Change your boot-up picture

Are you bored of the mundane start-up or shut-down screen provided by microsoft? Well here is a way to customize them.

There are three files which makeup the startup and shutdown screens, they are:

LOGO.SYS - The startup screen, usually located in your C:\ directory.

LOGOW.SYS - The 'Please wait...' screen, usually located in your c:\windows directory.

LOGOS.SYS - The 'It's now safe to turn off your computer.' screen, usually located in your c:\windows directory.

These files are standard 256 color Windows bitmap files with dimensions of 320(w) x 400(h). You can use basically any image editing program to change them (as long as it supports BMP files).

Warning: Before getting started make sure to take a backup copy of all three files (LOGO.SYS may or may not already exist).

1. Copy LOGOW.SYS and LOGOS.SYS to a temporary folder, and rename their extensions to .BMP

2. Using your favorite graphics editor, open the files and modify them to your liking.

3. Once your finished, save the files, change their extensions back to .SYS, and copy them back over the original files in the Windows directory (which you've already backed-up) and you're done.

Alternatively you can create three new BMP files for each screen, just make sure that the proportions of 320(w) x 400(h) are maintained. The file once finished should be 129,078 bytes.

How to lock folders without using any software

Here are the steps to lock (not actually lock but to change the pointer address) a folder in windows xp:

1. Assume I want to lock a folder named 'new' which I have created in c drive.
2. Go to the path (in this case its c:\) create a new notepad entry.
3. Then edit that entry by typing in it the following:
ren new new.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
4. Save it as lock.bat
5. Now if you run the .bat file your icon 'new' should have changed. Try clicking it now.
6. For creating a key, open an other notepad entry and write:
ren new.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} new
7. Save it as key.bat and run it.

Like it? Want more tips? Please comment.

Amazing Fact about Windows

Did you know you can never name a folder in windows with the name 'CON'. It has not been found out why and when Bill Gates was asked about this he was stumped.
Try it out!!

Well there are a few ways by which it can be done but it is very difficult to find them. :D
This problem is not only with 'CON', but also with NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3,COM1 to COM9 and LPT1 to LPT9.

Super Windows Administrator Hacks

Say you are in a place with a computer (Some people I know will have a very shrewd idea about the place I am talking about :D) where you do not have the access some folders, drives or some options like RUN, SEARCH etc and also you don’t know the password to access the admin account to open these.

First of all there would have been a reason for the administrator to block such options, but you like me either have a very special purpose for accessing it, or want to do it just for fun. Well, guess what? I am going to teach you some neat hacking tricks here to do some really cool stuff.

P.S The tricks I am about to teach you are very hard to find, also on the other hand always remember the system administrator is definitely smarter than you (its not so in my case ;P)

In general cases the above mentioned restrictions are generally controlled by the WINDOWS REGISTRY. But if the administrator is a smart one he would use the main server to do it. If the second case is true then the below mentioned tricks might not work. I will teach you network hacking in later sessions.

The admin uses a tool called the POLICY EDITOR or PLOEDIT to alter the changes in the windows registry. This software does not install with windows, but one has to install it from the windows disc. This policy editor imposes restrictions by modifying the user.dat file.

So if you want to bypass or terminate such restrictions what do you do? Edit the policy editor what else. To do this first launch the registry editor.

Now go to the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies

Search and find a key names ‘explorer’ under the above key. Now under this ‘explorer’ key we can create new DWORD values and change its value to 1 for restricting it. Similarly if you want to remove a restriction simply change the value to 0 or delete the DWORD.

Here are some examples of some DWORD values that can be created for restrictions:

NoRun: Disables RUN command

NoFind: Disables FIND command

NoDrives: Hides all drives

(There are plenty of more commands to restrict various other stuff, for more commands you are welcome to leave a comment about what you want.)

So you see how simple it is. But there is one glitch here. What if the administrator blocks the REGISTRY EDITOR? Are you in a fix? Don’t worry, cause the solutions here.

Go to the windows directory, delete either the user.dat file or the system.dat file and reboot. When windows logs in, it will show a warning or error about windows registry. Overlook the message and press CTRL+ALT+DEL to get out (Do not press OK)

There is much more to this hack, but I am going to tell you this much right now. If you really wish to know more, you are welcome to comment about you suggestions.

P.S If you liked this article and want me to post more of such cool stuff, please encourage me with your comments.

Some Untold Tips about Windows

Here are some really interesting tricks in windows which are not banal....

(All of these work in windows 98, me. For windows xp one has to do some minor changes. If not able to interpret, can always ask me for help.)

1. Quick shutdown: Generally you have to move your mouse to the start button, click on it and then click shutdown. Yet again windows asks you whether to shutdown, logoff or go to standby mode. Well here's a method by which you can shutdown your windows in a click of your mouse.

Create a new shortcut in the desktop, then in the command line of the shortcut type:
c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec
(NOTE: The path might differ according to the drive which has windows.)

Now all you have to do is to click this shortcut to shutdown windows.

There are a lot more stuff I would like to share and explain but right now am a bit occupied, so excuse me for late postings.

P.S I would be really glad if the people who are reading this take just few more minutes to comment on the same.
Cheers and thanks!!!

Use your USB device to LOCK your PC

Wanna know how to lock your computer just by removing the USB stick connected to it..??

This trick will boot lock your PC, which can't be started without the USB stick which contains the boot files. In short, you can use your USB stick as a key.

Caution: You will be playing with the boot files and the BIOS settings of your computer, I recommend you to do two things before attempting this trick.
1. Have a windows recovery disc.
2. Create a system restore point.

Here are the steps:

1. Unhide all the files which are hidden and protected by going into any folder->click tools->folder options->view->show all hidden files and also un-check the hide protected system files.

2. Go to the drive in which windows is installed. (Generally its c:\) Search for the files
boot.ini
ntdlr
NTDETECT.COM
then copy all these files onto your USB stick.

3. Now restart the computer, press 'del' or in come cases 'F8' to enter the BIOS setup. Now once in BIOS enable USB device as your first boot device. Save the changes and reboot the system.

4. Now if all is fine you will be able to log into windows. (If not, goto the BIOS again and change the first boot device to hard disc). Once you are into windows rename the boot.ini file to boot.bak

5. Remove the USB stick and restart the system. Your will get error messages saying invalid boot.ini or windows could not start.

6. Now try plugging in your USB disc and restart. Volla!!

P.S In case anyone has any difficulty or query please leave a comment with your mail id and i'll get back to you in a days time.

Pop Banner when Windows Starts

If you want to display any kind of message to the user before he enters windows desktop, here's what you have to do:

Goto start->run and type regedit

This will open the registry editior.
Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon

Create a new string value in the right pane called LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value you want to see. Create another string and name it LegalNoticeText. Edit the value to display what you want. (NOTE: In most cases these string values will already be there so you only have to edit the values)
Restart your computer.

BIOS Password Hack

A lotta of you guys out there will already be knowing how to reset a BIOS password if activated in a computer. But what I am about to teach you here is a new way to do it which very few people know. For those who don't know what BIOS is, here it is in short:
BIOS - Basic Input Output System whose settings are stored in your motherboard. The most general stuff you can find there is the system time, date, boot options etc. If you want to have more idea about BIOS goto: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS

Basically if a BIOS password is enabled one cannot do anything with the computer if the password is not known. There are a number of ways one can reset it.

1. If you open the cabinet of your PC you will find a small cmos battery which stores all the data even if the computer is turned off. (This is how your system time, date does not reset each time you restart your computer) If you take the battery out for about fifteen minutes and place it back in, all the setting stored previously will be reset. So most probably your BIOS password will reset. This works for most the AWARD BIOS.

2. The BIOS generally has a some preset passwords. Some of the most common BIOS passwords are:

lkwpeter
j262
AWARD_SW
AWARD_PW
Biostar
AMI
Award

P.S For more default BIOS passwords from any manufacturer, just leave a comment and the name of the manufacturer. I will get back to you in a couple of days' time.

3. This is one of the best ways to reset the BIOS, but the only flaw in this is that you should be able to access the DOS prompt. If you are able to, then type the following there:
DEBUG (hit enter)
-o 70 2e (hit enter)
-o 71 ff (hit enter)
-q (hit enter)
exit (hit enter)

Restart the computer.

Windows XP Tricks. Chapter 1

Here is some stuff in Windows XP which most people are not aware off. Initially I will be teaching you what is windows registry and how do you read and understand it.
The registry is the core of the operating system, i.e. if you know how to handle it you can control the whole computer system.

WARNING: I am assuming that you know how important windows registry is, cause if something wrong is done it might crash windows. Hence please create a backup of the files if you are a novice at this. For others I say PLAY ON.

Here’s how you open the windows registry editor.

1. Click on the start menu.
2. Go to run and type ‘regedit’ without the colons.
3. You will see a window open with the following options:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKEY_USERS
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Now you may not understand anything of the above attributes because Microsoft has made it unreadable. They give such weird names to shun people from editing the registry.
The registry is basically made up of two main files, user.dat and system.dat. DO NOT TOUCH THESE.

In this first tutorial I am going to teach you how to modify some banal processes present in your system, some of which you can use to optimize your computer and others you can use to annoy your friend or arch-rival by implementing the changes in their computer.

Automatically Close Programs at Shutdown

When you shut down Windows, if you have any programs running you'll get a message box warning you that a program is still running. You then have to close the program and tell XP again to shut down. It's a fairly pointless warning—better yet would be if XP automatically killed the programs without issuing the warning. That way, you wouldn't get error messages and wouldn't have to close each individual application before shutting down your computer.
To have XP automatically close programs at shutdown, run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Edit the AutoEndTasks key so that is has a value of 1. If the key doesn't exist, create it as a DWORD value and give it the value of 1. To disable it, either delete the key, or set the value to 0.


Disable XP Shutdown

There may be times when you want to make sure that XP can't be inadvertently shut down. You can use a Registry hack to disable the normal Shut Down. Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Create a new DWORD value named NoClose with a data value of 1. Exit the Registry and reboot in order for the change to take effect. You won't be able to shut down Windows in the normal manner from now on; you'll have to run Task Manager by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete or right-clicking on the Toolbar, choosing Task Manager, and then using the Task Manager's Shut Down menu to close Windows. If you want to reenable normal shutdowns, delete the NoClose value.


Change the Names of the Registered User and Company

When you install XP or when it comes factory-fresh on a PC, a username and company name are entered as the owner of the system. And that's the way it stays, like it or not. But a Registry hack will let you change both. Run the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion, and look for the values RegisteredOwner and RegisteredOrganization. Edit their value data to whatever username and company name you want.


Change the Amount of Time Before Programs Time Out

When an application hangs and no longer responds, XP displays a dialog box that prompts you to kill the application or wait a while longer. By default, the dialog box appears after the application hasn't responded for five seconds.
This can cause problems. For example, if a program is doing heavy-duty calculations in the background, it won't respond until the calculation is done, so the operating system will report that the application is hung, even though it isn't. You can use a Registry hack to increase or decrease the amount of time it takes before XP reports that the program has hung.
Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select the HungAppTimeout entry and edit it to input a new value, in milliseconds. The default is 5000. Exit the Registry. You may need to reboot for the new setting to take effect. Try increasing the number in increments of 1,000 until you find a number that works.


Disable the Disk Cleanup Warning

If your hard disk has what XP decides is too little space left on it, the operating system will pop up a warning and recommend that you run Disk Cleanup. But you may be like me and not want a virtual nanny nagging you to clean up your mess. You can turn off the warning with a Registry hack. Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Create a DWORD value called NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and give it a value of 1. Exit the Registry and reboot. You can also do this by using TweakUI.
Change the Default Location for Installing Programs
XP uses the C:\Program Files directory as the default base directory into which new programs are installed. However, you can change the default installation drive and/or directory by using a Registry hack. Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion. Look for the value named ProgramFilesDir. By default, the value will be C:\Program Files. Edit the value to any valid drive or folder; XP will use that new location as the default installation directory for new programs.


Allow Laptops to Enter Power-Saving State (Increase the USB Polling Interval)

Some laptops' processors may not be able to enter their power-saving state, even when they're idle, because USB polling fools the processor into thinking that the laptop is active. Your system polls your USB ports once every millisecond to see whether a device is present. So, even if a device isn't present, it continues that polling. The problem is that some laptop processors won't go into their power-saving state because the constant polling makes it think that the laptop is active.
With a Registry hack, you can increase the polling interval from the default of one millisecond, letting the processor enter its power-saving state. Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000}\0000. Create the new DWORD value IdleEnable and set the data value to a number between 2 and 5. This will set the polling interval, in milliseconds. If there are additional subkeys for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000} (such as 0001, 0002, etc.), repeat the procedure and create the IdleEnable DWORD in each of them. Exit the Registry. You may need to reboot for the new setting to go into effect. You also may need to try several different values until you find one that works.


Change the Size of Your Mouse and Keyboard Buffer

You sometimes may get an error message telling you that you have an overflow in your mouse buffer or keyboard buffer. When that happens, it means the buffer isn't large enough and you need to increase its size. To increase your mouse buffer, run the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Mouclass\Parameters, and find the MouseDataQueueSize subkey. The default setting is 100 (64 hex). Increase the decimal number to increase the size of the buffer; then exit the Registry and reboot. You may need to try several different settings until you find the right one.
To increase the keyboard buffer, look for the KeyboardDataQueueSize subkey in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Kbdclass\Parameters. The default setting is 100 (64 hex). Increase the number to increase the size of the buffer; then exit the Registry and reboot. Again, you may need to try several different settings until you find the right one

*If you have any kind of queries regarding windows XP they are welcome at premsantosh@gmail.com

P.S People who are interested in hacking softwares but are not able to find it online can mail me with your request and I'll provide you with it.

Chapter 2 Google Search made easy

Some useful google hacks or searching tips to make the search more efficient. Try em!!Operator Description Sample query

Legend of the table below:

S.No. "Command" what is does.

Example

1. site restricts results to sites within the

specified domain

site:google.com fox will find all sites containing the

word fox, located within the *.google.com domain

2. intitle restricts results to documents whose

title contains the specified phrase

intitle:fox fire will find all sites with the word fox in the

title and fire in the text

3. allintitle restricts results to documents

whose title contains all the specified

phrases

allintitle:fox fire will find all sites with the words fox

and fire in the title, so it's equivalent to intitle:fox

intitle:fire

4. inurl restricts results to sites whose URL

contains the specified phrase

inurl:fox fire will find all sites containing the word fire

in the text and fox in the URL

5. allinurl restricts results to sites whose URL

contains all the specified phrases

allinurl:fox fire will find all sites with the words fox

and fire in the URL, so it's equivalent to inurl:fox

inurl:fire

6. filetype, ext restricts results to documents of the

specified type

filetype:pdf fire will return PDFs containing the word

fire, while filetype:xls fox will return Excel spreadsheets

with the word fox

7. numrange restricts results to documents containing

a number from the specified

range

numrange:1-100 fire will return sites containing a number

from 1 to 100 and the word fire. The same result can be

achieved with 1..100 fire

8. link restricts results to sites containing

links to the specified location

link:www.google.com will return documents containing

one or more links to www.google.com

9. inanchor restricts results to sites containing

links with the specified phrase in

their descriptions

inanchor:fire will return documents with links whose

description contains the word fire (that's the actual link

text, not the URL indicated by the link)

10. allintext restricts results to documents containing

the specified phrase in the

text, but not in the title, link descriptions

or URLs

allintext:"fire fox" will return documents which contain

the phrase fire fox in their text only

11. + specifies that a phrase should occur

frequently in results

+fire will order results by the number of occurrences of

the word fire

12. - specifies that a phrase must not occur

in results

-fire will return documents that don't contain the word

fire

13. "" delimiters for entire search phrases

(not single words)

"fire fox" will return documents containing the phrase

fire fox

14. . wildcard for a single character fire.fox will return documents containing the phrases

fire fox, fireAfox, fire1fox, fire-fox etc.

15. * wildcard for a single word fire

* fox will return documents containing the phrases

fire the fox, fire in fox, fire or fox etc.

16. logical OR "fire fox"

firefox will return documents containing the

phrase fire fox or the word firefox