Disable CD Autorun
1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC
2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.
3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.
Disable CD Autorun
1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC
2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.
3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.
You must first enable the Remote Desktop feature on your office computer so that you can control it remotely from another computer. You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to enable Remote Desktop on your Windows XP Professional-based computer.
To setup your office computer to use Remote Desktop:
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Open the System folder in Control Panel. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click the System icon.
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On the Remote tab, select the Allow users to connect remotely to this computer check box, as shown below.
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Ensure that you have the proper permissions to connect to your computer remotely, and click OK.
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Leave your computer running and connected to the company network with Internet access. Lock your computer, and leave your office.
The Remote Desktop Connection client software allows a computer running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 to control your Windows XP Professional computer remotely. The client software is available on the installation CD for Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition. The client software is installed by default on computers running Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition.
To install Remote Desktop Connection software on a client computer
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Insert the Windows XP compact disc into your CD-ROM drive.
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When the Welcome page appears, click Perform additional tasks, and then click Setup Remote Desktop Connection as shown below.
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When the installation wizard starts, follow the directions that appear on your screen.
Once you have enabled your Windows XP Professional computer to allow remote connections, and installed client software on a Windows-based client computer, you are ready to start a Remote Desktop session.
To create a new Remote Desktop Connection
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Open Remote Desktop Connection. (Click Start, point to Programs or All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click Remote Desktop Connection.)
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In Computer, type the computer name for your computer running Windows XP Professional that has Remote Desktop enabled and for which you have Remote Desktop permissions
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Click Connect.
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The Log On to Windows dialog box appears.
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In the Log On to Windows dialog box, type your user name, password, and domain (if required), and then click OK. The Remote Desktop window will open and you will see the desktop settings, files, and programs that are on your office computer. Your office computer will remain locked.
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Nobody will be able to work at your office computer without a password, nor will anyone see the work you are doing on your office computer remotely. Note: To change your connection settings, (such as screen size, automatic logon information, and performance options), click Options before you connect.
To open a saved connection
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In Windows Explorer, open the My DocumentsRemote Desktops folder.
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Click the .Rdp file for the connection you want to open. Note: A Remote Desktop file (.rdp) file contains all of the information for a connection to a remote computer, including the Options settings that were configured when the file was saved. You can customize any number of .rdp files, including files for connecting to the same computer with different settings. For example, you can save a file that connects to MyComputer in full screen mode and another file that connects to the same computer in 800×600 screen size. By default, .rdp files are saved in the My DocumentsRemote Desktops folder. To edit an .rdp file and change the connections settings it contains, right-click the file and then click Edit.
To log off and end the session
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In the Remote Desktop Connection window, click Start, and then click Shut Down.
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The Shut Down Windows dialog box appears.
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In the drop-down menu, select Log Off , and then click OK.
Great Digital Media with Windows XP includes everything you need to know to play digital music stored on your PC, on audio CDs, Internet radio stations, and through Web-based streaming audio. But it doesn't end there: With Windows XP, you can almost endlessly configure Microsoft Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP), manage digital music directly from the Windows shell and through MPXP, copy music from audio CDs to your PC, and create your own audio "mix" CDs and data CD backups. And best of all, these capabilities are all built into Windows XP... for free!
Here are some tips for working with digital music and audio in Windows XP.
Copy CD Audio in MP3 format with an MP3 Encoding Add-on Pack
Microsoft Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) can record CD audio in Windows Media Audio (WMA) 8 format natively, but if you want to use the more common MP3 format, you will need one of several MP3 Encoding Add-on Packs, which will be available for download by the time Windows XP is widely released on October 25. The add-on packs will cost less than $10, and will be available from Cyberlink, InterVideo, and Ravisent.
Use transcoding to save space on portable audio devices.
When copying music from an audio CD to your hard drive, you will probably want to use a decent encoding rate (128 Kbps WMA or 160 Kbps MP3 format) to ensure that the resulting files are as close to CD-quality as possible. But such files are pretty large, and if you're going to be copying them to a portable audio device--such as an Iomega HipZip or a Pocket PC--you won't be able to bring very many songs with you on the road. To overcome this problem, Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) supports a feature called transcoding, which will let you downsize files on the file as you copy them to a portable device. So you might transcode 128 Kbps WMA files down to 64 Kbps, for example, to fit twice as many songs in the same amount of space, with only a small loss in sound quality. To configure this feature, open MPXP and navigate to Tools, Options, Devices. Then, choose the appropriate device and click Properties. This dialog will allow you to set a custom quality level for music copied to that device.
Use audio CD artwork in your digital media folders.
One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (WMA 8 format by default). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however. When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good! Also, you can save a smaller-sized image albumartsmall.jpg if you'd like: This file is used to store the album art thumbnails you see in folder icons.
Disable Error Reporting
1. Open Control Panel
2. Click on Performance and Maintenance.
3. Click on System.
4. Then click on the Advanced tab
5. Click on the error-reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
6. Select Disable error reporting.
7. Click OK
8. Click OK
Windows 2000 & XP machines delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Here's how to prevent this remote search for Scheduled Tasks:
Open up the Registry and go to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace
Under that branch, select the key :
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
and delete it.
If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary. This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing processes.
- Visit Windows Update (XP Only)
- Look at the left hand pane and under Other Options click Personalize Windows Update.
- Now in the right hand pane check the box - Display the link to the Windows Update Catalog under See Also
- Below Choose which categories and updates to display on Windows Update - make sure you check all the boxes you want shown.
- Click Save Settings
- Now look in the left hand pane under See Also click Windows Update Catalog and choose what you're looking for. Choose either MS updates or drivers for hardware devices.
- Start the Wizard and off you go.
There are a TON of drivers there. I highly recommend you take a look at this page prior to downloading something from the web.
Save Your New Downloads
Since some people are still using modems and since MS is issuing patches right and left for XP wouldn't it be nice if after you downloaded all the updates you could save them? Well, you can and MS has provided a way for you to do it.
Here's How:
- Logon to Windows Update
- Choose Windows Update Catalogue (left hand pane)
- Choose Find updates for Microsoft Windows operating systems (right hand pane)
- Choose your version and language then Search
- Choose one the following:
- Critical Updates and Service Packs
- Service Packs and Recommended Downloads
- Multi-Language Features (0)
- Once chosen simply click on what you want to download and then back at the top click Review Download Basket
- You are taken to the next page where at the top you can specify where the downloads are to be saved.
- Click Download now.
Each patch will make a directory under the root of the folder you saved them to. Once finished you need to go to where you saved the file (s) to and then simply install all your patches.
Read-me's are available in each patch section so you know which one you are installing.
Does the Home or Pro version include IIS?
Only the Pro version has it.
I installed the Pro version but I can't find IIS.
The Pro installation doesn't install IIS by default. Go to Start->Control Panels->Add/Remove Programs, and click on "Add Windows Components". IIS will be listed in there.
How many computers can I install XP on?
Microsoft allows you to install XP on only one computer. Technically, it's been like this all along except there's been no way to enforce it. Microsoft's new Authentication System forces XP installations to link the PC, the CD Key, and an ID number that identifies your computer's components together, which means that you can't install XP from the same CD on another PC. You can read more about Windows XP Activation if you click here.
Will my programs work under Windows XP?
That's a complicated issue. Most modern programs have been written to work on Windows 95 and above, all the way to Windows XP using an API called Win32. By using this API, it guarantees that the application will work on any Win32 supported platform, so long as the application was properly written to Microsoft's guidelines. If an application wasn't written properly, it has the potential to break under not only XP, but any future OS. Now, programs that ran under DOS might not work at all due to a whole slew of reasons. Any popular DOS applications and games are sure to have a support forum, so check them out if you can.
Just in case your application doesn't work properly under Windows XP, there's a "Compatability Mode" in which your application will run in an environment similar to a previous operating system. Currently, the operating system choices are:
Windows 95
Windows 98/ME
Windows NT (Service Pack 5)
Windows 2000
So if you're having trouble with a particular application or game under XP, right click on the application's icon and click on the "Compatability" tab. You can also set a forced resolution of 640x480, force 256 (8-bit) color, and force the system to disable themes.
If I upgrade from Windows 98 or ME to Windows XP, can I revert back?
Yes, but I haven't done it myself so I don't know what the consequences are from upgrading, and then downgrading again. If you upgraded, there should be an item in "Add/Remove Programs" that allows you to uninstall XP. Note: if you upgraded to XP, and then changed your file system to NTFS, you cannot go back to 98 or ME since those operating systems don't understand how NTFS works.
Will my games work under Windows XP?
This is even more complicated than the application issue. Games are supposed to be written to not only the Win32 API, but any one of many different graphics APIs such as Direct 3D or OpenGL. Sometimes games take a "short cut" to gain better performance. Since Windows XP is built on a different core than Windows 95, 98, and ME, it's possible that some games won't work. You can read more about games under XP by clicking here.
Can I watch DVDs on Windows XP?
Not "out of the box", unfortunately. Microsoft is forcing consumers to buy a "DVD Decoder Pack" to allow playback of DVDs. You can read more about that by clicking here.
Can I listen to MP3s with Windows XP?
Yes. Windows Media Player will playback MP3s. If you're Yes. Windows Media Player will playback MP3s. If you're having trouble playing MP3s with Windows Media Player, make sure you have the latest update.
Can I rip MP3s with Windows XP?
Just like the DVD issue, you cannot rip MP3s with XP "out of the box". You'll have to buy the "MP3 Pack" which allows you to add MP3 ripping capabilities to Windows Media Player. However, you can use Music Match Jukebox and other third-party rippers as you have before, so long as they work under XP (chances are they do, but check the web pages of the applications to be sure). You can read more about music under XP by clicking here.
Can I have multiple operating systems installed on the same computer alongside Windows XP?
Yes. There's a procedure that's involved in order to do it properly. If you're installing Windows XP on a machine that already has another Windows OS, you have to make sure that you can install XP on a seperate partition, or a seperate hard drive. You cannot install XP on the same hard drive or partition that already has another operating system on it, meaning two OS's can't share the same space at the same time. The key is to install Windows XP last, this way the NT boot loader, which allows you to choose which OS to load at boot time, is installed by the XP installer. Microsoft has an article about multibooting.
What are the requirements for running Windows XP?
The minimum requirements can be found by clicking here.
If I'm buying the XP upgrade version, do I have to install over my old OS, or can I install fresh?
You can most certainly install fresh. When installing XP, you'll be prompted for your previous OS's CD. Once XP sees that it's a valid CD, you switch CDs again and the XP installer continues on its merry way.
What are the upgrade paths for Windows XP? Do I need to buy the full version?
All the valid upgrade paths for the Home and Pro versions can be found by clicking here.
I got a PC from with a restore CD instead of an actual Windows installer CD, is it considered valid for an upgrade?
This is tricky. Some PC manufacturers give the user a "Restore CD" which, although has a version of Windows on it, is nothing more than a "snapshot" of the hard drive when the user opened the box for the first time. Chances are, when the XP upgrade asks for the previous Windows OS CD, it will reject the Restore CD since it wasn't made by Microsoft. Your best bet would be to check with the manufacturer of your PC and see if you have an upgrade option. I'm still looking on Microsoft's site for a definitive answer on this.
Will Windows 2000 drivers run under XP? I heard that XP is just Windows 2000 with a new face.
There's no guarantee that Win2k drivers will work under XP. I wouldn't suggest even trying since it might make your system unstable. The best you can do is to check with your device's manufacturer first and see if they already have XP drivers ready for you to download from their web site.
I see there are two versions of XP - Home and Professional. Which one should I get?
Microsoft did a very good job of splitting the two versions, and making sure that one group doesn't need the features of the other flavor of XP. The only issue I can see i Microsoft did a very good job of splitting the two versions, and making sure that one group doesn't need the features of the other flavor of XP. The only issue I can see is the multi-processor support you get from the Pro version, and if it will affect gaming. Click here to read Microsoft's comparison of the two.
Ok some clarifications
FAT -> NTFS
dont ever convert when u hav data
jus delete the partition and create new with NTFS
if u want to convert the convert to NTFS at the time
of installation. This is bcoz don trust MS
almost 99% drivers will runWill Windows 2000 drivers run under XP? I heard that XP is just Windows 2000 with a new face.
thats bcoz WINXP is wamped up win2k
and am a gr8 admiree of win2k
nothing beats win2k in its stability
if u wannna experiment this is mos stable
atleast for me
Thnz for the tips
U can watch DVDs in WINXP if u hav Nero installed
Nero installs DVD decoder which most of us get free
wid the writer. and not to mention 3rd party soft Powerdvd
this ones simple:
this is for broad band connections. I didn’t try it on dial up but might work for dial up.
1.make sure your logged on as actually "Administrator". do not log on with any account that just has administrator privileges.
2. start - run - type gpedit.msc
3. expand the "local computer policy" branch
4. expand the "administrative templates" branch
5. expand the "network branch"
6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left window
7. in right window double click the "limit reservable bandwidth" setting
8. on setting tab check the "enabled" item
9. where it says "Bandwidth limit %" change it to read 0
reboot if you want to but not necessary on some systems your all done. Effect is immediate on some systems. some need re-boot. I have one machine that needs to reboot first, the others didn't. Don't know why this is.
This is more of a "counter what XP does" thing. In other words, XP seems to want to reserve 20% of the bandwidth for its self. Even with QoS disabled, even when this item is disabled. So why not use it to your advantage. To demonstrate the problem with this on stand alone machines start up a big download from a server with an FTP client. Try to find a server that doesn't max out your bandwidth. In this case you want a slow to medium speed server to demonstrate this. Let it run for a couple of minutes to get stable. The start up another download from the same server with another instance of your FTP client. You will notice that the available bandwidth is now being fought over and one of the clients download will be very slow or both will slow down when they should both be using the available bandwidth. Using this "tweak" both clients will have a fair share of the bandwidth and will not fight over the bandwidth.
Like Windows 2000, but unlike Windows 95, 98, and Me, the ability to log in multiple users simultaneously plays a big role in Windows XP. There is a default Administrator account set up when Windows XP is first installed, but you can create as many accounts as you need later, depending on how many people will be using the machine. Each user, once he or she has an account, can customize XP to his or her liking. Individual users get their own subfolders in the Documents And Settings folder; this folder serves as a centralized location for most personalized information, such as the Start Menu, Favorites, and Documents settings.
Missing Administrator account
Once you have created regular user accounts, the default Administrator account vanishes from the Welcome screen, which you see when the computer starts up. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to retrieve the standard logon dialog. You can log on as Administrator from here. To switch among accounts, just click the Log Off button on the Start menu. You'll then see the Log Off Windows dialog box. Click the Switch User button, and you'll be taken to the Welcome screen where you can select and log on to other accounts.
Show yourself
Only the Administrator can set up new user accounts (go to Control Panel > User Accounts > Create A New Account). You can select a picture to identify the account. When you're logged on to the system under your username, this picture, along with your username, peeks out at you from the top of the Start menu. There are a slew of 48x48-pixel bitmap images to choose from within XP. They're housed in D:\Documents And Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures. But why limit yourself? You can also copy any graphic you want into this folder or browse for another from your hard drive. Usable file types are BMP, GIF, JPEG, or PNG. However, always use a square picture, to limit the white space on the side. Your image can be any size but will be displayed as 48x48-pixel image, so a close-up works best.
Hide yourself
Once you've created a user account, password-protect it to keep other users from viewing your files, Favorites, and cookies. Why? You may not want your child to see the note that you're sending to his or her teacher, or you may be planning someone's surprise party. (Note: Anyone with an Administrator account can still see them.)
Worried about remembering your password?
Create a hint to help you when you initially create it by following the prompts during setup. XP stores the password hints in the Registry at Hkey_local_machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr ent Version\Hints.
What if the hint doesn't help?
Any user or Administrator can create a password reset disk, which you can use to log on and create a new password. Go to Control Panel > User Accounts and select "Prevent a forgotten password" in the Related Tasks box on the left. Follow the wizard's instructions. After creating the disk, find a safe place for it. Don't forget the password or where you put the disk. Someone else could use it to change your password without you knowing it.
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