here is the code

cls
@ECHO OFF
title Folder Locker
if EXIST “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” goto UNLOCK
if NOT EXIST Locker goto MDLOCKER
:CONFIRM
echo Are you sure u want to Lock the folder(Y/N)
set/p “cho=>”
if %cho%==Y goto LOCK
if %cho%==y goto LOCK
if %cho%==n goto END
if %cho%==N goto END
echo Invalid choice.
goto CONFIRM
:LOCK
ren Locker “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
attrib +h +s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
echo Folder locked
goto End
:UNLOCK
echo stuff by satish
echo Enter password to Unlock folder
set/p “pass=>”
if NOT %pass%==TYPE UR PASSWORD HERE goto FAIL
attrib -h -s “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}”
ren “Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}” Locker
echo Folder Unlocked successfully
goto End
:FAIL
echo Invalid password
goto end
:MDLOCKER
md Locker
echo Locker created successfully
goto End
:End

***Instructions***

1) Copy the give code in a note pad and save the note pad in your pc with the name name.bat (that is with the extension of .bat). you can replace the name portion with anything u want.

NoTe– In place of password in the code given type your desired password.

2) A batch file will be created where you hav saved. Now double click on it , it will make a folder with the name locker at the same place where the batch file is save.

3) Now add the files you want to be locked in that folder.

4) Double click on the batch file. It will ask for locking the folder formed. Type y(yes). The folder will be locked and hidden.

5) To unlock,double click on batch file again and enter the password in the new window opened.

It’s a hassle for a variety of reasons, but sometimes clean installing Windows is the best bet. This is doubly true of XP, especially if you were previously running a Windows 9x-based OS. The upgrade procedure works, and works well, but it still leaves your hard drive littered with the remains of the past, wasting valuable disk space and making it difficult to tell which files are OK to delete and which should be left alone.

A clean installation of XP will also give you the best results, performance-wise. The downside, of course, is that you’re starting fresh and will have to reinstall all of your applications, backup and restore all of your data, and re-do all of your personal settings. There are tools that will help you overcome these issues (see the pre-installation checklist below), but in some ways it’s still a good idea to make that clean break with XP, especially for the 9x crowd. This is because XP is so different that you might want to spend time using it in its default set up. I suspect that many people won’t want to change a thing if they just give it a chance.

In any event, this is my preferred method for installing any Windows OS and I recommend it for XP specifically.

Pre-installation checklist
Before you install XP, there are several things to consider.

1. Check system requirements – As noted in my overview to this Installation and Upgrade Super Guide, Microsoft’s minimum requirements for Windows XP are a Pentium 233 MHz processor and 64 MB of RAM. I find this to unrealistic, however, and believe you’ll get the best performance with a 500 MHz or higher CPU and 256 MB of RAM or more. Remember that memory is not only cheap, but the simplest way to improve XP’s performance: If you are wondering about a CPU upgrade, I’d try the RAM first.

Other system requirements include 1.5 GB of available hard drive space, a Super-VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution monitor and video card, a CD-ROM or DVD-drive, and a keyboard and mouse. Optional components include a networking adapter and/or modem, and a sound card and speakers. You should try and run XP at 1024 x 768 or higher resolution with 24-bit color, if possible. The default onscreen elements are bigger and more colorful than those in Windows 9x/Me/2000.

2. Make sure your hardware and software is compatible – The Windows XP CD-ROM includes hardware and software checking capabilities, but you can download the Upgrade Advisor before purchasing XP to make sure that your devices and applications will work before taking the plunge. I highly recommend that you do so. For more information, see my showcase, Using the Windows XP Upgrade Advisor. This will explain what you can do about recalcitrant hardware and software, though Microsoft is constantly updating XP’s compatibility through Windows Update as well.

3. Make sure you can boot with your CD drive – Unlike Windows 9x/Me, the Windows XP CD-ROM is bootable, so you will not need a boot floppy to initiate Setup. However, some PCs don’t offer the capability to boot from CD, though this should be rare on the newer systems that can run XP. More likely is that your system can boot from CD but isn’t set up to do so. To set up your system to boot from the CD, you’ll need to enter the BIOS software and change the boot order. Typically, you will want your system set up to boot from CD, then floppy, then the first hard drive. Check the manual that came with your PC or motherboard for information about entering the BIOS and making this change, if needed.

If you want to test whether your system can boot with the CD, just insert a bootable CD (like your Windows XP CD-ROM) and reboot. If Setup begins or you see a message about hitting any key to boot from the CD, you’re all set.

If you can’t boot with your CD drive, all is not lost. Microsoft has provided downloadable floppies (in sets of four, sadly) for both XP Home and Professional that you can use to start installation. I’ll only be covering a CD boot here, but the process is similar when using floppies. For more information, check out the Microsoft Web site, which has separate pages for the XP Home and XP Professional boot floppies.

4. Consider upgrading your BIOS – Speaking of the BIOS, it’s probably a good idea to ensure that you have the latest version before installing XP. This is because XP, like 2000, more strictly follows the ACPI power management specification than Windows 9x/Me, and older BIOSes might make the OS behave strangely (for example, you choose Shut Down and the system reboots instead). Generally, you can download BIOS upgrades from the Web site of the company that made your PC or motherboard.

5. Run the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard – If you’d like to backup the files and settings from your previous Windows install, try the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, which is detailed in this showcase. This optional but handy tool can save you a lot of time if you’d like XP to function like your previous installation.

6. Backup your data – Unless you’re installing XP to a brand new PC, you’re probably going to want to backup all of your data. The XP install will usually format the C: drive at least, and will do other bizarre things to your other drives, if present, if you let it. Backup, backup, and backup again. There’s nothing worse than performing a clean install and then discovering that you just wiped out four years worth of data (and yes, I did this once).

7. If using an Upgrade CD, be sure to have qualifying media – If you’re performing a clean installation of XP Home or Professional using an Upgrade CD, be sure to have your qualifying media handy. This can be a retail Windows 98, 98 SE, Millennium Edition (Me), NT 4.0 or 2000 CD-ROM or, in some cases, a Windows CD that was supplied with a new PC. Note that “restore” CDs will not work, however, and most Windows CDs that ship from PC makers are now restore CDs.

OK, let’s clean install XP.

Step-by-Step: Clean installing Windows XP (Interactive Setup)
Installing Windows XP is a straightforward process, with few interactive requirements. One nice thing Microsoft did with this release was put all of the data entry right at the beginning, so you can actually get up and walk away from your computer for about half an hour. This contrasts sharply with Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0, where you basically have to baby-sit the installation.

Note that the XP Home and Pro Setup procedure is subtly different. I’ll make it obvious when certain steps are for Pro- or Home-only.

		1. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM and reboot the computer If you see a message about hitting any key to boot the CD, do so now. Otherwise, you will see a message about Setup inspecting your system.
		2. MS-DOS portion of Setup begins In the first stage of Setup, you will see a series of blue and gray MS-DOS-based screens. In the first step, you will be asked to press F6 if you need to install any third-party or RAID drivers.Then, you can press F2 to initiate the Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool, a new XP feature that lets you recover non-booting systems from XP Setup. Ignore this. Finally, Setup will load the files it needs to start a bare bones version of XP. This may take a few minutes.
		3. Welcome to Setup Finally, Setup begins. In this step, you can set up XP, launch the Recovery Console (another, more complicated system recovery tool), or quit.Press ENTER to continue Setup, and it will examine your hard drives and removable disks.
		4. Read the license agreement Next, you’ll have to agree to Microsoft’s complex licensing agreement. Among the highlights: You don’t actually own Windows XP and you can only install it on one PC.No one reads this, I know, but it’s probably a good idea to at least check it out. Hit F8 to continue.
		Upgrade versions only: 4b. Insert qualifying media If you are attempting to clean install with a Windows XP Home or Pro Upgrade CD, you will see this screen, which requires you to insert your previous Windows CD in order to verify that you qualify for the Upgrade version.Curiously, it says that you can use CDs from Windows NT 3.51 and Windows 95 in addition to those from 98, 98 SE, Millennium, or 2000, though these products cannot be upgraded to XP. Once you’ve proven that you qualify, hit ENTER to continue.
		5. Choose an installation partition This crucial step lets you choose where to install XP. On a clean install, you will typically install to the C: drive, but you might have other ideas, especially if you plan to dual-boot with 9x. Setup will show you all of your available disks (in this case, just one) and let you create and delete partitions as needed. So, for example, if you have one disk, but would like to create two partitions, one for XP and one for your data, you can do that here.
		6. Select the file system If you created a new partition, or wish to change the file system of an existing partition, you can do so in the next step. Generally speaking, I recommend going with the NTFS file system, which is more secure than FAT.Regardless of which file system you choose, be sure to select one of the “quick” format options (the top two choices), if you do need to format, since these will work much more quickly than a full format. In this example, I’ve selected an existing FAT32 partition and elected to format it in NTFS format.
		7. Optionally format the partition If you did choose to change or format the file system, this will occur next. First, you’ll be asked to verify the format. If you’re installing XP on a system with more than one partition, especially one that still holds your data on one of the partitions, be sure you’re formatting the correct partition.Hit F to continue, and a yellow progress bar will indicate the status of the format. When this is complete, Setup will again examine your disks, and create a list of files to copy.
		8. Setup folder copy phase and reboot Setup will now copy system files to the system/boot partition(s) you just created. This will allow the PC to boot from the C: drive and continue Setup in GUI mode.When the file copy is complete, Setup will initialize and save your XP configuration. It will then reboot your PC. When the system reboots, you will probably see the “Press any key to boot from CD” message again. If this happens, do not press a key: Setup will now boot from your C: drive. In the event that you cannot prevent the CD-based Setup from reloading, eject the CD and reboot. Setup will ask for the CD when needed.
		9. GUI Setup begins Once the system reboots, you will be presented with the GUI Setup phase, which is much more attractive than the DOS-mode phase. As you progress through GUI Setup, you can read promotional information about XP on the right side of the screen if you’re bored.Next, your hardware devices are detected. This could take several minutes.
		10. Regional and language Options In the first interactive portion of GUI Setup, you can choose to customize the regional and language settings that will be used by XP, as well as the text input language you’d like. Users in the United States will not normally need to change anything here.Click Next to continue.
		11. Personalize your software Now, enter your name and, optionally, your company.The name you enter is not the same as your user name, incidentally, so you should enter your real name here (i.e. Paul Thurrott or whatever). Click Next to continue.
		12. Enter your product key Now you must enter the 25-character product key that is located on the orange sticker found on the back of the CD holder that came with Windows XP. You cannot install XP without a valid product key.Later on, you will be asked to activate and optionally register your copy of Windows XP. A product key can be used to install XP on only one PC. Click Next to continue.
Windows XP Professional only: Windows XP Home Edition only:		13. Enter a computer name and administrator password In the next phase of Setup, you can create a name for your computer (which is used to identify it on a network) and, optionally in Pro Edition only, a password for the system Administrator, the person who controls the PC (this will generally be you, of course).Setup generates a random name for your PC, but it’s always nasty looking, so I recommend renaming it to something more logical (Pauls_PC or whatever). After Setup is complete, you can provide a better description of the PC too (like Paul’s desktop computer or whatever). In XP Pro, the Administrator password is optional–that is, you can leave it blank–but I strongly recommend that you provide a good password here for security reasons. XP Home doesn’t allow you enter an Administrator password,  as this account is more hidden on Home installs for some reason. So you can only enter a machine name in Home Edition. Click Next to continue.
		14. Supply your date and time settings Next, you can supply the date and time, which are auto-set based on information in your BIOS, and the time zone, which is irritatingly set to PST, which is where Microsoft is. Change these as appropriate.Click Next to continue.
		15. Network setup If you have a networking card or modem, Setup now installs the networking components, which include the client for Microsoft networks, File and Print Sharing, the Quality of Service (QoS) Packet Scheduler, and the TCP/IP networking protocol by default.
		16. Choose networking settings In this phase, you can choose to keep the default settings (recommended) or enter custom settings. I recommend later disabling QoS, but for now, it’s generally best to leave it as-is, unless you have specific needs dictated by your ISP or network.Note that XP doesn’t include the legacy NetBEUI protocol out of the box. If you want to use this protocol, you will need to install it later from the XP CD-ROM. Click Next to continue.
		Windows XP Professional only: 16b. Enter workgroup or domain information In Windows XP Professional only, you will be able to select a workgroup or domain name next. Home Edition doesn’t work with Windows domains, however, and Setup will automatically supply the workgroup name MSHOME, which you can change later. The default workgroup name in XP Pro is, imaginatively, WORKGROUP. I recommend changing this; I use the workgroup THURROTT at home, for example.Click Next to continue.
		17. Setup completion From this point on, Setup will continue to completion without any further need for interaction, so this is a good time to grab a drink or a snack. Setup will now copy files, complete installation, install your Start Menu items, register system components, save settings, remove any temporary files needed by Setup, and then reboot. Again, you will probably see the “Press any key to boot from CD” message on reboot. If this happens, do not press a key, and your new XP install will boot up. You can remove the XP Setup CD now.
Windows XP Professional Edition only: Windows XP Home Edition only:		18. First boot You’ll be greeted by the XP splash screen on first boot (this actually appears briefly when you rebooted into GUI Setup as well).The splash screens for XP Pro and Home are subtly different.
		19. Change display settings Users with CRT monitors and some LCDs (such as laptops and flat panel displays) will see a Display Settings dialog appear, which asks whether you’d like XP to automatically set the resolution. This will generally change the resolution from 800 x 600 to 1024 x 768 on a CRT monitor, or to the native resolution of an LCD display.Click OK and let XP change the resolution. Then, accept the settings if the screen display changes and can be read. If you can’t see the display, it will time out after 30 seconds and return to the sub-optimal 800 x 600 resolution. Click OK to accept the screen resolution change.
		20. Welcome to Microsoft Windows Now, you are presented with XP’s “Out of Box Exerience,” or OOBE, which presents a silly wizard to guide you through the final set up of your PC.Click Next to continue.
		21. Network setup In the opening OOBE phase, you are asked to set up your network/Internet connection, which is required for activation and registration. If you selected the default networking configuration during Setup and know it will work (because you’re connected directly to a cable modem, perhaps, or are on a local area network), then select Yes (the default). Otherwise, you can select No and then Skip.We’ll assume that your network is up and running and select Yes. Click Next to continue.
		22. Optionally activate and register Windows If you selected Yes in the previous step, you are asked if you’d like to activate Windows XP. This will tie your copy of XP to the current PC semi-permanently, so be sure this is what you want. Activation requires a connection to the Internet, but you can perform this step later if you want (and don’t worry, XP will annoyingly remind you of this fact every time you boot the machine until you do so).I recommend selecting No here, since you can activate later easily enough. If you do select Yes, you are asked whether you’d like to register the product. Unlike activation, registration is optional.
		23. Set up users Now, you can set up the user names of the people who will be using the PC. You will want at least one user (for you), since you shouldn’t be logging on as Administrator. Curiously, each user you do create here has administrative privileges, however, and no password (!). You should set up your users correctly with passwords as soon as possible (see Post-installation tasks, below, for details).This phase lets you create up to five users. You can create more later, or manage users, using the User Accounts tool in Control Panel. Click Finish when done creating users. At this point, OOBE ends and you’re reading to go. Click Finish again.
		24. Logon to Windows XP for the first time With OOBE out of the way, you’re presented with the XP Welcome Screen for the first time. This will list all of the users you created, along with lame, randomized images you can change later (again, see below). When you click on a user name, that account will logon and you’ll be presented with the XP desktop. After you create passwords, however, you’ll be asked to enter a password before you can logon.

Post-installation tasks
Once Windows XP is installed, it’s time to perform a few post-installation tasks:

1. Immediately run Windows Update to bring sure your system is up-to-date. There are already many updates available for Windows XP on Windows Update, so you should visit this site right away (it’s found in Help & Support, or you can click the icon in Start -> All Programs). You may need to reboot after certain updates, and some updates will require you to install them individually. Keep installing and rebooting until you’ve got them all. Windows Update includes hardware driver updates, critical system updates, security fixes, application compatibility updates, and other important updates.

2. Test your hardware devices. Once you’ve bled Windows Update dry, make sure all of your hardware works. Open up Device Manager (Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, choose Properties, then go to the Hardware Tab and click Device Manager) and make sure all of your hardware was detected and has working drivers. If any do not–as evidenced by a yellow bang next to the hardware device’s name, right-click and choose Update Driver. This will launch the Hardware Update Wizard. The first time around, ensure the XP CD-ROM is still in the drive, and try the option titled Install the software automatically (Recommended). If this doesn’t work, visit the hardware maker’s site and see if there is an updated XP-compatible driver. If this fails, open up Help and Support and navigate to the Fixing a problem link under Pick a Help Topic. There, you will find further help about solving hardware and system device problems.

Note that XP will properly function with hardware drivers designed for Windows 2000, but not those for Windows 9x/Me. If a hardware maker offers a 2000 driver, you should be able to use that, with rare exceptions. XP will warn you that such drivers are unsigned, but it’s acceptable to use 2000 drivers.

3. Set up your users. For reasons best left to the imagination, Microsoft sets up each user as an Administrator equivalent with no password. This is unacceptable and foolhardy. Launch User Accounts from the Control Panel, and individually select each account and supply a password, change the picture, and, optionally, change the account type. You can select from Computer administrator and Limited account types from this tool, but XP Professional has a more advanced user configuration tool that lets you select other account types, such as Power User, User, and Replicator. In general, it’s OK to leave your account as a computer administrator, but you might consider limiting other family members that might access your PC. At the very least, make sure all users have a strong password.

4. Customize the system further. At this point, you might want to configure the wallpaper, screensaver, and other features, especially if these features weren’t carried over from your previous Windows version for some reason. Windows XP configuration occurs in a number of places, but some hot-spots include:

Display Properties - Right-click an empty area of the background and choose Properties.

Performance options - Right-click My Computer, choose Properties, and navigate to the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under Performance.

Control Panel - configure hardware, networking, installed applications, and other XP features.

5. Defrag your system drive. During installation, your system drive is going to become somewhat fragmented, especially if you didn’t format the system drive. To defragment this drive, open My Computer, right-click the drive (typically C:) and choose Properties. Navigate to the Tools tab and select Defragment Now.

6.. Install and run your software. Check to see that your software programs install and work as they did on your previous OS. If any do not, open up Help and Support and navigate to the Fixing a problem link under Pick a Help Topic. There, you will find help about solving application and software problems. Also, check the Program Compatibility Wizard in Start -> All Programs -> Accessories for tips on getting programs working under XP. I discuss application compatibility issues further in my showcase, Windows XP Hardware and Software Compatibility.

Note that certain classes of applications cannot be moved from Windows 9x to XP. These include disk utilities, such as Norton Utilities, virus software and the like. XP will notify you if you attempt to install an incompatible application.

7. Set up Automatic Updates. Eventually, you will be prompted to set up the Automatic Updates (“Auto Update”) feature. It is critical that you do so: Auto Update will download critical security updates automatically, in the background, and then alert you to install them by default. I strongly recommend letting XP set up this feature. Optionally, however, you can choose to be notified before updates are downloaded, or turn off this feature all together.

Where to go from here…
Unless you’re reliant on older games and applications, or legacy hardware, you should find that XP is rock-solid and highly compatible. Most importantly, it’s far more secure than previous versions of Windows as well. And if you’re using a fairly modern system with a 3D graphics accelerator and copious amounts of RAM, you’ll probably see a performance boost as well. Enjoy!

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 de******ion 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.

A common misuse of the term viruses lately has been to refer to adware or spyware programs. However, computer viruses are malicious programs which are created with the sole intent of disrupting the operation of a computer. Computer viruses are usually placed into computers without the permission or knowledge of the person who owns the computer, and can copy spread from one computer to another through the internet, CD’s, USB drives, floppies, messenger, or email.. A computer virus can cripple an entire computer system, damage files, or cause some minor or major annoyance problems to the computer owner.

Many people will install anti-virus software to help proactively detect and eliminate known infections, either when downloaded or executed. There are several ways these anti-virus programs work, but most commonly is using a list of signature definitions; comparing the content of the computer’s memory and hard drive files to a database of known ‘signatures’. Although effective at removing and preventing damage from viruses which are already known, they are only as strong as their most recent definition update. The other method to use a mathematical algorithm to locate suspected activity based on common behaviors. This method allows newer software to detect new, undefined ones.

Viruses aren’t new. The first virus appeared on ARPANET back in the early 1970′s, infecting the TENEX operating system, making use of any connected modem to infect other systems. The first ‘in the wild’ virus was written back in 1982 for the Apple operating system. This was originally intended as a joke, attached to a game, which on the 50th play would then infect the user’s system. The first boot sector viruses started in the 80′s, and continued to proliferate into the wild through BBS’s and software sharing. Some viruses were written by software programmers themselves to thwart off software pirating with infecting systems. The 90′s brought us macro viruses which spread through popular office suites. Newer types of viruses focus on replication through instant messaging and advanced hiding techniques.

This is a list of some of the more popular versions of computer viruses:

Boot Sector Computer Viruses

The boot sector viruses become a whole lot popular in the eighties. This was when computer technology actually hit the mainstream. Quite like the name, boot sector viruses infect the boot sectors of a computer. These boot sectors are usually located in the bootable disk or in particular location in your computer hard drive. A number of these boot sector viruses in the past include names such as Disk Killer and others like Michelangelo. The damage caused by boot sector viruses can be devastating, varying from individual file loss to entire directories.

Companion Viruses

These sorts of viruses usually affect your computer by infecting your computers operating system. They work by creating a dangerous program that looks like the other valid files that are on your computer. These programs accompany other files that exist on your computer, so you may end up executing a virus instead of the program that you really wanted to run. These types of viruses can wait in memory for a program to run and can easily replicate.

Email Viruses

These sorts of viruses use e-mail in order to transmit viruses from one computer to the other. Someone may send you an e-mail that has an attachment that has a virus in it. When you open the attachment your computer gets infected. Some of them actually copy themselves to all the e-mail addresses in your address book and the virus gets to spread as quickly as it can. Avoid opening e-mails from anyone that you don’t know. Some e-mail programs actually now come with the capability to scan through attachments with antivirus programs. They can easily identify any virus programs before you would even spot them.

Macro Viruses

Macro viruses are small programs which can infect files created with certain applications, including word processing and spreadsheet office suites. These little programs can take advantage of the program’s built in macro programming tools to perform maliciously.

Polymorphic Viruses

Polymorphic viruses actually will hide themselves each time they infect a system, making it nearly impossible to be detected by anti-virus string or signature searches. Because these types of viruses encrypt or encode themselves differently every time, they are more difficult to detect and are able to easily replicate large numbers of new instances of themselves.

Trojan horse viruses

Trojan horse viruses are actually malware, they are usually thought of as viruses because of the amount of damage that they can do to your computer. These viruses are actually quite tricky; they appear as something as innocuous as a screensaver or game. When you install the program you end up with a virus on your system. The virus may then leave a backdoor for hackers to enter into your computer. When these hackers enter they can then proceed to steal personal information such bank account and credit card information, and even passwords.

Worm Viruses

Worm Viruses have the ability to easily and quickly duplicate themselves, occupying tremendous amounts of computer resources while it wreaks havoc on your computer and network.

If you want to protect yourself from computer viruses such as the types listed above. It is absolutely essential that you obtain the best protection software available. Money need not be an obstacle for effective protection; there are many high quality free programs available. It’s important to make sure your anti-virus software is as up to date as possible, as new infections are discovered each day. You may also want to invest in a firewall that helps prevent other people accessing your computer. Once a computer is infected with a virus, it is unsafe to keep using this system; it can damage files and send to your contacts through email. You should also make regular backups of your data and keep this unconnected to your system, to restore your files if necessary.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, security oriented winemaking enthusiast who writes for ActiveDirectory.US, NetworkSecurity.WS, and SpywareTool.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darren_Williger

Enlarge ImageComputer Virus is a kind of malicious software written intentionally to enter a computer without the user’s permission or knowledge, with an ability to replicate itself, thus continuing to spread. Some viruses do little but replicate others can cause severe harm or adversely effect program and performance of the system. A virus should never be assumed harmless and left on a system. Most common types of viruses are mentioned below:

Resident Viruses
This type of virus is a permanent which dwells in the RAM memory. From there it can overcome and interrupt all of the operations executed by the system: corrupting files and programs that are opened, closed, copied, renamed etc.

Examples include: Randex, CMJ, Meve, and MrKlunky.

Direct Action Viruses
The main purpose of this virus is to replicate and take action when it is executed. When a specific condition is met, the virus will go into action and infect files in the directory or folder that it is in and in directories that are specified in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file PATH. This batch file is always located in the root directory of the hard disk and carries out certain operations when the computer is booted.

Overwrite Viruses
Virus of this kind is characterized by the fact that it deletes the information contained in the files that it infects, rendering them partially or totally useless once they have been infected.

The only way to clean a file infected by an overwrite virus is to delete the file completely, thus losing the original content.

Examples of this virus include: Way, Trj.Reboot, Trivial.88.D.

Boot Virus
This type of virus affects the boot sector of a floppy or hard disk. This is a crucial part of a disk, in which information on the disk itself is stored together with a program that makes it possible to boot (start) the computer from the disk.

The best way of avoiding boot viruses is to ensure that floppy disks are write-protected and never start your computer with an unknown floppy disk in the disk drive.

Examples of boot viruses include: Polyboot.B, AntiEXE.

Macro Virus
Macro viruses infect files that are created using certain applications or programs that contain macros. These mini-programs make it possible to automate series of operations so that they are performed as a single action, thereby saving the user from having to carry them out one by one.

Examples of macro viruses: Relax, Melissa.A, Bablas, O97M/Y2K.

Directory Virus
Directory viruses change the paths that indicate the location of a file. By executing a program (file with the extension .EXE or .COM) which has been infected by a virus, you are unknowingly running the virus program, while the original file and program have been previously moved by the virus.

Once infected it becomes impossible to locate the original files.

Polymorphic Virus
Polymorphic viruses encrypt or encode themselves in a different way (using different algorithms and encryption keys) every time they infect a system.

This makes it impossible for anti-viruses to find them using string or signature searches (because they are different in each encryption) and also enables them to create a large number of copies of themselves.

Examples include: Elkern, Marburg, Satan Bug, and Tuareg.

File Infectors
This type of virus infects programs or executable files (files with an .EXE or .COM extension). When one of these programs is run, directly or indirectly, the virus is activated, producing the damaging effects it is programmed to carry out. The majority of existing viruses belong to this category, and can be classified depending on the actions that they carry out.

Companion Viruses
Companion viruses can be considered file infector viruses like resident or direct action types. They are known as companion viruses because once they get into the system they “accompany” the other files that already exist. In other words, in order to carry out their infection routines, companion viruses can wait in memory until a program is run (resident viruses) or act immediately by making copies of themselves (direct action viruses).

Some examples include: Stator, Asimov.1539, and Terrax.1069

FAT Virus
The file allocation table or FAT is the part of a disk used to connect information and is a vital part of the normal functioning of the computer.
This type of virus attack can be especially dangerous, by preventing access to certain sections of the disk where important files are stored. Damage caused can result in information losses from individual files or even entire directories.

Worms
A worm is a program very similar to a virus; it has the ability to self-replicate, and can lead to negative effects on your system and most importantly they are detected and eliminated by antiviruses.

Examples of worms include: PSWBugbear.B, Lovgate.F, Trile.C, Sobig.D, Mapson.

Trojans or Trojan Horses
Another unsavory breed of malicious code are Trojans or Trojan horses, which unlike viruses do not reproduce by infecting other files, nor do they self-replicate like worms.

Logic Bombs
They are not considered viruses because they do not replicate. They are not even programs in their own right but rather camouflaged segments of other programs.

Their objective is to destroy data on the computer once certain conditions have been met. Logic bombs go undetected until launched, and the results can be destructive. By Jayashree Pakhare
Published: 5/12/2007
Tips before downloading stuff from the internet.

The Internet contains vast amount of information and information such as ebooks and software can easily be obtained by downloading it into your computer. This will save time and effort and everything can also be automated. You can download the files even though you’re on a different time zone.

However, even though downloading files from the Internet have many advantages, there are some disadvantages because the files that you’ve downloaded maybe are malicious threats. Before downloading any files to your computer, I have six tips you should know so you can be more secure when downloading files from the Internet.

1. File Size

First of all, look at the file size of the files that you want to download. For example, you want to download freeware software from a web site and you know that the software file size should be around 12 or 13 MB. But on that web site, it says 234 kB. You need to be very careful with this as it might be a virus or trojan because the size is just not right.

Many people have been tricked to download this type of file and the files turn out to be malicious software.

2. Firewall

Use a firewall before downloading any files. If the files you’ve downloaded are trying to send privacy information to the hackers, it will not be able to do so because the firewall will block its outgoing traffic.

3. File Extension

File extensions is very important when downloading files from the Internet. File extension with .exe and have a small file size might be malicious software. It would be better you have an antivirus that will terminate the connection every time you tried to download any malicious software.

I have this one time when I was trying to download a files with .exe extension from the Internet without knowing it’s a trojan. My antivirus (I used Avast! at that time) terminate the connection immediately because it recognizes the file as a trojan. So, when you want to download any files, watch the extension. Files with double extension such as FILENAME.img.exe are mostly malicious software because it tries to trick you to think that it’s not malicious software.

4. Antivirus

As I told you from my story, I was saved from downloading malicious software by my antivirus and therefore, I strongly advise you to find an antivirus right now. If you don’t have any antivirus or anti-spyware programs on your computer, your computer might be infected.

5. Feedback

Websites such as download.com provide comment section or feedback for the download. Always read the download feedbacks before downloading because it will help you to know if the files are malicious software.

6. Internet Explorer Add-On

Use Internet Explorer Add-On that will tell you if the website you’re visiting contains threats that can affect your computer. Use add-on such as McAffe Site Advisor that you can download for free because this add-on will advise you which websites are safe to visit.

As I mentioned in the first tip, you need to know the file size before downloading. If you don’t know the file size, google it and visit the website which the site advisor add-on consider as safe.

There is no complete solution to computer security. The only way you can be sure your computer will be safe from any threats is by turning it off and sealed it in a sealed box. But what we can do is arm ourselves with essential security knowledge as it will help us in many ways.

Azwan Asmat is the author of Chuang Computer Tips – http://chuangcomputer.blogspot.com – Want to know the secret of securing your PC from dangerous spyware, adware, and malware programs that can ruin your PC, your finances, and your sanity?! Visit http://www.chuangcomputer.com/pcsafety/ for more info.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azwan_Asmat

…first create a new folder somewhere on your hard drive
when you name it hold down “Alt” and press “0160″ this will create and invisible space so it will apper as if it has no name, then right click in and select “Properties” select the tab “coustimize” and select “change icon” scroll along and you should a few blanc spaces click on any one and click ok when you hav saved the settings the folder will be invisible to hide all your personal files…

It sounds pretty simple to do (just some registry changes), but you can’t install Service Pack 2, so you might try to slipstream in the changes to your modified install disc (if that’s even possible).

Alternately, buy XP Pro, or get a Mac.
Code:
    yes indeed, you can’t change an installed Windows but only your Installation CD (or even a recovery CD in case the manufacturer had not left out important parts)

    Here’s the detailed breakdown you asked for.

    1. Copy the root directory and the i386 directory of the WindowsXP CD
    to your harddisk
    2. Extract the Bootsector of your WindowsXP CD
    3. Change 2 Bytes in i386\Setupreg.hiv :
    a) Open Regedit
    b) Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    c) Menu: File -> Load Structure -> i386\Setupreg.hiv
    d) Assign an arbitrary name to the imported structure e.g. “Homekey”
    e) Goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Homekey\ControlSet001\Services\setupdd
    f) edit the binary key “default” and change “01” to “00” and “02” to
    “00”
    g) Highlight “Homekey” and select menu: File -> unload structure
    4. Burn your new XP Pro CD
    5. Install WindowsXP as usual. Your XP Home Key will work.

    Note: You cannot apply SP2 to such a WindowsXP Pro, so step 1.b)
    might be to integrate SP2 in your Installation CD

First you need to boot the system into Safe Mode.
1.Restart your system.
2.When you see the blue Dell globe or screen, press the ( F8 ) key about 3 times a second.
3.You should get the Windows startup menu. Use the (Up or Down) arrow keys to highlight (SafeMode)
4.Press (Enter) on (Safe Mode), then press (Enter) on (Windows XP).
5.The system should boot to Safe Mode.

Once you are at the Account Log on Screen, click on the icon
for the user account with administrator rights, or click on the icon
for the administrators account.
Note: For Home the Administrator account isn’t normally shown & in Safe Mode you have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys twice to show.
For PRO you can do this in normal mode

When the system has booted to the desktop, use the following steps to change the accounts password.
1.Click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools.
2.Click Computer Management.
3.Double click Local Users and Groups, double click the folder Users.
4.Right click on the account name that is locked out, and click on Set Password.
5.You may get a warning message about changing the password, simply click proceed.
6.Leave the New Password box blank, also leave the Confirm Password box blank.
7.Click OK, and OK again.
8.Then close all Windows, reboot the system and try to log in.
There are also applications that can recover the password for you.
The following companies provide these applications at a cost.
iOpus® Password Recovery XP here.
LostPassword.com, here.
Asterisk Password Recovery XP v1.89 here.
Windows XP / 2000 / NT Key here.

If the above information does not help in recovering the password, the only option left is to
format the hard drive then reinstall Windows and the system software.

No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.

All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user’s local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.

An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, shopping opportunities, breaking news, and much more.

The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.

COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET

WORLD WIDE WEB
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface. Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in this document.

The World Wide Web provides a single interface for accessing all these protocols. This creates a convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in these protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gathers together these protocols into a single system. Because of this feature, and because of the Web’s ability to work with multimedia and advanced programming languages, the Web is the fastest-growing component of the Internet.

The operation of the Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval. HyperText is a document containing words that connect to other documents. These words are called links and are selectable by the user. A single hypertext document can contain links to many documents. In the context of the Web, words or graphics may serve as links to other documents, images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection is programmed by the creator of the source document. Overall, the Web contains a complex virtual web of connections among a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.

Producing hypertext for the Web is accomplished by creating documents with a language called HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within the text to accomplish document formatting, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and the creation of hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML is an evolving language, with new tags being added as each upgrade of the language is developed and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, coordinates the efforts of standardizing HTML. The W3C now calls the language XHTML and considers it to be an application of the XML language standard.

The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containing links to documents and resources throughout the Internet.

The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and the automatic “push” of information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the Web. A growing amount of information on the Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is therefore not a fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.

For more complete information about the World Wide Web, see Understanding The World Wide Web.

E-MAIL
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds.

A powerful aspect of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person’s e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments.MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by the recipient with the appropriate e-mail program. Many e-mail programs, including Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer the ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.

TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer. In this case, type the port number after the Internet address. Example: telnet nri.reston.va.us 185.

Telnet is available on the World Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any other link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make the connection. A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.

With the increasing popularity of the Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on the Internet.

FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.

If your computer is directly connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.

FTP transfers can be performed on the World Wide Web without the need for special software. In this case, the Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are using FTP. You can also retrieve FTP files via search engines such as FtpFind, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know FTP program commands.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs. Probably the most common program is the listserv.

A great variety of topics are covered by listservs, many of them academic in nature. When you subscribe to a listserv, messages from other subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listserv by sending an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout the world. This program handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listserv discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.

Majordomo and Listproc are two other programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribing to and managing your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.

USENET NEWS
Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and e-mail discussion groups is the fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users must connect to these computers to read or download the messages posted to these groups. This is distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in the electronic mailboxes of each list member.

Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control their own sites, and decide which (if any) newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into the system.

There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are academic in nature, numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as Usenet newsgroups.

The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, the Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also available as standalone products.

FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postings to Usenet newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.

RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.

FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users.

Links to indexes of all three of these information resources are available on the University Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into the “chat room” to exchange comments and information about the topics addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms. For example, America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also taking place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.

A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messenging. With instant messenging, a user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online’s Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are other commonly-used chat programs.

Other types of real-time communication are addressed in the tutorial Understanding the World Wide Web.

MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE
MUD stands for Multi User Dimension. MUDs, and their variations listed above, are multi-user virtual reality games based on simulated worlds. Traditionally text based, graphical MUDs now exist. There are MUDs of all kinds on the Internet, and many can be joined free of charge. For more information, read one of the FAQs devoted to MUDs available at the FAQ site at

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a “searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, apply changes to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cable select,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,” and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.
Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers’ computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1. Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow ‘!’ appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as ‘IRQ holder for PCI steering’. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2. Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3. BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer’s display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to ‘yes’ to allow Windows to do this.).

4. Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5. Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card’s manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6. Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7. Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer’s performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer’s default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8. Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don’t do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message “Starting Windows” press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn’t work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9. Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10. Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.