Windows

Partition Hard Disk Drive in Windows 7 Using Disk Management

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Creating and partitioning Hard Disk Drives have become very easy in Windows 7 and Vista with its inbuilt Disk Management. We do not need any third party software to create and format Disks in Windows 7. Previously we used to rely on software like Partition Magic etc. but now it has become very easy.

For those who are completely new to partitioning Disk drives, before starting the steps understand the following example:

If you have a drive, say C drive of 200GB and you want to partition it into two more drives, then you need to shrink C drive first. Suppose you have shrunk it to 100GB, then you will have 100GB of unallocated space. Now you can create new drives from the unallocated space, say first one for 60GB drive, and then you can create the second drive for 40GB. Totally you will have three drives now of 100, 60 and 40 GB respectively, after completing the process.

Follow the steps below to shrinking existing drives and creating new partitions in Windows 7.

Step 1: Click Start and type DISK MANAGEMENT in the search box. Click “Create and format hard disk partitions” from the search results.

Hard Disk partition in Windows 7

Step 2: After opening Disk Management successfully, you can see the existing drives in your system. Right click on the drive you want to shrink. Click on Shrink Volume. It may take few seconds to configure the available shrinkable volume.

Hard Disk partition in Windows 7

Step 3: Now type in the amount of space(in MB) you want to shrink. It should be less than or equal to the available shrink space. Then click Shrink.

Hard Disk partition in Windows 7

Step 4: After shrinking the volume, you will find a new volume in the right side labelled as Unallocated Space(the one with BLACK colored label). Right click on it, and select New Simple Volume.

Hard Disk partition in Windows 7

Step 5: Click next in the New Simple Volume Wizard. Then enter the size of the new partition you want to create. It should not exceed the maximum sizes.

Partition Disk Windows 7 e Hard Disk partition in Windows 7

Step 6: Select the Drive letter you want to assign, then click next. Now, select the file system. Usually, we use NTFS(more common) or FAT32.  Type in the Volume label, then click next to format the partition.

Hard Disk partition in Windows 7

Hard Disk partition in Windows 7 After the formatting is done a new disk drive can be seen. That’s it you have successfully partitioned your hard disk drive. I have created four drives for my computer which is shown below:

Disk Management

Note: This steps will also work in Windows Vista but not in Windows XP.

See Hidden Folders In Windows 7 Via Folder Options

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If you have just upgraded your operating system from Windows XP to the latest Windows 7 version, you might have some troubles getting used to using the options and features in Windows 7.This is where we thought we could help you and hence we are starting a series of ‘Windows 7’ tips articles.These are compiled from the problems that we have faced when we started using this latest OS from Microsoft.

I’m starting with the correct way to see hidden files and folders in Windows 7.The one that we do in Win XP with a couple of clicks if you are used to it.Classical method to enable hidden folders in Windows is to go to “Folder Options” from the “Tools” menu from the top section of the window.The problem with Win 7 is that you don’t find “Tools” menu in the top section.It’s hidden actually as you can spot in the below pic.

Hidden Tools Menu and Folder Options in Windows 7

Can’t figure it , right?? Well, as I said it’s hidden.To see it, press ALT button.Now you see the hidden menu appearing in the window.Now you can see those “File, Edit, View, Tools, Help” options in the window.

Using ALT button to open menu

Now it’s simple from here on, just go to Tools>> click Folder options, it’ll open Folder options window.

Check show hidden files, folders in Windows 7

Now Go to “View” tab and check the  “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” option.

Also sometimes you may want to see the hidden protected operating system files in your system, to enable this, uncheck “Hide protected operating system files” option.

That’s it, you have now successfully enabled hidden folders and files to show up in your windows.This process will work unless you have some virus running your system in which case your folder options may be disabled.You can refer to this guide on how to handle such a situation.

More Tips: If you have forgotten your Windows 7 Admin password, read this guide to recover or reset windows 7 password.

How to turn off UAC in Windows 7 and Vista

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Are you getting annoyed of the permission dialogues like “Windows needs your permission to continue”?

If yes, you can easily disable these messages in Windows 7 and Vista.

This is a new security feature and can be controlled using the User Account Control(UAC) Settings.

The dialogue boxes looks like the one shown below.

You can follow the steps below and easily remove the messages every time.

Windows needs your permission to continue

If you are using Windows 7 then it is very easy.Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click Start Button. Type UAC in the search box of the Start Menu and press enter. You can see the UAC panel as shown below.

User Account Control from start menu

User Account Control Settings

Step 2: Now drag the slide to Never notify and click OK.

User Account Control Never Notify

Now you can restart the computer and you will not see any more permission dialogues.

If you are using Windows Vista, then follow the steps below:

Step 1: Open Control Panel. Type UAC in the search box. Click the “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off” link in the left pane.

User Account Control panel

Step 2: Uncheck the “Use User Account Control (UAC)” checkbox and click OK.

User Account Control Check box

Now you can restart your Computer.

Note: Some functionalities like Windows Side Bar may stop working if you keep the UAC as Never notify. In that case you can refer this post to enable the sidebar: Enable Windows 7 Sidebar in easy steps

More "God Mode" Like Windows 7 GUID Shortcuts

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Excited about Windows 7 unseen ‘GodMode’, the age-old windows trick which has got new life last week in Windows 7 ?

GodMode shortcut can be easily setup by creating a new folder and rename it as GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} [Folder name can be anything you want, give it your desired name followed by a period (.) and then the GUID, here GUID part is {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} ]

Note: GUID stands for 'Globally Unique Identifier'

If “God Mode” alone isn’t enough for you, here comes Ed Bott with a nice collection of more such GUID shortcut tricks for you.His collection include tricks that work only on Windows 7 as well as some tricks can even work on Windows Vista too.I have put all of the tricks mentioned by Ed Bott in a nice table, so that it’d easier for you..Do make a note of these and you may bookmark this page for future reference.

1.Windows 7 Only (And Later Versions):

Shortcut GUID code
Action Center {BB64F8A7-BEE7-4E1A-AB8D-7D8273F7FDB6}
Backup and Restore {B98A2BEA-7D42-4558-8BD1-832F41BAC6FD}
Biometric Devices {0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
Credential Manager {1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
Default Location {00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
Devices and Printers {A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}
Display {C555438B-3C23-4769-A71F-B6D3D9B6053A}
HomeGroup {67CA7650-96E6-4FDD-BB43-A8E774F73A57}
Location and Other Sensors {E9950154-C418-419e-A90A-20C5287AE24B}
Notification Area Icons {05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
Recovery {9FE63AFD-59CF-4419-9775-ABCC3849F861}
RemoteApp and Desktop Connections {241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
Speech Recognition {58E3C745-D971-4081-9034-86E34B30836A}
Troubleshooting {C58C4893-3BE0-4B45-ABB5-A63E4B8C8651}

2.Windows Vista And Windows 7:

These GUID shortcuts work on Windows 7 as well as on Windows Vista versions.

Shortcut GUID code
Administrative Tools {D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}
All .NET Frameworks and COM Libraries {1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
All Tasks (Control Panel) {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
AutoPlay {9C60DE1E-E5FC-40f4-A487-460851A8D915}
BitLocker Drive Encryption* {D9EF8727-CAC2-4e60-809E-86F80A666C91}
Computer Folder {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Default Programs {17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
Ease of Access Center {D555645E-D4F8-4c29-A827-D93C859C4F2A}
Font Settings {93412589-74D4-4E4E-AD0E-E0CB621440FD}
Get Programs {15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
Manage Wireless Networks {1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
Network and Sharing Center {8E908FC9-BECC-40f6-915B-F4CA0E70D03D}
Network Connections {7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
Network Folder {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Parental Controls {96AE8D84-A250-4520-95A5-A47A7E3C548B}
Performance Information and Tools {78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}
Personalization {ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}
Power Options {025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
Programs and Features {7b81be6a-ce2b-4676-a29e-eb907a5126c5}
Sync Center {9C73F5E5-7AE7-4E32-A8E8-8D23B85255BF}
System {BB06C0E4-D293-4f75-8A90-CB05B6477EEE}
User Accounts {60632754-c523-4b62-b45c-4172da012619}
Windows Firewall {4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
Windows SideShow** {E95A4861-D57A-4be1-AD0F-35267E261739}
Windows Update {36eef7db-88ad-4e81-ad49-0e313f0c35f8}

* For Ultimate versions only)

** May Slowdown your system

Warning: Trying some of the above shortcuts created problems in some machines running 64-bit Windows, please do take note of it particularly if your machine is Windows Vista 64-bit version based.

The procedure is same as I had posted earlier for GodMode setup,

Create an empty folder

Use the shortcut name that you want to give it, ex: “Network connections” followed by a period (.) following it should be the corresponding GUID shortcut code.

Networks connection GUID GodMode code

Renaming for Networks connection shortcut

Networks connection shortcut

You can try any of the above GUIDs following the same method.

Source, ZDNet

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Tutorial: Enable Secret God Mode In Windows 7 & Windows Vista

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If you are using Windows 7, you might wonder if you come to know there exists a feature called ‘GodMode’ in Windows 7.

The name may sound as joke but it’s actually worth, taking into account access to the huge number of operating system control settings it offers at one place that makes you feel like god, when I tested it on my machine, it gave showed me a total number of 274 times in GodMode folder icon.

Procedure:

Warning: This procedure works well on 32-Bit based Windows 7 and Windows Vista machines.I heard that trying GodMode creates problems in 64bit machine, but it worked for some users though, my sincere advice is to don’t try this if you are using 64bit machine till someone officially announces that it’s safer to do this.

  1. Create a new folder
  2. Rename it to GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
  3. rename folder enter GodMode String
  4. You will now see the following GodMode icon
  5. GodMode icon
  6. You have now successfully created a GodMode icon, open it to see the various control settings that your windows can offer you all at one place.

Windows 7 GodMode control settings list

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Reset Windows XP, Vista, 7 Password Using USB Drive or CD

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A lot of methods are available to recover or reset the Windows password. The famous Ophcrack is used for recovering the password. Even i have posted about using Ophcrack. But the problem is that its bulky in size. We need to download a file of size 500MB to recover the password. So I thought why to recover a lost password, instead why cant we simply reset or delete the password using a 3 MB file open source program.  That is what this post is about. I have not found any other method simpler than this one, it resets your password in the blink of an eye.

The method uses an open source program called Offline NT Password & Registry Editor. We can use a USB Disk Drive (Pen Drive) or burn a bootable CD for this method.

Follow the Steps below:

Step 1: Download the cd080802.zip file from the link below and extract it. It contains an ISO file.

Size: 3.15 MB

http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/cd080802.zip (Updated Working Link 13-01-10)

Step 2: Burn the ISO file to a CD. If you are using a USB drive, then mount the cd080802.iso file to a virtual drive. Open the Virtual Drive and Copy all the contents to your USB disk. If any error comes while copying just skip the file. Now to make the USB Drive Bootable open a Command Prompt(Press Start + R, Type cmd and enter) and type the following commands:

Sl. No.

Command:

Action:

1

j:

Enter

2

syslinux.exe –ma j:

Enter

Here j is my drive letter, you should enter your own drive letter.

View Commands Image

Step 3: Now start the System which you want to reset the password by putting the CD or the USB in the Computer. While start up you have to make sure that it boots up from the correct device i.e. from the CD or the USB. In order to do this go to your BIOS settings and change the boot order as CD or the USB drive as the first option. Or if you know the Boot menu key then press it and Boot from the correct device.

Note: Step 4 to Step 8 takes a very less amount of time. No need to worry!

Step 4: After booting from the CD or the USB, press enter to continue the boot process. In the first step it will automatically select the disk where your windows is installed. Simply press enter to continue. In the Second Step it Will select the path and registry files. Select 1 for password reset (It will select 1 by default, just enter).

View Select Path Image

Step 5: Now after selecting the paths, It will ask “What to do?” Simply press enter as it will automatically select 1 for Edit User Password.

View Select Edit Password Menu Image

Step 6: It will show a list your system usernames and their password status. Now enter the username whose password you want to reset. It is case sensitive so, be careful and type what you see in the users list. (If the user is Administrator just press enter as it has already selected Administrator by default otherwise enter the correct username)

View Select User Menu Image

Step 7: It will show you User Edit Menu. Select 1 to clear the user password.

View User Edit Menu Image

Step 8: It will clear the password. Now Enter “!” to quit from the User select menu. It will again ask “What to do?”. enter “q” to quit. Now in step four it will ask you to write the files or not. Enter “y” to write the files. It will write the files back. Now Simply press enter when it asks for “New run?” as it has selected no by default. The password reset has been successfully completed. Press the power button.

View the Final Step Imge

Now start the computer and you will find that it is not asking for password for the user you had selected. That’s it, you are done.

Important:

1. This method will remove your password not recover. If you do not want to reset the password, you can recover it. Visit: http://techrena.blogspot.com/2009/03/windows-password-recoverycrack-windows.html for password recovery.

2. The method has been tested for windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 and all resulted in success.

3. This is for information purposes only. We are not responsible for any damages or illegal acts resulting from this information.

4. The information provided here should be used for legal purposes only.

5. USB Disk method will not work if your motherboard or BIOS does not support USB booting.

Windows 8 DownloadFeatured Post:

How to Download Windows 8 Pro ISO from Microsoft and Install it to any computer with Upgrade key

Download the newly released Windows 8 Pro 32 or 64-bit version from Microsoft

Missing Folder, File Names in Windows Explorer | Enable it in Single Step.

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Have you ever faced any problem like if you view your folders in Thumbnail Mode then your Folder or file Names are missing and are not displayed. This is a very common problem for Windows Users. When I encountered this problem first I thought some virus has infected my system. But after finding the solution I laughed at myself. You can enable or disable it in a single step.

The missing Folder Names Window looks like as in the image below:

View Missing Folder Names Iamge

Note: This problem is different from Missing Folders in Explorer where hidden files and folders cannot be seen. To solve this problem See How to Show Hidden Files and Folders

Step 1: Now Go Up or back to the parent folder which contains the folders or files that does not display names. Select the parent folder, hold down Shift key and open the folder.

View Enable Folder Names Image

For my case the parent folder is English.

Now you will see the folder and file names. Its that easy.

View Folder Names Displayed Image

By performing the same process again you can disable the Folder or file names in Thumbnails View.

Hope this Solves the Missing Folder and file Name problem in thumbnail view.

Important:

1. This is a functionality of Windows to given more Space to the Thumb images instead of the Folder or file names.

2. This method works in Windows XP and Windows Vista. I don’t think this problem is seen in Windows 7

Change MAC Address or Physical Address Using Registry Editor (regedit) in Windows

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Many people have a wrong conception that changing MAC Address of a computer is not possible or it requires a complex software. But it is not true. Changing MAC or Physical address of your computer is very simple. MAC (Media Access Control) address, Ethernet Hardware Address (EHA), hardware address, adapter address or physical address is a quasi-unique identifier assigned to most network adapters or network interface cards (NICs) by the manufacturer for identification. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer’s registered identification number. Although intended to be a permanent and globally unique identification, it is possible to change the MAC address on most of today’s hardware, an action often referred to as MAC spoofing.

Now getting to the point we can change MAC by using your Windows Registry Editor. The method has been successfully tested in different Wired Ethernet Adapters, Wireless Adapters etc.

Follow the steps below and your MAC will be changed in seconds:

Step 1: Open Registry Editor (Press Start + R, Type regedit and Enter). If you get a message like “Your Registry Editor Has Been Disabled By Your Administrator” then you need to enable it. To Enable Registry Editor Visit: How to enable registry Editor

Step 2: After opening Registry Editor successfully, see the left pane of your registry editor. You can find a series of registry keys. You have to follow the path as:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-xxxx}

For the last key search for the red highlighted part in your Editor. You can refer the image below:

View Change MAC using Regedit Image

Step 3: After opening the last Key you will see a set of keys like 0000, 0001, 0002 etc. You have to open each key and search for values which corresponds to your network adapter. For example, I have an Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection. So in the right side of the editor i found a value which is containing this name. This is how we identify the key for the network adapter. For me i got the key in 0007.

View Find your Network Connection Image

Step 4: Now search for the value NetworkAddress inside the key you have found. If you cant find it right click and create a new String Value of the name NetworkAddress.

View New String Value Image

Step 5: Now change the value as your MAC Address. After Changing the value you can close Registry Editor.

View Change Value ImageView MAC Value Changed Image

Step 6: Now Go to Network Connections and Disable your Adapter. Right Click and select Disable

View Disable LAN Image

After it is disabled Double click on the Network Adapter and it will Enable it.

Step 7: Now go to status of the Adapter and Check The MAC address.

View Check MAC Address Image

You will find your desired MAC Address. Now you have changed your Physical Address successfully.

Important:

1. This method Will not work for Windows Network Bridges.

2. If you keep an invalid MAC address value then your Adapter will not function properly.

Install Windows XP from USB Disk Drive

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Installing Windows XP from a USB drive(pen Drive) has been an issue with less number of ideal solutions available. Here we have given a solution which is easy to follow and which works. The reason why should anybody want to install Windows from a USB drive is that using a bootable CD is always been a problem. Sometimes our CD ROM may not work. Some mini laptops like Asus Eee PC may not have CD ROMs where installation is possible only through USB or an external Drive. One of the main reason why we were interested in this topic is that in the current trend Using a CD is considered primitive. A USB drive is much more easy and more portable. Hence why should anybody not want to carry their Installation files in a bootable USB drive and why would anybody rely on a CD which is easily damageable by rough handling.

The method given here is tested successfully for Windows XP 32 bit installation with SP2 and SP3. It may work with other versions of Windows like Vista and Windows 7 but we have not tested it yet.

[Update: Refer to this guide on How To Install Windows 7 or Vista Using Bootable USB Disk]

Requirements:

1. A USB Drive of minimum 2GB

2. Windows XP installation CD (Back Up will also do)

The method consists of two parts and one file download (around 499KB). We will have touse tools like PeToUSB to format your pen drive and copy the Windows XP installation files to the USB Disk using usb_prep8.cmd. Then we will boot up from the USB Drive and prepare for installation. After the process is completed your XP install is ready for the process.

Now we will start the process:

Step 1: Download the File from the link given below:

Size: 499KB

Name:  usb_boot_prep_xp.zip

http://www.techrena.net/downloads/usb_boot_prep_xp.zip

Password: techrena.net

Step 2: Extract the usb_boot_prep_xp.zip file in your C drive. It will give you two folders named bootsect and usb_prep8. Plug in your USB drive to your computer and put the Windows XP CD also.

Step 3: Go to the usb-prep8 folder and double click usb_prep8.cmd file. Press any key to continue.

View Sart usb_prep8 Image

Step 4: Now it will open PeToUSB. Format your USB drive using it. Select the options as in the image below. Note that after formatting do not close the PeToUSB or the cmd console.

View Format Using petousb Image

Step 5: Now open a new cmd console manually (press Start+L, type cmd and enter). And type the following command in the commands prompt. Note that you should type your own USB drive letter instead of ‘h’.

Sl. No. Command: Action:
1 cd\ Enter
2 cd bootsect Enter
3 bootsect.exe /nt52 h: Enter

View Bootsect command Image

I had copied the folder in D drive. So the image will be somewhat different with the actual display of your console. Don’t worry copy the folder in your C drive only. Now close this cmd console but not the other one.

Step 6. Close PeToUSB. Now the usb_prep8.cmd console will continue. Select 1 to set the source location. Select the CD ROM containing the XP CD.

View Select 1 in usb_prep8 Image

View Select Source Image

Step 7: If you have a drive called T in your computer then check option 2 to change it to any letter which is not present. Otherwise no need to change. Select 3 to set the destination drive. Enter your USB Drive letter as shown below:

View Select USB Drive Image

Step 8: Now select choice 4 as we don’t have any Tempimage previously. It may ask you to delete the existing tempimage. select Yes.View Delete Tempimage Image

Step 9: It will ask you to format the T drive. Enter y and it will format your temp drive. Press any key to continue. Now it will start copying the XP files to the tempdrive.

Step 10: After the completion of the file copy process Press any key to continue. Now it will ask you to copy the files to your USB drive or not. Select Yes.View Copy to USB drive Image

Step 11: During the copy process it will ask whether to change migrate.inf file or not. Is you are using a USB stick then Select Yes. If you are using a USB hard drive then Select No. View Change Migrate Image

Step 12: After the successful completion of copying the files to your USB drive it will ask whether to unmount the Virtual temp drive or not. As you do not need it Select Yes.View Unmount Virtual Drive Image

Step 13: After the successful completion of the process close the cmd console. Now your pen drive is ready for the installation process.

Step 14: Plug in the USB drive to the computer you want to install XP. While start up make sure that you set the first boot choice as your USB drive. To do this you have to enter to the bios and change the boot order to USB Disk as the first choice. For entering to BIOS  press the BIOS setup key while start up. This key is usually seen in the screen in the boot screen. For most of the systems it is DEL key. For HP and Compaq it is F10 etc. Go to the boot configuration tab and change the boot order.

Step 15: While booting up from the USB it will ask you to choose between GUI and TXT mode of setup. Select TXT mode for now.

View Select TXT MODE Image

Step 16: Follow the onscreen instructions. It is same as the usual setup process. In the partition selection screen do not select you USB drive for install. And if you are installing in a new RAW hard disk then your USB Drive will be the C drive. Now first create a new partition and format your HDD using the setup. And again restart the process from step 15 by Quitting the current Install(Press F3). Then you should get your HDD partition as C drive. Continue your installation.

View Select Partition Drive Image

Step 17: Now it will copy a set of files to the hard disk. It usually takes lesser time than a CD ROM installation. After the process it will ask for reboot. Press Enter to reboot immediately.

View Copying Installation Files Image

Step 18: Now while start up select the GUI mode of setup to continue setup.

View Select GUI mode setup Image

Now you can continue your usual setup process. Follow the onscreen instructions carefully. After the setup process which usually takes 39 minutes, it will restart. Now boot from your Hard drive not the USB drive. Again use BIOS settings to make this happen.

Congratulations you have successfully installed Windows XP via a USB Drive.

Important:

1. You can copy the contents of your pen drive if you want for future use. To use in future just format your USB drive with FAT, run the commands given in Step 5 and simply copy paste the files you had saved earlier. No need to run the whole process again.

2. While unmounting the Virtual Temp Drive T, it may fail and ask you to try again. Select No. And  when it asks you to Force unmount select yes.

3. This Method is for informational purpose only and should not be used for Software Piracy and illegal practices.

4. We are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from this information.

5. This method will not work if your motherboard or your BIOS does not support USB booting.

6. This method is an implementation of the guide given in  http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20089. And PeToUSB is a property of http://gocoding.com/page.php?al=petousb

Featured Post:

 

Install Windows 7 or Vista Using Bootable USB Disk Drive

 

Install Windows 7 or Vista Using Bootable USB Disk Drive

Install Windows 7 or Vista to your computer using a flash drive easily following the guide given here in few minutes. No download or software required and clear steps are given.