tutorials of computer

"Rotate" options are grayed out when you right-click an image file

2009-05-18T21:16:00.001-07:00

Symptom

When you right-click click an image file in Thumbnail or Filmstrip view, the Rotate Clockwise and Rotate Counter Clockwise options are grayed out, as in the figure.

To restore the option, access the file properties and remove the Read Only attribute for that file.

If the Rotate options are completely missing for an image file type natively supported by Windows XP, then execute the following command from Start, Run dialog:

regsvr32 shimgvw.dll

Prevent a Browser Helper Object (BHO) from loading with Explorer.exe instances

2009-05-18T21:15:00.002-07:00

Introduction

Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) are in-process Component Object Model (COM) components—that Internet Explorer will load each time it starts up. Such objects run in the same memory context as the browser and can perform any action on the available windows and modules. BHOs are triggered for each Internet Explorer and Explorer processes (iexplore.exe and explorer.exe processes). This means that BHOs are loaded each time when you open a folder window or Control Panel. Usually, there is no need to load all the BHOs for folder windows or while opening Control Panel. In such case, you can prevent a BHO from loading with Explorer.exe process.

Though I've not benchmarked the results (Resources occupied by Explorer.exe with BHO loaded, and without a BHO loaded), I believe it should improve the performance, (theoretically speaking).

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Browser Helper Objects

You'll see some sub-keys in GUID format, depending upon the number of BHOs installed in your system. Say, if you want to disable EERedirect.Handler BHO (which I use only for Internet Explorer) from loading with Explorer.exe process, select the appropriate GUID. In the right-pane, add a new REG_DWORD named NoExplorer and set it's value to 1

Example: EERedirect Handler's GUID is {F02B00B3-A88C-4EF1-98FE-557F1DAF6E4D}.

Add the NoExplorer REG_DWORD in the right-pane of this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Browser Helper Objects\ {F02B00B3-A88C-4EF1-98FE-557F1DAF6E4D}

Now, EERedirect.Handler BHO will not load when you open a folder, or Control Panel window, but loads with IExplorer.exe instances.

You can easily verify the results using a Process monitoring tool such as Process Explorer (from sysinternals.com).

Turn off Information bar sounds for blocked pop-ups and ActiveX

2009-05-18T21:15:00.001-07:00

When a pop-up is blocked or the Information bar is displayed for any other reason, Internet Explorer plays the WAV file Windows XP Information Bar.wav / Windows XP Pop-up Blocked.wav. If you wish to turn Off sounds for these events, try the following.

Open Control Panel, Sounds applet.

Click Sounds tab and scroll down to Windows Explorer section.

Set Sounds to (None) for these two events:

* Blocked Pop-up Window
* Information bar

Click OK and close the dialog. To accomplish this via registry (or to create REG files to apply to multiple systems, read below:

Start REGEDIT.EXE and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ AppEvents \ Schemes \ Apps \ Explorer \ BlockedPopup \ .current

In the right-pane, set the (default) value to a blank string.

Repeat the same in the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ AppEvents \ Schemes \ Apps \ Explorer \ SecurityBand \ .current

Close Regedit

"Turn Off Computer" option is missing from Start Menu?

2009-05-18T21:14:00.001-07:00

Symptom

When you click Start Menu, the Turn Off Computer option may be missing. This is due to a group policy / registry restriction. To restore the missing option, try this - for stand-alone systems:
Resolution

NOTE: Backup the Registry before modifying. See this article for more information.

* Open Registry Editor by typing REGEDIT.EXE in the Start, Run dialog.

* Navigate to the following locations:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

-and-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

* In the right-pane, double-click the value NoClose and set it to 0.

* Restart Windows for the changes to take effect

Prevent Outlook Express shortcut from being created for new user profiles

2009-05-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

When a new user logs on to the computer, the Desktop is initialized and the new shortcuts for various applications such as Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player etc., are created. Some organizations want to prevent the usage of mail clients in the workstations. If you wish to prevent Outlook Express shortcut from being created for future user profiles, you need to modify the registry. Follow these steps:

*

Click Start, Run and type Regedit
*

Navigate to the following registry key and create a backup REG file

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SOFTWARE
\Microsoft
\Active Setup
\Installed Components
\{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}

*

In the right-pane, double-click the StubPath value and set it blank.

Disabling "Send pictures via E-mail" wizard when using "E-mail this file" link in the Common Tasks pane

2009-05-18T08:22:00.001-07:00

Send pictures via E-mail and the resize dialog

From the pictures folder, if you select an image file and click E-mail this file link in the Common Tasks pane, the Send Pictures via E-mail dialog appears. If you wish to disable the dialog and to directly open the email client with the image attachment, you may use the instructions provided in this article.
To disable the resize dialog for a particular image file type

Note: There may be some minor side effects of using this method, as the PerceivedType string is another important file class information. PerceivedType string helps Windows determine the actual Type (image, video, audio or whatever) for a file. In case you experience image preview issues or any other problems after following the method in this article, you can revert the setting by changing the PerceivedType to image. Alternately, type REGSVR32 SHIMGVW.DLL in Start, Run dialog to regain the functionality. With that said, this tip is for Intermediate - Advanced users.

Example: To disable the resize dialog for .JPG file type, use these steps:

* Click Start, Run. Type regedit.exe and press {ENTER}
* Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.JPG

* Backup the key by exporting it to a file.
* In the right-pane, double-click PerceivedType and assign a blank data to it.
* Close Registry Editor.

Similarly make changes for the other image file-types if necessary. Resize dialog does not appear and the default E-mail client opens directly with the image attachment.

Custom Level and Default Level buttons in Internet Options Security tab are grayed out

2009-05-18T08:21:00.004-07:00

Symptom

When you open Internet Options Security tab, you may be unable to alter the security setting for any Zone, because the Custom Level and Default Level buttons may be greyed out. This is due to restrictions set in the registry.
Resolution

* Click Start, Run and type REGEDIT.
* Navigate to the following locations:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Control Panel

and

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software\ Policies \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Control Panel

* Backup the keys by exporting it to REG file. See Method 2 here.
* In the right-pane, select the SecChangeSettings value and delete it.
* Then, navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Internet Settings

* In the right-pane, select the Security_options_edit value and delete it.
* Close Registry Editor.

Generic icon is displayed for a picture file when in Thumbnail view

2009-05-18T08:21:00.003-07:00

When you change a pictures folder to thumbnail view, thumbnail images may not be generated and generic picture icon may show-up. Also, the Common Tasks image preview may not work when the folder is in any other view.

This happens if the GDI+ thumbnail extractor key, which comes with XP by default, is missing in the registry. To regenerate the image thumbnail extractor handler, type the following command in the Start, Run dialog:

regsvr32 shimgvw.dll

Nothing happens when you click "Add a network place" menu in the Common Tasks pane

2009-05-18T08:21:00.001-07:00

When you click the Add a network place link in the Common tasks pane, nothing may happen. To fix this problem, type these commands from Start, Run dialog:

regsvr32 /i netplwiz.dll

regsvr32 /i mshtml.dll

regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

Restart Windows and try adding a network place. You can also invoke the wizard manually by running this command: rundll32 netplwiz,AddNetPlaceRunDll

Change the default image editor application, invoked from Windows Picture and Fax Viewer

2009-05-18T08:20:00.001-07:00

ntroduction

When you click the Edit button in the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, Microsoft Paint starts with the image file opened. You can change the default image editor, from Microsoft Paint to any other application of your choice, say Paintshop Pro, IrfanView or Adobe Photoshop. This article describes the steps to change the default image editor application, which is invoked from the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
Utility to change the default image editor application

Imgeditor (21K zip) application allows you set (or change) the default image editor application for all or specific image file types. The image editor which is set, is launched when you click the edit button in the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, or when you right click an image and choose Edit. In addition, this utility can fix the file associations for various image files types. See Miscellaneous section in the utility's main screen). This utility was written for Windows XP only.
Setting the default image editor manually
To change the image editor for all the image file types:

* Click Start, Run and type regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ SystemFileAssociations \ image \ shell \ edit \ command

* Backup the key by exporting it to a file.
* In the right-pane, double-click (default) and set its data accordingly.
* Close regedit.exe

For example, to set the default editor application to IrfanView, assign the following data to the above registry value:

"C:\Program Files\IrfanView\i_view32.exe" "%1"

To change the editor for a particular image file type:

* Click Start, Run and type CONTROL FOLDERS
* Select the File Types tab
* Select the image file type from the listing, and click the Advanced button
* Create a new action by clicking New
* In the Action text box, type Edit
* In the Application used to perform action box, type the full path to the image editor application
* Click OK, OK to close the dialog

The default image editor application is now set for that particular file type.

Note: In step 3 above, if the Advanced button is not available, click the Restore button once so that the Advanced button replaces the Restore button

How to restore the missing mouse pointer cursor files?

2009-05-18T08:19:00.001-07:00

Symptom

When you try to change mouse pointers scheme, you may receive a string of error messages indicating that the mouse pointer cursor files are missing or corrupted. This happens if some or all of the *.CUR or *.ANI files are missing in the Windows\Cursors folder. Totally 184 (*.cur and *.ani) cursor files ship with Windows XP by default, and are available in compressed format in the Windows XP CD-ROM.
Resolution

To extract ALL the *.cur and *.ani files, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM in the drive and type these lines in the Command Prompt:

Expand X:\i386\*.CU_ -r C:\Windows\Cursors

Expand X:\i386\*.AN_ -r C:\Windows\Cursors
Note

* Where X:\ is the CD-ROM drive-letter
* _ is not a space, but an explicit "Underscore"

Change the target path if Windows is installed in a different folder/drive. Now all the mouse pointer / icons should be restored. Alternately, you can download ALL the cursor files from here (65 Kb). Unzip and extract the files to your Windows\Cursors folder.

User Accounts applet background is in White even with XP Theme enabled

2009-05-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you open the User Accounts applet in Control Panel, the applet background may be displayed in White color (as opposed the Blue background) even with Windows XP Theme is enabled and Themes service running.

Resolution

This happens due to missing registry values. Fig 1 is the normal screen, and Fig 2 illustrates the problem. Type these commands from Start, Run dialog:

regsvr32 themeui.dll

regsvr32 /i mshtml.dll (Don't run this command if using Internet Explorer 7)

Restart Windows.

Icons get corrupted after using Tweak UI "Rebuild Icons" function

2009-05-18T08:17:00.001-07:00

After using the Rebuild Icons feature in Tweak UI for Windows XP, the icons may look ugly (such as the 16 color mode). This is a known issue, caused by an incorrect data assigned to Shell Icon BPP registry value. Re-setting it's to 16 resolves the problem. Use the following steps:

*

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]

*

In the right-pane, double-click Shell Icon BPP and set it's value to 16
*

Close Registry Editor.

You will need to restart Windows for the changes to take effect. If that does not help, or to apply the change instantly, try this:

*

Right-click Desktop, choose Properties, Appearance Tab.
*

Click Advanced button, choose Icon from the drop-down list
*

Set it's size to 31 and press OK, OK
*

Repeat the steps (1-3) and set the Icon size to 32 (defaults)

"Single-click to open an item" choice in Folder Options is grayed out

2009-05-18T08:15:00.002-07:00

Symptom

When you open the Folder Options applet in Control Panel, the options Single-click to open an item (point to select) and Show Common tasks in folders may be grayed out.
Resolution

This happens if the Turn on classic shell policy is enabled. For standalone Windows XP systems, follow the steps below to remove the Turn on classic shell policy setting.

* Click Start, Run and type regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

* Backup the key by exporting it to a file
* Double-click ClassicShell value (if found) and set its Value data to 0
* Repeat the same in the following branch:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

* Restart for the changes to take effect.

If you are using Windows XP Professional Edition, you may also use the Group Policy Editor to configure this setting:

* Click Start, Run and type gpedit.msc
* Go to the following branch:

User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows components | Windows Explorer

* Double-click Turn on classic shell and set it to Not Configured
* Exit the Group Policy Editor

Taskbar Toolbar options are grayed out?

2009-05-18T08:15:00.001-07:00

When you right-click the Taskbar and choose Toolbar option, the sub-menu options may be grayed out. This happens due to Start Menu and Taskbar restrictions enforced via Group Policy Editor or the registry.

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

Backup the registry keys by exporting them. In the right-pane, delete NoCloseDragDropBands and restart Windows.

Also, delete the ClassicShell value/Policy as stated in this article.

How do I enable Windows to Show/Hide all files?

2009-05-18T08:14:00.001-07:00

By default, Windows Explorer does not display files with attribute set to Hidden. Use this method to make Explorer show all the hidden files:

* Click Start, and then click Control Panel
* Double-click Folder Options
* On the View tab, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders

Hidden files and folders will appear dimmed to indicate they are not typical items. Usually, hidden files are program or system files that should not be deleted or changed.

Still some files remain hidden?

Windows XP adds another layer of hidden files, known as "Super-hidden" or Protected Operating System files. Generally, these protected files are not intended to be visible for the user as they're not intended to be modified by the user. To display other hidden files, clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.

Incorrect or generic Windows icon displayed for a Drive in My Computer

2009-05-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you open My Computer window, one or more of the disk drives may be assigned an incorrect or a generic Windows icon rather than disk drive symbol.

Cause

This happens due to any of the following reasons:

Presence of the file named Autorun.inf in the drive's root folder
Incorrect drive icon setting in the registry

Resolution

Delete the Autorun.inf file

* Enable Windows to Show all files
* From My Computer, right-click the drive-letter, and choose explore
* Locate the file named Autorun.inf (in the drive's root directory)
* Delete the file Autorun.inf if found
* Logoff and login back to your user account.

If that does not help, follow next method.
Resetting the drive icon settings in the registry

* Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ DriveIcons \

* Backup the branch to a file, and then delete the key
* Navigate to the following location, backup and delete the key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Applications \ explorer.exe \ Drives \

* Close Registry Editor and restart Windows

Note: The text is a placeholder for the drive letter which is exhibiting an incorrect icon in My Computer.

Skip the file association Web service dialog while opening a unknown file type

2009-05-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

The file association Web service in Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) extends the scope of information stored locally by the operating system about file name extensions, file types, and the applications or components to use when opening a particular file type.

Assuming that .BAK filetype is unregistered in your system, and when you double-click a BAK file, you'll be presented with the Web Service dialog as shown in the figure. When you choose the first option, Windows launches this website:

http://shell.windows.com/fileassoc/0409/xml/redir.asp?Ext=BAK

To skip this dialog.....

To prevent the dialog from being shown, and to proceed directly to the Choose Programs dialog, follow these steps:

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer

Or the following location: (to apply changes to all user accounts)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer

In the right-pane, double-click InternetOpenWith value and set its data value to 0.

If InternetOpenWith value does not already exist, you need to create one (REG_DWORD) and set its data value accordingly.

Another method

Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ System

Create a REG_DWORD value named NoInternetOpenWith
Double-click NoInternetOpenWith and set its data value to 1.
Close Registry Editor.

How to export Internet Explorer Pop-up blocker settings and apply to other systems?

2009-05-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

When you install XP SP2, Pop-up Blocker is turned on in Internet Explorer and set to the medium setting, which means it will block most automatic pop-ups. The default settings for the pop-up blocker allow you to see pop-ups that are opened when you click a link or button on a Web site. Pop-up Blocker will also play a sound and show the Information Bar when a pop-up is blocked. You can adjust these settings so that Pop-up Blocker works the way you want it to. You can add websites where you want to always allow pop-ups. To export the whole Pop-up blocker setting (including the websites list etc), try this:

Open Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE) and navigate to the following key

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\New Windows]

Right-click the key and choose Export and save as popup.reg. Now, you can copy the REG file to other systems and merge the contents to the registry. The sub-key named Allow holds the list of websites wherein the Pop-ups are allowed (configured via the user interface)

Example:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\New Windows\Allow]
"www.google.com"=hex:

Clicking "Add/Remove Windows Components" causes an error and does not launch the program

2009-05-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

Symptoms

When you click "Add/Remove Windows Components" in the Add/Remove Programs applet, the following error may occur:

The program cannot start, probably because your user account does not have permission to modify the system registry.

For more information, view the Application Event Log.

and

The application could not be initialized.

This happens if your user account does not have Write access to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Setup \ Oc Manager \ TemporaryData

Resolution

Type regedit.exe in Start, Run dialog
Navigate to the above registry key
Choose Permissions from Edit menu
Click Advanced, and click Add.
Type your username in the Select User or Group Box
Allow Set Value permissions to your user account
Click OK and close the dialog

How to convert word files into PDF?

2009-05-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

You can convert your reports, spreadsheets and any word files into Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf). There are many free and paid software’s available to convert normal files into .pdf, for example you can download “Universal Converter Software” free trail. Using this converter you can convert your web pages, emails, books any others important documents into .pdf.

Benefits of .PDF

PDF files are platforms independent, for example if you are creating your resume in Microsoft windows, and you obviously wants that your resume look the same on all platforms, whether computer has Mac, Linux and Microsoft windows. PDF is the great way to send your important documents to others in same and secure ways.

PDF can not be modified in text or formatting in new style without your permission. Internet users prefer the .pdf format because they can download it easily in Adobe Reader.

Fellow the given steps to convert word file into PDF.

*

First download the “Universal Converter Software” and install onto your computer.
*

Now open any word document and press the File and then click on Print option to open printer dialog box.

Here select the “Universal Document Converter” from the printer list and press Properties button to select the “Document to PDF, Color, and Multipage” profile.

Now press the Ok button to start the converting process into PDF.

Useful Microsoft Outlook Shortcut keys

2009-05-16T21:52:00.001-07:00

Shortcut keys Action

Ctrl+A Apply to select all

Ctrl+B Apply/Remove bold formatting

Ctrl+C Apply to copy the selected word

Ctrl+D Apply to delete any active item

Ctrl+E Move cursor to Look for box

Ctrl+F Display the Find what /Forward selected email

Ctrl+G Apply to run Go to dialog box under calendar view

Ctrl+I Apply/Remove Italic formatting

Ctrl+J Apply to open selected items

Ctrl+M Press keys to create new message

Ctrl+N Press keys to send new email message

Ctrl+O Press Keys to open new file

Ctrl+P Press Keys to display Print dialog box

Ctrl+Q Apply to set email as read

Ctrl+R Press Keys to replay selected message

Ctrl+S Save the active file

Ctrl+U Press Keys to apply/remove underline

Ctrl+V Press Keys to paste the clipboard values

Ctrl+X Press Keys to cut the selected word

Ctrl+Y Press Keys to run Go to Folder

Ctrl+Z Apply to undo the previous command

Ctrl+1 Press keys go to Mail

Ctrl+2 Press keys go to Calendar

Ctrl+3 Press keys go to Contacts

Ctrl+4 Press keys go to Tasks

Ctrl+5 Press keys go to Notes

Ctrl+6 Press keys go to Folder List

Ctrl+7 Press keys go to Shortcuts

Ctrl+8 Press keys go to Journal

Function keys Action

F1 Use to open help of any windows panel

F3 Move cursor to Look for box

F4 Use to display Find dialog box

F6 Apply to select item in active window

F7 Use to check spelling in active window

F9 Use to receive and send email

F10 Use to select the main File menu bar

F11 Apply to activate Find a Contact dialog box

F12 Use to run Save As dialog box.

Indenting Left and Right Paragraph

2009-05-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

The space or distance between the page margin and the text in a paragraph is called indent. These are applied to set the margins of selected paragraph.

In a document, margins determine the overall width of the main text area or in other words, the space between the text and the edge of the page. Indentation determines the distance of a paragraph from either left or right margins. There are six types of indents that can be used in a document. These are:

*

First line indent is the distance between the first line of the paragraph and the left margin.
*

Left indent is the distance between the start of each line of the paragraph and the left margin.
*

Right indent is the distance between the end of each line of the paragraph and the right margin.
*

In hanging indent, the first line of the paragraph is not indented and all other lines start at same distance from the left margin. The first line 'of the paragraph usually starts from the left margin.

To indent a paragraph, follow these steps.

*

Select the Paragraph you want to indent.
*

Select the "Paragraph" command from "Format" drop down menu; "Paragraph" dialog box appears.
*

Specify values in Left and Right fields of indentation and click "Ok" button of dialog box.

Protecting Document with Password

2009-05-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

You can protect your document by applying password so that unauthorized person can not display as well as modify your document. You can apply two types of passwords:

Password to open the document:

If it is applied then you have to give the correct password to open the document, otherwise you cannot open the document.

Password to modify the document:

If it is applied then you have to give the correct password to modify the document, otherwise your document is opened but you cannot modify the document. It means that your document becomes read-only.

To apply a password to document, follow these steps.

* Open Save As dialog box by selecting "Save As" command from File menu.

* Click "Tools" button of Save As dialog box and choose "General Options" from drop down menu, "Save" dialog box appears as shown in figure below.

* Enter first password in "Password to open" text box and second password in "Password to modify" text box (if required) and click "Ok" button of dialog box. Microsoft Word will open "Confirm Password" dialog box for the confirmation of passwords. The maximum length of password is 15 characters.

* Re-enter the password to open and password to modify and click "Ok" button of Confirm Password dialog boxes one by one.

* Click "Save" button of Save As dialog box.

Automatic Screen Refresh Tips

2009-05-16T21:46:00.001-07:00

When you are working on your local computer and want to refresh any changes in your system automatically. For example some times you are watching sports results, online Stock Exchange rates and any changes to your hard drive but these changes are not usually refreshed until you press the F5 key on your keyboard.

To refresh your screen automatically you should edit your system Registry. But the best technique to edit the windows registry keys, always export or backup the whole windows registry keys on backup drive before editing. Because any mistake in Registry can cause serious problem in your computer to run properly.

Follow the given steps to change the updates automatically.

*

First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
*

In Registry Editor panel go to the path:
*

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / System / CurrentControlSet /

Control / UpdateMode

*

Here in right hand side panel edit the DWORD value to be between 1 and 5.
*

Now restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.

How to add Items to the Start Button using Registry?

2009-05-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

The best technique to edit the windows registry keys, always export or backup the whole windows registry keys on backup drive before editing. Because any mistake in Registry can cause serious problem in your computer to run properly.

Follow the given steps to change the Start button setting.

*

First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.
*

In Registry Editor go to left hand panel, and find HKey_Classes_Root / Directory / Shell
*

Here Right click on Shell folder option and add any new key with descriptive name and Press Enter.
*

Now Right click on that key and give the full path of that program you are interested to add in start button. For example if you want to add MS excel, then full path may be C:\program file\msoffice\msexcel.EXE.
*

Now close all open programs and check the changes in your computer Start button.

JPG Properties Summary tab is missing or blank - No EXIF information is displayed

2009-05-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

When you right-click a JPG file and choose Properties, the Advanced options in the Summary tab may be blank, and no EXIF information of the digital image is shown. The first thing to verify is to copy the image to another computer to check if the EXIF information was written to the file by the digital camera. If the EXIF information is shown correctly in another computer, and not in your computer, the problem is due to a registry setting. Sometimes, the Summary tab itself may be unavailable.

Most digital cameras store additional information such as the date and time the image was taken, aperture, shutterspeed, ISO, and most other camera settings. These data, also known as "metadata" are stored in a "header". A common type of header is the EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) header.

SOLUTION

Click Start, Run and type this command:

REGSVR32 SHIMGVW.DLL

More Information

This fixes the PropertyHandler value at:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\ShellEx\PropertyHandler]

The value for (default) should be {eb9b1153-3b57-4e68-959a-a3266bc3d7fe}

Incorrect or missing PerceivedType registry data for .JPG may also cause this.

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg]

In the right-pane, the REG_SZ value PerceivedType must be set to image

Registering the Shimgvw.dll fixes both these keys. Installation of a third-party image-editing program may have caused this.

Removing unwanted AutoPlay Handlers in Windows XP and WindowsVista

2009-05-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

CleanHandlers - AutoPlay cleanup utility

When you right-click a CD drive or any removable drive and choose Properties, the AutoPlay tab lists all the AutoPlay Handlers for each Event. In some cases, an orphaned entry might appear there, as a result of incomplete uninstall of a software (such as Music match Jukebox, Nikon View etc). CleanHandlers helps you remove the invalid entries from the listing. In addition, this utility can find invalid AutoPlay entries (see Note #1 and #2 below) and also remove them automatically.

AutoPlay Handlers registry location

If you plan to remove the invalid handlers directly from the registry, backup the key before modifying. The Autoplay handlers are present in the following locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ Handlers \

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ EventHandlers \

Error "Registry Editing has been disabled by your administrator"

2009-05-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

How to activate a window by moving cursor over it without clicking on it?

2009-05-15T08:31:00.001-07:00

Tweak UI for Windows XP provides an option X-Mouse using which you can enable the feature. By pointing the mouse on an application window, you can activate the application (without clicking on it). It also provides the auto-raise option which brings the activated Window on top of all the existing application Windows.

Tweak UI can be downloaded from the following Microsoft site:

v2.00 for Windows XP | v2.10 for XP SP1 and above

Download and install Tweak UI.
Start Tweak UI and click X-Mouse (left pane)
In the right pane, enable the following options:
- Activation follows Mouse (X-Mouse)
- Autoraise when activating (optional)
Click OK and close Tweak UI screen

How to activate a window by moving cursor over it without clicking on it?

2009-05-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Tweak UI can be downloaded from the following Microsoft site:

v2.00 for Windows XP | v2.10 for XP SP1 and above

Download and install Tweak UI.
Start Tweak UI and click X-Mouse (left pane)
In the right pane, enable the following options:
- Activation follows Mouse (X-Mouse)
- Autoraise when activating (optional)
Click OK and close Tweak UI screen

The top-level menus and tabs in Task Manager are missing?

2009-05-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

When you open Task Manager, the top-level menus and the tabs may be missing, as in Figure 1 . This is because Task Manager is running in tiny foot-print mode. To change to default view and get the menu options back, double-click the border of the Task Manager (where the red-mark is present).

Why does Explorer display some files in blue color and some in green?

2009-05-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Windows supports file/folder color coding for easy identification for the user. The encrypted are displayed in green color and the compressed NTFS files are displayed in blue. To turn on/off this feature, use the following steps:

To display compressed files in color:

Double-click Folder Options in Control Panel.
Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options.
On the View tab, click to select the Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color check box.

To disable the option, uncheck Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color check box.

Thumbnail image not generated for Video files in Windows XP?

2009-05-14T20:27:00.001-07:00

Symptom

When you click on a video file, the thumbnail image may not be generated in the Common Tasks pane.
Cause

This happens if the thumbnail handler registration is missing in the system, or if the file association settings are incorrect.
Resolution

To resolve the problem, type the following command in Start, Run dialog:

REGSVR32 SHMEDIA.DLL

Thumbnail images for videos should now generate correctly. If that does not help, inspect the file association settings.

Error "Registry Editing has been disabled by your administrator"

2009-05-14T20:24:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you run the Tweak UI PowerToy for Windows XP, the following message may be displayed:

Tweak UI has been disabled by your administrator.

Also, the following error message is displayed when you start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe):

Registry Editing has been disabled by your administrator

This error occurs if the DisableRegistryTools Policy is enabled.
IMPORTANT: If this policy was enabled in your system (not connected to a corporate network) without you doing anything or without your knowledge, then it's highly likely that a Virus has blocked the usage of Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) in your system by enabling the DisableRegistryTools policy via the registry. It's highly recommended that you perform a thorough checkup of your system immediately. Steps listed in this article will help you unblock the Registry Editor, but that does not remove the Virus (if any) from your system.

For a Windows Vista version of this article, see "Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator" in Windows Vista

Removing the DisableRegistryTools restriction

For standalone Windows XP systems, perform the steps below to remove the registry editing restrictions.
Method 1: Using the REG.EXE console tool

1. Click Start, Run and type this command:

REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableRegistryTools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

You should be able to launch Tweak UI, as well as the Registry Editor.
Method 2: Using the Group Policy Editor (Windows XP Professional only)

* Click Start, Run and type gpedit.msc and press ENTER
* Go to the following location:

User Configuration | Administrative Templates | System

* Double-click Disable registry editing tools and set it to Not Configured
* Exit the Group Policy Editor

Note: If the setting already reads Not Configured, set it to Enabled, and click Apply. Then revert it back to Not Configured. This ensures that the DisableRegistryTools registry value is removed successfully.

Using Folder Redirector utility to redirect special folders in Windows XP

2009-05-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Folder Redirector can be used to relocate the special folders to a different path. This utility can relocate the following shell folders:

Desktop, Favorites, My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, Send To, Shared Documents, Shared Music, Shared Pictures, Shared Video, Start Menu, Startup, Temporary Internet Files, Common Startup, Common Desktop.
Description

Select a folder from the drop-down list box. Current path for the selected item is now displayed in the edit box. To relocate the special folder, type the new path in the edit box, and then click Apply. You can even backup the existing configuration to a file, before you modify the path. Please note that this utility does not move the files to the new location (redirected path). It has to be done manually.

To restore the default path for the chosen shell folder, click the Restore Default button once.

Folder Redirector v2.0 screenshot

Download FolderRedirector.zip (~17KB)
(includes FolderRedirector.exe v2.0 and readme.txt)

Share your Internet Favorites with other systems in a Workgroup

2009-05-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

If you want to share your Internet shortcuts (Favorites) with the other computers in your Workgroup, follow these instructions:

Requirements: Any PC running a Windows Operating System with File and Printer Sharing enabled. Additionally, if you want to synchronize the Favorites, Windows XP Professional is required.

*

Decide which computer must host the Favorites (Let's call it as Source computer)
*

Share the Favorites folder and give Full Access to the share
*

In other systems, map a drive-letter for the shared Favorites folder
*

Change the Favorites Shell Folder paths in the registry for the other computers in the Workgroup pointing to Source Computer's Favorites folder
*

Make use of Offline Files feature to Synchronize the Favorites (this feature requires XP Professional)

Decide which computer must host the Favorites (Source computer)

If the Workgroup contains 10 computers, decide which computer you want to designate as the Host. Hint: Choose the computer which will be ON always or most of the times, for high availability of Favorites for other systems.

Share the Favorites folder and give Full Access to the share

Depending upon the Operating System installed in the Source Computer, right-click the Favorites folder and Share it (give Full Access rights for this share). Note that you may need to install File and Printer Sharing for Windows 98/ME systems additionally.

In other systems, map a drive-letter for the shared Favorites folder

From other Workgroup systems, access the Favorites share of the Source Computer and assign the same drive-letter (say Z:\ ) in all the computers, for uniformity.

Change the Favorites Shell Folder paths in the registry for the other computers

For each computers in the Workgroup (except the Source Computer), change the User Shell Folders path in the registry for Favorites. This has to be done in the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Set the value of "Favorites" to "Z:\"

You may try FolderRedirector utility to automate the process.

Now, open an instance of Internet Explorer to verify that the Favorites list is read from the Source Computer's Favorites list. You're done now. The next step is to keep the Favorites synchronized.

Make use of Offline Files feature to Synchronize the Favorites (this part requires XP Professional)

Offline Files in Windows XP Professional can help you be more productive. You can use this feature on a portable computer, or on a desktop computer that occasionally connects to your workplace network. For example, this feature is useful if you are working at home on a desktop computer, and need to automatically get files off the network whenever you connect.

The files that you select are automatically downloaded from shared folders on the network and stored on your computer. When you disconnect, the files are available to use. When you reconnect to the network, your changes are added to the files on the network in a process called synchronization. If someone else on the network made changes to the same file, you can save your version, keep the other version, or save both.

Well. To enable Offline Files feature for the shared Favorites folder, type Z:\ in the RUN dialog. Click Tools, Folder Options and click Offline Files tab. Enable the following checkboxes:

*

Enable Offline files
*

Synchronize all Offline files when logging on
*

Synchronize all Offline files before logging off

If your Source Computer is unavailable, the other computers use the cached (Offline Files) favorites instead. Same occurs if the other computers are disconnected from the Workgroup.

To launch the Synchronization Wizard manually, type mobsync in the RUN box and synchronize the Offline Files Favorites whenever you want. You can also configure the system to Sychronize the Offline Files when the system is idle. Wonderful features!

Hide all desktop icons except the namespace icons

2009-05-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

To hide all the desktop icons, right-click an empty area in the Desktop and choose Arrange Icons By, and uncheck Show Desktop Items. This hides all the icons in your desktop.

To hide all the desktop icons except the namespace icons such as My Computer, Recycle Bin, My Documents, Internet Explorer icons, follow the method given in this article.

*

Open REGEDIT and navigate to the following location:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel

*

In the right-pane, create a new REG_DWORD {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
*

Double-click {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} and set it's value to 1
*

Refresh the Desktop view by pressing F5 key.

You'll see that all the icons are hidden except the namespace icons such as My Computer, Recycle Bin, My Documents. To undo the changes, assign {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000} a value of 0.

NOTE: If you're using Classic Start Menu, you need to create the REG_DWORD in this key:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu

'msCMTSrvc.exe is attempting to access the internet'

2009-05-14T04:38:00.000-07:00

Symptom

Your firewall application may prompt that “msCMTSrvc.exe is attempting to access the internet” when the computer is connected to the Internet. msCMTSrvc.exe is an application that gets bundled with a particular series of the Compaq Presario systems. msCMTSrvc is called the Content Monitoring Tool Service (CMTS). The Compaq Offer Zone, displayed on the desktop as the Hot Deals icon, uses the CMTS to update the computer when new merchandise is available for purchase by the user.
Suggested Action

Allow this program access the Internet (if you want this particular feature) and configure your firewalls accordingly. Or, disable the application/service using Services.msc if you no longer plan to use this feature of Compaq / HP systems.

To stop the msCMTSrvc service, use these steps:

* Click Start, Run and type Services.msc
* Locate the service named Content Monitoring Tools from the list, and double-click it.
* Set the service Startup Type to Disabled
* Stop the service

"Cannot create Toolbar" error when you enable Quick Launch

2009-05-14T04:36:00.002-07:00

Symptom

When you try to enable the Quick Launch or the Desktop bar, you may get the error "Cannot create Toolbar". This might happen if the Quick Launch folder is missing in this location:

%Appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch

Resolution

To resolve the problem, type this command from Start, Run dialog:

IE4UINIT.EXE

The above command creates the Quick Launch folder automatically, if it is missing in the above location. Now, try to enable the Quick Launch bar. If the problem persists, run the following command:

REGSVR32 /i SHELL32.DLL

Restart Windows.

Add items to the New menu (aka ShellNew entries)

2009-05-14T04:36:00.001-07:00

Introduction

When you open the File menu in Windows Explorer, the first command is New. Selecting this command displays a submenu. By default, it contains two commands, Folder and Shortcut, that allow users to create subfolders and shortcuts. This submenu can be extended to include file creation commands for any file class. Tweak UI allows you add or remove unwanted Shellnew entries.

Adding a ShellNew entry manually

To add one manually, follow the procedure explained in this article . (HTM file taken as example). To add the "New HTML document" to the New sub-menu, open Registry Editor and navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.HTM

Create a new key named ShellNew

In the right-pane, create a REG_SZ (String Value) named NullFile

Close Registry Editor and restart Windows. The "HTML Document" will appear in the sub-menu. When you choose "HTML Document", a 0 byte file named "New HTML Document" appears in that folder. The file is 0-byte because you've created the REG_SZ named NullFile.

Sometimes, you may want Windows to populate few lines in the newly created file (such as a standard Header/Footer or the Company Logo). In that case, you may choose "Data" or "FileName" values, rather than "NullFile" (refer to the table below)

As given in the MSDN Library

Values	Description
Command	Executes an application. This is a REG_SZ value specifying the path of the application to be executed. For example, you could set it to launch a wizard.
Data	Creates a file containing specified data. Data is a REG_BINARY value with the file's data. Data is ignored if either NullFile or FileName is specified.
FileName	Creates a file that is a copy of a specified file. FileName is a REG_SZ value, set to the fully qualified path of the file to be copied.
NullFile	Creates an empty file. NullFile is not assigned a value.

Editor's Note: My test shows that the order or execution / Priority is as follows:

FileName | Command | Data | NullFile

If all of the above are used for a certain file type, the one with the top Priority is used, rest all is ignored.

If you're using the 3rd method (FileName) and not mentioning the full path of the sample file (or the template file), Windows looks for the file in these paths, in the same order given:

%Userprofile%\Templates
%Allusersprofile%\Templates
%Systemroot%\ShellNew

Browse to the above folder and you'll see that Office applications (Word, Powerpoint, Excel) have created the template files there already.

"New Shortcut" is an example where the first method is used (Command). Selecting the File New > Shortcut, actually runs this command:

rundll32.exe appwiz.cpl,NewLinkHere %1

As defined in this key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.lnk\ShellNew
Command = rundll32.exe appwiz.cpl,NewLinkHere %1

Removing theme titles from the Themes list box

2009-05-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

Question

Installed "Themes XP" earlier. After the trial time expired, the program has been uninstalled. However, the theme titles remained in the display properties box. If you click on one of the themes, the display box turns black. Is there anyway to remove these titles from the properties box?
Solution

Additional Themes can be removed by selecting the Theme from the list and then clicking the Delete button in the right side. If that does not help, you may following the manual removal procedure below:

Browse to these folders and remove the additional .Theme file (which you want to remove from the Themes listbox)

C:\WINDOWS\Resources
C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes
C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\Themes
C:\Documents and Settings\\My Documents (and it's sub-folders)

A .theme file can specify a DisplayName value under the Themes section. If a DisplayName exists, it is used instead of the file name. To match the display name with the file, edit the .Theme file with notepad and read the DisplayName section.

Note: "C:\WINDOWS\resources\Themes" contains three standard themes, don't delete them

If the title is still not removed, you may need to verify and remove a registry key. It is also possible that the software has registered a theme folder in this registry path:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\InstalledThemes

Open Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to the above path. Export the key to a REG file

Browse to each folder defined under InstalledThemes and delete the corresponding .Theme file from that folder. Then, delete the InstalledThemes registry key as well.

List all processes and their Command-line parameters

2009-05-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

List all processes using the WMI command-line utility

Using WMIC, it is possible to list out all the running processes and their parameters.

This article applies to Windows XP Professional only. Windows XP Home Edition does not have the WMIC (WMI command-line tool). Alternately, you can use the excellent Process Explorer utility to view and manage Windows processes.

The following command-line outputs the list of running processes (with the complete command-line arguments used for each process) to a text file:

Click Start, Run and type CMD

Type the command given below exactly:

WMIC /OUTPUT:C:\ProcessList.txt PROCESS get Caption,Commandline,Processid

WMIC /OUTPUT:C:\ProcessList.txt path win32_process get Caption,Processid,Commandline

Now, open the file C:\ProcessList.txt. You can see the details of all the processes in that file.

Add or Remove Programs applet displays incorrect icon for an application

2009-05-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you open the Add/Remove Programs applet, one or more application entries might have incorrect icons associated with them. This happens if the DisplayIcon registry value is missing or incorrect.

In the above example, you can see that an incorrect icon being assigned for AOL Instant Messenger.

Resolution

To restore it's own icon there, follow these steps:

Click Start, Run and type regedit.exe
Navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Uninstall \ AOL Instant Messenger

In the right pane, create a string value (REG_SZ) named DisplayIcon
Double-click DisplayIcon and type the full path of AOL IM's executable, for the Value Data. The default path is C:\Program Files\AIM95\aim.exe

Close and re-open Add or Remove Programs applet and you'll see that the icon for AOL IM has changed.

Nothing happens when you click on a mailto: link in a webpage, when using Internet Explorer 6

2009-05-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you click on a mailto: link in Internet Explorer 6, the mail window may not launch (or nothing happens when you click) even though the default mail client is correctly set.
Resolution

Click Start, Run and type mailto:somename@domain.com See if the mail window launches. If this works properly, but the problem is seen only while clicking the mailto: URLs from a website, try the steps below (for Internet Explorer 6 only):

Click Start, Run and type:

regsvr32 /i mshtml.dll

Press ENTER. Then execute the following command:

regsvr32 /i shdocvw.dll

Recent Posts

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark "Related Topics" link does not work

2009-05-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

When you click the Index button in Windows XP Help and Support Center, the Index page may be completely empty, with a placeholder icon showing up in the top left corner.

Additionally, when you click the Related Topics link in a Help and Support Center article, the pop-up may not be displayed. Each time when you click the Related Topics link, the "Notes" icon may multiply as seen in Fig 2.

This happens if the Microsoft HTML Help control is blocked (probably by a Microsoft Update) by setting a "Kill bit" in the registry. To fix the problem, upgrade to Service Pack 3 which issues an updated version of hhctrl.ocx control.

If that does not help, run the following command from Start, Run dialog:

regsvr32.exe hhctrl.ocx

Press {ENTER}

More Information

Microsoft HTML Help Control GUIDs
GUID	Status	Replaced by
{ADB880A6-D8FF-11CF-9377-00AA003B7A11}	Blocked	{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}
{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}	Blocked	{52A2AAAE-085D-4187-97EA-8C30DB990436}
{52A2AAAE-085D-4187-97EA-8C30DB990436}	Allowed (as of Windows XP SP3)	N/A

Error message "Please go to the Control Panel to install and configure system components" when you double-click a drive in My Computer window

2009-05-14T01:14:00.000-07:00

Symptoms

When you double-click a drive letter (hard disk) from My Computer, you may see any of the following error messages:

Please go to the Control Panel to install and configure system components

Windows cannot find Autoplay.exe

You'll also see that Autoplay is the default context menu when you right-click the drive.
Resolution

This happens if there is a file named Autorun.inf in the drive's root directory. Right-click the drive and choose "open", look for this file Autorun.inf and delete it. Restart Windows.

If the Autorun.inf line reads the following, the first error message is displayed:

[autorun]
open=Setup.exe

C:\Windows\System32\Setup.exe is launched actually

If the Autorun.inf line reads the following, the second error message is displayed:

[autorun]
open=Filename.exe

(where the filename.exe file is missing)

Double-clicking an Internet Shortcut launches the Print dialog rather than opening the Webpage

2009-05-14T01:10:00.000-07:00

Symptoms

When you double-click an Internet Shortcut (.URL file) or click on a favorite link from Start Menu, one of the following symptoms occur, and the Webpage does not open:

Nothing happens
Print dialog is launched
Launches any other program

Resolution

For Internet Explorer 6.0

Click Start, Run and type the following command and press Enter.

regsvr32 /i shdocvw.dll

If that does not help, follow these steps:

Click Start, Run and type CONTROL INETCPL.CPL
Click Tools, Internet Options, Programs tab
Click Reset Web Settings button, click Yes
Click OK and close the dialog

For Internet Explorer 7.0

Download the file ie7_url_fix.reg and save to Desktop. Right-click the downloaded file and choose Merge to add the contents to the registry. The URL file association should be fixed.

Multiple browser windows open when you click on a mailto: link

2009-05-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

Symptoms

When you click on a mailto: URL in Internet Explorer, multiple instances of Internet Explorer opens (more than 60 windows) with the error Action Cancelled and the mail client is not invoked. You may also see the following error:

Could not perform this operation because the default mail client is not properly installed
Cause

The problem happens due to one of these reasons:

1. Mailto handler is not correctly set.
2. Missing URL Protocol registry value.
3. Incorrect registry permissions for the mailto key.

Resolution
Set the default E-mail client

Instructions for Windows XP:

* Click Start, Run and type control inetcpl.cpl
* Select the Programs tab
* From the E-mail dropdown list, choose another mail client and click Apply
* Redo the procedure and set your preferred email client again

Instructions for Windows Vista:

* Click Start, select Default Programs
* Click Set program access and computer defaults
* Click Custom, and select your mail client (for example, Windows Mail)
* Click OK

Then, follow these steps:

* Click Set your default programs
* Select your mail client from the list
* Click Set this program as default
* Click OK

If the above does not help, follow these steps:
Re-create the missing string value

* Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\mailto

* From the Edit menu, select New, and then click String Value.
* Type URL Protocol as the name of the new String Value
* Exit the Registry Editor

Unable to access the "mailto" branch?
Note: The following steps are written for Windows XP systems, but the steps can be adapted for Windows Vista.

If you receive an error when accessing the "mailto" registry key, then it must be due to incorrect Permissions. Follow these steps to fix the Permissions for that key and subkeys:

Taking ownership of the mailto key and sub-keys

* Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\mailto

* On the Edit menu, click Permissions
* Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab
* Under Change owner to, click the new owner (your user account)
* Place a checkmark near Replace owner on subcontainers and objects
* Click OK

Setting the Permissions for the mailto key

Make sure that the users have Read access to the above registry key. Administrators and the SYSTEM group should have Full Control over the above key, and Users should have Read access.

* Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\mailto

* On the Edit menu, click Permissions

Configure the permissions as mentioned in the table below:

Object	Permissions
Creator Owner	Full Control
Administrators	Full Control
Users	Read
System	Full Control

If an object name is missing, click the Add button to add an user or group.
Click the Advanced button
Select the Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects checkbox.
Deselect the Inherit from parent the permission entries that apply to child objects. Include these with entries explicitly defined here checkbox.
Click Apply, and then click Yes when you are prompted to continue.
Click OK, and then click OK again.
Exit the Registry editor.

"Single-click to open an item" choice in Folder Options is grayed out

2009-05-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

Unable to right-click on the folders or shortcuts in the Start Menu

2009-05-13T23:45:00.001-07:00

Symptom

When you right-click on a folder or a shortcut in the Start Menu, the context menu may not appear. Also, dragging and dropping of files and folders in the Start Menu may not work.
Resolution

To solve the problem, enable the Enable Dragging and Dropping Option in your Start menu properties. Follow these steps:

For Classic Start Menu

Right-click Taskbar, Properties, click Start Menu tab, choose Customize
Enable Enable Dragging and Dropping

For New Start Menu

Right-click Taskbar, Properties, click Start Menu tab, choose Customize
Click Advanced tab and enable Enable Dragging and Dropping

If the option Enable Dragging and Dropping is not available, it's due to a policy setting. For stand-alone systems, try this:

*

Start Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

*

Backup the key to a file.( instructions )
*

In the right-pane, set NoChangeStartMenu to 0.

Send To Desktop (create shortcut) command does nothing

2009-05-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

Symptoms

When you right-click a file and choose "Desktop (create shortcut) option in the "Send To" menu, nothing happens or you receive an error message.
Resolution

Click Start, Run and type:

REGSVR32 SENDMAIL.DLL

Restart Windows.

File association error message while trying to view profiles from Yahoo Messenger Symptom

2009-05-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

When you attempt to view Yahoo user profile by clicking the View Profiles option in Yahoo Messenger, you may encounter the following message:

This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Folder Options control panel

The same error might occur when you click the Yahoo mail notification icon in the system tray.
Resolution

To resolve the problem, perform the following steps. The instructions below apply to Internet Explorer 6.

* Click Start, Run and type CONTROL INETCPL.CPL
* Click Programs tab in the resulting dialog
* Choose Reset Web Settings and close the dialog

If that does not help, click Start, Run and type the following command:

regsvr32 /i shdocvw.dll

Missing XP style Start menu option in the Taskbar properties

2009-05-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

When you open the Task bar properties and switch to Start menu tab, the "Start menu" check box may not be available and you're forced to use the Classic Start menu. This is due to a policy setting, especially if your system is in a domain. Contact the network admin to relax this setting. For a standalone, try the following steps.
Using the Registry Editor

*

Open Registry Editor and navigate to:

[HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

*

In the right-pane, set NoSimpleStartMenu to 0 [dword:00000000]
*

Logoff and login again for the changes to take effect.

Using the Group Policy Editor - Windows XP Professional

*

Click Start, Run and type GPEDIT.MSC
*

Double-click User Configuration | Administrative Templates
*

Click Start menu and Taskbar
*

Double-click Force classic Start Menu and set it to Not Configured

Shortcuts in the Startup folders do not run at Windows startup?

2009-05-13T23:41:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you place application shortcuts to the Startup folder, none of the shortcuts may run during startup.
Solution

Open Registry Editor and navigate to these locations and change each of the shell folders path to the default values as given below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

Double-click Startup and set it's data to:

%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

Double-click Common Startup and set it's data to:

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Note that the Value type must be in REG_EXPAND_SZ and not REG_SZ.

Send To Mail Recipient option does nothing

2009-05-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you right-click a file and choose the Mail Recipient option in the Send To menu, the email window may not open.
Cause

This happens due to one of the following reasons:

* The default mail client is not set
* The MAPI DLL registry path for your mail client is missing

Resolution

Click Start, Run and type:

regsvr32 sendmail.dll

Next, set your default email client. To set Outlook Express as your default mail client, type the following commands:

"%ProgramFiles%\Outlook Express\MSIMN.EXE" /REG

regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\Outlook Express\msoe.dll"

Outlook Express missing from the Internet Options mail clients list

2009-05-13T23:39:00.002-07:00

When you open Internet Options Programs tab, Outlook Express may not be listed in the drop-down. Also, Outlook Express Does Not Start from the Mail Button in Internet Explorer. This is caused if the following key/sub-keys or it's (default) value is missing in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Clients \ Mail \ Outlook Express
Resolution

To resolve the problem, follow any of the methods:
Method 1

Click Start, Run and type the following commands one by one:

* "%programfiles%\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /reg
* regsvr32 "%ProgramFiles%\Outlook Express\msoe.dll"

This restores Outlook Express under the email clients list. The above-said registry key is now recreated. The second command registers the DLL Path for Outlook Express, as it's a requirement for MAPI calls.

2009-05-13T23:39:00.001-07:00

How to implement a per-user default mail client in Windows XP?

Windows XP does not provide you an option to set a per-user default email client. One setting affects all users, machine-wide. See MS article titled: Unable to Set Different E-Mail Programs for Different Users

However, this tip allows you implement a per-user default mail client. Out of the following three aspects, only the mailto: handler can be set as per-user default, using this tip.

*

A mailto: Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).
*

Programs that make Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) calls.
*

The Send Page by E-Mail command in Internet Explorer.

Example: You can have Microsoft Outlook as the default email client, and another user profile can have Microsoft Outlook Express as the default. And the third user can have Hotmail as the default. This is done by overriding the mailto: handler using HKEY_CURRENT_USER key, which takes precedence over the global settings. Only the mailto: aspect has been covered in this page. Other handlers include news:, snews: etc, which are not covered in tip. Because, the mailto: handler only is invoked whenever you click a email link in a website or email message. The information at the bottom of the page tells you how to undo your per-user setting and switch back to factory defaults.

For Microsoft Outlook as the default email client, apply this REG fix:

NOTE: Change the drive letter/Path in the REG file accordingly

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto]
"URL Protocol"=""
"EditFlags"=hex:02,00,00,00
@="URL:MailTo Protocol"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\DefaultIcon]
@="\"C:\\PROGRAM FILES\\MICROSOFT OFFICE\\Office\\OUTLOOK.EXE\",7"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\shell]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\shell\open]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\PROGRAM FILES\\MICROSOFT OFFICE\\Office\\OUTLOOK.EXE\" -c IPM.Note /m \"%1\""

For Outlook Express as the default email client, apply this REG fix:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\mailto]
"URL Protocol"=""
"EditFlags"=hex:02,00,00,00
@="URL:MailTo Protocol"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\mailto\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,4f,00,75,00,74,00,6c,00,6f,00,6f,00,6b,00,20,00,45,00,\
78,00,70,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,5c,00,6d,00,73,00,69,00,6d,00,6e,00,2e,\
00,65,00,78,00,65,00,2c,00,2d,00,32,00,00,00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\mailto\shell]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\mailto\shell\open]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\mailto\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):22,00,25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,\
00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,4f,00,75,00,74,00,6c,00,6f,00,6f,00,6b,00,20,00,\
45,00,78,00,70,00,72,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,5c,00,6d,00,73,00,69,00,6d,00,6e,\
00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,22,00,20,00,2f,00,6d,00,61,00,69,00,6c,00,75,00,\
72,00,6c,00,3a,00,25,00,31,00,00,00

For Hotmail as the default email client, apply this REG fix:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto]
"URL Protocol"=""
"EditFlags"=hex:02,00,00,00
@="URL:MailTo Protocol"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,49,00,4e,00,54,00,45,00,52,00,4e,00,7e,00,31,00,5c,00,\
48,00,4d,00,4d,00,41,00,50,00,49,00,2e,00,44,00,4c,00,4c,00,2c,00,31,00,00,\
00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\shell]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\shell\open]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\mailto\shell\open\command]
@=hex(2):72,00,75,00,6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,\
00,20,00,22,00,25,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,46,00,69,00,\
6c,00,65,00,73,00,25,00,5c,00,49,00,4e,00,54,00,45,00,52,00,4e,00,7e,00,31,\
00,5c,00,48,00,4d,00,4d,00,41,00,50,00,49,00,2e,00,44,00,4c,00,4c,00,22,00,\
2c,00,4d,00,61,00,69,00,6c,00,54,00,6f,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,74,00,6f,00,63,\
00,6f,00,6c,00,48,00,61,00,6e,00,64,00,6c,00,65,00,72,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,\
00,00

"Web Document" tab is missing when you check the properties of a URL file

2009-05-13T23:37:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you right-click an Internet Shortcut (.URL file) and choose Properties, the property sheet may display only the General tab.
Resolution
For Internet Explorer 6

Click Start, Run and type the following command:

regsvr32 /i shdocvw.dll

Alternately, try this:

*

Click Start, Run and type CONTROL INETCPL.CPL
*

Select the Programs tab and choose Reset Web Settings.
*

Click OK, OK.

How to redirect shared folders in Windows XP?

2009-05-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Introduction

The Shared Documents link shown in the My Computer window, is just a pointer to another folder. Its location, by default is set as %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Documents. If you want to redirect the Shared folders to a different drive or a network path, follow the steps in this article.

Note: The %allusersprofile% placeholder represents the path to the All Users profile folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.
Relocating the Shared Documents folder

Click Start, Run and type regedit.exe

Navigate to the following branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

In the right-pane, look for the entry named Common Documents and double-click it. To relocate the shared documents folder, type the new path (say D:\SharedDocs) in the text box provided. The default Value data is %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Documents
Relocating the sub-folders of Shared Documents

To relocate the Shared Music, Shared Pictures and Shared Video folders along with Shared Documents, navigate to teh following registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

In the right pane, do the following:

* Create a REG_SZ value named CommonMusic and set the path
* Create a REG_SZ value named CommonPictures and set the path
* Create a REG_SZ value named CommonVideo and set the path

Logoff and login back. The shared folders are now redirected successfully.

Search Companion Starts If You Double-Click a Folder or Drive

2009-05-13T23:34:00.002-07:00

Symptom

If you double-click a drive or folder, Search Companion may start and the drive or folder may not open. 'Search' will be the top most in the right-click context menu for a folder or drive. This usually happens after adding/modifying the File Folder or Drive entries via the Folder Options File Types dialog, as an attempt to add additional context menu items such as Command Prompt here, Print Directory for folders or drives.

Quick fix

Click Start, Run and type this command:

regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

(Thanks to David Candy for this tip)
Manual registry fix

To fix the problem manually, open Registry Editor and navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Directory \ shell

-and-

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Drive \ shell

* In the right-pane, locate and click the (Default) value
* Click Modify on the Edit menu
* Type the word none in the Value data box, and then click OK
* Exit Registry Editor.

Cancel Automatic logon in Windows XP

2009-05-13T23:34:00.001-07:00

If you've configured Windows XP to automatically login earlier, and want to cancel the auto-logon, try any of these methods:
Method 1

By default, MSGina.dll checks the state of the SHIFT key when AutoAdminLogon is 1. If the SHIFT key is held down during the boot process, MSGina.dll will ignore the AutoAdminLogon key value and prompt the user for identification and authentication information interactively. You can use this method to temporarily disable automatic logon at startup.
Method 2

Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type control userpasswords2, and then click OK. In the dialog box that appears, enable Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer check box, and then click OK.
Method 3

Click Start, Run and type rundll32 netplwiz.dll,ClearAutoLogon
Method 4

Use this method only if you've configured the automatic logon using the registry manually. Because, automatic logon procedure using Control Userpasswords2 or using Tweak UI does not involve Winlogon \ DefaultPassword key at all. They are stored in protected area rather.

*

Open Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsNT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon

*

Delete the DefaultPassword entry.
*

Double-click AutoAdminLogon, type 0 in the Value Data box, and then click OK.

Error: Setup was unable to load the master information file

2009-05-13T23:33:00.001-07:00

Symptoms

When you click the "Add/Remove Windows Components" button in the Add/Remove Programs applet, the following error message is displayed:

Setup was unable to load the master information file

When you press OK, the following error is seen:

The application could not be initialized

This error occurs if the file sysoc.inf is missing in the C:\Windows\Inf folder. Extracting a new copy of this file from XP CD-ROM should help. You may use MSCONFIG to extract the file.
Resolution
Extracting Sysoc.inf file from Windows XP CD-ROM

*

Insert the Windows XP CD in the drive.
*

Click Start/Run and type CMD
*

In the Command Prompt, type this line:

expand X:\i386\sysoc.in_ -r c:\windows\inf

Where X:\ is your CD-ROM drive letter. The above command assumes Windows is installed in C:\ drive. If not, change the drive letter / Path accordingly.

Example: expand H:\i386\sysoc.in_ -r g:\windows\inf

Open Save As dialog boxes display text in a foreign language

2009-05-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

When you open an application, say WordPad and attempt to save a document, the Save As dialogs prompt are in a different language than English. Or, only an underline and question mark will be seen. (_________?)

This happens if the file MFC42LOC.DLL is present in the System32 folder. To resolve the problem, rename the file MFC42LOC.DLL present in the C:\Windows\System32 folder (for Windows 2000/XP systems) and C:\Windows\System (for Windows 9x systems)

The above applies to the following products:

* Microsoft Paint
* Microsoft WordPad
* Microsoft Image Composer
* Microsoft MapPoint 2000
* Adobe PhotoDeluxe
* Corel Photo-Paint

Description of My eBooks folder and it's removal instructions

2009-05-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

This is not a Windows XP tip, but a frequently asked question. After installing Adobe Acrobat Reader v6.x, you may notice the My eBooks folder appearing within the My Documents folder. This is not a standard Shell folder of Windows. Even if you delete it, this folder is recreated upon loading Adobe Acrobat Reader.

This is powered by a Adobe plugin 'ebook.api'. Upon starting Adobe Acrobat Reader, it loads all the plugins under the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Reader\plug_ins

Perform the following only if you don't plan to use the eBook plugin of Adobe Acrobat reader. You can undo the operation though. If you don't want to see the My eBooks folder, follow this solution:

Move the file ebook.api to the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Reader\optional

Delete the My eBooks folder now.

(Thanks, and credits to MS-MVP Wesley Vogel for this tip)

At a later stage, if you again want to use the eBook plugin, revert it back to the plug_ins folder.

Customize the Default User Profile in Windows XP

2009-05-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Whenever a new user logs on (the first time), Windows copies the settings from the Default User profile (located at Documents and Settings\Default User) to the newly created user profile. In other words, the Default User profile is as a template which Windows uses in order to initialize new profiles/logins.

After logging in the first time, the user customizes the settings as required. In my case, some of the settings include the following:

* Turning off the Windows Tour
* Disabling the balloon tips
* Adding/Removing icons to Quick Launch bar
* Settings for Wallpaper, Display and Appearance and Themes
* Internet Options - Settings in the Advanced & Security tabs, SearchURL preferences, TIF to 40MB
* ZoneMap Domains list of Restricted, Trusted sites
* Creating shortcuts on the Desktop for various applications
* Search companion settings (I prefer the classic search)
* Adding or removing the icons in the Desktop
* Prevent Windows Messenger from starting automatically (PreventAutoRun)
* and so on..................

Customizing the Default User profile

If you want all the settings to be applied to every new user automatically, you must modify the above settings in the Template, which is the Default User profile. The simplest method is to create a user profile and customize it as required. Then, clear all the MRU settings (RUN, Search etc) and copy it to the Default User profile.

NOTE: Before overwriting the default user profile template, it is a advisable to make a backup copy of the default user profile.

Incorrect or generic Windows icon displayed for HTM, HTML and MHT files

2009-05-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Symptom

The HTM, HTML or MHT files are displayed with a standard icon rather than the Internet Explorer "e" icon.
Resolution
Set the HTM / HTML icons

* Click Start, Run and type CONTROL FOLDERS
* Select the File Types tab
* Scroll down the list and select the HTM file type
* Click Advanced button, and then click Change Icon
* Type in the file name %Programfiles%\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE
* Select the 2nd icon (Icon index number is 1) from the list
* Click OK, OK, and OK to close the dialog

Set the MHT / MHTML icons

* Similarly, select the MHT file type from the list, and then choose the last icon in IExplorer.exe file. This is the default icon for MHT / MHTML files.

Still does not help?

Download htmliconfix.zip from the following URL, and unzip the archive. Double-click htmliconfix.exe to run it.

HTMLIconFix v1.0 for Windows® XP

Download htmliconfix.zip (12 KB)
(Contains htmliconfix.exe and readme.txt files)

Note that this fix sets Internet Explorer as the default handler for .HTM and other file types. This utility has been tested under Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7.

System Restore not creating automatic System Checkpoints on my machine?

2009-05-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

Symptom

By default, System Restore creates automatic Restore Points (called as "System Checkpoints") every 24 Hrs. Many users complain that "System Checkpoints" are not created or created apparently random. There are two reasons for this:
Case 1

The Automatic System Restore point depends upon Task Scheduler service, though Scheduled Tasks will not show System Restore as a job. System Restore Checkpoints may not be created if Task Scheduler service is Stopped.
Case 2

System Restore requires the machine to be in an idle state to create system check points. This is by design so that System Restore never intrudes when the user is using the machine by taking processing power to create a system checkpoint. Hence, if system restore never sees any idle time on the machine, it will not be able to create System Checkpoints. This usually occurs if an virus scan is running and the anti-virus software is running.

System Restore Service needs to be running in both cases.
Solution

First, make sure if the System Restore and Task Scheduler service are running and set to Automatic. To manage the Services configuration, type "services.msc" in the RUN box. Double-click each of the services and set them to Automatic. Restart Windows XP.
Creating System Restore points using a script

To create a Restore Point automatically using a script, copy the contents to a notepad, save as CreateRP.VBS

set SRP = getobject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:Systemrestore")
CSRP = SRP.createrestorepoint ("Created a Restore Point now", 0, 100)

To create a Restore Point, just double-click the CreateRP.VBS file which you've just created.

Cleanup the MSCONFIG startup tab listings in Windows XP and Windows Vista

2009-05-13T21:50:00.002-07:00

Introduction

MSCONFIG (System Configuration Utility) is a frequently used tool to manage the startup applications. This utility, however does not have an option to delete the entries. The entry which you've unchecked a long time back may still show up, while the application may have been uninstalled already. To remove the invalid entries in the System Configuration utility, you need to edit the registry or use a third-party utility.
Locations of the entries in MSConfig

The enabled/checked items are populated from the following registry locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run

-and-

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Windows
Values named Run & Load

The disabled entries are present in these locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Shared Tools \ MSConfig \ startupreg
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Shared Tools \ MSConfig \ startupfolder

To remove the entries, start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the above paths. Backup the key before deleting it.

Disabled items are stored as a per-machine basis (HKLM?).

Yes. The hkey string value stores the location where the entry was originally. Say, when the user re-checks the entry, the hkey value determines whether to place the entry back to HKCU or HKLM.

Automatically connect to the internet at startup (while logon)

2009-05-13T21:50:00.001-07:00

Rasdial utility

If you're using a RAS / PPPOE connection for Internet, and wish to automatically connect to your ISP at startup, you may use Rasdial utility, built-in with Windows XP.

Usage: Open a Command Prompt window and type:

Rasdial "username" "password"

This would initiate a dial-up/PPPoE connection to your ISP. You can create a batch file with the above parameters and place it in your Startup folder, so that XP dials to your ISP automatically at every startup. If you don't prefer to enter the password in the batch file, use the following command-line (XP will prompt you for a password - secure)

Rasdial "username" *

NOTE: Type Rasdial.exe /? in the Command Prompt to learn more about this command, it's other parameters.

Print the list of all available System Restore points to a file

2009-05-13T21:49:00.001-07:00

This simple VBScript lists all the System Restore points available in your computer, with the Description, Creation time, and the Sequence number.

To run the script, copy the following lines to a Notepad document, and save as a file with .VBS extension (use double-quotes) and double-click the file.

' Prints the list of System Restore points to a text file
' © 2005 Ramesh Srinivasan - http://windowsxp.mvps.org
' Last updated on: Aug 20, 2005
' Formats the date / time correctly
'-----------------------------------------------------------

Option Explicit
Dim fso, b, objWMI, clsPoint, strComputer, shell
Dim fLine, dtmInstallDate, objOS, fName
fLine = "List of System Restore points found in this computer"
Set shell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
Set fso = Wscript.CreateObject("Scripting.FilesystemObject")
fName = Shell.SpecialFolders("Desktop")
fName = fName & "\ListSR.txt"
set b = fso.CreateTextFile (fName,true)
b.Writeline fLine
b.writeline string(52,"-")
b.writeblanklines 1

strComputer="."

Set dtmInstallDate = CreateObject( _
"WbemScripting.SWbemDateTime")

Set objWMI = GetObject( _
"winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")

Set objOS = objWMI.ExecQuery( _
"Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem")

Set objWMI = getobject( _
"winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\default").InstancesOf ("systemrestore")
For Each clsPoint In objWMI
b.writeline "Creation Time= " & getmytime(clsPoint.creationtime)
b.writeline "Description= " & clsPoint.description
b.writeline "Sequence Number= " & clsPoint.sequencenumber
b.writeblanklines 1
Next

function getmytime(wmitime)
dtmInstallDate.Value = wmitime
getmytime = dtmInstallDate.GetVarDate
end function

b.close
Shell.Run "notepad.exe " & fName, 1,True
Set fso = Nothing
set shell = Nothing

Error message "There was a problem sending the command to the program" while using Search

2009-05-13T21:48:00.001-07:00

Symptom

When you right-click a folder and click "Search..." or while using the "Show Desktop" button in the Quick Launch bar, you may receive the following error message:

There was a problem sending the command to the program
Solution

This is caused by a setting in Zone Alarm. In Zone Alarm program settings, allowing Windows Explorer to access the internet (or the Trusted Zone alone) solves the problem. You don't need to allow Windows Explorer act as Server, though.

Solution

This is caused by a setting in Zone Alarm. In Zone Alarm program settings, allowing Windows Explorer to access the internet (or the Trusted Zone alone) solves the problem. You don't need to allow Windows Explorer act as Server, though.

search_error1.JPG (20717 bytes)I could repro the problem with the latest version of EZ Trust Firewall (powered by ZoneAlarm). Windows Explorer just tries to the local PC IP address (127.0.0.1:port xxxx) or (0.0.0.0:port xxxx). Therefore, rather than allowing Windows Explorer access to the Internet, you may wish to add the local PC IP address to the TRUSTED zone and allow Windows Explorer access to the TRUSTED zones only. You may add 0.0.0.0 and 127.0.0.1 to the Trusted Zone and allow Windows Explorer access only to Trusted zone, but not the Internet Zone. (Credits to ZoneLabs forum for this Tip.)

If that does not help, reset the Zone Alarm settings to factory defaults and re-configure it again. All customizations in Zone Alarm will be lost.

* From the Overview Preferences tab and turn off the Load Zone Alarm at startup (or similar option)
* Restart Windows in Safe Mode.
* Open the folder named Internet Logs (usually C:\Windows\Internet Logs)
* Delete everything in that folder and empty the Recycle Bin
* Restart Windows in Normal mode
* Restart Zone Alarm manually and re-enable the Auto-start option in the Preferences.

Quickly reset all the System Restore points (Windows XP)

2009-05-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

The following script (from MSDN - slightly modified) can be used to clear the System Restore points quickly. It automatically disables System Restore, clears all the Restore points and re-enables System Restore on all drives. Copy the following script to a notepad and save as "ResetSR.VBS".

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\default")
Set objItem = objWMIService.Get("SystemRestore")
errResults = objItem.Disable("")
errResults = objItem.Enable("")

The above is an equivalent of selecting Turn Off System Restore on all drives (which clears all the Restore points) and the last line in the script re-enables the System Restore points.

Remove or modify the arrow used on shortcuts in Windows XP

2009-05-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

By default, each shortcut file will have an arrow icon to indicate that it's a pointer to another file/folder. You can change or remove the shortcut arrow using one of the methods discussed in this article.

Method 1: Setting the Shell Icons value

This tweak removes the shortcut arrow

* Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Shell Icons

* Backup the key by exporting it to a file
* In the right-pane, create a new String value named 29
* Double-click 29 and set its Value data as:

C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,50

(shell32.dll,50 is a empty icon)

* Close Registry Editor.

To apply the changes instantly, follow this

* Right-click Desktop, choose Properties
* Click the Appearance Tab.
* Click Advanced button
* Choose Icon from the drop-down list
* Set it's size to 31 and press OK, OK.

The changes will be applied now. Repeat the above steps and then set the Icon size back to 32 (defaults). The above steps are required to force Windows to redraw the icons. Even Tweak UI does this.

Add or remove entries in the New objects list (ShellNew)

2009-05-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Introduction

When a user opens the File menu in Windows Explorer, the first command is New. Selecting this command displays a submenu, which lists some entries. This article tells you how to add or remove entries in the to the New menu.

Removing unwanted ShellNew entries manually

1. First determine the file extension for that entry. You may create a new document and check it's properties for the file extension.
2. Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xyz\ShellNew

(where .xyz is the file type)

4. Backup the ShellNew key by exporting it to a file.
5. Delete the ShellNew key

Change the Registered Owner and Organization in the registry - Windows XP

2009-05-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

* Click Start, Run and type regedit, and then click OK. Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion

* Backup the key by exporting to a file. See here for more information.
* To change the registered organization, double-click RegisteredOrganization.
* Under Value data, type the name that you want, and then click OK.
* To change the name of the registered owner, double-click RegisteredOwner.
* Under Value data, type the name that you want, and then click OK.
* Click Exit on the File menu to quit regedit.

Create a Duplicate User Profile with a Different Name

2009-05-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

To create a duplicate of a user profile (with a different user name), use these steps:

* Create a new user account
* Logon to that account to initialize the newly created profile
* Log off from the newly created profile
* Login as Administrator (the built-in administrator account)
* Open Control Panel, double-click System
* Click the Advanced tab
* Click Settings under User Profiles
* Select a profile to copy from and choose Copy To
* Browse to the profile to copy to (C:\Documents and Settings\newuser)
* In Permitted to use, click Change
* In the Select User or Group dialog box, type the new user account name and press ENTER.

"Administrative Tools folder is empty"

2009-05-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you open the Administrative Tools folder in the Start Menu, the shortcuts in the folder may be missing.

Cause

This happens due to one of these reasons:

* The Administrative Tools shell folder path is incorrectly set.
* The Administrative Tools shortcuts are deleted accidentally.

Solution for Case 1

Important: Backup the registry before modifying it. See here for more information.

* Start Regedit.exe and navigate to the following locations one by one:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

-and-

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Shell Folders

* Delete the value named Common Administrative Tools (if present).
* Close Regedit.exe and restart Windows.

Reset the Shell Folders paths to defaults

2009-05-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Windows stores the location of per-user special folders under the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

When you redirect special folders using Tweak UI or by moving the folder to another location, the User Shell Folder registry path is modified accordingly. To reset the User Shell Folders values to defaults, try this:

Resetting the special folder paths to defaults

Open Registry Editor and navigate to this location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

Backup the above branch to a .REG file.
In the right-pane, change the Shell Folder path accordingly. The default values are mentioned in the table below for reference:

Shell Folder	Path
AppData	%USERPROFILE%\Application Data
Cache	%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
Cookies	%USERPROFILE%\Cookies
Desktop	%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
Favorites	%USERPROFILE%\Favorites
History	%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\History
Local AppData	%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data
Local Settings	%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings
My Music	%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Music
My Pictures	%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Pictures
Nethood	%USERPROFILE%\NetHood
Personal [My Documents]	%USERPROFILE%\My Documents
PrintHood	%USERPROFILE%\PrintHood
Programs	%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs
SendTo	%USERPROFILE%\SendTo
Start Menu	%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu
Startup	%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Templates	%USERPROFILE%\Templates

Start Menu 'All Programs' is empty or nothing happens when you click the menu

2009-05-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Symptoms
* When you click Programs menu in the Start Menu, it may show as (Empty)
* Nothing happens when you click All Programs in Start Menu
* Not all the shortcuts are displayed.

First, login as Administrator (or equivalent) and execute this command from Start, Run dialog:

regsvr32 /i shell32.dll

Restart Windows. If that does not help, inspect and fix the the Shell Folder data for Start Menu, Programs, Common Start Menu and Common Programs.

NOTE: Backup the Registry before modifying it. See this page for more information on backing up the registry keys.

Typing REGEDIT.EXE in the Start, Run dialog. Fix the data for these four registry values:(The defaults can be taken from the UserShellFolders page.)

Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

* Common Start Menu
* Common Programs

Under HKEY_CURRENT_USER

* Start Menu
* Programs

If Common Programs value is not available in the right-pane, create a new REG_EXPAND_SZ value named Common Programs and assign the data as said above. Restart Windows for the changes to take effect.

Remove the Username and picture from Windows XP New Start Menu

2009-05-13T21:28:00.001-07:00

The User account picture can be removed by turning off the Welcome Screen. Or, by switching to Windows Classic theme. Follow the method described in this article if you want to remove the username and picture from the Start Menu, without disabling the Welcome Screen and Windows XP Theme.

For those who want to remove the user name and user account picture from Start Menu, in order to have a blank blue panel at the top, try this:

* Start Windows Explorer and go to this folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures

* From that folder, rename the BMP file which corresponds to your user account.

( For example, if your username is Robert, rename Robert.bmp to old_Robert.bmp )

* Next, rename the following folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures

to something else, say...

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\No_Default Pictures

To remove the user name, follow these steps

* Start regedit.exe and navigate to the this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft\ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

* In the right-pane, set NoUserNameInStartMenu value-data to 1
* Close Regedit.exe and restart Windows.

You'll end up with a blue space at the top of the Start Menu.
To get back the username and the picture, reverse the above procedure.

My Pictures and My Music folders are displayed with the standard folder icon

2009-05-13T21:27:00.002-07:00

Symptom

When you open Windows Explorer or the My Documents folder, one or both of the Special folders ( My Pictures and My Music ) are displayed with the standard folder icon rather than the special icons. This behavior can occur when the desktop.ini file in the special folder is missing or it has incorrect entries.
Resolution

To resolve this issue, use the following method:

1. Click Start, click Run, and then type:

rundll32 mydocs.dll,PerUserInit

2. Click OK.

[ The command line parameter is case-sensitive, and the command has no return value. The user will not notified if the command has successfully executed or not ]

This command also restores the missing My Documents shortcut in the Send To menu.

More Information

The Desktop.ini file is a text file that allows you to specify how a file system folder will be viewed. The IconFile and IconIndex values in the Desktop.ini file determines the folder icons. The above command reinitializes the My Documents, My Pictures and My Music folders (per-user basis) and recreates the Desktop.ini file in these special folders.

Duplicate Icons in the Desktop - Windows 2000/XP

2009-05-13T21:27:00.001-07:00

Symptom

Every time when you place a file or a shortcut on your Desktop, you get 2 icons. If one icon is deleted, other will also be deleted. This problem is caused by dragging the desktop folder about in the person's profile folder or All Users. Or, changed the User Shell Folders value in the registry incorrectly.
RESOLUTION

*

Open Registry Editor and navigate to the locations below
*

Backup the registry before modifying it. See here.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

* Double-click Desktop and set it to %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
* Navigate to this location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ User Shell Folders

* Set Common Desktop to %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Desktop
*

Close Registry Editor and restart.

The Folders Bar in Windows Explorer Does Not Contain Any Icons

2009-05-13T21:25:00.001-07:00

iconsmissing.JPG (54547 bytes)

When you view files in Windows Explorer, the Folders bar may not contain any icons. This problem may occur if there is no drive C on your computer. To workaround this problem, use the subst command to point to the drive that Windows XP is installed on. For example, if Windows XP is installed on drive H:

*

Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and click OK
* At the command prompt, type subst c: h:\, and then press ENTER.
* Type exit, and then press ENTER.

You can add this subst command to a startup script or to a logon script so that you do not have to repeat this procedure every that time you start your computer. Create a batch file and load it in Windows startup, so that the command is executed every time you log on.

Shutdown is very slow - Windows XP

2009-05-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Published : June 27, 2004
Symptom

When you shutdown your Windows XP computer, it may take more time to complete the shutdown process. Slow shutdowns are caused by a number of factors. One of the common cause is the Clear Pagefile at Shutdown option enabled.

Virtual memory support uses a system pagefile to swap pages of memory to disk when they are not used. On a running system, this pagefile is opened exclusively by the operating system, and it is well protected. However, systems that are configured to allow booting to other operating systems might have to make sure that the system pagefile is wiped clean when this system shuts down. This ensures that sensitive information from process memory that might go into the pagefile is not available to an unauthorized user who manages to directly access the pagefile.

When this option is enabled, it causes the system pagefile to be cleared upon clean shutdown. This takes considerable time of the Operating System to flush-out the pagefile, thus causing the slow shutdown. You may disable ClearPageFileAtShutdown option to improve shutdown times. But the pagefile.sys will be intact and accessible via other Operating System, in case or dual or multi-boot.

Some points to improve the shutdown times

Start Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]

Set ClearPageFileAtShutdown value to 0

Or, using Group Policy Editor [for Windows XP Professional]

Click Start, Run and type Secpol.msc
Click Local Policies | Security Options
In the right-pane, set Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile to Disabled

However, this setting is not the only cause for slow shutdowns. Non-responsive programs and Services also contribute to slow shutdowns. If the problem is seen recently after installing a third-party driver or software, try a System Restore rollback to see if that resolves the slow shutdown problem.

Troubleshooting missing network connection icons

2009-05-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

If the Network Connection icons are missing, try the following to get them back:

NOTE Despite this issue, networking continues to function correctly, and the ipconfig command still shows all connection and all adapter information. However, dial-up users may not be able to initiate a connection due to missing icons.

You can still connect to (or disconnect from) the ISP using the RAS Phonebook. Follow these steps:

Click Start, Run and type:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk

Double-click the file named RASPHONE.PBK (Shows up as RASPHONE) and connect to the internet.

Click Start, Run and type CMD and press Enter
Run the following commands one-by-one and press Enter after each command:

regsvr32 netshell.dll
regsvr32 netcfgx.dll
regsvr32 netman.dll

Automate Disk Cleanup using Task Scheduler in Windows XP

2009-05-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Configure the tasks

Cleanmgr1.JPG (32463 bytes)Type cleanmgr /d c: /sageset:100 in the RUN box. The Disk Cleanup dialog box appears. Check the items you want to clean every time you run this process, for example Recycle Bin, Temporary Internet Files, Old Chkdsk files and then click on OK.

/d driveletter: - This switch selects the drive that you want Disk Cleanup to clean. Note that the /d switch is not used with /sagerun:n.

Create a new shortcut in your Windows folder using cleanmgr /sagerun:100 as the command line. Name it as CleanupTask.
Using the Task Scheduler

* Open Scheduled Tasks from Start Menu, Accessories, System Tools.
* Double-click Add Scheduled Task
* Choose Next
* Click on Browse and locate the shortcut file that you just created [CleanupTask]
* Choose Weekly and click Next
* Select the Time and day during which you want the CleanupTask to run.
* Click Next
* Type-in the Username and password. [By default, task scheduler won't run with blank password]
* Choose Next, Finish

schtask2.JPG (35834 bytes) schtask3.JPG (26729 bytes) schtask4.JPG (25547 bytes)

NOTE: sageset:n - option displays the Disk Cleanup Settings dialog box and also creates a registry key to store the settings that you select. The n value, which is stored in the registry, allows you to specify tasks for Disk Cleanup to run. The n value can be any integer value from 0 to 65535. To have all of the options available when you use the /sageset option, you might need to specify the drive where Windows is installed. You can have any number of tasks created [in Sageset 1, you can select "Recycle Bin", in Sageset configuration 2, you can deselect Recycle-bin. Each of the Sageset configurations are stored in the following registry key and sub-keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \VolumeCaches

How to backup the Windows XP Registry?

2009-05-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Registry Editor is an advanced tool for viewing and changing settings in your system registry, which contains information about how your computer runs. Almost the entire settings are stored in the registry. For example, when you resize an application window, the window position (x,y points) is stored in the registry so that the settings are retained permanently. This is just an example, there are much more data stored in the registry, right from your user account names and passwords (if configured to store in the registry).

Although Registry Editor enables you to inspect and modify the registry, it's advisable to use Registry Editor only if the GUI does not provide the option you're looking for. Making incorrect changes in the registry can break your system. It's highly advisable to backup the registry before editing any portion of it.
Backing up the XP Registry - Three methods
Method 1: Using System Restore

One way to backup the registry is to create a System Restore snapshot. System Restore returns your computer to a previous snapshot without losing recent personal information, such as documents, history lists, favorites, or e-mail. It monitors the computer and many applications for changes and creates restore points. You restore these snapshots when your configuration isn't working. This method is unreliable in case you want to rollback the registry changes made a longtime ago, in which case the System Restore might have purged that particular restore point - due to space constraints or due to a recent system restore point or even a Restore point corruption. Please remember, System Restore points get deleted for many reasons, making it unreliable, especially in the long run.

Method 2: Backing up the selected branch of the registry by exporting (Reliable)

This method is preferred if you're making changes to a specific key/area of the registry. To backup a selected branch/key in the registry, try this:

* Click Start, and then click Run.
* In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK
* Locate and then click the key that contains the value that you want to edit
* On the File menu, click Export.
* In the Save in box, select a location where you want to save the Registration Entries (.reg)
* In the File name box, type a file name, and then click Save.

Now that you've created a Registry backup for that particular key. Save the REG file in a safer location in case you want to undo the registry changes made. You can restore the settings by just double-clicking the REG file. It automatically merges the contents to the Registry.
Method 2 (a) : Export registry keys using a command-line (Console Registry Tool)

You can use the Console Registry Tool for Windows (Reg.exe) to edit the registry. For help with the Reg.exe tool, type reg /? at the Command Prompt, and then click OK.

Example: To export the key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IOLO] and it's sub-keys, try this from Command Prompt:

REG EXPORT HKCU\Software\IOLO C:\IOLO.REG

To view the REG contents type notepad C:\iolo.reg in Start, Run dialog. Console Registry Tool is extremely handy for network admins and also for home users.

How to login as Administrator in Windows XP?

2009-05-13T21:17:00.001-07:00

The built-in Administrator account is hidden from Welcome Screen when a user account with Administrator privileges exists and enabled. In Windows XP Home Edition, you can login as built-in Administrator in Safe Mode only. For XP Professional, press CTRL + ALT + DEL twice at the Welcome Screen and input your Administrator password in the classic logon window that appears.

To have the Administrator account displayed in the Welcome Screen, try one of these methods:
Method 1 - Manual registry edit

* Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList

* Use the File, Export option to backup the key
* Create a new DWORD Value named Administrator
* Double-click Administrator, and set 1 as its data
* Exit the Registry Editor.

Edit the Places bar locations in 'Open/Save As' common dialog boxes

2009-05-13T21:16:00.002-07:00

The Places bar locations in a Common Dialog (Open/Save As) boxes can be customized to your choice of folders. To do so, try the following methods:
Method 1

Open Registry Editor and navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ comdlg32 \ Placesbar

By default the Placesbar key is not present; you need to create one.

Create a String value for it named Place0. Place0 is the top-most folder as it appears on the Open/Save As dialog. Type the folder name with it's full path as the value of Place0. You can create similar keys and values upto Place4. Sample places bar registry key in my system:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32\PlacesBar]
"Place0"="e:\\XP Utils"
"Place1"="e:\\research"
"Place2"="e:\\Registry Patches"
"Place3"="e:\\UtilitiesSet 2"
"Place4"="e:\\UtilitiesSet 1"

How to remove OEM link from the Windows XP Start Menu?

2009-05-13T21:16:00.001-07:00

Introduction

Usually, OEMs add their icon to the Start menu which may launch a website, folder or a program when clicked. Example.. Do More With Gateway link for Gateway computers, Presario info center link for Compaq Presario systems. Use the instructions in this article to remove the OEM Link from Windows XP Start menu.

Removing the OEM Link

Hide the OEM Link from Start Menu

* Right-click the New Start Menu and choose Properties
* Click Start Menu tab, Customize, Advanced tab
* In the Start Menu items list, uncheck Manufacturer Link
* Click OK, and OK

The OEM Link should no longer appear in the New Start Menu. In case the Manufacturer Link checkbox is unavailable in the list, you may need to use the following registry edit:

* Click Start, Run. Type Regedit.exe and press ENTER
* Navigate to this location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software\ Microsoft \ Windows\ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ StartMenu \ StartPanel \ ShowOEMLink

* In the right-pane, set NoOEMLinkInstalled Value to 0
* Close Registry Editor and restart Windows.

The Manufacturer Link entry should now appear in the 'Start Menu Items' dialog. Uncheck it. This hides the OEM Link from Start Menu. If you wish to remove the registry reference to the OEM Link completely [Optional], you will need to delete the following key in the Registry:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ CLSID \ {2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}

-and-

Set NoOEMLinkInstalled value to 1 in the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Start Menu \ StartPanel \ ShowOEMLink

How to manage Windows startup?

2009-05-13T21:13:00.002-07:00

Introduction

It's a good practice to frequently inspect the startup entries for security. The System Configuration Utility will not list applications loaded in all possible startup locations. Most other entry points are hidden and unknown to the end-user. This article will provide a clear picture about the start locations of applications and drivers. Some of the locations mentioned in this article may not apply to Windows 95/98/ME systems.
Startup locations

HKCU refers to HKEY_CURRENT_USER
HKLM refers to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
(In right-pane, Value named "Run" & "Load")

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\{Username}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Note Items marked in blue are those which MSCONFIG can manage.

Using Windows Defender to manage Windows startup

Windows Defender (included by default in Windows Vista) helps you inspect/manage your startup programs.

*Open Windows Defender.
*Click Tools, and then click Software Explorer.
*In the Category list, select Startup Programs.
*To list startup entries for the system, click Show for all users.
*You can enable, disable or remove startup entries from there.

Advanced stuff - additional Windows Startup launch-points

Silentrunners.org covers many more startup launch-points. It is possible that a malware is present in any of the locations described. Additionally, it's worth verifying the contents of ShellExecuteHooks key here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ ShellExecuteHooks

Excellent utility to manage Windows startup

Inspecting all the keys manually may be a tiring task. Your best bet is to use a third-party software to inspect the startup. Though there are many freeware utilities which can track/log the startup entries, the following tool is very impressive.
Autoruns - This utility covers most of the start locations. It allows you to edit the startup for other user profiles (Windows 2000/XP/Vista) as well. This tool is my personal favorite.

Additionally, you can enable or disable certain shell extensions, Browser Helper Objects, other Internet Explorer add-ons, drivers, Winsock providers etc.
View and manage Windows XP Services and Drivers

ServiWin utility displays the list of installed drivers and services on your system. For some of them, additional useful information is displayed: file description, version, product name, company that created the driver file, and more. In addition, ServiWin allows you to easily stop, start, restart, pause, and continue service or driver, change the startup type of service or driver (automatic, manual, disabled, boot or system), save the list of services and drivers to file, or view HTML report of installed services/drivers in your default browser.

*

To view Services list, click the View menu and choose Services [F8 key]
*

To view Drivers list, click the View menu and choose Drivers [F7 key]
*

To find out the list of third-party drivers, sort the column named Company

You may also use DriverQuery command built-in with Windows XP, to view the list of all the device drivers installed in your system. You can transfer the list to a file for troubleshooting purposes. Type driverquery /? in Command Prompt for more information:

Usage / Examples

DRIVERQUERY /SI [This lists the drivers signing status, whether Signed or Unsigned]
DRIVERQUERY /V [ Generates a detailed report ]
DRIVERQUERY [ Lists all device drivers ]

To redirect the output to a file, use:

DRIVERQUERY /SI >C:\driverslist.txt

Description of Svchost.exe in Windows XP

2009-05-13T21:13:00.001-07:00

Each instance of svchost.exe process seen in the Task Manager hosts a group of services. To see the list of services hosted by each instance of svchost.exe, you may use the Tasklist.exe console utility available in Windows XP Professional Edition.

*

Click Start, Run and type CMD.EXE
*

Type tasklist /svc >c:\taskList.txt

The taskList.txt will contain the list of Processes, their Process IDs and the Services running under each Process.

Removing invalid entries from Add or Remove Programs

2009-05-13T21:12:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when you uninstall a program, corresponding entry in the Add or Remove Programs listing may not be removed. This may be due to incomplete uninstall or poorly designed uninstaller itself. To manually remove the orphaned entries from the Add or Remove Programs applet, follow these steps:

* Click Start, Run and type regedit.exe
* Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Uninstall

* Backup the branch to a file

Note: Each subkey represents a program that you've installed. To determine which program that each key represents, click the key, and then view the DisplayName value data in the right pane

* Select the subkey that you want to delete
* Right-click on the subkey and choose Delete
* Close Registry Editor

Unable to Start a Program with an .exe File Extension

2009-05-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Symptom

When you try to launch an application (.exe files), the following error message appears and the program does not run.

Cause

This problem occurs if the .exe file association in the registry is corrupt. This behavior is generally caused by viruses; one of which is SirCam virus, which modifies the .exe file association in registry.

Resolution
Method 1: Fixing the association settings automatically

Download exefix_xp.com utility and save to Desktop. Double-click the file to run it. This utility fixes the exefile association in the registry automatically.

Additional tip: To run the utility silently (without any prompts), use the -silent parameter. Open a Command window (Command.com) and type:

C:\Utilities\exefix_xp.com -silent

Assuming that the exefix_xp.com is placed in the C:\Utilities directory.
Method 2: Fixing the association settings using Registry editor

* Click Start, Run and type Command
* Type the following commands one by one:

cd\windows
regedit

* If Registry Editor opens successfully, then navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ exefile \ shell \ open \ command

* Double-click the (Default) value in the right pane
* Delete the current value data, and then type:

"%1" %*
(ie., quote-percent-one-quote-space-percent-asterisk.)

* Navigate to:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe

* In the right-pane, set (default) to exefile
* Exit the Registry Editor.

If you're unable to launch Regedit.exe even from Command Prompt, try this:

copy regedit.exe regedit.com
regedit.com

Add a "Print Directory" Feature for Folders in Windows XP

2009-05-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

To add the "Print Directory" context menu option for file system folders, use these steps:

* Download printdir.zip and save it to Desktop
* Extract Printdir.bat and Printdir.reg from the Zip file
* Save Printdir.bat to Windows folder
* Right-click Printdir.reg file and choose Merge

After merging the contents to registry, you no longer require this .reg file (Printdir.bat must exist though.) You may customize printdir.bat as per your requirements. Say, to print the directory listings to a file, edit the .bat file using Notepad and remove the /p argument.

If you want to manually print the directory contents to a file:

* Click Start, Run, type Cmd and press Enter
* Go to the appropriate directory.
* Type Dir /b>C:\list.txt

[ Include "/s" for sub-directories listing. Type Dir /? for more command-line parameters ]

* Open C:\List.txt in notepad and print the contents.

Registry MRU Locations [MRU-Most Recent Used]

2009-05-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Windows 98 & ME
"Search Files"	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU
"Find Computer"	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindComputerMRU
Printer ports	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\PrnPortsMRU
RUN box - Windows [All]	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
Windows view prefs	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StreamMRU
Telnet MRU	HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Telnet

Microsoft Office 2000
Winword - Open	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft Word\Settings\Open\File Name MRU
Winword - Save As	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft Word\Settings\Save As\File Name MRU
Winword - Recent Files	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word\Data
Excel - Open	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft Excel\Settings\Open\File Name MRU
Excel - Save As	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft Excel\Settings\Save As\File Name MRU
Excel - Recent Files	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Excel\Recent Files
Frontpage - Open	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft FrontPage\Settings\Open File\File Name MRU
Frontpage - Save As	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft FrontPage\Settings\Save As\File Name MRU
Frontpage - Recent lists	Software\Microsoft\FrontPage\Explorer\FrontPage Explorer\Recent File List
	Software\Microsoft\FrontPage\Explorer\FrontPage Explorer\Recent Page List
	Software\Microsoft\FrontPage\Explorer\FrontPage Explorer\Recent Web List
	Software\Microsoft\FrontPage\Explorer\FrontPage Explorer\Recently Created Servers
	Software\Microsoft\FrontPage\Editor\Recently Used URLs
PowerPoint - Open	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint\Settings\Open\File Name MRU
PowerPoint - Save As	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint\Settings\Save As\File Name MRU
PowerPoint - Recent Files	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\PowerPoint\Recent File List
Access - Open	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft Access\Settings\Open\File Name MRU
Access - Filename MRU	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft Access\Settings\File New Database\File Name MRU
	Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Access\Settings

Common
Regedit - Last accessed key	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit
Regedit - Favorites	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit\Favorites
MSPaint - Recent Files	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Paint\Recent File List
Wordpad - Recent Files	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Wordpad\Recent File List
Common Dialog - Open	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\LastVisitedMRU
Common Dialog - Save As	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ComDlg32\OpenSaveMRU
WMP8 XP - Recent Files	Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\RecentFileList
WMP 8 XP - Recent URLs	Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Player\RecentURLList
OE6 Stationery list 1 - New Mail	Identities\{C19958F2-22F3-4C6A-9AE0-12049CE0706F}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Recent Stationery List *the CLSID varies, just an example given
OE 6 Stationery list 2 - New Mail	Identities\{C19958F2-22F3-4C6A-9AE0-12049CE0706F}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Recent Stationery Wide List *the CLSID varies

Windows 2000/XP
XP Search Files	Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru\5603
Internet Search Assistant	Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru\5001
Printers, Computers and People	Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru\5647
XP Start Menu - Recent	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RecentDocs
R. Desktop - Connect	Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default [MRUnumber]
Run dialog box	Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

What are the $NTUninstall folders? Can they be deleted?

2009-05-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

These $NTUninstall folders are created when you install a Microsoft Service Pack, a hotfix, or certain security updates. Each KBnnnnnn represents an update from Microsoft. To gather more information about an update, type the following URL in your browser, replacing the string nnnnnn with the actual numbers. Don't include the prefixes Q or KB

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=nnnnnn

Removing the entries from Add/Remove Programs applet

You will also see the corresponding Uninstall entries in Add or Remove Programs listing. There are two ways to remove the entries:

Method 1: Letting Add or Remove Programs do the cleanup automatically

After deleting the $NtUninstall.... folder for an update, open Add or Remove Programs applet and then attempt to uninstall the update. Add or Remove Programs then realizes that the backup files (or the uninstall files) have already been removed, and prompts the user with a dialog similar to the following:

An error occurred while trying to remove Security Update for Windows XP (KB899589). It may have already been uninstalled.

Would you like to remove Security Update for Windows XP (KB899589) from the Add or Remove programs list?

Click Yes to remove the entry from Add or Remove Programs list automatically.
Method 2: Manually removing the entries from Add or Remove Programs

* Click Start, Run and type regedit.exe
* Navigate to the the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Uninstall

* Backup the branch by exporting to a file.
* Select the appropriate sub-key (denoted by the update ID) and delete the key.
* Close Registry Editor.

Configure Windows XP to Automatically Login

2009-05-13T09:44:00.002-07:00

After downloading fixes from Windows Updates page or via Automatic Updates, you may notice that Windows XP no longer logs into your account automatically. This is usually caused after the installation of .NET Framework from Microsoft. It creates an additional user account called ASP.NET, which you can see in the Control Panel User Accounts applet. But, you neither need to remove this update nor delete this account. You can still configure Windows XP to automatically login using these method:

Method 1

Click Start, Run and type CONTROL USERPASSWORDS2, and click Ok. Select the user account from the list (the account to which you want to automatically logon). Uncheck Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer option, and click Ok. Type the user account password and complete the process.

For Windows XP Home, don't try to auto-login as the built-in Administrator, as you'll receive an error message.

Remove the .NET Credentials (Stored User names and Passwords)

2009-05-13T09:44:00.001-07:00

To remove the Stored User Names and Passwords from your system, try this:

* Click Start, Run and type Control keymgr.dll
* Remove the entries from the list.

The other ways to access this dialog are:

Type Control Userpasswords2 in RUN box, click Advanced, Manage Passwords

-or-

From Control Panel, select your User Account, click Manage your network passwords