Dear Mr. Bill Gates,
This letter is from Mr.Z . We have bought a computer for our home and we found problems, which I want to bring to your notice.
1. After connecting to internet we planned to open e-mail account and whenever we fill the form in Hotmail in the password column, only ****** appears, but in the rest of the fields whatever we typed appears, but we face this problem only in password field. We checked with hardware vendor and he said that there is no
problem in keyboard. Because of this we open the e-mail account with password *****.I request you to check this as we ourselves do not know what the password is.
2. We are unable to enter anything after we click the 'shut down ' button.
3. There is a button 'start' but there is no "stop" button. We request you to check this.
4. We find there is 'Run' in the menu. One of my friend clicked 'run ' has ran upto Delhi! So, we request you to change that to "sit", so that we can click that by sitting.
5. One doubt is that any 're-scooter' available in system? As I find only 're-cycle', but I own a scooter at my home.
6. There is 'Find' button but it is not working properly. My wife lost the door key and we tried a lot for tracing the key with this ' find', but unable to trace. Is it a bug??
7. Every night I am not sleeping as i have to protect my 'mouse' from CAT, So i suggest u to provide one DOG to kill that cat.
8. Please confirm when u are going to give me money for winning 'HEARTS' (playing cards in games) and when are u coming to my
home to collect ur money.
9. My child learnt 'Microsoft word' now he wants to learn 'Microsoft sentence', so when u will provide that?
10. Hey ye kya hi, I brought computer, cpu, mouse and keypad lekhin there is only one icon with 'MY Computer', remaining
ka kya huwa?
11. Are ye to kamal hi aap bole raha hi ki 'MY Pictures' lekhin there is
not even single photo of mine, So when u will keep my photo in that.
12. There is 'Startup' when u will provide 'Enddown'.
13. is that 'NOTEPEN' available in system? As I find only 'NOTEPAD' ,
tell me fast as I lost me PEN.
14. there is 'Winzip' what about 'Lossopen'.
15. There is 'WIN AMP' what about 'Win VOLT ', 'Win RESISTANCE '.
16. There is 'MICROSOFT OFFICE' what about 'MICROSOFT
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Windows XP Shortcut Keys
General Windows XP Shortcut Keys which are applicable to nearly all Windows programs !
[F1]
- Display help. When in Windows Explorer or viewing the desktop, this shows you Windows Help. Otherwise, shows you the active program’s Help Documentation.
[Ctrl] + [C]
- Copy the selected item or text.
[Ctrl]+[X]
- Cut the selected item or text.
[Ctrl] + [V]
- Paste the copied or cutted item or text.
[Ctrl] + [Z]
- Undo the last action.
[Ctrl] + [Y]
- Redo the last action.
[Delete]
- Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin.
[Shift] + [Delete]
- Delete the selected item permanantly without moving it to the Recycle Bin.
[F2]
- Rename the selected item.
[Ctrl] + [Right Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word.
[Ctrl] + [Left Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.
[Ctrl] + [Down Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph.
[Ctrl] + [Up Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph.
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + an arrow key
- Select a block of text.
[Shift] with any arrow key
- Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document.
[Ctrl] with any arrow key + [Space]
- Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
[Ctrl] + [A]
- Select all items in a document or window.
[F3]
- Search for a file or folder.
[Alt] + [Enter]
- Display properties for the selected item.
[Alt] + [F4]
- Exit the active program.
[Alt] + [Space]
- Open the shortcut menu for the active window.
[Ctrl] + [F4]
- Close the active document ( in programs that allows you to have multiple documents or windows open simultaneously )
[Alt] + [Tab]
- Switch between open programs or items.
[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Tab]
- Use the arrow keys to switch between open items ( Works on Vista Only ). Hit [Enter] to select the program you want to switch to.
[Ctrl] + Mouse scroll wheel { Works On Vista Only ! }
- Change the size of icons on the desktop - Vista Only.
[Windows] + [Tab]
- Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3D ( Vista Only ). In Windows XP, cycle through programs using the taskbar buttons and hit [Enter] to select a program.
[Ctrl] + [Windows] + [Tab]
- Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3D ( Vista Only ). Hit [Enter] to select the program you want to switch to.
[Alt] + [Esc]
- Cycle thorugh items in the order in which they were opened.
[F6]
- Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.
[F4]
- Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer.
[Shift] + [F10]
- Display the right click menu for selected item.
[Ctrl] + [Esc] or [Windows]
- Open the start menu.
[Alt] + underlined letter ( in Program menu )
- Displays the corresponding menu - for example, [Alt] + [F] in a program opens the File menu.
[F10]
- Activate the menu bar in the Active program.
[Right Arrow] ( in menu bar )
- Open the next menu right to the right or open a sub-menu.
[Left Arrow] ( in menu bar )
- Open the next menu to the left or close a sub-menu.
[F5]
- Refresh the active window or Active WebPage ( in Web Browsers Only )
[Alt] + [Up Arrow]
- View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer.
[Esc]
- Cancel the current task.
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc]
- Open Task Manager. Also [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Delete] opens the Windows Task Manager in Windows XP.
Hold Down [Shift] when you insert a CD / DVD
- Prevent the CD / DVD from automatically playing !
[F1]
- Display help. When in Windows Explorer or viewing the desktop, this shows you Windows Help. Otherwise, shows you the active program’s Help Documentation.
[Ctrl] + [C]
- Copy the selected item or text.
[Ctrl]+[X]
- Cut the selected item or text.
[Ctrl] + [V]
- Paste the copied or cutted item or text.
[Ctrl] + [Z]
- Undo the last action.
[Ctrl] + [Y]
- Redo the last action.
[Delete]
- Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin.
[Shift] + [Delete]
- Delete the selected item permanantly without moving it to the Recycle Bin.
[F2]
- Rename the selected item.
[Ctrl] + [Right Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word.
[Ctrl] + [Left Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.
[Ctrl] + [Down Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph.
[Ctrl] + [Up Arrow]
- Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph.
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + an arrow key
- Select a block of text.
[Shift] with any arrow key
- Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document.
[Ctrl] with any arrow key + [Space]
- Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
[Ctrl] + [A]
- Select all items in a document or window.
[F3]
- Search for a file or folder.
[Alt] + [Enter]
- Display properties for the selected item.
[Alt] + [F4]
- Exit the active program.
[Alt] + [Space]
- Open the shortcut menu for the active window.
[Ctrl] + [F4]
- Close the active document ( in programs that allows you to have multiple documents or windows open simultaneously )
[Alt] + [Tab]
- Switch between open programs or items.
[Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Tab]
- Use the arrow keys to switch between open items ( Works on Vista Only ). Hit [Enter] to select the program you want to switch to.
[Ctrl] + Mouse scroll wheel { Works On Vista Only ! }
- Change the size of icons on the desktop - Vista Only.
[Windows] + [Tab]
- Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3D ( Vista Only ). In Windows XP, cycle through programs using the taskbar buttons and hit [Enter] to select a program.
[Ctrl] + [Windows] + [Tab]
- Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3D ( Vista Only ). Hit [Enter] to select the program you want to switch to.
[Alt] + [Esc]
- Cycle thorugh items in the order in which they were opened.
[F6]
- Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop.
[F4]
- Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer.
[Shift] + [F10]
- Display the right click menu for selected item.
[Ctrl] + [Esc] or [Windows]
- Open the start menu.
[Alt] + underlined letter ( in Program menu )
- Displays the corresponding menu - for example, [Alt] + [F] in a program opens the File menu.
[F10]
- Activate the menu bar in the Active program.
[Right Arrow] ( in menu bar )
- Open the next menu right to the right or open a sub-menu.
[Left Arrow] ( in menu bar )
- Open the next menu to the left or close a sub-menu.
[F5]
- Refresh the active window or Active WebPage ( in Web Browsers Only )
[Alt] + [Up Arrow]
- View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer.
[Esc]
- Cancel the current task.
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [Esc]
- Open Task Manager. Also [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Delete] opens the Windows Task Manager in Windows XP.
Hold Down [Shift] when you insert a CD / DVD
- Prevent the CD / DVD from automatically playing !
Monday, January 5, 2009
How to Hide Files and Folder on Windows XP
Here is an easy way to protect ur secret folder... Works both on 98 & XP... All that u need is Command Prompt.
Let the folder to protect be D:\My Files\Secret. The folder Secret is to be protected...
NB:- The symbol '<' indicates Enter
Steps
1. Go to Command Prompt (Go to Run->Type cmd)
2. Now type the foll command:-
Code:
>d: <(the drive where ur folder is...)
>cd D:\My Files <(just copy and paste it in Cmmand Prompt Window; that is easy when the path is long...)
NOW THE IMPORTANT COMMAND
>ren secret secret.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} <
NB:- U can also rename the folder directly from the Explorer also...
Done! Now go and open the folder thro Explorer and see what happened!!
To unprotect, just reverse the command:-
Code:
>ren secret.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} secret <
NB:-This cannot be done from Explorer!
How is that??
Let the folder to protect be D:\My Files\Secret. The folder Secret is to be protected...
NB:- The symbol '<' indicates Enter
Steps
1. Go to Command Prompt (Go to Run->Type cmd)
2. Now type the foll command:-
Code:
>d: <(the drive where ur folder is...)
>cd D:\My Files <(just copy and paste it in Cmmand Prompt Window; that is easy when the path is long...)
NOW THE IMPORTANT COMMAND
>ren secret secret.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} <
NB:- U can also rename the folder directly from the Explorer also...
Done! Now go and open the folder thro Explorer and see what happened!!
To unprotect, just reverse the command:-
Code:
>ren secret.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D} secret <
NB:-This cannot be done from Explorer!
How is that??
PC Secrets.
1. Application Secrets.
Defrag
Secret - Hidden Command Line Switch
Instructions - Go to “Start”, “Run” and Type defrag c: -b to defragment the Boot and Application Prefetch information. Similar to what BootVis invokes.
Paint
Secret - Image Trails
Instructions - Open an image and hold down Shift then drag the image around to create an image trail.
Secret - 10 X zoom
Instructions - Open an image and select the magnifying glass icon. Left-click exactly on the line below the 8 X.
2. OS Secrets.
Add/Remove
Secret - Hidden Uninstall Options
Instructions - Warning: Proceed at your own risk.
Browse to C:\Windows\inf\ and make a backup copy of sysoc.inf. Then open the original file C:\Windows\inf\sysoc.inf in notepad. Go to “Edit” and select “Replace”. In “Find what” type, hide and in “Replace with:” type, then select “Replace All”, save and close the file. Go to the control panel, “Add/Remove”, select “Add/Remove Windows Components”. You will now see many more Windows components to uninstall. Do not remove anything with no label or that you do not recognize or fully understand what it does. Doing so can break certain functionality in Windows.
Control Panel
Secret - Hidden Control Panel Extensions
Instructions - Download and install Tweak UI, launch, go to “Control Panel” and check any item not selected, then “Apply” and “OK”. You will now see the hidden control panel extensions.
Device Manager
Secret - Hidden Devices
Instructions - Go to the control panel, “System” icon, “Hardware” tab and select “Device Manager”. Select View and Show hidden devices.
Music
Secret - Music from the Installer
Instruction - Browse to C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma and play
Shutdown
Secret - Display Hibernate Option on Shut Down dialog.
Instructions - Go to “Start”, “Turn Off Computer” and press either Shift key to change “Stand By” button to “Hibernate”.
3. Game Secrets
FreeCell
Secret - Instant Win
Instruction - Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 during game play. Then you will be asked if you want to Abort, Retry or Ignore. Choose Abort, then move any card to instantly win.
Secret - Hidden Game Modes
Instruction - In the “Game” menu choose “Select Game”. Enter -1 or -2 to activate the hidden game modes.
Minesweeper
Secret - Reveal Mines
Instructions - Minimize or close all running applications. Launch Minesweeper, then type xyzzy. Next hold down either shift key for one second. Now when you move the mouse cursor over a Minesweeper square you will see a tiny pixel in the top left corner of your desktop screen. This pixel will change to black when your mouse moves over a mine. You may need to change you desktop background to a solid color other then white or black to see the pixel.
Pinball
Secret - Extra Balls
Instructions - Type lmax at the start of a new ball to get extra balls.
Secret - Gravity Well
Instructions - Type gmax at the start of a new game to activate Gravity Well.
Secret - Instant Promotion
Instructions - Type rmax at the start of a new game to go up in ranks.
Secret - Skill Shot
Instruction - Launch the ball partially up the chute past the third yellow light bar so it falls back down to get 75.000 points. There are six yellow light bars that are worth a varying amount of points :
First: 15.000
Second: 30.000
Third: 75.000
Fourth: 30.000
Fifth: 15.000
Sixth: 7.500
Secret - Test MOde
Instructions - Type hidden test at the start of a new ball to activate Test Mode. No notification will be given that this is activated but you can now left-click the mouse button an drag the ball around.
Secret - Unlimited Balls
Instructions - Type bmax at the start of a new ball. No notificatin will be given that this is activated but when a ball is lost a new ball will appear from the yellow wormhole indefinitely. Once this is activated you will be unable to activate other secrets without restarting the game.
Solitaire
Secret - Instant Win
Instruction - Press Alt + Shift + 2 during game play to instantly win.
Secret - Draw single cards in a Draw Three game
Instruction - Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift while drawing a new card. Instead of drawing three cards you will only draw one.
Twenty Secrets about Windows XP
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 http://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. Solitaire
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 http://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. Solitaire
Secret - Instant Win
Instruction - Press Alt + Shift + 2 during game play to instantly win.
Secret - Draw single cards in a Draw Three game
Instruction - Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift while drawing a new card. Instead of drawing three cards you will only draw one.
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