XP Tricks & Tips-II

Sandeep Narayanan
[email protected]
+91-9884713366
 Read before you proceed

This is in no way an ‘ultimate’ resource to computer tweaking. It

is just the drop an ocean. This guide is nothing but an honest effort
to assimilating knowledge on how a machine can be tamed. More
can be obtained by searching the World Wide Web using ‘Google’
‘MSN’ ‘DogPile’ ‘Yahoo!’ and other search engines.

I do not claim whole rights on the contents discussed here. Many
people- hackers, crackers, system administrators, computer geeks,
teaching faculty, user groups- have also contributed their wisdom
keeping faith in me and they wanted it to be shared and discussed.
I have ‘compiled’ the data into a single file adding everything to
what I have so that people can use it as an all purpose computer
guide.

I have personally tried and tested all of the tweaks discussed in
this guide. However, I request fellow readers to be cautious while
trying it out with your system. Some settings are found to be
system specific. Always take a backup copy of all important
data/registry before attempting to change the system/registry
settings. Remember, prevention is always better than cure.

Last but not the least- Learn, Share & Grow. Add your knowledge
and share it unconditionally with the people who are looking for it.
Help people to learn and grow; after all that is what a hacker is
supposed to do

Sandeep Narayanan
1. Change Text on Windows “Start” Button
Let us start with the “Start” button. Read the entire article at least once before you proceed.
I’ve read a number of articles in Orkut about changing the text of the XP Start button. I have
been told about a five letter limitation when the button is renamed. But with my personal
experience I would say that there is no limit as such! I tried even a 10 letter word; I did not
include any space though.

This hack will be explained in two steps. I am taking extreme caution to make sure that
nothing goes wrong. The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at
C:\Windows. Copy the explorer.exe and paste it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive.

Step 1 – Modify Explorer.exe File

The file explorer. exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited at first. Since explorer.exe is
a binary file it requires a special editor. I used a special editor called “Resource Hacker”.
Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract
resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files. It incorporates an internal
resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT,
Win2000 and WinXP operating systems. You can download Resource hacker for free from
the internet. Do a google search with the key word “Download Resource Hacker”; without
quotes and it will take you to the download page.

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 as shown in picture below. We’re going to modify item 578, currently
showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.
Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure that the quotation
marks remain in place,, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your
new entry. 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 (Say “newExplorer.exe”). Save the newly named file to
C:\Windows.

Step 2 – Modify the Registry

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 the following ke
key:

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

In the right pane, double click the Shell entry to open the Edit Stringg dialog box.
box In Value
data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file (in
(i my case it
was “newExplorer.exe”).. 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.
END NOTE: You can actually rename the modified file to “explorer.exe” then rename the
original file in the windows folder to “explorer.exe.Tweaked”. Next just copy and paste the
renamed modified file into the windows directory and re-boot. Doing it this way eliminates
any issue with programs like “Ad-Aware” and XP-SP2.

2. Banning Programs from “Most Frequently

Used” list
Take a look at this for it is very interesting. If any of the following words or phrases is
included in the program's shortcut name, the program will be excluded from the list:
Documentation, Help, Install, More Info, Readme, Read me, Read First, Setup, Support, and
What's New. Additionally, the following executables are excluded from the list: Setup.exe,
Install.exe, Isuninst.exe, Unwise.exe, Unwise32.exe, St5unst.exe, Rundll32.exe,
Explorer.exe, Icwconn1.exe, Inoculan.exe, Mobsync.exe, Navwnt.exe, Realmon.exe, and
Sndvol32.exe.

Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications. Underneath this

key, you'll find a series of subkeys, each representing an application. The primary purpose of
these su-keys is to determine whether the program appears on the Open With dialog box that
appears whenever you try to open an unknown file type. But you can also add a value to any
of the subkeys which will ban programs from appearing on the Most Frequently Used
Programs List.

Look for a subkey that is the executable name of the application you want to ban from the
list; for example, visio.exe for the Visio business illustration program. Once you find the
application's subkey, create a new String value for that subkey, named NoStartPage. Leave
the value blank. Exit the Registry. You might have to reboot for the setting to take effect and
the program to be banned from the list.

Change the Number of Programs That Appear on the List

By default, the Most Frequently Used Programs List has room for six programs, but you can
change that default and have more or fewer programs appear. Right-click the Start button and
choose Properties. Then choose the tab “Start Menu”. Under this tab, choose Start Menu
CustomizeGeneral. To customize the number of programs to include on the list, edit the
"Number of programs on Start menu" box. You can choose any number between 0 and 30.
No matter how high your resolution is, don't expect there to be room for 30 programs

3.Kill the “Most Frequently Used”(MFU) list

instead of Banning
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Policies\
Explorer. Create a new DWORD called NoStartMenuMFUprogramsList and give it a value
of 1. You'll have to reboot or log off and back on for the setting to take effect. You have now
managed to get kick the MFU list out of you menu.

4. Secrets Behind The Run Registry key

You can start or stop programs from executing at bootup by adding or deleting them
to/from the run Keys in the Registry. Windows loads programs to start in the
following order; Program listed in the Local Machine hive, then the Current User
hive, then theWin.ini Run= and Load = lines and then finally programs in your Start
Up folder.

To add or remove programs in the Registry.Open RegEdit. .Go to the desired Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Micrsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

Add a new String Value and name it anything you like. For the value data, enter the
path and executable for the program you want to run.

By adding the value to the KEY_CURRENT_USER hive instead allows the program
to start only when that user is logged on. If you add the value to the RunOnce key
the program will run once and be removed from the key by Windows.

5. Change “AM” and “PM” Displayed Near

the System Clock to Any Text You want
You can add your name or anything you like that consists of 8 characters or less. This will
replace the AM or PM next to the system time. Do not use this tip if you are using any
software during the trial period as it will corrupt the trial license. Open the RegEdit and
navigate to the following registry key: KEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\International.
Add two new String values, "s1159" and "s2359". Most probably those keys will be already
present. If it is not there then create them. Right click the value name and modify. Enter
anything you like up to 8 characters. If you enter two different values when modifying, you
can have the system tray display the two different values in the AM and PM

6. Change Text and Baloon Tip Associated

With All Desktop Icons
You need to know the object's class ID (CLSID), which uniquely identifies each system
object. The following table lists the CLSIDs for common desktop objects.

CLSIDs for desktop objects

Desktop object CLSID

My Computer {20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

Recycle Bin {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Microsoft Outlook {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

Internet Explorer {FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}

The Internet {3DC7A020-0ACD-11CF-A9BB-00AA004AE837}

My Network Places {208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}

Briefcase {85BBD920-42A0-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}

Dial-Up Networking {992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD010CCC48}

Run the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID, a key that lets you change
characteristics of system objects, and highlight the CLSID whose name or balloon text you
want to change. For example, to change My Computer, highlight the subkey
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}. Keep
in mind that HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID has many CLSIDs listed under it, so it might
take you a while to find the proper subkey.

Once you find the right subkey, if you want to edit the name of the object, open the Default
value and type in the text that you want to appear underneath the object. If you want to edit
the balloon text for the object, open the InfoTip value and type in the text that you want to
appear as balloon text. Once you're done, exit the Registry and reboot.

7. Change Icons of your Desktop Objects

(MyComputer, Recycle bin..)
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID, and look for the CLSID subkey from the table above for
the object whose icon you want to change. Open the subkey and then the DefaultIcon
subkey under that. To change the icon for My Computer, open the subkey
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\DefaultIcon.
Change the Default value to the path of the icon that you want displayed. Follow the same
for changing the icons of ther items as well. Exit the Registry. You might have to reboot for
the new settings to take effect. If you aren't able to change your icons still, then try editing the
following: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft \Windows\CurrentVersion \
Explorer\ CLSID\, and you will be in.

8. Create a drive menu for My Computer

Windows XP makes it easy for you to configure My Computer so it works like a menu, with
each drive listed as a menu item. Here's how. Right-click the Start button, and select
Properties.Click Customize, which is adjacent to the Start Menu radio button, and select
Advanced. Scroll through the Start Menu Items list box until you see My Computer. Select
Display As A Menu, and click OK twice. Now, when you select My Computer from the Start
menu, you'll see a menu of individual drives. To access the contents of that drive, just select
the drive letter from the menu.
9.Add a program to the Right Click Menu
So as to Use it Everywhere by just doing a
Right-Clicking
When you right click on any folder, you can have access to that application, the same as using
Sent To and New. Open Registry Editor. Navigate and choose:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell. Add a new Key to the "Shell" Key and name
it anything you like. Give it a default value that will appear when you right click a
folder, i.e. NewKey (use an "&" without the quotes, in front of any character and it
will allow you to use the keyboard). Navigate and click on the registry key
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\NewKey. Now you have to add a New Key
named Command and Set the (Default) value of the application you want to run. For
example: c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe (Include the full path)

10. Turn Off Window Animation

You can shut off the animation displayed when you minimize and maximize
Windows. Open Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control panel
\Desktop\WindowMetrics. Create a new string value "MinAnimate". Set the value
data of 0 for Off or 1 for On

11. Remove the Desktop Item Icons (My

Computer, Recycle Bin…)
Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft
\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace. Here's where you'll find various
special desktop icons. They're not listed by name, but instead by CLSID. Check the tip
number 5 for the CLSIDs of common desktop objects. To remove an icon from the desktop,
simply delete the key and then exit the Registry, go to your desktop, and press F5 to refresh
the screen. If it still doesn’t work, system needs a restart.
12. Un-install Wordpad, Automatic Update,
Messenger, Pinball etc
Use Notepad or another text editor to open the Setup Information file, sysoc.inf, which is
generally found in the C:\WINDOWS\INF folder. For this folder to be visible, you will have
to enable hidden folders by going into Windows Explorer and choosing Tools Folder
Options ViewShow Hidden Files and Folders. The lines in the file follow the format:

program=program.dll,OcEntry,program.inf,,numeral

The Pinball game entry, as an example, looks like this:

Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7.

Remove the word HIDE from the entry that refers to the component you want to remove.
Save the sysoc.inf file, and run the Windows Components Wizard under Add/Remove
programs. The component will now show up in the wizard. Remove it as you would any other
component.

13. Add “Copy To Folder” and “Move To

Folder” in a Right-Click Menu
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers.

Shellex. It tells you it's a shell extension key that lets you customize the user shell or the
interface. Create a new key called Copy To. Set the value to {C2FBB630-2971-11d1-
A18C-00C04FD75D13}. Create another new key called Move To. Set the value to
{C2FBB631-2971-11d1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}. Exit the Registry. The changes
should take effect immediately. The Copy To Folder and Move To Folder options will
appear. When you right-click a file and choose one of the options, you'll be able to move or
copy the file using a dialog box.

14. Tune Your Browsing- Tricks on DNS

By default, XP caches negative entries for five minutes. Negative entries are those in which
no match was found, and you end up getting a "Cannot find server or DNS" error in your
browser.After five minutes, they're cleared from your cache. But if you'd like, you can force
XP not to cache these negative entries so that you'll never run into this problem. Run the
Registry Editor and go to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters. Create a new DWORD value with the
name NegativeCacheTime and give it a value of 0. The DWORD determines how much time,
in seconds, to keep negative entries in the DNS cache. If you like, you can have the entries
stay alive for one second by giving the DWORD a value of 1.After you're done editing, exit
the Registry. To make the change take effect, restart your computer, or flush your cache by
issuing the command ipconfig /flushdns at a command prompt.

You can also use the Registry to control the amount of time positive entries are kept in the
DNS cache. By default, they are kept for 24 hours. To change the default, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameter again
and create a DWORD value called MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit. (If it's already present, just
edit the value.) For the value, enter the amount of time you want the entry to remain, in
seconds, making sure to use Decimal as the base.

15. Customize the “Send To” Option

Adding new locations and programs and taking away existing ones that you never use from
this menu is very simple. It's easy to hack. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\<log_in_name>
\SendTo, where <log_in_name> is your username with which you login to your system. The
folder will be filled with shortcuts to all the locations you find on your “Send To” context
menu. To remove an item from the Send To menu, delete the shortcut from the folder. To add
an item to the menu, add a shortcut to the folder by highlighting the folder, choosing File
New Shortcut, and follow the instructions for creating a shortcut. The new setting will take
effect immediately.

16. Faster Network Access

When you use My Network Places to browse for other machines on your network, Windows
XP first checks for the scheduled tasks on the target machine before listing the shared
resources present on the computer. We can do a registry hack to avoid this delay. Invoke the
Registry Editor by typing regedit at the command line. Open the following
Registrykey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace. Delete the following key {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-
8D87-00AA0060F5BF}. Now close the Registry and reboot.

17. Switch to Windows' basic search tool

Open the Registry Editor. Now Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer \ Cabinet State. Go to EditNew String
Value. Name the new value. Double-click the new value, type no in the Value Data text box,
and click OK. Close the Registry Editor, and restart the system. To switch back to the Search
Companion, just go back to the Registry Editor, and change the Value Data to yes.

18. All About Your Recycle Bin

Add rename to the menu:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20

Add delete to the menu:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder
"Attributes"=hex:60,01,00,20

Add rename and delete to the menu:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder
"Attributes"=hex:70,01,00,20

Restore the recycle bin to Windows defaults including un-deleting the icon after deletion:
Restore the icon.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer
\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
@="Recycle Bin"

Reset Windows defaults.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,00,20

Other edits to the recycle bin icon:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,01,20 ... standard shortcut arrow
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,02,20 ... a different shortcut arrow
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,04,20 ... and still another shortcut arrow
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,08,20 ... make it look disabled (like it's been cut)

For Windows XP and 2000 you have to also edit the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645F
F040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Did I miss anything..?? Ofcourse NOT!

19. Display Your Own Error Messages

When you try to delete Microsoft Outlook from the desktop, you get the warning message
"The Outlook Desktop icon provides special functionality and we recommend that you do not
remove it." If you like, you can edit that message to display whatever you want. In the
CLSID's subkeyfor example, {00020D75-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} for Microsoft
Outlook you'll find the value Removal Message. Edit this value to whatever text you want,
and your warning message will appear whenever someone tries to delete the icon. This is just
an example. Follow the suit for customizing the error messages for other icons too!

20. Improved Use of System cache

Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to the registry key
that is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager
\MemoryManagement . Look for value of "LargeSystemCache". If available, do one of the
following: If the computer is a workstation, set its value to 0. If it is a server set a value of 1.

21. Clean Up the “Open With” Menu

When you right-click a file, you see the menu option “Open With”, which provides a list of
programs for you to open the file with. You can clean up the Open With list by using a
Registry hack. Run the Registry Editor (StartRunRegedit) and go to the key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer \FileExts.
Look for the file extension whose Open With list you want to edit and find its OpenWithList
subkey. The subkey will have an alphabetical list of String values. Open each value and
examine the value data. It will be the name of one of the programs on the Open With list .
Delete any entry you don't want to appear. Don't delete the value data; delete the String value
listing. In other words, if the value data for the String value is Winword.exe, delete the entire
string rather than just the value data. Exit the Registry.

22. Remove Menu Items from Explorer

Explorer's menus can get messy at times. But you can use a Registry hack to clean it up a bit
by removing some items from the Tools menu. Map Network Drive, Disconnect Network
Drive etc can be stopped from displaying. Run the Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Create the following DWORD entry and set the values correspondingly. If the values are
already there, then just check the values:

NoNetConnectDisconnect. 1

NoAutoUpdate 1

NoNetHood 1

NoOnlinePrintsWizard 1

NoPublishingWizard 1

NoWebServices 1

NoWelcomeScreen 1

NoInternetOpenWith 1

NoWindowsUpdate 1
Restart your computer and see the explorer window with changes. Happy??

23.Command Prompt on Right-Clicking a

Folder
With this tip, you can right-click any folder in your windows and open a command prompt at
that folder. It is a very old hack and I am mentioning it here because of compulsion.Run the
Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Classes/Folder/Shell.
Create a new key called Command Prompt. For the default value, enter whatever text you
want to appear when you right-click a folder.. Create a new key beneath the Command
Prompt key called Command. Set the default value to Cmd.exe /k pushd %L. That value will
launch Cmd.exe, which is the XP command prompt. The “/k” switch puts the prompt into
interactive mode. That is, it lets you issue commands from the command prompt; the
command prompt isn't being used to issue only a single command and then exit. The “pushd”
command stores the name of the current directory, and “%L” uses that name to start the
command prompt at it. Exit the Registry.

24. Don’t want the “Open With” Option..?

Each application's subkey in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications controls whether that
particular application will show up on the dialog box. If you want to ban a particular program
from the Open With dialog box, look for the application's subkey underneath
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications, add a String value named NoOpenWith, and leave
the value blank. There will be no more “Open With” menu for that item.

25. Activate “ClearType” for Better Display

Microsoft states, “With Windows XP, ClearType delivers improved font display resolution
over traditional anti-aliasing. It improves readability on color LCD monitors with a digital
interface, such as those in laptops and high-quality flat desktop displays. Readability on CRT
screens can also be somewhat improved.
Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/ControlPanel/Desktop. Right Click on the right window pane
and create a string value with the name FontSmoothing and set a value to 2.Once again right
click and this time create a Dword with the name FontSmoothingType. Set the value to 2.
Exit Registry and Reboot. This will enable the ClearType for all users on the computer.

26. Activate/De-activate Intelligent menu

When the Intelligent Menu is activated in Internet Explorer, a message pops up that states it
can be turned of using the Internet Options, but while using the Classic Windows mode, that
option is unavailable.

Create the following keys if necessary. Most probably the keys will be found in those
locations.

For Internet Explorer's Favorites folder:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
change: "FavIntelliMenus"="yes"
to
"FavIntelliMenus"="no"

For the Start Menu, and sub-menus:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanc
ed]
change:
"IntelliMenus"=dword:00000001
to "IntelliMenus"=dword:00000000

27. Disable CD Auto Run

Start regedit and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet
\Services\Cdrom. Now Create a new registry key of type Dword and name it AutoRun. If the
key is already there, just set the value to 0 in order to disable AutoRun. To enable it, change
the value to 1. Once it is done, Exit Registry and Reboot.
28. NO option to send data to the CD-ROM
drive…?(Tip Is From MicroSoft KB)
When you view the properties of the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive, you may notice that the
Recording tab is not displayed in the CD Drive Properties dialog box. To resolve this issue,
edit the Microsoft Windows registry to identify the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive as a
recordable drive. To do this, follow these steps.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

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

3. Expand the following registry subkey:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CD
Burning\Drives

4. On the File menu, click Export.

5. In the File name box, type backup of drives key, and then click Save.

6. In the left pane of the Registry Editor window, click the Volume{GUID} folder under
Drives, where GUID is a 32-character hexadecimal globally unique identifier. If you have
more than one CD-ROM drive in the computer, an additional Volume{GUID} folder is listed
for each drive.

7. In the right pane of the Registry Editor window, double-click Drive Type.

8. In the Value data box, type 1 or 2, depending on the drive type, and then click OK. The
drive type should be 1 if it is a CD-R and 2 if it is a CD-RW.

9. Quit Registry Editor.

10. Click Start, and then click My Computer.

11. Under Devices with Removable Storage, right-click the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive, and
then click Properties on the shortcut menu.

12. If the Recording tab is displayed, Windows recognizes the drive as a recordable device.

13. Click Cancel.

If you have more than one CD-ROM drive, DVD-ROM drive, or CD-RW drive in the
computer and the Recording tab is not displayed, an incorrect drive may have been
configured as "recordable" in the Windows registry. To troubleshoot this issue, follow these
steps:

Follow steps 1 through 9 to edit the Drive Type value of the Volume{GUID} folder whose
value you previously changed. In the Value data box, type 3, and then click OK. The drive
type value of 3 indicates that the drive is a standard CD-ROM and is not writable. In the left
pane of the Registry Editor window, click the next Volume{GUID} folder. Follow steps 7
and 8 to change the Value data entry to 1 or 2, depending on the drive type. Quit Registry
Editor, and then follow steps 10 through 12 to confirm that the Recording tab is displayed in
the properties dialog box of the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive.

29. Enable/Disable CD Burning

If you choose to use a different CD burning program than the one supplied with Windows XP
this edit will disable the default burner. In most cases this isn't necessary even if you choose
an alternative burning program, but there are a few badly behaved burning programs out there
that insist on this modification.

Open the registry editor and navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
.Create a new Dword with the Name "NoCDBurning". To enable give a value 0. A value of 1
disables Burning.Exit Registry and Reboot

To Enable/Disable CD Burning for the Local Machine navigate to following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Ex
plorer. Create a new Dword with the Name "NoCDBurning". To enable give a value 0. A
value of 1 disables Burning. Exit Registry and Reboot.

30. CD Writer is Not Fast Enough..?

Open My Computer, right-click the CD Drive icon, and then click Properties. Click the
Recording tab to display the settings. Under "Select a write Speed" Choose the "Fastest". If
still having a problem, then choose a speed like 18x or a medium speed. This will resolve
almost all the issues.

31. Enable/Disable Error Reporting in

Windows XP
In an effort to make Windows XP a better and more stable operating system, Microsoft has
included Error Reporting in the latest release. Whenever an application has to close because
of an error, it asks that a report be sent to Microsoft for study and evaluation. Sending the
report is optional, but users can benefit from the error log that is generated if they wish to
study it or print a hard copy. If you find error reporting objectionable and want it disabled:
Open Control Panel. Click on Performance and Maintenance. Click on System. Then click on
the Advanced tab. Click on the error-reporting button on the bottom of the windows. Select
Disable error reporting. Click OK.

32. A shortcut to “Sleep” well

Create your own Sleep button by creating a shortcut on your desktop. In the previous PDf
release, I discussed about Shutdown and re-start shortcuts. Now it’s time for a sleep. Right-
click on the desktop. Select New Shortcut.

Type rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState in the text box as it is. Click Next. Type
Sleep in the text box and click Finish. Now when you click the Sleep icon, Windows XP will
put the computer into either Stand By or Hibernate mode depending on how the “When I
Press The Sleep Button” On My Computer setting is configured on the Advanced tab of the
Power Options Properties dialog box.
33. Disable the Windows XP Startup Screen
If you want to see what goes behind the Windows Startup Screen, you have to disable the
Windows boot screen. Right click “My Computer”. Select “Properties”. Select the
“Advanced” tab. In the “Startup and Recovery” section, click “Settings”. In the “System
Startup” section, click Edit to open the boot.ini file in Notepad. You will see a line that looks
similar to the one below:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"

/fastdetect

To disable the Startup Screen, change the line as below:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"

/fastdetect /sos. Note that there is a space between 'fastdetect' and '/sos'. Close Notepad, click
Yes when Notepad asks if you want to save your changes. Exit System Properties. Reboot
computer and the Startup Screen will be gone.

34. Change the Registered User Information

Tired of tweaking? Well, Let us now do a very very simple registry trick. You can change the
Registered Owner or Registered Organization to anything you want even after Windows is
installed. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion. Now Change the value of
"RegisteredOrganization" key or “RegisteredOwner", to what ever you want. Close the editor
and restart the computer.

35. Hidden User Account

An account that is normally displayed on the Welcome screen can be hidden from view. To
log on using the account it's necessary to use the Log On To Windows dialog box similar to
the one in Windows 2000. Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogo
n\SpecialAccounts\UserList.

Right Click on the right side window and create a new DWord value. Name the key, the
name of account to be hidden. For example, If I wish to hide an account called “Sandeep”,
then I name the key as “Sandeep”.

Set the value 0 to hide that account. Now exit the registry editor and reboot. To display the
account at a later period, visit the same key and give the value 1. Now you have an account
hidden.

36. Increase Internet Download Connections

I have already given this trick in my last PDF file (XP Tricks& Tips). I have received many
mails asking me what the keys really meant? Now I’m bound to explain them. Let me explain
the trick once again. This trick increase Simultaneous Internet Download Connections
and increases the number of allowed simultaneous connections to a higher number. The
default value is only five connections.

Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings.

Right click on the window pane and create a DWord key with the name
“MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server” as it is without quotes. Set the value to a higher number
like 0000000a. Note that they are zeros and not alphabet ‘O’.

Right click on the window pane and create another DWord key with the name
“MaxConnectionsPerServer”. No quotes please. Set the value to a higher number like
0000000a. Note that they are zeros and not alphabet ‘O’.

37. Remove Invalid Entries from Operating

System Selection Menu
A common complaint after reinstalling XP is the appearance of a boot screen asking the user
to select the copy of XP that is to be loaded, even when there is only one copy of XP on the
system. XP provides a method that eliminates the danger of manual editing of boot.ini by
using the System Configuration Utility.

Click Start > Run .Type msconfig and click OK to open System Configuration Utility. Select
the tab labeled BOOT.INI. Click the button labeled. Check All Boot Paths. A dialog box will
open detailing the location of any invalid operating system locations. Confirm you want to
remove the entry and reboot the system.

38. change the default letter assignment for

drives
Right click “My Computer”.Click “Manage” to open the Computer Management Console. In
the top or lower right pane, right click the disk you want to change. Fixed drives appear in the
top and bottom pane. Removable drives appear in the bottom pane unless they have media
inserted. Well, in that case they appear in both the upper and lower pane. Select “Change
Drive Letter and Path” and Click “Change”. Select the new letter from the drop down list box
and click OK.

39. Increase MFT size If You have Lot of

Installed Programs
By default, NTFS would reserve 12.5% of your free diskspace for Master File Table(MFT) .
This table stores the details of file stored like the memory details. MFT fragmentation could
also cause a significant slow down. If you have installed tons of different programs on your
hard disk , my advice is to increase the MFT usage percentage to say 25%. To do so navigate
to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem. In right
pane, Add one more DWord key by the name "NtfsMftZoneReservation". DWORD value of
1 is interpreted as 12.5% ,2 as 25% and so on (multiples of 12.5).
40. Solve “Error 1719:The Windows Installer
service could not be accessed”(From MS KB)
Method 1: Re-register the Windows Installer

To re-register the Windows Installer, verify the location of the Msiexec.exe file on your hard
disk and in the Windows Registry, and then re-register the Windows Installer. To do so:

1. Verify the location of the Msiexec.exe file on your hard disk. To do so:

Start Search (All files and folders)type msiexec.exe ||Click Search.

In the search results, make a note of the location of the Msiexec.exe file. The location of the
Msiexec.exe file should be similar to the following example, where Drive is the drive where
Windows is installed, and %Windir% is the folder where Windows is installed:
Drive:\%Windir%\System32. An example of this is C:\Windows\System32. In Microsoft
Windows 98-based computers, the Msiexec.exe file is located in the
Drive:\%Windir%\System folder. On the File menu, click Close.

2. Verify the location of the Msiexec.exe file in the Windows Registry. To do so:

Locate, and then click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer. In the right

pane, double-click ImagePath. In the Edit String dialog box, make sure that the string in the
Value data box contains the correct path of the Msiexec.exe file on your hard disk that you
determined earlier in step 1.

For example, if the Msiexec.exe file is located in the Drive:\Windows\System32 folder on

your hard disk, the correct path of the Msiexec.exe file in the Value data box is the following
path, where Drive is the drive where Windows is installed:

Drive:\Windows\System32\Msiexec.exe /V
Note If you are using Windows 98, the correct path of the Msiexec.exe file is
Drive:\Windows\System\Msiexec.exe /V. If the Value data box does not contain the correct
path, make the appropriate changes to correct the path, and then click OK. Quit Registry
Editor.

3. Start your computer in safe mode, and then register the Msiexec.exe file. To do so:

Press F8 after you receive the following message. On the Windows Advanced Option menu,
use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER. If you use a dual-boot or
multiple-boot computer, select the appropriate operating system from the list that is
displayed, and then press ENTER. Log on to the computer. Click Start,, click Run, type the
following line, and then click OK: “msiexec /regserver” {Without quotes}

Note For 64-bit operating systems, you also need to reregister the 64-bit MSI installer. To do
this, click Start, click Run, type the following line, and then click OK:
Drive:\Windows\Syswow64\Msiexec /regserver. On 64-bit editions of a Windows operating
system, 32-bit binaries are located in %systemroot%\SysWow64 folder. 64-bit binaries are
located in the %systemroot%\System32 folder.

4. Shut down, and then restart your computer in standard mode.

If the issue persists and you still receive the error message that is described earlier in the
"Symptoms" section, follow the steps in Method 2.

Method 2: Reinstall the Windows Installer

To reinstall the Windows Installer, rename the damaged Windows Installer files, and then
reinstall the Windows Installer. To do so:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.

3. At the command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER, where Drive is
the drive where Windows is installed and where %Windir% is the folder where Windows is
installed:
attrib -r -s -h drive:\%Windir%\system32\dllcache

For example, type

attrib -r -s -h c:\windows\system32\dllcache

Note If you are using Windows 98, type system instead of system32.

4. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line:

ren msi.dll msi.old

ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old

ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old

5. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER. Restart your computer. Update
the Windows Installer files on your hard disk to the latest version. Windows Installer 2.0 is
available for download from the Microsoft Download Center.

41. Mouse Trick – Better Mouse Acceleration

Open registry and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse and set
value of "SmoothMouseXCurve" and "SmoothMouseYCurve" as follows:

"SmoothMouseXCurve"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,a0,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,40,01,00,0
0,00,00,00,00,80,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,05,00,00,00,00,00

"SmoothMouseYCurve"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,66,a6,02,00,00,00,00,00,cd,4c,05,00,0
0,00,00,00,a0,99,0a,00,00,00,00,00,38,33,15,00,00,00,00,00

42. Text prediction in Windows Command

prompt
Linux and certain UNIX shells has the ability to predict user keystroke. If You are typing a
directory name or a filename and if it exists, using this feature would help you in avoiding
those extra keystrokes. If you think that only these Operating Systems have these features,
then you are wrong. Windows XP command environment has this feature. You have to use
TAB key. Assume you are in C:\drive and want to type autoexec.bat and there is a file that
exists by that name. In such cases you can simply type first few characters and press the TAB
key. You would really be amazed at this finding. Now tell me honestly, do you think that
Windows is not smart enough?

43. Faster IE- Remove an Unused Key

Open registry and navigating to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace and then look for shared tasks
ClassId key {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}. Simply delete it and get out
of registry. No need to reboot.Launch Internet Explorer and see the difference. This key is
found to search for scheduled tasks on starting up the IE. This is a bug according to
MicroSoft. Don’t laugh please!

44. Avoid Reactivation on XP Reinstall

On activating your copy of Windows XP operating system, a file gets updated in windows
/system32 directory. It is called wpa.dbl. If you need to reinstall, take a backup of this file
and once you have reinstalled the OS, just copy it back to the same directory. This way you
can avoid reactivation hurdles.

45. Do not let Regedit remember last change

You might have noticed that whenever you open up Regedit, you can see the screen opened
up with the key you last changed. This is because regedit remembers the last changed key.
You can make it forget at your wish. You be the master. To do this trick, you'll need admin
privileges.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit
and look for the value LastKey. Double-click it and clear the string. Then right-click the
Regedit key (in the left-hand pane) and select Permissions.Set Permissions to Deny for
any/all users/group.

46. Hide All Icons in System Tray

Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/
Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer. Create a new DWORD called
NoTrayItemsDisplay. Assign it a value of 1. (0= keep the icons displayed.) Exit the Registry
and reboot.

47. Change default directory of Windows

Explorer
Windows Explorer always opens My Documents folder by default. But it is now possible to
change this default location by a small hack. StartProgramsAccessories Windows
Explorer. Right click on this Windows Explorer and choose properties. Now you can see the
Target text field. It reads like : %SystemRoot%explorer.exe. After this line, leave a space and
type a comma(,) and type in the location of the folder you wish to open by default. For
example you have a folder named MP3 in your C:\ and want this folder to be opened by
default, then the change will be like this:
%SystemRoot%explorer.exe ,C:\MP3 (leave space before you type comma)

48. File attributes in Windows Explorer

In Windows Explorer, when you click on the detailed mode, you do not see the file attributes
any more. If you want to enable this setting, do this:In regedit, navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explor\Advanced
and look for key ShowAttribCol. If you do not find it , then create a new DWORD key
ShowAttribCol and set its value to 1 to enable it.

49. Solution to Screen Saver Hack

I remember that my last release quoted 2 exploits (hacks) to get into an XP machine without
an administrator password. One technique was to replace the default “login.scr” with a
command prompt that gives you full fledged admin rights. One of the readers (probably a
system admin) wrote to me (from Orkut) on ways to patch it. The solution is known and it
does not require any sixth sense or any ‘hacking’ sense. As a responsible hacker (I’m not a
cracker, though I do some reverse engineering with hex editors/de-compilers/ dis-assemblers)
, I feel that it’s my responsibility to mention the remedy too. This potential security risk can
be negated with a very simple registry tweak. Open registry and navigate to
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\ControlPanel\Desktop and look for the data key
"ScreenSaveActive". Setting its value to 0 would disable screen saver. You can even clear out
the value for 'SCRNSAVE.EXE' to completely remove the screen saver and replace it with
some thing of your own. Isn’t a safe thing to do?

50. Multiple Columns for the Start Menu

We started with the Start button, right? So, let us end this session with the same ☺ .To make
Windows use multiple Start Menu Columns (like Windows 95), do the following registry
hack. Open Registry Editor (Start Runregedit). Go to the key: HKEY_LOCAL
_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsCurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Right click
on the right window pane and create a string value StartMenuScrollPrograms. Set the value
to FALSE. To get the old setting simply change the value to True or delete the key . New
wine in the old bottle, ehh??

51. Need More?? –It’s Learning Time Guys

Last time I mentioned about “gpedit.msc” (StartRungpedit.msc) where you can do a lot
of customization and it does not require any hacking knowledge. This time I am going to
mention about a web site that will give you a better picture of your Windows system. Do not
dream. It is nothing but our very own “support.microsoft.com”. Shocked? You may love
Windows or you may love to hate Windows. No matter to which category you belong, but
never underestimate that site. No other site has such an exclusive coverage of all Windows
related issues.
If you were wondering why I included 2 tips from this site in this PDF, here is my
explanation. It was an effort to make you understand that it is worth paying a visit. You don’t
have to spend too much time looking for your topics. There is a search button. For example,
If you are faced with some CD burning issues, search related topics by using the keyword
“CD Burning”. Thanks to our “COPY-PASTE HACKERS”, I have seen many of those topics
discussed on that site re-appearing on various hacking communities as “hacks”!!!! I pity
them.

Rather than spending time by scraping your e-mail address on the postings (that promise you
to deliver some hacks by e-mail) on Orkut, do something by yourself. Learn the inside out of
your system.

Conclusion
Before I leave, I would like to warn you with a word of caution. There are no such programs
to hack Yahoo! Or Gmail. You have to use customized hacking techniques which make
extensive use of scripts. So If somebody promises you such programs , don’t give them your
e-mail addresses. They will send you some .exe file (kind of keylogger or other malicious
programs) and you’ll be a victim. Don’t dare to run them. You will be in deep trouble. Watch
Out guys.

Happy Hacking.. Oops, I forgot. It is TWEAKING!

SPECIAL THANKS TO:::: WARZOG, MiSt, and CORE::: Thanks Guys! Hackers Rule!