So, I promised two examples - here's the second one.
Do you ever have a PC that a client has bought from another company, with legitimate Windows and Office licences, but you haven't got the original disks, and ideally you would reformat and reinstall but to do that would make recovery of the legitimate licences impossible?
Sometimes you can find the right kind of media, even with a direct download from a helpful Microsoft tech.
Other times it's more trickey.
First problem with a PC that has been added to another domain is often that no one knows the Admin password. Simple to solve - download Spotmau (http://www.spotmau.com/). Trust me on this, it's the best £35 you've ever spent on software, and even if you just buy it for the Windows password hack, although there are so many great little apps in this very professional German software. (And no, I have no affliation with this company - I just love it that their software is cheap, professional and actually does what it says)
So the Admin password is hacked, so I can get into the PC ... but as soon as I do I can see that the hard drive is on its way out.
Quickly Mark installs Acronis TrueImage on the PC and we take a clone of the disk just in time.
We insert a new hard disk with the clone image on ... and nothing. No Boot Device Found. Somehow the old Administrator of their Windows Domain has locked out new hard drives being added. Nothing in BIOS (which had to be hacked with Spotmau too).
Okay, final hacking tool to the ready - Hiren's Boot CD, which contains a version of Mini XP, which boots directly from the boot CD, recognises the new disk and allows me get the PC to recognise it.
PC returned to client. "Was it easy?" they asked. "Sort of ..." I replied.
***Mission accomplished***
If you need any help with a similar problem, or just want to talk about the software mentioned above please give me a call on 0845 900 2822.
http://www.livingstonesolutions.co.uk/
Do you ever have a PC that a client has bought from another company, with legitimate Windows and Office licences, but you haven't got the original disks, and ideally you would reformat and reinstall but to do that would make recovery of the legitimate licences impossible?
Sometimes you can find the right kind of media, even with a direct download from a helpful Microsoft tech.
Other times it's more trickey.
First problem with a PC that has been added to another domain is often that no one knows the Admin password. Simple to solve - download Spotmau (http://www.spotmau.com/). Trust me on this, it's the best £35 you've ever spent on software, and even if you just buy it for the Windows password hack, although there are so many great little apps in this very professional German software. (And no, I have no affliation with this company - I just love it that their software is cheap, professional and actually does what it says)
So the Admin password is hacked, so I can get into the PC ... but as soon as I do I can see that the hard drive is on its way out.
Quickly Mark installs Acronis TrueImage on the PC and we take a clone of the disk just in time.
We insert a new hard disk with the clone image on ... and nothing. No Boot Device Found. Somehow the old Administrator of their Windows Domain has locked out new hard drives being added. Nothing in BIOS (which had to be hacked with Spotmau too).
Okay, final hacking tool to the ready - Hiren's Boot CD, which contains a version of Mini XP, which boots directly from the boot CD, recognises the new disk and allows me get the PC to recognise it.
PC returned to client. "Was it easy?" they asked. "Sort of ..." I replied.
***Mission accomplished***
If you need any help with a similar problem, or just want to talk about the software mentioned above please give me a call on 0845 900 2822.
http://www.livingstonesolutions.co.uk/
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