COMPUTER TRICKS AND TIPS

General Guidelines:
>>Place your computer in an open room with the monitor facing out. This allows you to see and control what is occurring on the Internet.
>> Educate your children about the Internet, both the positives and the potential dangers.

After you have used your PC for a while, you will have accumulated lots of unnecessary files and other 'junk', this can slow your PC down, so here is how to remove it...

Often while startingup windows we will feel a problem called Disk Check.The check disk scan that appears at boot up because of improper shutdown of the previous session.

C:\Program Files directory is considered as the default directory for installing new programs in Windows and here there is a simple and easy way(registry) to modify it permanently. Just follow the few steps mentioned below.
step 1 : Click on start then run and type regedit and press enteror simply press win+r which opens run command and then type regedit and press enter
step 2 : Press CTRL+F and find for the below key in the registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
step 3 : Then find for ProgramFilesDir. By default, the value will be C:\Program Files. Edit the value to any valid drive or folder and XP will use that new location as the default installation directory for new programs.
Enjoy this trick!!

Problem :
Error message: "Virtual memory minimum is too low. Windows is increasing the size of the virtual memory paging file."
Solution :


The virtual memory is the space your computer uses when it runs short of RAM memory. The paging file is the place where Windows handles your virtual memory settings. If your computer wants to change it, you should go ahead and let it because XP will adjust the setting to meet the current memory needs. I do not recommend changing these settings manually as Windows can manage the size much more efficiently than the user can. Making your virtual memory setting larger will increase the number of addresses and will make Windows lazy.
Adding more RAM may also be of benefit as this will reduce the need for virtual memory to be used in the first place. For running Windows XP, I suggest at least 384MB. In general, adding more RAM is the most cost effective means of boosting a computer's performance.
I recommend buying quality RAM from a reputable company. Some cheap (unbranded) RAM can on occasion be defective resulting in 'unexplained' crashes or freezes. Brands to look for are Mushkin, Crucial and Kingston.

Problem :
I get an error message: "Setup was unable to open information file netoc.inf. Contact your system administrator."
I am the system admin.
Solution :
1. Insert the Windows XP CD2. Go to Start>> Run. Type in: Expand C:\i386\NETOC.IN_ -rC:\Windows\Inf [Enter]
Note: C:\ is used if that is where Windows XP is installed.

Services You Can Disable
There are quite a few services you can disable from starting automatically.This would be to speed up your boot time and free resources.They are only suggestions so I suggestion you read the description of each one when you run Servicesand that you turn them off one at a time.

It is due to some kind of virus/ trojan activity which normally disables the task manager.Now due to this problem when ever the user press alt+ctrl+del to launch windows task manager it gives an error saying “Task Manager is being disabled by your administrator”.

Solution: To Enable the Disabled Task Manager on your system

1. Press window key+r to show run prompt

2. Follow the following steps
Enter gpedit.msc in the run prompt and click OK
In the Group Policy settings window
>Select User Configuration
>Select Administrative Templates
>Select System
>Select Ctrl+Alt+Delete options
>Select Remove Task Manager
>Double-click the Remove Task Manager option’.
>Set the property of this item as disabled.

For Those who use Windows XP Home Edition can use the registry to enable Task Manager

1. open start --> run and type regedit

2. Navigate to the following path:

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

3. You will find a registry key with name DisableTaskMgr of type: REG_DWORD

4. Double click the key with and set the Value to 0

5. Exit the registry and restart to see the effect.

There are many things you can play with in Windows Operating System. The normal process to shut down the system is: To click Start - Turn off Computer - Turn Off. However this is not the only way to shut the system down. You can shut down your system with only one click. Here's how:
Navigate to your desktop. On the desktop, right-click and go to New, then to Shortcut (in other words, create a new shortcut). You should now see a pop-up window instructing you to enter a command line path. Use the following path in "Type Location of the Item"

SHUTDOWN -s -t 01

If the C: drive is not your local hard drive, then replace "C" with the correct letter of the hard drive. Click the "Next" button. Name the shortcut and click the "Finish" button. Now whenever you want to shut down, just click on this shortcut and you're done.
You can also setup a TIMER for shutting down the system. Here's how:
Method 1:
Right click on your desktop and choose "New=>shortcuts". In the box that says "Type the location of the shortcut", type in "shutdown -s -t 3600" without the quotation marks and click next. Note: 3600 are the amount of seconds before your computer shuts down. So, 60secs*60mins=3600secs.
Make up a name for the shortcut and you're done. You can change the icon by right clicking=>properities=>change icon=>browse
To Abort This Process:
To make an abort key to stop the shutdown timer just create another shortcut and make the "location of the shortcut" to " shutdown -a" without the quotes.
Method 2:
Here is another trick to shutdown at a specific time, for example you wish to shutdown at 11:35am. Type this in
start=>Run
Type: at 11:35 shutdown -s
TO ABORT:
Type: shutdown -a

Remote Desktop must be enabled on all the computers to which you wish to connect. To ensure that it is enabled, follow these steps:


1)Right click the My Computer icon on your desktop or start menu and click properties.
2)Click the Remote tab at the top of the system properties window and check the box next to "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer."
After you have completed these steps, you are ready to connect to another computer. Before you start, make sure both computers are turned on and connected to your Local Area Network (LAN). It also helps if you both have configured the same workgroup as your default, if you are not on a domain configuration. Most home networks are not on a domain.
3)On the computer you will be connecting from, click Start then select Run and in the new box that appears, type "mstsc" then press ENTER. OR Go to START, select ALL PROGRAMS, Select ACCESSORIES, select COMMUNICATIONS, then click REMOTE DESKTOP CONNECTION.
4)Type the name of the computer you wish to connect to in the connection window.
5)Log in using the username and password supplied by the computer owner. You can not sign into a Limited Account using Remote Desktop.

If you have more then one operating system installed and if you wish to remove an operating system from the boot menu, you can use the following information.

step 1: Click on Start, Control Panel, System, Advanced.
step 2: Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings.
step 3: Under Default Operating System, choose one of the following:"Microsoft Windows XP Professional /fastdetect"-or-"Microsoft Windows XP Home /fasdetect"-or-"Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional /fastdetect"
step 4: Take the checkmark out of the box for "Time to display a list of Operating Systems".
step 5: Click Apply and Ok, and reboot the system.
NOTE: If you wish to edit the boot.ini file manually, click on the button "EDIT"

If you wish to place Background Picture for your Pendrive then here is the simple trick to do that.I saw this trick in orkut and would like to share it with you.

step 1: Open notepad
step 2: Just Copy the below code to notepad,then save it as "desktop.ini"

A successful trick works in Windows 2000 and Windows XP.Following are the steps required to pull off this nice piece of trick.

1. Select any file you wish.

2. Right-click the file and click Rename or just press the F2 key to rename it.

You can create Virtual Drives in your Computer. Now you can access your Favorite Folders as a drive in My Computer.
What you can do ?
1)Access your folders as a Drive !
2)Fool 'Computer Beginners' or your 'Friends' (Non-Expert) , as the drive will show Disk Space of the folder's drive so it seems that the disk space has increased !!!
Do The Follwing :


► Start >> Run
► Type cmd and hit Enter
► This will open "Command Prompt"
► Type subst Z: E:\folder and hit Enter key.
→ You can replace Z: with your desired New Drive Letter (Except existing Drive letters)!
→ You can replace E:\folder with the path of your favorite folder !
► Now, type exit
This creates a new drive ! When you open this , it will open your folder !!!
Issues To Consider:
If On Restart the Virtual Drive Disappears !!!
Solution:
We can make a batch file which will make the drive everytime on startup.Here is how ?
► Open Notepad
► Type :
@ECHO OFF
subst Z: E:\folder
exit
► File >> Save As...
► Name it : Virtual Drive Emulator.bat
► Start >> All Programs
► Right Click on Startup >> Open
► This open the Startup folder
► Paste the Virtual Drive Emulator.bat file here !
Thatsit, now the drive will automatically be created when ever you start your pc

Password resetting consists of 5 simple steps.
1. First reboot Windows XP in safe mode by re-starting the computer and pressing F8 repeatedly as the computer boots up. If you missed the right moment, you will need to repeat the attempt.



2. Then (in safe mode) click Start and then click Run. In the open box type the words exactly as following (without quotes) - control userpasswords2.
3. You will now get a pop-up window with full access to all the user accounts, including the administrators account. From here, you will be able to reset the lost or forgotten password.
4. Just click the administrators’ user account, and then click Reset Password.
5. At this moment, you will have to add a new password in the New password field, and the Confirm new password as well. Confirm the new chosen password by clicking OK.

First of all, this tweak only apply to those who only have one HDD on their primary IDE channel (nothing else on device 0 or 1) and a CD-ROM and/or DVD-ROM on the secondary IDE channel. Each time you boot Windows XP, there's an updated file called NTOSBOOT-*.pf who appears in your prefetch directory (%SystemRoot%Prefetch) and there's no need to erease any other files as the new prefetch option in XP really improves loading time of installed programs.
We only want WindowsXP to boot faster and not decrease its performance. Thanks to Rod Cahoon (for the prefetch automation process...with a minor change of mine) and Zeb for the IDE Channel tweak as those two tricks, coupled together with a little modification, result in an EXTREMELY fast bootup:.
step 1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:windowsprefetch tosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:
step 2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".
step 3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.
step 4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".
step 5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.

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Remove virus usually eatsup empty hard disk space of around 700 MB .So it is important to medicate your PC once if your PC get affected by this virus.

This virus is know popularly as regsvr.exe virus, or as new folder.exe virus and most people identify this one by seeing autorun.inf file on their pen drives, But trend micro identified it as WORM_DELF.FKZ. It is spreading mostly using this pen drives as the medium.

Do you know that you can make your PC shutdown at a time u wish to? If no then no worries,Here is an end to that!

METHOD 1
Step 1:
Right click on your desktop and choose “New=>shortcuts“.
1Step 2:
In the box that says “Type the location of the shortcut“,type in “shutdown -s -t 3600” without the quotation marks and click next.
Note: 3600 are the amount of seconds before your computer shuts down. So , 60secs*60mins=3600secs.
Step 3:
Make up a name for the shortcut and you’re done.You can change the icon by right clicking=>properities=>change icon=>browse.
To abort the tazk:
To make an abort key to stop the shutdown timer just create another shortcut and makethe “location of the shortcut” to “ shutdown -a” without the quotes.
METHOD 2
Here is another trick to shutdown at a specific time, for example you wish to shutdown at 11:35am. Type this instart=>Run
Type Code: at 11:35 shutdown -s
To abort
Code: shutdown -a
Note: all time are in 24hr, example u would like to shutdown at 8:30pm, you should type“at 20:30 shutdown -s” without quote