Tips and Tricks Windows Operating System

Desktop with Server Performance

2007-11-21T21:16:00.002+07:00

If you have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or a backup data card, then change your computer performance profile to a network server. This profile is buffering aggressively the memory data, so reducing disk operation time. To change the profile, right-click My Computer, select Properties, and then click the Performance tab. Click the File System button, and then change the Typical role of this machine setting option to Network Server.

Faster Launch Time

2007-11-21T21:16:00.001+07:00

If you want to get faster program launch time, here is a great tip: set the program to start in a minimized state. To do so, right-click on any shortcut and go to the Properties tab, on the Run section, select the Minimized option. Slower systems will see the biggest difference.

Hacking the Forgotten Password

2007-11-21T21:11:00.000+07:00

If you forget your Windows Logon password, all you have to do is press the Esc key when the Password dialog box appears on the screen. Windows 9X/Me will be opened on its default screen. Go to C:\Windows folder, and then delete the .PWL file that uses your name as the logon name. For example, if your logon name is John then delete JOHN.PWL file. Click the Start-Shut Down menu and then click Close all programs and log on as another user option. When the Password dialog box appears on the screen, type the same name but with the new password. This method is also useful if you want to break up another user logon.

Faster ShutDown

2007-11-21T21:10:00.000+07:00

How long the time that you spend to end your Windows session? So much time wasted only to play the Exit Windows's sound. To get faster shutdown or restart, you can delete that sound. To do so, open Control Panel, double click the Sound icon, in the Events list find the "Exit Windows" item, and then choose None in the Name column.

Creating an Easy to Remember Password

2007-11-21T21:09:00.001+07:00

Some time it is hard to remember your own password. Too simple a password makes it easier for somebody else to guess your password. As a solution, you can mix numbers, small letters, capital letters, and symbols to compose your password.

First, think two or three words that are easy for you to remember. For example, use your own name such as JOHN SULLIVAN. Next, change the "O", "I", and "S" letters with "0", "1", and "5" numbers, so it becomes J0HN 5ULL1VAN.

Change the empty space with ~ or & symbols, so it become J0HN~5ULL1VAN. Finally, use capital letters for the consonants and small letters for the vowels. So the final password will be J0HN~5uLL1VaN.

Closing All Your Applications Fast

2007-11-21T21:08:00.000+07:00

Use this tip to close all opened applications quickly. Click the Start-Run menu, type Taskman, and then click OK to open the Task Manager application. Press and hold the SHIFT key, click the first application from the list, click the last application, and then click the Windows - End Task menu. You can also create a shortcut to the Task Manager in the Start menu.

Are you tired to close your running applications one by one? Just select Shutdown from the Start menu and pick the "Close all programs and log on as a different user?" option. Then log back on as the same user.

Clean Up the Installation Trash

2007-11-21T21:07:00.000+07:00

Perform these steps to clean up your disk from useless files and folders:
Click on the Start-Find menu, type *.DIR to find files named MSCREATE.DIR. You can delete this file to save your empty space. You may also find and delete folders named ~MSSETUP.T, which is a temporary directory used to install Microsoft's applications.

Checking Your Old Pentium Machine

2007-11-21T21:04:00.001+07:00

One of the biggest news in 1994 is the discovering of Intel Pentium bug. If you have an old Pentium machine, perhaps you want to test it. To do so, run the Calculator application, and then click the View-Scientific menu. Perform these simple calculations: (4195835/3145727) x 3145727. The correct result is 4195835, but the result from Pentium with bug is 4195579.

Checking the Web Site Speed

2007-11-21T21:02:00.000+07:00

Taking too much time to access your favorite sites? Probably the problem is on the server used by those sites. To make sure that is the problem, use Windows PING facility. Ping is a small program, which sends a 32-bit signal to the Web site server. Next, Ping record the time needed by the server to answer it. To activate Ping:

Click on the Start-Run menus, type command, and then click OK. Type PING "site name" in the MS-DOS prompt window, for example PING www.yahoo.com. In a moment, the result will appear on the screen. A result less than 300ms is normal speed while a result more than 400ms is slow speed.

If "Request timed out" message appears on the screen that means the Web site server is not responding in one second. Probably it happens because the server is too slow, or designed on purpose not to respond to the ping test, or you forgot to specify your name server addresses in the TCP/IP settings dialog box.

Checking the .DLL files

2007-11-21T21:01:00.000+07:00

If you check the contents of the C:\Windows and the C:\Windows\System folders, you will find many of useless DLL files. To save your hard disk space, use Windows Explorer to know whether a .DLL file still needed or not. To do so, right click a DLL file and then select Quick View. You will see some information, such as the applications that use it. If the application is no longer exist then you can safely remove it from your disk. Of course, you must very careful while doing this. You can move it first to other folders and then delete it several days later if there is no problem generated. N otice that if you can't see the Quick View option that means you must install it first from Windows Installation CD.

Cheating at Solitaire

2007-11-21T21:00:00.000+07:00

Start a game. Choose Game, Options from the menu bar, and then click Draw three. You can also put the scoring and status on. Type in "xyzzy" (without the quotes). Hold down the CTRL + ALT + SHIFT & click on the deck of cards.

Cheating at Minesweeper

2007-11-21T20:59:00.003+07:00

Start a game. Click the right mouse buttons & the left mouse button together. While clicking both buttons press Escape. The timer has stopped. Play as slow as you want.

Cheating at FreeCell

2007-11-21T20:59:00.001+07:00

If you have no more idea how to finish FreeCell game, you can hold down CRTL+SHIFT+F10 keys. A message will appear on the screen. Choose Abort, and then drag a card to the top. Computer will finish the game for you.

More cheating:

Start a game. If you've moved the wrong card in FreeCell, quickly press F10 before clicking on another card. It's the Undo button.

Click on Game – Select Game menu (or press F3), type –1 for your new game, and click OK. You will get all cards sorted by color in ascending order.
Click on Game – Select Game menu (or press F3), type –2 for your new game, and click OK. You will get all cards sorted by color in descending order.
Try to finish both games!

And finally, you have to know that after you have won all the 65,535 games, FreeCell resets your winning streak back to zero.

Change Your Files Date

2007-11-21T20:58:00.003+07:00

If you look at several files that produced by various software companies, you can see that all files have a similar time and date properties. You can do the same to your files, just follow these steps:

Double-click on the clock at Windows 9X/Me Taskbar, and then adjust it to a new time and date. For example January 1, 2000, 00:00. Click OK. Open the MS DOS prompt window, and then go to the folder that you want to change its date and time. Type a copy command by using this format: COPY /B filename+,,

For example if your file name is document.txt, then you must type
COPY /B document.txt+,,
Type Y at the confirmation box. Now you can check your files date and time by using the DIR command.

Change the DOS Prompt Symbol

2007-11-21T20:58:00.001+07:00

You can change the DOS prompt symbol from C:> to other symbols by typing this commands:

PROMPT [text]
text could be a normal character or these special characters:

$Q = symbol
$$ $ Symbol
$T Current time
$D Current date
$P Current drive and path
$V Windows version number
$N Current drive
$G > symbol
$L < symbol
$B | symbol
$H Backspace
$E Escape
$_ Empty

Type the commands ( for example prompt $D$_$P$B ) in the Batch file column at the Program tab of the MS-DOS Prompt Properties dialog box.

Better Dir Command

2007-11-21T20:54:00.000+07:00

Do you know that DIR command can be adjusted? Try to type the following command into MS-DOS prompt, and the pres Enter:

Set dircmd=/o:xxx /a

Change the xxx with one of these parameters:

N - sort by file name
E - sort by file extension
D - sort by file date
S - sort by file size
A - sort by last accessed date
G - list the folder first

Then try to type DIR command as usual.

For example, to list the folder first and then sort all by its name, use this command:
Set dircmd=/o:GND /a

To reverse the sort order (from Z to A), use a minus sign before the parameter, like this:
Set dircmd=/o:-N /a

Another example:
Set dircmd=/p
Now every time you execute the DIR command, the report list will be displayed page by page with the Enter pressing.

If you don't want to type the set dircmd command for every MS-DOS session, then insert that line command in the C:\Autoexec.bat file.

A New Day, A New Sound

2007-11-21T20:50:00.000+07:00

Try this tip if you are bored with the same welcome sound every day and want to use a different sound every time you start Windows 9X/Me.

Create a new folder, for example C:\Windows\Sound. Put your WAV files in this folder, change their names to sound01.wav, sound02.wav, sound03.wav, etc. Open Control Panel, double-click on the Sounds icon, select Start Windows option from the Events list, and then click the Browse button. Choose a WAV file that you want to play, for example C:\Windows\Media\Welcome.wav. Click OK.

Now use Notepad to create a batch file with these following contents:

cd c:\windows\sound
ren sound01.wav soundxx.wav
ren sound02.wav sound01.wav
ren sound03.wav sound02.wav
ren sound04.wav sound03.wav
ren soundxx.wav sound04.wav
copy sound01.wav c:\windows\media\welcome.wav

If you have more than four files in the C:\Windows\Sound folder, you can add as many more commands as you want, just follow the command pattern. Save that batch file, for example as C:\Windows\Change.bat. Add a command into the Autoexec.bat file to activate Change.bat file. From now on, you will hear a different Windows 9X/Me welcome sound every time you start your computer.

Tip:
For a better solution, use our new software, DesktopCycler. You are not limited to rotate the sounds, but also Windows logo, wallpaper, Start Menu icon, and many more. Download it from our site http://www.magellass.com