Remove Startup Scripts in XP

Startup scripts are programs that are set to start whenever the computer boots up. By accessing the startup menu settings, you can decide what programs you want to allow to start when the computer starts and which ones you don’t.

This System Configuration panel is easy to access, but unless you know exactly what script you want to disable on startup, you shouldn’t use it without consulting a professional, lest you accidentally damage the operating system, rendering it inoperable.
Instructions
1.Press the “Start” button, click the “Run” option and type in “MSCONFIG” and then hit the Enter key.
2.Click the “Startup” tab and scroll through the list of startup programs and scripts until you find the startup script that you wish to remove from the list.
3.Uncheck the checkbox next to the name of the script you’re removing and then click the “Apply” button. Click the “OK” button and then choose whether to restart the computer immediately or wait until later. You must restart the computer in order to apply the settings you have selected.

How to Install Windows XP

How to Install Windows XP – Introduction

You may wish to install Windows XP instead of the more recent Windows Vista or Windows 7 offerings from Microsoft. Perhaps you already own the software and do not want to upgrade to Windows Vista or Windows 7 or maybe you have programs that will not run under these newer operating systems or drivers/games etc that are not approved by Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Whatever the reason, we will now examine how to install Windows XP. There are two main versions of Windows XP and this guide covers how to install Windows XP in both of these variants, although the guide does use the Windows XP Professional version for the screenshots etc.If you are building a new PC then you can purchase an OEM version of Windows XP.You will find this a much cheaper alternative to the full retail version, the only difference being the lack of telephone or any technical support.Mountains of support is available on the internet for any problem you are likely to come up against though and unless you really want to pay for this we would strongly recommend that you stick with the OEM version.If you are constructing a new PC then you will already be performing a clean installation but if you are simply upgrading or re-installing we would still always recommend a clean installation of Windows XP rather than an upgrade or re-install over your current Windows XP installation.Why? Well, any problems you may have with your current installation may still be there after you re-install / upgrade and some applications may not work correctly requiring you to re-install these anyway.A clean installation will get rid of any ‘bloatware’ that will undoubtedly have accrued in your installation.A clean installation will require that you back up all your files and folders as a clean install will wipe your hard drive of everything including your settings and programs.If you are re-installing then do please ensure that you have separately backed up any documents, photos and music files etc that you simply cannot afford to lose to a safe medium that you are sure you can restore from. See our page on Data Backup to avoid any potential disasters. Once you’ve lost it it’s gone for good you know!!

How to Install Windows XP – Installation

You can boot directly from your Windows XP CD. Insert the XP Installation CD into your optical drive and the installation should begin.Note that you may need to enter your PC BIOS to change the order of boot devices if you are re-installing otherwise your PC may simply start up with your current version of Windows.The BIOS can be accessed at start up by pressing the Del, F1, F2 or ESC key dependant upon your BIOS version and manufacturer.Set your BIOS so that the first boot device is your CD/DVD drive and insert the Windows XP CD in the drive ready. Hit ‘Save Configuration’ after setting up your BIOS and the system should now boot from the Windows XP CD.

You will now see a ‘Press any key to boot from CD’ message

Just press ‘Enter’ to proceed with setting up our installation of Windows XP.

You will then be asked to ‘Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver’. If you are installing on a SATA type drive set to run in a RAID configuration or in AHCI mode rather than IDE mode then you will need to press F6 at this point and load the required drivers.

To set up your SATA, RAID array or AHCI now, you will need a floppy disk with the appropriate drivers installed.

You will find these drivers on your motherboard CD or if not you can download them from the motherboard manufacturers website and copy them on to a floppy disk.

Of course in order to install these you must have a 3.5” floppy disk drive installed or have one available that you can temporarily connect up during the installation process.

You will not need to properly install the floppy drive inside your PC case if you do not want to, just connect up the power and floppy ribbon cable to the PSU and motherboard and allow your BIOS to detect it.

Allow the installation to finish and at the next power down, should you so wish, you can disconnect and remove the floppy drive and cables and reboot your PC.

The next screen will ask you to press F2 if you wish to perform an Automated System Recovery (ASR) – just ignore this and wait for setup to carry on and load all the relevant files.

After all of the files and drivers are loaded the Windows ‘Welcome to Setup’ screen will appear.

 Press ‘Enter’ to continue with the Windows XP setup.

You will now be asked to accept the license agreement, if you agree with the terms - press ‘F8’ to do so.

 Okay you should now see the next screen inviting you to install Windows XP on your Hard disk drive.

As we have a new hard drive you will see that the drive is listed as ‘unpartitioned’

To create a partition for Windows to be installed on press the ‘C’ key 

Now select / highlight your drive partition you created and press ‘Enter’ to continue installing Windows XP on this drive.

Windows will now tell you that your partition requires formatting.

Windows XP works best on an NTFS file system and you should select this and press ‘Enter’ again.

Do not choose the ‘quick option’ as this bypasses important disk physical integrity checks.

Note that if the hard disk has previously been formatted with the older FAT16 or FAT 32 type formats, Windows XP will present options to convert the file system. You should always opt for the newer, more stable NTFS file format where possible.

You should now see a screen stating ‘Set up is Formatting’ together with a percentage complete status bar. 

After Windows XP has finished formatting your drive, set up will begin copying files to your hard drive.

Once this is completed it will reboot automatically and present you with the following screen indicating that setup is initializing your Windows XP configuration. 

This will all take sometime and you may wish to go and get a coffee whilst waiting!!

Your PC will eventually perform a restart and the prettier part of the installation procedure will begin leaving the text type format behind.

Windows will inform you that it is ‘Collecting information’, performing a ‘Dynamic update’ and ‘Preparing installation’ whilst simultaneously telling you all about the new features you will discover with your operating system.

Just sit tight until you are asked to confirm your ‘Regional and Language Options’.

You will more than likely just click next at this point unless you should wish to change your region or language.

Clicking on the ‘Customize’ button will allow you to change your input language, keyboard layout, numbers, dates, currency, etc if you should wish to – just click on ‘Next’ when you have finished.

 Following this you are invited to type in your name and organization. For home use just enter your name and click on the ‘Next’ button - note that you have to enter a name but the Organization box can be left blank.

 Now you will need to enter the 25 digit alpha-numeric key code which you should find on the back of your CD wallet.

 A name will now be required for your computer so that it can be identified on your network. This must be a unique name so that there is no conflict with other network users.

You may leave the ‘Administrator password’ blank if you wish but it will be much more secure if you do opt to allocate a password for much greater security.

 Next configure the date and time and tick the ‘Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes’ box. Click the ‘Next’ button to continue.

Windows XP will now continue on with preparing the installation and you must wait patiently for a little while longer. 

Finally you will be asked to select your ‘Networking Settings’.

If you are proposing setting up a home network ‘Workgroup’; or as a standalone computer you should select the ‘Typical settings’ and then click the ‘Next’ button.

Now on to the ‘Workgroup or Computer Domain’ page. For a typical home computer network you should select ‘No, this computer is not on a network, or is on a network without a domain. Make this computer a member of the following workgroup’. You can leave the default ‘WORKGROUP’ or change this to be the same workgroup name as the rest of the computers on your home network if that is called something different. Remember that different versions of Windows may use different workgroup names.

Do not worry too much here as you can change all these settings later on if you should wish.

 Windows will carry on setting up on its own now with no need for any intervention by you. Eventually your PC will restart and you will see the Windows XP splash screen.

Next you will see the ‘Welcome to Microsoft Windows’ screen – click ‘Next’ to continue. 

Windows checks your internet connectivity and then asks you if the computer will connect to the internet through a network?

If you have a home network that this computer will connect to you should select ‘Yes’ but if you are connecting directly to the internet through a modem then you select ‘No’. Click ‘Next’ to continue.

You will now be given the opportunity to register and activate your Windows XP installation. Most of you should select yes as the easiest option. Again, click ‘Next’ to continue. 

Set up should now finalize the installation and reboot again. Upon reboot Windows will ask if you would like to improve the appearance by adjusting your screen resolution, click ‘Okay’.

Click ‘Ok’ again to accept the screen resolution adjustment. 

You will now be asked to enter the user names of your computer so that each user can have their own customized profile. You only need to enter one name in order to proceed. Enter the details as required and click ‘Next’ to continue.

Windows will now ‘Thank you!’ and you should click ‘Finish’ to complete the installation.

 A ‘Welcome’ screen will appear briefly…..

Then you should now see the default Windows XP desktop screen 

Congratulations! You are up and running.

You should now take some time to update your operating system, protect yourself from viruses and potential hackers and install the latest drivers for your motherboard, graphics card and sound card etc.

On Screen Keyboard

IF Your Want to Use Keyboard On Screen, Use Keyboard Keys Through Your mouse Click...

Know More About Winxp

You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets.

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

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

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, is due out late next year or early 2003 and won't be much to write home about. The next big release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in 2003/2004.

Windows XP utilities

Windows XP built-in utilities. Microsoft Windows XP has some built-in utilities. I am mentioning them and their functions as well.

Calculator
Microsoft Windows XP has built-in calculator. This calculator can perform as a scientific calculator too. Open Run Command and type "calc" without quotes and press enter.
Notepad
Notepad is text editor. You can write and text based files. Open Run Command and type "Notepad" without quotes and press enter.

ClipBook Viewer
This is clipboard memory viewer. When you copy anything it goes to clipboard memory. If you want to see that what is in clipboard memory then open this ClipBook viewer. Open Run Command and type "clipbrd" and press enter. You can also save clipboard memory in a file for future use or can remove clipboard memory from this viewer.

IExpress
This utility can make self extractable zip file or a compressed package of files. You can read about it in details at this link. Open Run Command and type "iexpress" and press enter.

Paint Brush
This graphical utility creates graphical files like BMP, JPG, GIF and TIF. It has awesome toolbox at left for graphical use like brush etc. Open Run Command and type "mspaint" and press enter.

Movie Maker
This is great utility from Microsoft. You can split any movie file. You can add effects in any movie file. Open Run Command and type "moviemk" without quotes and press enter.

Word Pad
This is a free and light version for word documentation. If you don't have Microsoft Word license you can use this free utility. It doesn't support full Microsoft Word's features but it supports many Microsoft Word features. You can open any Word document in this utility. Open Run Command and type "wordpad" or "write" and press enter. 

Hard Drive Cleanup

Hard Drive Cleanup

Wonder why your computer is getting so slow lately? Most often, it's just your hard drive is getting full or carying too many junk files. Most of these files are temporary files and perfectly safe to be deleted. Cleaning up your hard drive every once in awhile will improve your PC performance.

You might wonder: Why Windows keeps those files if they're not necessary? "Temporary Internet Files", for example, everytime you browse to a webpage, your web browser requests the contents from the host, saves them locally as cache, then displays the contents to your browser window. Now, to speed up the access time when you come back to the same page, your web browser might re-use those cache files if they're not changed from the webpage.

"Temporary Internet Files" are just one example of the temporary files you can clean up. Follow the steps below to clean up other temporary sources as well.

Most likely, temporary files are stored in the Operating System drive ("C Drive"), but it doesn't hurt to do a cleanup all of your hard drives every once in awhile.

Use this trick at your own risks

1. Launch the Disk Cleanup utility by either:
   - "Start" >> "Programs" >> "Accessories" >> "System Tools" >> "Disk Cleanup", or:
   - "Start" >> "Run", enter "cleanmgr" then press Enter.
2. Select the disk you want to clean up from the drop-down box (i.e. "Local Disk C") and click "OK":
3. Windows will calculate the space on your selected hard drive. This might take a few minutes depening on the size of your hard drive:
4. Once Windows is done with the calculation, Disk Cleanup Utility displays. Here you can select which temporary sources you want to clean up (under "Files to delete"). It doesn't hurt if you select them all when you really need some spaces on your hard drive. Notice the usage size on some of these sources may be very big
5. Click "OK" after your selections, then click "Yes" on the prompt.
6. Disk Cleanup Utility starts to clean up your hard drive. This might take a long time depending on the current usage level of your hard drive. During the cleanup process, your computer might be very slow, so go watch a TV show or something. After cleaning up your hard disks, perform a disk defragmentation could really help your pc run faster.

Basic Shortcut Keys

The followings are some basic PC shortcut keys that are supported in most IBM compatible computers. They are also supported in most application software.

Use at your own risk.

Shortcut Keys	Supported Window Versions	Description
Alt + e	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Pull down the top Edit menu.
Alt + f	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Pull down the top File menu
Ctrl + a	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Select all text.
Ctrl + c	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Copy selected item(s) (to clipboard).
Ctrl + f	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Find.
Ctrl + v	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Paste copied item(s) from clipboard
Ctrl + x	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Cut.
Ctrl + Ins	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Same as Ctrl + c
Ctrl + (left arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Move one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + (right arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Move one word to the right at a time.
Shift + Ins	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Same as Ctrl + v
Shift + Delelte (or Del)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Cut. Or permanently delete selected item(s) on Windows Explorer.
F1	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Help.
Home	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Jump to the beginning of the line or page.
Ctrl + Home	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Jump to the beginning of the document or page.
End	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Jump to the end of the line or page.
Ctrl + End	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	ump to the end of the document or page.
Shift + Home	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to beginning of the line or page.
Shift + End	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to end of the line or page.
Shift + (left arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the left, one character at a time.
Shift + (right arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the right, one character at a time.
Shift + (down arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the next line down.
Shift + (up arrow)	95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista	Set selection (highlight) from current position to the next line up.

The Best Computer Tips and Tricks: Windows XP

Control Inactive System Tray Icons

You don't have to hide or show all the icons in your system tray—you can control their disappearing acts. Right-click on the taskbar and select Properties. Click on the checkbox next to "Hide inactive icons" (if it's not checked by default), then click on the Customize button. For each item on this list, you can choose "Hide when inactive," "Always hide," or "Always show" options to decide what you'll see and when.

Fit More Icons on Your Desktop

If your screen is so cluttered with Word documents and program shortcuts that you can't see the rolling meadows of your wallpaper, you don't need to move piles of stuff to the Recycling Bin. Just change the amount of space between icons. Right-click on the desktop, select Properties, then click on the Appearance tab, and click the Advanced button. In the "Item" drop-down, scroll down to Icon Spacing (Horizontal) and Icon Spacing (Vertical); changing the value in the "Size" field will move icons closer together (while increasing the number will move them farther apart). When you're done, click OK. To make your existing icons follow these rules, right-click on the desktop, select "Arrange Icons By" and then click Align to Grid, then go back to the same menu and click "Auto Arrange."

Shut Down from Your Desktop

If you're trying to eliminate every extraneous mouse click, you can shut down your computer with an icon on the desktop. Right-click on your desktop, click "New," and then click "Shortcut." In the "Type the location of the item" field, type "shutdown -s -t 00" to give you a way to shut down the computer immediately. (Change the -s to -r to create a reboot shortcut instead.)

Change What Programs Start When Windows Does

You can prevent a lot of apps forcing Windows into chilled-molasses boot times—without uninstalling anything. Click Start, then "Run...," and type msconfig. This brings up the System Configuration Utility window. Click on the Startup tab to see a list of all the apps slated to start when you boot up Windows. Click the check mark next to any you don't want, and then click OK to save your choices.

Type With an Onscreen Keyboard

Whether you have trouble with your hands or you just prefer using the mouse, typing with Windows' onscreen keyboard can be a great convenience. Navigate to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Accessibility, and click "On-Screen Keyboard." Click OK to clear the dialogue box and then start "typing"—you can even change the settings to "press" keys just by hovering your mouse over the letter you want (enable this feature by selecting "Typing Mode" from the Settings menu).

No-wait Screen Savers

Don't want to wait for your screen saver to kick in? Create a shortcut to it just as you would for any other program by hitting Windows key + F to search your computer and click on "All files and folders." Type "*.scr" in the "All or part of the file name" field to find every screen saver file on your computer. In the resulting list, right-click and drag the screen saver you want to your desktop. Whenever you want it to start, just double-click its icon.