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Microsoft KB article on removing messenger
Change Out Your Pointer Scheme
Check Out the Read1st File First
Use the ultimate configuration tool(Professional Edition only)
Want to remove MSN Messenger?
Know your rights
Protect your identity
Group and Ungroup Similar Taskbar Items
Turn back the clock
Customize the Start menu
Swap out the defaults
Organize your desktop
Turn on your firewall
Microsoft Narrator
nternet Connection Sharing
Watch your cookies
The omnipotent Administrator
Reduce Temporary Internet File Space
Launch Internet Explorer
Turn Off System Recovery
Enable / Disable Firewall
Win XP Won't Completely Shutdown
WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown
Turn off hibernation
Adjust various visual effects
Disable error reporting
Close Multiple Windows : Note works
in all versions of Windows
Remove shortcut arrow from desktop
icons
Remove Shared Documents
Change the text in Internet Explorers
title bar to anything you want
Easy sendto menu modification
Enable Clear Type
Turn off CD Auto Play
Use a Shortcut to Local Area Network
Connection Information
Change the Start Menu Style
Add a Map Drive Button to the
Toolbar
Do Not Highlight Newly Installed
Programs
Speed up the Start Menu
Use the Windows Classic Look
Add Familiar Icons back to your desktop
Unlock Toolbars to Customize Them
Display Your Quick Launch Toolbar
Keep Your Favorite Programs Near
the Top of the Start Menu
Use the Address Bar to Launch Programs
or Web Pages
Stop Password Expiration
Safely Remove Hardware Icon?
Multiuser features
Missing Administrator account
Show yourself
Hide yourself
Not A Tweak, But
A Double XP Surprise!
Fast Boot /Fast Resume
Design
Display
Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
Speed up the Start Menu
Automatically
defrag drives with a new context menu item
Display
the Sharing Tab in Folder Properties
My
Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP
Create a Password Reset
Disk
How
to Create a Password Reset Disk for computers that are part
of a domain
Disable Automatic
Windows Update
Try automatic
camera recognition in windows xp
HOW
TO: Use Automatic Completion with a Command Prompt in Windows
XP
Easy
CD Creator 5.0 Does Not Function In Windows XP
Damaged
Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP
Microsoft
KB article on removing messenger
January
30th 2002-Microsoft released a knowledge base article(Q302089)
on preveting MSN messeneger from running on a windows XP machine.
This article describes how to prevent Windows Messenger from
running. By default, Windows Messenger is installed by Windows
XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition, and the user
interface does not provide a way to remove or to uninstall
Windows Messenger.
The information in this article applies to Microsoft Windows
Messenger 4.0, Microsoft Windows Messenger 4.5, and Microsoft
Windows Messenger 4.6 running on Windows XP Professional and
Windows XP home edition based computers.
Click here for the article.
Change
Out Your Pointer Scheme
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.
Check
Out the Read1st File First
When
you're ready to install Windows XP, what are the first two things
you should do? First, place the installation CD into your CD
drive, but do not start Setup. Instead, click Browse this CD,
open the file named READ1ST.txt, and then go read it. This file
contains a variety of useful information including:
- Last
minute information that did not make it into other documentation.
- Selected
pre-installation information.
- A
roadmap that will help you find other useful text files.
Use
the ultimate configuration tool (Professional Edition only)
One
of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available
is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't
even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor,
or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and
then Run, then type the following:
gpedit.msc
After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets
you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having
to resort to regedit.
Want
to remove MSN Messenger?
A
lot of people want to know how to remove the MSN Messenger service
from XP... here's how:
Locate SYSOC.INF in the \Windows\INF folder (hidden file and
folder), Open it in Notepad and locate the line: msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
Remove the word "hide" from the line and save the file. You
will now have an entry in add/remove programs. Do what you will
:)
OR (XP Pro Only) leave it installed, but tell Windows to never
let it run. If you're running XP Professional, you can use GPEDIT.MSC
to prevent Messenger from loading. Otherwise, even disabling
it in startup won't cause it to "always" not run. NOTE: Outlook,
Outlook Express and some Microsoft web pages can still make
it load.
- Start,
Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC
- Computer
Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows
Components > Windows Messenger
- You
can now modify whether it starts initially and/or whether
it's to run at all.
UPDATE:
I have recieved some email that say this fix slows down
outlook when starting, that is because outlook wants to
start messenger when it starts, the easiest and fastest
way to disable messenger and still have a quickj starttime
with outlook is to rename the exe file, located here c:\program
files\messenger\msmsgs.exe, to something other than msmsgs.exe,
such as msmsgsnew.exe.
Know
your rights
Windows
XP comes bundled with Windows Media Player 8.0. While Media
Player plays just about any digital media file format--it
supports 35, including MP3, it records music only in the
Windows Media Audio, or WMA, format. The reason? Content
protection.
When recording, or ripping, music from CDs, Media Player
allows you to make protected recordings so that no one will
be able to copy the recording from one computer to another.
You can turn copy protection on or off on the Copy Music
tab by checking or unchecking the box that says Protect
Content.
Protect
your identity
Like
many other audio players, Windows Media Player rushes out
to the Internet to find information for you when you play
a CD. Some of this information, such as song titles and
album art, is useful, but Media Player also identifies your
copy of Media Player to the site where it's getting data.
Why? According to the help file, "The server uses this unique
identifier to monitor your connection. By monitoring your
connection, the server can make adjustments to increase
the playback quality and to alert you about events that
occur when receiving streams over the Internet."
If you're disturbed by this exchange of information, here's
how to stop it. In Windows Media Player, click Tools >
Options and go to the Player tab. Notice the option that
says "Allow Internet sites to uniquely identify your player?"
Turn it off.
Group
and Ungroup Similar Taskbar Items
Just
open three or four Internet Explorer windows and you won't
see them all in a row on your Taskbar, as you did in previous
versions of Windows. By default, Windows XP groups similar
items on one button. For example, if you have 3 Internet
Explorer windows open, you'll see an Explorer item with
the number 3 on it. Click it to see a pop-up list of those
windows, then select the one you want.
If you would like, Windows XP will display all open windows
separately on the Taskbar. Right click a blank area of the
Taskbar and select Properties. Under Taskbar Properties,
deselect Group Similar Taskbar Buttons, then click OK.
Turn
back the clock
Gray
is definitely out. The folks at Microsoft bathed Windows
XP in color. Don't like XP's look? To switch back to the
Classic look that resembles Windows 2000, right-click the
desktop, select Properties, click the Themes tab, and choose
Windows Classic from the drop-down list. Voilą! You're back
to comfy shades of blue and gray--not to mention having
all those familiar icons.
Click "Switch to Classic view" in the upper-left corner
of the Properties dialog to bring back the familiar Control
Panel icons of earlier versions of Windows. To get back
to a Start menu that looks more like Windows 2000's, right-click
in an empty portion of the Start menu's left-hand column,
select Properties, and go to the Start Menu tab. Select
Classic Start Menu. To bring the new look back, just reverse
these steps.
Customize
the Start menu
The
Start menu gets more real estate in XP than in previous
versions, and it's more customizable. To make the Start
menu display only the applications you want, rather than
the default determined by Microsoft, right-click in an empty
section of the Start menu's left column, and select Properties
> Start Menu > Customize. Here you'll find a list
of your most frequently used programs. (XP keeps track of
what you use and what you don't, then updates this list
dynamically.) Don't want your boss to know that Pinball,
Solitaire, and Quake all make your list? Go to the General
tab, click Clear List, and set the counter to zero.
Swap
out the defaults
In
XP, your favorite programs are displayed in the top left
column of the Start menu. Microsoft starts you off with
Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.
Want to display a different set of applications in this
spot? Right-click an empty portion of the Start menu's left
column and select Properties > Start Menu > Customize.
At the bottom, deselect the program you no longer want displayed
in the "Show on the Start menu" dialog, and, using Windows
Explorer or My Computer, navigate to the program you want
instead. Right-click the program and select "Pin to Start
menu." To rename the new shortcut, right-click it and select
Rename. Note: You can't pin files, just programs.
Organize
your desktop
The
only default icon on XP's desktop is the Recycle Bin, but
we think it's a good idea to add a shortcut to Computer
Management, a quick and dirty way to get to such important
tools as the Event Viewer, Local Users and Groups, Shared
Folders, the Device Manager, and Disk Management. To surface
this handy management dialog, click Start > Control Panel
> Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools.
Right-click the Computer Management shortcut. Select Copy
from the dialog menu. Right-click an empty portion of the
desktop and select Paste Shortcut. Use this procedure to
add shortcuts to anything else; use Windows Explorer or
My Computer to find your target
Turn
on your firewall
Microsoft
included a firewall in Windows XP to keep you safe from
hackers while you cruise the Internet. How do you know that
the Internet Connection Firewall is on? Go to the Control
Panel and double-click the Network Connections icon. In
the dial-up, DSL, or cable connection dialog that appears,
check the Status column. If your firewall is on, it should
say Firewalled. You can turn the firewall off with the check
box, but unless you are going to add a third-party firewall
for heightened security, it's best to leave it on.
Now that you know that your firewall is on, how do you know
that it's doing its job? Test it with ShieldsUp, the free
testing service sponsored by Gibson Research. According
to our tests, XP's Internet Connection Firewall kept the
computer in full stealth mode. Hackers could not break in
and couldn't even see the computer online.
But, given the latest security problems with USB 2.0, etc,
you should always go to Windows Update
to make sure you have the latest patches, no matter what
operating system you use.
Microsoft
Narrator
Want
to hear your computer talk? Select Start, Programs, Accessories,
Accessibility, Narrator. Or press the Windows key plus the
letter "U" to open the Utility Manager. Microsoft Narrator,
an accessibility option designed to assist readers who are
blind or have impaired vision, starts automatically.
Once you've read through the intro screen (or let the Narrator
do it), click OK and you'll see a dialog box of Narrator
options. Assuming you want to leave Narrator running, select
the desired options, then minimize its dialog box. And if
you've opened the Utility Manager, feel free to close it.
To turn Narrator off, click the Exit button or right-click
its taskbar item and select Close.
Internet
Connection Sharing
To
enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network connection:
- Open
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.
Watch
your cookies
In
XP, the Documents And Settings folder holds all user information,
including configuration settings, favorites, and cookies.
The Documents And Settings\Username\Cookies folder is where
XP stashes cookies. How do you control the number of cookies
you allow on your system? Click Start > Control Panel
> Network And Internet Connections > Internet Options.
Click the Privacy tab, then use the slider bar to modify
your cookie settings. For instance, you can block cookies
from sites that use personal identification without your
consent. To increase your security, try out the other privacy
settings in this dialog. The lowest level is Accept All
Cookies while the highest is Block All Cookies, with low,
medium, medium-high, and high settings in between. (An explanation
of each appears as you move between settings.) Keep in mind
that rejecting cookies may limit your actions on some Web
sites, and some sites use cookies to track how many times
you see a popup, for example, on this website, if you blocked
cookies, you would see a popup on every page.
The
omnipotent Administrator
When
you use Windows XP, you belong to one of two groups: Administrators
or Users. Administrators are all-powerful: if you have a
so-called Admin account, you can make systemwide changes
and change other users' accounts. While this power is a
boon to the ego, it's also dangerous. If, for example, you
encounter a virus, a Trojan horse, or a worm while you're
logged on as Administrator, you could wreck all the accounts
on your entire system. Log in as User, on the other hand,
and any damage you cause will be less extensive, because
ordinary users are prevented from making systemwide changes.
A word to the wise: Do your everyday computing as a regular
user and log on as Administrator only when it's absolutely
necessary, such as when adding a new user or changing security
settings. To sign on as User, use the Run As command: just
right-click a shortcut and select Run As. As long as you
know the username and password, you can sign on as another
user.
Reduce
Temporary Internet File Space
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
Turn
Off System Recovery
Right
click on My Computer and choose Properties. Click on the
System Restore tab and check the box Turn off System Restore.
(This will increase Windows performance & save disk
space)
Enable
/ Disable Firewall
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.
Win
XP Won't Completely Shutdown
- Goto
Control Panel, then goto Power Options.
- Click
on the APM Tab, then check the "Enable Advanced Power Management support."
- Shut
down your PC. It should now successfully complete the Shut Down process.
WinXP
Clear Page file on shutdown
Go
to Control panel Administrative tools, local security policy.
then goto local policies ---> security options. Then
change the option for "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"
Turn
off hibernation
Control
Panel-Screen Saver Power-Hibernate Tab-uncheck hibernation
box-reboot and hiberfil.sys is no more.
Adjust
various visual effects
- Open
up the control panel
- Go
under system and click on the advanced tab
- Click
settings under Performance options
- You
can now change various graphical effects (mainly animations
and shadows)
Disable
error reporting
- Open
Control Panel
- Click
on Performance and Maintenance.
- Click
on System.
- Then
click on the Advanced tab
- Click
on the error-reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
- Select
Disable error reporting.
- Click
OK
- Click
OK
Close
Multiple Windows : Note works in all versions of Windows
If
you just opened a number of separate, related windows (a
folder inside a folder, and so on), there's an easier way
to close them all than one-at-a-time. Hold down the Shift
key as you click the X caption button in the upper-right
corner of the last window opened. Doing so closes that window
and all windows that came before it.
Remove
shortcut arrow from desktop icons
Here's
how you can remove those shortcut arrows from your desktop
icons in Windows XP.
- Start
regedit.
- Navigate
to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
- Delete
the IsShortcut registry value.
You
may need to restart Windows XP.
Remove
Shared Documents
Open
Regedit(Start- Run- Regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer My Computer
NameSpace DelegateFolders There will see a sub-key named
{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. By Deleting this
you can remove the 'Other Files stored on This Computer'
group.
Change
the text in Internet Explorers title bar to anything you
want
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.
Easy
sendto menu modification
first
open - X:Documents and SettingsusernameSendTo (it is hidden)
where X is your drive letter and username is your username
make and delete shortcuts to folders at will
Enable
Clear Type
Easy
way- Click on or cut and paste link below: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/cleartypeactivate.htm?fname=%20&fsize=
or
- Right
click on a blank area of the Desktop and choose Properties
- Click
on the Appearance Tab; Click effects
- Check
the box: Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts
- In
the drop down box select: Clear Type
Turn
off CD Auto Play
- Open
My Computer
- Right
click on your CD ROM and choose Properties
- Click
on the Auto Play tab
- In
the drop down box you can choose the Action for each choice shown in the
drop down box
Or
- Go
to Start->Run->gpedit.msc
- Computer
Config -> Administrative Template -> System
- Double
click Turn off Autoplay
- Enable
it.
Use
a Shortcut to Local Area Network Connection Information
Something
new in Windows XP, instead of using the command line program
and typing ipconfig to find local area network information,
you can use the following shortcut:
- Click
Start, point to Connect to, and then click Show All Connections.
- Right-click
the connection you want information about, and then click Status.
- In
the connection Properties dialog box, click the Support tab.
- For
even more information, click the Advanced tab.
To
automatically enable the status monitor each time the connection
is active, in the connection Properties dialog box, select
the Show icon in taskbar notification area when connected
check box.
Change
the Start Menu Style
Does
the new Windows XP Start menu take up too much space on
your desktop? You can easily change the look back to the
Windows Classic Start menu by following these steps:
- Right-click
the Start button, and then click Properties.
- Click
Classic Start menu.
- Click
the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
By
default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the
My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet
Explorer icons to your desktop.
Add
a Map Drive Button to the Toolbar
Do
you want to quickly map a drive, but can't find the toolbar
button? If you map drives often, use one of these options
to add a Map Drive button to the folder toolbar.
- Option
One (Long Term Fix)
- Click
Start, click My Computer, right-click the toolbar, then unlock the
toolbars, if necessary.
- Right-click
the toolbar again, and then click Customize.
- Under
Available toolbar buttons, locate Map Drive, and drag it into the
position you want on the right under Current toolbar buttons.
- Click
Close, click OK, and then click OK again.
You
now have drive mapping buttons on your toolbar, so you
can map drives from any folder window. To unmap drives,
follow the above procedure, selecting Disconnect under
Available toolbar buttons. To quickly map a drive, try
this option.
- Option
Two (Quick Fix)
- Click
Start, and right-click My Computer.
- Click
Map Network Drive.
If
you place your My Computer icon directly on the desktop,
you can make this move in only two clicks!
Do
Not Highlight Newly Installed Programs
Tired
of that annoying little window that pops up to tell you
that new software is installed? If it gets in the way when
you're logging off, turn it off completely.
- To
do this Click Start, right-click at the top of the Start menu where your
name is displayed, and then click Properties.
- In
the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, on the Start Menu tab,
click Customize.
- Click
the Advanced tab, and then clear the Highlight newly installed programs
check box.
- Click
OK, and then click OK again.
Now
that message won't be popping up when you least want to
see it.
Speed
up the Start Menu
You
can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP
release candidate 1. You can customize the speed of the
Start Menu by editing a Registry Key.
- Click
Start, and then click Run.
- Type
Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
- Expand
the menu in the left panel and select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control
Panel\Desktop folder.
- Scroll
down in the right panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay
file.
- In
the Value Data box, change to default value for the
menu speed from 400 to a lesser number, such as 1.
- Click
OK.
Caution:
Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your
system. Before making changes to the registry, you should
back up any valued data on your computer.
Use
the Windows Classic Look
More
comfortable performing a task with the familiar Windows
Classic user interface? You can quickly switch the user
interface to the familiar Windows Classic appearance on
your computer if it helps you remember a task in your operating
system or program. You can go back to the original Windows
look with a couple clicks.
- Right-click
on your desktop, and then click Properties.
- Click
the Appearance tab.
- On
the Windows and Buttons menu, select Windows Classic. Click OK.
There
you go, now you can feel right at home with the old look,
and you'll still get the best out of Windows XP, new look
or old.
Add
Familiar Icons back to your desktop
It's
the case of the missing icons. Many of you may be wondering
where all the icons from your desktop are in Windows XP?
Well if you're like me, you like to have at least My Computer,
My Network Places, and My Documents on the desktop.
To do this:
- Right-click
on the desktop, and then click Properties.
- Click
the Desktop tab and then click on Customize Desktop.
- Put
a check mark in the box next to My Document, My Computer, My Network Places,
or Internet Explorer, to add those familiar icons to your desktop.
Unlock
Toolbars to Customize Them
Windows
XP now features locking toolbars, and you can adjust them.
You can customize a lot of the Windows XP features such
as the Taskbar, Start Menu, and even toolbar icons in Internet
Explorer and Outlook Express. Remember your right-click:
- Right-click
on a toolbar, and then click Lock the Toolbars to remove the check mark.
- Right-click
on the toolbar again, and then click Customize.
- You
can add and remove toolbar buttons, change text options and icon options.
When you've got the toolbar customized, click Close.
- Now
right-click on the toolbar and then click Lock the Toolbars to lock them
in place.
Display
Your Quick Launch Toolbar
Is
your Quick Launch toolbar missing from the taskbar? To display
your familiar Quick Launch toolbar:
- Right-click
an empty area on the taskbar, click Toolbars, and then click Quick Launch.
- Easy
as that your Quick Launch bar appears. To add items to your Quick Launch
toolbar, click the icon for the program you want to add, and drag it to
the Quick Launch portion of the taskbar.
Keep
Your Favorite Programs Near the Top of the Start Menu
Do
you have a favorite program that you frequently use? Elevate
its priority on the Start menu by putting it at the top
of the list. This ensures that the program will remain on
the Start menu and cannot be bumped by other programs, even
if you use the others more frequently. Right-click the link
to your favorite program on the Start menu and select Pin
to Start Menu. Your program will be moved permanently to
the top part of the list, just below your browser and e-mail
programs.
Use
the Address Bar to Launch Programs or Web Pages
Windows
XP Professional enhanced the functionality of the Address
bar to make it easier to launch your favorite programs.
You can add the Address bar to the taskbar on the bottom
of your desktop. Then you can launch programs simply by
entering their names in the Address bar. For example, to
launch Calculator, simply enter calc in the Address bar.
Anything you would normally enter in the Run box on the
Start menu can be entered in the Address bar. The Address
bar also lets you quickly go to any Web page you specify.
To add the Address bar to the taskbar:
- Right-click
an empty area on the taskbar.
- Point
to Toolbars, and then click Address.
- Open
the Address bar by double-clicking it.
Stop
Password Expiration
After
you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this
message when you log on: "Your password will expire in 14
days.....".
By default, Windows XP is set up with passwords which will
expire after 42 days. 14 days in advance, Windows will start
warning you of this fact. If you do not want your passwords
to expire:
- Go
to Start > Run and in the Open: box type control
userpasswords2
- Select
the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window
- Press
the Advanced button below the Advanced user management
header
- Select
Users in the Local Users and Groups
- In
the right pane, right-click the user name for which
you want to change the setting, and select Properties
- On
the General tab, check Password never expires
- Click
Apply and OK (all the way out)
Safely
Remove Hardware Icon?
If
you have an USB device attached to your system, you will
notice an icon in the Notification area, which - when clicked
- will give you the option to Stop your hardware, before
you unplug it.
It is possible that you never unplug this hardware. So how
do you get rid of the icon? As far as I know the only way
is to right-click the notification area, and selecting Properties.
Under the Notification area heading, click Customize. Find
the Safely Remove Hardware icon and select Always hide in
the Behavior column next to it (press OK and Apply to back
out).
Multiuser
features
Like
Windows 2000, but unlike Windows 95, 98, and Me, the ability
to log in multiple users simultaneously plays a big role
in Windows XP. There is a default Administrator account
set up when Windows XP is first installed, but you can create
as many accounts as you need later, depending on how many
people will be using the machine. Each user, once he or
she has an account, can customize XP to his or her liking.
Individual users get their own subfolders in the Documents
And Settings folder; this folder serves as a centralized
location for most personalized information, such as the
Start Menu, Favorites, and Documents settings.
Missing
Administrator account
Once
you have created regular user accounts, the default Administrator
account vanishes from the Welcome screen, which you see
when the computer starts up. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice
at the Welcome screen to retrieve the standard logon dialog.
You can log on as Administrator from here. To switch among
accounts, just click the Log Off button on the Start menu.
You'll then see the Log Off Windows dialog box. Click the
Switch User button, and you'll be taken to the Welcome screen
where you can select and log on to other accounts.
Show
yourself
Only
the Administrator can set up new user accounts (go to Control
Panel > User Accounts > Create A New Account). You
can select a picture to identify the account. When you're
logged on to the system under your username, this picture,
along with your username, peeks out at you from the top
of the Start menu. There are a slew of 48x48-pixel bitmap
images to choose from within XP. They're housed in D:\Documents
And Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account
Pictures\Default Pictures. But why limit yourself? You can
also copy any graphic you want into this folder or browse
for another from your hard drive. Usable file types are
BMP, GIF, JPEG, or PNG. However, always use a square picture,
to limit the white space on the side. Your image can be
any size but will be displayed as 48x48-pixel image, so
a close-up works best.
Hide
yourself
Once
you've created a user account, password-protect it to keep
other users from viewing your files, Favorites, and cookies.
Why? You may not want your child to see the note that you're
sending to his or her teacher, or you may be planning someone's
surprise party. (Note: Anyone with an Administrator account
can still see them.)
Worried about remembering your password? Create a hint to
help you when you initially create it by following the prompts
during setup. XP stores the password hints in the Registry
at Hkey_local_machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current
Version\Hints.
What if the hint doesn't help? Any user or Administrator
can create a password reset disk, which you can use to log
on and create a new password. Go to Control Panel > User
Accounts and select "Prevent a forgotten password" in the
Related Tasks box on the left. Follow the wizard's instructions.
After creating the disk, find a safe place for it. Don't
forget the password or where you put the disk. Someone else
could use it to change your password without you knowing
it.
Not
A Tweak, But A Double XP Surprise!
Neither
Win2K nor WinME has the ability to create a simple, basic,
DOS- based boot floppy (a "startup disk") unless you jump
through hoops or do things in nonstandard ways. Because
XP is the fusion of Win2K and Win9x/ME, I assumed it would
follow the same "no boot floppy" tack. But instead, I was
surprised to poke around in XP and see that the format option
there does indeed offer a "Create MS-DOS Startup Disk."
As an experiment, I created a startup disk, and all went
smoothly. I was able to use the disk to boot my PC without
any problems. But when it started up, I got the second surprise.
The DOS boot message showed "Microsoft Windows Millennium."
To confirm this, I typed "Ver" to see what version of DOS
was running, and the screen showed: Windows Millennium [Version
4.90.300]
Although it's very strange to see the WinME startup message
on an XP-created floppy, all this means is that Microsoft
cribbed a few essential DOS boot files from WinME, and made
it so XP can drop them onto a freshly- formatted floppy
for you. I'm glad they did: It's a very good thing that
Microsoft restored the ability to make a simple boot disk.
Also see Bootdisk.com
Fast
Boot /Fast Resume Design
Customer
research shows a frequently requested feature that users
want from their PCs is fast system startup, whether from
cold boot or when resuming from standby or hibernation.
The Windows development team at Microsoft has taken bold
steps in making fast startup PCs a reality with the Microsoft
Windows XP operating system.
The design goals for Windows XP on a typical consumer PC
are:
- Boot
to a useable state in a total of 30 seconds
- Resume
from Hibernate (S4) in a total of 20 seconds
- Resume
from Standby (S3) in a total of 5 seconds
Boot
and resume times are measured from the time the power switch
is pressed to being able to start a program from a desktop
shortcut. Click here to go to Microsoft's development center and learn
how, download boot tools and read white papers on the subject.
Display
Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
For
some reason, Hibernate isn't available from the default
Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by
holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible.
Now you see it, now you don't!
Speed
up the Start Menu
The
default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you
can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry
Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay
By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value,
such as 0, to speed it up.
If this doesn't work for some reason, then you might try
the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance
then Advanced and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow.
You will get much better overall performance.
Automatically
defrag drives with a new context menu item
Create
a new Registry import file named context_defrag.inf in Notepad
(be sure to save with it with the Save as type set to All
Files and not Text Documents) and place the following text
inside:
; context_defrag.INF
; Adds Defrag to the right click context menu in Windows
XP
[version]
signature="$CHICAGO$"
[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=AddMe
[AddMe]
HKCR,"Drive\Shell\Defrag\command",,,"DEFRAG.EXE %1"
Then, right-click and choose Install. This will add a context
menu to XP that allows you to automatically defrag drives,
using the command line version of the built-in defragmentation
utility. To use it, navigate to a drive in My Computer,
right-click, and choose Defrag. A command line window will
appear, and that drive will be defragged. When it's complete,
the window just disappears.
Display
the Sharing Tab in Folder Properties
In
Windows 2000, getting to the Sharing options for a folder
was simple: Just right-click, choose Properties, and you'd
see a Sharing tab. In Windows XP, this feature is missing
by default, but you can make the system display the Sharing
tab if desired. Simply open up Folder Options (My Computer,
then Tools, Folder Options) and navigate to the View tab.
In the Advanced Settings section, scroll down to the bottom
and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended), a Mickey
Mouse feature if there ever was one. Now share your folders
on the LAN as you would in Windows 2000.
My
Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP
There
are a number of users who have been complaining that their
PC will no longer automatically power down/shut off without
pressing the power off button on the computers unlike in
Windows Me/95/2000. There could be a number of reasons for
this - but the main one seems to be that ACPI is not enabled
on the computer or in Windows XP. Here is how to enable
it:
- Click
- Start - Control Panel - Performance and Maintenance
- Power Options Tab
- Then
click APM - Enable Advanced Power Management Support
Create
a Password Reset Disk
Microsoft
has enhanced security features in XP including the the ability
to create a floppy diskette to recover your password incase
it is forgotten.
- Click
Start
- Click
Control Panel
- Click
User Accounts
- Click
on the account which you want to create a password disk
- Click
Prevent a forgotten password which starts the Forgotten Password Wizard
. This is found under Related Tasks
- Insert
a blank, formatted disk into drive A, and click Next
- Enter
the password in the Current user account password box
To
use the recovery disk, at the Welcome screen
- Click
the user name whose password is on the recovery disk
- Click
the question mark button
- This
causes the Did you forget your password message to appear.
- Click
use your password reset disk
- This
will start the Password Reset Wizard.
From
this point, just follow the wizard's instructions and you
will be able to set a new password. It is different if you
are part of a domain, see next tip.
How
to Create a Password Reset Disk for computers that are
part of a domain
Note
that this procedure requires one blank, formatted floppy
disk.
To create a password reset disk for your local user account:
- Press
CTRL+ALT+DELETE. The Windows Security dialog box appears.
- Click
Change Password . The Change Password dialog box appears.
- In
the Log on to box, click the local computer. For example,
click Computer (this computer) .
- Click
Backup . The Forgotten Password Wizard starts.
- On
the "Welcome to the Forgotten Password Wizard" page,
click Next .
- Insert
a blank, formatted disk in drive A, and then click Next
.
- In
the Current user account password box, type your password,
and then click Next . The Forgotten Password Wizard
creates the disk.
- When
the progress bar reaches 100 percent complete, click
Next , and then click Finish . The Forgotten Password
Wizard quits and you return to the Change Password dialog
box.
- Remove,
and then label the password reset disk. Store the disk
in a safe place.
- In
the Change Password dialog box, click Cancel .
- In
the Windows Security dialog box, click Cancel.
If
you forget your password, you can log on to the computer
with a new password that you create by using the Password
Reset Wizard and your password reset disk.
To gain access to your local user account on a computer
that is a member of a domain, or has been disconnected from
a domain:
- In
the Welcome to Windows dialog box, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
- In
the Log On to Windows dialog box, type an incorrect
password in the Password box, and then click OK .
- In
the Logon Failed dialog box that appears, click Reset
. The Password Reset Wizard starts. The Password Reset
Wizard lets you create a new password for your local
user account.
- On
the "Welcome to the Password Reset Wizard" page, click
Next .
- Insert
the password reset disk in drive A, and then click Next
.
- On
the "Reset the User Account Password" page, type a new
password in the Type a new password box.
- Type
the same password in the Type the password again to
confirm box.
- In
the Type a new password hint box, type a hint that will
help you remember the password if you forget it. NOTE
: This hint is visible to anyone who attempts to log
on to the computer by using your user account.
- Click
Next , and then click Finish . The Password Reset Wizard
quits and you return to the Log On to Windows dialog
box. The password reset disk is automatically updated
with the new password information. You do not have to
create a new password reset disk.
- In
the Log On to Windows dialog box, type your new password
in the Password box.
- In
the Log on to box, click the local computer. For example,
click Computer (this computer) , and then click OK .
You are logged on to the local computer with your local
account information.
Disable
Automatic Windows Update
Windows
XP is configured out of the box to routinely scan for and
download updates to Windows XP automatically. While this
can be somewhat convenient for those with very fast Internet
connections and those who would otherwise forget to check
for updates, it can be a nuisance for the rest of us, who
are still using 56k or, even worse 33k modem connections.
To control or disable automatic updating, open the System
icon in Control Panel (or right-click My Computer and select
Properties), and choose the Automatic Updating tab.
To check for updates manually, open Internet Explorer and
select Windows Update from the Tools menu.
Try
automatic camera recognition in windows xp
If
you have a digital camera, try this trick for downloading
pictures to your machine. Don't load any of the drivers
or software that comes with your digital camera. Instead--if
your camera supports USB--connect your camera via a USB
port. There's a good chance that Windows XP will recognize
the digicam. After a few moments, the Scanner And Camera
Wizard should start up and walk you through the steps involved
in copying your pictures from the camera to a folder of
your choice on your computer--much faster than doing it
manually. You may still need to install your camera's software
if it provides configuration controls you can't access in
any other way, such as those for changing the picture resolution
on your camera or the software's special editing functions.
HOW
TO: Use Automatic Completion with a Command Prompt in
Windows XP
To
Activate Automatic Completion
For example, to change to the Program Files folder, you
can type cd \pro control_character. Or, to display the contents
of the Myfile.txt file, you can type type myf control_character.
If there are multiple folders or files that match the characters
you type, typing the control character again displays the
next matching instance. When the correct folder or file
is displayed, press ENTER to complete the command. If no
folder of file matches the characters that you type, you
hear a beep. You can activate or deactivate this feature
for a computer, for a user, or for only the current command
session.
Click here for the article from Microsoft.
Easy
CD Creator 5.0 Does Not Function In Windows XP
When
you try to use Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.0, any of the following
symptoms may occur:
Your computer may stop responding (hang) or may stop functioning
correctly.
You may receive an error message on a blue screen. The error
message may be similar to:
Stop 0x00000050: PrtSeqRd deferencing null device object
After you receive this error message, your computer restarts.
You may receive an error message that is similar to:
Createcd50.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Click here for the article from Microsoft.
Damaged
Registry Repair and Recovery in Windows XP
When
a registry hive becomes damaged, your computer may become
unbootable, and you may receive one of the following Stop
error messages on a blue screen:
Unexpected Shutdown
Stop:0xc0000135
Registry damage often occurs when programs with access to
the registry do not cleanly remove temporary items that
they store in the registry. This problem may also be caused
if a program is terminated or experiences a user-mode fault.
Click here for the article from Microsoft