XP Tips and Tricks

A new beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:49:00 +0000

I know it was a long time back , I have wrote anything in my blog. But from now on I will try to update atleast once every 15 days.

Lock XP

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:35:00 +0000

You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse.
Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter ‘rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation’ in the location field.
Give the shortcut a name you like.
That’s it — just double click on it and your computer will be locked.
And if that’s not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

Improve speed of of file search in WINDOWS XP PRO operating system

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:47:00 +0000

If you have not already noticed, you soon will. Default search for a file in Windows Explorer takes a long time to complete. Yes thats correct. I had to wait for some time before I could do that when I was creating the screen print of *.msc search on my computer (see the article on gpedit.msc in list of tools link). Anyway bottom line is default search would be slow in XP, In fact slower than even a Window 98 PC. But there is a reason for it and couple of ways to tweak it. First the reason: One of the reasons XP's default file search takes so long is it not only looks for file names in your directories, it processes compressed (.zip and .cab) files, looking for your filename inside of these zipped files! There are few ways to improve your search.
Disable ZIP and CAB search:
This tip was brought to my attention by James Heinrich.

To disable Compressed Folders for zip files:
regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll
For CAB files:
regsvr32 /u cabview.dll
All of a sudden it goes so much faster, and no need for indexing service,
or weird searching limitations.
Can always be re-enabled afterwards with the same command, minus the/u
Set index service on:
You can further improve the search bye turning the index service on ! Well it does not end here. You not only have to turn the index service on but also has to follow many do's and don'ts. Here are some of them.
1: Never search by putting criteria in the "All or part of the file name" box.
2. Enter your criteria in the "A word or phrase in the file" as described below - no matter what you want to achieve !
TO SEARCH FOR A FILE BY NAME:
Your search criteria must begin with:
@filename
or
#filename
followed by all or part of the filename you are looking for and you must put it in the "A word or phrase in the file: input area Wildcards * and/or ? are allowed:
TO SEARCH FOR A FILE BASED UPON A WORD OR PHRASE IN THE FILE:
Your search criteria must start with an exclamation mark
!yourcriteria
The exclamation mark forces use of the index. If the exclamation mark isn't used, Search Companion will begin a slow file-by-file physical search.
1

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 04:21:00 +0000

Disable CD Autorun

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:24:00 +0000

1) Click Start, Run ---> GPEDIT.MSC

2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.

3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.

Skip the Recycle Bin Confirmation Message

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:43:00 +0000

When you delete items by moving them to the Recycle Bin, Windows displays a message confirming the deletion: "Are you sure you want to send FILENAME to the Recycle Bin?" If you’re tired of clicking an answer to that question, you can configure Windows XP to skip the confirmation message whether or not you’re using the Recycle Bin.

1.>Right-click the Recycle Bin, and then click Properties.
2.>In the Recycle Bin Properties dialog box, clear the Display delete confirmation dialog check box, and then click OK.
3.>If you don’t want to use the Recycle Bin at all, in the Recycle Bin Properties dialog box, select the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted check box.

Change Out Your Pointer Scheme

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 07:58:00 +0000

Tired of seeing your pointer as an arrow or an hourglass all the time? Windows XP offers a number of alternative pointer schemes, such as Dinosaur, Ocean and Sports.
Open the Control Panel, double-click Mouse, and select the Pointers tab. (If you start in Category view, select Appearance and Themes, then click Mouse Pointers under "See Also.") Next to Schemes, click the down arrow and select a scheme to preview its pointers. Click OK to apply the scheme to your desktop. Simple as that.

Creating a Password Recovery Disk

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:46:00 +0000

In case you forget your password, you can create a password recovery floppy disk beforehand to help you out of this problem.

1.Single-click Start menu
2.Go to the Control Panel / User Accounts
3.Click the User Account
4.On the left hand side, click on Prevent forgotten password
5.You will need to know your password to create the disk.
6.If you don't remember your password sometime in the future, click on the green arrow like normal at the login and you will be prompted to insert the password recover disk.

How to use ALT key codes in word,notepad or frontpage

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 04:20:00 +0000

Alt key codes are great if you like to code by hand and can save a lot of time once you memorize a few.

Hold down the alt key and use the number pad on the far right of your keyboard to type out the 4-character code. When you release the alt key, the character will appear.

Example: Alt-0169 = © or Alt-0174 = ® or Alt-0153 = ™

Alt-0128 € Alt-0252 ü Alt-0129 Alt-0130 ‚ Alt-0131 ƒ
Alt-0132 „ Alt-0253 ý Alt-0133 … Alt-0134 † Alt-0135 ‡
Alt-0136 ˆ Alt-0254 þ Alt-0137 ‰ Alt-0138 Š Alt-0139 ‹
Alt-0140 Œ Alt-0255 ÿ Alt-0141 Alt-0142 Ž Alt-0143
Alt-0144 Alt-0248 ø Alt-0145 ‘ Alt-0146 ’ Alt-0147 "
Alt-0148 " Alt-0249 ù Alt-0149 • Alt-0150 – Alt-0151 —
Alt-0152 ˜ Alt-0250 ú Alt-0153 ™ Alt-0154 š Alt-0155 ›
Alt-0156 œ Alt-0251 û Alt-0157 Alt-0158 ž Alt-0159 Ÿ
Alt-0160 Alt-0244 ô Alt-0161 ¡ Alt-0162 ¢ Alt-0163 £
Alt-0164 ¤ Alt-0245 õ Alt-0165 ¥ Alt-0166 ¦ Alt-0167 §
Alt-0168 ¨ Alt-0246 ö Alt-0169 © Alt-0170 ª Alt-0171 «
Alt-0172 ¬ Alt-0247 ÷ Alt-0173 Alt-0174 ® Alt-0175 ¯
Alt-0176 ° Alt-0240 ð Alt-0177 ± Alt-0178 ² Alt-0179 ³
Alt-0180 ´ Alt-0241 ñ Alt-0181 µ Alt-0182 ¶ Alt-0183 ·
Alt-0184 ¸ Alt-0242 ò Alt-0185 ¹ Alt-0186 º Alt-0187 »
Alt-0188 ¼ Alt-0243 ó Alt-0189 ½ Alt-0190 ¾ Alt-0191 ¿
Alt-0192 À Alt-0236 ì Alt-0193 Á Alt-0194 Â Alt-0195 Ã
Alt-0196 Ä Alt-0237 í Alt-0197 Å Alt-0198 Æ Alt-0199 Ç
Alt-0200 È Alt-0238 î Alt-0201 É Alt-0202 Ê Alt-0203 Ë
Alt-0204 Ì Alt-0239 ï Alt-0205 Í Alt-0206 Î Alt-0207 Ï
Alt-0208 Ð Alt-0232 è Alt-0209 Ñ Alt-0210 Ò Alt-0211 Ó
Alt-0212 Ô Alt-0233 é Alt-0213 Õ Alt-0214 Ö Alt-0215 ×
Alt-0216 Ø Alt-0234 ê Alt-0217 Ù Alt-0218 Ú Alt-0219 Û
Alt-0220 Ü Alt-0235 ë Alt-0221 Ý Alt-0222 Þ Alt-0223 ß
Alt-0224 à Alt-0231 ç Alt-0225 á Alt-0226 â Alt-0227 ã
Alt-0228 ä Alt-0230 æ Alt-0229 å

Services You Can Disable in XP to increase the speed of pc

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 03:49:00 +0000

There are quite a few services you can disable from starting automatically.
This would be to speed up your boot time and free resources.
They are only suggestions so I suggestion you read the description of each one when you run Servicesand that you turn them off one at a time.
Some application are:
Alerter
Application Management
Clipbook
Fast UserSwitching
Human Interface Devices
Indexing Service
Messenger
Net Logon
NetMeeting
QOS RSVP
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Registry
Routing & Remote Access
SSDP Discovery Service
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Web Client

100 keyboard shortcuts

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 09:26:00 +0000

CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
DELETE (Delete)
SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text) SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
CTRL+A (Select all)
F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object) ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window) CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened) F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop) F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item) ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window) CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu) Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu) LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
F5 key (Update the active window)
BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
ESC (Cancel the current task)
SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)Dialog Box Keyboard ShortcutsCTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs) CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)
TAB (Move forward through the options)
SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)
ALT+Underlined letter (Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option)
ENTER (Perform the command for the active option or button) SPACEBAR (Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box)
Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)
F1 key (Display Help)
F4 key (Display the items in the active list)
BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts

Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)
Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box) Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)
Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)
Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)
CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)
Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)
Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)
Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)
Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)
Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off) Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)

Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

END (Display the bottom of the active window)
HOME (Display the top of the active window)
NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)
NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)
LEFT ARROW (Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder)
RIGHT ARROW (Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder)
Shortcut Keys for Character Map
After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:
RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line) LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)
UP ARROW (Move up one row)
DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)
PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)
PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)
HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)
END (Move to the end of the line)
CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)
CTRL+END (Move to the last character)
SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected)
Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Main Window Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+O (Open a saved console)
CTRL+N (Open a new console)
CTRL+S (Save the open console)
CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)
CTRL+W (Open a new window)
F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)
ALT+F4 (Close the console)
ALT+A (Display the Action menu)
ALT+V (Display the View menu)
ALT+F (Display the File menu)
ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)

MMC Console Window Keyboard Shortcuts
CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)
ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)
F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)
F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)
CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)
ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)

Remote Desktop Connection Navigation

CTRL+ALT+END (Open the microsoft Windows NT Security dialog box) ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right) ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left) ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order) ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)
CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)
ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)
CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.) CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)

Microsoft Internet Explorer Navigation

CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)
CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)
CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)
CTRL+H (Open the History bar)
CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)
CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)
CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address) CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L) CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box) CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)
CTRL+W (Close the current window

Performance Increase Through My Computer

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:04:00 +0000

1: Start > Right Click on My Computer and select properties.
2: Click on the "Advanced" tab
3: See the "Perfomance" section? Click "Settings"
4: Disable all or some of the following:
Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Use common tasks in folders
There, now Windows will still look nice and perform faster

Independence Day

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:07:00 +0000

Today we Indians are celebrating our 60th Independence day.

Wishing all the proud Indians a Happy Independence day.

Speed Up System Shutdown

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Speed Up System Shutdown

Theoretically, when you shut down Windows, your computer should be powered down in under fifteen seconds. The problem is that all of the cleanup that is done before Windows considers it "safe" to power the system down—including shutting down your open applications, stopping any running services, and writing any pending cache data to the disk—can sometimes delay the shutdown procedure.
The following solutions should help eliminate the sometimes-unnecessary delays that can accompany system shutdown.

Part 1: Reduce the hung application timeout

When shutting down, Windows attempts to stop all running tasks. If a task is not responding or refuses to shut down, there's a built-in delay before Windows will force the task to end. This delay is called the timeout, and it can be shortened if you're experiencing problems or unreasonable delays when shutting down your system:

1. Open the Registry Editor .
2. Expand the branches to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Control Panel\Desktop .
3. Double-click the WaitToKillAppTimeou t value. This number controls the time to wait, in milliseconds, before unresponsive applications are forced to close. The default is 20000 (twenty seconds), but it can be decreased to any value; the minimum is 1 millisecond, although it's impractical to use any value smaller than about 2000 (two seconds) here.
4. Also in this key is the HungAppTimeout value, which does pretty much the same thing as WaitToKillAppTimeou t; just enter the same number for both values.
5. Expand the branches to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ Control .
6. Double-click the WaitToKillServiceTi meout value. This works the same as the WaitToKillAppTimeou t value described above, except that it applies to services instead of applications.
7. Close the Registry Editor when you're done. You'll have to restart Windows for the change to take effect.
These values also affect the timeouts at times other than just shutting down, such as when you click End Process in the Windows Task Manager.

Part 2:
Use the User Profile Hive Cleanup ServiceOccasionally, Windows has trouble unloading the hive containing the HKEY_ CURRENT_USER branch of the Registry If your system appears to Repeatedly take a long time to log out and shut down, download and install Microsoft's UPHClean utility. See Microsoft Knowledge Base article#837115 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;837115) for details.

Part 3:
Have Windows power down your computer automatically You may have noticed that some computers—especially laptops—are able to power themselves off when you choose Shut Down from the Start Menu,rather than displaying the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen. This is convenient and makes for faster shutdowns.
In order to configure your computer to behave this way, you'll need the following:

if you're using a desktop (as opposed to a portable) computer, you must have an ATX-compliant case and motherboard. You can tell an ATXsystem from the power button; if it's a momentary pushbutton (that doesn't stay in when you press it), you've likely got an ATX case. The difference is that power switches in ATX systems send a "shut down" command to the motherboard, rather than simply cutting power. All new computers areATX-compliant, as is any machine that is likely to be capable of running Windows XP. Secondly, you must have Advanced Power Management (APM) enabled in your system BIOS. Enter your system BIOS setup screen when first starting your computer (usually by pressing the Del key ), and make sure any options labeled "Advanced Power Management," "APM," or "APM-aware OS" are enabled. If these two conditions are met, Windows should automatically power down your system the next time you shut down.

Eliminate Unwanted Windows Components:
In addition to the settings and tweaks described, a common and effective technique for removing the bottlenecks in Windows is to eliminate the programs and Windows components you don't use. Most optional Windows components can be removed by double-clicking on the Add or Remove Programs icon in Control Panel, clicking Add/Remove Windows Components , and unchecking any unwanted components. Single programs may not seem to make much of a difference, but they do add up. Note, however, that not all optional components are listed here.
To add unlisted Windows components to your Control Panel, follow these steps:
1. Start Notepad (or your favorite plain-text editor), and open \Windows\Inf\ Sysoc.inf .
2. The structure of this file is that of an .ini file.The [Components] section lists the components shown in the Windows Components Wizard. Each entry in this section has this format: name= options where options is a list of parameters, separated by commas. The second to last parameter is the one that interests us. If it's empty (nothing between the surrounding commas), the corresponding entry will appear in the Windows Components Wizard. Otherwise, if the parameter is hide, the entry will not appear. To "unhide" the entry, simply delete the hide keyword. For example, the entry for Windows Messenger looks like this:msmsgs=msgrocm. dll,OcEntry, msmsgs.inf, hide,7To add Windows Messenger to the list, allowing you to remove the component, simply change the line so it reads:msmsgs=msgrocm. dll,OcEntry, msmsgs.inf, ,7
3. When you're done, save the file, and reopen the Windows Components Wizard to see the new entries.

OK its not a tip but what the heck its a beautiful pic i am sure every one is going to appreciate.

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:22:00 +0000

This can also be a great wallpaper

Change Your Ip In Less Then 1 Minute

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:10:00 +0000

1. Click on "Start" in the bottom left hand corner of screen2. Click on "Run"3. Type in "command" and hit okYou should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.4. Type "ipconfig /release" just like that, and hit "enter"5. Type "exit" and leave the prompt6. 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" tab10. Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab11. 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 here14. Hit the "Ok" button againYou 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" settings17. This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"tongue.gif 18. Hit "Ok"19. Hit "Ok" again20. You now have a new IP address

How to stop XP from displaying unread messages count on Welcome Screen

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:31:00 +0000

To stop XP from displaying count of unread messages, Open registry and navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\UnreadMail] and look for the data key "MessageExpiryDays". If you do not see this key, create one DWORD key by the name "MessageExpiryDays". Setting its value to 0(Zero) would stop Windows XP from displaying the count of unread mesages

Decreasing Boot Time

noreply@blogger.com (Punter Tips) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:01:00 +0000

Microsoft has made available a program to analyze and decrease the time it takes to boot to WindowsXPThe program is called BootVis
Uncompress the file.Run BOOTVIS.EXEFor a starting point, run Trace / Next Boot + Driver DelaysThis will reboot your computer and provide a benchmarkAfter the reboot, BootVis will take a minute or two to show graphs of your system startup.Note how much time it takes for your system to load (click on the red vertical line)Then run Trace / Optimize SystemRe-Run the Next Boot + Drive Delays Note how much the time has decreasedMine went from approximately 40 to 31 seconds.