Kamis, 26 Maret 2009
Cara Boot Disk
Bagi pengguna microsoft dengan windows 98 atau 95 tentu ingat bagaimana untuk membuat disk startup ketika windowsnya problem maupun untuk mengistall ulang windowsnya. Startup pada windows 98 dan 95 hanya membutuhkan sistem DOS yang sama dengan windowsnya dan kemudahan untuk membuatnya dengan masuk ke menu my computer dan pilih create startup disk, maka dengan menyediakan satu floppy maka startup sudah siap digunakanKetika pengguna win98/95 beralih menggunakan windows xp maka fasilitas ini tidak diikut sertakan sehingga ketika win xp kita problem maka mau tidak mau kita harus menggunakan CD instalasinya untuk melakukan perbaikan/repair.Sebetulnya kita masih dapat membuat startup/boot disk pada windows xp, tentunya sedikit rumit tapi masih mudah dilakukan. Bootdisk ini bisa digunakan pada partisi yang menggunkan sistem NTFS (win xp, win 2000, server 2000/2003) dan FAT (win95, win98, win xp).
1. Pertama-tama siapkan sebuah disket floppy kosong lalu format dahulu dengan command prompt(ms-dos console pada win xp), ketikkan format a: , kemudian ENTER.
2. Copy file Ntldr dan Ntdetect.com, biasanya terdapat pada folder C: pada komputer anda , bila sulit menemukan gunakan fasilitas search pada win explorer. Atau pada folder I386 pada CD instalasi win Xp Anda.
3. Buat file boot.ini dengan editor Anda, seperti notepad atau wordpad, tuliskan perintah sebagai berikut:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
Default= multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows="Windows XP"
perintah tersebut jika Win XP diinstall pada folde \windows dan single-drive partition IDE. Jika Anda tidak menggunakan IDE drive tetapi SCSI drive maka rubah multi(0) dengan scsi(0).
4. bootdisk siap digunakan dan restart komputer Anda.
Selamat mencoba
Hal yang bisa kita lakukan dengan bootdisk ini adalah:
1. bootsector yang rusak, dapat menggunakan Windows XP Recovery Console.
2. MBR (master boot sector) yang rusak, dapat menggunakan Windows XP Recovery Console.
3. Serangan virus, pastikan dahulu virusnya telah bersih dengan program antivirus.
4. Hilang dan rusaknya file ntldr dan Ntdetect.com
Sabtu, 05 Juli 2008
Meniadakan cadangan bandwidth
Secara standar Windows XP mencadangkan
'Limit reservable bandwidth' dan pilih
Mempercepat akses jaringan pada
Akses Windows XP pada klien WindowsMembuat disket password
Seringkali manusia lupa akan suatu hal,
disket baru yang sudah diformat terlebih
Menonaktifkan peringatan kapasitas
Semakin sedikit tempat tersisa pada hardMenetapkan posisi jendela Explorer
Setiap kali logout, Windows menyimpan
Explorer. Bila Anda tidak menginginkan
keinginan. Lalu buka registry dan navigasikan
Jumat, 04 Juli 2008
Winamp trick
Ini ada sedikit trick unik dari winamp 5.-Klik tulisan "WINAMP" dibagian atas player.
Image
-Ketik: NUL, pencet tombol Esc, ketik L, pencet Esc, ketik SOFT.
-Mainkan sembarang lagu.
ngubah password admin
ada cara buat ngubah password admintry this......
- Boot lewat bootcd yang support NTFS.
- masuk ke C:\Windows\System32\config
- cari file SAM (tanpa ektensi)
- rename menjadi SAM.OLD
- restart
- Password akan direset ulang.
Mengembalikan Folder atau file yang terkena virus
Folder atau file yang terkena virus biasanya dihidden secara SH alias System Hidden.Coba langkah2 berikut ini :
1. Pertama scan dulu dong… make antivirus yang sudah diupdate tentunya.
2. Buka explorer, aktifkan Folder Option. dari menu Tools.
Pilih view > - Show hidden files and folder
- unmark Hide extension for known file types
- unmark hide protected operating system files (Recommended)
Klik apply OK.
Buka kembali data kita… jika masih ada berarti data anda selamat
Klik kanan properties, jreng… kok hiddenya dimatiin yaa??.. hmm… kita coba langkah selanjutnya..
3. Buka command promt, dari menu start > run > ketik “cmd” (tanpa kutip) tekan enter atau klik OK.
4. masuk ke lokasi root folder yang dihidden. ketik “attrib (nama folder)” (tanpa kutip) tekan enter.Contoh
D:\attrib drackids
perintah di atas berfungsi untuk memberikan nilai attribut pada folder. Jika nama folder ada spasi gunakan tanda kutip pada namanya contoh :
D:\attrib “drackids junior”
akan muncul message sebagai berikut :
A SHR D:\drackids
selanjutnya kita lepas hiddennya, ketik
D:\attrib drackids -s -h
Untuk file tidak perlu menyertakan nama, cukup mengetikan attrib di parent direktori file itu berada.
5. Kini folder anda telah muncul.
tips membuka password bios
Terkadang kita lupa dengan password BIOS, atau seperti yang sering saya alami ketikaakan menginstal komputer pasien, ternyata biosnya dipassword oleh pemiliknya dan tidak
memberitahu password komputer tersebut, sehingga ketika akan merubah konfigurasi
bios mengalami kesulitan. Biasanya untuk membuka password tersebut dilakukan dengan
cara merubah posisi jumper atau melepas baterai komputer, sebuah pekerjaan yang amat
merepotkan dan riskan. Untuk melepas jumper, kita memerlukan manual mother board
sedangkan melepas baterai CMOS, pada komputer tertentu terutama yang produk lama
biasanya baterainya disolder ke mother board. Bila tidak hati-hati dan salah
melakukannya mother board bisa rusak.
Berikut ini ada cara untuk mengatasi kerepotan-kerepotan tersebut :
1. Standar BIOS backdoor password
Dengan cara mengetikan password menurut nama pembuatnya (coba salah satu, dan
perhatikan besar kecilnya huruf) sebagai berikut:
AWARD BIOS
AWARD SW, AWARD_SW, Award SW, AWARD PW, award, awkward, J64,
j256, j262, j332, 01322222, 589589, 589721, 595595, 598598,
HLT, SER, SKY_FOX, aLLy, aLLY, Condo, CONCAT, TTPHA, aPAf,
HLT, KDD, ZBAAACA, ZAAADA, ZJAAADC, djonet
AMI BIOS
AMI, A.M.I., AMI SW, AMI_SW, BIOS, PASSWORD, HEWITT RAND,
Oder.
Jika cara di atas gagal, password lain yang bisa dicoba (untuk AMI, AWARD atau BIOS
lainnya) adalah:
LKWPETER, lkwpeter, BIOSTAR, biostar, BIOSSTAR, biosstar,
ALAFAROME, Syxz, Wodj
2. Membuka BIOS lewat software
Bila cara yang di atas gagal, Anda bisa membuka password bios dengan menggunakan
utility DEBUG dari MSDOS. Sebaiknya Anda mengerjakannya dalam mode MSDOS
murni, bukan dari MSDOS shell dalam Windows.
Setelah masuk dalam prompt debug, ketik perintah berikut:
A. Untuk AMI/AWARD BIOS
O 70 17
O 71 17
Q
B. Untuk PHOENIX BIOS
O 70 FF
O 71 17
Q
C. GENERIK berlaku untuk semua mother board AT (board XT tidak punya
CMOS)
O 70 2E
O 71 FF
Q
CATATAN: Karakter pertama adalah huruf O bukan angka 0.
Setelah melakukan langkah di atas, reset komputer dan Anda bisa merubah konfigurasi.
Selasa, 01 Juli 2008
1. Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the
boot order in the system BIOS. Check your system documentation
for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
2. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the
options below This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
3. Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.
do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the
Recovery Console, press R", (you do not want to load Recovery
Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP
installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
4. Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing
Windows installations.
5. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and
press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options,
read this Warning!!
6. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot.
Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears.
Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your
applications and settings will remain intact.
Blaster worm warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet
when asked, enable the XP firewall
[ http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=283673 ]
before connecting to the internet. You can activate after the
firewall is enabled. Control Panel - Network Connections. Right click
the connection you use, Properties, and there is a check box on the
Advanced [ http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpfirewall1.jpg ] page.
7. Reapply updates or service packs applied since initial Windows XP
installation. Please note that a Repair Install from the Original
install XP CD will remove SP1/SP2 and service packs will need to be
reapplied.
Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-
4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
An option I highly recommend is creating a Slipstreamed XP CD with SP2.
Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp
______________________________________________________________________
Warning!!
If the option to Repair Install is not available and you continue
with the install;you will delete your Windows folder and Documents
and Settings folder. All applications that place keys in the registry
will need to be re-installed. You should exit setup if the repair
option is not available and consider other options.
Try the link below if the repair option is not available.
Windows XP Crashed?
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot.htm
Here's Help.
A salvage mission into the depths of Windows XP, explained by a
non-geek
by Charlie White
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot.htm
Related links
You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing,
or Upgrading Windows XP (Q312369)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q312369
System Restore "Restore Points" Are Missing or Deleted (Q301224)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q301224
How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
(Q315341)
http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q315341
Warning!! If the Repair Option is not Available
What should I do? Most important do not ignore the information below!
If the option to Repair Install is NOT available and you continue
with the install; you will delete your Windows folder, Documents and
Settings folders. All Applications that place keys in the registry
will need to be re-installed.
You should exit setup if the repair option is not available and
consider other options. I have found if the Repair option is not
available, XP is usually not repairable and will require a Clean
install.http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
If you still have the ability to access the Windows XP installation,
backup all important files not restorable from other sources before
attempting any recovery console trouble shooting attempts.
Possible Fix by reconfiguring boot.ini using Recovery Console.
1.Boot with XP CD or 6 floppy boot disk set.
2. Press R to load the Recovery Console.
3. Type bootcfg.
4. This should fix any boot.ini errors causing setup not to see the
XP OS install.
5. Try the repair install.
One more suggestion from MVP Alex Nichol
"Reboot, this time taking the immediate R option, and if the CD
letter is say K: give these commands
COPY K:\i386\ntldr C:\
COPY K:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\
(two other files needed - just in case)
1. Type: ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\boot.ini DEL C:\boot.ini
2. Type: BootCfg /Rebuild
which will get rid of any damaged boot.ini, search the disk for
systems and make a new one. This might even result in a damaged
windows reappearing; but gives another chance of getting at the
repair"
Feedback on success or failure of the above fixes would be greatly
appreciated.
Run Commands:
compmgmt.msc - Computer management
devmgmt.msc - Device manager
diskmgmt.msc - Disk management
dfrg.msc - Disk defrag
eventvwr.msc - Event viewer
fsmgmt.msc - Shared folders
gpedit.msc - Group policies
lusrmgr.msc - Local users and groups
perfmon.msc - Performance monitor
rsop.msc - Resultant set of policies
secpol.msc - Local security settings
services.msc - Various Services
msconfig - System Configuration Utility
regedit - Registry Editor
msinfo32 _ System Information
sysedit _ System Edit
win.ini _ windows loading information(also system.ini)
winver _ Shows current version of windows
mailto: _ Opens default email client
command _ Opens command prompt
Run Commands to access the control panel:
appwiz.cpl -Add/Remove Programs control
timedate.cpl -Date/Time Properties control
desk.cpl -Display Properties control
findfast.cpl -FindFast control
inetcpl.cpl -Internet Properties control
main.cpl keyboard -Keyboard Properties control
main.cpl -Mouse Properties control
mmsys.cpl -Multimedia Properties control
netcpl.cpl -Network Properties control
password.cpl -Password Properties control
mmsys.cpl sounds -Sound Properties control sysdm.cpl -System Properties control
Command Prompt:
ANSI.SYS Defines functions that change display graphics, control cursor movement, and reassign keys.
APPEND Causes MS-DOS to look in other directories when editing a file or running a command.
ARP Displays, adds, and removes arp information from network devices.
ASSIGN Assign a drive letter to an alternate letter.
AT Schedule a time to execute commands or programs.
ATMADM Lists connections and addresses seen by Windows ATM call manager.
ATTRIB Display and change file attributes.
BATCH Recovery console command that executes a series of commands in a file.
BOOTCFG Recovery console command that allows a user to view, modify, and rebuild the boot.ini
BREAK Enable / disable CTRL + C feature.
CACLS View and modify file ACL's.
CALL Calls a batch file from another batch file.
CD Changes directories.
CHCP Supplement the International keyboard and character set information.
CHDIR Changes directories.
CHKDSK Check the hard disk drive running FAT for errors.
CHKNTFS Check the hard disk drive running NTFS for errors.
CHOICE Specify a listing of multiple options within a batch file.
CLS Clears the screen.
CMD Opens the command interpreter.
COLOR Easily change the foreground and background color of the MS-DOS window.
COMP Compares files.
COMPACT Compresses and uncompress files.
CONTROL Open control panel icons from the MS-DOS prompt.
CONVERT Convert FAT to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to an alternate location.
CTTY Change the computers input/output devices.
DATE View or change the systems date.
DEBUG Debug utility to create assembly programs to modify hardware settings.
DEFRAG Re-arrange the hard disk drive to help with loading programs.
DEL Deletes one or more files.
DELETE Recovery console command that deletes a file.
DELTREE Deletes one or more files and/or directories.
DIR List the contents of one or more directory.
DISABLE Recovery console command that disables Windows system services or drivers.
DISKCOMP Compare a disk with another disk.
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one disk and place them on another disk.
DOSKEY Command to view and execute commands that have been run in the past.
DOSSHELL A GUI to help with early MS-DOS users.
DRIVPARM Enables overwrite of original device drivers.
ECHO Displays messages and enables and disables echo.
EDIT View and edit files.
EDLIN View and edit files.
EMM386 Load extended Memory Manager.
ENABLE Recovery console command to enable a disable service or driver.
ENDLOCAL Stops the localization of the environment changes enabled by the setlocal command.
ERASE Erase files from computer.
EXIT Exit from the command interpreter.
EXPAND Expand a M*cros*ft Windows file back to it's original format.
EXTRACT Extract files from the M*cros*ft Windows cabinets.
FASTHELP Displays a listing of MS-DOS commands and information about them.
FC Compare files.
FDISK Utility used to create partitions on the hard disk drive.
FIND Search for text within a file.
FINDSTR Searches for a string of text within a file.
FIXBOOT Writes a new boot sector.
FIXMBR Writes a new boot record to a disk drive.
FOR Boolean used in batch files.
FORMAT Command to erase and prepare a disk drive.
FTP Command to connect and operate on a FTP server.
FTYPE Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations.
GOTO Moves a batch file to a specific label or location. GRAFTABL Show extended characters in graphics mode.
HELP Display a listing of commands and brief explanation.
IF Allows for batch files to perform conditional processing.
IFSHLP.SYS 32-bit file manager.
IPCONFIG Network command to view network adapter settings and assigned values.
KEYB Change layout of keyboard.
LABEL Change the label of a disk drive.
LH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LISTSVC Recovery console command that displays the services and drivers.
LOADFIX Load a program above the first 64k.
LOADHIGH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LOCK Lock the hard disk drive.
LOGON Recovery console command to list installations and enable administrator login.
MAP Displays the device name of a drive.
MD Command to create a new directory.
MEM Display memory on system.
MKDIR Command to create a new directory.
MODE Modify the port or display settings.
MORE Display one page at a time.
MOVE Move one or more files from one directory to another directory.
MSAV Early M*cros*ft Virus scanner.
MSD Diagnostics utility.
MSCDEX Utility used to load and provide access to the CD-ROM.
NBTSTAT Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT
NET Update, fix, or view the network or network settings
NETSH Configure dynamic and static network information from MS-DOS.
NETSTAT Display the TCP/IP network protocol statistics and information.
NLSFUNC Load country specific information.
NSLOOKUP Look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network.
PATH View and modify the computers path location.
PATHPING View and locate locations of network latency.
PAUSE Command used in batch files to stop the processing of a command.
PING Test / send information to another network computer or network device.
POPD Changes to the directory or network path stored by the pushd command.
POWER Conserve power with computer portables.
PRINT Prints data to a printer port.
PROMPT View and change the MS-DOS prompt.
PUSHD Stores a directory or network path in memory so it can be returned to at any time.
QBASIC Open the QBasic.
RD Removes an empty directory.
REN Renames a file or directory.
RENAME Renames a file or directory.
RMDIR Removes an empty directory.
ROUTE View and configure windows network route tables.
RUNAS Enables a user to execute a program on another computer.
SCANDISK Run the scandisk utility.
SCANREG Scan registry and recover registry from errors.
SET Change one variable or string to another.
SETLOCAL Enables local environments to be changed without affecting anything else.
SETVER Change MS-DOS version to trick older MS-DOS programs.
SHARE Installs support for file sharing and locking capabilities.
SHIFT Changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program.
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer from the MS-DOS prompt.
SMARTDRV Create a disk cache in conventional memory or extended memory.
SORT Sorts the input and displays the output to the screen.
START Start a separate window in Windows from the MS-DOS prompt.
SUBST Substitute a folder on your computer for another drive letter.
SWITCHES Remove add functions from MS-DOS.
SYS Transfer system files to disk drive.
TELNET Telnet to another computer / device from the prompt.
TIME View or modify the system time.
TITLE Change the title of their MS-DOS window.
TRACERT Visually view a network packets route across a network.
TREE View a visual tree of the hard disk drive.
TYPE Display the contents of a file.
UNDELETE Undelete a file that has been deleted.
UNFORMAT Unformat a hard disk drive.
UNLOCK Unlock a disk drive.
VER Display the version information.
VERIFY Enables or disables the feature to determine if files have been written properly.
VOL Displays the volume information about the designated drive.
XCOPY Copy multiple files, directories, and/or drives from one location to another.
TRUENAME When placed before a file, will display the whole directory in which it exists
TASKKILL It allows you to kill those unneeded or locked up applications
-----------
STARTUP
-----------
Windows Prefetcher
******************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters]
Under this key there is a setting called EnablePrefetcher, the default setting of which is 3. Increasing this number to 5 gives the prefetcher system more system resources to prefetch application data for faster load times. Depending on the number of boot processes you run on your computer, you may get benefits from settings up to 9. However, I do not have any substantive research data on settings above 5 so I cannot verify the benefits of a higher setting. This setting also may effect the loading times of your most frequently launched applications. This setting will not take effect until after you reboot your system.
Master File Table Zone Reservation
**********************************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ FileSystem]
Under this key there is a setting called NtfsMftZoneReservation, the default setting of which is 1. The range of this value is from 1 to 4. The default setting reserves one-eighth of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 2 reserves one-quarter of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 3 for NtfsMftZoneReservation reserves three-eighths of the volume for the MFT and setting it to 4 reserves half of the volume for the MFT. Most users will never exceed one-quarter of the volume. I recommend a setting of 2 for most users. This allows for a "moderate number of files" commensurate with the number of small files included in most computer games and applications. Reboot after applying this tweak.
Optimize Boot Files
*******************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Dfrg \ BootOptimizeFunction]
Under this key is a text value named Enable. A value of Y for this setting enables the boot files defragmenter. This setting defragments the boot files and may move the boot files to the beginning (fastest) part of the partition, but that last statement is unverified. Reboot after applying this tweak.
Optimizing Startup Programs [msconfig]
**************************************
MSConfig, similar to the application included in Win9x of the same name, allows the user to fine tune the applications that are launched at startup without forcing the user to delve deep into the registry. To disable some of the applications launched, load msconfig.exe from the run command line, and go to the Startup tab. From there, un-ticking the checkbox next to a startup item will stop it from launching. There are a few application that you will never want to disable (ctfmon comes to mind), but for the most part the best settings vary greatly from system to system.
As a good rule of thumb, though, it is unlikely that you will want to disable anything in the Windows directory (unless it's a third-party program that was incorrectly installed into the Windows directory), nor will you want to disable anything directly relating to your system hardware. The only exception to this is when you are dealing with software, which does not give you any added benefits (some OEM dealers load your system up with software you do not need). The nice part of msconfig is that it does not delete any of the settings, it simply disables them, and so you can go back and restart a startup application if you find that you need it. This optimization won't take effect until after a reboot.
Bootvis Application
*******************
The program was designed by Microsoft to enable Windows XP to cold boot in 30 seconds, return from hibernation in 20 seconds, and return from standby in 10 seconds. Bootvis has two extremely useful features. First, it can be used to optimize the boot process on your computer automatically. Second, it can be used to analyze the boot process for specific subsystems that are having difficulty loading. The first process specifically targets the prefetching subsystem, as well as the layout of boot files on the disk. When both of these systems are optimized, it can result in a significant reduction in the time it takes for the computer to boot.
Before attempting to use Bootvis to analyze or optimize the boot performance of your system, make sure that the task scheduler service has been enabled – the program requires the service to run properly. Also, close all open programs as well – using the software requires a reboot.
To use the software to optimize your system startup, first start with a full analysis of a fresh boot. Start Bootvis, go to the Tools menu, and select next boot. Set the Trace Repetition Settings to 2 repetitions, Start at 1, and Reboot automatically. Then set the trace into motion. The system will fully reboot twice, and then reopen bootvis and open the second trace file (should have _2 in the name). Analyze the graphs and make any changes that you think are necessary (this is a great tool for determining which startup programs you want to kill using msconfig). Once you have made your optimizations go to the Trace menu, and select the Optimize System item. This will cause the system to reboot and will then make some changes to the file structure on the hard drive (this includes a defragmentation of boot files and a shifting of their location to the fastest portion of the hard disk, as well as some other optimizations). After this is done, once again run a Trace analysis as above, except change the starting number to 3. Once the system has rebooted both times, compare the charts from the second trace to the charts for the fourth trace to show you the time improvement of the system's boot up.
The standard defragmenter included with Windows XP will not undo the boot optimizations performed by this application.
-----------------------------------
General Performance Tweaks
-----------------------------------
IRQ Priority Tweak
******************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl]
You will need to create a new DWORD: IRQ#Priority (where # is the number of the IRQ you want to prioritize) and give it a setting of 1. This setting gives the requisite IRQ channel priority over the other IRQs on a software level. This can be extremely important for functions and hardware subsystems that need real-time access to other parts of the system. There are several different subsystems that might benefit from this tweak. Generally, I recommend giving either the System CMOS or the video card priority. The System CMOS generally has an IRQ setting of 8, and giving it priority enhances the I/O performance of the system. Giving priority to the video card can increase frame rates and make AGP more effective.
You can give several IRQs priority, but I am not entirely certain how the system interacts when several IRQs are given priority – it may cause random instabilities in the system, although it is more likely that there's a parsing system built into Windows XP to handle such an occurrence. Either way, I would not recommend it.
QoS tweak
*********
QoS (Quality of Service) is a networking subsystem which is supposed to insure that the network runs properly. The problem with the system is that it eats up 20% of the total bandwidth of any networking service on the computer (including your internet connection). If you are running XP Professional, you can disable the bandwidth quota reserved for the system using the Group Policy Editor [gpedit.msc].
You can run the group policy editor from the Run command line. To find the setting, expand "Local Computer Policy" and go to "Administrative Templates" under "Computer Configuration." Then find the "Network" branch and select "QoS Packet Scheduler." In the right hand box, double click on the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth." From within the Settings tab, enable the setting and then go into the "Bandwidth Limit %" and set it to 0%. The reason for this is that if you disable this setting, the computer defaults to 20%. This is true even when you aren't using QoS.
Free Idle Tasks Tweak
*********************
This tweak will free up processing time from any idle processes and allow it to be used by the foreground application. It is useful particularly if you are running a game or other 3D application. Create a new shortcut to "Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks" and place it on your desktop. Double-click on it anytime you need all of your processing power, before opening the application.
Windows Indexing Services
Windows Indexing Services creates a searchable database that makes system searches for words and files progress much faster – however, it takes an enormous amount of hard drive space as well as a significant amount of extra CPU cycles to maintain the system. Most users will want to disable this service to release the resources for use by the system. To turn off indexing, open My Computer and right click on the drive on which you wish to disable the Indexing Service. Enter the drive's properties and under the general tab, untick the box for "Allow the Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching."
Priority Tweak
**************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl]
This setting effectively runs each instance of an application in its own process for significantly faster application performance and greater stability. This is extremely useful for users with stability problems, as it can isolate specific instances of a program so as not to bring down the entire application. And, it is particularly useful for users of Internet Explorer, for if a rogue web page crashes your browser window, it does not bring the other browser windows down with it. It has a similar effect on any software package where multiple instances might be running at once, such as Microsoft Word. The only problem is that this takes up significantly more memory, because such instances of a program cannot share information that is in active memory (many DLLs and such will have to be loaded into memory multiple times). Because of this, it is not recommended for anyone with less than 512 MB of RAM, unless they are running beta software (or have some other reason for needing the added stability).
There are two parts to this tweak. First is to optimize XP's priority control for the processes. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl and set the "Win32PrioritySeparation" DWORD to 38. Next, go into My Computer and under Tools, open the Folder Options menu. Select the View tab and check the "Launch folder windows in separate process" box. This setting actually forces each window into its own memory tread and gives it a separate process priority.
Powertweak application
**********************
xxx.powertweak.com
Powertweak is an application, which acts much like a driver for our chipsets. It optimizes the communication between the chipset and the CPU, and unlocks several "hidden" features of the chipset that can increase the speed of the system. Specifically, it tweaks the internal registers of the chipset and processor that the BIOS does not for better communication performance between subsystems. Supported CPUs and chipsets can see a significant increase in I/O bandwidth, increasing the speed of the entire system. Currently the application supports most popular CPUs and chipsets, although you will need to check the website for your specific processor/chipset combo – the programmer is working on integrating even more chipsets and CPUs into the software.
Offload Network Task Processing onto the Network Card
*****************************************************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Tcpip \ Parameters]
Many newer network cards have the ability of taking some of the network processing load off of the processor and performing it right on the card (much like Hardware T&L on most new video cards). This can significantly lower the CPU processes needed to maintain a network connection, freeing up that processor time for other tasks. This does not work on all cards, and it can cause network connectivity problems on systems where the service is enabled but unsupported, so please check with your NIC manufacturer prior to enabling this tweak. Find the DWORD "DisableTaskOffload" and set the value to 0 (the default value is 1). If the key is not already available, create it.
Force XP to Unload DLLs
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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer]
"AlwaysUnloadDLL"=dword:00000001
XP has a bad habit of keeping dynamic link libraries that are no longer in use resident in memory. Not only do the DLLs use up precious memory space, but they also tend to cause stability problems in some systems. To force XP to unload any DLLs in memory when the application that called them is no longer in memory, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer and find the DWORD "AlwaysUnloadDLL". You may need to create this key. Set the value to 1 to force the operating system to unload DLLs.
Give 16-bit apps their own separate processes
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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ WOW]
"DefaultSeparateVDM"="Yes"
By default, Windows XP will only open one 16-bit process and cram all 16-bit apps running on the system at a given time into that process. This simulates how MS-DOS based systems viewed systems and is necessary for some older applications that run together and share resources. However, most 16-bit applications work perfectly well by themselves and would benefit from the added performance and stability of their own dedicated resources. To force Windows XP to give each 16-bit application it's own resources, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ WOW and find the String "DefaultSeparateVDM". If it is not there, you may need to create it. Set the value of this to Yes to give each 16-bit application its own process, and No to have the 16-bit application all run in the same memory space.
Disable User Tracking
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[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer]
"NoInstrumentation"=dword:00000001
The user tracking system built into Windows XP is useless to 99% of users (there are very few uses for the information collected other than for a very nosy system admin), and it uses up precious resources to boot, so it makes sense to disable this "feature" of Windows XP. To do so, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer and find the DWORD "NoInstrumentation". You may need to create this key if it is not there. The default setting is 0, but setting it to 1 will disable most of the user tracking features of the system.
Thumbnail Cache
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[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced]
"DisableThumbnailCache"=dword:00000001
Windows XP has a neat feature for graphic and video files that creates a "thumbnail" of the image or first frame of the video and makes it into an oversized icon for the file. There are two ways that Explorer can do this, it can create them fresh each time you access the folder or it can load them from a thumbnail cache. The thumbnail caches on systems with a large number of image and video files can become staggeringly large. To disable the Thumbnail Cache, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced and find the DWORD "DisableThumbnailCache". You may need to create this key. A setting of 1 is recommended for systems where the number of graphic and video files is large, and a setting of 0 is recommended for systems not concerned about hard drive space, as loading the files from the cache is significantly quicker than creating them from scratch each time a folder is accessed.
Repairing Damaged Winsock2
The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged show when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG...
And you get the following error message:
An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.
Also Internet Explorer may give the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.
There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:
From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory
Winsock Test Method 1
Run netdiag /test:winsock
The end should say Winsock test ..... passed
Winsock Test Method 2
Run Msinfo32
Click on the + by Components
Click on the by Network
Click on Protocol
There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok
MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
RSVP UDP Service Provider
RSVP TCP Service Provider
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.
If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.
There should be no fewer than 10 sections.
To repair Winsock2
Run Regedit
Delete the following two registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2
Restart the computer
Go to Network Connections
Right click and select Properties
Click on the Install button
Select Protocol
Click on the Add button
Click on the Have Disk button
Browse to the \Windows\inf directory
Click on the Open button
Click on the OK button
Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Click on the OK button
Reboot
Have you ever been using your computer and your system sudddenly stops responding in ways like it if you try to open something it just hangs? One time I tried deleting a folder and it said it was in use, but it really wasn't. If this ever happens to you, you can follow these simple steps to 'reboot' your computer without 'rebooting' it.
Press CRTL + ALT + DEL
Goto the 'processes' tab and click explorer.exe once and then click 'end process'.
Now, click File > New Task and type explorer.exe
Everything should be fine now! If the problem is major, I would recomend actually shutting down then starting up again.
Win XP Tip, Hidden Back-up utility
Insert your windows XP disc into your PC.
Click exit if your installation screen comes up.
Now go too your CD drive in *My Computer*. Right-click and select open.
Choose VALUE ADD\MSFT\NT BACK-UP FILE.
In the *files of type* drop down list be sure that *select all files* is on.
Click on the NTBACK-UP.msi file and click okay.
Click the finish button and now go over too the start button\ALL PROGRAMS\ACCESSORIES\SYSTEM TOOLS\ and there it is now.. BACK-UP FILES...
Great little tool that Microsoft never should have hidden.
Win XP Tip, Rename Multiple Files
A new, small, neat feature for winXP deals with renaming files. I personally have always wanted the OS to include a way to do a mass file renaming on a bunch of files. You can now rename multiple files at once in WinXP. Its real simple:
1. Select several files in Explorer, press F2 and rename one of those files to something else. All the selected files get renamed to the new file name (plus a number added to the end).
2. Thats it. Simple huh.
I would recommend that you only have the files you want to rename in the directory your working in. I would also recommend that until you get used to this neat little trick that you save copies of the files in a safe location while your getting the hang of it.
Ever wonder what's going on behind that splash screen? Well, now you can find out!
Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Startup and Recovery, Edit. Edit BOOT.INI. Add "/SOS" right after "/fastdetect" with a space between. The line will look something like this:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /SOS
. Then you're finished. The first part, multi(0)..... may not be the same on your machine. Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch.
Please note that some of these tips require you to use a Registry Editor (regedit.exe), which could render your system unusable. Thus, none of these tips are supported in any way: Use them at your own risk. Also note that most of these tips will require you to be logged on with Administrative rights. Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this: ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05 The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys. Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair: Retail = 51882 335 So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read: Pid=51882335 And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use: Pid=51882OEM
How do I get the "Administrator" name on Welcome Screen? To get Admin account on the "Welcome Screen" as well as the other usernames, make sure that there are no accounts logged in. Press "ctrl-alt-del" twice and you should be able to login as administrator! finally worked for me after i found out that all accounts have to be logged out first
Fix Movie Inteferance in AVI files If you have any AVI files that you saved in Windows 9x, which have interference when opened in Windows XP, there is an easy fix to get rid of the interference: Open Windows Movie Maker. Now, import the movie file that has interference and drag it onto the timeline. Then save the movie, and during the rerendering, the interference will be removed.
Create a Password Reset Disk If you’re running Windows XP Professional as a local user in a workgroup environment, you can create a password reset disk to log onto your computer when you forget your password. To create the disk: Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts. Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk. Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access your local user account
Change Web Page Font Size on the Fly If your mouse contains a wheel for scrolling, you can change font size on the fly when viewing a Web page. To do so: Press and hold Ctrl. Scroll down (or towards yourself) to enlarge the font size. Scroll up (or away from yourself) to reduce the font size. You might find it useful to reduce font size when printing a Web page, so that you can fit more content on the page. WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown WINXPCPS.REG (WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown) This Registration (.REG) file clears the Page file when you power off the computer. Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management and add the DWORD variable "ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001 You can also do this without reg hacking. Group Policy for Windows XP One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following: gpedit.msc After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy! Forgetting What Your Files Are? This procedure works under NTFS. As times goes along you have a lot files on your computer. You are going to forget what they are. Well here is way to identify them as you scroll through Windows Explorer in the future. This procedure works under NTFS. 1.. Open up a folder on your system that you want to keep track of the different files you might one to identify in the future. 2.. Under View make certain that you set it to the Details. 3.. Highlight the file you want to keep more information on. Right click the file and you will get a pop up menu. Click on properties. 4.. Click on the Summary Tab (make sure it says simple not advanced on the button in the box), You should now get the following fields, Title,Subject, Author, Category, Keywords, Comments You will see advanced also if you have changed it to simple, Here will be other fields you can fill in. 5.. Next you can fill in what ever field you want. 6.. After you finished click the apply button then OK. 7.. Next right click the bar above your files, under the address barand you should get a drop down menu. Here you can click the fields you want to display. 8.. You should now see a list with the new fields and any comments you have done. 9.. Now if you want to sort these just right click a blank spot and then you sort the information to your liking. Temporarily Assign Yourself Administrative Permissions Many programs require you to have Administrative permissions to be able to install them. Here is an easy way to temporarily assign yourself Administrative permissions while you remain logged in as a normal user. Hold down the Shift key as you right-click on the program’s setup file. Click Run as. Type in a username and password that have Administrative permissions. This will also work on applications in the Start menu. Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don’t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screensaver. To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer: Right-click the desktop. The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following: Click Next. Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like. Click Finish. You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll). To change the icon: Right click the shortcut and then select Properties. In the Look for icons in this file text box, type: Click OK. Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.
Create a Shortcut to Start Remote Desktop Tip: You can add a shortcut to the desktop of your home computer to quickly start Remote Desktop and connect to your office computer. To create a shortcut icon to start Remote Desktop Click Start, point to More Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click on Remote Desktop Connection. Click Options. Configure settings for the connection to your office computer. Click Save As, and enter a name, such as Office Computer. Click Save. Open the Remote Desktops folder. Right-click on the file named Office Computer, and then click Create Shortcut. Drag the shortcut onto the desktop of your home computer. To start Remote Desktop and connect to your office computer, double-click on the shortcut Instantly Activate a Screensaver Turn on a screensaver without having to wait by adding a shortcut to your desktop: Click the Start button, and then click Search. In the file name box, type *.scr In the Look in box, choose Local Hard Drives (C or the drive where you have system files stored on your computer. Click Search. You will see a list of screensavers in the results. Pick a screensaver you want. You can preview it by double-clicking it. Right click on the file, choose Send To, and then click Desktop (create shortcut). To activate the screensaver, double-click the icon on your desktop Add a Map Drive Button to the Toolbar Do you want to quickly map a drive, but can’t find the toolbar button? If you map drives often, use one of these options to add a Map Drive button to the folder toolbar. Option One (Long Term Fix) Click Start, click My Computer, right-click the toolbar, then unlock the toolbars, if necessary. Right-click the toolbar again, and then click Customize. Under Available toolbar buttons, locate Map Drive, and drag it into the position you want on the right under Current toolbar buttons. Click Close, click OK, and then click OK again. You now have drive mapping buttons on your toolbar, so you can map drives from any folder window. To unmap drives, follow the above procedure, selecting Disconnect under Available toolbar buttons. To quickly map a drive, try this option. Option Two (Quick Fix) Click Start, and right-click My Computer. If you place your My Computer icon directly on the desktop, you can make this move in only two clicks! Software not installing? If you have a piece of software that refuses to install because it says that you are not running Windows 2000 (such as the Win2K drivers for a Mustek scanner!!) you can simply edit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/ProductName to say Microsoft Windows 2000 instead of XP and it will install. You may also have to edit the version number or build number, depending on how hard the program tries to verify that you are installing on the correct OS. I had to do this for my Mustek 600 CP scanner (compatibility mode didn''t help!!!) and it worked great, so I now have my scanner working with XP (and a tech at Mustek can now eat his words). BTW, don''t forget to restore any changes you make after you get your software installed You do this at your own risk. Use your Windows Key The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don''t ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following commands: Windows: Display the Start menu
Change your cd key You don't need to re-install if you want to try the key out ... just do this: 1. Go to Activate Windows Now log off and log back in again. It should now show 60 days left, minus the number of days it had already counted down. Note: If your crack de-activated REGWIZC.DLL and LICDLL.DLL, you are going to have to re-register them.
Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the sh*ll Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key: You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer" will be gone. You do not need to reboot your system to see the change. Before: A cluttered mess with icons no one will ever use (especially that orpaned one). After: Simplicity itself, and the way it should be by default. This tip For older XP builds Edit or remove the "Comments" link in window title bars During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft has added a "Comments?" hyperlink to the title bar of each window in the system so that beta testers can more easily send in a problem report about the user interface. But for most of us, this isn't an issue, and the Comments link is simply a visual distraction. And for many programs that alter the title bar, the Comments link renders the Minimize, Maximize, and Close window buttons unusable, so it's actually a problem. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following keys: The first key determines whether the link appears at all; change its value to 0 to turn it off. The second key lets you have a little fun with the hyperlink; you can change the text to anything you'd like, such as "Paul Thurrott" or whatever. Editing either value requires a restart before the changes take effect. Before: An unnecessary hyperlink. Have some fun with it! Or just remove it entirely. It's up to you.
Rip high-quality MP3s in Windows Media Player 8 The relationship between Windows Media Player 8 and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, WMP8 will be able to playback MP3 files, but encoding (or "ripping" CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. So during the Windows XP beta, Microsoft is supplying a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it's limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless. However, if you have an externally installed MP3 codec, you can use WMP8 to rip at higher bit rates. But you'll have to edit the Registry to make this work. Here, you'll see sub-keys for LowRate and LowRateSample, which of course equates to the single 56 Kbps sample rate you see in WMP8. To get better sampling rates, try adding the following keys (Using New then DWORD value): "LowRate" = DWORD value of 0000dac0 Now, when you launch WMP8 and go into Tools, then Options, then Copy Music, you will have four encoding choices for MP3: 56 Kbps, 64 Kbps, 128 Kbps, and 192 Kbps. Note that you will not get higher bit rate encoding unless you have installed an MP3 codec separately; the version in Windows Media Player 8 is limited to 56 Kbps only. Find the appropriate location in the Registry... ...add a few DWORD values... ...And then you'll be ripping CDs in higher-quality MP3 format!
Speed up the Start Menu The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key: By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.
Speed up the Start Menu (Part two) If your confounded by the slow speed of the Start Menu, even after using the tip above, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Advanced and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow . You will get much better overall performance.
Speed up Internet Explorer 6 Favorites For some reason, the Favorites menu in IE 6 seems to slow down dramatically sometimes--I've noticed this happens when you install Tweak UI 1.33, for example, and when you use the preview tip to speed up the Start menu. But here's a fix for the problem that does work, though it's unclear why: Do an unattended installation The Windows XP Setup routine is much nicer than that in Windows 2000 or Windows Me, but it's still an hour-long process that forces you to sit in front of your computer for an hour, answering dialog boxes and typing in product keys. But Windows XP picks up one of the more useful features from Windows 2000, the ability to do an unattended installation, so you can simply prepare a script that will answer all those dialogs for you and let you spend some quality time with your family. To perform an unattended installation, you just need to work with the Setup Manager, which is located on the Windows XP CD-ROM in D:\SupportTools\DEPLOY.CAB by default: Extract the contents of this file and you'll find a number of useful tools and help files; the one we're interested in is named setupmgr.exe. This is a very simple wizard application that will walk you through the process of creating an answer file called winnt.sif that can be used to guide Windows XP Setup through the unattended installation. One final tip: There's one thing that Setup Manager doesn't add: Your product key. However, you can add this to the unattend.txt file manually. Simply open the file in Notepad and add the following line under the [UserData] section: ProductID=RK7J8-2PGYQ-P47VV-V6PMB-F6XPQ (This is a 60 day cd key) Then, just copy winnt.sif to a floppy, put your Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD drive, and reboot: When the CD auto-boots, it will look for the unattend.txt file in A: automatically, and use it to answer the Setup questions if it's there. Finally, please remember that this will wipe out your system! Back up first, and spend some time with the help files in DEPLOY.CAB before proceeding. For Older builds or not using setupreg.hiv file Remove the Desktop version text During the Windows XP beta, you will see text in the lower right corner of the screen that says Windows XP Professional, Evaluation Copy. Build 2462 or similar. A lot of people would like to remove this text for some reason, and while it's possible to do so, the cure is more damaging than the problem, in my opinion. So the following step will remove this text, but you'll lose a lot of the nice graphical effects that come in Windows XP, such as the see-through icon text. To remove the desktop version text, open Display Properties (right-click the desktop, then choose Properties) and navigate to the Desktop page. Click Customize Desktop and then choose the Web page in the resulting dialog. On this page, check the option titled Lock desktop items. Click OK to close the dialog, and then OK to close Display Properties. The text disappears. But now the rest of your system is really ugly. You can reverse the process by unchecking Lock desktop items. There's also a shortcut for this process: Just right-click the desktop and choose Arrange by then Lock Web Icons on the Desktop. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon. But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys: (default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value) Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.
Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger simply delete the following Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog For some reason, Hibernate may not be available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't! Add album art to any music folder One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however. When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good! Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever! Change the location of the My Music or My Pictures folders In Windows 2000, Microsoft added the ability to right-click the My Documents folder and choose a new location for that folder in the sh*ll Open a My Computer window and navigate to the location where you'd like My Music (or My Pictures) to reside. Then, open the My Documents folder in a different window. Drag the My Music (or My Pictures) folder to the other window, and Windows XP will update all of the references to that folder to the new location, including the Start menu. Or use Tweak UI Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition RC1, this file will resemble the following by default: [Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$" [Components] [Global] The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart's content. Cool, eh? There are even more new options now under "Accessories and Utilities" too. Remove Windows Messenger It seems that a lot of people are interested in removing Windows Messenger for some reason, though I strongly recommend against this: In Windows XP, Windows Messenger will be the hub of your connection to the .NET world, and now that this feature is part of Windows, I think we're going to see a lot of .NET Passport-enabled Web sites appearing as well. But if you can't stand the little app, there are a couple of ways to get rid of it, and ensure that it doesn't pop up every time you boot into XP. The best way simply utilizes the previous tip: If you'd like Windows Messenger to show up in the list of programs you can add and remove from Windows, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open sysoc.inf (see the previous tip for more information about this file). You'll see a line that reads: msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7 Change this to the following and Windows Messenger will appear in Add or Remove Programs, then Add/Remove Windows Components, then , and you can remove it for good: msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,7 |
To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name (ie charmap).
WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS:
=========================================
1) Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters)
2) Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe
3) Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard)
4) Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool)
5) DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards)
6) Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters)
7) IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package)
8) Microsoft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented).
9) Windows Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic).
10) ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases)
11) Object Packager = packager.exe (to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files).
12) System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only )
13) Program Manager = progman.exe (Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell).
14) Remote Access phone book = rasphone.exe (documentation is virtually non-existant).
15) Registry Editor = regedt32.exe [also regedit.exe] (for hacking the Windows Registry).
16) Network shared folder wizard = shrpubw.exe (creates shared folders on network).
17) File siganture verification tool = sigverif.exe
18) Volume Contro = sndvol32.exe (I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area).
19) System Configuration Editor = sysedit.exe (modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! ).
20) Syskey = syskey.exe (Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications).
21) Microsoft Telnet Client = telnet.exe
22) Driver Verifier Manager = verifier.exe (seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented).
23) Windows for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available).
24) System configuration = msconfig.exe (can use to control starup programs)
25) gpedit.msc used to manage group policies, and permissions
--ACRONYMS--
DOS = Disk Operating System, or MS-DOS
MSIE = Microsoft Internet Explorer
TIF = Temporary Internet Files (folder)
HD = Hard Drive
OS = Operating System
FYI = For Your Information
1)SEEING IS BELIEVING
No. Enabling Windows Explorer to "show all files" does not show the files in mention. No. DOS does not
list the files after receiving a proper directory listing from root. And yes. Microsoft intentionally
disabled the "Find" utility from searching through one of the folders.
Oh, but that's not all.
To see for yourself simply do as you would normally do to clear your browsing history. Go to Internet
Options under your Control Panel. Click on the [Clear History] and [Delete Files] buttons. (Make sure
to include all offline content.)
So, has your browsing history been cleared? One would think so.
These are the names and locations of the "really hidden files":
c:\windows\history\history.ie5\index.dat
c:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\index.dat
If you have upgraded MSIE several times, they might have alternative names of mm256.dat and
mm2048.dat, and may also be located here:
c:\windows\tempor~1\
c:\windows\history\
Not to mention the other alternative locations under:
c:\windows\profiles\%user%\...
c:\windows\application data\...
c:\windows\local settings\...
c:\windows\temp\...
c:\temp\...
(or as defined in your autoexec.bat.)
FYI, there are a couple other index.dat files that get hidden as well, but they are seemingly not very
important. See if you can find them.
2)IF YOU HAVE EVER USED MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER
1) Shut your computer down, and turn it back on.
2) While your computer is booting keep pressing the [F8] key until you are given an option screen.
3) Choose "Command Prompt Only" (This will take you to true DOS mode.) Windows ME users must use a boot
disk to get into real DOS mode.
4) When your computer is done booting, you will have a C:\> followed by a blinking cursor.
Type this in, hitting enter after each line. (Obviously, don't type the comments in parentheses.)
C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV (Loads smartdrive to speed things up.)
CD\
DELTREE/Y TEMP (This line removes temporary files.)
CD WINDOWS
DELTREE/Y COOKIES (This line removes cookies.)
DELTREE/Y TEMP (This removes temporary files.)
DELTREE/Y HISTORY (This line removes your browsing history.)
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1 (This line removes your internet cache.)
(If that last line doesn't work, then type this
CD\WINDOWS\APPLIC~1
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1
(If that didn't work, then type this
CD\WINDOWS\LOCALS~1
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1
If you have profiles turned on, then it is likely located under \windows\profiles\%user%\, while older
versions of MSIE keep them under \windows\content\.)
FYI, Windows re-creates the index.dat files automatically when you reboot your machine, so don't be
surprised when you see them again. They should at least be cleared of your browsing history.
3)CLEARING YOUR REGISTRY
It was once believed that the registry is the central database of Windows that stores and maintains the
OS configuration information. Well, this is wrong. Apparently, it also maintains a bunch of other
information that has absolutely nothing to do with the configuration. I won't get into the other
stuff, but for one, your typed URLs are stored in the registry.
HKEY_USERS/Default/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/TypedURLs/
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/TypedURLs/
These "Typed URLs" come from MSIE's autocomplete feature. It records all URLs that you've typed in manually
in order to save you some time filling out the address field.
4)SLACK FILES
As you may already know, deleting files only deletes the references to them. They are in fact still sitting
there on your HD and can still be recovered by a very motivated person.
Use window washer to delete slack files. /http://www.webroot.com/download/0506/reg3ww.exe
5)STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE THROUGH YOUR HIDDEN FILES
The most important files to be paying attention to are your "index.dat" files. These are database files
that reference your history, cache and cookies. The first thing you should know is that the index.dat files
is that they don't exist in less you know they do. They second thing you should know about them is that
some will *not* get cleared after deleting your history and cache.
To view these files, follow these steps:
In MSIE 5.x, you can skip this first step by opening MSIE and going to Tools > Internet Options > [Settings] > [View Files].
Now write down the names of your alphanumeric folders on a piece of paper. If you can't see any alphanumeric
folders then start with step 1 here:
1) First, drop to a DOS box and type this at prompt (in all lower-case). It will bring up Windows Explorer
under the correct directory.
c:\windows\explorer /e,c:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\
You see all those alphanumeric names listed under "content.ie5?" (left-hand side.) That's Microsoft's
idea of making this project as hard as possible. Actually, these are your alphanumeric folders that was
created to keep your cache. Write these names down on a piece of paper. (They should look something like
this: 6YQ2GSWF, QRM7KL3F, U7YHQKI4, 7YMZ516U, etc.) If you click on any of the alphanumeric folders then
nothing will be displayed. Not because there aren't any files here, but because Windows Explorer has lied
to you. If you want to view the contents of these alphanumeric folders you will have to do so in DOS.
2) Then you must restart in MS-DOS mode. (Start > Shutdown > Restart in MS-DOS mode. ME users use a
bootdisk.)
Note that you must restart to DOS because windows has locked down some of the files and they can only be
accessed in real DOS mode.
3) Type this in at prompt:
CD\WINDOWS\TEMPOR~1\CONTENT.IE5
CD %alphanumeric%
(replace the "%alphanumeric%" with the first name that you just wrote down.)
DIR/P
The cache files you are now looking at are directly responsible for the mysterious erosion of HD space
you may have been noticing.
5) Type this in:
CD\WINDOWS\TEMPOR~1\CONTENT.IE5
EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT
You will be brought to a blue screen with a bunch of binary.
6) Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLs. These are all the sites
that you've ever visited as well as a brief description of each. You'll notice it records everything
ou've searched for in a search engine in plain text, in addition to the URL.
7) When you get done searching around you can go to File > Exit. If you don't have mouse support in DOS
then use the [ALT] and arrow keys.
Next you'll probably want to erase these files by typing this:
C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV
CD\WINDOWS
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1
(replace "cd\windows" with the location of your TIF folder if different.)
9) Then check out the contents of your History folder by typing this:
CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY\HISTORY.IE5
EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT
You will be brought to a blue screen with more binary.
10) Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLS again.
This is another database of the sites you've visited.
11) And if you're still with me, type this:
CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY
12) If you see any mmXXXX.dat files here then check them out (and delete them.) Then:
CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY\HISTORY.IE5
CD MSHIST~1
EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT
More URLs from your internet history. Note, there are probably other mshist~x folders here so you can
repeat these steps for every occurence if you please.
13) By now, you'll probably want to type in this:
CD\WINDOWS
DELTREE/Y HISTORY
6)HOW MICROSOFT DOES IT
How does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to DOS?
The only thing Microsoft had to do to make the folders/files invisible to a directory listing is to
set them +s[ystem]. That's it.
So how does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to Windows Explorer?
The "desktop.ini" is a standard text file that can be added to any folder to customize certain aspects of
the folder's behavior. In these cases, Microsoft utilized the desktop.ini file to make these files
invisible. Invisible to Windows Explorer and even to the "Find: Files or Folders" utility. All that
Microsoft had to do was create a desktop.ini file with certain CLSID tags and the folders would disappear
like magic.
To show you exactly what's going on:
Found in the c:\windows\temporary internet files\desktop.ini and
the c:\windows\temporary internet files\content.ie5\desktop.ini is this text:
[.ShellClassInfo]
UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}
Found in the c:\windows\history\desktop.ini and the c:\windows\history\history.ie5\desktop.ini is this text:
[.ShellClassInfo]
UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}
CLSID={FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
The UICLSID line cloaks the folder in Windows Explorer. The CLSID line disables the "Find" utility
from searching through the folder.
To see for yourself, you can simply erase the desktop.ini files. You'll see that it will instantly give
Windows Explorer proper viewing functionality again, and the "Find" utility proper searching capabilities
again. Problem solved right? Actually, no. As it turns out, the desktop.ini files get reconstructed every
single time you restart your computer. Nice one, Slick.
Luckily there is a loophole which will keep Windows from hiding these folders. You can manually edit the
desktop.ini's and remove everything except for the "[.ShellClassInfo]" line. This will trick windows into
thinking they have still covered their tracks, and wininet won't think to reconstruct them.
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