Customize XP Tips | Tricks

Dear All,
Some tips to Customize Windows XP
Customize XP Tips | Tricks

1) Remove windows messenger from WinXP one forever
Go to Run box and type next:
runDll32 advpack.dll, LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\ msmsgs.inf, BLC.Remove
2) Disable XP Error Reporting
Right click on MyComputer choose Properties
In System Properties click on Advenced
In Advenced click on Error Reporting
Check "Disable error reporting"
Leave unchecked field "But notify me when critical errors occur"
3) Hide 'User Accounts' from users
Go to Start/Run, and type: GPEDIT.MSC
Open the path
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"
click Add button,
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box


4) Create Your Own Logon Message

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
In the Registry Editor, drill down to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ Winlogon
Right-click LegalNoticeCaption, click Modify, type My Windows XP Machine, and then click OK.
Right-click LegalNoticeText, click Modify, and then type your message.
Close the editor and your new message will appear at every log on.
This tip applies to computers that are part of a domain. For stand-alone or peer-to-peer networks, the custom screen appears just before the Welcome screen.

5) Disable balloon tips

Run regedit and Navigate to Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentV ersion \Explorer\Advanced
then set the value of 'EnableBalloonTips' to 0.

6) Create your own popup menu in the taskbar

You can create your own popup window other than START MENU in the taskbar.
Put all the shortcuts to the applications that you want to popup in a folder.
Then you right click on taskbar ->toolbars ->new toolbar -> and select the folder

7) Reset Your Password On XP

1. Restart you computer

2. When booting, press F8 and select "Safe Mode"

3. After getting to the user menu. Click on a user and this time it will not ask you for a password

4. Go to Start>Run and type "CMD" (without the quotes).

5. At command prompt type in "cd C:WindowsSystem32" (without the quotes), I am assuming C is your System/Windows Drive

6.For safety purposes first make a backup of your Logon.Scr file.. You can do this by typing in "Copy to Logon.scr to Logon.bak" (without the quotes)

7.Then type "copy CMD.EXE Logon.scr"(without the quotes)

8.Then type this command, I will assume that you want to set Administrator' s password to "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)

9.Now, type this in (I am assuming that you are still in the directory C:WindowsSystem32) , "net user administrator MyNewPass" without the quotes

10. You will get a message saying that it was successful, this means Administrator' s new password is "MyNewPass" (without the quotes)

11. Restart the PC and you will login as Administrator (or whatever you chose to reset) with your chosen password

Create your own Internet Explorer Toolbar

First, create your HTML file and place it in whatever folder is easiest for you to remember. ( I have a folder on my D drive called Desktop Toolbars. )

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\AboutURLs

Create a new String Value with an easy to remember name.
Ex: TopToolbar ,BottomToolbar ,GoogleSearchPage

In the data for the new string value you've created, put the COMPLETE address for the HTML page you want to display in a toolbar.

Like this: D:\Desktop_Toolbars \TopBar.html

To show your new toolbar, right-click on your taskbar and choose "Toolbars" > New Toolbar.

In the box labeled Folder:, type about: with the name of the string value you created that represents the HTML file you want to see in your toolbar.
Like this:
about:TopBar
will display your D:\Desktop_Toolbars \TopBar.html in your taskbar.
about:BottomBar
about:GoogleSearchP age



Speed Up Windows XP and Improve performance

1) Shutting down WinXP faster

When a user shuts down Windows XP, first the system has to kill all services currently running. Every once in a while the service does not shut down instantly and windows give it a change to shut down on its own before it kills it. This amount of time that windows wait is stored in the system registry. If you modify this setting, then windows will kill the service earlier. To modify the setting, follow the directions below:

Click on Start, and then goto run, type REGEDIT

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/ SYSTEM/CurrentCo ntrolSet/ Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceT imeout"
Right click on it and select Modify. Set it a value lower than 4000

2) 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.

3) Windows XP SP2 Tweaks

Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions

[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \ Microsoft\ Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNo tify"=dword :00000001
"FirewallDisableNot ify"=dword: 00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride" =dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride" =dword:00000001


Turn off Auto Updates

[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\ WindowsUpdate\ Auto Update]
"AUOptions"= dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNoti fy"=dword: 00000001

Turn off the SP2 firewall

[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Policies\ Microsoft\ WindowsFire wall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall" =dword:00000000

turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE \Policies\ Microsoft\ WindowsFire wall\StandardProfil e]
"EnableFirewall" =dword:00000000

4) Disable unnecessary Services

Caution:
Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it.
Open Control Panel/Administrativ e ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console.
Notice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it. However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time. However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab. This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing.

Tip:

The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board. You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore.

While disabling services, check and make sure that IIS (internet information server) is not installed and running if you do not want to run a web server, ftp, or mail server. If you find it, you can uninstall from the control panel. If you only want to run one of the 3 services it provides, disable the other 2 (the 3 should be HTTP server, FTP server, & SMTP server).