---

Windows Tip Page 13
You have entered the Windows Support & Fix Zone!

 

 

 

* Getting an Older Program to Run on Windows tip:
* Secure your computer: Enable Advanced File System Security Options:
* Laptop/portable computer users ! Undock without logon:
* Create a Password Reset Disk Tip:
* Automatically kill non-responding application at shutdown
* Restrict certain users from running an application:
* How to use program aliases:
* Create Your Own Restore Points Tip:
* AutoReboot whenever Windows experiences BSOD (Blue Screen of Death!)
* Control Scrolling or Cascading behavior of Start Menu:
* Synchronize Your Computer Clock with an Internet Time Server tip:
* Customize task bar grouping:

:

---

Getting an Older Program to Run on Windows tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

 

Do your older application gives you trouble when running in Windows, you can set the compatibility properties manually so that the program runs in a different mode, such as Windows 95, or in a different display or resolution setting. To set the compatibility properties for a program:

* Right–click the executable or the program shortcut to the executable, and then click Properties.
* Select the Run this program in compatibility mode check box.
* From the list, select an operating system that the program runs in comfortably.
* If necessary, also change the display settings and/or resolution, or disable the Windows visual themes.

Run the program again when you’re finished changing the settings. Adjust the compatibility settings again if the program is still not running smoothly: a program that’s unhappy on Windows 2000 may flourish on Windows 98. WinXpFix.com

---

Secure your computer: Enable Advanced File System Security Options tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

This will further secure your windows explorer and not really a performance tweak. Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa] . In this look for value of "forceguest". If available, its default value would be 1. Set its value to 1. This would enables Windows logic for advanced permissions.

---

Laptop/portable computer users ! Undock without logon Tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

This is a cool little tip. This allows you to undock without logging on to Window XP. To do this, open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System] . In this look for value of "UndockWithoutLogon". Setting its value to 1 to enable it or 0 to disable it.

 

---

Create a Password Reset Disk Tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

If you’re running Windows Professional as a local user in a workgroup environment, you can create a password reset disk to log onto your computer when you forget your password. Here's how to create a disk:

* Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
* Click your account name.
* Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password.
* Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk.

Now store the password disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access your local user account. WinXpFix.com

 

---

Automatically kill non-responding application at shutdownTip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

Don't you hate waiting for those extra seconds and then simply responding yes to the windows query. Well you have a remedy. You can tell Windows to automatically close all non responding windows.

Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktopn] . In this look for value of "AutoEndTasks". If available, do one of the following:
If you want to enable automatic killing of non responding tasks, set its value to 1. to disable it set it back to 0.

---

Restrict certain users from running an application Tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

You can selectively restrict access to few apps and file names. To do this, open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion \Policies\Explorer] and a sub-key by the name "DisallowRun". Within this key, add many string keys you like each mapped to an application or file that you want to be restricted.

 

---

How to use program aliases Tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

You can use program aliases to run actual program. There are ways to hide actual program name. I'm not sure there is a good use for this tip but here it is!

In regedit, navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths]. To create a new alias, create a sub-key, and call it the name of the alias you wish to create. Then modify the Default value of the sub-key to equal the fully qualified path and filename of the application you want to be launched.

---

Create Your Own Restore Points Tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

Windows & Windows Me makes it easy for you to take a snapshot of critical system files before you make any major changes, such as installing new software, adding hardware devices, or changing the registry. Windows and Windows Me automatically creates system restore points, called system checkpoints, but you can create your own to make it even easier to recover your system in case of a failure.

Note that using restore points doesn’t affect your personal files, such as the My Documents or Favorites folders. To create restore points:

* Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
* In the System Restore dialog box, click Create a restore point, and then click Next.
* Type a description for your restore point, such as "Before Office XP", then click Create.

Note: If your system fails, press F8 in the boot menu, and then click Last known good configuration. Windows restores your system to the most recent restore point. WinXpFix.com

---

AutoReboot whenever Windows experiences BSOD (Blue Screen of Death!)
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

Since Windows is touted as most reliable Windows ever, you do not need this trick!. Well I am somewhat kidding. There is nothing in this world that is foolproof. I have faced this twice so far.

To make windows reboot instead of producing the cryptic dump, open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl] . In this look for value of "AutoReboot". Setting its value to 1 will activate Autoreboot. By default this is the value on my system but just in case if you have a 0,set it to 1.

---

Control Scrolling or Cascading behavior of Start Menu Tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

If there are more items in Start-Program menu than can be shown in a single screen, then windows has to do either scrolling or cascading effect to display rest of the items. You can tell Windows what to do by doing this:

In regedit, navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced] and look for key "StartMenuScrollPrograms". You may not find it there if this is your first time. In this case, create a new STRING key "StartMenuScrollPrograms" and set its value to "YES" to enable scrolling or "NO" for the cascading effect.

 

---

Synchronize Your Computer Clock with an Internet Time Server tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

Synchronize your computer clock! If your computer is not part of a domain, you can synchronize your computer clock with an Internet time server. To do so:

* Double–click the time on your task bar.
* Click the Internet Time tab.
* Select the time server you want to use and make sure to select the Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server check box.

Make sure that you have set the correct date before you attempt to synchronize your clock, because the Internet time server won’t update the time if the date is wrong. If you have a personal or network firewall, you may have to tweak the settings to unblock time synchronization. WinXpFix.com

---

Customize task bar grouping tip:
Windows Support
By: WinXpFix.com

 

This is a cool customizing tip. If you want to change the default number of grouping in task bar do this.Open registry by going to START-RUN and entering regedit. Navigate to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced] . In this look for value of "TaskbarGroupSize". You can set it to any value you want. Default is 3.