Change Start Menu Speed

Open registry.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Contro Panel\desktop
Look for "MenuShowDelay".
Change the Delay value default 400 as you like.
The value is delay in milliseconds.
Lesser is the value faster is the start menu display.
Exit and restart windows.

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How to disable autoplay?

How can I disable autoplay?

To disable autoplay,

use regedit.exe and

change the follow registry setting:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesCdrom change "autorun" to 0 (zero)

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How to Avoid Trouble

 

            While planning your website promotion strategy, it is wise to remember that the search engines are very capable of sniffing out when someone is trying to trick or deceive them.  A certain road to disaster is to consciously try to fool search engines into giving you a better listing. While this may work for a short period of time, invariably the scheme is found out and the offending site is severely penalized or even banned altogether.  Most of us are not, however, intentionally engaged in trying to scam search engines.  Even so, there are mistakes that an honest user can make which are nonetheless interpreted as intentional and malicious behavior.  Here are some of the things you can do to ensure that you will never be penalized or banned by the search engines.

            First and most important, don't over-submit your site.  The search engines each have their own procedures and lead times for adding new sites to their indices.  Some may immediately add you while others may take months to list your site, so be patient.  They are happy to accept your submission because it adds to the resources they can offer to their users.  But submitting your site to them repeatedly in an attempt to get their attention will only get you penalized or banned.  Generally, a submission once a month to each of the search engines and directories on your list is sufficient.  Some link pages may allow you to submit more frequently.  Using AddWeb 4 to automate your submissions is an excellent way to make sure that you never over-submit.  AddWeb 4's AISubmit automatically checks how frequently you can submit and will not let you over-submit your site.  Another way that well-intentioned users get into trouble is by submitting too many pages at once.

            In most cases, it is only necessary to submit the URL of your home page.  Search engine spiders are then sent to crawl through the site to examine the links and other content of the site.  While there are certain search engines that will allow you to submit as many pages of your site as you like, the majority do not.  Any pages submitted beyond the home page or doorway will be interpreted as submission "Spam," and will promptly get you penalized or banned.  Submit only your homepage or doorway page.  However, as a side note, never submit a doorway page to Yahoo!™.  Each site submitted to Yahoo!™ is reviewed by a breathing human being.  This is yet another reason not to try to deceive the search engines.

            Some ways of trying to deceive engines have become commonplace.  One such tactic is to endlessly repeat keywords over and over again on the home page text, then trying to hide it by making it the same color as the page background.  There was a time when this was a commonly used tactic, and it may have worked for a while.  However, the search engines caught on and they now know how to detect obvious deception such as this.  Don't try this because it will get you penalized or banned.  The same will be true for any new tactics that surface and try to subvert search engine analysis methods.  Some unethical webmasters have resorted to using meta-keywords in their sites that have no relevance whatsoever to their actual content.  This is highly misguided and has potentially drastic consequences for the engines that are trying to return relevant results on a query.  Guerilla tactics like this might work for a short time but the search engines will catch on and you will be penalized or worse.  Remember that many search engines share common indices of listings.  If you get your site banned on one of these engines, chances are that you will be banned on several engines at once.

            Other elements of your website can cause you trouble if you're not careful.  Some web sites still use a "Frames" format.  Frames may look nice, and they can help novices to organize their sites, but they are devastating to your site's ability to get a good position in a search engine index.  Most search engine spiders simply cannot make sense of frames-based pages and therefore make a well-intentioned but frequently useless attempt at trying to determine what the website is about.  The consequence is that the site usually is not indexed at all or it is indexed at such a poor position that no one will ever see it.  If you must use a frames-based website, be sure to build a doorway page that has no frames in it.  You can use AddWeb 4's Page Builder Plus to do this for you.

By building your page with a little forethought, you can avoid any pitfalls and should be safe from any conflicts with the search engines.  Make sure that after using Page Builder Plus, you let Page Advisor analyze your page to detect if there is anything that could cause trouble with a search engine.  If you follow these simple steps, not only will you avoid being banned by search engines, but you should also start to see your position rising to the top!

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 This article has been adapted from  AddWeb Article- Copyright (c) 2000  Cyberspace Headquarters, LLC. www.cyberspacehq.com

Gmail to the Max: Helpful Tips, Tricks, and Hacks

The following article has been published in the PCWORLD magazine in the Sept 2006 edition written by Scott Spanbauer.

Google's free, feature-laden, and still-evolving Gmail service does more than just e-mail. These tips and tweaks let you customize Gmail to manage and organize your files from any browser.

Get notified in your browser: Google's nifty Gmail Notifier utility (mail.google.com/mail/help/notifier) sits in your system tray and checks for new mail at regular intervals. But if your system tray runneth over, and you are using Firefox,

you can receive notifications right in the browser's status bar, through Doron Rosenberg's identically named Gmail Notifier add-on software (addons.mozilla.org/firefox/173).

Filter messages with custom addresses  and aliases: Like any decent e-mail system, Gmail lets you set up filters that act on incoming mail based on criteria you set up. For example, you can create a filter that stars all messages from jsquirrel@frostbitefalls.com and forwards them to every other e-mail account you use. Click Settings•Filters•Create a new filter, and follow the instructions. For more information on filters, click Help, and choose Filters under 'Common Mail Tasks and Features' to get a quick, complete tutorial. Another convenient Gmail feature is its ability to use aliases. You can filter your incoming mail by adding a plus sign (+) and any extra characters (no spaces) to your address. For example, when you register with the Frostbite Falls Tribune site, submit an address similar to 'scott+tribune@gmail.com'. Or provide your boss with an address like 'scott+deadline@gmail.com'. Now, you can create filters that will label, star, archive (skipping the inbox), or forward only those incoming messages. And should the cash-starved folks at the Tribune sell your e-mail address to marketers, you can change your filter to redirect messages addressed to 'scott+tribune@gmail.com' to your Spam folder. (Note that 'scott@gmail.com' isn't a legitimate address because Gmail requires that user names have at least six characters.)

Start using those gigabytes: Gmail continuously informs you that you have lots of storage space available—I had 2.66GB at my disposal as I wrote this—but most of us will probably never use even half that space for messages. Several tools let you use a Gmail account for Web-based file storage or backup. Contrary to a rumor posted on Wikipedia, neither service described below violates Gmail's terms of use or program policies. Bjarke Viksoe's Gmail Drive (www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail) adds Gmail to Windows Explorer as a storage device, permitting you to drag and drop files to and from Google's servers, where they are stored as e-mail attachments. Rahul Jonna's Gmail Space (www.rjonna.com) is similar, but it works as a Firefox extension that converts the browser into a file-transfer utility to shuttle documents between your hard disk and Gmail. When you create a filter that sends Gmail Space files to a specific Gmail folder (every file that Gmail Space uploads is attached to a message whose subject is prefixed with 'GSPACE'), you keep your inbox clear of your stored files automatically. Note that the current version of Gmail Space conflicts with the NoScript Firefox extension.

How to make the autorun.inf file for automatic loading of CDs and DVDs?

Make the autorun.inf file for automatic loading of CDs and DVDs

 

Basically, the configuration of the autorun.inf file determines which program is to be run when the CD or DVD or other optical media, including flash disk is inserted in the drive. This files is simply a tex-only file and it's very easy to go thru.

• Open notepad ie a text editor (go to run >> type notepad)
  
• Type the following command or copy-paste the code below

            [autorun]
            open=programname.exe
            icon=myicon.ico   

Here, the icon file should also reside in the root directory of the CD/DVD.

Sometimes, if the program to run is not located in the root directory of the CD/DVD, simply change the path as:

            [autorun]
            open=mainfolder\subfolder\program.exe
            icon=myicon.ico   

 

Advanced: If we need to pass an argument to the program that is tto be auto played, then use the code below:

            [autorun]<22 20 69b

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How to make the autorun.inf file for automatic loading of CDs and DVDs?

Make the autorun.inf file for automatic loading of CDs and DVDs

 

Basically, the configuration of the autorun.inf file determines which program is to be run when the CD or DVD or other optical media, including flash disk is inserted in the drive. This files is simply a tex-only file and it's very easy to go thru.

• Open notepad ie a text editor (go to run >> type notepad)
  
• Type the following command or copy-paste the code below

            [autorun]
            open=programname.exe
            icon=myicon.ico   

Here, the icon file should also reside in the root directory of the CD/DVD.

Sometimes, if the program to run is not located in the root directory of the CD/DVD, simply change the path as:

            [autorun]
            open=mainfolder\subfolder\program.exe
            icon=myicon.ico   

 

Advanced: If we need to pass an argument to the program that is tto be auto played, then use the code below:

            [autorun]<22 20 69b

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Boot sector viruses and their prevention

boot sector viruses functions, spreading and problems

Boot sector viruses generally infect or substitute their own code for either the DOS boot sector or the Master Boot Record (MBR) of a computer. The MBR,  a small program running every time the computer starts up, controls the boot sequence and determines which partition the computer boots from, and the MBR generally resides on the first sector of the hard disk.

Thus, the MBR executes every time a computer is booted and eventually the deadly boot sector virus gets booted automatically. This result that once the boot virus code on the drive is infected, the virus will be loaded into memory on every startup. The virus then can spread to every disk on that system.

Since most antivirus and other security softwares cannot read and clean the MBR, the boot sector viruses are usually very difficult to remove. Most common boot sector viruses include Monkey, NYB or B1, Stoned, and Form.

Data disappearance from entire partitions or disks is one of the most frequent problems that Boot sector virus causes. Finally, the system becomes unstable. Often the infected computer fails to start up or to find the hard drive. Also, error messages such as "Invalid system disk" may become prevalent.

Sometimes, behaviours shown by autorun.exe virus are also in similar malfunctioning association with boot sector virus.

Precautions and damage control

> The best protection against boot sector viruses is the same as against viruses in general: a good antivirus program with up-to-date virus definitions. Antivirus programs do two key things:


> Scan for and remove viruses in files on disks, Monitor the operation of your computer for virus-like activity and look for known actions of specific viruses or general suspicious activity.

> Back up your files, so that you can restore them if a virus damages them.

> Keep your original application and system disks locked (write-protected). This will prevent the virus from spreading to your original disks.

> If you must insert one of your application floppy disks into an unknown computer, lock it first. Unlock your application disk only after verifying that the computer is free of viruses.

> Obtain public-domain software from reputable sources. Don't download software directly to a hard disk. Rather, save it to a floppy disk, lock the floppy disk, and check it thoroughly using reputable virus detection software. Don't copy it to your hard disk until you know it is safe. This can also help protect you from Trojan horse programs.

> Quarantine any infected computer. If you discover that a computer is infected with a virus, immediately isolate it from other computers. In other words, disconnect it from any network it is on. Don't allow anyone to copy or move files from it until the entire system has been reliably disinfected.

Some of this information was adapted from an article in the UITS publication Computing Times Online.

How to change first desktop icon ?

How to change first desktop icon ?

 

Open your registry editor and create the key below.

 

Create a new DWORD value, called "SortOrderIndex" and set it according to the value data below.

 

System Key
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}]
Value Name
SortOrderIndex
Data Type
REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data
(0x48 = My Documents, 0x54 = My Computer)

 

Exit registry editor, restart Windows.

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Making Desktop Changes Permanent

Making Desktop Changes Permanent

To make changes to the Desktop like window size, positon after rebooting:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. Create a New Binary Value
4. Name it NoSaveSettings
5. Give it a value of 01 00 00 00

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Adding the Control Panel to the Start Menu

Adding the Control Panel to the Start Menu

1. Open up the Explorer
2. Go to \WINDOWS\Start Menu
3. Right click in the right-hand panel
4. Add a new folder
5. Name it Control Panel.{21ec2020-3aea-1069-a2dd-08002b30309d}
6. This makes getting to the Control Panel items a little easier

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Removing Shortcut Arrows

Removing Shortcut Arrows

An easy way to remove those irritating arrows from your desktop shortcut icons and not change their properties

1. Right click the Desktop / Properties / Appearance tab
2. Select Item
3. Scroll for Icon
4. The default size is 32
5. Change this to 30
6. Clicking Apply

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Make Icons 256 Color 16-Bit

Make Icons 256 Color 16-Bit

1. Open the Registry
2. Hit Ctrl+F
3. Type Shell Icon BPP
4. When found, right click the Shell Icon BPP icon
5. Click Modify
6. Change the value from 4 to 16
7. Click Ok
8. Close the registry
9. Restart your computer

 

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Converting web pages or web site in Internet Explorer (Windows) to PDF files

This applies to a single web page or the entire website to convert or download to the PDF files. You can even specify the depth of the link penetration. This discussion is based on Adobe PDF Creator tool. Please, visit Adobe website for details.

Acrobat adds the Adobe PDF toolbar and Convert Current Web Page To An Adobe PDF File button to Internet Explorer 5.01 and later, which allow you to convert the currently displayed web page to an Adobe PDF file, or convert and perform an activity in one easy operation. You can convert more than one web page, even an entire website, to an Adobe PDF file directly within Adobe Acrobat.

The Internet Explorer Adobe PDF toolbar preferences determine only whether converted files open in Acrobat automatically, and whether you are prompted to confirm the deletion of files or addition of pages to an existing PDF file. The Acrobat web page conversion settings, which are available only in Acrobat, let you set more advanced settings, including the creation of bookmarks and tags. After you set the Acrobat web page conversion settings as desired, you need to use the Create PDF From Web Page feature in Acrobat at least once before the settings take effect in the Internet Explorer web page conversion feature. (See Specifying conversion settings for capturing web pages.)

When you convert a web page, you can also choose to do one of the following activities using a menu command:

> Add the converted web page to an existing PDF file.
> Print the page. A converted web page is reformatted to a standard page size with logical page breaks. This avoids inconsistent results in printing directly from a browser window.
> Email the page. Automatically open your email application with the converted web page attached.
> Initiate an email-based review. When you send an Adobe PDF document by email for review, reviewers receive the document as an email attachment. Recipients can add their comments to it and then send their comments to you.
> Display the Adobe PDF pane in the Internet Explorer window. This provides a convenient place for managing converted web pages. Folders and PDF files are organized under the root folder Desktop. You can navigate files and create, rename, and delete folders in this window, as well as rename and delete files. Only PDF files and folders containing PDF files are listed. In Windows XP, if you don't see the button in Internet Explorer, choose View > Toolbars > Adobe PDF.
 

Note: The files and folders displayed in the Adobe PDF pane are the same files and folders stored on your system. Only PDF files appear in the Adobe PDF pane; if you attempt to delete a folder that contains other files (files that are not visible in the Adobe PDF pane), you are asked to confirm the deletion.

 

Creating Adobe PDF files from downloaded web pages

An Adobe PDF file created from HTML pages is like any other PDF file. You can download and convert web pages by specifying a URL, by opening web pages from a link in an Adobe PDF file, and by dragging and dropping a web link or HTML file onto an Acrobat window icon. The web pages are converted to PDF and opened in the document pane. You can navigate through the file and add comments and other enhancements to it. Any links on the pages are still active in the PDF file--just click a link to download and convert the linked web pages, and add them to the end of the PDF file.
 

Note the following when converting web pages:
> Before converting a web page to an Adobe PDF file, be sure that you can access the Internet.
> You can download HTML pages, JPEG and GIF images (including the last frame of animated GIF images), text files, and image maps.
> One web page may correspond to more than one PDF page because long HTML pages are divided into standard-size pages (depending on the PDF page layout settings).
> HTML pages can include tables, links, frames, background colors, text colors, and forms. Cascading stylesheets and Macromedia® Flash™ are supported. HTML links turn into links, and HTML forms turn into PDF forms.
> The default/index.html frame downloads only once.
> You can determine whether to reference digital media components by URL, not include them, or embed the files where possible.
> Depending on the options selected when downloading and converting web pages, an Adobe PDF file created from web pages can display special tagged bookmarks that retain web information, such as the URLs for all links on the pages. Use these tagged bookmarks to navigate, reorganize, add, or delete pages in your PDF file. You can also add more tagged bookmarks to represent paragraphs, images, table cells, and other items on the pages. For information on using these tagged bookmarks, see Extracting, moving, and copying pages and Deleting and replacing pages.
> To convert Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) language web pages to PDF on a roman (Western) system in Windows, you must have installed the CJK language support files while installing Acrobat. (Also, it is preferable to select an appropriate encoding from the HTML conversion settings.)

Note: In Windows, if you try to open a PDF file that uses double-byte fonts and you don't have the necessary fonts installed, Acrobat asks if you want to install the necessary fonts kit.

To set up IEEE 802.1x authentication in Windows XP

To configure settings on the Authentication tab, you must be an administrator or a member of the Administrators group.

1. Open Network Connections in Windows XP.
2. For a wired connection, click the connection for which you want to set up IEEE 802.1x authentication, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection.

   -or-

   For a wireless connection, do the following:

• Click the wireless connection, and then, under Network Tasks, click Change settings of this connection. On the wireless Networks tab, click a wireless network in the list, and then click Properties.
3. On the Authentication tab, make sure that the Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network check box is selected.
4. In EAP type, choose the Extensible Authentication Protocol type to use with this connection.
5. If you choose Smart Card or other Certificate in EAP type, you can configure additional properties. Click Properties and, in Smart Card or other Certificate Properties, do the following:
   • To use your smart card certificate for authentication, click Use my smart card.
   • To use the certificate in your computer's certificate store for authentication, click Use a certificate on this computer.
   • To verify that the server certificate presented to your computer is still valid, select the Validate server certificate check box, specify whether to connect only if the server resides within a particular domain, and then specify the trusted root certification authority.
   • If the user name in the smart card or certificate is not the same as the user name for the domain to which you are logging on, select the Use a different user name for the connection check box.
6. To specify whether the computer should attempt authentication to the network if a user is not logged on, or if the computer or user information is not available, do one of the following:
   • To specify that the computer should attempt authentication to the network if a user is not logged on, select the Authenticate as computer when computer information is available check box.
   • To specify that the computer should attempt authentication to the network if the user information or computer information is not available, select the Authenticate as guest when user or computer information is unavailable check box.

This section is taken from help and support in Windows XP.

Increasing the Icon Cache

Increasing the Icon Cache

1. Run Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer
3. Create a new string called Max Cached Icons
4. Give it a value of 10000
5. This will increase response time in windows and give the Shellicon cache file more elbow room.

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Having your Favorites and Start Menus Sort Alphabetically

Having your Favorites and Start Menus Sort Alphabetically

If your Start Menu Program or Favorites are not sorting alphabetically, it is easy to fix this:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/MenuOrder
3. Under here is are Favorites and Start Menu folders
4. In each there is a value called Order
5. Simply delete (or rename this) and restart Winodws
6. Your Favorites or Start Menus should now sort alphabetically

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Creating 3D Window Effect

Creating 3D Window Effect

You can create a nice 3D effect for your windows

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Colors
3. Make sure the following setting are there:

• ButtonHilight=128 128 128
• ButtonShadow=255 255 255

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Creating a New E-Mail Shortcut

Creating a New E-Mail Shortcut

To create a shortcut that will open your default e-mail program starting a new e-mail,

1. Right click on an open area of the desktop
2. Select New / Shortcut
3. For the Command Line, enter mailto:
4. For the title enter something like New E-Mail
5. When you click on this your default e-mail program should start with a new e-mail form.

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Restoring a Lost Desktop

 Restoring a Lost Desktop

If you ever lose the Desktop but Explorer is still running with the Start Button, 
you can do this to bring back your Desktop in a Windows box.

1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type a period " . "
4. Then press Enter

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