clmlbx
Technomancer
1) Remove windows messenger from WinXP one forever
Go to Run box and type :
runDll32 advpack.dll, LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
2) Hide 'User Accounts' from users
Go to Start/Run, and type: GPEDIT.MSC
Open the path
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"
click Add button,
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box
3) Create Your Own Logon Message
Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
In the Registry Editor, drill down to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Right-click LegalNoticeCaption, click Modify, type My Windows XP Machine, and then click OK.
Right-click LegalNoticeText, click Modify, and then type your message.
Close the editor and your new message will appear at every log on.
This tip applies to computers that are part of a domain. For stand-alone or peer-to-peer networks, the custom screen appears just before the Welcome screen.
4) Disable balloon tips
Run regedit and Navigate to Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Explorer\Advanced
then set the value of 'EnableBalloonTips' to 0.
5) Create your own popup menu in the taskbar
You can create your own popup window other than START MENU in the taskbar.
Put all the shortcuts to the applications that you want to popup in a folder.
Then you right click on taskbar ->toolbars ->new toolbar -> and select the folder
6) Reset Your Password On XP
1. Restart you computer
2. When booting, press F8 and select "Safe Mode"
3. After getting to the user menu. Click on a user and this time it will not ask you for a password
4. Go to Start>Run and type "CMD" (without the quotes).
5. At command prompt type in "cd C:WindowsSystem32" (without the quotes), I am assuming C is your System/Windows Drive
6.For safety purposes first make a backup of your Logon.Scr file.. You can do this by typing in "Copy to Logon.scr to Logon.bak" (without the quotes)
7.Then type "copy CMD.EXE Logon.scr"(without the quotes)
8.Then type this command, I will assume that you want to set Administrator's password to "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)
9.Now, type this in (I am assuming that you are still in the directory C:WindowsSystem32) , "net user administrator MyNewPass" without the quotes
10. You will get a message saying that it was successful, this means Administrator's new password is "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)
11. Restart the PC and you will login as Administrator (or whatever you chose to reset) with your chosen password
7) Windows XP SP2 Tweaks
Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
"FirewallDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride"=dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride"=dword:00000001
8) Turn off Auto Updates
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
9)Turn off the SP2 firewall
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
10) disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing.
you have two remote networking features called Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing. These remote networking features are very helpful in a variety of situations but if you don't use them, it is good idea to disable them to save boot time. You can always enable them later if you want to use them.
1. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and choose Properties.
2. Click the Remote Tab.
3. Clear both check boxes to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop.
11) Reducing the Wait Time
When you start to shut down Windows XP, it has to quit, or "kill," any live applications or processes that are currently running. So close all applications first. However, some applications and processes are always running in the background. You can reduce the amount of time that Windows XP waits for those applications and processes to close before Windows XP kills them. Edit three different Registry settings to change this:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000.
3. Select the HungAppTimeout value and set it to 1000 as well.
4. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. Select the HungAppTimeout \newline value and set it to 1000 as well.
5. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control. Select the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value and set it to 1000.
6. Close the Registry Editor.
12) Automatically Killing Tasks on Shutdown
You know the drill. You start to shut down the computer, you wait a few moments, and then you see a dialog box asking if you want to kill an application or service that is running. Instead of prompting you, you can make Windows XP take care of the kill task automatically. Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Highlight the value AutoEndTasks and change the value to 1.
4. Close the Registry Editor.
3. enable boot defragmentation, so that files used during start-up are clubbed together.
5. disable : "clear page file on shutdown" option. cleaning the page-file on every shut down means overwriting the data by zeros, and it takes time.
Start --> Run --> gpedit.msc
Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options
.
.
.
Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile
WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS
No. Application Use
1 Character Map -- charmap.exe -- very useful for finding
unusual characters
2 cleanmgr.exe -- Disk Cleanup
3 Clipboard Viewer -- clipbrd.exe -- views contents of Windows
clipboard
4 Dr Watson -- drwtsn32.exe -- Troubleshooting tool
5 DirectX diagnosis -- dxdiag.exe -- Diagnose & test DirectX,
video & sound cards
6 Private character editor -- eudcedit.ex -- allows creation or
modification of characters
7 IExpress Wizard -- iexpress.exe -- Create self-extracting / self-
installing package
8 Microsoft Synchronization Manager -- mobsync.exe -- appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented
9 Windows Media Player 5.1 -- mplay32.exe -- Retro version of Media Player, very basic
10 ODBC Data Source Administrator -- odbcad32.exe -- connecting to databases
11 Object Packager -- packager.exe -- to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files
12 System Monitor -- perfmon.exe -- very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only
13 Program Manager -- progman.exe -- Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell
14 Remote Access phone book --rasphone.exe -- documentation is virtually non-existant
15 Registry Editor -- regedt32.exe ,also regedit.exe -- for hacking the Windows Registry
16 Network shared folder wizard --shrpubw.exe -- creates shared folders on network
17 sigverif.exe -- File signature verification tool
18 sndvol32.exe -- Volume Control
19 System Configuration Editor --sysedit.exe -- modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98!
20 Syskey -- syskey.exe -- Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications
21 telnet.exe -- Microsoft Telnet Client
22 Driver Verifier Manager -- verifier.exe -- Seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented
23 Windows for Workgroups Chat --winchat.exe -- appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available
24 System configuration -- msconfig.exe can use to control starup programs
25 gpedit.msc -- used to manage group policies, and permissions
26 control userpasswords2 -- Excellent for adding user accounts, deleting passwords etc.
27 System file Checker -- SFC.exe/scannow -- Verifies that windows protected files are correct
Run Commands
No. Command Name Detail
1 compmgmt.msc -- Computer management
2 devmgmt.msc -- Device manager
3 diskmgmt.msc -- Disk management
4 dfrg.msc -- Disk defrag
5 eventvwr.msc -- Event viewer
6 fsmgmt.msc -- Shared folders
7 gpedit.msc -- Group policies
8 lusrmgr.msc -- Local users and groups
9 perfmon.msc -- Performance monitor
10 rsop.msc -- Resultant set of policies
11 secpol.msc -- Local security settings
12 services.msc -- Various Services
13 msconfig -- System Configuration Utility
14 regedit -- Registry Editor
15 msinfo32 -- System Information
16 sysedit -- System Edit
17 win.ini -- windows loading information(also system.ini)
18 winver -- Shows current version of windows
19 mailto: -- Opens default email client
Control Panel Command
20 timedate.cpl -- Date/Time Properties
21 desk.cpl -- Display Properties control
22 findfast.cpl -- FindFast
23 fonts -- Fonts Folder
24 inetcpl.cpl -- Internet Properties
25 main.cpl keyboard -- Keyboard Properties
26 main.cpl -- Mouse Properties
27 mmsys.cpl -- Multimedia Properties
28 netcpl.cpl -- Network Properties
29 password.cpl -- Password Properties
30 printers -- Printers Folder
31 mmsys.cpl sounds -- Sound Properties
32 sysdm.cpl -- System Properties
Go to Run box and type :
runDll32 advpack.dll, LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
2) Hide 'User Accounts' from users
Go to Start/Run, and type: GPEDIT.MSC
Open the path
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"
click Add button,
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box
3) Create Your Own Logon Message
Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
In the Registry Editor, drill down to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Right-click LegalNoticeCaption, click Modify, type My Windows XP Machine, and then click OK.
Right-click LegalNoticeText, click Modify, and then type your message.
Close the editor and your new message will appear at every log on.
This tip applies to computers that are part of a domain. For stand-alone or peer-to-peer networks, the custom screen appears just before the Welcome screen.
4) Disable balloon tips
Run regedit and Navigate to Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Explorer\Advanced
then set the value of 'EnableBalloonTips' to 0.
5) Create your own popup menu in the taskbar
You can create your own popup window other than START MENU in the taskbar.
Put all the shortcuts to the applications that you want to popup in a folder.
Then you right click on taskbar ->toolbars ->new toolbar -> and select the folder
6) Reset Your Password On XP
1. Restart you computer
2. When booting, press F8 and select "Safe Mode"
3. After getting to the user menu. Click on a user and this time it will not ask you for a password
4. Go to Start>Run and type "CMD" (without the quotes).
5. At command prompt type in "cd C:WindowsSystem32" (without the quotes), I am assuming C is your System/Windows Drive
6.For safety purposes first make a backup of your Logon.Scr file.. You can do this by typing in "Copy to Logon.scr to Logon.bak" (without the quotes)
7.Then type "copy CMD.EXE Logon.scr"(without the quotes)
8.Then type this command, I will assume that you want to set Administrator's password to "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)
9.Now, type this in (I am assuming that you are still in the directory C:WindowsSystem32) , "net user administrator MyNewPass" without the quotes
10. You will get a message saying that it was successful, this means Administrator's new password is "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)
11. Restart the PC and you will login as Administrator (or whatever you chose to reset) with your chosen password
7) Windows XP SP2 Tweaks
Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
"FirewallDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride"=dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride"=dword:00000001
8) Turn off Auto Updates
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
9)Turn off the SP2 firewall
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
10) disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing.
you have two remote networking features called Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing. These remote networking features are very helpful in a variety of situations but if you don't use them, it is good idea to disable them to save boot time. You can always enable them later if you want to use them.
1. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and choose Properties.
2. Click the Remote Tab.
3. Clear both check boxes to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop.
11) Reducing the Wait Time
When you start to shut down Windows XP, it has to quit, or "kill," any live applications or processes that are currently running. So close all applications first. However, some applications and processes are always running in the background. You can reduce the amount of time that Windows XP waits for those applications and processes to close before Windows XP kills them. Edit three different Registry settings to change this:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000.
3. Select the HungAppTimeout value and set it to 1000 as well.
4. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. Select the HungAppTimeout \newline value and set it to 1000 as well.
5. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control. Select the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value and set it to 1000.
6. Close the Registry Editor.
12) Automatically Killing Tasks on Shutdown
You know the drill. You start to shut down the computer, you wait a few moments, and then you see a dialog box asking if you want to kill an application or service that is running. Instead of prompting you, you can make Windows XP take care of the kill task automatically. Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Highlight the value AutoEndTasks and change the value to 1.
4. Close the Registry Editor.
3. enable boot defragmentation, so that files used during start-up are clubbed together.
5. disable : "clear page file on shutdown" option. cleaning the page-file on every shut down means overwriting the data by zeros, and it takes time.
Start --> Run --> gpedit.msc
Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options
.
.
.
Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile
WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS
No. Application Use
1 Character Map -- charmap.exe -- very useful for finding
unusual characters
2 cleanmgr.exe -- Disk Cleanup
3 Clipboard Viewer -- clipbrd.exe -- views contents of Windows
clipboard
4 Dr Watson -- drwtsn32.exe -- Troubleshooting tool
5 DirectX diagnosis -- dxdiag.exe -- Diagnose & test DirectX,
video & sound cards
6 Private character editor -- eudcedit.ex -- allows creation or
modification of characters
7 IExpress Wizard -- iexpress.exe -- Create self-extracting / self-
installing package
8 Microsoft Synchronization Manager -- mobsync.exe -- appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented
9 Windows Media Player 5.1 -- mplay32.exe -- Retro version of Media Player, very basic
10 ODBC Data Source Administrator -- odbcad32.exe -- connecting to databases
11 Object Packager -- packager.exe -- to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files
12 System Monitor -- perfmon.exe -- very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only
13 Program Manager -- progman.exe -- Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell
14 Remote Access phone book --rasphone.exe -- documentation is virtually non-existant
15 Registry Editor -- regedt32.exe ,also regedit.exe -- for hacking the Windows Registry
16 Network shared folder wizard --shrpubw.exe -- creates shared folders on network
17 sigverif.exe -- File signature verification tool
18 sndvol32.exe -- Volume Control
19 System Configuration Editor --sysedit.exe -- modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98!
20 Syskey -- syskey.exe -- Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications
21 telnet.exe -- Microsoft Telnet Client
22 Driver Verifier Manager -- verifier.exe -- Seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented
23 Windows for Workgroups Chat --winchat.exe -- appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available
24 System configuration -- msconfig.exe can use to control starup programs
25 gpedit.msc -- used to manage group policies, and permissions
26 control userpasswords2 -- Excellent for adding user accounts, deleting passwords etc.
27 System file Checker -- SFC.exe/scannow -- Verifies that windows protected files are correct
Run Commands
No. Command Name Detail
1 compmgmt.msc -- Computer management
2 devmgmt.msc -- Device manager
3 diskmgmt.msc -- Disk management
4 dfrg.msc -- Disk defrag
5 eventvwr.msc -- Event viewer
6 fsmgmt.msc -- Shared folders
7 gpedit.msc -- Group policies
8 lusrmgr.msc -- Local users and groups
9 perfmon.msc -- Performance monitor
10 rsop.msc -- Resultant set of policies
11 secpol.msc -- Local security settings
12 services.msc -- Various Services
13 msconfig -- System Configuration Utility
14 regedit -- Registry Editor
15 msinfo32 -- System Information
16 sysedit -- System Edit
17 win.ini -- windows loading information(also system.ini)
18 winver -- Shows current version of windows
19 mailto: -- Opens default email client
Control Panel Command
20 timedate.cpl -- Date/Time Properties
21 desk.cpl -- Display Properties control
22 findfast.cpl -- FindFast
23 fonts -- Fonts Folder
24 inetcpl.cpl -- Internet Properties
25 main.cpl keyboard -- Keyboard Properties
26 main.cpl -- Mouse Properties
27 mmsys.cpl -- Multimedia Properties
28 netcpl.cpl -- Network Properties
29 password.cpl -- Password Properties
30 printers -- Printers Folder
31 mmsys.cpl sounds -- Sound Properties
32 sysdm.cpl -- System Properties
