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How to enable automatic login on XP (no prompt for password on XP)

- Click on Start - Run

- type "control userpasswords2" and press ENTER

- In the new Windows that appears select the account you wish to make the primary logon.

- Uncheck the "Users must enter a username and password" box.

- Select apply and a dialog box will appear asking you to confirm the selected users password.

- Press ENTER

Do no use this feature if you want to secure information on your PC.

 
How to block ads while surfing the net

Read the instructions on this website - http://www.safersite.com/Support/HowTo/How_To_Block_Ads.asp and replace your hosts file ( in the c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts directory in XP) with the one listed here - http://www.safersite.com/Downloads/Misc/hosts (this blocks over 10000 adserver sites)

 

Remove spyware from your PC

To remove spyware(surreptitious programs which collects and distributes personal information gained from your surfing habits), can be removed by downloading one of the tools from the following website -http://www.spychecker.com/software/antispy.html

Microsoft have releases a beta version of their own AntiSpyware - click here to find out more - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&displaylang=en

 

Select which programs load during startup in XP

To select which programs and device drivers load during XP:

- Enter the msconfig program (Click on Start - Run and type in msconfig then press the <enter> key

- Make any changes, then save and exit

 

Change the username in XP

To change the usernames in XP, do the following:

- Enter the registry program (Click on Start - Run and type in Regedit then press the <enter> key

- Go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion

- Change the value in the key field names - "RegisteredOwner"

Schedule Disk Defrag on Windows 2000

 

Prefetcher

Windows XP has a Prefetcher component, which shortens the amount of time it takes to start Windows and programs.

Start the Registry Editor (run regedit)
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ SessionManager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters
Change the values to:

0 - no prefetch
1 - prefetch applications only
2 - prefetch boot only
3 - prefetch both applications & boot (default)


It may also be useful to periodically clean up the prefetch folder, as it may contain obsolete links. This folder can be dound in c:\windows\prefetch

 

What is WBEM?

While cleaning up my system variables, I found reference to "%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem" in my Path variable. What is it?

Web Based Enterprise Management aims at managing access to data that is readable by WBEM compliant applications. eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and Common Information Model (CIM) are some of the technologies it embraces.
For more information go to http://wbemservices.sourceforge.net/

Disable Windows startup programs

To disable Programs for the Current User:
[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.
Right click the program you don't want to load and click Delete.
Exit Registry and Reboot

To disable Programs for the Local Machine:
[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.
Right click the program you don't want to load and click Delete.
Exit Registry and Reboot

Also, check the following registry settings:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\OLE

 

Prevent Windows Messenger from loading when starting Outlook Express

Open your registry and find or create the key below (Run the program called regedit).

System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Outlook Express]
Value Name: Hide Messenger
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (2 = remove messenger)

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called "Hide Messenger" and set it to 2 to remove messenger

Exit your registry ans restart Windows.


How to change your keyboard locale in XP

(e.g. When you press shift and 2 on the keyboard to get the £(pound) symbol and get the @ symbol instead. In that example the keyboard is UK but the PC is set to US. )

1. click 'Start' button then 'Control Panel' option.
2. click 'Date Time and Regional Options' option.
3. click 'Regional and language' option - see 'Regional and language' dialog.
4. click on 'Languages' tab.
5. click on the 'Details' button - see the 'Text Services and Input Languages' dialog.
6. drop the 'Default input language' list.
7. select the 'English (United Kingdom) - United Kingdom' option.
8. click OK then OK (again) and close the control panel dialog.
9. open Notepad or Word then try out the keys you were missing.

 

For your security, some settings are controlled by Group Policy

With Windows XP Service Pack 2, you may the message "For your security, some settings are controlled by Group Policy" when attempting to view/edit the firewall settings.

Click Start, Run and type Gpedit.msc

You can then reset the firewall settings.