Windows XP - Secrets

2006-12-07T08:19:00.000-08:00

Windows XP - Secrets

Deleting System Softwares:

XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/ sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

Creating Shutdown Icon or One Click Shutdown:

Navigate to your desktop. On the desktop, right-click and go to New, then to Shortcut (in other words, create a new shortcut). You should now see a pop-up window instructing you to enter a command line path.

Use this path in "Type Location of the Item

"SHUTDOWN -s -t 01

If the C: drive is not your local hard drive, then replace "C" with the correct letter of the hard drive. Click the "Next" button. Name the shortcut and click the "Finish" button. Now whenever you want to shut down, just click on this shortcut and you're done.

Increasing Band-Width By 20%:

Microsoft reserves 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes like Windows Updates and interrogating your PC etc

To get it back:

Click Start then Run and type " gpedit.msc" without quotes.This opens the group policy editor. Then go to:Local Computer Policy then Computer Configuration then Administrative Templates then Network then QOS Packet Scheduler and then to Limit Reservable Bandwidth.

Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab i.e."By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."

So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO. This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.It works on Win 2000 as well.

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- 5081-101B- 9F08-00AA002F954 E} 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 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', 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 \ 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.

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\ Internet Explorer\Main]

"Search Page"=" http://www.google.com/"

"Search Bar"=" http://www.google.com/ie"

[HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\SearchURL]"

"=" http://www.google.com/keyword/%s"

[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Search]

"SearchAssistant" =" http://www.google.com/ie" .

Improving the Slow Boot up time:

There are a variety of reasons why your windows XP system would boot slowly. Most of the times it this has to do with the startup applications. If you would like to speed up the bootup sequence, consider removing some of the startup applications that you do not need. Easiest way to remove startup apps is through System Configuration Utility. Go to Start then Run and enter MSCONFIG and go to the Startup tab. Deselect/UnCheck application( s) that you do not want to startup at boot time.

Customize Logon prompt with your Own Words:

Open Registry by going to Start then Run, entering regedit and Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\ Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ Winlogon] . In right pane, look for key by the name "LogonPrompt" . Set its value to whatever text you want to see displayed at login screen.

IP address of your connection:

Go to Start then Run. Enter 'cmd' and then enter 'ipconfig'.Add the '/all' switch for more info.

Making Folders Private:

Open My Computer Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer). If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.

Double-click the Documents and Settings folder. Double-click your user folder. Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties. On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box.

To change Drive Letters:

Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management, Disk Management, then right-click the partition whose name you want to change (click in the white area just below the word "Volume") and select "change drive letter and paths."

From here you can add, remove or change drive letters and paths to the partition.

Removing the Shortcut arrow from Desktop Icons:

Goto Start then Run and Enter regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOTlnkfile. Delete the IsShortcut registry value. You may need to restart Windows XP.

Get Drivers for your Devices:

Visit Windows Update (XP Only)

Look at the left hand pane and under Other Options click Personalize Windows Update.Now in the right hand pane check the box - Display the link to the Windows Update Catalog under See Also Below Choose which categories and updates to display on Windows Update - make sure you check all the boxes you want shown.

Click Save Settings

Now look in the left hand pane under See Also click Windows Update Catalog and choose what you're looking for. Choose either MS updates or drivers for hardware devices.

Start the Wizard and off you go.

Customize Internet Explorer's Title Bar:

Open Registry by going to Start then Run and Enter 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.

Disabling the use of Win Key:

If your are a gaming freak then you must be sick of the Win key in your keyboard. To disable use of Win key, open registry by going to Start then Run and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSe t\Control\ Keyboard Layout] . In this look for value of "Scancode Map". Its binary data so be extra careful:

Set its value to "00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 5B E0 00 00 5C E0 00 00 00 00" to disable the win key.

Restarting Windows without Restarting the Computer:

This one is again is. When you click on the SHUTDOWN button, make sure to simultaneous press SHIFT Button. If you hold the Shift key down while clicking on SHUTDOWN button, you computer would restart without restarting the Computer. This is equivalent to term "HOT REBOOT".

Stopping XP from displaying unread messages count on Welcome Screen:

To stop XP from displaying count of unread messages, Open registry and navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV ersion\UnreadMai l] and look for the data key "MessageExpiryDays" . If you do not see this key, create one DWORD key by the name "MessageExpiryDays" . Setting its value to 0 would stop Windows XP from displaying the count of unread messages.

Modify Color Selection of Default Theme:

Open registry by going to Start then Run. Entering regedit, navigate to [HKEY_USERS\ .DEFAULT\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV ersion\ThemeMana ger] and locate the key "ColorName". Right Click on it and select modify its value from "NormalColor" to "Metallic"Click Ok, and exit regedit and restart your computer.

Removing the Recycle Bin from the Desktop:

If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files , you can get rid of its desktop icon all together. Run Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SOFTWARE/ Microsoft/ Windows/CurrentV ersion/explorer/ Desktop/NameSpace

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Dual Core Processors

2006-12-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

Dual Core Processors

What is CPU ?

NO , its not the big box from which wires come to your Monitor/display device (by the way that big box is known as cabinet)

Now, A CPU i.e. Central Processing Unit is like the brain of your computer.Its when you open your cabinet , the CPU is a square chip under the large fan on your motherboard.Imagine you haing two brains, And now think of the benifits ..

Generally till date everyone had single core processor. Dual core processors are now taking plac of single core.

What are dual core processors?

A dual core processor is a CPU with two separate cores on the same die, each with its own cache. It's the equivalent of getting two microprocessors in one.

In a single-core or traditional processor the CPU is fed strings of instructions it must order, execute, then selectively store in its cache for quick retrieval. When data outside the cache is required, it is retrieved through the system bus from random access memory (RAM) or from storage devices.

Accessing these slows down performance to the maximum speed the bus, RAM or storage device will allow, which is far slower than the speed of the CPU. The situation is compounded when multi-tasking. In this case the processor must switch back and forth between two or more sets of data streams and programs. CPU resources are depleted and performance suffers.

In a dual core processor each core handles incoming data strings simultaneously to improve efficiency. Just as two heads are better than one, so are two hands. Now when one is executing the other can be accessing the system bus or executing its own code. Adding to this favorable scenario, both AMD and Intel's dual-core flagships are 64-bit.

To utilize a dual core processor, the operating system must be able to recognize multi-threading and the software must have simultaneous multi-threading technology (SMT) written into its code. SMT enables parallel multi-threading wherein the cores are served multi-threaded instructions in parallel. Without SMT the software will only recognize one core. Adobe Photoshop is an example of SMT-aware software. SMT is also used with multi-processor systems common to servers.

A dual core processor is different from a multi-processor system. In the latter there are two separate CPUs with their own resources. In the former, resources are shared and the cores reside on the same chip. A multi-processor system is faster than a system with a dual core processor, while a dual core system is faster than a single-core system, all else being equal.

An attractive value of dual core processors is that they do not require a new motherboard, but can be used in existing boards that feature the correct socket. For the average user the difference in performance will be most noticeable in multi-tasking until more software is SMT aware. Servers running multiple dual core processors will see an appreciable increase in performance.

Multi-core processors are the goal and as technology shrinks, there is more "real-estate" available on the die. In the fall of 2004 Bill Siu of Intel predicted that current accommodating motherboards would be here to stay until 4-core CPUs eventually force a changeover to incorporate a new memory controller that will be required for handling 4 or more cores.

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