Windows XP Tips N Tricks
Welcome to the tips n trixs sector for Windows XP. Hopefully you will find something in here that will make the use of Windows XP more to the way you want it to work and improve its performance. Please check out all pages by clicking on the next page link as there is a lot here to view. By clicking on the underlined statement below it will take you to the details of how to carry out the task. You may find this application handy for changes in the registry. RegEditX (Registry Editor Extensions) is freeware that enhances the Windows Registry Editor. If you edit the same keys repeatedly, this is for you! New buttons activate frequently used commands, and a combo box stores a history of visited keys and allows quick navigation back to them. The keys are saved across
sessions and available the next time you use the Registry Editor.
Turn back the clockCustomize the Start menuFine tune Internet connection speed: Tip on changing QoS parameter Further fine tune Internet access speed: Tip on improving DNS resolution Want to have more options in the Add/Remove program list ? Start menu is slow in responding? Want to boost response time of start menu ? How to remove recycle bin from your desktop ? Turn on your firewallWatch your cookiesDisable error reportingRemove shortcut arrow from desktop iconsIncrease BROADBANDIncrease your cable modem or DSL speed in XP
Turn back the clockGray is definitely out. The folks at Microsoft bathed Windows XP in color. Don't like XP's look? To switch back to the Classic look that resembles Windows 2000, right-click the desktop, select Properties, click the Themes tab, and choose Windows Classic from the drop-down list. Voilà! You're back to comfy shades of blue and gray--not to
mention having all those familiar icons. To get back to a Start menu that looks more like Windows
2000's, right-click in an empty portion of the Start menu's left-hand column,
select Properties, and go to the Start Menu tab. Select Classic Start Menu. To
bring the new look back, just reverse these steps. Customize the Start menuThe Start menu gets more real estate in XP than in previous versions, and it's more customizable. To make the Start menu display only the applications you want, rather than the default determined by Microsoft, right-click in an empty section of the Start menu's left column, and select Properties > Start Menu > Customize. Here you'll find a list of your most frequently used programs. (XP keeps track of what you use and what you don't, then updates this list dynamically). Fine tune Internet connection speed: Tip on changing QoS parameter
There have been some confusion as to what can be achieved in real terms by changing the QoS parameter. Microsoft has finally released an article correcting describing the behavior of QoS parameter. I am providing a link to Microsoft web site knowledgebase article http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;q316666. In brief though, this tweak would only work on QoS aware programs and rest of the programs would simply ignore them. Networking Quality of Service (QoS) refers to a variety of techniques that prioritize one type of traffic or program when these operate across a network connection rather than relying solely on "best effort" connectivity. By default, programs can reserve up to an aggregate bandwidth of 20 percent of the underlying link speed on each interface on an end computer. If the program that reserved the bandwidth is not sending
enough data to utilize it completely, the unused portion of the reserved
bandwidth is available for other data flows on the same host. This default
parameter can be changed. Further fine tune Internet access speed: Tip on improving DNS resolution
We only feel bad if we can't find something easily or have to wait for a long time (I have heard many people saying WWW stands for world wide wait not too long ago!!!) Well with changes in technology and falling prices we have far better hardware and software to do this job but fruits of fine tuning have always been great and would continue to remain so. One of the things that should happen before Internet connection would go through is DNS resolution.DNS stands for Domain Name Service. Even though XP does a fine job of handling DNS resolution, you may still gain by increase the DNS Cache size. To do this you would have to add following entries in registry. Save what is written below in
say "dnstuning.reg" file and import it in REGISTRY but opening
registry editor and going to IMPORT option from top menu. Want to have more options in the Add/Remove program list ?
For example wordpad. I mean you don't want to remove wordpad from Add/Remove program list, but that serves just as an example. So why are some programs in the list and some not. Its not a game of Random numbers. There many a few unique methods through which we can control what appears on list and what does not. If you have installed Windows in C: drive , Go to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. File contents looks like this: See the components that have word HIDE as second last item on the row. This hide tells system to not to display
those items/apps in the Add/Remove program list. If you want to have this
item in list, simply replace it with blank. I think you understand what am
I saying
Start menu is slow in responding? Want to boost response time of start menu ?
If your hardware configuration (read CPU,RAM) is not upto speed but still want to boost response time of start menu, here are a few tricks that might help. Open registry editor by going to START-RUN and entering regedit and navigate to key HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay . Change the value (default may be 400) to 5 or 50 or even 0. This should speed up. If you are not all that crazy for shadowy effects, you can further speed the things up by going to DISPLAY Properties Window and from there to appearance and over there clicking Advanced command button and check off Show menu shadow.
How to remove recycle bin from your desktop ?
Turn on your firewallMicrosoft included a firewall in Windows XP to keep you safe from hackers while you cruise the Internet. How do you know that the Internet Connection Firewall is on? Go to the Control Panel and double-click the Network Connections icon. In the dial-up, DSL, or cable connection dialog that appears, check the Status column. If your firewall is on, it should say Firewalled. You can turn the firewall off with the check box, but
unless you are going to add a third-party firewall for heightened security, it's
best to leave it on. Test it with ShieldsUp, the free testing service sponsored by Gibson Research. According to our tests, XP's Internet Connection Firewall kept the computer in full stealth mode. Hackers could not break in and couldn't even see
the computer online. Watch your cookiesIn XP, the Documents And Settings folder holds all user information, including configuration settings, favorites, and cookies. The Documents And Settings\Username\Cookies folder is where XP stashes cookies. How do you control the number of cookies you allow on your system? Click Start > Control Panel > Network And Internet Connections > Internet Options. Click the Privacy tab, then use the slider bar to modify your cookie settings. For instance, you can block cookies from sites that use personal identification without your consent. To increase your security, try out the other privacy settings in this dialog. The lowest level is Accept All Cookies while the highest is Block All Cookies, with low, medium, medium-high, and high settings in between. (An explanation of each appears as you move between settings.) Keep in mind that rejecting cookies may limit your
actions on some Web sites, and some sites use cookies to track how many times
you see a popup, for example, on this website, if you blocked cookies, you would
see a popup on every page. Disable error reporting
Remove shortcut arrow from desktop iconsHere's how you can remove those shortcut arrows from your desktop icons in Windows XP.
You may need to restart Windows XP Increase BROADBANDThis is for broad band connections. I didn’t try it on dial up but might work for dial up.
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, this is no big deal and most programs do not request it. So, although QOS has caused a big stink because people think it reserves 20% of their bandwidth, you can still disable it, just to be sure, Increase your cable modem or DSL speed in XPThis tweak is for broad band cable connections on stand alone machines with winXP professional version - might work on Home version also. It will probably work with networked machines
as well but I haven't tried it in that configuration. This is for windows XP
only, it does not work on win2000. This tweak assumes that you have let winXP create a connection on install for your cable modem/NIC combination and that your connection has tcp/ip - QoS - file and print sharing - and client for microsoft networks , only, installed. It also assumes that winxp will detect
your NIC and has in-box drivers for it. If it doesn't do not try this. Uncheck the two boxes
in the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing and Client for
MS networks. Click OK
Why it works, it seems that windows XP, in its zeal to make sure every base is covered installs two seperate versions of the NIC card. One you do not normally see in any properties. Remember the "netcap/?" command above showing two different adapters? The LAN one is the one you see. The invisible one loads everything down and its
like your running two separate cards together, sharing a connection among two
cards, this method breaks this "bond" and allows the NIC to run
un-hindered. Click the next button below to access more suggestions
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