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Start->Run->"gpedit.msc""
-Computer Configuration
-Administrative Templates
-Windows Components
-Windows Messenger
Here you can enable "Do not allow Windows Messenger to be run" and "Do not automatically start Windows Messenger initially"
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Enable / Disable Firewall
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Open Control Panel and double click on Network Connections. In the new box that appears right click on the Connection and click on the Advanced tab. Check or uncheck the box according to your desire
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Easy sendto menu modification
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First open - X:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo\ (it is hidden) where X is your drive letter and username is your username make and delete shortcuts to folders at will
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Increase BROADBAND:
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this ones simple:
this is for broad band connections. I didn’t try it on dial up but might work for dial up.
1.make sure your logged on as actually "Administrator". do not log on with any account that just has administrator privileges.
2. start - run - type gpedit.msc
3. expand the "local computer policy" branch
4. expand the "administrative templates" branch
5. expand the "network branch"
6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window
7. in right window double click the "limit reservable bandwidth" setting
8. on setting tab check the "enabled" item
9. where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0
reboot if you want to but not necessary on some systems your all done. Effect is immediate on some systems. some need re-boot. I have one machine that needs to reboot first, the others didn't. Don't know why this is.
This is more of a "counter what XP does" thing. In other words, XP seems to want to reserve 20% of the bandwidth for its self. Even with QoS disabled, even when this item is disabled. So why not use it to your advantage. To demonstrate the problem with this on stand alone machines start up a big download from a server with an FTP client. Try to find a server that doesn't max out your bandwidth. In this case you want a slow to medium speed server to demonstrate this. Let it run for a couple of minutes to get stable. The start up another download from the same server with another instance of your FTP client. You will notice that the available bandwidth is now being fought over and one of the clients download will be very slow or both will slow down when they should both be using the available bandwidth. Using this "tweak" both clients will have a fair share of the bandwidth and will not fight over the bandwidth.
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UDMA 100 Install Problems with 2k/XP
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Question - I have ruled virtual everything out except the mother board on this.
Problem is as follows (and is the same with both XP and 2000): First half of setup (copying and basic setup?)runs as normal, then you have to reboot.. on rebooting the system go's to a blue screen. This mentions turning of power managment and a few other things (haven't got the exact error message) , this happens everytime and will not let setup compleat.
Dose anyone have any idea?
Answer - Oh hell yes... that drove me NUTS for about a day until I figured it out (this was early last year).
Does this board have a Promise 100 controller on it and is your hard drive connected to it? If so here's what you do:
- Unhook the HD from the promise or UDMA 100 controller and hook it up to a 33MHz slot on the MB
- Now install the OS completely
- Once you have the OS up and running visit the Promise or whatever controllers web site you have and get the drivers for the controller (if you can find the Promise ones email me and I will send you the old drivers I have that I know work).
- Once you have the drivers open the device manager, find the controller (it will probably have a yellow exclamation point next to it) and install the drivers.
- Now this is important: re-boot the machine BUT do not transfer the HD to the controller yet. Open the Device Manager and make sure the drivers took.
- Once you know the drivers are installed correctly, shut down the PC and hook the HD up to the controller and boot it. It should work just fine.
Download Drivers Here
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Add your own user account pictures
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If you don't like the user account pictures that come with XP you can add your own.
1. First make sure the pic you choose is fairly square, that's because you have to resize it to 48 x 48 pixels, so you dont want it to distort too much. It also has to be a bitmap (.bmp extension) for it to work. A good graphic utility should take care of both the resizing and saving it into a bitmap.
2.After you have it ready go to the following folder:
X:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures (Application Data is a hidden folder)
That's the place where all the little account pixies are located, copy the one (or the ones) you had prepared into that folder.
3. Click the Start Button then click over the account picture and it will take you to a new window that tells you to choose another pic for your account, look for the one you just created select it, and click the "change picture" button and you're all set!.
So now you don't have to put up with the flower or that blue butterfly you just hate :o).
Enjoy!
I know it is less fun, but Windows lets you use any picture and will automatically resize it for you. Look for the 'Browse for more pictures' button in Control Panel - User Accounts
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Brand your copy of Windows XP
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Have you used someone's new Hewlet Packard with their OEM version of Windows XP? You've seen that HP has their own icon in the Start Menu, underneath Run, that goes to their Help Site. Now, you can have your icon that does anything you want (website, program, etc) and says anything you want. Basically, you are "branding" Windows XP (Home or Pro), great for if you are a computer builder and sell them, or you just want to make Windows XP your own. It involves Regedit.
1. Start up Notepad and create a new registry file (*.reg) and copy and paste the following into it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="YOUR TITLE HERE"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="YOUR ICON HERE"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{3f454f0e-42ae-4d7c-8ea3-328250d6e272}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"CLSID"="{13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000}"
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="YOUR TITLE HERE"
"Param1"="YOUR FUNCTION HERE"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\MayChangeDefaultMenu]
@=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:00000000
2. Edit where it says YOUR ICON HERE to a path to an icon (ex. c:\\icon.ico), it must be 24x24 pixels and in *.ico format. Use double back slash for path names.
3. Edit both places where it says YOUR TITLE HERE to what you want it to say in the Start Menu (ex. Elranzer Homepage).
4. Edit where it says YOUR FUNCTION here to what you want it to do when you click it, it can be anything... your website, a local HTML document, a program, a Windows funtion, whatever your imagination can provide (ex. http://www.computersatisfaction.com).
5. Save this file as brand.reg, double-click it to enterin your information, and refresh Explorer (log off/on) to see it in the Start Menu!! This works in both Home and Professional (and probably 64-Bit Professional) Editions!
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How to remove the "for testing purposes only" after installing SP2
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If like me you have been fortunate enough to get your grubby mits on a copy of XP service pack 2, and have installed it and been somewhat annoyed to discover the "For testing purposes only. Build 2600.xpsp2.... etc" now loitering on your desktop above the time then you can remove this simply.
Open up Regedit and navigate to the following keys:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\CA\Certi ficates\FEE449EE0E3965A5246F000E87FDE2A065FD89D4]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SystemCertificates\ROOT\C ertificates\2BD63D28D7BCD0E251195AEB519243C13142EBC3]
And delete the pair of them, reboot and lo and behold dodgy testing message has vanished!
before making changes to your registry, particulary if you are following someone from the internets advice, make sure your data is all backed up and back up the branch of the tree that you made the changes on before you make them so that you can easily install the bit again. This way saves a lot of tears and tantrums.
Installing Windows XP Recovery
Console
The Recovery Console is a command line (similar to DOS) that provides a
long list of commands that you can
use to troubleshoot/fix your
computer when your computer does not
start properly or does not start at
all. If you can't get into safe
mode, you should consider using the
Recovery Console.
In the Windows Recovery Console,
you can:
- Use, copy, rename, or replace operating system files and folders
- Repair the file system boot
sector or the Master Boot Record
(MBR)
- Enable or disable service or
device startup when you next
start your computer
- Create and format partitions
on drives
There are different ways in which you can access the Recovery Console.
You could load it from the Windows
XP CD-ROM when the need arises, but
it might be better to install the
Recovery Console on your system
before you need it. The advantage of
having the Recovery Console
installed on your system is that you
can access it much more quickly.
Now you need to realize that in
some cases you will not be able to
boot from your hard drive, so you'd
still need to boot from your Windows
XP CD. But for a number of other
problems it might be beneficial to
have the Recovery Console installed
on your hard disk.
Installing the Recovery Console
on your system takes up around 7MB
of disk space. To install the
Recovery Console on your system
follow these steps:
- While running Windows XP, insert your Windows XP CD in the drive, and
click Exit when
the installation options are
displayed
(You can skip this if you
already have the \i386
directory on your hard
drive)
- Select Start > Run
and in the Open
box type:
{X}:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons
Where {X} should be the driver
letter of your CD drive. If the
i386 directory is already
installed on your computer, you
can just type the path to it,
for example
C:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons
- Follow the instructions to
install the Recovery Console,
when the installation is
complete, restart your computer
- The Recovery Console will
show up in the list of available
operating systems in the boot
menu. to use the Recovery
Console, you need administrator
privileges
To speed up the boot menu, select Start > Control Panel >
System > Advanced tab.
Click the Startup and
Recovery Settings button.
In the System startup
portion you can adjust the
time used to display the bootmenu.
If you don't have a Windows XP CD
(some system builders only supply
you with a "Recovery CD"), it should
be possible to install the Recovery
Console from the Windows XP Setup
disks. Information on obtaining
Windows XP Setup Boot Disks can be
found in Microsoft Knowledge Base
article
310994 .
More information on using the
Recovery Console, including a short
description of the commands can be
found in Microsoft Knowledge Base
article
307654 .
Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles
Relating to the Recovery Console:
303139 - Recovery Console Cannot
Be Installed on 64-Bit Windows
Platforms
308402 - Cannot Log On to
Recovery Console After Running
Sysprep
310497 - HOW TO: Add More Power
to Recovery Console By Using Group
Policy in Windows XP
312149 - HOW TO: Enable
Administrator to Log On
Automatically in Recovery Console
314058 - Description of the
Windows XP Recovery Console
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Setting File and Folder Security in Windows
XP |
You cannot password protect individual
folders in XP. You restrict access by
assigning
permissions to drives, folders and files.
To do this, you must be running NTFS as your
file system on the drive in question. If
your hard disk/partition is not NTFS you
will need to convert it. To do this, open a
Command Prompt window and enter the
following command:
CONVERT X: /FS:NTFS
Where X: is the drive letter you wish to
convert. You may also want to see
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm to
ensure that you're getting the optimal
conversion.
After this step is completed and you've
rebooted the computer, if necessary:
XP PRO: In Windows Explorer, go to Tools,
Folder Options, View and uncheck Use Simple
File Sharing. Now, when you right click on a
drive, folder or file (on an NTFS partition)
and select Properties, you'll see a Security
tab. Here you can assign or deny permissions
based on user name or user group membership.
XP Home: By default, you can only make files
and folders under My Documents "private".
This is done by right clicking a folder or
file and selecting Properties, Sharing. To
change the
permissions on other folders, you need to
boot the computer to Safe Mode and log in on
the built in Administrator account. In this
mode, you'll see the Security tab in
Properties, and you can assign permissions
based on user name or group membership.
HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove File
and Folder Permissions in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...kb;en-us;308418
HOW TO: Set, View, Change, or Remove Special
Permissions for Files and Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...kb;EN-US;308419
HOW TO: Disable Simplified Sharing and
Password-Protect a Shared Folder in Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...kb;EN-US;307874
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How To Setup
Remote Desktop in 15 minutes!
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Setup Remote
Desktop in 15 minutes!
Requirements
- The computer you are going to control MUST be running Windows XP Pro
- Remote Desktop will not work
if the Pro computer is receiving
an IP address from another
computer running ICS (internet
connection sharing), unless you
install remote desktop web
connection client on the Windows
XP Pro machine.
- Port 3389 must not be
blocked on a firewall
- If behind a firewall Port
3389 must be forwarded to a XP
Pro machine from the Router
- If the IP address of the Pro
machine or the Router the Pro
machine is connected to cannot
be pinged, then it will not work
Note: unless of course IP pings have
been blocked, in which case it will
work.
Now, Lets get started!
Establishing connection to XP Pro
computer when XP computer is behind
a router.
1. start
2. all programs
3. accessories
4. communications
5. remote desktop connection
6. type: IP address of the Router
the XP Pro computer is connected to
i. Note: USE the IP
address that you obtained by
visiting
www.whatsmyipaddress.com, OR
access routers configuration screens
to determine IP address.
ii. Note: you
CANNOT use the IP address you obtain
by going to: start, run, cmd,
ipconfig, it will NOT work
iii. Note: you may
choose other options by choosing
"options", sorry I will not go into
details regarding these settings
7. type: username and pass of the
computer account you created earlier
on the XP Pro computer
8. ok
i. Note: you should
now be in control now
Optional Step
A. Configuring Router to forward
Port 3389 to IP address of XP Pro
computer
Note: this is a very Vague
instruction, consult you router
configuration manual for specific
instructions
Note: sorry to put these
instructions near the end but it is
not necessarily a required step for
those who do not have a router.
1. Start
2. Run
3. Cmd
4. ipconfig
5. write down the default gateway IP
address, usually 192.168.x.x
6. open internet explorer
7. type in the address bar: Default
Gateway IP address you wrote down
and nothing more
8. click, Go or hit Enter on
Keyboard
i. you typically will be prompted to
input a password for you router, do
so at this time
9. input username and pass
10. ok
11. locate port forwarding screen,
if you see the following options,
input the following values.
i. port number: 3389 (if you must
specify a range choose from 3389 to
3389)
ii. tcp udp or both: choose both if
possible
iii. ip address: specify IP address
of the XP Pro machine obtained by,
start, run, cmd, ipconfig
Preparing XP Pro (Remote
computer)
Obtaining IP address of your
computer
1. visit website
www.whatsmyipaddress.com
a. Note this will tell you the IP
address of your Router if you are
behind a Router
OR
2. start
3. run
4. type: cmd
5. ok
6. ipconfig
7. write down you IP address, give
to your friend so they can connect
to you
Obtaining IP address of your Router
IF you are behind a Router
1. visit website
www.whatsmyipaddress.com
Note this will tell you the IP
address of your Router if you are
behind a Router
OR
1. Start
2. Run
3. Cmd
4. ipconfig
5. write down the default gateway IP
address, usually 192.168.x.x
6. open internet explorer
7. type in the address bar: Default
Gateway IP address you wrote down
and nothing more
8. click, Go or hit Enter on
Keyboard
a. you typically will be prompted to
input a password for you router, do
so at this time
9. locate a system summarization of
the routers configuration that will
tell you the WAN side IP address,
10. write down the IP, give to your
friend so they can connect to you
a. Note: this IP address usually
doesn't stay the same for long,
don't take for granted that it will
always be the same
Obtaining XP Pro Network
Computer name
Note: your Network computer name will
only be helpful you are trying to
connect to a XP Pro machine that is
running right there on your home
network, over the internet however
it will not do you any good.
1. start
2. right click "My Computer"
3. computer name
4. write down name in heading "full
computer name"
Creating a New Account to Login to
on the XP Pro Computer
Note: You may skip this step if you
already have an administrative
Account with a password setup on
your computer and you do not mind
others or yourself knowing the
password to login at their leisure.
1. start
2. control panel
3. user accounts
4. create a new account
5. type: any name you want
6. choose: computer administrtor
7. create account
8. click: on the new account you
created
9. click: create a password (must
have a password, will not work
otherwise)
10. type: your pass, confirm it,
type a hint Note is not necesary
11. click: create password
12. close the user account window
Enabling remote
desktop access on remote computer
(computer to be controlled)
1. Start
2. right click "My computer"
3. properties
4. remote
5. check: "allow users to connect
remotely to this computer"
6. ok, when you recieve a warning
7. ok
8. click "select remote users"
Note: ALL
administrative accounts
automatically have the ability to
accessed from a remote computer
Part 2: Preparing
95,98,ME,OSX (Local Computer) to
connect to XP Pro Computer that is
Prepared for Remote desktop access.
Preparing Windows 95, 98, Me ONLY
(not necessary for 2000 or XP Pro or
home,
use terminal services for 2000 and
Remote Desktop client for XP Pro and
Home)
Obtain Remote Desktop Client
application for install on 95/98/Me
1. insert XP Home or Pro install
2. perform additional tasks
3. install remote desktop connection
client
OR
1. Visit web site
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/dow.../rdclientdl.asp
2. click on link at top right to
download
3. download and install software
OR For Mac OSX
1. Visit web site
www.microsoft.com/downloads
2. do a keyword search for “Remote
desktop mac”
3. click applicable link
4. download and install client
software
Establishing
connection to XP Pro computer when
XP computer is on the same local
network in the same home
1. start
2. all programs
3. accessories
4. communications
5. remote desktop connection
6. type: network name of the XP Pro
computer, or type the IP address of
the XP Pro computer
i. Note: don't try
to use an IP address that you
obtained by visiting
www.whatsmyipaddress.com if the
computer you are trying access is on
the same local network in the same
home, this will not be accurate.
ii. Note: you must
use the IP address you obtain by
going to: start, run, cmd, ipconfig,
if you choose to use an IP instead
of the computer name when on the
same network in the same home.
iii. Note: you may
choose other options by choosing
"options", sorry I will not go into
details regarding these settings
7. type: username and pass of the
computer account you created earlier
on the XP Pro computer
8. ok
i. Note: you should
now be in control now
Establishing connection to
XP Pro computer when XP computer is
NOT behind a router.
1. start
2. all programs
3. accessories
4. communications
5. remote desktop connection
6. type: IP address of the XP Pro
computer
i. Note: USE the IP
address that you obtained by
visiting
www.whatsmyipaddress.com, OR
Start, run, cmd, ipconfig (on the
Pro computer)
ii. Note: you may
choose other options by choosing
"options", sorry I will not go into
details regarding these settings
7. type: username and pass of the
computer account you created earlier
on the XP Pro computer
8. ok
i. Note: you should
now be in control now
DONE!
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How to fix
Windows XP when the registry is corrupted
This How-To require;
- A bootable Windows XP cd
Boot from your xp cd and enter the recovery
console.
Backup and delete your registry.
type "cd \windows\system32\config" to
navigate to the folder where the registry is stored.
Type "ren system system.old" to backup the
registry. Type "copy c:\windows\repair\system
c:\windows\system32\config\" to replace the
registry with a generic version.
Boot into xp.
Don't make any changes, because they won't last very
long. Use system restore to restore your computer to
a day or so ago. When it's finished, your computer
should be back to normal and you can delete the
backup registry file.
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Slipstreaming
Windows XP Service Pack 1a and Create Bootable CD
Slipstreaming a Service Pack, is the process to
integrate the Service Pack into the installation so that
with every new installation the Operating System and
Service Pack are installed at the same time.
Slipstreaming is usually done on network shares on
corporate systems. But with the advent of CD burners, it
does actually make some sense for the home user or small
business user to do the same.
Microsoft added the ability to Slipstream a Service Pack
to Windows 2000 and Windows XP. It not only has the
advantage that when you (re)install your OS, you'll
don't have to apply the Service Pack later, also if you
update any Windows component later, you'll be sure that
you get the correct installation files if Windows needs
any.
Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 1a
Download the (full) "Network Install" of the
Service Pack (English
Version [125 MB]), and save it to a directory
(folder) on your hard drive (in my case F:\Download).
Other languages can be downloaded from the
Windows XP Web site.
Microsoft recently released Windows XP SP1a. The only
difference is that this Service Pack does no longer
include Microsoft's dated Java version. If you have
already installed Windows XP SP1, there is no reason to
install SP1a, but the "older" SP1 (with MS Java) is no
longer available for download.
Next copy your Windows XP CD to your hard drive. Just
create a folder (I used \WinXP-CD), and copy all
the contents of your Windows XP CD in that folder.
Now create a folder to hold the Service Pack 1a (SP1a)
files you are about to extract. I named it \XP SP1.
Next, open a Command Prompt (Start >
Run > cmd), and go to the folder where you
downloaded SP1a (cd \foldername). Type the
command: servicepack filename -x. A small window
will appear, and you need to point it to the folder
where you want to extract the SP1 files. Click Ok
to start extracting the SP1a
Once the SP1a files are extracted, change to the [/b]update
folder of the SP1a files (cd update), and type
the following command: update /s:path to WinXP CD files.
In my example the command is update /s:F:\WinXP-CD).
Windows XP Update will do it's thing:
http://www.windowsbeta.net/img/xpsp1-extract-3.png
When ready, you should get a confirmation. Windows XP
Service Pack 1a has now been Slipstreamed into your
original Windows XP files.
[b] Creating a Bootable CD
For this part I used
ISO Buster and
Nero Burning ROM 5.5 (make sure you have the latest
version, but atleast 5.5.9.0).
Start to extract the boot loader from the
original Windows XP CD. Using ISO Buster, select the
"folder" Bootable CD, and right-click
Microsoft Corporation.img. From the menu choose
Extract Microsoft Corporation.img, and extract it to
the folder on your hard drive where you have your
Windows XP files.
The ISO tab should be configured correctly as shown
below:
If you have an older version of Nero you won't have
the option Do Not Add ";1" ISO file version extention
under Relax ISO Restrictions. You won't be able to boot
your new CD, so update Nero!
You can configure the Label tab to your liking, I
would however recommend that you keep the Volume
Label the same as on your original Windows XP CD.
Next press New, and drag & drop the files and
folders from your Windows XP hard drive location into
Nero.
Next, burn your new CD.
You now have a Bootable, Slipstreamed Windows XP
Service Pack 1a CD! |
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