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Thread: 20 things you didn't know about Windows XP

  1. #1
    You've read the reviews and digested the key feature
    enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to
    delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's
    secrets.

    1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous
    versions of Windows were coy about how long they went
    between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina.
    Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from
    the All Programs start button option, and then type
    'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of
    useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep
    these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a
    file called info.txt you can look at later with
    Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

    2. You can delete files immediately, without having
    them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start
    menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select
    User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows
    Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move
    deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it.
    Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many
    interface and system options, but take care -- some
    may stop your computer behaving as you wish.
    (Professional Edition only).

    3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of
    the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using
    a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe
    user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field.
    Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just
    double click on it and your computer will be locked.
    And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do
    the same.

    4. XP hides some system software you might want to
    remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle
    it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or
    Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf,
    search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then
    go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel,
    select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be
    your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

    5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP
    has a number of interesting new commands. These
    include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating
    and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring
    performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for
    handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command
    name followed by /? will give a list of options --
    they're all far too baroque to go into here.

    6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation
    of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has,
    so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type
    'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin
    your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the
    command line to find out more. If you don't know what
    IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

    7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer
    from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the
    task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number.
    Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also
    tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

    8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice
    if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you
    can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing
    'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you
    change your mind later, you can put things back as
    they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

    9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font
    display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by
    default. It's well worth trying, especially if you
    were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a
    screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat.
    To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop,
    select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select
    ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable
    the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays.
    If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login
    screen as well, set the registry entry
    HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control
    Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

    10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend
    who's using network address translation (NAT) on a
    home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to
    email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the
    file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP
    address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your
    chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by
    going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make
    sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall
    and forwarded to the errant computer.

    11. You can run a program as a different user without
    logging out and back in again. Right click the icon,
    select Run As... and enter the user name and password
    you want to use. This only applies for that run. The
    trick is particularly useful if you need to have
    administrative permissions to install a program, which
    many require. Note that you can have some fun by
    running programs multiple times on the same system as
    different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.


    12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you
    checking for auto updates, registering a Passport,
    using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the
    nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the
    bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current
    Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value
    called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

    13. 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.

    14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete
    temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the
    browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and
    Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the
    box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when
    browser is closed.

    15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just
    in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network
    card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop,
    then select Properties. Right click on the description
    for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties,
    then check the Show icon in notification area when
    connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on
    the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during
    network traffic.

    16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to
    appear, but you can speed things along by changing the
    registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control
    Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to
    something a little snappier. Like 0.

    17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows
    Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then
    right click on one and rename it. All the other files
    will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers
    in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you
    can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View,
    Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

    18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art
    for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the
    picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks
    from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of
    pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the
    cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just
    call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick
    it up and display it.

    19. Windows key + Break brings up the System
    Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the
    desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar
    buttons.

    20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed
    Longhorn, is due out late next year or early 2003 and
    won't be much to write home about. The next big
    release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in
    2003/2004.

  2. #2
    Naila ,a very informative post.Founf many things to learn.

    Kindly revise the last statment as this article was released earlier

    The next release of Windows XP, codenamed
    Vista, is out now . The next big
    release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in
    2010/2011.
    __________________

  3. #3
    ok thanks fr adding it...

    thanks for liking!

  4. #4

  5. #5

  6. #6
    thanks for likin

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