Reset your BIOS

Basic Input Output System (BIOS), used to control many of the basic devices connected to your computer. To read more on what a BIOS is and what is function is, read the Wiki. This post is going to focus on how to reset the BIOS.

Why would you need to reset the BIOS?

• You forgot your BIOS password.
• You are having trouble booting into your OS, due to BIOS corruption.

These are a couple of reasons that could warrant a BIOS reset, you may have your own reasons. Moving forward, a BIOS reset can happen in two ways:

1. Reset through Jumpers

2. Remove CMOS battery.

(Note: You will need to open your computer case in both instances and should have your computer turned off.)

 

Reset via Jumpers

You can reset your BIOS by finding the 3 pin connection associated with the CMOS and moving the jumper from the current location to the neighboring location, so as to short the CMOS circuit. The three pin connection should be located directly above the CMOS battery, which is a round button cell battery on the motherboard. Once the jumper is securely on pins 1&2, turn your computer on for about a minute. (your system will not POST) Now you can shutdown your system, place the jumper back on pins 2&3 and your BIOS should be reset.  
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reset via Battery

This is an equally effective solution. In this instance we are going to reset the CMOS memory by removing the charge (or the battery). The battery clip is a little tricky so you might need a small flat head screwdriver to gently pry the battery from its case. Once the battery is out of its holding, you will need to press and hold the power button on your computer for about 30 seconds. This will drain the charge from the chip and the factory defaults will be restored. Put your battery back in and fire up your computer to see the changes.  

New “Tools” Category

Look Out! IT Support Journal is now reviewing some great IT tools. This category will feature a new or old IT tool that you would be proud to put in your tech toolbox. We will give you a rundown on how the tool works and most importantly, why you need it. We are always accepting suggestions for a new tool review. So bring your ideas and your comments!

Whisper32 - Securing and Remembering passwords for you.

 To kick off the new Tools category I would like to promote a great tool that I use on a regular basis called Whisper32. Whisper is a password manager and a pretty simple one at that. I know, you’re thinking, who needs simple? I want a password manager that also, emails, saves bookmarks, prints, and brews my coffee.  …what?  Sometimes it’s nice just to have a program that does one thing well. Whisper is great because it does just that. It has a small footprint, so feel free to take it with you on a usb drive. The database file itself is password protected by a master password and you can create multiple master files. I use multiple password files for internet accounts, local domain accounts, and financial accounts, all with different master passwords.

Whisper allows you to keep your passwords/accounts safe, secure, and in one place. An invaluable tool for anyone that is conscious about password security.

Here are some screenshots:

  

You can download the program here.

 

 

Let us know what you think of this tool and feel free to suggest your own password manager.

Forward, Backward, who cares? It’s just a slash!

I am writing this post partly in frustration and partly because, well … let’s face it we all need a refresher course! As my readers probably know by now, I work and play in the I.T. environment. I am constantly asked a variety of questions both beginner and advanced. One of the things that comes up when troubleshooting any question is the difference between a forward-slash and a backslash. I find it comical, when in the midst of troubleshooting, I can ask a novice or expert to type, backslash backslash (\\), so as to navigate to a network share, and hear the response It’s not working, it says it can’t find the path specified?. After going through multiple other steps to figure out why the server is down or the share isn’t available, I come to find out they type two forward-slashes (//) instead. I am sure many of you can relate, and some of you are probably offended because you too have fell victim to the backslashes evil twin. Just remember that no question is to dumb, so if you can’t remember, just ask!

\\ Happy slashing \\

Conveniently display computer info on your desktop.

This is a very convenient tip that will not only help you but will help those individuals that work on your computer. It is called backinfo.exe and is part of a windows development pack. This little executable will reside in your C:\windows or C:\winnt folder along with a configuration file. Simply create a shortcut to the executable in your startup folder and you will see the results everytime you login.

I have displayed the computer name, number of processors and their speed, total ram, domain, ip address, and login date/time.

 

You can download backinfo.exe here and my sample configuration script here. (Right-Click links and choose Save As to download.)

Now the next time you need to know some quick facts about your computer or server, look no further than your desktop!

New Site Design !

If you haven’t noticed, the site underwent a little face lift. Hopefully it is easier to navigate through articles and posts, as I have included a search bar and post snippets on the front page. I also decided to incorporate a technology forum for better discussion. You can find the forum here. Now that the design is out-of-the way for me, I can start focusing on more content. Please contact me if you have topic suggestions, otherwise I will be relying on my experience, as usual.

Big thanks to Chris at Float Right Media for the site design. I think he did a great job!

Send to “Undisclosed Recipients” in Outlook

At some point in your life you have probably seen an email come across your inbox with “Undisclosed Recipients” in the To: field. These types of emails are primarily used by departments (i.e. HR), vendors, or individuals who need to send a common email to a set of mutually exclusive email addresses. For example, a Human Resources manager needs to send out a reminder email to a group of company employees that need to be drug tested. The manager does not want the employees to know about each other because of privacy and courtesy reasons, but the common email needs to be sent to over 100 people. Instead of sending the same email a hundred times, the manager will use “Undisclosed Recipients” to send the email once to all parties involved. When each employee receives the email, they will not be able to see what other employees the email was sent to, thereby preserving the anonymity of each recipient. This is just one example of many other useful applications sending to Undisclosed Recipients can have.

Now that you have seen an example and have pondered the benefits of the Undisclosed Recipient, it is time to show you how to use it.

How to send to Undisclosed Recipients in Outlook.

1. Start by showing the Bcc: (Blind Carbon Copy) address bar.

• In Outlook, click New Message to create a new email message.
• On the toolbar of the new email message, click Options and check Bcc

 

2.Properly address the email.

• In the To: field, you will need to enter the following:
  “Undisclosed Recipients” < you@yourdomain.com >
• We need to use the Bcc or Blind Carbon Copy to input the addresses of your recipients. This can be multiple single addresses or a distribution list.

 

3.Once your email has been composed and all the recipients’ addresses are in the Bcc field, you can send it.

 

That’s it! Now when you need to send a common email to mutually exclusive recipients just use the “Undisclosed Recipients” format to help keep everyone’s email private.

Can’t access files on a slave drive?

Recently this question came across my desk by a user who was fearing the worst about his do-it-yourself storage upgrade.

Background: The user had an older machine which contained two drives, one for his OS (Windows) and the other for his files (documents, pictures, etc..). He had a few directories in his file structure that contained personal documents and decided to modify permissions to only allow his username access. Because of his aging computer, he purchased a new machine to replace it.   

Can you see where I’m going with this…?

He un-boxed his new machine and because he had a separate drive for his files, he simply transferred that (slave) drive to the new machine. Unfortunately when he tried to access his personal directories on the file share, he was presented with an “Access Denied” message. Fearing the worst, and not having a backup of his files, he sent me an email outlining his dilemma and asked me for some help.

Solution: The user simply needs to take ownership of the files. Trying to “re-modify” the permissions to include a new username or to include “Everyone”, will not work. I directed him to a Microsoft knowledge base article on how to recover ownership of his files.  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421 

 

Following these steps helped him recover ownership and ultimately allowed him access to his files again. I did scold him about not backing up his files though! 

 

Save Money by using Computer Manger

This article will explore one of the most fundamental tools for troubleshooting your computer, the computer manager. With the computer manager you will be able to check your computer’s event logs, troubleshoot internal/external devices, add/remove local users, create performance alerts, and hopefully save you money by helping you fix the problem yourself. Speaking from experience, the computer manager is one of the first stops for an IT professional when diagnosing a problem. Let’s take a look at the computer manager and see what it has to offer. We’ll start by opening it.

 

Open Computer Manager

 

Right Click on My Computer Icon and goto: manage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The computer manager will now be open.

 

 

As you can see, the computer manager has a lot to offer just from viewing the icons. Let’s step through each one of these options.

 

System Tools

 

 

1. Event Viewer
As you may already know, the event viewer is a place where System, Application, and Security events are viewable. You can gather very valuable information from these events and can customize them to gather events from specific applications. In many cases you will be able to find the problem description from the event viewer.

 

 

2. Shared Folders

 

This part of computer manager is really handy. There are three sections to shared folders, Shares, Sessions, and Open Files.

 

The first icon labeled Shares will show you exactly what shared folders or drives you currently have on your machine. This is very handy when auditing your machine for unwanted shared resources. Some applications when installed (i.e. Symantec Antivirus), create a shared folder on your machine and don’t tell you. Normally those shares do not pose any threat but if you are wanting to really lock down your machine make sure you know exactly what folders and drives you are sharing to the public. If you are unsure what the dollar sign ($) means after the share name, please read my previous journal entry on Creating a Hidden Share.

 

The second icon labeled Sessions is another great tool that allows you to view the current users logged on to your computer. This tool is most used on servers where multiple people can be terminal served into the computer for various reasons. Sessions will show you who is logged on, from what machine they are connected, any open files they may have, and how long they have been connected. If you are an administrator on your computer you may choose to disconnect an idle session by right-clicking on their username and choosing Disconnect.

 

The third and final icon labeled Open Files is a tool that allows you to view all of the open files currently on your system. This is nice if you are sharing a folder with many people on a LAN. You would need to use this function if you were trying to access a file on your machine that was being used by another person. You would receive an error that said this file is already in use by another person or program and the application would not let you edit the original file. You could then find the open file using this tool and either see who is using it or if you are an administrator, you could simply close the open file.

 

 

3. Local Users and Groups

 

Earlier in this article I have made a few references to being Administrator, if you were unsure how to become administrator or was curious who else was, here is where you can check. Local users and groups will give you all the users and groups currently associated with your machine, it will also allow you to edit users and/or groups. First and foremost this is an excellent way to audit the user accounts that currently have access to log on to your machine. When the average user installs Windows on their machine they forget the fact that they had to create an Administrator account during the set-up process. This account usually lies dormant but sometimes, it is that account that hackers are looking for to access your machine. Take a look at the local user accounts associated with your machine by clicking on the Users folder and see if there is anything that surprises you.

 

 

You may notice a few user accounts besides the Administrator and Guest accounts that look strange, don’t worry, you probably don’t need them. If you are using a home computer and you don’t know what they are used for you can disable them, otherwise speak to your administrator if you have questions. I also recommend disabling the Guest account if you don’t use it.

 

Next let’s take a look at how to create a local Administrator. (you will need to be an administrator for this next section)

 

If you wanted to manage the local computer’s administrator list, you will need to venture to the groups section and find the Administrators group. By double-clicking on the Administrators group, you will see a list of users that currently have access to your local machine as an Administrator. You can add or remove a user/group by clicking add or remove at the bottom of the window. If you are connected to a domain, say at work, you may notice an entry similar to this: <your domain name>/Domain Admins. This means that anyone that is in that domain group can have administrative access to your local machine. Also, you will not see a domain user or group located in your local Users folder. (Any further explanation of domain vs. local accounts is outside the scope of this article.)

 

 

4. Performance Logs and Alerts

 

I am only going to briefly explain the uses of the Performance Logs and Alerts section of computer manager because the uses are too robust for an excerpt in an article. If you have ever heard the word Perfmon thrown around, it is in reference to this tool. Performance monitor is a highly valuable resource for diagnosing your computer. If you feel your computer is slow or it often bluescreens (BSOD), you may want to explore the options this tool has to offer. As an example, I have used this tool to pinpoint the exact application that was gradually consuming greater and greater resources over time, which eventually lead to my machine locking up. It allowed me to diagnose the problem (my computer was locking up due to a memory leak) and accurately determine the application that was causing the problem. Many more scenarios apply.

 

 

5. Device Manager

 

This is a great resource that I think most casual users are not aware of. This is called the device manager and it contains a list of all the connected devices on your system. Here is the place where you will want to update a driver, scan for new hardware, diagnose a hardware problem, or change advanced settings on a piece of hardware.

 

First, take a look at all of the devices currently connected to your system, there are quit a few! Lets say you are having trouble getting your speakers to work properly, they just won’t produce any sound. While it may be the fault of the speakers themselves, it is more likely the fault of your computer sound card. With device manager open you can quickly expand the Sound, video and game controllers section to see if their are any errors associated with your sound card. An error will produce a red X over the device and a warning will produce a yellow ! over the device. In most cases you can attribute a hardware problem with the driver installation. You can update a driver by double-clicking the device in question and going to the Driver tab.

 

 

Here you can click Update Driver.. and follow the wizard that will guide you through the process of re-installation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another function is to change advance settings of a device. For example, let’s change the duplex of the currently connected Network Interface Card (NIC). Open the device properties of your card and navigate to the Advanced tab.

 

 

You can see that I selected Link Speed / Duplex Mode and I can change it to the optimal setting for my network. Remember this is just one example of advanced hardware configurations. Also, note that available settings will vary between different hardware models.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storage
1. Removable Storage

 

 

Not many average users will be taking advantage of this section. In fact, not many advanced users will either. This tool helps you manage your removable storage, more specifically it mainly helped manage tape drives. With the rise of larger hard drives, USB drives, and Flash drives, the personal use of tape drives have become almost obsolete. Many companies still use tape drives though as a means to archive and ship offsite for safe keeping. However, companies that archive their data via tape typically use a much more robust media management tool than Removable Storage combined with NT Backup.

 

2. Disk Defragmenter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe we all know what disk defragmentation does. A couple of things about this tool though, you must have 15% free space on your drive to properly defragment a volume and you should defragment regularly. I set-up most of my customers with a scheduled task that automatically defragments the volume once a month. A severely fragmented volume can greatly reduce disk I/O time, which means noticeably slower speeds for you.

 

 

3. Disk Management

 

Disk management is useful because it displays the overall health and statistics of your connected drives. This would be especially useful if you had drives that belonged to a RAID group. The statistics and overall health of the disks can help IT personal gain a quicker understanding when troubleshooting foreign machines.

 

Services and Applications

 

In this section I am only going to cover services, as the WMI Control and Indexing Service is not normally used by end-users.

 

 

1. Services

 

The Services tool does just that, displays all the native services currently loaded on your machine. You will come to find, that for whatever reason, services can stop unexpectedly, not start on boot, or run when you have no need for them. For a list of Windows services that you don’t need, please read this article: Ten Windows Services, You Don’t Need. By right-clicking a service, you can Stop, Start, Restart, or set the boot parameters to Manual, Automatic, or Disabled. For the latter you will have to enter the service properties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the purposes of this article, I will not elaborate any further about the roles of services.

 

That brings us to the end of the computer manager, obviously I could not expand in great detail of all it has to offer, however I am certain you can keep some money in your wallets if you use computer manager to help diagnose some of your problems. If you have a question about a subject covered here or a comment, please feel free to comment to this post.

 

I will leave you with one other tip that will help administrators really unleash the power of this tool. (for this next section you must be logged in as an administrator or be able to run computer manager as an administrator)

 

Remote Management

 

With computer manager open and the Computer Management icon highlighted, goto: Action >Connect to Another Computer…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just enter the NETBIOS name of the computer you would like to connect to and press OK. Or you can search the domain/workgroup by clicking Browse. If you do not have the correct permissions to connect, Windows will let you know, just remember you need to be local Administrator on the remote machine to access all that Computer Manager has to offer. As you can see Computer Manager is an invaluable tool when trying to diagnose a problem on your local machine or if you are administering a LAN, on a remote machine. Because this is native to Windows there is nothing special to install or configure, so you can use it wherever you go!