Check Whether Your System Is Infected with Virus / Spyware / Adware / Trojan or not?

STEP 1 : Post your HijackThis log file content

If your system is running very slow or giving random problems, there are chances that its infected with a virus. Download HijackThis from the links given below and scan your system with it. It'll generate a log file, copy the content of the log file and post here.

Download HijackThis 2.0.4 

STEP 2 : Fix suggested entries

To fix the suggested entries, Boot your Windows in Safe Mode by pressing “F8″ key at system startup and select "Safe Mode" option. Run HijackThis again. Then select the entries and click on “Fix checked” button.



Also don't forget to scan your system with a good anti-virus and anti-spyware software.

Solution of All Kinds of Restrictions for Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 and 7

Many times people access our system and change our customized settings here and there. Wouldn't it be great if we can restrict them to change the settings and other things like restrict from changing Folder Options, Taskbar settings, Desktop settings, etc.

Today in this tutorial, we'll share a list of some important and useful restrictions, which can be put in Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 and 7.

STEP 1: Open Registry Editor

All restrictions are based on Registry editing. So you'll need to open Registry Editor by providing regedit command in RUN or Start menu Search box and press Enter. After that go to the registry key mentioned in step 2.

STEP 2: Create Registry Key

Once you are in Registry Editor. Go to following keys and create or modify required DWORD value as mentioned below:


1. Restricting Desktop Properties
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\System

Create new DWORD NoDispCPL and set its value to 1

2. Restricting Taskbar Properties
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoSetTaskbar and set its value to 1

3. Restricting System Properties
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoPropertiesMyComputer and set its value to 1

4. Restricting Folder Options
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoFolderOptions and set its value to 1

5. Restricting Registry Editor
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\System

Create new DWORD DisableRegistryTools and set its value to 1

6. Restricting Task Manager
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\System

Create new DWORD DisableTaskMgr and set its value to 1

7. Restricting Control Panel
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoControlPanel and set its value to 1

8. Restricting Command Prompt
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

Create new DWORD DisableCMD and set its value to 2

9. Restricting Locking/Unlocking of Taskbar
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD LockTaskbar and set its value to 1

10. Restricting right-click on Taskbar
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoTrayContextMenu and set its value to 1

11. Restricting Toolbars in Taskbar
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoToolbarsOnTaskbar and set its value to 1

12. Restricting drag-and-drop and right-click in Start Menu
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoChangeStartMenu and set its value to 1

13. Restricting RUN in Start Menu
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoRun and set its value to 1

14. Restricting Shut Down, Restart, Sleep and Hibernate commands

Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoClose and set its value to 1

15. Restricting Log off in Start Menu

Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD StartMenuLogOff and set its value to 1

16. Restricting Active Desktop Feature
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoActiveDesktop and set its value to 1

17. Restricting adding/removing items to/from Toolbars
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoToolbarCustomize and set its value to 1

18. Restricting adding/removing Toolbars
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoBandCustomize and set its value to 1

19. Restricting Autorun Feature

Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

If the above key doesn't exist, create it.

In right-side pane, create a new DWORD value NoDriveTypeAutoRun and set its value to any of following according to your requirements:

FF - To disable AutoRun on all drives
20 - To disable AutoRun on CD-ROM drives
4 - To disable AutoRun on removable drives
8 - To disable AutoRun on fixed drives
10 - To disable AutoRun on network drives
40 - To disable AutoRun on RAM disks
1 - To disable AutoRun on unknown drives

If you want to disable Autorun on a combination of drives, you'll need to calculate sum of the values. For example, if you want to disable Autorun on CD-ROM drives and removable drives, you'll need to set the value to 20+4=24.

If you want to restore the Autorun functionality, simply delete the NoDriveTypeAutoRun DWORD value created in Step 3 Or you can set the default value which is given below:
Windows 2000: 95
Windows XP: 91
Windows Server 2003: 95
Windows Vista, Server 2008 and 7: 91


If you want to disable Autorun functionality for all users in your system, use the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" instead of "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" mentioned in Step 2.
PS: If you are not very familiar with Registry and want a ready-made registry script to do the task automatically, simply download following ZIP file, extract it and run the desired REG file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it.
20. Restricting notification at low disk space
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Create new DWORD NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and set its value to 1

21. Restricting Writing to USB Drives
Go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Current Control Set\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Create new DWORD WriteProtect and set its value to 1

22. Restricting "New" option in context menu
Go to following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenu Handlers\New

And delete the value of Default, e.g., empty it.

23. Restricting "Send To" option in context menu
Go to following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenu Handlers\Send To

And delete the value of Default, e.g., empty it.

24. Restricting any desired application
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer\DisallowRun

Create new String value with any name, like 1 and set its value to the desired program's EXE file.
e.g., If you want to restrict msconfig, then create a String value 1 and set its value to msconfig.exe. If you want to restrict more programs, simply create more String values with names 2, 3 and so on and set their values to the program's exe file.

25. Restricting Drives in My Computer
Go to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

In right-side pane, create new DWORD NoViewOnDrive and change its value as following:

3 : To Restrict A and B drives only.
4 : To Restrict C drive only.
7 : To Restrict A, B, and C drives only.
8 : To Restrict D drive only.
F : To Restrict A, B, C, and D drives only.
03FFFFFF : To Restrict all drives.

If you want more specific restrictions, like you want to restrict a combination of drives, you can use decimal no. instead of hexadecimal no. Following is a list for all drives decimal no.:

A: 1
B: 2
C: 4
D: 8
E: 16
F: 32
G: 64
H: 128
I: 256
J: 512
K: 1024
L: 2048
M: 4096
N: 8192
O: 16384
P: 32768
Q: 65536
R: 131072
S: 262144
T: 524288
U: 1048576
V: 2097152
W: 4194304
X: 8388608
Y: 16777216
Z: 33554432
ALL: 67108863

So if you want to disable a combination of drives, just sum their numbers and give the same value to NoViewOnDrive. e.g., for restricting C, D, E and F drives, give the value: 4+8+16+32 = 60
NOTE: You can also hide the drives using NoDrives DWORD value. The location and its value remain same as the above trick.

That's all. Above are some common restrictions, if you want to know about any specific restriction, please let us know.

NOTE: If you want to remove the restriction, simply delete the DWORD or set its value to 0

Linux Guides Collection (Everything You Want to Know About Linux)

If you are new to Linux and want to learn about Linux like its installation, configuration, tweaking, troubleshooting, etc, then this topic will help you.

Following are a few links to download various e-books which will help you in learning A to Z of Linux. All e-books are in PDF format.

Fundamentals:
This course includes the history of Linux and what distinguishes Open Source Software from proprietary software. On the practical side students learn the fundamental commands and approach needed to start using Linux.
Download PDF

System Administration:
This courses teaches students how to install GNU/Linux. The courses uses the Debian distro as an example. Students install, create and manage user accounts, install new hardware, make backups and many other mission critical tasks a System Administrator would need to know.
Download PDF

Network Administration:
This course teaches the fundamentals of networking, what the TCP/IP protocol stack consists of and how the different layers of the network stack influence communication on a network. You will learn how Linux can be used as a router and the basic principles of digital encryption and digital signatures used to keep email secure. As well as how to set up secure connections between different Linux machines by using SSH.
Download PDF

Shell Scripting:
This course teaches students how to create shell scripts, the use of Regular expressions, file manipulation with sed, grep and awk and how to tie all this new knowledge into scripts that make using Linux so simple.
Download PDF

Internals:
This course is designed to help the student understand the inner workings of the Linux kernel. Often a good understanding of how the operating system manages hardware and other resources to do its work, will helps people solve problems and appreciate the work that goes into making a computer work.
Download PDF

Electives:
This course teaches students how to configure server services such as the Apache web server, the Squid Proxy server, the Bind name server ,Sendmail and Exim Mail servers are discussed. For those who want to know a little more than the average user.
Download PDF

Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide:
Many people still believe that learning Linux is difficult, or that only experts can understand how a Linux system works. Though there is a lot of free documentation available, the documentation is widely scattered on the Web, and often confusing, since it is usually oriented toward experienced UNIX or Linux users. Today, thanks to the advancements in development, Linux has grown in popularity both at home and at work. The goal of this guide is to show people of all ages that Linux can be simple and fun, and used for all kinds of purposes.
Download PDF

The Easiest Linux Guide You'll Ever Read - an Introduction to Linux for Windows Users:
This is a 160-page book geared towards people who are competent with using Windows, who have never attempted to use Linux but are interested in giving it a try.
Download PDF

Getting Started With Fedora:
An Guide for a fedora newbie
Download PDF

Basic Steps to Running a Secure Fedora Linux Machine:
This guide helps to run fedora as smooth as silk.
Download PDF

Pocket Linux Guide:
A Guide to Pocket Linux... This is very interesting, must read!
Download PDF

Fedora 7 Installation Guide:
Fedora 7 Installation Guide ...for dummies
Download PDF

GNOME 2.14 Desktop System Administration Guide:
Download PDF

Linux Device Drivers 2nd Edition:
Linux Device Drivers is, on the surface, a book about writing device drivers for the Linux system. It should be an interesting source of information both for people who want to experiment with their computer and for technical programmers who face the need to deal with the inner levels of a Linux box.
Download PDF (ZIP)

Red Hat Linux 9 Red Hat Linux Customization Guide:
The Red Hat Linux Customization Guide is part of Red Hat’s growing commitment to provide useful
Download PDF

Ubuntu Desktop Guide:
A Official Ubuntu Desktop Guide
Download PDF

RedHat Guides:
x86 Installation Guide
Getting Started Guide
Customization Guide
Reference Guide
Security Guide
System Administration Primer
Glossary

Test Driving Linux Mint Cassandra:
The final version of Linux Mint 3.0 (codename Cassandra)
Download PDF

Mandriva Linux Inside:
"Mandriva Linux Inside" is a free electronic magazine , made by the Mandriva Linux Community.
Download PDF

The Solaris 10 Operating System:
A Official Guide from SUN
Download PDF

Solaris 10 Security:
Information was collected from Solaris 10 Community
Download PDF

LOOKING GLASS (LG3D Live CD) Guide:
LG3D is based on Sun’s Looking Glass Project. Imagine this stunning 3D environment on your desktop—in less than two minutes. Just burn the CD and get going!
Download PDF

OpenOffice.org User Guide:
A basic guide to OpenOffice
Download PDF

OpenOffice.org 2.x and beyond:
Fully featured Guide for 2.x and beyond.
Download PDF

How to Install Compiz-Fusion on Ubuntu Studio:
This guide will help u to install Compiz-Fusion in Ubuntu 7.04 and older easily.
Download PDF

How to Install Compiz Fusion on Ubuntu Studio:
This guide will help u to install Compiz-Fusion in Ubuntu Studio easily.
Download PDF

Installing Ubuntu 7.10:
Installing Ubuntu 7.10. Gutsy Gibbon step-by-step installation guide with screenshots!
Download PDF

Upgrading your existing Ubuntu installation to Ubuntu 7.10:
You can only directly upgrade to Ubuntu 7.10 ("Gutsy Gibbon") from Ubuntu 7.04 ("Feisty Fawn")
Read Official Guide

openSUSE 10.3 GNOME Quick Start:
openSUSE 10.3 provides all the tools and resources you need for effective home computing and computing on the go. Using this Quick Start guide, you can easily start using suse!
Download PDF

And Few GOOD Books to kick start using Linux:
Beginners: Learn Linux (Linux Reviews)
Introduction to Linux
Start here to learn about Linux
Understanding the Linux Virtual Memory Manager
Linux Network Administrators Guide

Gentoo is different:
Gentoo Linux is a source package based Linux system. It is very different from the established commercial Linux distributions.
Download PDF

Novell Doc: OpenSUSE 11.0 - Complete Guide:
openSUSE 11.0 provides all the tools and resources you need for effective home computing and computing on the go. It includes a complete, intuitive Linux desktop with a Web browser, instant messenger, e-mail client, photo catalog, word processor, spreadsheet, graphics tools, multimedia software, games and more. Its office suite is 100-percent compatible with Microsoft Office, and it also features the latest software for home networking, wireless support, Web hosting, virtualization, application security and software development.
Read Online

The Linux+FreeBSD mini-HOWTO:
This document describes how to use Linux and FreeBSD on the same system. It introduces FreeBSD and discusses how the two operating systems can cooperate, e.g. by sharing swap space. You should probably have some experience with Linux or FreeBSD and hard drive partitioning (fdisk) before you read this document. The tips herein are tested using FreeBSD 2.2.2, but they should be valid for newer versions as well. Do not hesitate to mail me if you have comments, questions or suggestions about this document. I would also like to hear from people who have experience using Linux together with NetBSD or OpenBSD.
Download PDF - Size: 41 KB

Official Arch Linux Install Guide:
This is the general user documentation for the Arch Linux distribution. It covers obtaining the necessary files, installing the distribution and setting up a basic, bootable system. Additionally, a short reference for the system layout and Arch-specific tools is supplied, i.e., the pacman package manager and the Arch Build System (ABS).
Read Online

Arch Linux for DIY Users:
There's no dearth of Linux distributions for desktop users or even for running high availability servers. But if you are a do-it-yourself computer user, your choice of Linux distros is fairly limited. You can build Linux from scratch with Linux from Scratch or compile your own set of packages with Gentoo. But if you want a distro that teaches you the basics of Linux as you set it up; is well documented, lightweight, and zippy; and has a dependency-resolving packaging system, you need Arch Linux.
Read Online

Arch Linux Video Installation Guide:
A video installation guide on how to install arch Linux for beginners.
Watch Video

Zenwalk Linux Manual:
A complete official manual for Zenwalk Linux
Download PDF

Put Your Favorite Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Firewall Apps to the Test

There are lots of security programs available, free as well as paid. We all have our own favorite security software, some ppl like avast!, some like NOD32, some ppl like Windows Defender, some like Spybot S&D, some ppl like Windows Firewall, some like Zone Alarm Firewall.

Sometimes it might become confusing which one is better, which one should we use? would not it be great if we can test our security apps?

Here I'm going to share a few sites which provide "Test Files" to check whether a security app is really worth to use or not. These "Test Files" don't harm your system, these are simply piece of code which behave like a malicious code. If your security app detects it, then its a good news for you, otherwise its time to change your app.

So here we start: 

Put your Anti-Virus to the Test:

1. Open following link:
Eicar Anti-Virus or Anti-Malware Test File

2. This link contains a test file "eicar.com" which contains a sample code of 64 characters. Your anti-virus program should detect it as malicious file. This is what the developers of this test file have to say:

In order to facilitate various scenarios, we provide 4 files for download. The first, eicar.com, contains the ASCII string as described above. The second file, eicar.com.txt, is a copy of this file with a different filename. Some readers reported problems when downloading the first file, which can be circumvented when using the second version. Just download and rename the file to "eicar.com". That will do the trick. The third version contains the test file inside a zip ARCHIVEe. A good anti-virus scanner will spot a 'virus' inside an ARCHIVEe. The last version is a zip ARCHIVEes containing the third file. This file can be used to see whether the virus scanner checks ARCHIVEes more than only one level deep.

3. So scroll down to the end and download the required file and if your anti-virus program detects it, then you are really lucky and can use your current anti-virus without any problem. 

Put your Anti-Spyware to the Test:

1. Now its turn of your anti-spyware program. Open following link:
Spycar Anty-Spyware Test File

2. This link contains various test files requited to test your anti-spyware software. Download each file one-by-one and run them. This is what Spycar developers have to say:

We designed Spycar as a series of different links and associated executables. We did not make it a monolithic one-click-to-conduct-all-actions programs, because an anti-spyware tool may shut down a given program early on in its cycle, without letting Spycar accurately test later modules. That’s why you have to click on each link, giving your anti-spyware tool a fair shot at stopping each individual action.

3. The above link also contains a tool given at last to check the results of this test. You can determine how well your current anti-spyware program performed and whether you should change it or not. 

Put your Firewall to the Test:

1. At last its turn of your Firewall program. Open following link:
Firewall Leak Tester (link down)
Alternative Link

2. This link contains 26 different leak tests which you should perform to test your firewall app. Each test requires downloading a test file to perform the leak test. Here is what firewall leak test developers have to say:

Due to the fact that most of the personal firewalls offer reasonable protection against inbound attacks coming from the Internet, we only study here their software filtering, outbound filtering that can be stressed by Trojans which try to initiate themselves by connecting to the outside to transmit data out. To test this software filtering feature, many leaktests (""leak"" test) exist, they are programs created by different authors, each trying to bypass the personal firewalls with his own trick.

3. If your firewall passes all the tests then you should proud of yourself and should continue using your favorite firewall because ti deserves to be used.

Ultimate Collection of Uninstallers / Removal Tools for All Popular Anti-Virus Softwares

Almost all of us use anti-virus program in our system. Some of us use a free anti-virus and some use a paid one.

Many times we want to uninstall our existing anti-virus program to install a new one because its always advisable to use only one anti-virus program at a time in our system as more than 1 anti-virus can cause lots of performance and stability issues.

Although we can uninstall the existing anti-virus using Windows "Add/Remove Programs" (or Programs and Features) applet but its not a perfect solution as sometimes it doesn't remove the program completely which can interfere with the newly installed anti-virus program.

So what to do? How can we uninstall the existing anti-virus completely? The answer is using the official uninstaller tool which is given by the anti-virus company. Almost all anti-virus companies provide an official uninstaller which can remove the anti-virus completely from your system. But finding the uninstaller tool is not an easy task, that's why we are giving here a list of uninstallers for almost all popular anti-virus software so that you can easily download them.

Just run the uninstaller's EXE file and follow the instructions. Restart your system and you are ready to install your new anti-virus software.

So here are the official uninstallers for various anti-virus programs:

Windows Live One Care

Download Link

Norton

Download Link 1

Download Link 2

BitDefender

Download Link (32-bit)

Download Link (64-bit)

Kaspersky

Download Link

Another Uninstaller (Unofficial)

NOD32

Download Link

Trend Micro PC-Cillin

Download Link

McAfee

Download Link

F-Secure

Download Link

Quick Heal

Download Link

avast!

Download Link

AVG

Download Link (32-bit)

Download Link (64-bit)

Avira

Download Link

Panda

Download Link

CA

Download Link

How to Reset / Remove / Bypass a BIOS or CMOS Password?

DISCLAIMER: This information is intended for experienced users. It is not intended for basic users, hackers, or computer thieves. Please do not try any of following procedures if you are not familiar with computer hardware. We'll not be responsible for the use or misuse of this information, including personal injury, loss of data or hardware damage. So use it at your own risk.

BIOS passwords are used to add some extra security to computers. You can either set a password to prevent access to BIOS settings or to prevent PC from booting.
But sometimes this extra security might become a pain when you forget the BIOS password or someone changes your system BIOS password intentionally.
But there is no need to worry. There are many known ways to reset / remove / bypass the password:

• By removing the CMOS battery
• By using the motherboard jumper
• By using MS DOS command
• By using software
• By using Backdoor BIOS password

Now I'll try to explain each method one by one:

A. By Removing the CMOS Battery:

Almost all motherboards use a small coin sized CMOS battery to store all BIOS settings along with the password. To reset the password, unplug the PC, open the cabinet and remove the CMOS battery for approx. 15-30 minutes and then put it back. It'll reset all BIOS settings as well as the password and you'll need to re-enter all settings.
If it fails, then try to remove the battery for at least one hour.

B. By Using the Motherboard Jumper:

Almost all motherboards contain a jumper that can clear all CMOS settings along with the BIOS password. The location of this jumper varies depending upon the motherboard brand. You should read your motherboard manual to check its location. If you don't have the manual then look for the jumpers near the CMOS battery. Most of the manufacturer label the jumper as CLR, CLEAR, CLEAR CMOS, etc.
When you find the jumper, look carefully.  There will be 3 pins and the jumper will be joining the center pin to either left or right pin. What you need to do, is remove the jumper and join the center pin to the opposite pin. e.g. if the jumper joins center pin to left pin, then remove it and join center pin to right pin. Now wait for a few seconds and then again remove the jumper and join the center pin to left pin.
Make sure to turn the PC off before opening the cabinet and resetting the jumper.

C. By Using MS DOS Command:

This method works only if you have access to the system when its turned on because this method requires MS DOS. Open Command Prompt from Programs menu and provide following commands one bye one:

debug
o 70 2E
o 71 FF
quit

NOTE: The first character in the above commands is "O" and not the number 0.
After providing the above commands, restart your system and it should reset the CMOS Settings along with the BIOS password.
If you are curious to know how it works? then let me explain the above commands:
In this method we are using the Debug tool of MS DOS. The "O" character present at first in these commands, outputs the values to IO ports. The number 70 and 71 are port numbers which are used to access CMOS memory. By providing FF value we are telling CMOS that there is an invalid checksum and it resets the CMOS settings as well as BIOS password.

D. By Using Software:

There are a few software which can also reset CMOS settings or BIOS password or both within a few clicks. But as stated above you should have access to a system which is turned on and should have access to MS DOS or MS Windows:
KillCMOS
!BIOS
CmosPwd

E. By Using Backdoor BIOS Password:

Some BIOS manufacturer put a backdoor password in BIOS which always works irrespective of what password you have set in BIOS. Its a master password which is used for testing and troubleshooting purposes.
AMI BIOS Passwords:

A.M.I.
AAAMMMIII
AMI?SW
AMI_SW
AMI
BIOS
CONDO
HEWITT RAND
LKWPETER
MI
Oder
PASSWORD

AWARD BIOS Passwords:

01322222
589589
589721
595595
598598
ALFAROME
ALLy
aLLy
aLLY
ALLY
aPAf
_award
award
AWARD_SW
AWARD?SW
AWARD SW
AWARD PW
AWKWARD
awkward
BIOSTAR
CONCAT
CONDO
Condo
d8on
djonet
HLT
J64
J256
J262
j332
j322
KDD
Lkwpeter
LKWPETER
PINT
pint
SER
SKY_FOX
SYXZ
syxz
shift + syxz
TTPTHA
ZAAADA
ZBAAACA
ZJAAADC

PHOENIX BIOS Passwords:

BIOS
CMOS
phoenix
PHOENIX

Misc Common Passwords:

ALFAROME
BIOSTAR
biostar
biosstar
CMOS
cmos
LKWPETER
lkwpeter
setup
SETUP
Syxz
Wodj

Other Manufacturer BIOS Passwords:

Biostar - Biostar
Compaq - Compaq
Dell - Dell
Enox - xo11nE
Epox - central
Freetech - Posterie
IWill - iwill
Jetway - spooml
Packard Bell - bell9
QDI - QDI
Siemens - SKY_FOX
TMC - BIGO
Toshiba - Toshiba
VOBIS &  IBM - merlin

NOTE: All these passwords are case-sensitive and are changed from time to time by manufacturers.

How to Reset / Recover Forgotten Windows NT / 2000 / XP / 2003 Administrator Password?

Disclaimer: Following information should be used only if its your system and you have forgotten account password. Don't use this information to access a system which is not yours without permission.

Many times we face this problem when we or our friends forget Windows XP password and can't log into Windows. So here we are posting a few methods / utilities which can be used to recover Windows password:

1st Method:

The first thing which you check if you forget login password. When we install Windows, it automatically creates an account "Administrator" and sets its password to blank. So if you have forget your user account password then try this:
Start system and when you see Windows Welcome screen / Login screen, press <ctrl>+<alt>+<del> keys twice and it'll show Classic Login box. Now type "Administrator" (without quotes) in Username and leave Password field blank. Now press Enter and you should be able to log in Windows.
Now you can reset your account password from "Control Panel -> User Accounts".
Same thing can be done using Safe Mode. In Safe Mode Windows will show this in-built Administrator account in Login screen.

2nd Method:

Windows XP and further versions also provide another method to recover forgotten password by using "Reset Disk". If you created a Password Reset Disk in past, you can use that disk to reset the password. To know more about it, please visit following links:
How to create and use a password reset disk for a computer in a domain in Windows XP
How to Log On to Windows XP If You Forget Your Password or Your Password Expires

3rd Method:

If the above mentioned tricks don't work, then try following trick which is actually a loophole in Windows XP Setup and a big security hole:
A. Boot using Windows XP Setup CD and follow the instruction like Accepting EULA, etc.
B. When it asks to repair your existing Windows installation, accept it and press "R" to run the repair.
C. Setup will start repairing your Windows and will start copying files, etc.
D. After a few minutes setup will restart your system and when it restarts don't press any key when it shows "Press any key to continue..." otherwise Setup will start from the beginning. Don't press any key and setup will resume where it left.
E. Now it'll start doing other tasks and will show a small progressbar with a few details in left side.
F. Look carefully at the details and when it shows "Installing devices", press <Shift>+F10 keys in your keyboard.
G. It'll open a Command Prompt window. Now type nusrmgr.cpl and press <Enter>.
H. It'll open the same "User Accounts" window which you see in Control Panel.
I. Now you can remove or reset any account password without any problem.

4th Method:

There are many 3rd party utilities which claim to recover forgotten Windows password:
Windows Geeks Lost Forgotten Password Service:
Windows Geeks have a program that works instantly to remove any lost or forgotten password. With this program you can get back in very quickly:
Windows Geeks Lost Forgotten Password Service

Emergency Boot CD:
EBCD is a bootable CD, intended for system recovery in the case of software or hardware faults. It is able to create backup copies of normally working system and restore system to saved state. It contains the best system software ever created, properly compiled and configured for the maximum efficient use.
You may download image builder utility which creates image of bootable CD-ROM (.ISO file), plus basic set of system tools. When the image is ready, write it to CD-R or CD-RW, and then everytime you'll need convenient and powerful system tools they'll be just at hand.
It is easy to customize the disk for your needs. You can include to CD any program you like, or remake the structure of CD completely. All you need is to change a few lines in configuration XML files.
Download Link

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor:
This is a utility to reset the password of any user that has a valid (local) account on your NT system. You do not need to know the old password to set a new one. It works offline, that is, you have to shutdown your computer and boot off a floppydisk or CD. It'll detect and offer to unlock locked or disabled out user accounts. It is also an almost fully functional registry editor.
Download Link

Windows XP Login Recovery:
Login Recovery is a service to reveal user names and recover passwords for Windows NT, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista. As long as you have physical access to the computer, your passwords can be recovered.
Download Link

Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD):
Ultimate Boot CD runs independently of any operating system. It will boot from any Intel-compatible machine, regardless of whether DOS/Windows/Linux/BeOS is installed on the machine. However, you do need an operating system and a ISO-capable CD writer software to create the Ultimate Boot CD from the downloaded ISO image file.
Download Link

5th Method:

If all fails, then simply reinstall Windows and create new accounts. To recover lost data, you can use Data recovery tools available on net but the chances will be very low to get data back.
That's all we can suggest. If you have any other method / tool, feel free to post here.