Tips, Tweaks & Customization

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57,868 topics in this forum

  1. Simple auto-logon

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 1.7k views

    To auto logon try this one: 1. At a command prompt, type: rundll32 netplwiz.dll,UsersRunDll 2. In the User Accounts dialog that appears, clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" check box and click OK. 3. Enter the user name and password of the account you want to automatically log on. this is will not work if your computer is joined to a domain.

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  3. Large usenet groups problem in Express

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 1.6k views

    heres the problem: If I add a very large news group and subscribe to every group OE will quit responding. To duplicate this problem: 1. add the group msnews.microsoft.com 2. next subscribe to every group at msnews.microsoft.com. You can actually use any large group, I just happen to pick this one. 3. Watch OE What will happen is that OE will try to add the groups and then quit responding. use taskman to close it down. To correct the problem: 1. after OE is stopped and close using taskman use windows explorer to navigate to: C:Documents and SettingsAdministrator (or what ever the account name is)Local SettingsApplication DataIdentities{what ever your iden…

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  4. Change User Agent String

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.8k views

    go to start - run - and type gpedit.msc On the left side of the group editor that comes up under the "User Configurations" expand the "Windows Settings" branch then expand the "Internet Explorer Maintenance" branch. there are various settings here the you can change to customise internet explorer. An interesting one that gets rid of the problem with some sites not liking IE6 is the "connection" branch. Click on this branch and in the right window you will see the item "User Agent String" Double click the "User Agent String" item and you will be able to enter "MSIE 5.5". Thios will allow you to view those sites correctly that do not like IE 6. In all honesty, you s…

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  5. Priority Tweaking

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.1k views

    You can tweak how you're applications run in xp by changing the priorty at which they are run. This can dramatically increase the speed of the luna theme and xp in general. - Open TaskManager (Ctrl+Alt+Del or Ctrl+Shift+Esc) - Goto the Processes tab - Right Click Program- Set Priorty - Set the application to the priorty of your choice. Keep in mind you can Make/Break your system here so try and keep things balanced.

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  6. Speed up Start Panel - 2

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.1k views

    Open regedit and change the follow registry key in: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop "MenuShowDelay"=00000000 (defaults as 400 on install)

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  7. Speed up Network Browsing

    by X3M
    • 12 replies
    • 3.6k views

    this tweak is pretty good. it will make the Local Network/ Internet browsing faster: IE 6.0 wants to run a schelduled task everytime it connects to a server. This results in slower browsing. To disable this delete the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerRemoteComputerNameSpace{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} Editmode ;)

    Last reply by CustardFD,

  8. Do an unattended installation

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.2k views

    The Windows XP Setup routine is much nicer than that in Windows 2000 or Windows Me, but it's still an hour-long process that forces you to sit in front of your computer for an hour, answering dialog boxes and typing in product keys. But Windows XP picks up one of the more useful features from Windows 2000, the ability to do an unattended installation, so you can simply prepare a script that will answer all those dialogs for you and let you spend some quality time with your family. Paul Thurrot of Supersite for Windows has written about Windows 2000 unattended installations and the process is pretty much identical on Windows XP, so please read that article carefully befo…

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  9. Rip high-quality MP3s in Windows Media Player 8

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.5k views

    The relationship between Windows Media Player 8 and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, WMP8 will be able to playback MP3 files, but encoding (or "ripping") CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. So during the Windows XP beta, Microsoft is supplying a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it's limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless. However, if you have an externally installed MP3 codec, you can use WMP8 to rip at higher bit rates. But you'll have to edit the Registry to make this work. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft MediaPlayer Settings MP3E…

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  10. Edit or remove the "Comments" link in window title bars

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.2k views

    During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft has added a "Comments?" hyperlink to the title bar of each window in the system so that beta testers can more easily send in a problem report about the user interface. But for most of us, this isn't an issue, and the Comments link is simply a visual distraction. And for many programs that alter the title bar, the Comments link renders the Minimize, Maximize, and Close window buttons unusable, so it's actually a problem. Let's get rid of it. Or, if you're into this kind of thing, you can edit it too. Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following keys: My Computer HKEY_CURRENT_USER Control Panel Desktop LameButtonEnab…

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  11. Speed up Start Panel - 1

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.2k views

    The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER Control Panel Desktop MenuShowDelay By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up. If your confounded by the slow speed of the Start Menu, even after using the tip above, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get much better overall performance.

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  12. Speed up Internet Explorer 6 Favorites

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.4k views

    For some reason, the Favorites menu in IE 6 seems to slow down dramatically sometimes--I've noticed this happens when you install Tweak UI 1.33, for example, and when you use the preview tip to speed up the Start menu. But here's a fix for the problem that does work, though it's unclear why: Just open a command line window (Start button -> Run -> cmd) and type sfc, then hit ENTER. This command line runs the System File Checker, which performs a number of services, all of which are completely unrelated to IE 6. But there you go: It works.

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  13. Remove the Desktop version text

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.4k views

    During the Windows XP beta, you will see text in the lower right corner of the screen that says Windows XP Professional, Evaluation Copy. Build 2462 or similar. A lot of people would like to remove this text for some reason, and while it's possible to do so, the cure is more damaging than the problem, in my opinion. So the following step will remove this text, but you'll lose a lot of the nice graphical effects that come in Windows XP, such as the see-through icon text. To remove the desktop version text, open Display Properties (right-click the desktop, then choose Properties) and navigate to the Desktop page. Click Customize Desktop and then choose the Web page in the…

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  14. Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.5k views

    As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon. But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys: (default user) HKEY_USERS .Default Control Panel Desktop FontSmoothing (String Value) HKEY_USERS .Default Control Panel Desktop FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value) Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and …

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  15. Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.5k views

    If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger (still called MSN Messenger in Beta 2), simply delete the following Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunMSMSGS

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  16. No desktop version info - 1

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.4k views

    1. Right Click destkop and select properties 2. Goto the Desktop tab 3. Select Customize Desktop 4. Goto the Web tab 5. Enable Lock Desktop Items 6. Press OK in Customize Desktop and in Display Properties

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  17. Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.3k views

    For some reason, Hibernate isn't available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  18. Uninstall unwanted components

    by Stu 2001
    • 0 replies
    • 2.8k views

    It seems that some components in Windows XP can't be uninstalled. Well... they can. Use this trick to uninstall MSN Messenger, MSN Explorer and Microsoft Games. 1. First, make a copy of sysoc.inf (found on the hard disk at winntinfsysoc.inf) before proceeding so that you can restore the initial configuration if necessary. Give the copy a different name, such as sysoc2.inf. 2. Open the Sysoc.inf file. Each line of text in the file represents a component that can be displayed in the Add/Remove Windows Components dialog. 3. Delete the word HIDE for any component that you want to see in the dialog (do not erase the commas). 4. Save the Sysoc.inf file, then close it, a…

    Last reply by Stu 2001,

  19. remove shared documents from my computer

    by freeza
    • 3 replies
    • 3.3k views

    i dont know if anybody else agrees but i dont really see a use for that folder being there so if you'd like to get rid of it just open regedit and go to this key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionExplorerMyComputerNameSpaceDelegateFolders and delete this key {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}.

    Last reply by configure,

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