There are a lot of ways to earn.
One of it is the cash fiesta. Where you just install the Cash Bar and start earning. Thats what you have to do. you can install it anywhere, where you want to login.
Here how to start.
1. Open this site.
2. Then you have to register first. A confirmation should be email to you.
3. Login with your account.
4. Install Cash Bar and run Cash Boy. In that way, when Cash boy starts to walk, you are also starting to earn. Thats all you have to do.
5. Just wait an see as your point getting bigger and you earn by that.
For more info
Visit Cashfiesta.com
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
> Earn £ 0.01 per search
> The minimum payout is £ 20.
> Available Worldwide.
You can make money just from searching on the Internet.
For every search that you make on the Homepages Friends website, you will receive a set amount of money .
The service is completely free of charge and the earnings will be paid via PayPal. To use the service, you will need to sign up and install the Homepages Friends search box to keep track of your searches and your earnings.
I would say its simple and pretty easy - the more you search the more you make , no limitations , earn as much as you want.
How To Earn More $$$
1. You can make 100 searches in one hour. It’s up to you how much time you will spend to earn money!
2. Search for anything. Don’t think about keywords and when
the search result comes up, click one or two results. While the pages
are being loaded you can open another window to make a new search. It will quicken your work and earnings.
3.Referring your friends and family.
You can earn even more if you tell your friends and they raise funds in the same way. You will get 50% from yours friends .
You can refer as many friends, family or colleagues as you want!
Remember, the funds you earn from your friends searches do not come from yours or your friends 50%, but from Homepages Friends 50% in reward for your referrals.
You will not be able to see your earnings instantly. It will take up to 24 hours for your earnings to be updated. Earnings from the referrals is updated in weekly basis.
So... Start Earning now..
> The minimum payout is £ 20.
> Available Worldwide.
You can make money just from searching on the Internet.
For every search that you make on the Homepages Friends website, you will receive a set amount of money .
The service is completely free of charge and the earnings will be paid via PayPal. To use the service, you will need to sign up and install the Homepages Friends search box to keep track of your searches and your earnings.
I would say its simple and pretty easy - the more you search the more you make , no limitations , earn as much as you want.
How To Earn More $$$
1. You can make 100 searches in one hour. It’s up to you how much time you will spend to earn money!
2. Search for anything. Don’t think about keywords and when
the search result comes up, click one or two results. While the pages
are being loaded you can open another window to make a new search. It will quicken your work and earnings.
3.Referring your friends and family.
You can earn even more if you tell your friends and they raise funds in the same way. You will get 50% from yours friends .
You can refer as many friends, family or colleagues as you want!
Remember, the funds you earn from your friends searches do not come from yours or your friends 50%, but from Homepages Friends 50% in reward for your referrals.
You will not be able to see your earnings instantly. It will take up to 24 hours for your earnings to be updated. Earnings from the referrals is updated in weekly basis.
So... Start Earning now..
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Some tutorials to make your PC more faster
DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don't search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-Click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next
OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS
Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:
1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab Click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons
DISABLE PERFORMANCE COUNTERS
Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC's performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.
To disable:
1. download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List
2.Then select each counter in turn in the 'Extensible performance counters' window and clear the 'performance counters enabled' checkbox at the bottom.button below.
SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING
You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer
IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE
Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
Once Installed:
1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows
OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE
If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.
1. Right Click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.
Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.
RUN BOOTVIS - IMPROVE BOOT TIMES
BootVis will significantly improve boot times
1. Download and Run
2. Select Trace
3. Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
4. A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
5. Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system's boot process. When it's done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
6. Reboot.
7. When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete
REMOVE THE DESKTOP PICTURE
Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance.
1. Right Click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select the Desktop tab
3. In the Background window select None
4. Click Ok
REMOVE FONTS FOR SPEED
Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Fonts folder
3. Move fonts you don't need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.
DISABLE UNNECESSARY SERVICES
Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fast User Switching
Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
Server
SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disable this)
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
Workstation
To disable these services:
Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"
TURN OFF SYSTEM RESTORE
System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:
Open Control Panel
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick 'Turn off System Restore on All Drives'
Click 'Ok'
DEFRAGMENT YOUR PAGEFILE
Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn't get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:
Download and Run PageDefrag
Tick "Defrag at next Reboot",
Click "Ok"
Reboot
SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE
If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.
Go to Start and then Run and type "regedit"
Click through the file system until you get to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\C ontr ol\FileSystem"
Right-Click in a blank area of the window on the right and select 'DWORD Value'
Create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
Then Right Click on the new value and select 'Modify'
Change the Value Data to '1'
Click 'OK'
DISABLE SYSTEM SOUNDS
Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:
Open Control Panel
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose "No Sounds" for the Sound Scheme
Click "No"
Click "Apply"
Click "OK"
IMPROVE BOOT TIMES
A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.
Go to Start Menu and Click Run
Type in "Regedit" then Click ok
Find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\Bo otOp t imizeFunction"
Select "Enable" from the list on the right
Right on it and select "Modify"
Change the value to "Y to enable"
Reboot
IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE
If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.
Go to Start then Run
Type "msconfig.exe" then ok
Click on the System.ini tab
Expand the 386enh tab by *** on the plus sign
Click on new then in the blank box type"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
Click OK
Restart PC
MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER
This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between *** on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then Click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right Click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "100"
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood
MAKE PROGRAMS LOAD FASTER
This little tweak tends to work for most programs. If your program doesn't load properly just undo the change. For any program:
Right-Click on the icon/shortcut you use to launch the program
Select properties
In the 'target' box, add ' /prefetch:1' at the end of the line.
Click "Ok"
Voila - your programs will now load faster.
IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED
This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.
Go to Start then select Run
Type 'Regedit' and Click ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
SPEED UP BOOT TIMES I
This tweak works by creating a batch file to clear the temp and history folders everytime you shutdown so that your PC doesn't waste time checking these folders the next time it boots. It's quite simple to implement:
1. Open Notepad and create a new file with the following entries:
RD /S /q "C:\Documents and Settings\"UserName without quotes"\Local Settings\History"
RD /S /q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History"
RD /S /q "D:\Temp\" <--"Deletes temp folder, type in the location of your temp folder"
2. Save the new as anything you like but it has to be a '.bat' file e.g. fastboot.bat or deltemp.bat
3. Click 'Start' then 'Run'
4. Type in 'gpedit.msc' and hit 'ok'
5. Click on 'Computer Configuration' then 'Windows Settings'
6. Double-Click on 'Scripts' and then on 'Shutdown'
7. Click 'Add' and find the batch file that you created and then press 'Ok'
SPEED UP BOOT TIMES II
When your PC starts it usually looks for any bootable media in any floppy or cd-rom drives you have installed before it gets around to loading the Operating System from the HDD. This can waste valuable time. To fix this we need to make some changes to the Bios.
1. To enter the bios you usually press 'F2' or 'delete' when your PC starts
2. Navigate to the 'Boot' menu
3. Select 'Boot Sequence'
4. Then either move your Hard drive to the top position or set it as the 'First Device'
5. Press the 'Escape' key to leave the bios. Don't forget to save your settings before exiting
Note: Once this change has been made, you won't be able to boot from a floppy disc or a CD-rom. If for some strange reason you need to do this in the future, just go back into your bios, repeat the steps above and put your floppy or CD-rom back as the 'First Device'
SPEED UP BOOT TIMES III
When your computer boots up it usually has to check with the network to see what IP addresses are free and then it grabs one of these. By configuring a manually assigned IP address your boot time will improve. To do this do the following:
1. Click on 'Start' and then ''Connect To/Show All Connections'
2. Right-Click your network adapter card and Click 'Properties'.
3. On the 'General' tab, select 'TCP/IP' in the list of services and Click 'Properties'
4.I n the TCP/IP properties, Click 'Use the following address' and enter an IP address for your PC. If you are using a router this is usually 192.168.0.xx or 192.168.1.xx. If you are not sure what address you could check with your ISP or go to 'Start/run' and type 'cmd' and then 'ipconfig/all'. This will show your current IP settings which you will need to copy.
5. Enter the correct details for 'Subnet mask', 'Default gateway' and 'DNS Server'. Again if you are not sure what figures to enter use 'ipconfig/all' as in stage 4.
FREE UP MEMORY
I found this useful app via FixMyXP. ClearMem Is an Excellent Tool for speeding up your XP Computer (especially if your system has been on for awhile and you have a lot of applications open). What it does, is it Forces pages out of physical memory and reduces the size of running processes if working sets to a minimum. When you run this tool, the system pauses because of excessive high-priority activity associated with trimming the working sets. To run this tool, your paging file must be at least as large as physical memory. To Check your Paging File:
1. Go to your control panel, then Click on 'System', then go to the 'Advanced' Tab, and Under 'Performance' Click 'Settings' then the 'Advanced' Tab
2. On the Bottom you should see 'Virtual Memory' and a value. This is the value that must be at least as large as how much memory is in your system.
3. If the Virtual Memory Value is smaller than your system memory, Click Change and change the Min Virtual Memory to a number that is greater than your total system memory, then Click 'Set' and Reboot.
4. Once you have rebooted install ClearMem
ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE
XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:
1. Open 'Device Manager'
2. Double-Click 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers'
3. Right-Click 'Primary Channel' and select 'Properties' and then 'Advanced Settings'
4. In the 'Current Transfer Mode' drop-down box, select 'DMA if Available' if the current setting is 'PIO Only'
ADD CORRECT NETWORK CARD SETTINGS
Some machines suffer from jerky graphics or high CPU usage even when a machine is idle. A possible solution for this, which, can also can help network performance is to:
1. RightClick 'My Computer'
2. Select 'Manage'
3. Click on 'Device Manager'
4. DoubleClick your network adaptor under 'Network Adapters'
5. In the new window, select the 'Advanced' tab
6. Select 'Connection Type' and select the correct type for your card and then Reboot
REMOVE ANNOYING DELETE CONFIRMATION MESSAGES
Although not strictly a performance tweak I love this fix as it makes my machine 'feel' faster. I hate the annoying 'are you sure?' messages that XP displays, especially if I have to use a laptop touchpad to close them. To remove these messages:
1. Right-Click on the 'Recycle Bin' on the desktop and then Click 'Properties'
2. Clear the 'Display Delete Confirmation Dialog' check box and Click 'Ok'
If you do accidently delete a file don't worry as all is not lost. Just go to your Recycle Bin and 'Restore' the file.
DISABLE PREFETCH ON LOW MEMORY SYSTEMS
Prefetch is designed to speed up program launching by preloading programs into memory - not a good idea is memory is in short supply, as it can make programs hang. To disable prefetch:
1. Click 'Start' then 'Run'
2. Type in 'Regedit' then Click 'Ok'
3. Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\'
4. Right-Click on "EnablePrefetcher" and set the value to '0'
5. Reboot.
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don't search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-Click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next
OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS
Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:
1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab Click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons
DISABLE PERFORMANCE COUNTERS
Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC's performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.
To disable:
1. download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List
2.Then select each counter in turn in the 'Extensible performance counters' window and clear the 'performance counters enabled' checkbox at the bottom.button below.
SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING
You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer
IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE
Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
Once Installed:
1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows
OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE
If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.
1. Right Click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.
Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.
RUN BOOTVIS - IMPROVE BOOT TIMES
BootVis will significantly improve boot times
1. Download and Run
2. Select Trace
3. Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
4. A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
5. Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system's boot process. When it's done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
6. Reboot.
7. When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete
REMOVE THE DESKTOP PICTURE
Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance.
1. Right Click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select the Desktop tab
3. In the Background window select None
4. Click Ok
REMOVE FONTS FOR SPEED
Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Fonts folder
3. Move fonts you don't need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.
DISABLE UNNECESSARY SERVICES
Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fast User Switching
Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
Server
SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disable this)
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
Workstation
To disable these services:
Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"
TURN OFF SYSTEM RESTORE
System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:
Open Control Panel
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick 'Turn off System Restore on All Drives'
Click 'Ok'
DEFRAGMENT YOUR PAGEFILE
Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn't get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:
Download and Run PageDefrag
Tick "Defrag at next Reboot",
Click "Ok"
Reboot
SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE
If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.
Go to Start and then Run and type "regedit"
Click through the file system until you get to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\C ontr ol\FileSystem"
Right-Click in a blank area of the window on the right and select 'DWORD Value'
Create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
Then Right Click on the new value and select 'Modify'
Change the Value Data to '1'
Click 'OK'
DISABLE SYSTEM SOUNDS
Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:
Open Control Panel
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose "No Sounds" for the Sound Scheme
Click "No"
Click "Apply"
Click "OK"
IMPROVE BOOT TIMES
A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.
Go to Start Menu and Click Run
Type in "Regedit" then Click ok
Find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\Bo otOp t imizeFunction"
Select "Enable" from the list on the right
Right on it and select "Modify"
Change the value to "Y to enable"
Reboot
IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE
If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.
Go to Start then Run
Type "msconfig.exe" then ok
Click on the System.ini tab
Expand the 386enh tab by *** on the plus sign
Click on new then in the blank box type"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
Click OK
Restart PC
MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER
This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between *** on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then Click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right Click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "100"
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood
MAKE PROGRAMS LOAD FASTER
This little tweak tends to work for most programs. If your program doesn't load properly just undo the change. For any program:
Right-Click on the icon/shortcut you use to launch the program
Select properties
In the 'target' box, add ' /prefetch:1' at the end of the line.
Click "Ok"
Voila - your programs will now load faster.
IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED
This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.
Go to Start then select Run
Type 'Regedit' and Click ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
SPEED UP BOOT TIMES I
This tweak works by creating a batch file to clear the temp and history folders everytime you shutdown so that your PC doesn't waste time checking these folders the next time it boots. It's quite simple to implement:
1. Open Notepad and create a new file with the following entries:
RD /S /q "C:\Documents and Settings\"UserName without quotes"\Local Settings\History"
RD /S /q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History"
RD /S /q "D:\Temp\" <--"Deletes temp folder, type in the location of your temp folder"
2. Save the new as anything you like but it has to be a '.bat' file e.g. fastboot.bat or deltemp.bat
3. Click 'Start' then 'Run'
4. Type in 'gpedit.msc' and hit 'ok'
5. Click on 'Computer Configuration' then 'Windows Settings'
6. Double-Click on 'Scripts' and then on 'Shutdown'
7. Click 'Add' and find the batch file that you created and then press 'Ok'
SPEED UP BOOT TIMES II
When your PC starts it usually looks for any bootable media in any floppy or cd-rom drives you have installed before it gets around to loading the Operating System from the HDD. This can waste valuable time. To fix this we need to make some changes to the Bios.
1. To enter the bios you usually press 'F2' or 'delete' when your PC starts
2. Navigate to the 'Boot' menu
3. Select 'Boot Sequence'
4. Then either move your Hard drive to the top position or set it as the 'First Device'
5. Press the 'Escape' key to leave the bios. Don't forget to save your settings before exiting
Note: Once this change has been made, you won't be able to boot from a floppy disc or a CD-rom. If for some strange reason you need to do this in the future, just go back into your bios, repeat the steps above and put your floppy or CD-rom back as the 'First Device'
SPEED UP BOOT TIMES III
When your computer boots up it usually has to check with the network to see what IP addresses are free and then it grabs one of these. By configuring a manually assigned IP address your boot time will improve. To do this do the following:
1. Click on 'Start' and then ''Connect To/Show All Connections'
2. Right-Click your network adapter card and Click 'Properties'.
3. On the 'General' tab, select 'TCP/IP' in the list of services and Click 'Properties'
4.I n the TCP/IP properties, Click 'Use the following address' and enter an IP address for your PC. If you are using a router this is usually 192.168.0.xx or 192.168.1.xx. If you are not sure what address you could check with your ISP or go to 'Start/run' and type 'cmd' and then 'ipconfig/all'. This will show your current IP settings which you will need to copy.
5. Enter the correct details for 'Subnet mask', 'Default gateway' and 'DNS Server'. Again if you are not sure what figures to enter use 'ipconfig/all' as in stage 4.
FREE UP MEMORY
I found this useful app via FixMyXP. ClearMem Is an Excellent Tool for speeding up your XP Computer (especially if your system has been on for awhile and you have a lot of applications open). What it does, is it Forces pages out of physical memory and reduces the size of running processes if working sets to a minimum. When you run this tool, the system pauses because of excessive high-priority activity associated with trimming the working sets. To run this tool, your paging file must be at least as large as physical memory. To Check your Paging File:
1. Go to your control panel, then Click on 'System', then go to the 'Advanced' Tab, and Under 'Performance' Click 'Settings' then the 'Advanced' Tab
2. On the Bottom you should see 'Virtual Memory' and a value. This is the value that must be at least as large as how much memory is in your system.
3. If the Virtual Memory Value is smaller than your system memory, Click Change and change the Min Virtual Memory to a number that is greater than your total system memory, then Click 'Set' and Reboot.
4. Once you have rebooted install ClearMem
ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE
XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:
1. Open 'Device Manager'
2. Double-Click 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers'
3. Right-Click 'Primary Channel' and select 'Properties' and then 'Advanced Settings'
4. In the 'Current Transfer Mode' drop-down box, select 'DMA if Available' if the current setting is 'PIO Only'
ADD CORRECT NETWORK CARD SETTINGS
Some machines suffer from jerky graphics or high CPU usage even when a machine is idle. A possible solution for this, which, can also can help network performance is to:
1. RightClick 'My Computer'
2. Select 'Manage'
3. Click on 'Device Manager'
4. DoubleClick your network adaptor under 'Network Adapters'
5. In the new window, select the 'Advanced' tab
6. Select 'Connection Type' and select the correct type for your card and then Reboot
REMOVE ANNOYING DELETE CONFIRMATION MESSAGES
Although not strictly a performance tweak I love this fix as it makes my machine 'feel' faster. I hate the annoying 'are you sure?' messages that XP displays, especially if I have to use a laptop touchpad to close them. To remove these messages:
1. Right-Click on the 'Recycle Bin' on the desktop and then Click 'Properties'
2. Clear the 'Display Delete Confirmation Dialog' check box and Click 'Ok'
If you do accidently delete a file don't worry as all is not lost. Just go to your Recycle Bin and 'Restore' the file.
DISABLE PREFETCH ON LOW MEMORY SYSTEMS
Prefetch is designed to speed up program launching by preloading programs into memory - not a good idea is memory is in short supply, as it can make programs hang. To disable prefetch:
1. Click 'Start' then 'Run'
2. Type in 'Regedit' then Click 'Ok'
3. Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\'
4. Right-Click on "EnablePrefetcher" and set the value to '0'
5. Reboot.
Maintenance - Make Menus Load Faster XP
This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
Go to Start then Run
1. Type 'Regedit' then click 'Ok'
2. Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
3. Select "MenuShowDelay"
4. Right click and select "Modify'
5. Reduce the number to around "100"
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on your desire speed.
Go to Start then Run
1. Type 'Regedit' then click 'Ok'
2. Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
3. Select "MenuShowDelay"
4. Right click and select "Modify'
5. Reduce the number to around "100"
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on your desire speed.
Repair - PC Errors and The Solution
1. MONITOR LED IS BLINKING
Check all the connections like Monitor Cable, Data cables,RAM, Display Card , CPU connections.
2. CONTINUOUS THREE BEEPS
Problem in RAM Connection.
3. THREE BEEPS ( 1 Long 2 Short)
Problem in Display Card Connection
4. THREE LONG BEEPS PERIOD WISE
Problem in BIOS or RAM (Basic Input Output System)
5. CONTINUOUS NON-STOP BEEPING
Key Board Problem (I.e.; Some Key is pressed for Longer time)
6. FDD LED IS GLOWING CONTINUOUSLY
Data cable to be connected properly (twisted cable).
7. NO DISPLAY ON THE SCREEN AT ALL
Hard Disk cable connected wrongly. Connect rightly seeing the Red mark (Faces power supply) and then Restart.
8. POWER LED IS OFF
a. Check main power cord
b. Check S.M.P.S.
c. Check Mother Board connection
9. SHOWING CMOS ERROR
Replace 3 Volt battery of Mother Board . Set Original Settings Manually.(Refer CMOS Setup chart)
Enter your search termsSubmit search form
10. SHOWING FDD ERROR OR FLOPPY DRIVE IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY
Check Power cord of FDD , Data Cables , set CMOS & Finally the Check drive.
11. SHOWING HDD ERROR OR HARD DISK FAILURE
a. Check Power Cord
b. Check connection of HDD
c. Check Data cable
d. Check Hard Disk parameters in CMOS or Auto detecting Setting Partitions by Fdisk Command, then format it to set track 0.
12. MOTHER BOARD HANGS DUE TO UNSTABILIZED POWER SUPPLY
a. Check S.M.P.S
b. RAM not functioning properly.
c. Software problem (due to using pirated software)
d. CPU fan not functioning properly.
13. DANCING SCREEN
a. Check Display card connection
b. Virus Problem
c. Video Memory Problem
14. SHAKING SCREEN
a. Earthing problem
b. Magnetic waves comes around.
15. CPU CABINET SHOCK
a. Check Earthing
b. Check main power cord.
16. NON-SYSTEM DISK ERROR
a. Floppy Drive having different disk (Non-Bootable Disk) OR CMOS Parameters for Hard Disk may not be set properly.
b. Hard Disk Partitions may not be created.
c. Hard Disk may not be formatted.
7. MISSING OPERATING SYSTEM
The System files missing namely Ie; command.com} - User File IO.SYS & MS_DOS.SYS } - Hidden Files. These above three files required for Start up of the system that can be transferred by using SYS C: Command OR While the time of formatting by using Format c:/u/s
18. MISSING COMMAND INTERPRETOR
May the file Command.com is corrupted OR Infected by Virus OR Some one has Erased it.
19. SHOWING I/O ERROR
a. The type of Hard Disk in CMOS may not be set properly.
b. Operating system used for formatting is not valid
20. SHOWING DIVIDE OVER- FLOW MESSAGE
a. May some Directories or Files crash with other files.
b. Use CHKDSK/F or SCANDISK Command to correct it.
21. HARD DISK MAKING NOISE WHILE PROCESSING
a. Unstabilized power supply.
b. Check for Loose Contact.
c. Do not use Y Connectors for Hard Disk.
d. It may create Bad Sector OR Weak Hard Disk.
22. HARD DISK HANGS WHILE PROCESSING
Check for Bad Sector by using CHKDSK or SCANDISK Command. If found format the Hard Disk and set Partition before that area.(This is the only procedure to use Hard Disk with Bad Sector) OR (To avoid Bad Sectors use Standard Power Supply)
23. HARD DISK NOT DETECTED
a. Check Power Connector
b. Check Data Cables
c. Check Jumpers
24. PARTITION NOT SHOWN
Operating System where the Hard Disk formatted is not supported with present Mother Board. For Eg: Hard Disk formatted with Pentium System will hide their partitions for 486 System.
25. MMX/DLL FILE MISSING
May the above files may be corrupted due to power failure or Virus. Make available above files from other Computer. OR Reinstall Windows 98 Operating System. (This procedure will not make any effect on existing Data).
26. WINDOWS REGISTRY ERROR
This will happen due to sudden ON/OFF of the system. Final solution is to Reinstall Operating System.
27. DISPLAY COLOUR DOES NOT MATCH
a. Configure Display Card properly with their CD.
b. The Standard setting for Windows is set it to 800x600 for better performance.
28. UNKNOWN DEVICE FOUND
May the Driver utility is not provided with operating system . Insert Driver CD and install software for the above Device. (Every Device requires driver utility to set active
Check all the connections like Monitor Cable, Data cables,RAM, Display Card , CPU connections.
2. CONTINUOUS THREE BEEPS
Problem in RAM Connection.
3. THREE BEEPS ( 1 Long 2 Short)
Problem in Display Card Connection
4. THREE LONG BEEPS PERIOD WISE
Problem in BIOS or RAM (Basic Input Output System)
5. CONTINUOUS NON-STOP BEEPING
Key Board Problem (I.e.; Some Key is pressed for Longer time)
6. FDD LED IS GLOWING CONTINUOUSLY
Data cable to be connected properly (twisted cable).
7. NO DISPLAY ON THE SCREEN AT ALL
Hard Disk cable connected wrongly. Connect rightly seeing the Red mark (Faces power supply) and then Restart.
8. POWER LED IS OFF
a. Check main power cord
b. Check S.M.P.S.
c. Check Mother Board connection
9. SHOWING CMOS ERROR
Replace 3 Volt battery of Mother Board . Set Original Settings Manually.(Refer CMOS Setup chart)
Enter your search termsSubmit search form
10. SHOWING FDD ERROR OR FLOPPY DRIVE IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY
Check Power cord of FDD , Data Cables , set CMOS & Finally the Check drive.
11. SHOWING HDD ERROR OR HARD DISK FAILURE
a. Check Power Cord
b. Check connection of HDD
c. Check Data cable
d. Check Hard Disk parameters in CMOS or Auto detecting Setting Partitions by Fdisk Command, then format it to set track 0.
12. MOTHER BOARD HANGS DUE TO UNSTABILIZED POWER SUPPLY
a. Check S.M.P.S
b. RAM not functioning properly.
c. Software problem (due to using pirated software)
d. CPU fan not functioning properly.
13. DANCING SCREEN
a. Check Display card connection
b. Virus Problem
c. Video Memory Problem
14. SHAKING SCREEN
a. Earthing problem
b. Magnetic waves comes around.
15. CPU CABINET SHOCK
a. Check Earthing
b. Check main power cord.
16. NON-SYSTEM DISK ERROR
a. Floppy Drive having different disk (Non-Bootable Disk) OR CMOS Parameters for Hard Disk may not be set properly.
b. Hard Disk Partitions may not be created.
c. Hard Disk may not be formatted.
7. MISSING OPERATING SYSTEM
The System files missing namely Ie; command.com} - User File IO.SYS & MS_DOS.SYS } - Hidden Files. These above three files required for Start up of the system that can be transferred by using SYS C: Command OR While the time of formatting by using Format c:/u/s
18. MISSING COMMAND INTERPRETOR
May the file Command.com is corrupted OR Infected by Virus OR Some one has Erased it.
19. SHOWING I/O ERROR
a. The type of Hard Disk in CMOS may not be set properly.
b. Operating system used for formatting is not valid
20. SHOWING DIVIDE OVER- FLOW MESSAGE
a. May some Directories or Files crash with other files.
b. Use CHKDSK/F or SCANDISK Command to correct it.
21. HARD DISK MAKING NOISE WHILE PROCESSING
a. Unstabilized power supply.
b. Check for Loose Contact.
c. Do not use Y Connectors for Hard Disk.
d. It may create Bad Sector OR Weak Hard Disk.
22. HARD DISK HANGS WHILE PROCESSING
Check for Bad Sector by using CHKDSK or SCANDISK Command. If found format the Hard Disk and set Partition before that area.(This is the only procedure to use Hard Disk with Bad Sector) OR (To avoid Bad Sectors use Standard Power Supply)
23. HARD DISK NOT DETECTED
a. Check Power Connector
b. Check Data Cables
c. Check Jumpers
24. PARTITION NOT SHOWN
Operating System where the Hard Disk formatted is not supported with present Mother Board. For Eg: Hard Disk formatted with Pentium System will hide their partitions for 486 System.
25. MMX/DLL FILE MISSING
May the above files may be corrupted due to power failure or Virus. Make available above files from other Computer. OR Reinstall Windows 98 Operating System. (This procedure will not make any effect on existing Data).
26. WINDOWS REGISTRY ERROR
This will happen due to sudden ON/OFF of the system. Final solution is to Reinstall Operating System.
27. DISPLAY COLOUR DOES NOT MATCH
a. Configure Display Card properly with their CD.
b. The Standard setting for Windows is set it to 800x600 for better performance.
28. UNKNOWN DEVICE FOUND
May the Driver utility is not provided with operating system . Insert Driver CD and install software for the above Device. (Every Device requires driver utility to set active
How To - Protect Your PC Files From External Attack
Essential to peace of mind is protecting the PC and your online privacy. When connected to the web, your work and data is open to attacks of various kinds including harmful downloads. A simple game, picture, or program may be the vehicle for malevolence. So, you need to check whether every file that you download, open, or save, is safe or whether there are irregularities of any kind.
Protect your PC by:
• Blocking hackers and viruses by installing the latest firewall and antivirus software. It is advisable to install a software firewall even if you have a hardware firewall in your system. A software firewall is designed to query whether or not it should permit “X,” access. The user can specify which applications can access the port and which cannot. A bi-directional firewall such as ZoneAlarm3 and Personal Firewall 5 will monitor both inbound and outbound traffic preventing Trojans and backdoor programs from functioning.
• Block downloads that install unwanted programs by using the options in Internet explorer to block all software from source X specified by you.
• Install software programs that will constantly scan your PC for spyware, adware, dialers, and web bug traces which can create a nuisance and cause crashes, slow down systems, or steal financial information. By adding a schedule you can instruct NoAdware to automatically scan your PC at set times for in-filtrations.
• Immunize your PC and prevent malicious add ons to your system.
• Configure your PC browser to protect you when you are working online. Use a ‘real time shield’ and prevent intrusions. Be sure to click the “protect IE Favorites” box and ensure that no thief can add an URL without your permission to your browser’s favorites list. This will block offensive and dangerous websites from entering your PC environs.
• Say “no” to any web address or site that instructs you to download specific software to view their pages. Such software can contain a virus, Trojan horse, or auto dialer.
• Create a regular back up schedule for your work. Once a week is ideal if you are a virtual worker or running a business. This will minimize any damage should problems arise.
• Be sure to update your software with the latest patches and bug fixes. Then use the updated or enhanced security settings provided by the updates. There are in built ways which you can operate to block damaging viruses, stamp out cookies, and keep unwanted visitors away from your computer system. The method is easy for example if you are using Internet Explorer just go to Tools-Internet Options-Privacy tab. Click the edit button to accept or reject a specific cookie. Go to the advanced settings and check block third party cookies.
• Scan all downloaded files before use. Never launch executable or scriptable files namely those that have dot.exe; .bat ;.doc; .vbs extensions. Do not access attachments of any kind before they are certified as safe.
• Remove file sharing and windows printer options these increase vulnerability of the PC.
• Encrypt your e-mail and embed an identifying key.
Better be sure than sorry. Preventing snoops is easier than trying to recover after an attack. Take informed steps to protect yourself and your PC
Protect your PC by:
• Blocking hackers and viruses by installing the latest firewall and antivirus software. It is advisable to install a software firewall even if you have a hardware firewall in your system. A software firewall is designed to query whether or not it should permit “X,” access. The user can specify which applications can access the port and which cannot. A bi-directional firewall such as ZoneAlarm3 and Personal Firewall 5 will monitor both inbound and outbound traffic preventing Trojans and backdoor programs from functioning.
• Block downloads that install unwanted programs by using the options in Internet explorer to block all software from source X specified by you.
• Install software programs that will constantly scan your PC for spyware, adware, dialers, and web bug traces which can create a nuisance and cause crashes, slow down systems, or steal financial information. By adding a schedule you can instruct NoAdware to automatically scan your PC at set times for in-filtrations.
• Immunize your PC and prevent malicious add ons to your system.
• Configure your PC browser to protect you when you are working online. Use a ‘real time shield’ and prevent intrusions. Be sure to click the “protect IE Favorites” box and ensure that no thief can add an URL without your permission to your browser’s favorites list. This will block offensive and dangerous websites from entering your PC environs.
• Say “no” to any web address or site that instructs you to download specific software to view their pages. Such software can contain a virus, Trojan horse, or auto dialer.
• Create a regular back up schedule for your work. Once a week is ideal if you are a virtual worker or running a business. This will minimize any damage should problems arise.
• Be sure to update your software with the latest patches and bug fixes. Then use the updated or enhanced security settings provided by the updates. There are in built ways which you can operate to block damaging viruses, stamp out cookies, and keep unwanted visitors away from your computer system. The method is easy for example if you are using Internet Explorer just go to Tools-Internet Options-Privacy tab. Click the edit button to accept or reject a specific cookie. Go to the advanced settings and check block third party cookies.
• Scan all downloaded files before use. Never launch executable or scriptable files namely those that have dot.exe; .bat ;.doc; .vbs extensions. Do not access attachments of any kind before they are certified as safe.
• Remove file sharing and windows printer options these increase vulnerability of the PC.
• Encrypt your e-mail and embed an identifying key.
Better be sure than sorry. Preventing snoops is easier than trying to recover after an attack. Take informed steps to protect yourself and your PC
Some Windows XP Tricks
1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).
2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).
3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.
4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.
5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.
6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.
7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.
8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.
9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.
10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to
CODE
www.whatismyip.com
-- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.
11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.
12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.
2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).
3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.
4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.
5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.
6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.
7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.
8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.
9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.
10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to
CODE
www.whatismyip.com
-- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.
11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.
12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.
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