Black Cluster
March 24th, 2005, 04:56 PM
While I was looking for something, I came across a really nice tips and trick about bossting your XP... SO here you go...
Shutdown XP Faster
Like previous versions of windows, it takes long time to restart or shutdown windows
XP when the "Exit Windows" sound is enabled. To solve this problem you must disable this useless sound. Click Start button. Go to settings > Control Panel > Sound, Speech and Audio devices > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds. Then under program events and windows menu click on "Exit Windows" sub-menu and
highlight it. Now from sounds you can select, choose "none" and then click Apply and
OK. Now you should see some improvements when shutting down your system.
Stop Getting Tricked into Running Viruses
Stop getting tricked into running viruses because you don't see the file extension of an attachment.
· Click Start, click My Computer, and on the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
· Clear the Hide file extensions for known file types check box, and then click OK.
Now when you receive a file called something.jpg.vbs, you'll see the .vbs extension and know that it is not an ordinary .jpg file.
I hope it could be of helpful.
Cheers
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.
How to Have Windows Remind You About Pending Updates
· Click Remind Me Later in the Automatic Updates dialog box before you download or install the update.
· In the Reminder dialog box, you can specify the amount of time Windows should wait before reminding you.
· If the reminder is for downloading, Windows reminds you only when you are connected to the Internet.
· If the reminder is for installing, Windows reminds you according to the schedule that you specify.
Correcting System Hang at Startup
If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access the Start button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service (Background Intelligent Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch for this but it didn't work for me. Here's what you do:
Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.
Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service.
Disable it, apply the changes & reboot.
Clean Your Prefetch to Improve Performance
This is a unique technique for WinXP. We know that it is necessary to scrub registry and TEMP files for Win9X/ME/2000 periodically. Prefetch is a new and very useful technique in Windows XP. However, after using XP some time, the prefetch directory can get full of junk and obsolete links in the Prefetch catalog, which can slow down your computer noticeably.
Open C(system drive):/windows/prefetch, delete those junk and obsolete files, reboot. It is recommended that you do this every month.
Performance Increase Through 'My Computer'
Easy enough tweak to usually find out about it on your own, but still, some of us still don't find it right away. So here it is:
Start > right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click on the "Advanced" tab.
See the "Performance" section? Click "Settings".
Disable the following:
Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Use common tasks in folders
There, now Windows will still look nice and perform a lot faster.
Load Internet Explorer the Fastest Way Possible
Edit your link to start Internet Explorer to have -nohome after it. For Example:
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome
This will load internet explorer very fast because it does not load a web page while it is loading. If you want to go to your homepage after it is loaded, just click on the home button.
Auto Login
Go to Start/Run, and type 'control userpasswords2'.
From Users Tab, Uncheck "Users must enter ...."
A dialog will allow setting a user and password to be used automatically.
Turn Off Autoplay for Program CDs
How can you stop Windows XP from launching program CDs?
Click Start, click Run, type GPEDIT.MSC to open Group Policy in the Microsoft Management Console.
Double-click Computer Configuration, double-click Administrative templates, double-click System, and then click Turn off autoplay.
The instructions on your screen describe how to configure this setting. Click Properties to display the setting dialog.
Click Enabled, and choose CD-ROM drives, then click OK, to stop CD autoplay.
This setting does not prevent Autoplay for music CDs.
Win XP Won't Completely Shutdown · Go to Control Panel, then go to Power Options.
· Click on the APM tab, then check the "Enable Advanced Power Management support."
· Shut down your PC.
It should now successfully complete the Shut Down process.
Disable Error Reporting
· Open Control Panel.
· Click on Performance and Maintenance.
· Click on System.
· Then click on the Advanced tab.
· Click on the error-reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
· Select Disable error reporting.
· Click OK. Click OK.
Increase BROADBANDThis is for broad band connections.
· Make sure your logged on as actually "Administrator".
· Start->Run->type gpedit.msc
· Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch.
· Expand the "Administrative Templates" branch.
· Expand the "Network Branch".
· Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window.
· In right window double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting.
· On setting tab check the "Enabled" item.
· Where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0.
Effect is immediate on some systems, some need to re-boot. This is more of a "counter what XP does" thing. In other words, programs can request up to 20% of the bandwidth be reserved for them, even with QoS disabled.
Stop Password Expiration
After you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this message when you log on: "Your password will expire in 14 days.....". By default, Windows XP is set up with passwords which will expire after 42 days. And 14 days in advance, Windows will start warning you of this fact.
· Go to Start > Run > type control userpasswords2
· Select the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window.
· Press the Advanced button below the Advanced user management header.
· Select Users in the Local Users and Groups.
· In the right pane, right-click the user name for which you want to change the setting, and select Properties.
· On the General tab, check Password never expires.
· Click Apply and OK (all the way out).
Create a Password Reset Disk
Microsoft has enhanced security features in XP including the ability to create a floppy diskette to recover your password in case it is forgotten.
· Click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts.
· Click on the account which you want to create a password disk.
· Click Prevent a forgotten password which starts the Forgotten Password Wizard .
This is found under Related Tasks.
· Insert a blank, formatted disk into drive A, and click Next.
· Enter the password in the Current user account password box.
To use the recovery disk, at the Welcome screen:
· Click the user name whose password is on the recovery disk.
· Click the question mark button, this causes the "Did you forget your password message" to appear.
· Click use your password reset disk. This will start the Password Reset Wizard.
From this point, just follow the wizard's instructions and you will be able to set a new password.
Install the Recovery Console on Your Computer
You can install the Recovery Console as an option on your startup menu and use it to recover your system in the event that safe mode and other startup options don't work. This tool is for advanced users.
· With Windows XP running, insert your Windows XP CD in the drive, and click Exit when the installation options are displayed.
· Click Start, click Run, and then type D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons Where D: is the CD-ROM drive letter, and then press Enter. (There is a space between .exe and the slash.)
· Follow the instructions on screen to install the Recovery Console, and when the installation is complete, restart your computer. The Recovery Console will show up in the list of available operating systems in the Startup menu. You must be an administrator to use the Recovery Console.
If the i386 directory is already installed on your computer (as might be the case in computers purchased with Windows XP pre-installed), you can use the same syntax as in Step 2, using the [path]\i386 directory without having to use the CD. An alternative method is to boot to the CD and start WINNT.EXE, then when prompted to Install or Repair, click Repair, which installs the Recovery Console for you. If Windows XP will not start, you can run the Recovery Console from the Setup CD.
Shutdown XP Faster
Like previous versions of windows, it takes long time to restart or shutdown windows
XP when the "Exit Windows" sound is enabled. To solve this problem you must disable this useless sound. Click Start button. Go to settings > Control Panel > Sound, Speech and Audio devices > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds. Then under program events and windows menu click on "Exit Windows" sub-menu and
highlight it. Now from sounds you can select, choose "none" and then click Apply and
OK. Now you should see some improvements when shutting down your system.
Stop Getting Tricked into Running Viruses
Stop getting tricked into running viruses because you don't see the file extension of an attachment.
· Click Start, click My Computer, and on the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
· Clear the Hide file extensions for known file types check box, and then click OK.
Now when you receive a file called something.jpg.vbs, you'll see the .vbs extension and know that it is not an ordinary .jpg file.
I hope it could be of helpful.
Cheers
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.
How to Have Windows Remind You About Pending Updates
· Click Remind Me Later in the Automatic Updates dialog box before you download or install the update.
· In the Reminder dialog box, you can specify the amount of time Windows should wait before reminding you.
· If the reminder is for downloading, Windows reminds you only when you are connected to the Internet.
· If the reminder is for installing, Windows reminds you according to the schedule that you specify.
Correcting System Hang at Startup
If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access the Start button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service (Background Intelligent Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch for this but it didn't work for me. Here's what you do:
Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.
Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service.
Disable it, apply the changes & reboot.
Clean Your Prefetch to Improve Performance
This is a unique technique for WinXP. We know that it is necessary to scrub registry and TEMP files for Win9X/ME/2000 periodically. Prefetch is a new and very useful technique in Windows XP. However, after using XP some time, the prefetch directory can get full of junk and obsolete links in the Prefetch catalog, which can slow down your computer noticeably.
Open C(system drive):/windows/prefetch, delete those junk and obsolete files, reboot. It is recommended that you do this every month.
Performance Increase Through 'My Computer'
Easy enough tweak to usually find out about it on your own, but still, some of us still don't find it right away. So here it is:
Start > right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click on the "Advanced" tab.
See the "Performance" section? Click "Settings".
Disable the following:
Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Use common tasks in folders
There, now Windows will still look nice and perform a lot faster.
Load Internet Explorer the Fastest Way Possible
Edit your link to start Internet Explorer to have -nohome after it. For Example:
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" -nohome
This will load internet explorer very fast because it does not load a web page while it is loading. If you want to go to your homepage after it is loaded, just click on the home button.
Auto Login
Go to Start/Run, and type 'control userpasswords2'.
From Users Tab, Uncheck "Users must enter ...."
A dialog will allow setting a user and password to be used automatically.
Turn Off Autoplay for Program CDs
How can you stop Windows XP from launching program CDs?
Click Start, click Run, type GPEDIT.MSC to open Group Policy in the Microsoft Management Console.
Double-click Computer Configuration, double-click Administrative templates, double-click System, and then click Turn off autoplay.
The instructions on your screen describe how to configure this setting. Click Properties to display the setting dialog.
Click Enabled, and choose CD-ROM drives, then click OK, to stop CD autoplay.
This setting does not prevent Autoplay for music CDs.
Win XP Won't Completely Shutdown · Go to Control Panel, then go to Power Options.
· Click on the APM tab, then check the "Enable Advanced Power Management support."
· Shut down your PC.
It should now successfully complete the Shut Down process.
Disable Error Reporting
· Open Control Panel.
· Click on Performance and Maintenance.
· Click on System.
· Then click on the Advanced tab.
· Click on the error-reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
· Select Disable error reporting.
· Click OK. Click OK.
Increase BROADBANDThis is for broad band connections.
· Make sure your logged on as actually "Administrator".
· Start->Run->type gpedit.msc
· Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch.
· Expand the "Administrative Templates" branch.
· Expand the "Network Branch".
· Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window.
· In right window double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting.
· On setting tab check the "Enabled" item.
· Where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0.
Effect is immediate on some systems, some need to re-boot. This is more of a "counter what XP does" thing. In other words, programs can request up to 20% of the bandwidth be reserved for them, even with QoS disabled.
Stop Password Expiration
After you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this message when you log on: "Your password will expire in 14 days.....". By default, Windows XP is set up with passwords which will expire after 42 days. And 14 days in advance, Windows will start warning you of this fact.
· Go to Start > Run > type control userpasswords2
· Select the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window.
· Press the Advanced button below the Advanced user management header.
· Select Users in the Local Users and Groups.
· In the right pane, right-click the user name for which you want to change the setting, and select Properties.
· On the General tab, check Password never expires.
· Click Apply and OK (all the way out).
Create a Password Reset Disk
Microsoft has enhanced security features in XP including the ability to create a floppy diskette to recover your password in case it is forgotten.
· Click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts.
· Click on the account which you want to create a password disk.
· Click Prevent a forgotten password which starts the Forgotten Password Wizard .
This is found under Related Tasks.
· Insert a blank, formatted disk into drive A, and click Next.
· Enter the password in the Current user account password box.
To use the recovery disk, at the Welcome screen:
· Click the user name whose password is on the recovery disk.
· Click the question mark button, this causes the "Did you forget your password message" to appear.
· Click use your password reset disk. This will start the Password Reset Wizard.
From this point, just follow the wizard's instructions and you will be able to set a new password.
Install the Recovery Console on Your Computer
You can install the Recovery Console as an option on your startup menu and use it to recover your system in the event that safe mode and other startup options don't work. This tool is for advanced users.
· With Windows XP running, insert your Windows XP CD in the drive, and click Exit when the installation options are displayed.
· Click Start, click Run, and then type D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons Where D: is the CD-ROM drive letter, and then press Enter. (There is a space between .exe and the slash.)
· Follow the instructions on screen to install the Recovery Console, and when the installation is complete, restart your computer. The Recovery Console will show up in the list of available operating systems in the Startup menu. You must be an administrator to use the Recovery Console.
If the i386 directory is already installed on your computer (as might be the case in computers purchased with Windows XP pre-installed), you can use the same syntax as in Step 2, using the [path]\i386 directory without having to use the CD. An alternative method is to boot to the CD and start WINNT.EXE, then when prompted to Install or Repair, click Repair, which installs the Recovery Console for you. If Windows XP will not start, you can run the Recovery Console from the Setup CD.