Windows Tips

XP Tips & Tweaks
These tips and tweaks have come from hundreds of individuals across the internet. I
have included some of web sites links (below) that cover this popular topic.
I have not tried most of these tips, so let me know if some don't work or have
mistakes.

Stop Jerky Graphics
If you are connected to a LAN and have problems with jerky graphics, this might be the
solution:
· Right-click "My Computer".
· Select "Manage".
· Click on "Device Manager".
· Double-click on your NIC under "Network Adapters".
· In the new window, select the "Advanced" tab.
· Select "Connection Type" and manually set the value of your NIC. (Not "Auto Sense"
which is default.).
· You should reboot.

Shutdown XP Faster
Like previous versions of windows, it takes long time to restart or shutdown windows
XP when the "Exit Windows" sound is enabled. To solve this problem you must disable this
useless sound.
· Click Start button.
· Go to settings > Control Panel > Sound, Speech and Audio devices > Sounds and Audio
Devices > Sounds.
· Then under program events and windows menu click on "Exit Windows" sub-menu and
highlight it. Now from sounds you can select, choose "none" and then click Apply and
OK.
Now you should see some improvements when shutting down your system.

Easily Disable Messenger
Go into: C:/Program Files/Messenger. Rename the Messenger folder to "MessengerOFF".
This does not slow down Outlook Express or hinder system performance.

Turn Off System Restore to Save Space
By default, Windows XP keeps a backup of system files in the System Volume Information
folder. This can eat up valuable space on your hard drive. If you don't want Windows to
back up your system files:
· Open the Control Panel.
· Double-click on System.
· Click the System Restore tab.
· Check "Turn off System Restore on all drives".
· Hit Apply.
· You may now delete the System Volume Information folder.
Warning! If you turn this off you will not be able to use Windows System Restore to
restore your system in case of failure.

Very Slow Boot When Networking
On some XP Pro installations, when connected to a network (peer-peer in this case),
the computer boot time is over 1:40. The system seems to freeze after logging in and the
desktop may not appear or will freeze for a minute. As timed with the utility,
Bootvis.exe, the problem was with the driver mrxsmb.dll, adding over 67 seconds to the
boot time. Turning off and restoring file and printer sharing eliminated 65 seconds from
the boot time.
· Alt-click (or right-click) on Network Places > Properties.
· Alt-click on Ethernet Adapter connection > Properties.
· Un-check "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" > OK.
· Reboot.
· If you need file or printer sharing, repeat the above, re-check the box and re-boot
again.

Slow Start-up When Using Norton Internet Security 2002
If you are using Norton Internet Security 2002, and are experiencing slow start-up of
XP, (i.e. you can see the desktop with icons etc. but it takes 30-60sec before you can
start using the computer), this fix might help:
· Click on Start button.
· Select Control Panel.
· Open "Network Connections".
· Under "LAN and High-Speed Internet", right-click on your "Local Area Connection" and
select "Properties".
· Under "General" tab, select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and select "Properties".
· Select "Use the following IP address:".
· Under "IP address" enter following : 192.168.0.1
· Under "Subnet Mask:" enter following : 255.255.255.0
· Click "Ok".

Correcting System Hang at Startup
If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access the Start
button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service (Background Intelligent
Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch for this but it didn't
work for me. Here's what you do:
· Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.
· Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service.
· Disable it, apply the changes & reboot.

Disable XP Boot Logo
It is possible to disable the XP splash screen, which will slightly speed up the
overall boot process. Be aware that removing the splash screen will also cause you not
to see any boot-up messages that might come up (chkdsk, convert ... ), but if your system
runs without any problems then it should not matter.
· Edit boot.ini.
· Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".
Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the
new switch.

You Can Bypass the Recycle Bin On the Fly
To bypass the Recycle Bin on a one-time basis, when you are deleting a file (or a
group of selected files):
· Press and hold down the shift-key while you press the del-key (or use the delete
command). You receive the following confirmation-request message:
Are you sure you want to send to the Recycle Bin?

Remove Unwanted Shortcuts
· In the Welcome to the Desktop Cleanup Wizard dialog box, click Next.
· In the Shortcuts dialog box, a list of shortcuts are displayed in the Shortcut to
Clean Up list. The shortcuts that you click are removed from the desktop and placed in
the Unused Desktop Shortcuts folder on the Windows desktop.
· If you do not want a shortcut to be removed from the desktop, click to clear the
check box for that shortcut, and then click Next when you are finished.
· In the Completing the Desktop Cleanup Wizard dialog box, view the items in the
Shortcuts box to confirm that you want them removed from the desktop, and then click
Finish.
The Desktop Cleanup Wizard moves the selected shortcuts to the Unused Desktop
Shortcuts folder and then quits.

Restore Shortcuts
If a shortcut that you want is removed, follow these steps to restore the shortcut:
· On the Desktop, double-click the Unused Desktop Shortcuts folder. The Unused
Desktop Shortcuts dialog box is displayed. Note: If the Unused Desktop Shortcuts dialog
box is maximized, click the Restore Down button (appears to the left of the red Close
button).
· Drag the shortcut that you want to the Windows desktop.
· Close the Unused Desktop Shortcuts dialog box.

How to Turn On Automatic Updates
· Click Start , click Control Panel , and then double-click System.
· Click the Automatic Updates tab, and then click one of the following options:
- Download the updates automatically and notify me when they are ready to be
installed. (This is the default setting.)
- Notify me before downloading any updates and notify me again before installing them
on my computer.

How to Turn Off Automatic Updates
· Click Start , click Control Panel , and then double-click System.
· Click the Automatic Updates tab, and then click Turn off automatic updating. I want
to update my computer manually.

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