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. Avoid download of file attachments that may have virus infections Do you know there are two command shell environments in XP ? which one is better ? Ever wondered how come you get into those HTML error pages ? Want to customize them ? How to avoid password entry at start up ? Having problems with Outlook Express ? Does it ask for password everytime you connect ? How to determine a 16 bit application from a 32 bit application ? Low on disk space and do not use Windows XP Hibernate feature ? Do you have a problem with your Video ? Always going in VGA MODE ? Create your own popup menu in TASK BAR "Setup Cannot Upgrade Some Settings" Error Message When You Reinstall Windows XP
Avoid download of file attachments that may have virus infections
This one is easy.. Navigate to USER CONFIGURATION - ADMINISTRATIVE TEMPLATES - WINDOWS COMPONENTS - INTERNET EXPLORER. For This on right hand pane (most likely secondly last line at bottom) you should see an item Configure Outlook Express. Double Click on it and enable it and mark check box that says "Block attachments that may contain virus". OK out and close the global policy editor. Do you know there are two command shell environments in XP ? which one is better ?
Both would do the job but they do it somewhat differently at a lower level. Which one is better ? I have noticed that CMD.EXE is much better in executing your commands. And this is true. CMD.EXE is the new command shell environment. that is better by design.So if you want to try out even your very old DOS apps, try it first in CMD.EXE. There is a very good chance that it will work and will work better than in your old shell. Ever wondered how come you get into those HTML error pages ? Want to customize them ?
That is correct ! All of this message are burned into SHDOCLC.DLL file. Here is the syntax to see all of these error messages . If you want to see server busy error message type in Internet address field, res://c:\Windows\System32\SHDOCLC.DLL/servbusy.htm Similarly If you want to try out any other error message simply replace servbusy.htm by that html file (just the names) Here are some complete examples html files that you can try . http_400.htm, http_404.htm, http_406.htm, http_410.htm, http_500.htm, http_501.htm, http_gen.htm, servbusy.htm, syntax.htm, navcancl.htm, offcancl.htm, policyerror.htm, policylooking.htm, policynone.htm, policysyntaxerror.htm, privacypolicy.dlg, preview.dlg, printerr.htm, printnf.htm, printnof.htm, printunk.htm, wcee.htm, ietext.bmp, ietext256.bmp, world.bmp, world256.gif, ie.gif, ie256.gif, orgfav.dlg, about.dlg, analyze.dlg, bidifind.dlg, docppg.ppg, error.dlg, find.dlg, findic.dlg, ieerror.dlg, imageppg.ppg, orgfav.dlg, and pstemplate.dlg If you need to customize these messages, write an error message that you want
to see as displayed and store it somewhere on your harddisk, open registry by
going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and navigate to Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs and changing
entries associated with various keys and provide complete path name to your own
custom html file. How to avoid password entry at start up ?
This should be enough to stop password from being entered at
startup. Ok out. Now you have to do one more thing. Go to START-RUN and enter "control userpasswords" and clicking on “Change the way users log on or off”, and unchecking both “Use the Welcome Screen” and “Use Fast User Switching”. There is another way to get to the same screen. Try this to auto logon 1. At a command prompt, type: rundll32 netplwiz.dll,UsersRunDll 2. In the User Accounts dialog that appears, clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" check box and click OK. 3. Enter the user
name and password of the account you want to automatically log on. Now Reboot and see it happen. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: (Please make sure that you are doing this to user account and not administrator account. If you do this to administrator account or user accounts that have admin privileges and connect to Internet. and do not have a good firewall installed or enabled, your are exposing yourself to potential risks) XPTOOLS is not responsible for any such damage. *Also note that default user accounts created by XP are in admin group and have admin privileges so be careful.
Having problems with Outlook Express ? Does it ask for password everytime you connect ?
I have a solution that may work for you. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and Navigate to HKEY_CURRRENT USER\Software\Microsoft and look for "Protected Storage System Provider". There is a good chance that you will see this folder. If you have it. Simply delete it. More than likely, you have solved your problem . Make a habit of cleaning prefetch data once a month. 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. I would suggest that You do this once a month: Go to C(system drive):/windows/prefetch,
and delete everything and reboot. This may help speed up your computer. How to determine a 16 bit application from a 32 bit application ? Old 16 bit app are still useful and are in use by many. I think this is the result computer evolution. If You want to know whether a particular executable is a 16 bit or 32 bit application, here is a secret. Right-click the program’s executable file and Then choose Properties. If You see a Version tab, it’s a 32-bit program else its a 16-bit program. Alternately You can go into task manager and look for applications that have ntvdm.exe (virtual dos machine) in the name column of process tab. If there is one, it means its a 16 bit app.
Low on disk space and do not use Windows XP Hibernate feature ? With hardware prices going down every passing day You may not need this tip but if You are in a situation where You are really low on disk space even after using disk cleaner, one of the things You can do is to identify features of XP You don't use. It may very well be the hibernate feature. If You don't use it, simply disable it and get as much of hard disk space free as is your physical RAM size. To do that go to power options in control panel (fast route: goto START-RUN or win+R and type powercfg.cpl ) and click on hibernate tab and deselect "enable hibernation".
Do you have a problem with your Video ? Always going in VGA MODE ?
To verify exactly what gets loaded, follow these steps. Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\hardware\DeviceMap\Video . In this value of Device\Video0 points to a registry key that has the location of the video driver that Windows is configured to load. for example: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\ videodriver \Device0 .
Navigate to this key. Check value of "InstalledDisplayDrivers" . Its
value indicates whether driver was loaded or not. If the setting shows another
registry location, a third-party driver may be getting loaded. Check out
Microsoft Knowledgebase article for more details:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314854 Create your own popup menu in TASK BAR
You can create your own popup window other than START MENU in taskbar. Put down shortcuts to all applications that you want to see in your popup in a folder. Then you right click on taskbar->toolbars->new toolbar-> and select the new folder.
"Setup Cannot Upgrade Some Settings" Error Message When You Reinstall Windows XPWhen you try to reinstall
Windows XP, Windows Setup may repeatedly start and stop, and then you receive an
error message similar to the following: This behavior can occur if, after you successfully install Windows XP, your registry becomes corrupted and you try to reinstall Windows XP. To resolve this issue, remove
the entries in the Boot.ini file that point to the Windows XP upgrade, and then
restore the Windows XP registry.
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