Windows XP Home & Pro
- Get Started
-
 Windows
XP Tips Page >Microsoft
- Multiboot
with Windows XP >Microsoft
- Transfer
Files and Settings to Your New PC >Microsoft
- Set
Up Windows XP Professional >Microsoft
- Make XP Boot Disks
How to Uninstall Windows XP and Revert to
a Previous Operating System
Speed
up Windows 2000 & XP
Increase
your internet bandwidth by more than 20% in XP
Reinstall
TCP/IP
Avoid
reactivating XP after a reinstall
Windows
Media Player Copy Protection
Removing
Shared Documents
Rip to
MP3 in Windows Media Player 8 in XP
- Rev up your DSL/Cable Modem speed
CD-R
Drive or CD-RW Drive Is Not Recognized As a Recordable Device >Microsoft KB
- Description
of the Windows XP Recovery Console
>Microsoft KB
- HOW
TO: Change the PPPoE MTU Size in Windows XP >Microsoft KB
- Improve Performance in XP
- Windows Logo Key Map
- The
Inside Scoop on Windows XP
>Microsoft
- Windows
XP Bliss Screen Saver >Microsoft
- How
to Move a Windows XP Installation to Different Hardware >Microsoft
- Change
the Windows Logon Screen Saver in Windows XP >Microsoft
- Hard
Disk Performance Is Slower Than You Expect >Microsoft
- How
to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP >Microsoft
- To start Windows XP in Safe mode
-
-
- Personalize Your Computer
-
- Personalize
Your Computer Settings >Microsoft
- Microsoft
ClearType Tuner: Customize Your Screen for Your Eyes >Microsoft
- Expand
Your Workspace with Multiple Monitors and Dualview >Microsoft
-
-
- Communications and the Internet
-
- Stay
in Touch with Windows Messenger 4.5
- Go Mobile
-
- Enable
Remote Desktop >Microsoft
Use
Offline Files When You're off the Network >Microsoft
- Make
Web Pages Available for Offline Viewing >Microsoft
- Transfer
Internet Data Securely with Virtual Private Networks >Microsoft
-
-
- Work with Multimedia
-
- Get
Started with Windows Movie Maker >Microsoft
- Enjoy
a World of Music >Microsoft
-
-
- Networking
-
- Create
a Home or Small Office Network >Microsoft
- Configure
Broadband Connections Using PPPoE >Microsoft
Connect
Computers and Devices with Infrared Data Transfer >Microsoft
- Conserve
Batteries with Hibernate and Standby >Microsoft
- Maintenance
-
- Use
Backup to Protect Data >Microsoft
- Copy
Files and Folders to CDs >Microsoft
- Repairing
Internet Explorer and/or Outlook Express >MH
-
-
- Security
-
- Restrict
Who Can Use Files with Access Control >Microsoft
- Use
Security and Privacy Features in Internet Explorer 6 >Microsoft
- Encrypt
Your Data to Keep It Safe >Microsoft
-
-
- Get Help and Support
-
- Using
the Help and Support Center in Windows XP >Microsoft
- Roll
Back a Device Driver >Microsoft
- Take
Advantage of Program Compatibility Mode >Microsoft
- Get
Help Anywhere with Remote Assistance >Microsoft
-
- Info
-
- What's
New in Security for Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home
Edition >Microsoft
- Securing
Mobile Computers with Windows XP Professional
- Wireless
802.11 Security with Windows XP
- Reliability
Improvements in Windows XP Professional
- Frequently
Asked Questions About the IPv6 Protocol for Windows XP
- Windows
XP Performance
- Mobile
Computing with Windows XP
- Step-by-Step
Guide to Migrating Files and Settings
...
Control Initial Keyboard State
You can use a Registry tweak
to force NumLock on, but there's no equivalent for CapsLock.
(In the Registry key HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard,
find or create the String value InitialKeyboardIndicators and
set its data to '0' for off, '2' for on.)
Link to Make XP Boot Disks
Windows XP Home Edition:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=33290
Windows XP Professional:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=33291
How to Uninstall Windows XP and Revert
to a Previous Operating System 
(Q303661)
12.28.01
Jeff Haas, my close computer
buddy and marketing genius was helping out a family member and
ran into some problems installing Windows XPh. He called one
night and asked if I knew if XP had a uninstall feature to revert
back to the previous operating system. I said I don't think so,
but Jeff obviously found the answer from billy's website at Microsoft.
Speed up Windows 2000 & XP
07.28.01
Here's a tip for speeding
up Internet and LAN browsing on Windows 2000 and XP machines.
1. Open regedit.exe from Start->Run
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current
Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace
3. Under that branch, select the key {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
4. Delete it
This key instructs Windows to
search for Scheduled Tasks on remote computers. Unless you use
this feature, which most people don't (for remote machines),
it is safe to delete this key.
Increase your internet bandwidth by
more than 20% in XP
Works for both broadband and
dialups:
1.make sure your logged on as
actually "Administrator". do not log on with any account
that just has administrator privileges.
to log in as an administrator:
click on start->logoff->logoff,
in the logon screen hold Ctrl+Alt+Del.
in the user field type 'Administrator'
<-case sensitive.
in the password field type the
password for the administrator (if you dont have any leave blank.
click ok.
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
10. go to your Network connections
(start->connect to->show all connections). right click
on your internet connection then under the General or the Networking
tab (where it lists your protocols) make sure QoS packet scheduler
is enabled. If not, install it as a Service.
11. reboot if you want to but
not necessary on some systems your all done. Effect is immediate
on some systems. some need re-boot.
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.
for example. now neowin.net loads
in less than 1 sec instead of 7 secs before changing the bandwidth
limit.
Some other suggestions are to
do Windows Updates and check the OS Updates guide at http://www.3dspotlight.com/tweaks/updates/index.shtml
often. Be sure to check out the Windows XP Memory Tweak Guide
at
http://www.3dspotlight.com/tweaks/memory-winxp/
and to set the TCP Receive Window on your system for maximum
internet performance by going here: http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/#IncreasingWindow
Reinstall TCP/IP
Every experienced network guru
knows that quite often the problem with a faulty network connectio
is due to the TCP/IP stack being corrupted or not properly bound.
Starting with WinXP Microsoft has disabled the ability to uninstall
TCP/IP. So what are you to do if you suspect that all that is
needed is a clean install of the TCP/IP stack? Luckily it is
fairly easy to rebuild the stack to the prsitine conditions that
it was in on a clean install using the NetShell utiltiy.
Here is how:
Go to your command prompt and
type the following:
netsh int ip reset [ log_file_name
]
A log file name must be specified
in order to succesfully execute the netsh command. This file
will log all the actions taken by netsh.
Sample:
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt
The only difference between these
two is that the first will create the log in the current directory
while the second specifies where tho log is to be created. After
creating the log you can use notepad or any other text editor
to see exactly what changes were made.
Avoid reactivating XP after a reinstall.
This article by Valerie Weiss
When you activate Windows XP,
Microsoft stores the data in the Windows Product Activation database
files wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak in the folder %systemroot%system32.
If you change the motherboard or make significant hardware changes,
XP will require you to reactive. But if you plan to reinstall
XP on the same hardware, you can back up the activation status
and then restore it after you reinstall and avoid the activation
process. You can backup the Windows Product Activation database
files to diskette. They are very small. A directory listing from
my XP Pro workstation:
C:WINDOWSsystem32>dir wp*
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 8447-0571
Directory of C:WINDOWSsystem32
10/24/2001 08:28 PM 12,584 wpa.bak
01/14/2002 09:05 AM 12,642 wpa.dbl
After you reinstall XP, to restore
the Windows Product Activation database files:
Start XP to Minimal Safe mode
Change directory to the %systemroot%system32 folder
Rename the newly created wpa.dbl to wpa.nonactivated and wpa.bak,
if it exists, to wpabak.nonactivated.
Copy your backed up wpa.dbl and wpb.bak files to the system32
folder
Reboot
Windows Media Player Copy Protection
Windows XP comes bundled with
Windows Media Player 8.0. While Media Player plays just about
any digital media file format--it supports 35, including MP3,
it records music only in the Windows Media Audio, or WMA, format.
The reason? Content protection.
When recording, or ripping, music from CDs, Media Player allows
you to make protected recordings so that no one will be able
to copy the recording from one computer to another. You can turn
copy protection on or off on the Copy Music tab by checking or
unchecking the box that says Protect Content.
Removing Shared Documents
Open Regedit (Start- Run- Regedit)
and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows
CurrentVersion Explorer My Computer NameSpace DelegateFolders
There will see a key named {59031A47-3f72-44A7-89C5-5595FE6B30EE}.
By Deleting this you can remove the 'Other Files stored on This
Computer' group.
Rip to MP3 in Windows Media Player 8
in XP
Enter the following in the registry
: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE
MicrosoftMediaPlayerSettingsMP3Encoding] "LowRate"=dword:0000DAC0
"MediumRate"=dword:0000FA00 "MediumHighRate"=dword:0001F400
"HighRate"=dword:0002EE00 This corresponds to 56, 64,
128 and 192 Kbps. You can change this to your liking using the
following dword hex values : 320 Kbps = dword:0004E200 256 Kbps
= dword:0003E800 224 Kbps = dword:00036b00 192 Kbps = dword:0002EE00
160 Kbps = dword:00027100 128 Kbps = dword:0001F400 112 Kbps
= dword:0001B580 64 Kbps = dword:0000FA00 56 Kbps = dword:0000DAC0
Rev up your DSL/Cable Modem speed
This tweak is for broad band
cable connections on stand alone machines with Windows XP professional
version - might work on Home version also.
In the "My Network Places"
properties (right click on the desktop icon and choose properties),
highlight the connection then at the menu bar choose "Advanced"
then "Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in
the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing
and Client for MS networks. Click OK
From the windows XP cd in the
support directory from the support cab, extract the file netcap.exe
and place it in a directory on your hard drive or even in the
root of your C:\ drive.
next, open up a command prompt
window and change directories to where you put netcap.exe. then
type "netcap/?". It will list some commands that are
available for netcap and a netmon driver will be installed. At
the bottom you will see your adapters. One will be for LAN and
the other will be for WAN something or other.
Next type "netcap/Remove".
This will remove the netmon driver.
Open up control panel / system
/ dev man and look at your network adapters. You should now see
two of them and one will have a yellow 
on it. Right click on the one without the yellow
and choose uninstall. You are uninstalling your network adapter,
continue with the uninstall. Do not restart your computer yet.
Check your connection properties
to make sure that no connection exists. If you get a wizard just
cancel out of it.
Now re-start the machine.
After re-start go to your connection
properties again and you should have a new connection called
"Local area connection 2". highlight the connection
then at the menu bar choose "Advanced" then
"Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in
the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing
and Client for MS networks. Click OK.
Choose connection properties
and uncheck the "QOS" box
Now, Re-start your computer...
These tweaks will make Internet
Explorer load faster and increase your all around broadband connection.
You can check your speed from the MH page here at http://www.mikeshardware.com/howtos/howto_dsl_speed_testing.html.
Appearantly, XP installs two
separate NIC cards. Card A is installed and hidden away and Card
B is the Lan connection you do see under the Properties page.
By using this tweak, it removes the Card A and only uses Card
B therefore improving your connection.
Improve Performance in XP
Windows XP uses processor time
to handle system performance according to default settings, which
can be changed. Visual effects enhance the appearance of the
Windows XP interface, but can dramatically slow down system performance.
You can fine–tune these settings in Windows XP Professional
to improve performance:
Right–click My Computer,
and then click Properties.
Click the Advanced tab, and in
the Performance area, click Settings.
On the Visual Effects tab, click
the Custom radio button, and then select which UI features to
disable to improve performance.
Click the Advanced tab, and in
the Processor scheduling area, click the Background services
button. Selecting this option means that background tasks that
you want to run while you work, such as backup utilities or print
jobs, will share processor time equally with programs.
You may need to be logged on
as an Administrator to make these changes. Note that applying
these settings may change your current desktop theme.
Windows Logo Key Map
The Windows logo key or Win-Key
as techie's call it, is located on the bottom row of most keyboards.
Press it and the following keys listed below to execute the following
commands:
Windows: Display the Start
menu
Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows + F: Display Search for files
Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center
Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows + L: Lock the workstation
Windows + U: Open Utility Manager
Here's a link to Microsoft's offical
list of keyboard
shortcuts and here's
a link to a PDF of the page if you want a copy to put on
your hard drive.
To start Windows
XP in Safe mode
Use this method if XP is the
only operating system installed on your computer.
1. Start Windows, or if it is
running, shut Windows down and turn off the computer.
2. Restart the computer. The computer begins processing a set
of instructions known as the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS).
What is displayed depends on the BIOS manufacturer. Some computers
display a progress bar that refers to the word BIOS, while others
may not display any indication that this process is happening.
3. As soon as the BIOS has finished loading, begin tapping the
F8 key on your keyboard. Continue to do so until the Windows
Advanced Options menu appears.
NOTE: If you begin tapping the
F8 key too soon, some computers will generate a "keyboard
error" message. Please restart and try again.
4. Using the arrow keys on the
keyboard, scroll to and select the Safe mode menu item, and then
press Enter.
NOTE: On some computers, this
can be quite difficult. If you are not successful and the computer
starts in normal mode, follow the instructions in the Alternate
method section.
Internet Explorer Download limits
Microsoft in its devine wisdom,
decided that IE shuld have a download lomit or 2 to 4 downloads
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000010
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000008
|
System Restore