WindowXpSecrets.Com

How To Install IE7 And Window Media Player 10 [Easy Way]

2007-12-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

It's Easy way to install IE7 and WMP10 on non Genuin XP without changing dll files. I hope it will be helpful for users. It's 100% working.

open notepad ..

-- Text Start Here --
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents]
"OOBETimer"=hex:ff,d5,71,d6,8b,6a,8d,6f,d5,33,93,fd
"LastWPAEventLogged"=hex:d5,07,05,00,06,00,07,00,0f,00,38,00,24,00,fd,02

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]
"CurrentBuild"="1.511.1 () (Obsolete data - do not use)"
"InstallDate"=dword:427cdd95
"ProductId"="69831-640-1780577-45389"
"DigitalProductId"=hex:a4,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,36,39,38,33,31,2d,36,34,30,2d,\
31,37,38,30,35,37,37,2d,34,35,33,38,39,00,5a,00,00,00,41,32,32,2d,30,30,30,\
30,31,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,0d,04,89,b2,15,1b,c4,ee,62,4f,e6,64,6f,01,00,\
00,00,00,00,27,ed,85,43,a2,20,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,31,34,35,30,34,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,ce,0e,\
00,00,12,42,15,a0,00,08,00,00,87,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,94,a2,b3,ac
"LicenseInfo"=hex:9e,bf,09,d0,3a,76,a5,27,bb,f2,da,88,58,ce,58,e9,05,6b,0b,82,\
c3,74,ab,42,0d,fb,ee,c3,ea,57,d0,9d,67,a5,3d,6e,42,0d,60,c0,1a,70,24,46,16,\
0a,0a,ce,0d,b8,27,4a,46,53,f3,17

-- Text End Here --

choose File->save as->"Add Licence To Your Windows.reg"-> ok.
you can use any name with .reg extension . Double click the file you saved.
you will be asked for the confirmation to add the information in the file to
your windows.reg in the registry . click ok. And now you can download and
install softwares from microsoft to your computer .

I am using the media center edition and its working for me. I am enjoying
all softwares like IE7 , windows defender ,etc . Hope it will work for you as
well

Root Kit - What Is It?

2007-11-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

Root kits have been around a long time, yet most computer users had never heard of them before.

The Sony came along and started using the technology to prevent copying of it's music CD's and suddenly the whole world new about the root kit...

I think Sony did the average user a favour when their failed attempt at restricting customers attempts to copy their music CD's. Their PR disaster suddenly made most computer users aware of the existence of root kits!
Read the full story here.

A basic definition of a root kit is:

"A set of software tools frequently used by a third party (usually an intruder) after gaining access to a computer system. These tools are intended to conceal running processes, files or system data, which helps an intruder maintain access to a system without the user's knowledge. Rootkits are known to exist for a variety of operating systems such as Linux, Solaris and versions of Microsoft Windows."So they are NOT something you really want on your system!

How Can I Detect A Root Kit On My Computer?

Mark Russinovich, the guy who discovered the Sony Root Kit has some software you can use in many circumstances to discover root kits on your windows computer - however it is not for the beginner!

Root Kit Revealer Homepage:

http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/rootkitrevealer.html

Root Kit Revealer Direct Download:

http://www.sysinternals.com/Files/RootkitRevealer.zip

Is There Any Easier Solution I Can Use?

Yes, Webroot's "Spy Sweeper" version 4.5 can detect many root kits and is the software I have on ALL my computers!

Try the free 15 day trial - but remember to update the "definitions" before running a sweep of your computer... (This link is found under the "Home" section)

Grab your download:
http://www.1updatexp.com/sstrial.exe (6.5Mb)
...by the way Webroot have released an overview of the security threats that face all online users.
You can read the main points here:
http://www.webroot.com/resources/stateofspyware/excerpt.html
If you have not installed a copy of SpySweeper (or a similar product) before you will want to after reading this report!

Do Microsoft Have A Root Kit Detection Product?
Microsoft have a page here on their research website about root kit detection:

http://research.microsoft.com/rootkit/ (Not for the non technical.)

Make XP boot even Faster

2007-09-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has chosen a completely different path for XP and it's boot features by trying to incorporate as much support for newer fastboot BIOSes that are on most current motherboards. They built XP in such a way as to make it able to take advantage of features in these new BIOSes, and one of the coolest things is a small application called bootvis. bootvis.

Bootvis watches everything that loads at boot time, from the moment the OS begins to load just after POST (Power On Self-Test) to the moment you get to a usable Desktop. Some programs, most notably Norton AntiVirus 2002, suck up valuable seconds before you can actually DO anything even though you're at the Desktop. bootvis generates a trace file that you load and can then "see" a visual representation of what's happening. Every file, driver, hard drive read/write, etc., is recorded. You can then use bootvis to optimize the loading of files during the boot sequence. bootvis will rearrange the ways these very files are stored on the hard drive, thereby improving the boot time dramatically.

Speed Up Browsing

2007-09-15T01:28:00.000-07:00

When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth. Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address, the stuff that TCP/IP really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time you visit the site. Although Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size. You can do this with the registry entries below:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d

Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above into it and save it. Merge it into the registry.

Mega Shutdown and Restart Troubleshooting Guide

2007-09-15T01:09:00.000-07:00

Thus far, Windows XP shutdown issues most resemble those of Windows Millennium Edition. That is, most of them center around a very few issues, especially driver version and other legacy hardware and software compatibility issues. These are detailed below. The driver and software issues are expected to resolve substantially as hardware and software manufacturers release updated versions, now that Win XP has been officially launched.

Reboot Instead of Shutdown
The majority of shutdown problems reported with Windows XP thus far have been that it reboots when shutdown is attempted. This may be a global symptom emerging from several distinct causes, because XP executes an automatic restart in the event of a system failure. I'm guessing that this means that more or less anything compromising the operating system during the shutdown process could force this reboot. If this is true, then our job will be to prepare a series of steps suitable to isolate the most likely cause. Disabling the "restart on system failure" feature may permit the exact cause to be isolated:

Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the Advanced tab. Under 'Startup & Recovery,' click Settings. Under 'System Failure,' uncheck the box in front of 'System reboot.

'Some things that have produced this reboot-instead-of-shutdown symptom are:" By now, Roxio's Easy CD / Direct CD software is well documented as being a major cause - possibly the major cause - of this undesirable shutdown behavior. On November 1, Roxio released new drivers to solve this problem in Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum in its Windows XP updater for the Platinum product. A fix for Easy CD Creator 5 Basic is in the works. In the first few hours of its release, several peple have written me saying that this fix has resolved their Windows XP shutdown problem. I suspect that <>of the Windows XP shutdown problems will go away with Roxio's release of this patch for Platinum and the pending patch for Basic. This has been the single most common cause of Win XP shutdown problems thus far. One person after another has written to me with the simple message that this reboot behavior went away as soon as they uninstalled Easy CD. HINT No. 1: PCBUILD subscribers, by trial and error, identified the file CDRALW2K.SYS (version 1.0.0.1048) as the Roxio file that was causing his shutdown problems and error conditions. When he deleted this one file, his problems went away. HINT No.2: The Mystic Overclocker and others have reported that installing Easy CD 5.0 does not cause the shutdown problem, provided they do not install the Direct CD component. Though this isn't universally true, enough people have mentioned it by now for me to suggest it as a work-around.

Unassigned Device Drivers
PCBUILD subscribers have found that Windows XP won't shutdown properly if unsigned device drivers are used. Since all necessary device drivers have not yet been created for Win XP, this will be a problem for the next few months. It resembles the pattern for Win ME shutdown problems, because even today, many hardware manufacturers have not prepared suitable drivers for use with ME.

SBLive: DEVLDR32.EXE PROBLEMS
In the early days of Win ME, one of the biggest culprits for shutdown issue was the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live. History repeated itself in the early stages of Win XP. This now has been fixed for some users (but not for all) by the release of new drivers.
Here's the commonly reported scenario: On attempting shutdown, nothing at all appears to happen for a prolonged period of time. Eventually, an "End Task" window appears wanting to terminate DEVLDR32.EXE. No matter what one does, one ultimately is locked out of shutting down other than by a power switch shutoff. (This problem exists with the SBLive in Windows 2000 also.)
In mid-July, Microsoft posted new Win XP drivers for the SBLive on the Windows Update site. According to PCBUILD subscribers, these drivers solve the shutdown problem the SBLive was causing. I recommend you go to Windows Update and download the new driver if you have an SBLive card. However, some users are reporting that the DEVLDR problem continues to plague them even with the new drivers:

" In the event installing the new drivers does not solve your shutdown problem, try some of the solutions people have been using prior to the release of these new drivers. PCBUILD subscribers have written that they solved the well-documented SBLive/DEVLDR32 problem by downloading and installing the LiveService software. (We caution that one should disable all antivirus software while executing this program. I do recommend that you at least virus-check anything you download first!)" PCBUILD subscribers" gave another solution to this problem: Uninstall the LiveWare software pack (of which DEVLDR is part). Uninstall the SBLive card. Restart Windows, let it detect the new hardware, and use the Windows XP driver. However, other users have reported that this isn't satisfactory because the XP native driver gives very poor sound quality. If the new drivers work for you, they are definitely the preferred option.

3D PROPHET 4500 VIDEO CARD
Other video cards that have created problems are those based on the Kyro II video chip, such as the Hercules Prophet 4500. PCBUILD subscribers have reported that until they removed the Kyro II / Prophet 4500, they could shutdown, hibernate, or go to stand by just fine, but Restart wouldn't work - it would shutdown Windows instead. Others with this video card have reported this strange behavior on both restart and shutdown.
Apparently, this problem is now solved. Microsoft reports that new drivers for this card, specific to Windows XP, are now available from Hercules. At present, they remain uncertified (PowerVR, who makes the Kyro II chip, is working on that), but they reportedly work just fine. Download the Kyro II drivers here.

SHUTDOWN HANGS ON "SAVING YOUR SETTINGS"
During shutdown or reboot, Win XP may hang (stop responding) at the "saving your settings" screen. During such a hang, there is no response to Ctrl+Alt+Del; the mouse may or may not work. (The problem may be intermittent.)
This is a known bug in Windows XP, for which Microsoft has a supported fix. Because this patch is scheduled for further quality assurance testing in the future, Microsoft only recommends that you install it if you have a serious problem; otherwise, they recommend waiting for Service Pack 1, which will include the more permanent version of the fix. To learn how to get this patch, see Windows XP Stops Responding (Hangs) During Windows Shutdown.

As a workaround, we resolved this problem by dismantling the Windows XP logon Welcome screen. In the Control Panel, click User Accounts, then click "Change the way users log on or off." Uncheck the box that says "Use the Welcome screen." This removes the initial logon screen with individual icons for each user and, instead, pops up the classic logon prompt that requires each user to type a user name and password.

"ShutMeDown" REGISTRY PATCH
Download the "ShutMeDown" Registry patch. Please follow sensible Registry editing protocol. Backup your Registry before the change (or run System Restore to create a restore point). This is not the appropriate fix for most machines, but does help a significant number. After installing, test Windows shutdown. If the fix does not work for you, remove it by restoring the Registry to its prior state.For those who want a little more background information, the fix provided by this patch is based on a Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q155117 for Windows NT 4.0. It apparently still works in NT 5.1; that is, in Windows XP.

Stop Erros messages at shutdown
Some users have gotten an error message similar to the following when attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP:

STOP 0000009F, DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURESTOP 0x0000001E: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLEDSTOP 0x000000D1: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

TechNet and the Microsoft Knowledge Base have numerous articles discussing this type of error condition; for example, these. As a review of these articles will show, these are commonly device driver problems, but may also be caused by troublesome software (such as the notorious CrashGuard), or a problem in a system service. MSKB article Q262575 discusses a shutdown problem of this type, known to exist in Windows 2000 due to a resource (IRQ) conflict, if you have PACE Interlok anti-piracy software installed. This problem may occur in Windows XP as well.

Try the following as one approach to these problems: Restart the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select "Last Known Good Configuration." If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you likely have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return you to a previous working condition.

It has been reported by a PCBUILD Subscriber that these STOP code error message occur when Windows XP is trying to shut down devices. He says that he has seen this twice: once with Logitech Quickcam installed (with an unsupported driver), and once with a USB DSL modem that would hang if it wasn't disconnected before shutdown.

Shutdown Works but its real slow
If it appears that Win XP is not shutting down, give it some time. Some users have reported a minute or longer for shutdown to visibly start. Thus far, it appears that this is a consequence of software that is running when shutdown is attempted, and it also may have something to do with particular hardware. If you are experiencing this problem, be sure to close all running programs before attempting shutdown and see if this solves your problem. If so, then you can determine, by trial and error, which program(s) are involved.

One specific solution for this can be found: In Control Panel Administrative Tools Services. (You can also get this by launching SERVICES.MSC from a Run box. This utility is also built into the Computer Management console.) Stop the Nvidia Driver Helper service. Many other newsgroup participants quickly confirmed that this solved this "extremely slow shutdown" problem for them.

Powerdown Issues
"Powerdown issues" are quite distinctive from "shutdown issues." I define a shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn't make it at least to the "OK to shut off your computer" screen. If Windows gets that far, or farther, then it has shut down correctly. However, the computer may not powerdown correctly after that. This is a different problem, and I encourage people reporting these issues to make a clear distinction in their labeling.

When Windows XP won't powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy Power Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My Computer icon, click Properties Hardware Device Manager View. Check the box labeled "Show Hidden Devices." If it's available on your computer, there will be a red X on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if this resolves the powerdown problem. (Tip from Terri Stratton.)

This should resolve the powerdown issue in most cases. However, other factors can sometimes interfere with correct powerdown functioning. In that case, consider the following tips:" If you changing the default power settings in the BIOS, it can lead to a powerdown problem. Restoring all BIOS power settings to default will likely fix it. PCBUILD subscribers reported that, when the above didn't work , they restored powerdown functioning by disabling his CD-ROM's AutoRun feature. The fastest way to do this is with the "Disable AutoRun" Registry patch which you can download here.

Other Known Issues and Hints
" BIOS UPGRADE. As with every new operating system that comes along - especially one that is as much of a "step up" as Windows XP is from Windows 9x - the recommendation is made to be sure your BIOS is updated. Many people have reported that this has solved their shutdown problems (and had other advantages) with Win XP, just as it has in earlier versions of Windows.

Quick Switching user Accounts
One reported quirk affecting shutdown is the three-account shuffle. Windows XP gives the ability to rapidly bounce between user accounts, with Win+L. If at least three user accounts exist, and you quick-switch through all three, and then log off all three in reverse order - "backing out" in an orderly way - then the machine may hang on shutdown. There may be other variations of account shuffling that cause this, but this one, clear example was provided by newsgroup correspondent John Ward. So far, I have no concrete clue on what may be occurring here.

Steps You Can Take to Increase Windows XP’s Performance

2007-08-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

Steps You Can Take to Increase Windows XP’s Performance

Microsoft’s Windows XP Professional and Home Editions can be made to perform faster than their default installed configurations by making a few modifications at the user level. Louis Columbus shows you the steps you need to take to increase Windows XP’s overall performance.

When Microsoft defined the default configuration of Windows XP Professional, assumptions were made regarding how the operating system needed to be set up out of the box for the broadest possible levels of compatibility. In defining a wide breadth of support, Microsoft had to trade off performance fine-tuning for each individual's needs. The good news is that this operating system provides access to many configuration options that you can use to accentuate the performance of Windows XP Professional and Home Editions. The intent of this article is to provide you with pragmatic advice about how to get the highest levels of performance possible from the Windows XP Professional operating system by changing memory management and menu system variables.

This is the first of 15 articles that will define how you can get greater performance from your Windows XP Professional system. Starting with memory management and graphics, this series of articles will progress through processor scheduling, disk usage, and network fine-tuning.
This article covers the guidelines for increasing system performance by doing the following:

Optimizing memory management

Streamlining the menu system

Steps to Optimizing Memory Management

Like many other operating systems, Windows XP Professional addresses memory from both a physical and virtual level. Physical memory is the amount of random access memory in your workstation, whereas virtual memory is the amount of memory than can be written to your system's hard disk. Integral to the development of the Windows NT operating system, Microsoft has always relied on virtual memory for increasing baseline performance.

The virtual memory paging file, called PAGEFILE.SYS, can be modified in size through a series of steps shown here. For the best possible performance, it's best to have a virtual memory partition on each disk drive. When defining the size of the PAGEFILE.SYS file for each disk drive, it's best to set this file's size at double the physical memory in the system. To optimize physical and virtual memory, follow these series of steps:

Double-click on the System icon in the Control Panel. The System Properties dialog box appears.

Click once on the Advanced page tab at the top of the System Properties dialog box. Figure 1 shows this specific page of the dialog box.

Figure 1 Configuring your Windows XP system for higher performance using the Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box.

In the Performance segment of the Advanced page (the first entry on the top of the page), click once on Settings. The Performance Options dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Using the Performance Options dialog box, you can define the virtual memory paging file size.

Click once on the Advanced tab of the Performance Options dialog box. Figure 3 shows the contents of the Advanced tab: Processor scheduling, Memory usage, and Virtual memory.

Figure 3 The Advanced page of the Performance Options dialog box gives you control over setting virtual memory sizing

Notice that at the bottom of the page there is an entry for defining the virtual paging size for your Windows XP system. Click once on the Change button. The Virtual Memory dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Using the options in the Virtual Memory dialog box to define paging file size.

The purpose of this dialog box is to define the size of the paging file your system will use. You can, for example, toggle Windows XP Professional to not provide any paging file by selecting the No paging file option (although it will save on disk space, it will inhibit your system's overall performance). The best selection in this area is to select System managed size because Windows XP will calculate the size of the virtual paging file for you. After you select the option you want for this specific option, click once on Set in the Paging file size for selected drive section.

Click once on OK to close the Virtual Memory dialog box; then, select OK in the two other dialog boxes until the main desktop is again shown.

Reboot your system, and PAGEFILE.SYS will be created. You'll notice that the file appears in the partition as defined in the Virtual Memory dialog box. Your system should now run more efficiently, especially when several concurrent applications are in use at the same time.

Streamlining the Menu System

Although the navigational aspects of Windows XP Professional have been around since the days of Windows 95, their graphical nature has progressed—they are more extensive in their use of colors and shading, and they drain more system resources. Trimming back the level of graphical representation in your Windows XP desktop can save system resources and boost overall application and network performance.

Follow these steps to get greater performance from your Windows XP system by trimming back the visual effects:

Select the System Tool from the Control Panel. The System Properties dialog box appears.

Click on the Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box.

Click once on the Settings button in the Performance section of the dialog box. The Performance Options dialog box is next shown, with the Visual Effects page highlighted by default (see Figure 5). Notice that this dialog box lets you select between four options: Let Windows choose what's best for my computer, Adjust for best appearance, and Adjust for best performance, and Custom. Select Adjust for best performance, and click once on Apply.

Figure 5 Using the Optimizing visual effects performance to streamline the performance of your Windows XP system

Your system will take a few moments to redefine color schemes. The majority of the colors will now be grayscale, yet the performance of your system will be noticeably faster.

Click once on OK. Your system is now configured for the highest performance possible from a graphical interface standpoint.

Now if the grayscale is just too bland for you, you can also toggle up the performance of your system by using the following steps:

In the Performance Options dialog box, select Options instead of Adjust for best performance.

Clear the following options to still retain a colorful appearance to the desktop while getting greater performance:

Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing

Fade in taskbar

Fade or slide menus into view

Fade or slide ToolTips into view

Fade out menu items after clicking

Show shadows under menus

Show shadows under mouse pointer

Show translucent selection rectangle

Show window contents while dragging

Slide open combo boxes

Slide taskbar buttons

Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop

Click once on Apply and then click OK. Now you have retained the appearance of Windows XP, yet also greatly increased its performance.

Summary
One of the best approaches to increasing your system's performance is to optimize the size of the PAGEFILE.SYS file because it acts as a virtual memory buffer on your system's main partition. It's a good idea to maximize the size of this file because it has a direct bearing on how many concurrent applications can be running at the same time and the depth of the memory they use. Keep in mind that the dedicated memory management of Windows NT, carried forward to Windows XP, is what makes a virtual memory partition highly recommended. Letting Windows XP actually define the size of this file is the best bet; you can, however, toggle it to your preferences. If your system is not running with PAGEFILE.SYS, make room for it and run it.

The second performance tip in this article was to customize the graphical interface for your system. Although selecting the option that optimizes performance creates the classic Windows look that has grayscale everywhere, you can still retain the colorful Windows XP desktop by deleting marginally useful graphical elements that drain system performance.

This series of articles will get down to the individual dialog boxes you need to work with to get the highest performance possible. Broader, more global statements on performance are useful, but it's been my experience that getting hands-on with your operating system always yields the best results.

Speed up Windows XP

2007-08-31T18:20:00.000-07:00

Speed up Windows XP

Eliminate programs that run at start-up
Speed up shutdown times
Disable services that run at start-up

Eliminate programs that run at start-up

Stopping programs from running at start-up is especially daunting because there is no single place you can go to halt them all. Some run because they're in the Startup folder, others because they're part of logon scripts, others because of Registry settings, and so on. But with a little bit of perseverance, you should be able to keep them from running.

Start by cleaning out your Startup folder. Find it in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup, where username is your Windows logon name. Delete the shortcuts of any programs you don't want to run on start-up. As with any shortcuts, when you delete them, you're deleting only the shortcut, not the program itself. (You can also clear out the start-up items by going to Start > Programs > Startup, then right-clicking items you want to remove.)

Next, clean out your Scheduled Tasks folder. Go to C:\Windows\Tasks, and delete the shortcuts of any programs that you don't want to run automatically on a schedule.

Note: You can bypass all the programs in your Startup folder on an as-needed basis. To stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder, hold down the Shift key during bootup. No programs in the Startup folder will run, but the items will still remain there so that they will start up as they would normally the next time you boot.

Using the system configuration utility

Taking the previous steps will stop the obvious programs from running at start-up, but it won't kill them all. The best tool for disabling hidden programs that run on start-up is the System Configuration Utility. To run it, type msconfig at a command prompt, and press Enter. (If that doesn't work, first do a search for msconfig.exe; when you find the file, double-click it.)

To stop a program from running at start-up, go to the Startup tab in this utility, and uncheck the box next to the program. It can sometimes be difficult to understand what programs are listed on the Startup tab. Some, such as America Online, are clearly labeled. But often, you'll see a phrase or collection of letters, such as fs20. That's the name of the running file--such as fs20.exe, which is Free Surfer mk II, an excellent free pop-up killer.
To get more information about a listing, expand the width of the Command column near the top of the Startup tab. Expand it enough and you'll see the start-up command that the program issues, including its location, such as C:\Program Files\Free Surfer\fs20.exe. The directory location should be another hint to help you know the name of the program.
When stopping programs from running at start-up, it's best to stop them one at a time rather than in groups. You want to make sure that you're not causing any system problems by stopping them. So stop one, then restart your PC. If it runs fine, then stop another and restart. Continue doing this until you've cleared all the programs you don't want to run automatically.

Each time you uncheck a box and restart your PC, you'll get a warning that you've used the System Configuration Utility to disable a program from starting automatically. If you don't want to see that warning, disable it by checking the box in the dialog itself. After you've used the system configuration utility to identify programs that run on start-up, you may want to try disabling them from with the programs themselves. So run each program that starts automatically, and see if you can find a setting that allows you to prevent it from running on start-up.

Speed up shutdown times

It's not only start-up that you'd like to speed up; you can also make sure that your system shuts down faster. If shutting down XP takes what seems to be an inordinate amount of time, here are a couple of steps you can take to speed up the shutdown process:

Don't have XP clear your paging file at shutdown. For security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information such as unencrypted passwords sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it. To shut down XP without clearing your paging file, run the Registry Editor (click Start > Run, then type regedit in the Run box) and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 0. Close the Registry, and restart your computer. Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.

Note: Please be careful when editing the Registry; you can do a lot of damage here. Don't change or delete anything unless you know exactly what it is.

Disable services that run at start-up

Constantly running in the background of XP are services--processes that help the operating system run or that provide support to applications. Many of these services launch automatically at start-up. While you need many of them, some are not required, and they can slow down your system when they run in the background.

You can disable services at start-up by using the system configuration utility, similar to the way that you halt programs from running at start-up, except that you use the Services tab instead of the Startup tab. But the system configuration utility doesn't necessarily list every service that launches on start-up. A bigger problem is that disabling services is more of shot in the dark than disabling programs. When you disable a program, you can get a sense of what the program does. But when you disable a service through the system configuration utility, there's often no way to know what it does.

A better way of disabling services at start-up is via the Services computer-management console. Run it by typing services.msc at the command prompt. The Services computer-management console includes a description of all services so that you can know ahead of time whether a particular service is one you want to turn off. It also lets you pause the service so that you can test your machine and see whether that service is needed.
After you run the console, click the Extended tab. This view will show you a description of each service in the left pane when you highlight the service. The Startup Type column shows you which services launch on start-up--any with Automatic in that field. Click that column to sort together all the services that automatically launch on start-up. Then highlight each of those services and read the descriptions.
When you find a service you want to disable, right-click it and choose Properties. In the Properties dialog box that appears, choose Manual from the Startup Type drop-down list. The service won't start automatically from now on, but you can start it manually via the console. If you want the service disabled so that it can't be run, choose Disabled. To test the results, turn off any services that you don't want to run by clicking Stop The Service in the left pane, or by right-clicking the service and choosing Stop.

Here is a list of some common services you might want to stop from running at start-up.

Service	What it does
Portable Media Serial Number	Retrieves the serial number of a portable music player attached to your PC.
Task Scheduler	Schedules unattended tasks to be run. If you don't schedule any unattended tasks, turn it off.
Uninterruptible Power Supply	Manages an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) connected to your PC.
Automatic Updates	Automatically checks for Windows updates. (You can check manually by going to http://dw.com.com/redir?oid=4520-10165_7-5554402-1&edid=10165&siteid=7&edid=3&lop=txt&destcat=ex&destUrl=http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/.)
Telnet (service available on XP Pro only)	Allows a remote user to log in to your computer and run programs. (This will not be found on all versions of XP Pro.)
Wireless Zero Configuration Service	Automatically configures a Wi-Fi (802.11) network card. Disable this only if you're not using a Wi-Fi network card.