Showing posts with label Tips-Tricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tips-Tricks. Show all posts

Common Command Console Utilities

Windows XP comes with quite a few console utilities you can easily run from the command line (Start - Run):

  • 1. Component Services - comexp.msc
  • 2. Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
  • 3. Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
  • 4. Disk Defrag - dfrg.msc
  • 5. Disk Managment - diskmgmt.msc
  • 6. Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
  • 7. Group Policies - gpedit.msc
  • 8. Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
  • 9. Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
  • 10. Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
  • 11. Resultant Set of Policies - rsop.msc
  • 12. Services - services.msc
  • 13. Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc

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Creating a Shutdown Shortcut

Windows XP has a program called shutdown.exe which allows you to easily create shortcut to shutdown or restart your computer.

To create a shutdown shortcut on the desktop:

  1. 1. Right click on the desktop.
  2. 2. Click New - Shortcut.
  3. 3. Enter in “shutdown -s -t 00” (type without quotes).
  4. 4. Press the Next button.
  5. 5. Type a name for this shortcut.
  6. 6. Click Finish button.



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Disable Windows Explorer Thumbnail View

You can disable the Windows Explorer’s ability to show the Thumbnail View.

1. Open regedit (registry editor)

2. Navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced \

3. Change ClassicViewState to 1

4. Close regedit




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Disable Error Reporting

Every time a program crashes in Windows XP, an “Error Report” screen pops up allowing you to send some information on the crash to Microsoft. You can follow these steps to disable it

  1. 1. Click Start button - Settings - Control Panel.
  2. 2. Double click System icon.
  3. 3. On the Advanced tab, click Error Reporting button.
  4. 4. Select Disable Error Reporting.
  5. 5. Click OK.



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How to Enable Hibernation

The hibernate feature turns off your monitor and hard disk, saves everything in memory on disk, and turns off the computer. When you restart the computer, your desktop is restored exactly as you left it. To enable Hibernation, follow these steps:

  1. 1. Go to Start - Settings - Control Panel.
  2. 2. Click on Power Options icon.
  3. 3. Click on the Hibernate tab.
  4. 4. Check the Enable Hibernation Support checkbox.
The shutdown dialog box of Windows XP doesn’t offer any longer the hibernation button. To hibernate your computer follow thes steps:.
  1. 1. Click Start - Turn Off Computer.
  2. 2. Point the standby button and maintain the shift key pushed.
  3. 3. A hibernation button appears, click it while still holding the shift key.
Note: To put your computer into hibernation, you must have a computer whose components and BIOS support this option.


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Disable CD-Rom AutoRun

Following these steps to disable stop the CD ROM from automatically running

1. Open registry editor.

2.Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom.

3. Right click on AutoRun String and select Modify.

4. Change the value to 0.

5. Click OK.




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Create Shortcut to Hibernation

The hibernate feature saves everything in memory on disk, turns off your monitor and hard disk, and then turns off your computer. When you restart your computer, your desktop is restored exactly as you left it. It takes longer to bring your computer out of hibernation than out of standby. To create a shortcut you can follow these steps:

  1. 1. Right click on an empty space on the Desktop and select “New->Shortcut“.
  2. 2. In the ‘Type the location of the item’ box type: rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll SetSuspendState
  3. 3. Click the Next button.
  4. 4. In the ‘Type a name for this shortcut’ box type ‘Hibernate’ then click on the Finish button.



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Windows XP Tips for Computer Security

Here are a couple of tips to speed up your Windows XP computer and help keep you protected and secure online. First you need to control which programs load on startup: Many of the programs you install on your computer automatically configure themselves to launch at startup, usually invisibly. The truly essential ones, such as anti-virus and firewall products, generally run as services and run fine in the background. Other less important software like media players don’t need to be running continually.These extra programs slow the boot process and then severely suck up resources like memory and CPU cycles. It is pretty easy to control which applications launch on startup. The System Configuration Utility lists all these applications in one place:
1) To get there: Click the ‘Start’ button then choose the ‘Run’ command.
2) In the text box type “msconfig”. - Across the top of the dialog box select the ‘Startup’ tab.
3) The Startup Tab lists all the programs that launch at start-up. To disable any of these simply un-check the box on the left. Only non-essential programs are listed here it should be safe to un-check pretty much anything. If it turns out you needed it just go back and re-check it.
4) Once you are done re-boot the machine.
5) When the Desktop returns you will be presented with a window that says you have chosen Selective Startup. Just Check “Do not show this window again” and click OK.To keep your computer secure, turn on automatic updates. Seems like every virus writer has nothing better to do then attack Windows operating systems. Keeping the system patches and security fixes is critical. During the setup of XP Service Pack 2 with a new computer or an up-grade you are asked whether or not to turn on automatic updates, if you made the mistake of checking no you can find this option in the Windows Security Center (Start / Control Panel) and change it back. Even with all its faults, XP is a powerful operating system that has many good security features. Here are some more tips to help you get the most out of your operating system. Remove Windows components not found in ADD / REMOVE. Many Windows components, things like Network Services or Solitaire are easy to remove through the Add or Remove programs configuration window (Start / ControlPanel / Add and Remove Programs / Windows Components). Simply un-check them, but … some things are deliberately hidden. A good example would be MSN Messenger. To remove this from startup follow these steps:

1) In Windows Explorer (right click Start / Explore), navigate to C:WindowsInf and make a copy of Sysoc.inf.

2) Double click on Sysoc.inf and it will open in Notepad.

3) Press Ctrl H (opens Find and Replace) and replace the string ,hide, with ,, then save and replace the file. Now all the hidden components will appear.

4) Then follow the steps above for removing programs from the startup menu.To restore a corrupted system file: If a necessary system file should become missing or corrupted by a virus you can replace it from your Windows CD.

1) Go to Start / Search and type in the file name replacing the last letter with an underscore (ex. Filename.ex_).

2) If the file is found, open a command prompt (Start / Run, type CMD in the textbox).

3) At the prompt type expand followed by the full pathname of the file and destination (expand D:Windowsfilename.ex_ C:Windowsfilename.exe) where D: is the letter of your disc drive. If either pathname contains spaces surround the entire pathname with double quotes. If the file isn’t found search again using the un-modified file name, it is probably in a CAB file, Windows treats these as folders, simply drag the new folder to the destination while holding down the right mouse button then select Copy Here.Chris Kaminski has been working in computer repair and web development for the last 20 years. Kaminski is CEO and head technician for Computerguyslive.com, an online computer repair company based in Asheville, NC. Visit Computer Guys Live online at http://www.computerguyslive.com for computer repair and check out the invaluable Wireless Connection Guide at http://computerguyslive.com/content/wireless/wirelessindex.asp.


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Disable Desktop Cleanup Wizard

The Desktop Cleanup Wizard displays a list of the desktop icons that have not been used for 60 days or more, enabling you to remove those icons that you don’t want on your desktop. You can retrieve icons you have removed by opening the Unused Desktop Shortcuts folder on your desktop. If you want to disable this annoying feature you can follow these steps:

  1. 1. Right-click on an empty space on the Desktop then click Properties.
  2. 2. Select the “Desktop” tab.
  3. 3. Click “Customize Desktop” button.
  4. 4. At the bottom uncheck the box labeled ‘Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard Every 60 Days‘.
  5. 5. Click ‘OK’ then ‘OK’ again to save changes



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Use Window Xp Registry Cleaner to Fix Windows Xp Registry Errors

If you want your Windows XP PC to run without errors, you need a Window XP registry cleaner. Windows registry is a file that is used for storing critical information about the hardware and software configuration and system settings of the computer. It helps the system run without faults as the system can access the data from a specific location. But to make this process absolutely flawless you need to keep the registry up to date and free from errors.As the registry is meant to store all the information abut the PC settings it generates a new entry every time you make any changes to the system. That is whenever you install a new program or uninstall an existing program and add or remove any hardware component, the latest information about the settings is logged in the registry file. As you keep using the PC, these entries get piled up in the registry. All these data that are stored in the registry, especially the outdated data are not used by the system. Moreover, they clog up the registry file making the PC sluggish and prone to frequent failures. A Windows registry cleaner can clean up these unimportant data and make the registry file error free. To that you need a Window XP registry cleaner if you have Windows XP installed in your PC.There are many versions of registry cleaners available for download. You need to select the best registry cleaner for your PC. That is if you are using Windows XP, you need a Window XP registry cleaner. That is because different versions of Windows use different methodologies for keeping the registry. SO only a compatible registry cleaner can effectively clean the registry and ensure optimum performance of the PC.The Window XP registry cleaner scans the entire Windows XP registry, deletes the outdated and unimportant entries, remove the blank spaces and fragments from the registry file. The registry cleaning tools also detect and remove the embedded keys that are created by the malware programs. As most of the registry cleaners come with scheduling features, you can even schedule the scanning of the registry that will repair the errors automatically without you monitoring them personally. While you clean the registry with the cleaner, it is recommended that you back up the registry. It will let you restore the registry file if you encounter any problem after registry cleaning.Source: Free Online Articles from ArticlesBase.com

About the Author:
Windows Registry Cleaner is an online resource, providing in-depth information about Registry Cleaner software, which is an essential tool to achieve PC optimization, removing inconsistencies of your system and speeding up your PC. Here you will get vast technical information about windows registry cleaner software and efficient ways to clean windows registry. With so many freeware available these days, the registry keep on bulging and creates inconsistencies, which results in the decline of the PC performance. Ashwin is pro-actively promoting the usage of windows registry cleaner for all versions of Windows.



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Disable Search from Looking in ZIP Files

Compressing files, folders, and programs decreases their size and reduces the amount of space they use on your drives or removable storage devices. Drive compression decreases the amount of space used by all of the files and folders stored on that drive.

Windows XP Search can get slow if you have a lot of compressed files on your hard drive. You can speed up your searches by disabling this.

  1. 1. Click Start - Run.
  2. 2. Type:
  3. regsvr32 c:\windows\\system32\zipfldr.dll /u
  4. 3. Click OK.
To turn this feature back on:
  1. 1. Click Start - Run.
  2. 2. Type: regsvr32
  3. regsvr32 c:\windows\\system32\zipfldr.dll
  4. 3. Click OK.


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Disable Zip Folders

You can disable zip folders view in Windows Explorer by following this steps:

  1. 1. Click Start - Run.
  2. 2. Type regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll
  3. 3. Click OK.



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Disable Windows from Saving The Thumbnail Cache

By disable Windows from Saving The Thumbnail Cache will speed up your Windows.

  1. 1. In Windows Explorer, click Tools - Folder Options.
  2. 2. Choose the View tab, and turn off the Do not cache thumbnails option.



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How to Make a Windows Xp Boot Disk

When you press the power button on your computer and it just sit there with none of those clicking and beeping sounds along with the monitor still having that blank screen,you know that you’re going to have a bad day.A computer that fails to boot can be one of the most pain staking things that can happen to a pc user.And in most cases, the user don’t have a clue as to what procedures they can take to get the PC up and running again.



When you do experience pc bootup failure, always start your troubleshooting by checking the obvious.It the cord plugged into the wall outlet and is the other end securely plugged in the rear of the system unit.In many cases the cause is a corrupted startup file which prevent the computer from going through the bootup from start to finish.In this case, an easy way to start your PC is to have an emergency boot disk handy.A Boot Disk contain copies of critical files needed for startup that you should have made earlier.To use the floppy disk, all
you need do is to place it in the floppy drive and reboot the computer.As the computer start the boot process, Windows will use the good files to get itself going.The Windows XP boot disk will
enable you to resolve a corrupt Ntbootdd.sys driver, missing or corrupt Ntdr or Ntdetect.com files.These files are used by Windows XP and are crucial to its startup and configuration.The boot disk have also repair a damaged MBR or Master Boot Record. The MBR is a small program executed when the PC boots and resides on the first sector of the hard driveIt looks up the partition on the hard drive.You can create a MBR with the FDISK /MBR commandA damaged boot sector can also be corrected with the boot disk.Your Windows XP boot disk will be a life saver when you have pc bootup failure and you need that file for your next interview.A sector is the smallest unit that can be accessed on a disk.When a disk is low level formatted, it will be divided tracks and sectors. When making a boot disk make a mental note of the files being copied. This will give you added knowledge when you will need to help in making their boot disk.To make a boot disk, perform the following.Place a blank formatted floppy disk in your floppy drive and go to My Computer in Windows XP.Click the hard drive icon and on
the toolbar, click Tools, Folder Options, and then click the View Tab.

And scroll down and check “Show hidden files and folders” and just below uncheck “Hide protected operating system files
(recommended). Now we’re getting a little slower. Take note of this process and as you become more familiar with
this task, you’ll be able to make a boot disk for others in no time and help them save on down time.After unchecking “Hide protected operating system files, click OK.Some grayed out files will now be visible in the drive window.These files are protected system files.Now you’re ready to select the boot, the NTDETECT, and the ntldr files.Now right-click, click Send To, and select Floppy ( A:
).When you have copied all files to the floppy, you now have a Windows XP boot disk.You should make two or more boot disks and place them in a safe place away from any type of magnetic or static charges.Before
putting them away don’t forget to label your life saving floppy disks.Should you be unfortunate enough to have to put one of your boot floppies to use, remember to replace the startup files on the hard drive with the ones on the floppy. If you overlook this critical step, you’ll have the same boot up problem every time.Take your time as you copy the files and be sure not to reverse the copy procedure.This is why its important to make two or more boot disks. This way should you have an accident with one disk, so what, you paid attention here and made several copies.You’ve done it.You’re now armed with a repair tool should your XP computer fail to boot.All Windows 98, 2000, and Me users also have the resources to create a book disk.Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/how-to-make-a-windows-xp-boot-disk-87173.html


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Create Shortcut to Device Manager

Device Manager provides you with information about how the hardware on your computer is installed and configured, and how the hardware interacts with your computer’s programs. With Device Manager, you can update the device drivers for hardware installed on your computer, modify hardware settings, and troubleshoot problems. To create a shortcut to the Device Manager, just follow these steps:

  1. 1. Select A location where you want to place the shortcut
  2. 2. Right-click on an empty space on the window
  3. 3. Select “New-Shortcut
  4. 4. Type “devmgmt.msc” into the Location field
  5. 5. Click ‘Next’ and type in a name for the shortcut
  6. 6. Click ‘Finish’ to exit the Shortcut Wizard



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View Windows System Info

You can follow this tip to view the windows system information:

1. Open command prompt (DOS Prompt).

2. type systeminfo then press Enter.

3. Once the system has finished gathering the information you can view the windows system information: OS Name, OS Version, Original Install Date, System Up Time, etc




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Create Bigger Thumbnails In Windows XP

You can follow these steps to increase the size of the thumbnail images in Windows Explorer’s thumbnail view.

1. Run regedit.
2. Navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer.
3. In the right pane right-click on the ThumbnailSize key and select Modify. If the ThumbnailSize keys do not exist, you can create them by right-clicking on an empty space in the right pane and selecting “New - DWORD Value”.

4. You can set the Value between 32 and 256, the higher the number you choose, the larger you thumbnail will be.

5. Close regedit.



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Rundll32 Commands in Windows XP

Windows XP contains a file rundll32.exe that allows command line access to certain functions. To run code listed below you can create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter “code” in the location field.

Lock Windows
Rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
Control Panel
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL
Mouse Properties
Rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @0
Keyboard Properties
Rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @1
Printers Properties
Rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @2
Fonts
Rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL main.cpl @3
Install/Uninstall
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,1
Windows Setup
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,2
Startup Disk
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,3
Advanced Internet Properties
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL inetcpl.cpl,,5
Accessability Properties (Keyboard):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,1
Accessability Properties (Sound):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,2
Accessability Properties (Display):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,3
Accessability Properties (Mouse):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,4
Accessability Properties (General):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL access.cpl,,5
Display Properties (Background):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,0
Display Properties (Screen Saver):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,1
Display Properties (Appearance):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,2
Display Properties (Settings):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL desk.cpl,,3
Internet Properties (General):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL inetcpl.cpl,,0
Internet Properties (Security):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL inetcpl.cpl,,1
Internet Properties (Content):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL inetcpl.cpl,,2
Internet Properties (Connection):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL inetcpl.cpl,,3
Internet Properties (Programs):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL inetcpl.cpl,,4
Internet Properties (Advanced):
rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL inetcpl.cpl,,5


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Run Multiple Yahoo Messenger Account

With this follow tips you can run multiple Yahoo Messenger 8 with different account at the same time.

  1. 1. Run regedit.
  2. 2. Nvaigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Yahoo\Pager\Test.
  3. 3. In the right Pane, create New DWord Value named Plural.
  4. 4. Double click the new DWORD entry and set the value to 1.



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How to Show File Extensions for All File Types

By default, file name extensions for known file types are hidden. Follow this tips to see all file extensions in the Desktop and Windows Explorer:

  1. 1. Click Start - Control Panel.
  2. 2. Double click Folder Options menu.
  3. 3. Click the View tab.
  4. 4. Uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types check box.
  5. 5. Click OK



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