Green Computing

Green Computing Saves Green

2010-01-24T23:03:00.000+05:30

The good news is, by embracing simple, everyday green computing practices, you can improve energy management, increase energy efficiency, reduce e-waste, and save money in the process!

As computers play an ever-larger role in our lives, energy demands, costs, and waste are escalating dramatically. Consider the following from the Climate Savers Computing Initiative:

In a typical desktop computer, nearly half the power coming out of the wall is wasted and never reaches the processor, memory, disks, or other components.
The added heat from inefficient computers can increase the demand on air
conditioners and cooling systems, making your computing equipment even more
expensive to run.
Even though most of today’s desktop computers are capable of automatically
transitioning to a sleep or hibernate state when inactive, about 90 percent of systems
have this function disabled.
Some 25 percent of the electricity used to power home electronics—computers, DVD
players, stereos, TVs—is consumed while the products are turned off.

E waste

2010-01-17T09:37:00.000+05:30

Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, broken, electrical or electronic devices. The processing of electronic waste in developing countries causes serious health and pollution problems because electronic equipment contains some very serious contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium and brominated flame retardants. Even in developed countries recycling and disposal of e-waste involves significant risk to workers and communities and great care must be taken to avoid unsafe exposure in recycling operations and leaching of material such as heavy metals from landfills and incinerator ashes.

Ewaste: Dumping ground

2010-01-06T21:11:00.000+05:30

It gets worse. “There are two major sources of e-waste: domestic markets, and illegal waste dumping from countries such as the US, European Union and south east Asia,” . Although India is a signatory of the Basel convention that bans the movement of hazardous waste from developed to developing nations, that hasn’t stopped a flood of old monitors, motherboards and MP3 players from being dumped in India. Even just the domestically produced e-waste is becoming a major problem., “A new report by the GTZ (an enterprise owned by the German government that specializes in technical cooperation for sustainable development), says that India produces 3.3 lakh tons of ewaste in a year. According to earlier data, we produce 800 tons of e-waste a day.”

Ewaste : a heaping problem

2010-01-05T20:49:00.001+05:30

Like all daily use objects, when a device is replaced, it makes its way into the dustbin, unfortunately, unlike other waste, this kind leaves behind a trail of problems and complications. Welcome to the world of e-waste.
“All electrical and electronic products that complete their useful life and can’t be used for any purpose are e-waste,” associate director of Toxics Link, an organization that has been tracing this waste for a number of years. “The problem is that e-waste has a huge amount of highly toxic constituents, and needs to be handled with a lot of care during disposal. Failure to do so creates a number of environmental and human health issues,” he adds. It’s not difficult to see why. Every computer, computing device, cell phone, or PDA contains a printed circuit board, the area where the microprocessor and all the circuits, capacitors, resistors and sensors that make it work, are placed. These components and the solder required to keep them connected, contain a plethora of human poisons. Lead, a neurotoxin, is used in the solder and CRTs; cadmium that kills the kidneys, is used in chips; mercury a metal that disrupts the brain is part of LCDs and switches; brominated flame retardant plastics that forms most of the computers body, damage the DNA.
The list goes on. Unfortunately, as Moore’s law produces faster devices every 18 months, the pile of discarded devices keeps growing, and we keep adding to the pool of mentioned substances.

Where computers go to die

2010-01-04T18:18:00.002+05:30

By 2012 India will be producing approximately 8,800 tons of e-waste every day. Here’s the scary truth about what happens to your computer after you dispose of it.

Gets Alerts When A Remote Process Runs On Your Computer With Remote Access Monitor

2010-01-01T22:25:00.000+05:30

Remote Access Monitor alerts you when a remote suspicious process runs on your computer, this means it will alert you when some one try to connect to your computer with out your permission or consent. This means you can actually keep any eye on the people accessing your machine using applications such as Remote Desktop, Terminal Services or a management console.

It will run a scan once you run this program after installation, and will let you know who else on your network or on internet is trying to connect to your PC.

Download Remote Process Monitor

Turn Off Monitor Automatically When Computer Is Locked With Green Monitor

2009-12-29T12:31:00.000+05:30

We have featured some monitor tools like MonitorOffSaver, PushMonitorOff, Monitor ES and MonitorOff and Today we are telling about another small free utility which can turn off your monitor when you lock your computer or when your computer gets locked after a idle timeout.

Green Monitor is the name of this application which helps you conserve energy by turning off monitor intelligently when computer is not in use and it is in locked state.

From The Application Manufacturer

Energy conservation and global warming are amongst the world’s top priority issues. GreenUtils’ is an initiative to help world conserve energy.

Download Green Monitor

Integrating videos as the desktop background

2009-12-27T10:41:00.000+05:30

The new operating system is optically quite impressive with every series. But its interface can be tuned further—with tools from Redmond.
DreamScene is used for animating
the desktop background. This program is
one of the free tools offered by Microsoft
for the Ultimate version of Windows Vista.
SETUP: To install DreamScene, connect
to the Internet, click on ‘Security’ in
Control Panel and then click on ‘Windows-
Update’. If you have activated the
classic view of the Control Panel, just
double-click on ‘Windows Update’. Then,
select ‘Search for Updates’ and ‘Display
Available Updates’. In the ‘Windows
Ultimate Tools’ area, select the ‘Windows
DreamScene-preview’ option and click on
‘Install’. The installation is possible from
a normal user account as well. However,
you must have the administrator password
because you will have to enter it to clear
security queries. Windows will download
DreamScene and install it automatically.
Click on ‘Restart now’ to complete
the installation. To select an animated
background, right-click on the free space
on the desktop and select ‘Personalize’.
Then, click on ‘Desktop
Background’ and open the drop down
box near ‘Location’ and choose Windows
DreamScene Content’. Or click ‘Browse’
and then under the installation directory
of Windows, select the directory ‘\
web\WindowsDreamScene’. After the
Setup of ‘DreamScene’, you will get an

animated sample background. Select it
and finally click on ‘OK’. You can also
install the ‘Contents packet for Windows
DreamScene’. This extra contains more
animated wallpapers. In addition, you can
use every other video file as a screen
saver; for example, a slide show from your
last vacation that you have saved in MPG
format. Your creativity sees no bounds.
But be careful: hectic film sequences are
annoying and distracting.

Windows 7 Tip – Select Multiple Images As Desktop Background Wallpaper

2009-12-26T21:03:00.001+05:30

I just found out that we can select multiple images and set them as desktop background in windows 7, no need to Open Windows 7 Control Panel >> Personalization to do this.

Please Note: Selecting multiple images should not be taken as setting multiple images as single desktop background, read on further to clear your confusion.

Select Multiple Images As Desktop Background Wallpaper means you can select multiple images in any folder and set them as series of changing desktop wallpapers.

For Example:

Navigate to Pictures >> Sample Pictures in user account in windows 7, and follow the procedure given below

1. Ctrl+ click the multiple images which you want to see as desktop wallpaper one by one

2. That’s it Done, your windows 7 desktop wallpaper will now cycle in between the multiple images you just selected as desktop background, irrespective of any windows 7 theme you have currently applied.

Windows Xp Tips 'n' Tricks

2009-12-21T20:55:00.002+05:30

Windows Xp Tips 'n' Tricks, Windows XP Tips 'n' Tricks

Please note that some of these tips require you to use a Registry Editor (regedit.exe), which could render your system unusable. Thus, none of these tips are supported in any way: Use them at your own risk. Also note that most of these tips will require you to be logged on with Administrative rights.

Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini
============================

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882 335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:

Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:

Pid=51882OEM

How do I get the "Administrator" name on Welcome Screen?
========================================================

To get Admin account on the "Welcome Screen" as well as the other usernames, make sure that there are no accounts logged in.

Press "ctrl-alt-del" twice and you should be able to login as administrator!

finally worked for me after i found out that all accounts have to be logged out first

Fix Movie Inteferance in AVI files
==================================

If you have any AVI files that you saved in Windows 9x, which have interference when opened in Windows XP, there is an easy fix to get rid of the interference:

Open Windows Movie Maker.
Click View and then click Options.
Click in the box to remove the check mark beside Automatically create clips.

Now, import the movie file that has interference and drag it onto the timeline. Then save the movie, and during the rerendering, the interference will be removed.

Safely Editing the Registry...

2009-12-21T20:54:00.001+05:30

Windows XP has a vast number of configuration dialogs, but some adjustments can be performed only by directly editing the Registry. Frequently, tips involving Registry tweaks include stern warnings to back up the Registry before making any change. The Windows XP Backup applet can back up the Registry along with other elements of the System State, but the resulting data file can occupy hundreds of megabytes. You're better off saving a system restore point each time you're about to edit the Registry. Better still, you can use Regedit to back up only the Registry keys that will be changed.

Click on Start | Run and enter Regedit to launch the Registry editor. To back up an individual key you plan to edit, navigate to the key and right-click on it. Choose Export from the menu, and save the key to a REG file. Open the REG file in Notepad and insert a few comment lines that describe the source and purpose of the tweak. (To create a comment line, simply put a semicolon at the start of the line.)

Now go ahead and make all the changes to Registry keys and values specified by the tip you're applying. Any time you add a new key or value, make a note of it with another comment line in the REG file. When you're done, save the REG file and close Notepad.

If later you want to undo this Registry tweak, just double-click on the REG file and confirm that you want to add it to the Registry. This will restore any deleted keys or values and will restore the original data for any values whose data was changed. Note that this will not remove new keys or values that were added; that's why you need to make comments about such changes.

Right-click on the REG file and choose Edit, which will open it in Notepad. Check for comments about keys or values that were added, and if you find any, use Regedit to delete them. You can delete the REG file itself once you've completed this process

Open Windows Explorer To A Different Default Direc

2009-12-21T20:53:00.000+05:30

Open Windows Explorer to a Different Default Directory

When you open Windows Explorer (by choosing the Window key and "E" simultaneously or by choosing Start, all Programs, Accessories, Windows Explorer), you can change the directory that appears by default. If you choose Start, all Programs, Accessories, and then right-click on Windows Explorer and choose Properties, you can modify the "Target" directory. To go to your C: drive, type simply C:\ in the Target box and choose OK. You can also enter a shortcut key on this screen, telling Windows the character or combination of characters you want to type to automatically open Windows Explorer. You can even change the icon or specify that you always want Explorer to open up in full-screen mode.

Windows XP Tips Collection

2009-12-21T20:52:00.002+05:30

Windows XP Tips Collection

Here's how to check if your copy of XP is Activated
Go to the run box and type in oobe/msoobe /a
and hit ok ...theirs your answer

Windows Explorer Tip
When launched in Windows Millennium/Win2k/WinXP,Explorer by default will open the "My

Documents" folder. Many people prefer the behavior from previous versions of Windows, where

Windows Explorer would open and display "My Computer" instead of the new way. To revert to

the old way [My Computer by default rather than My Documents as the default], simply edit

the shortcut to Windows Explorer, by right clicking on it, and left clicking "Properties"

and changing the "Target" box to: "C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE /n,/e," [adjust the path/drive

letter if needed]. The key is to add the "/n,/e," to the end of the shortcut (don't type the

quotes).
Backup your Fresh install
After you complete your clean install and get all your software installed I would recommend

that you use something like Drive Image 3 or 4 to do an image of your install partition,

then burn the image to CD and keep it. XP is a different creature for some people. If you

mess it up when playing around with it, just bring the image back. You can be up and running

again in 20 minutes vs. the two to three hours it will take to get the whole thing and all

your stuff installed again.
Note the default install of XP is about 1.5gigs and the DI image may be larger that 700 meg.

So don't install too much on the OS partition. To help downsize the Image I run the System

file checker and reset the cache size to 40 or 50 meg (It's well over 300 by default).
To run it open the command prop and type:
SFC /?
SFC /purgecache
SFC /cachesize=50
and finally rebuild the cache with SFC /scannow (have the CD ready)
I also Delete the Pagefile.sys and hibernate.sys files before running Drive Image..

Section 2 By Ankit
1.When setting up the system with tweaks or making changes to the core OS or hardware always

be logged in as administrator. Seems that while XP does create an account upon install that

has administrator privileges, its not the same as the administrator account is. Think about

it this way - if the account created was the same then why have an administrator account

period?

2.It is always better to install winXP clean than to do an upgrade.

3. The files and settings wizard is your friend. However it doesn't save the account

passwords for your e-mail and news groups accounts in OE. Export these accounts manually

from within OE first before hand and save them in a safe place. This way you will not need

to remember what the account info was, just import the account again.

4. If using a SB Live sound card and trying to run Unreal (the game) you may have some

problems. This is not the fault of winXP or Unreal. the problem is a bad driver design from

creative and the Devloader portion. There is currently no work around for this problem.

5. Many - many games do run in winXP with comparability mode. The easiest way to do this is

to simply create a shortcut on the desktop to the game executable and choose the

compatibility tab of the shortcut and set up for win98.

6. Do not disable all the services that you find outlined in the win2K tweak guides floating

around. Instead set them to manual instead of disabled. This will allow something to start

up when it is needed and you'll avoid the BSOD thing that can occur if something gets

disabled that wasn't supposed to.

7. The winXP firewall is actually very good. However it is not very configurable. I would

recommend tiny personal firewall from www.tinysoftware.com.

It free and all you need. It so far is the most compatible with winXP - why you may ask? -

because (little known trivia fun fact here) this is where the winXP firewall came from. Both

the XP built in firewall and tiny will give complete stealth. However what you can do -

which is kind of cool is divide the work between the two and use both. use tiny to just

filter the ports you want to filter instead of everything and let the built in XP firewall

take care of the rest. The result is a smoother running firewall system that reacts much

more quickly. I've used Nortons , zone alarm (which contrary to popular belief is not a real

firewall and a joke in the IT community as a whole) and several of the rest, Tiny has been

the best so far.

8. After you complete your clean install and get all your software installed I would

recommend that you use something like drive image 4 to do an image of your install

partition, then burn the image to CD and keep it. XP is a different creature for some

people. If you mess it up when playing around with it, just bring the image back. You can be

up and running again in 20 minutes vs. the two to three hours it will take to get the whole

thing and all your stuff installed again.

9. choose winXP pro over the personal version because it has more bells and whistles.

However if the bells and whistles do not appeal to you then the home (personal) version is

the way to go.

10. Avoid problems with WinXP. Insure that your hardware is on the HCL. Don't be mad because

the latest and greatest doesn't work with your hardware. It is not the fault of MS , winXP

or anything or one else. Not defending them here, just being practical. Look at it this way

- if your dream car costs $100,000 dollars and you don't have $100,000 is it the car

manufactures fault? nope because thats the free enterprise system and the way it works. Try

to upgrade your hardware if you can. If you can't, wait for drivers from the manufacturer

that support winxp. I would highly recommend before installing winXP that you go out and get

the win2000 drivers for all your hardware. 99% of the win2000 drivers will work in winXP.

This way if winxp doesn't have drivers, you do.

XP will ship with out the Virtual Java Machine.
It will not appear on windows update either. Some sites will prompt you to install it upon

visit to their sites. However this might change in the near future due to the problem

between SUN and MS so the link you get pointed to might no be there.

You can get the virtual Java machine now and have it ready to use when you install XP.

go to:

and download the VJM for winNT. If you try to d/l the one for win2000 (which is exactly the

same as the one for NT) you will be told to get the service pack. You don't want to do this

for XP.

or download it from:

keep it in a safe place and use it when you install XP.
XP browsing speed up tweak
when you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth, this is

obvious. 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 WinXP and win2000 has a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall

performance by increasing its size.

You can do this with the registry entries below:

************begin copy and paste***********
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

************end copy and paste***********

make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. The copy and paste the above into it and

save it. Then merge it into the registry.

Grouping multiple open windows
WinXP will group multiple open windows (IE windows for example) into one group on the task

bar to keep the desktop clear. This can be annoying at times - especially when comparing

different web pages because you have to go back to the task bar, click on the group and then

click on the page you want and then you only get one page because you have to click on each

one separately. I think the default for this is 8 windows - any combination of apps or

utilities open.

You can modify this behavior by adding this reg key at:

Change number of windows that are open before XP will start
grouping them on the Taskbar

HKEY_CURRRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\
add reg_Dword "TaskbarGroupSize"

modify "TaskbarGroupSize" entry to be the number of windows you want open before XP starts

to group them on the task bar.
A value of 2 will cause the Taskbar buttons to always group

Another tweak is to disable or enable recent documents history. This can be done at:

HKEY_CURRRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\
this key should already be present - if it isn't you'll need to add it:
reg_Binary "NoRecentDocsHistory"
modify it so that value reads 01 00 00 00

Wanna network but don't have all the stuff?
If you want to network two winXP machines together you don't have to install a full blown

network setup, i.e...switches, hubs, routers, etc...

All you need is two NIC cards (three if you want to share an Internet connection) and a

cross over cable.

1. Connect one NIC to your broadband connection device like normal.
2. Install a second NIC in the machine with the broadband connection.
3. install a NIC in the second machine.
4. connect the cross over cable between the second machine NIC and the second NIC in the

board band connection machine.
5. re-boot both.
6. Run the networking wizard if necessary.

or:
use a direct connection setup with a parallel port to parallel port connection to the two

machines. You will not be able to share a connection with the direct connect.
Help is just a directory away! - Tip
In windows XP pro at C:\Windows\help - you will find many *.chm files. These are the help

files. Just start one up and find what your looking for without going thru the main help

menu. If for example you are interested in command line tools or command line references

start up the ntcmds.chm file. If you use command line a lot for things just create a

shortcut on your desktop to this file and it there when you need it.

You could go thru the Help thing to find these but on the home version some are not linked

in some of the help. This is shorter.

Speed things up a bit tip
this might help some of you.

1. go to control panel - system.
2. click on the advanced tab
3. under "performance" click on the settings button
4. click on the Advanced tab
5. click on the "Background Services" button
6. Click OK

Section 3

Windows XP Tips 'n' Tricks
==========================
Please note that some of these tips require you to use a Registry Editor (regedit.exe),

which could render your system unusable. Thus, none of these tips are supported in any way:

Use them at your own risk. Also note that most of these tips will require you to be logged

on with Administrative rights.

Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini
============================

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find

your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look

something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default.

There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition.

First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD

will behave, ie is it a retail CD that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem CD that

only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will

accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP CD

that acted like a retail CD, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangeable, but

usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882 335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file

would read:

Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:

Pid=51882OEM

How do I get the "Administrator" name on Welcome Screen?
=======================================================

To get Admin account on the "Welcome Screen" as well as the other usernames, make sure that

there are no accounts logged in.

Press "ctrl-alt-del" twice and you should be able to login as administrator!

finally worked for me after I found out that all accounts have to be logged out first

Fix Movie Interference in AVI files
==================================

If you have any AVI files that you saved in Windows 9x, which have interference when opened

in Windows XP, there is an easy fix to get rid of the interference:

Open Windows Movie Maker.
Click View and then click Options.
Click in the box to remove the check mark beside Automatically create clips.

Now, import the movie file that has interference and drag it onto the timeline. Then save

the movie, and during the re rendering, the interference will be removed.

Create a Password Reset Disk
============================

If you?re running Windows XP Professional as a local user in a workgroup environment, you

can create a password reset disk to log onto your computer when you forget your password. To

create the disk:

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
Click your account name.
Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password.

Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk.

Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access your local user

account

Change Web Page Font Size on the Fly
====================================

If your mouse contains a wheel for scrolling, you can change font size on the fly when

viewing a Web page. To do so:

Press and hold Ctrl. Scroll down (or towards yourself) to enlarge the font size. Scroll up

(or away from yourself) to reduce the font size.

You might find it useful to reduce font size when printing a Web page, so that you can fit

more content on the page.

WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown
=================================

WINXPCPS.REG (WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown)

This Registration (.REG) file clears the Page file when you power off the computer.
Restart Windows for these changes to take effect!
ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES!

Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \

Memory Management

and add the DWORD variable "ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001

You can also do this without reg hacking.
Go to Control panel Administrative tools, local security policy. then go to local policies

---> security options.
Then change the option for "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"

Group Policy for Windows XP
===========================

One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there

in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group

Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then

type the following:

gpedit.msc

After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every

feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!

Forgetting What Your Files Are?
===============================

This procedure works under NTFS.

As times goes along you have a lot files on your computer. You are going to forget what they

are. Well here is way to identify them as you scroll through Windows Explorer in the future.

This procedure works under NTFS.

1.. Open up a folder on your system that you want to keep track of the different files you

might one to identify in the future.

2.. Under View make certain that you set it to the Details.

3.. Highlight the file you want to keep more information on. Right click the file and you

will get a pop up menu. Click on properties.

4.. Click on the Summary Tab (make sure it says simple not advanced on the button in the

box), You should now get the following fields,

Title,Subject, Author, Category, Keywords, Comments

You will see advanced also if you have changed it to simple, Here will be other fields you

can fill in.

5.. Next you can fill in what ever field you want.

6.. After you finished click the apply button then OK.

7.. Next right click the bar above your files, under the address bar and you should get a

drop down menu. Here you can click the fields you want to display.

8.. You should now see a list with the new fields and any comments you have done.

9.. Now if you want to sort these just right click a blank spot and then you sort the

information to your liking.

Temporarily Assign Yourself Administrative Permissions
======================================================

Many programs require you to have Administrative permissions to be able to install them.

Here is an easy way to temporarily assign yourself Administrative permissions while you

remain logged in as a normal user.

Hold down the Shift key as you right-click on the program?s setup file.

Click Run as.

Type in a username and password that have Administrative permissions.

This will also work on applications in the Start menu.

Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer
=======================================

Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don?t want to log off? You can double-click a

shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL

or a screen saver.

To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer:

Right-click the desktop.
Point to New, and then click Shortcut.

The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following:
rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Click Next.

Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you

like.

Click Finish.

You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in

shell32.dll).

To change the icon:

Right click the shortcut and then select Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button.

In the Look for icons in this file text box, type:
Shell32.dll.

Click OK.

Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK

You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one

keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.

Create a Shortcut to Start Remote Desktop
=========================================

Tip: You can add a shortcut to the desktop of your home computer to quickly start Remote

Desktop and connect to your office computer.

To create a shortcut icon to start Remote Desktop

Click Start, point to More Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then

click on Remote Desktop Connection.

Click Options.

Configure settings for the connection to your office computer.

Click Save As, and enter a name, such as Office Computer. Click Save.

Open the Remote Desktops folder.

Right-click on the file named Office Computer, and then click Create Shortcut.

Drag the shortcut onto the desktop of your home computer.

To start Remote Desktop and connect to your office computer, double-click on the shortcut

Instantly Activate a Screen saver
================================

Turn on a screen saver without having to wait by adding a shortcut to your desktop:

Click the Start button, and then click Search.
In the Search Companion window, click All file types.

In the file name box, type *.scr

In the Look in box, choose Local Hard Drives (C or the drive where you have system files

stored on your computer.

Click Search.

You will see a list of screen savers in the results. Pick a screen saver you want. You can

preview it by double-clicking it.

Right click on the file, choose Send To, and then click Desktop (create shortcut).

To activate the screen saver, double-click the icon on your desktop

Add a Map Drive Button to the Toolbar
=====================================

Do you want to quickly map a drive, but can?t find the toolbar button? If you map drives

often, use one of these options to add a Map Drive button to the folder toolbar.

Option One (Long Term Fix)

Click Start, click My Computer, right-click the toolbar, then unlock the toolbars, if

necessary.

Right-click the toolbar again, and then click Customize.

Under Available toolbar buttons, locate Map Drive, and drag it into the position you want on

the right under Current toolbar buttons.

Click Close, click OK, and then click OK again.

You now have drive mapping buttons on your toolbar, so you can map drives from any folder

window. To unmap drives, follow the above procedure, selecting Disconnect under Available

toolbar buttons. To quickly map a drive, try this option.

Option Two (Quick Fix)

Click Start, and right-click My Computer.
Click Map Network Drive.

If you place your My Computer icon directly on the desktop, you can make this move in only

two clicks!

Software not installing?
========================

If you have a piece of software that refuses to install because it says that you are not

running Windows 2000 (such as the Win2K drivers for a Mustek scanner!!) you can simply edit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/ProductName to say Microsoft

Windows 2000 instead of XP and it will install. You may also have to edit the version number

or build number, depending on how hard the program tries to verify that you are installing

on the correct OS. I had to do this for my Mustek 600 CP scanner (compatibility mode didn't'

help!!!) and it worked great, so I now have my scanner working with XP (and a tech at Mustek

can now eat his words).

BTW, don't' forget to restore any changes you make after you get your software installed

You do this at your own risk.

Use your Windows Key
====================

The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used

treasure. Don't' ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following commands:

Windows: Display the Start menu
Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows + F: Display Search for files
Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center
Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows + L: Lock the workstation
Windows + U: Open Utility Manager
Windows + Q: Quick switching of users (Powertoys only)
Windows + Q: Hold Windows Key, then tap Q to scroll thru the different users on your PC

Change your CD key
==================

You don't need to re-install if you want to try the key out ... just do this:

1. Go to Activate Windows
2. Select the Telephone option
3. Click "Change Product Key"
4. Enter RK7J8-2PGYQ-P47VV-V6PMB-F6XPQ
5. Click "Update"

Now log off and log back in again. It should now show 60 days left, minus the number of days

it had already counted down.

Note: If your crack de-activated REGWIZC.DLL and LICDLL.DLL, you are going to have to

re-register them.

Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer
====================================================

One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft

saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the

top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a

shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this

behavior through the sh*ll
: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it.
Until now, that is.

Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My

Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders

You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all

of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files

Stored on This Computer" will be gone.

You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.

Before: A cluttered mess with icons no one will ever use (especially that orphaned one).

After: Simplicity itself, and the way it should be by default.

This tip For older XP builds
===================

Edit or remove the "Comments" link in window title bars

During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft has added a "Comments?" hyperlink to the title bar of

each window in the system so that beta testers can more easily send in a problem report

about the user interface. But for most of us, this isn't an issue, and the Comments link is

simply a visual distraction. And for many programs that alter the title bar, the Comments

link renders the Minimize, Maximize, and Close window buttons unusable, so it's actually a

problem.
Let's get rid of it. Or, if you're into this kind of thing, you can edit it too.

Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following keys:
My Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ LameButtonEnabled
My Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ LameButtonText

The first key determines whether the link appears at all; change its value to 0 to turn it

off. The second key lets you have a little fun with the hyperlink; you can change the text

to anything you'd like, such as "Paul Thurrott" or whatever.

Editing either value requires a restart before the changes take effect.

Before: An unnecessary hyperlink. Have some fun with it! Or just remove it entirely. It's up

to you.

Rip high-quality MP3s in Windows Media Player 8
================================================

The relationship between Windows Media Player 8 and the MP3 audio format is widely

misunderstood. Basically, WMP8 will be able to playback MP3 files, but encoding (or

"ripping" CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. So during the Windows XP

beta, Microsoft is supplying a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it's limited to

56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless. However, if you have an externally installed MP3

codec, you can use WMP8 to rip at higher bit rates. But you'll have to edit the Registry to

make this work.
Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ MediaPlayer \ Settings \ MP3Encoding

Here, you'll see sub-keys for LowRate and LowRateSample, which of course equates to the

single 56 Kbps sample rate you see in WMP8. To get better sampling rates, try adding the

following keys (Using New then DWORD value):

"LowRate" = DWORD value of 0000dac0
"MediumRate" = DWORD value of 0000fa00
"MediumHighRate" = DWORD value of 0001f400
"HighRate" = DWORD value of 0002ee00

Now, when you launch WMP8 and go into Tools, then Options, then Copy Music, you will have

four encoding choices for MP3: 56 Kbps, 64 Kbps, 128 Kbps, and 192 Kbps. Note that you will

not get higher bit rate encoding unless you have installed an MP3 codec separately; the

version in Windows Media Player 8 is limited to 56 Kbps only.

Find the appropriate location in the Registry... ...add a few DWORD values... ...And then

you'll be ripping CDs in higher-quality MP3 format!

Speed up the Start Menu
=======================

The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a

Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay

By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.

Speed up the Start Menu (Part two)
==================================

If your confounded by the slow speed of the Start Menu, even after using the tip above, then

you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Advanced

and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow . You will get much better overall

performance.

Speed up Internet Explorer 6 Favorites
======================================

For some reason, the Favorites menu in IE 6 seems to slow down dramatically sometimes--I've

noticed this happens when you install Tweak UI 1.33, for example, and when you use the

preview tip to speed up the Start menu. But here's a fix for the problem that does work,

though it's unclear why:
Just open a command line window (Start button -> Run -> cmd) and type sfc, then hit ENTER.

This command line runs the System File Checker, which performs a number of services, all of

which are completely unrelated to IE 6. But there you go: It works.

Do an unattended installation
=============================

The Windows XP Setup routine is much nicer than that in Windows 2000 or Windows Me, but it's

still an hour-long process that forces you to sit in front of your computer for an hour,

answering dialog boxes and typing in product keys. But Windows XP picks up one of the more

useful features from Windows 2000, the ability to do an unattended installation, so you can

simply prepare a script that will answer all those dialogs for you and let you spend some

quality time with your family.
I've written about Windows 2000 unattended installations and the process is pretty much

identical on Windows XP, so please read that article carefully before proceeding. And you

need to be aware that this feature is designed for a standalone Windows XP system: If you

want to dual-boot Windows XP with another OS, you're going to have to go through the

interactive Setup just like everyone else: An unattended install will wipe out your hard

drive and install only Windows XP, usually.

To perform an unattended installation, you just need to work with the Setup Manager, which

is located on the Windows XP CD-ROM in D:\SupportTools\DEPLOY.CAB by default: Extract the

contents of this file and you'll find a number of useful tools and help files; the one we're

interested in is named setupmgr.exe. This is a very simple wizard application that will walk

you through the process of creating an answer file called winnt.sif that can be used to

guide Windows XP Setup through the unattended installation.

One final tip: There's one thing that Setup Manager doesn't add: Your product key. However,

you can add this to the unattend.txt file manually. Simply open the file in Notepad and add

the following line under the [UserData] section:

ProductID=RK7J8-2PGYQ-P47VV-V6PMB-F6XPQ

(This is a 60 day CD key)

Then, just copy winnt.sif to a floppy, put your Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD drive, and

reboot: When the CD auto-boots, it will look for the unattend.txt file in A: automatically,

and use it to answer the Setup questions if it's there.

Finally, please remember that this will wipe out your system! Back up first, and spend some

time with the help files in DEPLOY.CAB before proceeding.

For Older builds or not using setupreg.hiv file
===============================================

Remove the Desktop version text

During the Windows XP beta, you will see text in the lower right corner of the screen that

says Windows XP Professional, Evaluation Copy. Build 2462 or similar. A lot of people would

like to remove this text for some reason, and while it's possible to do so, the cure is more

damaging than the problem, in my opinion. So the following step will remove this text, but

you'll lose a lot of the nice graphical effects that come in Windows XP, such as the

see-through icon text.

To remove the desktop version text, open Display Properties (right-click the desktop, then

choose Properties) and navigate to the Desktop page. Click Customize Desktop and then choose

the Web page in the resulting dialog. On this page, check the option titled Lock desktop

items. Click OK to close the dialog, and then OK to close Display Properties. The text

disappears. But now the rest of your system is really ugly. You can reverse the process by

unchecking Lock desktop items.

There's also a shortcut for this process: Just right-click the desktop and choose Arrange by

then Lock Web Icons on the Desktop.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!
=======================================

As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology

in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled

on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it

only appears after you logon.

But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:

(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String

Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD

Value)

Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome

screen and on each new user by default.

Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
=========================================

If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger simply delete the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS

Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
================================================

For some reason, Hibernate may not be available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you

can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now

you see it, now you don't!

Add album art to any music folder
=================================

One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which

automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying

music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their

CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as

cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to

display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the

folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to

reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each

time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that

image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows

Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a

visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS

reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!

Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!

Change the location of the My Music or My Pictures folders
======================================================

In Windows 2000, Microsoft added the ability to right-click the My Documents folder and

choose a new location for that folder in the shell
. With Windows XP, Microsoft has elevated the My Music and My Pictures folders to the same

"special shell folder" status of My Documents, but they never added a similar (and simple)

method for changing those folder's locations. However, it is actually pretty easy to change

the location of these folders, using the following method.

Open a My Computer window and navigate to the location where you'd like My Music (or My

Pictures) to reside. Then, open the My Documents folder in a different window. Drag the My

Music (or My Pictures) folder to the other window, and Windows XP will update all of the

references to that folder to the new location, including the Start menu.

Or use Tweak UI

Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP
==========================================

To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after

installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your

version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition RC1,

this file will resemble the following by default:

[Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$"
DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

[Global]
WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%
WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"

The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows

Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each

instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows

Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart's content.

Cool, eh? There are even more new options now under "Accessories and Utilities" too.

Remove Windows Messenger
========================

It seems that a lot of people are interested in removing Windows Messenger for some reason,

though I strongly recommend against this: In Windows XP, Windows Messenger will be the hub

of your connection to the .NET world, and now that this feature is part of Windows, I think

we're going to see a lot of .NET Passport-enabled Web sites appearing as well. But if you

can't stand the little app, there are a couple of ways to get rid of it, and ensure that it

doesn't pop up every time you boot into XP. The best way simply utilizes the previous tip:

If you'd like Windows Messenger to show up in the list of programs you can add and remove

from Windows, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your

version of Windows) and open sysoc.inf (see the previous tip for more information about this

file). You'll see a line that reads:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

Change this to the following and Windows Messenger will appear in Add or Remove Programs,

then Add/Remove Windows Components, then , and you can remove it for good:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,7

Autolog On tip for XP
real easy and straight forward.
1. click on "Start" - then click on "Run" - type "control userpasswords2"
2. click OK
3. On the Users tab, clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to
use this computer" check box.
4. A dialog will appear that asks you what user name and password should be used to logon

automatically.

Your all set.

Aspi
WinXP does not come with an Aspi layer. So far almost 90% of the problems with winXP and CD

burning software are Aspi layer problems. After installing winXP, before installing any CD

burning software do a few things first:

1. Open up "My computer" and right click on the CD Recorder. If your CD recorder was

detected as a CD recorder there will be a tab called "Recording". On this tab uncheck ALL of

the boxes. apply or OK out of it and close my computer.

2. Next install the standard Aspi layer for NT. Reboot when asked.

Thats is. after the reboot you can install any of the currently working CD recording

applications with no problems. If using CD Creator do not install direct CD or Take two as

they are currently incompatible but Roxio has promised a fix as soon as XP is released.

Print Dir
XP alas does not include a way to print a directory listing aside from using the command

prompt. I talking about a right click on the directory and print the files names on the

printer type of Dir print. So I guess we will need to add one - start up regedit and add the

following

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\print\command]
@="command.com /c dir %1 > PRN"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\print\command]
@="command.com /c dir %1 > dirprnt.txt"

Right click on a folder in windows explorer and choose "print". The contents of the folder

will appear in a file called dirprnt.txt in the folder. open the file and print it out. If

you want to print directly to the printer remove the second line containing "dirprnt.txt"

Rename Multiple files
A new, small, neat feature for winXP deals with renaming files. I personally have always

wanted the OS to include a way to do a mass file renaming on a bunch of files. You can now

rename multiple files at once in WinXP. Its real simple:

1. Select several files in Explorer, press F2 and rename one of those files to
something else. All the selected files get renamed to the new file name (plus a number added

to the end).

2. thats it. Simple huh.

I would recommend that you only have the files you want to rename in the directory your

working in. I would also recommend that until you get used to this neat little trick that

you save copies of the files in a safe location while your getting the hang of it.

Handy for renaming those mass amounts of porn pics you d/l from the web
Use Window Blinds XP to add themes
Windows Blinds XP has been integrated into the Windows XP operating system. Microsoft and

Stardock have entered into a partnership in which Microsoft will use their technology in the

Windows XP operating system. With Windows Blinds XP installed you have additional styles to

choose from in display properties.
And the best part is you can download over 1000 different styles and even make your own very

easily with the SDK.
To get started you need to download the Windows Blinds XP extension:

www.stardock.com/files/wbxp-b5_private.exe to download the latest beta
Note: You must register at http://scripting.stardock.com/customer/wbxp_beta.asp to be able

to legally download the Windows Blinds XP beta. Once you register they will even e-mail you

when new builds are available for download.
Once downloaded, install the program and you will notice the extra styles in the display

properties when you run the program.
To download more styles www.wincustomize.com/index.asp and select windows blinds on the menu

on the left.

Show file extensions
Ever wonder where you file extensions went? Working with files when you can not tell what

the file extension can be a huge pain in the butt. Thankfully, MS has made it possible for

all file names with the extensions to be shown.
In any folder that contains files. Click on the tools menu and select folder options.
Then click on the view tab.
Locate where it lists Hide extensions of known file types and uncheck it.
Click OK.

XP memory tweaks
Below are some Windows XP memory tweaks. They are located in the windows registry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
DisablePagingExecutive - When enabled, this setting will prevent the paging of the Win2k

Executive files to the hard drive, causing the OS and most programs to be more responsive.

However, it is advised that people should only perform this tweak if they have a significant

amount of RAM on their system (more than 128 MB), because this setting does use a

substantial portion of your system resources. By default, the value of this key is 0. To

enable it, set it to 1.
LargeSystemCache - When enabled (the default on Server versions of Windows 2000), this

setting tells the OS to devote all but 4 MB of system memory (which is left for disk

caching) to the file system cache. The main effect of this is allowing the computer to cache

the OS Kernel to memory, making the OS more responsive. The setting is dynamic and if more

than 4 MB is needed from the disk cache for some reason, the space will be released to it.

By default, 8MB is earmarked for this purpose. This tweak usually makes the OS more

responsive. It is a dynamic setting, and the kernel will give up any space deemed necessary

for another application (at a performance hit when such changes are needed). As with the

previous key, set the value from 0 to 1 to enable. Note that in doing this, you are

consuming more of your system RAM than normal. While LargeSystemCache will cut back usage

when other apps need more RAM, this process can impede performance in certain intensive

situations. According to Microsoft, the "[0] setting is recommended for servers running

applications that do their own memory caching, such as Microsoft SQL Server, and for

applications that perform best with ample memory, such as Internet Information Services."
IOPageLockLimit - This tweak is of questionable value to people that aren't running some

kind of server off of their computer, but we will include it anyway. This tweak boosts the

Input/Output performance of your computer when it is doing a large amount of file transfers

and other similar operations. This tweak won't do much of anything for a system without a

significant amount of RAM (if you don't have more than 128 MB, don't even bother), but

systems with more than 128 MB of RAM will generally find a performance boost by setting this

to between 8 and 16 MB. The default is 0.5 MB, or 512 KB. This setting requires a value in

bytes, so multiply the desired number of megabytes * 1024 * 1024. That's X * 1048576 (where

X is the number, in megabytes). Test out several settings and keep the one which seems to

work best for your system.

Finished on
Saturday, September 08, 2001
Special thanks to

Links
CODE
http://www.tweakxp.com/default.asp
http://www.wxperience.com/
http://www.xs4all.nl/~binkbv/windowsxp/
http://users.aol.com/axcel216/
http://scripts.wincustomize.com/skins.asp
http://thor.prohosting.com/~1cls/

Make A Batch File To Clean UR PC!!, All In One!!

2009-12-21T20:51:00.001+05:30

Hello friends
Can any one pl edit this file for me.
The problem is when i reinstall windows, my id changes from
admin to admin.windows or administrator.whatever
I want %% to be used so that the batchfile can locate the
Windows XP directory and my documents and settings folder.

Any help will be appreciated.

*********************************************
@echo off

if %username% == Administrator.WINDOWS goto admin

REM ** Delete User Files **

rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Recent"
rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp"
rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\History\History.ie5"
rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\content.ie5"

goto end

:admin
REM ** Do some extra stuff here **
REM ** What ever you want..... **

ECHO You are a Administrator

rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Recent"
rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp"
rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\History\History.ie5"
rmdir /S/Q "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\content.ie5"

REM ** Do more stuff here **
REM ** Blah, blah, blah......**

:end
exit

How To Access Your Folders From Your Taskbar

2009-12-21T20:49:00.004+05:30

How To Access Your Folders From Your Taskbar

This is an easy way to get to the folders on your system without having to open a Windows Explorer Window every time you want to access files. I find it very useful to have this feature as it allows me to access my Folders and Drives immediately and saves me a lot of time.

This works in Windows XP:

1. Right Click an empty spot on your Taskbar (Between your Start Button and your System Tray).
2. Click Toolbars.
3. Click New Toolbar.
4. A Small Window will Open that allows you to pick the folder you wish to make a Toolbar. If you want to access your Desktop Without having to minimize all your windows. Just Pick Desktop. If you want to access ONLY your My Documents Folder, Select that. Any folder will work for this.
5. Click OK.
The New Tool bar will appear at the bottom of your screen next to your System Tray.

If you find this to be not useful, Repeat Steps 1 and 2 and then check click the Toolbar you created that has a check mark next to it. And it will disappear.

How Do U See Hidden Files, Using DOS..

2009-12-21T20:49:00.002+05:30

Simple and useful tip
******************
at command prompt just type
dir /ah
if the list is too long u can use
dir /ah/p/w
*******************

Hide Drives and Partitions

2009-12-21T20:48:00.000+05:30

Hide Drives and Partitions

Do you have data on a partition or hard drive that you don't want tampered with or easily accessible to other users? Well, you can hide any drive/partition in Windows XP, NT, and 2000. That means that they won't show up in Explorer or My Computer.

If you want access to that drive from your user account you should create a desktop shortcut before proceeding. Once hidden, you can still access by typing the drive letter and a colon in Start/Run—for example, "D:" will bring up a folder of the contents on your D drive.

The easiest way with Win XP is to use the TweakUI power toy from Mcft. Go to Start/Run and type in "tweakui" (without the quotes).

Go to My Computer/Drives and uncheck the drive/partition(s) you want hidden. Click "Apply" or "OK" when finished.

If you have XP but not Tweak UI you can download it here...
http://www.Mcft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

For Win NT, 2000, and XP you can use the following Registry edit:

*Be sure to back up the Registry before proceeding
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/401

Open the Registry Editor by going to Start/Run and typing in "regedit" (without the quotes). Find your way to...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

Click on "Explorer".

Double-click the "NoDrives" key in the right column. If you don't find a "NoDrives" registry key, just right-click in the right pane and choose "New/DWORD Value" then name the key "NoDrives".

You'll see a value like "0000 00 00 00 00". This is where the fun starts. The four sets of double zeros (after the "0000") are where you'll enter the values for the drive/partitions. Now, stay with me on this—it's not as complicated as it sounds:

The first column is for drives A-H, the second for I-P, the third for Q-X, and the fourth for Y-Z.

The values for each drive are as follows:

1 - A I Q Y
2 - B J R Z
4 - C K S
8 - D L T
16 - E M U
32 - F N V
64 - G O W
80 - H P X

So, let's say you want to hide drive D. In the first column you would put "08". For drive K you would put "04" in the second column.

But what if you want to hide more than one drive in a column? Simply add the values together: D+E = 8+16 = 24. So in the first column you would put "24".

Still baffled? If you have XP then go get TweakUI and save yourself the math.

Whichever method you use, you can rest easy knowing that the files on that drive or partition are less accessible to other users.

Delete Files From The Recent File List In Windows

2009-12-21T20:46:00.002+05:30

This tip requires a change to the Windows Registry. Please see the MSFN Guide "Backup Your Registry" if you are new to the Windows Registry.

Windows Media Player (WMP) is a built-in application that allows you to play multimedia files. Like many other applications, WMP remembers the most recently played files and displays them in the Recent File List under the File menu. This feature is useful if you regularly play certain files, but you may want to clear the list if you share the computer and a user account or create archives and CDs.

There are two ways you can clear the list:

I. The ClearMRU.exe Utility is available for free in the Windows Media Player Bonus Pack from Microsoft, but Microsoft does not support this tool.

II. You can also manually delete the list through the Windows Registry:

1. Start the Windows Registry Editor, regedit.exe, by typing regedit in the Windows Run Command Line.

2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\RecentFileList.

3. Delete the RecentFileList subkey.

4. If you've also streamed content from the Internet, you can delete the RecentURLList subkey.

5. Exit the Registry Editor.

6. Restart the computer.

To keep certain files in the list, don't delete the entire key. Deleting individual entries within the key will get rid of the files that you no longer want in the Recent File List.

Delete An undeletable File

2009-12-21T20:45:00.002+05:30

Delete An "undeletable" File

Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.
Close all open programs.
Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE
Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.
Leave Task Manager open.
Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in.
At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.
Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.
Close Task Manager.

Or you can try this

Open Notepad.exe

Click File>Save As..>

locate the folder where ur undeletable file is

Choose 'All files' from the file type box

click once on the file u wanna delete so its name appears in the 'filename' box

put a " at the start and end of the filename
(the filename should have the extension of the undeletable file so it will overwrite it)

click save,

It should ask u to overwrite the existing file, choose yes and u can delete it as normal

Here's a manual way of doing it. I'll take this off once you put into your first post zain.

1. Start
2. Run
3. Type: command
4. To move into a directory type: cd c:\*** (The stars stand for your folder)
5. If you cannot access the folder because it has spaces for example Program Files or Kazaa Lite folder you have to do the following. instead of typing in the full folder name only take the first 6 letters then put a ~ and then 1 without spaces. Example: cd c:\progra~1\kazaal~1
6. Once your in the folder the non-deletable file it in type in dir - a list will come up with everything inside.
7. Now to delete the file type in del ***.bmp, txt, jpg, avi, etc... And if the file name has spaces you would use the special 1st 6 letters followed by a ~ and a 1 rule. Example: if your file name was bad file.bmp you would type once in the specific folder thorugh command, del badfil~1.bmp and your file should be gone. Make sure to type in the correct extension.

One-click Shutdown And Reboot Shortcuts

2009-12-21T20:44:00.001+05:30

Create One-Click Shutdown and Reboot Shortcuts:

First, create a shortcut on your desktop by right-clicking on the desktop, choosing New, and then choosing Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. In the box asking for the location of the shortcut, type shutdown. After you create the shortcut, double-clicking on it will shut down your PC.

But you can do much more with a shutdown shortcut than merely shut down your PC. You can add any combination of several switches to do extra duty, like this:

shutdown -r -t 01 -c "Rebooting your PC"
Double-clicking on that shortcut will reboot your PC after a one-second delay and display the message "Rebooting your PC." The shutdown command includes a variety of switches you can use to customize it. Table 1-3 lists all of them and describes their use.

I use this technique to create two shutdown shortcuts on my desktop—one for turning off my PC, and one for rebooting. Here are the ones I use:

shutdown -s -t 03 -c "Bye Bye m8!"
shutdown -r -t 03 -c "Ill be back m8 ;)!"

Switch
What it does

-s
Shuts down the PC.

-l
Logs off the current user.

-t nn
Indicates the duration of delay, in seconds, before performing the action.

-c "messagetext"
Displays a message in the System Shutdown window. A maximum of 127 characters can be used. The message must be enclosed in quotation marks.

-f
Forces any running applications to shut down.

-r
Reboots the PC.

Create Bootable Win XP SP1 CD(nero)

2009-12-21T20:43:00.005+05:30

How to create a bootable Windows XP SP1 CD (Nero):
Step 1

Create 3 folders - C:\WINXPSP1, C:\SP1106 and C:\XPBOOT

Step 2

Copy the entire Windows XP CD into folder C:\WINXPSP1

Step 3

You will have to download the SP1 Update, which is 133MB.
Rename the Service Pack file to XP-SP1.EXE
Extract the Service Pack from the Run Dialog using the command:
C:\XP-SP1.EXE -U -X:C:\SP1106

Step 4

Open Start/Run... and type the command:
C:\SP1106\update\update.exe -s:C:\WINXPSP1

Click OK

Folder C:\WINXPSP1 contains: Windows XP SP1

How to Create a Windows XP SP1 CD Bootable

Step 1

Download xpboot.zip
Code:
Code:
http://thro.port5.com/xpboot.zip

( no download manager !! )

Extract xpboot.zip file (xpboot.bin) in to the folder C:\XPBOOT

Step 2

Start Nero - Burning Rom.
Select File > New... from the menu.
1.) Select CD-ROM (Boot)
2.) Select Image file from Source of boot image data
3.) Set Kind of emulation: to No Emulation
4.) Set Load segment of sectors (hex!): to 07C0
5.) Set Number of loaded sectors: to 4
6.) Press the Browse... button

Step 3

Select All Files (*.*) from File of type:
Locate boot.bin in the folder C:\XPBOOT

Step 4

Click ISO tab
Set File-/Directory length to ISO Level 1 (Max. of 11 = 8 + 3 chars)
Set Format to Mode 1
Set Character Set to ISO 9660
Check all Relax ISO Restrictions

Step 5

Click Label Tab
Select ISO9660 from the drop down box.
Enter the Volume Label as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the System Identifier as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Volume Set as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Publisher as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Data Preparer as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Application as WB2PFRE_EN

* For Windows XP Professional OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXPOEM_EN
* For Windows XP Home OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXHOEM_EN

Step 6

Click Burn tab
Check Write
Check Finalize CD (No further writing possible!)
Set Write Method to Disk-At-Once

Press New button

Step 7

Locate the folder C:\WINXPSP1
Select everything in the folder and drag it to the ISO compilation panel.
Click the Write CD Dialog button.

Press Write

You're done.

Create A Personal Screen Saver In Win Xp!

2009-12-21T20:43:00.002+05:30

This isnt a tweak, but a great little feature! For a great way to put your digital photos to work, try creating a slide show presentation for use as a screen saver. Here's how:

1. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and then click Properties.

2. Click the Screen Saver tab.

3. In the Screen saver list, click My Pictures Slideshow.

4. Click Settings to make any adjustments, such as how often the pictures should change, what size they should be, and whether you'll use transition effects between pictures, and then click OK.

Now your screen saver is a random display of the pictures taken from your My Pictures folder.

Cracking Zip Password Files

2009-12-21T20:42:00.002+05:30

Cracking Zip Password Files

Tut On Cracking Zip Password Files..
What is FZC? FZC is a program that cracks zip files (zip is a method of compressing multiple files into one smaller file) that are password-protected (which means you're gonna need a password to open the zip file and extract files out of it). You can get it anywhere - just use a search engine such as altavista.com.
FZC uses multiple methods of cracking - bruteforce (guessing passwords systematically until the program gets it) or wordlist attacks (otherwise known as dictionary attacks. Instead of just guessing passwords systematically, the program takes passwords out of a "wordlist", which is a text file that contains possible passwords. You can get lots of wordlists at www.theargon.com.).
FZC can be used in order to achieve two different goals: you can either use it to recover a lost zip password which you used to remember but somehow forgot, or to crack zip passwords which you're not supposed to have. So like every tool, this one can be used for good and for evil.
The first thing I want to say is that reading this tutorial... is the easy way to learn how to use this program, but after reading this part of how to use the FZC you should go and check the texts that come with that program and read them all. You are also going to see the phrase "check name.txt" often in this text. These files should be in FZC's directory. They contain more information about FZC.
FZC is a good password recovery tool, because it's very fast and also support resuming so you don't have to keep the computer turned on until you get the password, like it used to be some years ago with older cracking programs. You would probably always get the password unless the password is longer than 32 chars (a char is a character, which can be anything - a number, a lowercase or undercase letter or a symbol such as ! or &) because 32 chars is the maximum value that FZC will accept, but it doesn't really matter, because in order to bruteforce a password with 32 chars you'll need to be at least immortal..heehhe.. to see the time that FZC takes with bruteforce just open the Bforce.txt file, which contains such information.
FZC supports brute-force attacks, as well as wordlist attacks. While brute-force attacks don't require you to have anything, wordlist attacks require you to have wordlists, which you can get from www.theargon.com. There are wordlists in various languages, various topics or just miscellaneous wordlists. The bigger the wordlist is, the more chances you have to crack the password.
Now that you have a good wordlist, just get FZC working on the locked zip file, grab a drink, lie down and wait... and wait... and wait...and have good thoughts like "In wordlist mode I'm gonna get the password in minutes" or something like this... you start doing all this and remember "Hey this guy started with all this bullshit and didn't say how I can start a wordlist attack!..." So please wait just a little more, read this tutorial 'till the end and you can do all this "bullshit".

We need to keep in mind that are some people might choose some really weird passwords (for example: 'e8t7@$^%*gfh), which are harder to crack and are certainly impossible to crack (unless you have some weird wordlist). If you have a bad luck and you got such a file, having a 200MB list won't help you anymore. Instead, you'll have to use a different type of attack. If you are a person that gives up at the first sign of failure, stop being like that or you won't get anywhere. What you need to do in such a situation is to put aside your sweet xxx MB's list and start using the Brute Force attack.
If you have some sort of a really fast and new computer and you're afraid that you won't be able to use your computer's power to the fullest because the zip cracker doesn't support this kind of technology, it's your lucky day! FZC has multiple settings for all sorts of hardware, and will automatically select the best method.

Now that we've gone through all the theoretical stuff, let's get to the actual commands.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bruteforce
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The command line you'll need to use for using brute force is:

fzc -mb -nzFile.zip -lChr Lenght -cType of chars

Now if you read the bforce.txt that comes with fzc you'll find the description of how works Chr Lenght and the Type of chars, but hey, I'm gonna explain this too. Why not, right?... (but remember look at the bforce.txt too)

For Chr Lenght you can use 4 kind of switches...

-> You can use range -> 4-6 :it would brute force from 4 Chr passwors to 6 chr passwords
-> You can use just one lenght -> 5 :it would just brute force using passwords with 5 chars
-> You can use also the all number -> 0 :it would start brute forcing from passwords with lenght 0 to lenght 32, even if you are crazy i don't think that you would do this.... if you are thinking in doing this get a live...
-> You can use the + sign with a number -> 3+ :in this case it would brute force from passwords with lenght 3 to passwords with 32 chars of lenght, almost like the last option...

For the Type of chars we have 5 switches they are:

-> a for using lowercase letters
-> A for using uppercase letters
-> ! for using simbols (check the Bforce.txt if you want to see what simbols)
-> s for using space
-> 1 for using numbers

Example:
If you want to find a password with lowercase and numbers by brute force you would just do something like:

fzc -mb -nzTest.zip -l4-7 -ca1

This would try all combinations from passwords with 4 chars of lenght till 7 chars, but just using numbers and lowercase.

*****
hint
*****

You should never start the first brute force attack to a file using all the chars switches, first just try lowercase, then uppercase, then uppercase with number then lowercase with numbers, just do like this because you can get lucky and find the password much faster, if this doesn't work just prepare your brain and start with a brute force that would take a lot of time. With a combination like lowercase, uppercase, special chars and numbers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wordlis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like I said in the bottom and like you should be thinking now, the wordlist is the most powerfull mode in this program. Using this mode, you can choose between 3 modes, where each one do some changes to the text that is in the wordlist, I'm not going to say what each mode does to the words, for knowing that just check the file wlist.txt, the only thing I'm going to tell you is that the best mode to get passwords is mode 3, but it takes longer time too.
To start a wordlist attak you'll do something like.

fzc -mwMode number -nzFile.zip -nwWordlist

Where:

Mode number is 1, 2 or 3 just check wlist.txt to see the changes in each mode.
File.zip is the filename and Wordlist is the name of the wordlist that you want to use. Remember that if the file or the wordlist isn't in the same directory of FZC you'll need to give the all path.

You can add other switches to that line like -fLine where you define in which line will FZC start reading, and the -lChar Length where it will just be read the words in that char length, the switche works like in bruteforce mode.
So if you something like

fzc -mw1 -nztest.zip -nwMywordlist.txt -f50 -l9+

FZC would just start reading at line 50 and would just read with length >= to 9.

Example:

If you want to crack a file called myfile.zip using the "theargonlistserver1.txt" wordlist, selecting mode 3, and you wanted FZC to start reading at line 50 you would do:

fzc -mw3 -nzmyfile.zip -nwtheargonlistserver1.txt -f50

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resuming
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other good feature in FZC is that FZC supports resuming. If you need to shutdown your computer and FZC is running you just need to press the ESC key, and fzc will stop. Now if you are using a brute force attack the current status will be saved in a file called resume.fzc but if you are using a wordlist it will say to you in what line it ended (you can find the line in the file fzc.log too).
To resume the bruteforce attack you just need to do:

fzc -mr

And the bruteforce attack will start from the place where it stopped when you pressed the ESC key.
But if you want to resume a wordlist attack you'll need to start a new wordlist attack, saying where it's gonna start. So if you ended the attack to the file.zip in line 100 using wordlist.txt in mode 3 to resume you'll type

fzc -mw3 -nzfile.zip -nwwordlist.txt -f100

Doing this FZC would start in line 100, since the others 99 lines where already checked in an earlier FZC session.

Well, it looks like I covered most of what you need to know. I certainly hope it helped you... don't forget to read the files that come with the program

Change Your Ip In Less Then 1 Minute

2009-12-21T20:41:00.002+05:30

How To: Change Your Ip In Less Then 1 Minute

1. Click on "Start" in the bottom left hand corner of screen
2. Click on "Run"
3. Type in "command" and hit ok

You should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.

4. Type "ipconfig /release" just like that, and hit "enter"
5. Type "exit" and leave the prompt
6. Right-click on "Network Places" or "My Network Places" on your desktop.
7. Click on "properties"

You should now be on a screen with something titled "Local Area Connection", or something close to that, and, if you have a network hooked up, all of your other networks.

8. Right click on "Local Area Connection" and click "properties"
9. Double-click on the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list under the "General" tab
10. Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab
11. Create an IP address (It doesn't matter what it is. I just type 1 and 2 until i fill the area up).
12. Press "Tab" and it should automatically fill in the "Subnet Mask" section with default numbers.
13. Hit the "Ok" button here
14. Hit the "Ok" button again

You should now be back to the "Local Area Connection" screen.

15. Right-click back on "Local Area Connection" and go to properties again.
16. Go back to the "TCP/IP" settings
17. This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"
tongue.gif 18. Hit "Ok"
19. Hit "Ok" again
20. You now have a new IP address

With a little practice, you can easily get this process down to 15 seconds.

P.S:
This only changes your dynamic IP address, not your ISP/IP address. If you plan on hacking a website with this trick be extremely careful, because if they try a little, they can trace it back

Change The Default Location For Installing Apps

2009-12-21T20:40:00.003+05:30

As the size of hardrives increase, more people are using partitions to seperate and store groups of files.

XP uses the C:\Program Files directory as the default base directory into which new programs are installed. However, you can change the default installation drive and/ or directory by using a Registry hack.

Run the Registry Editor (regedit)and go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Look for the value named ProgramFilesDir. by default,this value will be C:\Program Files. Edit the value to any valid drive or folder and XP will use that new location as the default installation directory for new programs.