Win Product Activation and other XP annoyances
Must have Patches, Drivers and Downloads for XP (FREEWARE ONLY)
Note: Freak incident or hole in XP activation? I have two dual boot machines. One laptop and one regular PC. The Laptop I had XP activated. The regular PC failed activation multiple times using the same install CD. That is until one day I tried to activate to right down the error message when it activated much to my surprise. These two machines are as different as night and day. This is some type of hole in the activation scheme due to the dramatic differences between the two machines activated using the same XP pro disk.
Click on the XP annoyances below to get further details
Security Tips
2. Security-Microsoft Windows Product Activation Basics and living with it
3. Security-Disable Remote Assistance- on by default
4. Security-Disable Automatic Windows Updates- on by default
5. Security-Disable Automatic Internet Time Synchronization- on by default
6. Security-Disable Error Reporting- on by default
7. Security-Give Messenger and other TSR's the boot
8. Security-How to convert from FAT32 to NTFS
9. Security- How to clear the virtual memory pagefile at shutdown
10. Security- How to stop the display of the last user in the logon screen
11. Security- How to rename the Administrator account
12. Security- How to protect your PC from RAW Socket Access from XP
13. Security- How to stop XP from tracking and posting your recent documents
14. Security- How to force XP/2000/NT to logoff if you step away
15. Security- How get the Admin account if password is lost-FAT32 Only
16. Security- How get close Plug and Play port 5000
17. Security- How to remove index.dat (it has a copy of everywhere you went on the net)
18. Security- Create Windows XP and Win98 VPN without special hardware or software
19. Security- Guide to securing Microsoft Windows XP by NSA :>
Utility Tips
2. Utility-How do I send a message from a batch file
3. Utility-What are some startup keys available
4. Utility-How do I correct a Windows XP installation that was not activated
5. Utility-What ports does Windows XP use during product activation
6. Utility-How do I uninstall Windows XP
7. Utility- How to get XP Home NT/2000 domain and network printer access
8. Utility- How to get XP Home Netware Volume and network printer access
9. Utility- How to make a boot disk with CD support from Win 98 for XP
10. Utility- How to stretch a XP/NT/2000 peer to peer to greater than 10 PC's
11. Utility- How to Shut down your system from the cmd line
12. Utility- If your XP PC is slow or won't shut down
13. Utility- If your XP's folder view won't stay as you put it
14. Utility- If you suspect a corrupt dll or system file within XP itself
15. Utility- Disable IDE Port Scanning on empty ports and save bootup time
16. Utility- Create a password reset floppy disk
17. Utility- How to access a XP/Win2k share and with a Win9x client PC. (The IPC$ problem)
Preference Tips
2. Preference-Delete the Shared Documents folder for good
3. Preference-How do I disable or enable the flashing toolbar on IE 6
4. Preference-How do I disable XP's low-disk-check taskbar warning
5. Prefrence-How can I disable the Win key
6. Preference-Disable the new features of the XP and 2000 shell
7. Preference-How can change the Welcome screen with another picture
8. Preference-How to speed up your Menu
9. Preference- How to get rid of balloon messages from popping up
10. Preference- How to Disable CD autoplay in Windows XP Pro
11. Preference- How to enable Autologon in Windows XP Pro
12. Preference- How to Speedup your Desktop in Windows XP Pro
13. Preference- How to Speed up the keyboard in Windows XP Pro
14. Preference- How to force Explorer to open in the directory you want.
15. Preference- How to turn off Explorer folder view memory
16. Preference- How to force core OS into RAM
Want more info then click here for more Windows XP/2000/NT Web sites
You Internet Explorer is give away information by defualt.
1. Open Internet Explorer, then Tools, then Intertnet Options, Security and Custom level.2. Then scroll down to scripting and the option for "Allow pasting operation via script" and check the disable setting.
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The Basics of Windows Product Activation
Per www.theregister.co.uk , Windows Product Activation Microsoft does not have any mechanism for finding out what hardware you're running from the WPA process. The hardware checked is as follows: Serial number of system volume; NIC MAC address; CDROM; graphics adapter; CPU; hard drive; SCSI adapter; IDE controller; processor model; RAM size. There's also a check to see if the hardware is dockable or not. The Microsoft feels that there's likely to be duplication in the components (i.e. different products might produce the same ID), and that the system is pretty forgiving.
For those of you that want to know more details than what we have here, I suggest you read this detailed report from licenturion.com.
Or if you would like to read what Microsoft has to say see Bill's explanation
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If you have a Locked session and don't have a Winkey, try the following to unlock it.
Try pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE. This screen that contains the "lock workstation" button.
Note: the above will only work if "Fast user Switching" and the Welcome" screen have been turned off.
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To disable Remote Assistance for increased security, try the following:
1. Right lick "My Computer" and choose "properties".
2. Click on the "Remote" tab.
3. Remove the check by "Allow Remote Assisstance...."
4. Click "Apply" and "Ok".
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To disable Automatic Windows Updates for increased security, try the following:
1. Right lick "My Computer" and choose "properties".
2. Click on the "Automatic Updates" tab.
3. Add the check by "Turn off auotmatic updating"
4. Click "Apply" and "Ok".
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To disable Automatic Internet Time Synch for increased security, try the following:
1. Open Control Panel and open "Date and "Time".
2. Remove the check mark in the "Automatically Synchronize with an Internet Time server".
3. Click "Apply" and "Ok".
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To disable error reporting for increased security, try the following:
1. Go to Start/Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance.
2. Then to See Basic Information on Computer/Advanced/Error Reporting/Disable. ET is now gone home for good.
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To delete the Shared Documents Folder for good.
1. Start then Run.2. Enter "Regedit" then Ok.
3. Click on + next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then on the + next to each of the following: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\Delegate
4. In the Delegate folder select the subkey {5903Ia47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. Delete it.
5. Close Regedit. The Shared Documents folder is gone!
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Give Messenger and other TSR's the boot.
1. Click Start then Run.2. Enter "msconfig" then Ok.
3. Click on the Startup Tab.
4. Remove any check marks next to the applications you don't wanted started.
5. Click on Apply and Ok. The changes will be in effect after you reboot.
6. If you change your mind on one or more of the applications just repeat this and put the check marks back in.
Another option is to use GPEDIT.MSC to prevent Messenger from loading ever again. Otherwise, even disabling it in startup won't cause it to "always" not run. Outlook, IE and some MS web pages can still make it load. or if you want messenger gone for ever and your runing Pro then try this:
1) Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC
2) For "per machine" restriction, go to Computer Configuration,Adminstrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Messenger For "per user" restriction, go to User Configuration, Adminstrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Messenger
3) You can now modify whether it starts initially and/or whether its to run at all.
Note: Outlook and Outlook Express will take longer to open, unless youturn off Messenger Support. In Outlook Express its in Tools, Options, General tab. In Outlook its in Tools, Options, Other.
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To multilboot which OS should be installed first?
The rule is to install the oldest OS first and work forward.Top of page
Pro version only- How do I send a message from a batch file or cmd line?
To send a message from a batch file, use the Net Send command, as follows:Net send "machine" "message"
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How do I disable or enable the flashing toolbar that IE 6 installs
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE 6) displays a new 4-button toolbar when the mouse hovers over a Web image. The four tools let you save the image to disk, print it, or send it in an email message, or open the My Pictures folder. To disable or enable the toolbar, perform the following steps:1. Start IE.
2. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
4. Scroll down to Multimedia.
5. Select (to enable) or clear (to disable) the "Enable Image Toolbar (requires restart)" checkbox.
6. Click OK.
7. Close IE and any other applications, and restart your computer.
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What are some startup keys available
1. F5 - If during installation at the "Setup is inspecting your computer" the system hangs press F5 and a list of PC types will be listed. Select "Standard PC" which should resolve your problem2. F6 - Displayed early in setup and allows 3rd party drivers to be loaded
3. F7 - Load the normal PC HAL instead of the ACPI HAL
4. F8 - As shown above
5. Shift + F10 - Open command prompt during GUI phase of installation
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How do I disable Windows XP's low-disk-check taskbar warning?
XP monitors the amount of available disk space and displays a warning in the taskbar when the hard disk is almost full. To disable this feature, perform the following steps:1. Start the registry editor (regedit.exe).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Go to the Edit menu, and select New - DWORD value.
4. Enter a name of NoLowDiskSpaceChecks, and press Enter.
5. Double-click the new value, set it to 1, and click OK.
6. Close the registry editor.
7. Log off and log on for the change to take effect.
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How can I disable the Win key?
To disable both Windows keys perform the following:1. Start the registry editor (regedt32.exe)
2. Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout
3. From the Edit menu select New - Binary Value
4. Enter a name of "Scancode Map" and press enter
5. Double click on the new value and set to 0000 0000 0000 0000 0300 0000 0000 5BE0 0000 5CE0 0000 0000 Don't type the spaces, I only include them only to help you view the data
6. Click OK
7. Close the registry editor and reboot the machine
Once the machine has restarted the Win key will no longer work
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How do I correct a Windows XP installation that has become deactivated?
If XP is past the 30-day grace period that Microsoft allows for activation, you'll have to activate XP immediately or format the drive and reinstall XP.The format and reinstall will work but you'll only have another 30 days and you'll need to reinstall your apps and any hardware XP doesn't know about. Hopefully, I can add additional options in the future.
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What ports does Windows XP use during product activation?
XP uses the standard HTTP port (port 80) and HTTPS port (port 443) for product activation. To confirm that these ports are available, try connecting to both ports by entering the following addresses in your Web browser:1. http://www.microsoft.com:80
2. https://www.microsoft.com:443
If you receive an error, check with your administrator to determine whether your organization has blocked either port or whether you need to change your firewall client configuration.
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How can I disable the new features of the Windows XP and Windows 2000 shell?
You can use Group Policy to disable the new features (e.g., Active Desktop, quick launch, Web view) of the XP and Win2K shell and configure the classic shell. To configure the classic shell, perform the following steps:1. Open Group Policy in Group Policy Editor (GPE).
2. Expand User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, and Windows Explorer.
3. Double-click Enable Classic Shell.
4. Set to Enabled, and click OK.
5. Close GPE.
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How do I uninstall Windows XP?
If you upgraded to XP from Windows Windows 98, or Me go to the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel applet and click Uninstall Windows XP. Under this same set of circumstances, you can also uninstall XP from the command prompt by performing the following steps:1. Start the computer in Safe Mode with Command Prompt support (press F8 during start up).
2. Navigate to %systemroot%\system32.
3. Type osuninst.exe and press Enter.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions
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If your computer is a member of a workgroup or is a stand-alone computer, you can replace the picture on the Welcome screen with another picture.
1. Store a head shot that you’ve scanned or taken with a digital camera in the My Pictures folder.Note- The picture will be automatically resized to fit the picture box, so don’t worry too much about getting an exact size
2. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
3. Click your account name, and then click Change My Picture.
4. Click the picture you like, and then click Change Picture.
4. To find the user’s picture, click Browse for more pictures, click the picture you want to use, and then click Open.
5. Now, when you open the Welcome screen, you will see the new picture.
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How to speed up your Menu
1. Start Regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.2. Select MenuShowDelay from the list on the right.
3. Right click on it and select Modify.
4. Change the value to 0 from 400.(400 is the default delay and 0 is no delay)
5. Reboot your computer and youv'e changed the delay time value
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How to convert FAT32 to NTFS. Encryption File System 56 bit (EFS) and file/folder compression are only avialable with NTFS. (Remember there is no going back to Fat32 without deleting the non-dos partition and re-formatting the partition into FAT32)
There is more than one way to convert a drive FAT32 to NTFS. This is the method I used:1. Boot using F8 in safemode w/cmd line.
2. At the cmd line and type "convert c: /fs:ntfs" and press enter.
Answer no to dismount and yes to convert at next restart.(This reduces the chance of junk being left in memory) Restart system.
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How to get rid of balloon messages from popping up out of the system tray
1. Start then Programs to Power Toys for XP.2. TweakUI and click on "TaskBar".
3. Uncheck "Enable balloon tips" and hit "Apply".
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How to prevent the display of the last username in the logon screen
1. If you don't have group policy snapin installed see steps 1 through 10 from "How to clear the virtual memory pagefile at shutdown" above first.2. In the Group Policy snap-in, click the Local Policies node in the console pane.
3. Then click Security Options.
4. In the details pane, right-click Interactive Logon: Do Not Display Last User Name.
5. Click Properties, and then select Enabled to enable this feature.
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How to rename the Administrator account
Since you can only rename the account, I would recommend you that it have alpha, numeric and special charactor combinations and be at least 7 charactors long. i.e. tn4i!p41. If you don't have group policy snapin installed see steps 1 through 10 from "How to clear the virtual memory pagefile at shutdown" above first.
2. In the Group Policy snap-in, click the Local Policies node in the console pane.
3. Then click Security Options.
4. Expand Local Policies, and then select Security Options.
5. Right-click Accounts: Rename The Administrator Account and then click Properties.
6. Type in the new name you wish to use for the Administrator account and click OK.
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How to Disable CD autoplay in Windows XP Pro
1. Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC2. Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, then System.
3. Locate the entry for turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.
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How to enable Autologon in Windows XP Pro
1. Click Start, Run and enter "control userpasswords2" to open the Windows 2000-style User Accounts application.2. On the Users tab, clear the Users Must Enter A User Name and Password To Use This Computer check box and then click OK.
3. In the Automatically Log On dialog box that appears, type the username and password for the account you want to be logged on each time you start your computer
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How to get XP Home NT/2000 domain and network printer access
The following will give you the ability to you get the most out of the networked resources, but all. You won't have the abiltiy to run networked scripts, manangement features and group policys from a network (roaming profiles) to name a few. There are some work arounds for the above but since Home is meant for your Home and not your office well look at just the meat and potatoes stuff only. (file and print)1. Create batch file in startup folder for user(s) needing domain access. Located in c:\documents and settings\username or all users folder\start menu\programs\startup folder.
2. For network drive and letter use "net use g: \\domain or machnename\sharename". i.e. net use g: \\ntserver\public
3. For network printer use "net use lpt1: \\domain or machinename\printername". i.e. net use lpt1: \\ntserver\HP5p_East
4. The user will be prompted for username and password if required by the share.
You can now print to the network printer or use the drive.
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How to get XP Home Netware Volume and network printer access
1. Create batch file in startup folder for user(s) needing domain access. c:\documents and settings\username or all users folder\start menu\programs\startup folder.2. For network drive use "map root g:=vol1:dirname" i.e. map root g:=vol1:users.
3. For network printer use "Capture nb nff nt ti=15 l=1 q=.printer.orgunit.orgunit.org."
nb= no banner
nff= no form feed
nt= no tabs
ti= time out
l=1 is lpt1, 2 is lpt2, 3 is lpt3, etc to 9
q= printer queue
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How to make a boot disk with CD support from Win 98 for XP
1. Using a Win98 PC, click on Start then Settings and Control Panel.2. Add and Remove Programs then Startup disk and Create.
After disk is created, be sure to copy format.com since it is not part of the boot disk setup.
Notes on formatting partitions:
(1) You cannot directly format a ntfs parition with a Win 98 boot disk. You must run fdisk and remove the non-dos partition, then create a dos partition. Then you can format it.
(2) If you have a NTFS c: drive and FAT32 d: drive then format the c: drive you will actually be formatting d: drive. This is because format cannot see c: drive if it is NTFS so it assumes the d: drive is c: drive and formats it. You just hosedup your d: drive, I have.
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How to stretch a XP/NT/2000 peer to peer to greater than 10 PC's
The default for peer to peer share autodisconnect is 15 minutes. Once the session is disconnected, one of the 10 connections will be available so that another user can connect to the Windows NT/2000/XP Workstation system. Therefore, lowering the AutoDisconnect time can help to reduce some of the problems users may encounter with the 10-connection limit or 5-connection limit on a system that is not used heavily for server purposes. You can configure the AutoDisconnect time by running the following command from a command prompt or batch file:"net config server /autodisconnect:time_before_autodisconnect" Specify the time in minutes
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How to protect your PC from RAW Socket Access from XP
Win XP's Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) does not attempt to manage or restrict outbound connections. It is a useful firewall for hiding the machine from the Internet (it has "stealth mode" unsolicited packet handling), but you will still need to use a good third-party personal firewall if you wish to manage and control outbound connections from your system. I recommend and have tested ZoneAlarm. To download ZoneAlarm for XP go to the Top of Page and then to the download page. Top of pageHow to Shut down your system from the cmd line
If you want to shutdown or restart your computer remotely or at the console, you can use the following commands:1. (if not already open) Open a Command Prompt.
2. Enter the command: “shutdown -r” to restart your computer.
Or Enter the command: “shutdown -s” to shut off your computer.
Or Enter the command: Shutdown -r -f to force all services off automatically.
Note: You can enter “shutdown” at the command prompt to get other switch options.
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How to stop XP from tracking and posting your recent documents
Turning off Recent Documents1. Right click task bar, and click on "Properties".
2. Click on "Start Menu", then "Customize".
3. Click on "Advanced" tab and remove check mark by "List my most recently opened documents.
4. Click on "Ok" and your done.
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How to force XP/2000/NT to logoff, if you step away
If your are networked or have need to keep your PC secure while your if your step away.1. Copy winexit.scr and copy to the same location as the other *.scr files are. You can get this file from the download page link at the top of this page.
2. Right click the desktop and the Properties.
3. Click on Screensave and select Winexit.
4. Click on "settings" and chose how you want Winexit to work.
Note: If you have a document open but not saved,Winexit will not save it for you as it exits Windows. This is a great application for those who are networked with God/Godess rights.
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How to Speedup your Desktop in Windows XP Pro
If you want to speed up your desktop try the following:1. Right click any open spot on the desktop and choose properites then Appearance.
2. Select Effect tab and deselect the "Use fade effects".
3. Click on "Ok".
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How to speed up the keyboard
If want to speed up your keyboard try the following:1. Start/Run/rededit then Hkey_Current user\Contorl Panel\keyboard\keyboardDelay.
2. Change the value to zero "31" for fast or three "0" for slow.
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How to force XP/2000/NT to open Explore in the directory you want.
If your tired of starting explorer in my computer insead of the drive you want:1. Crate a shortcut on the desktop for explorer.
2. In the command line for Explorer end the path statement with "explorer.exe /e,c:\". This will start Explorer on the c: drive
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How to turn off Explorer folder view memory
Turn off folder memory:1. Open Explorer/Tools/Folder Options/View.
2. Deselect the remember folders view setting check box and click ok.
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How get the Admin account if password is lost-FAT32 Only
To regain Admin access:1. Using Win 9x boot disk start the PC.
2. locate c:\Windows\system32\config folder and delete these three files: SAM, SAM.SAV, and SAM.LOG.
Deleting these files will delete all accounts along with passwords, so you must recreate all users again. However, the Administrator account will continue to exist but without a password.
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If your XP PC is slow or won't shut down try this
1. Right click "My Computer", click on "Properties", click on "Hardware" and then "Device Manager".2. Double click the "USB Controllers" to expand it then right click the "USB Hub" and then click on "Properties".
3. Click the "Power Management" tab.
4. Click on the check box to remove the check labeled "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power", then click "Ok" and exit "Device Manager".
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Plug and Play port 5000 is open by default. To close it install the following:
Click here to download PnP.zip to close port 5KTop of page
If your XP's folder view won't stay as you put it
1. Delete the following from the registry and reboot.HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags
(The keys will be rebuilt automatically. After you make another 400 changes to "Views" anywhere around the system, it will forget how to retain the settings again. Just repeat this again.)
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How to remove index.dat (since it has a copy of everything) after deleting your cookies, history and any cache pages/pic's
1. Make and boot from a Win 98 floppy disk.2. Delete the index.dat file. You'll have more than one if there is another login name. Delete that to.
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How to clear the page file at shutdown
1. Start Regedit2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown and set the value to 1
3. Reboot the machine.
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How to force the core OS into RAM
1. Start Regedit2. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive and set the value to 1. 3. Reboot the computer.
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How to force a overlay of a corrupt dll or system file within XP itself
1. Start CMD prompt2. Go to the i386 dir and type winnt32 /unattend.
3. Press enter, this will begin a unattended overlay of key sys and dll files without a reinstallation of XP.
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How to disable IDE Port Scanning on empty ports and save bootup time
1. Go to System Properties by right-clicking on My Computer, or via the Control Panel.2. Select the Hardware tab
3. Look at the Device Manager section and click on the Device Manager button.
4. This brings up the Device Manager screen. Open up the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers device branch. Then you will see a list of all the IDE controllers and channels in your system
5. Now, select any one of the IDE channels, right click and choose Properties. Or just double click on the IDE channe
6. Select the Advanced Settings tab to get the screen below. As you can see below, the second port (Device 1) on the Primary IDE Channel does not have any IDE device attached to it. Thus, the Device Type is labeled as Auto Detection. In contrast, the first port has a device attached. That's why the Device Type is grayed out
7. To disable IDE device scanning for the second port, click on Auto Detection and you will see two choices on the list. Select None.
8. Click OK and reboot
Windows 2000 will now refrain from scanning that IDE port at start up and should load a little faster
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How to Create a Windows XP and Win98 VPN without special hardware or software
1. Click on "Start"2. Click on "Settings".
3. Click on "Network Connections".
4. Click on "New Connectons" and next.
5. Click on "Setup an Advanced Connection" and next.
6. Click on "Accept Incoming connecitons" and next.
7. Click on "Devices for Incomming Connection" page just click on next.
8. Click on "Incoming VPN Connection" page.
9. Click on "Allow virtual private connections" and next.
10. Click on "User Permissions" page select the users you want to connect to your XP VPN and next.
Note: If you need a new user not listed, you'll need to create a new user in control panel.
11. Then in "Network Connections" page click on properties.
12. Then click on the "Networking" tab.
13. Then click on "TCP/IP".
14. Then click on "Properties" and next.
15. Choose the method you want your remote connections to get their ip address.
15a. If you'll want to allow callers to access your network. Then on click on the check box on "Allow callers to access my local area network".
15b. If you want your XP VPN server to act as a DHCP server then click on "Asighn TCP/IP addresses automatically using DHCP and "OK".
15c. If you want your XP VPN server not to assign IPs and just except a ranges of acceptable ip's the click on "Specify TCP/IP adddresses" and "OK".
Note: they must be in the same ip network as your server. i.e if your server is 192.168.1.1 then you must use 192.168.1.x and cannot use 192.168.2.x.
15d. If you want your XP VPN server to allow the incoming conneciton to assign its own ip then check the box "Allow calling computer to specify its own ip address" and "OK".
16. Only for VPN that is behind a router, otherwise you are done. Router ports that will need to be open are for PPTP 1723 and 47. Ports for IPSec is 500 and 50 to 51. Then these ports will need to be forwarded to the VPN Server IP from the router.
Top of page If you would like a more graphic instruction set see Bob Cerelli's Graphic VPN How to Guide
How to create a password reset floppy disk
1. Insert a blank floppy disk into your drive, open User Accounts in Control Panel, and double-click on your account name.2. On the left side of the window, under Related Tasks, select Prevent a forgotten password.
3. A wizard will pop up and walk you through the process of creating the password recovery disk.
If you try several times to log on using the wrong password, Windows XP will prompt you to insert the password reset disk and will use it for authentication. You'll be allowed to log on to the system, but you'll have to select a new password. The floppy disk will be updated to reflect your new password.
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How to access a XP/Win2k share and with a Win9x client PC. (The IPC$ problem)
I forget this all the time when doing a simple file share from a NT/Win2k to a Win9x client.1 step only. You need an account set up on NT/Win2k machine with same username/password as you log onto Win9x machine with.
Example of a working username/password on both machines would be "user" and "pass" on the Win2k PC and the same on the Win9x PC. This assumes both authenticate to a server because Win9x does normally use usernames.
For a more detailed description and more graphical see Fix that darn IPC$ error Win98 to Win2000/XP security
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Guide to securing Microsoft Windows XP by NSA
For the pdf download see Secure XP from the NSATop of page
Links to more XP info:
The best Security forum in the English speaking world!PC technicians serving small office/home users
NT/2000 FAQ
MS XP Software Compatibility Catalog
MS XP Hardware Compatibility List
Tweak XP
Microsoft Most Valued Professionals MVP's
MS TechNet Newsgroups
Windows XP FAQ's
Windows Networking
Windows Tips and Tweaks
XP How to's
More XP How to's