Remember that, since not much detail about this upcoming operating system is available, the theme looks very similar to Windows Vista but provide some nice refreshing changes to the same old look. [Source]
Thoosje Quick XP Optimizer provides a simple to use and intuitive user interface that displays a list of all the optimization utility available, giving you a chance to select which one is required, makes it easy to use even a novice.
Microsoft has released Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to the public through Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center, after a slight delay. The SP3 was delayed due to a bug in Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS).
USB PC Lock Pro comes with ten plug-ins- like mute audio, lock MSN, start / stop event logger, etc. You can select any of the features you want to enable, and choose any of the USB drive that you want to uses as a lock. And can also be setup to recognize multiple USB drives.
Track - Cybernetnews
The command line options are very flexible, they can be used to:
When run as a ‘normal’ GUI program the tools enables USB devices to be quickly ejected through a mouse click or keyboard press. It’s especially useful when dealing with multiple USB devices and for
Supports – Windows XP/Vista
Track - dosbit
Following are some very simple tips for improving performance of Windows XP and most of you are already familiar with these tips.
>Found that many of my friend’s computers take long time to open ‘My Computer’. This is simply because by default Windows search all network folders and printers before opening ‘My Computer’. To fix this problem, Open windows explorer-select ‘Tools’ – click on ‘Folder options’. From the pop up window select ‘View’ and un check ‘Automatically search for network folders and printers’ and click ‘apply’. Now see the difference.
>May be some of you face such problem like not responding of Windows XP after start up; for example after installing a transformation pack like VTP. There are many reasons for such a situation. A simple fix is here. All of you know how to defrag windows by windows defrag tool and it is necessary to optimize fragmented files. However you can not defrag the page file and registry. The reason is that Windows XP does not provide access these files while operating. Read More….
>You can also use system cleaner software like CCleaner or Glary Utilities to clean junk files.
Remember that old computers with less than 256MB of RAM should not try this. The method is optimizing memory to handle the ‘interrupts’ emerged due to the HDD. You can configure the buffer to optimize the memory.
Go to Start - Run - type sysedit and hit enter. This will open System Configuration Editor. Now you can see four windows open namely- System.INI, Config.SYS, WIN.INI and Autoexec.Bat. Now expand System.ini window and look for [386enh]
Now place the courser after it and press 'Enter' button on the keyboard to create a new row under it. Here type Irq1
4=4096 (These letters are case sensitive so enter it exactly as shown).
Now go to File and save the configuration. Close the System Configuration Editor and restart the
computer.
You can easily optimize your system by defragging almost all fragmented files for quick access using XP’s defrag tool, but not the page file and registry. The reason is that Windows XP does not provide access these files while operating.
Paging and Registry file fragmentation can be one of the leading causes of performance degradation. The page files and registry files can easily be optimized for quick access using the ‘page defrag’ tool.
You can download it from Microsoft .File size is only 70kb. Unzip the archive in to any directory. Start the file ‘pagedfrg.exe’ and activate ‘Defragment at next boot’. The tool latches itself at the next boot before the operating system starts and defrags the system files.
Windows then boots and the hard disk then start functioning with its usual speed again.
Microsoft. The version of Feature Pack 2007 is for evaluation purpose only and not to be implemented as a final release. This is not a stand alone product; it requires Windows Embedded Studio tool suite installed. Microsoft has revealed that some components of the operating system have been optimized and that developers will benefit from embedded tools. CPU: 728 MHz Pentium-class processor or higher
Operating System: Windows 2000 SP4 (or later) or Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista (Supported Operating Systems is Windows XP SP2)
Drive: CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
Tools-only install:
Windows 2000 Pro SP 4 (or later) or XP pro or
Memory: 256 MB RAM minimum, 512 MB or higher recommended
Storage: 20 MB Hard Disk space
Display: VGA or higher-resolution monitor, 1024 x 768 recommended
Browser: Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
Open registry by Start>Run>regedit>enter
Navigate to HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon
Create a new string value here called LeagalNoticeCaption.If it is already there modify it. Enter whatever you want to see in the bar at the top.
Now create another new string value called LeagalNoticeText. If it is already there modify it.
Modify it to the message you want to display each time Windows boot.
To turn off the low disk space notification: Start regedit, expand HKEY_CURRENT_ USER and in Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer, and set the value of NoLowDiskSpaceChecks to DWORD = 1. (This modification requires a reboot to work.)
Error reporting in Windows is some time irritating us.
In order to get rid of error reporting, Go to “Start” and open “Control Panel”. Double click on “System”, and then click on the “Advanced” tab. Click on the “Error Reporting” button at the bottom. Select “Disable error reporting”. When this option is selected, error reports will not be generated. You can select the option “But notify me when critical errors occur” to have Windows notify you when a critical error occurs, even if you have disabled error reporting. Now click on “OK” and you are done!
If you want to re install XP, say after a virus attack or a system crash, you will need to activate XP which is time consuming.
You can skip the activation bit by saving a file that is created after activation. This will save you the activating it after reinstalling the operating system. It is also useful if you have not configured your system to connect to the internet. Do the following:
Open windows explorer and navigate to the following folder (assuming that ‘C’ is your installing partition for windows) C:\windows\system32
Locate the files ‘Wpa.dbl’ and ‘Wpa.bak’.
Save them on a CD, this contains your all backed up data.
When you format and reinstall Windows XP just copy these two files back on to the same folder.
Restart the computer and you will not be prompted to activate your copy of Windows XP
When you are copying files in to a folder that have the same name, you get a dialogue box that asks for confirmation about whether you want to overwrite the exiting files. The options that you are given Yes, No, and Yes To All.
But what happens when you want to say No to all? Well, there is a simple solution actually, just hold down 'shift' key and press No. This is as good as saying No To All.
Delete old restore points to gain some free space?
2 | Windows
Backup tool in widows XP:
For backup data in Windows XP without using a third party tool, the windows backup tool is a good option. Before starting, you need to reinstall the corresponding tool from the program CD to your Windows XP Home. You will find it under “VALUEADD\MSFT\ NTBACKUP\ NTBACKUP.MSI”. After installation, you can find the backup option by clicking on the Start menu and following the given directorial structure - “Accessories”> “system programs” >”backup”- in the program list. With the help of an assistant, you can either provide a backup for individual files, an entire disk drive or even the most important Windows system files. The backup can be time controlled and even incremental as you wish.
Partition tool in Widows XP:
It is more useful to use the Windows feature for the initial setup, considering that with Windows you can only create and delete partitions. To access “Computer Management”, go to “Start | Control panel | Administrative tools”. Click on “Data carrier administration” to open the partitioning option. Right click on the “Free storage location”, which is shown graphically in green. Select “New logical disk drive” to create a partition. In the object menu, a number of options like the following are given: “Change disk drive designator and disk drive path”, “Format” and “Delete logical disk drive”.
Speed up your XP
During the course of normal computer usage, there are several opportunities where your hard disk can get progressively filled with unnecessary programs and fragments of files that are remnants of your Web browsing and application installations. All this system junk will certainly slow down your computer. There are several areas from where you can weed out all this junk and keep your system spiffy clean. First, get rid of all the extraneous files on your hard disks that might have been left by old program installations, Internet browsing, deleted files etc. Go to Start | Run and type “cleanmgr /sageset:99”. This opens up the Disk Cleanup Wizard. This little application lets you select one of many areas of your Windows XP installation and safely deletes files that clutter your hard disk. Some of the sections include offline web pages, temporary setup files, log files, etc. There’s nothing to stop you from selecting all of these categories and hitting the [OK] button. However, there might be instances where you might want to keep your Internet cache, for example, to take advantage of better load times while browsing your favorite web sites. If you don’t really want to do so, go ahead and check all of these areas and Windows will proceed to remove all of these files, leading to a cleaner (and faster) system. There are other ways you can optimize the space allocations of common Windows resources such as the System Restore Points and the Recycle Bin. Both of these are notorious for allocating enormous amounts of hard disk space that can otherwise be put to more productive use. By default, Windows allots 10 percent of the volume space to the recycle bin—that’s 4 GB from a 40 GB hard disk! Reduce this by right-clicking on the Recycle Bin, selecting properties and swinging down the slider to 3 percent or less. Similarly, with the System Restore Points, right click on [My Computer] in Windows Explorer, choose Properties and drag this down to three percent or less. There, you’ve now recovered several gigabytes of space on your hard disk.
2 | Windows XP
PC Running Slow?
Is your PC running slow? Here are step-by-step instructions for a few things you can do yourself.
· Shutdown PC
· Remove temporary Internet files
· Cookies?
· Defragment
1. Remove temporary Internet files
From Internet Explorer Select Tools (at the top of your screen) then Internet Options Click on the Delete Files button. (You can also delete cookies here but wait for the next step if you aren't sure.)
2. Cookies
Cookies aren't all bad. They store your use rids and passwords and help sites identify you. If you delete all of your cookies you may have to enter your use rid and password again when you go back to a Web Site. Cookies don't generally store any secure information. You can view and delete cookies. From Internet Explorer Select Tools then Internet Options click on the Delete Cookies button. Or, copy and paste (or type) this location in the address bar at the top of your screen. You will see all of your cookies and can selectively delete the cookies you don't want stored on your PC. c:\windows\cookies Use the BACK ARROW in your Browser to get back to this page. More Cookies More cookies may be stored in your temporary files. Copy and paste (or type) this location in the address bar. c:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files Since we just cleaned out all of the temporary files the only files we see right now are dated today so we're not deleting these cookies
3. Get rid of PC Junk
Delete the temporary files from your PC. Look for a directory named TEMP. It's usually in c:\temp. You can go to "Run" and type in %temp% and it will bring up the temp files to erase. Click Start Run %temp%Hit "select all" and then delete. You can usually safely delete all of the files but don't delete any system folders. If it says "this is a system folder" don't delete it. Hit "select all" and then delete. You can usually safely delete all of the files but don't delete any system folders. If it says "this is a system folder" don't delete it. Note: You can do this right now while you are reading. Use the BACK ARROW in your Browser to get back to this page.
4. Get Rid of adware and Spyware
5. Defragment
Reorganizing Your Hard Disk to Improve Speed System running slow? Time to do a defrag. Over time as you write to your hard disk the data gets fragmented, broken into separate pieces. You can optimize your hard drive by defragmenting. It may take an hour or more to run if you haven't defragmented your drive in a while. If the defrag takes a long time (more than an hour) that's a good thing. It means your PC needed to be defragmented. This is where you can really speed up your PC. A fragmented drive runs slow. We usually Defrag every few days. You might need it more often or less depending on how much you use your PC. Close or quit all other programs before running the defrag. Click Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter Or... Double-click on your desktop MyComputer. Right-click on the C: Right-click on Properties Select the Tools tab Defragment Now... Now you can select Defragment Now.... We usually check both boxes Rearrange and Check drive for errors.
Defragment never finishes?
If the Disk Defragment just hangs with 0% finished then you need to run it in Safe Mode. Hold down the Ctrl key while restarting. Release the Ctrl key when it says it's running in Safe Mode. Now try to run the Disk Defragmenter. It might work.
Why is My Computer Slow?
Slowdown culprits can include screen savers and custom cursors. Both can interfere with your system performance. Don't forget to shut your PC down every once in while. It will clean itself during the shutdown. Another step that will make your PC run faster is defragmenting your hard drive when it needs it.
If you are on a network and tired of waiting for ages for all the network shares to load, these tips will help you faster network browsing. There are 4 basic things you need to do in order to speed up network access.
1. Remove all shortcuts in My Network Places. These are automatically generated, and if a few of them aren’t shared anymore. Windows will keep searching for them anyway. So just select them all and delete.
2. Stop windows from automatically adding these shortcuts to shared folders, otherwise you will just end up having to delete the short cut every time you open My Network places. This is a registry hack. First go to Start> run type regedit and press [enter].Navigate to HKEY_Curren_User\software\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Policies\Explorer\. Here create two new DWORD values (if they already don’t exist) called “NoRecentDocsNetHood” and “UseDesktopIniCache”, and set them to “1”.
3. Have every one on your network increase the send buffer for network data. Tell every one who shares files or folders to go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\. Create a DEWORD value called “SizReqBuf”, and assign its Hex value to “FFFF”.
4. Just stop using My Network places for folders you access on a regular basis and instead, map the drive by going to Tools>Map Network Drive in windows explorer.