Lost Windows 8.1 Admin Password and No Disk

I believe most of Windows 8.1 users have known the new features about Windows 8.1.  Actually, there are no big changes on Windows accounts and password. So, besides the new general secure settings set on Windows 8.1, it is necessary to set powerful logon password for administrator. But sometimes we probably lose it and couldn't think of it suddenly.

At this moment, if no disk are available, such as system recovery disk, password reset disk or system repair disk, how to reset Windows 8.1 forgotten admin password? 

So in this passage, let’s talk about how to take Windows 8.1 PIN code, Microsoft account, installation CD and password recovery utility into use for Windows 8.1 admin password reset.

First, choose PIN code to login into Windows 8.1. 

It is probably the most direct and easiest way to login into Windows 8 when you don’t know account password, because it is displayed below password input box, we just need to click "Sign-in Options".

Click PIN code icon, a message will prompt you to type PIN code in password input box. PIN code is consist of four numbers, so it is easy for us to remember.

If you have typed a right one PIN code, press Enter and you could access Windows 8.1 successfully and do what you want, such as change Windows 8.1 lost admin password.

Second, make full use of Microsoft account. 

In Windows 8.1 computer, Microsoft account is the same as local account. On Windows logon screen, you can change logon account type and choose it just like select other local account to login computer. But it is required that Microsoft account has to be set for Windows logon previously.

With privileges of Microsoft account, change or reset Windows 8.1 password from another machine is allowed.

Third, take Windows Installation CD into Use.

When you have not prepared a password reset disk or system recovery or repair disk, installation CD is still can be taken into use.

1. Insert installation CD into your computer and boot computer from it. 

2. Select Repair Windows and Get into Command Prompt.
When your computer boots from the CD, you should click repair your computer option, then choose Command Prompt from various options.

3. Recover Windows 8.1 Password with Commands
3-1 Type: copy c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe c:\
3-2 Type: copy /y c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe
3-3 Exit installation CD, and reboot your PC.

4. Reset Windows 8.1 Admin Password
While Windows login screen appears, press the Shift key 5 times to bring up the command line interface. Now type net user your name your new password. For example, net user iSunshare 12345

It means that the password of account iSunshare will be set as 12345. Password reset has finished so far. But sethc.exe has been covered. Now use the command c:\sethc.exe file back to c:\windows\system32\sethc.exe to restore the original sethc.exe file.

Fourth, look for an effective password recovery tool. 

That's no doubt the the previous two ways are easy, but unfortunately not everyone has created PIN code, Microsoft account, not everyone could use installation CD for Windows 8.1 lost password reset. So if there is an effective and easy way to choose, many people would select it. Now let me talk about one powerful password recovery tool, Windows Password Genius.

Step 1: Install the password recovery tool on your available device like Windows computer, Mac, or Android phone and then create a password reset disk with it. Before you run tool to burn a reset disk, you have to prepare bootable USB drive and insert it into device. Below shows the interface of iSunshare Windows Password for Windows. For Mac and Android version, refer to Reset Windows password with Android phone and Reset Windows password with Mac.

Step 2: When password recovery disk is created successfully, plug it into Windows 8.1 computer. Set computer boot from USB.

After it completely starts from USB, Windows Password Genius program will run. On the program screen, make sure Windows system and choose administrator. And then click “Reset Password” to remove Windows 8.1 unknown administrator password.

Which way is available for you? Believe you could find an effective one after browsing the above introduction.

Related Articles:

• How to Reset Windows 8 Password without Disk
• Windows 8.1 Password Reset When Forgot it 
• How to Find Windows 8.1 Activation Key
• How to Reset Admin Password in Windows 8.1 Tablet
• How to Change Admin Account with Windows 8 Disk

10 New Features in Windows 8.1

This passage mainly talks about 10 new features in Windows8.1.

1. Start button is set back

Windows icon is added at the previous location where start button is located. Except it can come back to start screen, users also can right-click it to choose “Shut down” or “Restart”. In a word, the back of start button satisfies old habits of computer users.

Compared to Windows 7 or Windows XP, start button in Windows 8.1 is similar but not the same. It is more like the link center between traditional desktop and metro interface.

2. More Various Metro interfaces

Metro interface is almost the biggest feature of Windows 8.1 new features. I believe that most of computer users have had deep impression on Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 start screen.

• The size of the porcelain post regulation can be changed freely based on four different kinds of measures in Windows 8.1 Metro interface.
• Besides, there is another change on Windows 8.1 logon ways. Computer user can login in to traditional desktop not Metro interface. And you can change desktop background of Metro interface. So the background of Metro interface and traditional desktop could be set the same.

3.  Cherish All Programs Interface

Windows 8.1 makes new design for “all programs”. We can list application in according to our necessity. And we can find common application more conveniently, for example look for application based on name or frequency of use.

Also, Windows 8.1 add a new hand gesture function.  When we slide up start screen, we will enter “all programs” screen where we could see all the application programs.  If we slide it down, we will come back to start screen.

4. Change Information retrieval way and strengthen the global search capability

Windows 8.1 integrates with Bing service deeply, taking newest Bing application into use, which makes search interface completely different. Users can search something from application, webpages or Control Panel. When we use default search function in Windows 8.1, the search program will look for contents for your keywords from your local computer and Web Internet at the same time.

5. Support 3D hardware accelerated rendering and IE11 support WebGL

Maybe you couldn’t find the difference between IE10 and IE11 at first. But if you are more careful and use IE 11, you would find the options interface has been moved to the bottom of IE interface.

• IE11 won’t make constraints on label quantities. You can pause inactive page tags and it will be activated instantly when you click the page again. In addition, IE 11 provides faster browse and response speed.
• IE 11 supports WebGL, which combines JavaScript and OpenGL ES 2.0, providing accelerated rendering for HTML5 Canvas.

6. New Windows Store – More Perfect APP Store

The classification pattern of Windows store becomes more reasonable, and its function becomes more perfect.  For example, “Related App” makes finding other apps more quickly.

At the same time, Win 8 App could upgrade itself. When your computer is connected with Internet, Windows store will upgrade new apps automatically.

7. Integrate Cloud Services Deeply

A new file app is designed in File Manager to help computer users look for files stored in SkyDrive. This new app rolls File Manager and SkyDrive app into one. And you can use SkyDrive more conveniently.

8. New Designed Xbox Music

• New designed Xbox Music provides us new function, including “Play to” and Radio service based on Smart DJ.
•  In the Windows store and music library, there is something about the singer what user possesses and latest album, the most popular music and similar singer.
•  In addition, you can save your music in Skydrive by Skydrive cloud service. Also, the music in Xbox Music supports music files stored in SD card.

9. More powerful interaction and Optimize multitasking and gestures

Multitasking and gestures are very important parameters of Windows operational system. And there is improvement in these two aspects.

Computer users could open four split screen interface at most. And for general laptop, you could open two split screen interface. For example, when you want to compare contents in two webpages, you can open them in two split screen interface through IE. Split function makes it easily and conveniently.

10. Game Feature

With release of Windows 8.1, DirectX also upgrades to the newest version DirectX 11.2. New feature Tiled Resources is added into it, which makes topographic maps of the game more conveniently.

The 10 new features are the main features of Windows 8.1. Certainly, they are not the only new features of Windows 8.1.

Related Articles:

• Three Major Differences between Windows 8 and Windows 7
• How to Reset Admin Password in Windows 8.1 Tablet
• 10 General Secure Settings Options for Windows 8
• Lost Windows 8.1 Admin Password and No Disk
• How to Find Windows 8.1 Activation Key

How to Remove Hard Drive Password on Acer Laptop

A utility is provided in some laptops to lock a hard disk with a password. But these passwords are not the same as BIOS passwords sometimes. Maybe you can remove BIOS password just by moving battery from motherboard. However, the same way is not available for removing hard disk password because of these reasons:

• Hard disk password is stored in the hard disk firmware and moves with the hard disk. 
• If you add a new (unlocked) hard disk to a locked machine, it may lead to new hard disk to be locked. 
• Note that hard disk lock passwords cannot be removed by reformatting the disk, formatting disk or any other software procedure (since the disk will not allow and reads or writes to the disk, it cannot be reformatted.)

So how to remove hard drive password? Take Acer laptop as an example according to two different situations. 

There is one possibility that BIOS password and hard disk lock passwords are set the same by a user and we can recover the BIOS password directly from the laptop security chip (after it is removed from the system board.) However, it is possible that the BIOS password and hard disk lock passwords may be set different. In this case the BIOS password will not unlock the hard disk. You can test to confirm if your hard disk is locked by attempting to access it in another laptop.

At this time, you should only remove HDD password with some password cracker when you have forgotten HDD password. If you still remember hard disk password, or you remember bios password is the same as hard drive password, follows the below to remove it. 

1. Start your Acer laptop and hold on pressing F2
2. Few seconds later, you will enter BIOS Setup Utility
3. Press Page Up and Page Down key to choose Security option from menu
   You would see there are three password settings choices, Set Supervisor Password, Set User Password, Set HDD Password and Password on Boot.

   4.  Choose Set HDD Password, and a dialog window pops up.

   5.  Enter current password, and keep “Enter New Password” and “Confirm New Password” blank at the same time. 

   6.  Click F10 to save these changes.

  7.  Reboot Acer laptop again, you will find you can enter computer and access hard disk freely.

Related Articles:

• ResetHP Elitebook BIOS and Administrator Password
• Reset Windows Forgotten Password on Acer Laptop
• Remove Administrator Password with HBCD in Windows 7 Starter
• How to Remove Remindful CMOS Password on Laptop 

10 General Secure Settings Options for Windows 8

Even though there are so many advanced secure settings set default in Windows 8 computer, if we want to protect it better, it’s necessary to do basic and general settings good first for Windows 8. Now the following lists 10 secure setting options we could do.

1. Prevent malicious Ping attack

Navigate to Control Panel – System and Safety – Administrative Tools – Windows Firewall with Advanced Security – Import Policy. Choose Custom – All Programs option. Set protocol type parameter of this policy as “ICMPv4”. And set all local ports and remote port parameter as “All the ports”. Later, set this policy matching any IP address. At last, select “prevent link” option.

2. Type “regedit” in start search box to enter regedit list.

Choose HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and find SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\FirewallRules. Select  Authority. Add account “Everyone”, and change “full control” permission to “rejected”.

3. Type “gpedit.msc” to run Local Group Policy Editor. Choose Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – Windows Components – Internet Explorer – Security Features – Restrict File Download. Find Internet Explorer Processes in “Restrict File Download” option. Select “Enabled” and OK.

4. In Local Group Policy Editor, choose Computer Configuration – Windows Settings – Security Settings – Local Policies – User Right Assignment. Look for “Access this computer from network” and delete all the accounts list there.

5. The same in Local Group Policy Editor, choose Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – Network – Network Connections – Windows Firewall – Standard Profile. Find the option “Windows Firewall: Protect all network connections” and make it “Enabled”.

6. In Local Group Policy Editor, select Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – Windows Components – Windows Logon Options. Choose “Display information about previous logons during user logon” and make it “Enabled”.

7. Enter user account management interface by “control user passwords2”. Click “Requires the user to press Ctrl + Alt + Delete” option and let it work.

8. Remote Setup. The remote desktop only allows computer with network level authority to be connected.

9. Run local group policy editor, choose User Configuration – Administrative Templates – Network – Networks. Select “Ability to delete all user remote access connections”.  Make it work for computer.

10. Type “gpedit.msc” in Start box, run Local Group Policy Editor.

Turn to Computer Configuration – Windows Settings – Security Settings – Local Policies – Security Options. Find “User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode” and make it “Disabled”.

Related Articles:

• Windows 8 Security Knowledge – What you should know
• Configure Windows 7 Security Settings and Deployment
• 10 New Features in Windows 8.1
• Three Major Differences between Windows 8 and Windows 7 – Security/Design/Version

Configure Windows 7 Security Settings and Deployment

There are three default secure features provided in Windows 7. Now let's see what they are and how to configure and some tips we have to pay attention to deployment.

Windows 7 comes with three security features enabled by default:

• Windows Firewall
• Windows Defender
• User Account Control

One: Windows Firewall

The most important security feature you need to have is a software firewall running on your computer. A firewall is a security feature that blocks unauthorized attempts to send data to your computer. Windows Firewall is turned on by default, but you should check this, just to be safe.

1. Click Start.
2. Type 'firewall' and then click Windows Firewall in the search results. The Windows Firewall window appears.
3. Check the Windows Firewall State value. If it says "On", you're fine; otherwise, continue to step 4.
4. Click Turn Windows Firewall On or Off. The Customize Settings window appears.
5. In the Home or Work (Private) Network Location Settings section, activate the Turn On Windows Firewall option.
6. In the Public Network Location Settings section, activate the Turn On Windows Firewall option.
7. Click OK.

Two: Windows Defender

The worst malware offender is spyware. Spyware is any program that surreptitiously monitors a user's computer activities -- particularly the typing of passwords, PINs, and credit card numbers -- or harvests sensitive data on the user's computer, and then sends that information to an individual or a company via the user's Internet connection without the user's consent.

Windows Defender protects your computer from spyware in two ways:

1. It scans your system for evidence of installed spyware programs (and removes or disables those programs, if necessary).
2. It monitors your system in real time to watch for activities that indicate the presence of spyware.

If the protection feature of Windows Defender is turned off, you will see the Action Center message shown below. Click that message to launch Windows Defender and turn on protection. Otherwise, click Start, type 'defender', and then press Enter.

In the Windows Defender Status area, select the following values:

• Scan Schedule: If you see "Do Not Auto Scan," it means that Windows Defender isn't set up to scan your system for spyware automatically.

• Real-Time Protection: If you see "Off" here, it means that Windows Defender is actively guarding against spyware activity.

Follow these steps to ensure that Windows Defender is set up for maximum protection:

1. Click Tools.
2. Click Options.
3. Click Automatic Scanning.
4. Enable the Automatically Scan My Computer checkbox.
5. Click Real-Time Protection.
6. Enable the Use Real-Time Protection checkbox.
7. Click OK.

 

Windows Defender supports three different spyware scan types:

1. Quick Scan: This scan checks those areas of your system where it is likely to find evidence of spyware. This scan usually takes just a couple of minutes. This scan is the default, and you can initiate one at any time by clicking the Scan link.
2. Full Scan: This scan checks for evidence of spyware in system memory, all running processes, and the system drive (usually drive C:), and it performs a deep scan on all folders. This scan might take 30 minutes or more, depending on your system. To run this scan, select Scan > Full Scan.
3. Custom Scan: This scan checks just the drives and folders that you select. The length of the scan depends on the number of locations you select and the number of objects in those locations. To run this scan, go to Scan > Custom Scan, which displays the Select Scan Options page. Click Select, select the checkboxes for the drives you want scanned, and then click OK. Click Scan Now to start the scan.

By default, Windows Defender is set up to perform a quick scan of your system every morning at 2:00 a.m. To change this, select Tools > Options > Automatic Scanning, and then use the controls to specify the scan frequency time and type.

The rest of the Options page offers options for customizing Windows Defender, which are detailed below:

1. Default Actions: Sets the action that Windows Defender should take if it finds potential spyware in the Severe, High, Medium, and Low categories: Recommended Action Based on Definitions, Ignore, Quarantine (disables the threat without removing it), Remove, or Allow.
2. Real-Time Protection: Besides toggling real-time protection on and off, you can also toggle security agents on and off. Security agents monitor Windows components that are frequent targets of spyware activity.
   Note: Windows Defender will warn you that a program might be spyware and ask whether you want to allow the program to operate normally or to block it. If you accidentally allow an unsafe program, click Tools > Allowed Items, then select the program in the Allowed Items list, and then click Remove from List. Similarly, if you accidentally blocked a safe program, click Tools > Quarantined Items, select the program in the Quarantined Items list, and then click Remove.
3. Excluded Files and Folders: This section allows you to specify files or folders that you don't want Windows Defender to scan.
4. Excluded File Type: This section allows you to specify file extensions that you don't want Windows Defender to scan.
5. Advanced: These options allow you to enable scanning inside archive files, email messages, and removable drives.
6. Administrator: This section has a checkbox that toggles Windows Defender on and off, and another that, when activated, allows you to see Windows Defenders items (such as allowed programs) for all user accounts on the computer.

Three: User Account Control

To enable User Account Control:

1. Select Start, type 'user', and then click Change User Account Control Settings in the search results. The User Account Control Settings window appears.
2. Make sure the slider is set to anything other than Never Notify at the bottom.
3. Click OK.
4. Restart your computer to put the new setting into effect.

 Refer to: How To Managing Security Settings in Windows 7

The above are Windows 7 default security features. And what others you should pay attention to on security deployment?

Similar to Windows Vista/XP, security deployment in Windows 7 should refer to Windows secure process. This general way will guarantee Windows security more. 

1. Set a Windows 7 logon password for restricting someone without permission to access computer.

2. System Port

If there are some ports for Windows system, hackers would control our computer through these ports, such as 3899 port. So we should know about open port before we close them. Type "netstat-an", you could see open port 135 and 139 etc. We should prohibit them by closing them directly or monitoring Windows firewall.

3. User Accounts

Most of the hackers’ invasion becomes so easy because they get root privileges of our computer. Therefore, security of user accounts becomes so important for us. As we all know, administrator has all privileges, controlling everything in computer. So it’s necessary to give an unnoticed name for administrator instead of Admin.

Besides, suspend guest account in user account manage, not allowing it to login Windows anytime.  And certainly this way applies to computer user oneself. If we meet more user log in or limited user login, we had better set a general password for them, to block the invasion of external network.

4. Share Resource

Type "netshare" in CMD to look for shared resource. There are IPC passageway, document and printer for sharing. Of course, Windows system takes hard disk for sharing default too. Forbidden methods are provided here:

netsharec$/delete（delete sharing C: disk, other disks are the same）

netshareipc$/delete（delete sharing IPC）

With the secure settings above for Windows 7, we could say we have made full preparation for Windows 7 security.  Also, I hope this passage help you protect your Windows 7 computer better.  

Related Articles:
10 General Secure Settings Options for Windows 8
Three Major Differences between Windows 8 and Windows 7 – Security/Design/Version