Helpful PC Tweaks - Page 3

ravaila · #21 Thursday, September 10, 2009

Registry Tweak

Show administrator account on welcome screen

If you wish the built in administrator account to be available from the welcome screen so you can log in as the administrator easily, there's a registry hack to allow this:

Open REGEDIT

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserLis t

Add the DWORD value 'Administrator' with a value of '1'

ravaila · #22 Friday, September 11, 2009

Run command prompt utilities successfully from shortcuts

If you have ever tried to create a shortcut to 'IPCONFIG' or any of the other myriads of useful command prompt utilities included with Windows XP, you have probably noticed that it does not actually work… Or rather, it does, but the command prompt window with your data opens and closes in a flash.

Here's a tip that will allow you to create working shortcuts on your desktop for any command. We will use the IPCONFIG utility as an example:

Right click an empty area of the desktop and select 'new.' Choose 'new shortcut' to open the shortcut wizard. In the 'type the location of the item' box, enter 'cmd /k' followed by the program you wish to run. In the case of IPCONFIG, you would enter 'cmd /k ipconfig'.

Name your shortcut something appropriate and give it an icon from the '%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll' location. Now you have a fully working, very convenient desktop shortcut.

ravaila · #23 Saturday, September 12, 2009

Launch Programs at Login Without Using the Startup Folder

Windows XP also uses the registry to launch programs at startup, and you can too. This tip enables you to specify programs to be launched automatically upon starting Windows:

Open REGEDIT

Navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run'

Create a REG_SZ value named after your program, with the value being the path to the executable file (for example, 'C:\myprogram\myprogram.exe').

ravaila · #24 Sunday, September 13, 2009

Display message at Startup

If you would like to display any message in a popup window when Windows is started, here's how:
1-Go to Start> Run, then type in: regedit
2-Hit [Enter] on your keyboard
3-Follow this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogo
4-Modify the key LegalNoticeCaption with your text of choice.
5-Modify the key LegalNoticeText with your text of choice.
6-Restart Windows for this to take affect.

ravaila · #25 Monday, September 14, 2009

Stop Windows Messenger

If you do not want Windows Messenger to load automatically on Startup, simply delete the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run\MSMSGS

ravaila · #26 Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Using the "Ping" Command

A very handy method of checking your computer's networking connection is the Ping command. Let's say that you are having trouble connecting to a certain site. You can PING that site to see if it is accessible. If the site is not the trouble, try PINGing your Internet Service Provider to see if the problem is at their end.

Using the PING command in Windows XP/NT/2000:
Once you are online, go to Start>> Run. Type in: cmd.exe [Enter]

Using the Ping command in Windows 95/98/ME:
Once you are online, go to Start>> Programs>> MS DOS [Enter]

At the command prompt:

Type in: ping www.your-isp.com [Enter]

ravaila · #27 Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Disable "Automatic Restart" feature

Windows XP has an automatic restart feature that is designed to restart the operating system when an error is detected. Most of the time, one restart and you're back in business again. However, on some rare occasions your system may continually keep restarting making it difficult to determine what the problem is. To disable this feature follow the instructions outlined below:

Click Start>> Control Panel>> System>> Advanced tab.
Under the Startup and Recovery category, click the Settings button.
Uncheck the "Automatically restart" entry.
Click Apply and then exit all windows.

Fatima2009 · #28 Thursday, September 17, 2009

Can any body please tell me how can we save/download you tube videos on our pc...I mean I have to download them each time I want to watch...Is it not possible to save them with so that I may watch them when I am offline???

Xeric · #29 Thursday, September 17, 2009

@Fatima2009

Download YouTube Downloader

or use the following site:

http://keepvid.com/

ravaila · #30 Thursday, September 17, 2009

To access Safe Mode,

you have to press F8 as soon as you see booting into Windows XP text. This can sometimes be quite tricky, especially on very fast systems. To make it a little easier, you can tap the F8 key continually during the entire boot sequence, and if you have a dual boot system, select the OS, press Enter and F8 at the same time to enter Safe Mode.

Using MSCONFIG to Access SAFE MODE

From Start> Run Type: msconfig
Choose the Boot.ini tab
From Boot Option
Select /SAFEBOOT by placing a check in the box.
Press Apply
Press OK
Select Restart
System will boot into Safe Mode
BEFORE rebooting from Safe mode repeat steps 1 thru 7 and uncheck the box selecting /SAFEBOOT
Press Apply
Press OK
Select Restart
You will get a message that your are in Troubleshooting Mode, place a check in the "do not show this again" box; press OK
From Start> Run; once again Type: msconfig
From the General Tab
Select Normal Startup
Press Apply
Press OK
This will restore normal boot.

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The Following User Says Thank You to ravaila For This Useful Post:
ambren_kanval (Friday, September 11, 2009)

The Following User Says Thank You to ravaila For This Useful Post:
Waseemtabish (Tuesday, September 15, 2009)

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Xeric For This Useful Post:
Artemis (Thursday, September 17, 2009), Fatima2009 (Thursday, September 17, 2009), ravaila (Thursday, September 17, 2009)