Acceleratng Folder Access

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories, your computer may runs slower and slower when start accessing them. This is wasting your time. Try this trick to avoid the problem.

1. Start> Run> regedit
2. "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetContr olFileSystem"
3. Right-click on the part and it (look for an empty area of reply), and select 'DWORD Value'
4. Create a DWORD Value with the name 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
5. Right-click the new value and select 'Modify'
6. Change the data to be '1 '
7. Click 'OK'

Bring back the lost folders deleted by antivirus

When viruses attack your computer, you may relax, because you've updated your antivirus every day. Problems will arise if your antivirus, rather than eliminate the virus but also remove the folders that contain your important files.
What is on your feelings then? confused and frustrated? Do not panic, try this:
1. From Start select Run and type "cmd".
2. If the missing folder was on drive C:, type "attrib-r-s-h / s / c"
3. Wait until the process is complete, you will see your folders again.

Smaller Icons

With smaller icons makes your wallpaper looks wider.


Follow these easy steps:

1. Go to Registry Editor.
   
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Desktop\WindowMetrics.
3. Find Shell Icon Size at right window.
4. Double Click it and type a smaller value than its default value.
5. The difference will shown a couple of seconds.
6. If you want to increase color quality of icons, double click Shell Icon BPP and fill one of the numbers: 12, 24, 32. If your computer icon's max resolution is 24, you can't change the value into 32.
   

Auto End Task

We often press Ctrl+Alt+Del and choose end task to close a not-responding program. Want to do make this automatically? Here's the steps:
(Attention: For your registry safety, I recommend to back up your registry first)

1. Click Start>Run, type regedit.
2. Go to key: HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Find or make String Value named is AutoEndTasks.
4. Give a value by double-clicking AutoEndTasks, and type: 10000. It means that a not- responding program will be ended after 10000 milisecond. Try to enter various number by yourself and feel the difference.
   

To Make Windows XP Startup Faster

1. Open Windows Explorer (right click on Start-explore).
2. Go find your Windows XP installation folder, and go to Prefetch folder. For example : C:\Windows\Prefetch.
3. Click View and click Select All Command or by pressing (Ctrl+A). All files in this folder will be highlighted. Then press Delete on your keyboard.
4. Restart your computer and feel it. Use this step once a week or everytime your prefetch folder contains of many files.
   

To Show Missing Address Bar in Windows Explorer

Confused with a situation like this?



Where is The Address Bar? Yes, It has gone. This has nothing to do with virus. If Address Bar is such a very important thing to you, This is the trick to show it again:

• Right-click on Windows Explorer Toolbars.
• Uncheck Lock The Toolbars.
• Don't forget to check menu Address Bar above the Lock The Toolbars menu.
• You should see The Address Bar now. If you see only "Address", then you need to put the cursor on the dotted line next to it, if your cursor become a two-direction arrow, Left- click your mouse and bring The Address Bar to the place where do you want to place it, then release your mouse.
  

To Make Balloon Tips Disappear

If you are an advanced windows user, maybe balloon tips like this:



is very annoying. Here are the tricks to hide it:

1. Click Start-Run then type Regedit.
2. Go inside this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. Find DWORD value named is EnableBalloonTips. If there's no that value yet, you need to create it. Right-click on the right Registry Editor window panel, choose New>DWORD Value, name it as EnableBalloonTips.
4. Click it twice, fill its value with: 0 (zero).
5. Close Registry Editor and Restart Windows.
   

Fixing problem caused by Service Pack 2 Installation

According to Microsoft's web site (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;885523), after a user finishes installing Service Pack 2 (SP2), computer will be restarted many times with an error message "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. Technical information: STOP: c0000135 (Unable To Locate Component). This application has failed to start because winsrv was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem". The problem occurs when the following conditions are met: there is T.V. Media software (TvMedia.tvmbho) made by Total Velocity Corp, installed in a computer with Windows XP as its operating system, but a user try to install SP2 before installing Critical Update 885523. Microsoft said that the problem is caused by compatibilities between Windows XP SP2 installer program and advertising program called T.V.Media.

Solution
Users can prevent the problem by deleting or uninstalling T.V. Media software. But if users don't want to do so, they can install Critical Update 885523 (can be taken at http://msmvps.com/blogs/donna/archive/2004/10/07/15115.aspx or at http://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=65875203-cf1b-4d32-8f32-e00d004659f6&displaylang=en) before installing Windows XP SP2. Note: users don't need to install this Critical Update before installing Windows XP SP2, if there's no T.V. Media software in their computers. But there's an alternative way to remove T.V. Media software, by using a special utillity software called Adware T.V. Media Removal Tool can be taken at http://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?familyid=f94e8b27-b656-45cd-9668-73134a18231bcf1b&displaylang=en)

Finishing Touch
If T.V. Media still exist although automatic removing with Adware T.V. Media Removal Tool has done, users may edit their registry manually:

1. Run Windows XP in safe mode. To get into the Windows 2000 / XP Safe mode, as the computer is booting press and hold your "F8 Key" which should bring up the "Windows Advanced Options Menu". Use your arrow keys to move to "Safe Mode" and press your Enter key.
2. Click Start-Run-Regedit then click OK.
3. Find and delete T.V. Media entry in the following regisitry paths:

~ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
~ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\RunOnce
~ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
~ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

4. Find these entry and delete from registry:

~ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\(707E6F76-9FFB-
4920-A976-EA101271BC25)
~ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
\Browser Helper Objects\(707E6F76-9FFB-4920-A976-EA101271BC25)

5. Restart computer in safe mode.
6. Click Start-Run-type appwiz.cpl then click OK.
7. Delete T.V. media software.
8. Click twice on My Computer and find TV Media folder (the default is in C:\Program Files\).
9. Restart computer.

Patch for Error 2378

Have you ever received the Internal Error 2378 message? It appears because of the damage of Windows Script Host (WSH) , even possible that it is corrupted. WSH is an automation tecnology for Microsoft Windows. It is used for some purposes like logon scripts, administration and general automation. Here are the steps to download the patch:

• Make sure that you have an authentic version of Windows, because Microsoft will validate your Windows before downloading the patch
• Visit The Microsoft Download Support page and search for: Windows Script 5.6 for Windows XP and Windows 2000
• Under the yellow page, choose your estimated download time
• Select the type of connection you are using
• At the bottom of the yellow box, you can choose the language package you would like to download
• Next to the "Validation Recquired" statement, there's a "Continue" button. Click it.
• Restart you computer after The Installation has completed
• Try to reinstall the software that gave you the error, if the message does not appear anymore, that means the patch is successfully worked.
  

To Make An Arrow Icon Disappear

Every shortcut you've created to desktop has an arrow. Some people may consider that's not cool :)
So here are the tricks to make arrows disappear:

1. click Start-->Run
2. type Regedit
3. go to key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons
4. Back up this key first for your registry safety by clicking File-->Export (choose the directory where you want to save your registry file, name it by typing in File Name's box, then click Save)
   
5. OK, let's have a look at right pane, create a new string value (right-click-->New-->String Value) then name it to 29
6. double-click 29 and set it's value data as C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,50
7. restart your computer
   

Note : shell32.dll,50 is an empty icon

Error Loading bridge.dll

After running our anti-virus program, We often see an error message at startup like this:

Bridge.dll is an adware program that has been removed by your anti-virus or anti-adware program. This message shows up because Windows always executes bridge.dll on startup.This can be very disturbing. These are the steps to avoid:

• click Start-->Run
• type Regedit in the box
• go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• in the right side, look for RunDLL, double-click it to be sure that it brings to bridge.dll
• delete that RunDLL entry
• close Registry Editor then restart your computer
  

Shortcut Without Name

This is a cool trick, but unfortunatelly, this only can be used for one shortcut. Maybe you want to apply it to your special icon. You may use it for one more shortcut, but it may cause unsteady position for both shortcuts.

Here are the steps:
1. In this case, I use ACDSee 4.0 shortcut, right click on it
2. choose rename
3. then press delete on your keyboard into blank
4. then press alt on your keyboard while you're typing : 0160

my ACDSee shortcut become like this

How to Fix Low Virtual Memory

Are you really really disappointed everytimes you see that message but you haven't decided to upgrade your memory yet? Here is the trick, push Ctrl+Alt+Del Immediately. In Windows Task Manager, Go to View-Select Columns

Check Virtual memory size's box, press OK.

Now You'll see what programs use the large amount of virtual memory. Select Those Programs, you can stop them running if you want to by pressing End Process.

Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Error SOLUTIONS

It's easy..there are several ways to solve that problem you can choose.

BEWARE !! You must backup your registry by export it (Go to regedit.exe, Start-Run-then
type regedit, File, Export) before you do the following instructions:
#1. Close Port 445
~ Go to regedit.exe, Start-Run-then type regedit
~ Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT\Parameters
~ In the right window, find entry of TransportBindName, double-click it, then delete its
value

then you must close port 135 too
~ Go to regedit.exe, Start-Run-then type regedit
~ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OLE
~ See the right window, Set EnableDCOM to N
~ Restart Your PC

#2. ~HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services > Browser >
Parameters
~In Regedit menu, click Find, type inside find dialog box: IsDomainMaster
~set Data to False
~Restart your PC

#3. ~Run
~type : cmd
~In Console Command, type : netsh, then enter
~type : winsock, then enter
~type : reset
~Restart your PC

#4. You can download LspFix at http://cexx.org/lspfix.htm, then follow the instructions
#5. Download Microsoft Update Patch (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391) then find
and run “Thanx to Nirmal for this"

Good Luck to all of you, guyz !!

Take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP

Prerequisites for taking ownership of a file or a folder

1. You must be logged on to the computer with an account that has administrative privileges.
2. If you are running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, you must start the computer in safe mode, and then log on with an account that has Administrative rights to have access to the Security tab. To start Windows XP in Safe Mode
3. For Microsoft Windows XP Professional, you need to disable Simple File Sharing, in order to see the Security tab. To disable simple file sharing, follow these steps: Click Start, and then click My Computer. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab. In the Advanced Settings section, clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box. Click OK.

To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:

• Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
• Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
• Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
• In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
• Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:

You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?

All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.

where folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.

• Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

To take ownership of a file, follow these steps

• Right-click the file that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
• Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
• Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
• In the Name list, click Administrator, or click the Administrators group, and then click OK.

The administrator or the Administrators group now owns the file.

Remove Windows XP's Messenger

Fire up the Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the %SYSTEMROOT% \ INF folder. What the heck is that thingy with the percentage signs? It's a variable. For most people, %SYSTEMROOT% is C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it? Okay, on with the hack! In the INF folder, open sysoc.inf (but not before making a BACKUP copy first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing "msmsgs" in it. Near the end of that particular line, you'll notice that the word "hide" is not so hidden. Go ahead and delete "hide" (so that the flanking commas are left sitting next to one another). Save the file and close it. Now, open the Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add / Remove Windows Components icon. You should see "Windows Messenger" in that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set. NOTE: there are other hidden system components in that sysoc.inf file, too. Remove "hide" and the subsequent programs at your own risk.

Attributes - Display the Attributes Column in Explorer

Right click on the column headers and select Columns. You'll get a list of them to choose from. Attributes is one of them.

Start/Run/Regedit HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\Advanced. Value Name: ShowAttribCol, Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value), Value Data: (0 = disable, 1 = enable). Create a new DWORD value called 'ShowAttribCol' and set the value to '1' to enable the attributes column.

Modify the Internet Auto-Dial Settings

Windows has the option to automatically dial your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to establish an Internet connection. This option can be controlled using this tweak.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Create a new binary value named "EnableAutodial", and set the new value to equal "01 00 00 00" to enable autodial or "00 00 00 00" to disable it.
Note: This restriction can be used either on a user by user basis by adding it to HKEY_CURRENT_USER or on a computer wide basis by adding it to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

To view the list of names and addresses recorded by AutoDial, type the following command at a command prompt: rasautou -s

To delete a name or address entry from the list: Start/Run/Regedit HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\RAS Autodial\AddressesYou can delete any TCP/IP addresses that you see under this key.

Note that AutoDial can use IP addresses, DNS fully qualified domain names (FQDN), and NetBIOS names.

Auto-disconnect in Internet explorer

Start/Run/RegeditHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ParametersIn the right pane, find Autodisconnect and change the time accordingly.

Alternately You can try this from command prompt: net config server /autodisconnect:30 -to set the autodisconnect to 30 minutes.

To Set the My Documents Folder to Private

On the Start menu, right-click My Documents, and then click Properties. Click the Sharing tab, and then click to select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box. Click Apply, and then click OK. Note: You cannot make your folders private if your drive is not formatted as NTFS, You Cannot Select the "Make This Folder Private" Option

Home Edition: Set Permissions for Shared Files and Folders. Boot into safe mode and logon to the 'Administrator' account. Right click the folder in question/Sharing and Security/Make Folder Private.

To view the Security tab for a file or folder in XP, hold down the Ctrl key while right-clicking the file or folder, and select Properties. If you are in a domain instead of a workgroup, this approach is unnecessary.

Tip: Hide Files and Folders inside of Windows XPWindows Explorer/Tools/Folder Options/View/Show Hidden Files and Folders. Right click the folder to be hidden/Sharing and Security/General Tab/Hidden/Apply Changes to.../

Menu Display - Speed Up

Start/Run/Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop In the right pane select, "MenuShowDelay". Right click, modify and set the value to 0. Reboot.

Tip: TweakUI/Mouse/Menu Speed/Move glider to fast/Reboot.

Disable Automatic Modem Connections at Startup

If remote connections are enabled in Windows, the system may try to initiate an Internet connection at Windows startup or at the start of many applications. This setting disables that behavior.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Ole. Value Name: EnableRemoteConnect, Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value), Value Data: "Y" = enable automatic connections, "N" = disabled.

Create a new String value, or modify the existing value, called 'EnableRemoteConnect' and edit the value according to the settings above. Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.

Stops the Selective Startup screen

Download the xp_nomsconfig.vbs file: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_nomsconfig.htm and save it to your Desktop (you may want to right click and use Save Target As). Double-click the xp_nomsconfig.vbs file after closing MSConfig. You will not see the Selective Startup screen on the next boot.

Or...
Start/Run/Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

In the right pane, delete the value for MSConfig. Alternatively, you can use a small VB Script file to do this for you as well.

Copy the following three lines to a Notepad file and save as No_MSCONFIG.VBS

On Error Resume NextSet WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")WshShell.RegDelete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSConfig"

After running MSConfig, run the VBS file and this entry will be removed automatically.

Rename "My Computer"

Start/Run/Regedit HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\ {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}. Data Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ (Expanded String Value).

Rename the value named "LocalizedString" to "LocalizedString.old".

Create a new REG_EXPAND_SZ value named "LocalizedString", and set the value to "%USERNAME% on %COMPUTERNAME%".

Exit the registry editor, click on your desktop and press F5 (for refresh). The "My Computer" icon should now be rename to "Username on Computername".

Makes the 'My Documents' folder on the Start Menu into a cascading folder

This tweak makes the 'My Documents' folder on the Start Menu into a cascading folder, which then give you direct access to sub-folders without having to open the main 'My Documents' directory first. Start/Run/Regedit.

You may need to create the key if it does not already exist. Create a new String value, or modify the existing value, called 'CascadeMyDocuments' and edit the value according to the settings below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AdvancedValue Name: CascadeMyDocumentsData Type: REG_SZ (String Value)Value Data: "Yes" or "No"

Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect. Note: This setting can be used either on a user by user basis by adding it to HKEY_CURRENT_USER or on a computer wide basis by adding it to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

Remove My Documents Folder From Desktop

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\ShellFolder

Value Name: AttributesData Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)Value Data: (0xf0500174 = Hidden, 0xf0400174 = Default)

Modify the value called "Attributes" and set it to either "0xf0500174" to hide or "0xf0400174" to display My Documents. Click on a blank area of desktop and press F5 to refresh for the change to take effect. Note: This tweak can also by used on a system wide basis by entering the same values under the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE] hive.

Remove Recent Documents from the Start Menu

This setting can be used to remove the recent Documents folder from the Start Menu. Open your registry (Start/Run/Regedit) and find the key below.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

Value Name: NoRecentDocsMenuData Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)Value Data: (0 = display, 1 = remove)

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called 'NoRecentDocsMenu' set the value to equal '1' to enable the restriction. Exit your registry, you may need to restart for the changes to take effect.

Name and Company - For Microsoft Applications

When you install a new application, using MS Setup, a default Name and Company are shown, these values can be changed when the details have changed or are incorrect.

Start/Run/RegeditHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MS Setup (ACME)\User Info

Value Name: DefName, DefCompanyData Type: REG_SZ (String Value)

Modify the two values named 'DefName' and 'DefCompany', and change the values to your current Name and Company respectively. The next time you install a program these new values will be used as the defaults instead. Note: This will not affect the registered names of existing applications, it only affects new installations.

Wallpaper (Folder) Background

Background for folders: To create a template folder with a background image, create a new folder and customize it to create a hidden desktop.ini file inside. Edit the desktop.ini in the folder and add two lines:

[{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]IconArea_Image=Background.bmp

Then create a hidden image file in the folder and name it "Background.bmp". This image can be .bmp, .jpg, or .gif, but you will need to edit the image file extension in your desktop.ini file to match the image file name.

Welcome Screen Old Style

Change the Login Window to W2K Style - This setting controls which type of logon screen is shown, either the classic Windows NT/2000 format or the Windows XP welcome screen.

Start/Run/Regedit

Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]Value Name: LogonTypeData Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)Value Data: (0 = Classic Mode, 1 = Welcome Screen)

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called 'LogonType' and edit the value according to the settings below. Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.

Note: Using the classic logon method will also disable the use of fast user switching, where applications remain active in other users sessions.

Welcome Screen - Colors

Select theme and color scheme for welcome screenWith this tweak you will be able to modify which color selection of the default theme is shown when the computer start up screen is displayed. Currently since there is only one theme you can only change the color scheme for the theme but in the future when more themes are available for XP you will be able to change which theme is used in the same place in the windows registry.

Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager Locate the key NormalColor Right Click on it and select modify. Change where it says "NormalColor" to "Metallic" Click Ok, and exit regedit Restart

Note: To go back to the old color scheme durring startup just change "Metallic" back to "NormalColor" Once more themes are released you will be able to modify the DllName key to select different themes.

Cleaning Your Harddisk

Hard disks keep getting bigger and bigger, but somehow we still run out of space. MP3s and other media files are immensely popular–and simply immense. Programs are bigger, and data files are bigger. Windows Explorer isn't much help. It will tell you the size of all selected files in a folder, but nothing about the files in that folder's subfolders.

Enter DiskPie2 a utility to identify the biggest consumers of disk space. Pie charts let you see at a glance which folders and file types are taking up the most space. The charts are highly customizable, and can be printed.

An Explorer view lets you navigate to the folder you want to chart, and as a bonus displays the number of bytes in and below the selected folder. DiskPie2 also can display and print a report of the largest files in the selected folder. Armed with the information that DiskPie provides, you can decide how best to allocate the space on your disk.

TreeSize: Every hard disk is too small if you just wait long enough. TreeSize tells you where precious space has gone to. TreeSize can be started from the context menu of a folder or drive and shows you the size of this folder, including its subfolders. You can expand this folder in Explorer-like style and you will see the size of every subfolder. Scanning is done in a thread, so you can already see results while TreeSize is working. The space, which is wasted by the file system can be displayed and the results can be printed in a report. TreeSize is Mailware for Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP.