5 Useful PC Tips You Are Unaware Of

 1. Reset your forgotten or lost BIOS password:

Here's a DOS tip for Windows OS, that will reset (delete) your motherboard's BIOS password (your CMOS password) with no need to open up the computer to remove the battery or disorder with jumpers.

It can come handy when ever lose and forget your BIOS password or if you are working on used computers where the previous owner had BIOS passwords set. It's important annotation here that the password is only the one that stops a user from entering the BIOS setup at boot up, not the one that stops you from going past the process of boot.

Usually, at boot up process, you press a keyboard key to access your BIOS that allows you to view it or make changes. But there is no way to enter setup, it has a password set. However a password can provide a basic and very effective level of PC security, losing it can be a real annoyance if you don't know how to answer the problem.

The MS-DOS command which will make this access possible is:

• DEBUG command (debug itself is a utility—debug.exe. It is located in your Windows Command folder).

It can cause serious exploitation with your computer if you do not know how to use it effectively.This mess can end up not being able to even boot the computer! Debug is used to labour with binary and executable files and allows adjusting the contents of a file or CPU registery down to the binary and byte level.

To begin debug mode:

Type debug at a MS-DOS prompt or you can state a file, i.e., DEBUG FILE.EXE. There is a difference in output among the two methods. When you type DEBUG only, debug responds with a hyphen (-) prompt waiting for enter command. The second way, with a file stated,loads the file into memory and when you type all the commands on the line, it use to start debug.

All debug commands can be terminated at any time by pressing CTRL/C.

Accessing BIOS with DEBUG:

The basic methodology is to fool the BIOS into discerning there is a checksum error, in such case it rearranges itself, including the password. This is done by overturning the CMOS. For this to take effect it is essential to know how to access the BIOS and where the checksum value of the CMOS is situated to change it. Access to the BIOS portion is through CMOS.

Here's what to do if you ever need to reset the password and have no other technique, and you don't want to expose up your computer to remove the battery or jumpers:

• Restart your computer in MS-DOS mode.
• In the C:\> or C:\WINDOWS> prompt, type DEBUG and press Enter.
• A hyphen (-) prompt will appear waiting enter commands.
• Enter the subsequent commands, pressing Enter after each one. Remember: the o is the
• letter o and stands for OUTPUT:

1.  70 2e
2. 71 ff
3.  q

• After the q command (which stands for QUIT), enter Exit.

Then enter your BIOS at boot up. The password prompt should not be there now and you should have full access to it. Though, you are now at the default BIOS settings and you may change them accordingly to your inclination. You might also have your drives auto-detected again.

 2. Remotely shutdown your system:

Windows OS have a lot of fun functions. One of the most valuable ones is to remotely reboot your PC. There are 2 methods to do this:

You need to have admin access to the PC to complete these actions. If this is OK, here’s the first way to do:

• Right click on - My computer, choose manage.
• Highlight the Computer Management, then click on - Action, choose - connect to another computer.
• In the display window, that opens, fill in the machine name of the PC you want to connect to and click - ok.
• After connection is done, right click on Computer Management (Remote machine name) and choose - properties.
• Go to the - Advanced tab, and then click the Settings button under Start up and recovery.Click on the Shutdown button.
• Under action choose what you wish to do - you can log off current user, shut down, restart,or power down, can also force all applications to close, close hung applications, or wait for all applications to close by themselves).

For the second method, Open up a command prompt and enter in the following:

• %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r -m \\Machinename. The command prompt has more buttons and options. I highly suggest using shutdown.exe /? to see all the possibilities.

 3. Increase your Dial-up Modem performance:

In a normal dial-up connection, you are connected at a speed like 48.3KBps, which stays there.Today's modems routinely fall back to lower speeds if the line noise is too high to maintain a faster connection, and sometimes they fall back too soon or too far.

Here's how to improve the dial-up performance:

• Click Start the button.
• Select Settings.
• Click Control Panel.
• Double-click on the Modems icon.
• Select your modem.
• Click the Properties button.
• Click the Connections tab.
• Click the Advanced button.
• In the "Extra settings" field, type S36=7
• Click OK to save your settings.

This will power your modem to always try to stay connected at high speeds.

 4. Use Hotkeys to Switch between Programs:

If you regularly use a precise set of programs, you can establish hotkeys that will power or directly switch amid them instead of steering with Alt-Tab:

• Find the desktop or Start menu shortcut that starts a program and select Properties.
• On the Shortcut tab, click in the Shortcut key box, and press the key grouping you wish to use.
• Only choose key combinations that are not needed by any of your existing programs; for example, you can use:
• Alt-Shift-1, Alt-Shift-2 and so on..

 5. Stop A recurring Restart Process:

Sometimes we see our system continually restarting time and again. It gives a warning for restart on your windows screen. You can always stop these warnings and unexpected shutdowns by following these simple methods:

• Go to Start menu
• Click on RUN
• Enter the following command without hash-codes: "shutdown -a".
• It is done, and your system will never restart automatically again.

I hope if you try these simple tactics, you will get to see a big change in your PC functionality at home or at other places. Stay connected for more tips and tactics.

SEE ALSO:15 Top Must Do’s to Keep Your PC Up and Working