Windows XP Tips

Windows XP Tips

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Deleting System Softwares:
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XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as
Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge
everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/
sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go
to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove
Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

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Creating Shutdown Icon or One Click Shutdown:
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Navigate to your desktop. On the desktop, right-click and go to New,
then to Shortcut (in other words, create a new shortcut). You should
now see a pop-up window instructing you to enter a command line path.
Use this path in "Type Location of the Item"
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If the C: drive is not your local hard drive, then replace "C" with
the correct letter of the hard drive. Click the "Next" button. Name
the shortcut and click the "Finish" button. Now whenever you want to
shut down, just click on this shortcut and you're done.

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Increasing Band-Width By 20%:
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Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own
purposes like Windows Updates and interrogating your PC etc

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To get it back:
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Click Start then Run and type "gpedit.msc" without quotes.This opens
the group policy editor. Then go to:
Local Computer Policy then Computer Configuration then Administrative
Templates then Network then QOS Packet Scheduler and then to Limit
Reservable Bandwidth.
Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not
configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab i.e."By default,
the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth
of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."
So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO.
This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default
20%.It works on Win 2000 as well.

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Renaming The Recycle Bin icon:
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To change the name of the Recycle Bin desktop icon, click Start then
goto Run, write Regedit and press Enter. It opens Registry Editor. Now
in Registry Editor go to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT/CLSID/ {645FF040- 5081-101B- 9F08-00AA002F954 E}
and change the name "Recycle Bin" to whatever you want (don't type any
quotes).

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Managing Tasks:
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You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line
by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the
process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also
tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

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Removing Shared Documents folder From My Computer window:
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Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit.
Once in registry, navigate to key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \
Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders

You must see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72- 44a7-89c5- 5595fe6b30ee}
. If you delete this key, you have effectively removed the my shared
documents folder.

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Improving the Slow Boot up time:
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There are a variety of reasons why your windows XP system would boot
slowly. Most of the times it this has to do with the startup
applications. If you would like to speed up the bootup sequence,
consider removing some of the startup applications that you do not
need. Easiest way to remove startup apps is through System
Configuration Utility. Go to Start then Run and enter MSCONFIG and go
to the Startup tab. Deselect/UnCheck application( s) that you do not
want to startup at boot time.

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Customize Logon prompt with your Own Words:
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Open Registry by going to Start then Run, entering regedit and
Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\ Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\ Winlogon] . In right pane, look for key by the name
"LogonPrompt". Set its value to whatever text you want to see
displayed at login screen.

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IP address of your connection:
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Go to Start then Run. Enter 'cmd' and then enter 'ipconfig' .Add the
'/all' switch for more info.

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Making Folders Private:
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Open My Computer Double-click the drive where Windows is installed
(usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your
computer). If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System
Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
Double-click the Documents and Settings folder. Double-click your user
folder. Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click
Properties. On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so
that only I have access to it check box.

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To change Drive Letters:
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Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer
Management, Disk Management, then right-click the partition whose name
you want to change (click in the white area just below the word
"Volume") and select "change drive letter and paths."
From here you can add, remove or change drive letters and paths to the
partition.

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Removing the Shortcut arrow from Desktop Icons:
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Goto Start then Run and Enter regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_
ROOTlnkfile. Delete the IsShortcut registry value. You may need to
restart Windows XP.

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Get Drivers for your Devices:
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Visit Windows Update (XP Only)
Look at the left hand pane and under Other Options click Personalize
Windows Update.
Now in the right hand pane check the box - Display the link to the
Windows Update Catalog under See Also
Below Choose which categories and updates to display on Windows Update
- make sure you check all the boxes you want shown.
Click Save Settings
Now look in the left hand pane under See Also click Windows Update
Catalog and choose what you're looking for. Choose either MS updates
or drivers for hardware devices.
Start the Wizard and off you go.

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Customize Internet Explorer's Title Bar:
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Open Registry by going to Start then Run and Enter regedit. Navigate
to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Internet. Explorer\Main. In
right hand panel look for string "Window Title" and change its value
to whatever custom text you want to see.

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Disabling the use of Win Key:
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If your are a gaming freak then you must be sick of the Win key in
your keyboard. To disable use of Win key, open registry by going to
Start then Run and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_
MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSe t\Control\ Keyboard Layout] . In this
look for value of "Scancode Map". Its binary data so be extra careful:
Set its value to "00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 5B E0 00
00 5C E0 00 00 00 00" to disable the win key.

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Restarting Windows without Restarting the Computer:
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This one is again is. When you click on the SHUTDOWN button, make sure
to simultaneous press SHIFT Button. If you hold the Shift key down
while clicking on SHUTDOWN button, you computer would restart without
restarting the Computer. This is equivalent to term "HOT REBOOT".

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Stopping XP from displaying unread messages count on Welcome Screen:
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To stop XP from displaying count of unread messages, Open registry and
navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV
ersion\UnreadMai l] and look for the data key "MessageExpiryDays". If
you do not see this key, create one DWORD key by the name
"MessageExpiryDays". Setting its value to 0 would stop Windows XP from
displaying the count of unread messages.

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Modify Color Selection of Default Theme:
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Open registry by going to Start then Run. Entering regedit, navigate
to [HKEY_USERS\ .DEFAULT\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV
ersion\ThemeMana ger] and locate the key "ColorName".
Right Click on it and select modify its value from "NormalColor" to
"Metallic"
Click Ok, and exit regedit and restart your computer.

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Removing the Recycle Bin from the Desktop:
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If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files , you can get
rid of its desktop icon all together. Run Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SOFTWARE/ Microsoft/ Windows/CurrentV
ersion/explorer/ Desktop/NameSpac e

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Customize Windows XP
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1) Remove windows messenger from WinXP one forever
Go to Run box and type next:
runDll32 advpack.dll, LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\ msmsgs.inf, BLC.Remove

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2) Disable XP Error Reporting
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Right click on MyComputer choose Properties
In System Properties click on Advenced
In Advenced click on Error Reporting
Check "Disable error reporting"
Leave unchecked field "But notify me when critical errors occur"

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3) Hide 'User Accounts' from users
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Go to Start/Run, and type: GPEDIT.MSC
Open the path
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"
click Add button,
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box

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4) Create Your Own Logon Message
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Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
In the Registry Editor, drill down to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ Winlogon
Right-click LegalNoticeCaption, click Modify, type My Windows XP Machine, and then click OK.
Right-click LegalNoticeText, click Modify, and then type your message.
Close the editor and your new message will appear at every log on.
This tip applies to computers that are part of a domain.
For stand-alone or peer-to-peer networks,
the custom screen appears just before the Welcome screen.

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5) Disable balloon tips
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Run regedit and Navigate to Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion \Explorer\Advanced
then set the value of 'EnableBalloonTips' to 0.

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6) Create your own popup menu in the taskbar
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You can create your own popup window other than START MENU in the taskbar.
Put all the shortcuts to the applications that you want to popup in a folder.
Then you right click on taskbar ->toolbars ->new toolbar -> and select the folder

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7) Reset Your Password On XP
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1. Restart you computer

2. When booting, press F8 and select "Safe Mode"

3. After getting to the user menu. Click on a user and this time it will not ask you for a password

4. Go to Start>Run and type "CMD" (without the quotes).

5. At command prompt type in "cd C:WindowsSystem32" (without the quotes),
I am assuming C is your System/Windows Drive

6.For safety purposes first make a backup of your Logon.Scr file..
You can do this by typing in "Copy to Logon.scr to Logon.bak" (without the quotes)

7.Then type "copy CMD.EXE Logon.scr"(without the quotes)

8.Then type this command, I will assume that you want to set Administrator's
password to "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)

9.Now, type this in (I am assuming that you are still in the directory C:WindowsSystem32),
"net user administrator MyNewPass" without the quotes

10. You will get a message saying that it was successful, this means Administrator's
new password is "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)

11. Restart the PC and you will login as Administrator (or whatever you chose to reset) with your chosen password

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8.)Cool Create your own Internet Explorer Toolbar

First, create your HTML file and place it in whatever folder is
easiest for you to remember. ( I have a folder on my D drive called Desktop Toolbars. )

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs

Create a new String Value with an easy to remember name.
Ex: TopToolbar ,BottomToolbar ,GoogleSearchPage

In the data for the new string value you've created, put the COMPLETE
address for the HTML page you want to display in a toolbar.

Like this: D:\Desktop_Toolbars \TopBar.html

To show your new toolbar, right-click on your taskbar and choose "Toolbars" > New Toolbar.

In the box labeled Folder:, type about: with the name of the string
value you created that represents the HTML file you want to see in your toolbar.
Like this:
about:TopBar
will display your D:\Desktop_Toolbars \TopBar.html in your taskbar.
about:BottomBar
about:GoogleSearchP age

See this screenshot for a visual example of something simple you can do:

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10.)Speed Up Windows XP and Improve performance
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1) Shutting down WinXP faster

When a user shuts down Windows XP, first the system has to kill all
services currently running. Every once in a while the service does not shut
down instantly and windows give it a change to shut down on its own before it kills it.
This amount of time that windows wait is stored in the system registry.
If you modify this setting, then windows will kill the service earlier.
To modify the setting, follow the directions below:

Click on Start, and then goto run, type REGEDIT

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/ Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTi meout"
Right click on it and select Modify. Set it a value lower than 4000

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2) You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password.
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Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2' ,
which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab,
clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To
Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On
dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for
the account you want to use.

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3) Windows XP SP2 Tweaks
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Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions
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[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNot ify"=dword :00000001
"FirewallDisableNoti fy"=dword:00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride"=dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride"=dword:00000001

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Turn off Auto Updates
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[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\ Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNotif y"=dword:00000001

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Turn off the SP2 firewall
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[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft \WindowsFire wall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000

turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft \WindowsFire wall\StandardProfil e]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000

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Disable unnecessary Services
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Caution:
Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it.
Open Control Panel/Administrativ e ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console.
Notice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it. However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time. However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab. This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing.

Tip:

The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board. You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore.

While disabling services, check and make sure that IIS (internet information server) is not installed and running if you do not want to run a web server, ftp, or mail server. If you find it, you can uninstall from the control panel. If you only want to run one of the 3 services it provides, disable the other 2 (the 3 should be HTTP server, FTP server, & SMTP server).


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Deleting System Softwares:
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XP hides some system software you might want to remove,
such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make
it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit,
edit the text file /windows/inf/ sysoc.inf, search for
the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the
Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select
Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey,
exposed and vulnerable.

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Creating Shutdown Icon or One Click Shutdown:
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Navigate to your desktop. On the desktop, right-click
and go to New, then to Shortcut (in other words, create
a new shortcut). You should now see a pop-up window
instructing you to enter a command line path.
Use this path in "Type Location of the Item"
SHUTDOWN -s -t 01
If the C: drive is not your local hard drive,
then replace "C" with the correct letter of the hard
drive. Click the "Next" button. Name the shortcut and
click the "Finish" button. Now whenever you want to
shut down, just click on this shortcut and you're done.

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Making Google the Default Search Engine in Internet Explorer:
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Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit and navigate to following three keys separately and change it as shown below:

[HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Main]
"Search Page"="http://www.google. com"
"Search Bar"=" http://www.google. com/ie"
[HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\SearchURL]
""=" http://www.google. com/keyword/ %s"
[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"=" http://www.google. com/ie" .

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Disabling the use of Win Key:
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If your are a gaming freak then you must be sick of the Win key
in your keyboard. To disable use of Win key, open registry by going
to Start then Run and entering regedit. Navigate to
[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSe t\Control\ Keyboard Layout].
In this look for value of "Scancode Map".
Its binary data so be extra careful:

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Removing the Recycle Bin from the Desktop:
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If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files ,
you can get rid of its desktop icon all together.
Run Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SOFTWARE/ Microsoft/ Windows/CurrentV ersion/explorer/ Desktop/NameSpace

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