Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

If you are using Windows XP or Windows 2003, you must have seen a pop-up message asking whether to send this error report to Microsoft whenever a program stops working abruptly. Microsoft has included Error Reporting so that they can make Windows better and stable but this can be bugging if you tend to have more programs crashing every day. Microsoft also has provided an option to disable this feature and error reporting is an optional report.

To Disable or Enable Error Reporting in Windows, follow these steps:

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Tags: windows, xp

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Changing the Windows Vista product key may be necessary if you discover your current key is pirated or illegal but you don’t want to reinstall Windows Vista to activate your new legal key.

1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.

Tip: In a hurry? Type system in the search box after clicking Start. Choose System from the list of results and then skip to Step 4.

2. Click on the System and Maintenance link.

Note: If you’re viewing the Classic View of Control Panel, you won’t see this link. Simply double-click on the System icon and proceed to Step 4.

3. Click on the System link.

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Tags: vista, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Most of us know that changing your Windows Vista logon password regularly is a good habit to help keep your PC secure. Changing your password in Windows Vista is pretty easy and is something you should do if you’re having problems remembering your current password.

Follow the easy steps below to change your Windows Vista logon password:

1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.

2. Click on the User Accounts and Family Safety link.

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Tags: vista, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

I have often ran across computers that I needed to gain access to for data recovery, but I didnt have the administrator password to access the hard drive. Since in many situations, there is just one administrator account I can’t log into another administrator account and change the password so I have to rely on other methods. I could put the hard drive into another computer as a slave and gain access (sometimes) or I could try installing a second copy of the operating system in parallel and gain access but there must be a better way.

That way is to try to reset the administrator password to something you do know and allow you to access to the user profile and the data. In most cases,

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Tags: computer, hardware, vista, windows, xp

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

After a new hard drive installation or maybe just to keep things organized the way you like, you may want to change the drive letter of a hard drive partition, CD or DVD drive in Windows Vista. The Computer Management tool makes this a snap.

Note: You cannot modify the drive letter of your main partition on your PC. In a normal Windows Vista installation, this is the “C Drive”. All other drive letters, including CD and DVD drive letters, can be modified though.

1. Click on Start and then Control Panel.

Tip: In a hurry? Type computer management in the search box after clicking Start. Choose Computer Management from the list of results and then skip to Step 4.

2. Click on the System and Maintenance link.

Note: If you’re viewing the Classic View of Control Panel, you won’t see this link. Simply double-click on the Administrative Tools icon and proceed to Step 4.

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Tags: hardware, vista, windows