Windows XP Tweaks, Fixes, Advice

[marcus]

Create A Password Reset Disk

If you?re running Windows XP Professional as a local user in a workgroup environment, you can create a password reset disk to log onto your computer when you forget your password. To create the disk:

1.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
2.Click your account name.
3.Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password.
4.Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk.
5.Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access your local user account.

[marcus]

Never Reactivate After Installation

If you have to reinstall Windows XP you normally will have to reactivate too. Well not anymore. Just copy wpa.dbl after you activated the first time. It is located in the WINDOWS\system32 folder. Now if you reinstall Windows XP just copy the file back and you're up and running again.

[marcus]

Some Windows Shortcut Keys

ctrl + shift + Esc. - task manager shortcut

ctrl + shift + clicking on hyperlink - opens page in new window (works in firefox too!)

ctrl + click a file and then draging it creates a copy of that file

Windows key + e Opens Windows Explorer

Refresh webpage - Ctrl + R

Windows key + e Opens Windows Explorer

ctrl + shift + click a file and then draging it creates a shortcut of that file.

Alt + F4 close the window currently being used
or
If no windows are open then it brings you to a shut down screen

windows key + m minimizes all windows

windows key + f open the search window

windows key + L locks your station

F9-Volume Up
F10-Volume Down

windows key + pause/break key opens up system properties.

if multiple windows are opened:
alt + tab - will show the next page under the currently viewed one

Backspace will take u back to previous page in IE

shift + Backspace
in IE this will bring you forward in pages you visited

Windows Key + D --> show desktop
It's similar to the minimize shortcut, but pressing windows + D again will bring everything back up, unlike the other.

windows key + shift + M will show windows you minimized with win key+ M

ctrl + w will close the current window

windows key + r opens the run prompt

pressing F11 in windows explorer and internet explorer will make the window full screen

Presing F5 in notepad puts the date and the time

Another way of opening the properties is by pressing alt key and double clicking my computer (or any other file or folder).

Alt - left Shift - Num Lock --> this will let you enable MouseKeys (Move cursor with Num Pad)

F6 will tab through items on desktop or active window

ctrl D will delete an item in explorer.

Alt + PrtScn will take a Screen Shot of the currently selected window

Keyboard shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:

Display the bottom of the active window. END
Display the top of the active window. HOME
Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)
Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW

[marcus]

Add Album Art to any Music Folder

One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!

[marcus]

Change the location of the My Music or My Pictures folders

In Windows 2000, Microsoft added the ability to right-click the My Documents folder and choose a new location for that folder in the shell. With Windows XP, Microsoft has elevated the My Music and My Pictures folders to the same "special shell folder" status of My Documents, but they never added a similar (and simple) method for changing those folder's locations. However, it is actually pretty easy to change the location of these folders, using the following method.

Open a My Computer window and navigate to the location where you'd like My Music (or My Pictures) to reside. Then, open the My Documents folder in a different window. Drag the My Music (or My Pictures) folder to the other window, and Windows XP will update all of the references to that folder to the new location, including the Start menu.

[marcus]

Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP

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 RC1, 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,fp4 0ext.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.

There are even more new options now under "Accessories and Utilities" too.

[marcus]

"stop? Error Messages At Shutdown

Some users have gotten an error message similar to the following when attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP:

STOP 0000009F, DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
STOP 0x0000001E: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
STOP 0x000000D1: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

TechNet and the Microsoft Knowledge Base have numerous articles discussing this type of error condition; for example, these. As a review of these articles will show, these are commonly device driver problems, but may also be caused by troublesome software (such as the notorious CrashGuard), or a problem in a system service. MSKB article Q262575 discusses a shutdown problem of this type, known to exist in Windows 2000 due to a resource (IRQ) conflict, if you have PACE Interlok anti-piracy software installed. This problem may occur in Windows XP as well.

Microsoft advises the following as one approach to these problems: Restart the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select ?Last Known Good Configuration.? If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you likely have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return you to a previous working condition. (Would System Restore accomplish the same thing? I don?t know, and don?t have a broken system to test it on.)

Microsoft reported similarly that these STOP code error message occur when Windows XP is trying to shut down devices. He says that he has seen this twice: once with Logitech Quickcam installed (with an unsupported driver), and once with a USB DSL modem that would hang if it wasn?t disconnected before shutdown.

SHUTDOWN WORKS, BUT IT?S REAL SLOW.
If it appears that Win XP is not shutting down, give it some time. Some users have reported a minute or longer for shutdown to visibly start. Thus far, it appears that this is a consequence of software that is running when shutdown is attempted, and it also may have something to do with particular hardware. If you are experiencing this problem, be sure to close all running programs before attempting shutdown and see if this solves your problem. If so, then you can determine, by trial and error, which program(s) are involved.

One specific solution for this was provided by Microsoft support. ? In Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services. (You can also get this by launching SERVICES.MSC from a Run box. This utility is also built into the Computer Management console.) Stop the Nvidia Driver Helper service. Many other friends quickly confirmed that this solved this ?extremely slow shutdown? problem for them.

POWERDOWN ISSUES.
?Powerdown issues? are quite distinctive from ?shutdown issues.? I define a shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn?t make it at least to the ?OK to shut off your computer? screen. If Windows gets that far, or farther, then it has shut down correctly. However, the computer may not powerdown correctly after that. This is a different problem, and I encourage that people reporting these issues to make a very clear distinction in their labeling.

When Windows XP won?t powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy Power Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My Computer icon, click Properties | Hardware | Device Manager | View. Check the box labeled ?Show Hidden Devices.? If it?s available on your computer, there will be a red X on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if this resolves the powerdown problem.

This should resolve the powerdown issue in most cases. However, other factors can sometimes interfere with correct powerdown functioning. In that case, consider the following tips:
? If you are changing the default power settings in the BIOS, it can lead to a powerdown problem. Restoring all BIOS power settings to default will likely fix it.

OTHER KNOWN ISSUES & HINTS.

BIOS UPGRADE.
As with every new operating system that comes along - especially one that is as much of a ?step up? as Windows XP is from Windows 9x - the recommendation is made to be sure your BIOS is updated. Many people have reported that this has solved their shutdown problems (and had other advantages) with Win XP, just as it has in earlier versions of Windows.

[marcus]

Use Hibernate and Standby to Conserve Batteries

The Hibernate function in Windows XP Professional can make the batteries in your laptop computer last longer.

Windows XP supports the industry standard power management technology known as the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), which enables the operating system to control power to your computer and peripheral devices. The power management features in Windows XP include Hibernate and Standby. Hibernate saves an image of your desktop with all open files and documents, and then it powers down your computer. When you turn on power, your files and documents are open on your desktop exactly as you left them. Standby reduces the power consumption of your computer by cutting power to hardware components you are not using. Standby can cut power to peripheral devices, your monitor, even your hard drive, but maintains power to your computer?s memory so you don?t lose your work.

Power Management Performance

Windows XP wakes from Hibernate faster than any earlier version of Windows. So you can preserve your batteries without taking time to close all your files and shut down, and then restart and open all your files when you?re ready to work again. If you need to leave your computer, you can just leave it. Windows XP can automatically put your computer into Hibernate mode after a specified period of inactivity. Or Windows XP can detect when your batteries are running low, and then automatically put your computer in Hibernate mode to save your work before the battery fails. To put your computer into hibernation, you must have a computer that is set up by the manufacturer to support this option.

To automatically put your computer into hibernation

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to complete this procedure.

1. Open Power Options in Control Panel. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Power Options.)

2. Click the Hibernate tab, select the Enable hibernate support check box, and then click Apply.

If the Hibernate tab is unavailable, your computer does not support this feature.

Click the APM tab, click Enable Advanced Power Management support, and then click Apply.

The APM tab is unavailable on ACPI?compliant computers. ACPI automatically enables Advanced Power Management, which disables the APM tab.

4. Click the Power Schemes tab, and then select a time period in System hibernates. Your computer hibernates after it has been idle for the specified amount of time.
To manually put your computer into hibernation

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of either the Administrators or Power Users group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you from completing this procedure.

1. Open Power Options in Control Panel. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Power Options.)

2. Click the Hibernate tab, and then select the Enable hibernate support check box.

If the Hibernate tab is not available, your computer does not support this feature.
3. Click OK to close the Power Options dialog box.

4. Click Start, and then click Shut Down. In the What do you want the computer to do drop-down list, click Hibernate.

If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, or Windows XP Professional with Fast User Switching turned on, the Shut Down menu will present the options to Stand By, Turn Off, or Restart your computer. Hold down the Shift key, and the Stand By button will change to Hibernate.

[phillai]

I love this stuff. We should make this a sticky...

[marcus]

Disable Windows 'Smart Menus'

This ones my very own

One of the things that bugs me is that the default is to enable 'Smart Menus' on Windows and Office programs alike. This means that full menus are not displayed initially, unless you click on the down arrow. This makes it stupidly hard to find things you dont use frequently, and is the first thing I disable.

To enable full menus on the start-bar (Programs) area, right click the Start Button and goto Customize. Deselect 'Use Personalised Menus' and also untick 'Scroll Programs'. This should revert your menus back to full ones again.

In Office right click any blank (grey) area of the toolbar menu, and untick the option "show full menus after a delay", or better still just tick "show full menus" to get them back to normal.

[marcus]

Easy Way to Adjust LargeSystemCache

1. Right click My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click Advanced
4. Choose Performance
5. Click Advanced again
6. Select either Programs or System Cache under Memory Usage.

Programs = 0 for the registry tweak equilavent
System Cache = 1 for the registry tweak equilavent

[marcus]

How to remove the Default Picture and Fax Preview Action

Go To Start > Run and type `Regedit` and press `ok`

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Classes/CLSID/{e84fda7c-1d6a-45f6-b725-cb260c236066}/shellex

Deleted the MayChangeDefaultMenu key.

[marcus]

Do Not Highlight Newly Installed Programs

Tired of that annoying little window that pops up to tell you that new software is installed? If it gets in the way when you?re logging off, turn it off completely. To do this:
? Click Start, right-click at the top of the Start menu where your name is displayed, and then click Properties.
? In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, on the Start Menu tab, click Customize.
? Click the Advanced tab, and then clear the Highlight newly installed programs check box.
? Click OK, and then click OK again.

[marcus]

Use the Ultimate Configuration Tool (Professional Edition Only)

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.

[marcus]

Creating a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition

how to create a Windows boot disk to access a drive with a faulty boot sequence on an Intel x86-processor-based computer. This Windows boot disk can access a drive that has the Windows NT file system (NTFS) or File allocation table (FAT) file system installed. The procedures in this article can be useful to work around the following boot problems:

? Corrupted boot sector.
? Corrupted master boot record (MBR).
? Virus infections.
? Missing or corrupt NTLDR or Ntdetect.com.
? Incorrect Ntbootdd.sys driver.

This boot disk can also be used to boot from the shadow of a broken mirror, although you may need to change the Boot.ini file to do that. This Windows boot disk cannot be used for the following problems:

? Incorrect or corrupt device drivers that have been installed into the Windows System directory.
? Boot problems that occur after the OSLOADER screen. To work around or fix these problems, run the Emergency Repair disk, load the last known good control set, or reinstall Windows, if necessary. The Windows floppy disk must include the files NTLDR, Ntdetect.com, Boot.ini, and the correct device driver for your hard drive.

Note: The NTLDR, Ntdetect.com, and Boot.ini files usually have their file attributes set to System, Hidden, and Read-Only. You do not need to reset these attributes for this disk to work properly.

Method 1: You Do Not Have Access to a Computer Running Windows

? Create a copy of the first Windows Setup disk using the diskcopy command, and then delete all files on the new disk.
? Copy the Ntdetect.com and NTLDR files from the i386 folder on the CD-ROM to the new disk.
? Rename the NTLDR file to "Setupldr.bin".
? Create a Boot.ini file. The following example works for a single partition SCSI drive with Windows installed under \WINNT; however, the exact value in the [operating systems] section depends upon the configuration of the Windows System you want to boot:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
Default= scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt[operating systems]
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt="Windows NT"

? If your computer boots from an IDE, EIDE, or ESDI hard drive or a SCSI adapter that does not have a built in BIOS, replace the scsi(0) with multi(0).
If you are using scsi(x) in the Boot.ini file, copy the correct device driver for the SCSI controller in use on the computer, and then rename it to Ntbootdd.sys. If you are using multi(x) in the Boot.ini, you do not need to do this.
? Start your computer using the floppy disk, and then log on to Windows.
Method 2: You Have Access to a Computer Running Windows
? Format a floppy disk using the Windows format utility.
? Copy NTLDR from the Windows Setup CD-ROM, Windows Setup floppy disk, or from a computer running the same version of Windows as the computer you want to access with the boot floppy. You may need to expand this file from NTLDR._ to NTLDR by using the following command line:

1. expand ntldr._ ntldr
? Copy the Ntdetect.com file to the disk.
? Create a Boot.ini file or copy one from a running Windows computer, and then modify it to match the computer you are trying to access. The following example works for a single partition SCSI drive with Windows installed under \WINNT; however, the exact value in the [operating systems] section depends upon the configuration of the Windows computer you are trying to access:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
Default= scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt[operating systems]
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt="Windows NT"
? If your computer starts from an IDE, EIDE, or ESDI hard drive, replace the scsi(0)with multi(0).
? If you are using scsi(x) in the Boot.ini, copy the correct device driver for the SCSI controller in use on the computer, and then rename it to Ntbootdd.sys. If you are using multi(x) in the Boot.ini, you do not need to do this.
? Start using the floppy disk, and then log on to Windows.

Troubleshooting You may encounter one or more of the following problems when you attempt to start your computer using your Windows boot floppy disk: If the path pointing to the system files is incorrect or includes the drive letter, you may receive the following error message: Windows could not start because of the following ARC firmware boot configuration problem: Did not properly generate ARC name for HAL and system paths. Please check the Windows (TM) documentation about ARC configuration options and your hardware reference manuals for additional information. Boot Failed. If an incorrect SCSI driver has been selected or the Ntbootdd.sys file does not exist, you may receive the following message: Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware. Please check the Windows (TM) documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information. Boot Failed.