20 things you didn't know about Windows XP

You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets.

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. I Guess i came with just 19 things.

All about E-Mail

 To trace originally Email sender

The purpose of this guide is to show the process involved in tracing an email. The first step required to tracing an email is finding out the headers of the email. What are headers? Email headers are lines added at the top of an email message that are used by servers as the email goes on route to get delivered. Generally email clients only show the standard To, From, and Subject headers, but there are more.

Enabling Email Headers For Gmail

Step 1:Once Logged into your Gmail Account open the Email whose headers you want to view. Click on the �More Options� link in the message next to the date of the email.

Step 2: Now click the �Show Original� link.

Step 3: This link will popup a new window the headers and the body of the message.

Enabling Email Headers For Hotmail

Step 1:Once logged in, click on the "Options" link in the upper navigation bar.

Step 2: Now click on the "Mail Display Settings" link.

Step 3: Change the "Message Headers" option to "Full" and click ok.

Step 4: Go to your inbox and open any one of your email. You emails show now contain additional headers.

Enabling Email Headers For Yahoo

Step 1:Once logged in, click on the "Options" link in the upper navigation bar.

Step 2: Now click on the "General Preferences" link.

Step 3: In the paragraph titled Messages and locate the "Headers" heading and select "All".

Step 4: Go to your inbox and open any one of your email. You emails show now contain additional headers.

Track anyone by sending Email

If you want to track your victim or want to get his ip, location, browser settings, language or timings.All you have to do is get his e-mail id.

Once u have it.

Go here

Register there

Once registered .Send a E-mail to your victim by the email id you registered at readnotify.com

But before sending the mail just add ".readnotify.com" with the victims id.

For example [email protected]

And then send it.

When ever victim opens it his all the information will be mailed to you.

Create a Temporary Email

Many websites ask's you for e-mail address to download software or to register. But you don't know what they'll be doing with your e-mail.

Your e-mail will probably be stored in a database which may be get to the hands of spammers and you will be receiving unsolicited bulk e-mail.

This site can create a temporary e-mail address for you that will expire in the time you chose, all the mails directed to this e-mail will be transparently forwarded to your real e-mail.

For example, you need to register on a forum that requires e-mail verification, so you generate a spambox e-mail with an expiry of one hour. The generated e-mail will expire in an hour, and this time is enough for the foprum to send you verification code.

Key Board Shortcuts

What is the allure of keyboard shortcuts? Do they really save time? Why bother since my mouse is permanently attached to my hand?

I like to use keyboard shortcuts, especially if someone is watching me, because they make me look like a pro. With just a few key strokes I can leave a mouser spinning his wheel! Whatever your motivation, here's a big list of keyboard shortcuts:

GENERAL SHORTCUTS

ALT- F4 - Quit a program / Shut down

ALT-TAB - Hold down the ALT key and hit tab to cycle through open windows.

CTL-ESCAPE - Display the Start menu

SHIFT - TAB - tab backwards through a form

CTRL - X - Cut

CTRL - C - Copy

CTRL - V - Paste

F1 - Help menu

CTRL - Z - Undo

SHIFT & Restart - To restart just windows and not your whole computer, hold down the shift key when you click the OK button on the shutdown screen. Saves lots of time. (not for XP)

CRTL-TAB - Navigate tabs on a tabbed screen

FILE & DESKTOP SHORTCUTS

Hold SHIFT while inserting a CD - Prevents the CD from "autorunning"

If an item is selected:

CTRL while dragging a file - Copies the file

CTRL - SHIFT while dragging a file - Creates a shortcut to the file

SHIFT - DELETE - Deletes an item without sending it to the recycle bin.

ALT-ENTER - Display a file's properties.

F2 - To rename the file

In Windows Explorer:

LEFT ARROW - Collapse the current selection if it is expanded

NUM LOCK-MINUS SIGN (-) - Collapse the selected folder

RIGHT ARROW - Expand the current selection if it is collapsed -Or- Select the first subfolder

NUM LOCK- * Expand all folders below the current selection

NUM LOCK- PLUS SIGN (+) - Expand the selected folder

F6 - Switch between left and right panes

In My Computer:

BACKSPACE - View the folder one level up

ALT- RIGHT ARROW - Move forward to a previous view

ALT- LEFT ARROW -Move backward to a previous view

 

 

INTERNET BROWSER SHORTCUTS

For Internet Explorer 6 and Netscape 7 (may work in older versions)

Open History Window Ctrl+H

Reload Ctrl+R

Back (Previous Page) Alt+Left Arrow or Alt+Backspace

Forward (Next Page) Alt+Right Arrow

Stop Esc

Home Alt+Home

Go to Bottom of Page End

Go to Top of Page Home

New Window Ctrl+N

Close WIndow Ctrl+W

Go Up one Line Up Arrow

Go Down One Line Down Arrow

Full Screen (toggle) F11

Find on Page Ctrl+F

Add Current Page to Favorites Ctrl+D

Print Current Page

or Active Frame Ctrl+P

Organize Favorites (IE)/ Manage Bookmarks (NS)

Ctrl+B

Maximize a Window Alt+Space+x

Minimize a window Alt+Space+N

Scroll page up Alt+Up Arrow

Scroll page down Alt+Down Arrow

 

Internet Explorer ONLY

Open Favorites Bar Ctrl+I

Select text in address bar Alt+D

Force Reload (not from cache) Ctrl+F5

A faster way to type in addresses with IE is to just type in the name of the site:

worldstart

and hit CTRL + Enter. The "http://www. " and ".com" will be added for you!

Netscape ONLY

Open / Close Sidebar Panel (toggle) F9

Select text in Location Bar Ctrl+L

Force Reload (not from Cache) Ctrl+Shift+R

Zoom Text Smaller Ctrl+- (minus)

Zoom text larger Ctrl+= (plus sign)

WINDOWS KEY SHORTCUTS

The Windows key can be used in conjunction with other keys to act as a keyboard shortcut for faster access to menu commands. Now, while the Alt key tends to open program menus (ex: Alt+F opens the File menu and Alt+E opens the Edit menu) and the Ctrl key performs actual operations (ex: Ctrl+C will copy and Ctrl+V will paste), the Windows key will open various Windows tools...

Win key + R will open the Start menu's Run box

Win key + F will open the Start menu's Find window

Win key + E will quickly launch Explorer

Win key + Pause/Break will open the System Properties window

Win key + M will Minimize all windows

Win key + Shift + M will undo Minimize all windows

Win key + D will switch between minimizing all open programs and showing them all

Win key + Tab will cycle through items on the taskbar

Win key by itself will open the Start menu

You can also open programs or folders on your desktop by pressing the Windows key + the first letter of the program/folder/shortcut + Enter . Sounds kinda tedious, but if you're in a bind with your mouse, it can come in quite handy.

ARROW TRICKS

Here's a cool little arrow trick to try with word processing programs. Next time you're using your arrow keys to go from one area of a sentence to another (left and right arrows), hold down your CTRL key. Instead of moving one space at a time, you'll go one word at a time.

If you're using the up and down arrows to go from line to line, holding down the CTRL key will make your cursor jump from paragraph to paragraph (well, from carriage return to carriage return anyway).

One last thing, if you hold down the SHIFT key while you do this (i.e. hold down SHIFT + CTRL at the same time), you select text as you arrow along.

I've tested this in MS Word and Wordpad, but it *should* work no matter what word processing program you use. HOME / END KEY FUN

Do you ever find yourself scrolling through a huge folder ? Well, if you need to get to the beginning or the end quickly, just press Ctrl+Home . If you want to get to the end, click Ctrl+End.

Hey, that's not all!

This little trick works on more than just folders. If you use the Home key in a word processor, it goes to the beginning of the line you're currently working on. If you hit the END key, it should head to the end of the current line. If you pair Home & End up with the Ctrl key in a word processor, you will be whisked away to the beginning or end of the document. Again, this should work, but it depends on your word processor.

Speedup your work by using keyboard more and mouse less.

Useful Shortcut:

Start + M: Minimizes all open windows

Start + Shift + M: Maximizes All Windows

Start + E: Runs Windows Explorer

Start + R: Open the RUN Dialog Box

Start + F: Open the Search Results Dialog box

Start + CTRL + F: Opens the Search Results-Computer dialog Box (if the computer is connected to a network)

Start + Pause (Break): Opens the System Properties Dialog Box

Windows System Key Combinations:

F1: Help

CTRL + ESC: Open Start menu

ALT + TAB: Switch between open programs

ALT + F4: Quit program

SHIFT + DELETE: Delete item permanently

Windows Program Key Combinations:

CTRL + C: Copy

CTRL + X: Cut

CTRL + V: Paste

CTRL + Z: Undo

CTRL + B: Bold

CTRL + U: Underline

CTRL + I: Italic

 

Mouse Click/Keyboard Modifier Combinations for Shell Objects:

 

SHIFT + right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands

SHIFT + double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)

ALT + double click: Displays properties

SHIFT + DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

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 Shortcuts 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.

To Create a Shortcut: Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

 

General Folder/Shortcut Control:

F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer)

F5: Refreshes the current window.

F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer

CTRL + G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only)

CTRL + Z: Undo the last command

CTRL + A: Select all the items in the current window

BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder

SHIFT + click + Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

 

Windows Explorer Tree Control:

Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection

Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection

Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection.

RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child

LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent

 

Properties Control:

CTRL + TAB/CTRL + SHIFT + TAB: Move through the property tabs

 

Accessibility Shortcuts:

Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off

Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: Toggles FilterKeys on and off

Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: Toggles ToggleKeys on and off

Left ALT + left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off

Left ALT + left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Keys:

Windows Logo: Start menu

Windows Logo + R: Run dialog box

Windows Logo + M: Minimize all

SHIFT + Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all

Windows Logo + F1: Help

Windows Logo + E: Windows Explorer

Windows Logo + F: Find files or folders

Windows Logo + D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop

CTRL + Windows Logo + F: Find computer

CTRL + Windows Logo + TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)

Windows Logo + TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons

Windows Logo + Break: System Properties dialog box

Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item

Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software Installed:

Windows Logo + L: Log off Windows

Windows Logo + P: Starts Print Manager

Windows Logo + C: Opens Control Panel

Windows Logo + V: Starts Clipboard

Windows Logo + K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialog box

Windows Logo + I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box

Windows Logo + A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)

Windows Logo + SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys

Windows Logo + S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off

Dialog Box Keyboard Commands:
TAB: Move to the next control in the dialog box

SHIFT + TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialog box

SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option.

ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)

ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button

ALT + underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item

Trick to see how many gals/guys are there in anybody's Friends List

1)Go to your friends profile

2)Under the Friends click VIEW ALL

3)Now you can see all friends of that person

4)In the address bar (place where u type website name) you can see uid followed by a number, at the end of the number add

&q=female For seeing number of girls and press enter.

&q=male For seeing number of guys and press enter.

Automate The Installation Of Windows XP

You can create a CD that can install Windows XP automatically, putting in all the details and answering all the dialog boxes.

The secret behind this is the answer file, which tells Windows what to do while it’s installing. The answer file can be created using Windows setup manager.

Using this tool, you can make the answer file so powerful that you can even tell Windows to include or exclude individual components, set the display resolution, and more.

Here’s the Steps involved in creating XP Automated Installation Disc :

Step 1: To begin with, insert your Windows XP installation CD into the drive and copy the entire contents of the CD to a new folder on your hard disk.

Step 2: Navigate to the Support > Tools folder on the CD and double-click the Deploy.cab file. Copy all the files to a new folder on your hard disk.

Step 3: The crucial part begins now, creating the answer file. To execute the windows setup manager, double click the Setupmgr.exe file from the contents of the Deploy.cab, which you just copied onto the hard drive.

Step 4: The first few steps of the wizard are self explanatory. Select the following options from the successive dialog boxes. Create a new answer file; Windows unattended installation (Select the appropriate Windows version); “Fully automated”; “No this answer file will be used to install from CD”; and finally, accept the license agreement.

Step 5: Under the General Settings, you can customize the installation of Windows by providing the default name and organization, display settings, time zone and the product key. Fill in the fields using the drop-down list or by keying in the details. If you don’t select an option from the drop-down list, the default values will be used.

Step 6: After you are done click Finish and save the answer file as “winnt.sif” when you are prompted. Advanced users can further tweak the answer file by referring to the Help file called Ref.chm in the same folder.

Step 7: Finally copy the answer file to i386 folder in the Windows XP installation folder you created in the beginning.

Step 8: To burn a bootable installation disc, you need the boot sector of the Windows XP CD. Download it from here

Step 9: Launch Nero and select CD-ROM (Boot) from the New Compilation dialog box. Under the Boot tab, specify the boot sector file you downloaded and extracted. Set the emulation as “No emulation”, and keep the boot message blank. Most importantly, remember to set the “Number of loaded sectors” as 4.

Step 10: Under the Burn tab, set the write method to disc at-once. Click the New button to to begin adding files and folders to the compilation. Drag all the contents of the Windows XP installation disc that you copied to your hard drive (with the answer file in the i386 folder) into the left pane. Insert a blank CD into the optical drive and hit burn button. Your windows automated installation Disc is ready

Make bootable windows xp cd

Download boot file from here

Start Nero Burning ROM.

1.) Select CD-ROM (Boot).

2.) Select Image file from Source of boot image data.

3.) Check Enable expert settings (for advanced users only!).

4.) Set Kind of emulation: to No Emulation.

5.) Set Load segment of sectors (hex!): to 0000.

6.) Set Number of loaded sectors: to 4.

7.) Set Platform identifier: to Intel x86 compatible.

8.) Press the Browse button and Locate the BootSector file (boot.ima)

Click on the ISO tab.

- Set File name length to Max. of 31 chars (ISO Level 2).

- Set Format to Mode 1.

- Set Character Set to ISO 9660 (standard ISO CD-ROM).

- Check the Joliet check box.

- Check all Relax ISO Restrictions.

- Check Allow more than 64 characters for Joliet names

Click the Burn tab.

- Check Write.

- Check Finalize CD (No further writing possible!).

- Set Write Method to Disc-at-once. (We have had Track-At-Once work as well.)

- Click the New button.

- Select everything in the folder and drag it to the ISO compilation panel.

- Click the Write CD Dialog button

Click the Boot tab.

- Verify the settings. Correct if needed.

- Click the Burn button.

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