Know your System >Press windowskey+R> Type dxdiag> Press Enter
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Aayush
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system Information
NOTEPAD AS A VIRTUAL DIARY
Cool Tip on NOTEPAD
This is real cool tip for people who use notepad to write down any info on a day to day basis...
In Notepad
1)Open a notepad and type .LOG (CASE SENSITIVE)as the first line of the file.
2)Save WITH WHATEVER nAME YOU WANT And close the file
3)Double-click the file to open it
4)Type your notes and then save and close it
It simply serves as a virtual diary !
When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth.
Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address,
the stuff that TCPIP really deals with, not words.
This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location
each and every time you visit the site.
Although Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient DNS cache,
you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.
You can do this with the registry entries below
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesDnscacheParameters]
CacheHashTableBucketSize=dword00000001
CacheHashTableSize=dword00000180
MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit=dword0000fa00
MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit=dword0000012d
Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg.
Then copy and paste the above into it and save it. Merge it into the registry.
by double clicking on it.
What I prefer is %temp% without quotes.. at Start -> Run->then type %temp%
this opens ur temp folder n den u cal erase it neatly still try dis one too..
Another method
1) First go into gpedit.msc
2)Next select -> ComputerConfiguration-> AdministrativeTemplates -> WindowsComponents->
TerminalServices->Temporary Folder(Note you will find it on right side)
3)Then right click Do Not Delete Temp Folder Upon Exit
4)Go to properties and hit disable.
Now next time Windows puts a temp file in that folder it will automatically delete it
when its done!
1) Start->run -> then type regedit in run
2)Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->SOFTWARE->Microsoft->WindowsNT->CurrentVersion->Winlogon
3)Modify the key legalnoticecaption with what you want to name the window.
4)Modify the key legalnoticetext with what you want the window to say. Restart
(Note: It is neccessary to modify both the values)
CD ROM STOPS AUTOPLAYINGAUTORUN.!!
what happens is AutoPlay Tab has disappeared in your Computer
Devices With Removable Storage, Right Click on CDROM, Properties.
Solution The service Shell Hardware Detection has been set to Manual or Disabled.
What you need to do
Go to Control Panel->Administrative Tools->
Services Return this service to Automatic.
Fasten your BroadBand Speed
If you are using a BroadBand connection at your home and using Windows Xp as your Operating System,
and you feel that your BB speed is a bit less, then in that case you have the option to increase
your Broadband speed upto 20%.
HOW? Well this is what you need to do.
1. First of all make sure you are logged in as Administrator.
2. Go to Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc, press OK.
3. Then go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> QoS packet Scheduler.
4. On the right it will give you the option of “Limit Reservable bandwidth�,
open and and select “Enabled�, and change the value to 0.
You can add your anything you like that consists of 8 characters or less.
This will replace the AM or PM next to the system time.
1. start->Run->Type Regedit in run
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International
3. Add two new String values,(If it is not there otherwise search them if they
already exists) "s1159" and "s2359"
4. Right click the new value name and modify. Enter anything you like up to 8 characters.
Du U Know
These names cannot be used as folder or file names
wanna Try Try to create a document with this names below
and try to save it
CON
PRN
NUL
COM1 to COM9
LPT1 to LPT9
With a small registry tweak,
Windows XP can be set to automatically close any program that Stops Responding
eliminating the need for you to use the task manager to close down
the offending software manually.
To do this
1) Start->run->Type regedit
and navigate to (click on,go to) HKEY_CURRENT_USER->ControlPanel->Desktop
Modify the REG_SZ entry AutoEndTasks with a value of 1
You can create a nice 3D effect for your windows
StarT->Run->Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER-> Control Panel-> Color
Go to Button Highlight click it (You will Find it on Right side)
right click it then MODIFY (Enter value given below)
ButtonHilight=128 128 128
ButtonShadow=255 255 255
Many programs add portions of themselves starting automatically on every login.This can be either in the
Startup Folder or the Registry. One easy way to tell is by looking at how many icons are in your system tray. If you have a large number,
perhaps unnecessary resources are being allocated them as well as increasing your boot time.
Typical examples are Microsoft Office, Office FindFast, Real Player, ATI
You can remove them in one of three main ways
1_In the Start Programs
Startup Folder
2)In the Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Run
Bit = Single Binary Digit (1 or 0) Byte = 8 bits Kilobyte (KB) = 1,024 Bytes or 8192 bits Megabyte (MB) = 1,024 Kilobytes or 1048576 Bytes or 8388608 Bits Gigabyte (GB) = 1,024 Megabytes or 1048576 KB or 1073741824 Bytes or 589934592 Bits Terabyte (TB) = 1,024 Gigabytes or 1048576 MB or 1073741824 KB or 099511627776 Bytes or 8796093022208 Bits Petabyte (PB) = 1,024 Terabytes or 1048576 GB or 1073741824 MB or 099511627776 KB or 1125899906842624 Bytes or 9007199254740992 Bits Exabyte (EB) = 1,024 Petabytes or 1048576 TB or 1073741824 GB or 1099511627776 MB
EXTREMELY FAST BOOTUP EXTREMELY FAST BOOTUP The trick is Enabling Hibernation 1) Go to Control panel. 2)select power option and enable hibernate option. and then Try. Check 'Enable Hibernation'. To use it go to start->turnoffcomputer button->Press shift and see then click on hibernate Press shift button after you click 'Turn Off Computer' in start menu.
There is a Way to get xp product code from cd itself, It really work!! I was once wondering around d XP CD......n got dis!! Jst try it out..... Just explore the cd then open the folder I386 then open the file UNATTEND.TXT and scroll down to the last line and it goes to show what dumbasses microsoft are u have a product code.
How to Hide the drives(c,d,e,a...etc) To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer. 1.Go to start-run.Type regedit.Now go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER->Software->Microsoft->Windows->CurrentVersion->Policies->Explorer Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives(it is case sensitive). Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) . Now restart your computer. So, now when you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown(all gone...). To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item that you created.Again restart your computer. You can now see all the drives again. Magic........lol....
Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit and navigate to following three keys separately and change it as shown below [HKEY_CURRENT_USER->Software->Microsoft->InternetExplorer-> Explorer->Main] Search Page= httpwww.google.com Search Bar= httpwww.google.comie [HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchURL] = httpwww.google.comkeyword%s [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearch] SearchAssistant= httpwww.google.comie
When installing a new printer with the Add Printer Wizard, you can choose between adding a local printer (one that's directly cabled to your computer through one of the ports) or a network printer (a printer that's connected to your network with an Ethernet connection, just as your computer is connected to the LAN). To install a new local printer with the Add Printer Wizard, follow these steps: 1. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar and then click Control Panel on the right side of the Start menu. 2. Click the Printers and Other Hardware hyperlink if the Control Panel window is in Category View. Otherwise, double-click the Printers and Faxes icon if the Control Panel window is in Classic View. 3. Click the Add a Printer hyperlink in the Printers and Other Hardware window to start the Add Printer Wizard and then click the Next button, or press Enter to advance to the Local Printer or Printer Connection dialog box. 4. Make sure that the Add Printer Wizard selects the Local Printer radio button, and the Automatically Detect and Install my Plug and Play Printer check box beneath this radio button before you click the Next button. 5. If the wizard is unable to detect your printer in the New Printer Detection dialog box, click Next to install the printer manually. 6. Select the port for the printer to use in the Use the Following Port drop-down list box in the Select a Printer Port dialog box and then click the Next button. 7. Click the manufacturer and the model of the printer in the Manufacturers and Printers list boxes, respectively, of the Install Printer Software dialog box. If you have a disk with the software for the printer, put it into your floppy or CD-ROM drive and then click the Have Disk button: Select the drive that contains this disk in the Copy Manufacturer's Files drop-down list box and then click OK. 8. Click the Next button to advance to the Name Your Printer dialog box. If you want, edit the name for the printer in the Printer Name text box. If you want to make the printer that you're installing the default printer that is automatically used whenever you print from Windows or from within a Windows program, leave the Yes radio button selected beneath the heading, Do you want your Windows-based programs to use this printer as the default printer? 9. Click the Next button to advance to the Printer Sharing dialog box. If you want to share this printer with other users on the network, click the Share Name radio button and then, if you want, edit the share name (this is the name that the other users on the network see when they go to select this printer for printing their documents) that the wizard gives the printer in the Share Name text box. 10. To print a test page from your newly installed printer, click the Yes radio button selected beneath the heading, Would you like to print a test page? in the Print Test Page dialog box. 11. Click the Next button to advance to the Completing the Add Printer Wizard dialog box, where you can review the settings for your new printer before you click the Finish button or press Enter to finish installing the new printer. To use the Add Printer Wizard to install a printer that's available through your Local Area Network, you follow just slightly different steps: 1. Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar and then click Control Panel on the right side of the Start menu. 2. Click the Printers and Other Hardware hyperlink if the Control Panel window is in Category View. Otherwise, double-click the Printers and Faxes icon if the Control Panel window is in Classic View. 3. Click the Add a Printer hyperlink in the Printers and Other Hardware window to start the Add Printer Wizard and then click the Next button or press Enter to advance to the Local or Network Printer dialog box. 4. Click the A Network Printer or a Printer Attached to Another Computer radio button in the Local or Network Printer dialog box and then click the Next button or press Enter to the Specify a Printer dialog box. 5. If you know the name of the network printer, click the Connect to This Printer (or to Browse for a Printer, Select this Option and click Next) radio button and then enter the network path in the Name text box. If your network printer is on a network that uses an Internet address and you know this URL address, click the Connect to a Printer on the Internet or on a Home or Office Network radio button and then enter the address in the URL text box. If you know neither of these pieces of information, leave the Browse for a Printer radio button selected and then click Next to advance to the Browse for Printer dialog box. 6. In the Browse for Printer dialog box, locate the printer in the Shared Printers list box by clicking the network icons until you expand the outline sufficiently to display the printer icon. When you click the printer icon in this outline, the wizard adds the path to the Printer text box above. 7. Click the Next button to advance the Default Printer dialog box. If you want to make the printer that you're installing the default printer that is automatically used whenever you print from Windows or from within a Windows program, leave the Yes radio button selected beneath the heading, Do you want your Windows-based programs to use this printer as the default printer? 8. Click the Next button to advance to the Completing the Add Printer Wizard dialog box, where you can review the settings for your new printer before you click the Finish button or press Enter to finish installing the new printer. After you add a printer to your computer, you can start using it when printing with programs such as Word 2002 and Excel 2002, or when printing from Windows itself. To switch to a new printer that you haven't designated as the default printer in programs such as Word and Excel, you need to open the Print dialog box (choose File-->Print) and then select the printer name in the Name drop-down list box.
With Internet Explorer 6 in Windows XP, you can make a Web page available offline and view it when your computer is not connected to the Internet—for example on your laptop during a flight. This feature is also handy for viewing Web pages at home without tying up a phone line if you have a dial–up Internet connection. To make the current Web page available offline On the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites. Select the Make available offline check box. To specify a schedule for updating that page, and how much content to download, click Customize. Follow the instructions on your screen. To make an existing favorite item available offline On the Favorites menu, click Organize Favorites. Click the page you want to make available offline. Select the Make available offline check box. To specify a schedule for updating that page, and how much content to download, click Properties. To view Web pages without being connected to the Internet After you mark your favorite pages for viewing offline, you can view them offline by following these steps Before you disconnect from the Internet, on the Tools menu, click Synchronize. When you're ready to work offline, on the File menu, click Work Offline. Internet Explorer will always start in Offline mode until you click Work Offline again to clear the check mark. In your Favorites list, click the item you want to view. You can also make Web pages available offline without adding them to your Favorites list, by saving the pages on your computer. Follow these steps On the File menu, click Save As. Double–click the folder you want to save the page in. In the File name box, type a name for the page. In the Save as type box, select a file type. Do one of the following: To save all of the files needed to display this page, including graphics, frames, and style sheets, click Web Page, complete. This option saves each file in its original format. To save all of the information needed to display this page in a single MIME–encoded file, click Web Archive. This option saves a snapshot of the current Web page. This option is available only if you have installed Outlook Express 5 or later. When you choose Web Page, complete, only the current page is saved. With Web Page, complete and Web Archive, you can view all of the Web page offline, without adding the page to your Favorites list and marking it for offline viewing. To save just the current HTML page, click Web Page, HTML only. This option saves the information on the Web page, but it does not save the graphics, sounds, or other files. To save just the text from the current Web page, click Text Only. This option saves the information on the Web page in straight text format.
- Visit Windows Update (XP Only) - Look at the left hand pane and under Other Options click Personalize Windows Update. - Now in the right hand pane check the box - Display the link to the Windows Update Catalog under See Also - Below Choose which categories and updates to display on Windows Update - make sure you check all the boxes you want shown. - Click Save Settings - Now look in the left hand pane under See Also click Windows Update Catalog and choose what you're looking for. Choose either MS updates or drivers for hardware devices. - Start the Wizard and off you go. There are a TON of drivers there. I highly recommend you take a look at this page prior to downloading something from the web. Save Your New Downloads Since some people are still using modems and since MS is issuing patches right and left for XP wouldn't it be nice if after you downloaded all the updates you could save them? Well, you can and MS has provided a way for you to do it. Here's How: - Logon to Windows Update - Choose Windows Update Catalogue (left hand pane) - Choose Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems (right hand pane) - Choose your version and language then Search - Choose one the following: - Critical Updates and Service Packs - Service Packs and Recommended Downloads - Multi-Language Features (0) - Once chosen simply click on what you want to download and then back at the top click Review Download Basket - You are taken to the next page where at the top you can specify where the downloads are to be saved. - Click Download now. Each patch will make a directory under the root of the folder you saved them to. Once finished you need to go to where you saved the file (s) to and then simply install all your patches. Read-me's are available in each patch section so you know which one you are installing.
Windows XP Professional makes it easier to resolve problems if they occur in your system. You can use System Restore to remove any system changes that were made since the last time you remember your computer working correctly. System Restore does not affect your personal data files (such as Microsoft Word documents, browsing history, drawings, favorites, or e–mail) so you won’t lose changes made to these files. Windows XP creates “restore points” every day, as well as at the time of significant system events (such as when an application or driver is installed). You can also create and name your own restore points at any time. Creating a restore point can be useful any time you anticipate making changes to your computer that are risky or might make your computer unstable. If something goes wrong, you select a restore point and Windows XP undoes any system changes made since that time. When you run System Restore, a calendar is displayed to help you find restore points. If you don't use your computer every day, some days might not have any restore points. If you use your computer frequently, you might have restore points almost every day, and some days might have several restore points Mega Shutdown and Restart Troubleshooting Guide Thus far, Windows XP shutdown issues most resemble those of Windows Millennium Edition. That is, most of them center around a very few issues, especially driver version and other legacy hardware and software compatibility issues. These are detailed below. The driver and software issues are expected to resolve substantially as hardware and software manufacturers release updated versions, now that Win XP has been officially launched. Reboot Instead of Shutdown The majority of shutdown problems reported with Windows XP thus far have been that it reboots when shutdown is attempted. This may be a global symptom emerging from several distinct causes, because XP executes an automatic restart in the event of a system failure. I'm guessing that this means that more or less anything compromising the operating system during the shutdown process could force this reboot. If this is true, then our job will be to prepare a series of steps suitable to isolate the most likely cause. Disabling the "restart on system failure" feature may permit the exact cause to be isolated: Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the Advanced tab. Under 'Startup & Recovery,' click Settings. Under 'System Failure,' uncheck the box in front of 'System reboot.' Some things that have produced this reboot-instead-of-shutdown symptom are: " By now, Roxio's Easy CD / Direct CD software is well documented as being a major cause - possibly the major cause - of this undesirable shutdown behavior. On November 1, Roxio released new drivers to solve this problem in Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum in its Windows XP updater for the Platinum product. A fix for Easy CD Creator 5 Basic is in the works. In the first few hours of its release, several peple have written me saying that this fix has resolved their Windows XP shutdown problem. I suspect that <>of the Windows XP shutdown problems will go away with Roxio's release of this patch for Platinum and the pending patch for Basic. This has been the single most common cause of Win XP shutdown problems thus far. One person after another has written to me with the simple message that this reboot behavior went away as soon as they uninstalled Easy CD. HINT No. 1: PCBUILD subscribers, by trial and error, identified the file CDRALW2K.SYS (version 1.0.0.1048) as the Roxio file that was causing his shutdown problems and error conditions. When he deleted this one file, his problems went away. HINT No.2: The Mystic Overclocker and others have reported that installing Easy CD 5.0 does not cause the shutdown problem, provided they do not install the Direct CD component. Though this isn't universally true, enough people have mentioned it by now for me to suggest it as a work-around.
Whenever you want to logoff, shut down or reboot your Windows XP machine you have only 3 choices (1) Standby ONLY IF the ACPI/APM function is properly enabled BOTH in your motherboard's BIOS AND in WinXP! (2) Restart (3) Shutdown. To properly enable Hibernation in WinXP: Start button -> Control Panel -> Power Options -> Hibernate tab -> check Enable hibernate support box -> Apply/OK -> reboot. NOTE: If the Hibernate tab is unavailable your computer does NOT support it! For some reason Microsoft did NOT enable the 4th option: (4) Hibernate, which should be available on power saving (ACPI) enabled PCs and laptops. But you CAN bring it back: just hold the Shift key while the Shut down menu is displayed on your screen, and notice the Standby button being replaced by a new, fully functional Hibernate button, which can be clicked with the left button of your mouse. If you release the Shift key, the Hibernate option will disappear once again, to be replaced by Standby.
When speed counts, the keyboard is still king. Almost all the actions and commands you can perform with a mouse you can perform faster using combinations of keys on your keyboard. These simple keyboard shortcuts can get you where you want to go faster than several clicks of a mouse. You'll work faster on spreadsheets and similar documents, too, because you won't lose your place switching back and forth between mouse and keys. Here are some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts: Copy. CTRL+C Cut. CTRL+X Paste. CTRL+V Undo. CTRL+Z Delete. DELETE Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item Rename selected item. F2 Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys Select all. CTRL+A Search for a file or folder. F3 View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4 Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4 Switch between open items. ALT+TAB Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6 Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4 Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10 Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10 Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW Refresh the active window. F5 View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE Cancel the current task. ESC SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing. Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes: Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB Move forward through options. TAB Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys Display Help. F1 Display the items in the active list. F4 Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key , you can use these keyboard shortcuts: Display or hide the Start menu. Display the System Properties dialog box. +BREAK Show the desktop. +D Minimize all windows. +M Restores minimized windows. +Shift+M Open My Computer. +E Search for a file or folder. +F Search for computers. CTRL+ +F Display Windows Help. +F1 Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain. + L Open the Run dialog box. +R Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. Open Utility Manager. +U Helpful accessibility keyboard shortcuts: Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds Open Utility Manager. +U Keyboard shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer: Display the bottom of the active window. END Display the top of the active window. HOME Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*) Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+) Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-) Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW
first open - X:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo (it is hidden) where X is your drive letter and username is your username make and delete shortcuts to folders and devices at will
Open Control Panel and double click on Network Connections. In the new box that appears right click on the Connection and click on the Advanced tab. Check or uncheck the box according to your desire. Adjust various visual effects 1. Open up the control panel 2. Go under system and click on the advanced tab 3. Click settings under Performance options 4. You can now change various graphical effects (mainly animations and shadows)
The temporary internet files clutter your hard drive with copies of each page visited. These can build up over time and take up disk space. Even more bothersome is that instead of getting new pages each time IE often takes the page out the temp internet files. This can be a problem if you are viewing a website that is updated all the time. If you are on a slow connection such as a 56K or lower then this can be good but if you are on a fast broadband connection, like me, then you can get away with decreasing the size of your temp internet files to just one meg without any performance decrease. Launch Internet Explorer. Select the Tools from the menu bar. Then select Internet Options... from the drop down menu. Once the internet options has loaded click on the general tab. Under the temporary internet files section click the settings button. A settings window will load. Slide the slider all the way to the left so the size indicated in the text box on the right is one. Click OK Click Ok
Change the text in Internet Explorers title bar to anything you want open regedit by start->run->regedit In regedit navigate to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain change the value of the string "Window Title" to whatever you want on the title bar of Internet Explorer - to have no title except the title of the web pages you are browsing do not enter anything for a value.
Great Digital Media with Windows XP includes everything you need to know to play digital music stored on your PC, on audio CDs, Internet radio stations, and through Web-based streaming audio. But it doesn't end there: With Windows XP, you can almost endlessly configure Microsoft Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP), manage digital music directly from the Windows shell and through MPXP, copy music from audio CDs to your PC, and create your own audio "mix" CDs and data CD backups. And best of all, these capabilities are all built into Windows XP... for free! Here are some tips for working with digital music and audio in Windows XP. Copy CD Audio in MP3 format with an MP3 Encoding Add-on Pack Microsoft Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) can record CD audio in Windows Media Audio (WMA) 8 format natively, but if you want to use the more common MP3 format, you will need one of several MP3 Encoding Add-on Packs, which will be available for download by the time Windows XP is widely released on October 25. The add-on packs will cost less than $10, and will be available from Cyberlink, InterVideo, and Ravisent. Use transcoding to save space on portable audio devices. When copying music from an audio CD to your hard drive, you will probably want to use a decent encoding rate (128 Kbps WMA or 160 Kbps MP3 format) to ensure that the resulting files are as close to CD-quality as possible. But such files are pretty large, and if you're going to be copying them to a portable audio device--such as an Iomega HipZip or a Pocket PC--you won't be able to bring very many songs with you on the road. To overcome this problem, Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) supports a feature called transcoding, which will let you downsize files on the file as you copy them to a portable device. So you might transcode 128 Kbps WMA files down to 64 Kbps, for example, to fit twice as many songs in the same amount of space, with only a small loss in sound quality. To configure this feature, open MPXP and navigate to Tools, Options, Devices. Then, choose the appropriate device and click Properties. This dialog will allow you to set a custom quality level for music copied to that device. Use audio CD artwork in your digital media folders. 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 (WMA 8 format by default). 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! Also, you can save a smaller-sized image albumartsmall.jpg if you'd like: This file is used to store the album art thumbnails you see in folder icons.
Want to use an on screen keyboard? Well it is this simple - Click on the start button and select run. Then type in osk in the box and click OK.
Open Remote Desktop Connection. (Click Start, point to Programs or All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click Remote Desktop Connection.) In Computer, type the computer name for your computer running Windows XP Professional that has Remote Desktop enabled and for which you have Remote Desktop permissions Click Connect. The Log On to Windows dialog box appears. In the Log On to Windows dialog box, type your user name, password, and domain (if required), and then click OK. The Remote Desktop window will open and you will see the desktop settings, files, and programs that are on your office computer. Your office computer will remain locked. Nobody will be able to work at your office computer without a password, nor will anyone see the work you are doing on your office computer remotely. Note: To change your connection settings, (such as screen size, automatic logon information, and performance options), click Options before you connect. To open a saved connection In Windows Explorer, open the My DocumentsRemote Desktops folder. Click the .Rdp file for the connection you want to open. Note: A Remote Desktop file (.rdp) file contains all of the information for a connection to a remote computer, including the Options settings that were configured when the file was saved. You can customize any number of .rdp files, including files for connecting to the same computer with different settings. For example, you can save a file that connects to MyComputer in full screen mode and another file that connects to the same computer in 800×600 screen size. By default, .rdp files are saved in the My DocumentsRemote Desktops folder. To edit an .rdp file and change the connections settings it contains, right-click the file and then click Edit. To log off and end the session In the Remote Desktop Connection window, click Start, and then click Shut Down. The Shut Down Windows dialog box appears. In the drop-down menu, select Log Off , and then click OK.
Insert the Windows XP compact disc into your CD-ROM drive. When the Welcome page appears, click Perform additional tasks, and then click Setup Remote Desktop Connection as shown below. When the installation wizard starts, follow the directions that appear on your screen. Once you have enabled your Windows XP Professional computer to allow remote connections, and installed client software on a Windows-based client computer, you are ready to start a Remote Desktop session.
You must first enable the Remote Desktop feature on your office computer so that you can control it remotely from another computer. You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to enable Remote Desktop on your Windows XP Professional-based computer. To setup your office computer to use Remote Desktop: Open the System folder in Control Panel. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the System icon. On the Remote tab, select the Allow users to connect remotely to this computer check box, as shown below. Ensure that you have the proper permissions to connect to your computer remotely, and click OK. Leave your computer running and connected to the company network with Internet access. Lock your computer, and leave your office. The Remote Desktop Connection client software allows a computer running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 to control your Windows XP Professional computer remotely. The client software is available on the installation CD for Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition. The client software is installed by default on computers running Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition.
Right click on any .exe file in Explorer, My Computer, Desktop and select 'Pin to Start Menu', the program is then displayed on the start menu, above the separator line. To remove it, click the file on the start menu and select 'Unpin from Start Menu'. Below you can check the before and after shots.
You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets. 1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only). 2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only). 3. 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. 4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable. 5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here. 6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother. 7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system. 8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'. 9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2. 10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer. 11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects. 12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0. 13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use. 14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed. 15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic. 16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0. 17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups. 18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it. 19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons. 20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, is due out late next year or early 2003 and won't be much to write home about. The next big release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in 2003/2004.
1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC 2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System. 3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire
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: 1.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts. 2.Click your account name. 3.Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password. 4.Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk. 5.Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access your local user account
To copy files and folders to a CD •Insert a blank, writable CD into the CD recorder. •Open My Computer. •Click the files or folders you want to copy to the CD. To select more than one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want. Then, under File and Folder Tasks, click Copy this file, Copy this folder, or Copy the selected items. •If the files are located in My Pictures, under Picture Tasks, click Copy to CD or Copy all items to CD, and then skip to step 5. •In the Copy Items dialog box, click the CD recording drive, and then click Copy. •In My Computer, double–click the CD recording drive. Windows displays a temporary area where the files are held before they are copied to the CD. Verify that the files and folders that you intend to copy to the CD appear under Files Ready to be Written to the CD. •Under CD Writing Tasks, click Write these files to CD. Windows displays the CD Writing Wizard. Follow the instructions in the wizard. Notes: •Do not copy more files to the CD than it will hold. Standard CDs hold up to 650 megabytes (MB). High–capacity CDs hold up to 850 MB. •Be sure that you have enough disk space on your hard disk to store the temporary files that are created during the CD writing process. For a standard CD, Windows reserves up to 700 MB of the available free space. For a high–capacity CD, Windows reserves up to 1 gigabyte (GB) of the available free space. •After you copy files or folders to the CD, it is useful to view the CD to confirm that the files are copied. For more information, click Related Topics. To stop the CD recorder from automatically ejecting the CD •Open My Computer. •Right–click the CD recording drive, and then click Properties. •On the Recording tab, clear the Automatically eject the CD after writing check box. Click Here to Return
Go to Start/Run, and type: GPEDIT.MSC Open the path User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets" put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show" click Add button, type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box
Open windows explorer then click on Tools->Folder Options Click on the View Tab. Scroll to the bottom and deselect (uncheck) the option that reads 'use simple file sharing' This will allow you to see the security tab when viewing the properties of a file/folder
If you want to save your files to your hard drive, so after a format you dont have to download them all again, here's How: - Logon to Windows Update - Choose Windows Update Catalogue (left hand pane) - Choose Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems (right hand pane) - Choose your version and language then Search - Choose one the following: - Critical Updates and Service Packs - Service Packs and Recommended Downloads - Multi-Language Features (0) - Once chosen simply click on what you want to download and then back at the top click Review Download Basket - You are taken to the next page where at the top you can specify where the downloads are to be saved. - Click Download now. Each patch will make a directory under the root of the folder you saved them to. Once finished you need to go to where you saved the file (s) to and then simply install all your patches.
IP address of your connection Go to start/run type 'cmd' then type 'ipconfig' Add the '/all' switch for more info.
To NTFS or not to NTFS—that is the question. But unlike the deeper questions of life, this one isn't really all that hard to answer. For most users running Windows XP, NTFS is the obvious choice. It's more powerful and offers security advantages not found in the other file systems. But let's go over the differences among the files systems so we're all clear about the choice. There are essentially three different file systems available in Windows XP: FAT16, short for File Allocation Table, FAT32, and NTFS, short for NT File System. FAT16 The FAT16 file system was introduced way back with MS–DOS in 1981, and it's showing its age. It was designed originally to handle files on a floppy drive, and has had minor modifications over the years so it can handle hard disks, and even file names longer than the original limitation of 8.3 characters, but it's still the lowest common denominator. The biggest advantage of FAT16 is that it is compatible across a wide variety of operating systems, including Windows 95/98/Me, OS/2, Linux, and some versions of UNIX. The biggest problem of FAT16 is that it has a fixed maximum number of clusters per partition, so as hard disks get bigger and bigger, the size of each cluster has to get larger. In a 2–GB partition, each cluster is 32 kilobytes, meaning that even the smallest file on the partition will take up 32 KB of space. FAT16 also doesn't support compression, encryption, or advanced security using access control lists. FAT32 The FAT32 file system, originally introduced in Windows 95 Service Pack 2, is really just an extension of the original FAT16 file system that provides for a much larger number of clusters per partition. As such, it greatly improves the overall disk utilization when compared to a FAT16 file system. However, FAT32 shares all of the other limitations of FAT16, and adds an important additional limitation—many operating systems that can recognize FAT16 will not work with FAT32—most notably Windows NT, but also Linux and UNIX as well. Now this isn't a problem if you're running FAT32 on a Windows XP computer and sharing your drive out to other computers on your network—they don't need to know (and generally don't really care) what your underlying file system is. The Advantages of NTFS The NTFS file system, introduced with first version of Windows NT, is a completely different file system from FAT. It provides for greatly increased security, file–by–file compression, quotas, and even encryption. It is the default file system for new installations of Windows XP, and if you're doing an upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you'll be asked if you want to convert your existing file systems to NTFS. Don't worry. If you've already upgraded to Windows XP and didn't do the conversion then, it's not a problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point. Just remember that you can't easily go back to FAT or FAT32 (without reformatting the drive or partition), not that I think you'll want to. The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've booted a computer from a floppy disk. For this reason, many system administrators, myself included, used to recommend that users format at least a small partition at the beginning of their main hard disk as FAT. This partition provided a place to store emergency recovery tools or special drivers needed for reinstallation, and was a mechanism for digging yourself out of the hole you'd just dug into. But with the enhanced recovery abilities built into Windows XP (more on that in a future column), I don't think it's necessary or desirable to create that initial FAT partition. When to Use FAT or FAT32 If you're running more than one operating system on a single computer (see Dual booting in Guides), you will definitely need to format some of your volumes as FAT. Any programs or data that need to be accessed by more than one operating system on that computer should be stored on a FAT16 or possibly FAT32 volume. But keep in mind that you have no security for data on a FAT16 or FAT32 volume—any one with access to the computer can read, change, or even delete any file that is stored on a FAT16 or FAT32 partition. In many cases, this is even possible over a network. So do not store sensitive files on drives or partitions formatted with FAT file systems.
•Open My Computer •Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer). •If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive. •Double-click the Documents and Settings folder. •Double-click your user folder. •Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties. •On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box. Note •To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer. •This option is only available for folders included in your user profile. Folders in your user profile include My Documents and its subfolders, Desktop, Start Menu, Cookies, and Favorites. If you do not make these folders private, they are available to everyone who uses your computer. •When you make a folder private, all of its subfolders are private as well. For example, when you make My Documents private, you also make My Music and My Pictures private. When you share a folder, you also share all of its subfolders unless you make them private. •You cannot make your folders private if your drive is not formatted as NTFS For information about converting your drive to NTFS
To change the name of the Recycle Bin desktop icon, open Regedit and go to:
oprn regedit by start->run->type regedit HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} and change the name "Recycle Bin" to whatever you want (don't type any quotes).
To change the name of the Recycle Bin desktop icon, open Regedit and go to:
oprn regedit by start->run->type regedit HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} and change the name "Recycle Bin" to whatever you want (don't type any quotes).
If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files , you can get rid of its desktop icon all together. Run Regedit and go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/explorer/Desktop/NameSpace Click on the "Recycle Bin" string in the right hand pane. Hit Del, click OK.
Go to ontrol Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop
The Search companion in Windows XP searches for hidden and system files differently than in earlier versions of Windows. This guide describes how to search for hidden or system files in Windows XP. Search for Hidden or System Files By default, the Search companion does not search for hidden or system files. Because of this, you may be unable to find files, even though they exist on the drive. To search for hidden or system files in Windows XP: Click Start, click Search, click All files and folders, and then click More advanced options. Click to select the Search system folders and Search hidden files and folders check boxes. NOTE: You do not need to configure your computer to show hidden files in the Folder Options dialog box in Windows Explorer to find files with either the hidden or system attributes, but you need to configure your computer not to hide protected operating system files to find files with both the hidden and system attributes. Search Companion shares the Hide protected operating system files option (which hides files with both the system and hidden attributes) with the Folder Options dialog box Windows Explorer.
Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines. Its actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improve significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore. Here's how : Open up the Registry and go to : open registry by start->run->regedit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace Under that branch, select the key : {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} and delete it. This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary. This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing processes.
Set the Search Screen to the Classic Look When I first saw the default search pane in Windows XP, my instinct was to return it to its classic look; that puppy had to go. Of course, I later discovered that a doggie door is built into the applet. Click "Change preferences" then "Without an animated screen character." If you'd rather give it a bare-bones "Windows 2000" look and feel, fire up your Registry editor and navigate to: Open registryeditor by start->run->regedit HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CabinetState. You may need to create a new string value labeled "Use Search Asst" and set it to "no".
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