What are some computer tricks that a CS student must know?

#1. Change windows password without knowing the existing password

You can change the password without knowing the existing password. But this trick works only when your PC was logged in.

step1: Right click on computer and select manage

step2: Go to Local users and Groups option and then click on users. You can see the list of users.

step3: Right click on the user whose password you want to change and then select set password

step4: click on proceed on the pop-up window

step5: Enter the new password and click on Ok.

#2. Block Websites

You can block some websites from opening on your computer using this trick.

step1: Type this %windir%\system32\drivers\etc in run (WIN + R)

or navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

step2: open notepad from start menu by typing notepad and running it as anadministrator and then Open the hosts file by navigating toC:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc.

step3: Now if you want to block a site. say facebook or google for an example. Then type these lines.

From the next time, the above sites will not open in your browser. To unblock, remove the above lines from the notepad (Note: This trick will work if your browser is not open.If your browser is open then close the browser and restart it.)

#3. Website redirecting

For example, if someone wants to open facebook but you want them to be redirected to google. Then use this simple trick.

step1: Firstly know the IP address of the google by typing tracert Google in cmd.

step2: Type the google address along with Log In or Sign Up in the hosts opened from notepad. (from the above trick)

You will be redirected to Log In or Sign Up if you try to open Google. To remove redirecting remove the above lines from notepad.

#4. Boost Your Broadband Speed

Though the broadband speed depends on various external factors, you can improve the internal factors by this simple trick.

step1: open cmd in administrator mode and type netsh int tcp show global and then press enter

step2: Now change the TCP parameters. Open notepad and type these commands

cd\

netsh int tcp show global

netsh int tcp set global chimney=enabled

netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcp

step3: save the file as Speedbooster.bat

step4: Run speedbooster.bat in administrator mode. You can notice 30-35% increase in the speed

To reset TCP global parameters to default values Type these in notepad

cd\

netsh int tcp show global

netsh int tcp set global chimney=default

netsh int tcp set heuristics enabled

netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=none

and save it as say Reset.bat to reset the TCP global parameters to their respective default values.
Run it as an administrator.

#5. Faster Internet by combining two different networks

If you have two network providers, for example, an ethernet and an USB dongle, then you can avail additional benefit by using network bridge.

step1: Press WIN + R keys and type “ncpa.cpl”.

step2: Select the two network drivers from the window.

step3: Right click and select BRIDGE CONNECTIONS.

step4: You will have an additive speed of these connections.

#6. Go to Task manager

Go to Task manager directly by pressing ctrl+shift+Esc instead of ctrl+alt+del

#7. Encrypting files and folders

step1: Right click on the file/folder and click on the properties at the bottom.

step2: click on advanced.

step3: tick on Encrypt contents to secure data option

step4: click ok and apply

You can access it and modify it anytime. But other users cannot access it. You can copy this files to a USB drive but you cannot view in other PC. You can view only when you know the encryption password of your PC.

#8. Create Undeletable and Unrenamable Folders

Create a folder with keywords like con, aux, lpt1, lpt2, lpt3, lpt4, lpt5, lpt6, lpt7, lpt8 and lpt9 as the name. But you cannot rename or create directly with the keyword as the name. So, follow this simple trick.

step1: Go to run and type cmd

step2: In the Command Prompt , type the name of the drive you wish to create your folder in the format <drive-name>: and press Enter. e.g. If you wish to create the undeletable folder in D drive, type “D:” without the quotes. Folder cannot be created in the root of C: drive (if C: is your system drive).

step3: Type this command- “md con\” or “md lpt1\” without the quotes and pressEnter. Any of the keywords can be used.

Deleting the Folder: Folder cannot be deleted manually, you can delete the folder by typing “rd con\” or “rd lpt1\” in Step 3 instead of “md con\” or “md lpt1\”.

#9. Disable the recent Document history

step1: Go to run and type regedit and then press enter to open registry editor

step2: Go to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer”

step3: Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key [Right Click® New ®DWORD (32- Bit) Value] .

step4: Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction with hexadecimal and then click ok. Restart the computer.

To enable recent document history, go to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer”. and delete “NoRecentDocsHistory” file that you have created and restart your computer.

#10. Add Mouse Friendly Checkboxes to icons.

No need of holding control button to select multiple files simply use checkboxes by selecting icon check boxes from view.

#11. Know the details of your Internet Connection

Go to command prompt from the run and type ipconfig/ all for all the details like IP address, DNS server address etc. about your Internet connection.

Also Know, if your neighbors are using your WiFi connection

step1: Open your browser and visit http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1
step2: Go to the “Attached Devices” tab
step3: Find the computer name, IP address and MAC Address of your computer using the previous trick.
step4: Compare it with those displayed by your router.

#12. Access blocked websites by using IP address

If any of the site you want to open was blocked in the browser, then go to the required site by searching the site with an IP address.

For IP address of a site, ping the website domain name in the Command Prompt in Windows

BONUS - Every one of us has watched Star Wars on television, computer or in a theater. It is the same movie with aliens fighting each other for galaxies and such stuff. There is nothing new in it. But wait, have you watched an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) version of Star Wars and that too in Windows usingtelnet? A network protocol known only to computer wizards. Well if you have not, then you must do it now!

There is a complete copy of Star Wars done entirely in ASCII characters that you can watch in the Windowsoperating system (or any OS that supports telnet). The only thing required to watch it is an internet connection; speed does not matter.

To watch it on Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux

Go to Start, Run. (Only for Windows users)
Now type "telnet http://towel.blinkenlights.nl" without the quotes and press Enter. Users of Mac OS X and Linux can directly execute this code in the terminal window.

On Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Telnet is turned off by default in the latest versions of Windows. So, in order to watch star wars, you must first enable telnet by going to Control Panel › Programs › Turn Windows Feature On or Off and ticking both the telnet check boxes. After doing that, follow the steps given below:-

Go to Start, Search in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and Windows 10. On Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, open the main Start page.
Type telnet and press Enter.
In the following command prompt window, type "o" without quotes and press Enter.
Now type "http://towel.blinkenlights.nl" without the quotes and press Enter.

If you do not need telnet anymore, you can turn it off.

A command prompt window like the one in the image will open with the movie being played in it. See the movie yourself. Did you enjoy watching this new version of Star Wars? Well, I did and know it for sure that you would have too.

I hope it helped…