How to Restrict Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 Usage for a Specific Time

If you think that your kids are spending too much time on the computer, don't get off the computer and warning are not working anymore. It's a bit hard to set parental controls to local accounts and you can't let your kids mess up with your works by giving them the administrator account, with restrictions. You can use this simple trick to set a time frame that restrict to access Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 user account using the Command Prompt (CMD). 

How to Restrict Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 Usage for a Specific Time

Click on Start menu, type run and search for Command Prompt (CMD) and run as "Administrator". In the Command Prompt, type net user username / times: day, time

Replace username with the username of the account that you'd like to restrict the usage. Replace the day with the days that the user will be able to access his/her account, for this you can use initials like M, T, W, Th, F, Sa and Su. Replace the time with the time in which the user will be able to access Windows user account. 

For example : net user rahul /time: M-Sa, 8pm-9pm

You can also set a different time for different days by separating them using a semicolon.

net user rahul /time: M-W, 6pm-7pm; Th-Fr, 7pm-8pm; Sa-Su, 10am-12pm

Note : While setting time in 24-hour format, make sure that it should be in full hours (11:00 or 12:00). Half an hour (11:30 or 12:30) won’t work.

To give complete access to the user then type the following command

net user rahul /time:all

If you've any question, drop a line in comment box!

How to Recover data from Hard disk, USB flash drive or SD card

Hard drive crash or damage, usually include logical damaged and physical damage. The physical damage include scratches on platter, head wear, circuit board short circuit and chip burning. The logical damage includes partition table lost or damage, MBR damage, track servo information error, system information error and section logical error. 

This kind of damage is usually easy to be recovered by just adopting a professional and dedicated program. 

6 signs that may indicate a logical damage

1.A weird sound is coming from computer when it is started normally.

2.Data Error Reading Drive D:, General Failure Reading Drive C: or Sector Not Found error message appears and leads to boot failure, while virus infection is excluded.

3.Scandisk is automatically run to detect disk error each time when system is booted successfully.

4.When performing FDISK to hard disk, you find it was stuck in a certain point, going forward and backward repeatedly.

5.When you plan to format a partition on hard drive, the process is stuck in certain stage and error finally occurs, making you end up in failure.

6.Hard drive read error appears constantly when a file is reading or a program is running, suggesting file corruption and other information. Besides, if the disk reading process takes too long or the blue screen appears during reading, it also suggests that there’s bad sector/track on hard drive. 

Testdisk data recovery software works on Windows, Linux and Mac and file system supported includes FAT, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, HFS, HFS+, EXT2, EXT3 and EXT4. By using this Testdisk software you can recover data from USB flash drive (Pen drive), external and internal Hard disk, SD card etc. 

How to Recover data from Hard disk, USB flash drive or SD card

#1. Download Testdisk for Windows, Linux or Mac from here. Plug in your USB flash drive, SD card or External Hard disk.

#2. Extract the zip file and open the file called Photorec, (Run as Administrator) it will open a Command Prompt. 

#3. Now select a media, which you want to recover and press "Enter". 

Note : If you see the message "Please select the partition table type", you need to select Intel for Windows and press Enter. 

#4. You will see "To recover lost files, PhotoRec need to know the filesystem type where the file were stored", choose other for Windows and Mac and ext2/ext3 for Linux, press Enter.   

#5. Next you'll see "Do you want to save recovered files in....", type Y and press Enter. 

#6. The software recovering the files and save it to the destination folder. It will take around 10 min for 8 GB Pen drive to recover data. 

If you've any question, please drop a line in comment box.

5 Ways to Speed Up Windows 7, 8, or 10 Folder Loading Time

Are you tired of the slow loading time, every time you open a folder in Windows 7, 8 or 10. The loading time is usually slow, if you have a folder with large collection of music, video, documents or photos. Windows 7, 8, or 10 folders are optimized default for pictures and tries to generate thumbnails for all the files in folder, even if the folder doesn't contain any pictures. 

How to Speed Up Windows Folder Loading Time

#1. Disable Thumbnail Preview : Generating preview of your files takes processing cycles and slow down your Windows Explorer. To disable this feature, open my computer or this PC > tap on "Organize" from the menu bar > Folder and Search Options > View and enable the "Always show icons, never thumbnails" checkbox. 

#2. Optimize Folders : Right click on any folder and choose its properties > Customize tab > check General items from the drop down menu and apply the setting to sub folders as well. Now tap on apply and click Ok to save changes. 

#3. Rebuild the Index : The indexing of files and folder can get huge over time with the addition and deletion of data. To speed up folder loading time, you can build index manually. 

Click on Start menu and type index, select Indexing Option > Advanced and enter the administrator password, if prompted to do so. In the Advanced Options dialog box, click the Index setting tab and the click Rebuild. Indexing may take long time to complete, some views and search results may be incomplete till then. 

#4. Add or Remove Columns : Open folder > click view from the menu bar > details. After this you can add new columns, click view from the menu bar and tap on choose details..at the bottom, you find add columns. Enable the checkboxes for the columns you want and disable the columns you dont' want. 

#5. Use third party Windows Explorer : Clover is an extension of the Windows explorer, to add multi-tab functionality similar to Google Chrome browser. The tabs lets you view multiple folders using a single window, which can be great for freeing up clutter and improving efficiency. 

Note : You can also use QTTabBar, BetterExplorer, and Tab Explorerto add tabbed browsing to Windows Explorer.

How to Create Recovery Drive or System Repair Disc in Windows 8 or 10

Windows 8 or 10 allows you to create recovery drive (USB) or system repair disc (CD or DVD) that can be used to troubleshoot problems like startup repair, file system problems, system restore and resetting your PC. Each type of recovery media gives you access to Windows advanced startup options. 

Note : you cannot use Refresh or Reset Your PC features if Windows is installed on a drive with GPT (not MBR) partition table until you force "UEFI only" boot setting in BIOS/EFI. Windows 8 and 10 will not detect GPT partition alignment correctly if BIOS booting is enabled.

How to Create a Recovery Drive (USB flash drive)

To create a bootable USB recovery drive, you need USB flash drive with space at least 256 MB for Windows 8, 4 GB for Windows 10 32bit and 8 GB for Windows 10 64bit.

To open the recovery drive creation tool, press the Windows key and type "create a recovery drive". Click the Setting category and launch the create a recovery drive application.

The Recovery Media Creator opens on your desktop. If your computer came with a recovery partition, you can copy it to the recovery drive, check the box says "copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive in Windows 8 or Backup system files to the recovery drive in Windows 10", otherwise click next. This will increase Recovery Drive space requirements from the default 256 megabytes to about 4 gigabytes in Windows 8.

You'll be prompted to select a connected USB drive and click the create button to copy files into USB drive. 

Windows will warn you that all contents of the selected drive will be deleted. To continue, click create. The drive formatting and file copying process might takes several minutes, depending on the speed of your USB drive, after the drive is ready, click finish. 

How to Create System Repair Disc (CD or DVD)

Open the disc creation tool by pressing Windows key and type recdisc, hit enter. The disc creator will open on the desktop, select the disc burner drive with a writable CD or DVD in it and click the create disc button to create recovery disc. 

Creating the System Repair Disc might take several minutes and after the process is complete, label the disc as instructed.

6 Ways to Boot into Safe Mode in Windows 8 or 10

Safe Mode is one of the most important features of Windows operating system that is present in all recent versions. Safe Mode starts Windows with only a limited sets of files and drivers so you can figure out what's wrong with your PC. 
 

In Windows 7, accessing Safe Mode options was very straight forward. You just need to press F8 key or Shift + F8 after powering the computer. However, the procedure to boot Windows into Safe Mode is little complicated in Windows 8 and Windows 10. Here are 5 different ways to enable Safe Mode in Window 8 or Windows 10.

How to Boot Into Safe Mode in Windows 8 or 10

#1. Use the System Configuration Tool : This is the easiest method to enable Safe Mode in Windows with the help of System Configuration tool. Click on search and find Run desktop app or press Win + R key combination and type msconfig in the run box, hit enter. 

Go to Boot tab, check the box that says "Safe boot". You can also choose the type of Safe Mode you want to boot into:

• Minimal is normal safe mode.

• Alternate Shell is safe mode with command prompt

• Network is safe mode with networking.

Once you've chosen your option click the OK button and restart your machine. Your PC will be booted into Safe Mode automatically.

Note : To exit from Safe Mode, open msconfig again and uncheck the Safe Boot option, then tap OK button.

#2. Use Shift + Restart : Hold Shift and press the Power button at the Windows login screen or in the Settings. Windows will ask you to choose an option, Press Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings and press "Restart".

Once your PC restarted, it displays options like enable debugging, enable boot logging, enable low resolution video, enable Safe Mode, enable safe mode with Command Prompt, disable driver signature enforcement, disable early launch anti-malware protection and disable automatic restart after failure. You need to press number key or function key from F1 to F9, to choose options.

#3. Boot from System Recovery DVD  : Insert the System recovery DVD into DVD ROM and press any key to boot from it. Choose your keyboard layout and click on Troubleshoot. The other steps are identical shown in method 2. 

#4. Boot from a System Recovery Memory Stick : You can use the Recovery Media Creator to create a system recovery drive on a USB flash drive. Boot from the USB flash drive and follow the same instructions as in Method 3.

#5. Use F8 or Shift + F8 : When you turn on a Windows 8 or 10 PC, there's no enough time to detect keystrokes like F2 or F8, much less time to read a message such as "Press F2 for Setup". If you have modern PC with a UEFI BIOS and a fast SSD drive, there's no way, you can interrupt the boot procedure with F8 key or Shift + F8.  On older PCs, with a classic BIOS and no SSD drive, pressing these keys might still work though.

#6. Add Safe Mode to Boot Menu : Open the Command Prompt and type the any of the command given below, hit enter.

bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Windows 10 Safe Mode"

Tap on Start, type msconfig and then select System Configuration. Now click on the Boot tab, you'll see the default OS, and the new entries you created. 

Click the new entry you created for Windows 10 Safe Mode (or whatever you named it). Enable the “Safe boot” check box and make sure that the Minimal option is selected underneath it. Enable the “Make all boot settings permanent” option if it isn’t already. You can also delay the boot time by entering the timeout values from 0 to 9999 seconds. To see the Boot Menu until you pick an OS, set the value to -1. 

You'll be asked to confirm the changes with a Scary warning about everything you've done being permanent. Go ahead and click Yes and restart your computer.

How to Remove Your Number from Turecaller Database

Truecaller is an excellent Global phone number directory available that shows you contact details of unknown numbers calling you. Truecaller fetch the contact details from all it's user's address book, if you've never used the service, your name and phone number could be on Truecaller database. 

Truecaller has some privacy issues and threats which may leads us to trouble. As our number is listed on Truecaller database, it's easily accessible by any unknown person. Truecaller lists the address of the landline numbers and you wouldn't want strangers to know your home address just because you called them from your landline. For this reason, you should remove your number from Truecaller's database. 

Recommended :  Best Methods to Root Your Android Phone



Note : you can't remove your number from the Truecaller database, if you're using the app. You'll have to deactivate you own account to get your number removed. 

How to deactivate your Truecaller account

#1. Windows Mobile : Open the app and tap the three dots in the bottom right corner > Settings > Help > Deactivate account.

#2. Android : Open the app > tap the people icon in the upper left corner > Settings > About > Deactivate account.

Also See : How to Use Reserve Image Search on Your Mobile Phone

#3. iPhone : Open the app > tap the gear icon in the top right corner > About Truecaller > Scroll down > Deactivate Truecaller. 

How to remove your number from Truecaller 

• Go to the Truecaller unlist page.

• Enter your phone number with the correct country code. For example: +911140404040 or +919999999999.

• Tick one of the reasons for unlisting, or if you wish, type your reasons for removal in the Other form.

• Enter Key in the verification Captcha and Click Unlist.

Also See : Best Apps to Block Unwanted Calls in Android Phone

Truecaller claims that it removes these numbers up to 24 hours after receiving an unlist request. This doesn't always mean that your number will stay off the service forever. Your best bet is to keep checking with Truecaller users whether they see your contact details. If they don't, you're good to go. If not, you can always ask them to unlist your number.