turn off
Windows XP's built-in support for ZIP files
To re-enable Windows
XP's built-in ZIP support, just follow these steps:
Turn off the Windows
Picture and Fax Viewer as my default image viewer
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Solution #1:
Solution #2:
Stop Pop-Up Spam
Messages
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The NET command is used
to send such messages (e.g. net send * Hello World), and the messenger service
(different than Windows Messenger) allows users to receive such text messages.
By default, it is running and active on all Windows 2000 and Windows XP
systems. Here's how to turn it off:
1. Open the
Services window (services.msc).
2. Double-click
the Messenger entry in the list.
3. Click Stop
to close the service.
4. Select Disabled
from the Startup type list to prevent it from loading automatically the
next time Windows starts.
5. Close the
Services window when you're done.
entries missing from
the Start Menu
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In
Windows Me, 2000, and XP, Microsoft has added a feature called
"Personalized Menus." This constantly changing interface is not only
annoying, but it goes against one of the major precepts behind good user
interface design - keep the interface consistent! Here's how to fix it:
Single Click Shutdown
Right-click on an empty Desktop spot -> select New -> Shortcut -> type
shutdown followed by a space, and then enter one or more of the
parameters listed below -> click Next -> type a suggestive name for your
new shortcut -> finally, click Finish.
This is the Shutdown.exe (located in %systemroot%\System32, usually
C:\Windows\System32) syntax:
shutdown [-i|-l|-s|-r|-a] [-f] [-m
\\computername] [-t xx] [-c "Text"]
[-d[u][p]:xx:yy]
Valid command line
switches:
-a = Abort system shutdown in progress ONLY IF
the -t xx timeout option was already set to ANY value
other than 0. ALL switches except -l and -m are ignored during abort.
-c "Text" = Text comment (case insensitive) to be
displayed in the Message area of the System Shutdown window. MUST
be enclosed between quotes. Maximum allowed 127 ASCII characters.
-d [u][p]:xx:yy = Reason code for
shutdown:
u = User code.
p = Planned shutdown code.
xx = Major reason
code. Positive integer number less than 256.
yy = Minor reason
code. Positive integer number less than 65536.
-f = Force running applications to close without warning.
-i = Display the shutdown interface (GUI).
MUST be the first option!
-l = Log off the current user of the local computer (default
action). CanNOT be used with the -m option unless the
current user has Sysadmin rights, in which case the
-m switch takes precedence.
-m \\computername = Remote/network computer name (most always
case sensitive) to log off/restart/shut down. Current user MUST have Sysadmin rights to be allowed to use this switch!
-s = Shut down the local computer.
-r = Shut down and restart (reboot) the local computer.
-t xx = Set shutdown timer to timeout for xx seconds. IF NOT specified defaults to 20 seconds. Allowed values between 0 and 99 seconds. The -a switch is
the ONLY one that CAN be used during the timeout period.
NOTES:
QoS Tweakage
With Windows XP comes a long
acronym - the QoSRRP. This is great if you are using QoS applications, but if you don't use any, it means that a
percentage (20% by default) of your bandwidth is sitting unused.
To change this, we have to go to Start -> Run...,
then type 'gpedit.msc'. Now, open the branches Computer
Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> QoS Packet
Scheduler.
Now, double-click the option in
the right-hand window 'Limit reservable bandwidth', and then set it to Enabled, and the Bandwidth Limit to 0%.
Improve
system performance and Reduce MFT fragmentation by disabling DOS 8.3 naming
convention
In Windows XP, two file
names are created for each file one is the actual name and another one is 8.3
version of that file name for compatibility with DOS based programs. Now this
work name in the name of compatibility takes quite a lot of system resources
specifically CPU time and disk space.
Open Registry by going
to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem. In right pane, look
for key by the name "NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation" and sets its value
to 1. Thats it. You would
see improvement in system performance for sure.
Decrease
your Applications startup time
By default, Microsoft includes the
/prefetch:1 switch to speed up it's Windows Media
Player application start time. This switch can be used for other Windows
applications and also many third party programs.
Example
1, Go to the Start
button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools
2. Right click on
System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the
/prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like
this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.
Use this unique technique for XP to
improve the performance significantly by tweaking the prefetcher
(which is a cache folder).
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory
Management\PrefetchParameters\EnablePrefetcher];
Set the value to either 0-Disable, 1-App launch prefetch, 2-Boot Prefetch, 3-Both
("3" is recommended).
Boot XP faster (updated)
First
of all, this tweak only apply to those who only have one HDD on their primary
IDE channel (nothing else on device 0 or 1) and a CD-ROM and/or DVD-ROM on the
secondary IDE channel. Each time you boot Windows XP, there's an updated file
called NTOSBOOT-*.pf who appears in your prefetch
directory (%SystemRoot%\Prefetch) and there's no need
to erase any other files as the new prefetch option
in XP really improves loading time of installed programs. We only want WindowsXP to boot faster and not decrease its performance.
Thanks to Rod Cahoon (for the prefetch
automation process...with a minor change of mine) and Zeb
for the IDE Channel tweak as those two tricks, coupled together with a little
modification, result in an EXTREMELY fast bootup:
Transform your throbber
1. Go to Start, choose Run, then
type "gpedit.msc" (without the quotes).
2. Go to User Configuration\Windows Settings\Internet
Explorer Maintenance\Browser User Interface and choose Custom Logo from the
right-hand pane.
3. Check the boxes to add customization, and browse to add
any files you would like to see as resting images. They must be bitmaps
(extension .bmp) and they must conform to the proportions indicated.
4. Now for the animation. Your small animated image should be
a strip of 10 slightly different individual images pasted together so it
appears like a strip of film. You have a series of 10 (or more or less) images
that are 22x22 pixels, creating a bitmap that is 22 pixels wide by 220 pixels
high (if there are 10 images). Click here to
download a command-line animated bitmap utility called Animated Bitmap Creator
(also included in the Internet Explorer Administration Kit). It will take a
series of sequentially numbered bitmaps and turn it into a strip appropriate
for use as a throbber. Note: This utility does not
have a GUI.
5. The large animation bitmap will be 38 pixels wide by 380
(or more or less) pixels high.
Turn off built-in XP CD Burning
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
NoCDBurning=1 Disables built-in XP
burning but allows other burning software to work.
Remove Shared Documents from My Computer
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders]
Delete the {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} key under this folder.
Change thumbnail size and quality – lower values
improve performance
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
ThumbnailSize=32 A DWORD value in
Decimal view between 32 and 256.
ThumbnailQuality=50 A DWORD value in
Decimal view between 50 and 100.
Speed up NTFS and general system performance
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate=1 Disables
constant updating of dates a file/folder was last accessed.
NTFSDisable8Dot3NameCreation=1 To disable
support for old DOS 8-character filenames.
If these entries don't exist, create them as new DWORDs.
Note also that if you disable 8Dot3 Name Creation you will have problems
installing Norton Antivirus 2003.
To successfully install NAV2003, set it to 0 (enabled) first,
reboot your system,
install NAV2003, reboot
once again and set it back to 1 (disabled).
Set the system to give priority to a major
device (by its IRQ)
this is a GREAT TWEAK and you'll
get a lot of speed and stability from it .
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PriorityControl]
IRQ8Priority=1 Determine the IRQ of the device you want to give top priority.
Create
a new DWORD with the IRQ number (e.g. IRQ8Priority) and give it a value of 1.
Recommended that System CMOS/Real Time Clock be
given the top priority to provide greatest overall system boost.
improve application and system shutdown/restart
speeds
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
HungAppTimeout=5000 Delay before a hung application
is allowed to terminate (each 1000 = 1 sec)
WaitToKillAppTimeout=4000 Delay before
windows finally starts to shutdown (each 1000 = 1 sec)
MenuShowDelay=50 Delay before a menu pops open. (each
1000 = 1 sec)
AutoEndTasks=1 Automatically
closes running applications when Windows shuts down.
Turn off MSN Messenger
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client]
PreventRun=1 Will prevent MSN Messenger
from running
PreventAutoRun=1 Will prevent MSN from
popping up automatically.
Set/create both these DWORD entries to 1 to disable MSN Messenger.
Fix Outlook Express slowdown when MSN Messenger
is disabled
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID]
Find the key {FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541} and under it select
the folder IniProcServer32.
In the right panel of regedit
double-click on the (Default) entry at the top and completely delete the
value data it contains.
Now do the same for the LocalServer32 folder as well.
