In Mozilla Firefox, if you press "Backspace" key it works like the Back button and goes back to the previous page you visited.

Although its a useful feature, some people find it quite annoying for following reasons:

• Sometimes people press Backspace key to remove typed characters from addressbar or from a text field but the field doesn't get activated and the browser goes back to the previous page in history.
• This action has been designed to put consistency in Firefox behavior and other Windows applications. In Linux, the "Backspace" key scrolls up in a page. So you might want to get the same behavior in Windows as well.

If you also find it irritating and want to disable or customize behavior of "Backspace" key in Mozilla Firefox, this tutorial will help you.

1. Open Firefox and type about:config in the addressbar and press Enter. It’ll confirm, click on I’ll be careful, I promise! button.

2. Now type backspace in the Filter box and look for following key:

browser.backspace_action

3. The entry "browser.backspace_action" would be set to 0. You can change its value to any of following based upon your requirements:

1 - To change its action to scroll up in a page. You can use "Shift+Backspace" to scroll down.
2 - To disable it.

4. That's it. If in future, you want to restore the action, simply change its value to 0 or right-click on the key and select "Reset".

There are 2 methods to uninstall SP1 Beta:

• Using Control Panel
• Using Command Prompt

Method 1: Using Control Panel

1. Open Control Panel and click on "Programs -> Uninstall a program" if you are using "Category" view.

If you are using "Icons" view, click on "Programs and Features" icon.

2. Now click on "View installed updates" link given in left sidebar.

3. Select the "Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB976932)" item in the given list and click on "Uninstall" button in the toolbar. You can also right-click on the update and select "Uninstall" option.

4. It'll ask for confirmation, click on "Yes" button.

That's it. It'll take some time and will uninstall SP1 Beta from your system.

Method 2: Using Command Prompt

1. Click on “Start button -> All Programs -> Accessories“. Right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run As Administrator“. If you are prompted to enter password, enter the password and continue. You can also open Command Prompt in Administrator mode by typing “cmd” in Startmenu Search box and press “Ctrl+Shift+Enter“.

2. Now provide following command and press Enter:

wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:976932

3. It'll ask for confirmation, click on "Yes" button.

That's it. It'll take some time and will uninstall SP1 Beta from your system.

If you use Microsoft's free and excellent anti-virus and anti-spyware product "Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)", you might already know that it updates its virus definition files using Windows Automatic Update.

If you have disabled Windows Automatic Update, MSE will not update the virus definitions. Then what to do in this case?

Don't worry! In this topic, we'll tell you how to update MSE virus definitions using a built-in MSE command? You don't need Automatic Update enabled to use this command.

=> Simply provide following command in Command Prompt or Startmenu Search box or Run dialog box:

"%programfiles%\Microsoft Security Essentials\MpCmdRun.exe" SignatureUpdate

It'll open a Command Prompt window which will show you a message "Signature update started...". It might take a few minutes depending upon the size of virus definition files.

You can also create a shortcut for the command and place it on Desktop or Quick launch toolbar or pin it to Windows 7 Taskbar. You can even schedule a task for the above mentioned command using Windows Task Scheduler.

Did you know Windows 7 contains a hidden secret "Customer Experience Improvement Program" which collects information about your computer hardware and how you use Windows without interrupting you?

The program also periodically downloads a file to collect information about problems you might have with Windows.

In this way, the program helps Microsoft improve Windows.

You would get surprised when you'll know that this program even counts how many times you have clicked on start menu, how many programs you have pinned to Taskbar, etc.

Actually when you install Windows, it asks you to participate in Customer Experience Improvement Program.

If you allowed this program to collect information or don't know whether the program is collecting information or not, here is the way to know or disallow it to collect information:

1. Open Start menu and type Customer Experience Improvement Program in search box.

2. It'll show it in search results. Click on it to launch its Settings.

3. Now select "No, I don't want to participate in the program." option and click on "Save Changes" button.

4. That's it. It'll stop collecting your information.

PS: We recommend you to allow this program to collect information as it doesn't harm you in any way and also helps Microsoft to improve Windows.

DISCLAIMER: This information is intended for experienced users. It is not intended for basic users, hackers, or computer thieves. Please do not try any of following procedures if you are not familiar with computer hardware. We'll not be responsible for the use or misuse of this information, including personal injury, loss of data or hardware damage. So use it at your own risk.

BIOS passwords are used to add some extra security to computers. You can either set a password to prevent access to BIOS settings or to prevent PC from booting.

But sometimes this extra security might become a pain when you forget the BIOS password or someone changes your system BIOS password intentionally.

But there is no need to worry. There are many known ways to reset / remove / bypass the password:

• By removing the CMOS battery
• By using the motherboard jumper
• By using MS DOS command
• By using software
• By using Backdoor BIOS password

Now I'll try to explain each method one by one:

A. By Removing the CMOS Battery:

Almost all motherboards use a small coin sized CMOS battery to store all BIOS settings along with the password. To reset the password, unplug the PC, open the cabinet and remove the CMOS battery for approx. 15-30 minutes and then put it back. It'll reset all BIOS settings as well as the password and you'll need to re-enter all settings.

If it fails, then try to remove the battery for at least one hour.

B. By Using the Motherboard Jumper:

Almost all motherboards contain a jumper that can clear all CMOS settings along with the BIOS password. The location of this jumper varies depending upon the motherboard brand. You should read your motherboard manual to check its location. If you don't have the manual then look for the jumpers near the CMOS battery. Most of the manufacturer label the jumper as CLR, CLEAR, CLEAR CMOS, etc.

When you find the jumper, look carefully. There will be 3 pins and the jumper will be joining the center pin to either left or right pin. What you need to do, is remove the jumper and join the center pin to the opposite pin. e.g. if the jumper joins center pin to left pin, then remove it and join center pin to right pin. Now wait for a few seconds and then again remove the jumper and join the center pin to left pin.

Make sure to turn the PC off before opening the cabinet and resetting the jumper.

C. By Using MS DOS Command:

This method works only if you have access to the system when its turned on because this method requires MS DOS. Open Command Prompt from Programs menu and provide following commands one bye one:

debug
o 70 2E
o 71 FF
quit

NOTE: The first character in the above commands is "O" and not the number 0.

After providing the above commands, restart your system and it should reset the CMOS Settings along with the BIOS password.

If you are curious to know how it works? then let me explain the above commands:

In this method we are using the Debug tool of MS DOS. The "O" character present at first in these commands, outputs the values to IO ports. The number 70 and 71 are port numbers which are used to access CMOS memory. By providing FF value we are telling CMOS that there is an invalid checksum and it resets the CMOS settings as well as BIOS password.

D. By Using Software:

There are a few software which can also reset CMOS settings or BIOS password or both within a few clicks. But as stated above you should have access to a system which is turned on and should have access to MS DOS or MS Windows:

KillCMOS

!BIOS

CmosPwd

E. By Using Backdoor BIOS Password:

Some BIOS manufacturer put a backdoor password in BIOS which always works irrespective of what password you have set in BIOS. Its a master password which is used for testing and troubleshooting purposes.

AMI BIOS Passwords:

A.M.I.
AAAMMMIII
AMI?SW
AMI_SW
AMI
BIOS
CONDO
HEWITT RAND
LKWPETER
MI
Oder
PASSWORD

AWARD BIOS Passwords:

01322222
589589
589721
595595
598598
ALFAROME
ALLy
aLLy
aLLY
ALLY
aPAf
_award
award
AWARD_SW
AWARD?SW
AWARD SW
AWARD PW
AWKWARD
awkward
BIOSTAR
CONCAT
CONDO
Condo
d8on
djonet
HLT
J64
J256
J262
j332
j322
KDD
Lkwpeter
LKWPETER
PINT
pint
SER
SKY_FOX
SYXZ
syxz
shift + syxz
TTPTHA
ZAAADA
ZBAAACA
ZJAAADC

PHOENIX BIOS Passwords:

BIOS
CMOS
phoenix
PHOENIX

Misc Common Passwords:

ALFAROME
BIOSTAR
biostar
biosstar
CMOS
cmos
LKWPETER
lkwpeter
setup
SETUP
Syxz
Wodj

Other Manufacturer BIOS Passwords:

Biostar - Biostar
Compaq - Compaq
Dell - Dell
Enox - xo11nE
Epox - central
Freetech - Posterie
IWill - iwill
Jetway - spooml
Packard Bell - bell9
QDI - QDI
Siemens - SKY_FOX
TMC - BIGO
Toshiba - Toshiba
VOBIS & IBM - merlin

NOTE: All these passwords are case-sensitive and are changed from time to time by manufacturers.

Disclaimer: Following information should be used only if its your system and you have forgotten account password. Don't use this information to access a system which is not yours without permission.

Many times we face this problem when we or our friends forget Windows XP password and can't log into Windows. So here we are posting a few methods / utilities which can be used to recover Windows password:

1st Method:

The first thing which you check if you forget login password. When we install Windows, it automatically creates an account "Administrator" and sets its password to blank. So if you have forget your user account password then try this:

Start system and when you see Windows Welcome screen / Login screen, press ++ keys twice and it'll show Classic Login box. Now type "Administrator" (without quotes) in Username and leave Password field blank. Now press Enter and you should be able to log in Windows.

Now you can reset your account password from "Control Panel -> User Accounts".

Same thing can be done using Safe Mode. In Safe Mode Windows will show this in-built Administrator account in Login screen.

2nd Method:

Windows XP and further versions also provide another method to recover forgotten password by using "Reset Disk". If you created a Password Reset Disk in past, you can use that disk to reset the password. To know more about it, please visit following links:

How to create and use a password reset disk for a computer in a domain in Windows XP

How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your Password Expires

3rd Method:

If the above mentioned tricks don't work, then try following trick which is actually a loophole in Windows XP Setup and a big security hole:

A. Boot using Windows XP Setup CD and follow the instruction like Accepting EULA, etc.

B. When it asks to repair your existing Windows installation, accept it and press "R" to run the repair.

C. Setup will start repairing your Windows and will start copying files, etc.

D. After a few minutes setup will restart your system and when it restarts don't press any key when it shows "Press any key to continue..." otherwise Setup will start from the beginning. Don't press any key and setup will resume where it left.

E. Now it'll start doing other tasks and will show a small progressbar with a few details in left side.

F. Look carefully at the details and when it shows "Installing devices", press +F10 keys in your keyboard.

G. It'll open a Command Prompt window. Now type nusrmgr.cpl and press .

H. It'll open the same "User Accounts" window which you see in Control Panel.

I. Now you can remove or reset any account password without any problem.

4th Method:

There are many 3rd party utilities which claim to recover forgotten Windows password:

Windows Geeks Lost Forgotten Password Service:

Windows Geeks have a program that works instantly to remove any lost or forgotten password. With this program you can get back in very quickly:

Windows Geeks Lost Forgotten Password Service

Emergency Boot CD:

EBCD is a bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults. It is able to create backup copies of normally working system and restore system to saved state. It contains the best system software ever created, properly compiled and configured for the maximum efficient use.

You may download image builder utility which creates image of bootable CD-ROM (.ISO file), plus basic set of system tools. When the image is ready, write it to CD-R or CD-RW, and then everytime you'll need convenient and powerful system tools they'll be just at hand.

It is easy to customize the disk for your needs. You can include to CD any program you like, or remake the structure of CD completely. All you need is to change a few lines in configuration XML files.

Download Link

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor:

This is a utility to reset the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your NT system. You do not need to know the old password to set a new one. It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppydisk or CD. It'll detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts. It is also an almost fully functional registry editor.

Download Link

Windows XP Login Recovery:

Login Recovery is a service to reveal user names and recover passwords for Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. As long as you have physical access to the computer, your passwords can be recovered.

Download Link

Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD): [Thanks to Rakesh for recommending]

Ultimate Boot CD runs independently of any operating system. It will boot from any Intel-compatible machine, regardless of whether DOS/Windows/Linux/BeOS is installed on the machine. However, you do need an operating system and a ISO-capable CD writer software to create the Ultimate Boot CD from the downloaded ISO image file.

Download Link

5th Method:

If all fails, then simply reinstall Windows and create new accounts. To recover lost data, you can use Data recovery tools available on net but the chances will be very low to get data back.

That's all we can suggest. If you have any other method / tool, feel free to post here.

When we install

a Beta or RC build of Windows Vista, 7 or Server 2008, or when we install a Beta or RC version of a Service Pack e.g. SP1, SP2, etc, a watermark is shown on Desktop which looks similar to following screenshot:

"Evaluation Copy", "For testing purpose only", "Test Mode", "Safe Mode" or similar text is shown in the watermark on Desktop.

It looks ugly when you use dark wallpapers and becomes irritating sometimes. If you also don't like this watermark and want to get rid of it, here are 2 great tools to remove this watermark:

• Universal Watermark Remover
• Remove Watermark

Universal Watermark Remover

"Universal Watermark Remover" is an excellent small and portable utility created by "Orbit30" which can remove the ugly watermark from Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008 Desktop. It works for both 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows.

Download Link (Rapidshare)

Download Link (Mediafire)

Just download it using the above link, run the EXE file and follow the instructions. You'll need to restart your system to take affect.

Remove Watermark

"Remove Watermark" is another awesome portable tool created by "deepxw" which can remove watermark from Windows Vista, 7 and Server 2008 Desktop. It works for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Even it works for all languages and service packs.

Download Link

Mirror

Download the ZIP file, extract it and run the correct EXE file for your Windows version. It'll ask for confirmation, press Y to confirm and patch the system file to remove watermark.

64-bit version users will also need to rebuild MUI cache. After patching file, run the tool again and press R to rebuild MUI cache.

Problem Symptom:

Consider the following scenario:

* You use the Windows Backup utility to perform a backup on a computer that is running Windows 7. The backed up files are saved on a hard disk drive.
* You use the Windows Backup utility again to perform a backup for a group of files that are larger than the first group of backed up files.

In this scenario, the backup process requires significantly more time than the backup process for the first group of backed up files.

For example, the backup process requires 2 hours for 100 gigabytes (GB) of files and 16 hours for 400 GB of files.

Solution:

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article.

Microsoft has released a hotfix to fix a weird hibernation issue found in Windows 7.

Problem Symptom:

Consider the following scenario:

* You have a computer that is running Windows 7.
* You configure the power button to be used for hibernation on the computer.
* You change the setting of the Password protection on wake up setting to the Require a password (recommended) option.
* The computer is put into hibernation.
* You press the power button to resume the computer from hibernation. You are prompted to enter your user account credentials.
* The computer is put into hibernation again while you try to log on to the computer.For example, the computer is put into hibernation because of low power or because the power button is pressed by mistake.
* You press the power button to resume the computer from hibernation again.

In this scenario, the computer screen dims after you log on to resume from hibernation.

Cause:

This issue occurs because two threads try to fade out the monitor at the same time.

Solution:

Download the required hotfix using following link:

If you installed SP1 (Service Pack 1) in Windows 7 and try to move a file or folder in Windows Explorer, you get "Item Not Found" error message:

Windows Shortcut Exploit, also known as CPLINK, is a zero-day vulnerability in all versions of Windows
that allows a Windows shortcut link, known as an .lnk file, to run a malicious DLL file. The dangerous shortcut links can also be embedded on a website or hidden within documents.

The exploit works when you open a device, network share or WebDav point carrying an infection—you don't need to click on anything for the exploit to work, even if you have AutoPlay and AutoRun disabled.

Currently, there is no patch from Microsoft to fix this exploit; however, a free Windows Shortcut Exploit Protection Tool from Sophos will block this exploit from running on your computer.

The Windows Shortcut Exploit affects all Microsoft-supported versions of Windows—anything newer than Windows XP
SP3—as well as older versions.

Download Free Protection Tool

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