And at the same time a Microsoft experiment in public perception. Well, one is perception versus reality, according to the perspective of Bill Veghte, Senior Vice President, Online Services & Windows Business Group, revealed at the Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting 2008 on July 24, 2008.

The Mojave Experiment is scheduled to go live tomorrow, July 29, 2008. "Duration: 3 days in San Francisco, July 2008. Conditions: Partly Cloudy, 57 degrees. Subjects: Over 120 computer users (Mac, Linux, Windows XP and Windows 2000). Hardware: An HP Pavilion DV 2000 with 2 GB of RAM technical assistance: A retail computer salesperson. Description: Subjects get a live 10-minute demo of "the next Microsoft OS" codenamed "Mohave" – but it's actually Windows Vista."

According to Microsoft, approximately 90% of the feedback returned by the people involved in the Mojave experiment was positive. The Redmond giant blames this on the disastrous public perception of Windows Vista. The website will feature the reactions of the participants in the experiment caught on video and it is an integral part of Microsoft's new efforts to market Windows Vista.

"We took a camera crew down and we did some focus groups where we recruited a set of XP users - think of it as just going down and calling - doing a random-digit dial, generating a bunch of XP users. And the qualification was they had to be using XP, and they had to have a negative perception relative to Windows Vista. They're not using it, but they are predisposed to think about it in a negative way," Veghte stated before a presentation of the actual reactions to the Vista/Mojave demo.

Still, Microsoft has to understand that a 10 minute demonstration of Windows Vista masquerading as a new Windows operating system is in no way relevant to the fully fledged, day-to-day experience that a Vista user will have. A 10 minute presentation of Vista is not an equivalent of living and using the operating system for months or years on end.

And the sad truth about Vista is that public perception is not formed solely through Vista or anti-Vista advertising, but also from end users dealing with the platform day to day. Sure enough, potential customers that have never touched the operating system might get a Vista Wow revelation, but what about the users that have been hit with software and hardware incompatibly problems, with faulty drivers, with slow performance and so on and so forth. Mojave has little to no chances of changing their perception. Nor does Microsoft for that matter.

"That's our opportunity. Perception versus reality, that's a conversation that we've got to go have with our customers. We are making a set of investments in consumer marketing this year. We're making those investments in the context of Windows Vista, but a broader conversation around the opportunity with Windows. Having that conversation is something that we must do. We must do to support and continue to extend that incredible brand and value proposition that we have with Windows, and you'll see a variety of efforts on this front as we go forward in the fall," Veghte concluded.

source: news.softpedia.com

 
Each student has their own user account which is a limited user account. Sometimes the lecturer there will complain to me that the administrator password has been hacked and changed by the students. This can be easily done if they did not set a security password for BIOS and allows the student to boot up the computer with a CD that is equipped with a tool to reset any local user account’s password.

When the teachers reported to me that the students managed to turn a limited user account into a computer administrator, my guess was the students reset the administrator password, login as admin and changed the account type to administrator.

But I was wrong. It turns out that the students did not reset the admin password and they were able to do it without logging in to Windows as administrator. After a little searching, I found a free tool that can change a Windows XP limited user account into a computer administrator.

The most powerful feature PCLoginNow have is to support Syskey. SYSKEY is an optional feature since Windows NT 4.0 SP3. It is meant to protect against offline password cracking attacks so that the SAM database would still be secure even if someone had a copy of it. Even though the system registry is protected by Syskey, PCLoginNow can easily bypass this mechanism and reset the Windows passwords.

Only 4 simple steps are required to turn a limited user account into administrator.

1. Download PCLoginNow.
2. Burn the ISO image to a CD/DVD.
3. Boot up the computer with the CD/DVD.
4. Click the Next button when you see the message that says “PC Login Now! is ready to start, please click NEXT to continue…”
5. Select the Windows system that is found by PC Login Now program.
6. Select the user account that you want to edit, check “is Administrator” and click Next.
7. Reboot and the user is now a local administrator of the computer.

I find this tool amazing because it can turn a user from zero into hero. I understand that some students are adventurous and would like to install or configure the system the way they like it but they cannot do it with a limited user account.

Download: PCLoginNow

source: www.raymond.cc/

Some secrets of xp

Private Character Editor:

Secret - Hidden Font Editor
Instructions - Go to Start, Run, type eudcedit - Source

Notes - You can use Private Character Editor to create unique letters and logos for your font library.

FreeCell:

Secret - Instant Win
Instructions - Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 during game play. Then you will be asked if you want to Abort, Retry or Ignore. Choose Abort, then move any card to instantly win.

Secret - Hidden Game Modes
Instructions - In the "Game" menu choose "Select Game". Enter -1 or -2 to activate the hidden game modes.


Hearts:

Secret - Show All Cards
Instructions - Edit this registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Hearts and create a new String value named ZB with a Data value of 42. Start Hearts and Press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + F12 to show all the cards.

Background - This secret is a reference to Douglas Adams' book the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 'ZB' is the initials of the character Zaphod Beeblebrox, the Galactic President. '42' is the answer to The Ultimate Question Of Life, the Universe and Everything.


Minesweeper:

Secret - Reveal Mines
Instructions - Minimize or close all running applications. Launch Minesweeper, then type xyzzy. Next hold down either shift key for one second. Now when you move the mouse cursor over a Minesweeper square you will see a tiny white pixel in the top left corner of your desktop screen. This pixel will change to black when your mouse moves over a mine. You may need to change you desktop background to a solid color other then white or black to see the pixel.

Secret - Stop Timer
Instructions - Launch Minesweeper and start a game so the timer starts counting, then press the Windows Key + D to show the desktop. Now when you select minesweeper from the taskbar you can continue playing with the timer stopped.


Pinball

Secret - Extra Balls
Instructions - Type 1max at the start of a new ball to get extra balls.

Secret - Gravity Well
Instructions - Type gmax at the start of a new game to activate the Gravity Well.

Secret - Instant Promotion
Instructions - Type rmax at the start of a new game to go up in ranks.

Secret - Skill Shot
Instructions - Launch the ball partially up the chute past the third yellow light bar so it falls back down to get 75,000 points. There are six yellow light bars that are worth a varying amount of points:

First: 15,000 points
Second: 30,000 points
Third: 75,000 points
Fourth: 30,000 points
Fifth: 15,000 points
Sixth: 7,500 points

Secret - Test Mode
Instructions - Type hidden test at the start of a new ball to activate Test Mode. No notification will be given that this is activated but you can now left-click the mouse button and drag the ball around. While in test mode press the following keys for more secrets:

H - Get a 1,000,000,000 High Score
M - Shows the amount of system memory
R - Increases your rank in game
Y - Shows the Frames/sec rate

Secret - Unlimited Balls
Instructions - Type bmax at the start of a new ball. No notification will be given that this is activated but when a ball is lost a new ball will appear from the yellow wormhole indefinitely. Once this is activated you will be unable to activate other secrets without restarting the game.


Solitaire:

Secret - Instant Win
Instructions - Press Alt + Shift + 2 during game play to instantly win.

Secret - Draw single cards in a Draw Three game
Instructions - Hold down CTRL + ALT + SHIFT while drawing a new card. Instead of drawing three cards you will only draw one. ^ TOP

Add/Remove:

Secret - Hidden Uninstall Options
Instructions - Warning: Proceed at your own risk! Browse to C:\Windows\inf\ and make a backup copy of sysoc.inf. Then open the original file C:\Windows\inf\sysoc.inf in notepad. Go to "Edit" and select "Replace". In "Find what:" type ,hide and in "Replace with:" type , then select "Replace All", save and close the file. Go to the "Control Panel", "Add/Remove", select "Add/Remove Windows Components". You will now see many more Windows components to uninstall. Do not remove anything with no label or that you do not recognize or fully understand what it does. Doing so can break certain functionality in Windows.


Control Panel:

Secret - Hidden Control Panel Extensions
Instructions - Download and install TweakUI, launch, go to "Control Panel" and check any item not selected, then "Apply" and "OK". You will now see the hidden control panel extensions.


Device Manager

Secret - Hidden Devices
Instructions - Go to the "Control Panel", "System" icon, "Hardware" tab and select "Device Manager". Select "View" and Show hidden devices.

Secret - Phantom Devices
Instructions - Go to "Start", "Programs", "Accessories" and select "Command Prompt". At the command prompt, type "set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1" and press Enter. At the command prompt, type "start devmgmt.msc" and press Enter. Select "View" and Show hidden devices. You can see devices that are not connected to the computer. - Source

Notes - When you close the command prompt window, Windows clears the "devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1" variable that you set and prevents phantom devices from being displayed when you select "Show hidden devices".


MIDI Files

Secret - Hidden MIDI Files
Instructions - Browse to C:\Windows\Media and you will find 3 hidden MIDI files:

flourish.mid
onestop.mid
town.mid

Notes - "MIDI" stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface" - A compression format for encoding music.


Music

Secret - Music from the Installer
Instructions - Browse to C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma and play.

Notes - "OOBE" stands for "Out-of-Box Experience".


Shutdown

Secret - Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
Instructions - Go to "Start", "Turn Off Computer..." and press either Shift key to change the "Stand By" button to "Hibernate".


Support Tools

Secret - Over 100 Windows XP Support Utilities are on the install CD

Instructions for Pre-SP2 users - If you do not have SP2 installed, put the original Windows XP CD in the CD-ROM Drive, run the D:\Support\Tools\setup.exe file.

Instructions for SP2 users - If you have SP2 installed, Download the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Tools and install.

Flight that Caused damage....

Did you know that the flight number of the plane that had hit WTC on 9/11 was Q33N ….

In Notepad, type the flight number i.e. Q33N

Increase the Font Size to 72, Change the Font to Wingdings.

You will be amazed by the findings !!!

Using notepad as a log book

Open notepad write .LOG in the first line, save the file and close it. Open the file again, here you will see the current date and time on it. Save again and close it. Everytime you open this file the file will have a timestamp along with text on it. This cool notepad trick can be used to make daily notes or can be used as a diary also. You can even press F5 to get the current date and time anywhere between the text.

Restricted Folder Names in Microsoft Windows

We can't create folders with the following names in Microsoft Windows directly.
CON, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3,COM1 to COM9 and LPT1 to LPT9

The way to create is as follows

1) Open Command Prompt
2) Go to any Root directory like C:\ or D:\ etc
3) Type "md \\.\\c:\\x" (where x represents any one of the restricted names)
4) Check the folder on the respected drive.
5) To remove that directory, type "rmdir \\.\\c:\\x" (where x represents any one of the restricted names)