Xp Tricks Page 1(See Down For More Tricks)

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Icons displayed on the desktop are spaced according to values defined in the display properties. To change these values, perform the following steps:
Start the Display Control Panel applet (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click Display).
Select the Appearance tab.
Under Item, select Icon Spacing (Horizontal) and modify the size.
Select Icon Spacing (Vertical) and modify the size.
Click OK to close all dialog boxes.
Note: For the change to take effect, you need to unselect Auto Arrange from the Arrange Icons context menu that displays when you right-click the desktop.




Do you have a hard time identifying photos or graphics images by their names only? Opt to view thumbnails, or mini-versions of the images, right inside their folder window.
Open the folder that contains the graphics you want to identify
Select View, Thumbnails.
Now you can find what you need at a glance. What's more, this setting sticks for that folder until you turn it off.




By default, Windows XP does not show the QuickLaunch toolbar as did Windows 98.

To enable it:
Right click on an open area of the toolbar
Select Toolbars
Select Quick Launch



By default, Windows XP groups similar taskbar items on the same taskbar button, for example, if you have four folder windows open, you'll see a single button that reads "4 Windows Explorer." If you prefer, you can view each open window on its own taskbar button. Right-click a blank area of the Taskbar and select Properties. On the Taskbar tab of the resulting dialog box, deselect "Group similar taskbar buttons" and click OK.
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If you would like to display your favorite picture on your desktop, Windows XP makes this a simple task. Here's how:
Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the picture file and right-click it.
In the resulting right-click menu, look for the "Open With" option. Choose to Open it in Internet Explorer.
Once Internet Explorer has opened your picture file, right-click the image and select "Set as Background".



One thing that I change a lot is the desktop wallpaper. I get tired of looking at the same thing day in and day out. Using Google Images or Yahoo Images, you can go out into the Internet and find millions of background photo's to use. Here's how:
Open your browser and type in: Select the Google Images tab
Type in your screen size, then use a one or two word description of what you are looking for. Here are a few example searches:

1024x768 hawaii sunset
1024x768 nascar
1024x768 lakes
1024x768 mountains
1024x768 waterfall
...you get the idea
Note: Replace the 1024x768 with your screen size. If you do not know what your screen size is, simply right click an open area of your desktop and select Graphic Options>> Graphic Properties from the resulting menus.

Open the image from its thumbnail view to full-size view.
Once you have selected the photo that you would like to use as your background, right click the image and choose the "Set as background" option.
Your selected background will now reside on your desktop. Change this as often as you like, you'll never run out of photo's.


If you would like the background of the desktop icons to have a transparent appearance, here's how:
Go to Start>> Control Panel>> System
Once at the System Properties windows, select the Advanced tab
Under the Performance category, select the Settings button
In the Performance Options windows select the Visual Effects tab
Scroll down the list of settings and place a checkmark next to the entry titled: Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop.



This is a known bug that really doesn't have a "fix". There are however, things that may help. Here are a few tips that have been known to help:

Method #1:

With your Desktop in view, single left click an empty area, then press the F5 key on your keyboard. This should reset the desktop.

Method #2:

Right click your Taskbar>> Properties>> Uncheck the entry titled: Keep the taskbar on top of other windows. Click Apply, then OK. Reverse the process and re-check the aforementioned entry. Click Apply, then OK.

Method #3:

Most of the time a simple reboot will fix this issue.



The Title Bar is designed to quickly inform you of which program, document or web site you have open windows for. The Active Title Bar will inform you of which window you are currently viewing.
The default colors for the title bars are basic blue with white writing. If you would like to change this to your own color of choice, here's how:

Right-click on an empty area of your desktop.
Choose Properties.
Click the Appearance Tab.
Click the Advanced button.
Choose Active Title Bar or Inactive Title Bar from the 'Item' drop-down menu.
Change Color 1 and Color 2 to your color of choice.
Press Apply when you're finished.



If you want to remove programs that are installed with Windows but are not visible in "Add/Remove Windows Components" (such as MSN Messenger in WinXP), edit a file called "C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF".

Go to: Start>> Run>> type in: C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF [Enter]

In there you will find a listing of programs, and you will note that some programs have the word 'hide' at the end. Simply remove the word 'hide' but leave the preceding comma. Examples:

BEFORE:msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide, 7

AFTER:msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

Exit saving changes.

Now when you open Add/Remove Windows Components, you will see the now viewable, in this example, "Windows Messenger".



Windows XP has a feature called ClearType. This text rendering method exists to smooth the appearance of the on-screen text. To try this method:
Right-click an empty area on your Desktop.
Select Properties
In the resulting Display Properties window, select the Appearance tab
Click the Effects button
Choose ClearType from the drop-down menu named: "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts".
Select OK and OK again to see how it looks



The Windows Help Files in Windows XP is packed full of useful information. One feature that I use a lot is the Favorites. If you find a topic that you may want to re-visit in the future, you can click the Favorites tab and save it by clicking the Add button.



If you are a frequent multi-tasker, you may want to consider using the Quick Launch bar. The Quick Launch bar resides in your taskbar next to your Start button. It makes it very easy for you to launch frequently used programs with a single click. Another convenient feature of the Quick Launch bar is the "Show Desktop" icon. When you click this icon, it will minimize all active windows and show only your desktop. Click it again and everything will return as it was.

To display the Quick Launch bar:
Right click an empty area of your taskbar
Select Properties from the resulting menu
Place a checkmark in the box titled: "Show Quick Launch" under the "Taskbar appearance" section of the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window
Click Apply and then click OK to exit the window
To add a program to your Quick Launch bar, simply drag the program from either the desktop or the All Programs menu to the Quick Launch bar. To delete a program from the Quick Launch bar, right click the program and select Delete.




Four criteria must be met to have transparent text on your desktop icon.

1. Go to Start>> Right Click My Computer>> Properties>> Advanced tab>> Performance Settings>> Visual Effects tab.
The entry "use drop shadows for icon labels..." must be checked

2. Right click any blank area of your desktop>> Arrange Icons by...>> The entry "Lock Web Items on Desktop" entry must be unchecked.

3. Having any web content on your desktop will not allow transparency to work.

Here's how to check for web content:

Right click a blank area of your desktop>> Properties>> Desktop tab>> Customize Desktop button>> Web tab>> make sure all checkboxes are unchecked.

4. Wallpaper must be an image file, not HTML.



If you would like to turn a folder into a taskbar toolbar, here's how:
Be sure that your taskbar is unlocked by right clicking an empty area of the toolbar. If there is a checkmark next to "Lock the Toolbar", then click once on that entry to uncheck it. Then, drag the desired folder to the space between taskbar button area and the clock. While dragging, you may see a "no-entry" cursor (which is a circle with a diagonal slash), once that disappears, you can drop your folder into the taskbar button area. Resize it however you would like. You can even turn this toolbar into a menu by resizing it until only the name is showing. To delete this button, simply right click it and select "Close Toolbar".




Windows XP has a feature known as the Desktop Cleanup Wizard that locates rarely used shortcuts and gives you the option to remove them. Here's how to access the Desktop Cleanup feature:
Right click an empty area of your Desktop.
Select Properties from the resulting menu.
Under the General tab, select the Desktop tab and then the Customize Desktop button.
Note: While in the Desktop Items window, you have an option to run the Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days. To enable this, place a checkmark in the box under the "Desktop cleanup" category.

Click the Clean Desktop Now button.
The Desktop Cleanup Wizard will now be evoked. You will see a list of desktop shortcuts that you haven't used in 60 days. Simply uncheck the ones that you would like to remove and they will be swept away to a folder called "Unused Desktop Shortcuts". If you ever need to retrieve a removed shortcut, just drag the shortcut out of the file and back on to your desktop.




Desktop themes are predefined elements that help you to personalize the appearance of your computers desktop, which includes your background, screen saver, icons, colors, mouse pointers and sounds.
There are many things that you are able to do in Windows XP to personalize your settings. You can use the Windows Classic look as your theme, or switch to another theme or even modify an existing theme. You also have the ability to create new themes (that's tomorrows tip!)

Selecting a different desktop theme:

1. Right-click an empty area of the desktop>> Click Properties.
2. Click the Themes tab>> Select a new theme in the Theme list.

Note: A preview of the theme will now be displayed in the Sample box.

3. Select the theme that you want, and then click OK.

The desktop theme will now be applied to your computer.




Windows XP does not put the icons that we were used to seeing on our desktops under Windows 98. But, they have made it possible to add some familiar icons to the desktop quickly and easily. Here's how:
Right click an empty area of your desktop.
Select properties.
Click the Desktop tab.
Select the Customize Desktop button.
Place a checkmark next to any of the available desktop icon entries. The choices are:
My Computer
My Network Places
My Documents
Internet Explorer
Click OK and then OK once again.



In this first step, you will need to make sure that Windows XP is configured to use drop-shadow icon titles. Here's how:


Right-click My Computer and choose Properties.
Click the Advanced tab in the resulting window.
Click the Settings button inside the Performance pane
Click the Visual Effects tab.
Scroll down until you see the entry "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop". If it's not checked, go ahead and check it now.
Click OK.
Now Windows will not include a rectangular background around the icon text.

In this next step, we will create our invisible title. Since Windows will not accept a space as a file name, we will need to use a character that is invisible. The ANSI character "0160" is a non-breaking space and is visually indistinguishable from a space. We will need to insert this ANSI character into the icon title box, here's how:

Right click an icon and select Rename (or single click the icon and press F2)
Hold down the Alt key and type 0160 on your numeric keypad, then release the Alt key.
Press Enter.
Note: You will now see a highlighted rectangle that represents the invisible title but a single click on a blank area of your desktop will make this disappear.

To make a second icon have an invisible title, just insert the special ANSI character twice into the icon title box. (eg: ALT + 01600160) This is necessary because Windows will not allow duplicate file names.




Windows XP includes an option that lets you use your digital photos as screensavers. Here's how:
Right click an empty area of your desktop and select Properties.

Click the Screen Saver tab and select My Pictures Slideshow from the Screen Saver drop-down list.

Click Settings and then indicate the folder on your hard drive with the photos you want to use for the screensaver. You can also indicate the size and frequency of the photos, also whether or not to use transition effects.

Finish the task by clicking OK in all open dialog boxes.


If you would like to create a personal screensaver, here's how:
Right click an empty spot on the desktop
Select Properties>> Screensaver tab.
From the screensaver dropdown list, select 'My Pictures Slideshow'.
Click Settings to adjust picture size, display speed and transition effects.
Pictures are randomly displayed from the My Pictures folder located in My Documents.


The Windows XP taskbar plays an important role in organizing your open tasks. There are many ways in which you can customize your taskbar to help you organize them better.

Lets take a look at the Taskbar Properties menu and discuss the options within this menu:

Right click on your Start button and select Properties from the resulting menu. Then, click the Taskbar tab (see Figure #1).

The options listed in the Taskbar Properties menu are:
Lock the taskbar:
When selected, it will lock the taskbar in its current position and will not allow you to re-size it.

Auto-hide the taskbar:
When selected, the taskbar will be hidden from plain view until you move your mouse pointer to the bottom of your screen where your taskbar is hiding.

Keep the taskbar on top of other windows:
When selected, it will keep the the taskbar visible at all times.

Group similar taskbar buttons:
When selected, allows multiple taskbar buttons of similar type to group together. This feature is designed to better organize your tasks and keep the taskbar buttons from getting too small.

Show Quick Launch:
When selected, displays the quick launch toolbar to the right of your Start button.
As you will notice, when you select one of the above listed items, Windows will show you a preview of what the selection will change.


Windows provides for only two position settings for your wallpaper. Placing it in any other position would require a registry edit. I recommend using a program already designed to perform this task for you. It will be much quicker and safer in the long run. One that I recommend is:

Automatic Wallpaper Changer 3.0

Author's product description below:
"The AWC is designed to do one thing well: allow you to automatically change your desktop wallpaper on a timed basis. The time between changes is defined as a number of seconds, minutes or hours.

The displayed image can be stretched or shrunk for the best fit to the screen, optionally maintaining its aspect ratio, or displayed at its actual size. When displaying a picture the user is not limited to the centre of the screen, as is usually the case in windows, but can choose to display it in any of the four corners of the screen or centered on one of the edges. Additionally you can specify that files smaller than a predefined size should be tiled: again you can specify how the tiles are justified on the screen rather than simply going from the top left.

Resizing is performed using a range of resampling methods to ensure the best possible results. After resizing you can apply various levels of sharpening to further improve image quality.

You can further refine the list of files to display by filtering on file date or age and by file name. For example all files whose name begins 'XMAS' which you've created in the past 30 days.

The AWC is minimized to the system tray rather than to the task bar. To restore it to view just double-click the icon in the tray or right click to pop up a menu.

There's even a full set of command line switches so you can customize multiple shortcuts.

Image formats supported are *.jpg;*.jpeg;*.gif;*.bmp;*.png;*.rle;*.tga;*.pcx."


Author: Steve Murphy OS: Win98/WinMe/WinNT 4.x/Windows2000/WindowsXP Language: English File Size: 2.90MB



If you are looking for a new desktop look, maybe a simple change of font style, size or color will work. Below, I will show you how to customize individual Windows elements on your desktop such as icons, menus and title bars. Here's how:
Right click an empty space on your desktop.
Click Properties.
Click on the Appearance tab.
Click the Advanced button.
In the Advanced Appearance windows under the "Item:" category, when you open this list, you can change the appearance of the following options:

3D Objects
Active Title Bar
Active Window Border
Application Background
Caption Buttons
Desktop
Icon
Icon Spacing (Horizontal)
Icon Spacing (Vertical)
Inactive Title Bar
Inactive Window Border
Menu
Message Box
Palette Title
Selected Items
ToolTip
Window
Note: Not all appearance options will be available for all of the listed options. For example, you will not be able to change the font on elements that do not display text. This option will be greyed out.

Once you've selected an item from the listed options, if available for that item, you can make the following changes (see Figure #1):

Under Item:

In the Size box, select a font size.
In the Color box, select a color.

Under Font:

Select the Font that you would like to use.
In the Size box, select a font size.
In the Color box, select a color.
To make your font appear bold, click the B.
To make your font appear in Italics, click the I.

When you are finished making all of your changes, click OK twice to save these settings.


You have control over what icons you would like to appear in the taskbar. If you do not want an icon to show, follow the instructions below:
Right click an empty area of your taskbar.
Select Properties from the resulting menu.
Click the "Customize" button at the bottom right of the notification area.
Click an item that you would like to change within this menu. Once clicked a drop-down menu will appear that has three options:
Hide when inactive
Always hide
Always show
Select one of the options, click OK and then click Apply.
Note: If you click the Restore Defaults button in the Customize notifications window, this will place ALL icons in the "Hide inactive icons" status.




Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Power Options.
Select the APM tab.
Place a checkmark in the "Enable Advanced Power Management support" check box.
Click OK and exit the Control Panel.
Your computer should successfully complete the shut down process.




For an easy way to create a toolbar for your favorite Windows XP folders such as "My Documents" or "My Pictures", all you have to do it drag the XP folder to the right, left or top of the desktop. The toolbar will then snap into place. Right click an open part of the toolbar to see the customizing options.

You can even add additional toolbars in the existing toolbar by right clicking an empty part and select "Toolbars". Then simply select a new toolbar or browse for a new toolbar to add.

To delete the new toolbar, right click it and select "Close Toolbar".



If you would like to create a popup menu on your taskbar that contains all of your frequently accessed programs, here's how:
Go to Start>> Accessories>> Windows Explorer.
With Windows Explorer open, select a location for a new folder. Then, go to File>> New>> Folder.
Name the new folder whatever you would like and then place all of your frequently used programs in this folder.
Next, right click an empty portion of your taskbar then select Toolbars>> New Toolbar from the resulting menu.
With the New Toolbar window showing, browse to the location of your new folder. Once the new folder is selected, click OK.
Your newly created folder will now reside within the taskbar. To easily see the contents of this folder, click the double arrows (usually to the right of the name) to view its contents. If you would like to remove this new folder from the taskbar, right click an empty portion of the taskbar and select Toolbars. Then click the "New Folder" entry within the resulting list.




If you would like to have a handy icon on your desktop that starts a remote desktop session from your home computer to an office computer, here's how:
Go to Start>> All Programs>> Accessories>> Communications>> Remote Desktop Connection.
Click Options
Configure your office computer connection settings
Click "Save as"
Enter a name for your shortcut (eg: Office Session), then click Save.
Now, open the Remote Desktops folder.
Right click the newly created file (Office Session), select Create Shortcut from the resulting menu.
Drag the shortcut on to the home computers desktop.
To start the Remote Desktop session connecting your home computer to your office computer, simply double click the new Shortcut. [/hide]

See Down For More Tricks

Windows Xp Tricks Page 2

1.Disable XP's splash screen Break out of a continuous reboot loop
2.Display a message on Startup Stop Windows Messenger
3.Disable Net Send Messenger Service Create an XP Start Disk
4.Disabling Hibernation Disabling Startup Programs
5.Creating a Shutdown/Reboot Icon Power Off at Shutdown
6.Shutdown Desktop Icon Win XP Won't Completely Shutdown
7.Create a Standby desktop Shortcut Add Safe Mode to Boot Menu
8.Increase Windows Shutdown Time Auto Logon to Windows XP
9.Remove the OEM link from the Start Menu Display Administrative Tools folder in Start menu
10.Delete invalid entries in MSCONFIG Startup Change the command prompt startup directory

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The Windows XP splash screen is designed to hide all of the behind the scenes boot information that is ordinarily never needed to view. However, if you need to troubleshoot a startup problem, it may be necessary to view this information to determine the trouble. To find out, you can disable the splash screen by making a small change to the Boot.ini file. Follow the steps below:
Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box.
On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And Recovery section.
In the Startup And Recovery dialog box, select the Edit button in the System Startup section.
The Boot.ini file will open in Notepad; locate the line that ends with the /fastdetect switch.
Position your cursor right after the parameter, press the spacebar, and add the /SOS switch.
Save the Boot.ini file, and close Notepad.
Click Cancel to close both the Startup And Recovery dialog box and the System Properties dialog box.
Restart the system.
When the system restarts, the splash screen will no longer appear. You can observe some of the operations that Windows XP performs during the startup stage.

To revive the splash screen, simply repeat the above steps to edit the Boot.ini file and remove the /SOS switch.




If you would like to display any message in a popup window when Windows is started, here's how:
Go to Start> Run, then type in: regedit
Hit [Enter] on your keyboard
Follow this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogo
Modify the key LegalNoticeCaption with your text of choice.
Modify the key LegalNoticeText with your text of choice.
Restart Windows for this to take affect.


To disable the "net send" Messenger service on Windows XP, follow these steps:
Go to the Start menu in the lower left corner of your screen. Select Programs: Administrative Tools: Services. A Services window will appear.
Select the Messenger service in the right-hand list of local services by double-clicking on it. A Messenger Properties window will appear.
In the General tab, set the Messenger service's Start Type to Disabled using the pull-down list of Start Types.
Also in the General tab, click the Stop button in the Service Status section. Your computer will stop the service if it is currently running.
Click OK. The Messenger Properties window will disappear.
Click the File: Exit tab in the Services window, and it will disappear.



If you don't want to use up the disk space taken by Hibernation, or don't need to use it at all, you can easily disable it.
Open up the Control Panel
Power Options icon
Click on the Hibernation tab
Uncheck Enable Hibernation



Below are instruction on troubleshooting an XP system that is stuck in a continuous reboot loop. This tip assumes you can start the system and are able to log on. As soon as you log on, the system reboots itself. In many cases, it may not even wait until you are logged on before rebooting itself. By default, Windows XP is configured to deal with a system failure by rebooting and in doing so, should repair the failure. But, in some cases, the system failure is serious enough to cause a continuous reboot loop.
If your system is stuck on a continuous reboot, you can disable the automatic restart behavior. Follow these steps:

Press [Windows][Break] to open the System Properties dialog box.
On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup And Recovery section.
In the System Failure section, deselect the Automatically Restart check box, and click OK.
To enable the changes, click OK in the System Properties dialog box.
This change configures the system to halt after encountering a system failure error, which allows you to investigate the problem error in more detail. You'll then have to manually restart the system.

Keep in mind that you'll have to work fast in order to make the change before the system reboots. You may have better luck making the change if you launch the system in Safe Mode.




If you do not want Windows Messenger to load automatically on Startup, simply delete the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run\MSMSGS


To create an XP Start Disk:
Place a blank floppy diskette into your floppy drive.
Open Windows Explorer.
Right click on the floppy drive icon.
Select "Format..." from the resulting menu options.
Tick the box that states "Create an MS-DOS Startup Disk".
Select "Start".
Windows will start creating your disk. This should only take a minute or so. Be sure to label it before putting it away.




Is the Notification area, on the left-hand side of your task bar cluttered with icons? Does it take ages to start up your PC? It might be caused by software programs you installed on your system. After the software is installed, a small icon is placed in the Notification area. The icon facilitates quick access to the software. If you do not use some of these icons, disable them and save precious physical memory. Decide which program icons you use regularly and whether you want to keep these in the Notification area. I recommend keeping virus scanners and printer/scanner icons.

Click on 'Start', 'Run', type 'msconfig' in the 'Open' field and click OK to open the System Configuration Utility window below. Click on the 'Startup' tab to get a list of all your system's startup programs. Tick the boxes of the programs you want to disable and click OK to continue. Reboot your system and check if everything is working fine. You can always re-enable the disabled startup programs by re-opening the System Configuration Utility and ticking the boxes of the disabled items. Reboot your system for the changes to take effect.



WindowsXP has a program called SHUTDOWN.EXE which allows you to easily create icons to shutdown or restart your computer.

To create a shutdown shortcut on the desktop:
Right click on an open area of the desktop
Select New / Shortcut
Enter in "shutdown -s -t 00" - (no quotes)
Press the Next button
For the name, enter in anything you like. I just use shutdown. Click the Finish button.
For a reboot, enter "shutdown -r -t 00"
Shutdown [{-l|-s|-r|-a}] [-f] [-m [\ComputerName]] [-t xx] [-c "message"] [-d[u][p]:xx:yy]

Parameters:

-l - Logs off the current user, this is also the defualt. -m ComputerName takes precedence.
-s - Shuts down the local computer.
-r - Reboots after shutdown.
-a - Aborts shutdown. Ignores other parameters, except -l and ComputerName. You can only use -a during the time-out period.
-f - Forces running applications to close.
-m [\ComputerName] - Specifies the computer that you want to shut down.
-t xx - Sets the timer for system shutdown in xx seconds. The default is 20 seconds.
-c "message" - Specifies a message to be displayed in the Message area of the System Shutdown window. You can use a maximum of 127 characters. You must enclose the message in quotation marks.



Want a quicker way to shut down, log off or reboot your computer, instead of going through the several clicks involved in doing it the normal way? Here's how you can create icons on the desktop that will allow you to perform any of these tasks with one click:
Right click an empty spot on the desktop.
In the context menu, select New>> Shortcut.
In the Create Shortcut wizard, where it asks you to type the location of the item, type the following: shutdown -s -t 00 (for shutdown), shutdown -r -t 00 (for restart) or shutdown -l -t 00 (for logoff). You will now have the option of naming this icon.
Click Next.
You can now change the icon to something other than the default. Just right click your new desktop icon and choose Properties.
Select the 'Change Icon...' button while inside the 'Shortcut' section.
Choose from any of the icons listed and apply the change.



To create a Standby mode desktop shortcut:
Right-click an empty area of your desktop
Select New>>Shortcut. This will invoke the Create Shortcut Wizard
In the text box, copy and paste the following code: %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState
Click Next, then rename your shortcut: Standby
Click Finish.
That's it!



Encourage Windows XP to Power Off at Shutdown

Do you want your computer's power to turn off when you shut it down, so you won't have to manually push the power button? Here's how:
Click Start, then click the Run command.
Type REGEDIT in the Open text box and click OK.
Navigate to the following Registry key: HKEY CURRENT USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Find the PowerOffActive entry in the right pane of the Registry Editor and double click on it.
In the Edit String dialog box, replace the 0 in the Value data text box with a 1, then click OK.
Restart the computer.
This does not work all the time as it depends on the type of hardware (motherboard) you have in your computer, but it won't hurt anything, so give it a try.




Having a problem getting Windows XP to shut completely down? Try this:
Go to Control Panel, then go to Power Options.
Click on the APM Tab, then check the "Enable Advanced Power Management support". Click OK.
Shut down your PC.
It should now successfully complete the Shut Down process.




Safe Mode is most commonly used for troubleshooting purposes. If you find yourself booting to safe mode often. You may find it helpful to include the option for safe mode in your boot menu. Below, is a method you can use to save yourself from having to press F8 during startup to access Safe Mode:
Right click My Computer and click Properties.
Click the Advanced tab.
Under Start Up and Recovery, click the Settings button.
Click Edit. The boot.ini file will open in Notepad.
Copy the line that reads as follows: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect.
Paste the line you just copied after the original one.
Change the copied line from "Microsoft Windows XP Professional" to "Windows XP Safe Mode" or something similar.
At the end of this line add the following: /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog.
Save the boot.ini file by clicking File then Save.
Restart your computer and Safe Mode should be available at the boot menu.
Note: Your actual Boot.INI may vary to a small degree. The above is an example only. Be sure to copy your boot.ini file prior to making any changes to it.




If you have a program that needs additional time to shut itself off when shutting down your computer, you can increase the amount of time that Windows takes when it shuts down.
Warning: Be sure that you make a backup copy of your registry prior to making any changes to it.

Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter]

Drill to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Single click on the "Desktop" entry to empty its contents into the right pane. Now, find the following entry:

WaitToKillAppTimeout

Double click the entry and increase the value. (10000=10 seconds)




Windows XP has the ability to store your password and other pertinent information in the registry so that you can automate the logon process. Keep in mind though, while this is a very convenient method, it has its security risks. Anyone using your computer will have access to your account and your network. Only use this setting if the other people within your network are trusted.

Warning: This tweak involves editing the Windows registry. Mistakes made while editing can have serious effects on your Windows installation. Be sure that you have made a backup copy of the registry prior to making any changes.

Here is how to configure Windows XP to auto logon:
Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
Drill down to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Cu rrentVersion\Winlogon
Click the Winlogon entry in the left pane once to empty its contents into the right pane.
Find the DefaultUserName entry in the right pane and double click it.
In the Value data test box, type in your user name. Click OK.
Back in the right pane, locate the entry titled; DefaultPassword. Double click this entry and type in your password in the value data text box. Click OK.
Note: If the DefaultPassword entry does not exist. You will need to create this entry. Here's how:

a. Hold your mouse over the right pane and right click an empty area.
b. Click New>> String Value.
c. A new entry at the bottom of the right pane will now appear. Name it DefaultPassword. Press Enter.
d. Now, double click your new DefaultPassword entry and type in your password in the Value Data box.

Back in the right pane, locate the entry titled AutoAdminLogon. Double click this entry and change the value from 0 to 1. Click OK. The "1" entry turns the feature ON and the "0" turns the feature OFF.
Note: If the AutoAdminLogon entry does not exist, follow the instructions above and create this new string entry.

Exit the Windows Registry and restart your computer.



In many cases, an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) machine will have a link in the start menu that will either open a folder, web page or launch an application. If you find this feature to be annoying and have no intensions of using this link, you can hide this link from the Start Menu. Here's how:

1. Click the Start button
2. Right click the top of the Start menu
3. A "Properties" button should appear. Click the Properties button.

Note: If more than a Properties button should appear, then you are right clicking a program within the Start Menu.

4. Click the Start Menu tab
5. Select the Customize button
6. Choose the Advanced tab
7. In the Start Menu items list, uncheck the entry titled: Manufacturer Link
8. Click OK, then OK again.
In some cases, I have seen that the Manufacturer Link does not appear in the Start Menu Items list. If this is your case, you will need to edit the Windows Registry to enable the Start Menu Items list option. Before editing the Registry, be sure to save a backup copy to a file.


Enable the Start Menu item list option:

1. Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
2. Navigate to following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft \Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPa nel\ShowOEMLink

3. Click the "ShowOEMLink" entry once to empty its contents in the right pane.
4. Double click the entry titled: NoOEMLinkINstalled
5. Change its value from "1" to "0"
6. Exit the Windows Registry Editor and restart Windows

The Manufacturer Link should now be viewable in the "Start Menu Items" dialog. Now you can uncheck this item to hide it from the Start Menu.



If you do not see the Administrative Tools menu within the Start menu or the All Programs menu, you can enable this option by following the directions below:

1. Go to Start>> Control Panel>> Taskbar and Start Menu>> Click the Start Menu tab>> Select the Customize button>> Click the Advanced tab.
2. Scroll the "Start menu items:" list and under the listing titled: System Administrative Tools, tick either of the two options listed below:
Display on the All Programs menu
Display on the All Programs menu and the Start menu
3. Click OK, then exit all open windows.




MSCONFIG is a commonly used program used to manage the programs installed on your system. As you've probably noticed, you cannot delete entries from the list. Even if you have completely removed a program from your system, it still may show up in MSCONFIG's startup list. To delete invalid entries from here, you will need either a 3rd party program or edit the Windows Registry. Prior to deleting entries in the Windows Registry, please make a backup copy. Follow the instructions below to remove the invalid entries:

1. Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
2. Navigate to the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\Startupreg

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\Startupfolder

3. Expand the "Startupreg" entry by clicking the "+" symbol. You will now notice all of the disabled items below. Do the same for the "Startupfolder" entry.
4. Once you have located the invalid entry(s), right click and delete.


By default, when you open a command prompt window (Start>> Run. Type in: cmd [Enter]), it opens to the default user profile directory (see fig #1). Changing this setting requires a registry change. Be sure to make a backup copy before making any changes.

How to change the startup directory:
Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor

Single click the entry titled: Command Processor to empty its contents in to the right pane.
In the right pane, double click the entry titled: Autorun
Double click the Autorun entry.
Place the actual path that you would like the command prompt to start at in to the "Value data:" text box.
Exit the Windows Registry.
Example: To set the Startup Directory at: C:\Windows, enter CD /d C:\Windows in the Value data text box.

Note: If the Autorun entry is not present, create a new string. Here's how:

Right click an empty area of the right pane.
Select New>> String value
Name the new string value: Autorun
Continue with Step #5 above. [/hide]