Tweaking Optimizing Windows.pdf - GEGeek

3. 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.
4. Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer
One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the
Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the
default, even in a shared PC environment at home.
Simply fire up the Registry Editor and backup and then delete the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\My
Computer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders\{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}"(Default)"=dword:00000
If you do this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This
Computer") will be gone.
5. Sort the default My Documents folders out
Microsoft Windows XP uses a lot of folders for each user. Everything from "My video" to your personal documents folder. Below is
where you can view the locations of these folders and can change them.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
Right click on the folders and select Modify. Change the path to a new path if you want to change the path.
Delete My EBooks and other special folders in My Documents
Click Start, then Run and type: regsvr32 /u mydocs.dll
then delete them
6. Do an unattended installation
The Windows XP Setup routine is much nicer than that in Windows 2000 or Windows Me, but it's still an hour-long process that
forces you to sit in front of your computer for an hour, answering dialog boxes and typing in product keys. But Windows XP picks up
one of the more useful features from Windows 2000, the ability to do an unattended installation, so you can simply prepare a script
that will answer all those dialogs for you. If you want to dual-boot Windows XP with another OS, you're going to have to go through
the interactive Setup just like everyone else: An unattended install will wipe out your hard drive and install only Windows XP,
usually.
To perform an unattended installation, you just need to work with the Setup Manager, which is located on the Windows XP CD-ROM
in D:\SupportTools\DEPLOY.CAB by default. Extract the contents of this file and you'll find a number of useful tools and help files;
the one we're interested in is named setupmgr.exe. This is a very simple wizard application that will walk you through the process of
creating an answer file called winnt.sif that can be used to guide Windows XP Setup through the unattended installation.
One final tip. There's one thing that Setup Manager doesn't add. Your product key. However, you can add this to the unattend.txt
file manually. Simply open the file in Notepad and add the following line under the [UserData] section:
ProductID="RK7J8-2PGYQ-P47VV-V6PMB-F6XPQ"
You'll have to substitute your actual product key for the string listed above, of course. Key above is a 60 day key.
Then, just copy winnt.sif to a floppy, put your Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD drive, and reboot: When the CD auto-boots, it will
look for the unattend.txt file in A: automatically, and use it to answer the Setup questions if it's there.
Finally, please remember that this will wipe out your system! Back up first, and spend some time with the help files in DEPLOY.CAB
before proceeding.
7. XP product activation
Microsoft believes that the activation process is solid, and will work in this situation so that you will not be left stranded at all. But,
suppose you don’t have a working phone line where you are, so that both telephone and modem contact are unavailable to you, and
you really need to get your computer up and running now! There’s a fix you can do on the spot. It involves backing out of the last
hardware change, and restoring the hardware configuration to the way it was when you activated, or close enough to that. Here’s
how to do it:
- Boot Windows XP into non-networked Safe Mode.
- Press and hold the F8 key right after the POST is finished, and selecting the correct option from a menu.
- At the command prompt, navigate to the System32 folder: cd \windows\system32
- Backup the file WPA.DBL - rename it something like OLDWPA.DBL; do not name it WPA.BAK.
- Copy the file WPA.BAK to WPA.DBL. - copy and not rename because you may want WPA.BAK file another time.
- Reboot the computer. It should load Windows XP in normal mode, and you’re back in business.
Here's how to check if your copy of XP is Activated
Go to the run box and type in oobe/msoobe /a and hit ok ...theirs your answer
Avoid XP Registration
To avoid registering your copy of Windows XP with Microsoft altogether, and to force XP into thinking you have already completed
the registration process, just follow these steps:
- Physically disconnect/unplug your network cable/connection (if any).
- Turn on (power up) your computer.