WinXP Clear VM Page file on shutdown
Go to Control panel Administrative tools, local security policy. then goto local policies ---> security options. Then change the option for "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"

Turn off hibernation
Control Panel-Screen Saver Power-Hibernate Tab-uncheck hibernation box-reboot and hiberfil.sys is no more.

Clear Type fonts are better for Laptops
To use clear type fonts at the logon screen, save following to a .reg file and import it in registry or edit the registry directly.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "FontSmoothing"="2" "FontSmoothingType"=dword:00000002 [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop] "FontSmoothing"="2" "FontSmoothingType"=dword:00000002

For those of you who do not know how to use clear type fonts in normal session here are the instructions: Right click on at any free area of the desktop and go to appearance tab of Display Properties. Click on effects and check the box saying "use following methods to smooth edges of screen fonts" and select clear type.

Identify Faulty Device Drivers
If you are having problems with lockups, blue screens, or can only get to safe mode, often the problem is due to a faulty device driver. One way to help identify them is through the use of the Verfier program Start / Run / Verifier
Keep the default of Create Standard Settings
Select the type of drivers you want to confirm
A list of drivers to be verified on the next boot will be shown. Reboot
If your computer stops with a blue screen, you should get an error message with the problem driver
To turn off the Verifier, run verifier /reset

Viewing Installed Drivers
If you want to see a list of installed drivers, you can run the driverquery program
There are a lot of available switches to view different types of information. On use can be to export to a CSV file for viewing in Excel An example would then be:
driverquery /v /fo csv > drivers.csv

Common Control Panel Applets
The following are some common Control Panel Applets that are located in the \windows\system32 directory. If you find yourself using any of these frequently, then you can simply make shortcuts to them on your desktop.
appwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs
desk.cpl Display Properties
firewall.cpl Firewall Settings
inetcpl.cpl Internet Options
mmsys.cpl Sound and Audio
ncpa.cpl Network Connections
nusrmgr.cpl User Accounts
powercfg.cpl Power Options
sysdm.cpl System Properties
wscui.cpl Security Center
wuaucpl.cpl Automatic Updates Configuration

Guest Only Network Access
If you try and connect to an XP computer and are shown a logins screen with only the computername/Guest as username, You may need to change one of the Local Security Policies:
Got to Control Panel - Administrative Tools
Go to Local Policies - Security Options
Double-click "Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts"
Select "Classic - local users authenticate as themselves" and click OK

Easy Way to Share Multiple Folders
If you need to share multiple folders, running the program SHRPUBW.EXE will bring up a simple dialog box to let you:
Browse to the folder you want to share
Enter in a Share name
Ender in a Share description
Set permissions. Several choices are available
Restart the process from within the same program

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. It speed up your boot time and free resources.
They are only suggestions so it is up to you to read the description of each one and decide which ones you want to turn off (disable).
Go to Administrative Tools - Services
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.

Stopping the Messenger Service
To remove the ability for anyone in the world to pop up messages on your computer, you can disable the Messenger service.
Click Start->Settings ->Control Panel
Click Performance and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double click Services
Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"
Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties
Click the STOP button
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar Click OK

Windows XP Repair Install
If XP is corrupted to the point where none of the previous solutions get it to boot, you can do a Repair Install that might work as well as keep the current settings.
Make sure you have your valid WindowsXP key.
The whole process takes about half an hour depending on your computer If you are being prompted for the administrator's password, you need to choose the 2nd repair option, not the first.

Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD
At the second R=Repair option, press the R key
This will start the repair
Press F8 for I Agree at the Licensing Agreement
Press R when the directory where WindowsXP is installed is shown. Typically this is C:\WINDOWS
It will then check the C: drive and start copying files
It will automatically reboot when needed. Keep the CD in the drive.
You will then see the graphic part of the repair that is like during a normal install of XP (Collecting Information, Dynamic Update, Preparing Installation, Installing Windows, Finalizing Installation)
When prompted, click on the Next button
When prompted, enter your XP key
Normally you will want to keep the same Workgroup or Domain name
The computer will reboot, Then you will have the same screens as a normal XP Install
Activate if you want (usually a good idea)
Register if you want (but not necessary)
Finish
At this point you should be able to log in with any existing accounts.

NTOSKRNL Missing or Corrupt
At boot time, If you get an error that NTOSKRNL not found:
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Change to the drive that has the CD ROM.
CD i386
expand ntkrnlmp.ex_ C:\Windows\System32\ntoskrnl.exe
If WindowsXP is installed in a different location, just make the necessary change to C:\Windows
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

At boot, you get "HAL.DLL Missing or Corrupt"
If you get an error regarding a missing or corrupt hal.dll file, it might simply be the BOOT.INI file on the root of the C: drive that is misconfigured
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Type bootcfg /list to show the current entries in the BOOT.INI file
Type bootcfg /rebuild to repair it
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Corrupted or Missing \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG
At boot,if you get the error:
Windows could not start because the following files is missing or corrupt \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM or \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Enter in the administrator password when requested
cd \windows\system32\config
Depending on which section was corrupted:
ren software software.bad or ren system system.bad
Depending on which section was corrupted
copy \windows\repair\system
copy \windows\repair\software
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM Not Found
If you get an error that NTLDR is not found during bootup,
If you have FAT32 partitions, it is much simpler than with NTFS. Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files from the i386 directory to the root of the C:\ drive.
For NTFS:
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Enter in the administrator password when requested
Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive.
COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\:
COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Restoring Access to CD ROMs
If after you remove CD Burning software, you can no longer access your CD ROM's, the following registry keys need to be deleted:
Locate and delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

ReInstalling WindowsXP
If you need to reinstall WindowsXP and want to keep all your current installed applications and settings:
Start WindowsXP
Go to the location of your source files
Run WINNT32 /unattend
I've often need to do this to repair something that had gotten corrupted and didn't want to do a clean install.

Getting MP3 ripping to work in Windows Media Player 8 in XP
Open the registry editor (Start->Run->regedit->Enter) Go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Settings\MP3Encoding]
Setup the following:-
"LowRate"=dword:0000dac0
"MediumRate"=dword:0000fa00
"MediumHighRate"=dword:0001f400
"HighRate"=dword:0002ee00
This corresponds to 56, 64, 128 and 192 Kbps.
You can change this to your liking using the following dword hex values :
320 Kbps = dword:0004e200
256 Kbps = dword:0003e800
224 Kbps = dword:00036b00
192 Kbps = dword:0002ee00
160 Kbps = dword:00027100
128 Kbps = dword:0001f400
112 Kbps = dword:0001b580
64 Kbps = dword:0000fa00
56 Kbps = dword:0000dac0

Setting priority for DNS lookups to speed up Internet connection
Open the registry editor and goto:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProvider] Edit the following entries;
"Class"=dword:00000001
"DNSPriority"=dword:00000001
"HostsPriority"=dword:00000003
"LocalPriority"=dword:00000002
"ProviderPath"=string:%SystemRoot%\System32\wsock32.dll
"NetbtPriority"=dword:00000004
"Name"="TCP/IP"

Windows XP Network Bridge
On most new systems there is a built in network connection as well as a 1394 (Firewire) connection. Both of these connections can be found in the Network Connections window found in the control panel. This may want to be done while the system is not connected to a network as some switches are set to shut-down a port if the bridge command is given. This is not a problem for this procedure, as you will not make the bridge to the network permanent.

Select both connections, right click and choose Bridge Connections. The system will process your request and return with another network connection called a Network Bridge. Right click the Network Bridge and choose Properties
Turn off the check next to Local Area Connection to remove it from the Bridge. Click the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the items list and click the Properties button.
Use a non-routable address that does not match your router's or ISP subnet. In this example I use the 10.x.x.x address. Make your machine its own gateway. In other words, the Default gateway address matches the IP address (Figure 4). Click OK. Click OK.
Complete this procedure on all the machines in the network. 1394 comes with multiple connects, so you will daisy chain your machines.
You will now have two sections in your Network Connections and thus, two network paths out of your computer (Figure 5). Here are a few things you can do with this:
1. Remove FILE AND PRINT SHARING from the Ethernet connection and share your network resources through the Bridge.
2. Share your Internet connection through your 1394. This work GREAT for LAN parties where you want to connect to an outside source. Some games will not allow you to connect through a router on multiple machines. Just connect through your fastest machine and share the internet connection to the other machines. I used this to team up on HALO.
3. Move files from one machine to another at 400 mbps.
4. Firewire drives only work on one machine at a time, so people constantly have to disconnect their drive from one machine to connect it to another to utilize the 400 mbps speed. In this scenario, you can connect your Firewire device to one machine and share it to the others all while still being able to transfer at 400mbps.

Increasing number of max downloads in IE
Open the registry editor and go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings
On the Edit menu, click Add Value and then add the following registry values:
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=Dword:0000000a "MaxConnectionsPerServer"=Dword:0000000a

Syncing Windows clock with Internet time server
Open the registry editor and navigate to:
KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services \W32Time\TimeProviders\NtpClient
Select "SpecialPollInterval" and change the decimal value (in seconds)to your choice:
172800 (2 Days) or 86400 (1 Day) or 1800 (30 minutes)

Automatically removing unneeded DLLs from cache memory
Here's how to improve system performance by having Win XP automatically remove unneeded DLLs from cache memory. Sometimes XP keeps DLLs in cache memory even when the program that required them is no longer running and this cuts down on the memory available to other applications. You can use a simple Registry hack to have XP automatically remove from cache memory DLLs that are no longer needed by programs.
Open the registry editor and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Create a new DWORD value named AlwaysUnloadDll, and give it a data value of 1. Exit the Registry and reboot for the new setting to take effect. Note that this setting may cause problems with some programs. Some Windows programs—especially older and 16-bit programs—may issue error messages with this setting in effect; so if that starts happening, delete the new key or give it a value of 0.

Windows XP Pro "gpedit.msc" tweaks.
There are several services/programs that you can safely disable under "Group Policy"
Click Start-->Run-->gpedit.msc-->Enter
Stop Windows Messenger from working
Choose, Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Messenger.
Double-click 'Do not allow Windows Messenger to be run' and select "Enable"
Turn off User Tracking
choose, User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Start Menu, and Taskbar. Double-click 'Turn off user tracking' and select "Enable"

The Windows' Logo Key
The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don't' ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following commands:

Windows: Display the Start menu
Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows + F: Display Search for files
Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center
Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows + L: Lock the workstation
Windows + U: Open Utility Manager
Windows + Q: Quick switching of users (Powertoys only)
Windows + Q: Hold Windows Key, then tap Q to scroll thru the different users on your PC

Speed up your Internet browsing
When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth. Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address, the stuff that TCP/IP really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time you visit the site. Although Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.
You can do this with the registry entries below:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit

Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above into it and save it. Merge it into the registry.