WindowsXP Tips

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WindowsXP Tips

Taking Ownership Of a Folder

Sometimes when you reinstall WindowsXP, you can receive an Access Denied error when trying to open a previous user's directory.
To take ownership of that folder again:
1. Log on with an account that has administrator rights
2. Right click on the folder
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Security tab
5. Click on the Advanced button
6. Click on the Owner tab
7. In the list of Names, click on your name
8. To take ownership, click on Replace owner on sub containers and objects
9. Click OK and Yes

Task Manager is Menu Bar is Missing

If you start the Task Manager and menu bar and tabs are missing,
the Task Manager is running in Tiny Footprint mode.
To fix this, simply double click on an empty space in the top border

Hiding Manage My Computer

If you want to remove Manage My Computer from My Computer
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer
3. Create a DWORD value called NoManageMyComputerVerb
4. Set the value to 1
5. Reboot

Finding Your XP Product ID

There is a great little utility available to help you find your currently installed product ID
[ فقط المشتركين فى المنتدى يمكنهم رؤية الرابط . اضعط هنا للتسجيل ... ]
It also works for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Office 97, and Office XP
Forgotten Admin or User's Password
You do not need to reinstall if you forgot the admin password.

There is a boot disk you can download at:
[ فقط المشتركين فى المنتدى يمكنهم رؤية الرابط . اضعط هنا للتسجيل ... ]

that will let you reset the password of any account on NT4, Windows2000 or XP.

Just follow all the default settings which are for the admin account. Used it many
times with great success.

They also have a bootable CD image you can download.

Renaming Multiple Files in a Directory

If you want to rename multiple files in the same directory:
1. Using the Windows Explorer, select all the files you want to rename
2. Press F2 or right click and select Rename
3. Enter the prefix for the name you want (e.g. Newname)
4. This will automatically rename the rest of the files Newname (1).jpg, Newname (2).jpg etc.
5. Make sure you include the extension if you have the Explorer configured to show them

Disable Windows Tour

If you want to disable the Take Tour of Windows XP that comes up after you install WindowsXP:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Applets\Tour
3. Create a new DWORD key called RunCount
4. Give it a value of 0

Editing the Boot.ini file

The boot.ini file is a simple text file that is on the root of the boot drive.
You can edit this with any plain text editor like Notepad (may need to unhide the file first)
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Advanced tab
4. Under Startup and Recovery, click on the Settings button
5. Click on the Edit button

Running CHKDSK

One way to run a chkdsk (this is like Scandisk that was with Win9X), is to
1. Double click on My Computer
2. Right click on the drive you want to check
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Tools tab
5. Click on the Check Now button
6. Check to Automatically fix file system errors - This is the same as running chkdsk /f
7. If you want to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, check that box - This is the same as running chkdsk /R.

Running CHKDSK
One way to run a chkdsk (this is like Scandisk that was with Win9X), is to
1. Double click on My Computer
2. Right click on the drive you want to check
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Tools tab
5. Click on the Check Now button
6. Check to Automatically fix file system errors - This is the same as running chkdsk /f
7. If you want to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, check that box - This is the same as running chkdsk /R. It can also add a lot of time to the scan
8. Reboot if necessary
You can also run chkdsk from the command line with will give you more options.
The following switches are available:
/F - fix any errors
/R - identifies bad sectors
/V - with FAT32, displays a verbose output
With NTFS Volumes:
/I - Performs simpler check (stage 2)
/C - Skips the checking of cycles within folder structures
/X - Forces the volume to dismount if necessary. Intended for server administrators and should be avoided for normal use

Additional Utilities

On the XP CD in the \Support\Tools directory, there are a lot of additional support and troubleshooting utilities.
You can run SETUP from that directory to install them.
Just a few are:
diruse Shows Disk Usage
dupfinder Finds Duplicate files
getmac Get's MAC address of the network card
hostname Shows the host name of the computer
netdiag Diagnoses a variety of network components
pviewer Show a list of process and allows you to get a memory detail or kill any process
windiff Compare files and directories

Creating a Suspend Shortcut

If you would like to create an icon to suspend your computer,
1. Right click on the Desktop
2. New / Shortcut
3. Enter in rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState
4. Give it whatever name you want
5. Now when you click on that shortcut, your computer will shutdown and suspend

Changing the User Type

Normally in XP Pro, through the Control Panel / User Accounts icon, you are only allowed to create administrators or limited users.
If you want to create
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Manage
3. Local Users and Groups
4. Users
5. Right click on the user you want to change
6. Properties
7. Member of tab
8. Add button
9. Advanced button
10. Find Now button
11. From here you see the full list of possibilities (e.g. Power User, Backup Operator etc.

Viewing Installed Drivers

If you want to see a list of installed drivers, you can run the driverquery program
There are a lot of available switches to view different types of information.
On use can be to export to a CSV file for viewing in Excel
An example would then be:
Driverquery /v /fo csv > drivers.csv

Common Control Panel Applets

The follow are some common Control Panel Applets that are located in the \windows\system32 directory.
If you find yourself using any of these frequently, then you can simply make shortcuts to them on your desktop.
appwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs
desk.cpl Display Properties
firewall.cpl Firewall Settings
inetcpl.cpl Internet Options
mmsys.cpl Sound and Audio
ncpa.cpl Network Connections
nusrmgr.cpl User Accounts
powercfg.cpl Power Options
sysdm.cpl System Properties
wscui.cpl Security Center
wuaucpl.cpl Automatic Updates Configuration

System32 Folder Opens When Logging On

If the System32 folder shows on the desktop, there may be an invalid entry in the Registry
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to both:
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run
4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run
5. Double check that the values do not have incorrect, incomplete, or blank entrie

Setting Capslock, Numlock, Scroll Lock

If you want to set the startup state for any or all of these keys,
you just need to edit the registry.
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Keyboard
3. Open InitialKeyboardIndicators
4. Change the value to one of the following numbers
0 - All Keys off
1 - Caps Lock on
2 - Num Lock on
4 - Scroll Lock on
For multiple keys, add their values:
3 - Caps Lock and Num Lock on
5 - Caps Lock and Scroll Lock on
6 - Num Lock and Scroll Lock on
7 - Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock on
5. Log off and back on again

DOS Tips in XP

Windows XP cmd tip (DOS isn’t dead... it just smells funny) Some command-line folder creation examples:
To create multiple folders at once, add them directly to the "md" command:
C:\> md this is a test
To create a folder several folders deep, use:
C:\> md this\is\a\test
Creating a folder with a long name requires the double-quote at the beginning:
C:\> md "this is a test
Bonus tip: Windows XP supports the forward slash "/" as a folder divider. Unix/Linux users: don't let the DOS environment get you down. Use a Unix-style CD command to change your present working directory:
C:\> cd Windows/system32/drivers/etc

Stopping the Messenger Service

To remove the ability for anyone in the world to pop up messages on your computer,
you can disable the Messenger service.
1. Click Start->Settings ->Control Panel
2. Click Performance and Maintenance
3. Click Administrative Tools
4. Double click Services
5. Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"
6. Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties
7. Click the STOP button
8. Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar Click OK

Accessing Non-Listed Display Configurations

If you want to access display configurations not normally listed (e.g. 256 colors)

1. In the Display Properties dialog box, click the Settings tab.
2. Click the Advanced button.
3. Click the Adapter tab,
4. Click the List all modes button.
5. Select the resolution, color depth, and refresh rate that you want and click OK

 

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Stop Password Expiration

If you want to do this for all users, enter:
Start / Run / net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited
If you are getting an error message that your password is about to expire:
1. Right click on the My Computer icon
2. Select Manage
3. Go to Local Users and Groups / Users
4. Right-click on the user you want to change
5. Select Properties
6. On the General tab, check Password never expires
7. Click OK

Preventing Applications from Stealing the Focus

To prevent applications from stealing the focus from the window you are working
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
3. Edit the key ForegroundLockTimeout
4. Give it a value of 00030d40
Adding Environment Variables
Since any version of NT does not use an autoexec.bat file,

To add environment variables to WindowsXP:
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Advanced tab
4. Click on the Environment Variables button
5. From here you can change it for the system or just the current user.

Disable Passport Pop-Up

Normally, WindowsXP will prompt you 10 times that You Need a Passport to use WindowsXP Internet communication features...
To disable this
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ MessengerService
3. Edit the binary key PassportBalloon
4. Give it a value of 0A (0A 00 00 00)

Disable the Remote Desktop Sharing (RDS) icon's menu

To Disable the Remote Desktop Sharing (RDS) icon's menu:
1. Start regedit.exe
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Conferencing \Mcpt
3. Create a new string value (Click on Edit > New > String Value).
4. Name the value Nx
5. Double-click on it and set it's value to 1
6. Close the registry
Now the menu options will be grayed out.

Prevent the Remote Desktop Sharing (RDS) icon from appearing in the notification tray

To Prevent the Remote Desktop Sharing (RDS) icon from appearing in the notification tray:
1. Click Start, then Run.
2. Type services.msc and then click ok.
3. Scroll down until you find the NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing service
4. Double-click on it.
5. Click on the Log On tab.
6. Uncheck Allow service to interact with desktop
7. Click OK then close the services window.
8. Reboot (You must reboot).
There you go. When you return, RDS will work, but there will be no icon in the notification area.

Printing a Directory

WindowsXP does not allow you to use previously describe methods for printing the contents of a directory.
To do this requires the creation of a small batch file which is then added to your right-click options.
Batch File
On the root of the C: drive, create a batch file called print_directory.bat with the following lines:
@echo off
dir %1 /o:g > c:\directory.txt
start /w notepad /p c:\directory.txt
del c:\directory.txt
exit
Note: dir %1 /o:g will print with any directories listed first. You can add whatever other switches you like

Removing Thumbs.db Files

When viewing a folder with the Thumbnail view, WindowsXP creates a thumbs.db file.
This is a cache of the current pictures in that directory.
If you want to turn this feature off and save a little disk space
1. Start the Windows Explorer
2. Go to Tools / Folder Options / View
3. In the first section under Files and Folders, check Do not cache thumbnails
4. Now you can search for the thumbs.db file on your computer and remove them. No more should be created.

Enable / Disable the Task Manager

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Policies\System
3. Create the Dword value DisableTaskMgr
4. Give it a value of 0 to enable it
5. Give it a vaule of 1 to disable it

Using Media Player 6.4

If you want to use the older version of Microsoft Media Player 6.4, it is still on your computer.
Make a shortcut on your desktop to the:
C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\mplayer2.exe file
You can also change the file associations from this program to set it as the default for all media types.
Clearing the Page File on Shutdown
Another way to set the computer to clear the pagefile without directly editing the registry is:
1. Click on the Start button
2. Go to the Control Panel
3. Administrative Tools
4. Local Security Policy
5. Local Policies
6. Click on Security Options
7. Right hand menu - right click on "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"
8. Select "Enable"
9. Reboot
If you want to clear the page file on each shutdown:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown
3. Set the value to 1

Restoring Access to CD ROMs
If after you remove CD Burning software, you can no longer access your CD ROM's,
the following registry keys need to be deleted:
Locate and delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Setting the Dir Command to Display Filenames on the Left
Previous versions of Windows displayed the filenames on the left hand side when you run the dir command.
WindowsXP changes this and the default it to put it on the right.
To change this back:
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Click on Properties
3. Click on the Advanced tab
4. Click on the Environment Variables button
5. Click on New button
6. Enter the Variable name: dircmd
7. Enter the Variable value: /-n

Dell Computer Not Keeping Correct Time

If your Dell computer is loosing time while the computer is turned on,
You can run the following commands:
1. Start / Run / CMD
2. Net stop w32time
3. w32tm /unregister
4. w32tm /unregister
5. w32tm /register
6. Net start w32time

Formatting a Partition Greater than 32 GIGs with FAT32

WindowsXP will only format a partition greater than 32 GIGs as NTFS.
If you want to format it with FAT32:
1. You can use a regular Win98 Boot disk and use that version of FDISK to create the partition (with Large Hard Drive Support)
2. Reboot with the same boot disk and format
3. WindowsXP will then be able to use the partition with no problems
Logging in as Administrator
If you want to log in as Administrator, but it is not show on the Welcome screen,
1. Hold the Ctrl-Alt key and press Del twice.
2. This will bring up the normal login and you can log on as Administrator
To unhide the Administrator account so it does show up:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList
3. Unhide the Administrator key by giving it a value of 1
Correcting Fast User Switching Error
If you are getting an error that:
A recently installed program has disabled the Welcome screen and Fast User Switching
with a reference to CSGina.DLL
1. Start Regedit
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
3. Delete the key GinaDLL

No To All When Overwriting Files
When overwriting files in the Windows Explorer, there is an option for Yes To All.
This would overwrite any files you would normally be prompted for.
To have No To All, simply hold down the Shift key while you click on the No option.

Re-Installing User Login Pictures

Normally WindowsXP shows assigned pictures for each user on the system.
If you have deleted your user pictures, want to know the location, or need to reinstall them,
they are stored in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures
directory.
If you need to reinstall them, they can be expanded from the source CD. The actual files are:
airplane.bmp
astronaut.bmp
ball.bmp
butterfly.bmp
cat.bmp
fish.bmp
pink flower.bmp
guitar.bmp
snowflake.bmp
beach.bmp
car.bmp
chess.bmp
dirt bike.bmp
dog.bmp
drip.bmp
duck.bmp
frog.bmp
horses.bmp
kick.bmp
lift-off.bmp
palm tree.bmp
red flower.bmp
skater.bmp

 

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Changing Drive Letters

If you want to change the letters assigned to your fixed or removable drives:
1. Right Click on My Computer
2. Select Manage
3. Select Disk Management
For a Fixed Disk:
1. Select it
2. Right click
3. Select Change Drive Letter and Path
4. Click on the Edit button
5. Enter in the letter you want to use
For a Removable Disk:
1. In the lower, right hand panel, right click on the Disk or CD ROM #
2. Select Change Drive Letter and Path
3. Click on the Edit button
4. Enter in the letter you want to use
Note: This can only be done for drives that do not have the Operating System Installed or you are booting to.

Turn off the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer as the Default Image Viewer

You can also change the file associations for the specific file types you want.
1. Open the Windows Explorer
2. Go to Tools / Folder Options / File Types
3. Scroll down to the extension you want to change
4. Click on the Change button
5. Select the program you want to associate with that extension
6. Click on the OK button
If the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is set as the default for many of your graphic file types,
you can remove it so other graphics programs can be used.
1. Run Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / SystemFileAssociations / image / ShellEx / ContextMenuHandlers
3. Delete the key ShellImagePreview

Changing the Default DOS Window Properties

If you want to change the default DOS windows properties like:
• Size
• Color
• Font
• Buffer Size
• Window / Full Screen
1. Open up a DOS window
2. Right click on the Title Bar
3. Select Defaults
4. Make any of the changes you like
5. All subsequent DOS windows will assume these defaults

Turn off the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer as the Default Image Viewer

You can also change the file associations for the specific file types you want.
1. Open the Windows Explorer
2. Go to Tools / Folder Options / File Types
3. Scroll down to the extension you want to change
4. Click on the Change button
5. Select the program you want to associate with that extension
6. Click on the OK button
If the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is set as the default for many of your graphic file types,
you can remove it so other graphics programs can be used.
1. Run Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / SystemFileAssociations / image / ShellEx / ContextMenuHandlers
3. Delete the key ShellImagePreview

Changing the Registered Owner

1. Start Regedit
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
3. From there you can edit the name in the Registered Owner key

Adding Time Servers

With WindowsXP, you can double-click on the time in the System Tray and connect to Time Servers on the Internet to synchronize with.
To add to the list of available servers:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\DateTime\Servers
3. Add new string keys named 2, 3, etc. with a value of the time server you want to use

Creating a Boot Floppy

To create a bootable floppy from within WindowsXP:
1. Insert a floppy into the A: drive
2. Open the Explorer
3. Right click on the A: Drive
4. Select Format
5. Check Create an MS-DOS startup disk
6. Click on the Start button
7. This will create a Millennium boot disk

Changing the Login Screen Saver

If you want to change the screen saver that runs at the login prompt:
Start Regedit
1. Go to HK_USERS / .DEFAULT / Control Panel / Desktop
2. Double click on SCRNSAVE.EXE
3. Enter in the screen saver you want to use

Running NetMeeting

To run NetMeeting:
1. Do a Start / Run
2. Enter conf
3. Answer the prompts along the way for name, e-mail etc.

Set the Online Registration as Being Completed

You can set WindowsXP to assume the online registration has been completed.
1. Run Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
3. Create a String Value called RegDone
4. Give it a value of 1

Re-Enabling System Restore

If you previously disabled system restore through the Group Policy Editor,
the option to start it again does not show in the System Properties.
You can re-enable it again by:
1. Run the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
2. Go to Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / System / System Restore
3. Set Turn off System Restore and Turn off Configuration to Disable
4. Right click on My Computer
5. Select Manage
6. Go to Services and Applications / Services
7. Scroll down to System Restore Service
8. Set it for Automatic
9. Click on the Start button to start the service
10. Close down this window
11. Go back to the Group Policy Editor and configure both to Not configured
12. Now when you right click on My Computer, there should be a tab for System Restore and you can configure how much space will be used.

Renaming the Start Button

To rename the start button, you will need a hex editor.
My preference is UltraEdit
1. Copy the \windows\explore.exe file to a new name (e.g. explorer_1.exe)
2. With the hex editor, open that file and go to offset 412b6
3. You will see the word start with blanks between each letter
4. Edit it be any 5 characters or less
5. Save the file
6. Boot to DOS
7. Copy the existing c:\windows\explorer.exe to explorer.org
8. Copy explorer_1.exe to explorer.exe
9. You will also need to replace the explorer.exe in the c:\windows\system32\dllcache file as well with the new one.
Note: If the partition is NTFS and you can't access the files from DOS:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon.
3. Change the value of Shell from Explorer.exe to explorer_1.exe

Rollback a Device Driver

If you install a device drive that does not work correctly,
you can restore the previous one fairly easily.
1. Log in with an administrator account
2. Right click on My Computer
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Hardware tab
5. Click on the Device Manager button
6. Go to the device you want to reconfigure
7. Click on the Driver tab
8. Click on the Roll Back Drive button

Closing Multiple Taskbar Items

If you hold down the Control Key when you click on the taskbar icons,
it selects multiple tasks. Then you can simply right-click on the selected items and choose close group.
This tip works with all windows, not just one applications. If you have the cal, ie, notepad and solitaire open, it will close them all, unlike the group similar items command that only lets you close all of one type (ex: all IE or all notepads)

Grouping Similar Taskbar Buttons

When you open more than one document in the same program and then minimize each document,
rather that showing separate icons on the taskbar for each document, WindowsXP groups them under a single icon for that application.
If you want to group, or ungroup, similar taskbar buttons,
1. Right click on the Taskbar
2. Select Properties
3. Check or Uncheck Group similar taskbar buttons

Turning Off the Guest Account

For security purposes, you might want to turn off the Guest account
1. Open up the Control Panel
2. Click on User Accounts
3. Click on Change an account
4. Click on the Guest account
5. Click Turn off the guest account

Turning Off the Built-In CD Burner

If you want to turn off the ability to using the built-in CD burner software that comes with WindowsXP:
1. Open up the Explorer
2. Right click on the drive that is your CD burner
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Recording tab
5. Uncheck Enable CD recording on this drive

Hiding System Tray Icons

With WindowsXP, you can manually select how you want individual icons in the System Tray to be displayed.
1. Right click on the Taskbar
2. Select Properties
3. Check Hide inactive icons
4. Click on the Customize button
5. This will bring up a dialog box that will allow you to select one of three options for your applications:
Hide when inactive, Always hide, or always show
6. Highlight current or past applications and make any changes you like.
7. A small arrow will now appear in the System Tray that will allow you to show or hide these icons.

Faster Task Switching

If you installed WindowsXP Power Tools from Microsoft, when you press Alt-Tab to switch between running applications,
you get a screen that shows a small graphic of the window that is of that application along with its icon.
This also takes a long time to display. (Or at least longer than I'm comfortable with)
You can speed this up and revert back to previous ways task switching is displayed.
To Turn This Off After Your Reboot:
1. Run MSCONFIG
2. Click on the Startup tab
3. Uncheck Taskswitch
4. Click on the OK button
5. If you want to keep working, click on Exit without Restart
To Turn This Off Immediately:
1. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete
2. Click on the Processes tab
3. Highlight TaskSwitch.exe
4. Click on the End Process tab
5. Click on the Yes button

 

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WindowsXP Command Line Utilities

While there are a lot of command line utilities in WindowsXP, here are some that I have been using lately.
bootcfg - Configures, queries, or changes Boot.ini file settings.
driverquery - Displays a list of all installed device drivers and their properties.
getmac - Returns the media access control (MAC) address and list of network protocols associated with each address for all network cards in each computer
gpresult - Displays Group Policy settings and Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP) for a user or a computer
netsh - You can use commands in the Netsh Interface IP context to configure the TCP/IP protocol
schtasks - Schedules commands and programs to run periodically or at a specific time
systeminfo - Displays detailed configuration information about a computer and its operating system

Disabling Error Reporting

By default, WindowsXP will request to report application errors to Microsoft.
To turn this off:
1. Right click on the My Computer icon on the desktop
2. Select Properties / Advanced
3. Click on the Error Reporting tab
4. Check Disable error reporting

Adding a Title for the Command Prompt Title Bar

If you create a batch file that might take a while to run,
you can add a title to the command prompt title bar it by simply adding the line:
title YOUR TEXT
where YOUR TEXT would be replaced by whatever text you want to show.

Creating an Automated Install of WindowsXP

On the WindowsXP CP, in the SUPPORT\TOOLS directory,
there is a file called DEPLOY.CAB.
1. Extract the programs DEPLOY.CHM (help file) and SETUPMGR.EXE (main program)
2. Run SETUPMGR and answer the prompts.
3. This will create both a unattend.bat and unattend.txt file you can use for automated installs.
4. Note: The batch file might need some minor modification for file locations but it is fairly basic.

Command Line Help Reference

To get a quick help for all the commands you can enter from WindowsXP,
simply create a shortcut:
hh.exe ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\ntcmds.chm::/ntcmds.htm

Using the System File Checker

You can run the System File Checker to verify protected system files.
Command line switches are:
sfc [/scannow] [/scanonce] [/scanboot] [/revert] [/purgecache] [/cachesize=x]
• /scannow - Scans all protected system files immediately.
• /scanonce - Scans all protected system files once.
• /scanboot - Scans all protected system files every time the computer is restarted.
• /revert - Returns the scan to its default operation.
• /purgecache - Purges the Windows File Protection file cache and scans all protected system files immediately.
• /cachesize=x - Sets the size, in MB, of the Windows File Protection file cache.

Creating a Password Recovery Disk

In case you forget your password, you can create a password recovery floppy disk beforehand to help you out of this problem.
1. Single-click Start menu
2. Go to the Control Panel / User Accounts
3. Click the User Account
4. On the left hand side, click on Prevent forgotten password
5. You will need to know your password to create the disk.
6. If you don't remember your password sometime in the future, click on the green arrow like normal at the login and you will be prompted to insert the password recover disk.

Disabling Hibernation

If you don't want to use up the disk space taken by Hibernation, or don't need to use it at all,
you can easily disable it.
1. Open up the Control Panel / Power Options icon
2. Click on the Hibernation icon
3. Uncheck Enable Hibernation

Locking the Workstation

There are two ways you can lock the workstation.
1. With a Windows key + L
2. Create an shortcut rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Changing the Picture Displayed for a User

You can change the picture that gets displayed for a particular user
1. Go to the Control Panel
2. Select User Accounts
3. Click on the Account to change
4. Click on Change my picture
5. You can then browse to the picture you want to use

Removing the MSN Messenger

If you want to remove the MSN Messenger from always starting in the system tray, do
1. Start / Run
2. Then enter in the following string: RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
To remove it completely, see the section Adding / Removing Additional Programs
Remove the hide from the line:
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

Common Command Console Utilities

WindowsXP comes with quite a few console utilities you can easily run from the command line:
Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
Disk Managment - diskmgmt.msc
Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
Disk Defrag - dfrg.msc
Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
Group Policies - gpedit.msc
Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
Resultant Set of Policies - rsop.msc
Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
Services - services.msc
Component Services - comexp.msc

Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\AutoEndTasks
3. Set the value to be 1
4. In the same section, change the WaitToKillAppTimeout to the number of milliseconds you want.

Changing Visual Effects

To change visual effects such as fade menus, mouse shadow, visual styles on buttons, drop shadows for icons, slide open boxes and buttons etc.:
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Advanced tab
4. Under Performance, click on the Settings button
5. From here you have a list of items you can select

Changing System Restore Settings

By default, WindowsXP uses a large amount of hard drive space for storing system restore points.
If this is not necessary, you can change the settings.
1. Go to Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools
2. Run System Restore
3. For each drive or partition, you can click on the Setting button to change how much hard drive space is devoted to each one.
4. There is even the option to turn it off for all drives.

Changing Programs That Start Automatically

WindowsXP has a similar program, MSCONFIG, that was available in Windows98.
This allows you to view and change what programs are automatically started each time you log in.
The new version also allows you to view and edit the boot.ini file (as well as check for errors and use several advanced switches)

Adding / Removing Additional Programs

By default, WindowsXP does not display all the programs you can add or remove.
To show this list:
Edit the \Windows\Inf\sysoc.inf file
In the Components section, simply remove the word hide.
This will leave two commas together (like on the rest of the items).
Then you can go to the Control Panel / Add or Remove Programs / Add/Remove Windows Components and the new items will be displayed.
[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp4 0ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7


Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

Increasing File System Caching

To increase the amount of memory Windows will locked for I/O operations:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management
3. Edit the key IoPageLockLimit
4096 - 32megs of memory or less
8192 - 32+ megs of memory
16384 - 64+ megs of memory
32768 - 128+ megs of memory
65536 - 256+ megs of memory

Enabling NumLock on by Default

To have numlock turned on for each user:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
3. Change the value from 0 to 2
4. Turn Numlock on manually
5. Log off and back on again.
6. For all users, make the same change to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators