Recovering data from private mode in samsung devices

After this crazy issue in my samsung mobile, I found that the private mode has been reset. So when I tried to turn on the private mode, it showed me the initial setup screen. I was fully convinced that, all of my data has been lost and I won't be able to recover any of it. But after googling for a while, I found out that the content in the private mode will be encrypted using the combination of some key (specific to the OS, kernel I'm not 100% sure) and the pin/password/pattern we provide during the initial setup of the private mode.

So with some sheer hope, I configured the private mode with my old password (As the OS, kernel are not modified). And to my surprise, it worked. All of the content has been recovered. So try your luck with this method :)

Samsung : Missing Notification in tray and Recent items button not working

My samsung mobile [Galaxy S5, running on LightWiz rom (Android 6.0.1)], restarted all of the sudden (Although it is not the first time). Right after the restart, I noticed that, the notification tray is missing (None of the notifications from the apps are shown) and even the recent items won't popup from it's dedicated button.

Fortunately, I fixed these issues by this method :

1) Download Nova Launcher & set it as default to replace TouchWiz.
2) Long press on the home screen.
3) Choose Widgets.
4) At the top, under Nova Launcher, scroll to the right & press & hold on Activities and place it somewhere empty on the home screen. 
5) Scroll down to Setup Wizard/ Samsung Setup Wizard.
6) Under the first Setup Wizard option, open it & scroll down to  ".FinishSetupActivity" / ".ExitSetupActivity".
7) Select that to create the widget shortcut.
8) Open it. It will apply the default theme, and the issue will be fixed.

If this solution doesn't work out for you, try the solution posted on this link.

Recover data from corrupted windows (without using Windows/Linux DVD/USB)

It's a pretty bad situation to get your OS (it might be windows 7 or 8) corrupted (when the windows is not booting). In that situation, either you can reset your windows or re-install it. Either way you loose your data (at least the one stored in 'C' drive). To recover the data stored in 'C' drive, there are various methods. You can recover data by booting your system using linux usb boot disk. This is not an easy process to all. So, I intend to share a simpler way (which I use).

If your windows (either 8 or 8.1) is not booting i.e, going into the recovery options like shown below

Select 'Troubleshoot'. Then you will end up in this window.

Now select Advanced options --> System Image Recovery. You will end up in this window.

Now, enter your password to continue.

Press cancel and click 'next' in the next window.

Select Advanced

Install a driver.

Click ok.

Now the explorer will be opened. You can browse to 'C' drive (or whatever drive you want to backup). Now copy the files to be backed up into the other drive or USB (which ever you like).

It will take some time to copy the files. You can sense this process by observing the cursor. If it is showing busy sign (revolving circle) then it is copying. After the completion of backup, you can exit the window. Hope this help :)

Recovering lost partition on a hard disk, when MBR (master boot record) got corrupted.

Two days back, I installed Watch Dogs. In an ambitious effort to play the game, I started it. At that moment, I was unaware of the fact that, not all the aged drivers (mine was released in 2010) will support this game!! The game started and after loading the new game, the screen turned black. After staring at it for a while, I realized that, game got stuck at that point!! I tried every possible combination available (to stop an executing task) like ctr+alt+del; ctrl+alt+esc; alt+F4, but of no use.

In order to turn off the laptop, I removed the battery. After restarting the system, I was trolled!!!

One partition of 66.76 GB had been turned into free space. In simple words, one partition got deleted!!!

After googling for a while, I came across a software named "Active Partition Recovery". Which seemed promising.

In an attempt to recover the lost partition, I installed that software and ran a super scan. It took around 35 mins to complete the scan.

The trailing result of the scan gave me a hope to recover the lost partition. The highlighted partition (in the below image) is what I wanted to recover.

With a ecstatic face, I clicked the option "Recover". To my surprise, it showed an error "0x55A MBA has been removed/damaged".  I was depressed and my whole effort was a bummer!!!

Then, my friend suggested me Active Undelete software. With a diminishing hope, I thought "Let's do it for a last time".

I installed Active Undelete Enterprise Edition, and completed all those basic steps and reached this!!

Finally, I'm able to recover my data!! Thanks to Kishore (who suggested this software).

P.S - I first recovered the data into an external hard disk. Then created new volume and copied all the files back from the external hard disk.

DLL Files in the System32 Folder

Have you ever noticed that, you can manually change the icons of a folder in windows? Have you tried it?
P.S - the image here describes you the way to do it!!

I tried it once, but unfortunately I had gone through the negative side of it!!

One day, I was in my best mood and checking every available option in windows. Suddenly I realized that, we can add our own icon's besides the default icon, by changing the SHELL32.dll file (it's the default icon's pack). I thought for a while and came up with a great idea (that's what I thought at that moment).
What happens if I replace that dll file?
As I was unable to control my eagerness, I quickly moved that dll file from system32 folder to desktop and restarted my system.

At that moment, I expected this!!

To my surprise, there was nothing on my boot screen!! just that blue background appeared. That is the moment when I understood that, even windows can troll us!! (but this is a huge one).

There is no way to get out of this situation, unless your system is dual boot-able. I installed win7 again with all the drivers, to get back to usual state (thanks to my uncle for providing me the rescue discs).

SO, DON'T EVER EVER TOUCH THE DLL FILES IN SYSTEM32, UNLESS YOU WANT TO TEST YOUR LUCK!!!!!

How to replace existing license key in avast (free version)

Greetings to all, this is my first post on this blog!!.
If you are using avast free edition, you need to register it (once a year) to avail it's services. Some might be too lazy to re-register and goes for a key, which will register avast free edition up to 2038 or even up to 2050. But, here come's the problem. Avast bans those licences and you will not receive updates anymore!!! Although you can try offline updates, it's not that comfortable to many of us, to download every time (it's a package of 40Mb!!!!). So, many user's want to remove that invalid license key and use the original key provided by avast. Here lies the problem, since your product has been activated you can't insert any key further (until the expiry of the present key). Today, I'm going to reveal the method I had tried.
First, note down the expiry date of the product. Then, change your system's date accordingly so that your product will be expired.
Example:- if your license is up to 2038, change your system's date to say 2039.
Now reboot your system. After rebooting, open the avast interface (window) by right clicking on the avast icon. Go to registration tab, you can see a message stating "your product has been expired". Click on the insert license key option (which is  now accessible) and paste the original key obtained from avast. Before pressing OK, revert your system's date to normal state. Boom!!! your new (original) key has been installed and you can get those automatic updates back!!!!.
Thank you.