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| Task Manager Disabled |
| Friday, May 4, 2007 |
Windows XP Tips:
Reinstalling Windows - The Ultimate Solution
How to stop Windows XP hiding the 'not recently used' items in the Classic Start Menu
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
Blank Explorer Bar
My Recent Documents
Password is going to change in 14 days. How to disable this.
Accounts
How to make XP dial-up like Windows 95/98/ME
Product Activation after a Reinstall
Product Activation after a Hard Disk failure
Windows XP logs off immediately after entering the password
Windows XP Indexing Service
Windows XP starts up with the “Classic” logon prompt like Windows NT
Releasing Disk Space
Windows Genuine Advantage
Pop those Balloons!
Can you downgrade from XP Professional to XP Home?
How to stop an application being listed in the “recently used programs” above the Start button.
Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Desktop Icons
XP Product Activation
Put Program Icons on your Desktop
Rename a Desktop Icon
Rename and number files
Corrupt Local Profile
Stop having to enter User Name and Password
Speed-up Startup
My Pictures Slideshow
Task Manager Disabled
Dangerous Windows Administrator Accounts
How to open an Administrator program in a Limited Account
Device Manager
Super Search (or Fast Find!)
Control Panel Options
To Standby or to Hibernate?
Move the Swap file to another disk
On-Screen Keyboard
Keyboard Shortcuts
Desktop Icons Disappeared?
Can I give away my old XP?
How to Logon as Administrator
How long can I run XP?
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The Ultimate Solution!
When you take a faulty PC to that big shop in the out-of-town shopping centre or phone up the supplier’s help line they may eventually resort to the Ultimate Solution - Reinstall Windows.
This is the quickest way for them to solve most problems other than faulty hardware. They don’t have to waste time trying to find the causes of your problem because reinstalling will solve them all.
Most new PCs don’t come with a Windows disk - instead they have a hidden partition on the hard disk that contains an image of the original disk contents when it left the factory.
So if you have to resort to reinstalling from the hidden partition you will loose everything that has happened since the day you got the PC. But at least your PC will work properly again!
I like to try to solve the particular problem, but after a while it is no longer cost or time effective to continue. Rather than go for The Ultimate Solution I like to resort to what I call:
The Penultimate Solution
Microsoft calls this an “in-place upgrade” and all it means is that you overwrite your existing Windows files with an undamaged set.
This is not guaranteed to cure all problems because it does not, for instance, replace the Registry, but in many cases it does work and you do not loose any of your work or programs.
But to do it you need a Windows CD for the appropriate version of Windows with the correct service pack built in. And nerves of steel!
Before you begin you should run the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard and transfer the resulting file somewhere safe, just in case the whole thing goes belly up and you have to resort to The Ultimate Solution.
It’s also advisable to take and store a copy of wpa.dbl - see Product Activation after a Reinstall. And note down your Windows Registration number off the side of your PC. You might need them both if it all goes wrong.
Rather than me repeat it here, the method is well documented by Microsoft. Go to www.microsoft.com and put 315341 into the search box.
Good Luck!
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How to stop Windows XP hiding the 'not recently used' items in the Classic Start Menu
I use the “Classic” start menu because I prefer it to the Windows XP one. (I’m just an old fashioned guy!)
But I got fed up with it hiding items that I hadn’t used recently (I want them there for when I do want to use them!).
So this is how to stop it:
Right click Start, select Properties,
Select "Start Menu" tab
Against "Classic Start Menu", click Customize button
Deselect "Use Personalized Menus"
Click OK button
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Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
This is an excellent tool to help transfer all your stuff from an old PC to a new XP PC.
Briefly, you put the XP CD into your old PC and run the wizard. It finds and compresses all your documents, pictures, music, etc. and either saves it to a medium that can then be connected to your new PC or does the transfer through a network (or cable) connection.
You go to your new PC, put the CD in and run the wizard again to copy the data from the transfer medium to the new PC.
Nowhere in the help files or on the Microsoft web site does it spell out that the Wizard operates on a per-user basis, not on a per-computer basis. In other words:
IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE USER ACCOUNT ON A PC THEN YOU NEED TO USE THE WIZARD ON EACH ACCOUNT.
So four users means 4 file transfers - and you need to ensure that you don’t muddle them up!
If a PC is really messed up I often wipe a customer’s hard drive and reinstall their copy of Windows - this solves a multitude of sins. But if they want their Files and Settings transferred I have to run the wizard for each user - both before I wipe it and then after I have reinstalled.
One or two things to remember.
1. The Wizard will not transfer passwords.
2. The Wizard expects your stuff to be stored in the Microsoft way - in My Documents, etc. If you have stuff in other folders it may well ignore it.
3. Most people don’t get the XP CD with their new PC - so how do they run the wizard?
Fire up the new PC and go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools where you will find a copy of the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.
Run the wizard and tell it that this is your new PC. It will then offer to create a Wizard Disk for you to use in your old PC. (Providing both PC’s have got floppy drives!).
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Blank Explorer Bar
I have only come across this problem once, but I have heard of it elsewhere.
When Explorer is opened the right hand panel displays the files and folders as selected, but there is no information in the left hand explorer bar.
(If "Search", "Media", "Favorites" or "History" is selected (View, Explorer Bar,) then the corresponding info is displayed but if "Folders" is selected -there is only a blank panel with an "X" to close it).
Correcting this needs a mod to the Registry - always save a copy of the Registry before you make any changes.
Here is the location of the faulty Registry entry: [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\
{EFA24E64-B078-11D0-89E4-00C04FC9E26E}\
InProcServer32]
Faulty registry points to BROWSEUI.DLL but should point to SHDOCVW.DLL.
Use REGEDIT to find this key and change it to SHDOCVW.DLL.
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My Recent Documents
If you share your computer you may want to prevent the “My Recent Documents” option on the Start menu. It can be awkward if your kids notice your Santa’s shopping list in there!
So if you use the normal Windows XP Start menu, this is what to do:
Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
On the Start Menu tab, click Start menu, and then click Customize.
On the Advanced tab, at the bottom of the box, unselect the “List my most recently opened documents check box”.
If you want, whilst on the Advanced tab, click “Clear List” (at the bottom right) to empty the My Recent Documents folder.
(None of the above deletes any documents from the computer - you just have to remember where you saved them).
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Windows XP Password is going to change in 14 days. How to disable this.
Right-click My Computer and select "Manage."
Expand the Local Users and Groups folder and click on Users.
Right-click the appropriate User and select "Properties"
Place a check mark next to the text labelled "Password never expires" and click Apply.
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Windows XP Accounts
“I was wondering if you could help me with the following:
I have just loaded a handset (mobile phone) management program on my PC for my son's new phone, it would not let him load it on through his account on the PC due to him not being an administrator.
So I loaded it on through my account, however he cannot access the program from his account, it has loaded all right as I can see it under programs in my account but it does not show up in his account.
How can I allow him to have access to this program from his account?”
The quickest way to solve this one is to:
a) temporarily change son's account to an Administrator account,
b) install the program through his account,
c) change his account back to a Limited account
He should then have full access to the program.
You can do a) and c) by logging in to your (Administrator) account and going:
Start,
Control Panel,
User Accounts,
Pick an account to change,
Change Account Type
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How to make XP dial-up like Windows 95/98/ME:
This will restore the "dialing" box for Firefox or any other applications, also will enable Auto Disconnect for Internet Explorer.
1. Go to settings, Control Panel. Administrative Tools, Services Shortcut.
2. Scroll down to Net Logon. Right click Properties, Set to Automatic.
3. Do the same for Network Connections, Remote Access Auto Connection Manager and Remote Access Connection Manager.
4. Return to Settings. Select Network Connections. Click Advanced -at the Top- Click Dial-up Preferences. -Make sure "Always ask..." and "Disable autodial..." at the bottom are unchecked.
5. Go to Control Panel,Internet Options
6. Connections,Settings,
7. Properties,Options.
8. Under "Dialing Options",check the first one "Display progress while dialing" and the third one, "Include Windows Logon Domain".
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Windows XP Product Activation after a Reinstall
This is a way that users of a valid and already activated copy of Windows XP can avoid having to reactivate the software after a full reinstall onto the same hardware to which it was originally installed.
The trick is to copy and reuse the c:\windows\system32\wpa.dbl file. It's small, so it will easily fit on a floppy or you can copy it to another safe location on your hard drive. Do that, then do the reinstallation in the normal way.
After you've reinstalled XP, either boot to a DOS floppy or start in XP's Safe Mode/Command Prompt (i.e. hit the F8 key when your system "beeps" during the boot process). Then copy your original wpa.dbl from its safe location back into the c:\windows\system32 folder, and then reboot.
WARNING - don’t do the above copy operation when Windows is running normally - do it in DOS or safe mode. If you do it when Windows is running you will end up having to reinstall from scratch again.
Because nothing on your system has changed (it's the same BIOS, CPU, RAM, etc.) and because you're installing the same copy of XP that was previously installed, the "old" WPA key should be accepted as valid, saving you the hassle of reactivating the software.
Note that this won't work if you try moving the file to a different machine, so it's not a way to pirate Windows.
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Product Activation after a Hard Disk failure
You can successfully reinstall and activate Windows XP on a new hard disk (without having previously created a full disk backup).
But before you begin you will need:
A Windows XP CD of the same version (Home or Professional or Media Centre) and same Service Pack as on the original hard disk.
The original Product Key.
A copy of the c:\windows\system32\wpa.dbl file from the old hard disk. (Take a copy of this NOW, and store it away safely - you will be glad of it when your hard disk fails)
Physically install the new hard disk.
Boot from the Windows CD and install Windows - using the original product key.
Boot from a DOS floppy/CD or start in XP's Safe Mode/Command Prompt (i.e. hit the F8 key when your system "beeps" during the boot process). Then copy your original wpa.dbl file from its safe location back into the c:\windows\system32 folder, and then reboot.
WARNING - don’t do the above copy operation when Windows is running normally - do it in DOS or safe mode. If you do it when Windows is running you will end up having to reinstall from scratch again.
Your newly installed copy of windows will probably still need activating but this will be just like activating a newly purchased copy of Windows. Just go online and follow the prompts. No conversation with Microsoft required, no new copy of XP to buy.
But if you have changed anything more than the hard disk this will not work.
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Windows XP logs off immediately after entering the password
Has a spyware removal program just been run?
The userinit value may have been corrupted by the removal of Blazefind. It adds wsaupdater.exe to the logon value in the Registry.
Some anti-spyware programs detect and remove wsaupdater.exe, but don't then correct the Registry damage
This is the Registry key that may be damaged:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Window s NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Userinit string value should be:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,
In a corrupted Registry it's one of these:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsaupdater.exe,
or
C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe,C:\WINDOWS\system32\wsaupdater.exe,
The solution is to boot to the Recovery Console. At the command prompt, type:
cd c:\windows\system32
then type:
copy userinit.exe wsaupdater.exe
then restart normally.
Once back in Windows you should change the registry value back to C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe, and delete wsaupdater.exe.
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Windows XP Indexing Service
The Indexing Service indexes your files to shorten the time needed to search your hard drive for a specific file or part of a phrase inside a file.
In return for speeding up an occasional search from 10 seconds to 5 seconds this service noticeably slows down your computer for the rest of the time.
I always switch it off and I haven't noticed any greater delay when I do my searches - but I do notice the improvement of having more processor capacity available.
To disable the Indexing service:
Left click Start
Left click Control Panel,
Left click Performance and Maintenance,
Left click Administrative Tools
Left double click Services,
Left double click Indexing Service to bring up Properties, General Tab,
Left click Stop to stop the service.
Then from the Startup type box select Disabled.
Left click OK
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Windows XP starts up with the “Classic” logon prompt like Windows NT
To return to a normal XP startup:
Settings, Control Panel, User Accounts, Change the way users log on or off, Switch on: Use the Welcome screen and Use Fast User Switching.
(Applies even when there is only one user - they won't see the "Click your name" screen.)
Start, Run, control userpasswords2, Switch on: Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer.
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Releasing Disk Space
My daughter is using an old Laptop with a very small (by today’s standards) hard disk. She has filled it up with music to load onto her iPod, and it keeps complaining that it’s running out of space.
She has done Disk Cleanup -
Open My Computer
Right click on the C:/ drive
Left click Properties
Select the General tab
Left click Disk Cleanup
but after the first time it doesn’t help much.
But there is a further option here that can release a lot of space if you are confident that you are not going to want to restore your computer to an earlier state.
After you have opened Disk Cleanup you can select the More Options tab and then go down to the System Restore section. Left click on Clean up and then left click Yes to delete all but the most recent restore point.
ONLY DO THIS IF YOU ARE AWARE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING. I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOU NO LONGER BEING ABLE TO RESTORE YOUR PC TO AN EARLIER STATE.
This released a lot of space on my daughter’s PC - but it will fill up with restore points again if you don’t reduce the maximum amount of space that System Restore can use:
Hold down the Windows key and press Pause/Break.
System Properties will open.
Left click the System Restore tab
Move the Disk space usage slider to the left.
How far you move it is up to you - but my previous warning also applies here!
Back in the More Options part of Disk Cleanup you might also want to investigate the other two sections - Windows components and Installed programs.
There could be more savings to be made here, but be aware of what you are doing - if you haven’t got the installation disks then you will not be able to restore the components and programs that you delete.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Again!
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Windows Genuine Advantage
This is Microsoft’s new weapon against counterfeit software. It installs itself as though it is a normal Windows update but starts flashing up messages if it finds that your copy of Windows XP is a “Pirate”.
Of course, it also advises you how to purchase a legitimate copy of Windows - this is good business for Microsoft in this slack period before the launch of Windows Vista.
Some commentators are spitting feathers about this - the “update” cannot be uninstalled and it checks that your Windows is genuine every 24 hours. They say that it qualifies as Spyware in every possible way. Lawsuits are apparently being prepared.
Anyway, Microsoft have backpedalled on this one, and after a lot of unofficial uninstall instructions were published on the Internet they have now published their own OFFICIAL unistall instructions. Read them here.
http://www.support.microsoft.com/kb/921914
To see some of the comments on this, go to these articles on the Windows Secrets web site:
http://www.windowssecrets.com/comp/060615/ and http://www.windowssecrets.com/comp/060629/
My tips for implementing the procedure are as follows:
Follow the instructions and check your spelling fastidiously before entering each command.
The first 4 steps in "Manually remove" are identical to the "Disable" section, so you don't have to do them twice.
Don't bother with step 2 - the procedure also works for later versions of WGA (so far), so there's no point in wasting time finding out which version you have got.
%Windir% usually means c:\Windows for most PC's, but %Windir% will pick up the minority of installations that are not on the C: drive or not in the Windows folder.
Sometimes there can be several copies of WgaLogon.dll and WgaTray.exe - there may be WgaLogon(2).dll etc. You need to rename them all in step 3 and delete them all in step 8.
After step 8 search the windows\system32\ folder for any remaining files starting with "wga" to make sure that you have deleted all the copies. If any remain just delete them with Shift Delete
If you are removing WGA because you have what MS thinks is a pirate version of Windows then you are likely to get WGA notifications again when MS decide to release a new version. So switch off Automatic Updates in the Security Center in Control Panel. (Or change it to just notify and then be very careful about which updates you select to install - MS aren't likely to tell you which is really just a new version of WGA are they?)
If the nags from the Security Center about Automatic Updates are going to annoy you, then whilst in the Security Centre click "Change the way Security Center alerts me" and untick "Automatic Updates".
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Pop those Balloons!
Do those information balloons (speech bubbles) annoy you? Well you can get rid of them, but it requires a Registry edit, so the usual warnings apply.
IF YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT TO EDIT THE REGISTRY, DON’T TRY. MAKING A MISTAKE CAN WRECK YOUR WINDOWS SETUP. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Start, Run, type: regedit, OK
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Right click in the right-hand pane, select New, then DWORD value. Name the key EnableBalloonTips and leave it set to zero.
Reboot and the bubbles are burst!
You can always switch them on again by setting the DWORD value to one, or deleting it completely.
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Can you downgrade from XP Professional to XP Home?
No.
You can go the other way by just buying Professional and running the disk and answering the questions, but it’s not that easy to upgrade downwards!
But why would you want to?
Thanks to the Windows Genuine Advantage program a lot of people are finding that they have “counterfeit” Windows XP Professional on their PCs (the cowboys used corporate CDs to install the OS, hence they are mainly the Professional version). And the cheapest way to get legal is to buy an OEM copy of XP Home.
The way to do it is to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to get all your stuff off the PC onto a portable disk, then install Home (wiping your disk in the process), and then put your stuff back using the F&STW again. And then reinstall all of your applications of course.
If your Windows is dodgy the chances are that your Office is to, so why not take the opportunity to try OpenOffice.org instead? It works for me.
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How to stop an application being listed in the “recently used programs” above the Start button.
This requires a Registry edit, so the usual warnings apply.
IF YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT TO EDIT THE REGISTRY, DON’T TRY. MAKING A MISTAKE CAN WRECK YOUR WINDOWS SETUP. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Start, Run, type: regedit
Navigate to: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications
Find the name of the application’s program in the list, left click it to select it then right click in the right hand pane.
New will come up. Left click String Value and change the key’s name from New Value #1 to NoStartPage
Close the Registry editor and then reboot the PC to check that the entry has been deleted.
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Desktop Cleanup Wizard
When you install a new copy of Windows XP there are no icons on the desktop other than the recycle bin.
(Which is empty. So why is it there? What can you do with it?)
Anyway, what’s the point of a desktop without any icons on it? Isn’t that what it’s there for? I can honestly say that I have never seen a PC with an empty desktop (other than those that I have just installed XP on).
Some geek in Microsoft decided that everyone should strive for an empty desktop, so he created the Desktop Cleanup Wizard and switched it on by default.
So every 60 days it asks you if you want to clean up your desktop. And if you say yes it puts unused icons away - into a folder - ON THE DESKTOP! I think he might need treatment!
Everybody (except him) likes to have shortcuts on their desktop, and they are all quite capable of highlighting an icon that they don’t want any more and hitting delete.
So how do you switch off the Wizard?
Right click on an empty part of the desktop
Left click Properties
When the Display Properties box opens, left click the Desktop tab
Left click the Customize Desktop button
Deselect Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days
Left click OK
Left click OK
I wonder if the Wizard ever cleans up its own Unused Icons folder? If so, where does it put it?
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Desktop Icons
Windows XP was designed by someone who didn’t like icons on his desktop. But there was one icon that he considered to be so important that he allowed it to be shown on the default desktop. It’s the recycle bin. WHY?
Anyway, if you buy a new PC from any supplier they will have put loads of icons on the desktop - links to ISPs, trial versions of software, the user manual, etc.
But the icons that most people want still aren’t there.
I’m talking about My Computer, My Documents and Internet Explorer.
So, right click on an empty part of the desktop
Left click Properties
Left click the Desktop tab
Left click Customize Desktop...
At the top of the General tab you will see Desktop Items.
Left click to select the ones that you want
Left click OK
Left click OK
Now you will see those icons on your desktop, but they probably won’t be where you want them.
So, left click and hold down on the icon that is in the space where you want to put My Computer and drag it to a bit of empty space.
Then left click and hold down to drag My Computer into the vacated space.
Move the other icons around in the same way until it’s just how you want it.
I did come across someone the other day who wanted his icons in alphabetical order - and believe it or not there is a similar pedant in Microsoft, so the way to do that is to:
Right click on an empty part of the desktop
Left click Arrange Icons By
Left click Name
Personally I just want My Computer in the top left hand corner, followed by My Documents. But then I suppose I’m a pedant too!
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XP Product Activation
Windows XP and Office XP use Product Activation to reduce piracy.
On installation (of non corporate editions) they create a snapshot of the PC’s hardware which covers:
Boot disk volume serial number
Network adaptor MAC address
CD-ROM drive ID data
Graphics card ID data
IDE adaptor ID data
SCSI adaptor ID data
Hard disk ID data
Processor Model and serial number
Amount of RAM
Dockable (laptop) or not (desktop)
This information is stored in the wpa.dbl file
Each time that the system starts up it compares the installed hardware with the wpa.dbl data and if a significant change is detected the system will need reactivation.
“Significant” in this case means over six changes or a network card and three other changes. (Why?)
You can change any one item over and over again and it will still count as only one change.
So you can do a large amount of upgrading before reactivation is required.
But if you do exceed the number of allowed changes (by installing a new motherboard and processor for instance) your system will tell you that you need to reactivate within 3 days. When you try do do that over the internet the reactivation will fail and ask you to either key in a new Product Key or telephone Microsoft to speak to a representative.
In fact when you telephone Microsoft you don’t have to speak to a representative - only press your telephone buttons in response to an automated system. Carefully answer the questions, including:
Have you made significant changes recently? - Yes.
Was you copy of Windows pre-installed or purchased separately? - You must say purchased separately (even if it is a little white lie).
How many machines have you installed your copy of Windows on? Press 1 for more than 1, press 2 for only 1. (How sneaky is that!)
Get the answers right and the automated system will give you a long string of numbers to enable you to reacivate your system.
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Put Program Icons on your Desktop
Some programs put icons everywhere - on the desktop, in the notification area and/or in the Quick Launch area.
But others remain coy and only put their icons in the All Programs list.
If you want to put a shortcut to a program on your desktop, this is what to do:
Left click Start, then hover over All Programs until the list opens.
Hover over the fly-out names to get to the program you want.
Instead of left clicking on the program to open it, hold down the left mouse key and drag the programs name onto an empty part of the desktop. Keep holding down the mouse button while you press and hold down the Ctrl key. Now release the mouse button and then the Ctrl key.
You now have a shortcut to your program on your desktop. You can drag it to a better positon with your left mouse button.
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Rename a Desktop Icon
Right click the desktop icon that you want to rename.
Left click Rename.
Type the name that you want to appear under the icon.
Left click on an empty part of the desktop
Done!
You can use any letters, numbers, spaces, and some punctuation marks in desktop icon names. But you can’t use the following characters in icon names:
\ : / * ? " > < |
You can also rename an icon by slowly clicking the name twice and then typing the new name.
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Rename and number files
Suppose you have a group of files in a folder and you want to rename them all with just a different number at the end of each file name.
Maybe you have collected together the best digital photos of your friend’s wedding from a number of different photographers who were there. You have them all in a folder, but they have all sorts of names, i.e.:
image34.jpg
scan37.jpg
TedsWed97.jpeg
Pic22.jpg
Doesn’t look very professional does it?
Open the folder in Windows Explorer.
Ensure that all the files that you want to change are of the same file type (i.e. jpg in this example).
Make sure that you are in Details view (left click View then Details).
Left click to highlight the first file that you want to change.
Hold Shift and left click on the last file that you want to change so that all the interim files are highlighted.
Right click on any of the highlighted files and left click on Rename.
The blinking cursor will be on the end of the first file name.
Type your new file name (including the suffix) for all the files and hit Return.
Your files will be renamed like this:
Edward and Jessica’s Wedding.jpg
Edward and Jessica’s Wedding (1).jpg
Edward and Jessica’s Wedding (2).jpg
Edward and Jessica’s Wedding (3).jpg
Much better.
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Corrupt Local Profile
If Windows XP says it cannot load your profile because it may be corrupted - then it probably is.
You will need to recreate an uncorrupted copy of your user profile, and to do that you need to logon as another user with administrative privileges (or as the Administrator).
Open My Computer then Tools then Folder Options then View. Select Show hidden files and folders.
Now you need to find and rename the corrupt profile - the folder is usually c:\Documents and Settings\Usersname. Just change Usersname to OldUsersname.
Log off from the administrators account and log in to the original name of the account that was corrupt. Windows will create a new profile for that name.
Having recreated the profile you should log off and log in to the administrators account again.
Now you will need to copy all the folders and their contents from c:\Documents and Settings\OldUsersname to c:\Documents and Settings\Usersname. But don’t copy the files beginning ntuser in that directory.
Your user profile should now be restored.
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Stop having to enter User Name and Password
If you are fed up with clicking your user name and entering your password then you can change the way Windows XP boots up.
Left click Start, then Run
In the box beside Open: type control userpasswords2 and left click OK.
Deselect (untick) the box marked Users must enter a user name and password to user this computer.
Left click Apply.
If there is more than one user account on your computer it will then ask you which user you want to be automatically logged on at startup, so select that user.
If that user has a password set it will ask you to type their password and then confirm it.
Left click OK all the way out and you should find that you start up without any hassle next time.
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Speed-up Startup
Windows XP keeps a list of frequently/recently used programs in the Prefetch folder. This is used at startup to load program components into memory so that when you start that program it loads fast.
But if you have only ever used a program once and will probably never use it again, why load its components at every startup?
Open Explorer/My Computer and navigate to C:\windows\prefetch.
Open the folder and see how many programs it contains!
Highlight them all and delete them all.
You should find that your Windows startup time improves. (But the opening time for each new program that you start will be increased until Windows has regenerated the contents of the prefetch folder).
In a few weeks time the prefetch folder will have filled up again - so delete its contents frequently.
If you are confident enough to edit the Registry then you can switch off Prefetch completely by opening Regedit and going to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Co ntrol\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
and setting the DWORD value for EnablePrefetcher to 0 (zero).
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My Pictures Slideshow
This has been part of Windows XP since it was launched, but I have never come across anyone else that uses it as their screen saver.
Like most other people I now take digital photographs and I store them in different folders for each year. When I get time I scan my old slides and negatives so that I am building up files for the years before digital.
I very rarely print any of my digital photographs because I use the My Pictures Slideshow screen saver. This allows me to select a folder and display a random selection from that folder as my screen saver.
Every time I get fed up with the current folder of photos I change it. So over time I get to see all my photos and don’t need an album!
Right click an empty area of the desktop
Left click Properties.
Left click the Screen Saver tab
Left click the down arrow and left click My Pictures Slideshow
Left click the Settings button and, in the middle of the box, Browse
Navigate to and select the folder of pictures that you want to display
Left click OK
Make any other adjustments to the Settings that you fancy
Left click OK twice.
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Task Manager Disabled
You open Task Manager by right clicking the task bar and then left clicking Task Manager, or by using the “three finger salute” (Control, Alt, Delete).
But if you get the message “Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator” - and you haven’t got an administrator, then you need to change a registry setting as follows:
IF YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT TO EDIT THE REGISTRY, DON’T TRY. MAKING A MISTAKE CAN WRECK YOUR WINDOWS SETUP. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Start, Run, type: regedit, OK
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
Change the value for DisableTaskMgr from 1 to 0 (zero)
OK out and you should find that you can open Task Manager.
If you can’t find that Registry entry then search the entire Registry for DisableTaskMgr and if you find it make the change.
If you can’t find it at all in the Registry then either your Task Manager is not disabled or your PC is subject to "Local Group Policy" or "Domain Group Policy". Visit http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555480.
Or see your administrator!Labels: PC Tips N Tricks and Tweaks |
posted by Admin @ 12:23 PM   |
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Name: Admin
Home: India
About Me: I had completed my Graduatation and now in search of Job,
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