Show Hidden Program or System Files

Showing hidden files can come in handy-for example, say you've tried to delete
everything from a floppy disk and the disk properties still indicate 100K of disk space
is being used by hidden files.
· On the Tools menu in Windows Explorer, click Folder Options.
· Click the View tab.
· Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.
Note: To access Windows Explorer, click Start, point to All Programs, and then click
Windows Explorer.

To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt:

Click Start, click Run, and then type: cmd
· Click OK.
· In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs
For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the NTFS format.

Perform a Repair Installation

How do you perform a reinstallation of Windows XP, sometimes called a repair
installation?
· Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. For more information about
how to do this, refer to your computer's documentation or contact your computer
manufacturer.
· Then insert your Windows XP Setup CD, and restart your computer.
· When the Press any key to boot from CD message is displayed on your screen, press a
key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.
· Press ENTER when you see the message To setup Windows XP now, and then press ENTER
displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen. Do not choose the option to press R to use the
Recovery Console.
· In the Windows XP Licensing Agreement, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.
Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then
press R to repair Windows XP.
· Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup.

Set Permissions for Shared Files and Folders

Sharing of files and folders can be managed in two ways. If you chose simplified file
sharing, your folders can be shared with everyone on your network or workgroup, or you
can make your folders private. (This is how folders are shared in Windows 2000.)
However, in Windows XP Professional, you can also set folder permissions for specific
users or groups. To do this, you must first change the default setting, which is simple
file sharing.
· Open Control Panel, click Tools, and then click Folder Options.
· Click the View tab, and scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Settings list.
· Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box.
· To manage folder permissions, browse to the folder in Windows Explorer, right-click
the folder, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab, and assign permissions,
such as Full Control, Modify, Read, and/or Write, to specific users.
You can set file and folder permissions only on drives formatted to use NTFS, and you
must be the owner or have been granted permission to do so by the owner.

Show Encrypted Files in Color

You can encrypt files and folders on NTFS volumes to hide their content from other
users. To quickly identify encrypted files and folders in your system, follow this tip
to display the name of the encrypted file or folder in color.
· Double-click My Computer, and then click Folder Options on the Tools menu.
· Click the View tab.
· Select the Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color check box, and then
click OK.
Now the name of the encrypted file or folder is listed in color within Windows
Explorer. The EFS feature is not included in Windows XP Home Edition.

Create a Desktop Shortcut to Lock Your Computer

You secure your computer by locking it whenever you're away from your desk. If you're
on a domain, by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del and then clicking Lock Computer, you can prevent
unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer. Only you and members of the
Administrators group on your computer can unlock it. (You unlock it by pressing
Ctrl+Alt+Del, typing your password, and then clicking OK.)
To create an even quicker means of securing your computer, place a shortcut on your
desktop to lock your computer:
· Right-click an open area of your desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
· In the Location box, type %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
· Click Next, in the Name box type a name for the shortcut such as, Lock Computer, and
then click Finish.

Add an Item to the Send To Menu

You can create a new shortcut on the Send To menu, for example, one that goes to a
frequently-used folder.
· Open My Computer, and double-click the drive where Windows is installed, which is
usually drive C.
· Double-click the Documents and Settings folder, and then double-click the folder for
the particular user.
· Double-click the Send To folder. The Send To folder is hidden by default. To see
the Send To folder, click Tools, click Folder Options, and then click Show hidden files
and folders.
· On the File menu, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
· Follow the instructions to create a shortcut.
Now, when you right-click a file, and click Send To, the shortcut to the item you
selected will be an option. You can create shortcuts to local or network programs,
files, folders, computers, or Internet addresses.

Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Open a Folder

Do you have a folder to which you want instant access from anywhere on your computer?
For example, if you want the My Music folder to pop up while Internet Explorer or Word is
maximized, follow these steps:
· Select the folder in Windows Explorer.
· Create a shortcut, and place it on the desktop. (You create a shortcut by opening
the folder, pointing to New on the File menu, then clicking Shortcut. Drag the shortcut
to your desktop.)
· Right-click the new shortcut, and then click Properties.
· In the Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab, and in the Shortcut key box,
enter a Control key combination or a Control-Shift key combination, (that is, Ctrl+Alt+M
or Ctrl+SHIFT+M when M is for music), and then click OK.
Anytime you hit the key combination you specified, your folder will open, even when
other programs are maximized! This tip can be applied to folders, programs, and text
file shortcuts that are placed on the desktop.

Skip the Recycle Bin Confirmation Message

When you delete items by moving them to the Recycle Bin, Windows displays a message
confirming the deletion: "Are you sure you want to send FILENAME to the Recycle Bin?" If
you're tired of clicking an answer to that question, you can configure Windows XP to skip
the confirmation message whether or not you're using the Recycle Bin.
· Right-click the Recycle Bin, and then click Properties.
· In the Recycle Bin Properties dialog box, clear the Display delete confirmation
dialog check box, and then click OK.
· If you don't want to use the Recycle Bin at all, in the Recycle Bin Properties
dialog box, select the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately
when deleted check box.

Place a "Run" Icon On Your Desktop

Open the Start Menu and drag the Run option on to your desktop.
You may want to rename it to get rid of the ampersand. Now you will be able to
double-click the "Run" icon on your desktop to go directly to the Run dialog.

Fast User Switching

If you have multiple users logged on to your machine, you can bypass the Welcome
screen to switch users:
· Go to the User tab in Task Manager, right-click on a user and choose Connect.

Don't Ignore the Windows Logo Key

The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a
little-used treasure. Don't ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following
commands:
Windows: Display the Start menu.
Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows.
Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer.
Windows + F: Display Search for files.
Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer.
Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center.
Windows + R: Display Run dialog box.
Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box.
Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows.
Windows + tab: Move through taskbar buttons.
Windows + L: Lock the workstation (or switch to the Logon screen w/Fast User
Switching enabled).
Windows + U: Open Utility Manager

Create a Desktop Shortcut that Locks a Windows XP-Based Workstation

This step-by-step article describes how to create a desktop shortcut that you can use
to lock a Windows XP-Based Workstation. To take full advantage of user authentication as
a means of network access control, you must be sure that only the logged-on user is able
to use the workstation. Authentication-based access control loses viability when users
other than the logged-on user are able to obtain access to local and network objects.
If a user steps away from his or her desk, another user can walk up to the unattended
computer and carry out local and network activities by using the credentials of the
logged-on user. The logged-on user is accountable for any activities that took place on
that workstation while away from it. If the logged-on user can account for his or her
whereabouts during the time away from the computer, the credentials of that user are no
longer useful in tracking down access violations that have been completed under the
context of that user's network account.
Users can lock their workstations by using the Ctrl+Alt+Del Security Attention
Sequence (SAS). However, some users are reluctant or unable to press these three keys in
sequence, and because of this, do not lock their workstations while they are away from
the computer.
You can simplify locking the workstation for these users by creating a desktop
shortcut. After you create the shortcut, users can double-click the shortcut to lock the
workstation.
To create the shortcut:
· Right-click an empty area of the desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
· In the Create Shortcut Wizard, type %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe
user32.dll,LockWorkStation in the Type the location of the item box, and then click Next.
Note that LockWorkStation is case sensitive.
· On the "Type a name for this shortcut" page, type Lock Workstation in the Type a
name for this shortcut box, and then click Finish.
· Right-click the shortcut you just made, and then click Properties.
· Click the Shortcut tab, and then click Change Icon.
· In the Change Icon dialog box, type %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll in the Look
for icons in this file box, and then click OK.
· Browse through the available icons, and then select an icon that makes it easy for
the users to identify that the shortcut is to be used to lock the workstation.
· Click the icon you want to use, and then click OK. Click OK again.
· Double-click the shortcut, and note that the workstation automatically locks
itself.
The user must press Ctrl+Alt+Del, and then type his or her credentials to unlock the
workstation.

One-Click Shutdown win xp

If you have Clean Sweep Deluxe, you should disable it before proceeding. Follow these
directions to create a one-click shutdown shortcut:
· Navigate to your Desktop.
· On the Desktop, right-click and go to New, then to Shortcut (in other words, create
a new shortcut).
· You should now see a pop-up window instructing you to enter a command line path.
Enter one of these as the path: SHUTDOWN -s -t 01
· If the C: drive is not your local hard drive, then replace "C" with the correct
letter of the hard drive.
· Click the "Next" button.
· Name the shortcut and click the "Finish" button.
Now whenever you want to shut down, just click on this shortcut and you're done.
Also, if you want to make life better and faster, you can right-click the new shortcut
you just made, go to Properties, and type in X (or whatever letter) in the Shortcut Key
box.

Create a Password Reset Disk for win xp

Microsoft has enhanced security features in XP including the ability to create a
floppy diskette to recover your password in case it is forgotten.
· Click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts.
· Click on the account which you want to create a password disk.
· Click Prevent a forgotten password which starts the Forgotten Password Wizard .
This is found under Related Tasks.
· Insert a blank, formatted disk into drive A, and click Next.
· Enter the password in the Current user account password box.
To use the recovery disk, at the Welcome screen:
· Click the user name whose password is on the recovery disk.
· Click the question mark button, this causes the "Did you forget your password
message" to appear.
· Click use your password reset disk. This will start the Password Reset Wizard.
From this point, just follow the wizard's instructions and you will be able to set a
new password.

Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP

There are a number of users who have been complaining that their PC will no longer
automatically power down/shut off without pressing the power off button on the computers
unlike in Windows Me/95/2000. There could be a number of reasons for this, but the main
one seems to be that ACPI is not enabled on the computer or in Windows XP:
· Click Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Power Options tab.
· Then click APM > Enable Advanced Power Management Support.

Stop Password Expiration in win xp

After you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this message when you log
on: "Your password will expire in 14 days.....". By default, Windows XP is set up with
passwords which will expire after 42 days. And 14 days in advance, Windows will start
warning you of this fact.
· Go to Start > Run > type control userpasswords2
· Select the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window.
· Press the Advanced button below the Advanced user management header.
· Select Users in the Local Users and Groups.
· In the right pane, right-click the user name for which you want to change the
setting, and select Properties.
· On the General tab, check Password never expires.
· Click Apply and OK (all the way out).

Close Multiple Windows in win xp

If you just opened a number of separate, related windows (a folder inside a folder,
and so on), there's an easier way to close them all than one-at-a-time:
· Hold down the shift-key as you click the X caption button in the upper-right corner
of the last window opened. Doing so closes that window and all windows that came before
it.

Internet Connection Sharing win xp

To enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network connection:
· Open Network Connections.
· Click the dial-up, local area network, PPPoE, or VPN connection you want to share.
· Then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.
· On the Advanced tab, select the Allow other network users to connect through this
computer's Internet connection
check box.
· If you want this connection to dial automatically when another computer on your home
or small office network
attempts to access external resources, select the Establish a dial-up connection
whenever a computer on my network
attempts to access the Internet check box.
· If you want other network users to enable or disable the shared Internet connection,
select the Allow other network
users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box. Under Internet
Connection Sharing, in Home networking connection, select any adapter that connects the
computer sharing its Internet connection to the other computers on your network.

Use the Ultimate Configuration Tool (win xp Professional Edition Only)

One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right
there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local
Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short.
To invoke this editor:
· Select Start and then Run, then type the following:
gpedit.msc
After you hit Enter, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually
every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit.

Change the Default Opening Folder in Windows Explorer in win xp

By default, Windows Explorer opens showing the My Documents folder. To change the
default setting so that all top-level drives and folders are shown, follow these steps:
· Click Start > Programs > Accessories, then right-click Windows Explorer, and click
Properties.
· Under Target field, which reads %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe, add to make the line
read:
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, /select, C:\
· Click OK.

Do Not Highlight Newly Installed Programs in win xp

Tired of that annoying little window that pops up to tell you that new software is
installed? If it gets in the way when you're logging off, turn it off completely. To do
this:
· Click Start, right-click at the top of the Start menu where your name is displayed,
and then click Properties.
· In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, on the Start Menu tab, click
Customize.
· Click the Advanced tab, and then clear the Highlight newly installed programs check
box.
· Click OK, and then click OK again.

Synchronize Your Computer Clock with an Internet Time Server in win xp

Does your computer have the right time? If your computer is not part of a domain, you
can synchronize your computer clock with an Internet time server. To do so:
· Double-click the time on your task bar.
· Click the Internet Time tab.
· Select the time server you want to use and make sure to select the Automatically
synchronize with an Internet time
server check box.

Change Drive Letters in Windows XP

When you add drives to your computer, such as an extra hard drive, a CD drive, or a
storage device that corresponds to a drive, Windows automatically assigns letters to the
drives. However, this assignment might not suit your system; for example, you might have
mapped a network drive to the same letter that Windows assigns to a new drive. When you
want to change drive letters, follow these steps:
· Right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
· Under Computer Management, click Disk Management. In the right pane, you'll see
your drives listed. CD-ROM drives are listed at the bottom of the pane.
· Right-click the drive or device you want to change, and then click Change Drive
Letter and Paths.
· Click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the drive letter you
want to assign, and then click OK.

How can you stop Windows XP from launching program CDs?

Click Start, click Run, type GPEDIT.MSC to open Group Policy in the Microsoft
Management Console.
· Double-click Computer Configuration, double-click Administrative templates,
double-click System, and then click Turn off autoplay.
· The instructions on your screen describe how to configure this setting. Click
Properties to display the setting dialog.
· Click Enabled, and choose CD-ROM drives, then click OK, to stop CD autoplay.
This setting does not prevent Autoplay for music CDs.

Performance Increase Through My Computer

Easy enough tweak to usually find out about it on your own, but still, some of us
still don't find it right away. So here it is:
· Start > right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
· Click on the "Advanced" tab.
· See the "Performance" section? Click "Settings".
· Disable the following:
Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Use common tasks in folders
There, now Windows will still look nice and perform faster.
Reduce 10 Second Scandisk Wait Time
· Start MS Dos Prompt (Start run CMD), and type: CHKNTFS /T:4
where 4 is the amount of wait time.
CHKNTFS /?
for more info.

Remove Hibernation File in win xp

If you do not use hibernation, make sure you do not have it enabled, which reserves
disk space equal to your RAM. If you have a hidden file on the root directory of your
C-drive called hiberfil.sys, hibernation is enabled. To remove that file:
· Go to Control Panel, select Performance and Maintenance, Power Options, Hibernate
tab, and uncheck the Enable hibernation box.

Clean Your Prefetch to Improve Performance in win xp

This is a unique technique for WinXP. We know that it is necessary to scrub registry
and TEMP files for Win9X/ME/2000 periodically. Prefetch is a new and very useful
technique in Windows XP. However, after using XP some time, the prefetch directory can
get full of junk and obsolete links in the Prefetch catalog, which can slow down your
computer noticeably.
· Open C(system drive):/windows/prefetch, delete those junk and obsolete files,
reboot. It is recommended that you do this every month.

Very Slow Boot When Networking win xp

On some XP Pro installations, when connected to a network (peer-peer in this case),
the computer boot time is over 1:40. The system seems to freeze after logging in and the
desktop may not appear or will freeze for a minute. As timed with the utility,
Bootvis.exe, the problem was with the driver mrxsmb.dll, adding over 67 seconds to the
boot time. Turning off and restoring file and printer sharing eliminated 65 seconds from
the boot time.
· Alt-click (or right-click) on Network Places > Properties.
· Alt-click on Ethernet Adapter connection > Properties.
· Un-check "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" > OK.
· Reboot.
· If you need file or printer sharing, repeat the above, re-check the box and re-boot
again.

How to hack Windows XP Admin Passwords the easy way

This hack will only work if the person that owns the machine
has no intelligence. This is how it works:

When you or anyone installs Windows XP for the first time your
asked to put in your username and up to five others.

Now, unknownst to a lot of other people this is the only place in
Windows XP that you can password the default Administrator Diagnostic
Account. This means that to by pass most administrators accounts
on Windows XP all you have to do is boot to safe mode by pressing F8
during boot up and choosing it. Log into the Administrator Account
and create your own or change the password on the current Account.

This only works if the user on setup specified a password for the
Administrator Account.

Better Easy IP Check. in win xp

This tweak was based on the Easy IP Check tweak posted by Hugo Tremblay.

Use this if you just want to display your IP address and not the extra information

(default gateway / subnet mask)

Simply copy and paste the following into notepad

@echo.

@ipconfig | find "IP Address"

@echo.

@pause

And save as IP.BAT (save to your windows dir if you want to be able to access it anywhere)

Now when you type IP you will see:

---------------------------

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : x.x.x.x

Press any key to continue . . .

---------------------------

(information about the code: @echo. produces a blank line, @ipconfig |

find "IP Address" causes the output of ipconfig to be piped to the find command,

which looks for the line containing "IP Address", find then outputs your IP address,

@pause causes the terminal to wait for user input before continuing.

The @ before each command tells the terminal not to echo the command being typed.)

Change XP Boot Screen in win xp

If you would like to change your boot up screen follow the directions below.

These instructions assume that you have a place to download the boot screen from the net.

If you would like to download a boot screen, visit http://www.themexp.org

1. Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

(most likely C:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe - the boot screen)

2. Download the .zip to your computer

3. Extract ntoskrnl.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)

4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or

into true DOS (from a boot disk)

5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (which should have been backed up)

with the extracted exe

6. Reboot your computer as you normally would

Correcting System Hang at Startup in win xp

If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access

the Start button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service

(Background Intelligent Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch

for this but it didn't work for me. Here's what you do:

1. Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.

2. Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service,

   disable it, apply the changes & reboot.

Quick Access to Anything Without a Mouse!

If your someone like me who wants quick access to everything then just listen to

what I have to say. This article will tell you how to makes shortcuts on your keyboard

that are Ctrl + Alt + "Any Key Of Your Choice." Heres what you have to do:

1. Make shortcuts of the programs you want shortcuts to somewhere in your start menu.

2. Right click on one of them and click on Properties.

3. Now click on Shortcut if its not already there.

4. Click on ShortCut Key's white area box and type a letter other than ones used

by XP like Ctrl Alt Del and stuff. I used the number 1 through 0 (after 9).

Do that and it should work. If it doesn't make sure its in the Programs part of

the Start Menu, I haven't tried outside programs, if it still doesn't work go to

the help section and ask a microsoft person.