Activation is a form of copy protection, in which each copy of XP must be turned on by registering it with Microsoft. The copy of Windows XP is then uniquely associated with a particular computer, thus preventing pirating of the operating system by using the same disk to upgrade multiple machines.
This is highly controversial, to say the least. The valid reason is that activation can break and require reactivation, which can be inconvenient. The bogus reason is that people raise the valid issue--and make a big deal about it--because they want to freely copy commercial software.
Microsoft has responded to user concerns, it says, by making activation as seamless as possible. New hardware with XP pre-installed doesn't require activation and should never require reactivation, even if significant changes are made to the hardware configuration.
Upgraders will have to activate their software when it is installed; typically, this is done automatically over the Internet or alternatively over the telephone. Microsoft says it's significantly raised the threshold of hardware changes required to force reactivation (which occurs if there are enough changes that XP thinks it's been copied to a new computer).
Probably, Microsoft has been sensitized to this issue, and we'll see how it works out once customers start upgrading to XP en masse. We think people whose real issue is a desire to steal software have blown people's fears of OS activation out of proportion.
By the way, Microsoft will be selling--at a 10 to 15 percent discount--additional OS licenses to users who'd like to use the same original disk to install Windows XP on multiple machines.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Disc Cleanup hangs
When I run Disk Clean Up, it gets to the first three bars when checking the files (status bar says "compress old files") and then just hangs there? If I close it down and run it again, then it just never comes up at all.
Solution
From Microsoft KB 812248
1.Click Start, and then click Run.
2.Type regedit in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
3.Locate, and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\VolumeCaches
4.On the File menu, click Export, and then click Desktop, type VolumeCaches in the File name box, and then click Save.
Note This step creates a backup of the VolumeCaches registry key. If you experience any problems after you complete the steps that are listed in this procedure, you can use this backup to restore the VolumeCaches key to its original state. To restore the key, double-click the VolumeCaches.reg file on your desktop, and then click Yes.
5.Expand the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\VolumeCaches
6.Delete the Compress old files registry key.
7.Quit Registry Editor.
Or, The Disk Cleanup Tool Stops Responding:
Solution
From Microsoft KB 812248
1.Click Start, and then click Run.
2.Type regedit in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
3.Locate, and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\VolumeCaches
4.On the File menu, click Export, and then click Desktop, type VolumeCaches in the File name box, and then click Save.
Note This step creates a backup of the VolumeCaches registry key. If you experience any problems after you complete the steps that are listed in this procedure, you can use this backup to restore the VolumeCaches key to its original state. To restore the key, double-click the VolumeCaches.reg file on your desktop, and then click Yes.
5.Expand the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\VolumeCaches
6.Delete the Compress old files registry key.
7.Quit Registry Editor.
Or, The Disk Cleanup Tool Stops Responding:
How do I stop pop-ups including Messenger spam?
Pop-Ups are due to either Messenger Service, are embedded on web pages, or may even be part of a spyware program that you have installed. If they are due to Messenger Service you may either disable it or block the open ports. Note that disabling Messenger Service is only a temporary fix and doesn't address the real problem. Or, they may just be pop ups for automatic updates to OE or WinXP.
[Source - bootdisk.com]
Note that Messenger Service is different than Windows Messenger. This section deals with Messenger Service.
To disable Messenger Service see these links:
link 1
link 2
To block the ports to prevent spammers from sending you ads via Messenger Service read below:
If they say messenger service in the title bar, these have nothing to do with MSN messenger or Windows messenger.What this is a new way for spammers to attack your computer and send you pop-up ads. If you receive these ads it means that your computers netbios ports are wide open to the internet and this could be a real security problem.
What you should do is install a good firewall that will block the ports the spammers use and stop the ads. A good place to start is Zone Alarm [www.zonelabs.com] for an inbound/outbound blocking firewall or use the inbound blocking only firewall built in to XP. Configure the XP firewall to block ports 135, 137-139 and 445. Zone Alarm will block these ports by default. [Thanks purplehaz03]
The issue is that currently ANYONE can actually send you a message through the .NET Messenger network without being on YOUR contact list! You can change this so that people will have to add you to their contact lists before they can send you a message (which will have the effect of blocking these Spam messages in the future).
To Disable Messenger Service Spam - simply Open up the main Messenger window, click Tools, then Options, then the Privacy tab, click All users and then click the Block button. This way you can manually add who you want to receive messages from and block all others. [Thanks Taurarian]
Microsoft has some articles as well:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/comm
unicate/stopspam.asp
Another option to manage the Messenger Service is to use a tiny utility called Shoot The Messenger.
Note that ShootTheMessenger is just a toggle switch that turns Messenger Service Off/On. One should still block the ports as noted earlier.
If the popups are are website based one may install a Pop-Up Stopper. A list of these type of utilities are listed for download on the Utilities Page under Popup Stoppers And Web Filters.
If your pop-ups are due to spyware, one can find such ware and disable it by using Ad-Adware or Spybot, both of which and more links can also be found under Anti-Spyware on the Utilities Page.
If due to automatic updates to OE or WinXP check Start | Settings | Control Panel | System | Automatic Updates and change it.
As things move on however more web browsers and/or add-on toolbars include anti-popup functions for popups and popunders coded into webpages.
[Source - bootdisk.com]
Note that Messenger Service is different than Windows Messenger. This section deals with Messenger Service.
To disable Messenger Service see these links:
link 1
link 2
To block the ports to prevent spammers from sending you ads via Messenger Service read below:
If they say messenger service in the title bar, these have nothing to do with MSN messenger or Windows messenger.What this is a new way for spammers to attack your computer and send you pop-up ads. If you receive these ads it means that your computers netbios ports are wide open to the internet and this could be a real security problem.
What you should do is install a good firewall that will block the ports the spammers use and stop the ads. A good place to start is Zone Alarm [www.zonelabs.com] for an inbound/outbound blocking firewall or use the inbound blocking only firewall built in to XP. Configure the XP firewall to block ports 135, 137-139 and 445. Zone Alarm will block these ports by default. [Thanks purplehaz03]
The issue is that currently ANYONE can actually send you a message through the .NET Messenger network without being on YOUR contact list! You can change this so that people will have to add you to their contact lists before they can send you a message (which will have the effect of blocking these Spam messages in the future).
To Disable Messenger Service Spam - simply Open up the main Messenger window, click Tools, then Options, then the Privacy tab, click All users and then click the Block button. This way you can manually add who you want to receive messages from and block all others. [Thanks Taurarian]
Microsoft has some articles as well:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=330904
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/comm
unicate/stopspam.asp
Another option to manage the Messenger Service is to use a tiny utility called Shoot The Messenger.
Note that ShootTheMessenger is just a toggle switch that turns Messenger Service Off/On. One should still block the ports as noted earlier.
If the popups are are website based one may install a Pop-Up Stopper. A list of these type of utilities are listed for download on the Utilities Page under Popup Stoppers And Web Filters.
If your pop-ups are due to spyware, one can find such ware and disable it by using Ad-Adware or Spybot, both of which and more links can also be found under Anti-Spyware on the Utilities Page.
If due to automatic updates to OE or WinXP check Start | Settings | Control Panel | System | Automatic Updates and change it.
As things move on however more web browsers and/or add-on toolbars include anti-popup functions for popups and popunders coded into webpages.
How do I repair Internet Explorer in Windows XP?
The ability to Repair Internet Explorer does not exist in the version that ships with Windows XP. This feature only becomes available after you upgrade to a newer version. This is normal and has been this way since Windows 98 and IE4.
However, you can reinstall IE in Windows XP by clicking Start, Run and entering the following command:
rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 %windir%\Inf\ie.inf
Note: You will need to have your XP CD available.
Some people have problems with the command line above. A small VB Script that will execute the command for you can be downloaded here. Save the file to your hard drive and double click it to run IE Setup.
How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows XP (Q318378)
here
However, you can reinstall IE in Windows XP by clicking Start, Run and entering the following command:
rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 %windir%\Inf\ie.inf
Note: You will need to have your XP CD available.
Some people have problems with the command line above. A small VB Script that will execute the command for you can be downloaded here. Save the file to your hard drive and double click it to run IE Setup.
How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows XP (Q318378)
here
How do I turn on automatic logon xp feature?
If you are the only one who uses your XP machine logging in every time can be a pain in the rear. Here is a tiny adjustment that will automate the process.
Here's how to turn this feature on....
1) Go to the Start Menu and the Run box.
2) Type in the following:
control userpasswords2
now click OK
3) In the new Windows that appears select the account you wish to make the primary logon.
Now uncheck the "Users must enter a user name and password..." box.
4) Click Apply and a dialog box will appear asking you to confirm the selected users password.
Click OK when you are done!
That's it! You are now finished..... No more logging in!
Here's how to turn this feature on....
1) Go to the Start Menu and the Run box.
2) Type in the following:
control userpasswords2
now click OK
3) In the new Windows that appears select the account you wish to make the primary logon.
Now uncheck the "Users must enter a user name and password..." box.
4) Click Apply and a dialog box will appear asking you to confirm the selected users password.
Click OK when you are done!
That's it! You are now finished..... No more logging in!
Fine Tune XP for a Speed Boost
Ever wonder what Microsoft Windows XP is doing while you're using your word processor or browsing on the Internet? Windows XP actually uses a whole suite of applications to provide its rich levels of functionality, and virtually everything you take for granted is controlled by one of the individually configurable components of your operating system, all know as Services.
These system services include network connectivity, system security, automatic updates and even the ability to log in.
Service Management Computers are no different from people when it comes to performing more than one task at a time: the more plates you try to spin, the more each plate will slow until a critical point when the entire system overloads and crashes to the floor.
The difference, however, is that Windows XP relies on processor performance, RAM and available disk space to cope with this multi-tasking problem. As long as it doesn't run out of resources, things should tick over nicely.
Unfortunately, problems do start to appear when your resources run low; your applications, such as Microsoft Word, then begin to suffer as a result of these higher priority services sapping the strength of Windows XP. There are over 100 built-in system services installed by default with Windows XP Professional Edition and Service Pack 2 (a few less with Windows XP Home Edition) and this is before you load any additional applications that might also create their own services.
Anti-virus products, for example, install at least one extra service, and some install up to three. With all these services using up your system's ability to run your applications, how can you do any work without upgrading? The answer is simple: disable any unnecessary services, thus freeing up the resources they were using.
Wheat from the chaff
The complete list of services supplied with Windows XP will undoubtedly benefit you if you're a business user and have used Windows XP in a domain environment where the Net Logon service is actually used by the operating system to authenticate users to a domain controller. There are many services such as this in Windows XP that can actually be disabled to stop them from booting automatically when the system starts up, thereby freeing valuable system resources that could otherwise be used by a faltering program.
The trick to streamlining your system is in deciding which of the system services are critical to your level of operation and which you can live without. You can experiment by disabling services and finding out in greater detail what each one does and how it affects your performance, but it's best to start by looking at the safer options that could make a difference - it's not worth taking risks with your PC.
First principles
Services can be set to one of three modes: automatic, manual or disabled. If a service is set to start automatically then it starts with your system. If it's set to Manual, you can go into the Service Management Console and simply right click on it, then choose start.
Technically, services set to Manual can also be started by Windows XP if it needs them, but this is rarely the case. To completely stop a service from running it can be set to Disabled. The only way to reverse this is to go into the Service Manager and change the setting back to manual or automatic again.
You should familiarize yourself with the interface before proceeding. Click on Start> Control Panel, then select Administrative Tools, and double-click on Services. You'll quickly get an idea of which services
are running and whether they are set to start automatically, manually or if I they're disabled. Click the name of the service listed as I being the Computer Browser. If you are using a stand alone system or even a network of systems, only one of those needs to be a
computer browser. You could: switch off the Computer Browser service by setting it to disabled, only re-enabling it if you really need to.
Experiment with the following services: Error Reporting, Help and Support, Indexing Service, Logical Disk Manager, Net
Logon, NetMeeting, Remote Desktop Sharing, Network provisioning Service, Performance Logs and Alerts, Portable Media Serial Number Service, QoS RSVP, Remote Desktop Help Session Manager, Secondary Logon, Server, Smart Card and TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service.
These system services include network connectivity, system security, automatic updates and even the ability to log in.
Service Management Computers are no different from people when it comes to performing more than one task at a time: the more plates you try to spin, the more each plate will slow until a critical point when the entire system overloads and crashes to the floor.
The difference, however, is that Windows XP relies on processor performance, RAM and available disk space to cope with this multi-tasking problem. As long as it doesn't run out of resources, things should tick over nicely.
Unfortunately, problems do start to appear when your resources run low; your applications, such as Microsoft Word, then begin to suffer as a result of these higher priority services sapping the strength of Windows XP. There are over 100 built-in system services installed by default with Windows XP Professional Edition and Service Pack 2 (a few less with Windows XP Home Edition) and this is before you load any additional applications that might also create their own services.
Anti-virus products, for example, install at least one extra service, and some install up to three. With all these services using up your system's ability to run your applications, how can you do any work without upgrading? The answer is simple: disable any unnecessary services, thus freeing up the resources they were using.
Wheat from the chaff
The complete list of services supplied with Windows XP will undoubtedly benefit you if you're a business user and have used Windows XP in a domain environment where the Net Logon service is actually used by the operating system to authenticate users to a domain controller. There are many services such as this in Windows XP that can actually be disabled to stop them from booting automatically when the system starts up, thereby freeing valuable system resources that could otherwise be used by a faltering program.
The trick to streamlining your system is in deciding which of the system services are critical to your level of operation and which you can live without. You can experiment by disabling services and finding out in greater detail what each one does and how it affects your performance, but it's best to start by looking at the safer options that could make a difference - it's not worth taking risks with your PC.
First principles
Services can be set to one of three modes: automatic, manual or disabled. If a service is set to start automatically then it starts with your system. If it's set to Manual, you can go into the Service Management Console and simply right click on it, then choose start.
Technically, services set to Manual can also be started by Windows XP if it needs them, but this is rarely the case. To completely stop a service from running it can be set to Disabled. The only way to reverse this is to go into the Service Manager and change the setting back to manual or automatic again.
You should familiarize yourself with the interface before proceeding. Click on Start> Control Panel, then select Administrative Tools, and double-click on Services. You'll quickly get an idea of which services
are running and whether they are set to start automatically, manually or if I they're disabled. Click the name of the service listed as I being the Computer Browser. If you are using a stand alone system or even a network of systems, only one of those needs to be a
computer browser. You could: switch off the Computer Browser service by setting it to disabled, only re-enabling it if you really need to.
Experiment with the following services: Error Reporting, Help and Support, Indexing Service, Logical Disk Manager, Net
Logon, NetMeeting, Remote Desktop Sharing, Network provisioning Service, Performance Logs and Alerts, Portable Media Serial Number Service, QoS RSVP, Remote Desktop Help Session Manager, Secondary Logon, Server, Smart Card and TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service.
XP file command speed boost
Would you like to speed up normal file commands like open, close, etc.? After all every bit of speed increase helps, right?
Here's how.
Windows XP keeps a record of all files on the hard disk so when you do a search on the hard drive it is faster. There is a downside to this and because the computer has to index all files, it will slow down normal file commands like open, close, etc. If you do not do a whole lot of searches on your hard drive then I suggest turning this feature off:
1. Control Panel
2. Administrative Tools
3. Services
4. Scroll to Indexing Services. Under Startup type select Disable.
5. Click OK
That's it!
Here's how.
Windows XP keeps a record of all files on the hard disk so when you do a search on the hard drive it is faster. There is a downside to this and because the computer has to index all files, it will slow down normal file commands like open, close, etc. If you do not do a whole lot of searches on your hard drive then I suggest turning this feature off:
1. Control Panel
2. Administrative Tools
3. Services
4. Scroll to Indexing Services. Under Startup type select Disable.
5. Click OK
That's it!
Speed up XP's menu display
When using the start menu you'll notice a delay between different tiers of the menu hierarchy. For the fastest computer experience possible we recommend...
...changing this value to zero. This will allow the different tiers to appear instantly.
1. Start Regedit. Click Start, and then click Run >
> Type regedit in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
3. Select MenuShowDelay from the list on the right.
4. Right on it and select Modify.
5. Change the value to 0
6. Reboot your computer.
Note: A setting of zero (0) is virtually instantaneous - experiment with other settings (200 or 300 or 400 perhaps) to see what you are most comfortable with.
...changing this value to zero. This will allow the different tiers to appear instantly.
1. Start Regedit. Click Start, and then click Run >
> Type regedit in the Open box, and then press ENTER.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
3. Select MenuShowDelay from the list on the right.
4. Right on it and select Modify.
5. Change the value to 0
6. Reboot your computer.
Note: A setting of zero (0) is virtually instantaneous - experiment with other settings (200 or 300 or 400 perhaps) to see what you are most comfortable with.
Free Windows XP Tools
FREE Antivirus Software... FREE FireWall... FREE Ad-aware...
FREE Antivirus Software...
The FREE AVG software http://free.grisoft.com
Another recommended FREE Antivirus product is the Avast Home Edition ver 4 available at: http://www.avast.com
FREE FireWall...
There is a Firewall capability within Windows XP (to be improved in XP Service Pack 2).
However you may want to consider something a little bit more robust for your PC. Here are THREE FREE FireWall software programs I personally recommend:
Zone Alarm Look for the FREE version
Kerio Personal Firewall - Limited Personal Edition - Free for Personal Use
Sygate Personal Firewall - version 5.5 is Free for Personal Use
NOTE: Sygate Personal Firewall 5.5 is free for personal/home use, serial number and registration code are not required to register the program. The text at the top of the linked page is misleading because it states “Welcome to our downloads section. You can download and evaluate Sygate software for a full 30 days to see if it suits your need(s). After the 30 day trial period, you can continue using the software by purchasing a license key to unlock it…” The statement refers only to the Pro version, not to the free personal version.
But if you have the spare cash then PLEASE take a serious look at purchasing the "Professional" versions. But if you can not afford it then at least download the FREE version!
Free Ad-aware
Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. With the release of Ad-Aware SE Personal edition.
FREE Antivirus Software...
The FREE AVG software http://free.grisoft.com
Another recommended FREE Antivirus product is the Avast Home Edition ver 4 available at: http://www.avast.com
FREE FireWall...
There is a Firewall capability within Windows XP (to be improved in XP Service Pack 2).
However you may want to consider something a little bit more robust for your PC. Here are THREE FREE FireWall software programs I personally recommend:
Zone Alarm Look for the FREE version
Kerio Personal Firewall - Limited Personal Edition - Free for Personal Use
Sygate Personal Firewall - version 5.5 is Free for Personal Use
NOTE: Sygate Personal Firewall 5.5 is free for personal/home use, serial number and registration code are not required to register the program. The text at the top of the linked page is misleading because it states “Welcome to our downloads section. You can download and evaluate Sygate software for a full 30 days to see if it suits your need(s). After the 30 day trial period, you can continue using the software by purchasing a license key to unlock it…” The statement refers only to the Pro version, not to the free personal version.
But if you have the spare cash then PLEASE take a serious look at purchasing the "Professional" versions. But if you can not afford it then at least download the FREE version!
Free Ad-aware
Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. With the release of Ad-Aware SE Personal edition.
Boost performance through My Computer
Pretty easy tweak, if, you know where to look. Truth is, most people never find this on their own.
So here it is:
1) Start > Right Click on My Computer and select properties.
2) Click on the "Advanced" tab
3) See the "Performance" section? Click "Settings"
4) Disable all or some of the following:
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under menus
Fade or slide menus into view
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Use a background image for each folder type
Use common tasks in folders
There, now Windows still look good and perform faster.
So here it is:
1) Start > Right Click on My Computer and select properties.
2) Click on the "Advanced" tab
3) See the "Performance" section? Click "Settings"
4) Disable all or some of the following:
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under menus
Fade or slide menus into view
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Use a background image for each folder type
Use common tasks in folders
There, now Windows still look good and perform faster.
Using Microsoft Regedit
The Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) enables you to view, search for, and change settings in your system registry, which contains information about how your computer runs.
Although you can use Registry Editor to inspect and modify the registry, doing so is not recommended, as making incorrect changes can damage your system.
You might need to use Registry Editor, with assistance from a technical support professional, in order to adjust certain system settings.
Regedit.exe is automatically installed during setup and is stored in same folder as is Windows.
To start Regedit.exe
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. Type Regedit, and then click OK.
Although you can use Registry Editor to inspect and modify the registry, doing so is not recommended, as making incorrect changes can damage your system.
You might need to use Registry Editor, with assistance from a technical support professional, in order to adjust certain system settings.
Regedit.exe is automatically installed during setup and is stored in same folder as is Windows.
To start Regedit.exe
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. Type Regedit, and then click OK.
Protecting Your PC Against Identity Theft
The Internet is a scary place these days and just accessing it can put you at great risk. Identity Theft scams that enter your email disguised as mail from eBay or PayPal aren't your only enemy.
Thieves have been trying to get you via your e-mail for many years and you probably know all about antivirus software and how to check for an authentic site.
If you don't have any antivirus software, you need to get one. I recommend Trend Micro. The updates are automatic and timely plus it catches ALL the nasty viruses quickly.
What you may not know is that many sites are depositing some very nasty spyware onto your computer from your browser and your HTML enabled email. This spyware is beginning to get worse than those viruses. Most viruses are trying to use your computer to generate denial of service (DOS) attacks on companies and web sites they may not like.
Most viruses really leave your computer alone, except for storing code that will used in coordinated DOS attacks.
Spyware, on the hand is out to hijack your passwords, your browser, computer and steal your identity.
Unfortunately, if you use Internet Explorer, Outlook or Outlook Express, flaws in them will still allow these spyware agents to infest your computer.
Unfortunately, there's still another way your computer information can be hijacked. Anyone connecting to the internet is at risk and the most at risk are those with the high speed connections we all covet. Hijackers will call random computer addresses and connect to them via protocol ports that your computer needs to access networks. High speed connects are always on and typical have a static address.
Once they have found an unprotected computer's static address, they can send software to run on your computer without your knowledge. This software can be used for example to record every key stroke you make and send it to them. This makes any encryption you may use or relying on secure sites useless.
In order to protect yourself from these attacks, you need to have a firewall on your computer. A firewall can make your computer invisible to these attackers. Being invisible means that they won't be able to find you and they can't attach to something they can't find. Invisible is a good when it comes to the internet.
In conclusion, I want you to be aware that malicious hackers will continue to find ways around any security you or your operating system may implement. However, know that anything you can do is far better than doing nothing.
Computer Security
Ensure that you have established basic security measures for your computer. If possible, do not store information such as banking data and credit card information on your computer, and if you do, encrypt it. This will ensure that, even if someone does access your computer, they can't access the data. Wilders.org maintains a download site where you can obtain free encryption tools.
Use good passwords.
The failure to use good passwords is one of the most common mistakes that people make . It may be easier to remember a password based on a standard English word, pet name or birthdate, but it also means that they are easier to break. It is important to ensure you follow a few basic guidelines when establishing passwords for all of your computer programs, bank cards, e-mail and dial up accounts.
They are as follows:
Do not use passwords based on standard words found in the dictionary. These are the first words that password breaking programs will attempt and with the ability to try 10's to 1000's of words a minute, it may not take long to figure out.
Using both upper and lower case letters and punctuation/shift keys. It is generally recommended that you keep passwords to a minimum 6-8 characters in length. Try to make the characters random, for example: !s2g4$w3 or $barglr33$
Protect your Passwords.
Once you've actually taken the time and effort to protect your programs and information with good passwords, it would be a good idea to keep those passwords safe from prying eyes and fingers.
Don't write your passwords down, if possible. If you must write them down, do it in such a way that you don't give away what the password actually is or what program it is for. Encode it in a way that you and you alone understand.
Do not store passwords on your computer if you intend to retain any measure of security. Often passwords are stored in simple text files that can easily be accessed by people sitting at your computer, or if someone managed to access your system remotely. If you insist on doing so, you may wish to look at file encryption software, such as the free tools offered on this page at Wilders.org.
Personal Information in Programs
This is specifically relating to those programs that you generally plug your name and other personal information into when setting them up.
Follow the tips in the previous sections for e-mail, newsgroups, browsers, and chat to ensure you have maximum online privacy. Ensure that your name and other identifying information is not shown in the set up areas of any of these programs and that you do not enter personal information into websites requesting it if you have any hesitations.
Don't let web sites force you into entering highly personal information (that would include a birth date, etc..); many privacy advocates suggest making information up if it simply isn't required by the website. (E.g. A website for strictly online activities, such as games or e-mail, demanding a street address and telephone number)
In the United States, be absolutely sure to visit the Federal Trade Commission's site discussing the protection of personal information in relation to DMV's, Credit Bureaus and Direct Marketers. The information on this site is vital.
Thieves have been trying to get you via your e-mail for many years and you probably know all about antivirus software and how to check for an authentic site.
If you don't have any antivirus software, you need to get one. I recommend Trend Micro. The updates are automatic and timely plus it catches ALL the nasty viruses quickly.
What you may not know is that many sites are depositing some very nasty spyware onto your computer from your browser and your HTML enabled email. This spyware is beginning to get worse than those viruses. Most viruses are trying to use your computer to generate denial of service (DOS) attacks on companies and web sites they may not like.
Most viruses really leave your computer alone, except for storing code that will used in coordinated DOS attacks.
Spyware, on the hand is out to hijack your passwords, your browser, computer and steal your identity.
Unfortunately, if you use Internet Explorer, Outlook or Outlook Express, flaws in them will still allow these spyware agents to infest your computer.
Unfortunately, there's still another way your computer information can be hijacked. Anyone connecting to the internet is at risk and the most at risk are those with the high speed connections we all covet. Hijackers will call random computer addresses and connect to them via protocol ports that your computer needs to access networks. High speed connects are always on and typical have a static address.
Once they have found an unprotected computer's static address, they can send software to run on your computer without your knowledge. This software can be used for example to record every key stroke you make and send it to them. This makes any encryption you may use or relying on secure sites useless.
In order to protect yourself from these attacks, you need to have a firewall on your computer. A firewall can make your computer invisible to these attackers. Being invisible means that they won't be able to find you and they can't attach to something they can't find. Invisible is a good when it comes to the internet.
In conclusion, I want you to be aware that malicious hackers will continue to find ways around any security you or your operating system may implement. However, know that anything you can do is far better than doing nothing.
Computer Security
Ensure that you have established basic security measures for your computer. If possible, do not store information such as banking data and credit card information on your computer, and if you do, encrypt it. This will ensure that, even if someone does access your computer, they can't access the data. Wilders.org maintains a download site where you can obtain free encryption tools.
Use good passwords.
The failure to use good passwords is one of the most common mistakes that people make . It may be easier to remember a password based on a standard English word, pet name or birthdate, but it also means that they are easier to break. It is important to ensure you follow a few basic guidelines when establishing passwords for all of your computer programs, bank cards, e-mail and dial up accounts.
They are as follows:
Do not use passwords based on standard words found in the dictionary. These are the first words that password breaking programs will attempt and with the ability to try 10's to 1000's of words a minute, it may not take long to figure out.
Using both upper and lower case letters and punctuation/shift keys. It is generally recommended that you keep passwords to a minimum 6-8 characters in length. Try to make the characters random, for example: !s2g4$w3 or $barglr33$
Protect your Passwords.
Once you've actually taken the time and effort to protect your programs and information with good passwords, it would be a good idea to keep those passwords safe from prying eyes and fingers.
Don't write your passwords down, if possible. If you must write them down, do it in such a way that you don't give away what the password actually is or what program it is for. Encode it in a way that you and you alone understand.
Do not store passwords on your computer if you intend to retain any measure of security. Often passwords are stored in simple text files that can easily be accessed by people sitting at your computer, or if someone managed to access your system remotely. If you insist on doing so, you may wish to look at file encryption software, such as the free tools offered on this page at Wilders.org.
Personal Information in Programs
This is specifically relating to those programs that you generally plug your name and other personal information into when setting them up.
Follow the tips in the previous sections for e-mail, newsgroups, browsers, and chat to ensure you have maximum online privacy. Ensure that your name and other identifying information is not shown in the set up areas of any of these programs and that you do not enter personal information into websites requesting it if you have any hesitations.
Don't let web sites force you into entering highly personal information (that would include a birth date, etc..); many privacy advocates suggest making information up if it simply isn't required by the website. (E.g. A website for strictly online activities, such as games or e-mail, demanding a street address and telephone number)
In the United States, be absolutely sure to visit the Federal Trade Commission's site discussing the protection of personal information in relation to DMV's, Credit Bureaus and Direct Marketers. The information on this site is vital.
Antivirus and Security Tips
What is a virus?
Simply put, a virus is a type of software that "infects" a computer. It's typically inserted into a program, and when that program is executed, the virus activates and attaches itself to other programs in your PC. Viruses can be a simple prank--an annoying pop-up message or blue screen, for instance--but too often a virus is a malicious attempt to outright destroy data and programs.
There are several different types of viruses, but they all have a common thread that you should remember: Viruses aren't actually attached to data; they must be run in some form to infect a PC or its data.
For instance, boot viruses are stored on floppies and infect a PC when the floppy is left in the drive during boot. Upon startup, the virus launches and then spreads to other floppies and wipes out data. Macro viruses are hidden within documents or data, and unleashed when the macro is run. Viruses also commonly come in the form of Web downloads and e-mail attachments, embedded in EXE, VBScript or database files.
But no matter what form it's disguised in, the virus must be triggered in order to run. So if you receive an e-mail attachment with a virus, for instance, as long as you don't open (run) the message, you should be safe. Delete the message immediately if you suspect a virus.
Viruses can infect and destroy immediately, or launch on a specified date. They can affect single desktops, or spread to entire networks, servers and Web sites. While many viruses are simply pranks or annoyances, others are more complex and their effects can be devastating.
Viruses can obliterate data, corrupt programs so that they no longer run, stall servers with e-mail bombs, and--in the case of the "I Love You" worm virus--replace files, steal passwords and infect address books as it propagates itself.
1. Secure your e-mail client against running unwanted scripts.
2. Scan your computers at least weekly to make sure they aren't harboring viruses or worms. Trend Micro's virus scanner, which uses a small "in-the-wild" virus list, will do a quick job of this. If you want a thorough virus scan or virus repairs we suggest Trend Micro for complete safety.
3. Keep your AntiVirus software up-to-date. AntiVirus software vendors update their virus lists on a regular basis. Make sure you visit your vendor's Web site at least once a week to download the update. Most virus software offers an auto-update feature which will grab the updates for you; make sure this feature is enabled (if available) in your software.
4. Avoid running attachments (especially .EXE files) that come in your e-mail, even if they come from your friends, relatives or colleagues. The warped minds now writing e-mail viruses will do their best to lure you into running their viruses and worms by making them look like love letters, jokes or pornography. Once you or one of your friends succumbs to this temptation, the script will mail itself to everyone on that computer's address list.
5. Make frequent backups of your data files, and keep some of your backups out of your computer. We like to burn CD-R backup discs on a regular schedule; CD-RW and Zip discs also work well.
6. Ensure that your operating system and your software is up-to-date with all of the latest security patches. To apply the latest Microsoft Security Patches.
7. Use a software and a hardware firewall: If you have broadband Internet service--even if you have Zone Labs' free ZoneAlarm or some other software firewall active on your PC--you can't be too safe. Belkin, D-Link, Linksys, and other vendors sell inexpensive broadband gateways that bounce back worm attacks that otherwise would reach your computer.
8. Control what starts up with Windows: Many worms place a reference to themselves in a portion of the Windows Registry that defines what programs start up with Windows. The TeaTimer applet that comes bundled with Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3 and with WinPatrol can control what gets added to this list. TeaTimer asks you to verify any program that seeks to be added to that list. Spybot and WinPatrol are free, so why not use both?
Simply put, a virus is a type of software that "infects" a computer. It's typically inserted into a program, and when that program is executed, the virus activates and attaches itself to other programs in your PC. Viruses can be a simple prank--an annoying pop-up message or blue screen, for instance--but too often a virus is a malicious attempt to outright destroy data and programs.
There are several different types of viruses, but they all have a common thread that you should remember: Viruses aren't actually attached to data; they must be run in some form to infect a PC or its data.
For instance, boot viruses are stored on floppies and infect a PC when the floppy is left in the drive during boot. Upon startup, the virus launches and then spreads to other floppies and wipes out data. Macro viruses are hidden within documents or data, and unleashed when the macro is run. Viruses also commonly come in the form of Web downloads and e-mail attachments, embedded in EXE, VBScript or database files.
But no matter what form it's disguised in, the virus must be triggered in order to run. So if you receive an e-mail attachment with a virus, for instance, as long as you don't open (run) the message, you should be safe. Delete the message immediately if you suspect a virus.
Viruses can infect and destroy immediately, or launch on a specified date. They can affect single desktops, or spread to entire networks, servers and Web sites. While many viruses are simply pranks or annoyances, others are more complex and their effects can be devastating.
Viruses can obliterate data, corrupt programs so that they no longer run, stall servers with e-mail bombs, and--in the case of the "I Love You" worm virus--replace files, steal passwords and infect address books as it propagates itself.
1. Secure your e-mail client against running unwanted scripts.
2. Scan your computers at least weekly to make sure they aren't harboring viruses or worms. Trend Micro's virus scanner, which uses a small "in-the-wild" virus list, will do a quick job of this. If you want a thorough virus scan or virus repairs we suggest Trend Micro for complete safety.
3. Keep your AntiVirus software up-to-date. AntiVirus software vendors update their virus lists on a regular basis. Make sure you visit your vendor's Web site at least once a week to download the update. Most virus software offers an auto-update feature which will grab the updates for you; make sure this feature is enabled (if available) in your software.
4. Avoid running attachments (especially .EXE files) that come in your e-mail, even if they come from your friends, relatives or colleagues. The warped minds now writing e-mail viruses will do their best to lure you into running their viruses and worms by making them look like love letters, jokes or pornography. Once you or one of your friends succumbs to this temptation, the script will mail itself to everyone on that computer's address list.
5. Make frequent backups of your data files, and keep some of your backups out of your computer. We like to burn CD-R backup discs on a regular schedule; CD-RW and Zip discs also work well.
6. Ensure that your operating system and your software is up-to-date with all of the latest security patches. To apply the latest Microsoft Security Patches.
7. Use a software and a hardware firewall: If you have broadband Internet service--even if you have Zone Labs' free ZoneAlarm or some other software firewall active on your PC--you can't be too safe. Belkin, D-Link, Linksys, and other vendors sell inexpensive broadband gateways that bounce back worm attacks that otherwise would reach your computer.
8. Control what starts up with Windows: Many worms place a reference to themselves in a portion of the Windows Registry that defines what programs start up with Windows. The TeaTimer applet that comes bundled with Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3 and with WinPatrol can control what gets added to this list. TeaTimer asks you to verify any program that seeks to be added to that list. Spybot and WinPatrol are free, so why not use both?
How To Save Time Booting Your Computer
If you're like me you probably get just as frustrated when you boot up your computer because it just seems to take forever. Most of us develop a routine where we turn our computers on and then knowing it's going to take some time busy ourselves with other things.
Here's a way to put an end to all the waiting. In fact, when you press the power switch your computer can now roar to life in just seconds.
By putting your computrer into hibernation mode all the documents and applications that were opened will be exactly the same as they were when you put it into hibernation.
Bottom line:
Now when you start your PC in the moring it's ready almost instantly - NICE!
To set your computer up for hibernation:
- Go to Control Panel and double-click Power Options.
- Click the Hibernate tab and tick Enable Hibernation. Click OK.
- When you leave your computer, click Start and then Turn Off Computer.
- Hold down SHIFT and a new Hibernate option will appear. Click Hibernate.
- Or, press the sleep button on your keyboard.
- Your computer will save its state to memory and shut down. When you turn on your computer, your files and documents will open on your desktop exactly as you left them.
Trust me - This is one cool feature and saves me a ton of time DAILY!
Here's a way to put an end to all the waiting. In fact, when you press the power switch your computer can now roar to life in just seconds.
By putting your computrer into hibernation mode all the documents and applications that were opened will be exactly the same as they were when you put it into hibernation.
Bottom line:
Now when you start your PC in the moring it's ready almost instantly - NICE!
To set your computer up for hibernation:
- Go to Control Panel and double-click Power Options.
- Click the Hibernate tab and tick Enable Hibernation. Click OK.
- When you leave your computer, click Start and then Turn Off Computer.
- Hold down SHIFT and a new Hibernate option will appear. Click Hibernate.
- Or, press the sleep button on your keyboard.
- Your computer will save its state to memory and shut down. When you turn on your computer, your files and documents will open on your desktop exactly as you left them.
Trust me - This is one cool feature and saves me a ton of time DAILY!
50 Percent Increase In Your Computer Speed In Just Five Minutes
Computer operating speed is of concern to almost everyone. In a recent series of tests PC SPY identified several programs that were responsible for the biggest cause of system performance slow downs.
Number one culprit...
Norton Internet Security which was responsible for slowing down the test computer by a staggering 58 percent.
Here are several other offenders...
- 1000 installed fonts
- Kaspersky Internet Security
- Yahoo Messenger
- AOL Instant Messenger
- McAfee Security Center
Removing or disable these programs and you could see a dramatic increase in speed, without spending any money.
Our suggestion
Remove them.
In the case or Norton, replace it with the Free AVG anti Virus security.
Download here
Number one culprit...
Norton Internet Security which was responsible for slowing down the test computer by a staggering 58 percent.
Here are several other offenders...
- 1000 installed fonts
- Kaspersky Internet Security
- Yahoo Messenger
- AOL Instant Messenger
- McAfee Security Center
Removing or disable these programs and you could see a dramatic increase in speed, without spending any money.
Our suggestion
Remove them.
In the case or Norton, replace it with the Free AVG anti Virus security.
Download here
Steps To Dealing With Windows Errors 616
Windows errors are a fact of life for most computer users. Although with each new version, Windows has become a more stable operating system, errors may still occur due to one reason or another. Most of the time, it is not the error, but the complex language of the error message that is most frustrating for the user.
However, even though these error messages may be difficult to understand, in reality, they are the first step to help you identify the cause of the error. You can use these error messages to search for troubleshooting and resolution steps in the Microsoft Knowledgebase and several other third-party websites and message forums. The main goal of these web sites is to help users understand the cause of a particular error and what should be done to resolve the issue. This article covers a few common errors that you may come across while working on your Windows computer and the resolution methods.
Windows Update Error Message: “Error 0x80072EE2”
You may encounter this error message while trying to update your Windows operating system by accessing the Microsoft Windows Update Web site. This error message usually occurs if a program running on your computer is conflicting with the update process. You may also come across the error in case of a network problem. To resolve this issue you may need to do the following:
- Access a website other than Windows update to ensure that your Internet connection is working fine—if your computer is part of a network, you may need to ensure that your computer is able to access the network and your system administrator has provided your user account the permissions needed to access the Internet and download Windows updates.
- If you have a personal firewall installed, check its settings to ensure that they are not preventing the updates from being downloaded and installed.
- Disable download accelerator programs to prevent them from interfering with update downloads.
- Add “Microsoft Update” and “Windows Update” Web sites to the Trusted Sites list in Internet Explorer.
- Remove “Windows Update” and “Microsoft Update” from %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.
- Clear the configuration information of the WinHTTP proxy.
Error Message: “Setup is unable to proceed due to the following error(s):
The 2007 Microsoft Office system does not support upgrading from a prerelease version of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. You must first uninstall any prerelease versions of the 2007 Microsoft Office system products and associated technologies.
Correct the issue(s) listed above and re-run setup.”
This error message may be displayed when you attempt to install the release version of Office 2007 on your computer. To resolve this issue, you must ensure that you do not have:
- An Office 2007 beta release version on the PC.
- A single component of 2007 beta release version on the PC.
- A single add-on of 2007 beta release version on the PC.
If you find any of these, you must completely remove office 2007 beta release version components before proceeding with Office 2007 release version installation. To get rid of components of the beta release version, you may either use the Add or Remove Programs utility or a reliable third-party program removal tool.
At times, no error message may be displayed and your computer may slow down dramatically making it very difficult for you to work. For instance, users often report svchost.exe vista 100% CPU usage problems. The best way to identify high CPU usage problems is to use the Task Manager. This tool will enable you to identify the process that is consuming large amounts of system resources. You may just need to address issues related to this process to resolve your issues and speed up your PC.
However, even though these error messages may be difficult to understand, in reality, they are the first step to help you identify the cause of the error. You can use these error messages to search for troubleshooting and resolution steps in the Microsoft Knowledgebase and several other third-party websites and message forums. The main goal of these web sites is to help users understand the cause of a particular error and what should be done to resolve the issue. This article covers a few common errors that you may come across while working on your Windows computer and the resolution methods.
Windows Update Error Message: “Error 0x80072EE2”
You may encounter this error message while trying to update your Windows operating system by accessing the Microsoft Windows Update Web site. This error message usually occurs if a program running on your computer is conflicting with the update process. You may also come across the error in case of a network problem. To resolve this issue you may need to do the following:
- Access a website other than Windows update to ensure that your Internet connection is working fine—if your computer is part of a network, you may need to ensure that your computer is able to access the network and your system administrator has provided your user account the permissions needed to access the Internet and download Windows updates.
- If you have a personal firewall installed, check its settings to ensure that they are not preventing the updates from being downloaded and installed.
- Disable download accelerator programs to prevent them from interfering with update downloads.
- Add “Microsoft Update” and “Windows Update” Web sites to the Trusted Sites list in Internet Explorer.
- Remove “Windows Update” and “Microsoft Update” from %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file.
- Clear the configuration information of the WinHTTP proxy.
Error Message: “Setup is unable to proceed due to the following error(s):
The 2007 Microsoft Office system does not support upgrading from a prerelease version of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. You must first uninstall any prerelease versions of the 2007 Microsoft Office system products and associated technologies.
Correct the issue(s) listed above and re-run setup.”
This error message may be displayed when you attempt to install the release version of Office 2007 on your computer. To resolve this issue, you must ensure that you do not have:
- An Office 2007 beta release version on the PC.
- A single component of 2007 beta release version on the PC.
- A single add-on of 2007 beta release version on the PC.
If you find any of these, you must completely remove office 2007 beta release version components before proceeding with Office 2007 release version installation. To get rid of components of the beta release version, you may either use the Add or Remove Programs utility or a reliable third-party program removal tool.
At times, no error message may be displayed and your computer may slow down dramatically making it very difficult for you to work. For instance, users often report svchost.exe vista 100% CPU usage problems. The best way to identify high CPU usage problems is to use the Task Manager. This tool will enable you to identify the process that is consuming large amounts of system resources. You may just need to address issues related to this process to resolve your issues and speed up your PC.
Guidelines For Working With The Windows Registry
Your Windows operating system is dependent on the Windows registry because it contains vital information that is required by your software and hardware to carry out various operations. The registry also contains information on how the system should appear and what should be available to different user accounts on the system.
Configuration data is stored in the form of keys and their values in a hierarchical structure. Registry problems start arising when the registry database gets filled up with too many unwanted, obsolete, orphan, and empty registry keys. A bloated registry gets damaged and fragmented easily. As a result, data access from your registry slows down and you may also start receiving registry errors.
To prevent these issues, there a few simple guidelines that you need to follow while working on your Windows computer.
Backup your Registry
The registry works constantly the entire time your PC is operational. This is the reason why there can be several things that may cause irreversible damage to it and prevent your PC from working normally. To avoid this situation, it is important that you make regular registry backups. When you do this, you can easily restore your registry from the last backup of the working registry. There are many ways in which a registry backup can be made. Let us take a look at some of the most common ways:
- You can use the File > Export command of the Registry Editor tool to export and save registry backup in a .reg file.
- Your Windows makes automatic registry backups daily, when the system restore point is created by the System Restore Vista tool. You can use this tool to make manual restore points before making any major changes to your computer.
- You can opt to use a Windows registry cleaner tool to easily create backups in just a few mouse clicks.
Tweak the Registry Entries
By default, there are several entries in the registry that are configured for a base performance. You can change these settings to speed up various processes, such as display time of menus and modify the prefetch settings. Information about registry tweaks is available on various Windows help sites. So, if you want to speed up your computer, you can search for and implement the tweaks that you can use. However, before making any changes, remember to make a registry backup.
Scan and Clean the Registry
To ensure that your registry stays healthy and error free, it is important that you keep it free from unwarranted entries. To do this, you need to regularly scan and clean the registry. A registry cleaner Vista or XP tool can be used to easily perform these tasks. These tools are designed to perform a thorough and deep scan of the registry database and to weed out all unwanted errors from it. You can also use a good registry tool to defrag the registry. Defragging helps in speeding up the registry by reindexing and compressing its files. And, finally as we have already discussed earlier, these tools can be used to perform easy registry backup and restore.
Configuration data is stored in the form of keys and their values in a hierarchical structure. Registry problems start arising when the registry database gets filled up with too many unwanted, obsolete, orphan, and empty registry keys. A bloated registry gets damaged and fragmented easily. As a result, data access from your registry slows down and you may also start receiving registry errors.
To prevent these issues, there a few simple guidelines that you need to follow while working on your Windows computer.
Backup your Registry
The registry works constantly the entire time your PC is operational. This is the reason why there can be several things that may cause irreversible damage to it and prevent your PC from working normally. To avoid this situation, it is important that you make regular registry backups. When you do this, you can easily restore your registry from the last backup of the working registry. There are many ways in which a registry backup can be made. Let us take a look at some of the most common ways:
- You can use the File > Export command of the Registry Editor tool to export and save registry backup in a .reg file.
- Your Windows makes automatic registry backups daily, when the system restore point is created by the System Restore Vista tool. You can use this tool to make manual restore points before making any major changes to your computer.
- You can opt to use a Windows registry cleaner tool to easily create backups in just a few mouse clicks.
Tweak the Registry Entries
By default, there are several entries in the registry that are configured for a base performance. You can change these settings to speed up various processes, such as display time of menus and modify the prefetch settings. Information about registry tweaks is available on various Windows help sites. So, if you want to speed up your computer, you can search for and implement the tweaks that you can use. However, before making any changes, remember to make a registry backup.
Scan and Clean the Registry
To ensure that your registry stays healthy and error free, it is important that you keep it free from unwarranted entries. To do this, you need to regularly scan and clean the registry. A registry cleaner Vista or XP tool can be used to easily perform these tasks. These tools are designed to perform a thorough and deep scan of the registry database and to weed out all unwanted errors from it. You can also use a good registry tool to defrag the registry. Defragging helps in speeding up the registry by reindexing and compressing its files. And, finally as we have already discussed earlier, these tools can be used to perform easy registry backup and restore.
Windows Vista Editions--there's only one real choice
ack in February, I explored the rumor that Microsoft was planning on releasing nine editions of Windows Vista. Now that we're on the eve of Microsoft's official release, it turns out that there will actually be only eight editions of Windows Vista. But, for most of us serious Windows users there will only be one choice.
In this edition of the Windows Vista Report, I'll sift through the eight editions of Windows Vista. As I do, I'll explain why I'm of the opinion that there is only one real choice when it comes to the Windows Vista editions. The eight editions are:
Windows Vista Starter
Windows Vista Home Basic N
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Business N
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Ultimate
You can't touch this
Right off the bat, you can remove Windows Vista Home Basic N and Windows Vista Business N from your list of choices. These two editions of the operating system will only be available in the European Union and are stripped of all Windows Media-related technologies by decree of an antitrust ruling. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find any mention at all of the so called "N" editions on Microsoft's site.
You can also remove Windows Vista Starter because, according to Microsoft, "Windows Vista Starter is not currently scheduled to be available in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, or other high income markets as defined by the World Bank."
You can even remove Windows Vista Enterprise from your list of choices. This edition will only be available through volume licensing deals for large organizations participating in Microsoft's Software Assurance program--it will not be available via the retail chain. As such, if you work at a large organization, chances are you'll be using Windows Vista Enterprise.
The final four
As you can see, we're now quickly down to four choices. And in fact, when you go to the store on January 30, 2007 these are the four editions that you will see on the shelves. These four editions are shown in Table B along with suggested retail pricing information.
Table B: The four primary editions
Windows Vista Edition Full Package Price Upgrade Package Price
Home Basic $199.00
$99.95
Home Premium $239.00
$159.00
Business $299.00
$199.00
Ultimate $399.00
$259.00
I'm going to follow through with my target audience of serious Windows users and assume that you already own a copy of Windows XP and will be purchasing the upgrade package. I'm also going to assume that as a serious Windows user, your current system can be considered Windows Vista Premium Ready:
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) CPU
1 GB RAM
128 MB video card w/support for DirectX 9 WDDM driver, Pixel Shader 2.0, and 32 bits per pixel
40 GB hard disk
DVD-ROM Drive
Let's focus on the price jumps as we move from the lowest to the most expensive of the four remaining Windows Vista editions. While getting a brand new operating system for under $100 may sound like a good deal, it costs just $59.05 to move up one level to Home Premium. It costs only $40.00 to move up from Home Premium to Business. To move from Business to Ultimate costs $60.00.
(Keep in mind that right now I'm just looking at the base price differences here--I'm not talking about the costs associated with the Windows Anytime Upgrade feature. At this time, the Windows Anytime Upgrade pricing structure is still under wraps.)
The elimination round
At this point, I'm going to throw Windows Vista Business out of the mix, for the simple fact that it has a very precise target audience. If you're going to be rolling out Windows Vista in a small- to medium-sized business and aren't participating in Microsoft's Software Assurance program, then you're going to use Windows Vista Business because it has everything you need for business computing and comes at a very reasonable price for a business.
Since Home Basic is the cheapest and Ultimate is the most expensive--and if the old adage "you get what you pay for" holds true--we can safely assume that Home Basic has nothing when it comes to the cool Vista features and that Ultimate has everything. In fact, this holds true when you look at the feature sets. Home Basic doesn't include Windows Aero, Flip 3D, or Live Taskbar Thumbnails, just to name a few, and Ultimate includes everything. Using that reasoning, we can throw out Home Basic.
So now it comes down to a choice between Home Premium and Ultimate editions. Here, the feature sets are very closely matched. In fact, Home Premium includes Windows Aero, Flip 3D, Live Taskbar Thumbnails and most of the cool Windows Vista features found in Ultimate. However, Home Premium doesn't include the Complete PC Backup imaging tool nor does it include the BitLocker drive encryption feature. While I'm only naming two here, these are highly prized Vista features that you definitely will want to take advantage of. And when it comes right down to it, for $100 more than the cost of Home Premium, you can get Ultimate and have everything that Windows Vista has to offer.
Conclusion
As I see it, when it comes to the feature set and the price, the Windows Vista Ultimate edition is the only choice for serious Windows users.
In this edition of the Windows Vista Report, I'll sift through the eight editions of Windows Vista. As I do, I'll explain why I'm of the opinion that there is only one real choice when it comes to the Windows Vista editions. The eight editions are:
Windows Vista Starter
Windows Vista Home Basic N
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Business N
Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Ultimate
You can't touch this
Right off the bat, you can remove Windows Vista Home Basic N and Windows Vista Business N from your list of choices. These two editions of the operating system will only be available in the European Union and are stripped of all Windows Media-related technologies by decree of an antitrust ruling. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find any mention at all of the so called "N" editions on Microsoft's site.
You can also remove Windows Vista Starter because, according to Microsoft, "Windows Vista Starter is not currently scheduled to be available in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, or other high income markets as defined by the World Bank."
You can even remove Windows Vista Enterprise from your list of choices. This edition will only be available through volume licensing deals for large organizations participating in Microsoft's Software Assurance program--it will not be available via the retail chain. As such, if you work at a large organization, chances are you'll be using Windows Vista Enterprise.
The final four
As you can see, we're now quickly down to four choices. And in fact, when you go to the store on January 30, 2007 these are the four editions that you will see on the shelves. These four editions are shown in Table B along with suggested retail pricing information.
Table B: The four primary editions
Windows Vista Edition Full Package Price Upgrade Package Price
Home Basic $199.00
$99.95
Home Premium $239.00
$159.00
Business $299.00
$199.00
Ultimate $399.00
$259.00
I'm going to follow through with my target audience of serious Windows users and assume that you already own a copy of Windows XP and will be purchasing the upgrade package. I'm also going to assume that as a serious Windows user, your current system can be considered Windows Vista Premium Ready:
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) CPU
1 GB RAM
128 MB video card w/support for DirectX 9 WDDM driver, Pixel Shader 2.0, and 32 bits per pixel
40 GB hard disk
DVD-ROM Drive
Let's focus on the price jumps as we move from the lowest to the most expensive of the four remaining Windows Vista editions. While getting a brand new operating system for under $100 may sound like a good deal, it costs just $59.05 to move up one level to Home Premium. It costs only $40.00 to move up from Home Premium to Business. To move from Business to Ultimate costs $60.00.
(Keep in mind that right now I'm just looking at the base price differences here--I'm not talking about the costs associated with the Windows Anytime Upgrade feature. At this time, the Windows Anytime Upgrade pricing structure is still under wraps.)
The elimination round
At this point, I'm going to throw Windows Vista Business out of the mix, for the simple fact that it has a very precise target audience. If you're going to be rolling out Windows Vista in a small- to medium-sized business and aren't participating in Microsoft's Software Assurance program, then you're going to use Windows Vista Business because it has everything you need for business computing and comes at a very reasonable price for a business.
Since Home Basic is the cheapest and Ultimate is the most expensive--and if the old adage "you get what you pay for" holds true--we can safely assume that Home Basic has nothing when it comes to the cool Vista features and that Ultimate has everything. In fact, this holds true when you look at the feature sets. Home Basic doesn't include Windows Aero, Flip 3D, or Live Taskbar Thumbnails, just to name a few, and Ultimate includes everything. Using that reasoning, we can throw out Home Basic.
So now it comes down to a choice between Home Premium and Ultimate editions. Here, the feature sets are very closely matched. In fact, Home Premium includes Windows Aero, Flip 3D, Live Taskbar Thumbnails and most of the cool Windows Vista features found in Ultimate. However, Home Premium doesn't include the Complete PC Backup imaging tool nor does it include the BitLocker drive encryption feature. While I'm only naming two here, these are highly prized Vista features that you definitely will want to take advantage of. And when it comes right down to it, for $100 more than the cost of Home Premium, you can get Ultimate and have everything that Windows Vista has to offer.
Conclusion
As I see it, when it comes to the feature set and the price, the Windows Vista Ultimate edition is the only choice for serious Windows users.
10+ tweaks, tricks, and hacks to make Windows Vista fly
1: Add the Run command to the Start Menu
Beginning way back with the release of Windows 1.0, Microsoft has been all about the GUI interface (more or less effectively). But sometimes you just want to run a program without having to navigate the GUI maze of menus and folders. Windows Vista, by default, does not include the Run command on the Start Menu. This was a common and favorite feature of Windows XP.
To add the Run command back to the Vista Start Menu, follow these steps:
Right click the Taskbar in an open area
Click on Properties
Click on the Start Menu tab
Click the Customize button to get to the Customize Start Menu
Scroll down the list until you find the Run command checkbox and check it
Click OK and the Run command will now appear on the Start Menu
Disable the Welcome Center and Sidebar
The Windows Vista default setting is to show the Welcome Center on startup. While the Welcome Center is mildly interesting the first time you see it, you will quickly tire of it appearing every time you boot your Vista PC. This behavior is easily changed by unchecking the Run a Startup button located at the bottom of the Welcome Center.
Welcome Center
Similarly, the Vista Sidebar is also on by default. While some users will find the Sidebar and its widgets useful, many will desire the desktop real estate and underlying resources for other more productive uses. You can turn the Sidebar off by:
Right clicking the Windows Sidebar icon in the system tray
Click Properties
Uncheck the Start Sidebar when Windows starts checkbox
Click OK
Change the Product Key
A Windows Vista installation disk essentially has all of the various editions of Vista included on that one disk. Which version gets installed is dependent on what product key you enter during the installation process. At some point you may want to upgrade your current version to a version with more bells and whistles, which would require a new Product Key.
Or you may want to Activate your Windows Vista under a different Product Key for some reason. The easiest way to change your Product Key is through the System applet in the Control Panel.
System applet
Under the Windows Activation section there is a link: Change Product Key. Clicking that link brings up the screen where you can enter in a different Product Key.
Windows Activation
4: Start Windows Explorer at somewhere other than documents
While Windows Vista has desktop search that will theoretically allow you the option of merely typing in a location on your hard disk to get an Explorer view, some users will undoubtedly prefer to use Windows Explorer. By default, Windows Explorer in Vista shows you the files located in the user Documents folder. Follow these steps to have Windows Explorer start in a different folder:
Copy the Windows Explorer shortcut, usually found in the Start Menu under Accessories, to the Desktop.
Right click the shortcut and click properties.
Click on the Shortcut tab to get the window
Windows Explorer Properties
Change the Target filed to the desired location.
For example, to have Windows Explorer start at C:\ type in"
C:\Windows\explorer.exe /n, /e, c:\
Click OK
5: Privacy tweak
As a convenience, Windows Vista by default saves and displays a list of recently opened files and programs on the Start Menu. Ostensibly, this is supposed to make it easier to find a file or program. However, many users would prefer that information to remain hidden. Here is how to turn it off:
Right click the Taskbar and click Properties on the resulting menu
Click the Start Menu tab
Uncheck the checkboxes under Privacy
Click OK
Privacy settings
6: Smaller icons on Start Menu
The icons located on the Windows Vista Start Menu default to large
Large icons
For many users, the personal preference will be for those icons to be much smaller. Here is how:
Right click the Taskbar and click on Properties
Click the Start Menu tab
Click the Customize button
Scroll down to the bottom of the list
Uncheck the Use large icons checkbox
Click OK twice
No more large icons
7. Add Internet Explorer to the Vista Desktop
For some reason known only to the Windows Vista development team, there is no easy option to add the Windows Explorer icon to the Vista Desktop. You can add Computer, Recycle Bin, and the Control Panel --- perhaps someone can explain that to us. In the meantime, if you want to add Internet Explorer you can do it with a Registry hack. Before editing the Windows Registry it is always advisable to make a backup of the Registry file.
Click the Start button
Open the Run dialog box (or type regedit in to the search box on the Start Menu)
Type in regedit and press Enter
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
Create a new DWORD 32-bit by right clicking in the key area
Copy this as the key name including the brackets:
{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Close regedit
Right click on the Desktop and click the Refresh menu entry --- Internet Explorer should now appear.
Regedit Internet Explorer
8: Change Security Center notifications
One of the most often leveled criticisms of Windows has been its lack of security. To overcome that perception Microsoft had programmed Vista to complain loudly and often if it discovers your malware, firewall or virus protection software is off or requires maintenance. For many users, the constant badgering to update your virus definitions is more annoying then effective. To calm Vista down a bit you can change the way you are notified of potential lax security.
Open the control panel and click the Windows Security Center
Windows Security Center
Click the link Change the way Security Center alerts me to reach the dialog box.
Choose you preference for notification
Chose your preference
9: Set Folder options
One of the first things experienced users change when they get a new Windows computer is change the Folder View options to a preferred setting. Windows Vista is no exception to this rule.
Open the Control Panel and click on the Folder Options icon
Click on the View tab
Folder options
Check or uncheck your folder preferences --- some suggestions:
Check show hidden files and folders
Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types
Uncheck protected operating system files
10: Adjust power settings
By default, Windows Vista sets the power options to what it calls a "Balanced" plan. While for many users this plan will be adequate, there are many who will want to make adjustments. For laptop users specifically, settings can vary greatly when operating on battery power versus plugged into an outlet. To adjust power settings:
Open the Control Panel and then click the Power Options icon
Power Options
Click on the Change Plan Settings under one of the default plans to make changes(See Power settings)
For additional fine tuning click Change advanced power settings
Advanced power settings
11: Reduce Desktop Icons
By default, the Windows Vista Aero GUI uses what it classifies as "Medium" icons on the Desktop. Medium in this case is really quite large. (There is also a Large icon setting, but we won't go there.) To bring the icons back to a less eye-popping size:
Right click on the Desktop
Choose the View menu item
Change to Classic Icons
Classic
12 Add another time zone
For many of us working away from home offices at satellite offices, home or on the road, knowing the time across various time zones can be a necessary evil. Windows Vista will allow you to keep time in two additional time zones to the machine time.
Right click on the time display located in Taskbar System Tray
Select the Adjust Date/Time menu item
Click on the Additional Clocks tab
Add clocks
Choose a time zone
Click the checkbox next to Show this clock
Click OK
Now when you mouse over the time in the Taskbar System Tray you will get the time in your chosen time zones.
Beginning way back with the release of Windows 1.0, Microsoft has been all about the GUI interface (more or less effectively). But sometimes you just want to run a program without having to navigate the GUI maze of menus and folders. Windows Vista, by default, does not include the Run command on the Start Menu. This was a common and favorite feature of Windows XP.
To add the Run command back to the Vista Start Menu, follow these steps:
Right click the Taskbar in an open area
Click on Properties
Click on the Start Menu tab
Click the Customize button to get to the Customize Start Menu
Scroll down the list until you find the Run command checkbox and check it
Click OK and the Run command will now appear on the Start Menu
Disable the Welcome Center and Sidebar
The Windows Vista default setting is to show the Welcome Center on startup. While the Welcome Center is mildly interesting the first time you see it, you will quickly tire of it appearing every time you boot your Vista PC. This behavior is easily changed by unchecking the Run a Startup button located at the bottom of the Welcome Center.
Welcome Center
Similarly, the Vista Sidebar is also on by default. While some users will find the Sidebar and its widgets useful, many will desire the desktop real estate and underlying resources for other more productive uses. You can turn the Sidebar off by:
Right clicking the Windows Sidebar icon in the system tray
Click Properties
Uncheck the Start Sidebar when Windows starts checkbox
Click OK
Change the Product Key
A Windows Vista installation disk essentially has all of the various editions of Vista included on that one disk. Which version gets installed is dependent on what product key you enter during the installation process. At some point you may want to upgrade your current version to a version with more bells and whistles, which would require a new Product Key.
Or you may want to Activate your Windows Vista under a different Product Key for some reason. The easiest way to change your Product Key is through the System applet in the Control Panel.
System applet
Under the Windows Activation section there is a link: Change Product Key. Clicking that link brings up the screen where you can enter in a different Product Key.
Windows Activation
4: Start Windows Explorer at somewhere other than documents
While Windows Vista has desktop search that will theoretically allow you the option of merely typing in a location on your hard disk to get an Explorer view, some users will undoubtedly prefer to use Windows Explorer. By default, Windows Explorer in Vista shows you the files located in the user Documents folder. Follow these steps to have Windows Explorer start in a different folder:
Copy the Windows Explorer shortcut, usually found in the Start Menu under Accessories, to the Desktop.
Right click the shortcut and click properties.
Click on the Shortcut tab to get the window
Windows Explorer Properties
Change the Target filed to the desired location.
For example, to have Windows Explorer start at C:\ type in"
C:\Windows\explorer.exe /n, /e, c:\
Click OK
5: Privacy tweak
As a convenience, Windows Vista by default saves and displays a list of recently opened files and programs on the Start Menu. Ostensibly, this is supposed to make it easier to find a file or program. However, many users would prefer that information to remain hidden. Here is how to turn it off:
Right click the Taskbar and click Properties on the resulting menu
Click the Start Menu tab
Uncheck the checkboxes under Privacy
Click OK
Privacy settings
6: Smaller icons on Start Menu
The icons located on the Windows Vista Start Menu default to large
Large icons
For many users, the personal preference will be for those icons to be much smaller. Here is how:
Right click the Taskbar and click on Properties
Click the Start Menu tab
Click the Customize button
Scroll down to the bottom of the list
Uncheck the Use large icons checkbox
Click OK twice
No more large icons
7. Add Internet Explorer to the Vista Desktop
For some reason known only to the Windows Vista development team, there is no easy option to add the Windows Explorer icon to the Vista Desktop. You can add Computer, Recycle Bin, and the Control Panel --- perhaps someone can explain that to us. In the meantime, if you want to add Internet Explorer you can do it with a Registry hack. Before editing the Windows Registry it is always advisable to make a backup of the Registry file.
Click the Start button
Open the Run dialog box (or type regedit in to the search box on the Start Menu)
Type in regedit and press Enter
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel
Create a new DWORD 32-bit by right clicking in the key area
Copy this as the key name including the brackets:
{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}
Close regedit
Right click on the Desktop and click the Refresh menu entry --- Internet Explorer should now appear.
Regedit Internet Explorer
8: Change Security Center notifications
One of the most often leveled criticisms of Windows has been its lack of security. To overcome that perception Microsoft had programmed Vista to complain loudly and often if it discovers your malware, firewall or virus protection software is off or requires maintenance. For many users, the constant badgering to update your virus definitions is more annoying then effective. To calm Vista down a bit you can change the way you are notified of potential lax security.
Open the control panel and click the Windows Security Center
Windows Security Center
Click the link Change the way Security Center alerts me to reach the dialog box.
Choose you preference for notification
Chose your preference
9: Set Folder options
One of the first things experienced users change when they get a new Windows computer is change the Folder View options to a preferred setting. Windows Vista is no exception to this rule.
Open the Control Panel and click on the Folder Options icon
Click on the View tab
Folder options
Check or uncheck your folder preferences --- some suggestions:
Check show hidden files and folders
Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types
Uncheck protected operating system files
10: Adjust power settings
By default, Windows Vista sets the power options to what it calls a "Balanced" plan. While for many users this plan will be adequate, there are many who will want to make adjustments. For laptop users specifically, settings can vary greatly when operating on battery power versus plugged into an outlet. To adjust power settings:
Open the Control Panel and then click the Power Options icon
Power Options
Click on the Change Plan Settings under one of the default plans to make changes(See Power settings)
For additional fine tuning click Change advanced power settings
Advanced power settings
11: Reduce Desktop Icons
By default, the Windows Vista Aero GUI uses what it classifies as "Medium" icons on the Desktop. Medium in this case is really quite large. (There is also a Large icon setting, but we won't go there.) To bring the icons back to a less eye-popping size:
Right click on the Desktop
Choose the View menu item
Change to Classic Icons
Classic
12 Add another time zone
For many of us working away from home offices at satellite offices, home or on the road, knowing the time across various time zones can be a necessary evil. Windows Vista will allow you to keep time in two additional time zones to the machine time.
Right click on the time display located in Taskbar System Tray
Select the Adjust Date/Time menu item
Click on the Additional Clocks tab
Add clocks
Choose a time zone
Click the checkbox next to Show this clock
Click OK
Now when you mouse over the time in the Taskbar System Tray you will get the time in your chosen time zones.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
10 things you'll miss when you upgrade to Vista (and how to get some of them back)
Windows Vista has lots of cool new features, eye candy, and security enhancements we didn't have with Windows XP. But as with any software upgrade, there are also some missing pieces--features or capabilities you may find yourself wishing for after the upgrade. Luckily, in many cases you can get back what's missing with a simple download, a registry edit, or an "undocumented" technique.
After I switched to Vista fulltime as my primary operating system, I missed several things. Here's how I got some of them back and worked around others.
#1: Why can't I separate my toolbars anymore?
One of the first things I do when I set up a new operating system for daily use is configure the desktop to suit my working habits. For years, that has included dragging the Quick Launch bar off of the main taskbar and docking it vertically on one side of my screen. That gives me more room for the open program icons on the taskbar and more room to place program icons on the Quick Launch bar for easy and fast access.
In the first few Vista betas, I found that I was unable to move the taskbar or separate its sections, even after unlocking it. I figured it was a "beta thing" and would be fixed in the final version. Imagine my surprise to discover, after installing the RTM, that I could now move the entire taskbar to the side of the screen, but there was no way to detach the Quick Launch bar, no matter how hard I tried. A little research revealed that this was no oversight, but instead is a new "feature" designed to prevent the problem of people inadvertently separating the toolbars. Ouch! Apparently the thinking at Microsoft is that the Start Menu Search box substitutes for the QL bar. Well, not for me.
Thank goodness I found a way to get my Quick Launch bar back where it's supposed to be:
In Windows Explorer, browse to the Quick Launch folder (typically Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer). Vista's Start menu search feature makes it easy to find: Just type Quick Launch in the box.
Drag the Quick Launch folder to the edge of your desktop. It creates a toolbar there. You'll probably want to right-click and select View | Small Icons to make it look better.
You can do this with any folder to create a toolbar of its contents. Figure A shows my Vista desktop, with the detached QL bar holding shortcuts to my favorite programs. I closed the QL bar on the Vista taskbar and created a custom toolbar there for accessing frequently used folders and drives.
You can create a separate Quick Launch toolbar by dragging the folder to the edge of the desktop.
#2: Text-based Setup is gone
Okay, this isn't something anyone's likely to spend a lot of time mourning, but for those of us who have been installing Windows operating systems for years, the lack of "part one" of the Setup process, featuring white text on a blue background, is definitely a difference. The Vista installation program is graphical from the very beginning--and it's pretty, in keeping with the visual "wow" factor that Microsoft was aiming for with Vista.
#3: What's happened to my favorite third-party programs?
I created the custom toolbar for my folders and drives because I found I wasn't able to use the PowerDesk 5.0 toolbar I'd been using in Windows XP, which had a section for such shortcuts. PowerDesk itself installed on Vista and worked fine, but when I tried to create or open a toolbar, I got the error message shown in Figure B.
Some programs, or parts of programs, such as the PowerDesk toolbar, don't work in Vista.
Older versions of many programs won't work in Vista, but many software vendors are bringing out new versions that do, or releasing updates to make their programs Vista-capable.
In some cases, you can get the old programs to install or run by running the installation file or the installed program in Compatibility mode. To do so:
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the installation file or the program executable.
Right-click and select Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab.
Select the Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For check box and choose the operating system you were previously running it on from the drop-down list (for example, Windows XP (Service Pack 2).
You may also need to check the box to run the program as an administrator.
If it still doesn't work, you can try adjusting the settings for running the program (color depth and resolution) or disable visual themes, desktop composition, and/or display scaling.
Another program you might have been running in XP that has problems with Vista is the Diskeeper defragmentation software. This brings us to the next MIA feature, which is the reason some of you might want to run a third-party defrag utility.
#4: Where did the Defrag progress bars go?
The Vista Defrag utility now has a scheduler feature, something users have been asking for, but not everyone likes the simplicity of the new Defragmenter interface and the fact that there are no progress indicators. (See the view of a defragmentation in progress in Figure C.)
The new Disk Defragmenter GUI does away with the progress indicators.
Figure D shows the old XP Defragmenter interface, which some folks are longing for.
The XP Defragmentation interface graphically indicates the progress of the process.
The good news is that for those who want to use a third-party defrag utility, there's now a free update for Diskeeper 2007 that's compatible with Vista. See the January 22 post on the Diskeeper Weblog for information about how to get it. Other third-party defragmenters also work with Vista. Raxco's PerfectDisk has a free trial of its Vista-compatible beta (version 8).
#5: Why is it so much harder to use multiple monitors?
It took me longer than it otherwise would have to embrace Vista wholeheartedly because of problems I had with multiple monitor support. I started using multiple monitors regularly back with Windows 2000, although it was sometimes a bit of a hassle to get it configured on a new computer.
Windows XP perfected multi-monitor support. It became truly plug and play; I could throw two or three video cards into a computer's PCI slots, plug in my monitors, and XP recognized them almost every time.
Then along came Vista. When I installed it on my XP machine that was running four monitors, two off an ATI x600 PCIe card and two off a Matrox 450G PCI card, I got the Aero Glass interface on the first two (ATI), and nothing--black screen--on the second pair (Matrox). Research showed the Matrox card wasn't Vista capable, so I bought a card that, according to advertising, was: a GeForce 5200. Still no joy; still no third screen.
Finally, documentation became available on the Microsoft site indicating that to run Aero Glass on multiple video cards, they must use the same WDDM driver. If you have two Aero-capable cards that use different WDDM drivers (e.g., an ATI card and an nVidia card), Vista will disable one of them. It turns out that it is possible to use the cards together with the older XPDM drivers, but you don't get the Glass interface and associated Vista eye candy. Now I have three monitors working fine on my Vista machine, with a GeForce 7900 card paired up with the GeForce 5200. Figure E shows my setup.
Vista still supports multiple monitors, but it's not the no brainer it was in XP.
Multiple monitor support still isn't as stable in Vista as it was in XP. Even with the RTM, I occasionally turn on my system to find that my monitors have mysteriously "switched places" in the operating system's eyes. That is, my taskbar and sidebar have moved from my middle monitor to the right side monitor, which now thinks it's the primary monitor. It's a quick fix in the Display Properties dialog box, shown in Figure F, but it's an annoyance. I miss XP's user-transparent support of multiple monitors.
Vista occasionally "forgets" which monitor I've designated as the main monitor.
#6: Where's Windows Messenger?
XP came with Windows Messenger installed. Vista doesn't--but the Start menu does contain a link to the download page for Windows Live Messenger. Some folks may be annoyed at having to download and install the program (especially those who are restricted from installing programs), but this is probably a good idea for a couple of reasons:
It makes it easier for network administrators to keep users from chatting online, if your company's policies don't allow that.
It ensures that you'll get the most updated version of the Messenger program no matter when you install the operating system.
#7: Why is the new security system nagging me all the time?
Probably the most-missed characteristic of XP is its more demure behavior. If you were logged on as an administrator and you decided to install a program or perform some other administrative task, XP didn't question your decision. Vista's security is more in your face--even admins will encounter the User Account Control "nag box," shown in Figure G.
XP didn't argue when you wanted to install a program.
Vista's best-kept secret: It's possible to turn off the User Account Control feature--but it's not recommended. UAC takes some of the risk out of logging on with an administrative account, and if you regularly do so, you should let Vista protect you. That said, if you really want to get rid of those nag screens, here's how:
In the Administrative Tools menu of Control Panel, select Local Security Policy.
When prompted, click Continue.
In the left pane, expand Local Policies and click Security Options.
In the right pane, scroll down to User Account Control: Behavior Of The Elevation Prompt For Administrators In Admin Approval Mode and double-click it.
In the drop-down box on the Local Security Settings tab, select Elevate Without Prompting, as shown in Figure H.
Click OK.
You can configure Vista not to prompt administrators for permission when performing admin tasks.
Tip
You can modify a number of security behaviors via the Local Security Settings console. For example, I had to disable the policy User Account Control: Switch To The Secure Desktop When Prompting For Elevation to get a screenshot of the elevation prompt dialog box shown in Figure G. By default, the secure desktop prevents any other programs from interacting when this dialog box is being displayed.
#8: Windows Explorer looks different
The first time you open Windows Explorer, you may be a little disconcerted by the new look. In particular, you're likely to miss the old familiar menu bar, the one that says File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Help. In fact, you may find it a little difficult to get around without it. Figure I shows the new Explorer.
The top menu bar in Windows Explorer appears to have gone missing.
This one is an easy fix: Just click the down arrow on the Organize button, select Layout, and then click Menu Bar. A check mark there means your old friend the menu bar is back at the top of the window, right where it belongs, as shown in Figure J.
You can get the menu bar back with a few quick clicks of your mouse.
#9: What's up with the Up button?
Another difference in Windows Explorer is the missing Up button. This has been replaced by the Back button--but that takes you back to where you started, not necessarily to the top level of the path you're in. It would have been nice to have both.
In most cases, you can work around this by using the new clickable folder path. Now you can click at any level of the path shown in the top address/navigation bar. You can also click the down arrows beside each level and see a clickable list of all the files and folders contained at that level.
In addition, you can use the Recent Pages button, which is a small down arrow located between the back and forward buttons and the address bar, to display locations to or through which you've recently navigated. This is a great help in finding your way around the file system.
#10: Vista requires too many clicks
Many new Vista users have complained that some operations now require more clicks to complete than they did in XP. For example, in XP you could right-click the Network icon on the desktop and select Properties to see a list of your network connections.
In Vista, that same right-click selection displays the Network And Sharing Center, shown in Figure K. An extra click is required to get to the list of network connections. You must select Manage Network Connections in the left Tasks pane.
Some users miss being able to access the list of network connections with two clicks.
If getting to the network connections list quickly is an issue, you can easily create a shortcut to it by dragging its icon to the desktop (Figure L) or Quick Launch bar, giving you access with one click instead of two.
After I switched to Vista fulltime as my primary operating system, I missed several things. Here's how I got some of them back and worked around others.
#1: Why can't I separate my toolbars anymore?
One of the first things I do when I set up a new operating system for daily use is configure the desktop to suit my working habits. For years, that has included dragging the Quick Launch bar off of the main taskbar and docking it vertically on one side of my screen. That gives me more room for the open program icons on the taskbar and more room to place program icons on the Quick Launch bar for easy and fast access.
In the first few Vista betas, I found that I was unable to move the taskbar or separate its sections, even after unlocking it. I figured it was a "beta thing" and would be fixed in the final version. Imagine my surprise to discover, after installing the RTM, that I could now move the entire taskbar to the side of the screen, but there was no way to detach the Quick Launch bar, no matter how hard I tried. A little research revealed that this was no oversight, but instead is a new "feature" designed to prevent the problem of people inadvertently separating the toolbars. Ouch! Apparently the thinking at Microsoft is that the Start Menu Search box substitutes for the QL bar. Well, not for me.
Thank goodness I found a way to get my Quick Launch bar back where it's supposed to be:
In Windows Explorer, browse to the Quick Launch folder (typically Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer). Vista's Start menu search feature makes it easy to find: Just type Quick Launch in the box.
Drag the Quick Launch folder to the edge of your desktop. It creates a toolbar there. You'll probably want to right-click and select View | Small Icons to make it look better.
You can do this with any folder to create a toolbar of its contents. Figure A shows my Vista desktop, with the detached QL bar holding shortcuts to my favorite programs. I closed the QL bar on the Vista taskbar and created a custom toolbar there for accessing frequently used folders and drives.
You can create a separate Quick Launch toolbar by dragging the folder to the edge of the desktop.
#2: Text-based Setup is gone
Okay, this isn't something anyone's likely to spend a lot of time mourning, but for those of us who have been installing Windows operating systems for years, the lack of "part one" of the Setup process, featuring white text on a blue background, is definitely a difference. The Vista installation program is graphical from the very beginning--and it's pretty, in keeping with the visual "wow" factor that Microsoft was aiming for with Vista.
#3: What's happened to my favorite third-party programs?
I created the custom toolbar for my folders and drives because I found I wasn't able to use the PowerDesk 5.0 toolbar I'd been using in Windows XP, which had a section for such shortcuts. PowerDesk itself installed on Vista and worked fine, but when I tried to create or open a toolbar, I got the error message shown in Figure B.
Some programs, or parts of programs, such as the PowerDesk toolbar, don't work in Vista.
Older versions of many programs won't work in Vista, but many software vendors are bringing out new versions that do, or releasing updates to make their programs Vista-capable.
In some cases, you can get the old programs to install or run by running the installation file or the installed program in Compatibility mode. To do so:
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the installation file or the program executable.
Right-click and select Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab.
Select the Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For check box and choose the operating system you were previously running it on from the drop-down list (for example, Windows XP (Service Pack 2).
You may also need to check the box to run the program as an administrator.
If it still doesn't work, you can try adjusting the settings for running the program (color depth and resolution) or disable visual themes, desktop composition, and/or display scaling.
Another program you might have been running in XP that has problems with Vista is the Diskeeper defragmentation software. This brings us to the next MIA feature, which is the reason some of you might want to run a third-party defrag utility.
#4: Where did the Defrag progress bars go?
The Vista Defrag utility now has a scheduler feature, something users have been asking for, but not everyone likes the simplicity of the new Defragmenter interface and the fact that there are no progress indicators. (See the view of a defragmentation in progress in Figure C.)
The new Disk Defragmenter GUI does away with the progress indicators.
Figure D shows the old XP Defragmenter interface, which some folks are longing for.
The XP Defragmentation interface graphically indicates the progress of the process.
The good news is that for those who want to use a third-party defrag utility, there's now a free update for Diskeeper 2007 that's compatible with Vista. See the January 22 post on the Diskeeper Weblog for information about how to get it. Other third-party defragmenters also work with Vista. Raxco's PerfectDisk has a free trial of its Vista-compatible beta (version 8).
#5: Why is it so much harder to use multiple monitors?
It took me longer than it otherwise would have to embrace Vista wholeheartedly because of problems I had with multiple monitor support. I started using multiple monitors regularly back with Windows 2000, although it was sometimes a bit of a hassle to get it configured on a new computer.
Windows XP perfected multi-monitor support. It became truly plug and play; I could throw two or three video cards into a computer's PCI slots, plug in my monitors, and XP recognized them almost every time.
Then along came Vista. When I installed it on my XP machine that was running four monitors, two off an ATI x600 PCIe card and two off a Matrox 450G PCI card, I got the Aero Glass interface on the first two (ATI), and nothing--black screen--on the second pair (Matrox). Research showed the Matrox card wasn't Vista capable, so I bought a card that, according to advertising, was: a GeForce 5200. Still no joy; still no third screen.
Finally, documentation became available on the Microsoft site indicating that to run Aero Glass on multiple video cards, they must use the same WDDM driver. If you have two Aero-capable cards that use different WDDM drivers (e.g., an ATI card and an nVidia card), Vista will disable one of them. It turns out that it is possible to use the cards together with the older XPDM drivers, but you don't get the Glass interface and associated Vista eye candy. Now I have three monitors working fine on my Vista machine, with a GeForce 7900 card paired up with the GeForce 5200. Figure E shows my setup.
Vista still supports multiple monitors, but it's not the no brainer it was in XP.
Multiple monitor support still isn't as stable in Vista as it was in XP. Even with the RTM, I occasionally turn on my system to find that my monitors have mysteriously "switched places" in the operating system's eyes. That is, my taskbar and sidebar have moved from my middle monitor to the right side monitor, which now thinks it's the primary monitor. It's a quick fix in the Display Properties dialog box, shown in Figure F, but it's an annoyance. I miss XP's user-transparent support of multiple monitors.
Vista occasionally "forgets" which monitor I've designated as the main monitor.
#6: Where's Windows Messenger?
XP came with Windows Messenger installed. Vista doesn't--but the Start menu does contain a link to the download page for Windows Live Messenger. Some folks may be annoyed at having to download and install the program (especially those who are restricted from installing programs), but this is probably a good idea for a couple of reasons:
It makes it easier for network administrators to keep users from chatting online, if your company's policies don't allow that.
It ensures that you'll get the most updated version of the Messenger program no matter when you install the operating system.
#7: Why is the new security system nagging me all the time?
Probably the most-missed characteristic of XP is its more demure behavior. If you were logged on as an administrator and you decided to install a program or perform some other administrative task, XP didn't question your decision. Vista's security is more in your face--even admins will encounter the User Account Control "nag box," shown in Figure G.
XP didn't argue when you wanted to install a program.
Vista's best-kept secret: It's possible to turn off the User Account Control feature--but it's not recommended. UAC takes some of the risk out of logging on with an administrative account, and if you regularly do so, you should let Vista protect you. That said, if you really want to get rid of those nag screens, here's how:
In the Administrative Tools menu of Control Panel, select Local Security Policy.
When prompted, click Continue.
In the left pane, expand Local Policies and click Security Options.
In the right pane, scroll down to User Account Control: Behavior Of The Elevation Prompt For Administrators In Admin Approval Mode and double-click it.
In the drop-down box on the Local Security Settings tab, select Elevate Without Prompting, as shown in Figure H.
Click OK.
You can configure Vista not to prompt administrators for permission when performing admin tasks.
Tip
You can modify a number of security behaviors via the Local Security Settings console. For example, I had to disable the policy User Account Control: Switch To The Secure Desktop When Prompting For Elevation to get a screenshot of the elevation prompt dialog box shown in Figure G. By default, the secure desktop prevents any other programs from interacting when this dialog box is being displayed.
#8: Windows Explorer looks different
The first time you open Windows Explorer, you may be a little disconcerted by the new look. In particular, you're likely to miss the old familiar menu bar, the one that says File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Help. In fact, you may find it a little difficult to get around without it. Figure I shows the new Explorer.
The top menu bar in Windows Explorer appears to have gone missing.
This one is an easy fix: Just click the down arrow on the Organize button, select Layout, and then click Menu Bar. A check mark there means your old friend the menu bar is back at the top of the window, right where it belongs, as shown in Figure J.
You can get the menu bar back with a few quick clicks of your mouse.
#9: What's up with the Up button?
Another difference in Windows Explorer is the missing Up button. This has been replaced by the Back button--but that takes you back to where you started, not necessarily to the top level of the path you're in. It would have been nice to have both.
In most cases, you can work around this by using the new clickable folder path. Now you can click at any level of the path shown in the top address/navigation bar. You can also click the down arrows beside each level and see a clickable list of all the files and folders contained at that level.
In addition, you can use the Recent Pages button, which is a small down arrow located between the back and forward buttons and the address bar, to display locations to or through which you've recently navigated. This is a great help in finding your way around the file system.
#10: Vista requires too many clicks
Many new Vista users have complained that some operations now require more clicks to complete than they did in XP. For example, in XP you could right-click the Network icon on the desktop and select Properties to see a list of your network connections.
In Vista, that same right-click selection displays the Network And Sharing Center, shown in Figure K. An extra click is required to get to the list of network connections. You must select Manage Network Connections in the left Tasks pane.
Some users miss being able to access the list of network connections with two clicks.
If getting to the network connections list quickly is an issue, you can easily create a shortcut to it by dragging its icon to the desktop (Figure L) or Quick Launch bar, giving you access with one click instead of two.
Use check boxes to select files
When you want to select multiple files in Windows Explorer, you can hold down the [Ctrl] key as you click on each file. If the files are in consecutive order, you can select the first file, hold down the [Shift] key and select the last file. However, when using either of these techniques, it’s easy to slip up and have to start all over. In Windows Vista there’s a way to put check boxes next to each file in Windows Explorer. As such, you can select files for regular file management operations just like you would select files in many backup programs.
To enable this feature, launch Windows Explorer, press the [Alt] key to toggle the Menu Bar on, pull down the Tools menu, and select Folder Options. When you see the Folder Options dialog box, select the View tab. Then, under the Advanced Settings scroll down to the bottom of the list and select the Use Check Boxes To Select Items check box. Click OK to complete the operation.
Now, when you hover your mouse pointer over the files in Windows Explorer, a check box will momentarily appear next each file as you move past it. If you select the check box, it will remain next to the file and the file will be selected. You can continue selecting files in this manner until you’ve selected all that you want, as shown in Figure E. You’ll also notice that there is a check box in the Name column header. If you select that particular check box, all the files in that folder will be selected.
To enable this feature, launch Windows Explorer, press the [Alt] key to toggle the Menu Bar on, pull down the Tools menu, and select Folder Options. When you see the Folder Options dialog box, select the View tab. Then, under the Advanced Settings scroll down to the bottom of the list and select the Use Check Boxes To Select Items check box. Click OK to complete the operation.
Now, when you hover your mouse pointer over the files in Windows Explorer, a check box will momentarily appear next each file as you move past it. If you select the check box, it will remain next to the file and the file will be selected. You can continue selecting files in this manner until you’ve selected all that you want, as shown in Figure E. You’ll also notice that there is a check box in the Name column header. If you select that particular check box, all the files in that folder will be selected.
Check the license status in Vista
As you know, activating your license in Windows Vista is a big deal. If you ever feel the need to check the status of license on your computer, you can of course go to the System screen by pressing [Windows]+[Break] and check out the Windows Activation section to see if it is activated properly. However, Microsoft included a little VBScript tool that will provide you a bit more information about your license.
To launch this little VBScript tool, press [Windows]+R to access the Run dialog box. Then, type slmgr.vbs –dli in the Open text box, and click OK. In a moment, you will see a Windows Script Host dialog box, like the one shown in Figure D. As you can see, in addition to informing you that your copy of Windows Vista is indeed licensed, it also gives you your edition, tells how you acquired it (Retail or OEM) and even shows you a partial product key. While you can't tell in this screen shot, it’s only the last five characters in your product key.
To launch this little VBScript tool, press [Windows]+R to access the Run dialog box. Then, type slmgr.vbs –dli in the Open text box, and click OK. In a moment, you will see a Windows Script Host dialog box, like the one shown in Figure D. As you can see, in addition to informing you that your copy of Windows Vista is indeed licensed, it also gives you your edition, tells how you acquired it (Retail or OEM) and even shows you a partial product key. While you can't tell in this screen shot, it’s only the last five characters in your product key.
Create an administrative Command Prompt in Vista
you’re running Windows Vista from within a limited user account, you know that you can use the Run As Administrator command to open an administrative Command Prompt. To do so, you right click on the Command Prompt shortcut and select the Run As Administrator command. You then see the UAC dialog box which prompts you to type in the Administrator password. While this is a simple enough operation to carry out, you can shorten it by one step.
Right-click on the Command Prompt Shortcut and select the Properties command. When you see the Properties dialog box, click the Advanced button, When you see the Advanced Properties dialog box, select the Run As Administrator check box, as shown in Figure C. Then, click OK twice, once to close each dialog box.
You can save yourself a step when opening a Command Prompt by activating the Run As Administrator option.
Now, when you click the Command Prompt shortcut, you’ll immediately see the UAC dialog box which prompts you to type in the Administrator password.
Right-click on the Command Prompt Shortcut and select the Properties command. When you see the Properties dialog box, click the Advanced button, When you see the Advanced Properties dialog box, select the Run As Administrator check box, as shown in Figure C. Then, click OK twice, once to close each dialog box.
You can save yourself a step when opening a Command Prompt by activating the Run As Administrator option.
Now, when you click the Command Prompt shortcut, you’ll immediately see the UAC dialog box which prompts you to type in the Administrator password.
Enable an auto logon in Windows Vista
As you know, one of the many areas in which there are vast improvements in Windows Vista is security. Even so, if you're the only one who has access to your computer in your home, having to log on each time you turn on the computer, may seem like overkill. Fortunately, you can configure Windows Vista to automatically logon with your account when you turn on your computer.
To do so, click the start button and type netplwiz in the Start Search text box and then press [Enter]. When you do, you’ll encounter a UAC confirmation dialog box and can click Continue or enter the Administrator credentials.
When you see the User Accounts dialog box, like the one shown in Figure A, make sure that your account in selected in the User for This Computer list. Then, clear the Users Must Enter A Username And Password To Use This Computer check box and click OK.
From this hidden User Accounts dialog box, you can enable an auto logon in Windows Vista.
You’ll then see the Automatically Log On dialog box, as shown in Figure B, and will be prompted to type your password twice. To continue, click OK and restart your system. When Windows Vista boots up, it will automatically log you in to your account.
You’ll need to enter you password twice in order to complete the operation.
To do so, click the start button and type netplwiz in the Start Search text box and then press [Enter]. When you do, you’ll encounter a UAC confirmation dialog box and can click Continue or enter the Administrator credentials.
When you see the User Accounts dialog box, like the one shown in Figure A, make sure that your account in selected in the User for This Computer list. Then, clear the Users Must Enter A Username And Password To Use This Computer check box and click OK.
From this hidden User Accounts dialog box, you can enable an auto logon in Windows Vista.
You’ll then see the Automatically Log On dialog box, as shown in Figure B, and will be prompted to type your password twice. To continue, click OK and restart your system. When Windows Vista boots up, it will automatically log you in to your account.
You’ll need to enter you password twice in order to complete the operation.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Few Important tricks :-
Rip high-quality MP3s in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP)
Contributed by Mark Elder, updated by Paul Thurrott
The relationship between Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, MPXP is able to playback MP3 files out of the box, but encoding (or "ripping") CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft supplied a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it was limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless, leading some to report that Microsoft was purposefully hobbling MP3 to make its Windows Media Audio (WMA) format look better. This is not the case.
To enable MP3 encoding in Windows XP, you'll need to to purchase one of three MP3 Creation Add-on packs for Windows XP. For more information, please visit the Microsoft Web site.
Speed up the Start Menu
Contributed by Paris Paraskevas and Jarrett Miller
The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay
By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.
If this doesn't work for some reason, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get much better overall performance.
Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!
Contributed by Erdim Tanyeri
As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon.
But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:
(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)
Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.
Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
Contributed by Kevin Mazzone
If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger, you can use the tip "Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP" above to remove it, or simply delete the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS
Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
Contributed by Graham Vosloo
For some reason, Hibernate isn't available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!
Contributed by Mark Elder, updated by Paul Thurrott
The relationship between Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, MPXP is able to playback MP3 files out of the box, but encoding (or "ripping") CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft supplied a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it was limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless, leading some to report that Microsoft was purposefully hobbling MP3 to make its Windows Media Audio (WMA) format look better. This is not the case.
To enable MP3 encoding in Windows XP, you'll need to to purchase one of three MP3 Creation Add-on packs for Windows XP. For more information, please visit the Microsoft Web site.
Speed up the Start Menu
Contributed by Paris Paraskevas and Jarrett Miller
The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay
By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.
If this doesn't work for some reason, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get much better overall performance.
Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!
Contributed by Erdim Tanyeri
As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon.
But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:
(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)
Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.
Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
Contributed by Kevin Mazzone
If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger, you can use the tip "Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP" above to remove it, or simply delete the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS
Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
Contributed by Graham Vosloo
For some reason, Hibernate isn't available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!
Use the Windows Sound Scheme
Contributed by Keith Furman
Windows XP ships with a really nice new sound scheme, but it's not loaded by default for some reason. So once you've installed Windows XP, one of the first things you should do is get that new sound scheme loaded.
To do so, open up Control Panel and navigate to Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices. Then, choose the task titled Change the sound scheme. In the dialog that appears, choose Windows Default for the sound scheme. Windows will ask you whether you want to save the previous scheme, which is usually a brain-dead questions, since no scheme was previously loaded. So choose No, and then click OK to exit the dialog.
Windows XP ships with a really nice new sound scheme, but it's not loaded by default for some reason. So once you've installed Windows XP, one of the first things you should do is get that new sound scheme loaded.
To do so, open up Control Panel and navigate to Sounds, Speech, and Audio Devices. Then, choose the task titled Change the sound scheme. In the dialog that appears, choose Windows Default for the sound scheme. Windows will ask you whether you want to save the previous scheme, which is usually a brain-dead questions, since no scheme was previously loaded. So choose No, and then click OK to exit the dialog.
Use the ultimate configuration tool (Professional Edition only)
Contributed by several readers
One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following:
gpedit.msc
After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!
One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following:
gpedit.msc
After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!
Display the Sharing Tab in Folder Properties
Contributed by Paul Knight
In Windows 2000, getting to the Sharing options for a folder was simple: Just right-click, choose Properties, and you'd see a Sharing tab. In Windows XP, this feature is missing by default, but you can make the system display the Sharing tab if desired. Simply open up Folder Options (My Computer, then Tools, Folder Options) and navigate to the View tab. In the Advanced Settings section, scroll down to the bottom and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended), a Mickey Mouse feature if there ever was one. Now share your folders on the LAN as you would in Windows 2000.
In Windows 2000, getting to the Sharing options for a folder was simple: Just right-click, choose Properties, and you'd see a Sharing tab. In Windows XP, this feature is missing by default, but you can make the system display the Sharing tab if desired. Simply open up Folder Options (My Computer, then Tools, Folder Options) and navigate to the View tab. In the Advanced Settings section, scroll down to the bottom and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended), a Mickey Mouse feature if there ever was one. Now share your folders on the LAN as you would in Windows 2000.
Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer
Contributed by Bryan Somerville
One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the shell: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it.
Until now, that is.
Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders
You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer") will be gone.
You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.
Before: A cluttered mess with icons no one will ever use (especially that orpaned one). After: Simplicity itself, and the way it should be by default.
One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the shell: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it.
Until now, that is.
Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders
You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer") will be gone.
You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.
Before: A cluttered mess with icons no one will ever use (especially that orpaned one). After: Simplicity itself, and the way it should be by default.
Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP
Contributed by Ong Choon Keong and Hans Breemer
I first mentioned this technique in an old Technology Showcase for Windows 2000, but it still works in Windows XP, and can be quite useful: For some reason, Microsoft has removed the ability to specify which Windows components you want to install during interactive Setup, and when you go into Add/Remove Windows Components in the Control Panel, you still don't have the full list of applications and applets you can add and remove. Thankfully, this is easy to fix.
To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition, this file will resemble the following by default:
[Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$"
DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0
[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7
[Global]
WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%
WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"
The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart's content.
Cool, eh? There are even more new options now under "Accessories and Utilities" too.
I first mentioned this technique in an old Technology Showcase for Windows 2000, but it still works in Windows XP, and can be quite useful: For some reason, Microsoft has removed the ability to specify which Windows components you want to install during interactive Setup, and when you go into Add/Remove Windows Components in the Control Panel, you still don't have the full list of applications and applets you can add and remove. Thankfully, this is easy to fix.
To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition, this file will resemble the following by default:
[Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$"
DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0
[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7
[Global]
WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%
WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"
The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart's content.
Cool, eh? There are even more new options now under "Accessories and Utilities" too.
Automatically defrag drives with a new context menu item!
Contributed by Doug Knox
Create a new Registry import file named context_defrag.inf in Notepad (be sure to save with it with the Save as type set to All Files and not Text Documents) and place the following text inside:
; context_defrag.INF
; Adds Defrag to the right click context menu in Windows XP
[version]
signature="$CHICAGO$"
[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=AddMe
[AddMe]
HKCR,"Drive\Shell\Defrag\command",,,"DEFRAG.EXE %1"
Then, right-click and choose Install. This will add a context menu to XP that allows you to automatically defrag drives, using the command line version of the built-in defragmentation utility. To use it, navigate to a drive in My Computer, right-click, and choose Defrag. A command line window will appear, and that drive will be defragged. When it's complete, the window just disappears.
UPDATE: To remove this functionality, Open regedit.exe and navigate to the following location:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\
Then delete the Defrag folder and close Regedit.
Create a new Registry import file named context_defrag.inf in Notepad (be sure to save with it with the Save as type set to All Files and not Text Documents) and place the following text inside:
; context_defrag.INF
; Adds Defrag to the right click context menu in Windows XP
[version]
signature="$CHICAGO$"
[DefaultInstall]
AddReg=AddMe
[AddMe]
HKCR,"Drive\Shell\Defrag\command",,,"DEFRAG.EXE %1"
Then, right-click and choose Install. This will add a context menu to XP that allows you to automatically defrag drives, using the command line version of the built-in defragmentation utility. To use it, navigate to a drive in My Computer, right-click, and choose Defrag. A command line window will appear, and that drive will be defragged. When it's complete, the window just disappears.
UPDATE: To remove this functionality, Open regedit.exe and navigate to the following location:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\
Then delete the Defrag folder and close Regedit.
Add album art to any music folder
Contributed by Richard Davidson and Brian Donovan
This is easily my favorite tip! One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.
When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!
Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!
UPDATE: In addition to the folder.jpg file mentioned above, you can also optionally create a smaller version of the image called albumartsmall.jpg, if desired. This is the image used to display album art in MPXP when its sized so that the display area is smaller than 200 x 200 pixels, and in the folder thumbnails for folders that contain album folders. If you don't create albumartsmall.jpg, however, Windows XP will automatically scale folder.jpg in these cases.
This is easily my favorite tip! One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.
When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!
Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!
UPDATE: In addition to the folder.jpg file mentioned above, you can also optionally create a smaller version of the image called albumartsmall.jpg, if desired. This is the image used to display album art in MPXP when its sized so that the display area is smaller than 200 x 200 pixels, and in the folder thumbnails for folders that contain album folders. If you don't create albumartsmall.jpg, however, Windows XP will automatically scale folder.jpg in these cases.
Delete files when the Recycle Bin is hidden
hought it was appropriate for the Tips page, even though it's probably been a feature of Windows for years. (UPDATE: Sure enough, it's been around for a while. It's still a cool tip and proof that one learns something every day).
By default, the Windows XP Recycle Bin sits at the bottom right of the desktop, just above the tray notification area and system clock. If you've got a bunch of floating windows open, however, it's possible to obscure the Recycle Bin and make it impossible to drag files and folders there for deletion. However, Microsoft must have thought of this event, because you can automatically hide all of those open windows during a drag operation. The first time it happened, I thought it was a fluke. But it's not. Instead, it's a cool hidden feature of XP.
Here's how it works: Make sure a bunch of windows are open on the screen, with at least one of them hiding the Recycle Bin. Then, find a file or group of files you'd like to drag to the Recycle Bin. Pick up the files with the mouse and move them to the lower right of the screen. As you reach the bottom area of the screen, pass the mouse cursor over a blank area of the task bar, hover there for an instant, and--voila!--the open windows all minimize, leaving the Recycle Bin available to accept the dragged files. Good stuff. This tip also works when windows are maximized, assuming the file(s) you want to delete are visible in one of the available windows.
By default, the Windows XP Recycle Bin sits at the bottom right of the desktop, just above the tray notification area and system clock. If you've got a bunch of floating windows open, however, it's possible to obscure the Recycle Bin and make it impossible to drag files and folders there for deletion. However, Microsoft must have thought of this event, because you can automatically hide all of those open windows during a drag operation. The first time it happened, I thought it was a fluke. But it's not. Instead, it's a cool hidden feature of XP.
Here's how it works: Make sure a bunch of windows are open on the screen, with at least one of them hiding the Recycle Bin. Then, find a file or group of files you'd like to drag to the Recycle Bin. Pick up the files with the mouse and move them to the lower right of the screen. As you reach the bottom area of the screen, pass the mouse cursor over a blank area of the task bar, hover there for an instant, and--voila!--the open windows all minimize, leaving the Recycle Bin available to accept the dragged files. Good stuff. This tip also works when windows are maximized, assuming the file(s) you want to delete are visible in one of the available windows.
Want To Buy New PC? Handy Tips
Taken from:- http://www.vsubhash.com/writeups/tipsandtricks.asp
Wonder why your PC is not as fast as it was when you first bought it? Is it time for an upgrade? Probably not. Like cars, PCs need to regular maintenance. Also, if you know how to tweak various hardware and software settings from their factory-set defaults, you will be surprised to find your PC performing better than when you bought it!
In this writeup, you will find over 100 tips and tricks that you can use with 32-bit Windows operatings systems, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. In another writeup called Windows XP Tips & Tricks, I have provided some other tips and tricks that are special to Windows XP. If some of the PC-hardware-related concepts mentioned here seem alien to you, then read the writeup PC Hardware Explained. If you find that none of these writeups really address the problem that you had come in search for, then you can mention it in my discussion forum.
Hardware
A well-configured PC by itself offers great performance. The key here lies in the choice of the components and their arrangement.
Choice of CPU: Because ordinary people do not know much about computers, they simply buy one that has an Intel processor. More discerning buyers get PCs with AMD processors. Benchmark tests by prominent computer magazines and websites have shown that AMD Athlon processors score over Intel Pentium processors. Unlike Intel CPUs, AMD processors natively support both 32-bit and 64-bit software. AMD processors consume less power and consequently generate less heat. Hence, they do not require huge noisy fans. AMD is also a much better consumer-friendly company. It has been contributing to the development of open standards, which results in cheaper PC components. Intel, on the contrary, had tried to impose proprietary products like the RD-RAM memory technology, which was developed by its subsidiary Rambus. The biggest argument for AMD processors is the cost. AMD CPUs are always cheaper than Intel's. Remember, it is always the consumer who ultimately pays for the advertising and marketing expenses.
Choice of Motherboard: Thanks to the HyperTransport technology developed by AMD, motherboards of their CPUs are at a level higher than than Intel motherboards. Intel motherboard still use the obsolete front-side bus (FSB) technology to provide a connection between the CPU and the RAM (memory) modules. In the AMD platform, the CPU has an integrated memory controller which directly accesses the memory modules. Hence, memory operations are not bottlenecked by the FSB. Also, motherboard chipsets for AMD processors are being made by many third-party vendors (like VIA, nVidia, and ATI) who add their own expertise and performance increments to the motherboards. Intel jealously guards the chipset market for their CPUs and hence all innovations have to come from Intel.
IDE Drives Setup: Most motherboards have to IDE connectors allowing you to connect up to four IDE devices (hard disks and CD/DVD drives). Each connector can connect to two IDE devices in a master/slave combination. If you have just two devices, say a hard disk and a CD drive, connect them separately to the two IDE connectors. If you have a CD drive and CD-RW drive, connect them both to an IDE connection with the CD writer as the master and the CD drive as the slave.
Autostart CDs: To prevent a CD from autostarting when it is inserted, hold down the Shift key until Windows Explorer recognises the disk. Use Xteq X-Setup or TweakUI to permanently disable autostart behavior for CD/DVD drives.
Power Supply and Cabinet: PC components like the CPU and the graphic card consume a lot of power. So, make sure your PC cabinet has a power supply rated at a minimum of 350W. Also, make sure the cabinet has provisions for two extra fans (one in the front and one in the back). The power supply comes with a fan, which also tries to takes some hot air off the CPU through a grill placed just above the CPU. This grill needs to properly spaced out, be big enough and ideally located to provide effective cooling. Almost all PC cabinets today support the ATX standard, which will allow software to shut the PC down. In Windows 9x/Me/2000/XP, select Enable hibernation under the Hibernate tab of the Power Options applet in Control Panel. A new Hibernate option will now be available in the Shutdown Windows menu.
COM Ports: If you use a serial mouse, then connect it to the COM1 port as this is the first port that the OS checks when it is looking for a mouse. You can connect your dialup modem to COM2.
CNR Port: This port (known as Audio Modem Riser or AMR in older motherboards) can be used to add a specially made low-cost peripheral replacement. The replacement is far cheaper than a separate sound card or modem.
Fans: If your cabinet allows it, install additional fans for extra cooling.
Dust: Remove dust regularly from the insides of your cabinet and prevent them from forming a coating over the motherboard and other parts.
Driver updates: Manufacturers of PC components release new driver updates to fix problems associated with their products. Check their websites for these releases and keep your machine updated.
BIOS
BIOS Backup: Sometimes the BIOS program on your motherboard can become corrupt and your PC will not function properly. So, you need to always keep a backup of a good version of the BIOS on a floppy disc. If something ever goes wrong with the BIOS, you can flash (overwrite) it with your backup. The software used to backup or flash the BIOS is usually available on the motherboard driver CD or on the motherboard/BIOS manufacturer's website. Refer the motherboard manual for step-by-step instructions on using the BIOS flash software.
Do not Detect Absent Devices: When a PC is started, the BOIS checks all available ports/connectors on the motherboard to identify devices attached to them. Usually, not all of these ports/connectors have devices attached to them and bootup time gets unnecessarily prolonged. For example, even if you have only one IDE drive on your PC, the BIOS will still check the other three IDE connectors. To avoid this delay, enter the BIOS Setup program and change the settings to Disabled or None for these ports/connectors. However, when you add new hardware components, make sure to change their BIOS setting to Auto so that they get properly detected.
Supervisor Password: To prevent your BIOS settings from being changed by anyone else, set a Supervisor password in the BIOS and do not set the user password.
User password: If you want to prevent access to anyone else, then set the User password.
Remote access: If you often travel with a laptop PC, you might have felt the need to connect to your desktop PC at home. All you need to remotely access your home PC is a telephone connection. In the power settings section of the BIOS, set the PC to wake up on external modem act. When you leave home, keep the modem powered on, the PC switched off, and the power line connected. Use your laptop to dial your home number. When your modem at home receives the call, the PC will switch itself on. You can then use software-based networking to retrieve files from your machine. You can also use the same principle to send faxes to your PC and make it work like a fax machine. To shut down your the desktop PC remotely, you can simply rely on OS power schemes or use a remote access software.
Boot sequence: After you have installed your OS, set your hard disk first in the boot-up sequence with the CD drive and the floppy following it in that order.
Quick Power On Self Test: Keep this enabled and save on boot-up time.
Boot Up Floppy Seek: Keep this disabled.
PCI Expansion Cards: PCI add-on cards will not work properly if there is IRQ sharing conflict. Refer the motherboard manual for an IRQ number that has been designated as for PCI IRQ Steering. Set this number as the IRQ for the devices in the BIOS setup. Many devices will happily share their IRQ with other devices. However, some devices like graphic cards and TV tuner cards have heavy performance requirements and will not work with a shared IRQ. Provide these cards with a dedicated IRQ.
Disk Partitions
Primary Partitions, Extended Partitions and Logical Partitions: A hard disk can have a maximum of only 4 partitions, which are called PRIMARY PARTITIONS. In the early days of the PC, this four-partition limit was deemed sufficient. To go beyond this limit, a special kind of primary partition called EXTENDED PARTITION was invented. A hard disk could have ONLY ONE extended partition but this particular partition could have any number of smaller partitions called LOGICAL PARTITIONS housed inside it.
Multiple OS and Partitions: Some people have more than one OS installed on their PCs. It is not possible to have more than one OS on a single partition. So, you need to dedicated a partition for each OS. It is preferrable to install Linux on a primary partition. Windows 2000/XP will work on kind of partition. Windows 95/98/Me installs in the first partition on the hard disk. Perhaps you would like to read my writeup How To Multiboot Operating Systems for more information.
My recommendation is to have three primary partitions - two ordinary primary partitions (one for Win 9x/Me and one for Linux) and one extended partition.
Partitioning tool: Windows 9x/Me supplies a partition tool called FDISK. It does not recognize partitions created by Linux installations. So, you might want to use something like Ranish Partition Manager. In Windows 2000/XP, the disk management tool in the Computer Management console will allow you to partition your hard disk.
Boot Loader: If you have multiple operating systems, you might want to use a GUI-based boot loader such as Extended Operating System Loader (XOSL).
Disk Swap
Console-based OSs like DOS have only modest memory requirements. GUI-based operating systems like Windows needs lot of memory, much larger than the RAM that is usually installed on PCs. So, they use something called virtual memory. Here, a large file on the hard disk is used in conjunction with the RAM, which greatly expands the memory available to the OS. Only the data that is required at the given moment is loaded on the RAM; the rest is cached on the swap file. Just like any other file on a disk, the swap file can also get fragmented over time and OS might seem to slow down. To prevent the swap from breaking up, you can place it on a dedicated partition (just like in Linux). Set the size of this partition at about 2.5 times the size of your installed RAM and format it. Next, you need to make sure that the OS does not reserve space on this partition for deleted files because this partition is going to have only one file - the swap file. From the Recyle Bin context menu, choose Properties » Configure drives independently. Select the partition's tab and select the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted option.
In Windows 9x/Me: Right-click on My Computer, click on Properties, choose the Performance tab, and click on Virtual Memory. Here, check the Let me specify my own virtual memory settings and chose the new partition. Set the Minimum and maximum size to something below the total size of the partition. See screenshot.
In Windows 2000/XP: Right-click on My Computer, click on Properties, click on the Advanced tab, click on Performance Options, and click on Change. Here, choose the drive where the swap currently resides and remove the settings (set them to 0) in the Initial Size and Maximum Size boxes. Now, choose your swap partition and set the initial and maximum sizes to the new partition's full capacity minus say 20 MB. See screenshot.
Use the Microsoft TweakUI utility to hide this partition so that you don't save ordinary files on it inadvertantly. If you plan to run heavy-duty applications such as Oracle Database, you may need a swap partition as big as 1.5 GB, just to run the installer. In these cases, do not create a swap partition.
If you have two hard disks, then the swap partition could be created on the first partition on the second disk, preferrably connected to the secondary IDE channel. When the OS load gets shared on two hard disks, there is a perceivable increase in performance.
Device Manager
Keyboard shortcuts: There may have been times when your mouse was not detected and you had a hard time getting around the device manager. Here are the navigation keys with Device Manager. If you are in the desktop, press the TAB key repeatedly until My Computer is selected. Then press the CONTEXT MENU key, which is between the left Ctrl key and the Windows Key. This opens up the context menu for the My Computer. Now select Properties from this menu. Now you see the System Properties window. This has several tabs, one of which is the Device Manager. Press Ctrl+TAB repeatedly to move to Device Manager. Now you see all the devices listed. Press TAB to move to them. To open up any particular device, press the RIGHT ARROW and to shrink it up press LEFT ARROW. To open up the properties of any particular device, press ALT+ENTER or the CONTEXT MENU key.
DMA: Direct Memory Access (DMA) technology enables high-speed transfers from hard disk and reduces the load on the CPU in making correct data reads and writes. Make sure this option is checked in the Disk Drive Properties. Otherwise, your disk operations will be slow.
Ports: If you have a 56 kbps modem, then set its port speed to 1,15,200. This can be done from the Communication Port Properties
Modem: Most Indian modems use American-made chipsets, they do not dial tones on Indian telephone lines. So, set the modem to blind dial by choosing the Do not wait for dial tone setting or using the modem initializing string ATX3. Refer your modem manual for the list of AT commands you can use with your modem.
Saving Memory and Increasing Speed
In Windows 9x/Me, the system cache setting is not always optimised. A software called Cacheman will do this for you. In Windows 2000/XP, try changing the I/O lock page size. To do this, you can use Xteq Systems X-Setup. Choose the appropriate setting under System » Memory.
Clear the startup programs: Startup programs get loaded along with Windows. This causes a delay before the desktop becomes active. Most of these programs do nothing but hog precious memory. See if you can use the programs' settings to prevent them loading with Windows. If that is not possible, use Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel to do that. After you install this program, you can access it from the Control Panel.
RAM: A PC might start running faster simply by adding an extra module of RAM. See if this works for you. If you think you have more than adequate ram but the PC seems sluggish, then use RamBooster to proactively free up unused RAM at regular intervals.
Task Manager: Task Manager (taskmgr.exe) in Windows 2000/XP will list of programs in memory. For detailed information, use TaskInfo. These programs are useful if you are trying to weed out unwanted programs that get loaded on to the memory.
Increasing the Performance of Individual Programs: You can increase the speed of a program, by setting the process priority of the program to either High or Realtime in Task Manager. Do not go overboard on this or your system will become unresponsive.
Active Desktop: Unless you run stock market price tickers on your desktop, deactivate Active Desktop to save memory. If you have enabled Active Desktop just to enable a GIF or JPEG file as the background, then convert the file to a BMP file and set that as the wallpaper without Active Desktop.
Plain Desktop: Remove the desktop background image and set it None. This will save some memory.
Screen Resolution: Set your screen resolution to 15 bit or 16 bit for both speed and saving memory. Set a higher level only when playing games and other such special programs that require higher resolutions.
Clean the Desktop: Remove all unwanted icons from the desktop and shortcuts from the desktop and the quick launch bar. If you have shortcuts for CD drives, windows will check for their contents every time it loads up and cause a delay before the Desktop becomes active.
Remove sound events: If you remove the desktop theme sounds, your operations will get faster. To do so, go to Control Panel » Sounds and Multimedia » Schemes and then choose No Sounds.
Windows Explorer
Keyboard and mouse shortcuts:
Open any folder and press F3. This will bring up the Find Files dialog box for that folder.
Press Start+TAB key combination just once. Now, pressing TAB repeatedly will allow you to jump between various areas of the desktop, such as the desktop proper, taskbar, system tray, quicklaunch toolbar, and Start button.
When you drag a file with the right mouse button, you will be presented with an option to move or copy the file when you drop it elsewhere.
If you drag a file from some location and hover it over a folder that is minimized on the desktop without dropping it, then that folder will spring open allowing you to drop the file there.
If you drag a shortcut and place it over the Start button without dropping it, then the Start menu will spring open and you can navigate to your special program groups and drop it there.
Sometimes, when you have many programs open and you use the Alt+TAB combination to switch to another program, it does not switch. In this situation, press the Start button twice.
Press Alt+F4, to close a program. If no program is open, then it functions like a Shutdown command.
Pressing Alt+Enter after selecting an item will bring up its properties box.
Pressing Start+Pause will bring up the System Properties of your computer.
Add Extra the Send To Menu Options: Open the SendTo folder create shortcuts to the programs and folders that you commonly use. My suggestion is to have shortcuts for the Desktop, My Documents, IrfanView, and Subhash VCDPlayer. When you use the Send To menu option on a file, it will be opened by the relevant program or copied to the relevant folder.
Adding Extra Context Menu Options: Usually, a certain file type can be opened with many programs. However, the file type's right-click menu may have option for just one or two programs. So, why not add some new options for other programs? Here is how you create a context menu option for the MP3 file type so that their files can be opened by Subhash VCDPlayer. Go to Folder Options. Click on File Types tab. From the list under Registered File Types, search for and select MP3 Format Sound. Now click on Advanced. In the Edit File Type window, click on New. In the New Action window, enter Open with Subhash VCDPlayer in the text box under Action and "C:\Program Files\Subhash VCDPlayer" "%1" (including the quotation marks) in the Application used to perform action. Here, the ampersand symbol '&' is placed before the 'S' in Subhash VCDPlayer so that 's' becomes the hot key in the context menu. Use the Edit button to modify any existing settings. Exercise caution with the choice of the program. If the program and the file type are incompatible, results can be unpredictable. See screenshot.
Resize Explorer Columns: Press Ctrl+Plus to resize columns to best fit the contents. Do not use this trick in the Temporary Internet Files folder though; super-bad news if you frequent this folder to manually pick out files.
Folder Options: Customizing the Windows Explorer is done via the Folder Options. To access this,
In Windows Me/2000: From the menu, choose Tools » Folder Options.
In Windows 9x: From the menu, choose View » Folder Options
To move between the different tabs, press the Ctrl+TAB key combination or just use the mouse.
Setting the default view: There are five types of views available
Large Icons
Small Icons
List
Details
Thumbnails
You can have the same view for all Explorer windows. Open any folder and choose the type of view that you want from the toolbar. If you were to choose the Details view, then adjust the column sizes. Then, go to Folder Options and in the View tab, click on the Like Current Folder.
Single-Click To Run Applications: Normally, to select a file you single-click and to run you double-click. You can change this to hover for select and single-click to run. Go to Folder Options. Here, in the Click items as follows section, check the Single-click to open an item and Underline items only when I point at them.
Expanding and Collapsing Folder Tree Branches: On the folder pane, you can expand a branch by pressing the * (asterisk) key. To collapse a branch, press the - (minus) key.
Customized Links Toolbar: The Links toolbar has shortcuts to several Internet sites that you will never visit. Why not replace them with shortcuts to folders or files in your hard disk or your own choice of Internet sites? Display the Favorites menu, right click on Links, and select Open. In the Links folder that opens, remove the shortcuts that Microsoft has provided and create some shortcuts to your own files and folders in your hard disk or network.
Open Links in the Same Window: When you click on a folder shortcut in the Links toolbar, a new Explorer window is opened. To open the folder in the same window, right click on the shortcut and select Open from the context menu.
Removing the Links toolbar: If you want to remove toolbar from showing up at all, then right click on the Links toolbar, and click on the Links option in the context menu.
Favorites: Rather than having links to Internet websites alone, you can also have links to folder in your disk drives or network in the Favorites menu. Just open these folders and select the Add to Favorites from the Favorites menu. Now, you do not have to dig deep into My Computer or My Network Places. Just selecting the location from the Favorites menu will take you to the folder.
Using Favorites in Other Programs: The above tip can come to good use not just in Explorer windows, but also in other programs such as Word or Excel when you want to open or save files. Just click on the Favorites icon on the left of the Open or Save As dialog boxes.
Customising the Toolbar: In Windows Me/2000/XP, you can customise the toolbar with your own choice of buttons. For this, right click on the toolbar and select Customize from the context menu.
Suggested toolbar buttons: My suggestion for buttons for the customized toolbar is
Back
Forward
Separator
Refresh
Separator
Cut
Copy
Paste
Separator
Copy To
Move To
Separator
Delete
Separator
Undo
Separator
Properties
Folder Options
Views
Separator
Up
Browsing
Opera is one of the lightest and fastest browsers available. It was also the first one to provide tabbed browsing. It has numerous customisable features and is a treat to use.
Internet Explorer (IE) has the biggest share among Internet browsers and is the most standards-compliant one. Hence, many websites prefer to work with IE and some of them will not even work with other browsers. As an unfortunate result of its popularity, IE is also a favourite target for hackers, spyware and viruses. IE then becomes a security hole in your computer. So many people have migrated to other browsers like Mozilla Firefox. Firefox has been developed to closely resemble IE and has support for tabbed browsing. But because it lacks support for ActiveX controls and VBScript, it has largely escaped many browser-based attacks. If you like Firefox, feel free to use it in place of IE but remember that Firefox by itself is not an inherently safe product. New Firefox vulnerabilities are being discovered and as the new browsers gains in popularity, it will suffer the same fate as IE.
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You can send messages to computer running the Messenger service (Windows 2000/XP) by using the command net send message from the MS-DOS prompt. To send a message to yourself, type net send 127.0.0.1 hello in the Run dialog box.
Internet Explorer
IE loads up pretty fast because parts of it is loaded by Windows.
Disable the Links toolbar to provide more space for webpages. Close the History/Search pane for the same reason.
Customize the toolbar via View » Toolbars » Customize. My suggestion for toolbar buttons includes
Back
Forward
Separator
Stop
Separator
Refresh
Media
Separator
Search
Favorites
History
Separator
Edit
Separator
Full Screen
Blank home page: Set your home page to a blank one so that it loads up faster. This is done via Tools » Internet Options » General » Use Blank. When your browser is infected with spyware, you will find that no matter how many times you set the home page, it always changes to something else. Use anti-spyware software like Ad-Aware to root out such annoyances.
Offline browsing: You do not have to be online to revisit a webpage. You can access it from the browser cache. Select Work Offline from the File menu. Open the History pane by pressing Ctrl+H or clicking the History toolbar button and select the page from the list. You check the latest version on the Net however by clicking on the Refresh toolbar button or pressing the F5 key.
Search Pane: The search pane (press F3) is a feature of Internet Explorer that allows you to use MSN Search to search the Internet. When you install the Yahoo! toolbar, it will modify IE so that Yahoo! Search is used inside their search pane. However, you are still limited to using just one search engine. So, I created a search pane tweak called Search Heaven, which will allow you to access all popular search engines plus other resources like dictionaries and thesaruses from the search pane. See a demo here.
Context Menu Extensions For IE: IE allows you to copy the address of a link with just two clicks. But to copy the address of an image on a webpage, you have make at least 5 clicks. To make things like this more easier, you can create your own context menu extensions. For this, some new keys will have to be added to the registry. These keys will refer to Javascript or VBScript functions placed in some special HTML files. For a sample, download the cmes.zip. Extract the HTM files to C:\. Extract the Install CMES.reg and double click on it. The keys will be merged into the registry. Your IE context menu will have new options - "Copy All Hyperlink Address" (default), "Copy All Image Addresses" (default), "Copy Image Address" (on images), "Set Text Size To Medium" (on selected text), "Copy HTML Code" (on selected text), "Open Frame In New Window" (default), "Highlight Text" (on selected text) and "Open Link In Same Window" (on hyperlink).
Computer Security: Some websites carry misleading ads and wrong tactics to sell computer security products. Do not download or install these software. Be careful about installing ActiveX controls. The only ActiveX controls or plugins that ordinary people can safely install are that of Macromedia Flash, Real Player, QuickTime and Windows Media Player. All others like Gator or Bonzi are likely to be spyware of some sort. Many spware products are released along with dialers, screensavers, and programs like MP3 Dancer. They are almost impossible to uninstall. Even if you run their uninstall programs, they will continue to hide in your computer without your knowledge. So, be careful about installing software.
Paranoia 1: IE's autocomplete feature may throw up some web addresses at the address bar, which you may not want others to see. So, clear the history. This is done by Internet Options » Clear History. If otherwise you want to selectively remove history items, then delete the appropriate folders inside the History folder. In Windows 9x/Me, the History folder is inside the Windows folder. In Windows 2000/XP, it will be inside the Documents and Settings\«User name»\Local Settings\ folder. A list of web addresses that you have typed in the Address bar is saved in the registry. Run regedit.exe, do a search for "TypedURLs" keys and delete any values you find on the right-side pane.
Paranoia 2: Deleting the files in the Temporary Internet Files folder can remove only part of your tracks. Cookies stored by websites usually remain in this folder with their full web address. So, that is a security violation. To remove them, choose Internet Options » Temporary Internet Folder » Delete Cookies.
Paranoia 3: There is a file named index.dat inside the the Temporary Internet Files or the Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 folder. This contains a list URLs you have visited. If you delete this file, Windows will automatically generate an empty index.dat. However, this file can refuse to go away easily. If this is the case, then go close all windows, start Task Manager (taskmgr.exe) and end the last remaining explorer process. Your taskbar and desktop will disapear but this is okay. Now, go to the File » New Task (Run...) menu option. Type cmd to start an MS-DOS window. Use the cd command to navigate to the folder containing the index.dat file and give the del command to delete the file. Type exit to close the command prompt window. Now, switch back to Task Manager, go the File » New Task (Run...) menu option and type explorer to get back your desktop and taksbar.
Paranoia 4: When the Autocomplete feature is enabled, all your personal information including passwords are stored on the computer, which is available for others to misuse. So, when you are done with browsing at your office or an Internet cafe, follow the above three steps and clear the saved data by choosing Internet Options » Content » AutoComplete » Clear Forms and Clear Passwords. Sometimes, the Internet Options menu option might be disabled in your office or web cafe. So, delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IntelliForms key from the registry. If you want to steal or backup passwords, export this key and import it on a different machine or installation. You will also have to copy the {username}.pwl file and cookies to the new machine/installation. Sometimes, there are ActiveX programs that sit silently recording everything. You can check them out at Internet Options » Temporary Internet Files » Settings » View Objects. This will open the Downloaded Program Files folder in the windows folder. By right-clicking the contents, you can either remove them or check out their properties.
Paranoia 5: In many Internet cafes, some people leave keylogger software installed on the PCs. These record everything that is typed on the keyboard, including your usernames and passwords. So, when you visit a Internet browsing centre, run Task Manager and kill all suspicious-looking programs you find. Some sophisticated keyloggers do not even appear in the Task Manager. To be safe, do not type the characters in the your password in the usual order. Jumble them up. Use your mouse to position the cursor so that the characters are in their proper positions. Few keyloggers are smart enough to detect mouse clicks. Try this demo. The password is "lkBg(tts)2" but we do not type it in that order.
Dialer: When you click on a link, IE starts the dialer program, which can be very annoying. So, disable this via Internet Options » Connection » Never dial a connection. When you want dial a connection, go to the Dial-Up Networking.
Savings on Telephone Bills: You can make optimum use of your online time by opening the links in new windows rather than in just a single window. Take for example your Yahoo! Inbox. Right click on each message and open new windows. By the time, you finish reading the web page in one window, all the other windows would have downloaded their messages.
Downloading Recalcitrant Files: Download managers can download files faster by using more than one connection to the download server. However, they may not be able to catch the URL of some files. In such cases, open the source code of the web page via View » Source and do a search for the download file. Usually, the full url of the file will be found here. Copy this and paste it in the download manager. Some websites prevents you from right-clicking so that you are unable to save images from their website. But you can look inside the Temporary Internet Files folder and you will find that the image has been already downloaded there. All you need to do is maka a copy.
IE Toolbars & Desktop Tickers: Add the Google Toolbar to IE. With this toolbar, you will get to the results without having to visit Google's home page first. If you have to keep in touch with the latest news, then get the Reuters Desktop Ticker. Reuters is the world's leading news provider and almost every newspaper and TV station in the world gets feeds from it. Once connected to the Net, headlines flash across the ticker and you can click on the headlines to read the news stories in a browser window.
ESCAPE: Many people do not know this. If a page is being downloaded and you want to stop it, then pressing the Escape key will do that. Also, pressing Backspace key will take you to the previous page.
Saving web pages: IE allows saving a web page in a single file along with it images and other embedded content. To do this, choose Save As from the File menu. In the Save as type, choose Web Archive, single file (*.mht). Sometimes, MHT files may not show anything even though its thumbnail does show something. If you disable Javascript, you will be able to see the saved content.
Outlook Express
Outlook Express is a free e-mail client that comes bundled with IE.
OE has a lot of GUI clutter and you can reduct this. Go to View » Layout and uncheck Contact, Outlook Bar, and View Bar in the Window Layout Properties window. This is chosen by selecting Layout from the View menu.
Customize the toolbar from Window Layout Properties. My suggestion for buttons is
Send/Recv
Separator
Create Mail
Separator
Reply
Separator
Delete
Separator
Copy To
Separator
Preview
Separator
Offline
The New Message window has a separate set of toolbar buttons. Customize this with
Send
Separator
Undo
Separator
Spelling
Separator
Attachment
Separator
Insert Signature
Separator
Offline
Messages that are already in the various folders have a different toolbar. Customize this with
Reply
Separator
Previous
Separator
Next
Separator
The columns that are viewed inside a folder can be customized via View » Columns. My suggestion for columns is
Size
Attachment
Mark for Offline
Sent
From
To
Subject
The Outbox has a different set of columns so modify that separately.
Implementing Spam Filters For POP Accounts: Create two folders in your mail client - Filtered Inbox and Spam. Create the following four Message Rules in Outlook Express (Tools » Message Rules » Mail). Use your old messages as a guide while picking the words for your filters. Check the Spam folder once in a while for any false-positives. If you find any spam among the flagged messages in the Filtered Inbox, then update the filters in the third rule with new words.
Mail Rule #1: Mail From Known Contacts
Where the From line contains 'friendname' or 'contact@emailaddress.com'
Move it to the Filtered Inbox folder
and Stop processing more rules
Mail Rule #2: Mail Not Addressed To Me
Where the To or CC line does not contain 'your@emailaddress.com'
Move it to the Spam folder
and Stop processing more rules
Mail Rule #3: Word filters on From, To, & Subject lines
Where the From line contains 'debt' or 'enlargement' or 'teens' or 'viagra'
or Where the Subject line contains 'debt' or 'enlargement' or 'teens' or 'viagra'
or Where the To line contains 'debt' or 'enlargement' or 'teens' or 'viagra'
Move it to the Spam folder
and Stop processing more rules
Mail Rule #4: Suspect Mail
For all messages
Move it to the Filtered Inbox folder
and Flag it
and Stop processing more rules
Integrating HotMAIL: You can integrate your HotMAIL account with Outlook Express. Just go about as you would do with adding a POP account. After you enter your HotMAIL address, OE will automatically identify it as a HotMAIL account and pre-fill the E-mail Server Names details. Click Next enter the userid and password. When you are done, OE will ask if you want to download folders for that account. Here, choose Yes. After the folders have been downloaded, you can use it like you would use a POP mail account except that you will not be able to use the Message Rules (available under the Tools menu) on this account.
Protecting Your E-mail Address: Junk mail seems inevitable but there are a few things you can do about it. Do not give your office e-mail address or personal POP address to any website or service. Just to make sure your contacts use your e-mail address responsibly, add the following to your e-mail signature (Tools » Options » Signatures).
E-MAIL BEST PRACTICES
When you send a joke to many contacts, put all e-mail addresses in the bcc (blind carbon copy) box. (None of the recipients will know who the other recipients were.)
If you do have to forward a joke, delete all names and e-mail addresses from the message before sending it. Respect others' privacy.
Never send a mail asking the recipient to forward it to everyone he/she knows. (Chain mail accumulate many e-mail addresses over time & spammers thank the Lord when they receive one.)
Never send virus warnings to anyone. (It may be a hoax and your contacts may end up damaging their machine or losing useful data. Making regular updates to the OS, firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware and other software is enough.)
Never use another person's e-mail address without his/her permission on any website. (Spammers harvest e-mail addresses by providing some free service.)
Handling Bulk Mailers:
Use an e-mail address from a free e-mail provider like Hotmail or Gmail. They have better junk mail filters than you can possibly create on your own.
If you want to stay one step ahead of junk mailers, then use disposable email addresses provided by Yahoo! Mail's AddressGuard service.
If a website requires that you provide an e-mail address before you can use their services, then use temporary e-mail addresses provided by Mailinator.com.
After you add your HotMAIL account to Outlook Express, right click on individual folders and select Synchronization Settings » Headers Only. This will ensure that only the message headers are downloaded when you send/receive message. After identifying useful message, you can double-click them and have their entire content downloaded. Now, you can choose to delete other messages that you think are junk without having to download them.
It is very easy to forge the the From addresses of e-mail messages. Almost all bulk messages have forged From addresses. So, there is no point in complaining to the owners of the domain used in the From address. You need to look at the message headers (select the message, right-click, select Properties » Details) to identify the ISP used by the bulk mailer. Check the screenshot for an example. The Received: header identifies the ISP used by the spammer as rr.com (Road Runner). To complain to an ISP, you need to "abuse@" to the ISP's domain name. In this case, the e-mail address to use will be "abuse@rr.com." In your message, add a copy mail headers of the junk message you had received. Without the mail headers, the ISP will not be able to take any action on the culprit.
Archiving E-mail Messages: Your e-mail messages are kept in a message store folder. The store folder's location can be found by going to Options » Maintenance » Store Folder. Copy the location of the store folder and paste it in the address bar of Explorer. Make a backup of this folder at regular intervals. When you want to move your old messages to another PC or a different installation of Windows, simply import messages (File » Import » Microsoft Outlook Express 6 » Import mail from an OE6 store directory » Browse) from the backup of your original message folder.
Options: To change the various settings of OE, choose Options in the Tools menu. If you have a dial-up account, then under the General tab, uncheck all the check boxes. Under the Send tab, uncheck the Send messages immediately. Under the Compose tab, under Font Settings choose the Verdana 9pt font or anything else that you might fancy. Under the Signatures tab, create different signatures for different accounts or one for all accounts. If you are in India, then setting the dictionary to English (United Kingdom) in the Language section of the Spelling tab will prevent conflicts with American spelling.
Blind Carbon Copy (bcc): Not many people know how to send e-mail messages using bcc (blind carbon copy). Choose View » All headers in the New Message window.
Xteq X-Setup
Xteq X-Setup is a great utility to tweak your system. It has different settings for Win 9x/Me/NT/2000.
To create a DOS box with current folder as its default directory, go to Appearance » Explorer » Context Menu » Context Menu Options and check on Enable 'DOS Prompt here' command for directories.
To hide certain drives, go to Appearance » Explorer » Options » Hide drives. For settings on shortcuts, go to Appearance » Explorer » Shortcuts.
To set up your own customized OEM logo on the Device Manager, go to Appearance » OEM information. Set the outer portions of the BMP file to the color of the 3D object (in your color scheme) before that. See screenshot.
To speed up your modem, choose the port in Hardware » Modem » COM Port Speed.
To prevent others from changing the screensaver or background, go to Appearance » Control Panel » Other Settings » Visible Pages in 'Display'.
Miscellaneous
With faxing software, if you cannot locate the recommended initialization string for your particular modem, try fax class 1 in combination with the generic initialization string: AT&F&C1&D2&K3S7=55 If this doesn’t work, try fax class 2 in combination with the generic initialization string: AT&F&C1&D2&K4S7=55
Windows 9x/Me might sometimes throw up error message that some system file has gone corrupt. You can restore things using System File Checker from Start » Programs » Accessories » System Tools » System Information » Tools.
To show the correct speed with which your modem connects to the ISP, enter the initialization string ATW2
Of all antivirus programs, AVG Antivirus is the best and the lightest. It is better than Norton or McAfee.
Run your antivirus program's complete checkup every week. Also, defrag your hard disk every week. Use Disk Cleanup every now and then to clear your hard disk of junk files.
When Windows throws up a lot of errors and refuses to stop them even after a reinstall, a clean install of Windows is in order. This process can be done more safely and easily if your data files reside in a drive other than the one where Windows sits on. This way you don't have to do time-consuming backups. So, after the first time you install Windows, follow these steps.
Your My Documents would typically be in C:\My Documents or C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents. If you have space on drive D, why not keep your documents in it? If anything goes wrong with your C drive, your documents will be safe in the D drive. For this, right-click on your My Documents and select Properties » Move. Now, select a folder in the D drive. Now, your My Documents will be available from this folder.
Change the store folder of your Outlook Express email messages as mentioned above, to a folder in another drive.
It also helps to backup email account settings too. Select Tools » Accounts » Mail. Select the email account and click on Export. This will create a file with the extension .iaf. Whenever you want to re-create the email account, click on the Import button and select this .iaf file.
Most people format their Windows drive before doing a clean install. This is not necessary. If you have more than one OS, it will delete the boot files of the other OSs too. Just delete the Program Files folder and the Windows folder from MS-DOS or from another OS and go ahead with the install. After that is done, import your email messages from the folder you had created previously. Now, delete any files in that folder. Next, change the message store back to that folder. Also, change the My Documents back to the folder you had created earlier.
Use a download manager to manage your downloads. Second-generation download managers allow for the files to be downloaded in pieces simultaneously by more than one thread, and combine them together after download is over.
If you keep a lot of programs installed, your program menu can get very long. So, divide them into sections such as Multimedia, Internet, System Tools, Utilities, etc., by creating appropriately named folders inside the c:\windows\Start Menu\Programs folder and making appropriate choices during installation.
Quicklaunch Toolbar: Keep the Show Desktop icon in it. If you had deleted it for some reason, then do a search for *.scf in the drive and if you find the Show Desktop.scf file, copy it to the Quicklaunch folder. If you do not find it, then create a new folder. Open Notepad and type the following
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
Choose Save as from the File menu. In the dialog box, change Save as type to All files. Give the filename as Show Desktop.scf. Make sure you save it in the folder you had created just then. Now, right click the taskbar and choose Toolbar»New Toolbar. Here choose the folder where you had put the Show Desktop.scf file.
Keep shortcuts in your Quicklaunch bar for your drives. Create a shortcut with the target as c:\windows\rundll32.exe user.exe,exitwindows. Clicking on this icon will shut down Windows in a snap. However, this command works for Windows 9x/Me only. For Windows NT/2000/XP, you need something more sophisticated. I suggest you download Wizmo (Windows Gizmo - 37 KB). Create shortcuts to this small program using appropriate parameters for logoff, shutdown, restart, hibernate, reboot, and several other functions.
Explore and try to find new ways of doing things.
Wonder why your PC is not as fast as it was when you first bought it? Is it time for an upgrade? Probably not. Like cars, PCs need to regular maintenance. Also, if you know how to tweak various hardware and software settings from their factory-set defaults, you will be surprised to find your PC performing better than when you bought it!
In this writeup, you will find over 100 tips and tricks that you can use with 32-bit Windows operatings systems, such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. In another writeup called Windows XP Tips & Tricks, I have provided some other tips and tricks that are special to Windows XP. If some of the PC-hardware-related concepts mentioned here seem alien to you, then read the writeup PC Hardware Explained. If you find that none of these writeups really address the problem that you had come in search for, then you can mention it in my discussion forum.
Hardware
A well-configured PC by itself offers great performance. The key here lies in the choice of the components and their arrangement.
Choice of CPU: Because ordinary people do not know much about computers, they simply buy one that has an Intel processor. More discerning buyers get PCs with AMD processors. Benchmark tests by prominent computer magazines and websites have shown that AMD Athlon processors score over Intel Pentium processors. Unlike Intel CPUs, AMD processors natively support both 32-bit and 64-bit software. AMD processors consume less power and consequently generate less heat. Hence, they do not require huge noisy fans. AMD is also a much better consumer-friendly company. It has been contributing to the development of open standards, which results in cheaper PC components. Intel, on the contrary, had tried to impose proprietary products like the RD-RAM memory technology, which was developed by its subsidiary Rambus. The biggest argument for AMD processors is the cost. AMD CPUs are always cheaper than Intel's. Remember, it is always the consumer who ultimately pays for the advertising and marketing expenses.
Choice of Motherboard: Thanks to the HyperTransport technology developed by AMD, motherboards of their CPUs are at a level higher than than Intel motherboards. Intel motherboard still use the obsolete front-side bus (FSB) technology to provide a connection between the CPU and the RAM (memory) modules. In the AMD platform, the CPU has an integrated memory controller which directly accesses the memory modules. Hence, memory operations are not bottlenecked by the FSB. Also, motherboard chipsets for AMD processors are being made by many third-party vendors (like VIA, nVidia, and ATI) who add their own expertise and performance increments to the motherboards. Intel jealously guards the chipset market for their CPUs and hence all innovations have to come from Intel.
IDE Drives Setup: Most motherboards have to IDE connectors allowing you to connect up to four IDE devices (hard disks and CD/DVD drives). Each connector can connect to two IDE devices in a master/slave combination. If you have just two devices, say a hard disk and a CD drive, connect them separately to the two IDE connectors. If you have a CD drive and CD-RW drive, connect them both to an IDE connection with the CD writer as the master and the CD drive as the slave.
Autostart CDs: To prevent a CD from autostarting when it is inserted, hold down the Shift key until Windows Explorer recognises the disk. Use Xteq X-Setup or TweakUI to permanently disable autostart behavior for CD/DVD drives.
Power Supply and Cabinet: PC components like the CPU and the graphic card consume a lot of power. So, make sure your PC cabinet has a power supply rated at a minimum of 350W. Also, make sure the cabinet has provisions for two extra fans (one in the front and one in the back). The power supply comes with a fan, which also tries to takes some hot air off the CPU through a grill placed just above the CPU. This grill needs to properly spaced out, be big enough and ideally located to provide effective cooling. Almost all PC cabinets today support the ATX standard, which will allow software to shut the PC down. In Windows 9x/Me/2000/XP, select Enable hibernation under the Hibernate tab of the Power Options applet in Control Panel. A new Hibernate option will now be available in the Shutdown Windows menu.
COM Ports: If you use a serial mouse, then connect it to the COM1 port as this is the first port that the OS checks when it is looking for a mouse. You can connect your dialup modem to COM2.
CNR Port: This port (known as Audio Modem Riser or AMR in older motherboards) can be used to add a specially made low-cost peripheral replacement. The replacement is far cheaper than a separate sound card or modem.
Fans: If your cabinet allows it, install additional fans for extra cooling.
Dust: Remove dust regularly from the insides of your cabinet and prevent them from forming a coating over the motherboard and other parts.
Driver updates: Manufacturers of PC components release new driver updates to fix problems associated with their products. Check their websites for these releases and keep your machine updated.
BIOS
BIOS Backup: Sometimes the BIOS program on your motherboard can become corrupt and your PC will not function properly. So, you need to always keep a backup of a good version of the BIOS on a floppy disc. If something ever goes wrong with the BIOS, you can flash (overwrite) it with your backup. The software used to backup or flash the BIOS is usually available on the motherboard driver CD or on the motherboard/BIOS manufacturer's website. Refer the motherboard manual for step-by-step instructions on using the BIOS flash software.
Do not Detect Absent Devices: When a PC is started, the BOIS checks all available ports/connectors on the motherboard to identify devices attached to them. Usually, not all of these ports/connectors have devices attached to them and bootup time gets unnecessarily prolonged. For example, even if you have only one IDE drive on your PC, the BIOS will still check the other three IDE connectors. To avoid this delay, enter the BIOS Setup program and change the settings to Disabled or None for these ports/connectors. However, when you add new hardware components, make sure to change their BIOS setting to Auto so that they get properly detected.
Supervisor Password: To prevent your BIOS settings from being changed by anyone else, set a Supervisor password in the BIOS and do not set the user password.
User password: If you want to prevent access to anyone else, then set the User password.
Remote access: If you often travel with a laptop PC, you might have felt the need to connect to your desktop PC at home. All you need to remotely access your home PC is a telephone connection. In the power settings section of the BIOS, set the PC to wake up on external modem act. When you leave home, keep the modem powered on, the PC switched off, and the power line connected. Use your laptop to dial your home number. When your modem at home receives the call, the PC will switch itself on. You can then use software-based networking to retrieve files from your machine. You can also use the same principle to send faxes to your PC and make it work like a fax machine. To shut down your the desktop PC remotely, you can simply rely on OS power schemes or use a remote access software.
Boot sequence: After you have installed your OS, set your hard disk first in the boot-up sequence with the CD drive and the floppy following it in that order.
Quick Power On Self Test: Keep this enabled and save on boot-up time.
Boot Up Floppy Seek: Keep this disabled.
PCI Expansion Cards: PCI add-on cards will not work properly if there is IRQ sharing conflict. Refer the motherboard manual for an IRQ number that has been designated as for PCI IRQ Steering. Set this number as the IRQ for the devices in the BIOS setup. Many devices will happily share their IRQ with other devices. However, some devices like graphic cards and TV tuner cards have heavy performance requirements and will not work with a shared IRQ. Provide these cards with a dedicated IRQ.
Disk Partitions
Primary Partitions, Extended Partitions and Logical Partitions: A hard disk can have a maximum of only 4 partitions, which are called PRIMARY PARTITIONS. In the early days of the PC, this four-partition limit was deemed sufficient. To go beyond this limit, a special kind of primary partition called EXTENDED PARTITION was invented. A hard disk could have ONLY ONE extended partition but this particular partition could have any number of smaller partitions called LOGICAL PARTITIONS housed inside it.
Multiple OS and Partitions: Some people have more than one OS installed on their PCs. It is not possible to have more than one OS on a single partition. So, you need to dedicated a partition for each OS. It is preferrable to install Linux on a primary partition. Windows 2000/XP will work on kind of partition. Windows 95/98/Me installs in the first partition on the hard disk. Perhaps you would like to read my writeup How To Multiboot Operating Systems for more information.
My recommendation is to have three primary partitions - two ordinary primary partitions (one for Win 9x/Me and one for Linux) and one extended partition.
Partitioning tool: Windows 9x/Me supplies a partition tool called FDISK. It does not recognize partitions created by Linux installations. So, you might want to use something like Ranish Partition Manager. In Windows 2000/XP, the disk management tool in the Computer Management console will allow you to partition your hard disk.
Boot Loader: If you have multiple operating systems, you might want to use a GUI-based boot loader such as Extended Operating System Loader (XOSL).
Disk Swap
Console-based OSs like DOS have only modest memory requirements. GUI-based operating systems like Windows needs lot of memory, much larger than the RAM that is usually installed on PCs. So, they use something called virtual memory. Here, a large file on the hard disk is used in conjunction with the RAM, which greatly expands the memory available to the OS. Only the data that is required at the given moment is loaded on the RAM; the rest is cached on the swap file. Just like any other file on a disk, the swap file can also get fragmented over time and OS might seem to slow down. To prevent the swap from breaking up, you can place it on a dedicated partition (just like in Linux). Set the size of this partition at about 2.5 times the size of your installed RAM and format it. Next, you need to make sure that the OS does not reserve space on this partition for deleted files because this partition is going to have only one file - the swap file. From the Recyle Bin context menu, choose Properties » Configure drives independently. Select the partition's tab and select the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted option.
In Windows 9x/Me: Right-click on My Computer, click on Properties, choose the Performance tab, and click on Virtual Memory. Here, check the Let me specify my own virtual memory settings and chose the new partition. Set the Minimum and maximum size to something below the total size of the partition. See screenshot.
In Windows 2000/XP: Right-click on My Computer, click on Properties, click on the Advanced tab, click on Performance Options, and click on Change. Here, choose the drive where the swap currently resides and remove the settings (set them to 0) in the Initial Size and Maximum Size boxes. Now, choose your swap partition and set the initial and maximum sizes to the new partition's full capacity minus say 20 MB. See screenshot.
Use the Microsoft TweakUI utility to hide this partition so that you don't save ordinary files on it inadvertantly. If you plan to run heavy-duty applications such as Oracle Database, you may need a swap partition as big as 1.5 GB, just to run the installer. In these cases, do not create a swap partition.
If you have two hard disks, then the swap partition could be created on the first partition on the second disk, preferrably connected to the secondary IDE channel. When the OS load gets shared on two hard disks, there is a perceivable increase in performance.
Device Manager
Keyboard shortcuts: There may have been times when your mouse was not detected and you had a hard time getting around the device manager. Here are the navigation keys with Device Manager. If you are in the desktop, press the TAB key repeatedly until My Computer is selected. Then press the CONTEXT MENU key, which is between the left Ctrl key and the Windows Key. This opens up the context menu for the My Computer. Now select Properties from this menu. Now you see the System Properties window. This has several tabs, one of which is the Device Manager. Press Ctrl+TAB repeatedly to move to Device Manager. Now you see all the devices listed. Press TAB to move to them. To open up any particular device, press the RIGHT ARROW and to shrink it up press LEFT ARROW. To open up the properties of any particular device, press ALT+ENTER or the CONTEXT MENU key.
DMA: Direct Memory Access (DMA) technology enables high-speed transfers from hard disk and reduces the load on the CPU in making correct data reads and writes. Make sure this option is checked in the Disk Drive Properties. Otherwise, your disk operations will be slow.
Ports: If you have a 56 kbps modem, then set its port speed to 1,15,200. This can be done from the Communication Port Properties
Modem: Most Indian modems use American-made chipsets, they do not dial tones on Indian telephone lines. So, set the modem to blind dial by choosing the Do not wait for dial tone setting or using the modem initializing string ATX3. Refer your modem manual for the list of AT commands you can use with your modem.
Saving Memory and Increasing Speed
In Windows 9x/Me, the system cache setting is not always optimised. A software called Cacheman will do this for you. In Windows 2000/XP, try changing the I/O lock page size. To do this, you can use Xteq Systems X-Setup. Choose the appropriate setting under System » Memory.
Clear the startup programs: Startup programs get loaded along with Windows. This causes a delay before the desktop becomes active. Most of these programs do nothing but hog precious memory. See if you can use the programs' settings to prevent them loading with Windows. If that is not possible, use Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel to do that. After you install this program, you can access it from the Control Panel.
RAM: A PC might start running faster simply by adding an extra module of RAM. See if this works for you. If you think you have more than adequate ram but the PC seems sluggish, then use RamBooster to proactively free up unused RAM at regular intervals.
Task Manager: Task Manager (taskmgr.exe) in Windows 2000/XP will list of programs in memory. For detailed information, use TaskInfo. These programs are useful if you are trying to weed out unwanted programs that get loaded on to the memory.
Increasing the Performance of Individual Programs: You can increase the speed of a program, by setting the process priority of the program to either High or Realtime in Task Manager. Do not go overboard on this or your system will become unresponsive.
Active Desktop: Unless you run stock market price tickers on your desktop, deactivate Active Desktop to save memory. If you have enabled Active Desktop just to enable a GIF or JPEG file as the background, then convert the file to a BMP file and set that as the wallpaper without Active Desktop.
Plain Desktop: Remove the desktop background image and set it None. This will save some memory.
Screen Resolution: Set your screen resolution to 15 bit or 16 bit for both speed and saving memory. Set a higher level only when playing games and other such special programs that require higher resolutions.
Clean the Desktop: Remove all unwanted icons from the desktop and shortcuts from the desktop and the quick launch bar. If you have shortcuts for CD drives, windows will check for their contents every time it loads up and cause a delay before the Desktop becomes active.
Remove sound events: If you remove the desktop theme sounds, your operations will get faster. To do so, go to Control Panel » Sounds and Multimedia » Schemes and then choose No Sounds.
Windows Explorer
Keyboard and mouse shortcuts:
Open any folder and press F3. This will bring up the Find Files dialog box for that folder.
Press Start+TAB key combination just once. Now, pressing TAB repeatedly will allow you to jump between various areas of the desktop, such as the desktop proper, taskbar, system tray, quicklaunch toolbar, and Start button.
When you drag a file with the right mouse button, you will be presented with an option to move or copy the file when you drop it elsewhere.
If you drag a file from some location and hover it over a folder that is minimized on the desktop without dropping it, then that folder will spring open allowing you to drop the file there.
If you drag a shortcut and place it over the Start button without dropping it, then the Start menu will spring open and you can navigate to your special program groups and drop it there.
Sometimes, when you have many programs open and you use the Alt+TAB combination to switch to another program, it does not switch. In this situation, press the Start button twice.
Press Alt+F4, to close a program. If no program is open, then it functions like a Shutdown command.
Pressing Alt+Enter after selecting an item will bring up its properties box.
Pressing Start+Pause will bring up the System Properties of your computer.
Add Extra the Send To Menu Options: Open the SendTo folder create shortcuts to the programs and folders that you commonly use. My suggestion is to have shortcuts for the Desktop, My Documents, IrfanView, and Subhash VCDPlayer. When you use the Send To menu option on a file, it will be opened by the relevant program or copied to the relevant folder.
Adding Extra Context Menu Options: Usually, a certain file type can be opened with many programs. However, the file type's right-click menu may have option for just one or two programs. So, why not add some new options for other programs? Here is how you create a context menu option for the MP3 file type so that their files can be opened by Subhash VCDPlayer. Go to Folder Options. Click on File Types tab. From the list under Registered File Types, search for and select MP3 Format Sound. Now click on Advanced. In the Edit File Type window, click on New. In the New Action window, enter Open with Subhash VCDPlayer in the text box under Action and "C:\Program Files\Subhash VCDPlayer" "%1" (including the quotation marks) in the Application used to perform action. Here, the ampersand symbol '&' is placed before the 'S' in Subhash VCDPlayer so that 's' becomes the hot key in the context menu. Use the Edit button to modify any existing settings. Exercise caution with the choice of the program. If the program and the file type are incompatible, results can be unpredictable. See screenshot.
Resize Explorer Columns: Press Ctrl+Plus to resize columns to best fit the contents. Do not use this trick in the Temporary Internet Files folder though; super-bad news if you frequent this folder to manually pick out files.
Folder Options: Customizing the Windows Explorer is done via the Folder Options. To access this,
In Windows Me/2000: From the menu, choose Tools » Folder Options.
In Windows 9x: From the menu, choose View » Folder Options
To move between the different tabs, press the Ctrl+TAB key combination or just use the mouse.
Setting the default view: There are five types of views available
Large Icons
Small Icons
List
Details
Thumbnails
You can have the same view for all Explorer windows. Open any folder and choose the type of view that you want from the toolbar. If you were to choose the Details view, then adjust the column sizes. Then, go to Folder Options and in the View tab, click on the Like Current Folder.
Single-Click To Run Applications: Normally, to select a file you single-click and to run you double-click. You can change this to hover for select and single-click to run. Go to Folder Options. Here, in the Click items as follows section, check the Single-click to open an item and Underline items only when I point at them.
Expanding and Collapsing Folder Tree Branches: On the folder pane, you can expand a branch by pressing the * (asterisk) key. To collapse a branch, press the - (minus) key.
Customized Links Toolbar: The Links toolbar has shortcuts to several Internet sites that you will never visit. Why not replace them with shortcuts to folders or files in your hard disk or your own choice of Internet sites? Display the Favorites menu, right click on Links, and select Open. In the Links folder that opens, remove the shortcuts that Microsoft has provided and create some shortcuts to your own files and folders in your hard disk or network.
Open Links in the Same Window: When you click on a folder shortcut in the Links toolbar, a new Explorer window is opened. To open the folder in the same window, right click on the shortcut and select Open from the context menu.
Removing the Links toolbar: If you want to remove toolbar from showing up at all, then right click on the Links toolbar, and click on the Links option in the context menu.
Favorites: Rather than having links to Internet websites alone, you can also have links to folder in your disk drives or network in the Favorites menu. Just open these folders and select the Add to Favorites from the Favorites menu. Now, you do not have to dig deep into My Computer or My Network Places. Just selecting the location from the Favorites menu will take you to the folder.
Using Favorites in Other Programs: The above tip can come to good use not just in Explorer windows, but also in other programs such as Word or Excel when you want to open or save files. Just click on the Favorites icon on the left of the Open or Save As dialog boxes.
Customising the Toolbar: In Windows Me/2000/XP, you can customise the toolbar with your own choice of buttons. For this, right click on the toolbar and select Customize from the context menu.
Suggested toolbar buttons: My suggestion for buttons for the customized toolbar is
Back
Forward
Separator
Refresh
Separator
Cut
Copy
Paste
Separator
Copy To
Move To
Separator
Delete
Separator
Undo
Separator
Properties
Folder Options
Views
Separator
Up
Browsing
Opera is one of the lightest and fastest browsers available. It was also the first one to provide tabbed browsing. It has numerous customisable features and is a treat to use.
Internet Explorer (IE) has the biggest share among Internet browsers and is the most standards-compliant one. Hence, many websites prefer to work with IE and some of them will not even work with other browsers. As an unfortunate result of its popularity, IE is also a favourite target for hackers, spyware and viruses. IE then becomes a security hole in your computer. So many people have migrated to other browsers like Mozilla Firefox. Firefox has been developed to closely resemble IE and has support for tabbed browsing. But because it lacks support for ActiveX controls and VBScript, it has largely escaped many browser-based attacks. If you like Firefox, feel free to use it in place of IE but remember that Firefox by itself is not an inherently safe product. New Firefox vulnerabilities are being discovered and as the new browsers gains in popularity, it will suffer the same fate as IE.
...
You can send messages to computer running the Messenger service (Windows 2000/XP) by using the command net send message from the MS-DOS prompt. To send a message to yourself, type net send 127.0.0.1 hello in the Run dialog box.
Internet Explorer
IE loads up pretty fast because parts of it is loaded by Windows.
Disable the Links toolbar to provide more space for webpages. Close the History/Search pane for the same reason.
Customize the toolbar via View » Toolbars » Customize. My suggestion for toolbar buttons includes
Back
Forward
Separator
Stop
Separator
Refresh
Media
Separator
Search
Favorites
History
Separator
Edit
Separator
Full Screen
Blank home page: Set your home page to a blank one so that it loads up faster. This is done via Tools » Internet Options » General » Use Blank. When your browser is infected with spyware, you will find that no matter how many times you set the home page, it always changes to something else. Use anti-spyware software like Ad-Aware to root out such annoyances.
Offline browsing: You do not have to be online to revisit a webpage. You can access it from the browser cache. Select Work Offline from the File menu. Open the History pane by pressing Ctrl+H or clicking the History toolbar button and select the page from the list. You check the latest version on the Net however by clicking on the Refresh toolbar button or pressing the F5 key.
Search Pane: The search pane (press F3) is a feature of Internet Explorer that allows you to use MSN Search to search the Internet. When you install the Yahoo! toolbar, it will modify IE so that Yahoo! Search is used inside their search pane. However, you are still limited to using just one search engine. So, I created a search pane tweak called Search Heaven, which will allow you to access all popular search engines plus other resources like dictionaries and thesaruses from the search pane. See a demo here.
Context Menu Extensions For IE: IE allows you to copy the address of a link with just two clicks. But to copy the address of an image on a webpage, you have make at least 5 clicks. To make things like this more easier, you can create your own context menu extensions. For this, some new keys will have to be added to the registry. These keys will refer to Javascript or VBScript functions placed in some special HTML files. For a sample, download the cmes.zip. Extract the HTM files to C:\. Extract the Install CMES.reg and double click on it. The keys will be merged into the registry. Your IE context menu will have new options - "Copy All Hyperlink Address" (default), "Copy All Image Addresses" (default), "Copy Image Address" (on images), "Set Text Size To Medium" (on selected text), "Copy HTML Code" (on selected text), "Open Frame In New Window" (default), "Highlight Text" (on selected text) and "Open Link In Same Window" (on hyperlink).
Computer Security: Some websites carry misleading ads and wrong tactics to sell computer security products. Do not download or install these software. Be careful about installing ActiveX controls. The only ActiveX controls or plugins that ordinary people can safely install are that of Macromedia Flash, Real Player, QuickTime and Windows Media Player. All others like Gator or Bonzi are likely to be spyware of some sort. Many spware products are released along with dialers, screensavers, and programs like MP3 Dancer. They are almost impossible to uninstall. Even if you run their uninstall programs, they will continue to hide in your computer without your knowledge. So, be careful about installing software.
Paranoia 1: IE's autocomplete feature may throw up some web addresses at the address bar, which you may not want others to see. So, clear the history. This is done by Internet Options » Clear History. If otherwise you want to selectively remove history items, then delete the appropriate folders inside the History folder. In Windows 9x/Me, the History folder is inside the Windows folder. In Windows 2000/XP, it will be inside the Documents and Settings\«User name»\Local Settings\ folder. A list of web addresses that you have typed in the Address bar is saved in the registry. Run regedit.exe, do a search for "TypedURLs" keys and delete any values you find on the right-side pane.
Paranoia 2: Deleting the files in the Temporary Internet Files folder can remove only part of your tracks. Cookies stored by websites usually remain in this folder with their full web address. So, that is a security violation. To remove them, choose Internet Options » Temporary Internet Folder » Delete Cookies.
Paranoia 3: There is a file named index.dat inside the the Temporary Internet Files or the Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 folder. This contains a list URLs you have visited. If you delete this file, Windows will automatically generate an empty index.dat. However, this file can refuse to go away easily. If this is the case, then go close all windows, start Task Manager (taskmgr.exe) and end the last remaining explorer process. Your taskbar and desktop will disapear but this is okay. Now, go to the File » New Task (Run...) menu option. Type cmd to start an MS-DOS window. Use the cd command to navigate to the folder containing the index.dat file and give the del command to delete the file. Type exit to close the command prompt window. Now, switch back to Task Manager, go the File » New Task (Run...) menu option and type explorer to get back your desktop and taksbar.
Paranoia 4: When the Autocomplete feature is enabled, all your personal information including passwords are stored on the computer, which is available for others to misuse. So, when you are done with browsing at your office or an Internet cafe, follow the above three steps and clear the saved data by choosing Internet Options » Content » AutoComplete » Clear Forms and Clear Passwords. Sometimes, the Internet Options menu option might be disabled in your office or web cafe. So, delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IntelliForms key from the registry. If you want to steal or backup passwords, export this key and import it on a different machine or installation. You will also have to copy the {username}.pwl file and cookies to the new machine/installation. Sometimes, there are ActiveX programs that sit silently recording everything. You can check them out at Internet Options » Temporary Internet Files » Settings » View Objects. This will open the Downloaded Program Files folder in the windows folder. By right-clicking the contents, you can either remove them or check out their properties.
Paranoia 5: In many Internet cafes, some people leave keylogger software installed on the PCs. These record everything that is typed on the keyboard, including your usernames and passwords. So, when you visit a Internet browsing centre, run Task Manager and kill all suspicious-looking programs you find. Some sophisticated keyloggers do not even appear in the Task Manager. To be safe, do not type the characters in the your password in the usual order. Jumble them up. Use your mouse to position the cursor so that the characters are in their proper positions. Few keyloggers are smart enough to detect mouse clicks. Try this demo. The password is "lkBg(tts)2" but we do not type it in that order.
Dialer: When you click on a link, IE starts the dialer program, which can be very annoying. So, disable this via Internet Options » Connection » Never dial a connection. When you want dial a connection, go to the Dial-Up Networking.
Savings on Telephone Bills: You can make optimum use of your online time by opening the links in new windows rather than in just a single window. Take for example your Yahoo! Inbox. Right click on each message and open new windows. By the time, you finish reading the web page in one window, all the other windows would have downloaded their messages.
Downloading Recalcitrant Files: Download managers can download files faster by using more than one connection to the download server. However, they may not be able to catch the URL of some files. In such cases, open the source code of the web page via View » Source and do a search for the download file. Usually, the full url of the file will be found here. Copy this and paste it in the download manager. Some websites prevents you from right-clicking so that you are unable to save images from their website. But you can look inside the Temporary Internet Files folder and you will find that the image has been already downloaded there. All you need to do is maka a copy.
IE Toolbars & Desktop Tickers: Add the Google Toolbar to IE. With this toolbar, you will get to the results without having to visit Google's home page first. If you have to keep in touch with the latest news, then get the Reuters Desktop Ticker. Reuters is the world's leading news provider and almost every newspaper and TV station in the world gets feeds from it. Once connected to the Net, headlines flash across the ticker and you can click on the headlines to read the news stories in a browser window.
ESCAPE: Many people do not know this. If a page is being downloaded and you want to stop it, then pressing the Escape key will do that. Also, pressing Backspace key will take you to the previous page.
Saving web pages: IE allows saving a web page in a single file along with it images and other embedded content. To do this, choose Save As from the File menu. In the Save as type, choose Web Archive, single file (*.mht). Sometimes, MHT files may not show anything even though its thumbnail does show something. If you disable Javascript, you will be able to see the saved content.
Outlook Express
Outlook Express is a free e-mail client that comes bundled with IE.
OE has a lot of GUI clutter and you can reduct this. Go to View » Layout and uncheck Contact, Outlook Bar, and View Bar in the Window Layout Properties window. This is chosen by selecting Layout from the View menu.
Customize the toolbar from Window Layout Properties. My suggestion for buttons is
Send/Recv
Separator
Create Mail
Separator
Reply
Separator
Delete
Separator
Copy To
Separator
Preview
Separator
Offline
The New Message window has a separate set of toolbar buttons. Customize this with
Send
Separator
Undo
Separator
Spelling
Separator
Attachment
Separator
Insert Signature
Separator
Offline
Messages that are already in the various folders have a different toolbar. Customize this with
Reply
Separator
Previous
Separator
Next
Separator
The columns that are viewed inside a folder can be customized via View » Columns. My suggestion for columns is
Size
Attachment
Mark for Offline
Sent
From
To
Subject
The Outbox has a different set of columns so modify that separately.
Implementing Spam Filters For POP Accounts: Create two folders in your mail client - Filtered Inbox and Spam. Create the following four Message Rules in Outlook Express (Tools » Message Rules » Mail). Use your old messages as a guide while picking the words for your filters. Check the Spam folder once in a while for any false-positives. If you find any spam among the flagged messages in the Filtered Inbox, then update the filters in the third rule with new words.
Mail Rule #1: Mail From Known Contacts
Where the From line contains 'friendname' or 'contact@emailaddress.com'
Move it to the Filtered Inbox folder
and Stop processing more rules
Mail Rule #2: Mail Not Addressed To Me
Where the To or CC line does not contain 'your@emailaddress.com'
Move it to the Spam folder
and Stop processing more rules
Mail Rule #3: Word filters on From, To, & Subject lines
Where the From line contains 'debt' or 'enlargement' or 'teens' or 'viagra'
or Where the Subject line contains 'debt' or 'enlargement' or 'teens' or 'viagra'
or Where the To line contains 'debt' or 'enlargement' or 'teens' or 'viagra'
Move it to the Spam folder
and Stop processing more rules
Mail Rule #4: Suspect Mail
For all messages
Move it to the Filtered Inbox folder
and Flag it
and Stop processing more rules
Integrating HotMAIL: You can integrate your HotMAIL account with Outlook Express. Just go about as you would do with adding a POP account. After you enter your HotMAIL address, OE will automatically identify it as a HotMAIL account and pre-fill the E-mail Server Names details. Click Next enter the userid and password. When you are done, OE will ask if you want to download folders for that account. Here, choose Yes. After the folders have been downloaded, you can use it like you would use a POP mail account except that you will not be able to use the Message Rules (available under the Tools menu) on this account.
Protecting Your E-mail Address: Junk mail seems inevitable but there are a few things you can do about it. Do not give your office e-mail address or personal POP address to any website or service. Just to make sure your contacts use your e-mail address responsibly, add the following to your e-mail signature (Tools » Options » Signatures).
E-MAIL BEST PRACTICES
When you send a joke to many contacts, put all e-mail addresses in the bcc (blind carbon copy) box. (None of the recipients will know who the other recipients were.)
If you do have to forward a joke, delete all names and e-mail addresses from the message before sending it. Respect others' privacy.
Never send a mail asking the recipient to forward it to everyone he/she knows. (Chain mail accumulate many e-mail addresses over time & spammers thank the Lord when they receive one.)
Never send virus warnings to anyone. (It may be a hoax and your contacts may end up damaging their machine or losing useful data. Making regular updates to the OS, firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware and other software is enough.)
Never use another person's e-mail address without his/her permission on any website. (Spammers harvest e-mail addresses by providing some free service.)
Handling Bulk Mailers:
Use an e-mail address from a free e-mail provider like Hotmail or Gmail. They have better junk mail filters than you can possibly create on your own.
If you want to stay one step ahead of junk mailers, then use disposable email addresses provided by Yahoo! Mail's AddressGuard service.
If a website requires that you provide an e-mail address before you can use their services, then use temporary e-mail addresses provided by Mailinator.com.
After you add your HotMAIL account to Outlook Express, right click on individual folders and select Synchronization Settings » Headers Only. This will ensure that only the message headers are downloaded when you send/receive message. After identifying useful message, you can double-click them and have their entire content downloaded. Now, you can choose to delete other messages that you think are junk without having to download them.
It is very easy to forge the the From addresses of e-mail messages. Almost all bulk messages have forged From addresses. So, there is no point in complaining to the owners of the domain used in the From address. You need to look at the message headers (select the message, right-click, select Properties » Details) to identify the ISP used by the bulk mailer. Check the screenshot for an example. The Received: header identifies the ISP used by the spammer as rr.com (Road Runner). To complain to an ISP, you need to "abuse@" to the ISP's domain name. In this case, the e-mail address to use will be "abuse@rr.com." In your message, add a copy mail headers of the junk message you had received. Without the mail headers, the ISP will not be able to take any action on the culprit.
Archiving E-mail Messages: Your e-mail messages are kept in a message store folder. The store folder's location can be found by going to Options » Maintenance » Store Folder. Copy the location of the store folder and paste it in the address bar of Explorer. Make a backup of this folder at regular intervals. When you want to move your old messages to another PC or a different installation of Windows, simply import messages (File » Import » Microsoft Outlook Express 6 » Import mail from an OE6 store directory » Browse) from the backup of your original message folder.
Options: To change the various settings of OE, choose Options in the Tools menu. If you have a dial-up account, then under the General tab, uncheck all the check boxes. Under the Send tab, uncheck the Send messages immediately. Under the Compose tab, under Font Settings choose the Verdana 9pt font or anything else that you might fancy. Under the Signatures tab, create different signatures for different accounts or one for all accounts. If you are in India, then setting the dictionary to English (United Kingdom) in the Language section of the Spelling tab will prevent conflicts with American spelling.
Blind Carbon Copy (bcc): Not many people know how to send e-mail messages using bcc (blind carbon copy). Choose View » All headers in the New Message window.
Xteq X-Setup
Xteq X-Setup is a great utility to tweak your system. It has different settings for Win 9x/Me/NT/2000.
To create a DOS box with current folder as its default directory, go to Appearance » Explorer » Context Menu » Context Menu Options and check on Enable 'DOS Prompt here' command for directories.
To hide certain drives, go to Appearance » Explorer » Options » Hide drives. For settings on shortcuts, go to Appearance » Explorer » Shortcuts.
To set up your own customized OEM logo on the Device Manager, go to Appearance » OEM information. Set the outer portions of the BMP file to the color of the 3D object (in your color scheme) before that. See screenshot.
To speed up your modem, choose the port in Hardware » Modem » COM Port Speed.
To prevent others from changing the screensaver or background, go to Appearance » Control Panel » Other Settings » Visible Pages in 'Display'.
Miscellaneous
With faxing software, if you cannot locate the recommended initialization string for your particular modem, try fax class 1 in combination with the generic initialization string: AT&F&C1&D2&K3S7=55 If this doesn’t work, try fax class 2 in combination with the generic initialization string: AT&F&C1&D2&K4S7=55
Windows 9x/Me might sometimes throw up error message that some system file has gone corrupt. You can restore things using System File Checker from Start » Programs » Accessories » System Tools » System Information » Tools.
To show the correct speed with which your modem connects to the ISP, enter the initialization string ATW2
Of all antivirus programs, AVG Antivirus is the best and the lightest. It is better than Norton or McAfee.
Run your antivirus program's complete checkup every week. Also, defrag your hard disk every week. Use Disk Cleanup every now and then to clear your hard disk of junk files.
When Windows throws up a lot of errors and refuses to stop them even after a reinstall, a clean install of Windows is in order. This process can be done more safely and easily if your data files reside in a drive other than the one where Windows sits on. This way you don't have to do time-consuming backups. So, after the first time you install Windows, follow these steps.
Your My Documents would typically be in C:\My Documents or C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents. If you have space on drive D, why not keep your documents in it? If anything goes wrong with your C drive, your documents will be safe in the D drive. For this, right-click on your My Documents and select Properties » Move. Now, select a folder in the D drive. Now, your My Documents will be available from this folder.
Change the store folder of your Outlook Express email messages as mentioned above, to a folder in another drive.
It also helps to backup email account settings too. Select Tools » Accounts » Mail. Select the email account and click on Export. This will create a file with the extension .iaf. Whenever you want to re-create the email account, click on the Import button and select this .iaf file.
Most people format their Windows drive before doing a clean install. This is not necessary. If you have more than one OS, it will delete the boot files of the other OSs too. Just delete the Program Files folder and the Windows folder from MS-DOS or from another OS and go ahead with the install. After that is done, import your email messages from the folder you had created previously. Now, delete any files in that folder. Next, change the message store back to that folder. Also, change the My Documents back to the folder you had created earlier.
Use a download manager to manage your downloads. Second-generation download managers allow for the files to be downloaded in pieces simultaneously by more than one thread, and combine them together after download is over.
If you keep a lot of programs installed, your program menu can get very long. So, divide them into sections such as Multimedia, Internet, System Tools, Utilities, etc., by creating appropriately named folders inside the c:\windows\Start Menu\Programs folder and making appropriate choices during installation.
Quicklaunch Toolbar: Keep the Show Desktop icon in it. If you had deleted it for some reason, then do a search for *.scf in the drive and if you find the Show Desktop.scf file, copy it to the Quicklaunch folder. If you do not find it, then create a new folder. Open Notepad and type the following
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
Choose Save as from the File menu. In the dialog box, change Save as type to All files. Give the filename as Show Desktop.scf. Make sure you save it in the folder you had created just then. Now, right click the taskbar and choose Toolbar»New Toolbar. Here choose the folder where you had put the Show Desktop.scf file.
Keep shortcuts in your Quicklaunch bar for your drives. Create a shortcut with the target as c:\windows\rundll32.exe user.exe,exitwindows. Clicking on this icon will shut down Windows in a snap. However, this command works for Windows 9x/Me only. For Windows NT/2000/XP, you need something more sophisticated. I suggest you download Wizmo (Windows Gizmo - 37 KB). Create shortcuts to this small program using appropriate parameters for logoff, shutdown, restart, hibernate, reboot, and several other functions.
Explore and try to find new ways of doing things.
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