unknown xp secrets

Set Processes Priority

2009-03-11T11:04:00.001-07:00

Follow this tip to increase the priority of active processes, this will result in prioritisation of processes using the CPU.

CTRL-SHIFT-ESC

1.Go to the second tab called Processes, right click on one of the active processes, you will see the Set Priority option

2.For example, your Run your CDwriter program , set the priority higher, and guess what, no crashed CD’s

Set Permissions for Shared Files and Folders

2009-03-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

Sharing of files and folders can be managed in two ways. If you chose simplified file sharing, your folders can be shared with everyone on your network or workgroup, or you can make your folders private. (This is how folders are shared in Windows 2000.) However, in Windows XP Professional, you can also set folder permissions for specific users or groups. To do this, you must first change the default setting, which is simple file sharing. To change this setting, follow these steps:
•Open Control Panel, click Tools, and then click Folder Options.
•Click the View tab, and scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Settings list.
•Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box.
•To manage folder permissions, browse to the folder in Windows Explorer, right–click the folder, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab, and assign permissions, such as Full Control, Modify, Read, and/or Write, to specific users.

You can set file and folder permissions only on drives formatted to use NTFS, and you must be the owner or have been granted permission to do so by the owner.

Set up and Use Internet Connection Sharing

2009-03-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

With Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in Windows XP, you can connect one computer to the Internet, then share the Internet service with several computers on your home or small office network. The Network Setup Wizard in Windows XP Professional will automatically provide all of the network settings you need to share one Internet connection with all the computers in your network. Each computer can use programs such as Internet Explorer and Outlook Express as if they were directly connected to the Internet.
You should not use this feature in an existing network with Windows 2000 Server domain controllers, DNS servers, gateways, DHCP servers, or systems configured for static IP addresses.

Enabling ICS

The ICS host computer needs two network connections. The local area network connection, automatically created by installing a network adapter, connects to the computers on your home or small office network. The other connection, using a 56k modem, ISDN, DSL, or cable modem, connects the home or small office network to the Internet. You need to ensure that ICS is enabled on the connection that has the Internet connection. By doing this, the shared connection can connect your home or small office network to the Internet, and users outside your network are not at risk of receiving inappropriate addresses from your network.
When you enable ICS, the local area network connection to the home or small office network is given a new static IP address and configuration. Consequently, TCP/IP connections established between any home or small office computer and the ICS host computer at the time of enabling ICS are lost and need to be reestablished. For example, if Internet Explorer is connecting to a Web site when Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, refresh the browser to reestablish the connection. You must configure client machines on your home or small office network so TCP/IP on the local area connection obtains an IP address automatically. Home or small office network users must also configure Internet options for Internet Connection Sharing. To enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Discovery and Control on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition computers, run the Network Setup Wizard from the CD or floppy disk on these computers. For ICS Discovery and Control to work on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition computers, Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later must be installed.

To enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network connection

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to complete this procedure.
Open Network Connections. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double–click Network Connections.)

Click the dial–up, local area network, PPPoE, or VPN connection you want to share, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.

On the Advanced tab, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
If you want this connection to dial automatically when another computer on your home or small office network attempts to access external resources, select the Establish a dial–up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box.

If you want other network users to enable or disable the shared Internet connection, select the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box.

Under Internet Connection Sharing, in Home networking connection, select any adapter that connects the computer sharing its Internet connection to the other computers on your network. The Home networking connection is only present when two or more network adapters are installed on the computer.

To configure Internet options on your client computers for Internet Connection Sharing

Open Internet Explorer. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Internet Explorer.)

On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

On the Connections tab, click Never dial a connection, and then click LAN Settings.

In Automatic configuration, clear the Automatically detect settings and Use automatic configuration script check boxes.

In Proxy Server, clear the Use a proxy server check box.

Speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines

2009-03-11T11:01:00.002-07:00

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 :

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.

How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent

2009-03-11T11:01:00.001-07:00

Go to ontrol Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"

How to Upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition Profiles to Windows XP Domain User Profiles

2009-03-11T11:00:00.002-07:00

This guide describes how to upgrade a Microsoft Microsoft Windows 98-based, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition-based client that has user profiles to a Microsoft Windows XP-based client.

The following steps enable the Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me) profiles to be retained throughout the process.

Your best method to retain the profiles is to join the domain during the upgrade installation process.
Otherwise, you must use a workaround method to transfer the profile information over to the Windows XP profile.

During the upgrade installation process, at the networking section, the administrator is offered the choice to join a domain or a workgroup.
If you join the domain at this juncture, you ensure that all the existing profiles are migrated successfully to the Windows XP-based installation.

If you did not join the computer to the domain during the upgrade process, you must use the following workaround method:

Join the upgraded computer to the target domain.

All applicable users must log on and log off (which generates a profile).

Copy the appropriate Application Data folder from the Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me profiles to the newly created user profiles.

Upgrading to Windows XP

2009-03-11T11:00:00.001-07:00

You can upgrade a computer that runs Windows 98, 98SE, or Me to Windows XP Home Edition. Those same versions, along with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and Windows 2000 Professional, can be upgraded to Windows XP Professional.

(1).To ensure a smooth upgrade and avoid networking problems, follow these tips before starting the upgrade:

(2)Install all network cards. XP will detect them and automatically install the right drivers.

(3)Have your Internet connection available. The XP setup process will connect to a Microsoft server to download the latest setup files, including changes that have been made since XP was released.

Some programs are incompatible with XP and can cause networking problems. Un-install these programs. After the upgrade is complete and the network is working, re-install XP-compatible versions of these programs: Internet Connection Sharing, NAT, Proxy Server Anti-Virus Firewall.

New Sound Blaster Drivers

2009-03-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

With the loads of problems reported by users with Soundblaster cards on Windows XP Creative has stepped up and offered drivers for at least some models of their Sound Blaster cards, but check your particular model closely. I have downloaded the SB128 drivers and my sound problems have been resolved..! So they do work.

Set the Search Screen to the Classic Look

2009-03-11T10:58:00.002-07:00

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:

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".

How to Remove Windows XP's Messenger

2009-03-11T10:58:00.001-07:00

Theoretically, you can get rid of it (as well as a few other things). Windows 2000 power users should already be familiar with this tweak.

Fire up the Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the %SYSTEMROOT% \ INF folder. What the heck is that thingy with the percentage signs? It's a variable. For most people, %SYSTEMROOT% is C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it? Okay, on with the hack! In the INF folder, open sysoc.inf (but not before making a BACKUP copy first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing "msmsgs" in it. Near the end of that particular line, you'll notice that the word "hide" is not so hidden. Go ahead and delete "hide" (so that the flanking commas are left sitting next to one another). Save the file and close it. Now, open the Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add / Remove Windows Components icon. You should see "Windows Messenger" in that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set. NOTE: there are other hidden system components in that sysoc.inf file, too. Remove "hide" and the subsequent programs at your own risk.

Tuning up MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) to speed up Internet access.

2009-03-04T17:44:00.002-08:00

This is an old one. I had tried it on Window 2000 as well. Now let me tell
you one important fact related with tuning. Value of MTU depends upon how
fast a connection you have, what kind of activities you perform (ask
yourself a question. Are your a mild, average or high end user of Internet
? To put it in other words, Do you download little or nothing, or are an
average surfer or are Internet savvy individual and download everything
from programs,apps,patches to watching Internet audio/video real-time
content?) Depending upon who you are as a user and what kind of connection
(modem,dsl,cable or in rare cases T1/T3), this tuning may have little to
significant effect on your Internet experience. All right MTU stand for
Maximum Transmission Unit. Value of MTU decides the size of Internet data
packet. Bigger the size, more you can transfer. Analogy could be made with
a bucket. If bucket is small, you can carry little but it would be no
strain on your strength. Bigger the bucket, more you can carry but it
strains your physical strength. (Well! Its not that simple but good enough
to understand). Objective should be find a perfect balance which works for
you. I think maximum that you can put is as value of MTU is 1500 (but could
be higher for your specific network) and it may not make sense making it
smaller than 68.
Again this is a registry tweak unless and until you have a tweaking utility
that can do it for you.Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering
REGEDIT and Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interf
aces\ ID for Adapter. For this right click on right pane and add a key by
the name MTU. For this key you can add a DWORD value from 68 to 1500 (or
higher value is certain cases). If you put less than 68, it will default to
68. If you put a value higher than 1500 or your Network permitted max, it
will default to permitted max.
The MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) specifies the maximum transmission unit
size of an interface, and is usually determined by negotiation at the link
layer of the driver.
The upper level protocols normally optimize pack size for each medium.

Following table gives typical values of MTU in bytes:-
|Network Type |Windows XP MTU (bytes) |Windows NT / Windows |
| | |2000 MTU (bytes) |
|16 Mbps Token Ring |17914 |17914 |
|4 Mbits/Sec Token Ring |4464 |4464 |
|FDDI |4352 |4352 |
|Ethernet |1500 |1500 |
|IEEE 802.3/802.2 |1492 |1492 |
|X.25 |576 |576 |
|PPPoE (WAN Miniport) |1480 |N/A

Having problems with Outlook Express ? Does it ask for password

2009-03-04T17:44:00.001-08:00

Even though this is not a problem for me but there is a chance that it
could be a problem for you. Sometimes no matter what you do, Outlook
Express forgets your password and asks you to enter it again each and every
time you connect to your mail server.I have a solution that may work for
you. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and Navigate
to HKEY_CURRRENT USER\Software\Microsoft and look for "Protected Storage
System Provider". There is a good chance that you will see this folder. If
you have it. Simply delete it. More than likely, you have solved your
problem .

Set the low level hook time-out and stop certain programs from crashing

2009-03-04T17:43:00.002-08:00

One of the things that you can do avoid some programs from becoming
unstable is to set a low level hook timeout. There are a few programs which
use this low level hook timeout. Setting a low value (in milliseconds)
means that if the hooked program does not respond within timeout period,
one that has set the hook would not become unstable or go in infinite wait
but would kill itself saving windows resources and improving performance.
Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and Navigate to
[HKEY_CURRENT USER\Control Panel\Desktop] and look for
"LowLevelHooksTimeout" in the right pane. Now set it to a small number in
milliseconds for example a value of 3500 would mean 3.5 seconds.

Where does Window's ProductId get stored ?

2009-03-04T17:43:00.001-08:00

There are two places at least where ProductId gets stored. To see the first
place, open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and
Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion]. In right pane, look for key by the name "ProductId".
This is your Windows Product Id. Alternatively you can navigate to
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion] and still
find same field with the name ProductId.

Customize logon prompt with your own words

2009-03-04T17:42:00.002-08:00

This tip won't make your computer any faster but may help personalize your
computer experience. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering
REGEDIT and Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]. In right pane, look for key by the name
"LogonPrompt". Set its value to whatever text you want to see displayed at
login screen.

Improve system performance by disabling DOS 8.3 naming convention

2009-03-04T17:42:00.001-08:00

, I briefly mentioned MFT fragmentation. So what is the
cause of fragmentation. Well most common cause is too much use. As with
anything excessive use causes fragmentation. Activities of
add/update/delete to a section of disk would invariable cause it to
fragment. So there is no permanent solution as we can not avoid these acts.
As such it is a good idea to use disk defragmenter regularly. Contiguous
data which results from defragmenting disk, improves system performance
considerably. But what I am suggesting you here would prolong intervals
between defragmentations resulting in more time for your own productive
work. OK! This tip is for those folks would never be using a DOS based
program or don't care for connection from DOS based operating systems
(example: old games and all things before windows 95). In Windows XP, two
file names are created for each file one is the actual name and another one
is 8.3 version of that file name for compatibility with DOS based programs.
Now this work name in the name of compatibility takes quite a lot of system
resources specifically CPU time and disk space.But this is not it, it also
increases your MFT utilization and fragmentation. So the solution is to
disable it. How to do this ? Open Registry by going to START-RUN and
entering REGEDIT and Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem. In right
pane, look for key by the name "NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation" and sets its
value to 1. Thats it. You would see improvement in system performance for
sure.

MFT (Master File Table) manipulations to improve disk performance

2009-03-04T17:41:00.000-08:00

MFT stands for Master File Table. Typically in Windows XP , if you are
using NTFS ( I would recommend it if you don't) then by default,NTFS would
reserve 12.5% of your free diskspace for MFT. MFT fragmentation could also
cause a significant slow down. Let me discuss size first. Now if you have
installed tons of different programs on your hard disk (or intend to do
so), MFT utilization is going to be high. Under such situation, it may be
beneficial to increase this percentage to say 25%. If you want to do this,
here is the the trick. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering
REGEDIT and Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem. In right
pane, Add one more key by the name "NtfsMftZoneReservation" with the
REG_DWORD value of 2. DWORD value of 1 is interpreted as 12.5% ,2 as 25%
and so on.

Enable write caching on disk and improve disk performance

2009-03-04T17:40:00.002-08:00

I have enabled write caching on my disk and this does have helped improve
disk performance to a significant degree. Now you may ask why ?. WriteCache
is nothing else but implementation of concept of delayed write. As we all
know I/O activities are generally slow and hence if they are synchronous
can significantly reduce the system performance. Hence if system
performance has to be improved we have to reduce I/O activities. Now
practically we can not ask you to change your habits (meaning start typing
like a superman or robot etc.) but we can have a solution. We can control
the frequency of diskwrite by specifying regular intervals. All that needs
to be written between the intervals would be writen in a write buffer which
would be maintained in RAM. This write buffer would be written to the disk
at regular intervals or whenever it gets full. This is a smart concept with
one drawback. There is a chance that you may loose some data in case of
critical power loss or system failure but this is not an issue for me and
should not be to most of the users. Such things become an issue for Mission
Critical Business Servers.
To enable write cache on your disk, go to DEVICE MANAGER. Then select hard
disk in the disk drives and right click on it and select properties. Go to
policies tab and select checkbox which say "Enable write caching on the
disk". Close out everything and you are done.

Are you a MP3 fan ? Add ability to rip MP3 songs in Windows Media

2009-03-04T17:40:00.001-08:00

I am not that great a fan of MP3 but do appreciate its power. If you have a
truckload of CDs that you would like to listen to but do not want to carry
all of them at the same time, you can rip them into MP3. Yes it can be done
technically and that too from Windows Media Player even though make sure
you have legally on right side of fence, meaning you own the CD that you
would rip MP3 from. That said here is the little tweak in registry. Open
Registry by going to START-RUN and typing REGEDIT. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayerSettings\MP3Encoding] and
adding following entries
"LowRate"=dword:0000dac0
"MediumRate"=dword:0000fa00
"MediumHighRate"=dword:0001f400
"HighRate"=dword:0002ee00
which corresponds to 56, 64, 128 and 192 Kbps. Following table would help
with other settings as well:
320 Kbps = dword:0004e200
256 Kbps = dword:0003e800
224 Kbps = dword:00036b00
160 Kbps = dword:00027100
112 Kbps = dword:0001b580

Customize Internet. Explorer Title bar

2009-03-04T17:39:00.002-08:00

This tip won't make your computer any faster but may help personalize your
computer experience. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and typing
REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet.
Explorer\Main. In right hand panel look for string "Window Title" and
change its value to whatever custom text you want to see. That is it.

One more way to fine tune Internet. Explorer load time

2009-03-04T17:39:00.001-08:00

If you do this little trick, application load time may improve
significantly. Right Click on shortcut to Internet. Explorer in taskbar (
If you do not see it right click on taskbar,click toolbar and select
quicklaunch) , click on properties and under shortcut tab look for Target
field. It should say some thing like "C:\Program Files\Internet.
Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE". This is typical default. I am suggesting you to put
" -nohome" without quotes at the end of this string with one space in
between. It should read like this "C:\Program Files\Internet.
Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome. Doing this would help load the application
quickly as time would not be wasted in connecting to home page again and
again. This is good for normal use as well.

Create your own customized legal notice at Windows Startup

2009-03-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

This tip won't make your computer any faster but may help personalize your
computer experience. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and typing
REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. In right hand panel look for two fields by the
name legalnoticecaption and legalnoticetext. Modify legalnoticecaption to
what you want popup window caption should read and change legalnoticetext
to customize whatever message you want.

Speedup boot up sequence by defragmenting all key boot files

2009-03-04T17:37:00.004-08:00

Open Registry by going to START-RUN and typing REGEDIT. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction. In right
hand panel look for Enable. Right click on it and set it 'Y' for enable.
This is the way I have it set on my computer. This will help speedup boot
time.

How to improve on shutdown time ? Close apps automatically & quickly at

2009-03-04T17:37:00.003-08:00

Open Registry by going to START-RUN and typing REGEDIT. Navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\CONTROL PANEL\DESKTOP and look for AutoEndTasks. On my
computer default value is 0. Change it to 1. Thats all. Further more you
can reduce the time it takes for Windows to issue kill directive to all
active/hung applications. In doing this only constraint that you should
make sure exists is that HungAppTimeout is greater than
WaitToKillAppTimeout. Change the values of WaitToKillAppTimeout to say 3500
(since default value for HungAppTimeout 5000 and for WaitToKillAppTimeout
is 20000)

How to stop new programs installed balloon from coming up?

2009-03-04T17:37:00.001-08:00

Right click on START button and select properties. Click on Customize and
go to Advanced tab and deselect check box saying "Highlight newly installed
programs". This would help you stop this annoying feature from popping up
every now and then.