Saturday, December 26, 2009

Free Download Microsoft Office 2010 With Activation Key



Free Download Microsoft Office 2010 With Activation Key
Microsoft Office 2010 download links have been released to the public today. This public beta version of MS Office 2010 (v. 14.0.4536.1000) is now available for free download on Microsoft’s Official website.

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 beta version also includes MS Publisher and Infopath 2010 along with Word, Excel, Outlook and Power point applications.

New Features Of Microsoft Office 2010
  • Outlook Social connector which includes the option to add friends to your social network direct from Outlook. 
  • Built in screen capture for MS Powerpoint. 
  • Upload or Save directly to Windows Live Sky Drive or SharePoint 2010. 
  • Improved user navigation and Icons. 
  • One click PDF saver. 
  • Embed online videos into presentation.

Here’s what you need to know:

This is pre-release software, so please read the following to get an idea of the risks and key things you need to know before you try the Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta.

Protect your PC and data. Be sure to back up your data and please don’t test Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta on your primary home or business PC.

Uninstall any previous versions of Microsoft Office. We highly recommend that previous versions of Microsoft Office be removed from your test machine before installing Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta.

Technical details/updates. Before installing the Beta please read the Release Notes.

Keep up with the news. You can keep up with general technical information and news by participating in the Microsoft Office 2010 Forum (on TechNet) and reading the Microsoft Office 2010 Team Blog.

Keep your PC updated. Be sure to turn on automatic updates in Windows Update in case we publish updates for the Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta.

Microsoft Partners. Learn more about Office Professional Plus 2010 on the Microsoft Partner Portal.

Here’s what you need to have*:
  • Internet access Internet access (to download Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta and get updates)
  • 500 MHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor or higher 
  • 256 MB of system memory or more 
  • 3 GB of available disk space 
  • 1024x768 or higher resolution monitor 
  • DVD-R/W Drive 
  • Windows XP with Service Pack (SP) 3 (32-bit) 
  • Windows Vista with SP1 (32-bit or 64-bit) 
  • Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit or 64-bit) 
  • Windows Server 2008 with SP2 (32-bit or 64-bit) 
  • Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit) 
How To Activate Microsoft Office 2010 for Free:

Go to the download page.

Click the ‘Get it Now’ button.

Sign in with your live id and fill out the small form to download the beta of Microsoft Office 2010 for free.

You will get the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta Product Key called MAK key to activate your evaluation copy of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta.

At the bottom, you will find the link to download MS office 2010 for free, both 32 bit and 64 bit versions.

For Activating the Office 2010, first you have to install the product and do the following steps.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Word 2010 Beta and click on the "File" tab. Next click"Help".
Step 2: Click “Change Product Key”.
Step 3: Enter the Multiple Activation Key (MAK).
Step 4: Entering the MAK key in Microsoft Word 2010 Beta automatically activates all the Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta applications. Click on the "File" tab to return to the Document view.

How to Flush DNS in Windows, Mac and Linux

How to Flush DNS in Windows, Mac and Linux
When do you want flush DNS (Domain Name System)?

You visit one of the most frequently viewed websites in your list and find it’s not loading up, it could be very frustrating at times.

The site can be down for more than one reason, the most common one being, the remote server being down. To ensure if the server is up, ping the server directly, and the response tells you the status.

Let’s assume that the servers working fine, but still the site does not load up in your browser! DNS failure can be the cause. And this us a common case if server is relocated and/or the site is moved on to a new server, as DNS propagation normally takes anywhere from 24 – 72 hrs to propagate and work fine.

This scenario is also true when you set up new domain on a server.

If the site fails to show up even after 72 hrs, you may have to clear your DNS cache to ensure the request is not going to the old ips of the site you are trying to load.

Clearing DNS cache will ensure your PC does not have old records of bad DNS entries. If the bad entries are not flushed then you need to wait up to 24 hours for it to be dropped from the cache automatically, which is a scheduled activity in some computers.

The following list gives you the set of commands to flush DNS on different platforms:


If you are on Microsoft Windows:

1. Use the command ipconfig/flushdns in your command prompt.
2. The ipconfig/displaydns can be used to view the DNS resolver cache.

If you wish to turn off DNS Caching on Microsoft windows then The client-side DNS caching can be disabled by using either of these two commands:

1. net stop dnscache
2. sc servername stop dnscache

Until the next reboot DNS caching will be disabled and to make this permanent user the Service Controller tool or the Services tool to disable DNS Client service startup type.

If you use Mac OS X Leopard:

1. Use dnscacheutil -flushcache
Eg: bash-2.05a$ dnscacheutil -flushcache

And if you are on any version of Linux:

1. Use nscd daemon which manages the DNS cache.
Restart the nscd daemon by using the command /etc/init.d/nscd restart

Friday, December 25, 2009

How to Remove Virus

HOW TO REMOVE VIRUS
Steps to help remove a virus:
1. Visit the Protect Your PC site and install the latest updates.

2. If you currently use antivirus software, visit the manufacturer's Web site, update it, and then perform a thorough scan of your system. If you don't currently use antivirus software, subscribe to a service and scan your system immediately.

3. Download, install, and run the Malicious Software Removal Tool (for Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000 users). Note that this tool does not prevent viruses from infecting your system; it only helps to remove existing viruses.

Antivirus software & firewall protection:
Computer Associates - 12 month free trial

F-Secure - 6 month free trial

McAfee Antivirus / Firewall - 90 day free trial

Panda Software - 90 day free trial

Symantec (Norton) - 90 day free trial

Trend Micro - 90 day free trial

Antispyware:
Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware - free

Ad-Aware - free



or Simply check nanispot.com for the Best Anti Virus Softwares in Universe.

General Information

What is a computer virus?
Computer viruses are software programs deliberately designed to interfere with computer operation, record, corrupt, or delete data, or spread themselves to other computers and throughout the Internet, often slowing things down and causing other problems in the process.

Just as human viruses range in severity from the 24-hour flu to the Ebola virus, computer viruses range from the mildly annoying to the downright destructive, and come in new and different forms. The good news is that with an ounce of prevention and a little knowledge, you are less likely to fall victim to viruses and you can diminish their impact.

How do viruses work?
Basic viruses typically require unwary computer users to inadvertently share or send them. Some viruses that are more sophisticated, such as worms, can replicate and send themselves automatically to other computers by controlling other software programs, such as an e-mail sharing application. Certain viruses, called Trojans (named after the fabled Trojan horse), can falsely appear as a beneficial program to coax users into downloading them. Some Trojans can even provide expected results while quietly damaging your system or other networked computers at the same time.

Although it's good to be aware of these different types of viruses and how they work, what is most important is that you keep your computer current with the latest updates and antivirus tools, stay current about recent threats, and that you follow a few basic rules when surfing the Internet, downloading files, and opening attachments. Once a virus is on your computer, its type or the method it used to get there is not as critical as removing it and preventing further infection.

Nothing can guarantee the security of your computer 100 percent. However, you can continue to improve your computer's security and decrease the possibility of infection by keeping your system up-to-date, maintaining a current antivirus software subscription, and following a few best practices.


Steps to help avoid viruses:
1. Visit Microsoft Update and turn on Automatic Updates.

Note: If you've installed Office 2003 or Office XP, Automatic Updates will also update your Office programs. If you have an earlier version of Office, use Office Update.

2. Use an Internet firewall (Note: Windows XP with SP2 has a firewall already built-in and active).

3. Subscribe to industry standard antivirus software and keep it current.

4. Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you don't know.

5. Avoid opening an e-mail attachment from someone you know, unless you know exactly what the attachment is. The sender may be unaware that it contains a virus.

How do I know if a virus has infected my computer?
After you open and run an infected program or attachment on your computer, you might not realize that you've introduced a virus until you notice something isn't quite right.

Here are a few primary indicators that your system might be infected:
• Runs consistently slower than normal

• Stops responding or locks up often

• Crashes and restarts every few minutes

• Restarts on its own and then fails to run normally

• Applications don't work properly

• Disks or disk drives are inaccessible

• Printing doesn't work correctly

• You see unusual error messages

• You see distorted menus and dialog boxes

These are common signs of infection—but they could also indicate hardware or software problems that have nothing to do with a virus. The bottom line is that unless you install industry standard, up-to-date antivirus software on your computer, there is no way to be certain if your computer is infected with a virus or not.

Set the Search Screen to the Classic Look

Set the Search Screen to the Classic Look
When I first saw the default search pane in Windows XP, my instinct was to return it to its classic look; that puppy had to go. Of course, I later discovered that a doggie door is built into the applet. Click "Change preferences" then "Without an animated screen character." If you'd rather give it a bare-bones "Windows 2000" look and feel, fire up your Registry editor and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ CabinetState.

You may need to create a new string value labeled "Use Search Asst" and set it to "no".

Upgrading to Windows XP


Upgrading to Windows XP 
You can upgrade a computer that runs Windows 98, 98SE, or Me to Windows XP Home Edition. Those same versions, along with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and Windows 2000 Professional, can be upgraded to Windows XP Professional.

(1).To ensure a smooth upgrade and avoid networking problems, follow these tips before starting the upgrade:

(2)Install all network cards. XP will detect them and automatically install the right drivers.
(3)Have your Internet connection available. The XP setup process will connect to a Microsoft server to download the latest setup files, including changes that have been made since XP was released.
Some programs are incompatible with XP and can cause networking problems. Un-install these programs. After the upgrade is complete and the network is working, re-install XP-compatible versions of these programs: Internet Connection Sharing, NAT, Proxy Server Anti-Virus Firewall.

How to Upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition Profiles to Windows XP Domain User Profiles


How to Upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition Profiles to Windows XP Domain User Profiles
This guide describes how to upgrade a Microsoft Microsoft Windows 98-based, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition-based client that has user profiles to a Microsoft Windows XP-based client. 
The following steps enable the Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me) profiles to be retained throughout the process. 
Your best method to retain the profiles is to join the domain during the upgrade installation process.
Otherwise, you must use a workaround method to transfer the profile information over to the Windows XP profile. 

During the upgrade installation process, at the networking section, the administrator is offered the choice to join a domain or a workgroup.
If you join the domain at this juncture, you ensure that all the existing profiles are migrated successfully to the Windows XP-based installation. 

If you did not join the computer to the domain during the upgrade process, you must use the following workaround method:

Join the upgraded computer to the target domain. 

All applicable users must log on and log off (which generates a profile). 
Copy the appropriate Application Data folder from the Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me profiles to the newly created user profiles.

How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent

How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent
Go to Control Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"

Speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines

Speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines
Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines. Its actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improve significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore. Here's how :

Open up the Registry and go to : 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace 
Under that branch, select the key : 
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} 
and delete it. 
This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary. 
This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing processes.

Set up and Use Internet Connection Sharing

Set up and Use Internet Connection Sharing
With Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in Windows XP, you can connect one computer to the Internet, then share the Internet service with several computers on your home or small office network. The Network Setup Wizard in Windows XP Professional will automatically provide all of the network settings you need to share one Internet connection with all the computers in your network. Each computer can use programs such as Internet Explorer and Outlook Express as if they were directly connected to the Internet.
You should not use this feature in an existing network with Windows 2000 Server domain controllers, DNS servers, gateways, DHCP servers, or systems configured for static IP addresses.


Enabling ICS

The ICS host computer needs two network connections. The local area network connection, automatically created by installing a network adapter, connects to the computers on your home or small office network. The other connection, using a 56k modem, ISDN, DSL, or cable modem, connects the home or small office network to the Internet. You need to ensure that ICS is enabled on the connection that has the Internet connection. By doing this, the shared connection can connect your home or small office network to the Internet, and users outside your network are not at risk of receiving inappropriate addresses from your network.
When you enable ICS, the local area network connection to the home or small office network is given a new static IP address and configuration. Consequently, TCP/IP connections established between any home or small office computer and the ICS host computer at the time of enabling ICS are lost and need to be reestablished. For example, if Internet Explorer is connecting to a Web site when Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, refresh the browser to reestablish the connection. You must configure client machines on your home or small office network so TCP/IP on the local area connection obtains an IP address automatically. Home or small office network users must also configure Internet options for Internet Connection Sharing. To enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Discovery and Control on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition computers, run the Network Setup Wizard from the CD or floppy disk on these computers. For ICS Discovery and Control to work on Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition computers, Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later must be installed.

To enable Internet Connection Sharing on a network connection

You must be logged on to your computer with an owner account in order to complete this procedure.
Open Network Connections. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double–click Network Connections.)

Click the dial–up, local area network, PPPoE, or VPN connection you want to share, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.

On the Advanced tab, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
If you want this connection to dial automatically when another computer on your home or small office network attempts to access external resources, select the Establish a dial–up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box.

If you want other network users to enable or disable the shared Internet connection, select the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box.

Under Internet Connection Sharing, in Home networking connection, select any adapter that connects the computer sharing its Internet connection to the other computers on your network. The Home networking connection is only present when two or more network adapters are installed on the computer.


To configure Internet options on your client computers for Internet Connection Sharing

Open Internet Explorer. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Internet Explorer.)

On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

On the Connections tab, click Never dial a connection, and then click LAN Settings.

In Automatic configuration, clear the Automatically detect settings and Use automatic configuration script check boxes.

In Proxy Server, clear the Use a proxy server check box. 

Set Processes Priority

Set Processes Priority
Follow this tip to increase the priority of active processes, this will result in prioritisation of processes using the CPU.

CTRL-SHIFT-ESC

1.Go to the second tab called Processes, right click on one of the active processes, you will see the Set Priority option


2.For example, your Run your CDwriter program , set the priority higher, and guess what, no crashed CD’s.

Provide Remote Assistance When Using a NAT Device

Provide Remote Assistance When Using a NAT Device
You can provide Remote Assistance to a friend who uses a Network Address Translation (NAT) device by modifying the Remote Assistance invitation using XML. Network Address Translation is used to allow multiple computers to share the same outbound Internet connection. To open a Remote Assistance session with a friend who uses a NAT device: 
1. Ask your friend to send you a Remote Assistance invitation by e–mail. 
2. Save the invitation file to your desktop.
3. Right–click the file, and then click Open With Notepad. You'll see that the file is a simple XML file.
4.Under the RCTICKET attribute is a private IP address, such as 192.168.1.100.
5. Over–write this IP address with your friend's public IP address. Your friend must send you his or her public IP address: they can find out what it is by going to a Web site that will return the public IP address, such as http://www.dslreports.com/ip.
6. Save the file, and then double–click it to open the Remote Assistance session.

Now, you'll be able to connect and provide them with the help they need. So that your inbound IP connection is routed to the correct computer, the NAT must be configured to route that inbound traffic. To do so, make sure your friend forwards port 3389 to the computer they want help from.

NTFS vs FAT

NTFS vs FAT
To NTFS or not to NTFS—that is the question. But unlike the deeper questions of life, this one isn't really all that hard to answer. For most users running Windows XP, NTFS is the obvious choice. It's more powerful and offers security advantages not found in the other file systems. But let's go over the differences among the files systems so we're all clear about the choice. There are essentially three different file systems available in Windows XP: FAT16, short for File Allocation Table, FAT32, and NTFS, short for NT File System. 

FAT16
The FAT16 file system was introduced way back with MS–DOS in 1981, and it's showing its age. It was designed originally to handle files on a floppy drive, and has had minor modifications over the years so it can handle hard disks, and even file names longer than the original limitation of 8.3 characters, but it's still the lowest common denominator. The biggest advantage of FAT16 is that it is compatible across a wide variety of operating systems, including Windows 95/98/Me, OS/2, Linux, and some versions of UNIX. The biggest problem of FAT16 is that it has a fixed maximum number of clusters per partition, so as hard disks get bigger and bigger, the size of each cluster has to get larger. In a 2–GB partition, each cluster is 32 kilobytes, meaning that even the smallest file on the partition will take up 32 KB of space. FAT16 also doesn't support compression, encryption, or advanced security using access control lists.

FAT32
The FAT32 file system, originally introduced in Windows 95 Service Pack 2, is really just an extension of the original FAT16 file system that provides for a much larger number of clusters per partition. As such, it greatly improves the overall disk utilization when compared to a FAT16 file system. However, FAT32 shares all of the other limitations of FAT16, and adds an important additional limitation—many operating systems that can recognize FAT16 will not work with FAT32—most notably Windows NT, but also Linux and UNIX as well. Now this isn't a problem if you're running FAT32 on a Windows XP computer and sharing your drive out to other computers on your network—they don't need to know (and generally don't really care) what your underlying file system is. 

The Advantages of NTFS
The NTFS file system, introduced with first version of Windows NT, is a completely different file system from FAT. It provides for greatly increased security, file–by–file compression, quotas, and even encryption. It is the default file system for new installations of Windows XP, and if you're doing an upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you'll be asked if you want to convert your existing file systems to NTFS. Don't worry. If you've already upgraded to Windows XP and didn't do the conversion then, it's not a problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point. Just remember that you can't easily go back to FAT or FAT32 (without reformatting the drive or partition), not that I think you'll want to.

The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've booted a computer from a floppy disk. For this reason, many system administrators, myself included, used to recommend that users format at least a small partition at the beginning of their main hard disk as FAT. This partition provided a place to store emergency recovery tools or special drivers needed for reinstallation, and was a mechanism for digging yourself out of the hole you'd just dug into. But with the enhanced recovery abilities built into Windows XP (more on that in a future column), I don't think it's necessary or desirable to create that initial FAT partition.
When to Use FAT or FAT32
If you're running more than one operating system on a single computer you will definitely need to format some of your volumes as FAT. Any programs or data that need to be accessed by more than one operating system on that computer should be stored on a FAT16 or possibly FAT32 volume. But keep in mind that you have no security for data on a FAT16 or FAT32 volume—any one with access to the computer can read, change, or even delete any file that is stored on a FAT16 or FAT32 partition. In many cases, this is even possible over a network. So do not store sensitive files on drives or partitions formatted with FAT file systems.

Make your Folders Private

MAKE YOUR USER FOLDERS PRIVATE TO OTHERS
•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

•To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
•This option is only available for folders included in your user profile. Folders in your user profile include My Documents and its subfolders, Desktop, Start Menu, Cookies, and Favorites. If you do not make these folders private, they are available to everyone who uses your computer.
•When you make a folder private, all of its subfolders are private as well. For example, when you make My Documents private, you also make My Music and My Pictures private. When you share a folder, you also share all of its subfolders unless you make them private.
•You cannot make your folders private if your drive is not formatted as NTFS For information about converting your drive to NTFS

How To Edit WordPress Themes/Templates in Dreamweaver

How To Edit WordPress Themes/Templates in Dreamweaver
Dreamweaver is a professional software from Adobe that allows you to design web templates. By default, we cannot edit Wordpress designs in Dreamweaver but in this post I am going to tell you that how to do it.

Before starting this tutorial, I think that you have Dreamweaver installed in your system and you have basic skills required to design Wordpress themes.

Lets start : Here is a new extension for Dreamweaver calledThemeDreamer that makes WordPress theme creation in Dreamweaver very simple. You do not need any server or Wordress installed in your System, ThemeDreamer assembles the different WordPress pages into aWYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) version of your blog that you can edit with live blog data in Dreamweaver’s design view panel.


What does this extension actually do :
ThemeDreamer automatically combines all the Wordpress files into a single editable design view page inDreamweaver so that we can easily edit the design to whatever we want. Just download any freeWordpress theme and you can customize it according to your needs.

Download Instructions : ThemeDreamer can be used for a free trial period of 15 days. Click here to download. (You must register an account to download this application) Click here to register an account for free.

Tutorials : If needed, you can watch Video tutorials here.

Google Chrome for Linux - Available in Beta



Google Chrome for Linux - Available in Beta
Hello everybody out there using Linux -

Google Chrome is go for beta on Linux! Thanks to the many Chromium and WebKit developers who helped make Google Chrome a lean, mean browsing machine. Here are a few fun facts from us on the Google Chrome for Linux team:

60,000 lines of Linux-specific code written
23 developer builds
2,713 Linux-specific bugs fixed
12 external committers and bug editors to the Google Chrome for Linux code base, 48 external code contributors







Click here to download Google Chrome for Linux.

Install/Enable NetBEUI Under WinXP

Install/Enable NetBEUI Protocol Under WinXP
If for some reason you need to install NetBEUI then follow these instructions. 
**Note - You will need the WinXP CD in order to to this!
Support for the NetBIOS Extended User Interface protocols (also called NetBEUI or NBF) in Windows XP has been discontinued. If your configuration requires temporary use of NetBEUI for Windows XP, follow these steps:
To install the NETBEUI protocol:
- Locate the Valueadd/msft/net/netbeui directory on your Windows XP CD.Copy nbf.sys into the %SYSTEMROOT%SYSTEM32DRIVERS directory.
- Copy netnbf.inf into the %SYSTEMROOT%INF directory.
- In Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections and then click Network Connections.
- Right-click the connection you want to configure, and then click Properties.
- On the General tab, click the INSTALL button to add the NetBEUI protocol.

Mustek 600 CP scanner or other software unable to install on XP


 Mustek 600 CP scanner or other software unable to install on XP
If you have a piece of software that refuses to install because it says that you are not running Windows 2000 (such as the Win2K drivers for a Mustek scanner!!) you can simply edit 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/ProductName 

to say Microsoft Windows 2000 instead of XP and it will install. You may also have to edit the version number or build number, depending on how hard the program tries to verify that you are installing on the correct OS. I had to do this for my Mustek 600 CP scanner (compatibility mode didn't help!!!) and it worked great, so I now have my scanner working with XP (and a tech at Mustek can now eat his words). BTW, don't forget to restore any changes you make after you get your software installed. 

Hide 'User Accounts' from users


Hide 'User Accounts' from users
Go to Start/Run, and type: 
GPEDIT.MSC 
Open the path 
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel 
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets" 
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show" 
click Add button, 
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box.

Adding Programs To Stay On The Start Menu

Adding Programs To Stay On The Start Menu
Right click on any .exe file in Explorer, My Computer, Desktop and select 'Pin to Start Menu', the program is then displayed on the start menu, above the separator line. To remove it, click the file on the start menu and select 'Unpin from Start Menu'. Below you can check the before and after shots.


http://tipsarena.blogspot.com/2009/12/20-things-you-didnt-know-about-windows.html

BOOT DEFRAGMENT

BOOT DEFRAGMENTATOR
A very important new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This basically means that all boot files are placed next to each other on the disk drive to allow for faster booting. By default this option is enabled but some upgrade users have reported that it isn't on their setup.

1. Start Regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
3. Select Enable from the list on the right.
4. Right on it and select Modify.
5. Change the value to Y to enable and N to disable.
6. Reboot your computer.

For a Safer, faster XP Close Unwanted Services

For a Safer, faster XP Close Unwanted Services
To disable unneeded startup services for a safer, faster XP, use the "Services" Admin Tool (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services). If you are a single user of a non-networked machine, you can disable the following items, with no ill effect.

Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Fast User Switching
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service (Slows the hard drive down)
Messenger
Net Logon (unnecessary unless networked on a Domain)
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
Server
SSDP Discovery Service (this is for the utterly pointless "Universal P'n'P", & leaves TCP Port 5000 wide open)
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Telnet (disabled for extra security)
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Upload Manager
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration (for wireless networks)
Workstation 

Getting an Older Program to Run on Windows XP

Getting an Older Program to Run on Windows XP
1.Right–click the executable or the program shortcut to the executable, and then click Properties.

2.Select the Run this program in compatibility mode check box.

3.From the list, select an operating system that the program runs in comfortably.

If necessary, also change the display settings and/or resolution, or disable the Windows XP visual themes.
Run the program again when you’re finished changing the settings. Adjust the compatibility settings again if the program is still not running smoothly: a program that’s unhappy on Windows 2000 may flourish on Windows 98.

Slow Shutdown
Some people have noticed that they are experiencing a really slow shutdown after installing Windows XP Home or Professional. Although this can be caused a number of ways, the most clear cut one so far is happening on systems with an NVidia card installed with the latest set of drivers. A service called NVIDIA Driver Helper Service is loading up on start up and for whatever reason doesn't shut itself down properly. The service isn't needed and can also increase the amount of memory available to your system. Here is how to disable it.

1: Go into your Control Panel
2: Select Administrative Tools and then click on Services
3: Right click on the file "NVIDIA Driver Helper Service" and then select STOP.
4: To stop this loading up every time you boot up your PC Right click it again and select properties - then where the option "Startup Type" is shown - make sure it is set at Manual like we have shown in the image below.





 
 
 


Rename a Series of Files


RENAME A SERIES OF FILES
When you download photos from your digital camera, they often have unrecognizable names. You can rename several similar files at once with the following procedure. This also works for renaming other types of files.
1.Open the My Pictures folder. (Click Start, and then click My Pictures.) Or open another folder containing files that you want to rename.
2.Select the files you want to rename. If the files you want are not adjacent in the file list, press and hold CTRL, and then click each item to select it.
3.On the File menu, click Rename.
4.Type the new name, and then press ENTER. 


All of the files in the series will be named in sequence using the new name you type. For example, if you type Birthday, the first will be named Birthday and subsequent files in the series will be named Birthday (1), Birthday (2), and so on. To specify the starting number for the series, type the starting number in parentheses after the new file name. The files in the series will be numbered in sequence starting with the number you type. For example, if you type Birthday (10), the other files will be named Birthday (11), Birthday (12), and so on.

Licensing Issues XP


LICENSING ISSUES IN XP
Here you can find a Description of the things which are done by the Program or you can manually change the following settings to have the same effect:
  • - MediaPlayer: Don't Acquire licenses automatically - Open the MediaPlayer-Extras - Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the groupbox 'Internetsettings' and uncheck 'Acquire licenses automatically'.
  • - MediaPlayer: No identification by internetsites - Open the MediaPlayer-Extras-Options... Click the tab ‘Player’, look at the groupbox 'Internet settings' and uncheck 'Allow identification by internet sites'
  • - MediaPlayer: don't download codecs automatically - Open the MediaPlayer-Extras-Options... Click the tab 'Player', look at the groupbox 'Automatic Updates' and uncheck 'Download Codecs Automatically' 
  • - Error report: Don't report errors - Open the Explorer, right-click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties', click on the Tab 'Advanced' and click the button 'Errorreports', in the upcoming dialog uncheck all 3 items and select 'Disable Errorreports'

To change drive letters

TO CHANGE DRIVE LETTERS IN COMPUTER
To change drive letters (useful if you have two drives and have partitioned the boot drive, but the secondary drive shows up as "D")

Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management, Disk Management, then right-click the partition whose name you want to change (click in the white area just below the word "Volume") and select "change drive letter and paths."
From here you can add, remove or change drive letters and paths to the partition.

My Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP


My Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP
There are a number of users who are noticing that their PC will no longer automatically power down/shut off without pressing the power off button on the computers unlike in Windows Me/95/2000. There could be a number of reasons for this - but the main one seems to be that ACPI is not enabled on the computer or in Windows XP. Here is how to try that out:
  1. Click - Start - Control Panel - Performance and Maintenance - Power Options Tab
  2. Then click APM - Enable Advanced Power Management Support

On Screen Keyboard


ON SCREEN KEYBOARD


Want to use an on screen keyboard? Well it is this simple - Click on the start button and select run. Then type in osk in the box and click OK.


How to create a boot disk


HOW TO CREATE A BOOT DISK


This is quite simple.
1: Go into MY COMPUTER
2: Have a floppy disk in your drive and then RIGHT click on on the floppy drive and then click on FORMAT
3: You will be greeted with a number of options. The one you need to select is "Create an MS-DOS start up disk".
4: Click ok



Note: This requires up to 5 floppy disks and DOES NOT contain ANY CD-ROM drivers to boot from. A proper CD-ROM boot up disk is going to be release by Microsoft after the Windows XP public release. You can however use you old Windows Me start-up disk if you would prefer, as long as you have not upgraded to an NTFS drive.

You can also download the complete set of bootdisks from our website, ready to create the six MS boot disks for Windows XP:
http://www.freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

Music and Audio with XP


WORKING WITH MUSIC AND AUDIO FILES IN WINDOWS XP
Great Digital Media with Windows XP includes everything you need to know to play digital music stored on your PC, on audio CDs, Internet radio stations, and through Web-based streaming audio. But it doesn't end there: With Windows XP, you can almost endlessly configure Microsoft Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP), manage digital music directly from the Windows shell and through MPXP, copy music from audio CDs to your PC, and create your own audio "mix" CDs and data CD backups. And best of all, these capabilities are all built into Windows XP... for free!
Here are some tips for working with digital music and audio in Windows XP.

Copy CD Audio in MP3 format with an MP3 Encoding Add-on Pack
Microsoft Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) can record CD audio in Windows Media Audio (WMA) 8 format natively, but if you want to use the more common MP3 format, you will need one of several MP3 Encoding Add-on Packs, which will be available for download by the time Windows XP is widely released on October 25. The add-on packs will cost less than $10, and will be available from Cyberlink, InterVideo, and Ravisent.

Use transcoding to save space on portable audio devices.

When copying music from an audio CD to your hard drive, you will probably want to use a decent encoding rate (128 Kbps WMA or 160 Kbps MP3 format) to ensure that the resulting files are as close to CD-quality as possible. But such files are pretty large, and if you're going to be copying them to a portable audio device--such as an Iomega HipZip or a Pocket PC--you won't be able to bring very many songs with you on the road. To overcome this problem, Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) supports a feature called transcoding, which will let you downsize files on the file as you copy them to a portable device. So you might transcode 128 Kbps WMA files down to 64 Kbps, for example, to fit twice as many songs in the same amount of space, with only a small loss in sound quality. To configure this feature, open MPXP and navigate to Tools, Options, Devices. Then, choose the appropriate device and click Properties. This dialog will allow you to set a custom quality level for music copied to that device.


Use audio CD artwork in your digital media folders.
One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (WMA 8 format by default). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however. When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good! Also, you can save a smaller-sized image albumartsmall.jpg if you'd like: This file is used to store the album art thumbnails you see in folder icons.

How to make My Computer' open in Explore mode with folder list


How to make My Computer' open in Explore mode with folder list
In My Computer click Tools menu, and then click Options. 
Click the File Types tab.In the list of file types, highlight "(NONE) Folders" 
Click Advanced button, In the Actions box, highlight "Explore" Click "Set Default"

XP to directly access WebDAV "internet disks"


XP to directly access WebDAV "internet disks"
Windows XP can directly access WebDAV "internet disks" such as Apple's iDisk.

In Internet Explorer, use the "Open..." command, type the name of the WebDAV server you want to access (e.g., http://idisk.mac.com/username) and select the "Open as Web Folder" checkbox. Enter the password when prompted and you're in! 

This trick also works on Windows Me and Windows 2000. Interestingly, Windows XP doesn't seem to support iDisk via the "Add a Network Place" command, possible with these other operating systems. 
Once set up using the "Open" command, however, the idisk can be accessed by simply double-clicking its icon in the Network Places folder.

TO DISABLE WINDOWS MESSENGER

Start->Run->"gpedit.msc""
-Computer Configuration
-Administrative Templates
-Windows Components
-Windows Messenger

Here you can enable
"Do not allow Windows Messenger to be run"
and
"Do not automatically start Windows Messenger initially" 

Remove Shared Documents


REMOVE SHARED DOCUMENTS


    Open Regedit(Start- Run- Regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer My Computer NameSpace DelegateFolders
There will see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. By Deleting this you can remove the 'Other Files stored on This Computer' group. 

Change the text in Internet Explorers title bar to anything you want


CHANGE TEXT IN INTERNET EXPLORERS TITLE BAR TO ANYTHING YOU WANT..
In regedit navigate to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain
change the value of the string "Window Title" to whatever you want on the title bar of Internet Explorer - to have no title except the title of the web pages you are browsing do not enter anything for a value. 

Reduce Temporary Internet File Space


REDUCE TEMPORARY INTERNET FILE SPACE
The temporary internet files clutter your hard drive with copies of each page visited. These can build up over time and take up disk space. Even more bothersome is that instead of getting new pages each time IE often takes the page out the temp internet files. This can be a problem if you are viewing a website that is updated all the time. If you are on a slow connection such as a 56K or lower then this can be good but if you are on a fast broadband connection, like me, then you can get away with decreasing the size of your temp internet files to just one meg without any performance decrease.
Launch Internet Explorer.
Select the Tools from the menu bar.
Then select Internet Options... from the drop down menu.
Once the internet options has loaded click on the general tab.
Under the temporary internet files section click the settings button.
A settings window will load. Slide the slider all the way to the left so the size indicated in the text box on the right is one.
Click OK
Click Ok

Remove shortcut arrow from desktop icons


REMOVE SHORTCUT ARROW FROM DESKTOP ICONS


Here's how you can remove those shortcut arrows from your desktop icons in Windows XP.
1. Start regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.

You may need to restart Windows XP.