PCTips Box

1. Open the command prompt with administrative privileges by clicking the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator.

2. Type defrag c: -b (assuming you want to defragment files on your C: drive) and then press Enter on your keyboard. You could also type defrag –b to defrag boot and application files on all hard drives.

3. You won’t see any output in the command prompt during the defrag process.

4. When it’s finished defragmenting a new line will appear in the command prompt. (more…)

Windows Vista computers that come equipped with more than 4 GB of system memory have limited shut-down options. Essentially, the Hibernate option is no longer available on Vista machines that feature in excess of 4 GB of RAM. This scenario affects both the 32-bit and the 64-bit editions of Vista, but at the same time also Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Microsoft has confirmed that the issue is related to the large quantity of random access memory.

“This issue occurs because hibernation is disabled on computers that have more than 4 GB of RAM. Hibernation requires sufficient disk space to contain the contents of the computer’s memory. Performance is poor on a computer that has more than 4 GB of memory and that has support for hibernation. (more…)

How would you like to have two iPhones in one? NerveGas of iPhone Dev Team reveals that the team has been using dual-booting to jailbreak the iPhone for months. The team has decided to release the hack enabling iPhone users to boot multiple versions of the iPhone software/OS “from” the handset.

This should present iPhone users with quite an advantage once the 2.0 firmware is out, meaning they’ll be able to have a bootable jailbroken software version, as well as a non-jailbroken software version available at the same time on their device. Partition-making is involved: (more…)

If you forgot your Windows password you will not be able to login to windows.

So what to do in this case ? Is there a way to reset the Windows password ? Answer is yes, there is a way to reset or change the password.

Let’s see how we reset windows password.

There is a convenient way to do it with a Windows NT password recovery CD which can used to reset the password for any account in Windows NT ,Windows 2000 ,Windows XP , Windows Vista.

Follow the below steps to rest your windows password: (more…)

How much do you know about your PC? Yes, I know Windows tells you about the hardware and you can see what programs you have on the All Programs list, but that’s just scratching the surface. What, for instance, is the make and version of your PC’s BIOS, what peripherals are attached, how much of your memory is in use, when was your PC first switched on and how many times have you booted it up, what is the make, model number and size of your hard drive, and just how many programs are still on your PC that you’ve forgotten about? (more…)

Windows needs a pagefile on its boot partition that’s large enough for a debugging file called a memory dump. A dump file, however, contains highly technical information that’s useful only to system administrators and very advanced users.

A 2MB pagefile is enough for Windows to write out the minimum amount of information necessary to help an expert identify the problem. You can create a pagefile this small on your boot partition, and then add a larger pagefile on a different drive for code swapping to improve performance.

If you decide to make your boot-disk pagefile this small, you’ll need to follow these steps: (more…)

There are two ways to run several operating systems on your computer. You can run them with virtualization inside one another, or you can install them alongside each other and boot each individually, this is the easiest method for most users.

You don’t even have to create a dual boot system with Linux, in this case, Ubuntu. It can be installed by itself without Vista or any other operating installed first. Most users purchasing a new computer will find Vista installed so this is the route I will take for this tutorial.

Let’s take a look at installing Ubuntu alongside Vista on a computer, assuming Vista is installed first as this will cover most instances. (more…)

You may be able to free up some valuable space if you’re using two disk partitions, using two physical drives, or dual-booting between XP and Vista on the same machine.

I’ll show you several steps you can take to eliminate duplicate files and get more out of your disks.

Decide on your multiple-partition strategy

Years ago, it was common for users seeking more reliability to divide a hard drive into two or more partitions: portions of a disk, each with a different drive letter. Back then, recovering data from drive d: was easier than from drive c: if the primary partition (containing Windows) became corrupted.

That configuration is rare today, because backup programs and disaster-recovery services have improved. But there are still three situations in which you might find yourself handling two or more partitions or physical disks: (more…)

If you have been following my Boot Camp series in The Daily Telegraph you may have see the recent three-parter on making XP look and behave like Vista (Poor Man’s Vista, archive on Bootlog and the DT Website) Here’s another utility to add to the mix, called Vista Start Menu Emulator. It does what it says, giving XP a Vista-like Start menu, complete with transparent borders and a Live Search facility. It’s looks and works well, though my only complaint is that I can’t seem to shift it from the default bottom right hand corner of the screen, which looks a bit odd if, like me you prefer to have your Taskbar down the right side of the screen. (more…)

My tips explained how to set up a Vista machine to dual-boot between that OS and Windows XP.

But booting to XP on a dual-boot system has the negative side-effect of deleting any Vista restore points, in addition to all but its latest backup file, and a Registry workaround is required to prevent this.

XP dual-boot is not system-restore friendly

Ian Brown was the first to describe an unfortunate fact of dual-booting XP and Vista: (more…)