Takumi

When used in combination with other keys, here’s what you can do:

Windows Key + Tab: Cycle through the buttons in the Task Bar.
Windows Key + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows Key + E: Launch Windows Explorer
Windows Key + F: Launch Search for Files
Windows Key + Ctrl + F: Launch Search for Computers
Windows Key + F1: Launch the Help and Support Center
Windows Key + R: Launch the Run dialog box
Windows Key + Pause/Break: Launch System Properties dialog box
Windows Key + M: Minimizes all open windows.
Windows Key + Shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows Key + L: Locks the workstation
Windows Key + U: Launch the Utility Manager
Windows
Key + Ctrl + Tab: According to Microsoft: Moves focus from Start, to
the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray. What it does for me in
XP: moves through the tabs in your current application (Firefox 2, IE
7, Homesite+ and Paint Shop Pro XI)

If you have a
Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType software installed you can
use the following shortcuts as well. As it happens, I do have a
Microsoft Natural Keyboard, so I installed IntelliType and sure enough
these now work:

Windows Key + L: Log off Windows
Windows Key + P: Starts Print Manager
Windows Key + C: Opens Control Panel
Windows Key + V: Starts Clipboard
Windows Key + K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialog box
Windows Key + I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box
Windows Key + A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)
Windows Key + Spacebar: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys
Windows Key + S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off

To disable the Shared Documents folder that shows up on the network

  1. Start Regedit
  2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer \
  3. Create a new DWORD Value
  4. Give it the name NoSharedDocuments
  5. Give it a value of 1
  6. Log off or reboot

1.Start Regedit
  2.Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced \
  3.Change ClassicViewState to 1

1. Create a new empty text file.

2. Copy the following into the text file:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mp4\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]
@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"

3. Rename the file from .txt to .reg

4. Double-click on the .reg file. You will be asked if you want to import it into your registry. Click yes.

Find an MSN messengers contact IP address

The
only way i know to do that is to send to the contact a file while he is
online , send him/her a photo or something else , doing that a
peer-to-peer connection opens while your friend gets the file/photo no
matter what it is , make sure that you have a DOS Prompt open (located
at:start > programs > MS-DOS Prompt) and type the command: netstat
while sending them the file and you will see a list in the DOS Prompt
of all the connections your computer has that time , one of them must
be your friend that is receiving the file.If you hear about an other
easier way that you get it without sending files be sure to post it
here.

Find an IP though mIRC chat channels

There
is the /dns nickname command in irc but some people use proxies or
shells and you cant see their real address,how do you know if the user
uses a web-shell or a proxy? well… guess that yourself while looking
the ip you got from the /dns nickname command , make sure you check out
IRC Scanner v1.0 by RG in our programming section and in IP scanners
section , its the best and fastest way to scan the users in IRC
channels.

Get your friends IP address by sending them to your page

Build a simple site in geocities or anywhere else , then go t http://www.stats4all.com
and create an account , they provide free website statistics , add
their code to your site and tell your friend to check out a cool page
you just made , when he visits the page his IP will be logged in
stats4all.com so after your friend visits your page check out your
stats in stats4all.com and you will find the last 5 visitors at the
left of the stats page , your friends IP included.

Yahoo Mail
On Yahoo Mail you need just to click "Full headers" while you see message.

HotMail
In HotMail you need to enable show header in mail options.
In Mail Options click to Mail Display Settings
In the ‘Mail Display Settings’ set ‘Message Headers’ to "Full" or "Advanced"

Sometimes on the internet you get an IP address but have no idea who it
is. Whether it be an IP address which is being blocked by your firewall
or you are doing a lookup to see who is spamming you, you can do a
quick lookup of an IP address using a tool which is already on your PC.

In
Windows 2000/XP, go to Start > Run and type in "command" and press
enter. At the command prompt, enter "nslookup xx.xx.xx.xx" (where the
xx stuff is the IP address). The output will be first some info about
your ISP, then it will give you the IP address you entered and the
domain it is resolving to. This can help you get some meaning behind
those cryptic numbers.

Before you can change your IP you need some information. This
information includes your IP range, subnet mask, default gateway, dhcp
server, and dns servers.

I. Getting your IP range -
Getting information about your IP range is not difficult, I recommend
using Neo Trace on your own IP. But for my test just look at your IP
address, say it’s 24.193.110.13 you can definitely use the IP’s found
between 24.193.110.1 < [new IP] < 24.193.110.255, don’t use
x.x.x.1 or x.x.x.255. To find your IP simply open a dos/command prompt
window and type ipconfig at the prompt, look for "IP Address. . . . . .
. . . . . . : x.x.x.x".

II. Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, DHCP Server -
These are very easy to find, just open a dos/command prompt window and
type ‘ipconfig /all’ without the ‘ ‘. You should see something like
this:
Windows IP Configuration:

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : My Computer Name Here
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .: Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . . . . . . .: xxxx.xx.x
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : NETGEAR FA310TX Fast Ethernet Adapter (NGRPCI)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . . . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.xxx.xxx.xx
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .: 255.255.240.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.xxx.xxx.x
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .: 24.xx.xxx.xx
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.xx.xxx.xxx
24.xx.xxx.xx
24.xx.xxx.xxx
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:Monday, January 20, 2003 4:44:08 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:Tuesday, January 21, 2003 3:43:16 AM

This
is all the information you will need for now, I suggest you either keep
your dos/command prompt window open or copy & paste the information
somewhere, to copy right click the window and select text and click
once.

III. Changing your IP Address

To change
your IP address first pick any IP you like out of your IP range and
remember it or write it down. It is usualy a good idea to make sure the
IP is dead (except for what we are going to do later on) so just ping
it via "ping x.x.x.x" and if it times out then you can use it. Now go
to My Computer, then Control Panel. In Control Panel select Network
Connections and pick your active connection, probably Local Area
Connection or your ISP name. Open that connection by double clicking on
the icon in Network Connections, then select Properties under the
General Tab. In the new window that pops up select Internet Protocol
(TCP/IP) and click properties, it’s under the general tab. In this new
window select the General tab and choose "Use the following IP address"
and for the IP address enter the IP you would like to use (the one you
picked from your subnet earlier) and for the Subnet Mask enter the
subnet mask you got when your ran ipconfig /all, same goes for the
Default Gateway. Now select "Use the following DNS server addresses"
and enter the information you got earlier. Now just click OK. Test that
it worked, try to refresh a website and if it works you know everything
is okay and you are connected. To make sure the change worked type
ipconfig again and the IP address should have changed to your new one.

IV. DDoS & DoS Protection

If
your firewall shows that you are being DDoSed, this is usually when you
are constantly getting attempted UDP connections several times a second
from either the same IP address or multiple IP addresses (DDoS), you
can protect your self by changing your IP address via the method I
described above.

V. Web servers & Other Services

If
you know someone on your IP range is running a web server and he or she
has pissed you off or you just like messing around you can "steal"
their IP address so any DNS going to that IP will show your site
instead because you would be running a web server yourself.

To
"steal" an IP is to basically use the changing IP address method above
and picking an IP that someone that is running a web server has in use.
Often you will be able to keep that IP at least for some time, other
times you wont be able to use it so just keep trying until it works.
You your self will need to have a web server on the same port with your
message. You can do this with other services too. You can also DoS or
DDoS the IP address you are trying to steal to kick him off the net,
but I don’t recommend as its pretty illegal, an your ISP will get
pissed!!

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Tracing an IP

What is an IP address?
An
IP address or Internet Protocol is a 32-bit number address, which is
assigned to each computer (technically called a host) connected to the
Internet. It is the address to which different types of data are sent
to your computer. It consists of 4 octets. Each octet equals 8 bits and
has a range from 0 to 255. (Every IP address on the Internet is
sectioned off into classes from class A to class E, depending on a
different range of numbers, but I won?t go into that here.) Well I
always believed that sometimes pictures speak louder than words so here
is an example of a typical IP address:

209.124.223.67
| | | |
| | | |—-> (4th octet. 8-bits. Ranges from 0 to 255)
| | |———-> (3rd octet. 8-bits. Ranges from 0 to 255)
| |—————-> (2nd octet. 8-bits. Ranges from 0 to 255)
|———————> (1st octet. 8-bits. Ranges from 0 to 255)

Notice
how each octet is separated by a decimal. I said earlier that an IP
address is a 32-bit number or address. There are 4 octets, which are
each 8-bits. So 8-bits + 8-bits + 8-bits + 8-bits = 32-bits.

  What can an IP tell me about a person?
Well
an IP address can tell a good bit of information about a person, or
should I say the computer the person is at or registered to. In its
numerical form, an IP number would be kind of hard, to an average and
less geeky person, to look at and automatically see what information
you can get from it. Enter the Domain Name System (DNS). The Domain
Name System or DNS turns those confusing little numbers into readable
hostnames (ex. 209.124.223.67 in its DNS form would look like
gnzl-as50-67.eatel.net). Now to convert an IP number address into DNS
form you would have to use something called rDNS or reverse Domain Name
System. To find rDNS tools online just go to www.samspade.org or search at www.google.com.
Example:

gnzl-as50-67.eatel.net
| | |
| | |—-> (domain belongs to a network)
| |———> (name of the isp or internet service provider)
|——————-> (the name of the machine which is located in ?gnzl? or gonzales of Louisiana)

Domains
could also have suffixes behind them (ex. gnzl-as50-67.eatel.net.uk)
indicating that they are from another country. Example:

.jp = Japan
.uk = United Kingdom
.nl = Netherlands
.it = Italy
.ru = Russia
.fr = France
.eg = Egypt

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How do I find my own IP address?

Windows 95/98/ME:
1. Click the Start button then press Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type in WINIPCFG in the white space and press OK.
3. An IP Configuration box should pop up with the IP displayed.

Windows 2000
1. Click START, go to Programs, then go to Accessories, and select the Command Prompt.
2. The Command Prompt window will open. Type "ipconfig/all" and hit the RETURN key.

Windows NT
1. Click the Start button then press Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, type in IPCONFIG in the white space and press OK.

OR

1. Click Start, go to Programs, and then select Command Prompt or MS-Dos Prompt.
2. When you see that black window pop up type ‘ipconfig/all’ and press Enter.

How do I get someone’s IP when they are chatting on MSN/AIM/Yahoo Messenger?
How
many times have you moderators on computer security message boards
heard this one? The answer is quite simple really. All you need is a
direct connection from you to the person?s computer, and a wonderful
little command that comes with all windows systems called netstat.
Netstat displays active connections and protocol statistics.

Now
to get someone’s IP on these messenger you would need a direct
connection. I will explain why in a bit. Now to get a direct connection
you would need to have some sort of file transferring, voice chat
session, or even a web cam session with Windows NetMeeting. Ok say you
are sending a file to someone and you want to get his or her IP. First
you would need to open up the MS-Dos Prompt or Command Prompt or the
little black window thingy to the computer illiterate. Just follow the
same format I showed you early on how to find your IP address. You
know, Start, Programs, Command Prompt. Ok now you should have the Dos
Prompt window up. While you are transferring/recieiving a file, or
voice chatting with someone, type in the command ‘netstat -n’. You
should see something like this:

C:\WINDOWS>netstat -n

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP 211.124.228.98:1138 64.4.13.69:1863 ESTABLISHED
TCP 211.124.228.98:1150 64.4.12.190:1863 ESTABLISHED
TCP 211.124.228.98:6891 12.90.50.93:1978 ESTABLISHED

The
above is an example I got from using the netstat -n command on a
friend. The two above commands are from the MSN messenger service.
There are two because I am chatting to two people at this time. So
while I was transferring a file to this person I did the netstat -n
command and got their IP number (12.90.50.93).

So you might be
asking, "How come I can?t just do a netstat -n while Im chatting with
someone??" Well the truth is that you can, but you would only get the
IP of the MSN server that you are on. Let me explain it better with a
picture?.

YOU——> MSN SERVER——>OTHER PERSON

So
that’s basically how it looks when you send your messages to your
friend or what not. They first have to pass through the MSN server then
go to your friend’s messenger. So if you were to do a netstat -n you
would only get the server?s IP. Now a direct connection would look like?

YOU——>OTHER PERSON

I
think it?s pretty self-explanatory. Now netstat -n would work since the
transfer is between you and the other person, and not you, then the
server, then the other person.

If someone is using a proxy or wingate how can I obtain his or her true IP address?
As
for as I know, I don?t think you can. Not easily anyway. You would have
to be the administrator of the proxy or wingate server and or get
access to the server logs of your entry somehow.

Someone told me that websites could get my IP and other information. Is this true?
Yes this is true. Anything u connect to via the Internet can capture your IP and other sorts of information. Go to www.privacy.net
then click at the top for a full analysis. That site shows u what
information other sites may get off of your computer while you are
surfing them. Feeling a little less secure now? Well, I would recommend
trying an anonymous browser such as www.anonymizer.com or www.safeweb.com. You can also use proxy?s to spoof (hide your real IP or domain) your connection by using MultiProxy, A4Proxy, or Proxomitron

Method 1
put this string in google search:

"parent directory " /appz/ -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory " DVDRip -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory "Xvid -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory " Gamez -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory " MP3 -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

"parent directory " Name of Singer or album -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5 -md5sums

Notice that i am only changing the word after the parent directory, change it to what you want and you will get a lot of stuff.

Method 2
put this string in google search:

‘intitle:index.of’ mp3

You only need add the name of the song/artist/singer.
Example: ‘intitle:index.of’ mp3 jackson

Method 3
put this string in google search:

inurl:microsoft filetype:???

Method 4
put this string in google search:

intitle:index.of.???

Method 5
put this string in google search:

"name of object"download
"name of object download"
free "name of object"download
free "name of object download"

Or just look for the filename(s).
and instead of using the inurl: tag, use site: that works too.

Google A Hacker’s Best Friend

http://neworder.box.sk/newsread.php?newsid=8203

Uninstall Windows Messenger

It’s installed by default, and it doesn’t appear in the Add/Remove Program applet in Control Panel.

1. Edit the SYSOC.INF file (located in C:\[your Windows XP directory]\INF) in Notepad.
2. Under
   the "[Components]" heading, you’ll see a whole bunch of parameters for
   various Windows applets. Some of them contain the word "hide". Windows
   Messenger (msmsgs) is installed on your XP system, but its entry is
   hidden from and Add/Remove Programs dialog. To remove it, edit the line that reads:

   msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

   so that it looks like this:

   msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,7

3. Save and close the file.
4. Open Add/Remove Programs.
5. Click on the "Windows Components" button and you’ll see "Windows Messenger" listed.
6. Now you can remove it from your system.

Incidentally, you can edit everywhere the word "hide" appears in the
SYSOC.INF file to reveal other removable Windows XP components:
Terminal Server, Pinball, etc.

-OR-

1. To simply uninstall Windows Messenger without all the hassle above, enter the following on the command line or in a Run prompt:

   RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

-OR-

1. Simply install Windows Service Pack 1 and the option to remove Windows Messenger will appear in the Add/Remove Programs list.

Enable DMA on ATAPI (CDROM/CDRW/DVD) Drives

Sometimes, ATAPI devices are set to PIO mode - even when the device
attached is capable of much more efficient UltraATA (or DMA) mode data
transfers. This can hurt the performance of CD reading, CD burning, DVD
movie playback, etc. Plus, DMA mode data transfers require much less
CPU overhead than PIO-mode transfers.

1. Right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties".
2. Click the "Hardware" tab.
3. Click the "Device Manager" button.
4. Expand the entry for "IDE/ATAPI controllers".
5. Select the primary channel and click on "Properties".
6. Then choose the "Advanced Settings" tab.
7. For
   each device listed, change the transfer mode to "DMA if possible".
   Don’t worry; devices that aren’t capable of DMA mode will still work
   fine.
8. Repeat the process for the secondary channel.

There
are two types of IDE cables ( the cable used to connect CD and
harddrives to the motherboard) currently available: 40-wire and
80-wire. 80-wire cables have thinner individual wires and are normally
reserved for faster devices like harddrives, while the 40-wire cables
are used for the slower CDROM/CDRW/DVD drives. However, they use the
same connector, so they are interchangeable. I like to put the 80-pin
cables on the CD/DVD drives as well; It can’t hurt, but it may help.
There really isn’t much difference in price between the two. Using
40-wire cable on a harddrive will severely reduce
performance for harddrives. Those extra 40 wires are actually ground
wires between each of the 40 signal wires. This helps reduce the
induced crosstalk between wires from data traveling at high speed.

Remove Shared Folders from "My Computer"

The shared folders are folders which have been shared from other
computers on the network. It generally provides quick access to other
people’s shared files, but may also delay the opening of Explorer since
it has to look for these directories. Or, you may simply not want them
to show up. However, this does not keep you from browsing to any shared
folders by navigating "My Network Places".

1. Open Notepad and copy/paste the following lines:

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\My
   Computer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders\{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}
   "(Default)"=dword:00000

2. Save the file to your desktop as "removeshared.reg".
3. Close Notepad.
4. Double-click the "removeshared.reg" file on your desktop.
5. Click "Yes" to the confirmation box.
6. An alert box should tell you the information was successfully entered into the registry. Click "Ok".
7. You can now delete the "removeshared.reg" file you created earlier.
8. Open "My Computer" and the shared folders should be gone.

Cannot Get Windows Updates from Microsoft’s website

I haven’t had this happen to me, but this is supposed to work if, for
some reason, you are unable to get updates for your system.

1. Go
   into Internet Explorer and clear out the cache ("Tools" -> "Internet
   Options" -> press "Delete Files" and "Clear History" buttons). Then
   exit IE.
2. Open the file C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts in Notepad.
3. Add the following line to the end of the file:

   207.46.226.17     windowsupdate.microsoft.com

   (Make sure there’s a tab in-between the IP address and the URL or else it won’t work.)

4. Save the file and exit Notepad.

Install WindowsXP from DOS

You can follow these steps to install WindowsXP on your computer if the
CD itself is unbootable for any reason, or your system is unable to be
booted from a CD drive. You can usually make BIOS boot from the CD, it
usually is just a matter of changing the boot order.

1. You will need 6 Floppies. Download Microsoft’s boot disk creator from here.
2. Run the program and swap floppies when it tells you to.
3. Once created, boot from floppy 1 of the set and follow the directions from there. You will still need the WindowsXP CD.

-OR-

1. Boot with a Windows 98 Start Up floppy disk.
2. Insert the Windows 98 CD into your CDROM.
3. Run smartdrv.exe from the "Win98" directory on the windows98 CD. This enables file caching and is needed.
4. When done, go back up to the CD’s root directory.
5. Take out the Windows98 CD and insert the WindowsXP CD into your CDROM drive.
6. Copy the i386 folder on the CD to the C drive: xcopy  D:\I386  c:\  /c/h/e/k/r (replace "D" with the letter of your CD drive).
7. Go into "C:\i386" folder on the C drive and type "winnt32.exe" to launch the setup program from the hard drive.

If
you do not have the windows98 CD, you can create a windows98 startup
floppy from a Windows98 machine. Just make sure it also has tools on it
like smartdrv.exe, xcopy, etc.

Create a shortcut to lock computer or switch user

The end result is determined by how you have your PC configured:

• If you log onto on a domain, this will simply lock the computer with the Windows2000 style logon box.
• If
  you log onto a workgroup or are not part of a network and have "User
  Switching" disabled, this will bring you to the Welcome screen to
  re-enter your password.
• If you have "User Switching" enabled,
  this will bring you to the Welcome screen for you to re-enter your
  password and/or allow someone else to log in too (while keeping
  everything you had running).

1. Right click on desktop and select "New" and then select "Shortcut".
2. Copy and paste the following line in the program location box:

   rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

3. Click "Next" and enter a name for your shortcut and then click "Finish".
4. Now
   you can copy and paste that shortcut anywhere you want on your
   computer. Good places might be your quick launch bar, Start menu, etc.
   You can change the icon as well.

Windows resets/locks up for no apparent reason

Check this out if Windows simply resets, "bluescreens", or locks up for no apparent reason.

• First
  of all, if the computer simply resets, you might want to shut off
  "automatic restart". This makes the computer reset if it encounters a
  serious problem. Shutting this off will show you a blue screen that
  might give you a clue as to what is going on. To shut off "automatic
  restart":
  1. Right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties"         
  2. Click the "Advanced" tab.         
  3. Click the "Settings" button in the "Startup and Recovery" section.         
  4. Uncheck the "Automatically Restart" option.         

  Hopefully, you will be able to glean some sort of information from the blue screen when it happens again.

• Check Windows Event History. I find this to be an invaluable tool in troubleshooting.   
  1. Click "Start", then "Control Panel", then "Adminsitrative Tools".         
  2. Start "Event History".         
  3. On
     the left are the three groups: System, Security. and Application.
     Select one of these and on the right will be all the entries for that
     group. You probably want to pay special attention to the System and
     Application categories as they will help you the most. Look for red
     circles with a white X. These are
     the "bad" errors. Double-click one of them to bring up a description.
     There might also be a website URL that may give you more information
     about the error. Some of these descriptions may be quite cryptic, but
     again, you are looking for obvious issues.
• Many
  times, a new or corrupted device driver may cause serious errors. If
  you have recently installed a new device, try reverting back an older
  version of the driver. If the problem goes away, you’ve found your
  problem! When installing drivers, you should always remove the old
  before installing the new one so there won’t be any fragments of the
  old version littering your system.
• If you have just
  replaced your motherboard and now Windows gives you a blue screen
  error; I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
   
  • Good News: Chances are there is nothing wrong with the board…. which leads me to the bad news.
           
  • Bad news:
    If the motherboard chipset (nVidia, VIA, Intel, AMD, Sis, etc) on your
    new board is different from the old one, you probably will have to
    re-install windowsXP from scratch. Sometimes the differences in chipset
    architecture is simply too different for XP to recover from.
    Even if you can get it to work, you probably will have all kinds of old
    drivers and files from the old board, and may adversly affect
    performance. I’ve always re-installed WindowsXP using the
    "wipe-out-the-old-version" method to be sure of a clean install. I
    always make a harddrive image of my drive to another harddrive before I
    do this just in case I forgot a file I really need. Obviously, you
    should make the image before you install the new motherboard in case problems like this arise. ;)         

• WindowsXP
  seems to be quite picky about system memory (RAM). Even though your
  memory ran flawlessly under Windows98/2000/ME. WindowsXP may simply
  refuse to accept it. I suggest downloading and running a thorough
  memory tester. Typically, these types of programs run by creating a
  bootable floppy and running in "DOS". If you have a bad stick of
  memory, or certain parts are bad, looks like it’s time to break down
  and buy some new RAM.

  If you are running a motherboard with
  dual-channel capability, try re-arranging your memory to run in
  single-channel mode. If you don’t know what "dual/single channel" is,
  don’t worry about it.

  Try relaxing the timings on your memory
  through BIOS (CAS, RAS, etc). These settings are generally found in the
  "Advanced Chipset" section of your BIOS. At least lower the CAS setting
  to 2.5, and maybe lower your memory clock speed. If you have an OEM
  computer (Dell, Gateway, Compaq, etc) and cannot find these settings,
  don’t worry, these settings are probably not available to you. They are
  mostly found on aftermarket motherboards like Giga-byte, Asus, MSI,
  Abit, etc.

• Most people neglect a very (if not the most)
  important part of any computer: The power supply. If you’ve upgraded
  some of your hardware, or added new (or upgraded to newer) hard/CD
  drives, the power supply may not be able to supply the juice your PC
  needs. Or, it could just be old and on its way out. Either way, it may
  be time to get a new one. With today’s fast and power hungry video
  cards, CPU’s, and harddrives, it wouldn’t hurt to purchase a power
  supply with a rating of at least 400 watts or higher. You really can’t
  have a power supply that is too big; your system will only draw
  what it needs. A power supply that is too small will have to work
  harder to provide the power to your system. This reduces its life and
  creates more internal heat. Plus, if a power supply "blows", it could
  take your expensive equipment with it. The moral: don’t skimp! A cheap
  power supply may save you a few bucks now, but might cost you more in
  the long run in damaged equipment.
• One word: Temperature. Today’s processors generate lots
  of heat. This heat is removed from the CPU via heatsink and fan. Check
  your fans once in a while to make sure they are clean and running
  smoothly. Also make sure there is no dust on the heatsink itself, which
  would reduce its heat dissipating properties. Go to your nearest
  computer store (some department stores may have a small computer
  accessories section) and purchase a can of "canned air", which is
  simply compressed air in a can. Use this to blow the dust out of these
  components.

  The best processor heatsink in the world will not do
  any good if the air inside your computer cannot circulate. This means
  you should occasionally check any case fans for dust-free and smooth
  operation. Some less-expensive computers use the fan built into the
  power supply to remove heat from the computer’s case. Use the canned
  air mentioned above to clean these fans as well.

  There are
  programs you can download for free such as Motherboard Monitor (my
  favorite) that you may (depending on your motherboard model) be able to
  use to monitor various aspects of your computer, such as CPU
  temperature, power supply voltages, fan speeds, etc. This is especially
  important if you like to overclock your system, which is pushing the
  components beyond their rated specifications for the benefit of added
  performance. These types of people usually have aftermarket (and
  sometime exotic) cooling solutions though.

  Other devices you should clean off regularly are video cards, harddrives, and any other surface where you see a heatsink.   

Remove Windows ZIP file handling

WindowsXP will treat ZIP files like folders when selected, but this can
slow down file browsing since it has to read the ZIP file to display
its’ contents. You can speed things up, especially on slower machines,
by making XP leave zip files alone.

1. Click "Start" and select "Run".
2. Enter this is the command line:

   regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll

3. If you change your mind later, you can revert this by typing the following on the command line instead:

   regsvr32 zipfldr.dll

Volume control shortcut

Most soundcards enable you to add a volume control icon to the system
tray. You can follow these instructions if this option is not
available.

1. Right-click on the desktop and select "New" and then select "Shortcut".
2. Enter the following as the location:

   %windir%\system32\sndvol32.exe /tray

3. Drag the new icon to the quick launch toolbar for best effect.

Better Game Install

I’m not really sure if this works, but if you have trouble with the
regular installation, there’s nothing to lose by trying this: Run the
setup program from the install CD from the "Run" command box using the
following format:

X:\setup.exe -lgntforce

Where X is the CD drive letter, and setup.exe is the setup file used to install the game.

Create a shutdown shortcut

Use this to create a shortcut to shutdown your PC. You can also create
shortcuts to log off or restart by changing a parameter.

1. Right-click on the Desktop and select "New" then "Shortcut".
2. Browse to the file C:\Windows\System32\Shutdown.exe.
3. Click "Next", name the shortcut, and click "Finish".
4. Now right-click on the new shortcut and choose "Properties".
5. In the "Target" field, append the command line switch -l to log off, -s to shut down, or -r to reboot.
6. If you also add the switch -t xx (where xx
   is a number of seconds), "Shutdown.exe" will display a warning and
   count down the specified number of seconds before activating. You can
   specify a comment to be displayed with the warning by adding the switch
   -c "Your text". The countdown behavior is
   particularly useful if the shutdown program is launched through the
   "Scheduled Tasks" applet. For example, a library computer might be
   scheduled to shut down 10 minutes before closing, with a 60-second
   warning. Once the countdown has begun, the only way to stop it is to
   launch the "Shutdown.exe" program again with the -a (for abort) switch on its command line.

Get Rid of LILO

This is used if you are dual-booting with a version of Linux. You may
simply not want to use Linux anymore, but the LILO program will still
display a list of Operating Systems to boot to. You can remove this so
WindowsXP will boot without any prompts. Warning! Unless you have a
Linux boot floppy/CDROM, you will no longer be able to boot into Linux
after completing these steps.

1. Boot from a Windows98 floppy disk.
2. At the DOS prompt, type A:\fdisk /mbr
3. When done, remove the floppy and reboot.

Fix 404 Errors

You can use these tips if all of a sudden, you can no longer access a
website that you should be able to. Before you do this, you should make
sure the site isn’t simply down by trying to navigate to the site from
another computer. Also, this is only if a certain site is down; if you cannot access any sites, there is something else wrong (possibly your Internet connection).

1. Check your firewall settings (if you have one).
2. Check your browser security level; medium is usually adequate.
3. Empty "Temporary Internet Files", "Cookies", and "History" caches.
4. Check the file c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and delete any addresses aside from the line: 127.0.0.1     localhost entry. Any other lines may have been added by another program.

These tips and tricks were found on My Fav. Warez Forum W5A!!!