- Posts: 227
- Thank you received: 0
Windowsxp_tips
18 years 1 month ago #17644
by nizam
Windowsxp_tips was created by nizam
Hiding Manage My Computer
If you want to remove Manage My Computer from My Computer
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer
3. Create a DWORD value called NoManageMyComputerVerb
4. Set the value to 1
5. Reboot
.......................................................................................................................................................;
Finding Your XP Product ID
There is a great little utility available to help you find your currently installed product ID
www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml
It also works for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Office 97, and Office XP
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Forgotten Admin or User\'s Password
You do not need to reinstall if you forgot the admin password.
There is a boot disk you can download at:
home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
that will let you reset the password of any account on NT4, Windows2000 or XP.
Just follow all the default settings which are for the admin account. Used it many
times with great success.
They also have a bootable CD image you can download
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Showing Common Tasks in Window
When you open a window from My Computer or the Control Panel, and you don\'t see the blue bar with additional options on the left side, you may simply need to turn on Common Tasks
1. From that same windows, go to Tools / Folder Options
2. Check Show common tasks in folders
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Renaming Multiple Files in a Directory
If you want to rename multiple files in the same directory:
1. Using the Windows Explorer, select all the files you want to rename
2. Press F2 or right click and select Rename
3. Enter the prefix for the name you want (e.g. Newname)
4. This will automatically rename the rest of the files Newname (1).jpg, Newname (2).jpg etc.
5. Make sure you include the extension if you have the Explorer configured to show them.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Disable Windows Tour
If you want to disable the Take Tour of Windows XP that comes up after you install WindowsXP:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Applets\\Tour
3. Create a new DWORD key called RunCount
4. Give it a value of 0
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Windows Help and Support Error
If you get an error Windows cannot find HELPCTR.EXE, it may be that a registry entry has gotten corrupted.
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\App Paths\\HELPCTR.EXE
3. If the key isn\'t there, right click and create a new key HELPCTR.EXE
4. It should have a value of C:\\WINDOWS\\PCHealth\\HelpCtr\\Binaries\\HelpCtr.exe
5. Reboot
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Speeding Up Network Browsing
There are a lot of things which can negatively impact how fast XP will browse network shares.
One has been previously covered regarding browsing to Win9x computers.
Other things you can try, especially when there is slow browsing to network shares with a lot of files:
1. Remove current shortcuts in My Network Places
2. Change the registry so shared folders on remote computers are not automatically added to My Network Places when you even open a document from that shared folder
1. Start Regedit
2. Create a DWORD value:
3. HKEY_Current_User \\ Software \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ CurrentVersion \\ Policies \\ Explorer \\ NoRecentDocsNetHood to 1.
4. I have also seen setting the following help as well.
HKEY_Current_User \\ Software \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ CurrentVersion \\ Policies \\ Explorer \\ UseDesktopIniCache to 1.
Download Reg file to do both www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/slow_network_browsing_2.reg
3. Increase the amount of data is buffered at one time to send to a client. On the computer with the shared directory:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\LanmanServer\\Parameters
3. Create a DWORD Key called SizReqBuf
4. Give it a value of Hex FFFF
Download Reg file :
www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/slow_network_browsing.reg
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Editing the Boot.ini file
The boot.ini file is a simple text file that is on the root of the boot drive.
You can edit this with any plain text editor like Notepad (may need to unhide the file first)
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Advanced tab
4. Under Startup and Recovery, click on the Settings button
5. Click on the Edit button
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Running CHKDSK
One way to run a chkdsk (this is like Scandisk that was with Win9X), is to
1. Double click on My Computer
2. Right click on the drive you want to check
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Tools tab
5. Click on the Check Now button
6. Check to Automatically fix file system errors - This is the same as running chkdsk /f
7. If you want to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, check that box - This is the same as running chkdsk /R. It can also add a lot of time to the scan
8. Reboot if necessary
You can also run chkdsk from the command line with will give you more options.
The following switches are available:
/F - fix any errors
/R - identifies bad sectors
/V - with FAT32, displays a verbose output
With NTFS Volumes:
/I - Performs simpler check (stage 2)
/C - Skips the checking of cycles within folder structures
/X - Forces the volume to dismount if necessary. Intended for server administrators and should be avoided for normal use
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Opening Shared Folders Snap-In
To manage all your shared folders, you can run the snap-in directly
Start / Run / fsmgmt.msc
This will show you all your shared folders in a single window
You can also see what other computers are connected and what files they have open
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Additional Utilities
On the XP CD in the \\Support\\Tools directory, there are a lot of additional support and troubleshooting utilities.
You can run SETUP from that directory to install them.
Just a few are:
diruse : Shows Disk Usage
dupfinder : Finds Duplicate files
getmac: Get\'s MAC address of the network card
hostname: Shows the host name of the computer
netdiag: Diagnoses a variety of network components
pviewer: Show a list of process and allows you to get a memory detail or kill any process
windiff: Compare files and directories
\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'
Viewing Your IP Address Information
There are several ways you can determine your IP address information:
IPCONFIG
1. Start / Run / cmd
2. IPCONFIG /ALL
This opens a command window. One advantage is that you can send the information to a text file (IPCONFIG /ALL > c:\\ip.txt)
But sometimes the window shows show much information you need to scroll around to fine it.
VIEW STATUS
1. Control Panel / Network Connections / Double click the icons for your network (If the network has an icon in the system tray you can also just double click on that icon)
2. Click on the Support tab
3. Click on the Details button
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Make Pictures Smaller Unavailable
When you try and send pictures through e-mail, you should normally be given the option to make them smaller.
If this option is not available, a DLL file may need to be registered.
1. Start
2. Run
3. regsvr32 shimgvw.dll
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Creating a Suspend Shortcut
If you would like to create an icon to suspend your computer,
1. Right click on the Desktop
2. New / Shortcut
3. Enter in rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState
4. Give it whatever name you want
5. Now when you click on that shortcut, your computer will shutdown and suspend
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Changing the User Type
Normally in XP Pro, through the Control Panel / User Accounts icon, you are only allowed to create administrators or limited users.
If you want to create
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Manage
3. Local Users and Groups
4. Users
5. Right click on the user you want to change
6. Properties
7. Member of tab
8. Add button
9. Advanced button
10. Find Now button
11. From here you see the full list of possibilities (e.g. Power User, Backup Operator etc.)
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Determining Which Services are Associated with SVCHOST
Since so many critical services are run with each svchost,
You can see which ones are being used by opening a cmd prompt and running:
tasklist /svc /fi \"imagename eq svchost.exe\"
Note: This is available only with XP Pro
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Identify Faulty Device Drivers
If you are having problems with lockups, blue screens, or can only get to safe mode,
often the problem is due to a faulty device driver.
One way to help identify them is through the use of the Verfier program
1. Start / Run / Verifier
2. Keep the default of Create Standard Settings
3. Select the type of drivers you want to confirm
4. A list of drivers to be verified on the next boot will be shown.
5. Reboot
6. If your computer stops with a blue screen, you should get an error message with the problem driver
7. To turn off the Verifier, run verifier /reset
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Viewing Installed Drivers
If you want to see a list of installed drivers, you can run the driverquery program
There are a lot of available switches to view different types of information.
On use can be to export to a CSV file for viewing in Excel
An example would then be:
Driverquery /v /fo csv > drivers.csv
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Operation Was Attempted on Something That Is Not a Socket Error
If you get this error when you try and renew your IP address,
Likely the winsock2 registry entries are corrupted.
The basic steps to fix this are:
1. Remove the old registry entries - www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/xp_del_winsock.reg
2. Import the correct registry entries - www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/xp_winsock.reg
3. Reboot the computer
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Opening Ports or Adding Allowed Programs with SP2\'s Firewall
1. Click on Start / Run
2. Enter in firewall.cpl
3. Click on the Exceptions tab
Adding a Port for Internet Access:
1. Click on the Add Port button
2. Name it whatever you want
3. Enter in the ports you want to open
Adding a Program for Internet Access
1. Click on Add Program... button
2. A list of all installed programs will be displayed
3. Highlight the one you want to include for Internet access
4. Click on the OK button
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Autoexec.nt or Config.nt Errors
If you are getting errors similar to:
The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose \'Close\' to terminate the application.
Try copying the file from \\windows\\repair directory to the one that is in the \\windows\\system32 directory.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Common Control Panel Applets
The follow are some common Control Panel Applets that are located in the \\windows\\system32 directory.
If you find yourself using any of these frequently, then you can simply make shortcuts to them on your desktop.
appwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs
desk.cpl Display Properties
firewall.cpl Firewall Settings
inetcpl.cpl Internet Options
mmsys.cpl Sound and Audio
ncpa.cpl Network Connections
nusrmgr.cpl User Accounts
powercfg.cpl Power Options
sysdm.cpl System Properties
wscui.cpl Security Center
wuaucpl.cpl Automatic Updates Configuration
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Windows Explorer Opens Search Companion Rather than the Folder
If the Windows Explorer opens up the Search Companion rather than opening up the actual folder, the default setting for opening a folder is changed.
To correct this:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \\ Directory \\ shell and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \\ Drive \\ shell]
3. Edit the default value to be explorer or none
Download reg file
www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/directory.reg
If you want to remove Manage My Computer from My Computer
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER / Software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Policies / Explorer
3. Create a DWORD value called NoManageMyComputerVerb
4. Set the value to 1
5. Reboot
.......................................................................................................................................................;
Finding Your XP Product ID
There is a great little utility available to help you find your currently installed product ID
www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml
It also works for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Office 97, and Office XP
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Forgotten Admin or User\'s Password
You do not need to reinstall if you forgot the admin password.
There is a boot disk you can download at:
home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/
that will let you reset the password of any account on NT4, Windows2000 or XP.
Just follow all the default settings which are for the admin account. Used it many
times with great success.
They also have a bootable CD image you can download
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Showing Common Tasks in Window
When you open a window from My Computer or the Control Panel, and you don\'t see the blue bar with additional options on the left side, you may simply need to turn on Common Tasks
1. From that same windows, go to Tools / Folder Options
2. Check Show common tasks in folders
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Renaming Multiple Files in a Directory
If you want to rename multiple files in the same directory:
1. Using the Windows Explorer, select all the files you want to rename
2. Press F2 or right click and select Rename
3. Enter the prefix for the name you want (e.g. Newname)
4. This will automatically rename the rest of the files Newname (1).jpg, Newname (2).jpg etc.
5. Make sure you include the extension if you have the Explorer configured to show them.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Disable Windows Tour
If you want to disable the Take Tour of Windows XP that comes up after you install WindowsXP:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Applets\\Tour
3. Create a new DWORD key called RunCount
4. Give it a value of 0
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Windows Help and Support Error
If you get an error Windows cannot find HELPCTR.EXE, it may be that a registry entry has gotten corrupted.
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\App Paths\\HELPCTR.EXE
3. If the key isn\'t there, right click and create a new key HELPCTR.EXE
4. It should have a value of C:\\WINDOWS\\PCHealth\\HelpCtr\\Binaries\\HelpCtr.exe
5. Reboot
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Speeding Up Network Browsing
There are a lot of things which can negatively impact how fast XP will browse network shares.
One has been previously covered regarding browsing to Win9x computers.
Other things you can try, especially when there is slow browsing to network shares with a lot of files:
1. Remove current shortcuts in My Network Places
2. Change the registry so shared folders on remote computers are not automatically added to My Network Places when you even open a document from that shared folder
1. Start Regedit
2. Create a DWORD value:
3. HKEY_Current_User \\ Software \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ CurrentVersion \\ Policies \\ Explorer \\ NoRecentDocsNetHood to 1.
4. I have also seen setting the following help as well.
HKEY_Current_User \\ Software \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ CurrentVersion \\ Policies \\ Explorer \\ UseDesktopIniCache to 1.
Download Reg file to do both www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/slow_network_browsing_2.reg
3. Increase the amount of data is buffered at one time to send to a client. On the computer with the shared directory:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\LanmanServer\\Parameters
3. Create a DWORD Key called SizReqBuf
4. Give it a value of Hex FFFF
Download Reg file :
www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/slow_network_browsing.reg
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Editing the Boot.ini file
The boot.ini file is a simple text file that is on the root of the boot drive.
You can edit this with any plain text editor like Notepad (may need to unhide the file first)
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click on the Advanced tab
4. Under Startup and Recovery, click on the Settings button
5. Click on the Edit button
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Running CHKDSK
One way to run a chkdsk (this is like Scandisk that was with Win9X), is to
1. Double click on My Computer
2. Right click on the drive you want to check
3. Select Properties
4. Click on the Tools tab
5. Click on the Check Now button
6. Check to Automatically fix file system errors - This is the same as running chkdsk /f
7. If you want to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, check that box - This is the same as running chkdsk /R. It can also add a lot of time to the scan
8. Reboot if necessary
You can also run chkdsk from the command line with will give you more options.
The following switches are available:
/F - fix any errors
/R - identifies bad sectors
/V - with FAT32, displays a verbose output
With NTFS Volumes:
/I - Performs simpler check (stage 2)
/C - Skips the checking of cycles within folder structures
/X - Forces the volume to dismount if necessary. Intended for server administrators and should be avoided for normal use
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Opening Shared Folders Snap-In
To manage all your shared folders, you can run the snap-in directly
Start / Run / fsmgmt.msc
This will show you all your shared folders in a single window
You can also see what other computers are connected and what files they have open
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Additional Utilities
On the XP CD in the \\Support\\Tools directory, there are a lot of additional support and troubleshooting utilities.
You can run SETUP from that directory to install them.
Just a few are:
diruse : Shows Disk Usage
dupfinder : Finds Duplicate files
getmac: Get\'s MAC address of the network card
hostname: Shows the host name of the computer
netdiag: Diagnoses a variety of network components
pviewer: Show a list of process and allows you to get a memory detail or kill any process
windiff: Compare files and directories
\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'\'
Viewing Your IP Address Information
There are several ways you can determine your IP address information:
IPCONFIG
1. Start / Run / cmd
2. IPCONFIG /ALL
This opens a command window. One advantage is that you can send the information to a text file (IPCONFIG /ALL > c:\\ip.txt)
But sometimes the window shows show much information you need to scroll around to fine it.
VIEW STATUS
1. Control Panel / Network Connections / Double click the icons for your network (If the network has an icon in the system tray you can also just double click on that icon)
2. Click on the Support tab
3. Click on the Details button
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Make Pictures Smaller Unavailable
When you try and send pictures through e-mail, you should normally be given the option to make them smaller.
If this option is not available, a DLL file may need to be registered.
1. Start
2. Run
3. regsvr32 shimgvw.dll
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Creating a Suspend Shortcut
If you would like to create an icon to suspend your computer,
1. Right click on the Desktop
2. New / Shortcut
3. Enter in rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState
4. Give it whatever name you want
5. Now when you click on that shortcut, your computer will shutdown and suspend
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Changing the User Type
Normally in XP Pro, through the Control Panel / User Accounts icon, you are only allowed to create administrators or limited users.
If you want to create
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Manage
3. Local Users and Groups
4. Users
5. Right click on the user you want to change
6. Properties
7. Member of tab
8. Add button
9. Advanced button
10. Find Now button
11. From here you see the full list of possibilities (e.g. Power User, Backup Operator etc.)
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Determining Which Services are Associated with SVCHOST
Since so many critical services are run with each svchost,
You can see which ones are being used by opening a cmd prompt and running:
tasklist /svc /fi \"imagename eq svchost.exe\"
Note: This is available only with XP Pro
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Identify Faulty Device Drivers
If you are having problems with lockups, blue screens, or can only get to safe mode,
often the problem is due to a faulty device driver.
One way to help identify them is through the use of the Verfier program
1. Start / Run / Verifier
2. Keep the default of Create Standard Settings
3. Select the type of drivers you want to confirm
4. A list of drivers to be verified on the next boot will be shown.
5. Reboot
6. If your computer stops with a blue screen, you should get an error message with the problem driver
7. To turn off the Verifier, run verifier /reset
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Viewing Installed Drivers
If you want to see a list of installed drivers, you can run the driverquery program
There are a lot of available switches to view different types of information.
On use can be to export to a CSV file for viewing in Excel
An example would then be:
Driverquery /v /fo csv > drivers.csv
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Operation Was Attempted on Something That Is Not a Socket Error
If you get this error when you try and renew your IP address,
Likely the winsock2 registry entries are corrupted.
The basic steps to fix this are:
1. Remove the old registry entries - www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/xp_del_winsock.reg
2. Import the correct registry entries - www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/xp_winsock.reg
3. Reboot the computer
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Opening Ports or Adding Allowed Programs with SP2\'s Firewall
1. Click on Start / Run
2. Enter in firewall.cpl
3. Click on the Exceptions tab
Adding a Port for Internet Access:
1. Click on the Add Port button
2. Name it whatever you want
3. Enter in the ports you want to open
Adding a Program for Internet Access
1. Click on Add Program... button
2. A list of all installed programs will be displayed
3. Highlight the one you want to include for Internet access
4. Click on the OK button
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Autoexec.nt or Config.nt Errors
If you are getting errors similar to:
The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose \'Close\' to terminate the application.
Try copying the file from \\windows\\repair directory to the one that is in the \\windows\\system32 directory.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Common Control Panel Applets
The follow are some common Control Panel Applets that are located in the \\windows\\system32 directory.
If you find yourself using any of these frequently, then you can simply make shortcuts to them on your desktop.
appwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs
desk.cpl Display Properties
firewall.cpl Firewall Settings
inetcpl.cpl Internet Options
mmsys.cpl Sound and Audio
ncpa.cpl Network Connections
nusrmgr.cpl User Accounts
powercfg.cpl Power Options
sysdm.cpl System Properties
wscui.cpl Security Center
wuaucpl.cpl Automatic Updates Configuration
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Windows Explorer Opens Search Companion Rather than the Folder
If the Windows Explorer opens up the Search Companion rather than opening up the actual folder, the default setting for opening a folder is changed.
To correct this:
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \\ Directory \\ shell and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \\ Drive \\ shell]
3. Edit the default value to be explorer or none
Download reg file
www.onecomputerguy.com/reg/directory.reg
Time to create page: 0.312 seconds