How do you Find your computer serial number?

There should be a manufacturer label on back or side of your computer (or bottom in case of a laptop), this should have the serial number information which helps the manufacturer track information about its production and sale. Typically it will have "S/N:" before the start of serial number. It is different from the operating system license number or product key which is on computers with Microsoft Windows.

Department of posts to distribute new pension system

The Department of Posts, Government of India, has been enlisted as a Point of Presence (PoP) for distribution of the New Pension System (NPS) by Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA). The Department of Posts (DOP) would, to start with, make the NPS available at over 800 of its branches all over the country, and expand the distribution network to more branches in a phased manner in its endeavour to make NPS available to all citizens in all parts of the country. Both PFRDA and the Department of Posts see significant potential and synergy in this partnership for the development of the NPS and believe that it will significantly further and promote the Government’s initiative to provide old age income security to all citizens of India.
NPS is currently being distributed by 21 entities through nearly 800 branches spread all over the country. PFRDA is working with these institutions to bring all their branches under NPS in a time-bound manner. NPS will now be sold through over 1600 outlets of DOP and other entities.
PFRDA is also considering proposals from other entities seeking authorization to act as a PoP. PFRDA has accorded over-riding priority to expansion of NPS distribution network in its effort to make NPS available within the easy reach of all citizens.

How to Break a BIOS Password ?

Break BIOS Password for Desktop :
If it's a desktop PC, erasing the cmos memory will usually clear it.
Steps:
1. Power off the computer and make sure that it is unplugged.
2. Open up your computer case. You need physical access to the motherboard to complete this procedure.
3. Find a circular, (mostly) silver metallic object on the motherboard. This is the CMOS battery.
4. CAREFULLY remove the CMOS battery and leave it out for about 120- 180 seconds. This will flush the CMOS memory which stores the BIOS password and all other configuration. (See Warnings)
5. Set the battery back into place and power on the computer.
6. The computer should then warn you that the CMOS configuration could not be found. You can either reconfigure it yourself or restore defaults. Restoring the default configuration should be fine.
7. You will notice that the BIOS password has been cleared and you can boot without it. You may reset the BIOS password to something else by going into the BIOS configuration and setting a new User Password.
Alternate Methos: (More Dificult)
Remove a jumper: There's a jumper on your motherboard that you'll need to identify and remove. Most motherboards make your job easier by actually labeling the correct jumper as "BIOS config" or something similar. (it looks like a small plastic thingy on 2 pins with 1 pin beside it, within a 1" of the battery). If you're having trouble looking for it, look in the motherboard manual.After you have found it, carefuly pull straight up on it, and place it on the 2-3 pins(it was on the 1-2 pins). With the battery removed and the jumper moved, turn the computer on, and check to see if you can get into the bios. If you are able to, turn the computer off, put the jumper back on pins 1-2, and put the battery back in. Lastly put the case together and you are done.
Note: Don't forget to configure the BIOS (if you know how) after this process. If you you don't know how, just hold the "delete" button when starting your PC and when the blue screen appears, find the load safe defaults settings and press:
* ENTER button
* Y button
* F10 button
Break BIOS Password for Laptop :
Remember that laptops can be trickier, especially if it's a newer model. If it has a security chip on the motherboard forget about it. You either have to physically remove the chip or contact the mfg for the "master" password. If you can boot up off of a cd or floppy try any of these methods:
1. Create a Win98SE bootable media "or anything that lets you boot into MS-DOS" and boot off of it.
2. When the A:\> prompt appears type debug and press enter.
3. You will then only see a "-".
4. Type o 70 2E "include the spaces" and press Enter.
5. Type o 71 ff "include the spaces" and press Enter.
6. Type q and press Enter.
7. Here are a list of common mfg backdoor passwords
* AWARD BIOS
AWARD SW, AWARD_SW, Award SW, AWARD PW, _award, awkward, J64, j256, j262, j332, j322, 01322222, 589589, 589721, 595595, 598598, HLT, SER, SKY_FOX, aLLy, aLLY, Condo, CONCAT, TTPTHA, aPAf, HLT, KDD, ZBAAACA, ZAAADA, ZJAAADC,
* AMI BIOS
AMI, A.M.I., AMI SW, AMI_SW, BIOS, PASSWORD, HEWITT RAND, Oder

Difference between WindowsXP and WindowsVista

The visual differences between XP and Vista are large in some areas, and small in others.
As for the technical part of it, it is the same thing; large differences in some areas, and small in others.
Overall, XP is more reliable, more user friendly, and has been around for a while so it has a large user base that can answer most questions about Windows. XP is also more compatible with printers, copiers, etc. XP also does not have User Account Control (UAC) which is a pain in the butt for Vista users. UAC asks you a question every time you do something, literally. For example, if you move something in the Start Menu, UAC will come up in a dialog box which takes you out of you work environment and says "Do you want to move this over there?" Basically, if you do something, Vista will ask you if you want to do it.
Vista on the other hand, has Direct X 10, which allows you to have more sophisticated graphics in games. Vista's desktop is graphically enhanced with 3D technology, which is basically the largest advantage that Vista has over XP. Vista has some minor advantages like faster loading of the Start Menu and quicker booting and shutdown.
If you must choose between the two, XP is the one to go with, for now. It is generally better, in all areas. If you want Vista for the looks, you should know better. Just like you should not judge a book by its cover
Windows XP was released in 2001. Windows Vista was released in 2007. Vista is new, and therefore is not as stable at this point. Windows XP has less features, but with the upcoming release of SP3, it will be very stable and secure.
Many people are not upgrading to Vista because of the performance impact of the new UI and the instability of it thus far. Wait until SP1 is released later this year if you are considering purchasing it.
As an authorized Microsoft Beta Tester for both products, I can honestly say that the difference is like putting lipstick on a pig. However I think the question you were really asking is should you buy Vista now or stick with XP. The answer goes as follows:
Wait for Vista Service PAC 109 to arrive before purchasing the original. Of course I'm being silly, but a thorough review of the history of the Microsoft OS products will prove my assertion to be true. Buy a US Savings Bond instead and wait it out.
Windows vista has lots of new stuff like aero view. It also has a new look. While Vista looks good it has very high system requirements and many of the older systems find it hard to deal with the high demand Vista requires of them, thus while it gives you a better look and infinitely more driver and options it does take a high performance system to get the best out of Vista. The biggest difference between Vista, XP and Linux is Vista's access and security, offering you a lot more options in securing your data and computer from other users. Visually Vista is also more user friendly displaying more information on the screen than ever before. Many users can access a single document from various system at the same time.

Speed Up a Very Slow Computer Shutdown

Tips to speed up very slow computer shutdown
Tip1: Cut down of the programs and processes running in the background.
When you start your computer many unnecessary processes are loaded. You can eliminate this by managing your msconfig.
Here is how:
1. Open your Start menu.
2. Click Run
3. In the command screen type "msconfig.exe"
4. In the system configuration utility,click either service or startup tab.
5. Uncheck all programs that your are no longer want to run in the background.
6. Click OK
Tip 2: Clean your Registry
Usually slow computer shutdown often occurs due to a corrupted registry. You should perform a Scan Of Your Registry. If you receive more than 30 errors, this is the reason why you have slowdown.
Tip 3: Defrag your Computer
The faster your computer can find files the quicker it can shutdown. A very slow computer shutdown can be the result of your hard drive trying to search for disorganized and fragmented files that it needs for shutdown . Organize your hard drive by performing a defragmentation.
Here is how:
1. Open the Start Menu
2. Click on My Computer
3. Right Click your C: drive or your hard drive image.
4. Scroll down to the Properties and Click
5. In the Properties Menus, Open the Tools menu.
6. Choose Defragment Now.
7. In the Disk Deframenter menu. Click on Defragment
Tip 4: Alter your Paging File Settings
The paging file (Pagefile.sys) is a hidden file on your computer's hard disk that Windows XP uses as if it were random access memory (RAM). Therefore this file can be huge. On shutdown it must be cleared. This can cause very slow computer shutdown. We can avoid this by instructing our computer to not close this file during shutdown.Warning this a a dangerous tip because you to edit your manually registry. This can cause serious damage. A registry cleaner may be able to perform this function for you
Here is how:
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type regedit.exe
4. Find the folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory
5. At this point you will see a list of files, Double click on Clear Page File At Shutdown
6. Change the value of the paging file to "0"
Tip 5: Check Your Device Drivers
When your computer shutdown, the operating system must disengage from all your hardware devices. This action allows the devices to power off. If the device has error or cannot be find the device, Windows will have a very slow shutdown or even hang forever. Updating the driver or troubleshooting it may eliminate this problem.Check your device drivers for any errors which are indicated by an yellow exclamation mark or an X. Following the below instructions to evaluate the driver::
1.Click “Start”
2.Click “Control Panel”
3.Click “System”
4.In the System menu, click the “hardware” tab
5.Click Device Manager to bring up a full list of installed
hardware drivers.
6.Right click and choose “Properties” to evaluate the status and troubleshoot the hardware device.
At this point, you can either delete the driver or update it. If you choose to delete the driver, when you restart your computer, Windows will search for a driver to replace it. It may replace it with a more suitable driver or request that you download a new one.

Remove XP’s Build-in CD Burning Capabilities

This registry hack will remove Windows XP’s build-in CD Burning capabilities, and let you remove all features in Windows Explorer that allows you to use a CD writer.
Start the Registry Editor
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
From the menu select Edit > New > DWORD Value
Name the new value NoCDBurning
Right-click the NoCDBurning value and choose Modify
In the Value Data: box enter 1
Exit the registry editor
Log off, or restart Windows for the changes to take effect
To reverse, just delete the new NoCDBurning value.
Note: This setting does not prevent users from using third-party applications to create or modify CDs using a CD writer.

Prevent Writing to USB Storage Devices

It is too easy for users to connect a device (USB-key or MP3 player) to the USB port of a computer, and copy things off the system. This is an obvious security risk. This has been addressed in Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. You have to manually add the following registry key:
Start the Registry Editor(Start-->Run-->regedit)
Go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control key
If there is no key called StorageDevicePolicies, create it. You do this by right-clicking the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control key, and selecting New > Key from the menu.
Select the StorageDevicePolicies key
From the menu select Edit > New > DWORD Value
Name the new value WriteProtect
Right-click the WriteProtect value and choose Modify
In the Value Data: box enter 1
Exit the registry editor, and restart your computer
To reverse, just delete the new WriteProtect value (or set the value to 0) and restart the computer.
Note: works on Windows XP Service Pack 2 only!

Correcting System Hang at Startup

If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access the Start button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service (Background Intelligent Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch for this but it didn't work for me. Here's what you do:
1. Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.
2. Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service, disable it, apply the changes & reboot.
This problem with the Background Intelligent Transfer Service should have been corrected in Windows update Q 314862, part of Service Pack 1.

Analysis of IMEI numbers of Mobile Phone

All mobile phones are assigned a unique 15 digit IMEI code upon production.IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. Below you can check all known information regarding manufacturer, model type, and country of approval of a handset.
Tip! The IMEI can be displayed on most mobile handsets by dialling *#06#. Otherwise check the compliance plate under the battery.
Click here to analise your IMEI number

Stop Error Reporting

Every time a program shuts down and XP wants to send the error report to Microsoft.
Here’s how you stop it from coming back over and over again.
Go to Control Panel, System, click on the Advanced tab, then click on the Error Reporting button at the bottom
Put the circle in for Disable Error Reporting. If you still want to be notified that a program will be shutting down from an error, the you can put the Check IN the box for ‘But notify me when critical errors occur’

Shutdown/Reset with one click

You can shut down Windows with just one click of an icon on your desktop…or reset the same way
Right click on a blank area on the desktop
Click on New, then Shortcut
Type this: shutdown -s -t 00
(those are zero’s not the letter)
Click Next, then give it a name, such as Shutdown, then click on Finish
For a Reset button
Do the same thing only type: shutdown -r -t 00
Then give it the name Reset
Now…those icons look ugly…change them too
Right click on the first icon you just created, click on Properties, click on Change Icon (you’ll probably get a message…just click on OK), then find a different icon to use and double click on it. Then click on OK. Then change the other icon (if you create 2 of them)

Robo Copy

Robocopy is a small software which is helpful for shedule syncronisation of mdb files.
Click here to download Robocopy