Permanently set Windows XP's Windows Explorer as your flash drive's default AutoPlay action

AutoPlay can be fickle when it comes to determining the default action for opening files from your flash drive. Here's how to configure Windows XP to bypass AutoPlay and automatically launch Windows Explorer when you insert your flash drive.

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:
1. Insert your flash drive into the USB port.
2. When you see the AutoPlay dialog box, click Cancel.
3. Open My Computer, right-click your flash drive icon, and select Properties.
4. In the Properties dialog box, select the AutoPlay tab.
5. 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.
6. 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.

Never Disable These 10 Windows XP Services !

There are dozens of guides out there that help you determine which services you can safely disable on your Windows XP desktop. Disabling unnecessary services can improve system performance and overall system security, as the system’s attack surface is reduced. However, these lists rarely indicate which services you should not disable. All of the services that run on a Window system serve a specific purpose and many of the services are critical to the proper and expected functioning of the desktop computing environment. In this article, you’ll learn about 10 critical Windows XP services you shouldn’t disable (and why).

1: DNS Client

This service resolves and caches DNS names, allowing the system to communicate with canonical names rather than strictly by IP address. DNS is the reason that you can, in a Web browser, type http://www.techrepublic.com rather than having to remember that http://216.239.113.101 is the site’s IP address.

If you stop this service, you will disable your computer’s ability to resolve names to IP addresses, basically rendering Web browsing all but impossible.

2: Network Connections

The Network Connections service manages the network and dial-up connections for your computer, including network status notification and configuration. These days, a standalone, non-networked PC is just about as useful as an abacus — maybe less so. The Network Connections service is the element responsible for making sure that your computer can communicate with other computers and with the Internet.

If this service is disabled, network configuration is not possible. New network connections can’t be created and services that need network information will fail.

3: Plug and Play

The Plug and Play service (formerly known as the “Plug and Pray” service, due to its past unreliability), is kicked off whenever new hardware is added to the computer. This service detects the new hardware and attempts to automatically configure it for use with the computer. The Plug and Play service is often confused with the Universal Plug and Play service (uPNP), which is a way that the Windows XP computer can detect new network resources (as opposed to local hardware resources). The Plug and Play service is pretty critical as, without it, your system can become unstable and will not recognize new hardware. On the other hand, uPNP is not generally necessary and can be disabled without worry. Along with uPNP, disable the SSDP Discovery Service, as it goes hand-in-hand with uPNP.

Historical note: Way back in 2001, uPNP was implicated in some pretty serious security breaches, as described here.

If you disable Plug and Play, your computer will be unstable and incapable of detecting hardware changes.

4: Print Spooler

Just about every computer out there needs to print at some point. If you want your computer to be able to print, don’t plan on disabling the Print Spooler service. It manages all printing activities for your system. You may think that lack of a printer makes it safe to disable the Print Spooler service. While that’s technically true, there’s really no point in doing so; after all, if you ever do decide to get a printer, you’ll need to remember to re-enable the service, and you might end up frustrating yourself.

When the Print Spooler service is not running, printing on the local machine is not possible.

5: Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

Windows is a pretty complex beast, and many of its underlying processes need to communicate with one another. The service that makes this possible is the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service. RPC allows processes to communicate with one another and across the network with each other. A ton of other critical services, including the Print Spooler and the Network Connections service, depend on the RPC service to function. If you want to see what bad things happen when you disable this service, look at the comments on this link.

Bad news. The system will not boot. Don’t disable this service.

6: Workstation

As is the case for many services, the Workstation service is responsible for handling connections to remote network resources. Specifically, this service provides network connections and communications capability for resources found using Microsoft Network services. Years ago, I would have said that disabling this service was a good idea, but that was before the rise of the home network and everything that goes along with it, including shared printers, remote Windows Media devices, Windows Home Server, and much more. Today, you don’t gain much by eliminating this service, but you lose a lot.

Disable the Workstation service and your computer will be unable to connect to remote Microsoft Network resources.

7: Network Location Awareness (NLA)

As was the case with the Workstation service, disabling the Network Location Awareness service might have made sense a few years ago — at least for a standalone, non-networked computer. With today’s WiFi-everywhere culture, mobility has become a primary driver. The Network Location Awareness service is responsible for collecting and storing network configuration and location information and notifying applications when this information changes. For example, as you make the move from the local coffee shop’s wireless network back home to your wired docking station, NLA makes sure that applications are aware of the change. Further, some other services depend on this service’s availability.

Your computer will not be able to fully connect to and use wireless networks. Problems abound!

8: DHCP Client

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a critical service that makes the task of getting computers on the network nearly effortless. Before the days of DHCP, poor network administrators had to manually assign network addresses to every computer. Over the years, DHCP has been extended to automatically assign all kinds of information to computers from a central configuration repository. DHCP allows the system to automatically obtain IP addressing information, WINS server information, routing information, and so forth; it’s required to update records in dynamic DNS systems, such as Microsoft’s Active Directory-integrated DNS service. This is one service that, if disabled, won’t necessarily cripple your computer but will make administration much more difficult.

Without the DHCP Client service, you’ll need to manually assign static IP addresses to every Windows XP system on your network. If you use DHCP to assign other parameters, such as WINS information, you’ll need to provide that information manually as well.

9: Cryptographic Services

Every month, Microsoft provides new fixes and updates on what has become known as “Patch Tuesday” because the updates are released on the first Tuesday of the month. Why do I bring this up? Well, one service supported by Cryptographic Services happens to be Automatic Updates. Further, Cryptographic Services provides three other management services: Catalog Database Service, which confirms the signatures of Windows files; Protected Root Service, which adds and removes Trusted Root Certification Authority certificates from this computer; and Key Service, which helps enroll this computer for certificates. Finally, Cryptographic Services also supports some elements of Task Manager.

Disable Cryptographic Services at your peril! Automatic Updates will not function and you will have problems with Task Manager as well as other security mechanisms.

10: Automatic Updates

Keeping your machine current with patches is pretty darn important, and that’s where Automatic Updates comes into play. When Automatic Updates is enabled, your computer stays current with new updates from Microsoft. When disabled, you have to manually get updates by visiting Microsoft’s update site.

New security updates will not be automatically installed to your computer.

How do I search for duplicate files with Auslogics Duplicate File Finder?

How many duplicate files do you have on your machine? Do you have any idea? Have you ever looked? My guess is that the majority of PC users have never bothered to search for duplicate files and don’t realize that after a couple of years of use, a PC can pile up enough duplicate files to take up more space than you would like. Although hardware has become quite cheap, installing a simple application to contain widespread file duplication across a company can save thousands of dollars. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder offers the following features:

• Finds files by content, not just name
• Includes an easy-to-use interface
• Checks local drives and removable drives
• Supports Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7

But is Auslogics Duplicate File Finder the solution? Let’s install it, use it, and find out.

Getting and installing

Installing Auslogics Duplicate File Finder is as simple as installing any other Windows application. Download the installation file from the http://software.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=1133707. Once you have that file, just double-click it to begin the installation. You will not run into anything out of the ordinary during the installation.

Once the installation is complete, you can either run the application immediately or close the installation out and run the application from the Start menu.

Starting and using the application

If you open the Start menu, you will find a new entry labeled Au

slogics. Within that directory, you will find three entries. The entry you want to click to start the application is labeled Auslogics Duplicate File Finder. When you click it, the application will run, revealing the main (and only window) for this tool, as shown in Figure A.

After you select what drive (or directory) you want to scan, you will be greeted with a second widow (Figure B) that allows you to configure the criteria for your search. From this window you can get somewhat granular with your search by dictating the tool search for duplicates in Name and/or Date, Size, Contents, or Image type.

Figure B

Once you have configured your criteria, click the Scan button, and the Duplicate Finder will do its thing.

I have found that searching for duplicate files larger than 1MB will often lead to fewer matches but a faster scan. If you are primarily concerned with saving space, you will most likely want to search for larger files first. When your results are displayed (Figu

re C), you can then go through the listing and delete all the files you want to delete.

Figure C

Obviously you will want to use caution when deleting duplicate files. You will inevitably find files that have the same name but either are not for the same application or serve different functions. So when you are faced with deleting files whose names you are not sure of, make sure you check the path the files are located in before you delete them. This isn’t such an issue when you check the Ignore Files Smaller Than option, because most critical system files are going to be smaller than 1MB.

If you opt to scan file contents for duplicates, you might want to run this scan overnight, because it does slow the scan down considerably. A scan that would take less than 30 seconds (on my nearly fresh Windows 7 installation) takes nearly ten minutes. Understand that is a Virtual Machine installation on a VM that is under 10 gigs. A much larger drive, with many more files, will take considerably more time. The results, however, paint a far more accurate picture.

Issues

I have found this application to be outstanding for locating duplicate files from installations and downloads. On the contrary, Duplicate Finder is not so great at locating user-created files. I have run tests on both Windows XP and Windows 7 for .txt and .doc files saved before and after the installation of Duplicate File Finder, and the application could not locate the duplicate files. The only way around this is to uncheck Match Date and Time, Match Size, and Ignore Files Smaller Than. You will also need to check All File Types. You will get a warning indicating that ”The selected file matching the following criteria are not safe.” Go ahead with the scan, but use caution when deleting files.

Outside of that issue, I have found the application to be a simple, quick method to reduce duplication on your hard drives.

Final thoughts

If you keep your operating systems running for months and years, this tool might well be one that you should be employing. By scanning for duplicate files, you can gain back precious hard drive space and keep that PC running smoothly.

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.