Priyam Vaidya's Blog

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 called chntpw . The steps to install it are different in 32-bit and 6...

Ophcrack LiveCD 3.4.0 is a completely self contained, bootable version of Ophcrack 3.4.0 - the easiest and most effective tool that I've ever found to "crack" your forgotten Windows password. For a quick overview of Ophcrack, see my complete review of Ophcrack 3.4.0 . Ophcrack is a free software program that recovers passwords so the first step you'll need to take is to visit Ophcrack's website . When the Ophcrack website loads as shown above, click the Download ophcrack LiveCD button. Note: Since you obviously can't get into your computer right now because you don't know the password, these first four steps will need to be completed on another computer that you have access to. This other computer will need to have access to the Internet and the capability to burn a disc (like a CD, DVD, etc.). Another Note: The instructions I've put together here walk you through the entire process of using Ophcrack LiveCD to recover your password. If you...

RAID (redundant array of independent disks; originally redundant array of inexpensive disks ) is a way of storing the same data in different places (thus, redundantly) on multiple hard disk s. By placing data on multiple disks, I/O (input/output) operations can overlap in a balanced way, improving performance. Since multiple disks increases the mean time between failures ( MTBF ), storing data redundantly also increases fault tolerance . RAID appears to the operating system to be a single logical hard disk. RAID employs the technique of disk striping , which involves partitioning each drive's storage space into units ranging from a sector (512 bytes) up to several megabytes. The stripes of all the disks are interleaved and addressed in order. In a single-user system where large records, such as medical or other scientific images, are stored, the stripes are typically set up to be small (perhaps 512 bytes) so that a single record spans all disks and can be accessed quickly by...

VMware ESXi 5 Configuration 1. After VMware ESXi 5 has booted, press F2. 2. Enter in your root password and press enter. 3. Here is the customization menu. You can configure a new root password at the first menu if you like. Lets select Configure Management Network. 4. Lets select Network Adapter and we can see which adapter is connected. 5. As you can see I only have one network adapter connected. But in a scenario where you have multiple nic’s installed, you will be able to see which ones are connected or disconnected. You will also have the option to select the nic you wish to configure for the management network. When you are finished press esc. 6. Select Set Status IP Address. Here I will give my ESXi 5 host an ip address of 192.168.1.100/24 with default gateway 192.168.1.1 Press enter when you’re done 7. Now select DNS configuration in the menu and enter in your primary and secondary dns servers followed by a hostname for the ESXi 5 host. ...

VMware ESXi is free. However, the software comes with a 60 days evaluation mode. You should register on VMware website to get your free license key to come out of the evaluation mode. Once the ESXi is installed, you can either user vSphere Client on the Direct Console User Interface to administer the host. VMware ESXi is based on hypervisor architecture that runs directly on top of a hardware as shown below. 1. Download ESXi server Get the software from the VMware ESXi download page . Following are the various download options available. Select “ESXi 4.0 Update 1 Installable (CD ISO) Binary (.iso)” and burn a CD. ESXi 4.0 Update 1 Installable (CD ISO) Upgrade package from ESXi Server 3.5 to ESXi Server 4.0 Update 1 Upgrade package from ESXi Server 4.0 to ESXi Server 4.0 Update 1 VMware vSphere Client and Host Update Utility 2. VMware VMvisor Boot Menu Once you insert the ESXi CD and reboot the server, it will display a boot menu with an option to launch “ESXi Installer...