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Don't just maximize your windows—go full screen

When you need a really big window, don't just maximize it: go full screen! To view a window full screen, hold down the Ctrl key and double-click the window's title bar—or when the window is active, press the F11 key at the top of your keyboard—to get the biggest window possible.

Add the Links toolbar to My Computer

You know what would make a great toolbar? One where you could put your favorite applications and documents so that you could open them from any window at any time. Guess what? You can and here's how: click Start, then My Computer. Now right-click the toolbar and then click Links. You now have the Links toolbar on your windows, just like in Internet Explorer. Note: Make sure that Lock the Toolbars is not checked. Click on it to deselect it if it is.

The really cool thing about the Links toolbar is that it's completely customizable. Try this: Navigate to your favorite application and drag and drop its icon to the Links toolbar. You just created a shortcut. Do this again and again for as many applications as you want to appear on the toolbar.

Arrange windows on your desktop

You can display any two windows side by side on the desktop by first clicking a window's button on the Taskbar. Next, press and hold the Ctrl key and right-click the second window that you want to open, then click Tile Vertically. This works great when you want to view two Microsoft Word or Microsoft Internet Explorer windows at the same time.

Organize your files into groups

Organize your files by grouping them. Try this: Open a folder containing several different subfolders and file types. Right-click any empty space on the window's contents pane, click Arrange Icons By, and then click Show in Groups. To arrange the window's contents, right-click again in any empty space on the window's contents pane, point to Arrange Icons By, and click Name, Size, Type, or Modified.

Make your own icons

It's shockingly easy to create your own icons in Windows XP. Let's do it: Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Paint. On the Image menu, click Attributes. Type 32 for both the Width and Height of the document, and make sure that Pixels is selected under Units. Click OK to create a new 32x32-pixel document: the size of an icon.

Now add type, color, or do whatever you'd like to your image. I like to shrink photos (headshots work best) to 32x32 and simply paste them into my Paint document. When you're finished, open the File menu and click Save As. Use the dialog box to choose where you want to save your file, then give it a name followed by ".ico" (without the quotes), and click Save. (The extension ".ico" tells Windows that it's an icon file.) You just created an icon! Now you can change any shortcut or folder to your own icon—just browse to it on your hard drive.

NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM Not Found

If you get an error that NTLDR is not found during bootup,
If you have FAT32 partitions, it is much simpler than with NTFS. Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files from the i386 directory to the root of the C:\ drive.
For NTFS:
Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.Typically this will be #1
Enter in the administrator password when requested
Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive.COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\: COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

 How to make a File "immutable" or "unalterable"in Linux
 It cannot be changed nor deleted even by root. Note this works on (ext2/ext3) filesystems.
     And, yes, root can delete after it's changed back.

     As root:

       $ chattr +i filename

     And to change it back:

       $ chattr -i filename

     List attributes

       $ lsattr filename

How to Create a Terminal Calculator
      Put the following in your .bashrc file

            function calc
            {
             echo "${1}"|bc -l;
            }

      Or, run it at the shell prompt. Now
      "calc" from the shell will work as follows:

            $ calc 3+45
               48

      All functions  with a "(" or ")" must be enclosed
      in quotes.  For instance, to get the sin of .4

            $ calc "s(.4)"
              .38941834230865049166

How to configure ethernet cards in Linux
To configure an ethernet card in Linux, you need to enable it in the kernel. Then the kernel will detect your
ethernet card if it is at a common IO port. But it will stop there, and will never check if you have 2 ethernet
cards.
The trick is to tell the ethernet driver that there are 2 cards in the system. The following line will tell the
kernel that there is an ethernet card at IRQ 10 and IO 0x300, and another one at IRQ 9 and IO 0x340:
ether=10,0x300,eth0 ether=9,0x340,eth1
You can add that line on bootup at the "boot:" prompt, or in the /etc/lilo.conf file. Don't forget to run:
lilo
That will reload the lilo.conf file and enable changes.

FTP access restrictions in Linux
When you first install Linux, it comes with a lot of Internet services running, including mail, telnet, finger
and FTP. You really should disable all those that you don't need from /etc/inetd.conf and your startup scripts.
FTP may be very useful, but must be configured correctly. It can allow people to log into their accounts, it
can allow anonymous users to login to a public software directory, and it can display nice messages to them.
The files that you will probably want to modify are /etc/ftpusers and /etc/ftpaccess.
The file /etc/ftpusers is very simple. It lists the people that will not be allowed to use FTP to your system. The
root account, and other system accounts should be in that file.
The file /etc/ftpaccess is a bit more complex and controls the behaviour of the FTP server. It tells it what to
use as README file to display on a directory listing, what kind of logs to create and what messages to
display.
Note that if you create an anonymous FTP area, you will need to read the FTP man page and do exactly what
it tells you to avoid possible security risks.

Chossing Bytes per inodes in Linux
When you format a partition using Linux's primary file system, ext2, you have the choice of how many bytes
per inode you want. From the man page:
 -i bytes-per-inode
              Specify  the  bytes/inode ratio.  mke2fs creates an
              inode for every bytes-per-inode bytes of  space  on
              the  disk.   This  value  defaults  to  4096 bytes.
              bytes-per-inode must be at least 1024.
This means that by using a smaller size, you will save disk space but may slow down the system. It is a
space/speed trade off.
This is similar to one of FAT16/FAT32' major differences

Default boot mode:Changing run levels in Linux
When a Linux system boots, it loads the kernel, all its drivers, and the networking servers, then the system
will display a text login prompt. There, users can enter their user names and their passwords. But it doesn't
have to boot this way.
There are 3 modes defined in most Linux distributions that can be used for booting. They are defined in
/etc/inittab and have specific numbers. The first mode, also called runlevel 1, is single user mode. That mode
will only boot the system for 1 user, with no networking. Runlevel 3 is the default mode. It will load the
networking servers and display a text login prompt. Runlevel 5 is the graphical mode. If you have X Window
installed and configured, you can use it to display a graphical login prompt.
The way to change this is to edit /etc/inittab and change the initdefault line:
id:3:initdefault:
Changing a 3 to a 5 will make the system display a xdm graphical screen on bootup.

Tips for Allowing users to run root programs
When a user starts a command, it runs with the permissions of that user. What if you want to allow them to
run some commands with root permissions? You can, and that's called suid.
You can set a command to be suid root with the chmod command. This will make it run as root even if a user
starts it. Here is how to set mybin suid root:
chmod +s mybin
Note that you must be very careful with this option. If the command has any security hole, or allows the user
to access other files or programs, the user could take over the root account and the whole system.

Library types in Linux
Two types of libraries exist on most operating systems: shared and static. On Windows, they are .DLL, for
dynamically linked library, and .LIB for static library.
On Linux and most Unix, they are .so and .a files. The shared libraries, the .so files, are loaded at runtime.
The .a files, or static libraries, are loaded at compile time and are no longer required to run the binary
program.
When you make a program, you must decide if you will link it to a static library or a shared one. You will
want a shared library in most cases because standard libraries are available on most systems, and would be
too big to include in a binary file.
If you have a small library that is not one of the standard ones that you need, then you may decide to include
it in your binary program. In that case, simply add it like any other object file in your compilation:
cc -o program file1.o file2.o library.a

Port analysis in Linux
Several utilities exist to check which ports are open, who is connected to your system and even what process
owns a port number.
First a few ground rules. Ports below 1024 are reserved for common services, and only root can use them.
Standard port numbers can be found in /etc/services. The maximum number of ports is 65k, so you have more
than enough Internet ports for all your services.
Here are some useful utilities. Netstat is a command that will list both the open ports and who is connected to
your system. You should run it like this:
netstat -an | more
This way you can find out who is connected to which service.
Another interesting command is the fuser program. This program can tell you which user and process owns a
port. For example, the following command will tell you who owns port 6000:
fuser -v -n tcp 6000

Secure alternative to telnet in Linux
Telnet is a protocol allowing you to connect to a remote system and run programs and commands on that
system. It is very old and still very much in use today.
Unfortunately, a telnet client sends the user password as clear text, and the connection is not encrypted. On
the other hand, a program called ssh exists that can replace both telnet and ftp in a secure, encrypted way.
Ssh stands for Secure Shell. It will encrypt each connection with a random key, so that it is impossible or at
least very hard for a third party to decrypt the connection and find the password, or spy on you.

Viewing Documentation and manual in Linux
Software under Linux rarely comes with printed documentation. Some do, like the GIMP and Blender, but
most only come with online documentation. This way, you can get the documentation at the same time that
you download the program.
There are 2 traditional ways to provide documentation under Unix and Linux:
The first is man pages. These are small files containing information about every command you have on your
system. For example, if you want to know what the command df does, simply type:
man df
The man system works with level of commands, from 1 to 8, plus other extensions. For full details about the
man program, simply see its manual page:
man man
The second way to provide help is with the info system. These are usually much bigger files (the libc info
files have more than 10,000 lines of text).
To access info files, simply type the info command. It is a bit harder to use, but you can get help by typing h

Handling File permissions in Linux
When you try to run a file it may refuse to work with an error like "Permission denied" and when you try to
view another file it may also say that you don't have permission to view it. These all come down to file
permissions, a basic feature of Unix.
There are 3 types of permissions: read, write and execute. When you list files it will say which permission the
files have:
ls -l file.dat
-rw-r--r--   1 root       users        1656 Mar 22 00:27 file.dat
The first part of that line is the permissions. They are, in order, the user permissions, the group permissions
and others permissions, where r means read, w means write and x means execute. For this file, the user, root,
has read and write permission (rw-), the group, users, can only read the file (r--) and everyone else can also
only read the file (r--).
Other letters may appear. The first letter is - for a normal file, d for a directory and c or b for a device. In
place of x you may see a letter s. This means that when you start a program, it will run as its owner.

Managing Swap in Linux
You installed a new Linux system, but forgot to set enough swap space for your needs. Do you need to
repartition and reinstall? No, the swap utilities on Linux allow you to make a real file and use it as swap
space.
The trick is to make a file and then tell the swapon program to use it. Here's how to create, for example, a 64
megs swap file on your root partition (of course make sure you have at least 64 megs free):
dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1024 count=65536
This will make a 64 megs (about 67 millions bytes) file on your hard drive. You now need to initialize it:
mkswap /swapfile 65536
sync
And you can then add it to your swap pool:
swapon /swapfile
With that you have 64 megs of swap added. Don't forget to add the swapon command to your startup files so
the command will be repeated at each reboot.

Emulation in Linux
Linux is source compatible with Unix. This means that all of the Unix programs should work on Linux when
compiled correctly, with little or no change to the source. Unix does provide a wide variaty of software
programs, but some programs are only available on non-Unix systems.
A number of emulators are available on Linux. We'll see 4 of them:
•  One of them is called WINE and stands for WINE Is Not an Emulator. It used to stand for
Windows Emulator. WINE will run various Windows 16bits and 32bits applications. The
home page for WINE is at http://www.winehq.com.
•  To emulate DOS programs, a program called DOSemu exists. That program comes with an X
Window interface and a console interface. It will run most DOS programs. You may want to
run graphic-intensive programs like DOS games in the console interface of DOSemu. Like
WINE, DOSemu is a free product.
•  To emulate MacOS programs, a commercial program called Executor exists. It will run a
MacOS-like shell in X Window and will run various MacOS programs.
•  A new commercial program is now available for every OS. It is called VMware and will create
a virtual PC, allowing you to run nearly any operating system, including DOS, Windows NT
and FreeBSD. It is very stable and comes with a 30 day free license
Article taken from Sourceforge.net

Allowing users to mount drives in Linux
By default, Linux will not allow users to mount drives. Only root can do it, and making the mount binary suid
root is not a good idea. With a special command in the /etc/fstab file, you can change that.
This is a typical line for the fd0 (A:) drive in /etc/fstab:
/dev/fd0        /mnt           auto       noauto,user 1  1
The keywords here are noauto and user. Noauto tells mount not the try to mount a diskette on boot, and user
allows any user to mount the drive into /mnt. The auto keyword is also interesting. It tells mount to try to find
out which file system is on the diskette. You could also use msdos or ext2.

Know More with "find" Command in Linux

     To List only directories, max 2 nodes down that have "net" in the name

       $ find /proc -type d -maxdepth 2 -iname '*net*'

     Find all *.c and *.h files starting from the current "." position.

       $ find . \( -iname '*.c'  -o -iname '*.h' \) -print

     Find all, but skip what's in "/CVS" and "/junk". Start from "/work"


       $ find /work \( -iregex '.*/CVS'  -o -iregex '.*/junk' \)  -prune -o -print

     Note -regex and -iregex work on the directory as well, which means
     you must consider the "./" that comes before all listings.

     Here is another example. Find all files except what is under the CVS, including
     CVS listings. Also exclude "#" and "~".

       $ find . -regex '.*' ! \( -regex '.*CVS.*'  -o -regex '.*[#|~].*' \)

     Find a *.c file, then run grep on it looking for "stdio.h"

       $ find . -iname '*.c' -exec grep -H 'stdio.h' {} \;
         sample output -->  ./prog1.c:#include <stdio.h>
                            ./test.c:#include <stdio.h>

     Looking for the disk-hog on the whole system?

       $ find /  -size +10000k 2>/dev/null

     Looking for files changed in the last 24 hours? Make sure you add the
     minus sign "-1", otherwise, you will only find files changed exactly
     24 hours from now. With the "-1" you get files changed from now to 24
     hours.


       $ find  . -ctime -1  -printf "%a %f\n"
       Wed Oct  6 12:51:56 2004 .
       Wed Oct  6 12:35:16 2004 How_to_Linux_and_Open_Source.txt

     Or if you just want files.

       $ find . -type f -ctime -1  -printf "%a %f\n"

     Details on file status change in the last 48 hours, current directory. Also note "-atime -2").

       $ find . -ctime -2 -type f -exec ls -l {} \;

             NOTE: if you don't use -type f, you make get "." returned, which
             when run through ls "ls ." may list more than what you want.

             Also you may only want the current directory

       $ find . -ctime -2 -type f -maxdepth 1 -exec ls -l {} \;

     To find files modified within the last 5 to 10 minutes

       $ find . -mmin +5 -mmin -10

How to browse Internet via Mobile GPRS & Bluetooth in Opensuse 10.3 (KDE)

1.Connect ur mobile to ur PC with kbluetoothd (BT obex server) using and pair it...

2.open KONSOLE and login as root (su)

3.Type Code:

# sdptool search DUN

if it detects any DUN services than it means that ur fone is enabled to be connected thru BT DUN..

4.Type

Code:

# hcitool scan

This ll give u the device id of ur fone...

5.now bind the Device ID of ur fone wit the rfcomm device using

Code:

# rfcomm bind 0 <Device id of ur fone> 1

6.If u get any error in the above command or u dont hav a device rfcomm0 then u need to create one by

Code:

#mknod /dev/rfcomm0 c 216 0

7.next u need to edit ur /etc/wvdial.conf file to enter ur BT modem settings

Code:

# nano -w /etc/wvdial.conf

Edit ur Wvdial and copy the following in it...

Code:

[Modem0]

Modem = /dev/rfcomm0

Baud = 230400

SetVolume = 0

DialCommand = ATDT

FlowControl = Hardware(CRTSCTS)

[Dialer GPRS]

Username = 1

Password = 1

Phone = *99***1#

Mode = 1

Inherits = Modem0

[Dialer Defaults]

Modem = /dev/rfcomm0

Baud = 230400

Init1 = ATZ

Init2 = ATQ0 V1 E1 S0=0 &C1 &D2 +FCLASS=0

ISDN = 0

Modem Type = Analog Modem

Phone = *99***1#

Username = a

Password = b

8.Now run the command

Code:

# wvdial GPRS

9.To disconnect press Ctrl+c

Source:Taken From Digit Magazine Forum

Few keyboard shortcuts to Windows XP
CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
DELETE (Delete)
SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
CTRL+A (Select all)
F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
F5 key (Update the active window)
BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
ESC (Cancel the current task)
SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Shortcuts
Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)
Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)
Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)
Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)
Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)
CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)
Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)
Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)
Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)
Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)

Three Ways to Use Gmail on Your Phone

Gmail is wonderful, free, and ubiquitous. Thanks to its support for the POP3 and IMAP protocols, you can access your Gmail inbox via Outlook, Thunderbird, or other e-mail programs in addition to using the standard Web method. Alternatively you can read your Gmail messages on your cell phone through your phone’s browser by navigating to Gmail.
Some phones (including my Motorola Razr V3 with T-Mobile service) won’t display standard Web sites, unfortunately, though they will display sites designed to support the Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) using the Wireless Markup Language (WML). Google’s WAP-compatible Gmail site (don’t leave off the ‘http://’ part—unlike the browser on your PC, your phone’s browser may not add that prefix automatically).
Gmail’s mobile site is perfectly functional, but the company offers something even better for Java-compatible phones. The Gmail Java app promises faster performance than the Web interface, and it supports attachments better. To try it, visit http://gmail.com/app and click the big blue Get Started Now button. After you enter your mobile phone number and click the Send Now button, Gmail will send you a text message with instructions on how to download the application.
If neither the WAP page nor the Java applet work on your phone, you may be able to see your Gmail on your phone by configuring your cell phone carrier’s e-mail system to download messages from Gmail via POP3 or IMAP.

How to disable USB Mass Storage device in XP
This hack will disable access to the usb flash drive
also known as usb mas storage drive ( also usb hard
disks but not sure as I don't have one).
Goto start > run > and type in regedit and press enter.
This will open registry editor window. Now go to the
following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\USBSTOR

Right click on the key and select export and save a backup copy in case
anything goes wrong. Now on the right pan of the regedit window double
click on the value called Start & set it value to 4 & click OK.
When you need to use your USB mass storage drive just change the value of
Start to 3.If you're too lazy just copy & paste these codes into a notepad
file and save it with a .reg extension.
code for Disabling access to the usb mass storage drive :
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR]
"Start"=dword:00000004
code for enabling access to the usb mass storage drive :
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR]
"Start"=dword:00000003

Boot Windows XP from a USB ThumbDrive

Many a time, viruses or malware can leave your PC in poor shape. In some cases, the hard-disk’s boot sector itself might be affected, resulting in a PC that cannot startup. However, with Handyman to the rescue, you don’t need to fear! Here we show you an easy way for you to create a Bootable Windows XP USB ThumbDrive.
On the hardware side, you need a fairly recent motherboard (most PC’s bought in the year 2005 or later, should be just fine). Update your BIOS if possible. Make sure you have an empty, sizeable USB ThumbDrive beside you (if not, just give the Handyman contest a shot!). On the software side, you need an unmodified Windows XP SP2/SP3 installation CD (preferably a CD with Windows Server 2003 and Service Pack). You also need to install BartPE. Please read this entire description fully before starting to actually implement the below steps.

Step 1: You need to create a special set of windows files (called PE) to be able to run the OS from a ThumbDrive. Start BartPE, and mention the drive letter where you have the Windows XP CD. Ensure that the “Create ISO Image” and the “Burn to CD” options are not selected. Click the “Build” button to generate your PE files.

Step 2: Get the boot files for your OS from c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE\i386 (assuming that you installed BartPE to c:\pebuilder3110a\). The files you need are - setupldr.bin and ramdisk.sys. Create a new folder called “srsp1” in c:\pebuilder3110a\ and copy both of them into that folder.

Step 3: Format the ThumbDrive and make it bootable. To do this, open a Command Prompt, go to the folder c:\pebuilder3110a\ and run this command (assuming your thumbdrive is at G:) pe2usb -f G:

Step 4: Now just copy the entire PE files to your thumbdrive (from c:\pebuilder3110a\BartPE).

Step 5: Go into your PC’s BIOS and set the boot priority such that the ThumbDrive boots first. The hotkey to access each computer’s BIOS may vary, but it is usually [F1], [F2], or [Delete].
The BartPE utility is used because Windows Setup is not designed to install Windows to a flash drive, and therefore have to configure Windows using an alternate method. It is designed to create a build of Windows that does not take up as much space as a full blown installation. The above sequence of steps will give you a basic Windows GUI, with access to a file manager through a menu. For more enhanced functionality, you’d want to use the XPE plugin. To use it, extract it into the plugins folder of BartPE, and then while running BartPE, click the button that says “Plugins”, enable the plugins that you want, and come back to the main screen of BartPE.

Note that BartPE will work with Windows Server 2003 as well, but cannot use a Windows Vista disc as a source.

Set Permissions for Shared Files and Folders

Sharing of files and folders can be managed in two ways. If you chose simplified file sharing, your folders can be shared with everyone on your network or workgroup, or you can make your folders private. (This is how folders are shared in Windows 2000.) However, in Windows XP Professional, you can also set folder permissions for specific users or groups. To do this, you must first change the default setting, which is simple file sharing. To change this setting, follow these steps:
•Open Control Panel, click Tools, and then click Folder Options.
•Click the View tab, and scroll to the bottom of the Advanced Settings list.
•Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box.
•To manage folder permissions, browse to the folder in Windows Explorer, right–click the folder, and then click Properties. Click the Security tab, and assign permissions, such as Full Control, Modify, Read, and/or Write, to specific users.

You can set file and folder permissions only on drives formatted to use NTFS, and you must be the owner or have been granted permission to do so by the owner.

20 things you didn't know about Windows XP

You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets.

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, is due out late next year or early 2003 and won't be much to write home about. The next big release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in 2003/2004.

To change drive letters

To change drive letters (useful if you have two drives and have partitioned the boot drive, but the secondary drive shows up as "D")

Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management, Disk Management, then right-click the partition whose name you want to change (click in the white area just below the word "Volume") and select "change drive letter and paths."
From here you can add, remove or change drive letters and paths to the partition.

Keep Your Hands Off the Mouse

You don't need to take your fingers off the keys to perform simple tasks. Working with the keyboard is often faster and less painful than using the mouse (especially if you suffer from a repetitive strain injury) for launching applications, moving and resizing windows, and navigating your system. Here are some magic keystrokes you might not be aware of.

Teensy Weensy Buttons
Every window displays three little buttons in its upper-right corner. When clicked, these buttons (from left to right) minimize, maximize or restore, and close that window. Everyone knows that, right? But here's a little secret for everyone who's tired of dragging the mouse all the way up to those tiny buttons. The following keyboard shortcuts take advantage of the Control menu, which is the icon in the left corner of the title bar:
To minimize the active window, press Alt-Space, N.
To maximize the active window, press Alt-Space, X.
To restore the active window, press Alt-Space, R.
To close the active window, press Alt-F4.

Get a Move On
To move the currently active window, type Alt-Space, M. A four-pointed arrow appears on the title bar of the active window. Depending on whether you want to move the window left, right, up, or down, press and hold the corresponding arrow key until the window outline reaches the desired destination. (Tip: You can use two arrow keys at once to move a window diagonally.) Press Enter to "drop" the window, or press Esc to cancel the move.

Just the Right Size

If the window you want to size is currently active, type Alt-Space, S. A pointer (or a four-pointed arrow) appears in the middle of the active window. Press the arrow key that corresponds to the side you want to adjust, then use the arrow keys to adjust that side. Press Enter to keep the change, or press Esc to cancel it.

The Little Key That Could

If you've got a Windows key on your keyboard, take advantage of these keystrokes:
To launch Explorer, press Windows-E.
To open Find, press Windows-F.
To minimize all windows, press Windows-M (Shift-Windows-M undoes this).
To open the Run dialog box, press Windows-R.
To launch Windows Help, press Windows-F1.
To cycle through taskbar buttons, press Windows-Tab.
To open the System Properties dialog box (say, when you want to get to Device Manager), press Windows-Break. Don't have a Windows key? No problem--you can trick your PC into thinking you do, using the Keyboard Remap Kernel Toy, a free utility from Microsoft. Start by downloading the file from FileWorld. Then move krnltoys.exe to a temporary, empty folder. Double-click the file, and it unpacks several files to your temporary folder. Right-click keyremap.inf and select Install.Now open the Control Panel, double-click Keyboard, and select the Remap tab. Under Right-Hand Side, select the key you want to designate as the Windows key--such as Right Alt--in the left box. Then, in the right box, select Windows. Click OK.

Roll Your Own Keystrokes

If you have an application that you open all the time, stop wasting time finding its Shortcut (or Start menu item) every time you want to open it. You can set up a keyboard combo to open that application from anywhere on your system, no matter how many windows you have open on screen. If you haven't already done so, create a Shortcut to the application in your location of choice. (You can bury it in a folder if you want--you'll only need it to set up the keyboard combo.) Right-click the Shortcut, select Properties, and click the Shortcut tab. Click once inside the text box next to Shortcut Key, then type the letter you'd like to use in combination with Ctrl-Alt to open the application. (You'll notice that Windows fills in the Ctrl-Alt part for you.) For example, you might use "W" for Microsoft Word. Click OK, and your hot key is complete. Now just forget about that Shortcut (but don't delete it). Press the keyboard combo to launch the application.

Linux
Password protect,single user mode
The single user mode in Linux is considered the rescue mode,However ,anyone who gets physical access to the machine could easily change the root password by booting into single user mode.This is a security concern in Linux .So to password protect the single user mode ,add/append the following line in your /etc/inittab file:
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin
Now ,whenever the system is booted in single user mode.it'll first prompt for the 'root' password

How to Remove the Recycle Bin from the Desktop?


If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files , you can get rid of its desktop icon all together.
Run Regedit and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/explorer/Desktop/NameSpace
Click on the "Recycle Bin" string in the right hand pane. Hit Del, click OK.

How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent?


Go to ontrol Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the Desktop"