Windows XP Tricks

1.Replace Microsoft Windows XP “Copying…”animation

The Windows file copying animation is located in shell32.dll. This animation can be replaced or deleted with the help of a tool called Resource Hacker Download it From

http://files1.softwarepod.com/33821/reshack.zip

Shell32.dll can be found in \WINDOWS\system32 directory. Back up this DLL, and open a copy in Resource Hacker.

Expand the AVI folder.Then expand the folder named 160, right-click on the resource 1033, click on ‘Replace a resource’ and browse to the location where the new animation is stored.

Then type :

Resource Type: AVI

Resource Name: 160

Resource Language: 1033

You can now see that the animation has changed. Then expand the folder named 161 right click on the resource 1033, click on ‘Replace a resource’ and browse to the location where the animation is stored .

Then type :

Resource Type: AVI

Resource Name: 160

Resource Language: 1033

To save the changes click on ‘Save’ under the File menu. Remember the location where you have

saved the file as you will need it later. Restart your computer in DOS mode and replace the

shell32.dll in C:\WINDOWS\system32 with the edited shell32.dll.

Restart your computer and see the change by copying a file.

2.Startbutton in Windows XP displays the System Time

Download starclock.

This tiny piece of code comes with startclock.ini file for making configuration changes such as 12-hour clock with seconds, 24-hour clock, load program at startup, refresh rate (be careful while changing this setting; smaller the number, more the CPU usage) and hide tray icon. To exit

this program, press “Ctrl+Alt+x”. That’sit, now you can save precious space on the taskbar by replacing the clock from the system tray.

3.Limit Logon Hours For Users

Parents might want to limit their children’s computer usage, so they can set a time limit only between which they will be automatically allowed to log into their Windows account. Limited usage for particular users for certain time periods can be set through commands.The command for doingthis is:

net user /time:.

For example, “net user Anu /time:M- F,08:00-17:00” will only let the user Anu log in between 8 and 5 from Monday to Friday.

4.Shutdown, Restart, And Logoff Icons On The Desktop

You might want to have shortcuts on the Desktop for shutdown, hibernation, etc. Right-click on the Desktop and make a new shortcut by selecting New > Shortcut. Then in the Type the location of the item: box, enter “shutdown.exe -s -t 00”, where “00” is the delay in seconds.

(You can increase it.) You will then be asked to select a name (call it “Shutdown”, for example). After creating the shortcut, you can change the icon assigned to it by right clicking on the shortcut and selecting Properties. The window that comes up next has a “Change Icon” option, which is easy to use. For a Restart shortcut, use “shutdown.exe -r -t 00”. Replacing -r by -l

gives the code for logging off:“shutdown.exe -l -t 00”. Fast user switching is also possible; the code for that is “Rundll32.exe User32.dll, LockWorkStation”. Similarly one can also make a shortcut for Standby/Hibernation.If Hibernation is enabled, the computer will hibernate, else it will go into Standby.

For this, use “%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll,SetSuspendState”.

Registry hacks to Improve performance of Windows XP

1. Load Applications Faster

The Windows prefetcher aims to load applications faster by “pre-fetching” the application and storing it in the pre-fetch cache. You can speed up application loading by changing the default value of one the settings under the relevant key.

Navigate to:

HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

The default value for the EnablePrefetchersetting is 3.Change this value to 5to make applications load faster. You can experiment with higher values—up to 9—and see if you get a further

improvement.Since this relates to the system, a reboot is required for the change to take effect.

2. Optimisation Of The Boot Files

Normal file fragmentation scatters the pieces of a file all over your hard disk. This invariably also affects the files that load at boot time. You can defragment the files that load at system startup to enable faster loading.

Navigate to:

HLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction

A setting called Enable under this key needs to be set to Y (forYes). This setting defragments the boot files, and it might relocate startup files into contiguous clusters on the volume, reducing the

movement of the disk head when reading the volume.

With the setting at Y, boot file optimisation occurs automatically if the system is idle for 10 minutes. A reboot is required for the change to take effect.

3. Unload Unused DLLs

After an application is closed, XP has the annoying habit of leaving the associated DLL files in memory. This can hog precious resources and memory, and also cause stability problems. Make

the DLLs unload themselves from memory after the program is done running.

Navigate to:

HLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AlwaysUnloadDLL

If the DWORD Always UnloadDLL is not present, you will need to create it. Set the Value of the “(Default)” setting to 1. Application-associated DLLs will get unloaded when the application is closed.

4. Disable User Tracking

Useless to most users—except perhaps for system administrators—XP’s inbuilt user tracking system uses up precious resources.The system keeps track of the programs run by a user, the

paths followed, and the documents used. (Did you know your XP was spying on you all this while?) Disable this to free up system resources.

Navigate to:

HCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Set the DWORD NoInstrumentationto 1. This will disable most of the user tracking features of XP.

5. Run 16-bit Apps In Their Own Processes

Use this hack if you have more than one 16-bit application left over from the days of your nostalgia. XP runs all 16-bit applications in a single process. Having a separate process for each application can increase their stability and process.

Navigate to:

HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\WOW

Browse to the String DefaultSeparateVDM. If it’s not there, you’ll need to create it. Set its value to Yes.

6. Load Kernel Into RAM

In Windows 98, programs could be loaded and kept in RAM for as long as you wanted. You could even load a video clip into RAMdirectly and have it play from there! XP is much more restrictive,

mostly due to security reasons. But when it comes to the Windows XP kernel, there’s something you can do. By default, XP only loads the required parts of the kernel into RAM at boot time, and calls the other parts as and when needed. Having the entire kernel available in memory speeds up processing.

Navigate to:

HLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management

Set the value of the DisablePagingExecutive key to 1. This will make the entire kernel be loaded in memory. A reboot is required for the changes to take effect.

Only use this hack if you have sufficient memory. Recommended: 512 MB or more. Also, this hack may affect some programs that use the Windows swap file directly, such as Adobe Photoshop.

7. Edit The Startup Programs List

Many of the programs that start up at boot time do not figure in the Startup folder. If you want to stop more than one application from loading at bootup, you will normally need to go and turn off the preference in each application one by one. Tedious and time consuming. This hack can help you do this in one go.

Navigate to:

HLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

And to:

HCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

All the programs that load at boot time will be specified under these two keys. Review the applications listed in this list and delete all the entries you don’t want started up at boot time. Next bootup, they’ll be gone.

Be careful not to delete needed programs such as anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. You should be able to identify them by their path if not by the file name.

8. Optimise The System Cache

Desktop systems are normally optimised for applications, and servers for file caching. Depending on how you use your system, you may want to optimise your system for either.

Navigate to:

HLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management

Find the setting LargeSystemCache. Set this DWORD value to 1 for server behaviour or to 0 for desktop behaviour.

Some programs such as SQL Server and Exchange Server set this value during installation and override the change.

9. Turn Off Windows Animation

Windows animations—like those that happen when you minimise or maximise windows—look good, but only if you have the processing power and/or RAM. To get the most performance

out of your system turn off this setting. You could do it via a host of settings in the GUI, but this Registry hack does it all in one fell swoop.

Navigate to:

HCU\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

Change the value called MinAnimate to 0 to disable Windows

Animation. A restart is required.

Create A Special Folder In Windows Explorer

We can create a folder like My Documents one that will appear as a system folder in XP by doing the following steps...

1.In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID. Create a new1 key with a Globally Unique Identifier(GUID). The GUID is a 128-bit identifier that is usually generated by Windows. This can be a random number that is used touniquely identify COM objects. Create a key using this random GUID:{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}

2.Set the value of the “(Default)” setting for this key to the name of the folder, say “My Personal Data”. Create a new sub-key under the main key and call it “DefaultIcon”. That is, create a key called:HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCFABCD1DE12345}\

DefaultIcon

Set the value of “(DefaultIcon)”to the filename and path of the icon file you want to use for the folder, for example,“C:\Topsec.ico”, without the quotes. If you don’t specify a path to an iconfile, Windows will use its default folder icon instead.

3 .Create another sub-key under the main key called “InprocServer32”, that is, create the

key called HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}\

InprocServer32

Set the“(default)” setting here to“shell32.dll”.Create another string value called ThreadingModel and set its value to “Apartment”. There’s one more: create another sub-key called

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}\Shell\

Open MyFolder\Command

Set the “(Default)” value here to the command that should be executed when the folder is clicked. In this case, it would be “explorer /root,c:\My Personal Data”.

4.There’s more keys to be created:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}\ShellEx\

PropertySheetHandlers\{FD4DF9EO-E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345} and

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}\

ShellFolder. Under this key, create a new binary value called“Attributes” with the value

“00 00 00 00”.

5.To place the folder in My Computer, add the original key to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\

MyComputer\Namespace\

So the key value will be

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\

MyComputer\Namespace\{FD4DF9E0-E3DE-11CE-BFCF-ABCD1DE12345}

Now go to My Computer, and you’ll see a new custom folder!

How to BackUp the registry in Windows XP

Guided Help is available to export registry keys and to back up the registry. Guided Help can automatically perform the steps for you.

The actions that this Guided Help performs cannot be undone after Guided Help is finished.

Requirements to install and to use this Guided Help

1. You must be logged on to Windows by using a computer administrator account to install and to use this Guided Help.

2. You must be running an English version of Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Media Center Edition, or Windows XP Tablet PC Edition to install and to use this Guided Help.

You must first download Guided Help. To start, click the following link:

Guided Help

Control User Logins by Hacking the Registry

Make better use of the XP login screen.

If your system contains more than one user account, or if you've set up XP to require logins, you'll have to log in to XP before you can begin to use it. But you needn't stay with the default XP login rules; you can use a single Registry key to customize how you log in. For example, you can display custom text before login, and you can remind anyone with an account on the PC to change their password a certain number of days prior to the password's expiration.

To control logon options, run the Registry Editor [Hack #83] and go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion Winlogon subkey, which contains a variety of logon settings (as well as some settings not having to do directly with logons). Following are the most important values you can edit to customize logons.

Don't Display Last UserName

This setting lets you control how the system logon dialog box is used. If this String value is present and set to 1, all users will have to enter both their username and password to log on. If the value is 0, the name of the last user to log on will be displayed in the system logon dialog box.

Default User Name

This String value contains the name of the last user who logged on. It will be displayed only if the DontDisplayLastUserName value is not present or is set to 0.

Legal Notice Caption

This String value, used in concert with the LegalNoticeText value, displays a dialog box prior to logon that contains any text you want to display. (The text doesn't have to be a legal notice, but this value is often used for that purpose.) The box has a title and text. The LegalNoticeCaption value will be the dialog box's title.

LegalNoticeText

This String value, used in concert with LegalNoticeCaption, contains the text that you want to be displayed inside a dialog box displayed prior to logon.

Password Expiry Warning

This DWORD value lets you display a warning message to users a certain number of days before their passwords are set to expire. It lets you determine how many days ahead of time the warning should be issued. To edit the value, click the decimal button and enter the number of days.

Shutdown Without Logon

This String value enables or disables a button on the XP logon dialog box that lets the system shut down. A value of 1 enables the button (so that it is shown); a value of 0 disables the button (so that it is not shown).

Shell

This String value really doesn't have to do with logons, but it's one you should know about. It determines the shellthe user interfacethat will be used by XP. The default is Explorer.exe, but it can be another shell as wellfor example, the Program Manager from older Windows versions. Type in the name of the program; for example, Progman.exe for the Program Manager, or Taskman.exe for the Task Manager.

Auto Restart Shell

This DWORD value doesn't have to do with logons either, but it's another good one to know. It sets whether to automatically restart the Windows shell if the shell crashes. A value of 1 automatically restarts the shell. A value of 0 tells XP not to restart the shell, forcing you to log off and then back on again to restart it.

Now that your system's startup and shutdown are under control, let's move on to the user interface.

Three Ways To Increase Computer Speed Today

Computer running slow? Have you been wondering how can I speed up my computer? I don’t blame you. There is no reason to settle for a slow computer when there are many options to increase computer speed. Most importantly this can be done without spending hundreds of dollars on upgrades or new equipment.

Few people are aware of this however. They forget that the computer is a machine. And like any machine it needs maintenance in order to continually run faster. When is the last time you performed some speed tweaks to make your computer run faster?

Three ways to speed up my computer

1. Eliminate unnecessary startup programs. Whenever you install a new computer it will want to launch at startup, whether it asks for permission or not. These programs will do two things. First they will cause a slow startup time. Second they eat up valuable RAM causing your computer to run sluggishly. To increase computer speed it would be wise to get rid of them. You can perform this task manually or use a program to identify unneeded startup programs for you.

2. Run your disk defragmenter. Windows recommends running a defrag once a month to maintain overall computer speed. When is the last time you ran one? Either manually run the disk defragger or download a program that you can use to automatically schedule it for specific times.

3. Clean up the Windows registry. Whenever someone asks “how can I speed up my computer”, I ask them when they last cleaned up the computers registry. The registry is the area that contains commands to run just about everything on your computer. When it is filled with useless, duplicate, and corrupted files it will slow down your computer considerably. For this task you must use a program as manually registry repair is nearly impossible.

These are three ways to increase computer speed. While they can be very difficult to perform manually, there is software available that can execute these three tasks for you quite easily. Stop asking yourself – how can I speed up my computer? Simply scan your computer below for a free diagnosis.

About the Author:

Tired of your sluggish computer? Do you wish it ran more like the hare and less like the tortoise? Did you know you can get your computer running like new with a simple free scan? Speed up your computer with the best registry cleaner on the market.