Gahn
Resident Freddy
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2004
- Messages
- 5,056
Some of em in no particular order:
Prevent a shutdown of a Windows XP system
This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional. Since editing the registry is risky, be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes.
By default, at three o’clock every morning Windows XP’s Automatic Updates tool contacts the Windows Update site and automatically downloads and installs updates for your system. However, that can't happen if other people who use the computer shut it down at the end of the day. Fortunately, you can prevent anyone from shutting down Windows XP with a little registry tweak. Here’s how:
1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Right-click the Explorer subkey and select New | DWORD Value.
4. Name the key NoClose and press Enter twice.
5. Type 1 in the Value Data text box and click OK.
To enable the setting, close the Registry Editor and restart your system. Once your system restarts, you will not be able to it shut down by clicking the Shutdown button on the Start menu. This will prevent most users from inadvertently shutting down the computer.
When you do want to shut down your system, just access Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete, then pull down the Shut Down menu and select the Turn Off command.
Automatically generate and assign strong passwords in Windows XP
This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional systems in either a stand-alone or peer-to-peer workgroup configuration.
Computer users consistently use very simplistic logic when creating passwords. For example, many of us choose meaningful words, personal dates, or a word commonly found in the dictionary because it makes the password easy to remember. These common practices cause us to sacrifice the security that passwords are intended to provide.
If you’re really at a loss when it comes to thinking of a strong password, you can let Windows XP create and assign a random password to your account. To let Windows XP generate your password, follow these steps.
Copyright ©2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit Downloads - TechRepublic
10 Windows XP tricks and timesavers
Warning: Before you follow these steps, please be sure that you are paying careful attention and are ready to actually use a password that might not be as memorable as you’re accustomed to! Also, you cannot use this tip on a Windows Server domain.
1. Open a Command Prompt window and type:
net user username /random (username is your login account name)
2. Press Enter. Windows XP will randomly generate a secure password, as well as assign that strong password to your account. Windows XP will also display the strong password so you can remember it.
At your discretion, you may want to create a Password Reset Disk at this point. This disk will allow you to gain access to your computer in the event you forget your password. Here’s how to create the disk:
1. Open the Control Panel and double-click the User Accounts tool.
2. Click your account icon.
3. Select Prevent A Forgotten Password under Related Tasks.
4. Follow the instructions provided by the wizard.
Permanently set Windows XP's Windows Explorer as your flash drive's default AutoPlay action
If you have a USB flash drive holding various Windows XP files, you may want to configure the drive to automatically open Windows Explorer rather than display the AutoPlay dialog box.
You can select the Open Folder To View Files In Windows Explorer and select the Always Do The Selected Action check box but that only configures the flash drive for one file type. Here's how to configure your flash drive to open Windows Explorer for all file types at the same time:
Insert your flash drive into the USB port.
When you see the AutoPlay dialog box, click Cancel.
Open My Computer, right-click your flash drive icon, and select Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, select the AutoPlay tab.
Perform the following steps for each item in the Content Type drop-down list:
- Select an item in the Content Type drop-down list.
- Choose Select An Action To Perform in the Actions panel.
- Select the Open Folder To View Files In Windows Explorer action.
- Click the Apply button.
Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.
Now use the Safely Remove Hardware feature to remove your flash drive -- wait a moment and plug it back in. You'll see the AutoPlay progress appear momentarily, and then you should see Windows Explorer open to show the contents of the flash drive.
Speed up Windows XP's defrag operations
A simple way to speed up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to restart the system before you launch Defrag. This allows the operating system to clear out the swap/paging file and reset it to the default size. This lets Defrag focus strictly on the necessary data on the hard disk, without having to stop and manage a huge swap file loaded with unneeded data.
Another approach to speeding up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to configure them to occur immediately upon startup. Fortunately, you can do so easily with a simple registry edit. Follow these steps:
Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\RunOnce.
Right-click the RunOncesubkey and select New | String Value.
Name the value Defrag and press [Enter] twice.
Type Defrag.exe c: /f in the Value Data text box, and click OK.
Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows.
The defrag operation will begin when you type in your password and press [Enter].
(Keep in mind that values added to the RunOnce key are removed immediately after the command has been run.)
Prevent a shutdown of a Windows XP system
This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional. Since editing the registry is risky, be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes.
By default, at three o’clock every morning Windows XP’s Automatic Updates tool contacts the Windows Update site and automatically downloads and installs updates for your system. However, that can't happen if other people who use the computer shut it down at the end of the day. Fortunately, you can prevent anyone from shutting down Windows XP with a little registry tweak. Here’s how:
1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Right-click the Explorer subkey and select New | DWORD Value.
4. Name the key NoClose and press Enter twice.
5. Type 1 in the Value Data text box and click OK.
To enable the setting, close the Registry Editor and restart your system. Once your system restarts, you will not be able to it shut down by clicking the Shutdown button on the Start menu. This will prevent most users from inadvertently shutting down the computer.
When you do want to shut down your system, just access Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete, then pull down the Shut Down menu and select the Turn Off command.
Automatically generate and assign strong passwords in Windows XP
This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional systems in either a stand-alone or peer-to-peer workgroup configuration.
Computer users consistently use very simplistic logic when creating passwords. For example, many of us choose meaningful words, personal dates, or a word commonly found in the dictionary because it makes the password easy to remember. These common practices cause us to sacrifice the security that passwords are intended to provide.
If you’re really at a loss when it comes to thinking of a strong password, you can let Windows XP create and assign a random password to your account. To let Windows XP generate your password, follow these steps.
Copyright ©2008 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit Downloads - TechRepublic
10 Windows XP tricks and timesavers
Warning: Before you follow these steps, please be sure that you are paying careful attention and are ready to actually use a password that might not be as memorable as you’re accustomed to! Also, you cannot use this tip on a Windows Server domain.
1. Open a Command Prompt window and type:
net user username /random (username is your login account name)
2. Press Enter. Windows XP will randomly generate a secure password, as well as assign that strong password to your account. Windows XP will also display the strong password so you can remember it.
At your discretion, you may want to create a Password Reset Disk at this point. This disk will allow you to gain access to your computer in the event you forget your password. Here’s how to create the disk:
1. Open the Control Panel and double-click the User Accounts tool.
2. Click your account icon.
3. Select Prevent A Forgotten Password under Related Tasks.
4. Follow the instructions provided by the wizard.
Permanently set Windows XP's Windows Explorer as your flash drive's default AutoPlay action
If you have a USB flash drive holding various Windows XP files, you may want to configure the drive to automatically open Windows Explorer rather than display the AutoPlay dialog box.
You can select the Open Folder To View Files In Windows Explorer and select the Always Do The Selected Action check box but that only configures the flash drive for one file type. Here's how to configure your flash drive to open Windows Explorer for all file types at the same time:
Insert your flash drive into the USB port.
When you see the AutoPlay dialog box, click Cancel.
Open My Computer, right-click your flash drive icon, and select Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, select the AutoPlay tab.
Perform the following steps for each item in the Content Type drop-down list:
- Select an item in the Content Type drop-down list.
- Choose Select An Action To Perform in the Actions panel.
- Select the Open Folder To View Files In Windows Explorer action.
- Click the Apply button.
Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.
Now use the Safely Remove Hardware feature to remove your flash drive -- wait a moment and plug it back in. You'll see the AutoPlay progress appear momentarily, and then you should see Windows Explorer open to show the contents of the flash drive.
Speed up Windows XP's defrag operations
A simple way to speed up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to restart the system before you launch Defrag. This allows the operating system to clear out the swap/paging file and reset it to the default size. This lets Defrag focus strictly on the necessary data on the hard disk, without having to stop and manage a huge swap file loaded with unneeded data.
Another approach to speeding up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to configure them to occur immediately upon startup. Fortunately, you can do so easily with a simple registry edit. Follow these steps:
Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\RunOnce.
Right-click the RunOncesubkey and select New | String Value.
Name the value Defrag and press [Enter] twice.
Type Defrag.exe c: /f in the Value Data text box, and click OK.
Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows.
The defrag operation will begin when you type in your password and press [Enter].
(Keep in mind that values added to the RunOnce key are removed immediately after the command has been run.)
