How to make Windows “forget” network share login

Sometimes in testing network settings and authentication ( for instance when setting up a Samba server and users on a CentOS, Ubuntu, or Feroda Linux system) I often find it useful to force my Windows PC client to “forget” the login username and password that it has on record, for the current session, so that I may login again with another username/password combo. Easily accomplished, this Windows trick works on all modern Microsoft operating systems.

The situation: You need to login again to a network share on a Windows file server, or a Linux server,  without rebooting the client computer.

The fix: Disconnect from the shares using the NET command.

  1. Open a command prompt. (My favorite way is: Win-R, type cmd, press Enter)
  2. Type NET USE * /DELETE
  3. It will prompt you for verification, type Y and Enter.

That’s it! Enjoy, and may your login be forgotten!

Courtesy, Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308582

Posted under Microsoft, Network, Software, Windows

How to Fix an Windows XP System that Won’t Boot into Safe Mode

The following is totally copied from myfixes.com excellent article.

This article applies to the following type of errors:

Unmountable Boot Volume

Can’t run System Restore in normal mode or safe mode, can’t open programs

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\…

Stop: … {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive.

System error: Lsass.exe
When trying to update a password the return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct.


Resolution:

A. Boot the system into the Recovery Console and CHKDSK

1. Insert the Windows XP cd into the top cd drive
2. Turn the computer off
3. Setup the computer to boot from cd: either by pressing F2, F9 or Delete to go in BIOS or by pressing F12 on Dell computers to launch the Boot Device Menu
4. As soon as you get the message Press any key to boot from the cd hit enter.
5. Wait ~3 minutes for the Windows Setup to initialize
6. At the Welcome to Setup screen press R to repair windows using recovery console.
7. Wait a couple of minutes while setup examines the hard drive.
8. You will be prompted to choose a Windows installation. Press 1 on the top of the keyboard and then
9. You will be prompted to enter the Administrator password. Press Enter if no password was set.
10. Perform a disk check:

chkdsk /p
fixboot

11. Type exit to restart the computer.
12. As soon as the computer starts hit F8 every second to bring up the Advanced Options Menu.
13. Choose the Last Known Good Configuration.
14. If these steps didn’t resolve the issue go back in Recovery Console.



B. Perform the System Restore
Inside the Recovery Console type the following commands to change the directory to the system restore directory:

cd \
cd system~1


If you get an Access Denied error:click here
If you don’t get an Access Denied error :

cd _resto~1



If there is no _resto~1 folder or if there are no restore points inside it:click here

If the _resto~1 folder exists, inside it there are several folders named RP1, RP2. These are restore points. RP1 is the oldest restore point. You can use

dir


to view what RP folders are available. If no restore points are available click here. Otherwise choose the most convenient RP folder. Supposing we have RP3 available let’s type in:

cd rp3



Change the directory to snapshot:

cd snapshot


Restore the main registry branches. If you are being asked if you want to overwrite type in y to agree.

copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software

The following commands are most of the time optional however the process might not work if they are not executed

copy _registry_machine_security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy _registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy _registry_user_.default c:\windows\system32\config\default



Type exit to reboot the system. Start the computer normally

Based on:
The support.microsoft.com article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q307545&ID=KB;EN-US;Q307545

The icompute.info article:
http://www.icompute.info/System_restore_from_xp_cd.htm

Posted under Microsoft

How to CHMOD on files but not directories (inodes)

From Linuxquestions.org:

“There are probably several methods, but one is to use find to produce a list of all files (not directories) and then execute chmod on each of them. For example

Code:
find /my/directory -type f -exec chmod 644 '{}' +

Change the red parts to fit your needs. If you wonder what that ‘{}’ is..well, you may have guessed that it’s where the filelist is being put when exec’ing the given command on each file.

You can also first try the command without chmod’ing to see that it affects the right files:

Code:
find /my/directory -type f

The above would find all regular files (not directories, for example) from within /my/directory.

If the command happens to throw you an error about the exec part, chances are it’s because of the plus sign (+) that ends the exec part. In this case try replacing the plus (+) with an escaped semicolon (\;) so it becomes

Code:
find /my/directory -type f -exec chmod 644 '{}' \;

On some machines I remember that it worked with semicolon (which needs a backslash in front of it, to protect it from being interpreted by your shell), but on my current installation it’s the plus sign (without a backslash).

Another way would probably be to list all regular files on the directory (using either find or any tool that can just list all files without directories) and then pipe the output to xargs with which the chmod was run.”

and from http://movabletripe.com/archive/recursively-chmod-directories-only/

June 19th, 2006

find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

This will recursively search your directory tree (starting at dir ‘dot’) and chmod 755 all directories only.

Similarly, the following will chmod all files only (and ignore the directories):

find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Posted under Linux

This post was written by Content Curator on October 17, 2009

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How to delete EISA partition

Assuming you are using Windows XP or Vista, you can use the DISKPART utility to delete these OEM partitions from DELL and other hard drives.

If you have data anywhere on the drive that you will be deleting the EISA partition from, backup that data now.

  1. Connect the drive to the computer. If it is an IDE drive then do this with a USB-to-IDE device, or connect the drive directly to the IDE cable. If ti is a SATA drive then do this with a USB-to-SATA device, or connect the drive direclty to the SATA controller on the motherboard. In essence, the drive must be connected to the PC and it must be “seen” by the operating system.
  2. XP: Start a command prompt in XP by going START > RUN > type CMD <ENTER>
    Vista: Start a command prompt in Vista by going START > type CMD <ENTER> in the “Start Search” box.
  3. In the command prompt type DISKPART <ENTER>. This starts up the DISKPART utility.
  4. Type LIST DISK <ENTER>. This shows the all the disks connected to the computer. Decide which one is the one you are wanting to delete the EISA / OEM partition from, and make note of which number it is.
  5. Type SELECT DISK n <ENTER> (where n = the number of the disk you noted in step 4)
  6. Type LIST PART <ENTER>. This shows the all the partitions contained in the drive you are working with. Decide which one is the one you are wanting to delete, and make note of which number it is.
  7. Type SELECT PART n <ENTER> (where n = the number of the partition you noted in step 6)
  8. Type DELETE PART OVERRIDE <ENTER>. This deletes the partition you selected.
  9. You are done with deleting the partition. If you want to, you may now EXTEND another adjacent partition into that free space you just created.

Enjoy!

Posted under Hardware, Microsoft

This post was written by Content Curator on December 10, 2008

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Convert & Trim DVD video to MPEG-1, freeware style

Download DVD Shrink 3.2 and Flask MPEG 0.594

This procedure assumes: “Files”-type rip of DVD to decrypted VOB using DVD Decrypter

DVD Shrink

  1. Click button Open Files
  2. Navigate to the VIDEO_TS subfolder of the directory that holds the DVD’s decrypted VOB files.
  3. Click button Re-Author
  4. Drag titles from the right-hand pane to the left-hand pane.
  5. To trim: on left-hand pane items, right-click and click Set Start/End Frames…
  6. Set the beginning and ending frames of the segment that you want to keep.
  7. Click button Backup!

Flask MPEG

  1. File >> Open DVD. Find your IFO file made when you trimmed the VOBs
  2. Select the streams you want to include, click Flask this  DVD!
  3. Options >> Global Project Options
    1. Video tab
      1. Frame Size – This dictated the output resolution of the video, as far as quality goes. It does not dictate the viewing size of the video, since this MPEG-1 video is locked in at 352 x 240 for viewing. What this means is that this setting controls video qulity only.
    2. Files tab – set the path and filename for output video.
    3. General Tab
      1. Compiling Time – you can compile the first n frames/seconds of the project, instead of the whole thing. Good for testing settings.
    4. Click OK
  4. Options >> Output Format Options
    1. Video Stream Settings tab – select MPEG-1 and leave the rest defaulted
    2. Program Stream Settings tab – select MPEG-1 and leave the rest defaulted
    3. Audio Stream Settings tab – lower Bit Rate to reduce final file size, and leave the rest defaulted
    4. Click OK
  5. Run… >> Start Conversion
  6. Click Start on the bbMPEG screen that pops
  7. When finished, click Ok on the bbMPEG screen
  8. Test your finished video (segment)

 

Posted under Freeware, Video Editing