windows XP Tips and Tricks

Remove the Shortcut Arrows from Desktop Icons

2005-10-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here's how you can remove those shortcut arrows from your desktop icons in Windows XP.

Start regedit. ( Note: To Start Regedit Click Start --> Run and type regedit)
Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/lnkfile
Delete the IsShortcut registry value.
You may need to restart Windows XP.

Disable Error Reporting

2005-10-27T09:27:00.000-07:00

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.
Click OK.

Shutdown Option in Right Click of My Computer

2005-10-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

Do the following Steps:

Open Notepad.
Select and copy the following text and paste it in notepad.

reg add "HKCR\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\[Shutdown]\command" /ve /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "shutdown -s -f -t 00" /f
Click the File --> Save As.... from notepad menu.
Now type the file name as abc.bat and select file type as All Files.
Save the file.
Now double click on the saved file.
Refresh the desktop.
Right click on my computer a new option will be added.

Change Title Bar of Window Media Player:

2005-10-27T03:58:00.000-07:00

Open regedit.
( Click Start --> Run and type regedit and hit ok).
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft
Right Click on "Microsoft" Folder and then New--> Key.
A new folder will be added. Named it as WindowsMediaPlayer.
Now Right Click in the right Panel and then New-->String Value.
Name this value as "TitleBar".
Now double click on it and type any text you want to display.
Click ok and hit F5 to refresh the registry.
Open the Windows Media Player. You will see that title bar will have the caption Provided by your text.

Change Title Bar Text of Internet Explorer:

2005-10-27T03:48:00.000-07:00

Open Regedit:
(Note: To open regedit Click Start --> Run and then type regedit and click ok).

Navigate to the following String:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet ExplorerMain

Look for the String Named "Window Title".

Change its value to the text you want to display on the title bar.

(Note:If the value Window Title does not exists then create it by
Right Click-->New-->String Value.):

Hit F5 and Refresh the Desktop.

Rename the Recycle Bin:

2005-10-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

Click Start --> Run and type Regedit and hit Enter:
Now Find the Folder by following the location below:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}/
Now there will be some string values. Double Click LocalizedString and Put the Name you want.
Hit F5 to refresh the regedit and then refresh the desktop. Recycle Bin will be renamed.

Convert FAT Partition into NTFS

2005-10-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.
Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.
In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Run.
At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.
Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

Making your Folders Access Private:

2005-10-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Open My Computer.
Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer).
If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
Double-click the Documents and Settings folder.
Double-click your user folder.
Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties.
On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box.

Note: You cannot make your folders private if your drive is not formatted as NTFS. You must convert your FAT to NTFS drive.

Increase Start Menu display Speed:

2005-10-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

You can increase the speed of your start menu when going from one to another, by writing the following registry value...

Just do the following things and follow the steps:

Open Regedit to edit registry: (Note: To open registry editor Click Start and then Run and type regedit and hit enter).
Now Click the + sign of HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
Find the Control panal icon and Click its + sign.
Now there should be a folder named Desktop. Click on it and you will see a lot of registry values in the right side.
In the right side there will be a registry value Named "MenuShowDelay". If it does not then you can create it by right clicking there and then clicking a New String Value.
By default the value of MenuShowDelay is 400. You can change it to a lesser value to increase the menu displaying speed. For example set it to 0.
Now hit F5 and close the regedit. If you are using windows98 then you have to restart.
Now click the start button and navigate to All programs. You will see the difference.

Removing Windows Messenger:

2005-10-14T11:46:00.000-07:00

Theoretically, you can get rid of it (as well as a few other things).
Windows 2000 power users should already be familiar with this tweak.

Do the following steps:

Open the Explorer and past this link on the adress bar. " %SYSTEMROOT%\INF " .What the heck is that thingy with the percentage signs? It's a variable. For most people, %SYSTEMROOT% is C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it? Okay.
On with the hack! In the INF folder, open sysoc.inf (but not before making a BACKUP copy first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing "msmsgs" in it. Near the end of that particular line, you'll notice that the word "hide" is not so hidden. Go ahead and delete "hide" (so that the flanking commas are left sitting next to one another).
Save the file and close it.
Now, open the Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add / Remove Windows Components icon. You should see "Windows Messenger" in that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set. NOTE: there are other hidden system components in that sysoc.inf file, too. Remove "hide" and the subsequent programs at your own risk.