How to fasten up Windows XP..??

1. DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES:-
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:

1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next


2. OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons


3. SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING:-

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer


4. IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE:-

Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
NOTE: This program is shareware and some features require activation.
Once Installed:

1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows



5. OPTIMISE YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION:-

There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.

1. Download and install
2. Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
3. Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
4. Check Optimal Settings then Apply
5. Reboot



6. OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE:-

If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.

1. Right click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.



7. SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE:-

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

1. Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
2. Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSys
tem”
3. Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
4. Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
5. Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the Value Data to ‘1′
7. Click ‘OK’



8. MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER:-

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
3. Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\”
4. Select “MenuShowDelay”
5. Right click and select “Modify’
6. Reduce the number to around “100″
7. This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0″ but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood.


9. IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED:-

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

1. Go to Start then select Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ and click ok
3. Find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\Desktop\’
4. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
5. Right click and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the value to ‘1000′
7. Click ‘OK’
8. Now select ‘HungAppTimeout’
9. Right click and select ‘Modify’
10. Change the value to ‘1000′
11. Click ‘OK’
12. Now find ‘HKEY_USERS\ .DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
13. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
14. Right click and select ‘Modify’
15. Change the value to ‘1000′
16. Click ‘OK’
17. Now find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\’
18. Select ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
19. Right click and select ‘Modify’
20. Change the value to ‘1000′
21. Click ‘OK’


10. IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE:-

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
3. Click on the System.ini tab
4. Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
5. Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″
6. Click OK
7. Restart PC


11. ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE:-

XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:

1. Open ‘Device Manager’
2. Double-click ‘IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers’
3. Right-click ‘Primary Channel’ and select ‘Properties’ and then ‘Advanced Settings’
4. In the ‘Current Transfer Mode’ drop-down box, select ‘DMA if Available’ if the current setting is ‘PIO Only’

Improve XP Start up time..!!!

Aight so u wanna know how to turn the pc on in 10 seconds (may vary)Aight heres what u have to do to turn ur pc on in 10 seconds.

Aite Click on the start button then press R it will take u to Run well go to run
n type Regedit
press enter
this will open Registery Editor
now look for the key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ContentIndex

now there find the Key Called
"Startup Delay"
Double Click On It
Now where its Base
Click Decimal
Now its Default Value Is 4800000 (75300:hexadecimal)
Change The Value To 40000
here u go u have done it
now close the Registery Editor
and Restart Your Computer
You'll See The Result

Tips to create a Strong Password easily..!!!

How to create a Strong Password.
This lead me to explain the method I follow to set a password - A Strong Password indeed by all standards.
You must follow the following criteria while creating a Strong Password:
* The password must be a minimum of 8+ characters.
* The password must have 1 number , 1 special character, 1 Upper Case character.

A very simple example that I use to explain my friends and colleages is : P@ssw0rd. It fullfills all the criteria's. The 'a' is replaced by a special character @. The 'P' is of upper case. The 'o' is replaced by the numeral 0.
Well, you can now convert your regular password into a Strong Password by following a few changes like the example I have mentioned above for the simple password - P@ssw0rd.

* Make the first character Upper Case.
* Change all 'a' in the password to the special character @.
* Change all 's' in the password to the special character $.* Change all 'l' in the password to the special character !.
* Change all 'o' in the password to the numerical 0.
* Change all 'i' in the password to the numerical 1.

Hope this will help you to create a Strong password.

To Convert a FAT partition into NTFS

To convert a FAT partition to NTFS:

Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.
In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type cmd and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.
Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).

Removing Multiple Boot Screens

If you are getting unwanted multiple boot screen
Then Follow these Steps.
1> Right Click on My Computer
2>Select Properties
3>Select Advanced Tab
4>Select Settings In the Startup & Recovery Section(3rd grp)
5>Select the operating system which u want.
6>And Click OK.
7>Further again press the setting and click on Edit.
8>It will open boot.ini File.
9>Now u can delete those o/s which you don't want to be displayed.


Note: For deleting operating systems from boot.ini file, keep it mind that you can'tdelete that o/s which is selected by default there. Beforemaking any changes make a copy of boot.ini file.

Remove Ads in yahoo messanger

I went into the system registery and found out that Yahoo! moved the 'banner url' key to a slightly different location. Than what it used in version 5.5!

Yahoo! IM no longer uses 'YUrl', but uses 'View' instead. You gotta click on each key inside of 'View' and edit the 'banner url' string to anything you want... I simply cleared mine out completely and it works flawlessly!

Here is what you gotta do:

Run regedit
Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Yahoo -> Pager -> View

Inside the 'View' key there are a several other keys... go through each one and edit the 'banner url' string to your liking. It even works if the string is left blank (this causes it to look as if ads were never even implemented)!

Restart Yahoo! IM for the effect to take hold.

This is great for Yahoo! IM 5.6 users who don't want to be bothered with ads.

How to Back Up the Registry .

Before you edit the registry, export the keys in the registry that you plan to edit, or back up the whole registry. If a problem occurs, you can then follow the steps how-to restore the registry to its previous state.



How to Export Registry Keys

Click Start, and then click Run.

In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.

On the File menu, click Export.

In the Save in box, select the boxs at the bottom the bottom according to weather you want to export all or only selected branches of the registry.

Next select a location in which to save the backup .reg file. In the File name box, type a file name, and then click Save.


How to Restore the Registry

To restore registry keys that you exported, double-click the .reg file that you saved.

Change Text on XP Start Button

Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

get this from www.delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.

The category we are going to be using is "String Table". Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!

You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.


Step 2 – Modify the Registry

!!!make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.

Backing up your Registry and Restoring it!

Why backup your registry? Because you really can mess up your system editing your registry. I generally tell novice people to stay away from registry editing. Generally registry editing is for people with too much time on their hands and this real desperate urge to mess with their computer, mwhahaha, so lets gets started, umm, but first lets make a backup of the registry:
Close all programs running on your desktop
Then go to Start
Go to Run and type regedit and hit okay. This will open this program:



Go to File --->Export...This will open a box where you can save this backup registry file.



Give it a file name and save it to a folder, hard drive, zip disk, backup hard drive, anywhere that this registry will be safely stored. Make sure the Export range is selected as ALL
Click Save
Then make sure to send me large quantities of money (this is an optional step).

Now that you have it backed up its very easy to restore, just do everything you did but when you want to restore it, just go to File--->Import--->Select the backup file and click okay...this will restore you registry back to the default.

Programs to Tweak you Windows Settings

These are a list of programs to help you mess around with you registry settings. Before you do anything remember these programs could really mess up your system and I don't want you complaining to me if you do. These programs are 1. For advanced users 2. People that know how to get themselves out of trouble when they do get themselves in trouble. There is my disclaimer before you try any of these programs...so don't complain to me, because your pleas will fall on deaf ears. Gee, I sounded so nasty there...I mean, I'll try to help you if you screwed things up, but don't send me a bill. Now I'm not sure if I should even include this section...ahh what the heck, mayhem can be fun and it makes you grow as a person.

Fresh UI - This has lots of basic hacks that will make your system run a little more like you want it too. It's what I consider it a "safe" program. Has lots of things that you can change, you shouldn't get into trouble using this program. Lots of changes you can make to your system and you really don't have to worry about destroying your computer with it...it's also a freeware download, so no harm in downloading it and giving it a try.

Tweak UI - This is part of the Power Toys Microsoft puts out but doesn't really support. Basically Microsoft is saying, "Here's this program, it's cool, can do lots of stuff, but if you screw up don't come crying to us". There are two versions of this program, one for Win XP and one for Win 98, 95, ME...Download the right one.

These are the two programs I've tried, if you have any that you like just drop me an email and I'll check it out. I'll be writing registry hacks for this site where you go directly into regedit and do the changes yourself...but it's late tonight while I write this and I'll continue and add more as this website gets a little bit older and gets more visitors.

Kill XP balloon pop ups, registry hack

to turn those balloon pop-ups off:

1. Launch regedit.
2. Open
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
3. Create a REG_DWORD named EnableBalloonTips.
4. Set the value data to 0.
5. Close regedit.
6. Reboot the computer.

Setting the value to 1 will turn the balloon tips back on if you decide you can't live without them.

Formatting Your Hard Drive

Formatting Your Hard Drive
Sometimes you just have to format. I equate it to a baptism for your computer, you are washing away all the sins from it, making it new, fresh, giving it a new beginning. I know people feel formatting can be a traumatic experience, but if it's any comfort to you, most computer pros format their computers more often then most beginners. The difference is: Computer Geeks can get their computer up and running in an hour after a format (maybe less time than that) and a beginner might get it up and running in 4 to 5 hours (sometimes longer). So let me walk you through the important things you should do before, during, and after a format:

Pre-Format steps (The stuff before you go nuts and format):
Backup your important data - Just because you have to format doesn't mean you have to lose everything on your computer. Backup outlook, important documents, downloads, just about anything you can burn to a disk that will make your computer like home again. Just think of this step as if you're moving...you pack up all the junk you want before you move into the new place.
Startup Disk - Make a bootable startup disk, in Windows 98, ME, 2k, and XP they have where you can make a startup disk. So, get yourself a startup disk.
Go to your device manager and write down the hard drive components you have on your computer. This will make it easier if you can't find the drivers you need, you'll be able to get them off the net or the original CD's that came with your computer or components.

FDisk - Getting the partition ready (SKIP THIS STEP IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR EXISTING PARTITIONS)

If you already have a partition on your hard drive you can skip this step. I personally like to make a new partition and really have a clean start when installing an operating system or if I want to manage the partition size of a large hard drive. So here are the steps:
Insert the startup disk that you made in the first part of this tutorial. Restart your computer and your computer will boot from the floppy disk drive. In Windows (98 and ME) you'll get a question asking if you want cd support or not, go ahead and scroll down to: "Start Computer Without CD-Rom support"
At the command prompt type fdisk
If your hard drive is bigger than 512 mb (ugh, like who's isn't now) It will ask if you want large disk support. Type in Y or yes

You'll then see an option menu that contains the follow choices:
Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
Set Active Partition
Delete Partition or Logical DOS Drive
Display Partition information
Change current fixed disk drive

Once you get to this you'll have a few options and there are a few things you need to know. If you already have a DOS partition and you want to delete it then you go to 3. Delete Partition or Logical DOS Drive and you'll select to delete this drive.

To create a new partition on your hard drive you select 1. Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive then press enter. Then on the next menu select 1. Create Primary DOS Partition and then press Enter. After you do this you'll get the message "Do you wish to use the maximum available size for primary DOS partition?" That basically is assigning how much space you want on the partition (only for Fat38 or NTFS if you want to install using a FAT 16 you'll have to follow a few different steps not covered in this tutorial...mainly because I haven't formatted anything in FAT16 in such a long time I forgot off the top of my head). If you have a large hard drive you might want to break it up into smaller partitions. For now let's say you just want to use the whole hard drive space for this partition. You'll type Y and then Enter. After doing this you'll hit Esc and then Esc to quit Fdisk.

This will create one large partition hard drive...(if you've wanted to make multiple partitions you would basically not assign all the space to the one partition and then go 1. Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS Drive and then on the second menu you would hit choice 2. Create Extended DOS Partition and then you can create another partition with the remaining space.)

Formatting your Hard Drive

Insert Start Up Disk

Get to the command prompt

Type Format C: (or whatever letter is assigned to the drive you want to format) **Note if you get a message like "Bad command or file name" you'll have to extract the format.com file to do this just type: extract ebd.cab format.com at the command prompt and then type Format C:

The startup disk will ask you "WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?" Now once you hit Y everything on your hard drive will be deleted. Type Y

After the format is complete it will ask "Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?" Either put a name in or just hit enter

There you have it a formatted hard drive!!! Ready for you to install an operating system on...so get going and install one already.

MAKING WINDOWS XP GENUINE THE EASY WAY

download jellybean keyfinder from this website
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

Now open keyfinder.exe
Click on options and click "change windows key"
Now enter this key and you're done.
*****************************
V2C47-MK7JD-3R89F-D2KXW-VPK3J
*****************************

P.S: this works on windows xp sp2 only......

ppl u can try this out...
this might sound silly but it works perfectly...

TRY INSTALLING IE7 OR MEDIA PLAYER11.

Registry Hacking

Display legal notice on startup:
Wanna tell your friends about the do's and dont's in your computer when they login in your absence. Well you can do it pretty easily by displaying a legal notice at system start up.
REGEDIT
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system]
"legalnoticecaption"="enter your notice caption"
"legalnoticetext"="enter your legal notice text"

Automatic Administrator Login:
Well here's the trick which you can use to prove that Windows XP is not at all secure as multi-user operating system. Hacking the system registry from any account having access to system registry puts you in to the administrator account.
REGEDIT 4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"AutoAdminLogon"="1"

No Shutdown:
Wanna play with your friends by removing the shutdown option from start menu in their computer.
Just hack it down !!!
Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
"NoClose"="DWORD:1"

Menu Delays:
Another minor and easy tweak to remove any delay from menus sliding out. For this you will need to use regedit (open regedit by going to Start -> Run..., then typing 'regedit' and pressing enter). The key you need to change is located in HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop. The actual key is called MenuShowDelay - all you have to do is change the value to 0. Remember, you will have to re-boot your computer for this tweak to take effect.

GPEDIT.MSC And Autoplay
A great tweaking file that comes with XP is gpedit.msc.
Go to Start -> Run... and then type in 'gpedit.msc' and press enter.
This is effectively the Policies Editor, and it comes in handy often.
For example, if you hate CD autoplay like I do and want to permanently disable it, you can use this tool to do so.
Just run gpedit.msc, then go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System. In here you can see the value 'Turn Off Autoplay'. Right-click on it and then click 'Properties'.

Increasing options in add/remove programs:
Not a fan of MSN Messenger? don't want Windows Media Player on your system? Fair enough, but if you go to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, by default none of Windows XP's 'built in' programs are visible. it's fairly easy to change, though... just open the file X:\Windows\inf\sysoc.inf (where X: is the drive letter where Windows XP is installed) in Notepad. You should see a section of the file something like this:


[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
IEAccess=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,ieaccess.inf,,7

This is a list of all components installed at the moment. I've taken the example of MSN Messenger - the program entry called 'msmsgs', third-last line. You can see the word 'hide' highlighted - this is the string which tells Windows not to display the component in the Add/Remove Programs list. Fix this up by simply deleting the word 'hide' like so:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

To this:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

Now, after restarting, you should be able to see MSN Messenger in the Add/Remove Programs list. If you want to be able to quickly view and remove all components, simply open the sysoc.inf file and do a global find and replace for the word ",hide" and replace it with a single comma ",".
Automatically Kill Programs At Shutdown:
don't you hate it when, while trying to shut down, you get message boxes telling you that a program is still running? Making it so that Windows automatically kills applications running is a snap. Simply navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop directory in the Registry, then alter the key AutoEndTasks to the value 1.

Speeding Up Share Viewing:
This is a great tweak. Before I found it, I was always smashing my head against the table waiting to view shares on other computers. Basically, when you connect to another computer with Windows XP, it checks for any Scheduled tasks on that computer - a fairly useless task, but one that can add up to 30 seconds of waiting on the other end - not good! Fortunately, it's fairly easy to disable this process. First, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace in the Registry. Below that, there should be a key called {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}. Just delete this, and after a restart, Windows will no longer check for scheduled tasks - mucho performance improvement!

Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer
Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don’t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screen saver. To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer: Right-click the desktop. Point to New, and then click Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following: rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation Click Next. Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like. Click Finish. You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll). To change the icon: Right click the shortcut and then select Properties. Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button. In the Look for icons in this file text box, type: Shell32.dll. Click OK. Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.

How to fasten up Windows XP..??

1. DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES:-
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:

1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next


2. OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons


3. SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING:-

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer


4. IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE:-

Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
NOTE: This program is shareware and some features require activation.
Once Installed:

1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows



5. OPTIMISE YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION:-

There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.

1. Download and install
2. Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
3. Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
4. Check Optimal Settings then Apply
5. Reboot



6. OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE:-

If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.

1. Right click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.



7. SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE:-

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

1. Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
2. Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSys
tem”
3. Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
4. Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
5. Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the Value Data to ‘1′
7. Click ‘OK’



8. MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER:-

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
3. Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\”
4. Select “MenuShowDelay”
5. Right click and select “Modify’
6. Reduce the number to around “100″
7. This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0″ but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood.


9. IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED:-

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

1. Go to Start then select Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ and click ok
3. Find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\Desktop\’
4. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
5. Right click and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the value to ‘1000′
7. Click ‘OK’
8. Now select ‘HungAppTimeout’
9. Right click and select ‘Modify’
10. Change the value to ‘1000′
11. Click ‘OK’
12. Now find ‘HKEY_USERS\ .DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
13. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
14. Right click and select ‘Modify’
15. Change the value to ‘1000′
16. Click ‘OK’
17. Now find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\’
18. Select ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
19. Right click and select ‘Modify’
20. Change the value to ‘1000′
21. Click ‘OK’


10. IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE:-

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
3. Click on the System.ini tab
4. Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
5. Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″
6. Click OK
7. Restart PC


11. ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE:-

XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:

1. Open ‘Device Manager’
2. Double-click ‘IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers’
3. Right-click ‘Primary Channel’ and select ‘Properties’ and then ‘Advanced Settings’
4. In the ‘Current Transfer Mode’ drop-down box, select ‘DMA if Available’ if the current setting is ‘PIO Only’

Deleting Recycle Bin

Deleting recycle bin

Start] [Run] [Regedit]Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BitBucketModify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.Data Type: DWORD // Value Name: NukeOnDeleteSetting for Value Data: [0 = Use Recycle Bin / 1 = Permanently Delete]Exit Registry and Reboot

Another Method:

start->run->gpedit.msc-> user configuration ->desktop->remove recycle bin from desktop->double click->change it not configured to enable->apply and ok.

Now come to start->run->gpupdate.exe and press enter.

Your recycle bin icon is gone from desktop nad you will need to revert your settings for get that back.

After reverting setting make sure to run gpupdate.exe command .

Change Drive Icon..!!!

Changing drives icon First of all copy a icon file to the root of the drive.example: c:\icon.ico Then create a file called: autorun.inf in c:\autorun.infthen open that file and type the following:[autorun]icon=icon.ico save and close the file. Now open my computer and refresh.. and woh! icon changed....you can apply to other drives too.be careful:"autorun.inf" and "ico.ico" must be in the root of the drive.example: c:\autorun.inf and c:\icon.ico.same on the root.

Mobile Tips & Tricks

Tip 1 : Do u know how to use the edit button (abc or pencil button)?
Heres how... in the inbox for example; u wanna delete multiple sms, simply hold the edit button, scroll down, and then, press c to delete the marked sms. The edit button can also b used to copy and past text in sms, simply hold it and scroll across, choose copy. pretty good for placing song names in ngages

Tip 2 : Shit happens, on a smartphone, its inevitable u do something wrong, and tis calls for a format of fone. to format the fone, press *#7370#, then enter the lock code, which is the sec code of the fone. NOTE: batt must b full, else if format is disrupted by low batt, consequences will b disatrous
I heard the code *#7780# works too, pretty much the same i tink.

for 6600 users, to format the fone, theres an alternative way. Press and hold <3>, <*> and Call (Send) buttons, then power on fone, keep holding on the 3 buttons, till u come to a format screen. this method ONLY works on 6600, and need not enter the sec code. BUT sec code would be reset to default 12345.

Tip 3 : TO NGAGE USERS; Did u know u can install .sis files simply using the cable given? Juz plug it in, place the .sis file anywhere on e: (the mmc), not in any folders, root of e:, disconnect, then look for it in manager.


Tip 4: Save on battery and system memory being used by regulary checking the task manager which can be accessed by holding down the menu button!!

Tip 5: Type *#06# to display your IMEI serial number, very valuable for the unlocking your phone to other sim cards

Tip 6: Type *#0000# to view which firmware version you are running

Tip 4a: Set the screen saver to a short time out period to prolong battery life.
Tip 4b: Avoid restarting the phone, or repeatedly turning it on and off. This helps increase battery life.

Tip 7: If you would like to avoid being "blue jacked", keep bluetooth turned off, or set your phone's visibility to hidden.

Tip 8: Don't want to carry a watch and a phone? Set the screen saver to show date and time, then you can ditch the watch.

Tip 9: Save memory when installing apps, by installing over bluetooth. This can be done using the nokia phone suite and a bluetooth serial connection. Only works with .SIS files, so java still has to be sent to the phone, but will save space when using .SIS files.

Tip 10: Operator logos
Use a filemanager like FExplorer or SeleQ to add the folders: "c:/system/Apps/phone/oplogo". Add a .bmp picture to folder "oplogo" and restart your phone! The .bmp picture size needs to be: 97 x 25 pixels

Tip 11: Check if the recepients phone is on
Delivery reports

or

Type *0# your message in the message composer window space then write your message, the recipient will not see the star zero hash bit - just the message When they read it it will relay a message back to your fone showing the time they recieved it. (haven't yet tried it myself though)

Tip 12: BlueJacking

First up, you need to know what Bluetooth is. There are lots of types of modern devices that incorporate Bluetooth as one of their many features. PDAs, mobile phones and laptops are a few of these modern devices. Bluetooth means that Bluetooth enabled devices can send things like phonebook/address book contacts, pictures & notes to other Bluetooth enabled devices wirelessly over a range of about 10 metres. So, we've got past the boring part. Now, using a phone with Bluetooth, you can create a phonebook contact and write a message, eg. 'Hello, you've been bluejacked', in the 'Name' field. Then you can search for other phones with Bluetooth and send that phonebook contact to them. On their phone, a message will popup saying "'Hello, you've been bluejacked' has just been received by Bluetooth" or something along those lines. For most 'victims' they will have no idea as to how the message appeared on their phone.


Tip 13: While you are viewing a picture in your phone's gallery, press one of these shortcut keys (definitely works on 6600, not sure about other symbians)
1 - turn image anticlockwise
3 - turn image clockwise
* - toggle on/off of full screen
5 - zoom in
0 - zoom out

#15 u can select all files in a folder by selecting THE folder and copy it then paste it somewhere. however u need to make a new directory. fexplorer wun let u copy that folder together. well seleQ can mark files to copy but it really takes time!

#16: A soft and Hard reset
A Soft-reset - the process of resetting all the settings of the phone to the factory default! No applications are deleted! A Hard-reset is like formatting a drive! It does format the memory. Everything that has been installed after the first use of the phone is deleted! It will recover the memory of the phone to the state you purchased it! It is done by inputing the following code: *#7370# NOTE: The battery must be full or the charger has to be connected to the phone so that it does not run out of power and make the phone unusable.

#17: Formats of images

supported ones: JPG UPF GIF87a/89a WBMB MBM TIFF/F PNG EXIF

How to copy & paste text in your Nokia 3650:
Press and hold the pencil key and select your text using the scroll key.
Left function key will change to 'Copy'. Press it to copy the selected text to clipboard.
You can paste the clipboard contents the same way:
press and hold the pencil key and press 'Paste'. Or, press pencil key once and select 'Paste'.

Press and hold the Menu key to open the application switching window, where you can *duh* switch between applications.
If a program hangs and you can't shut it down, select the application in the
application switching window and press 'C' to kill it. It's also a faster way to exit programs.

Turn on/off the "click" sound made by the camera by selecting the 'Silent' profile or by turning warning tones on/off:
Menu > Profiles > "select your activated profile" > Personalise > Warning tones > On/Off.
(This also effects the sound of Java games and apps).

To change background image go to:
Menu > Tools > Settings > Phone > Standby mode > Background image > Yes > "choose an image".
The best size for background images is 174x132 pixels.

Only got blue, green and purple in your 3650 colour palette?
This free app adds 3 more colours: Palette Extender.

Display an image when someone's calling:
Menu > Contacts > "select a contact card" > Options > Edit > Options > Add thumbnail > "choose an image".

Add a personal ringing tone to a contact:
Menu > Contacts > "select a contact card" > Options > Open > Options > Ringing tone > "choose a ringing tone".

Delete all messages from your Inbox at once:
Menu > Messaging > Inbox > Options > Mark/Unmark > Mark all > Options > Delete.

Send or hide your caller ID: Go to: Menu > Tools > Settings > Call > Send My
Caller ID > 'Yes', 'No' or 'Set By Network' to follow the default settings of your home network.

If you often copy large files to your MultiMedia Card, I recommend a card reader.
E.g. With a card reader it takes only 12 seconds to copy a 10 MB file!

Record the sound of a phone call using the (sound) Recorder.
Menu > Extra's > Recorder > Options > Record sound clip.
Note: short beeps are audible during call registration.
But there is a 60 second limitation so if you want unlimited sound recording get this app: Extended Recorder.

While writing text, press "#" to switch between upper and lower case and Dictonary on/off (predictive text input).
Press and hold "#" to switch between Alpha mode and Number mode.

Keyboard shortcuts for zooming and rotating images in Images:
1 = zoom in, 0 = zoom out, press and hold to return to the normal view.
2 = rotate anticlockwise, 9 = rotate clockwise, * = full screen.

In standby mode, press and hold the right soft key to activate voice dialling.
To add a voice tag to a phone number, open a contact card and scroll to the phone number and select:
Options > Add voice tag.

You can customize both soft keys located below the screen (in standby mode):
Menu > Tools > Settings > Phone > Standby mode > Left/Right selection key > "select an application".

In standby mode. press scroll key center (joystick) to go directly to Contacts.

In standby mode, press and hold 0 to launch your wap home page.

In Menu or any subfolder, press numbers 1 - 9 to start the application at that location.
123
456
789

In standby mode,
45# + dials the number on your sim in memory slot 45.
50# + dials slot 50 and so on.

If you have your keylock activated just press the on/off button to turn on your backlight
to look at the time when it's dark without having to unlock the keypad.

Never, ever, in your whole life, install WildSkinz on your Nokia 3650!!! WildSkinz screws up
the whole 3650 system. It was never intended to work on the 3650, only on the 7650.

Nokia Camera Phone as WEB Camera

Today I got this software and installed it in my mobi 6600. It is 7 day trial version and 5 minutes
duration in each time. I posted it here because I think some member may be like this software.
You can download the trial version here.

Mobiola TM Web Camera application turns Symbian phone into wireless bluetooth
web camera which works same way as usual USB camera. Very simple in
configuration and installation, Mobiola TM Web Camera 1.0 consists of two
pieces -- client application that resides on the phone and web camera PC
driver which can be used in any windows application capable to receive video
feed from the web cameras. It has comparable to USB cameras resolution and
frame rates.
==================================
Hardware and software requirements
==================================
PC system requirements:
- Windows 2003, Windows XP or Windows 2000 operating system.
- Bluetooth (version 1.1 minimum) compatible device which provides a virtual
serial port. ( My Blue Tooth is BlueSoleil ver 1.4.9.2)
- 8 MB of free hard disk space on PC.
Phone system requirements:
- Nokia 6600/6620/6260/6670/3230/7610/6630/6680/6681 mobile phone.
- 68 kb of free memory for install Mobiola TM Web Camera installation.
- 720 kb of free runtime memory.[quote]^^:(
==================
Getting registered
==================
This application has a 7-days evaluation period. In order to get a fully
functional, unrestricted version of the application you have to purchase
application license by selecting the "Get registration code" item from the
application Help menu. Please have your IMEI code ready for the registration.
Prices, terms, and conditions are subject to change without notice, please
check our web site for the latest offers at

DOWNLOAD

Simple ways to find a lost mobile phone

Simple ways to find a lost mobile phone
-----------------------------------------

An IMEI number-The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number is an international identity number used to uniquely identify a mobile phone. The 15-digit IMEI number is an electronic fingerprint transmitted every time a phone is used, which reveals the identity of the mobile handset.

How can I find out my IMEI number? IMEI numbers are independent of the phone number and are usually written underneath the battery or on the back of the handset. Mobile phone users can also check their 15 digit IMEI number by dialing *#06# on their mobile handset. Mobile phone owners should make a note of their IMEI number and keep the details in a safe place.

If u lost your mobile, send an e-mail to cop@vsnl.net with the following info.
Your name:
Address:
Phone model:
Make:
Last used No.:
E-mail for communication:
Missed date:
IMEI No.:

"No need to go to police station"