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Tips
Tips
To Shutdown Windows Quickly
This is A Little Known way To Shutdown Windows Quickly.Right Click on A Blank Space on Your Desktop Select New And Then Shortcut. In The window That Opens Type, Shutdown -s -t 00 (or Copy And Paste My Text, Click Next Followed by Finish. If You Wish To Change The Icon Right Click on The Shortcut Then down To Properties And Click on Change Icon, Choose An Icon Then Click ok.
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Restarting Windows Without Restarting Your PC
Computer, Vista, Xp, Windows Add commentsA modern PC with Vista Home Edition takes about one and a half minutes to boot. An older machine with XP is about the same. That’s 30 seconds for the PC itself (the BIOS) to boot up, plus a minute for the Windows operating system to boot. Sometimes, you need to reboot Windows (e.g. when installing new software), but there is no need to restart BIOS, too. However, the default is to reboot both. (That’s called doing a “cold boot,” rather than a “warm boot.”) There’s a trick that works on both XP and Vista to get it to do a warm boot instead, thus saving you 30 seconds per cycle.
The trick is to hold down the SHIFT key when invoking the restart.
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Speed up your windows xp computer
Today we are going to go over a few processes to optimize your windows xp operating system.
To start this process click your start button and then select run.
In the box that appears type the letters, cmd
Then select OK, once the dos prompt is up we are going to run a utility called checkdisk. To start this you need to type in this exact command below
chkdsk c: /f /r /x
Then select enter, you will be asked if you want to run this process the next time you run your computer. Simply type Y for yes and then restart your computer.
This process will take you approximately 30 minutes to an hour depending on how large your hard drive is.
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Essential Rules for Keeping Your PC Healthy
Computing has certainly changed over the past few years, but the rules to keeping your PC pumped up and running smooth have not.
In these days of Spyware, Hijacking and SPAM, we long for the day when the good old fashioned virus would simply delete our hard drive and spread itself to everyone in our address book.
Life was simpler then.
The Dos...Your life vest in the swirling vortex of doom.
1. Download the Spyware Checker from Microsoft. Although we also love LavaSoft's Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy, this new Beta spyware utility from Microsoft has shown us good results, It runs in the background and helps to keep your PC free of spyware.
2. Buy or Download an AntiVirus. If you're connected to the Internet you will get a virus and you will unknowingly be spreading it to others. AVG by Grisoft has a free antivirus download. Get it today. We also love the commercial program Norton Antivirus by Symantec.
3. If you have a broadband connection, run a software firewall. We like Zonealarm by Zonelabs. They have a free version. If you're partial to Microsoft, then go ahead and use the one included with XP.
4. Run the Firefox web browser. Give it a shot--it's actually a lot better than Internet Explorer. And even if you like Explorer better, it doesn't hurt to have two browsers.
5. Defrag once every three months--sooner if you run anything besides Windows 2000 or XP.
6. Do run WPA (preferred) or WEP encryption on your router and wireless network. It's simple and will protect your information from snoops that can snatch it out of thin air.
7. Backup your data. There's no worse feeling in the world than losing everything. Use another hard disk--internal or external. You can even network PCs and transfer backups from one to the other. But what if your house burns down? Consider getting the data off site. Put the data on a disk and keep it at a family member's home.
The Don'ts. Seriously... Don't.
1. Never open Email attachments--even if they come from a known family member or friend's Email account. Viruses propagate by infecting a PC and Emailing themselves to everyone in the infected computer's address book. Consider a code word to use in the subject line of Emails. Your friends and family would know the keyword (maybe strawberry or moonbeam) and will include this in the subject when attaching a file. A bad keyword would be Viagra.
2. Never give out your REAL email address when signing up for something online. It will fall into enemy hands and you will spend most of your days sifting through trash when looking for real email. Consider using the service at http://www.dodgeit.com. You can create fake Email addresses here for free.
Cleaning Your Computer
If Your Computer Will not Turn off Keeps Rebooting
automatically restart selected. (Press WinKey-Break, or (Start/Run/Sysdm.cpl), Advanced Tab, Start Up and Recovery/Settings/System Failure/Unmark Automatically Restart Then Click Ok
How To Increase Your Internet Speed By 20%
If you use Windows XP Professional then it is possible to squeeze an extra 20% out of your internet connection. By default Windows XP Pro holds back 20% of your Internet speed for various services like windows update and spyware checks.
If you want to tap into this locked speed then make the following changes:
1. Go to Start-> Run-> and type gpedit.msc
2. Expand the Administrative Templates branch
3. Expand the Network tab
4. Highlight QoS Packet Scheduler
5. Click on Limit Reservable Bandwidth and check the enabled box
6. Then Change the Bandwidth limit % to 0 %
Once you have done this click apply and restart your PC. After rebooting you should see a noticeable improvement in your net speed.
Manual IP Addressing on Small Office and Home Networks
Xp, Windows Add commentsWindows XP is configured to help you take care of networking. It uses the TCP/IP protocol for networking in workgroups, or what you might call small office or home networks that do not use a dedicated server.
The problem is that automatic IP addressing can be slow. When your computer boots, it has to query the network to see what IP addresses are already in use and then assign itself one. If you want to speed up the boot time a bit, consider manually assigning IP addresses to all computers on the network. This way, the network computers do not have to worry about locating an automatic IP address. Because one is manually configured, the operating system doesn’t have to spend time solving this problem.
This isn’t a networking book, however, so I won’t delve into the implications of using a manual IP address, but if you are using a computer that functions as a host computer to the Internet (using Internet Connection Sharing [ICS]), you can get into connectivity problems if you change the configuration of the IP address. However, you can still work around this problem by starting with the ICS host computer.
Select Start/Connect To/Show All Connections. Right-click your network adapter card and click Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP in the list of services and click the Properties button.
In the TCP/IP properties, you can see if you use an automatic or manual IP address. In the example in Figure 4-5, I have configured a manual IP address of 90.0.0.1 and a default subnet mask. The other computers on my office network each use a different IP address in the same class, such as 90.0.0.2, 90.0.0.3, 90.0.0.4, and so on. This way, each computer has a permanent IP address, which helps increase boot time. Note that if you change the IP addresses of your computers, they must all use the same subnet mask. A default subject mask of 255.255.255.0 will keep you in good shape.
Make sure you understand the implications of changing IP addresses on your network. If you have no networking experience at all, you may be wiser to leave the automatic IP addressing as is and try to gain some speed using the additional suggestions
Windows XP includes an option to perform a boot defragment, which places all files required for booting next to each other on disk to provide a faster boot time. The OS enables this option by default, but you can check the status and enable this option by performing the following steps:
Start the registry editor (regedit.exe).Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction.
If Enable isn't set to Y, double-click Enable and set the value to Y.
Click OK.Close the registry editor.Reboot the machine.
Note: If you want to disable boot defragment, set Enable to N.
XP and Win2K don't include the DOS SCANDISK Utility.
However, you can perform the same task using XP's and Win2K's Error Checking feature. To access this feature, perform the following steps:
Open Windows Explorer. Right-click the drive you want to check, and select Properties from the context menu. Select the Tools tab. Under Error Checking, click Check Now. If you want the scan to automatically attempt to make repairs or check the disk for bad sectors, select those options and click Start. Close Windows Explorer.
The Windows XP splash screen is designed to hide all of the behind the scenes boot information that is ordinarily never needed to view. However, if you need to troubleshoot a startup problem, it may be necessary to view this information to determine the trouble. To find out, you can disable the splash screen by making a small change to the Boot.ini file. Follow the steps below: Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box.
On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And Recovery section. In the Startup And Recovery dialog box, select the Edit button in the System Startup section. The Boot.ini file will open in Notepad; locate the line that ends with the /fastdetect switch. Position your cursor right after the parameter, press the spacebar, and add the /SOS switch. Save the Boot.ini file, and close Notepad. Click Cancel to close both the Startup And Recovery dialog box and the System Properties dialog box.
Restart the system. When the system restarts, the splash screen will no longer appear. You can observe some of the operations that Windows XP performs during the startup stage.To revive the splash screen, simply repeat the above steps to edit the Boot.ini file and remove the /SOS switch.
XP system that is stuck in a continuous reboot loop. This tip assumes you can start the system and are able to log on. As soon as you log on, the system reboots itself. In many cases, it may not even wait until you are logged on before rebooting itself. By default, Windows XP is configured to deal with a system failure by rebooting and in doing so, should repair the failure. But, in some cases, the system failure is serious enough to cause a continuous reboot loop. If your system is stuck on a continuous reboot, you can disable the automatic restart behavior. Follow these steps:
Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box.
On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And Recovery section. In the System Failure section, deselect the Automatically Restart check box, and click OK. To enable the changes, click OK in the System Properties dialog box. This change configures the system to halt after encountering a system failure error, which allows you to investigate the problem error in more detail. You'll then have to manually restart the system.Keep in mind that you'll have to work fast in order to make the change before the system reboots. You may have better luck making the change if you launch the system in Safe Mode.
One of the problems with the welcome addition of the disk defragmenter in Windows 2000 is that it has no command-prompt equivalent. As a result, you can't easily schedule the defragmenter to run. To address this problem, Microsoft included defrag.exe in Windows XP for command-level disk defragmentation.An example analysis execution shows: C:\>defrag d: -a Windows Disk Defragmenter Copyright (c) 2001 Microsoft Corp. and Executive Software International, Inc. Analysis Report 6.91 GB Total, 6.73 GB (97%) Free, 2% Fragmented (5% file fragmentation)
The command format is: defrag <volume> [-a] [-f] [-v] [-?] volume drive letter or mount point (d: or d:\vol\mountpoint) -a Analyze only -f Force defragmentation, even if free space is low -v Verbose output -? Display this help text
If you have 512 megs or more of memory, you can increase system performance by having the core system kept in memory.
Go to Start>Run, type in: regedit Follow this string to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive
Double click DisablePagingExecutive Set the value to be 1 Restart your computer for this to take affect
If you would like to display any message in a popup window when Windows is started, here's how: Go to Start> Run, then type in: regedit
Hit [Enter] on your keyboard Follow this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogo
Modify the key LegalNoticeCaption with your text of choice.
Modify the key LegalNoticeText with your text of choice.
Restart Windows for this to take affect.
Windows XP default speed of the Start Menu is very slow. You can fix that by editing a Registry Key.
Here's how:
1. Go to Start> Run, then type in: regedit Press [Enter] on your keyboard.
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay
3. By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value (like 0) to speed it up. Note: If your still experiencing a slow speed of the Start Menu, even after using the above tip, then you might try the following:
4. Navigate to Display Properties> Appearance> Advanced
5. Turn off the option titled Show menu shadow . You will get much better overall performance.
USB devices such as; digital cameras, mice, flash drives and keyboards all share the same bandwidth allocated by Windows. The Windows XP USB user interface does not support more than 10 host controllers. When the bandwidth reaches the 100% allocation, you will receive a "Stop Error 0x0000007E" message. To check the bandwidth usage:
Go to Start>> Right click on My Computer. Select Properties>> Hardware>> Device Manager Once at the Device Manager, double click "Universal Serial Bus Controllers", then double click the first USB Root Hub listing
If there are multiple user accounts on your computer. Windows makes it easy for your to use your own picture to be associated with your user account. Here's how:Go to Start>> Control Panel>> User Accounts
Select your account from the User Accounts window
You should be at the User Accounts windows that asks the question; "What do you want to change about your account? Select the "Change my picture" link. At the "Pick a new picture for your account" window, Select "Browse for more pictures"Navigate to the picture that you would like to use, then select "Open" The selected graphic will now appear on the Welcome Screen and Start Menu
Many of the tips and tricks here at Spikey's require editing the Windows Registry. In this tip, I will show you the correct way to perform a backup of your Windows Registry so that you can safely restore your systems registry files in the event something goes wrong.Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK. Once in the Registry Editor, choose File from the toolbar. Select Export In the resulting Export Registry File window (click image below), locate the "Save in:" selection menu. Choose a location for this file that will be easily found if needed.
Name the file whatever you would like (I use the days date) in the "File name:" text box. At the bottom of the window you will see the Export Range category. Tick the "All" selection.Click the Save button.
I often get questions regarding forgotten passwords in Windows XP. Windows XP has a feature that will reset your password in the event that you forget it. Here's how to set this up:Go to Start>> Control Panel>> User Accounts Open the User account that you would like to make a reset disk for Find a link titled: "Prevent a Forgotten Password" Click this link
The Forgotten Password Wizard will now guide you through the steps necessary to create the disk. When the process completes, label the disk accordingly and store it in a safe place.
To Reinstall Internet Explorer 6:
1) Insert the Windows XP CD
2) Open Start / Run and type: rundll32.exe
Speed Up Windows XP by Disabling the Indexing Service:
The Indexing service can create an index of all the files and the content of many of those files in order to make finding things much faster. While Windows XP's heart is in the right place, this sounds better than it is in practice. The Indexing service is more effective in its ability to slow down your computer than its ability to speed file searches. Here's how to disable the Indexing service:
Click Start and click the Run command.
In the Open text box, type services.msc and click OK.
In the right pane of the Services console, find the Indexing Service. A quick way to get there is to click on the first entry in the right pane and then press the "I" key on the keyboard.
Double click on the Indexing Service entry.
In the Indexing Service Properties dialog box, click the down arrow in the Start type drop down list box and select Manual.
If the service is started, you can stop it now by clicking the Stop button.
You don't need to restart the computer. The next time the computer starts, the Indexing service will not run automatically.
How To Remove Scratches from a CD
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DVD Laser Flashlight Hack
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12 Volt Battery Hack
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Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips
1. Set power options
You can easily edit Windows XP's power options to affect such things as how long it takes the monitor to turn off (if ever) when the machine is idle, and whether your Hard drives will spin down after a certain period of idle time to save energy and wear and tear. To edit XP's power options:
Go to 'start\control panel\power options.'
From here you can choose one of several set power schemes, or change the settings on the three main power saving options, turn off monitor, turn off hard disks and system standby.
2. Creating shortcuts
Shortcuts are small files that simply point to the location of another file or folder. They can be created easily in one of two ways.
Either right click on the file or folder itself and select 'create shortcut' from the resulting menu, then cut and paste the shortcut to where you want it, or right click an empty space in the area you want the new shortcut to be, select 'new' then 'shortcut' from the menu.
Then once the wizard opens, browse to the file or folder you wish the shortcut to point to.
3. Create passwords for all your user accounts!
Short and sweet, you MUST do this if you use the Internet, period. Even if you do not use the Internet, but other people have access to your system, you should still set secure passwords on every user account.
By default Windows XP does not assign passwords to the accounts you create during the install process, and these accounts all have full administrative privileges to the system. All an outside intruder needs is your username in order to have your system resources laid out in front of them. Create passwords for all user accounts:
Go to 'start\control panel\user accounts
Select each user account (besides guest, which is disabled by default) and assign a password to it. Best practice is to use a combination of letters and numbers to foil password cracking software.
Security, privacy and recovery: tips
1. Giving a password to the 'Guest' user account
Windows XP contains a guest account (turned off by default in XP Pro) that has the rather unique distinction of not having a password. Not only does the account not have a password, you can't even set one. As you can see, if this account is active, it presents a slight security risk. Fortunately, there is an easy way to assign a password to the guest account:
To apply a Password to the guest account:
Using an account with administrative privileges, go to the command prompt ('start\run' then type 'cmd') and enter the following command:
'Net user guest password'
Now go to 'start\control panel\user accounts' and activate the guest account if it is not already. You will be able to assign and change its password.
2. Use system restore when you cannot boot your system normally
If your system has failed to the point where you cannot access the Windows GUI either through booting normally or through safe mode, you may still have the chance to use the System Restore feature if you have it enabled, by running it form the command prompt. To do this:
Restart your computer and press F8 after the POST screen to bring up the Windows XP boot menu. Choose 'boot in safe mode with command prompt.'
If your system gets to the command prompt successfully, type '%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe' and then press enter. Follow the onscreen instructions to restore your computer to a previous saved point.
Next Section; Customizing Windows XP
3. Stop Windows messenger from running
Windows XP was the first of Microsoft's operating systems to include a built in instant messaging application, the Windows Messenger (a variant of Microsoft's popular MSN Messenger service). Unfortunately for those who don't use instant messaging services, the program is extremely difficult to avoid, especially if you use Outlook Express as your mail client.
By default, Windows Messenger is started each time windows starts, and will attempt to log you in as soon as you connect to the internet, and every time you start Outlook Express. Worse yet, it will reappear when you start Outlook Express even in you have uninstalled it. With a combination of steps, you can disable Windows Messenger, though it is not really possible to actually remove it from the computer.
Let's look at how to do this: To stop Windows Messenger from reappearing each time you start Outlook Express, open OE then go to 'tools\options' and uncheck the 'automatically log into Windows Messenger' box. Close OE, exit from Messenger and also close any browser windows.
Now you need to find out if you have Service Pack 1 for Windows XP installed. If you are not sure, right click on 'my computer' and select 'properties.' In the first Window under the system heading, your version of Windows XP will be shown. If you do have service pack 1 installed, simply go to 'start\control panel\add/remove programs' to remove the messenger service.
If you do not, go to 'start\run' and type 'RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove' To remove the program.
Customizing WinsdowsXP: tips
1. Different folder types with XP
Windows XP gives you the option to customize a folder specifically for a certain type of data, like music files or photographs. These options will change the default way files are shown in the folder (using thumbnail view automatically for a pictures folder for example) and will also change the columns used to display information, adding an 'artist' and 'album name' column into a music folder to give one example. These customizations can make it easier to organize and keep track of your files. To customize a folder:
Right click on the folder and select 'properties' then choose the 'customize' tab.
Using the dropdown box at the top, you can select the various folder types available. Experiment until you find one to your liking. If you create a picture folder, you can also choose a picture which will appear on the icon for the folder itself, acting as a preview of the contents. You can also change the icon for your folder from this window.
2. Using 'my computer' as a toolbar
If you click and drag your 'my computer' icon to the right side of the taskbar, just left of the light blue area, you will create a my computer taskbar. This opens into a start menu-style cascading menu that will allow you to easily access any file in your system.
Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips
1. Logging in as the 'Administrator' account
Every Windows XP installation comes with an administrator account built in, the password for which you set during the install process. Of course, the administrator account does not actually show up on the welcome screen. If you have disabled the welcome screen you can do it easily enough, but what if you happen to like that friendly screen?
Never fear, simply press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice and you will be transported to a login prompt that defaults to the administrator user account.
2. Update your drivers
Not so much a tip as essential advice. Much like frequently updating windows, this is a good practice for improved system health, and especially performance. If your system contains even somewhat recent hardware, it's likely that the manufacturers are still working on upgrading and stabilizing the software drivers for some components of your computer.
These new driver sets are generally made available for download at the manufacturer's website and will install over your older drivers. It is recommended that you take an inventory of the parts and brands in your system (if it is a store-assembled PC) or the manufacturer part number of your system itself (from big box retailers like Dell and Compaq) and visit the manufacturer's websites to attain the newest drivers. You may be surprised at the results.
3. Check your PC for spyware and other nasties
Your PC could be hosting spyware or adware programs without your knowledge. These small applications, installed knowingly or unknowingly by the user (adware licenses are often buried inside the End User License Agreements of software packages like Kazaa Media Desktop) can pass information on your web surfing habits, among other things, to advertising companies, and enable them to target advertising based on your habits.
These programs can also consume valuable system resources. While not specific to Windows XP, removing spyware and adware from your system is an excellent step towards better PC health. To check for these programs:
Download either LavaSoft's Ad-Aware or PepiMK's Spybot Search and Destroy or both. Run these programs and update them via the built in interface, then check your system for spyware and adware programs. For more information on this topic,
4. Show the quicklaunch bar
The quicklaunch bar is a convenient toolbar containing shortcuts to commonly used programs. If you used any flavour of Windows from 98 to 2000, you probably became used to it sitting in the bottom left of the taskbar next to the start button. You also probably missed it when you started using XP, especially since it also means you are missing that essential 'minimize all windows and take me back to the desktop' button.
Don't fret though, the quicklaunch bar is still here, just not by default. Possibly to make room for the larger start button graphic in XP, Microsoft decided to have the quicklaunch bar present only as an option. Let's look at how to get it back.
To re-enable the quicklaunch bar: Right click on the time display in the lower right corner of the taskbar and select 'properties.' Now look for the option entitled 'show quick launch.' Enable it. Now that your quick launch bar is back, you can drag and drop shortcuts onto it from the desktop to customize it.
Registry Tweaks for Performance: Tips
1. Clear the Page File (virtual memory) when shutting down XP
As mentioned above, the page file is an area of your hard disk that Windows uses as extra memory space to store files and data that are currently being used. Of course, since Hard drives are magnetic storage devices, and not dynamic like RAM, the data stored in the page file stays there until it is cleared or over-written.
This data may possibly contain unencrypted passwords or other sensitive information since many third party programs do not bother to encrypt data that is being passed to the memory, even though it may end up on the page file. A simple registry change can force Windows XP to clear the page file each time it shuts down. Note that enabling this will increase the time it takes your system to shutdown.
Open REGEDIT
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Modify the ClearPageFileAtShutdown value to '1'
For customization
2. Get Rid of XP's annoying balloon tips
At some points, it seems like Windows XP is feeling lonely or something… every 5 minutes, some desktop-obscuring balloon tip will pop out of nowhere to inform you that you are not using the icons on your desktop, or that you have installed a new program, or that it's sunny outside… Seems like the operating system just needs someone to talk to. If, like me, you get fed up with this, here's a quick registry addition that will stop the madness:
Open REGEDIT.
Goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Add the DWORD value 'EnableBalloonTips' and give it a value of '0'
This will stop all balloon tips from popping up.
3. Adding additional Icons to 'my computer'
The 'my computer' window is one of the most commonly accessed areas in a typical Windows XP installation. Here's a way to add several more commonly used icons to the 'my computer' window to increase its usefulness.
Open REGEDIT
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace
Add a new key for each icon you wish to add to the 'my computer' window. The key should be named as below:
{D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153} : Administrative Tools
{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} : Printers and Faxes
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} : Scheduled Tasks
{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E} : Network Connections
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} : Recycle Bin
{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} : My Network Places
Miscellaneous Registry Tweaks: Tips
1. Force windows XP to reboot upon crashing
This registry edit will cause your system to reboot itself automatically upon crashing. This can be useful if you have a reason for keeping your system on 24/7:
Open REGEDIT
Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl'
Edit the 'AutoReboot' value to '1'
2. Disable admin shares
Windows XP creates a hidden share for every drive on your computer. C$, D$, etc. These shares are accessible only to user accounts with administrative privileges, meaning any account that you created during the installation of windows XP.
Essentially, this means that anyone with a valid username and password from your system can get access to anything on your drives remotely. While this is the number one reason why you should always use good passwords on your Windows user accounts, this feature can be disabled with a little registry tinkering.
To disable the hidden shares:
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
Add the Dword value 'AutoShareWks' with a value of '0'
Useful tips for XP
1. Resize screen fonts on the fly in Internet Explorer.
Here's a simple useful tip that you can use in Internet Explorer. While viewing a web page, hold down CTRL and use the scroll button on your mouse to increase or decrease the size of the fonts on the page. Some websites really like using the small size 1 fonts, and if you're eyes have a hard time reading such small text, this little trick can make previously headache ridden websites much easier to read through.
2. Mouse Sonar
Here's a good little tip for users who have trouble locating their mouse pointer on the screen. Windows XP has a nifty little 'mouse sonar' option available, which will cause your mouse pointer to pop-up a little concentric ring around itself to show you where it is.
Go to 'start\control panel\mouse' choose the 'pointer options' tab and check the 'show location of pointer when I press the control key' box.
3. Quick back and forward commands in Internet explorer
Here's a tip that can speed up your web surfing. When viewing a page in Internet Explorer, hold down SHIFT and use the mouse scroll wheel to quickly go forward or back through the pages you have viewed.
4. Mount a new hard drive as a folder in your C: drive
Actually, this tip works for any partition of any NTFS formatted drive (except the partition with the Windows system files on it)… Windows XP, like 2000 before it, allows you to 'mount' drives as folders in a pre-existing logical drive. For example, if you had a computer with a 20GB disk formatted into a single partition and volume (drive c:), you could purchase a second drive, partition and format it from disk manager and then instead of giving it its own drive letter, add it to your c: drive as a directory. Any files added to that directory would of course be stored in the new HD.
This can come in extremely handy, as certain applications (databases come to mind) can grow extremely large, but may not support storing data on a (logically) separate drive.
As far as Windows is concerned, a drive mounted as a directory is just a directory, so no extra drive letters are involved. This can also cut down on storage confusion for the average user, and it's easy to do, though it can only be done with NTFS formatted partitions, and obviously the boot partition cannot be used this way, though other partitions can be added to the boot partition.
Also note that shuffling the partition around in this way has no effect on the data stored in it. You can move an NTFS partition from directory to directory, then give it back a drive letter if you choose, while maintaining complete access to the data inside. No reboot is necessary. One other note: If you have installed software on a partition you plan to mount as a directory, it is best to uninstall and reinstall it, since the move may stop the software from working correctly. Windows will warn you about this if you forget my wise words.
To mount a partition as a directory: Open disk manager, the right click on the partition you wish to mount as a directory in the graphical partition window (lower pane). Select 'change drive letter and paths…'
Remove the current option (if any), then click add.
Choose the 'mount in the following empty NTFS folder,' browse to the desired volume and add a directory for your drive. Click 'ok.' That's it.
If you wish to return things back to the way they were, simply repeat the procedure, removing the directory location and choosing a drive letter instead. The data on the drive will be unharmed.
5. Compressing files and folders to save space
Windows XP includes a built in compression utility which can save you some valuable space on your hard disk by archiving little used files. Working similarly to compression programs such as PKZIP and WINRAR, the built in software reduces the space your files take up on the disk at the penalty of increased disk access time for the compressed files in question. There are several ways of compressing data on your system:
If you have a pre-existing folder and would like to compress everything in it, right click on the folder, select 'properties' then the 'advanced' button at the bottom. In the 'compress or encrypt attributes' section, check the 'compress contents to save disk space' option.
If you wish to create a compressed folder for a file or folder separate from the one it is in now, right click on the item you wish to compress and choose 'send to\compressed (zipped) folder.' This will create a new compressed folder in the same location as the original file or folder.
6. Open explorer window from current command prompt directory
There is a built in command prompt ('start\run' then type 'cmd') command that will open a Windows Explorer window to your exact current directory location in the DOS-oriented command prompt. Simply type 'Start .' from the prompt to open up explorer in that location. And yes, that is 'start(space).'
7. Using Quick Edit in the Command Prompt
The Quick Edit function allows you to cut and paste text to and from the command prompt window, something which you may have become used to not being able to do.
To activate Quick Edit: Open a command prompt Window ('start\run' and type 'cmd'). Right click on the toolbar at the top and select 'properties.' Put a checkmark in the Quick Edit mode box. When prompted, opt to apply changes to all similar windows.
Now that Quick Edit is enabled in the command prompt, you can click and drag to highlight text, then press ENTER to copy it to the clipboard. To paste text from the clipboard, simply right click on the command prompt window.
8. Select 'No to all' when copying files in XP
Have you ever noticed that Windows XP gives you the 'yes to all' option in its file copy dialog box, useful if you would like to overwrite files in a directory with newer files of the same name from another location, for example, but fails to offer a 'no to all' option for doing the opposite. Kind of annoying if you think about it. What if you have a lengthy file copy operation partially finished, and wish to restart it? If you use the default options, you essentially have to recopy every file, since saying 'no' to each and every duplicate file will take just as long, and cause your mouse finger to fall off.
Fortunately, there is a way to tell your computer not to copy all duplicated files with a single command:
To do this, when the file copy dialog box appears asking you whether you wish to overwrite the first file, hold down SHIFT and click 'no.' This will automatically answer no for all following files. Note that it will ask you again for the first folder it encounters, so follow the procedure again to answer no automatically for all folders. This will dramatically speed up the file copying process.
Security, privacy and recovery: tips
1. Disable simple file sharing (XP Professional only)
Windows XP uses a new streamlined method of sharing files, called 'simple file sharing,' by default. This method is similar to the system used with Windows 9x/ME in that it does not check user credentials before allowing access to the share. The only option you can specify is whether remote users have the ability to change the share by adding editing or deleting files.
If you desire more security for your shares, you can revert to the higher security method of sharing files used in Windows 2000. This allows you to specify whether individual users on your system are allowed to access each share, and whether they can change the shared data or only read and copy it.
To implement this: Go to 'my computer.' Select 'tools' from the menu and click 'folder options.' Choose the 'view' tab. Find and uncheck the 'use simple file sharing' box. Click 'ok'.
2. Using the Windows XP firewall
All versions of Windows XP come with built-in software firewalls. The XP firewall software offers better-than-adequate protection against most common forms of Internet attacks and eavesdropping, so it's a good idea to enable it. The exception to this is if you are using a device that contains a hardware firewall, such as a home router. The firewall is disabled by default in Windows XP, though the upcoming service pack 2 is going to enable it apparently.
To enable and configure the firewall: Go to start\control panel\network connections and right click on your Internet connection, or the network adaptor you use to receive the Internet from another computer and hit 'properties.'
Go to the 'advanced' tab and place a checkmark in the 'Internet connection firewall' box and click 'ok.' Your computer is now protected.
For more information on configuring the Windows XP firewall, and firewalls in general, see here.
3. Turn autocomplete off in IE
By default, Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6 will examine what you are typing in the address bar and pop up a list of similar entries you entered recently. It also stores entries you have made on web documents and forms, including usernames and passwords. While this can help speed up your web surfing experience, it can also potentially compromise your privacy if multiple people are using the same user account on your system. Fortunately, autocomplete can be easily disabled through the IE options menu.
To do this: From Internet Explorer, go to the Tools menu, then select 'options.' Choose the 'content' tab, then click the 'autocomplete' button.
Disable the various options as you see fit. You can also clear autocomplete's memory cache for web forms and passwords from this window.