CLONING HARD DRIVE

:: How to Clone a Hard Drive ::

Did know that you could clone your current Hard Drive without having to by extra software? Maybe you didn't know that all that you needed, was already set up on your current system? Well, it is... and if you follow this tut, you shouldn't have much of a problem.


Make sure that you have a Master and a Slave setup on your system. The Slave drive, in this case, is where all the data on the Master is going to go to.

First: Perform a Scandisk your Master drive and follow that with a thorough Defrag. If you have an Antivirus program, do a thorough sweep with the AV first, then do the Scandisk, followed by the Defrag.

Second: Do the same thing to the target drive, as you did the Master: Scandisk then a thorough Defrag.

Third: Right-click on the Target drive and click on Format. When the box comes up, click your mouse onto the "Full" button.

Fourth: After Formatting the Target drive, run a Scandisk again and click on the button that says "Autofix Errors".

Fifth: In this final part, you might want to cut-and-paste to code in, unless you are sure that you can do it without making any mistakes:

Click on the "Start" button, then click on the "Run..." button, then place the following into the Runbox:

"XCOPY C:\*.*D:\ /c/h/e/k/r" (minus the quotes, of course) then press the "Enter" button.

If you receive an error message, then remove the space from between XCOPY and C:\

Anything that should happen to come up in the DOS box, just click "Y" for "Yes". When its all finished, pull the original Master from the system, designate the Slave as the Master (change your jumpers), then check your new Master out.

This tut has worked and has been tested on all systems except for Windows 2000, so you really shouldn't have any problems. If, by any chance, you should come across a snag, message me and I'll walk you through it.

Read More

:: XP Hacking With Windows XP ::

So you have the newest, glitziest, "Fisher Price" version of Windows: XP. How
can you use XP in a way that sets you apart from the boring millions of ordinary
users?

The key to doing amazing things with XP is as simple as D O S. Yes, that's
right, DOS as in MS-DOS, as in Microsoft Disk Operating System. Windows XP (as
well as NT and 2000) comes with two versions of DOS. Command.com is an old DOS
version. Various versions of command.com come with Windows 95, 98, SE, ME,
Window 3, and DOS only operating systems.

The other DOS, which comes only with XP, 2000 and NT, is cmd.exe. Usually
cmd.exe is better than command.com because it is easier to use, has more
commands, and in some ways resembles the bash shell in Linux and other Unix-type
operating systems. For example, you can repeat a command by using the up arrow
until you back up to the desired command. Unlike bash, however, your DOS command
history is erased whenever you shut down cmd.exe. The reason XP has both
versions of DOS is that sometimes a program that won?t run right in cmd.exe will
work in command.com

note : m not comparing bash to dos


DOS is your number one Windows gateway to the Internet, and the open sesame to
local area networks. From DOS, without needing to download a single hacker
program, you can do amazingly sophisticated explorations and even break into
poorly defended computers.


****************
You can go to jail warning: Breaking into computers is against the law if you do
not have permission to do so from the owner of that computer. For example, if
your friend gives you permission to break into her Hotmail account, that won't
protect you because Microsoft owns Hotmail and they will never give you
permission.
****************
****************
You can get expelled warning: Some kids have been kicked out of school just for
bringing up a DOS prompt on a computer. Be sure to get a teacher's WRITTEN
permission before demonstrating that you can hack on a school computer.
****************

So how do you turn on DOS?
Click All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt
That runs cmd.exe. You should see a black screen with white text on it, saying
something like this:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>

Your first step is to find out what commands you can run in DOS. If you type
"help" at the DOS prompt, it gives you a long list of commands. However, this
list leaves out all the commands hackers love to use. Here are some of those
left out hacker commands.

TCP/IP commands:
telnet
netstat
nslookup
tracert
ping
ftp

NetBIOS commands (just some examples):
nbtstat
net use
net view
net localgroup

TCP/IP stands for transmission control protocol/Internet protocol. As you can
guess by the name, TCP/IP is the protocol under which the Internet runs. along
with user datagram protocol (UDP). So when you are connected to the Internet,
you can try these commands against other Internet computers. Most local area
networks also use TCP/IP.

NetBIOS (Net Basic Input/Output System) protocol is another way to communicate
between computers. This is often used by Windows computers, and by Unix/Linux
type computers running Samba. You can often use NetBIOS commands over the
Internet (being carried inside of, so to speak, TCP/IP). In many cases, however,
NetBIOS commands will be blocked by firewalls. Also, not many Internet computers
run NetBIOS because it is so easy to break in using them. I will cover NetBIOS
commands in the next article to XP Hacking.

The queen of hacker commands is telnet. To get Windows help for telnet, in the
cmd.exe window give the command:

C:\>telnet /?

Here's what you will get:

telnet [-a][-e escape char][-f log file][-l user][-t term][host
[port]]

-a Attempt automatic logon. Same as --l option except uses the currently logged
on user's name.
-e Escape character to enter telnet cclient prompt.
-f File name for client side logging
-l Specifies the user name to log in with on the remote system. Requires that
the remote system support the TELNET ENVIRON option.
-t Specifies terminal type. Supportedd term types are vt100, vt52, ansi and vtnt
only.
host Specifies the hostname or IP address of the remote computer to connect to.
port Specifies a port number or service name.


****************
Newbie note: what is a port on a computer? A computer port is sort of like a
seaport. It's where things can go in and/or out of a computer. Some ports are
easy to understand, like keyboard, monitor, printer and modem. Other ports are
virtual, meaning that they are created by software. When that modem port of
yours (or LAN or ISDN or DSL) is connected to the Internet, your computer has
the ability to open or close any of over 65,000 different virtual ports, and has
the ability to connect to any of these on another computer - if it is running
that port, and if a firewall doesn?t block it.
****************
****************
Newbie note: How do you address a computer over the Internet? There are two
ways: by number or by name.
****************

The simplest use of telnet is to log into a remote computer. Give the command:

C:/>telnet targetcomputer.com (substituting the name of the computer you want to
telnet into for targetcomputer.com)

If this computer is set up to let people log into accounts, you may get the
message:

login:

Type your user name here, making sure to be exact. You can't swap between lower
case and capital letters. For example, user name Guest is not the same as guest.

****************
Newbie note: Lots of people email me asking how to learn what their user name
and password are. Stop laughing, darn it, they really do. If you don't know your
user name and password, that means whoever runs that computer didn't give you an
account and doesn't want you to log on.
****************

Then comes the message:

Password:

Again, be exact in typing in your password.

What if this doesn't work?

Every day people write to me complaining they can't telnet. That is usually
because they try to telnet into a computer, or a port on a computer that is set
up to refuse telnet connections. Here's what it might look like when a computer
refuses a telnet connection:

C:\ >telnet 10.0.0.3
Connecting To 10.0.0.3...Could not open connection to the host, on port 23. A
connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond
after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host
has failed to respond.

Or you might see:

C:\ >telnet hotmail.com
Connecting To hotmail.com...Could not open connection to the host, on port
23. No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

If you just give the telnet command without giving a port number, it will
automatically try to connect on port 23, which sometimes runs a telnet server.

**************
Newbie note: your Windows computer has a telnet client program, meaning it will
let you telnet out of it. However you have to install a telnet server before
anyone can telnet into port 23 on your computer.
*************

If telnet failed to connect, possibly the computer you were trying to telnet
into was down or just plain no longer in existence. Maybe the people who run
that computer don't want you to telnet into it.

Even though you can't telnet into an account inside some computer, often you can
get some information back or get that computer to do something interesting for
you. Yes, you can get a telnet connection to succeed -without doing anything
illegal --against almost any computer, even if you don't have permission to log
in. There are many legal things you can do to many randomly chosen computers
with telnet. For example:

C:/telnet freeshell.org 22

SSH-1.99-OpenSSH_3.4p1

That tells us the target computer is running an SSH server, which enables
encrypted connections between computers. If you want to SSH into an account
there, you can get a shell account for free at http://freeshell.org . You can
get a free SSH client program from http://winfiles.com .

***************
You can get punched in the nose warning: Your online provider might kick you off
for making telnet probes of other computers. The solution is to get a local
online provider and make friends with the people who run it, and convince them
you are just doing harmless, legal explorations.
*************

Sometimes a port is running an interesting program, but a firewall won't let you
in. For example, 10.0.0.3, a computer on my local area network, runs an email
sending program, (sendmail working together with Postfix, and using Kmail to
compose emails). I can use it from an account inside 10.0.0.3 to send emails
with headers that hide from where I send things.

If I try to telnet to this email program from outside this computer, here's what
happens:

C:\>telnet 10.0.0.3 25
Connecting To 10.0.0.3...Could not open connection to the host, on port 25. No
connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

However, if I log into an account on 10.0.0.3 and then telnet from inside to
port 25, here's what I get:

Last login: Fri Oct 18 13:56:58 2002 from 10.0.0.1
Have a lot of fun...
cmeinel@test-box:~> telnet localhost 25
Trying ::1...
telnet: connect to address ::1: Connection refused
Trying 127.0.0.1... [Carolyn's note: 127.0.0.1 is the numerical address meaning
localhost, the same computer you are logged into]
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 test-box.local ESMTP Postfix

The reason I keep this port 25 hidden behind a firewall is to keep people from
using it to try to break in or to forge email. Now the ubergeniuses reading this
will start to make fun of me because no Internet address that begins with 10. is
reachable from the Internet. However, sometimes I place this "test-box" computer
online with a static Internet address, meaning whenever it is on the Internet,
it always has the same numerical address. I'm not going to tell you what its
Internet address is because I don't want anyone messing with it. I just want to
mess with other people's computers with it, muhahaha. That's also why I always
keep my Internet address from showing up in the headers of my emails.

***************
Newbie note: What is all this about headers? It's stuff at the beginning of an
email that may - or may not - tell you a lot about where it came from and when.
To see full headers, in Outlook click view -> full headers. In Eudora, click the
"Blah blah blah" icon.
****************

Want a computer you can telnet into and mess around with, and not get into
trouble no matter what you do to it? I've set up my techbroker.com
(206.61.52.33) with user xyz, password guest for you to play with. Here's how to
forge email to xyz@techbroker.com using telnet. Start with the command:

C:\>telnet techbroker.com 25
Connecting To Techbroker.com

220 Service ready

Now you type in who you want the message to appear to come from:

helo santa@techbroker.com
Techbroker.com will answer:

250 host ready

Next type in your mail from address:

mail from:santa@techbroker.com

250 Requested mail action okay, completed

Your next command:

rcpt to:xyz@techbroker.com
250 Requested mail action okay, completed

Your next command:
data
354 Start main input; end with .


just means hit return. In case you can't see that little
period between the s, what you do to end composing your email is to hit
enter, type a period, then hit enter again. Anyhow, try typing:

This is a test.
.
250 Requested mail action okay, completed
quit
221 Service closing transmission channel

Connection to host lost.

Using techbroker's mail server, even if you enable full headers, the message we
just composed looks like:

Status: R
X-status: N

This is a test.

That's a pretty pathetic forged email, huh? No "from", no date. However, you can
make your headers better by using a trick with the data command. After you give
it, you can insert as many headers as you choose. The trick is easier to show
than explain:

220 Service ready
helo santa@northpole.org
250 host ready
mail from:santa@northpole.com
250 Requested mail action okay, completed
rcpt to:cmeinel@techbroker.com
250 Requested mail action okay, completed
data
354 Start main input; end with .
from:santa@deer.northpole.org
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 10:09:16 -0500
Subject: Rudolf
This is a Santa test.
.
250 Requested mail action okay, completed
quit
221 Service closing transmission channel

Connection to host lost.

The message then looks like:

from:santa@deer.northpole.org
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 10:09:16 -0500
Subject: Rudolf
This is a Santa test.

The trick is to start each line you want in the headers with one word followed
by a colon, and the a line followed by "return". As soon as you write a line
that doesn't begin this way, the rest of what you type goes into the body of the
email.

Notice that the santa@northpole.com from the "mail from:" command didn't show up
in the header. Some mail servers would show both "from" addresses.

You can forge email on techbroker.com within one strict limitation. Your email
has to go to someone at techbroker.com. If you can find any way to send email to
someone outside techbroker, let us know, because you will have broken our
security, muhahaha! Don't worry, you have my permission.

Next, you can read the email you forge on techbroker.com via telnet:

C:\>telnet techbroker.com 110

+OK <30961.5910984301@techbroker.com> service ready

Give this command:
user xyz
+OK user is known

Then type in this:
pass test
+OK mail drop has 2 message(s)

retr 1
+OK message follows
This is a test.

If you want to know all possible commands, give this command:

help
+OK help list follows
USER user
PASS password
STAT
LIST [message]
RETR message
DELE message
NOOP
RSET
QUIT
APOP user md5
TOP message lines
UIDL [message]
HELP

Unless you use a weird online provider like AOL, you can use these same tricks
to send and receive your own email. Or you can forge email to a friend by
telnetting to his or her online provider's email sending computer(s).

With most online providers you need to get the exact name of their email
computer(s). Often it is simply mail.targetcomputer.com (substitute the name of
the online provider for targetcomputer). If this doesn't work, you can find out
the name of their email server with the DOS nslookup program, which only runs
from cmd.exe. Here's an example:


C:\ >nslookup
Default Server: DNS1.wurld.net
Address: 206.61.52.11

> set q=mx
> dimensional.com
Server: DNS1.wurld.net
Address: 206.61.52.11

dimensional.com MX preference = 5, mail exchanger =
mail.dimensional.com
dimensional.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger =
mx2.dimensional.com
dimensional.com MX preference = 20, mail exchanger =
mx3.dimensional.com
dimensional.com nameserver = ns.dimensional.com
dimensional.com nameserver = ns-1.dimensional.com
dimensional.com nameserver = ns-2.dimensional.com
dimensional.com nameserver = ns-3.dimensional.com
dimensional.com nameserver = ns-4.dimensional.com
mail.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.11
mx2.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.30
mx3.dimensional.com internet address = 209.98.32.54
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.10
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.26.254
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.254
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.1.254
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 209.98.32.54
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.32
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.30
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.25
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.15
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.21
ns.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.9
ns-1.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.26.254
ns-2.dimensional.com internet address = 209.98.32.54
ns-3.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.1.254
ns-4.dimensional.com internet address = 206.124.0.254
>

The lines that tell you what computers will let you forge email to people with
@dimensional.com addresses are:

dimensional.com MX preference = 5, mail exchanger =
mail.dimensional.com
dimensional.com MX preference = 10, mail exchanger =
mx2.dimensional.com
dimensional.com MX preference = 20, mail exchanger =
mx3.dimensional.com

MX stands for mail exchange. The lower the preference number, the more they
would like you to use that address for email.If that lowest number server is too
busy, then try another server.

Sometimes when you ask about a mail server, nslookup will give you this kind of
error message:

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to [207.217.120.202] timed-out

To get around this problem, you need to find out what are the domain servers for
your target online provider. A good place to start looking is
http://netsol.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois . If this doesn't work, see
http://happyhacker.org/HHA/fightback.shtml for how to find the domain servers
for any Internet address.

****************
Newbie note: A domain name server provides information on the names and numbers
assigned to computers on the Internet. For example, dns1.wurld.net and
dns2.wurld.net contain information on happyhacker.org, techbroker.com,
securitynewsportal.com, thirdpig.com and sage-inc.com. When you query
dns1.wurld.net about other computers, it might have to go hunting for that
information from other name servers. That's why you might get a timed out
failure.
***************

Once you know the domain servers for an online service, set one of them for the
server for your nslookup program. Here's how you do it:

C:\ >nslookup
Default Server: DNS1.wurld.net
Address: 206.61.52.11

Now give the command:

> server 207.217.126.41
Default Server: ns1.earthlink.net
Address: 207.217.126.41

Next command should be:
> set q=mx
> earthlink.net
Server: ns1.earthlink.net
Address: 207.217.126.41

earthlink.net MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = mx04.earthlink.net
earthlink.net MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = mx05.earthlink.net
earthlink.net MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = mx06.earthlink.net
earthlink.net MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = mx00.earthlink.net
earthlink.net MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = mx01.earthlink.net
earthlink.net MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = mx02.earthlink.net
earthlink.net MX preference = 5, mail exchanger = mx03.earthlink.net
earthlink.net nameserver = ns3.earthlink.net
earthlink.net nameserver = ns1.earthlink.net
earthlink.net nameserver = ns2.earthlink.net
mx00.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.28
mx01.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.29
mx02.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.79
mx03.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.78
mx04.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.249
mx05.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.31
mx06.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.23
ns1.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.126.41
ns2.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.77.42
ns3.earthlink.net internet address = 207.217.120.43
>

Your own online service will usually not mind and may even be glad if you use
telnet to read your email. Sometimes a malicious person or faulty email program
will send you a message that is so screwed up that your email program can't
download it. With telnet you can manually delete the bad email. Otherwise tech
support has to do it for you.

If you think about it, this ability to forge email is a huge temptation to
spammers. How can your online provider keep the bad guys from filling up a
victim's email box with garbage? The first time a bad guy tries this, probably
nothing will stop him or her. The second time the online provider might block
the bad guy at the firewall, maybe call the bad guy's online provider and kick
him or her and maybe get the bad guy busted or sued.

**************
You can go to jail warning: Sending hundreds or thousands of junk emails to bomb
someone's email account is a felony in the US.
***************

***************
You can get sued warning: Spamming, where you send only one email to each
person, but send thousands or millions of emails, is borderline legal. However,
spammers have been successfully sued when they forge the email addresses of
innocent people as senders of their spam.
****************

Now that you know how to read and write email with telnet, you definitely have
something you can use to show off with. Happy hacking!

Oh, here's one last goodie for advanced users. Get netcat for Windows. It's a
free program written by Weld Pond and Hobbit, and available from many sites, for
example
http://www.atstake.com/research/tools/#network_utilities . It is basically
telnet on steroids. For example, using netcat, you can set up a port on your
Windows computer to allow people to telnet into a DOS shell by using this
command:

C:\>nc -L -p 5000 -t -e cmd.exe

You can specify a different port number than 5000. Just make sure it doesn't
conflict with another port by checking with the netstat command. Then you and
your friends, enemies and random losers can either telnet in or netcat in with
the command:

C:\>nc -v [ipaddress of target] [port]

Of course you will probably get hacked for setting up this port. However, if you
set up a sniffer to keep track of the action, you can turn this scary back door
into a fascinating honeypot. For example, you could run it on port 23 and watch
all the hackers who attack with telnet hoping to log in. With some programming
you could even fake a unix-like login sequence and play some tricks on your
attackers.

Read More

REGISTRY EDITING TIPS

Xp Registry tricks

Display Your Quick Launch Toolbar Tip:


Is your Quick Launch toolbar missing from the taskbar?
To display your familiar Quick Launch toolbar:
Right-click an empty area on the taskbar, click Toolbars, and then click Quick Launch.

Easy as that your Quick Launch bar appears. To add items to your Quick Launch toolbar, click the icon for the program you want to add, and drag it to the Quick Launch portion of the taskbar.


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How to remove recycle bin from your desktop Tip:

Open Regedit by going to START - RUN and type Regedit and hit enter. Then you should navigate to following entry in registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} and delete it. This action should remove recycle bin from your desktop.

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How to stop new programs installed balloon from coming up tip:

Right click on START button and select properties. Click on Customize and go to Advanced tab and deselect check box saying "Highlight newly installed programs". This would help you stop this annoying feature from popping up every now and then.



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Unlock Toolbars to Customize Them Tip:

The new Windows XP now features locking toolbars, and you can adjust them. You may customize a lot of the Windows XP features such as the Taskbar, Start Menu, and even toolbar icons in Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Remember your right-click:
* Right-click on a toolbar, and then click Lock the Toolbars to remove the check mark.
* Right-click on the toolbar again, and then click Customize.

You may add or remove toolbar buttons, change text options and icon options. When you've got the toolbar customized, click Close. Now right-click on the toolbar and then click Lock the Toolbars to lock them in place. com


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Want to remove shared documents folder from My Computer window tip:

Some don't like my shared documents folder option. If you are one of that, here is a trick to remove it.Open registry editor by going to START-RUN and entering regedit.
Once in registry, navigate to key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders You must see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this key, you have effectively removed the my shared documents folder.

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How to improve on shutdown time ? Close apps automatically & quickly at shutdown tip:

Open Registry by going to START-RUN and typing REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\CONTROL PANEL\DESKTOP and look for AutoEndTasks. On my computer default value is 0. Change it to 1. Thats all. Further more you can reduce the time it takes for Windows to issue kill directive to all active/hung applications.
In doing this only constraint that you should make sure exists is that HungAppTimeout is greater than WaitToKillAppTimeout. Change the values of WaitToKillAppTimeout to say 3500 (since default value for HungAppTimeout 5000 and for WaitToKillAppTimeout is 20000)


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Are you missing icons Tip:


Are you missing icons? You may be wondering where all the icons from your desktop are in Windows XP? Well if you're like me, you like to have at least My Computer, My Network Places, and My Documents on the your desktop.
You need to:
* Right-click on the desktop, and then click Properties.
* Click the Desktop tab and then click on Customize Desktop.
* Put a check mark in the box next to My Document, My Computer, My Network Places, or Internet Explorer, to add those familiar icons to your desktop. Easy yes!

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How to login as administrator if you don't see it available tip:

Unless and until you have run into issues and fixing XP (under which case you have to go to Safe Mode to login as Administrator), you can get to administrator screen by simply pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE twice at the main screen.

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Speedup boot up sequence by defragmenting all key boot files tip:

Open Registry by going to START-RUN and typing REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction. In right hand panel look for Enable. Right click on it and set it 'Y' for enable. This is the way I have it set on my computer. This will help speedup boot time.


Use a Shortcut to Local Area Network Connection Information:


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Use a Shortcut to Local Area Network Connection Information Tip:


Here's something new in Windows XP, instead of using the command line program and typing ipconfig to get local area network information, you can try using the following shortcut:
* Click on Start, point to Connect to, and then click Show All Connections.
* Right–click the connection you want information about, and then click Status.
* In the connection Properties dialog box, click the Support tab.
* For more information, click on the Advanced tab.

To automatically enable the status monitor each time the connection is active, in the connection Properties dialog box, select the Show icon in taskbar notification area when connected check box.

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Do you know you can have Virtual Desktops (like in Linux) with PowerToys ?

If you have powertoys installed on Windows XP Its available for free at Microsoft download webpage. It is very easy to enable Microsoft Virtual Desktop Feature. Simply right click on the Start Panel Bar also called TaskBar, Click on Tool Bar and select Desktop manager.
You would see a set of 5 icons placed on the right portion of the TAskBar. Click on number 1 to 4 to go to any of the desktops. Now you have have four different Active Desktops.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You may see a little degradation in performance.

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Customize Internet. Explorer Title bar tip:

This tip won't make your computer any faster but may help personalize your computer experience. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and typing REGEDIT. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet. Explorer\Main. In right hand panel look for string "Window Title" and change its value to whatever custom text you want to see.

Easy Text Size Change in Help & IE Tip:
I mentioned a way that you can change the size of the text that is display in the Help file and in Internet Explorer. As it turns out if you have a "wheel mouse," there is an even easier way to change the text size. In Internet Explorer or when viewing a Help file, simply hold the ctrl key while you spin the mouse wheel up to increase text size, or down to decrease text size.
Java VM: Java applets run in Internet Explorer 6 (a component of Windows XP) just as they run in older versions of Internet Explorer. The Java VM is not installed as part of the typical installation, but is installed on demand when a user encounters a page that uses a Java Applet. For more information see the Microsoft Technologies for Java Web site.


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Windows XP Shutdown and Power Off Tip:

On some computers, by default, Windows XP doesn't power off the computer when you tell it to shut down. However, if your computer is relatively new, it can probably by shut completely off by WinXP. To configure your computer for this behavior, simply open the Control Panel, open Performance and Maintenance, then Power Options. On the APM tab, check next to "Enable Advanced Power Management support," then click OK. The next time you choose "Shut Down" from the Start Menu, your computer should shut down completely and then power off.



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Customize Explorer Toolbar Tip:

In Windows Explorer, you can customize the toolbar to make Explorer even more handy. The Toolbar is the bar of icons directly underneath the menu bar. It contains icons for going back, up one level, displaying folders or search, etc. You can right-click an open area of this Toolbar and choose Customize to change the order of these icons, and even to add new icons to it. For instance, I like to add the Map Drive and Disconnect buttons. In Windows XP, you may have to unlock the Taskbar before you can make changes in Windows Explorer.
Lock the Taskba - If you find that your Windows XP Taskbar keeps being changed, or moved to one side or the top of your screen, and you didn't mean to have it do that, this tip is for you. Once you have your Task Bar arranged the way you like it, in the right location on the screen, and with all the right toolbars and icons, you can lock it, so that it won't get changed accidentally. To lock the Taskbar, simply right click it and choose Properties. In the window that appears, check the box (click) next to "Lock the Taskbar." Now you won't accidentally bump the mouse and have your Task bar end up on another side of the screen.


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Check Personal Firewall Status Tip:

In the previous tip, I mention how to turn on Windows XP's Personal Firewall feature. But once you turn it on, your connection looks just the same as it did before. How can you check the status of the connection and the firewall? Simply open Control Panel from the Start Menu, open Internet and Network Connections, then Network Connections. By default the view is of large icons.
Click the View Menu, and choose "details" in order to reveal several more columns of information about the connections that your computer has. Check the Status column to see if your connection is currently connected, and whether or not it is "firewalled." You can even drag the column headings around (I like to slide the Status column right next to the Name column. You can even remove entire columns by right-clicking the column heading and unchecking it.

Where does Window's Product Id get stored Tip:


There are two places at least where ProductId gets stored. To see the first place, open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]. In right pane, look for key by the name "ProductId". This is your Windows Product Id. Alternatively you can navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion] and still find same field with the name ProductId.



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You can Keep Your Favorite Programs on Top of the Start Menu tip:


Do you have a favorite program that you frequently use? Elevate its priority on the Start menu by putting it at the top of the list. This ensures that the program will remain on the Start menu and cannot be bumped by other programs, even if you use the others more frequently.
Right-click the link to your favorite program on the Start menu and select Pin to Start Menu.
Your program will be moved permanently to the top part of the list, just below your browser and e-mail programs.

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Having problems with Outlook Express ? Does it ask for password every time you connect tip:

If this is problem for you. Sometimes no matter what you do, Outlook Express forgets your password and asks you to enter it again each and every time you connect to your mail server.I have a solution that may work for you. Open Registry by going to START-RUN and entering REGEDIT and Navigate to HKEY_CURRRENT USER\Software\Microsoft and look for "Protected Storage System Provider". There is a good chance that you will see this folder. If you have it. Simply delete it. More than likely, you have solved your problem.

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How to avoid auto play of CD ? Way I like best tip.


Hey this time no registry trick even though there are ways in registry to do it. In earlier operating systems only those CD that had autorun.inf file in their root directory were able to execute on its own but with advent of WINDOWS XP it has become possible with just about anything. Well sometimes it is good but there are other times when you want to avoid this part of automation. What would I do. Simply press SHIFT key when you enter a CD in your CD drive. It won't Auto play. For those of you, who do want a registry hack. Here it is:
Open Registry and navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer] and look for key "NoDriveTypeAutoRun" and set its value to 185 (decimal). This would stop autoplay.


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This tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP.
Did you know you can customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key.


* Click Start, and then click Run.
* Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
* Expand the menu in the left panel and select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder.
* Scroll down in the right panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file.
* In the Value Data box, change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number, such as 1.
*Click OK.
Caution: Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Before making changes to the registry, you may want to back up any valued data on your computer.

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Customizing Windows Explorer Context menu (right click menu in windows explorer)

Ever wondered how does the right click menu (which is actually a context menu) work ? For example, when I right click in windows explorer, I see an option which says "open command window here". Do You know why I see this ? Well I see this because I have following entries in my registry.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\cmd]
@="Open Command Window Here"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\cmd\command]
@="C:\WINDOWS\System32\cmd.exe /k cd "%1""
If You have never used a tweaking utility and have newly installed Windows XP, You would not see this option. You would have to navigate to [[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive] go and create two subkeys ("cmd" and within that "command" and would have to put the text "Open Command Window Here" without quotes in default string value of "cmd" key and the text "C:\WINDOWS\System32\cmd.exe /k CD"%1"" without quotes in default string value of command key). After this You need to REBOOT for these changes to take effect.
Trick is in adding similar entries for other applications as well even though its much harder to come with ideas about what to put in the context menu!!!! .

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ALL KEYBORDS SHORTCUTS

All keyboard Shortcuts

1.) Windows Hotkeys

• Shift + F10 right-clicks.

• Win + L (XP Only): Locks keyboard. Similar to Lock Workstation.

• Win + F or F3: Open Find dialog. (All Files) F3 may not work in some applications which use F3 for their own find dialogs.

• Win + Control + F: Open Find dialog. (Computers)

• Win + U: Open Utility Manager.

• Win + F1: Open Windows help.

• Win + Pause: Open System Properties dialog.

• Win + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons. Enter clicks, AppsKey or Shift + F10 right-clicks.

• Win + Shift + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse.

• Alt + Tab: Display Cool Switch. More commonly known as the AltTab dialog.

• Alt + Shift + Tab: Display Cool Switch; go in reverse.

• Alt + Escape: Send active window to the bottom of the z-order.

• Alt + Shift + Escape: Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order.

• Alt + F4: Close active window; or, if all windows are closed, open shutdown dialog.

• Shift while a CD is loading: Bypass AutoPlay.

• Shift while login: Bypass startup folder. Only those applications will be ignored which are in the startup folder, not those started from the registry (Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\)

• Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDel (Both NumLock states): Invoke the Task Manager or NT Security dialog.

• Ctrl + Shift + Escape (2000/XP ) or (Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDot) : Invoke the task manager. On earlier OSes, acts like Ctrl + Escape.

• Print screen: Copy screenshot of current screen to clipboard.

• Alt + Print screen: Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard.

• Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow: Invert screen. Untested on OS's other than XP.

• Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow: Undo inversion.

• Win + B : Move focus to systray icons.

2.) Generic

• Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert: Copy.

• Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete: Cut.

• Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert: Paste/Move.

• Ctrl + N: New... File, Tab, Entry, etc.

• Ctrl + S: Save.

• Ctrl + O: Open...

• Ctrl + P: Print.

• Ctrl + Z: Undo.

• Ctrl + A: Select all.

• Ctrl + F: Find...

• Ctrl+W : to close the current window

• Ctrl + F4: Close tab or child window.

• F1: Open help.

• F11: Toggle full screen mode.

• Alt or F10: Activate menu bar.

• Alt + Space: Display system menu. Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar.

• Escape: Remove focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box.

3.) Generic Navigation

• Tab: Forward one item.

• Shift + Tab: Backward one item.

• Ctrl + Tab: Cycle through tabs/child windows.

• Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows.

• Enter: If a button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default button.

• Space: Toggle items such as radio buttons or checkboxes.

• Alt + (Letter): Activate item corresponding to (Letter). (Letter) is the underlined letter on the item's name.

• Ctrl + Left: Move cursor to the beginning of previous word.

• Ctrl + Right: Move cursor to the beginning of next word.

• Ctrl + Up: Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. This and all subsequent Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to work in Rich Edit controls.

• Ctrl + Down: Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph.

• Shift + Left: Highlight one character to the left.

• Shift + Right: Highlight one character to the right.

• Shift + Up: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up.

• Shift + Down: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line down.

• Ctrl + Shift + Left: Highlight to beginning of previous word.

• Ctrl + Shift + Right: Highlight to beginning of next word.

• Ctrl + Shift + Up: Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph.

• Ctrl + Shift + Down: Highlight to beginning of next paragraph.

• Home: Move cursor to top of a scrollable control.

• End: Move cursor to bottom of a scrollable control.

4.) Generic File Browser

• Arrow Keys: Navigate.

• Shift + Arrow Keys: Select multiple items.

• Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Change focus without changing selection. "Focus" is the object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection of the focused item.

• (Letter): Select first found item that begins with (Letter).

• BackSpace: Go up one level to the parent directory.

• Alt + Left: Go back one folder.

• Alt + Right: Go forward one folder.

• Enter: Activate (Double-click) selected item(s).

• Alt + Enter: View properties for selected item.

• F2: Rename selected item(s).

• Ctrl + NumpadPlus: In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the longest item in each one.

• Delete: Delete selected item(s).

• Shift + Delete: Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin.

• Ctrl while dragging item(s): Copy.

• Ctrl + Shift while dragging item(s): Create shortcut(s).

• In tree pane, if any:

• Left: Collapse the current selection if expanded, or select the parent folder.

• Right: Expand the current selection if collapsed, or select the first subfolder.

• Numpad Asterisk: Expand currently selected directory and all subdirectories. No undo.

• Numpad Plus: Expand currently selected directory.

• Numpad Minus: Collapse currently selected directory.

5.) Accessibility

• Right Shift for eight seconds: Toggle FilterKeys on and off. FilterKeys must be enabled.

• Left Alt + Left Shift + PrintScreen: Toggle High Contrast on and off. High Contrast must be enabled.

• Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock: Toggle MouseKeys on and off. MouseKeys must be enabled.

• NumLock for five seconds: Toggle ToggleKeys on and off. ToggleKeys must be enabled.

• Shift five times: Toggle StickyKeys on and off. StickyKeys must be enabled.

• 6.) Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software Installed

• Win + L: Log off Windows.

• Win + P: Open Print Manager.

• Win + C: Open control panel.

• Win + V: Open clipboard.

• Win + K: Open keyboard properties.

• Win + I: Open mouse properties.

• Win + A: Open Accessibility properties.

• Win + Space: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys.

• Win + S: Toggle CapsLock on and off.

7.) Remote Desktop Connection Navigation

• Ctrl + Alt + End: Open the NT Security dialog.

• Alt + PageUp: Switch between programs.

• Alt + PageDown: Switch between programs in reverse.

• Alt + Insert: Cycle through the programs in most recently used order.

• Alt + Home: Display start menu.

• Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen.

• Alt + Delete: Display the Windows menu.

• Ctrl + Alt + NumpadMinus: Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrintScreen on a local computer.

• Ctrl + Alt + NumpadPlus: Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PrintScreen on a local computer.

8.) Mozilla Firefox Shortcuts

• Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PageDown: Cycle through tabs.

• Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PageUp: Cycle through tabs in reverse.

• Ctrl + (1-9): Switch to tab corresponding to number.

• Ctrl + N: New window.

• Ctrl + T: New tab.

• Ctrl + L or Alt + D or F6: Switch focus to location bar.

• Ctrl + Enter: Open location in new tab.

• Shift + Enter: Open location in new window.

• Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E: Switch focus to search bar.

• Ctrl + O: Open a local file.

• Ctrl + W: Close tab, or window if there's only one tab open.

• Ctrl + Shift + W: Close window.

• Ctrl + S: Save page as a local file.

• Ctrl + P: Print page.

• Ctrl + F or F3: Open find toolbar.

• Ctrl + G or F3: Find next...

• Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3: Find previous...

• Ctrl + B or Ctrl + I: Open Bookmarks sidebar.

• Ctrl + H: Open History sidebar.

• Escape: Stop loading page.

• Ctrl + R or F5: Reload current page.

• Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5: Reload current page; bypass cache.

• Ctrl + U: View page source.

• Ctrl + D: Bookmark current page.

• Ctrl + NumpadPlus or Ctrl + Equals (+/=): Increase text size.

• Ctrl + NumpadMinus or Ctrl + Minus: Decrease text size.

• Ctrl + Numpad0 or Ctrl + 0: Set text size to default.

• Alt + Left or Backspace: Back.

• Alt + Right or Shift + Backspace: Forward.

• Alt + Home: Open home page.

• Ctrl + M: Open new message in integrated mail client.

• Ctrl + J: Open Downloads dialog.

• F6: Switch to next frame. You must have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use of Tab.

• Shift + F6: Switch to previous frame.

• Apostrophe ('): Find link as you type.

• Slash (/): Find text as you type.

9.) Gmail

• Note: Must have "keyboard shortcuts" on in settings.

• C: Compose new message.

• Shift + C: Open new window to compose new message.

• Slash (/): Switch focus to search box.

• K: Switch focus to the next most recent email. Enter or "O" opens focused email.

• J: Switch focus to the next oldest email.

• N: Switch focus to the next message in the "conversation." Enter or "O" expands/collapses messages.

• P: Switch focus to the previous message.

• U: Takes you back to the inbox and checks for new mail.

• Y: Various actions depending on current view:

• Has no effect in "Sent" and "All Mail" views.

• Inbox: Archive email or message.

• Starred: Unstar email or message.

• Spam: Unmark as spam and move back to "Inbox."

• Trash: Move back to "Inbox."

• Any label: Remove the label.

• X: "Check" an email. Various actions can be performed against all checked emails.

• S: "Star" an email. Identical to the more familiar term, "flagging."

• R: Reply to the email.

• A: Reply to all recipients of the email.

• F: Forward an email.

• Shift + R: Reply to the email in a new window.

• Shift + A: Reply to all recipients of the email in a new window.

• Shift + F: Forward an email in a new window.

• Shift + 1 (!): Mark an email as spam and remove it from the inbox.

• G then I: Switch to "Inbox" view.

• G then S: Switch to "Starred" view.

• G then A: Switch to "All Mail" view.

• G then C: Switch to "Contacts" view.

• G then S: Switch to "Drafts" view.

10.) List of F1-F9 Key Commands for the Command Prompt

• F1 / right arrow: Repeats the letters of the last command line, one by one.

• F2: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to copy up to" of the last command line

• F3: Repeats the last command line

• F4: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to delete up to" of the last command line

• F5: Goes back one command line

• F6: Enters the traditional CTRL+Z (^z)

• F7: Displays a menu with the command line history

• F8: Cycles back through previous command lines (beginning with most recent)

• F9: Displays a dialog asking user to enter a command number, where 0 is for first command line entered.

• Alt+Enter: toggle full Screen mode.

• up/down: scroll thru/repeat previous entries

• Esc: delete line

• Note: The buffer allows a maximum of 50 command lines. After this number is reached, the first line will be replaced in sequence.

:: Helpful accessibility keyboard shortcuts ::

• Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
• Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
• Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
• Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
• Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds

Read More

Xp problems and their solutions ::

1) When I try to access my task manager (Ctr+Alt+Del)...it displays message
'task manger has been disabled by your administrator'..., and also I cant access my registry too..!!
what may have caused this problem....
is it because of some VIRUS...????
how can I repair this without re installing...?? any particular software??

1: Close the IE browser. Log out messenger / Remove Internet Cable.
2: To enable Regedit
Click Start, Run and type this command exactly as given below: (better - Copy and paste)
REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\System /v DisableRegistryTools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
3: To enable task manager : (To kill the process we need to enable task manager)
Click Start, Run and type this command exactly as given below: (better - Copy and paste)
REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
4: Now we need to change the default page of IE though regedit.
Start>Run>Regedit
From the below locations in Regedit change your default home page to google.com or other.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
HKEY_USERS\Default\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
Just replace the attacker site with google.com or set it to blank page.
5: Now we need to kill the process from back end. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del
Kill the process svhost32.exe . ( may be more than one process is running.. check properly)
6: Delete svhost32.exe , svhost.exe files from Windows/ & temp/ directories. Or just search for svhost in your comp.. delete those files.
7: Go to regedit search for svhost and delete all the results you get.
Start menu > Run > Regedit >
8: Restart the computer. That’s it now you are virus free.

it works !!

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2)I don't have I.I.S.( Internet Information Services) windows component on my system ::

As far as I know one can't have IIS running on XP Home. I think u will have to upgrade it to XP Prof.
in proff That's simple get the Win XP CD, go to control panel-->add/remove programs and then to add/remove windows components. There u will find the option for adding IIS, just check the checkbox and follow the instructions. You r done!!

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3) Folder Option Vanished ::

IF U WANT UR FILES THAT WERE HIDDEN U CAN TYPE *.* IN SEARCH AND ALSO TICK THE OPTION "INCLUDE HIDDEN FILES".
NOW SEARCH IN THE DRIVE IN WHICH U STORED UR FILES, U WILL GET UR FILES BUT TO GET BACK THE OPTION U EITHER HAVE TO REINSTALL WINDOWS OR REPAIR IT. well this is as far as I know..

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4) My volume icon is not showing in taskbar, Yet It's Enable From Control Panel > Sound And devices

Assuming that you have tried the basic steps i am directly trying with the most possible solutions. This issue most commmonly occurs because the settings are not saved. Also there might be some startup program which is diabling the Systray.exe from loading up.

Try this...
1) Re-enable the volume icon by disabling and then enabling Place volume icon in the taskbar in the Sound and Audio applet.
2) Then copy the following text which is in red into a notepad file and then save it as "fix.reg". Please make sure that there is no .txt extension after that.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"SystemTray"="SysTray.Exe"

3) Merge the file to the registry by simply double clicking on it.
4) Reboot

This should definitely work. Please reply back with the status.

Cheers

:shared from internet (bond)

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5)Whenever I try downloading stuff from the net, the download starts and the comp just restarts. due to this I have to install downloading managers which I hate. help needed anyone. I have win Xp!

If the computer just restarts itself, it cud possibly be an application crash..
check the Dr.watson log for details..
START-RUN- drwtsn32.
check the path for the log here... open the log and check which application is causing the crash.
turn of automatic reboot,cos you wud miss it if there is a BSOD being generated.

or may be u could try this one out

Go to Start>Run--Type 'services.msc', hit ENTER
Scroll down to a service called Remote Procedure Call, right click, go to properties, there will be a tab named Recover Action, change it to 'Take No Action' if it's not already selected. Your problem should be solved for the time being. Also look for all network related srvices DNS, TCP-IP and also Windows Firewall/ICS service if you're on LAN/WAN, see that all of these are set to Automatic or Manual. Reply to me with results

6)I accidentally deleted the Show Desktop icon which sits normally on the bottom left hand corner of the Taskbar. How do I restore the icon?

Click Start, Run and type the following command:

regsvr32 /n /i:U shell32.dll

The Show Desktop icon file should be available now.


or

Click Start, Run, and type Notepad.exe. Copy the following contents to Notepad.

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save the file as - : Show Desktop.scf. Now, drag the file to the Quick Launch Toolbar. (Notepad might automatically append a .txt extension to the file name. Remove this extension if present.)

Read More

CHANGING START LOGO

Change Start logo in Xp ::

I’ve read a number of articles on the internet about changing the text on the Start button in XP. On more than one occasion I’ve seen references to a five (5) letter limitation when the button is renamed. I always wondered if this was true or just an assumption someone made because the default ‘start’ just happened to fit the button size. So, I decided to run a test and see if there really was a five character limit.

First of all just u need to do is download Resource hacker.

Resource Hacker TM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Win95, Win98, Win ME, WinNT, Win2000 and Win XP operating systems.

ll its just 541Kb in the size.. click here to go to the download Page


Download Resource Hacker


First Step

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe
The category we are going to be using is String Table In Resource Hacker. Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the string table as shown in Fig. 02. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry

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Second Step – Modify the Registry

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type Regedit in the Open: field. Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ Current Version\ Win logon

the right pane (Fig. 05), double click the Shell entry to open the Edit String dialog box as shown in Fig. 06. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.


u can of course change the text of other Balloon Items , My Computer Name, Favorites and so on many mor

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MORE XP TRICKS

Want to hack Windows XP login password ::

so what if u don't know the password of your admin and still want to hack and change .. yea u can do it ..in a very easy manner.. check this. just follow the steps.. this doesn't require u to know the admin password but still u can change it..

Start >> Run >> [type]cmd // this will open your command prompt
[type] net(space)user(press enter)
[type] net(space)user(space)[windowsloginid](sp ace)*(press enter)

// for e.g. : net user Shaswat *(press enter)

[type] new password (press enter) and retype it (press enter).. it will show u confirmation... // caution it wont show u the password u type.. but it still types.. the blinking pointer will b there at the same place.. but it still works..
// for e.g. : password changed successfully.


well.. this is so easy and can b done within seconds.. anyways enjoy

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Locking your files in windows ::

to secure ur folders u don't need any s/w in windows Xp and win 2000.Just follow the trick.

1) create a folder in any drive (here D:/)

abc --> (ur files)

2)here in "D:/" create two batch files "lock.bat", "unlock.bat". write the following code in it.

In lock.bat
ren abc abc.{0000031D-0000-0000-C000-00000000004 6}

In unlock.bat
ren abc.{0000031D-0000-0000-C000-00000000004 6} abc


4) place ur personal files inside it. And now press lock.bat in D:, now try opening it. Bingo i think u got it. To unlock click unlock.bat.

** u can change "abc" to ur folder name (say personal..).
u can other keys to rename like,

{48F45200-91E6-11CE-8A4F-0080C81A28D4}
{0B6DC6EE-C4FD-11d1-819A-00C04FB69B4D}

I found some trouble in some systems. This technique is not working there. So there is another way to secure folder contents.

Here use the following keys instead of given above.

{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} - Turned to Explorer
{0DF44EAA-FF21-4412-828E-260A8728E7F1} - turned to start menu properties
{6DFD7C5C-2451-11d3-A299-00C04F8EF6AF} - Turned to Folder Options
{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E} - Turned to Network Connections
{D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524152} - Turned to Fonts Folder
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} - Turned to Schedule tasks
{E211B736-43FD-11D1-9EFB-0000F8757FCD} - Turned to Scanners & camera

{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} - Turned to Recycle bin

{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} - Turned to Printers Folder

I actually use this technique for my programming things to open specified folders. But i found it is possible to secure our personal files using this technique.

So enjoy.

Don't ask me hw to write batch files...

To Experts
Well by using this method 1 can lock files in folder, but those can be deleted. Is there any way to secure even form deleting. I am working on it but never succeeded.

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Preventing Windows From Shutting Down ::

Hey dis is a cool trick u can play on ur friends
u can prevent people from shutting down their computer
jus go to Run --> type regedit.exe
Scroll Down to this path -
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Win dows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
create a new dword value named NoClose by clicking on Edit --> New --> Dword Value
Set its Value Data to 1 to disable the shut down option
Have fun

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Folder Options missing ::

Many of us sometimes find the folder options missing in windows explorer.
Here's the solution
Open Run and then type "gpedit.msc".
Now goto User Configuration > Administrative templates > Windows Component > Windows Explorer.
Click on Windows Explorer you will find the 3rd option on the right side of screen "Removes the Folder Option menu item from the Tools menu"
Just check it, if it is not configured then change it to enable by double clicking on it and after applying again set it to not configured.

I hopes that you will find the option after restarting windows.

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Renaming The Recycle Bin icon::

To change the name of the Recycle Bin desktop icon, click Start then goto Run, write Regedit and press Enter. It opens Registry Editor. Now in Registry Editor go to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{645FF040-5081-1 01B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
and change the name "Recycle Bin" to whatever you want (don't type any quotes).

Managing Tasks ::
You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'task kill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'task list', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

Removing Shared Documents folder From My Computer window:

Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering Regedit. Once in registry, navigate to key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Current Version \ Explorer \ My Computer \ Namespace \ Delegate Folders

You must see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this key, you have effectively removed the my shared documents folder.

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Making Google the Default Search Engine in Internet Explorer ::

Open registry editor by going to Start then Run and entering regedit and navigate to following three keys separately and change it as shown below:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\In ternet Explorer\Main]
"Search Page"=" http://www.google.com"
"Search Bar"=" http://www.google.com/ie"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\In ternet Explorer\SearchURL]
""=" http://www.google.com/keyword/%s"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\I nternet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"=" http://www.google.com/ie"

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HACKING WINDOWS XP

How To Make A Shutdown Timer ::

********** METHOD # 1 ***************

1. Right click on your desktop and choose "New=>shortcuts".

2. In the box that says "Type the location of the shortcut",
   type in "shutdown -s -t 3600" without the quotation marks and click next. Note: 3600 are the amount of seconds before your computer shuts down. So , 60secs*60mins=3600secs.
   

3. Make up a name for the shortcut and you're done.
   You can change the icon by right clicking=>properities=>change icon=>browse

TO ABORT:
To make an abort key to stop the shutdown timer just create another shortcut and make
the "location of the shortcut" to " shutdown -a" without the quotes.


********* METHOD # 2 **************

{EASIER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONE}


Here is another trick to shutdown at a specific time, for example you wish to shutdown at 11:35am. Type this in

start=>Run

Type Code: at 11:35 shutdown -s

TO ABORT:
Code: shutdown -a

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Put any site on desktop in windows XP ::

To start right click anywhere on your desktop and choose Properties > Desktop > Customize Desktop > Web. You should be at this window:

Click on the New button and type the address of the Web Site you would like to have as your desktop.

Click Ok

On the next window you have the option to customize the Desktop Synchronization. Click Customize, then next and select how you want it to synchronize. If your using a website that requires a password enter it now and click finish. Click Ok.

Windows will then synchronize the page to make it available for your desktop.

Make sure the Lock desktop Items box is NOT checked as you will not be able to move it around once complete. Click Ok, then Ok again on the last window.

You should now have a box on your desktop which will load your desktop website.

You can click up at the corner of the window to maximize it or you can drag it to suit it to your needs.

Now you have a fully functional web desktop. You can click on links from that to navigate, or if your using Google, you can simply enter your search directly into the box

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Set Processes Priority ::

Follow this tip to increase the priority of active processes, this will result in prioritisation of processes using the CPU.

CTRL-SHIFT-ESC

1.Go to the second tab called Processes, right click on one of the active processes, you will see the Set Priority option
2.For example, your Run your CD writer program , set the priority higher, and guess what, no crashed CD’s

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Shutdown Trick ! ::

Imidiate rapid shut down window
while shutting down window. open task manager(Ctr+Alt+Del),
Select shut down tab. and press ' Ctrl ' key while select Turn Off from dis tab.
Count 5 4 3 2 1 Voila!!! U r window will rapidly shut down.

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Speed Up Ur Shut down !! ::


Start Regedit.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
Right click on it and select Modify.
Set it a value lower than 2000 (Mine is set to 200).

and !

Like previous versions of windows, it takes long time to restart or shutdown windows xp when the "Exit Windows" sound is enabled. to solve this problem you
must disable this useless sound. click start button then go to settings -> control panel -> Sound,Speech and Audio devices -> Sounds and Audio Devices -> Sounds, then under program events and windows menu click on "Exit Windows" sub-menu and highlight it.now from sounds you can select,choose "none" and then click apply and ok. now you can see some improvements when shutting down your system.

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Hide your folders disguise them to "Recycle Bin" ::

Rename any folder with extension {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
e.g.,
if we've a folder games
press F2,
then type, "games.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"
c the magic....
then 2 get to original form,
remove the extension using
"ren games.{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} games" in dos or as a bat file


n u are done..

~cheers~

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System information ::

system up time only for xp professional edition
It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous
versions of Windows were coy about how long they went
between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina.
Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from
the All Programs start button option, and then type
'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of
useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep
these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a
file called info.txt you can look at later with
Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

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lock pc just by double clicking mouse ::

You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of
the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using
a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe
user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field.
Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just
double click on it and your computer will be locked.
And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do
the same.

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Speed up your Acrobat reader almost like notepad ::

Do u get irritated when acrobat reader takes 5/10 seconds to load when you want to open a pdf document. There is a way to speed up the loading.

1. Go to the installation folder of acrobat reader
(C:\program files\adobe\acrobat\reader\.. whatever)

2. Move all the files and folders from the "plugins" directory to the "Optional" directory. (I repeat.. cut and paste the files NOT copy & paste).

Also make sure that acrobat reader is not open else it will lock the files and not allow you to move the files).

Now your acrobat reader will load very fast
and almost as good as notepad..

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Remove Stored username and Passwords ::

To remove the Stored User Names and Passwords from your system, try this:
Click Start, Run and type Control keymgr.dll
Remove the entries from the list.
The other ways to access this dialog are:
Type Control Userpasswords2 in RUN box, click Advanced, Manage Passwords
-or-
From Control Panel, select your User Account, click Manage your network passwords

It Works

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Remove the Username and picture from Windows XP New Start Menu ::

The User account picture can be removed by turning off the Welcome Screen. Or, by switching to Windows Classic theme. Follow the method described in this article if you want to remove the username and picture from the Start Menu, without disabling the Welcome Screen and Windows XP Theme.

For those who want to remove the user name and user account picture from Start Menu, in order to have a blank blue panel at the top, try this:
Start Windows Explorer and go to this folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures

From that folder, rename the BMP file which corresponds to your user account.
( For example, if your username is Robert, rename Robert.bmp to old_Robert.bmp )
Next, rename the following folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures

to something else, say...

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\No_Default Pictures
To remove the user name, follow these steps

Start regedit.exe and navigate to the this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft\ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer
In the right-pane, set NoUserNameInStartMenu value-data to 1

Close Regedit.exe and restart Windows.

You'll end up with a blue space at the top of the Start Menu.

---

To get back the username and the picture, reverse the above procedure::

For the New Start Menu, Windows XP looks for the .bmp file in the folder

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures

If the file is not found, it takes a picture from the "Default Pictures" sub-folder. By renaming the .bmp and the "Default Pictures" folder, you're giving no chance for Windows to fetch an image for the Start Menu

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Notepad Trick ! for complete list move to NOTEPAD TRICKS page ::

Well quite old but here is d complete collection

Step 1: Open Notepad
Step 2: Write following line in the notepad.
this app can break
Step 3: Save this file as xxx.txt
Step 4: Close the notepad.
Step 5: Open the file again.

Viola!!

or

1> Open Notepad
2> Enter four words separated by spaces, wherein the first word has 4 letters, the next two have three letters, and the last word has five letters
3> DON'T hit enter at the end of the line.
4> Save the file.
5> Close Notepad.
6> Reopen Notepad.
7> Open the file you just saved.

or

Open a note pad
type Bush hid the facts
save that file,
close it
again open and see...

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NOTEPAD "world trade centre trick".. ::

Did you know that the flight number of the plane that had hit WTC ...on
9/11 was Q33N ....Open your Notepad in ur computer and type the flight
number i.e Q33N... Increase the Font Size to 72, Change the Font to
Wingdings. U will be amazed by the findings.

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log trick !! make your Notepad a diary ::

Sometimes we want to insert current data and time, whenever we open the file in the notepad. If you are a lazy person like me, who don’t like to press F5 whenever you open a notepad. Then here is a trick to avoid this. Just add a .LOG in the first line of your text file and close it.
Whenever you open the file with that text in the first line in the notepad, it will insert the current date and time at the end of the file. You can start entering your text after that.

WHY?

The reason this happens:

In notepad, any other 4-3-3-5 letter word combo will have the same results.
It is all to do with a limitation in Windows. Text files containing Unicode UTF-16-encoded Unicode are supposed to start with a "Byte-Order Mark" (BOM), which is a two-byte flag that tells a reader how the following UTF-16 data is encoded.

1) You are saving to 8-bit Extended ASCII (Look at the Save As / Encoding format)
2) You are reading from 16-bit UNICODE (You guessed it, look at the Save As / Encoding format)
This is why the 18 8-bit characters are being displayed as 9 (obviously not supported by your codepage) 16-bit UNICODE characters

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Speed up menu Display ::

When using the start menu the you will notice a delay between different tiers of the menu hierarchy. For the fastest computer experience possible I recommend changing this value to zero. This will allow the different tiers to appear instantly.

Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Select MenuShowDelay from the list on the right.

Right on it and select Modify.
Change the value to 0.
Reboot your computer.

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Clicking* .avi files on explorer causing 100% CPU usage ::

Well windows seem to have a REALLY big problem when it comes to reading AVI files. It seems that when you click on an AVI file in explorer, it'll try to read the entire AVI file to determine the width,height, etc. of the AVI file (this is displayed in the Properties window). Now the problem with Windows is that if you have a broken/not fully downloaded AVI file that doesnt contain this info, Windows will scan the entire AVI file trying to figure out all these properties which in the process will probably cause 100% CPU usage and heavy memory usage. To solve this problem all you have to do is the following:
1. Open up regedit
2. Goto HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler
3. Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}"
Voila! Please not that this will no longer provide you with the windows properties displaying the AVI file information such as width, height, bitrate etc. But its a small price to pay for saving you resources.
NOTE: Please use caution when using regedit. Improper usage may cause windows to behave imcorrectly. Also, I cannot be held resposible. Backup your registry first.

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CD ROM STOPS AUTO PLAYING/AUTO RUN ::

And the AutoPlay Tab has disappeared in My Computer, Devices With Removable Storage, Right Click on CDROM, Properties.
Solution: The service: "Shell Hardware Detection" has been set to Manual or Disabled. Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Return this service to "Automatic".

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How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent ::

Go to Control Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"

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Display Message on startup ::

Start regedit, if you are unfamiliar with regedit please see our FAQ.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Modify the key legalnoticecaption with what you want to name the window.
Modify the key legalnoticetext with what you want the window to say. Restart

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Auto Delete temporary folder ::

ll what i prefer is %temp% " without quotes.. at Start -> Run..
this opens your temp folder n den u cal erase it neatly// still try this one too..


First go into gpedit.msc
Next select -> Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Terminal Services/Temporary Folder
Then right click "Do Not Delete Temp Folder Upon Exit"
Go to properties and hit disable. Now next time Windows puts a temp file in that folder it will automatically delete it when its done! Note from Forum Admin: Remember, GPEDIT (Group Policy Editor) is only available in XP Pro.

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Make your PDF files to speak::

make your PDF files to speak
here r the shortcuts for hearing PDF files in adobe reader 6.0 or higher

ctrl + shift + b ---->to hear the whole topic
ctrl +shift + v ---->to hear the page

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