anything until the desktop is fully loaded. If you do, it will either make your life more complicated or slow it down. Once the desktop is loaded click the Menu button (Bottom left hand corner). Then click computer. You have just opened Nautilus. If anything that I tell you to do doesn't work open the terminal for the Menu (Bottom left hand corner of the screen) and type "sudo nautilus" (without quotes, then hit enter. I have no idea what the password is if there is one, but you'll probably be able to ask someone who works on Linux Mint or Ubuntu. From there, you'll have Nautilus open (It's just a file manager, like Windows Explorer) as root. Keep opening another terminal window and typing the command to open as many windows as you need.
There's some way to burn a DVD with Nautilus, but don't worry about that. Simply insert a CD or DVD into your computer's optical drive and Linux Mint will ask you if you want to burn files to it, which you do. You could also copy the files to another USB or upload them to a backup service (Like ADrive: http://www.adrive.com/ ) with Firefox. For CD's/DVD's (DVD's can hold more, so they are better) drag what you want from your hard drive to the place you want, just like in Windows.
Now the "hard" part, finding your personal files:
Click Menu>Computer
Now you have to guess. One of them will be your hard drive. Whatever one it is has a folder called "Windows" when you double click on it.
Now you're looking at the top of you hardrive. Browse through these folders:
For Windows XP (Older and newer versions have a different name for the first thing):
Documents and Settings/<Username of the person's files you want to back up>
In here are the folders that typically have most of your stuff:
Documents (My Documents)
Desktop (The Desktop)
You get the idea, I hope.
When you find the files you want to be able to keep, drag them to where you want them to go (USB, CD/DVD) or use firefox to upload them to ADrive or some place else. Be aware that everything has a limited capacity: DVD's usually 4.7 GB, CD's about 0.7GB, USB at least 1GB, maybe even 2000GB+.
Once you have your personal files backed up, take your computer in to be certain that there's nothing wrong with you hardware. If you do the part I'm about to tell next, it won't affect much if your hard drive is failing, for example.
estimated working and learning time for the above "step": 6 to 15 hours
Step 2 (One Paragraph Long): http://shorttext.com/Tj5gIC
estimated working and learning time for the above step: 4 to 12 hours
I hope this helps. I'm sorry if it's a little unclear, I got tired of typing about halfway.
To fix:
1. Did you back up your personal data? Personal data is the hardest thing to replace when a computer has a problem: No matter how much you spend it's not coming back if you didn't back it up. That said, there is a way to get some of it back, but you'll have to learn a bit about computers. I'll go over this soon.
2. Assuming that you have all your personal data safely stored OFF your computer (On the internet, DVDs, etc), then you can re-install windows from your manufacturer's recovery DVD's/CD's that came with the computer. I hope you got some with your computer, and didn't toss them god knows where because if you don't have them you're stuck using Linux, buy a new computer, or paying Microsoft $200+ for a copy of windows.
If you didn't back up your personal data:
Note: You'll have to crack your hard drive if you have windows set to encrypt your hard drive (ie: if your using bit-locker). I would have to do tons of research to tell you how to do this, and there's probably a low success rate. Hopefully Windows didn't encrypt your hardrive.
I recommend installing Linux Mint onto a flash drive, then booting from a flash drive (You will have to set your BIOS's boot order to boot (turn on) from the usb before the hard disk). The easiest distro I've used is Linux Mint. Here's some info and downloads to get it on a flashdrive. The reason you want it on a usb is so that you can use your computer's optical drive to write some data DVDs (This way you'll have all your stuff somewhere once Windows is reinstalled):
Links:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/
http://www.linuxmint.com/index.php
http://www.wikihow.com/Change-Computer-BIOS-Settings
Note before I continue: Mint is essentially an easier to use version of Ubuntu. You can search for help on using Ubuntu and Mint to get help on using Mint.
Note: Once Linux Mint is started you can browse the internet with Firefox. For connecting to wireless, the icon is in the bottom right hand corner.
Okay, so now you've finally gotten your computer booting from the usb key. Don't touch anything until the desktop is fully loaded. If you do, it will either make your life more complicated or slow it down. Once the desktop is loaded click the Menu button (Bottom left hand corner). Then click computer. You have just opened Nautilus. If anything that I tell you to do doesn't work open the terminal for the Menu (Bottom left hand corner of the screen) and type "sudo nautilus" (without quotes, then hit enter. I have no idea what the password is if there is one, but you'll probably be able to ask someone who works on Linux Mint or Ubuntu. From there, you'll have Nautilus open (It's just a file manager, like Windows Explorer) as root. Keep opening another terminal window and typing the command to open as many windows as you need.
There's some way to burn a DVD with Nautilus, but don't worry about that. Simply insert a CD or DVD into your computer's optical drive and Linux Mint will ask you if you want to burn files to it, which you do. You could also copy the files to another USB or upload them to a backup service (Like ADrive: http://www.adrive.com/ ) with Firefox. For CD's/DVD's (DVD's can hold more, so they are better) drag what you want from your hard drive to the place you want, just like in Windows.
Now the "hard" part, finding your personal files:
Click Menu>Computer
Now you have to guess. One of them will be your hard drive. Whatever one it is has a folder called "Windows" when you double click on it.
Now you're looking at the top of you hardrive. Browse through these folders:
For Windows XP (Older and newer versions have a different name for the first thing):
Documents and Settings/<Username of the person's files you want to back up>
In here are the folders that typically have most of your stuff:
Documents (My Documents)
Desktop (The Desktop)
You get the idea, I hope.
When you find the files you want to be able to keep, drag them to where you want them to go (USB, CD/DVD) or use firefox to upload them to ADrive or some place else. Be aware that everything has a limited capacity: DVD's usually 4.7 GB, CD's about 0.7GB, USB at least 1GB, maybe even 2000GB+.
Once you have your personal files backed up, take your computer in to be certain that there's nothing wrong with you hardware. If you do the part I'm about to tell next, it won't affect much if your hard drive is failing, for example.
estimated working and learning time for the above "step": 6 to 15 hours
Step 2 (One Paragraph Long): http://shorttext.com/Tj5gIC
estimated working and learning time for the above step: 4 to 12 hours
I hope this helps. I'm sorry if it's a little unclear, I got tired of typing about halfway.
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