Computer Tips & Tricks

[EvilAngel]

Edit your BOOT.INI file.

I just had to do this because I had a dual boot running and reformatted with PM6 boot disks so I guess it didn't change to boot sector at all when I installed XP soley.

Well this tutorial allowed me to boot directly to XP without getting a dualboot option of ..."WindowsXP or Unknown operating system on C:"

Saved me alot of greif.

Enjoy.

[SLK]

Tired of the stupid large vol control screen. Open volume control (On taskbar) once opened hit CTRL + S, Itll shrink

[TEH WIN]

If you dual boot you can have each windows share your favorites and my documents

FAVORITES: make a master folder on a partition, preferably a partiton that doesnt have an OS on it. i put a folder on my "user files" drive named "user"
copy all your favorites from each OS to that folder
install tweakui (www.download.com search for tweakui)
run tweakui and goto the "my comptuer tab"
click the down list arrow for the "folder" section and select favorites. click "change location" click yes on the warning message. choose your new folder for your favorites
repeat on each os. all OSes will now share the same favorites.. its a beauty and also very easy to backup

MY DOCUMENTS:
do the same as above but respectivly use My documents instead of favorites

[sito]

Here's a different way to remove ms messenger, you can actually uninstall it. Here's how:

Use a text editor to open C:\WINDOWS\inf\sysoc.inf, and change
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7 to
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

That's it. Messenger will now appear in the add/remove application under Windows Components where you can uninstall it.

[fish59]

Originally posted by sitosterol
Here's a different way to remove ms messenger, you can actually uninstall it. Here's how:

Use a text editor to open C:\WINDOWS\inf\sysoc.inf, and change
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7 to
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

That's it. Messenger will now appear in the add/remove application under Windows Components where you can uninstall it.

And if you remove all the HIDEs in sysoc.inf,lots of other things show up in add\remove Windows components

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

Originally posted by fish59



And if you remove all the HIDEs in sysoc.inf,lots of other things show up in add\remove Windows components

[ColdFusion]

i love this thread!

[Norm]

Making your own "Autostart" CD's

If you look in the root directory of any of the CD's you now have, (that autostart) you'll notice a file called autorun.inf in the root dir of the CD. They all have it. It is this file that makes a CD autostart to a particular program on the CD. If you open this file and have a look at it's contents, you'll see a couple of lines such as the following:

[autorun]
OPEN=someprogram.exe
ICON=someicon.ICO

All you need to do is make a file like this one and put it in the root of the CD you are creating and if you like put an icon (.ico) file in the root as well to have your CD show an icon as well. Just replace the "someprogram.exe" with "yourprogram.exe" or any other file extention type that is associated with a program to open in.
For example:

[autorun]
OPEN=start any.html
This would open IE to the file you called "any.html" in the root of the CD.

[autorun]
OPEN=start \anydir\any.html
This would open IE to the file you called "any.html" in the directory you called "anydir" in the root of the CD

Starting to get it now?

[autorun]
OPEN=start any.txt
This would open notepad to the file you called "any.txt" in the root of the CD.

[autorun]
OPEN=start \anydir\any.bmp
This would open MSPAINT to the file you called"any.bmp" in the directory you called "anydir" in the root of the CD. (or it would open in your associated graphic editor, like Photoshop etc.)

Now for the ICON
[autorun]
ICON=any.ICO
Just put any .ico file in the root of the CD and you'll see this icon as the icon for the CD Drive when you insert the CD.

To make a file called autorun.inf, just right click the desktop, select "new", then select "text document" and name the file autorun.inf. Then open it and add the lines:
[autorun]
OPEN=someprogram.exe
ICON=someicon.ICO
Using the files of your own name of course, and save the file.
When creating the CD, just put this file in the root of the CD and it will autostart to the program or file you asked it to.
Any questions, feel free to ask, that's what I posted this for

Remember if you want to open any file other than a .bat, .com, or .exe you must use the word start and leave a space. eg:

[autorun]
OPEN=start any.doc
ICON=someicon.ICO

.bat, .com, and .exe files do not need the start command.

XP is different
Do some testing, and see if XP can handle it without the 'start' command.

One way to do some testing without actually burning a CD is to make a new dir (on your desktop) or anywhere on your HD.
The autorun.inf files work on directories on the HD as well.
If any folder has an autorun.inf in the root, windows will use it.

[JawZ]

Originally posted by Ken
Great stufferz guys, keep it up!

If you want to keep the favicons, or small icons, from sites, on your links bar, quick launch, etc..., and hate them resorting to the default IE icon everytime that you delete cookies, then this will solve that problem.

The easy way is to first clear you cookies and TIF files, then go to the site you want to have a button for, drag the link to the bar of your choice.
If the small icon doesn't show up on the bar with the short cut, just click on the link and hold it then drag it an inch and let it go. Do this a couple times if necessary...

Then head back to Inet options> Settings> view files. Look for the icon in there. Right click on it, Properties, copy, then paste in your address window. It will open a page at the site that will only have a tiny icon (favicon), Right click on the favicon and select "Save as".
Put it in a folder in your pictures such as "My Favicons" or whatever you choose that is easy for you to find and remember.

When you save it, be sure that you add a diferent number to eack favicon...
example:
The red "SG" for speedguide is in my folder, named as "SGfavicon1.ico"
For [H]OCP, it is "Hfavicon2.ico"

Note that I added the "SG....1" to "favicon.ico"

Then just Right click on the shortcut on the bar, properties, change icon, browse... Then find your favicon folder, click on the icon that you want for the link, then, OK, apply and OK again.
Batta bom, batta bing, it's a done deal! You will always have that icon represent that shortcut.

Another secrete is that you can, if you choose, have that same favicon represent what links you choose, and as many as you want. It doesn't matter...

Now come on!! Let's get some tips & tricks posted!
Hey YOU!, Yeah YOU! Quit just reading this and post a tip! I know that you know some!...

Please use this freebie tool.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,108438,00.asp

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

Originally posted by Norm
Making your own "Autostart" CD's

If you look in the root directory of any of the CD's you now have, (that autostart) you'll notice a file called autorun.inf in the root dir of the CD. They all have it. It is this file that makes a CD autostart to a particular program on the CD. If you open this file and have a look at it's contents, you'll see a couple of lines such as the following:

[autorun]
OPEN=someprogram.exe
ICON=someicon.ICO

All you need to do is make a file like this one and put it in the root of the CD you are creating and if you like put an icon (.ico) file in the root as well to have your CD show an icon as well. Just replace the "someprogram.exe" with "yourprogram.exe" or any other file extention type that is associated with a program to open in.
For example:

[autorun]
OPEN=start any.html
This would open IE to the file you called "any.html" in the root of the CD.

[autorun]
OPEN=start \anydir\any.html
This would open IE to the file you called "any.html" in the directory you called "anydir" in the root of the CD

Starting to get it now?

[autorun]
OPEN=start any.txt
This would open notepad to the file you called "any.txt" in the root of the CD.

[autorun]
OPEN=start \anydir\any.bmp
This would open MSPAINT to the file you called"any.bmp" in the directory you called "anydir" in the root of the CD. (or it would open in your associated graphic editor, like Photoshop etc.)

Now for the ICON
[autorun]
ICON=any.ICO
Just put any .ico file in the root of the CD and you'll see this icon as the icon for the CD Drive when you insert the CD.

To make a file called autorun.inf, just right click the desktop, select "new", then select "text document" and name the file autorun.inf. Then open it and add the lines:
[autorun]
OPEN=someprogram.exe
ICON=someicon.ICO
Using the files of your own name of course, and save the file.
When creating the CD, just put this file in the root of the CD and it will autostart to the program or file you asked it to.
Any questions, feel free to ask, that's what I posted this for

Remember if you want to open any file other than a .bat, .com, or .exe you must use the word start and leave a space. eg:

[autorun]
OPEN=start any.doc
ICON=someicon.ICO

.bat, .com, and .exe files do not need the start command.

XP is different
Do some testing, and see if XP can handle it without the 'start' command.

One way to do some testing without actually burning a CD is to make a new dir (on your desktop) or anywhere on your HD.
The autorun.inf files work on directories on the HD as well.
If any folder has an autorun.inf in the root, windows will use it.

Ohhhh that's nice Norm! Now I can create a better, more professional auto.exe file for my resumes and video portfolio.

[GatoNanashi]

Originally posted by Joint Chiefs Of Staff


Nice!!

Or you could always restart your machine

[TEH WIN]

Originally posted by GatoNanashi


Or you could always restart your machine

why do that when you can do it in 1 second?

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

Originally posted by TEH WIN


why do that when you can do it in 1 second?

What he said.

[ColdFusion]

When you goto create the share, make the sharename <name> + $. So ... if i wanted to share my music folder i would share it as music$ ... To access it, just type in the computers name so like COLDFUSION\music$

[ColdFusion]

Here is a tip for those of use who or security conscience. msn messenger
keeps a list of all the people who are on the contact list of anyone who
has used msn on your computer. open up regedit or what ever you use I use
nortons version.

step one: navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Step two: open up software
step three: open up microsoft
Step four: open up MessengerService
Step five: open up ListCache
step six: click on .NET Messenger Service and steer in amazment that all
that info is on your computer and u didn't even know about it
step seven: right click on .NET Messenger Service and press DELETE.
step eight: give yourself a pat on the back

Msn will continue to work as normal and as far as im aware it doesn't
replace the entry.

Note: I have only tested this on WIN98SE as that it's the only OS I havE
access to. if you use something else I suggest exporting the entry before
you delete it just to be sure your safe.

[ColdFusion]

Get out of Windows without warning:

Using this trick you can shutdown or restart your Windows without
any warning. For using this right-click on desktop and create a
short-cut and enter the command line as follows:
Shutting down: ?rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows? (without
quotes)
Restarting: ?rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec? (without
quotes)
Note: you can even shutdown Windows by running this command in
Windows directory.

The next tips we will be looking at involve the registry. Before doing anything i suggest you backup your registry ... you can do this by going into your registry and file>export>filename to export to ...

Run a program every time Windows starts:

You can run a program every time when the Windows startup. To do
this go ?HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Run? and
create a new string Value and modify its value to the path of the
program (Example: C:\program files\winamp\winamp.exe) you want to
start every time when Windows starts and restart the Windows. Your
program should automatically start on Windows startup.
Note: You can stop a program from loading at Windows startup by
removing the appropriate value from the ?Run? directory in
registry.

Display a notice every time Windows starts:

You can use this trick if you want a message to be displayed every
time Windows starts. Go to
?HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Winlogon?. Create a
new string values as follows.
Name: LegalNoticeCaption and Value: Caption of the dialog box
here
Name: LegalNoticeText and Value: Your message here
After adding the values, restart your Windows, a dialog box should
appear before the Windows startup.

remove the ?shortcut to?? on shortcuts:

To do this go to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\windows\currentversion\explorer
Create a new Binary value with name ?Link? (without quotes) and
change its value to ?00 00 00 00?. Restart your system for
applying your new settings.

automatically log onto windows

Using this operation you can logon to your personal settings
without every time typing your passwords. Go to the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
And create a new string value with name ?Default Password?
(Without quotes) and modify its value to your exact password.
Note: The default username can be found at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon\username.

Remove the internet icon form Desktop:

Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E
xplorer
and Create a new DWORD value named ?NoInternetIcon? and set its
value to ?1?.

Disable the Shutdown command:

To disable the Shutdown command go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E
xplorer
and create a new DWORD value ?NoClose?(Without quotes) and set
it?s value to ?1? (Without quotes). Restart the system for the new
settings to apply. To enable the Shutdown command change the value
of ?NoClose? to ?0? (Without quotes).

Hide icons on desktop:

To hide all the items on the desktop go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E
xplorer
and create a new DWORD value ?NoDesktop? (Without quotes) and set
its value to ?1?. Restart the computer for the new settings to
take place.

Hide the Network Neighbourhood icon from desktop:

To do this operation go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E
xplorer
and create a new DWORD value ?NoNetHood? (Without quotes) and set
it?s value to ?1? (Without quotes).

Automatically close Non-Responding programs:

In Windows often users encounter Non-responding programs due to
several reasons like low ram availability, low processing power
etc. This helps to close automatically the Non-responding programs
in Windows. To do this operation go to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control
Panel\Desktop and a new string value to this folder. Ad name the
string value to ?AutoEndtasks? (Without quotes) and set it?s value
to ?1? (Without quotes).

Take control over the auto complete mode:

In Windows Operating System there is an option called auto
complete mode. This helps to avoid the repeated typing of the same
text in text boxes.
Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\A
utocomplete
and create a new string value named ?Append Completion? (Without
quotes) and set it value to ?yes? (Without quotes) to enable the
auto completion and ?No? (Without quotes) to show only a list of
relevant text.

Model your explorer toolbars:

This helps you add an image to the background of your explorer
toolbar. To do this go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\toolbar and
add a new string value named ?BackBitmapShell? (Without quotes) to
it and set its value to the path of the image file.

Clear the recent documents on windows exit:

This tweak helps you to remove the recent documents upon exiting
the Windows. Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E
xplorer
and add a new DWORD valus named ?Clearrecentdocsonexit? (Without
quotes) and set its value to ?1?.

Customizing the start menu ( all operations fall under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E
xplorer) :

Remove Favorites from start menu:

Create a Dword value named ?Nofavoritesmenu? and set its value to
?1?

Remove folders from settings on the start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSetFolders? (Without quotes) and
set its value to ?1?

Remove Documents folder from start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoRecentDocsMenu? and set its
value to ?1?.

Remove the help option from start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSMHelp? and set its value to
?1?.

Remove My documents from documents in start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSMMyDocs? and set its value to
?1?.

Remove the find command from start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoFind? and set its value to
?1?.

Remove Run command from start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoRun? and set its value to ?1?.

Remove the control panel from start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoControlPanel? and set its value
to ?1?.

Remove the taskbar from the settings option on start menu:

Create a new DWORD value named ?NoSetTaskbar? and set its value to
?1?.

Modify internet explorer:

Hiding the Internet Explorer icon from desktop:
To do this go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\E
xplorer
and create a new DWORD value named ?NoInternetIcon? and set its
value to ?1?.

Disable the Go Button in Internet Explorer:

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
and create a new string value named ?ShowGoButton? and set its
value to ?no?.

Change the Internet Explorer Search Engine:

Go to ?HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Search url? and create a new string value named ?Default?
(Without quotes) and set its value to the address of the search
Engine. (Example: For Altavista the value should be
?http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?q=%s?)

Changing the Internet Explorer window title:

Just go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Main and create a string value named ?Window Title? with
the new caption as its value.

Customize Internet Explorer 5:

The following all values are to be added to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\Restrictions for playing the trick. Set the values of the
below give DWORD values to ?1? to enable it and ?0? to disable
it.

Disable closing Internet Explorer: NoBrowserClose
Hide the Internet Options dialog box: NoBrowserOptions
Disable Save As..: NoBrowserSaveAs
Disable New command in File menu: NoFileMenu
Disable Full screen option: NoTheaterMode
Disable the right-click context menu: NoBrowserContextMenu

CLSID folders- What they really are?:

In Windows Operating System, the system folders are protected from
accidental deletion. Each system folder is represented by a
16-bit value known as CLSID value in the Windows registry. These
values point to the specific system folders. These values are
stored in the registry in ?HKCR\CLSID?. Below given are some of
the CLSID values of some folders

Recycle Bin- {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F9554E}
Network Neighbourhood- {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}
My Computer- {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Control Panel- {21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
My Briefcase- {85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}
History- {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
Printers- {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B0309D}
Dial-up Networking- {992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}
Fonts- {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}

To delete a folder simply delete the corresponding value to the
folder in the above key mentioned.
Note: To delete a key from the desktop go to
?HKLM|Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Names
pace?
and delete the corresponding key.

Customize the right-click menu of the CLSID folders:

This operation deals with editing the DWORD value of ?attributes?
in the shellfolder of the corresponding CLSID folder. To do this
go to
?HKCR\CLSID\{CLSID VALUE}\Shellfolder? and find the DWORD value
named ?Attributes? in it and change its value to
the following values according to your requirement.

70 01 00 20 ?Adds both rename and delete to the menu
50 01 00 20 ? Adds only rename option to the menu
60 01 00 20 ? Adds only delete to the menu
47 01 00 20 ? Adds cut, copy, paste to the menu
40 01 00 20 ? Changes the menu to its default condition

Now you can do anything to the folders. But, remember editing
these values could eve crash your system. So, be careful while
editing them.

Playing with Explorer.exe:

Explorer is like the heart to Windows Operating System. It is
mainly responsible for the originating windows in Windows OS.
So,
the life of Windows lies in Explorer.exe. Now we shall see editing
this file. Remember, editing explorer.exe is a complicate
issue to take a backup of all the important data you have and also
have a copy of explorer.exe.

Change the ?Start? text on Start button:

To do this restart your computer in MS-Dos and go to C:\Windows>
and type the following command.
?edit /70 explorer.exe? (without quotes). The /70 option helps you
to see only 70 columns on the screen. It is in the line 2390 of
the editor window, there is a text ?S t a r t?. Now you can
replace the text on start button with any word of 5 characters.
Simply replace the letters in ?S t a r t? with any the required
letters with null characters (remember not spaces) in between
them.
Example: Replace the ?S t a r t? with ?S n e h a?.

If by mistake you typed a space between the letters, copy a null
character from the remaining document and paste it over the
typed space.


Thats it ... enjoy!

[Joint Chiefs of Staff]

IE: Another way to fix IE6 slow page load
I read around here others (including me) were having slow page loads here's what you need to do.

After doing this I am now back to my happy place.

1. click on Internet Explorer

2. go to to your root dir (usually C

3. open Documents and Settings folder

4. open "your username folder"

5. open UserData

6. **close IE if you have it open**

Rename index.dat to index.old logoff and log back on (don't need to restart)

Open up IE and go to a web page or site that always seemed to load slowly. It should load a lot more quickly now.

[MrHyde]

hrm.......


.....might werk.......might not......

[ColdFusion]

Originally posted by Joint Chiefs Of Staff
IE: Another way to fix IE6 slow page load
I read around here others (including me) were having slow page loads here's what you need to do.

After doing this I am now back to my happy place.

1. click on Internet Explorer

2. go to to your root dir (usually C

3. open Documents and Settings folder

4. open "your username folder"

5. open UserData

6. **close IE if you have it open**

Rename index.dat to index.old logoff and log back on (don't need to restart)

Open up IE and go to a web page or site that always seemed to load slowly. It should load a lot more quickly now.

what exactly is that point of that ... what does it do ?

[ms_pammy]

Originally posted by ColdFusion
i love this thread!

Ditto for me!!

Some very good tips, Im gonna be trying a few as soon as I set some time aside