Reactivation
If you reinstall Windows XP, you normally have to reactivate it, but there's a way around reactivation. Windows XP maintains the activation information in the file Wpa.dbl, which you'll find in the Windows\System32 folder. After you activate, back up the file to another disk. If you need to reinstall Windows XP for any reason, go through the installation routine, then copy the latest version of Wpa.dbl to the Windows\system32 folder.
Note: You must have exactly the same hardware configuration as when you first ran the activation.
Clear pagefile on shutdown
For added security you should always clear the page file upon shutting down your computer. Windows uses this file as extra ram. Lets say that you are working on a confidential MS Word doc.
When you load this document it is loaded into ram. To save ram windows places certain items in the page file. The page file can then be opened and the document can be extracted as well as any other open program or files. However Microsoft has implemented a feature that will clear the page file but they do not have it enabled by default. Please note, this will slightly increase the amount of time it takes to shut down your computer but it is well worth it.
Start Regedit.
Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SesssionManager\Memory Management
Select ClearPageFileAtShutdown from the list on the right.
Right click on it and select Modify.
Change the value to 1 to enable.
Reboot your computer
Speed up Nero in XP
Go to "administrative tools" in the control panel, and in the "services" list, disable the IMAPI CD-Burning COM service. (Note: manual setting is not enough it must be disabled) It is the built-in CD-burning capability for windowsXP (incidentally, written by Roxio).
Note: This solved my problem with not being able to access CDRW's from a previous version of Windows.
Disable Hibernation to save disk space
Unless you use it, you can disable hibernation in : Control panel / Power Options / Hibernate If left on, the hybernation reserves disk space equal to your RAM.
Easily Disable Messenger
Go into C\Program Files\Messenger
rename the Messenger folder to something like "MessengerOFF"
This does not slow down Outlook Express or hinder system performance.
Outlook Express OE Slow to Open
Sometimes removing or disabling Windows (or MSN) Messenger causes OE to open slowly. This will be shown by an entry in the system error log:
The server {FB7199AB-79BF-11D2-8D94-0000F875C541} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.
To fix this, open Regedit and navigate to this key:
\CLSID
\{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541}
\InProcServer32
In the right-hand pane, double-click on the (Default) value and delete whatever is entered there, leaving it blank. Click OK. Now perform exactly the same step with the key directly underneath.
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
\CLSID
\{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541}
\LocalServer32
Once both (Default) values are empty, OE will open normally.
Uninstall MS Messenger
Click Start \ Run Then type the following:
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
Press ENTER
Restart Windows
Create your own popup menu in the taskbar
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.
Disable balloon tips
Run regedit and Navigate to Key:
then set the value of 'EnableBalloonTips' to 0.
Disable error reporting
Every time a program crashes you do not want to send a report to microsoft. Read below to find out how to disable this feature.
Open Control Panel
Click on System.
Click on Performance and Maintenance.
Then click on the Advanced tab
Click on the error reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
Select Disable error reporting.
Click OK
Stop Password Expiration
After you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this message when you log on: "Your password will expire in 14 days".
By default, Windows XP is set up with passwords which will expire after 42 days. 14 days in advance, Windows will start warning you of this fact. If you do not want your passwords to expire:
1.Go to Start > Run and in the Open: box type control userpasswords2
2.Select the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window
3.Press the Advanced button below the Advanced user management header
4.Select Users in the Local Users and Groups
5.In the right pane, right-click the user name for which you want to change the setting, and select Properties
6.On the General tab, check Password never expires
7.Click Apply and OK (all the way out).
Setup Switches
These options are used with the Windows XP setup WINNT32.EXE program and change the way Windows can be installed.
| /checkupgradeonly | Check the existing OS for compatibility with XP (but does not install) |
| /cmd:command_line | Executes command after GUI mode of setup completes, but before the reboot. |
| /cmdcons | Show the Recovery Console option to repair a failed installation. |
| /copydir:folder | Creates a subdirectory named "folder" below the XP directory |
| /copysource:folder | Copies source files to local directory "folder" |
| /debug[level][:filename] | Write a debug log to filename for warning levels. Level 0=severe errors, 1=errors, 2=warnings, 3=information, 4=detailed info for debugging. Default level is 2, and default filename is winnt32.log in the default Windows directory. |
| /dudisable | Disable dynamic update, so only the original setup files are used. |
| /makelocalsource | Copy all setup and installation files to the hard disk to run the installation from the hard disk rather than the CD (if CD is having problems during install). |
| /noreboot | Do not automatically reboot after installation completes copying the files. |
| /s:path | Specify the location of the Windows XP source files, such as a network path |
| /syspart :drive_letter | Copies temporary files to specified drive, make the drive active, and run from that drive. |
| /tempdrive :drive_letter | Drive location of temporary files |
| /udf:ID[,UDF_file] | Specify the settings file (uniqueness database) for use during an unattended installation |
| /unattend | Unattended installation. The /s option to specify the location of the source files must be used |
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Microsoft has a number of shortcuts. Below are some of the less commonly known, but very useful shortcuts. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1 comment:
nice
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