Tips and tricks

A Faster Way to Encrypt Your Files By Diana Huggins

If your drives are formatted with NTFS, you have the option of using encryption. Windows XP uses the Encrypting File System (EFS) which lets you encrypt your folders and files for increased security. Normally to encrypt a folder or file, you would have to do so from the folder or file's properties window and access the advanced attributes. Wouldn't it be great though if you could just encrypt or decrypt a file or folder using the shortcut menu?

Well here's a nifty little tip that does just that... it adds the encrypt and decrypt options to the shortcut menu for a folder or file. Of course, a word of caution: the following steps do require you to modify the registry, so proceed carefully:


Click Start, point to run, and type regedit.
Within the Registry Editor, navigate to the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
Click the Edit menu, point to New, and select Dword value.
Type in EncryptionContextMenu. Configure the value as 1.
You should now be able to encrypt or decrypt any of your folders and files using the shortcut menu.* 04/28/2004



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Boot into Safe Mode

It is often recommended to boot into Safe Mode in order to run anti-spyware/virus/etc scans. You can do so by repeatedly hitting the F8 key while the computer is starting up.

However, since hitting the F8 key constantly to boot into safe mode is annoying (to me), and sometimes despite doing that I still sometimes miss my window of opportunity to get into safe mode & have to let the PC boot into standard mode & restart. On my computers I always set it to pause & show me the option of booting into safe mode or the regular mode (which would be the default) every time the computer starts. This is how you can do the same:

Right-Click "My Computer" -> Properties -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery -> Settings

On the new window, there is a bunch of settings at the top under "System Startup". For the Default Operating System, it will probably show something like "Microsoft Windows XP Home" /fastdetect OR Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect" ... leave that alone.

Please notice that for this example I'll use "Windows XP Professional" for my computer Operating System...Substitute "Windows XP Home" if that is the Operating System you use.

Make sure the option for "Time to display list of operating systems" is checked. The default time is 30 seconds, I usually set the time to 10 seconds (sometimes even just 5).

Check the "Time do display recovery options" too (it should already be checked), and I leave it at the default 30 seconds.

Click the "Edit" button, and the boot.ini file will open in Notepad. It'll look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

The last line is the OS boot option.

If there is only one option, then you will not see a menu on start up & your computer will just boot straight into Windows. Let's add a second option at the end of this file, like so:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Safe Mode with Network" /safeboot:network /sos /bootlog /noguiboot

(You can just Copy & Paste that line right into the boot.ini file.)

This will give you the option of starting in Safe Mode with Network Support (so you can still access the internet or local network if needed).

To add an option of having Safe Mode with No Networking, use this line:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Safe Mode" /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog /noguiboot

(Again, you can just Copy & Paste that line right into the boot.ini file.)

By the way, if the lines already in your boot.ini look different from the "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)" shown here, make sure that any new lines you add match what you've already got (ie. because you have Windows installed on a different drive/partition).

If you added both of these Safe Mode options, your file will now look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Safe Mode with Network" /safeboot:network /sos /bootlog /noguiboot
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Safe Mode" /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog /noguiboot

Save the file & close it & click Ok on any open dialogs. Next time you start the computer, you will see a little menu asking which boot option you want to use, with the default pre-selected (the default is the first one in the boot.ini file). If you don't make a choice (using cursor keys & Enter) before the timer counts down to zero, it'll use the default option.

As always, if you're nervous about manually changing settings for fear of messing things up, then leave things well enough alone and don't bother with this tweak. You can still get into Safe Mode by using the F8 key while starting the PC.

- Sriram Narayanan* 11/27/2006



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Change Colors Of Command Prompt Window (2k/XP)

I got this tip from Lockergnome Windows Fanatics - October 18, 2005 Newsletter.

To customize the colors of the Command Prompt Window Screen Background and Screen Text, first open a Command Prompt Window:

Click Start - Run - type "cmd" (without the quotes).

Once the Command Prompt Window opens, Click the Control Box in the top left corner of the Command Prompt Window (the button that looks like a C:\ Prompt).

Once the Menu opens, Click Properties - Colors - Screen Background - and change this to whatever color you wish to use. An example will be shown below, in the Selected Screen Colors dialog box, as you make different choices. Do the same for Screen Text.

As you can see, there are other options you can change here as well.

Once you're finished, Click OK, then type "exit" at the Command Prompt to exit the Command Prompt Window (without the quotes).



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Change the HungAppTimeout and/or WaitToKillAppTimeout Values - 95. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times part 1

Open REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Highlight the 'WaitToKillAppTimeout' value.
Set it to '1000' (the default should be 20000).
Now highlight the 'HungAppTimeout' value
Set it to '1000' also.

Please notice that tip #96. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times part 2 on the same page gives instructions for changing the same settings, but for All Users of the computer.



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Change the Internet Explorer Window Title - Start - Run - type regedit.exe - Enter - then navigate to - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Window Title - and set it to blank. If this key is not present, add a String value and name it Window Title and modify the value, leaving the value blank.



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Change the size of and Defrag Win XP's Virtual Memory (Page File)

Two very important things you need to know: You will need to physically disconnect from the Internet while doing this and you must turn off ALL other programs that are running in the background.

First, let's Defrag the Page File. Make sure you have enough physical memory before attempting this Tweak! It can be done with 512MB RAM, but 1GB RAM is better.

Hold down the WinKey* and hit PauseBreak to open the System Properties - Advanced - Performance - Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory - Change - select the proper Drive - No paging file - Set - OK your way out while OKing any warnings.

Reboot and now Defrag the HDD. Click Start - Administrative Tools - Computer Management - When that opens, on the Leftt Side click Disk Defragmenter - stretch this window larger so you can see all of the Hard Drives/Partitions - click on the Hard Drive/Partition you need to Defrag and click Defragment. When it finishes, click OK and Reboot once again.

Now let's re-enable the Page File and change the Page File size - Hold down the WinKey* and hit PauseBreak to open the System Properties - Advanced - Performance - Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory - Change - select the proper Drive - Custom Size - set both Initial and Maximum to twice the size of physical memory you currently have installed (...meaning, if you have 512MB RAM, set both to 1024MB...If you have 1GB RAM, set both to 2048MB...) - Set - OK your way out while OKing any warnings. Reboot one last time.

Now the Page File will be Defragged and in one contiguous file.

* The WinKey is the Windows Flying Logo key between the CTRL and ALT keys.



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Controlling Cookies in Internet Explorer 6.0

Open Internet Explorer and go to Tools - Internet Options - go to Privacy - Advanced - check the Override automatic cookie handling box - then set First Party Cookies to Prompt and Third Party Cookies to Block and check the Always allow session cookies box. 08/15/2006



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Hacking Windows XP: Speed Up Your Boot - by Steve Sinchak - This is Chapter 8 from the ExtremeTech book Hacking Windows XP, published by Wiley. You can also read excerpts from the book about speeding disk access and speeding up your network and internet access.

No doubt you are surprised at how fast Windows XP boots up compared with other Microsoft operating systems. I certainly am, every time I start up the PC. This bootup time is something that everyone is becoming more concerned about as the need for PC speed becomes increasingly more important. Despite the relatively fast speed of Windows XP bootup time, this chapter will guide you through the steps of making the system boot up even faster. The changes discussed here should enable you to realize your bootup speed dreams.Your friends will then no doubt be impressed by your PC's superfast operation.

Windows XP has a lot of great features and visual enhancements that make Windows XP the most attractive OS from Microsoft to date. However, with all of the new features and attractive effects, the operating system has a higher system overhead, which means your hardware has to work even harder. If you are like me, and do not always have the fastest hardware, this chapter will help you get the most out of your current hardware by reducing the heavy workload put on it during the bootup process.* 11/11/2006



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Minimize Outlook 2002 to the System Tray - I got this Registry Tip from Sue Mosher's Awesome Outlook Web Site.

Make a backup of the Windows registry, then go to this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Preferences

Add a new DWORD value named "MinToTray" and give it a value of 1.* 04/27/2004

Oh Man! With as many open windows as I always have going at any one time, I only wish I had found this registry hack sooner!! If I understand correctly, it's an added "feature" of Outlook 2003.



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More Info in Device Manager - I got this Trick from the August 2003 edition of CPU Magazine:

If you'd like to have more information available than what Device Manager currently offers, go to Start-Control Panel-System (or hold down the Windows key (the one that looks like the Windows flag) and hit the Pause-Break key at the same time) and click on the Advanced tab in the System Properties window. Then click on the Environment Variables button and then New beneath the System Variables dialog box. In the Variable Name box type DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS (exactly as shown here) and in the Variable Value box type 1. Click OK as many times as necessary to close all dialog boxes and then reopen the System Properties-Device Manager window and choose any hardware item you'd like to see more info for and check out the new Details tab.* 07/12/2003



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Open Two Side-by-Side Instances of Windows Explorer Easily! - by Neil J. Rubenking - Start by launching your two instances of Windows Explorer. If Windows combines the taskbar buttons for the two windows into a single one with a title like "2 Windows Explorer," simply right-click that button and choose Tile Vertically from the pop-up menu. If each of them has its own button on the taskbar, do this: (1) Click one button; (2) Ctrl-click the other; (3) right-click either button; (4) choose Tile Vertically from the pop-up menu.

Here's another method, possibly necessary if you have more than two instances of Windows Explorer sharing a button on the taskbar: (1) Minimize all windows except the two Explorer instances; (2) right-click the taskbar itself; (3) choose Tile Windows Vertically from the pop-up menu.

I was informed that this would work with all Microsoft programs, not just Windows Explorer.* 09/20/2006



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Open Regedit in IE - One of the coolest tricks I saw lately came from one of my Students - Shay Levy.

Many tips published on various websites, including articles found on the Petri.co.il site, heavily use registry modifications and additions. These articles and tips usually tell you that in order to perform this or that, you need to open Regedit.exe (the registry editing tool), navigate to this or that registry path, and create, delete or modify registry keys and values.

In order to make your life easier, Shay has created this cool Internet Explorer add-in, that allows you to easily open Regedit and point it to the exact registry path, without the need to manually open Regedit.exe and begin to look for the relevant entry.* Awesome!! This is a MUST SEE Trick!! 04/10/2006



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Put The Command Prompt Where You Want It - I got this Registry Tip from the May 2004 edition of CPU Magazine:

For those of you using the command prompt frequently, you can add a registry key to enable right-clicking on any folder in Windows and have the command prompt run in a box already changed to that directory.

Run Regedit and find the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell key and right-click to make a New Key. Name the key cprompt, and in the Value pane set the key's default value to Command Prompt. (You can label this any way you wish. What happens is the context menu will pop-up on a folder with the label "Command Prompt," but you can give it any label you like.)

Go back and right-click the cprompt subkey to make another New Key. Name it command. Set the key's default value to C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\cmd.exe /k cd "%1". Close regedit, and the effect should be immediate. Right-click on any folder and you should see Command Prompt in the context menu, and it will call up the command prompt in that subdirectory.* 04/25/2004

I tried this myself and it works great! Thanks CPU!