Heres a collects of tips, and secrets I found regarding your copy of Windows XP. When I say 'your' copy, I mean all general distro's of XP from Home edition to Pro.
Level: Easy to Intermediate
1) Newbie but nice tips
Stop CD's from auto playing - Hold down the Shift key for a few seconds after inserting CD.
Did you know you can open a explorer window of XP folders by simply
typing it's name in the run box.
Try this
Start ---> Run
Then in the run box type "Desktop" ( without or without the quotes )
Click ENTER
Voila! Your desktop contents in an explorer window
Try it out on others, I've tried "Desktop" and "Control Panel"
they work...nice eh?
Here's an interesting one for ya. In the run box enter a . (period, full stop whatever you call it) only.
Click ENTER
If you know DOS you'll understand what's happening here ( hint try ".." too )
2) System Properties > I Can't access it with out my Mouse !
To access the System Properties window when your mouse won't work, hold down the Windows key (usually between Ctrl and Alt) then hit Pause/Break (up there by scroll lock) and presto! One System Properties windows coming right up!
Did you know that you can password protect your PC without 3rd party software? Yup...it's easy.
Lockdown is a very effective way to secure your machine **IF** you have a passwrd on your acount and don't use "auto-logon" software/settings. No more wiating for the screen saver password to come on! Instant and easy:
1) Click on Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> User Accounts
2) Click on "Change the way users logon on and off"
3) Uncheck "Use Fast User Switching"
4) Uncheck "Use Welcome Screen"
5) Close that window (optional)
6) Hold down the Windows key then hit the letter "L"
7) Your workstation is now locked
**There's another way to put the workstation into lockdown...
1) Go through steps 1-5 of the previous list
2) Hit Ctrl-Alt-Del
3) Hit Enter
3) clsid Codes - and what they are for..
My Computer
::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
Network Neighborhood
::{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
Recycle Bin
::{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Task Scheduler
::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Printers
::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Control Panel
::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}
Web Folders
::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{BDEADF00-C265-11D0-BCED-00A0C90AB50F}
4) Windows XP shortcut keys
* Windows: Display the Start menu
* Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
* Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
* Windows + F: Display Search for files
* Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
* Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Centre
* Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
* Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
* Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
* Windows + L: Lock the workstation
* Windows + U: Open Utility Manager
* Windows + Q: Quick switching of users (Powertoys only)
* Windows + Q: Hold Windows Key, then tap Q to scroll thru the different users on your pc
Sometimes a file just won't allow itself to be deleted. The most common
reason for this is that Explorer has a grip on this file and won't let go!
The following method should allow us to delete the wee bugger....
How to delete an Undeletable file
* Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open. Close all open programs.
* Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE
* Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe. Leave Task Manager open.
* Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the undeletable file is located in.
* At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.
* Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.
* Close Task Manager
Display the on-screen keyboard
* Start --> Run ( or Windows + R )
* Type osk ( Press ENTER )
5) Setting Folder Permissions in XP Pro
Using the GUI to set XP folder permissions...
Windows XP Pro
This only works on NTFS formatted drives!
Ensure Simple File sharing is disabled.
My Computer ---> Tools ---> Folder Options ---> View
The folder I will change will be the MSOCache
Before
Notice the folder is showing as 315MB.
Okay, now select the Security Tab, and set permissions accordingly. You can
select users to hide/disable access for. In this example I deny all permissions for myself! ( You would normally select a different user or user group ).
Properties of folder after we set the permissions
Notice the folder is showing as 0KB's! Also, if you try and enter the folder you
will be presented with an access denied message. Kool for keeping snoopers
from your pr0n
Now, for the more advanced!
Same thing using command line
I won't go into all the details, but the command you use is named CACLS
Code:
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D:\>CACLS /?
Displays or modifies access control lists (ACLs) of files
CACLS filename [/T] [/E] [/C] [/G user:perm] [/R user [...]]
[/P user:perm [...]] [/D user [...]]
filename Displays ACLs.
/T Changes ACLs of specified files in
the current directory and all subdirectories.
/E Edit ACL instead of replacing it.
/C Continue on access denied errors.
/G user:perm Grant specified user access rights.
Perm can be: R Read
W Write
C Change (write)
F Full control
/R user Revoke specified user's access rights (only valid with /E).
/P user:perm Replace specified user's access rights.
Perm can be: N None
R Read
W Write
C Change (write)
F Full control
/D user Deny specified user access.
Wildcards can be used to specify more that one file in a command.
You can specify more than one user in a command.
Abbreviations:
CI - Container Inherit.
The ACE will be inherited by directories.
OI - Object Inherit.
The ACE will be inherited by files.
IO - Inherit Only.
The ACE does not apply to the current file/directory