Windows Trips

How to remove autorun.inf virus?

The solution is very simple. Download “Autorun Eater” and you will get rid of all problems caused by autorun.inf

Secondly it can also fix task manager problem, fix registry problems and also can enable folder options.

Click her to download “Autorun Eater” Software FREE.

How to Increase RAM ?

First of all open any application say MS word file then go to Task manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del. you will see the Word.exe at the near about top of the list in the process tap.
Now close it and minimize the world file, don’t minimize other application. Now check the memory from task manager process tab which word.exe is using. Surprised? Now it is using less RAM.
So if you will minimize the application it will consume less RAM.

Free computer tips for printing files in a folder with a single command

Printing a single file very easy. but if we have more then one file then its not easy to open each file saperately and print it.
Let me tell you a simple way to print all files in a folder with a single command.
For this you need to open notepad and copy the following data in it.

@echo off

dir%1/-p/o: gin>

“%temp%\listing”

Start/wnotepad/p”%temp%\listing”

Del”%temp%%\listing”

exit

Save the file as printdir.bat, then save it in c:\windows folder. you can also save this file with any name but you must give the extension as .bat.

Now open my documents and then go to tool menu and then folder options, there Click File types tab, it will be in the upper side of the screen you will find a file type below” Registered file types” Select it and click Advanced Tab, This will open Edit File Type. Here you can see a button “New” click it and then Type print directory in action tab. Browse for c:\windows\printdir.bat through browse button at application used to perform action and then click OK.
If you want to print all lot of files then place them in a folder and then right click the folder and then select print directory option in it.

Backingup System Drivers

Now a days

Free Computer Tips

that are very helpful are very rare there is a good utility that helps you backup all the drivers installed on your windows computer. when needed you will be able to reinstall all your drivers or just the ones you choose in a single step that takes less then a minute; a very handy tool especially after reinstalling windows or when the driver Cd is not available. Driver max helps you check if you have the latest version of drivers and displays detailed information about all drivers. No more searching for rare drivers. on disks or having to track them down on the Internet or inserting one installation CD after the other. Simply export all your current drivers to a fielder or a compressed file. After reinstalling windows you will have everything in one place.

File size : 2.57 MB
License : Free ware

Click here to download this utility for FREE

How to recover deleted files


In this post on free computer tips I will tell you how to recover permanently deleted files. There are lots of data recovery software available in the market and online, but the risky thing is how to trust them.

Recover permanently deleted files

Pandora Recovery is a powerful free tool that provides its user an effective way to attempt recovery of permanently deleted files and that doesn’t mean restoration of a file from Recycle Bin. The software recovers files removed from Recycle Bin, Deleted using Shift + delete keys bypassing Recycle bin and files deleted from DOS prompt. Pandora Recovery lets its user browse , search, preview and recover files deleted from NTFS and FAT volumes, supporting hard drive, flash drives and memory cards. It successfully handles archived, hidden, encrypted and compressed files and recovers Alternate Data Stream (ADS).

Pandora Recovery features classic interface wizards, hints and context-sensitive help. Pandora Recovery allows user to browse and search the tree of deleted files where shows deleted items only button comes handy. Finally, it has ability to scan drives clusters, picking up files whose MFT records have been reused by OS damaged or recreated( it restore files on formatted drives)

how to run a PC without anti virus software

In this post I am going to tell you some free computer tips on how to run a PC without using any anti virus software.

You may be knowing that there are built-in tools in your operating system that can be used to remove the evil software. Almost all the browser provide some sort of security tools including anti-phishing filters or anti spy-ware protection, Plus they block those website which  are potentially harmful for your system. You can use those features they won’t slow you down.

Know that there are plenty of people, though, who hate anti virus software and with good reason. Most of them are hogs, slowing down your system and corrupting especially OS files. Secondly, Free anti virus programs do not provide a good level of security and premium version are expensive too so why not go without any anti virus program.

Use clean software

A clean software not an anti virus program. These are light programs that are used to delete temporary files, history and other unnecessary files which are not used by system but still create a load on OS. Remember that living without anti virus means living without scanning so  if you download a files it may be harmful for your system so better to use some some best disk cleaner software.

Scan you PC remotely

If you have more then one PC, You can install anti virus on one while leaving the other machine without anti virus software. If the two machine can see each other on the network.
Or you could  take advantage of free online virus and spy ware scanner tools. Trend Micro’s House call ( http://housecall.trendmicro.com) and Eset’s online scan (http://www.eset.com/onlinescan ) these will help you to perform a scan of your computer right from the internet. such scans might not remove any virus or spy ware found but they will at least tell you that your system is infected.

Manual remover of virus

There are many tips and tricks which are used to remove the virus manually as you can see how to remove readme.eml virus manually. If you know how to edit your registry then you can delete the key which is associated with infected file or virus plus you can follow few other tips how to increase you system speed.

Stop unwanted window process

You may not be knowing that there are few process running on your system which are hidden and don’t show anywhere not even in task manager even sometimes they can disable you task manager. so its very necessary to stop these unwanted windows process.You can see more detail on how to Stop unwanted window process.

Backup all your drivers

When a virus attack on your system its sometimes tries to damage the driver files so when you are without any anti virus software you need to backup all you drivers. Hopefully these tips will help you speedup your system.

What is ‘Send To’? How to add / remove shortcuts in Send To?

In Windows, when you right click on any object, you will see a context sensitive shortcut menu. When you select any file or directory in Windows Explorer and right click, you will see ‘Send To‘ option. Most of us do not use this option effectively. In this article let us see how we can use this “Send To” feature effectively in Windows.

By default, the ‘Send To’ will have a ‘Floppy drive’, ‘Mail recipient’, ‘Fax recipient’ etc. But what if you want to add another drive (for example, your thumb drive) in addition to floppy drive so that you can send any file or folder directly to your thumb drive.

Let us assume that your thumb drive is assigned letter H: and you want to add this drive H to your ‘Send To’ menu. Here are the steps to achieve this.

  1. Right click on ‘Start’ and select ‘Explore’.
  2. Now scroll down to the ‘Windows/Send To’ folder in your Windows Explorer. If you are using Windows XP then you will have to set your ‘Folder options’ to ‘Show hidden files and folders’. To enable this click on ‘Tools’ menu and select ‘Folder’. Then click on the ‘View’ tab and select the ‘Show hidden files and folders’ and click ‘OK’. Choose the ‘Documents and settings\username’ folder. Note that this username is your name.
  3. Now in this ‘Send To’ menu you can delete unwanted shortcuts. Here you can add any other shortcut you want to add. You can do so by dragging the shortcut icon and dropping it here. For example you want to add ‘Notepad’ application here. Then you can just create a shortcut to Notepad here or search for the ‘notepad.exe’ file and drag and drop a shortcut here. After you create this shortcut you can select any text file later and right click and select this notepad to open that file in notepad automatically.

You can also add a folder to this ‘Send To’ menu. To add a folder to the shortcut menu follow these steps.

  1. Right click ‘Start’ and select ‘Explore’
  2. Goto ‘Windows\Send to\ folder. If you are using Windows XP then follow the steps given above to goto the send to folder in XP.
  3. Now in your windows explorer, right click the thumb drive (eg. H:\Removable disk) and drag and drop it to the ‘Send To’ folder.
  4. You will see a new menu with many options. Choose the ‘Create shortcut’ option to create a shortcut to this drive. From now on you can right click on any file and directly send to your thumb drive.

Using ‘the last known good configuration’ in windows startup menu.

Windows XP stands for Windows eXPerience. Sometimes you may experience strange things while using Windows XP. An allpctips member faced this problem.

She installed a new software in her computer. After the installation windows prompted ‘You have to restart your computer’, so she clicked on the ‘Yes’ button to restart the computer. But instead of rebooting, she only saw the infamous blue screen with some STOP errors.

Just as everyone else does, she restarted again and again in the hope that Windows XP will somehow restart successfully but she kept seeing the blue screen. After much frustration and a coffee, she remembered the ‘startup menu in windows‘ and restarted again. This time she pressed F8 to enter into the startup menu.

In the startup menu, she chose the ‘Safe mode’ thinking everything will be fine now. But to her surprise she still saw the blue screen again. Luckily for her, she remembered there are other options in the startup menu.

So she pressed the F8 key again and entered into the startup menu once again. This time instead of choosing safe mode, she chose ‘using the last known good configuration’ option in the startup menu. Hoooray, The computer started like a gem without any problems.

Therefore When you see the infamous blue screen at startup, before you decide to format your hard disk, try the ‘Using the last known good configuration’ from the startup menu.

How to enable sticky keys?

Dec 13th

While using computers, many functions are accomplished by pressing two keys together. For example when you press Ctrl + C, you can copy the selected text. But many people find it difficult to press two keys together. That is, they will just press the second key, which means when they press the second key they will release the first key.

For these people, Windows provides a solution. Even whey you press the two keys with a gap in between, you can configure windows to consider as if you pressed them together. This feature is called ‘Sticky keys‘. To enable sticky keys in Windows follow these steps.

  1. Select Start->Settings->Control Panel
  2. Click on the ‘Accessibility Options’.
  3. Then select ‘Keyboard’ and then select the ‘Use Sticky Keys’ check box.
  4. Then click on ‘OK’.

From now on you can press Ctrl + C or any other dual keys one by one but windows will take it as pressing together.

What is the use of Windows key in keyboard?

Just pressing the windows key alone will show the ’start’ menu. But you can also use this key for many other shortcuts when combining this key with another letter. Here are the list of windows key shortcuts.

  • Win key + R : To open ‘Run’ box in Start Menu
  • Win key + F : To ‘Find’ window in Start menu
  • Win key + E : To open Windows Explorer
  • Win key + Pause/Break : To open System Properties
  • Win key + M : All open windows will be minimised
  • Win key + Shift + M : All minimised windows will open
  • Win key + D : Will show all minimised windows
  • Win key + Tab: Will rotate and select programs in the task bar

How to stop Windows Messenger Service?

There are two messenger services available for Windows and Internet users. They are Windows Messenger Service and Instant Messaging.

Instant Messenger is used to chat, call, share files, video conference, send SMS messages between two internet users.

Windows Messenger is used to just send messages between two users in the network.

This article is about Windows Messenger Service not about Instant messaging. We will discuss how we can stop the Windows Messenger Service that can be really troublesome at times.

Is Windows Messenger Service problematic?

Yes. A total stranger can use Windows Messenger Service to send you a message. When you are seriously engaged in your work, a pop window will suddently appear in your window. You will see the message sent by the stranger. The title bar of the pop window will show ‘Messenger Service’.

Users of Windows 98/ME/2000/NT/XP will have this Windows Messenger Service. The person who send these messages over internet may not even know who you are. Likewise you too may not know who sent these messages.

To play hide and seek like this Windows Messenger Service is used. You do not need any special skills to send these messages. Even new computer users can send these messages. The Windows messenger service is so easy to use.

They may send messages that threaten as if your computer has been infected by a virus. Or a message that sends advertisements. It may even prompt you to change passwords by clicking on a link and taking you to another website. Or the message can be just about anything.

If you can stop the windows messenger service in your computer then you can prevent all these pop up windows from your computer. If required you can bring back windows messenger service anytime later.

How to Stop Windows Messenger Service?

For those Windows 98 users and Windows ME users, sorry you cannot stop this windows messenger service in your computer.

To stop Windows Messenger service in Windows NT

  1. Click on Start->Control Panel
  2. Double click the ‘Administrative tools’ icon.
  3. Click on the ‘Services’ icon and double click the ‘Messenger’
  4. In the ‘Messenger Properties’ window select the ‘Stop’ option
  5. In the ‘Startup type’ option select the ‘Disable’ option
  6. Click on OK

To stop Windows Messenger in Windows 2000

  1. Click on Start->Settings->Control Panel
  2. Click on the ‘Administrative tools’
  3. Click on ‘Services’
  4. Scroll down and find the ‘Messenger’ service and click on properties command
  5. Click on ‘Stop’ button
  6. In the Startup type select ‘Disable’
  7. Click on ‘OK’

To stop Windows Messenger Service in Windows XP Home edition

  1. Click on Start=>settings=>Control Panel
  2. Click on ‘Performance and Maintenance’
  3. Click on the ‘Administrative Tools’
  4. Click on ‘Services’
  5. Scroll down and choose the ‘Messenger’ and right click and select ‘Properties’
  6. Click on ‘Stop’
  7. In the ‘Startup type’ select ‘Disable’.

To stop Windows Messenger Service in Windows XP Professional

  1. Click on Start=>settings=>Control Panel
  2. Click on the ‘Administrative Tools’
  3. Click on ‘Services
  4. Scroll down and choose the ‘Messenger’ and right click and select ‘Properties’
  5. Click on ‘Stop’
  6. In the ‘Startup type’ select ‘Disable’.

Congratulations you have successfully stopped your Windows Messenger Service. Now you will not get those annoying pop windows from strangers anymore.

How to make tool bar buttons bigger?

Do you want to make your windows application toolbars bigger. Use the steps below to increase your windows toolbars.

  1. Go to ‘Tools’ menu
  2. Now click on the ‘Customize’ option. Or in the toolbar right click and select the customize option.
  3. In the new window, click on the ‘Options’ tab and select the ‘Large icons’ option. Now the size of all the toolbar buttons will become bigger.
  4. If you like this bigger size then click on ‘Close’ button. From now on the tool bar buttons will be bigger.
  5. If you want to switch back to the previous size then follow the same steps and uncheck the ‘large icons’ option.
  6. Note that changing the size in one windows application will change the size in all the windows programs automatically.
  7. For example if you change the size of toolbar buttons in MS Word, then the tool bar buttons in MS Excel, MS PowerPoint etc will automatically change and reflect the change you have made.

How to increase the cursor size?

Some may feel that the mouse cursor in windows is too small. Have you wondered whether you can increase the size of the cursor. Yes you can make the cursor bigger. Click on the ‘Start’ button ’settings’ and open control panel. Now click on the ‘Mouse icon’ and open the Mouse dialog box. Now click on the ‘Pointers’ tab. In this tab under the ‘Scheme’ section click on the drop down menu select the ‘Windows standard (extra large) (system scheme) or ‘Windows Standard (large) (system scheme). This will give you a bigger mouse cursors. You can also choose different types of cursors in the list.

What is a startup menu – A Tutorial

Among the Windows operating system menus, ‘Startup menu‘ is one of the most important menu but least used menu. Generally this menu is not visible outside. Only if there is any problem this menu becomes visible.

This startup menu has the following startup items, Normal, Safe Mode, step by step, command prompt only etc. If you choose your preferred option the windows will boot accordingly.

The ’safe mode’ option in the startup menu is very important. If the computer hangs due to any hardware problems then you can use the ’safe mode’ to login and fix the problem. The usual drivers and programs will not run when computer is started in safe mode. In safe mode you can remove adware, spyware and malware.

If you want to give commands using DOS prompt then select the ‘Command Prompt only’ option.

If you want that the commands from config.sys and autoexec.bat to execute one by one then you can select the ‘Step by Step’ option in the startup menu. With this you can exactly pin point which command is causing the problem.

In the startup menu if you do not select any options within 30 seconds then windows will use the default option. The default option is the ‘Normal’ mode.

Now let us see how to bring the startup menu during booting. There are two ways. The first option is by pressing a key while the computer is booting and the second option is by bringing the startup menu automatically without pressing any button.

To bring the startup menu by pressing a key

Turn on your computer. The booting process will now begin. After the basic testing windows will show some system information. Now press the F8 key.

In the black window when you see a small line or square at teh top left corner of the screen you should press F8 key or Conrtol key based on the operating system you are using. If you are not sure try both.

To show startup menu every time the computer boots

In the above method, the startup menu will only appear if you pressed the right key at the right moment. If you missed then the windows will start booting in normal mode without showing the startup screen. But you can make startup window show everytime the windows boots.

The steps given below may differ a bit based on your operating system.

If you are using Windows 98/ME or XP the follow the steps below to show startup screen at every time the computer boots.

  1. Give ‘Start->Run’ command
  2. In the Run window type ‘Msconfig’ and press ‘enter’ key.
  3. The system configuration editor window will open. Windows 98/ME users click on ‘General’ tab and click ‘Advanced’ button and then select ‘Enable startup menu’. Windows XP users click on ‘boot.ini’ tab and select the SAFEBOOT check box.
  4. Click on ‘OK’ button

From now on whenever you start your computer it will show the startup menu.

In Windows 2000 there is no MSCONFIG utility. Therefore Windows 2000 users must use the control F8 key to enter startup menu.

If you are a Windows 2000 user and you want to download the MSCONFIG utility then you can download the MSCONFIG utility from http://www.drd.dyndns.org/softlib/utils/msconfig2k.zip

What happens when you drag and drop a file in windows explorer

Dec 13th

In order to copy a file in windows we usually select the file in the Windows Explorer and then drag and drop to the new location. Have you ever wondered what happens to the file? Is it getting copied, deleted or moved?

In fact Windows Operating System hints at what is happening by displaying different icons for each case. The truth is that most of us do not really notice it. When you drag and drop next time watch the mouse cursor carefully.

If a ‘+’ sign is shown in a small white square next to the cursor arrow then the file or folder is being copied to the new location.

If instead of ‘+’ you see a small curved arrow then the file’s shortcut will be created in the new location instead of copying the file itself.

If there is no change in the mouse cursor then the file is being moved to the new location hence the file will be deleted from the original location.

There is a problem when you do drag and drop. In some cases, windows default action may not be what you really want to do. For example if you are trying to move an .exe file to another location, windows may just create a shortcut instead of moving by default. There is a solution to this problem.

Instead of using ‘left click’ while drag and drop, right click and drag and drop. If you use right mouse button to drag and drop, when you release the mouse button at the destination folder you will get a shortcut menu with the options whether you want to create shortcut, copy or move the file.

Configure Windows Firewall in Windows XP SP2

For Windows XP users Microsoft released a Service Pack through its website. This includes many new features. Windows XP Firewall is one of them. There was a strong conception that there are many security holes in Windows and hackers exploited these holes to spread their viruses. But with the release of this latest service pack which also contains the Firewall, Microsoft has done a good job in making Windows more secure. Here let us see the main features and the configuration tips for making the best use of your windows firewall.

The previous versions of XP Firewall was easy to configure. Previously it was enough to just select ‘Network Connections’ and click the ‘Advanced’ tab and just select the check box for the firewall and you are done. But now, there is a separate icon in the control panel for Firewall. Open the control panel and click on the ‘Security Center’. In the new ‘Windows Security Center’ window you can ‘On/Off’ the windows firewall.

Now click on the ‘Windows Firewall’ link to open the ‘Windows Firewall’ dialog box.

In the ‘General’ tab click on the ‘On’ radio button.

The next tab is the ‘Exceptions’ tab. Here you can specify the programs that you want to allow through the internet. If you have a network and allow your internet to be shared by other computers in your network then you should use this feature wisely. Here you can list the programs that you do want to allow your other users to use. The buttons below (Add program, Add port, Edit, delete) can be used to add or delete a program in the list. A check box is given at the bottom to specify that the firewall should prompt and alert you when a program is blocked by the firewall.

The next tab is the ‘Advanced’ tab. There are three sections in this tab. The first one is the ‘network connection settings’. This is for those heavy internet users who use many networks to connect to internet. If you are a normal internet user then you don’t have to do anything to it. This is equivalent to the ‘Fine tuning’ in radios. You can use this network connection settings to allow or disallow the different network services such as FTP, SMTP etc.

If you have bought another firewall and you know that the firewall you bought is more powerful than the windows firewall then you can ‘off’ the windows firewall and use your favorite firewall instead.

If you are a broadband internet user and your computer is connected to the internet most of the time then make sure that the windows firewall or any other firewall is always turned on.

If no firewall is turned on in your computer then the Windows XP will detect this and alert you.

———————————————————————————————–

Windows: Taskbar

Disable or customize taskbar grouping (XP)

Disable taskbar grouping

- Right-click the taskbar, and select Properties.
- Uncheck Group similar taskbar buttons.

Customize taskbar grouping

The taskbar buttons are grouped when you have three or more windows of the same program open. You can change this value:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
“TaskbarGroupSize”=dword:00000003

“00000003″ is the default value. Change it to what you want.

Restore the show desktop shortcut in the taskbar’s quick launch toolbar

Go to C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\
Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

In this folder, create a text file named ShowDesktop.scf with the following content:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Grayed out toolbar

If everything is grayed out when you right click the taskbar and point to toolbars, you need to enable Internet Explorer on Tweak UI’s IE4 tab. You may also need to enable the active desktop and allow changes to the active desktop, also on the IE4 tab.

Put the modem status in the system tray

Windows XP

Network Connections > {Right-click your connection} > Properties > General > Show icon in notification area when connected

Windows 98

Dial-Up Networking > {Right click your connection} > Properties > General > Configure > Options > Display modem status.

Windows: Explorer

Delete undeletable files (XP)

Undeletable files are data files (e.g., avi, doc, etc.) that Windows Explorer will not let you delete even if you close all your programs and/or reboot.

First Method: Unlocker

- Download and install Unlocker (Free – 189KB).

Second Method: Process Explorer

- Download (Free – 77KB – Scroll down to the bottom of the page) and start Process Explorer.
- Close Windows Explorer.
- Select Explorer.EXE in the top pane.
- Look for the undeletable file in the bottom pane.
- Right-click the file, and select Close Handle.
- Close the program, and delete the file in Windows Explorer.

The seach feature does not work with file names, but it does with folder names.

Third Method: CMD

- Close all open programs.
- Open a command line window: Start > Run > CMD.
- Kill Explorer.exe: Ctl-Alt-Del > Processes, select Explorer.EXE, then click End Process.
- Delete the file in CMD.
- Restart Explorer.exe: Ctl-Alt-Del > File > New Task, then type Explorer.exe, and click OK.

Stop folders opening in their own windows (XP)

If selecting Open each folder in the same window in Folder Options does not solve the problem, start Regedit, locate the following key, and set Default to none (Type the word none).

Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell
Name: Default
Type: RG_SZ
Value: none

Enable and disable Windows support for ZIP files (XP)

Click Start, then Run

and type:

- Enable: regsvr32 zipfldr.dll

- Disable: regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

You may have to reboot.

Change the name or location of system folders

- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
- Edit folder names.

Create a folder shortcut (XP)

A folder shortcut is not a shortcut to a folder. Like the Control Panel, a folder shortcut is always visible at the bottom of Windows Explorer’s left pane, and it can be used as a regular folder.

- Go to c:\Documents and Settings\{username}\NetHood
- While holding down the mouse right botton, drag a folder and drop it into the NetHood folder. A contextual menu will appear: Select Create Shortcuts Here.
- Drag the shortcut to the Desktop.

Command switches for Windows Explorer

Explorer [/n] [/e] [,/root,<object>] [[,/select],<sub object>]

/n: Opens a new window in single-paned ( My Computer ) view for each item selected, even if the new window duplicates a window that is already open.

/e: Uses Windows Explorer View. Similar to File Manager in Windows 3x. The default view is Open View.

/root, <object>: Specifies the root level of the specified view. The default is to use the normal namespace root (the desktop). Whatever is specified is the root for the display.

/select, <sub object>: Specifies the folder to receive the initial focus. If “/select” is used, the parent folder is opened and the specified object is selected.

Example: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,e:

New command missing in Windows Explorer

After you install Internet Explorer with the Windows Desktop Update component, the New command may be missing when

- you click the File menu in Windows Explorer
- you right-click the desktop

Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\New],
and change the default value to {D969A300-E7FF-11d0-A93B-00A0C90F2719}

Remove entries from the context sensitive menu

- Windows Explorer > Tools (View in win98) > Folder Options > File types.

- In the list, double click on Folder, then Advanced (No Advanced in win98)

- Select an entry from the Actions list, and press Remove.

Enable and disable Windows Picture and Fax Viewer (XP)

You can register or unregister shimgvw.dll to enable or disable WPFV:

- Enable:  Start > Run > regsvr32 shimgvw.dll- Disable: Start > Run > regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

Or you can download these two registry files and double-click them:

- Enable (172 bytes)- Disable (134 bytes)

Note: If you unregister shimgvw.dll, Windows Explorer will not display thumbnails anymore. So the registry tweak is a much better way to disable WPFV. If PhotoEd is installed, it will open picture files after WPFV is disabled.

Open unknown files with Notepad

Add Notepad to the contextual menu (right-button menu):

Create [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad\command], click on command, then double-click on “(Default)” in the right pane and edit the string to read notepad.exe %1

Open unknown files in Notepad when clicking on them:

- Create [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\shell\open\command], click on command, then double-click on “(Default)” in the right pane and edit the string to read notepad.exe %1

- If Notepad still does not open unknown files when you click on them, delete the key openas (export it first)

Note: In Windows Explorer, Open With > Choose Program… will not work anymore.

Uncheck “Always use this program to open these files “

- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\shell\openas\command]:
Default is c:\windows\rundll32.exe Shell32.dll,OpenAs_Rundll %1
- Change it to c:\windows\rundll32.exe Shell32.dll,OpenAs_Rundll %1 %2
- Close regedit, and hit F5.

Restore the ability to preview pictures in Windows Explorer (98)

Download Preview.reg (5KB), then double-click it to merge it into your registry.

Warning: Do not use with Windows XP.

Thumbnails (XP)

Turn off filenames in thumbnail view

Open the folder, or switch to thumbnail view, while holding down the Shift key.

Change thumbnail size

By default, thumbnails are 96×96 pixels in size. You can change this value for the current user or all users. I wrote a small utility (Thumbnail Size Changer – 4KB) for those who do not like to mess with the registry.Current user: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
All users:      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Go to either key, select Explorer, then create a DWORD value called ThumbnailSize. Double-click it, select Decimal in the Base section, and enter a value between 32 and 256. Restart Windows Explorer.

Disable thumbnail caching (thumbs.db)

When you switch to thumbnail view, Windows creates hidden thumbs.db files (thumbnail cache) to speed up access to the thumbnails. This is nice but these files also contain the thumbnails of deleted pictures. You can delete the files, but Windows will recreate them as soon as you go back into the folders. You can, however, tell Windows not to cache thumbnails.- Control Panel > Folder Options
- On the View tab, check Do not cache thumbnails

You will have to delete the thumbs.db files that already exist (Use the Search feature).

Restore .exe association

Symptoms:

- Computer will not run any program
- A message saying that a program needed to run the program pops up

Resolution:

- Rename regedit.exe as regedit.com
- Copy & paste the following into Notepad, save it as FixExe.reg, and double-click it to merge it into the registry:REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@=”\”%1\” %*”

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\exefile\shell\open\command]
@=”\”%1\” %*”

- Rename regedit.com as regedit.exe

Save and restore associations (98)

- Export [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT]
- Install your new program.
- If there are file association problems, all you have to do is import back the .reg file you created.

Open rather than run a batch file when clicking it

- Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\open\command]
- Change the default value to notepad.exe %1

Change folders’ icons

Windows XP

- Right click the folder, click Properties
- Customize > Change icon

Windows 98

To change the icon for a single folder:Create a desktop.ini file — in the folder — that contains:

[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile={name and path of the file that contains the icon}
IconIndex=xx (xx = Zero-based icon # in file)
InfoTip={An optional description for the folder that displays in webview}

To change all folder icons:

Explorer > View > Folder Options > File Types > File Folder > Edit > Change Icon

Disable the Windows folder’s warning message

Windows XP

Windows Explorer: Tools > Folder Options > View > Display the contents of system folders

Windows 98

- Rename the hidden file c:\windows\folder.htt
- copy c:\program files\folder.htt to c:\windows\folder.htt

Change drive letters (XP)

- Start > Run > diskmgmt.msc > OK
- Right-click the drive, click Change drive letter and paths…, then click Change

Warning: Do not change Windows drive letter (usually C:).

Windows: Passwords

Prevent Password Expiration (XP)

By default, Windows XP passwords will expire after 42 days. Fourteen days before the expiration date, you will receive the message “Your password will expire in 14 days” when you log on.

If you do not want your password to expire,

- Click Start, Run, then type control userpasswords2
- Click the Advanced tab, then the Advanced button
- Left pane: Click Users
- Right pane: Right-click the username, then select Properties
- Check Password never expires on the General tab

Set a minimum password length (98)

- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
- Create the dword value MinPwdLen. Set it to the minimum length you want.

Access Windows 2000 from Windows 98 without a password

- On the Windows 2000 machine, right-click My Computer, then click Manage

- System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users- In the right pane, double-click the Guest account, uncheck Account is disabled

- Make sure the password is set blank

- The hard disk must have a share name other than C$

Automatic logon without name or password (9x)

This setting allows Windows clients to logon without entering a user name or password, therefore bypassing the logon box.

- Create the string value Default Password , under Winlogon (see key below).
- Modify the Default Password ‘s data to match the default users password.
The default username is stored at:[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon] – Username
- Reboot and the system should automatically logon.

Note: The password is stored in clear text.

Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Value Name: Default Password
Data: REG_SZ

Prevent a Windows logon prompt at startup

Windows XP

- Control Panel > User Accounts > Change an account
- Do not enter a password

Windows 2000

Control Panel > System > Network Identification > Network ID > Next > This computer is for home use… > Next > Windows always assumes the following user has logged on to this computer (enter no password) > Next > Finish

Windows 9x

1. Do not Clear last user at logon- If you didn’t check Clear last user at logon, go to step 2.
- Either use TweakUI’s Paranoia tab and uncheck Clear Last User at logon.
- Or go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon,
delete all the named values, except DontDisplayLastUserName,
and set it to zero.

2. Remove password

a) If you don’t have a password, go to step 3

b) If you don’t know your current logon password

- Delete the .pwl file from the c:\windows folder
- Delete the equivalent entry from c:\windows\system.ini [Password Lists]

c) If you know your current password

- Control Panel > Passwords > Change Passwords > Change Windows Password
- Type current password in the Old Password box
- Leave the New Password and Confirm New Password boxes blank
- Click OK > OK

3) User profile

- Control Panel > Passwords > User Profile
- Select All users of this PC use the same preferences and desktop settings
- Click Close

4) Network

- Control Panel > Network > Configuration
- Ensure Microsoft Family Logon is installed and that it is the Primary Network
(Use Client for Microsoft Networks if you’re on a LAN)

5) Reboot

- When asked for a username and password, enter a username and hit Enter
- Hit Enter to confirm the blank password
- You’ll never be asked for your password again

Delete your screen saver password if you forgot it (98)

Go into DOS and type edit control.ini . Look for a line PWProtected=1 : Change it so it says PWProtected=0

Windows: On & Off

Enable or Disable Scandisk/Chkdsk on system reboot

If you disable the automatic execution of Scandisk (Win98, ME) or Chkdsk (Win2K, XP), you should run it manually about every two weeks to maintain the integrity of your PC’s file system.

Windows XP

Start > Run > chkntfs /x <drive> [drive] [drive]For example, if you want to disable Chkdsk from running on drive C: chkntfs /x c:

Chkntfs works by modifying the BootExcecute value in the Registry.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\
CONTROL\Session Manager
The default value is BootExecute:REG_MULTI_SZ:autocheck autochk *

Chkdsk /f /r is unaffected by chkntfs and can be run to check volumes manually on the next system reboot.

To restore the automatic execution of Chkdsk, you can download and run this registry file (168 bytes).

Windows 98/ME

Start > Run > Msconfig > Advanced > Disable Scandisk after bad shutdownWin98: If you prefer to play with the Msdos.sys file:

Add AutoScan=0 to the [Options] section.

WinME: If you prefer to play with the Registry:

Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
Value Name: DisableScandiskOnBoot
Data Type: REG_BINARY
Value Data: 01

Warm boot (9x)

Go to the Start menu and click on shut down. Then make sure that in the selection box the Restart option is selected, then hold down the shift key and press Restart

.

Restart the computer from a shortcut

c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec
c:\windows\rundll.exe shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 2

Shutdown Problems

Windows XP

- Control Panel > Power Options > APM
- Check Enable Advanced Power Management support

Windows 9x

- Msconfig> Advanced > Disable Fast Shutdown.- The exit windows .wav file can also cause this.

- Windows 98 SE: Article and Patch (Microsoft site)

If your computer still won’t shut down properly, check this page

.

Run programs at shutdown

The start command allows you to run DOS and Windows programs from a batch file. The /w switch allows the program to finish running before the next program starts running. For example, if you want to run scandisk before shutting down, you need the following batch file:

@echo off
start /w c:\windows\scandskw.exe /a /n
start c:\windows\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system\shell32.dll,shexitwindowsex 1

Create a shortcut to your batch file, then click it when you want to shutdown.

Shut down programs when shutting down windows

- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
- Create the string value AutoEndTasks , value = 1. Reboot.

Invalid directory

If a directory is left open at shutdown, and is deleted from DOS, and Windows is no longer saving Explorer folder settings, you will get a message about an invalid directory when you boot up. Simply re-enable the save option and reboot (TweakUI’s Explorer tab).

You can also get this message if a reference to a non-existent folder exists in the startup folder, or is referenced in the registry. Check startup with msconfig . If that reveals nothing, search the registry for the folder name and delete the entries.

Change windows logo (9x)

Win9x logo files must be 320×400 – 256 colors. When viewed during startup, Windows stretches them to 640×400, so keep that in mind if you’re designing your own logos, else it will throw the aspect ratio off. The default image is in io.sys.

The startup logo file (logo.sys) goes in the root directory. If your drive is compressed, logo.sys needs to be placed on the host drive.

The shutdown logo files go in the windows directory:

- The Please Wait logo is in logow.sys
- The Shutdown logo is in logos.sys

Windows: Media Player

Play DVDs with Windows Media Player

To play DVD’s with Windows Media Player, you need to have a DVD Player (For example, PowerDVD) or a MPEG2 codec installed.

- [KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Settings]
- Create the string value EnableDVDUI , value = yes . Reboot.

Delete Windows Media Player 8 history and playlists

History

In C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data, you will find a file with a name such as DCBC2A71-70D8-4DAN-EHR8-E0D61DEA3FDF.ini. Delete it.

Playlists

In C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Index, you will find a file with a DB extension. Delete it.

As far as I can tell, WMP8 does not store filenames in the registry. If you know otherwise, please let me know.

Windows: Miscellaneous

Enable or disable Error Reporting (XP)

Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Error Reporting

Enable or disable Task Scheduler at startup (XP)

- Start > Run > services.msc > OK.
- Double-click Task Scheduler and select the Startup type

you want.

If you also want to prevent Win2000/XP from scanning shared files for scheduled tasks,
read Speed up access to network shares.

Remove FindFast (98)

FindFast is a prog that indexes MS Office documents to make them easier to find and open. But FindFast destroys the efficiency of the rest of the system. If you just take FindFast out of the Startup group, Office applications will continue to use the indices that were created. To correctly disable Find Fast , you must delete the FindFast index files.

1. Start > Settings > Control Panel > FindFast
2. In the Index for documents in and below list, click the first item.
3. On the Index menu, click Delete Index . In the Delete Index dialog box, click OK .
5. When you are prompted whether to delete the index, Click OK .
6. Repeat above until no more indices are listed.
7. On the Index menu, click Close and Stop . Then, click OK .
8. Do either of the following:

- Remove the Find Fast shortcut from the Startup folder, and uncheck ffast.exe in
start> run> msconfig> startup.
- Run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program in maintenance mode, and remove Find Fast.

Turn off window animation (maximize-minimize) to speed up your work

- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop\WindowMetrics
- Create the string value MinAnimate. Set it to 0 (off) or 1 (on)

Set Highlight and shadow of 3D-objects

- By default, they are set in dependence of the button face.
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Colors]
- Edit the corresponding names to change RGB Data.

Restore the ability to display .ico files

- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile\DefaultIcon]: Make sure the “( Default)” Value is set to “%1″

- If [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile] or [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile\DefaultIcon] does not exist,
cut and paste the following into a .reg file and merge it into your registry:

REGEDIT4[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ico]
@=”icofile”
“Content Type”=”image/x-icon”
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile]
@=”Icon”
“EditFlags”=hex:00,00,01,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile\DefaultIcon]
@=”%1″

Add/Remove entries

The entries that show up in Add/Remove Programs are stored under
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall].

Deleting entries will only remove the ability to uninstall items through Add/Remove Programs.

Use Windows Update without being registered

- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]
- Create the string value RegDone, value = 1

Microsoft spy

To prevent Microsoft from reading your HWID (Hardware ID) and MSID:

- Run (Win98) regsvr32 -u c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll
or (Win XP) regsvr32 -u c:\windows\system32\regwizc.dll
(To go back to the default setting, do not use -u)

- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]:
Delete the string value HWID

- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]:
Delete the string value MSID

Change the Blue Screen of Death ‘s colors

In system.ini, add the following two lines under [386Enh]:

- MessageBackColor={color code}
- MessageTextColor={color code}

Colors Dark Light
Black 0 8
Blue 1 9
Green 2 A
Cyan 3 B
Red 4 C
Maganda 5 D
Yellow 6 E
White 7 F

Not tested with Windows XP.

Change registered owner and organization

9x: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]
XP: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

Value Names: RegisteredOwner, RegisteredOrganization
Data Type:      REG_SZ

Find registered owner and cd key to reinstall windows (98)

There is a system.1st file in the root unless it was deleted. It’s a copy of the registry when Windows was last successfully installed. Use the Dos Editor to find Productkey . The registered owner’s name is several lines above and to the right of it.
—
You can make a text version of the registry by typing the following 2 lines in DOS mode:

- regedit/e c:\hklm.reg hkey_local_machine (Output: c:\hklm.reg)
- regedit/e c:\hku.reg hkey_users (Output: c:\hku.reg)

Include manufacturer and support details in the System Properties dialog box

You need to create two files in the Windows system directy (c:\windows\system, or c:\windows\system32): oeminfo.ini and oemlogo.bmp

.

oeminfo.ini

[General]
Manufacturer=Enter the Company Name Here
Model=Enter the Computer Model Name Here
[Support Information]
Line1=first line of support information
Line2=second line (Create as many lines as you need by incrementing the line number)

oemlogo.bmp: Up to 180 x 120 pixels

Open System Properties from the Control Panel , and your logo and company name will be listed. The details you entered in the Support Information section will show up when you click on the Support Information button.

Change the number of registry backups (98)

Edit Scanreg.ini (But only five choices are given in scanreg/restore)

System file checker

Start > Run, then type SFC, and click OK.

Play or do not play your CD’s automatically (AIN, Autorun, AutoPlay)

Windows XP

Auto Insert Notification:- Open the Group Policy window (Start > Run > GPEDIT.MSC)
- Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System
- Double-click Turn off Autoplay (Left pane)
- Click the appropriate radio button
- Select an option in the combo box (“Turn off Autoplay on“)
- Click Apply, and close the Group Policy window

Autorun:

- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom
- In the left pane, set Autorun to 0 (Disabled) or 1 (Enabled)

AutoPlay:

- Left-click the CD drive, then click Properties > AutoPlay
- Adjust the settings for the various content types

Windows 2000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CDRom]
Enable:  ”Autorun”=”1″
Disable: “Autorun”=”0

Windows 98

You must enable both Auto Insert Notification and Autorun if you want Windows to play automatically your CD’s.Auto Insert Notification:

If you disable Auto Insert Notification,

- Autorun will be disabled,

- and My Computer or Explorer will not be updated when a CD is inserted or removed. You will have to press F5 to refresh it yourself.

Control Panel > System > Device Manager > Right-click the actual CDROM drive > Properties > Settings > Check or uncheck Auto Insert Notification

Autorun:

If you disable Autorun, commands in the Autorun.inf file will be ignored.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
Enable:  ”NoDriveTypeAutoRun” = “95 00 00 00″
Disable: “NoDriveTypeAutoRun” = “BD 00 00 00″

All

You may have to reboot. If you hold down the Shift key when inserting the CD, Auto Insert Notification is temporarily disabled.

Search the content of .cab files

First Option

Use Windows Search feature to locate *.cab containing <filename.ext>

Second Option (98): If <filename.ext> need to be replaced.

- Run sfc
- Click Extract one file from installation disk
- Specify the system file you would like to restore: <filename>
- Start Restore From box: <Path to the Win98 folder on CD>
- Save File In box: <Destination folder>
- OK > OK > OK > Yes. Reboot

Number Lock (Numlock)

1. You may either set it in the bios, or (9x) add this line to Config.sys

:

NUMLOCK=OFF (Or ON)

2. If it still doesn’t work, set InitialKeyboardIndicators to 0 (OFF) or 2 (ON) in the registry:

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard]
“InitialKeyboardIndicators”=”2″

[HKEY_USERS\{Long key that doesn't end in _classes}\Control Panel\Keyboard]
“InitialKeyboardIndicators”=”2″

Fix Icons (If Windows shows the wrong icons)

Windows XP

- Go to C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data
- Delete IconCache.db
- Reboot

Windows 9x

- Goto c:\windows
- Delete ShellIconCache
- Reboot.If the problem persist, increase the icon cache size,
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
MaxCachedIcons=4096
then delete ShellIconCache.

Military time

Windows XP:

- Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Customize > Time
- In Time format, replace h by H

Windows 98:

- Control Panel > Regional Settings > Time
- In Time Style, replace h by H

Msdos.sys (9x)

Keywords Default What It Does
AutoScan 2 When a shutdown error is found, Scandisk will not run (0), will prompt you (1), or will run automatically (2).
BootKeys 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) the use of boot-option function keys while starting Windows. When Bootkeys is disabled, BootDelay, BootMenu, BootMenuDefault, BootMenuDelay, and BootMulti are ignored.
BootDelay 2 Number of seconds the Starting Windows message is displayed to give you enough time to press F8. W95 only.
BootMenu 0 Disables (0) or enables (1) the display of the start-up menu.
BootMenuDefault 1 Menu item that will be selected if you don’t select one before the time specified by the BootMenuDelay setting expires.1: Normal
2: Logged (c:\bootlog.txt)
3: Safe-Mode default (no networking components)
4: Safe-Mode default (networked computer)
BootMenuDelay 30 Number of seconds to display the Windows Startup menu before running the default menu item.
DisableLog 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) the creation of a bootlog.txt.
DoubleBuffer 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) loading of a double-buffering driver for a SCSI controller.
BootGUI 1 Command line (0), or graphical interface (1).
BootMulti 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) dual-boot capabilities.
BootSafe 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) the Safe Mode warning.
BootWarn 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) the Safe Mode startup warning.
BootWin 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) Windows as the default operating system. To be used with DOS 5 or 6.x.
DblSpace 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) loading of dblspace.bin.
DrvSpace 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) loading of drvspace.bin.
LoadTop 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) loading of command.com or drvspace.bin at the top of 640K memory.
Logo 1 Disables (0) or enables (1) the display of the animated logo when Windows processes config.sys and autoexec.bat.
Communication: Internet Explorer

Macromedia Flash Player cannot be installed or does not work

If you cannot install Macromedia Flash Player from Macromedia‘s site (i.e., nothing happens when you click the Install Now button), or if Internet Explorer does not display Flash animations, look for the following entry in the registry:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\
{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000}]

If you find it, delete {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000}, then close Internet Explorer and restart it.

Blank pages in Internet Explorer 6

If Internet Explorer 6 opens blank pages, some DLL’s may need to be registered. Download this batch file (229 bytes), then double-click it. If you want to see what DLL’s will be registered, open the file in Notepad.

Make Internet Explorer the default browser

- Control Panel > Internet Options > Programs
- Check Check if IE is the default browser (98) or Internet Explorer should check to see
whether it is the default browser (XP).

Have Internet Explorer bring up the Dial-Up Networking box when opened up

- Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections
- Single-click the connection you want to be your default connection
- Check Dial whenever a network connection is not present
or Always dial my default connection.
- Click the Set default button.

Stop the Do you want to accept this cookie box from appearing (IE5)

Control Panel > Internet Options , then change your security settings back to Medium (Default).

If disabling them on all four security zones, and rebooting, does not rid you of the prompt box, search the registry for AllowCookies . Any you find with a value of 1, change to 0.

Remove the Content Advisor and Ratings password (9x, XP)

Content Advisor settings are stored in
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ratings]

If you no longer have the password, then delete Ratings, and all the settings will be removed.

Change Internet Explorer’s title bar

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
Value Name: Window Title
Data Type: String
Data: Title

To remove a custom Internet Explorer Window title, delete Window Title. “Microsoft Internet Explorer” will become the default title.

Communication: Dial-Up Network

Save Dial-Up password

- If you can’t save your dial up password because it’s grayed out, then navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network].
- DisablePwdCaching must be set to 0 (rather than 1).

I do not have Network in my Windows XP registry.

Dial-Up Network log file (9x)

- My Computer > Dial-Up Networking > {right-click a connection} > Properties > Server Type.
- Check the box Record a log file for this connection

.

The log file is in :\windows\ppplog.txt.

Communication: Miscellaneous

Speed up access to network shares (2000-XP)

You can prevent Win2000/XP from checking for scheduled tasks to solve the long delay problem when viewing Win98/ME shares from a Windows 2000/XP computer.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\

Delete {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} after exporting it, in case you want to restore it later. Or you can just rename it.

Run more than one instance of ICQ

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Mirabilis\ICQ\DefaultPrefs.

To allow more than seven registered users, set the string value “NoUsersLimit” to “Yes”.

To allow you to launch multiple copies of ICQ, set the string value “MultiInstance” to “Yes”

Warning: ICQ may become unstable, and you probably will have to reinstall it after a couple of days.

Find out your IP address

- 9x: Winipcfg.exe
- XP: Ipconfig.exe

Remove Windows Messenger (XP)

Step 1: Disable instant messaging in Outlook Express

- Launch Outlook Express
- Tools > Options > Other
- Uncheck Enable instant messaging in Microsoft Outlook

Step 2: Uninstall MSN

- Open c:\windows\inf\sysoc.inf in Notepad and

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

- Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > Add/Remove Windows Components
- Uninstall MSN Messenger Service
- Reboot

Step 3: If Outlook Express loads slowly after removing MSN

- Copy and paste the following line into the Run box (Start > Run) and click OK:

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove – Reboot

Miscellaneous: Command line & DOS

Enable the Tab key to complete filenames in command line windows (XP)

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor]
“CompletionChar”=dword:00000009

Delete the recycle bin folder at DOS level

- Delete the recycled directories (each partition has its own \recycled directory)

- Export [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\BitBucket] when the bin is empty, and import it after deleting the directories (contains the # of files in the bin)

- Export USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
when the bin is empty, and import it after deleting the directories (controls which icon [full/empty bin] is displayed)

Note: I used to delete the recycled directories under Windows 98. I do not know whether it works or not under Windows 2000 and XP.

Have DOS execute a batch file when restarting in DOS (98)

- In the Windows folder, right-click on ExitToDos > Properties > Program > Advanced >
Specify a new MS-DOS configuration
- Add your entry to the autoexec.bat section for MS-DOS mode

Miscellaneous: Others

BIOS Passwords: The most common backdoors

Award BIOS AMI BIOS
589589
589721
ALLY
ALFAROME
AWARD_SW
AWARD?SW
AWKWARD
BIOSTAR		 CONCAT
HLT
J256
J262
LKWPETER
SER
SKY_FOX
SYXZ		 A.M.I.
AMI
AMI_SW
AMI?SW
BIOS
HEWITT RAND
LKWPETER
PASSWORD

Floppy drive rattling (98)

If you hear a noisy rattling of the floppy drive when you boot, if windows goes into an error when you put a floppy in drive a:, here are some of the most common causes:

  • Antivirus program set to scan on boot or at a pre-determined interval
  • Office FindFast
  • Recent documents history: Right click the clock > Start menu programs > Clear
  • Boot floppy seek enabled in the BIOS
  • Control panel > System > Performance > File System > Floppy disk : Uncheck Search for new floppy disk

Change the computer’s clock to match the network’s (9x, XP)

At the command prompt, type: NET TIME \computer name /SET /YES (for example, NET TIME \My server /SET /YES ).

Even better, put that line in your client PC’s network log-on sequence, and the client will be updated with the server’s system time whenever it’s restarted.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Make the background of desktop icons transparent (XP)

- Control Panel > System > Advanced > {Perfomance} Settings.
- On the Visual Effects tab, check Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop.

Restore My Documents folder if deleted (98)

To restore My Documents to the Desktop, click Start, then Run, and type:

rundll32 mydocs.dll,RestoreMyDocsFolder

Remove shortcut icon arrows

- Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\LNKFILE], and delete IsShortcut

- Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PIFFILE], and delete IsShortcut

You may want to use TweakUI instead.

Change My Computer ‘s Icon

Windows 98: Control Panel > Display > Appearance

Windows XP: Control Panel > Display > Desktop > Customize Desktop

Hide Icons

Hide all Desktop icons (9x/XP)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

NoDesktop (DWORD value):

- Set to 1 to hide all icons.
- Delete NoDesktop to undo.

Hit F5 to refresh the desktop.

Hide Network Neighborhood, My Network Places (9x)

- Run Poledit.exe (You may have to install it: It is on your Windows CD in
\tools\reskit\netadmin\poledit).
- File > Open Registry > (double click) Local User > Shell > Restrictions
- Check Hide Network Neighborhood or/and My Network Places
- OK > File > Save
- Reboot.

Hide My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, Internet Explorer (XP)

Right-click on the desktop, then click Properties > Desktop > Customize Desktop

Hide My Computer (9x/XP)

- Create a transparent icon or create a bmp file that consists of a single pixel.
- In Display properties effects, change the My Computer icon to point at your new icon.
- Rename My Computer to one space.
___
Note: You can use TweakUI to hide icons.

Add and remove item types from the New Menu

Add Item Types

When you right-click on your desktop, there is a New submenu that contains a list of templates. A template is visible if the related entry in the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT] hive associated with a file extension has a sub-key called ShellNew. For example, on the New submenu there is an entry for Text Document. This entry is visible because of the key [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew].

- Create a blank document of the corresponding application,
and put it into the Windows\ShellNew Folder.
- Go to that file type under [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT], create
a subkey named ShellNew and create the string-valueFileName in it.
- Change this string’s value to the blank document’s filename.

Ex: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.wav\ShellNew\FileName],
and FileName‘s value = “sndrec.wav”.

Remove Item Types

Read Add Item Types, and delete or rename the subkey named ShellNew.

Hit F5 to update the items in the New submenu.

Save color scheme

Export [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Appearance\Schemes\{Name of Scheme}]

Save icon position

Download Icon Saver (Freeware – 9x/XP – 47KB).

Create tool tips for desktop icons

Search the registry for keys with the name InfoTip . You may replace the descriptions and you may add InfoTip keys for other Class-IDs.

Windows: Taskbar

Disable or customize taskbar grouping (XP)

Disable taskbar grouping

- Right-click the taskbar, and select Properties.
- Uncheck Group similar taskbar buttons.

Customize taskbar grouping

The taskbar buttons are grouped when you have three or more windows of the same program open. You can change this value:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
“TaskbarGroupSize”=dword:00000003

“00000003″ is the default value. Change it to what you want.

Restore the show desktop shortcut in the taskbar’s quick launch toolbar

Go to C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\
Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

In this folder, create a text file named ShowDesktop.scf with the following content:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Grayed out toolbar

If everything is grayed out when you right click the taskbar and point to toolbars, you need to enable Internet Explorer on Tweak UI’s IE4 tab. You may also need to enable the active desktop and allow changes to the active desktop, also on the IE4 tab.

Put the modem status in the system tray

Windows XP

Network Connections > {Right-click your connection} > Properties > General > Show icon in notification area when connected

Windows 98

Dial-Up Networking > {Right click your connection} > Properties > General > Configure > Options > Display modem status.

Windows: Explorer

Delete undeletable files (XP)

Undeletable files are data files (e.g., avi, doc, etc.) that Windows Explorer will not let you delete even if you close all your programs and/or reboot.

First Method: Unlocker

- Download and install Unlocker (Free – 189KB).

Second Method: Process Explorer

- Download (Free – 77KB – Scroll down to the bottom of the page) and start Process Explorer.
- Close Windows Explorer.
- Select Explorer.EXE in the top pane.
- Look for the undeletable file in the bottom pane.
- Right-click the file, and select Close Handle.
- Close the program, and delete the file in Windows Explorer.

The seach feature does not work with file names, but it does with folder names.

Third Method: CMD

- Close all open programs.
- Open a command line window: Start > Run > CMD.
- Kill Explorer.exe: Ctl-Alt-Del > Processes, select Explorer.EXE, then click End Process.
- Delete the file in CMD.
- Restart Explorer.exe: Ctl-Alt-Del > File > New Task, then type Explorer.exe, and click OK.

Stop folders opening in their own windows (XP)

If selecting Open each folder in the same window in Folder Options does not solve the problem, start Regedit, locate the following key, and set Default to none (Type the word none).

Key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell
Name: Default
Type: RG_SZ
Value: none

Enable and disable Windows support for ZIP files (XP)

Click Start, then Run

and type:

- Enable: regsvr32 zipfldr.dll

- Disable: regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

You may have to reboot.

Change the name or location of system folders

- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders]
- Edit folder names.

Create a folder shortcut (XP)

A folder shortcut is not a shortcut to a folder. Like the Control Panel, a folder shortcut is always visible at the bottom of Windows Explorer’s left pane, and it can be used as a regular folder.

- Go to c:\Documents and Settings\{username}\NetHood
- While holding down the mouse right botton, drag a folder and drop it into the NetHood folder. A contextual menu will appear: Select Create Shortcuts Here.
- Drag the shortcut to the Desktop.

Command switches for Windows Explorer

Explorer [/n] [/e] [,/root,<object>] [[,/select],<sub object>]

/n: Opens a new window in single-paned ( My Computer ) view for each item selected, even if the new window duplicates a window that is already open.

/e: Uses Windows Explorer View. Similar to File Manager in Windows 3x. The default view is Open View.

/root, <object>: Specifies the root level of the specified view. The default is to use the normal namespace root (the desktop). Whatever is specified is the root for the display.

/select, <sub object>: Specifies the folder to receive the initial focus. If “/select” is used, the parent folder is opened and the specified object is selected.

Example: %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e,e:

New command missing in Windows Explorer

After you install Internet Explorer with the Windows Desktop Update component, the New command may be missing when

- you click the File menu in Windows Explorer
- you right-click the desktop

Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\New],
and change the default value to {D969A300-E7FF-11d0-A93B-00A0C90F2719}

Remove entries from the context sensitive menu

- Windows Explorer > Tools (View in win98) > Folder Options > File types.

- In the list, double click on Folder, then Advanced (No Advanced in win98)

- Select an entry from the Actions list, and press Remove.

Enable and disable Windows Picture and Fax Viewer (XP)

You can register or unregister shimgvw.dll to enable or disable WPFV:

- Enable:  Start > Run > regsvr32 shimgvw.dll- Disable: Start > Run > regsvr32 /u shimgvw.dll

Or you can download these two registry files and double-click them:

- Enable (172 bytes)- Disable (134 bytes)

Note: If you unregister shimgvw.dll, Windows Explorer will not display thumbnails anymore. So the registry tweak is a much better way to disable WPFV. If PhotoEd is installed, it will open picture files after WPFV is disabled.

Open unknown files with Notepad

Add Notepad to the contextual menu (right-button menu):

Create [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with Notepad\command], click on command, then double-click on “(Default)” in the right pane and edit the string to read notepad.exe %1

Open unknown files in Notepad when clicking on them:

- Create [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\shell\open\command], click on command, then double-click on “(Default)” in the right pane and edit the string to read notepad.exe %1

- If Notepad still does not open unknown files when you click on them, delete the key openas (export it first)

Note: In Windows Explorer, Open With > Choose Program… will not work anymore.

Uncheck “Always use this program to open these files “

- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Unknown\shell\openas\command]:
Default is c:\windows\rundll32.exe Shell32.dll,OpenAs_Rundll %1
- Change it to c:\windows\rundll32.exe Shell32.dll,OpenAs_Rundll %1 %2
- Close regedit, and hit F5.

Restore the ability to preview pictures in Windows Explorer (98)

Download Preview.reg (5KB), then double-click it to merge it into your registry.

Warning: Do not use with Windows XP.

Thumbnails (XP)

Turn off filenames in thumbnail view

Open the folder, or switch to thumbnail view, while holding down the Shift key.

Change thumbnail size

By default, thumbnails are 96×96 pixels in size. You can change this value for the current user or all users. I wrote a small utility (Thumbnail Size Changer – 4KB) for those who do not like to mess with the registry.Current user: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
All users:      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Go to either key, select Explorer, then create a DWORD value called ThumbnailSize. Double-click it, select Decimal in the Base section, and enter a value between 32 and 256. Restart Windows Explorer.

Disable thumbnail caching (thumbs.db)

When you switch to thumbnail view, Windows creates hidden thumbs.db files (thumbnail cache) to speed up access to the thumbnails. This is nice but these files also contain the thumbnails of deleted pictures. You can delete the files, but Windows will recreate them as soon as you go back into the folders. You can, however, tell Windows not to cache thumbnails.- Control Panel > Folder Options
- On the View tab, check Do not cache thumbnails

You will have to delete the thumbs.db files that already exist (Use the Search feature).

Restore .exe association

Symptoms:

- Computer will not run any program
- A message saying that a program needed to run the program pops up

Resolution:

- Rename regedit.exe as regedit.com
- Copy & paste the following into Notepad, save it as FixExe.reg, and double-click it to merge it into the registry:REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@=”\”%1\” %*”

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CLASSES\exefile\shell\open\command]
@=”\”%1\” %*”

- Rename regedit.com as regedit.exe

Save and restore associations (98)

- Export [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT]
- Install your new program.
- If there are file association problems, all you have to do is import back the .reg file you created.

Open rather than run a batch file when clicking it

- Go to [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\batfile\shell\open\command]
- Change the default value to notepad.exe %1

Change folders’ icons

Windows XP

- Right click the folder, click Properties
- Customize > Change icon

Windows 98

To change the icon for a single folder:Create a desktop.ini file — in the folder — that contains:

[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile={name and path of the file that contains the icon}
IconIndex=xx (xx = Zero-based icon # in file)
InfoTip={An optional description for the folder that displays in webview}

To change all folder icons:

Explorer > View > Folder Options > File Types > File Folder > Edit > Change Icon

Disable the Windows folder’s warning message

Windows XP

Windows Explorer: Tools > Folder Options > View > Display the contents of system folders

Windows 98

- Rename the hidden file c:\windows\folder.htt
- copy c:\program files\folder.htt to c:\windows\folder.htt

Change drive letters (XP)

- Start > Run > diskmgmt.msc > OK
- Right-click the drive, click Change drive letter and paths…, then click Change

Warning: Do not change Windows drive letter (usually C:).

Windows: Passwords

Prevent Password Expiration (XP)

By default, Windows XP passwords will expire after 42 days. Fourteen days before the expiration date, you will receive the message “Your password will expire in 14 days” when you log on.

If you do not want your password to expire,

- Click Start, Run, then type control userpasswords2
- Click the Advanced tab, then the Advanced button
- Left pane: Click Users
- Right pane: Right-click the username, then select Properties
- Check Password never expires on the General tab

Set a minimum password length (98)

- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
- Create the dword value MinPwdLen. Set it to the minimum length you want.

Access Windows 2000 from Windows 98 without a password

- On the Windows 2000 machine, right-click My Computer, then click Manage

- System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users- In the right pane, double-click the Guest account, uncheck Account is disabled

- Make sure the password is set blank

- The hard disk must have a share name other than C$

Automatic logon without name or password (9x)

This setting allows Windows clients to logon without entering a user name or password, therefore bypassing the logon box.

- Create the string value Default Password , under Winlogon (see key below).
- Modify the Default Password ‘s data to match the default users password.
The default username is stored at:[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon] – Username
- Reboot and the system should automatically logon.

Note: The password is stored in clear text.

Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Value Name: Default Password
Data: REG_SZ

Prevent a Windows logon prompt at startup

Windows XP

- Control Panel > User Accounts > Change an account
- Do not enter a password

Windows 2000

Control Panel > System > Network Identification > Network ID > Next > This computer is for home use… > Next > Windows always assumes the following user has logged on to this computer (enter no password) > Next > Finish

Windows 9x

1. Do not Clear last user at logon- If you didn’t check Clear last user at logon, go to step 2.
- Either use TweakUI’s Paranoia tab and uncheck Clear Last User at logon.
- Or go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon,
delete all the named values, except DontDisplayLastUserName,
and set it to zero.

2. Remove password

a) If you don’t have a password, go to step 3

b) If you don’t know your current logon password

- Delete the .pwl file from the c:\windows folder
- Delete the equivalent entry from c:\windows\system.ini [Password Lists]

c) If you know your current password

- Control Panel > Passwords > Change Passwords > Change Windows Password
- Type current password in the Old Password box
- Leave the New Password and Confirm New Password boxes blank
- Click OK > OK

3) User profile

- Control Panel > Passwords > User Profile
- Select All users of this PC use the same preferences and desktop settings
- Click Close

4) Network

- Control Panel > Network > Configuration
- Ensure Microsoft Family Logon is installed and that it is the Primary Network
(Use Client for Microsoft Networks if you’re on a LAN)

5) Reboot

- When asked for a username and password, enter a username and hit Enter
- Hit Enter to confirm the blank password
- You’ll never be asked for your password again

Delete your screen saver password if you forgot it (98)

Go into DOS and type edit control.ini . Look for a line PWProtected=1 : Change it so it says PWProtected=0

Windows: On & Off

Enable or Disable Scandisk/Chkdsk on system reboot

If you disable the automatic execution of Scandisk (Win98, ME) or Chkdsk (Win2K, XP), you should run it manually about every two weeks to maintain the integrity of your PC’s file system.

Windows XP

Start > Run > chkntfs /x <drive> [drive] [drive]For example, if you want to disable Chkdsk from running on drive C: chkntfs /x c:

Chkntfs works by modifying the BootExcecute value in the Registry.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\
CONTROL\Session Manager
The default value is BootExecute:REG_MULTI_SZ:autocheck autochk *

Chkdsk /f /r is unaffected by chkntfs and can be run to check volumes manually on the next system reboot.

To restore the automatic execution of Chkdsk, you can download and run this registry file (168 bytes).

Windows 98/ME

Start > Run > Msconfig > Advanced > Disable Scandisk after bad shutdownWin98: If you prefer to play with the Msdos.sys file:

Add AutoScan=0 to the [Options] section.

WinME: If you prefer to play with the Registry:

Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
Value Name: DisableScandiskOnBoot
Data Type: REG_BINARY
Value Data: 01

Warm boot (9x)

Go to the Start menu and click on shut down. Then make sure that in the selection box the Restart option is selected, then hold down the shift key and press Restart

.

Restart the computer from a shortcut

c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec
c:\windows\rundll.exe shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx 2

Shutdown Problems

Windows XP

- Control Panel > Power Options > APM
- Check Enable Advanced Power Management support

Windows 9x

- Msconfig> Advanced > Disable Fast Shutdown.- The exit windows .wav file can also cause this.

- Windows 98 SE: Article and Patch (Microsoft site)

If your computer still won’t shut down properly, check this page

.

Run programs at shutdown

The start command allows you to run DOS and Windows programs from a batch file. The /w switch allows the program to finish running before the next program starts running. For example, if you want to run scandisk before shutting down, you need the following batch file:

@echo off
start /w c:\windows\scandskw.exe /a /n
start c:\windows\rundll32.exe c:\windows\system\shell32.dll,shexitwindowsex 1

Create a shortcut to your batch file, then click it when you want to shutdown.

Shut down programs when shutting down windows

- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
- Create the string value AutoEndTasks , value = 1. Reboot.

Invalid directory

If a directory is left open at shutdown, and is deleted from DOS, and Windows is no longer saving Explorer folder settings, you will get a message about an invalid directory when you boot up. Simply re-enable the save option and reboot (TweakUI’s Explorer tab).

You can also get this message if a reference to a non-existent folder exists in the startup folder, or is referenced in the registry. Check startup with msconfig . If that reveals nothing, search the registry for the folder name and delete the entries.

Change windows logo (9x)

Win9x logo files must be 320×400 – 256 colors. When viewed during startup, Windows stretches them to 640×400, so keep that in mind if you’re designing your own logos, else it will throw the aspect ratio off. The default image is in io.sys.

The startup logo file (logo.sys) goes in the root directory. If your drive is compressed, logo.sys needs to be placed on the host drive.

The shutdown logo files go in the windows directory:

- The Please Wait logo is in logow.sys
- The Shutdown logo is in logos.sys

Windows: Media Player

Play DVDs with Windows Media Player

To play DVD’s with Windows Media Player, you need to have a DVD Player (For example, PowerDVD) or a MPEG2 codec installed.

- [KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\Settings]
- Create the string value EnableDVDUI , value = yes . Reboot.

Delete Windows Media Player 8 history and playlists

History

In C:\Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data, you will find a file with a name such as DCBC2A71-70D8-4DAN-EHR8-E0D61DEA3FDF.ini. Delete it.

Playlists

In C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Index, you will find a file with a DB extension. Delete it.

As far as I can tell, WMP8 does not store filenames in the registry. If you know otherwise, please let me know.

Windows: Miscellaneous

Enable or disable Error Reporting (XP)

Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Error Reporting

Enable or disable Task Scheduler at startup (XP)

- Start > Run > services.msc > OK.
- Double-click Task Scheduler and select the Startup type

you want.

If you also want to prevent Win2000/XP from scanning shared files for scheduled tasks,
read Speed up access to network shares.

Remove FindFast (98)

FindFast is a prog that indexes MS Office documents to make them easier to find and open. But FindFast destroys the efficiency of the rest of the system. If you just take FindFast out of the Startup group, Office applications will continue to use the indices that were created. To correctly disable Find Fast , you must delete the FindFast index files.

1. Start > Settings > Control Panel > FindFast
2. In the Index for documents in and below list, click the first item.
3. On the Index menu, click Delete Index . In the Delete Index dialog box, click OK .
5. When you are prompted whether to delete the index, Click OK .
6. Repeat above until no more indices are listed.
7. On the Index menu, click Close and Stop . Then, click OK .
8. Do either of the following:

- Remove the Find Fast shortcut from the Startup folder, and uncheck ffast.exe in
start> run> msconfig> startup.
- Run the Microsoft Office 97 Setup program in maintenance mode, and remove Find Fast.

Turn off window animation (maximize-minimize) to speed up your work

- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\desktop\WindowMetrics
- Create the string value MinAnimate. Set it to 0 (off) or 1 (on)

Set Highlight and shadow of 3D-objects

- By default, they are set in dependence of the button face.
- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Colors]
- Edit the corresponding names to change RGB Data.

Restore the ability to display .ico files

- [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile\DefaultIcon]: Make sure the “( Default)” Value is set to “%1″

- If [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile] or [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile\DefaultIcon] does not exist,
cut and paste the following into a .reg file and merge it into your registry:

REGEDIT4[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ico]
@=”icofile”
“Content Type”=”image/x-icon”
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile]
@=”Icon”
“EditFlags”=hex:00,00,01,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\icofile\DefaultIcon]
@=”%1″

Add/Remove entries

The entries that show up in Add/Remove Programs are stored under
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall].

Deleting entries will only remove the ability to uninstall items through Add/Remove Programs.

Use Windows Update without being registered

- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]
- Create the string value RegDone, value = 1

Microsoft spy

To prevent Microsoft from reading your HWID (Hardware ID) and MSID:

- Run (Win98) regsvr32 -u c:\windows\system\regwizc.dll
or (Win XP) regsvr32 -u c:\windows\system32\regwizc.dll
(To go back to the default setting, do not use -u)

- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]:
Delete the string value HWID

- [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]:
Delete the string value MSID

Change the Blue Screen of Death ‘s colors

In system.ini, add the following two lines under [386Enh]:

- MessageBackColor={color code}
- MessageTextColor={color code}

Colors Dark Light
Black 0 8
Blue 1 9
Green 2 A
Cyan 3 B
Red 4 C
Maganda 5 D
Yellow 6 E
White 7 F

Not tested with Windows XP.

Change registered owner and organization

9x: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion]
XP: [HKEY_L

28 Responses to “ Windows Trips ”

  1. Sultan on February 1, 2010 at 7:58 pm

    Amar balo legece ata pore abon anek cico bogte parci

  2. how to fix service error 49 on February 10, 2010 at 8:06 pm

    wow, nice post, I was wondering

  3. how to fix a slow computer on February 11, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    Adore the modern look. I enjoyed this great article. Thanks for the great work.

  4. how to fix blue screen on February 12, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    wow, nice post, I was wondering

  5. fix rundll32 error on February 14, 2010 at 6:01 pm

    Congratulations for posting such a useful weblog. Your weblog isn’t only informative and also extremely artistic too. There usually are extremely couple of individuals who can write not so easy articles that creatively. Keep up the good work !!

  6. Joe Socci on February 24, 2010 at 4:38 am

    Sooooooo amazing submit, i adore some words so much and can i quote a couple of of them on my weblog? Also i have emailed you regarding could it be possible for us to exchange our links, hope talking with you soon.

  7. regcure on March 1, 2010 at 5:41 pm

    Stumbled across your post while seeking via yahoo. I read the initial paragraph and its fantastic! I do not have time to finish it now, but I have bookmarked your site and will study the rest tonight. : )

  8. dyeniaInfasse on March 5, 2010 at 2:57 pm

    [url=http://mgwar.com/wow.php][img]http://www.zygorguides.com/img/LargeRectangle.gif[/img][/url]
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .

    arena priest guide priest builds warlock macro free world of warcraft leveling guides [url=http://www.connectusers.com/community/profile/warcraft2/]hunter skills[/url] rogue pvp gear guide elemental shaman guide elitist jerks death knight training guide mage quest guide [url=http://www.connectusers.com/community/profile/warcraft2/]best mage[/url] druid abilities skinning guide world of warcraft game guide alliance leveling guid
    alliance mage leveling guide world of warcraft guide to leveling fire mage gear guide wotlk lvl guide world of warcraft alliance grinding guide holy priest guide wotlk priest abilities brian kopp’s alliance leveling guide free world of warcraft patches poison leveling guide of brian kopps free leveling guide for world of warcraft elitist jerks priest guide priest dps world of warcraft druid levelling guide power leveling paladin warcraft warlock weapons 99 mage 10 hp guide world of warcraft free horde leveling guide lvl 80 tank gear guide world of warcraft pvp guide world of warcraft leveling guide jame’s alliance leveling guide 50 brian kopp’s world of warcraft guide joanna horde guide world of warcraft druid guides world of warcraft fishing leveling guide joana’s guides guild leveling world of warcraft guide rogue damage shadow priest rogue mage dps druid bear tanking guide talent hunter arcane mage raiding guide wind druid guide destruction warlock pvp guide warcraft first aid leveling guide warlock talent guide jame’s horde leveling guide 31 priest builds druid training guide paladin libram guide warlock raiding guide wotlk allakhazam leveling guide warlock horde leveling guide mage guild guide world of warcraft easy gold
    [url=http://www.vegetol.org/spip.php?page=forum&id_rubrique=5&id_forum=712]quick and profitable daily guide wow[/url]
    [url=http://fotolabforum.com/member.php?u=11534]world of warcraft linch king[/url]
    [url=http://www.heartlandquilters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=159843]walkthru world of warcraft[/url]
    [url=http://forum.teboul-remy.info/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25097]world of warcraft night elf druid walkthrough[/url]
    [url=http://www.medicalhelp24.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=43551]world of warcraft video recorder[/url]
    [url=http://dkazya.hp.infoseek.co.jp/joyful/cgi-bin/joyful.cgi]world of warcraft time lost drake[/url]
    [url=http://zollshols.digi-desyne.com/smf/index.php?topic=5597.0]world of warcraft shadowfang keep[/url]
    [url=http://hiphopleak.com/forum/index.php?topic=5071.0]world of warcraft players[/url]
    [url=http://www.pitlanelife.com/forums/member.php?u=1400]world of warcraft what is best glove enchant for tank[/url]
    [url=http://216.120.237.78/%7Ebighead/cgi-bin/roco/rocobbsp.cgi]world of warcraft macro based on target level[/url]

    http://www.connectusers.com/community/profile/warcraft/

  9. review for wii on March 11, 2010 at 10:10 am

    It appears that you have put lots of hard work into your article and I need more of these on the internet currently. I sincerely got a kick out of your post. I don’t genuinely have much to say responding, I only wished to comment to reply great work.

  10. Theron Bulgrin on March 15, 2010 at 8:22 pm

    I had fun reading this post. I want to see more on this subject.. Thanks for writing this nice article.. In Any Event, I’m going to subscribe to your rss and I wish you write great articles again soon.

  11. PaulMN on March 17, 2010 at 6:49 am

    I am sorry, it not absolutely that is necessary for me. I have a nice joke for you) Where does the Lone Ranger take his garbage? Ta da dump, ta da dump, ta da dump Dump DUMP!!! [url=http://buy-vigara.info/cilias/site_map.html][size=1][color=white]cilias femalealternative [/color][/size][/url]

  12. Demetrius Greenlief on March 18, 2010 at 8:58 am

    please post a little more about this topic

  13. Cesar Reon on March 19, 2010 at 12:09 am

    Hello,I love reading through your blog, I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wishing you the best of luck for all your blogging efforts.

  14. Vernetta Ernstrom on March 19, 2010 at 1:36 am

    How often do you write your blogs? I enjoy them a lot 2 6 4

  15. Burton Haynes on March 21, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    There are a lot of people who do not pay any attention to RAM when they buy their laptops. They may be ignorant or perhaps plain negligent on this. But when the laptop works slowly or perhaps conks off in the middle of important tasks, they wonder as to what happened suddenly.

  16. uuyqgbb on March 23, 2010 at 6:33 am

    ftI2TX otsmqudpetnb, [url=http://ncfpmyasluui.com/]ncfpmyasluui[/url], [link=http://xjpoqciuxoed.com/]xjpoqciuxoed[/link], http://fzfrbswzklmf.com/

  17. Cadillac Repair Manual on April 1, 2010 at 6:24 am

    It is advantageous, then, to have a repair service manual for your car, whether it is a Bugatti Veyron or a Hillman Imp. Knowing what has gone wrong with the car, and whether you can run the repairs yourself, is helpful for so many reasons. A good service repair manual will make it easier to drive with confidence, knowing that you have all the information you need to make the repair job less stressful, and possibly less expensive. Cadillac Owner Manual

  18. build your own solar panel on April 1, 2010 at 12:23 pm

    Hello, I tried to e-mail you concerning this post that i’ve some inquires, but can’t seem to achieve you. Please email me when get a minute. Thanks.

    Admin:
    Please mail us:
    banglanews365@gmail.com
    rob924@yahoo.com

  19. Garret Falterman on April 2, 2010 at 6:03 am

    thanks for the great post

  20. facebook poker on April 3, 2010 at 6:03 am

    i would not have assumed this had been trendy just a few years back nonetheless it’s interesting precisely how years evolves the means by which you have an understanding of so many creative concepts, many thanks regarding the write-up it really is great to see some thing sensible occasionally instead of the widely seen trash mascarading as blogs on the internet, i’m off to take up a few hands of facebook poker, adios for now

  21. Beckett on April 4, 2010 at 7:05 am

    Have you ever had an offshore Ireland VPN account? http://www.vpn-privacy.org/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=36

  22. robert pattinson on April 7, 2010 at 11:12 pm

    hey there fabulous little blog site you have here :) I utilize the very same template on my own and yet for whichever odd factor it seems to load sooner on this blog although yours provides significantly more content. Are you employing any plugins or widgets that quicken it up? Do you think you could quite possibly have the plug ins so that I can use these on my own internet sites so twilight breaking dawn followers could watch twilight new moon online trailers and clips more easily I’d be happy – cheers ahead of time :)

  23. Holden Repair Manual on April 8, 2010 at 8:52 am

    Holden Owner Manualshas a virtually endless list of manufacturers, models and vintages that is so comprehensive that you will find yourself trying to catch it out by looking for your old cars on there as well as downloading the guide for your current one. With this information to hand, all you need to concern yourself with is downloading the correct manual and keeping the information close to hand for the hopefully rare occasions when a fault occurs.

  24. Gerald Lechuga on April 8, 2010 at 5:32 pm

    I’m going to bookmark this post…

  25. Keith Kmet on April 9, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    woot woot

  26. Emma Stone on April 9, 2010 at 2:42 pm

    oh hell yeahhh

  27. Zachery Curboy on April 10, 2010 at 11:48 am

    Console Toolkit from Shinobii helps you to service your video game consoles by opening up them very easily. I tried with my Super Nintendo,Nintendo 64 and I also opened my Nintendo GameCube easily with out breaking anything. I recommend to all who owns any type of Video game console like the ones I have or this others like DS and microsoft xbox and xbox 360 and ps3 and more. if you want clean or repair your systems and even you can repair your own cell and this tools will not be found on hard ware store and I recomend this Product Console Toolkit for all your repairs and cleaning also for upgrades.

  28. cialis on April 12, 2010 at 10:25 pm

    great post

আপনি কোন দিনের সংবাদ পড়বেন?

September 2010
M T W T F S S
« Jul    
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930  

Computer Tricks in Banglanews365.com

You Know? Bnaglanews365.com is Established a Brand New section in Here. Please Go To Computer Tricks Section. And see the Difference. Banglanews365 always Try to make something Difference… Banglanews365 Team.

আপনার মতামত