How to Change a File Extension in Windows XP

Windows Explorer

The first thing to do is open Windows Explorer (or My Computer) and view the file you wish to change. We will use the example of a file called myfile.rtf which we want to change to myfile.txt. It looks like this in Windows Explorer:

At this stage you might notice that your file does not appear to have an extension (in the above example it would simply be called myfile). This is probably because you have Windows set to hide extension names. Go to Tools > Folder Options, then click the View tab. Uncheck the box titled "Hide extensions for known file types" like so:

Click OK. Now you should be able to see the file extensions for all files. Right-click the file name and select Rename. Enter the new extension like so:

After entering the new extension, hit the Enter (return) key. Windows will give you a warning that the file may not work properly. This is quite safe — if the file does stop working you can always change the extension back (just make sure you remember what it was!).
If you get another message telling you that the file is "read-only" and asking if you want to turn read-only off, say yes.

Change or Reset Windows Password from a Ubuntu Live CD

If you can’t log in even after trying your twelve passwords, or you’ve inherited a computer complete with password-protected profiles, worry not – you don’t have to do a fresh install of Windows. We’ll show you how to change or reset your Windows password from a Ubuntu Live CD.
This method works for all of the NT-based version of Windows – anything from Windows 2000 and later, basically. And yes, that includes Windows 7.
Note: If you have files on your hard disk encrypted using built-in Windows encryption, they may not be available after changing the Windows password using this method. Exercise caution if you have important encrypted files.
You’ll need a Ubuntu 9.10 Live CD, or a bootable Ubuntu 9.10 Flash Drive. If you don’t have one, or have forgotten how to boot from the flash drive, check out our article on creating a bootable Ubuntu 9.10 flash drive.
The program that lets us manipulate Windows passwords is calledchntpw. The steps to install it are different in 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Ubuntu.

Installation: 32-bit
Open up Synaptic Package Manager by clicking on System at the top of the screen, expanding the Administration section, and clicking on Synaptic Package Manager.

chntpw is found in the universe repository. Repositories are a way for Ubuntu to group software together so that users are able to choose if they want to use only completely open source software maintained by Ubuntu developers, or branch out and use software with different licenses and maintainers.
To enable software from the universe repository, click on Settings > Repositories in the Synaptic window.

Add a checkmark beside the box labeled “Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)” and then click close.

 When you change the repositories you are selecting software from, you have to reload the list of available software. In the main Synaptic window, click on the Reload button.

The software lists will be downloaded.

Once downloaded, Synaptic must rebuild its search index. The label over the text field by the Search button will read “Rebuilding search index.” When it reads “Quick search,” type chntpw in the text field. The package will show up in the list.

Click on the checkbox near the chntpw name. Click on Mark for Installation.

chntpw won’t actually be installed until you apply the changes you’ve made, so click on the Apply button in the Synaptic window now.

You will be prompted to accept the changes. Click Apply.

The changes should be applied quickly. When they’re done, click Close.

chntpw is now installed! You can close Synaptic Package Manager. Skip to the section titled Using chntpw to reset your password.


Installation: 64-bit
The version of chntpw available in Ubuntu’s universe repository will not work properly on a 64-bit machine. Fortunately, a patched version exists in Debian’s Unstable branch, so let’s download it from there and install it manually.
Open Firefox. Whether it’s your preferred browser or not, it’s very readily accessible in the Ubuntu Live CD environment, so it will be the easiest to use. There’s a shortcut to Firefox in the top panel.

Navigate tohttp://packages.debian.org/sid/amd64/chntpw/download and download the latest version of chntpw for 64-bit machines.
Note: In most cases it would be best to add the Debian Unstable branch to a package manager, but since the Live CD environment will revert to its original state once you reboot, it’ll be faster to just download the .deb file.

 Save the .deb file to the default location.

You can close Firefox if desired. Open a terminal window by clicking on Applications at the top-left of the screen, expanding the Accessories folder, and clicking on Terminal.

In the terminal window, enter the following text, hitting enter after each line:

cd Downloads sudo dpkg –i chntpw*

chntpw will now be installed.
Using chntpw to reset your password
Before running chntpw, you will have to mount the hard drive that contains your Windows installation. In most cases, Ubuntu 9.10 makes this simple.
Click on Places at the top-left of the screen. If your Windows driveis easily identifiable – usually by its size – then left click on it.

If it is not obvious, then click on Computer and check out each hard drive until you find the correct one.

The correct hard drive will have the WINDOWS folder in it. When you find it, make a note of the drive’s label that appears in the menu bar of the file browser.

If you don’t already have one open, start a terminal window by going to Applications > Accessories > Terminal.

In the terminal window, enter the commands

cd /media
ls

pressing enter after each line. You should see one or more strings of text appear; one of those strings should correspond with the string that appeared in the title bar of the file browser earlier.
Change to that directory by entering the command

cd

Since the hard drive label will be very annoying to type in, you can use a shortcut by typing in the first few letters or numbers of the drive label (capitalization matters) and pressing the Tab key. It will automatically complete the rest of the string (if those first few letters or numbers are unique).

We want to switch to a certain Windows directory. Enter the command:

cd WINDOWS/system32/config/

Again, you can use tab-completion to speed up entering this command.

To change or reset the administrator password, enter:

sudo chntpw SAM

SAM is the file that contains your Windows registry. You will see some text appear, including a list of all of the users on your system.

 At the bottom of the terminal window, you should see a prompt that begins with “User Edit Menu:” and offers four choices. We recommend that you clear the password to blank (you can always set a new password in Windows once you log in). To do this, enter “1” and then “y” to confirm.

If you would like to change the password instead, enter “2”, then your desired password, and finally “y” to confirm. 

If you would like to reset or change the password of a user other than the administrator, enter:

sudo chntpw –u SAM

From here, you can follow the same steps as before: enter “1” to reset the password to blank, or “2” to change it to a value you provide.

And that’s it!

Conclusion
chntpw is a very useful utility provided for free by the open source community. It may make you think twice about how secure the Windows login system is, but knowing how to use chntpw can save your tail if your memory fails you two or eight times!

Basic Shortcut Keys

The followings are some basic PC shortcut keys that are supported in most IBM compatible computers. They are also supported in most application software.

Use at your own risk.

Shortcut Keys	Supported Window Versions	Description
Alt + e	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Pull down the top Edit menu.
Alt + f	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Pull down the top File menu
Ctrl + a	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Select all text.
Ctrl + c	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Copy selected item(s) (to clipboard).
Ctrl + f	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Find.
Ctrl + v	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Paste copied item(s) from clipboard
Ctrl + x	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Cut.
Ctrl + Ins	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Same as Ctrl + c
Ctrl + (left arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Move one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + (right arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Move one word to the right at a time.
Shift + Ins	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Same as Ctrl + v
Shift + Delelte (or Del)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Cut. Or permanently delete selected item(s) on Windows Explorer.
F1	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Help.
Home	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Jump to the beginning of the line or page.
Ctrl + Home	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Jump to the beginning of the document or page.
End	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Jump to the end of the line or page.
Ctrl + End	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	ump to the end of the document or page.
Shift + Home	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to beginning of the line or page.
Shift + End	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to end of the line or page.
Shift + (left arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the left, one character at a time.
Shift + (right arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the right, one character at a time.
Shift + (down arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the next line down.
Shift + (up arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the next line up.

How to Restart Windows without Restarting your PC

When you click on the SHUTDOWN button,
make sure to simultaneous press SHIFT Button.
If you hold the Shift key down while clicking on SHUTDOWN button,
you computer would restart without restarting the Computer.
This is equivalent to term "HOT REBOOT".

You can put shortcuts for shortcuts!!

You can put Keyboard shortcuts for desktop shortcuts.
To do this follow these steps :

1) Right click on the shortcut.
2) Go to properties.
3) Click once on the "Shortcut Key" bar.
4) Press any alphabet that you want to use as Shortcut Key.
5) Press OK Now to open that shortcut,
Press CTRL+ALT+"the alphabet".

Now you can open them fast!!!

Some shortcuts for Windows XP users!!
Press
'Windows key' + R and type the following (without qoutes) :

"winword" to open Word.
"powerpnt" to open Powerpoint.
"excel" to open Excel "mspaint" to open Paint.
"notepad" to open Notepad.
"wmplayer" to open Windows Media Player.
"wordpad" to open Wordpad.
"sndrec32" to open Sound Recorder.
"iexplore" to open Internet Explorer.
"firefox" to open Firefox.
"msconfig" to control startup.
"services.msc" to manage the Services.

The Medicine when Folder option vanishes.....

Method
1: Here's how you can get Folder Options back..
1: Open Start menu and from there select Run
2: type gpedit.msc and hit enter

3: now in the Group Policy window, from the left pane, select user configuration->Administrative Tempelates->windows components->Windows Explorer by highlighting it with the mouse cursor..

4: now in the right side you will see an option which says "Removes the Folder Options menu item from the Tools menu"

5: right click on this option and select properties

6: now in the properties under Setting tab, select Disabled and hit OK

........................................................................................................................................................................ Method 2 run
>>gpedit.msc
>>user configuration
>>administrative templates
>>system
disable "prevent access to registry editing tools"
....................................................................................................................................................................... Method 3 regeditOpen your registry and find the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]Create a new DWORD value,
or modify the existing value named "NoFolderOptions" and
set it to equal "1" to hide the options or "0" to show the options.
Log-off or restart Windows for the changes to take effect

StarWars Movie in Command Prompt

Just type in

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

in the 'Run' command and

watch the episode!

Use pc as an alarm

Now this is specially for the ones who are too lazy to get up even when the trust cellphone dies screeching its lungs out. Its pretty simple Creating the playlist create a playlist of your favourite songs in Winamp, WMP or any other player. Export the playlist as a M3U playlist. M3U is generally accepted by almost every player. Triggering the alarm point to start> programs >accessories > system tools >scheduled tasks Create a new task and choose program as windows media player or winamp (May work with others too but I haven't tried anything else) Choose "daily", Enter the time and choose "every day" at next screen. It would now ask for password (leave blank in case you don't have one) Right click on the newly created task and check the "run only if logged in" check box. In the properties. Append the path to the playlist you created in the "run" text box. It should now look like Code:
Code:
"D:\windows mediaplayer\wmplayer.exe"K:\Playlists\smoothies.m3uthe text inside quotes is my WMP's path. It may vary for you. The text after WMP's path is the one to the playlist. Click OK and you're done.

prevent users from writing to usb

The following registry setting will prevent writing to usb in windows xp.
Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l Add a new key and name it "StorageDevicePolicies".
In the window on the right then create a new DWORD value and label it WriteProtect, give it a value of "1" and users can no longer write to USB drives.
Giving a value of "0" will allow to write again

XP Animations <-

You can turn off window animation ("exploding" windows), displayed when you play around with minimizing/maximizing open windows. This makes navigating Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP a lot quicker, especially if you don't have a fast video controller, or if you got tired of seeing it all the time (like I did). smile.gif To do this,
run Regedit (or Regedt32) and go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Control Panel Desktop WindowMetrics or if you are the only user of your Windows computer
go to: HKEY_USERS .Default Control Panel Desktop WindowMetrics Right-click on an empty spot in the right hand pane.
Select New -> String [REG_SZ] Value. Name it MinAnimate. Click OK. Double-click on "MinAnimate" and type 0 to turn OFF window animation or 1 to turn it ON. Click OK. Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows. Done.

background movieeeeeee

This tweak will launch WindowsMediaPlayer with the 'AboveNormal' priority setting when opening a mediafile. Having trouble watching a movie when you also have a lot of background processes going on? Here's what to do: 1. Create a new textfile in the root of c:\, but instead of giving it the .txt extension you name it wmp_AboveNormal.bat 2. Right-click this file and choose 'Edit', you'll see it'll open notepad. Put this line in: start /AboveNormal C:\"Program Files"\"Windows Media Player"\wmplayer.exe %1 %* 3. Save (make sure you save it as .bat, not as .txt) and close. Now all you have to do is register your mediafiles to this batchfile. Here's how to do that: 4. In Windows Explorer choose Tools>Folder Options >File Types 5. Scroll down(press A) to the AVI filetype 6. Click 'Change' and point to c:\wmp_AboveNormal.bat . Click OK and Close. Now everytime you dubbleclick an .avi WMP will open with the 'AboveNormal' -priority setting ! (Repeat steps 4-6 to register all mediatypes you want to be opened this way.)

Remov shutdown button

To remove the shutdown button from the logon screen in WinXP and 2K, use regedit and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system change the value of the dword 'shutdownwithoutlogon' to '0'. exit regedit.

Creating 3D Window Effect

You can create a nice 3D effect for your windows
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Colors
Make sure the following setting are there:
ButtonHilight=128 128 128ButtonShadow=255 255 255

symbols for notepad

Alt+15= ¤ Alt+79= O Alt+129= ü Alt+179= ¦ Alt+229= Õ Alt+20= ¶ Alt+80= P Alt+130= é Alt+180= ¦ Alt+230= µ Alt+21= § Alt+81= Q Alt+131= â Alt+181= Á Alt+231= þ Alt+32=espaço Alt+82= R Alt+132= ä Alt+182= Â Alt+232= Þ Alt+33= ! Alt+83= S Alt+133= à Alt+183= À Alt+233= Ú Alt+34=" Alt+84= T Alt+134= å Alt+184= © Alt+234= Û Alt+35= # Alt+85= U Alt+135= ç Alt+185= ¦ Alt+235= Ù Alt+36= $ Alt+86= V Alt+136= ê Alt+186= ¦ Alt+236= ý Alt+37= % Alt+87= W Alt+137= ë Alt+187= + Alt+237= Ý Alt+38= & Alt+88= X Alt+138= è Alt+188= + Alt+238= ¯ Alt+39= ' Alt+89= Y Alt+139= ï Alt+189= ¢ Alt+239= ´ Alt+40= ( Alt+90= Z Alt+140= î Alt+190= ¥ Alt+240= ­ Alt+41= ) Alt+91= [ Alt+141= ì Alt+191= + Alt+241= ± Alt+42= * Alt+92= Alt+142= Ä Alt+192= + Alt+242= _ Alt+43= + Alt+93= ] Alt+143= Å Alt+193= - Alt+243= ¾ Alt+44= , Alt+94= ^ Alt+144= É Alt+194= - Alt+244= ¶ Alt+45= - Alt+95= _ Alt+145= æ Alt+195= + Alt+245= § Alt+46= . Alt+96= ` Alt+146= Æ Alt+196= - Alt+246= ÷ Alt+47= / Alt+97= a Alt+147= ô Alt+197= + Alt+247= ¸ Alt+48= 0 Alt+98= b Alt+148= ö Alt+198= ã Alt+248= ° Alt+49= 1 Alt+99= c Alt+149= ò Alt+199= Ã Alt+249= ¨ Alt+50= 2 Alt+100= d Alt+150= û Alt+200= + Alt+250= · Alt+51= 3 Alt+101= e Alt+151= ù Alt+201= + Alt+251= ¹ Alt+52= 4 Alt+102= f Alt+152= ÿ Alt+202= - Alt+252= ³ Alt+53= 5 Alt+103= g Alt+153= Ö Alt+203= - Alt+253= ² Alt+54= 6 Alt+104= h Alt+154= Ü Alt+204= ¦ Alt+254= _ Alt+55= 7 Alt+105= i Alt+155= ø Alt+205= - Alt+56= 8 Alt+106= j Alt+156= £ Alt+206= + Alt+57= 9 Alt+107= k Alt+157= Ø Alt+207= ¤ Alt+58= : Alt+108= l Alt+158= × Alt+208= ð Alt+59= ; Alt+109= m Alt+159= ƒ Alt+209= Ð Alt+60= < 110=" n" 160=" á" 210=" +" 61=" =" 111=" o" 161=" í" 211=" Ë" 62=" "> Alt+112= p Alt+162= ó Alt+212= È Alt+63= ? Alt+113= q Alt+163= ú Alt+213= i Alt+64= @ Alt+114= r Alt+164= ñ Alt+214= Í Alt+65= A Alt+115= s Alt+165= Ñ Alt+215= Î Alt+66= B Alt+116= t Alt+166= ª Alt+216= Ï Alt+67= C Alt+117= u Alt+167= º
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& #962 widout spacesσ & #963 widout spacesτ & #964 widout spacesψ
& #968 widout spacesω & #969 widout spacesθ & #977 widout spaces & #9829 ♥
alt+987=█ alt+6=♠

Make the folder INVISIBLE without hiding

Make your folders invicible...:)

1)Right Click on the desktop.Make a new folder
2)Now rename the folder with a space(U have to hold ALT key and type 0160).
3)Now u have a folder with out a name.
4)Right click on the folder>properties>customize. Click on change icon.
5)Scroll a bit, u should find some empty spaces, Click on any one of them.
click ok Thats it,

now u can store ur personal data without any 3rd party tools

FOLDER OPTION missing

Many of us sometimes find the folder options missing in windows explorer.

Here's the solution
Open Run and then type "gpedit.msc".
Now goto
User Configuration > Administrative templates > Windows Component > Windows Explorer.

Click on Windows Explorer you will find the 3rd option on the right side of screen
"Removes the Folder Option menu item from the Tools menu"

Just check it,

if it is not configured then change it to enable by double clicking on it and after applying again set it to not configured.


I hopes that you will find the option after restarting windows.

Password protected folders with & with out SOFTWARE

older lock with software

click here

http://www.esnips.com/doc/7f993235-e6dc-4ccc-b107-7ee46b69f793/pc-security(reg)


now just download it and make it full version by the side txt files key....
.................................................
folder lock without software
1
If you have a log in password for your account, this can be used to protect folders from other users. Your hard drive must be f

ormatted using NTFS (which it probably is unless you're dual booting with another operating system). Here's what to do...


Right-click the folder that you want to make private and choose "Properties"

(or Alt+Double-click). Go to the "Sharing" tab and check the "Make this folder private" box.

Click Apply . If you do not have a password on your account, a box will pop up asking if you want to assign a password. This must be done if you want to make the folder private, so click Yes . You will need to use your password to log on to your computer from then on.
Type in a password then confirm it. Click the "Create Password" button then close the Password window.
Click OK in the Properties dialog box.
Now anyone else logged on to your computer can't access that file without knowing your password.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2
if ur folder is zipped then directly u can open the file in it and see .... ADD A PASSWORD

and confirm ur password and it ll b safe

Hidden unknown fact in MICROSOFT WORD

Bill Gates still doesn't know why it happens:
Try out yourself...
Open Microsoft Word and type
=rand(200,99)
and then HIT ENTER....see what happens.
it won't hurt ur system!!

Way to get XP product CODE from CD

It really work
There is a way to get the xp product code from the cd
just explorer the cd then
open the folder I386
then open the file UNATTEND.TXT and
scroll down to the last line
and it goes to show what dumbasses microsoft are u have a product code.
Have fun u never need to search for a product code for xp again...!!!!