In this article, I describe 12 ways for resetting the administrator password on Windows 7, Vista, or Windows XP. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Make sure you use the right procedure for your situation.

If you forgot the admin password and have no other account with administrator rights, things can get tricky. The methods and free tools explained here can reset the Windows password for all Windows versions—that is, for Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 R2. In this article I only talk about the Windows client editions, but the methods also work for the corresponding server versions. The methods described here are not for resetting lost domain administrator passwords.

As system administrator, you are usually confronted with this problem if users have admin rights on their machines. Even if you don’t have to reset a password now, you should get acquainted with this issue. Rest assured that sooner or later a user will bug you with this problem. I must admit that I managed to forget my password more than once.

Note that I published this article a few years ago, but since then I updated it several times and added a few new methods. Not much of the original article is left except the numerous comments below. As you can see, forgetting the Windows password is a common problem.

1. Use your password reset disk to recover the Windows password

Vista and Windows 7 allow you to create a password reset disk, which enables you to reset your password without much hassle. The problem with this option is that you have to create the reset disk before the password is lost. Thus if you don’t have a password reset disk, this option is not for you. You can find a description of how to create a password reset disk here.

2. Restore Windows 7 or Windows Vista to a previous state

If you configured a new password recently and can still remember the password you used before, then you can restore Windows to a point in time before you changed the password. The Restore function of Windows 7 and Windows Vista will make sure that you don’t lose personal data. However, programs that have been installed since the corresponding restore point have to be installed again. All you need for this procedure is a Windows 7 or Windows Vista setup DVD. A detailed description of this method can be found here. If you are uncertain what System Restore is doing with your computer, read this first. This approach doesn’t work with Windows XP.

3. Boot up Windows XP in Safe Mode and log on with the built-in administrator account

When you installed Windows XP, you had to set a password for the Administrator account. If you still know this password, you can boot up in Safe Mode (by pressing F8 when your computer starts) and log on with the Administrator account. Read this Microsoft Knowledge Base article for more information about Safe Mode. Note that whenever you reset the password for a user using another account, this user will no longer be able to access files that have been encrypted with EFS (Encrypted File System). Stored credentials in the Windows Vault and Internet Explorer will also no longer be available. This method doesn’t work in Vista and Windows 7 because the administrator account is disabled by default in Safe Mode with these Windows versions. Below you will learn how to enable the built-in admin account in Windows 7 and Vista.

4. Use the Sticky Keys trick to reset the Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP password

The Sticky Keys trick to restore a forgotten administrator password is reliable, easy to carry out, and does not require third-party software. All you have to do is boot up from a Windows 7 or Windows Vista setup DVD, launch the Windows Recovery Environment (RE), and then replace the sethc.exe file with cmd.exe. You can also use this method for Windows XP, but you have to use a Vista or Windows 7 DVD.

5. Offline enable the built-in administrator account in Windows 7 and Vista

This method is useful if no other user account on this machine has administrator privileges. You also need a Windows setup DVD (Vista or Windows 7). With this DVD you can boot up Windows RE and edit the Registry to offline enable the built-in administrator account. Also read my article about the offline Registry editor if you don’t know how to edit the Registry in offline mode. After you enable the built-in Administrator, you can log on with this account without requiring a password and then reset the Windows password of any user account.

6. Get Petter Nordhal-Hagen’s free ntpasswd tool to reset the Windows password

The downside of this option is that you have to create a password reset CD first. Then you can boot up with this CD and manipulate the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. Please note that resetting the password with third-party tools can also cause data loss as described in option 4. Also note that this tool comes without any warranty. However, I’ve been using it quite a few times and never had any problem with it. The latest version also supports Windows Vista and Windows 7. The advantage of this method is that it is quick if you already have the password CD in your tool box. Thus it is useful for admins who have to perform this procedure often. In all other cases I recommend option 4. You can download the tool here.

7. Use the free Trinity Rescue Kit (TRK) to recover the admin password

The Trinity Rescue Kit (TRK) is a troubleshooting solution that belongs in every admin’s tool box. Please read my review of the Trinity Rescue Kit for more information. This great tool allows you to reset the password of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. It works similar to ntpasswd. After you have booted up with the TRK CD, you have to enter the command winpass -u user_name and then follow the instructions. Sometimes setting a new password doesn’t work; in this case, just set an empty password.

8. Use the free Kon-Boot tool to remove Windows passwords

I reviewed the free Kon-Boot tool a few days ago, and I can’t really recommend it because it crashed two Windows 7 installations during my test. I mention this free password reset tool here for the sake of completeness and because it is quite famous. Its main advantage is that it is very quick. You only have to boot up from the Kon-Boot CD and the tool will do the rest for you. It changes the contents of the Windows kernel on the fly while booting allowing you to log on without password. Thus the tool doesn’t change the SAM database. If you reboot again without using Kon-Boot you need the old passwords.

9. Use the free NTPWEdit tool to reset the Windows password

Especially if your computer doesn’t have a CD or DVD drive, you have to create a bootable Windows USB flash drive and then you can use the free Windows password reset tool NTPWEdit. Don’t forget to add NTPWEdit to the USB stick before you boot up.

10. Use Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset to reset the administrator password

MSDaRT is a toolset from Microsoft that allows you to repair a Windows installation. This tool is only available for Microsoft volume customers, TechNet Plus subscribers, and MSDN subscribers. You can easily recover an admin password with its Locksmith tool. Please check out my review about MSDaRT for more information.

11. Get a commercial password reset tool

Many commercial tools are available that allow you to reset the Windows administrator password. Technically, they do the same as the free tools. Some of them might be easier to use or come with better instructions than the free tools. But before you spend money, I recommend trying the other options I described in this article. I don’t want to recommend a particular tool here. However, I would prefer a tool where the vendor offers support in case you run into problems. Be careful—there are many black sheep exploiting desperate people by selling overpriced tools.

12. Reinstall Windows

This might sound like a joke, but in some cases this is the best method. For instance, if you don’t want to lose your EFS-encrypted files or stored credentials by resetting your password, but you desperately need the computer, you can just install Windows a second time. You will have access to all the files of the previous installation. Just make sure that you don’t overwrite the original Windows installation during the Windows setup. This allows you to boot up the original Windows installation at a later time. I am sure you will remember your forgotten Windows password sooner or later. As to my own experience, the old password will pop up in your mind right after you finish the installation and go to configure your new administrator password.

Please let me know in a comment below if you’ve heard of another option for resetting the Windows password.

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This article explains how you can rearm Office 2010 and for what you need this feature.

Office 2010 is certainly the best Office suite out there. However, compared to Office 2007 it has one major drawback: Like Vista and Windows 7, Office 2010 has to be activated. However, Office 2010 behaves a little different than Windows if it is not activated. Rearming Office 2010, that is resetting the grace period, works similar as rearming Windows.

Office 2010 Reduced Functionality Mode

Retail versions of Office 2010 will only run in Reduced Functionality Mode (RFM) after the grace period of 30 days has been exceeded. In RFM Office, documents can only be viewed but not modified.

Volume editions of Office 2010 don’t have an RFM. However, Office will start nagging users with messages after 25 days. You can just imagine how many helpdesk calls it will provoke if you don’t ensure that Office 2010 has been activated during this grace period.

Activating Office 2010

You can use the latest version of the Key Management Host (KMS) or activate Office 2010 with VAMT. Either way shouldn’t be doable within 25 days after the installation.

However, it might be difficult to activate Office 2010 during the grace period if you deploy a pre-installed Office with an OS image. The grace period begins immediately after you installed Office 2010 on your master PC. If you have to perform other configurations before you create the master image, then it is quite possible that 25 days is too short. You also have to take into account that it might take some time until Office finds a KMS host or until you activate it manually.

This is where Office 2010 rearm comes in. This features allows you reset the grace timer to 30 days grace. If you rearm Office right before you create the OS master image, you can be sure that you have the full 25 days before users will bothered with Office activation notifications or before the retail edition goes into Reduced Functionality Mode after 30 days.

How to rearm Office 2010

You will find some complicated instructions on the Web of how to rearm Office 2010. Most of these articles were written before Office 2010 was released. There are also third party tools that allow you to rearm Office 2010. However, I recommend following Microsoft’s instructions. This topic is too sensitive to rely on third party tools.

To rearm Office 2010, you only have to run ospprearm.exe in %installdir%\%Program Files%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform from an elevated command prompt. "%Program Files%" has to be replaced with %Program Files (x86)% if you installed Office 2010 32-bit on Windows 64-bit.

Rearm Office 2010 – ospprearm.exe

Since you can rearm up to 5 times, you can run Office 2010 for 180 days (30 days + 5 x 30 days) without activating it, if you rearm it every time after the 30 days grace period has been reached.

Another effect of rearming Office 2010 is that the client machine ID (CMID) is reset. The KMS host uses the CMID to identify unique clients. This allows the KMS host to count Office 2010 correctly.

Rearming Office 2010 Trial

Office 2010 rearm could also be useful if you installed Office 2010 Trial. The Office 2010 Professional Plus Trial comes with a special activation code that will allow you to test Office 2010 for 60 days. There are reports on the web indicating that you can also rearm the trial version of Office 2010. Office 2010 Trial indeed comes with ospprearm.exe. However I doubt that rearming will work after you used the trial activation code because rearming makes only sense with an Office installation that hasn’t been activated.

Office 2010 Activation Wizard

You can run Office 2010 Trial without activating it but every time you launch the Office 2010 Activation Wizard will pop up. If you cancel this dialog, you can continue using the Office application. I suppose this will only work for 30 days. If you have experience with rearming Office 2010 Trial, please let me know.

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In the last article I looked at the installation of the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2010. In this part I’ll cover the important considerations in choosing which platform to go with. This principally comes down to the advantages and disadvantages of Office 2010 64-bit.

Office 2010 64-bit advantages

Apart from the general ability to address more physical memory, the main advantages of using the 64-bit version of Office 2010 will be experienced by power Office users, who, for example, might use Excel spreadsheets which reference massive amounts of data, or who regularly work with Office files greater than 2GB in size. Microsoft Project also benefits, with the ability to handle large, multiple subprojects contained with the main project.

64-bit machines also have a security advantage via mandatory hardware-based DEP (Data Execution Prevention) for native 64-bit applications. With the 64-bit version, this protection is now available to Office.

Office 2010 64-bit disadvantages

The increased protection and scalability of Office 2010 64-bit unfortunately comes at a cost.

Many applications interface directly with Office, either via ActiveX controls (eg: Internet Explorer) or third-party add-ins (eg: Adobe Acrobat or internally-developed business apps). Because these external interfaces have never had to be made available in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavours, some applications won’t be able to natively communicate with the 64-bit version of Office 2010 until ISVs and in-house developers have had the time and opportunity to update their solutions accordingly. Office 2010 64-bit will install some 32-bit ActiveX controls so that the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer can interface correctly, but even then some functionality like “Edit in Datasheet” will only work in Office 2010 32-bit.

Microsoft Access database files which have had the source code removed cannot be accessed cross-platform. For example, an .MDE file developed with a 32-bit version of Office cannot be used on Office 2010 64-bit. Likewise, an .MDE file developed on Office 2010 64-bit cannot be used on a 32-bit version of Office.

Differences in “bitness” (a registry key which records the application version) can cause issues in OLE scenarios. When a registered application on an OLE server is different to the installed version, or if a 32-bit object is embedded into a 64-bit application, compatibility issues may be encountered. Additionally, because there is a lack of Intel MMX technology support on 64-bit processors, 64-bit GDI (Graphics Device Interface) may experience some differences in performance compared to the 32-bit version.

Finally, some VBA code written for 32-bit applications will not automatically function seamlessly on a 64-bit platform, and will need to be updated accordingly, as will custom applications which make MAPI calls to Microsoft Outlook.

These various considerations may mean that, in spite of the benefits it provides, Office 2010 64-bit is not a viable option for many customers. This is why, from the position of maximising compatibility within customers’ environments, Microsoft is recommending the 32-bit version regardless of the bitness of the underlying operating system.

Office 2010 32-bit recommended

By default, the Office 2010 media will install the 32-bit version. There is a setup.exe in the x64 folder on the installation media which will install the 64-bit version.

Microsoft’s approach is unsurprising. In spite of the increased popularity of 64-bit operating systems, true 64-bit applications still remain the domain of power users – users who exclusively use a small range of applications in a way which is far more advanced compared to the usage of the vast majority of everyday users. This is also true in other areas which rely heavily on computing, such as digital art and CAD.

Personally, while I’m a heavy Office user there is no way that I could ever push it hard enough to justify installing the 64-bit version, but all my Windows 7 machines are 64-bit and I’m looking forward to seeing how much better the 32-bit version of Office 2010 runs. However, this is not to say that 64-bit applications won’t become the norm over time, and Microsoft have done a good job in continuing to push 64-bit computing across all aspects of the IT industry.

Also read the first part of this article: The installation of the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2010

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For Windows PE 1.0, the minimalist Windows based on Windows 2003/XP, you needed an SA (Software Assurance), OEM, or ISV license. When Windows Vista was released everyone had access to Windows PE 2.0. This also applies to the Windows 7-based edition, Windows PE 3.0. Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment) was originally designed to deploy Windows. However, it is also useful in creating your own customized rescue boot media. In this article, I will describe how you can create a bootable Windows PE 3.0 (WinPE) USB stick, and, in my next post, I will show how to add your own rescue tools and how to keep your rescue stick up-to-date without much hassle. You will see that the procedure described here is much more convenient than most solutions you’ll find on the web.

1. Create a bootable USB drive

Before you get started, you have to make your flash drive bootable. I have already described this procedure in my post about the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. For your convenience here is the command sequence, which you should run on a command prompt with admin rights:

1. diskpart
2. list disk
3. select disk #
4. clean
5. create partition primary
6. select partition 1
7. active
8. format quick fs=fat32
9. assign
10. exit

Replace ‘#’ with the drive number of your USB drive. Be careful to choose the right disk in 3 because this procedure will erase the whole drive!

2. Copy the WinPE 3.0 files to the USB drive

WinPE 3.0 is part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) for Windows 7, which you can download here. Once you have installed the WAIK, you’ll find a folder of the Windows AIK on the Windows Start Menu. Launch the Deployment Tools Command Prompt and enter this command:

1. copype.cmd x86 c:\winpe_x86
2. Then, copy winpe.wim to the correct folder:
3. copy c:\winpe_x86\winpe.wim c:\winpe_x86\ISO\sources\boot.wim
4. Now, copy WinPE to your USB drive:
5. xcopy C:\winpe_x86\iso\*.* /e G:\

In this example, ‘G:’ is the drive letter of your flash drive.

Now you should be able to boot from your WinPE 3.0 USB drive. In my next post, I will outline the interesting part—that is, how to prepare your USB drive so that you can add new tools without starting again from scratch.

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In my last post, I described my experiences with Vista x64. Today I will focus on two important topics related to the Windows 7 64-bit vs. Windows 32-bit controversy: memory and performance.

Memory

The most significant advantage of a 64-bit system is that it can use more than 4GB of RAM. One thing that has changed since I last concerned myself with this topic is that most new desktops and laptops now come with at least 4GB of RAM. The problem is that like Vista, Windows 7 x86 is capable of only using about 3 GB of RAM. By contrast, Windows 7 x64 cannot only make use of up to 16TB 192GB RAM, but is capable of using the memory remapping feature of modern BIOSes, which allows the operating system to really use the complete 4GB. Thus, if you install Windows 7 64-bit on a 4 GB machine you won’t waste 1 GB of RAM like you would with Windows 7 32-bit.

Moreover, it is only a matter of time until 3GB will no longer be enough for modern applications. One example is Windows 7′s XP Mode feature, which allows you to use legacy applications within a virtual machine running within Windows XP. This feature might prove to be useful for other purposes, for example running Office 2007 and Office 2003 on the same computer simultaneously. Since XP needs 512 MB-1GB to run properly, XP Mode is a RAM eater. As such, if you now deploy Windows 7 32-bit then you might be soon want to move to 64-bit, just because you will have to upgrade your machines with new memory. My own laptop has 8 GB of RAM and I can tell you that I need every byte of it. I’m lucky that my laptop supports up to 16GB.

Performance

In a previous article about Vista x64, I outlined how the 64-bit version will usually only perform better as it allows you to use more memory, rather than because of its computing capacity. Only applications that are optimized for 64-bit will run faster than their 32-bit counterparts. There are now significantly more 64-bit apps out there than a year ago, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that they will be faster than their 32-bit counterpart. Usually, there is only a special 64-bit edition because the 32-bit version wouldn’t run properly on a 64-bit Windows OS.

This is different only for some performance-dependent application types, such as mathematical software or video editing programs. Hence, if you have software whose vendor explicitly endorses 64-bit, then you might notice improved speed with Windows 7 x64.

On the other hand, Windows 7 64-bit won’t slow down your computer. There might be a little overhead in some computations because it logically takes longer to process 64 than 32 bits. However, in practice you won’t realize the difference. All performance tests I’ve seen prove that in most cases there is simply no noteworthy difference between 64-bit and 32-bit when it comes to performance.

However, this might soon change. There is no doubt that the future belongs to 64-bit. More and more software vendors will offer special 64-bit editions of their applications as time goes on. The most prominent software will be Microsoft Office 2010, which will also have a 64-bit variant. It remains to be seen whether Excel or Access will perform better in 64-bit.

In the next article of this series, I will cover Windows 7 64-bit’s software and hardware compatibility.

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Remote Desktop tutorial was written by Gilberto J. Perera from LaptopLogic.com. On LaptopLogic you can read the latest news on laptop software and go through the best cheap laptop reviews.

This guide below will walk you through the process of setting up your Windows 7 computer to handle incoming Remote Desktop Connections from authenticated users and how to connect to a remote computer. If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.

Note: Windows 7 build 7000 was used for this guide

Setting Up Remote Desktop

1. Go to Start (the Orb) > Control Panel > User Accounts

2. In the Control Panel, click on the System and Security link

3. Under System click on Allow remote access

4. Select Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication under Remote Desktop. Click Apply.

Note: If you would like to connect using a computer that does not support Network Level Authentication choose Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop.

5. Click on the Select Users… button and click the Add button in the Remote Desktop Users window.

6. Click the Advanced… button in the Select Users window, click on the Find Now button to locate the users that you would like to grant access to via Remote Desktop, click on the user and click OK when done.

7. Click OK 3 times to exit all of the dialog boxes.

Your Windows 7 Machine is now ready to be connected via Remote Connection.

Connecting to a Remote Desktop

This section will walk you through the process of connecting to a remote desktop on your network.

1. Go to Start (the Orb) > All Programs > Accessories > Remote Desktop Connection

2. Type the address of the remote computer in the Computer: text box, click Connect

Note: I connected to a computer located on my network

3. Sign-on to the computer when prompted for credentials.

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Last year, I wrote a short article that explains what you can do if you forgot your password. Some of those who commented on the article recommended the Trinity Rescue Kit (TRK), a free Linux-based recovery solution. However, TRK can do much more than just reset passwords. Like MSDaRT, which I reviewed some days ago, it can be helpful to recover a Windows installation in offline mode.

TRK comes as an ISO file which you have to burn to a CD. It is also possible to boot from a USB stick. After booting, you have several options for how to start TRK. Most of them are related to possible driver problems you might experience once you start TRK. You can also test the system memory here before TRK starts.

In most cases, the default settings are the best choice. I tried TRK under VMware Workstation 6, and encountered only one minor driver issue. TRK didn’t support my German keyboard. This is not a big deal if you are familiar with the English keyboard mapping. However, I think, this indicates that driver problems might be one of TRK’s weaknesses.

Once TRK has been loaded, you will find yourself on a Linux prompt. Hence, you have no other choice than to consult the documentation. You can do that by entering “trkhelp”. Most of the commands are quite easy to handle; you don’t have to be a Linux expert. However, basic Linux knowledge is sometimes required.

These are the main tools of TRK:

Mountallfs

This tool scans all local storage devices and mounts their filesystems. Once you have access to your Windows installation’s filesystem, you can work with Linux commands like cp or rm to make changes. You can also use the text editor vi, but Windows users will probably prefer pico.

Fileserver

The tool behind Fileserver is Samba, the famous Linux implementation of Microsoft’s SMB/CIFS networking protocol. Fileserver allows you to access the filesystem remotely from a Windows box. This way you can change the files of your patient remotely with your familiar Windows tools.

Viruscan

Some viruses can only be removed when the operating system isn’t running, because they replicate faster than the antivirus software can kill them. TRK comes with four different scan engines: Clamav, F-prot, Grisoft AVG, and BitDefender Scanner. This is certainly a nice feature because it increases your chances of coping with new malware. All scanners can be updated online, directly from the TRK command prompt.

Winpass

This tool allows you to reset any user’s password without knowing the administrator password. Note that if you didn’t export private keys, you won’t be able to access EFS encrypted files anymore. This is always the case with tools that reset the password while Windows is offline. You should also be careful when you disable syskey, because all local passwords will become invalid. Read the manual carefully!

Regedit

TRK comes with a command-line based registry editor. For example, the ls command lists all keys, and with the cd command, you can navigate to a subkey. This is certainly a very inconvenient way to edit the registry.

Clonexp

Clonexp can create an image of an NTFS partition and copy it to another computer. This can be useful if you want to create a backup of your disk before you start messing with it.

Ntfsundeleteall

The name of this tool speaks for itself. Undelete only works if the files haven’t been overwritten yet by Windows. If you have ever accidentally deleted important files which you can’t recover via the Windows Recycle Bin, I recommend pulling the power plug of your computer immediately, and then trying to undelete them with a tool like TRK while Windows is offline.

TRK is certainly a useful tool if you are not afraid of Linux. However, it is not really a match for MSDaRT. Microsoft’s solution is not only easier to use, it also offers more tools to recover a Windows installation. But the Trinity Rescue Kit has one essential feature that MSDaRT lacks. It is free!

Trinity Rescue Kit

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One of the first things I usually do when I install a new Windows Server in a test environment, is to turn off Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration (IE ESC). I am talking about this little prompts that get on your nerves whenever you open a website in Internet Explorer on a Windows Server. I described how to disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security in Windows Server 2003 a while back. Since it is one of the popular articles here on 4syosps and because the procedure is different on Windows Server 2008, I decided to post a follow-up to save you from this constant security prompts.

Usually, when you explain publicly how to turn off a security feature you will be confronted with protests in a moralizing undertone. Feel free to do this in a comment box below. I appreciate all kinds of objections. But let me explain first why I think that disabling Internet Explorer Enhanced Security is a good thing to do.

First of all, one shouldn’t open web pages on production server, anyway. So the best way to enhance security would be if one could uninstall IE entirely. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t allow this, though IE ESC comes very close to a disabled Internet Explorer. Not because it really enhances security, but because it makes IE literally useless.

I just tried to access Microsoft’s homepage on a freshly installed Windows Server 2008. I had to click about ten times on this security prompt until the page was finally displayed. If you decide not to add the site to the trusted sites zone you might get away with just six clicks. If you click on any link the click orgy will usually start again. On other sites it might even be worse. I wonder who really uses IE on a server this way. And, I seriously doubt, that those who really do, know what they are actually adding to their trusted site zones all the time.

Anyway, my recommendation is to use Opera if you really have to access web pages on a productive server. This browser is more secure than IE or Firefox because the bad guys usually only focus on popular browsers.

In a test environment, where one doesn’t need this extra security, it makes sense to just disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security. In Windows Server 2003, one has to uninstall the corresponding Windows Component. In Windows Server 2008, this doesn’t work anymore. You have to click on the root folder in Server Manager. Then you scroll down to the Security Information Section and click “Configure IE ESC”. You can turn off IE ESC for Administrators and/or for users. The latter probably only makes sense in a Terminal Server environment.

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Update: I have written a new article about turning off indexing in Windows 7 and Vista. Read this first before you proceed. If you installed Vista SP1, there are other ways to disable indexing.

Vista comes with a new indexing service which improves desktop search. It not only makes search faster, but also adds some nice features. The one I like most is that it allows you to search very fast for mails in Outlook. There are, however, cases where you might want to disable Vista’s search indexing.

Good desktop search tools index your hard disk only whenever the PC is idle. This seems to be different with Vista. I often saw the corresponding processes (SearchProtocolHost, SearchFilterHost, SearchIndexer) active even though my computer was quite busy with other tasks. This can decrease the overall performance tremendously.

Another reason why you might want to disable Vista search indexing is, if you are using another desktop search solution. Or perhaps you only rarely search for files on your PC. If it is not the reduced performance, then it could be the constant activity of your hard disk, whenever indexing starts, that might get on your nerves. And if you install Vista in a virtual environment, for example, VMware Workstation or Virtual PC, I recommend disabling it anyway since it will slow down your VM significantly.

I know of three ways to turn off Vista’s search indexing:

1. Navigate to Control Panel, choose “Uninstall a Program” under “Programs” and then click on “Turn Windows features on or off“. There you can disable the Indexing Service Navigate to Control Panel/System and Maintenance/Indexing Options. There you can remove all locations or only those you use rarely.
2. It is also possible to disable indexing for a certain drive or enable it only for selected folders. You can do this by changing the Properties of a drive or folder (right click on drive letter in Windows Explorer).
3. The fasted way is to simply disable the Windows Search service. Run Services (just type “Services” at the Start Search bar), right click on the Windows Search service and select “Properties”. Then choose “Disabled” for the start type. Afterwards, you have to stop this service by right clicking on it and selecting “Stop”.

The first option is the one you will quite often find on the Web. But I found out that Windows Search remains active after disabling it this way. The second option works, however, it takes quite long time until all files in all subfolders have been excluded from indexing. Thus, the third option is the best one. You don’t have to reboot, as with the first option, and if your want to enable it again later, it will cost you just a couple of mouse clicks.

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You probably know that the C:\Documents and Settings folder doesn’t exist anymore in Vista. It was replaced by the C:\Users and C:\ProgramData. Vista uses symbolic links pointing to these new folders for compatibility reasons. However, many guides still refer to the old folder structure. There is a simple trick for using the old folder name in Windows Explorer, though. This way you can find configuration files easier.

If you want to see the symbolic links, you have to enable first “Show hidden files and folders” in Folder Options. To access the Folder Options you must press “ALT” in Windows Explorer to make the menu visible. You’ll find them under tools.

Now, you should be able to see Documents and Settings. But if you double click on it, you’ll get an error messages. Even administrators don’t have enough NTFS rights to navigate to this folder. It is not even possible if you change the rights by taking the ownership.

You can, however, navigate to subfolders of Document and Settings by entering the corresponding folder name in the address bar of Windows Explorer. For example, just type C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\ and you will see all of the user profiles’ subfolders, you know from Windows XP.

This also works if you use a language pack other than English. On a German Vista edition, you can type C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\, for instance.

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1. VMware P2V Assistant VMware offers a tool for this purpose. The only problem with this option is that the VMware P2V Assistant is quite expensive. Prices start at about $2,500 for the VMware P2V Assistant Starter Edition which allows 25 migrations. The VMware P2V Assistant Enterprise Edition costs more than $6,100.

2. PlateSpin PowerConvert Platespin PowerConvert seems to be a more sophisticated tool since it allows any kind of conversion. It not only supports VMware but also Microsoft’s format. Prices start at 2,619 Euro.

3. Ultimate-P2V plug-in for BartPE BartPE helps you to boot Windows XP/2003 from CD-ROM. It is similar to Microsoft’s Windows Preinstallation Environment. Ultimate-P2V, a plug-in for BartPE, allows you to clone a physical machine to a virtual machine. BartPE and Ultimate-P2V are free, but you need a cloning tool like Symantec’s Ghost which is not free. Compared to solution 1 and 2, it is much cheaper though. I didn’t try Ultimate-P2V. At first glance, this option seems to be only for advanced system administrators.

4. Use a cloning tool with boot CD This option is quite similar to 3, however, you need a cloning tool that supports creating boot CDs, where you can store the image. Using an imaging solution means that you have to exchange the HAL with one that suits the new “hardware” environment. This site has a detailed description. 5. Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005 Migration Toolkit The Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Migration Toolkit is free, but it only helps you to convert physical machines to Microsoft’s virtual machine format. However, you can import this format in VMware Server or VMware Workstation. The problem with this solution is that the Migration toolkit requires Windows Server 2003 Automated Deployment Services (ADS), although for free, only runs on Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition. The whole procedure to migrate a physical server to a virtual machine is quite complicated. Check out this white paper to learn how it works.

6. Install a new virtual server and restore a backup If you only have a few physical servers that you want to convert to virtual machines then this might be the fastest way. Of course, you don’t have to install Windows for every new virtual machine. If you have VMware Workstation you can clone them and if you only have VMware Server you can just copy the folder containing the virtual machine of your master server. Don’t forget to run sysprep afterwards to get a unique Windows Server, then restore a backup of the physical server to the new virtual machine. Don’t restore the hardware specific settings of your physical server.

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Today, my Windows XP test system running in a virtual machine under VMware Workstation 5.5 complained that there is not enough space anymore on the system partition. I thought it can’t be too complicated to resize a virtual disk. After all, it is only virtual. I hoped to solve this problem within 5 minutes or so. Well, here’s how it went:

I was disappointed the first time when I realized that one can’t change the size of a virtual disk with the VMware user interface. So I googled this problem, hoping to find an easy-to-use tool. What I found out was that the virtual disk can be resized on the command line using the VMware Virtual Disk Manager Utility. The documentation about this feature on the web is for VMware Workstation 4.5, but it also works with version 5.5 and also for VMware GSX Server.

The command to expand a virtual disk looks like this:

vmware-vdiskmanager -x 10GB myDisk.vmdk

The new size of the virtual Disk will be 10 GB in this example. myDisk.vmdk is the file of the virtual disk on the host system. Usually this file won’t be located in the same folder as vmware.exe. Thus, you have to specify the full path to the vmdk file. Don’t forget to enclose the path in quotation marks, if the folder names contain spaces. You can find vmware.exe in the VMware installation folder.

My second disappointment was that one can’t expand a virtual disk if it contains snapshots. With a heavy heart, I deleted all my snapshots of this virtual machine. I was surprised how much time VMware needed for this. The size of the disk was 4 GB and I had three snapshots. I didn’t measure the time, but it must have taken at least 15 minutes. This is amazing considering that it only takes a few seconds to create a snapshot.

Finally, I was able to expand the virtual disk. The virtual disk manager needed several minutes to enlarge the virtual disk to a size of 10 GB. Of course, you can only do this after you shut down the virtual machine. It is recommended that you backup the vmdk file first, just in case something goes wrong.

I was disappointed the third time when the Virtual Disk Management Utility eventually finished its task. Expanding the virtual disk was successful, but the tool suggested using a third-party tool to resize the partitions within the virtual disk. So basically I was back to where I started. I, now, had a bigger virtual disk, but the system partition of my virtual machine still remained the same size.

Luckily, I remembered that I have an old version of Partition Magic. Since my virtual disk was full, I had to create a second virtual disk on this virtual machine first to get some free space for Partition Magic. I suppose, you know that one can add a new virtual disk by changing the virtual machine settings. Partition Magic 7.0 had no problems enlarging the system partition on my VMware virtual disk.

All in all, it took me about an hour to resize my virtual disk, including the search for a solution for my problem and the time to find my old Partition Magic. I guess I was a bit too optimistic with my five minutes estimation. I hope that future versions of VMware will offer more comfort here.

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