Computer tips

Links for 2009-11-13 [del.icio.us]

2009-11-14T00:00:00-08:00

Ultimate Links PC Tips - Manual Removal of Spyware, Trojan Optimize PC
Windows Computer Software Mobiles Tips Virus Trojan Manual Removal Informations

Remove Control Panel Applets

2008-12-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

Open regedit and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel and add a key named "don't load" (minus the quotes)

Next add String values within the "don't load" Key. You will use one String value for each control panel applet you want removed.

For example, I want to remove the "System" applet once I configure my Paging File to Performance settings as well as Restore functions and more - I will make a string value with the name "sysdm.cpl" and no value set and the System applet will no longer be available under the Control Panel.

To restore a full control Panel to default just delete the "don't load" key.

Here are the Windows XP Pro Control Panel applets:

System Properties = sysdm.cpl

Network Connections = ncpa.cpl

ODBC Administrator = odbccp32.cpl

Display Properties = desk.cpl

Add or remove programs = appwiz.cpl

Internet Properties = Inetcpl.cpl

Game Controllers = joy.cpl

Phone and modem Options = telephon.cpl

Time and Date Properties = timedate.cpl

Region and Language Options = intl.cpl

Power Options = powercfg.cpl

Mouse Properties = main.cpl

Accessibility Options = access.cpl

Add Hardware Wizard = hdwwiz.cpl

Sound and Audio Devices = mmsys.cpl

User Accounts = nusrmgr.cpl

Speech Properties = sapi.cpl

softwaretipsandtricks.com

Quick access to your System Drives

2008-12-17T18:54:00.000-08:00

Simply click and drag your My Computer icon onto the Task Bar near the right side icons next to the clock.

This will create a cascading menu from where you can easily access just about anything on your system.

Or Right Click on the TaskBar then Select Toolbars> New Toolbar

Then Select your Favourite Folder or Select Computer Folder

Done..

Multimedia Preview On Winodws

2008-12-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

Same applies for all formats supported by the mplay32.exe, including video
e.g. AVI, MPG, ASF, etc. - and CD audio as well.

So, here goes:
If you want to quickly view a supported format audio/video file, and don't want to wait until Media Player loads.
You can create a new action for these file types, called e.g. "Preview", with
"C:\Windows\System32\Mplay32.exe" /Play "%L" as application specification.

that's in Explorer under Tools/Folder Options/File Types/Advanced/New.

Hide Users on the Welcome Screen

2008-12-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

You can remove his name from the Welcome Screen, while still maintaining the user account.

Start the Registry Editor
Start > Run > regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList \
Right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New > DWORD Value
Name the new value exactly as the Username
Leave the Value data as 0

If you want to enable this user again on the Welcome Screen, either double-click the Username value, and change the Value data to 1, or delete the Username
Close the registry editor

Correcting Some Incorrect Claims About Windows XP QoS Support

2008-12-14T18:08:00.000-08:00

There have been claims in various published technical articles and newsgroup postings that Windows XP always reserves 20 percent of the available bandwidth for QoS. These claims are incorrect. The information in the "Clarification about QoS in End Computers That Are Running Windows XP" section of this article correctly describes the behavior of Windows XP systems.

Clarification about QoS in End Computers That Are Running Windows XP

As in Windows 2000, programs can leverage QoS through the QoS application programming interfaces (APIs) in Windows XP. One hundred percent of the network bandwidth is available to be shared by all programs unless a program specifically requests priority bandwidth. This "reserved" bandwidth is still available to other programs unless the requesting program is sending data. By default, programs can reserve up to an aggregate bandwidth of 20 percent of the underlying link speed on each interface on an end computer. If the program that reserved the bandwidth is not sending enough data to utilize it completely, the unused portion of the reserved bandwidth is available for other data flows on the same host.

For more information about the QoS packet scheduler, refer to Windows XP Help. Additional information about Windows 2000 QoS is available in the Windows 2000 technical library.

There really is no need to disable or remove this. You are not going to see any performance drop.

Computer Not Shown in My Network Places

2008-12-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

The problem was (which i finally figured out myself) was that the Computer Discription Name that I configured when running the network setup wizard was to long, and was causing the computer not to be displayed. To fix this problem i did the following:

Open Control Panel
Double-Click the System Icon
Click the 'Computer Name' Tab up top
Change the computer discription to a shorter name

Easy reinstall of Windows Applications

2008-12-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

Open the INF folder in your windows folder [C:\WINDOWS\INF]
Find the *.inf files [view>arrange icons by>type]
Find the application title you need in the filename [for example messenger is msmsgs.inf]

If you are unsure of the installer, RIGHT CLICK on the file, then select open, at the top of the file should say what application it is:

; MSMSGS.INF
; Setup INF file for Messenger

When you have found the file the right click on it then click install.

Tip: To reinstall Microsoft Outlook Express, Right click and select install on MSOE50.inf

Deleting the whole word

2008-12-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

Delete the whole word

Press Control and Backspace to delete the whole word instead of a single letter.

Creating a shortcut to lock the workstation

2008-12-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Create a new shortcut on your desktop (right-click > New Shortcut), then copy and paste the following into the location field:

rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Click next and enter a name for the shortcut (like "Lock Workstation", for example) and then click finish. Now you can copy and paste that shortcut anywhere you want on your computer.

I like to pin it to my Start Menu, personally.

You can also change the icon for it by right-clicking on it and choosing "Properties", then clicking the Change Icon button.

Change IE Download Directory

2008-11-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

Goto Registry Editor,
Click - Start - Run - Regedit - ok

In Regedit go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

Change the value of the string "Download Directory" to the new path you want to assign as IE's Default Download directory i.e. "C:\IEDownloads"

You can change to any other folder in any drive.

Access System Volume Information Folders on Windows Xp

2008-11-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

In order to gain access, follow the directions below depending on your version of XP and File System:

Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition Using the FAT32 File System

Click Start , and then click My Computer

On the Tools menu, click Folder Options

On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders

Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box

Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change

Click OK

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

Windows XP Professional Using the NTFS File System on a Domain

Click Start , and then click My Computer

On the Tools menu, click Folder Options

On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders

Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box

Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change

Click OK

Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and then click Sharing and Security

Click the Security tab

Click Add , and then type the name of the user to whom you want to give access to the folder. Choose the account location if appropriate (either local or from the domain). Typically, this is the account with which you are logged on. Click OK , and then click OK

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

Windows XP Professional using the NTFS File System on a Workgroup

Click Start , and then click My Computer

On the Tools menu, click Folder Options

On the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders

Clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the change

Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box

Click OK

Right-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder, and then click Sharing and Security

Click the Security tab

Click Add , and then type the name of the user to whom you want to give access to the folder. Typically, this is the account with which you are logged on. Click OK , and then click OK

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

Windows XP Home Edition Using the NTFS File System

In Windows XP Home Edition with the NTFS file system, you must use the Cacls tool, which is a command-line tool to display or modify file or folder access control lists (ACLs)

Click Start , click Run , type cmd , and then click OK

Make sure that you are in the root folder of the partition for which you want to gain access to the System Volume Information folder. For example, to gain access the the C:\System Volume Information folder, make sure that you are in the root folder of drive C (at a "C:\" prompt). To get to the root of any partition, make sure you are in that partition and then type "cd\" (without the quotation marks).

Type the following line, and then press ENTER:

cacls " driveletter :\System Volume Information" /E /G username :F

Make sure to type the quotation marks as indicated. Also, if your user name contains a space you'll need to put your username in quotes. This command adds the specified user to the folder with Full Control permissions

Double-click the System Volume Information folder in the root folder to open it

If you need to remove the permissions after troubleshooting, type the following line at a command prompt:

cacls " driveletter :\System Volume Information" /E /R username

This command removes all permissions for the specified user.

Fun with a wheel mouse and IE

2008-11-23T18:51:00.000-08:00

To change the size of the text using your wheel mouse:

Hold down the CTRL button on your keyboard
Scroll the wheel on your mouse up to decrease size of text
Scroll the wheel on your mouse down to increase the size of text
To use you mouse to navigate back and fourth between pages instead of the buttons:

Hold down the Shift button on your keyboard
Scroll the wheel on your mouse up to navigate forward one page
Scroll the wheen on your mouse down to navigate back one page

All of the above tips require a mouse with a scroll wheel.

If Your System Wont Shut Down Properly - Part 1

2008-11-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

The solution can be as simple as going into Power Options in Control Panel and changing the "When I Press The Power Button" setting to: "shut down" or so complex that it simply can't be identified. Sometimes it's a third party product causing a reboot at Shutdown (ie, Roxio CD 5.0 - and there is a fix).

Unquestionably, one of the best sites for coverage of this topic is at AUMHA.ORG. I have taken the liberty of pasting the comprehensive information they provide below. Please take the time to locate your specific problem and read their suggested fix. If you still have questions, then by all means post them in the General Questions Forum.

PLEASE REMEMBER ONE THING: BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES TO YOUR REGISTRY, BE SURE TO MAKE A BACK UP EITHER MANUALLY OR BY USING THE SYSTEM RESTORE POINT FEATURE BUILT INTO XP. THIS WILL INSURE A SAFE HAVEN IN THE EVENT YOU MAKE AN ERROR DURING EDITING.

Repair Install of XP

2008-11-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

Make sure the BIOS is set to boot from the CD (put the CD above the HD in the boot order)
Insert the XP CD and boot to it
When you see " To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER", go ahead and press ENTER
You will now see an option to repair Windows by pressing "R".
Do not select this option - it will only take you to the Recovery Console which is not what we want to do. Instead, choose to continue the installation
When you see the license agreement, press F8 to agree
On the next screen make sure your current XP installation is selected and then press "R" to repair XP
At this point XP will begin to install on top of itself, replacing damaged, missing or altered system files.
Follow the instructions on the remaining screens to complete the Repair Install. It will look very much like a normal (new) OS installation.

If all goes well your repaired XP installation will remain iintact, keeping your personalized settings and installed programs as they originally were. Remember, choose the second repair option, not the first.

Handwrite for MSN Messenger

2008-11-16T18:12:00.000-08:00

Probably the easiest way to turn the handwrite capabilities on is downloading Microsoft Journal Viewer version 1.5. Make sure that you sign out and exit Messenger before you run the Setup program. The installation installs the Journal Viewer program and the "Ink" the handwrite feature of Messenger requires. Note that the Journal Viewer has a security issue (KB886179) and it is recommended to download the security update for the Viewer and install it as well.

Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer:
http://g.msn.com/2meen_us/2_4371096_01?FamilyID=fad44098-8b73-4e06-96d4-d1eb70eacb44

Security Update for Windows Journal Viewer:
http://g.msn.com/2meen_us/2_4371096_02?FamilyID=dbf1ea4e-72bd-4359-9f93-7c232ed2dcd3

MSN Messenger Beta: http://messenger.msn.com/beta/

Automatic Shutdown

2008-11-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

I tried enabling APM, but then the computer wouldn't shutdown at all, and just restarted all the time. so I always had to manually turn off my computer when the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" screen came up.

Well I fixed this problem, and came across the solution, for me accidently. I went to Device Manager, then to View then Show Hidden Devices, then you look on the list for NT Apm/Legacy Support.

Under that is NT Apm/Legacy Interface Node. I found that this driver was disabled. Why, I'm not too sure, but I enabled it and now when I shut down windows, my computer turns off automatically.

I went into power management and the APM was also activated/enabled....It must do this when you enable the driver.

Hope this is of help to anyone.

Dump files tweak and disable dr.watson

2008-11-13T18:11:00.000-08:00

Heed the following from PC Magazines' site:

" Dump file. A dump file stores data from memory during a system crash and can be helpful when diagnosing problems, but like a swap file, it can also expose a lot of sensitive, unencrypted data. To prevent Windows from creating the file, go to Control Panel | System. Click on the Advanced tab and then the Settings button on the Startup and Recovery pane. Set the drop-down menu under Write debugging information to (none).

"Similarly, the debugging program Dr. Watson saves information when applications crash. To disable it, go to HKEY_local_machine\software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\ AeDebug and set the Auto string to 0. Then use Windows Explorer to go to Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\DrWatson. Delete User.dmp and Drwtsn32.log, the insecure logs the program creates."

Heed related advice from 'microsoft' regarding 'Disable Dr.Watson' first before the preceding Dr. Watson advice (go Google search.)

Back up with System Restore, and go ahead. As cautious as I am, I have gladly applied these tweaks, and followed related microsot advice on Dr. Watson.

Passwording Guest Account

2008-11-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

This method is some what simpler in that you do not have to mess around with CMD.exe.

1. Make sure you are logged on as an Administrator.
2. Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management.
3. Select the "Users" folder under "Local Users and Groups".
4. Right click on the "Guest" account and click "Set Password".

When a dialog comes up warning you of the possible consequences click "Proceed". You will then be given a dialog that lets you set a new password.

I have always considered security a top priority and considering the ease of doing this I would highly recommend that everyone sets a Guest account password. Even though the Guest account is disabled by default, why not do this just for the extra bit of security?

Local Users and Groups is not available in XP Home. A way to set a password for the guest account in Home and Pro: click start > run > type: cmd >
in the command window type: net user guest * > hit Enter > you will be prompted for the password to use.

How To See the Security Tab in XP Home

2008-11-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

Go to: http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/scm/default.asp

Instructions:

Download the x86 (Intel) version of the Security Configuration Manager and save it to your hard disk.
Double click the SCESP4I.EXE file you downloaded and extract the contents to a temporary location on your hard disk.
Then open the folder you extracted the files to and locate the Setup.inf (Setup Information) file.
Right click Setup.inf and select Install.
After the installation is finished, reboot your computer.

WARNING:

Adjusting the permissions on a drive, file or folder can lock even the Administrator account out of that drive/file/folder.
Deny Permissions take precedence over Allow Permissions, regardless of your group membership.
Administrators are members of the User's group, by default.
Uncheck Allow, rather than using Deny.

Fast Shutdown and/or Restart From Quick Launch Buttons

2008-11-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

Right click on your desktop, scroll to new..... shortcut
In the location line, for shutdown type; shutdown -s -t 0
ie: shutdown(space)-s(space)-t(space)number zero

Name the shortcut "Shut Down PC" or whatever u want
The new shortcut is now sitting on your desktop, right click on it and go to properties, then click on "change icon". Click OK, then pick a suitable icon, there is a red "off button" icon available, then click apply and ok.
Now drag the icon from your desktop into the quick launch toolbar, resize the toolbar so all the buttons are visible, then delete the shortcut from your desktop.

To create a restart button the location line should read shutdown -r -t 0 name it restart pc and give it a suitable icon for restart.

Now you can shut down or restart your pc in 1 mouse click without having to go through the startup menu.

Change ANY user password without having to know the existing password

2008-11-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

It enables the user to re-password any account without having to know the existing password and also shows you every account that exists on the machine (even the ones that are hidden). This is a good tool to use if you forgot a password to say your administrator account and you needed to be logged into the admin account for any reason.

To view all of the user accounts:

1) While logged onto the computer, click on Start>Run>and type in CMD.

2) From the command prompt window, type in net users. This will show you every account that is made onto the computer whether it is hidden or not.

To change an account password:

1) While logged onto the computer to an account that has administrative rights, click on Start>Run>and type in CMD.

2) Type in: "net user" then the name of the account then * and press enter.
Here's an example: net user administrator * or net user "Joe Smith" * .
Put the name in quotes if it contains spaces.

3) From there it should ask for a new password. Type in your new password (type very carefully - the command window won't display what you type) and once more to confirm it. If you get the message that the command succeeded successfully you're all set!!

Right Click Drive Defragmentation

2008-11-05T18:44:00.000-08:00

The easy way:
1. Create a .reg file and name it to whatever you think might fit. (create an empty .txt-file and rename it to anyname.reg)

2. Rightclick it and choose "edit".

3. Paste the following into it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\Defrag\Command]
@="defrag.exe %1 -f -v"

4. Save and close.

5. Doubleclick it and answer yes/ok to the questions.

6. Rightclick a drive and choose 'Defrag' to defragment it.

The not as simple but yet not difficult way:

1. Open RegEdit.

2. Navigate to "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell".

3. Create a new Key named "Defrag".
(This is what will show in the RightClick-menu so if you'd like it to say "Mah 1337 d3Phr4G-h4Ck" then use that keyname ;) )

4. Create a sub-key to you ¨"Defrag" key and name it "Command".
(This name is not an option)

5. Go to the "Command" key and doubleclick "(default)".

6. Change it's value to "defrag.exe %1 -f -v"
-f = force defragmentation even if there's to little free space on the drive.
-v = Verbose mode.

7. Save and you're done.

How to reinstall PC Health

2008-11-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

NOTE: You must be logged on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group in order to perform this procedure.

Click Start , click Run , and then type the following command:
%systemroot%\inf

NOTE : There are no spaces at all in the preceding command line.

Click OK to open the INF folder.
Locate the file pchealth.inf .
Right-click the file, and then click Install . This will reinstall the files that Search needs to proceed normally.

You will be asked to place your windows XP cd rom in the drive.

Remote registry editing

2008-10-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

Below are the step-by-step instructions to disable this security hole:

1. Goto your control panel (you can do this by clicking on your start menu)
2. Select administrative tools - services
3. On the right panel, find the service called "remote registry"
4. Right click on it and select properties
5. In the startup type option box, select disable
6. Reboot you computer and repeat steps 1-4. You should see it won't be running anymore.

Reset Security on all folders

2008-10-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

This is in fact a less than optimum method of applying security settings. A more appropriate method is to execute the following command line from the root of the partition:

(Note: If you are not at the root of the partition in question you must set your default there: CD /D drive_name: )

Now the command line:
CACLS * /e /t /c /g Administrators:F System:F

(Note: If you see the message, ''Unable to perform a security operation on an object which has no associated security,'' you are executing this from a FAT partition. You must set the default to an NTFS partition.)

This command will edit (/e) the ACLs, rather than replace them, and recursively apply them (/t) to subdirectories. CACLS will continue (/c) even when it hits an open file. Any number of ACCOUNT:PERM parameters may follow the grant (/g) switch. There is additional flexibility built into the CACLS command-its only limitation is the dearth of selections for PERM (permission levels) values.