Windows XP
Service Pack 2
CHKDSK -
(Start | Run | 'chkdsk' ) or repair with (Start | Run | 'chkdsk/r' )
CLEANMGR -
(Start | Run | 'cleanmgr' )
DXDIAG
DirectX Diagnostic Tool - (Start | Run | 'dxdiag' )
MSCONFIG -
Microsoft System
Configuration Utility - (Start | Run | 'msconfig'
)
(If not available, download
here)
services.msc -
(Start | Run | 'services.msc'
) info
MMC - Microsoft Management Console
- (Start | Run | 'mmc' )
System Information Tool - (Start | Run | 'msinfo32' )
Windows Version - (Start | Run | 'winver' )
Shared Folders Wizard - (Start | Run | 'shrpubw.exe ')
Domain info lookup - (Start | Run | 'cmd' | 'nslookup')
File Signature Verification tool (Start | Run | 'sigverif.exe')
View Minidump files (Start | Run | '%SystemRoot%\Minidump')
System Properties - Right click My Computer, Properties
Turn off Indexing Service
XP
Remote Assistance
Turn off Internet Connection Firewall (or other firewall)
Using Remote Assistance (Microsoft)
Remote Assistance (informIT)
System Restore - adjust space
Right click My Computer, then Properties, and System
Restore tab.
Select the hard drive you wish to adjust and click the
Settings button.
Move the slider all the way to the left to choose 200
megabytes.
System Restore - check to see if
you have enough "Restore Points"
Click
Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore
Select
"Restore my computer to an earlier time" and click next
Next, click
Cancel to exit the Restore tool.
System File Checker - System File Checker checks
for damaged or replaced system files, and then prompts you to replace any
files that do not match the original Windows files. Use cautiously - see
here.
Optimize Windows here
WinSock XP Fix 1.2 - fix XP internet
connectivity
TweakUI
XP Rebuild
Password Recovery
Offline
NT Password & Registry Editor
Create and Use a Password Reset Disk
NTAccess - Password Reset
Tool $90
Offline NT
pw & reg-editor, bootdisk
John the Ripper
password cracker
@stake LC 5
- Award Winning Password Recovery and Auditing Tool
InsidePro - Passwords recovery and encryption
Power Management
EZ Wizard
How to get to the web if your
browser is blocked or broken
Web browser software is blocked by administrative policy, or not working? You
may still be able to get to web sites. This is a case where Help can actually be
helpful!
- Open a program such as Microsoft Calculator.
- Press the F1 key to open the Help window.
- In the top left corner, click the "document with a question mark" icon.
- Select "Jump to URL."
- Type in the URL of the website you want to visit, and it comes up in the
right pane of the Help window.
Important tip: you must type the full URL, with http://, not the shortened
version that starts with www.
Tweak UI
23 Ways To
Speed WinXP Without Defrag
WinsockXPFix.exe (repair Winsock and TCP)
Winsock Fix
instructions (for above)
Product Lifecycle Dates - Windows Product Family
Wayne's Windows XP
Resources
Logon
Command-line tools
Command-line reference A-Z
PowerToys
Black Viper
performance tweaks
Pacman's Portal startup
tips
Langa
Letter: Ten Ways To Make Windows XP Run Better
Langa Letter: Ten More Ways To Make Windows XP Run Better
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard
Windows Registry Guide (formerly
RegEdit.com)
New Life For Windows XP
The Elder Geek on Windows XP
Disable/remove
Windows Messenger
Uninstall or
remove Windows Messenger
Remove Windows
Messaging on Windows XP
Windows XP Support Center
Doug's Windows 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Tips
WindowsXP Tips
(Bob Cerelli)
HOW TO: Prepare to
Upgrade to Windows XP
Upgrading to Windows XP
RockXP - recover XP
activation code
Windows Product
Activation Info
Customizing
Right-Click Menu Options
Windows XP
Startup Programs Tracker
File &
Printer Sharing
LabMice.net: Windows 2000\2003\XP
Resource Center
Protect Your PC: Protect Your PC Options for Windows XP
How to configure Pop-up
Blocker in Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer Information Bar in Windows XP XP2
Change Startup screen
Introduction to Windows XP Service Pack 2
SP2 Experiences
How
to set performance options in Windows XP
How to
successfully install Windows XP Service Pack 2
Service Pack 2
Installation Checklist
Problems accessing
secure Web pages with Service Pack 2
How To Save an Hour (Or More) On XP Installs
System Settings for a Game
Machine
TweakXP.com - Tweaks, Tips, Hacks, Visual
Styles, Support, and Software for Microsoft Windows XP
Page File
Monitor for Windows XP - If that utility shows actual page file usage of
50 mb or more on
a regular basis then it is very likely that the performance will benefit
from adding more RAM.
Taskbar Repair
Tool Plus!
How
to set performance options in Windows XP
General USB troubleshooting in Windows XP
Repair image file type
associations in Windows XP
Autoplay Repair Wizard
Windows XP Upgrade Advisor
Performance Tweaks for Windows XP (rtf) (htm)
(txt)
Tweaks and Fixes for
Windows XP
Troubleshooting Windows XP,
Tweaks and Fixes for Windows XP
How to change the Product Key in Microsoft Windows XP
Update Your Product Key: Select Your Version of Windows
Download
AutoPilot for XP
Sysinternals Freeware
Paging
File
In general, whenever you suspect swap
or paging file-related problems--- and even if you don't--- it's good system
hygiene to "clean under your paging file." Doing this also increases the
likelihood that any paging file problems are not hard disk related. The process
involves four steps: 1) delete your paging file; 2) run Scandisk with the /f and
/r parameters to fix errors and "block" bad sectors on the disk; 3) run Disk
Defragmenter; and 4) re-create your paging file on error-free sectors of an
unfragmented disk. Here are the steps in detail:
1) Delete your paging file - Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties.
Select the Advanced tab, then click on the Settings button in the Performance
box. Click on the Advanced tab, then the Change button. Select the No paging
file radio button, click Set, then OK. Click on the next OK button, then reboot.
2) Run Scandisk with the /f and /r parameters - Click, Start, choose Run, then
type cmd in the text box and click OK to open a command line window. Type "chkdsk
/f /r" without quotation marks and press the Enter key. Press Y and the Enter
key to make Scandisk run next time you reboot. Now Reboot. This will take a
while; if you have a large disk or partition to scan, you might want to start
the task as bedtime, and let the PC work overnight.
3) Run Defrag - Choose Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk
Defragmenter. Choose the hard disk that your paging file will live on (usually
C:) and click Defragment. When defragmentation is complete, reboot.
4) Re-create your paging file - Right-click on My Computer and choose
Properties. Select the Advanced tab, then click on the Settings button in the
Performance box. Click on the Advanced tab, then the Change button. Select in
megabytes Initial and Maximum sizes. (Note that "Initial size" is equal to the
size of the permanent part of your semi-permanent paging file, and the
difference between the two sizes is the maximum size of the temporary part. Make
them the same number for a fully permanent paging file if you want to sacrifice
a little disk space for a little performance boost.) Click Set, then on the OK
buttons to exit, then reboot.
One last optimization note: After all this, check to see if your paging file is
fragmented. Launch Disk Defragmenter and click Analyze. In a few seconds a
dialog box will pop up. Click View Report. In the Volume Information window,
find Total Fragments under the Pagefile fragmentation section. If the number is
higher than one, you've got a fragmented paging file. To fix this, you need to
create space on your disk--- ideally at least 25% of the disk capacity should be
free. You can do this by temporarily moving files to another drive. Follow steps
1, 3 and 4 above to delete your paging file, defrag the disk again, then
re-create the paging file. With enough space, Windows will create it all in one
contiguous area of the disk for maximum performance.
How to Keep Your Paging
File Defragmented
Just a quick question about the Windows XP paging file. In
Windows 9X a useful trick with swap file was to make the minimum and maximum
equal so that Windows did not waste time enlarging and shrinking it. This
was said to give a small improvement in efficiency. Is there any merit in
doing the same thing with the XP paging file?
In a word, yes. The reason is that the "Initial size" of your paging file
(formerly known as the "swap file") is really the "permanent" part of your
paging file. The difference between the "Initial size" and "Maximum size" is
really the potential size of a temporary paging file added to the permanent
one. That temporary file will be sized and created as needed and on the fly,
potentially grabbing chunks of far-flung disk space wherever it can. In
other words, it may be defragmented and thus degrade the performance of
virtual memory.
By making "Initial size" and "Maximum size" equal to each other, you're
really just telling Windows that you want nothing to do with temporary
paging files, and that you want only one sufficiently-large permanent one.
By defragmenting your disk before creating this permanent paging file,
you'll make sure that the permanent file isn't fragmented, either.
Here's how to get to the Virtual Memory dialog box, which governs your
paging file: Right click on My Computer, choose Properties, then the
Advanced tab. Click on the Settings button in the Performance box. Click on
the Advanced tab, then the Change button.
The first step is to get rid of your paging file by clicking on the "No
paging file" radio button. Click on the three OK buttons, defragment your
disk, then reboot.
Defrag to open up contiguous hard disk space, and then go back to the
Virtual Memory dialog box and set the "Initial size" and "Maximum size" to
the same number. You can use the "recommended" size shown in the dialog; in
XP, the recommended size is usually fine. But if you prefer to pick a
different size, a good rule of thumb for most users is to create a paging
file that's 1.5-2 times the size of your physical RAM. Then, click OK three
times and you're done!
Viewing non-present devices in Device Manager
April 25, 2007
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5102-10877-6176798.html
Find out how Windows XP's Device Manager can help you
track down non-present devices, which may still cause problems even though
they're not physically attached to your machine.
When troubleshooting driver problems in Windows XP,
one of the first places you may look is Device Manager, which provides detailed
information about every piece of installed system hardware. In light of devices
such as removable USB drives becoming more and more common, you may need
information about devices that are not currently connected; Device Manager
recognizes these as non-present devices. Here's how to get information about
these devices:
- Go to Start, right-click My Computer, and select Properties.
- In the System Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab and click the
Environment Variables button.
- In the Environment Variables dialog box, locate the System Variables panel
and click New.
- In the New System Variable dialog box, type
DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES in the Variable Name text box and type 1
in the Variable Value text box.
- Click OK twice.
- To view the non-present devices, go to Start, right-click My Computer, and
select Manage.
- Click Device Manager, pull down the View menu, and select Show Hidden
Devices.
Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP
Professional.
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