Great XP Tips

Customize the Title bar text of the Internet Explorer.

1. Click Start > Run > Type gpedit.msc
2. Click User Configuration > Windows Setting > Internet Explorer Maintenance > Browser User Interface
3. Double click on Browser Title
4. Click on Customize Title Bars
5. Change the text to what whatever you want
6. Click on Ok



Speed Up Browsing
When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth. Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address, the stuff that TCP/IP really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time you visit the site. Although Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.

You can do this with the registry entries below:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d

Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above into it and save it. Merge it into the registry.



Never Re-Activate After Installation
If you have to reinstall Windows XP you normally will have to reactivate too. Well not anymore. Just copy wpa.dbl after you activated the first time. It is located in the WINDOWS\system32 folder. Now if you reinstall Windows XP just copy the file back and you're up and running again.



Disable Bootup Splash Screen
You can, if you feel like it, disable the Windows XP boot up splash screen. Although this doesn't speed boot times at all, it does allow you to see if there are any boot up messages appearing on your computer that might otherwise be covered up.

1. Edit boot.ini
2. Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".

You will need to restart your PC for the splash screen to disappear. To enable the splash screen again, just remove the switch that you added.


Slow Shutdown?
Some people have noticed that they are experiencing a really slow shutdown after installing Windows XP Home or Professional. Although this can be caused a number of ways, the most clear cut one so far is happening on systems with an NVidia card installed with the latest set of drivers. A service called NVIDIA Driver Helper Service is loading up on start up and for whatever reason doesn't shut itself down properly. The service isn't needed and can also increase the amount of memory available to your system. Here is how to disable it.

1: Go into your Control Panel

2: Select Administrative Tools and then click on Services

3: Right click on the file "NVIDIA Driver Helper Service" and then select STOP.

4: To stop this loading up every time you boot up your PC Right click it again and select properties - then where the option "Startup Type" is shown - make sure it is set at Manual



My Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP
There are a number of users who are noticing that their PC will no longer automatically power down/shut off without pressing the power off button on the computers unlike in Windows Me/95/2000. There could be a number of reasons for this - but the main one seems to be that ACPI is not enabled on the computer or in Windows XP. Here is how to try that out:

1: Click - Start - Control Panel - Performance and Maintenance - Power Options
Tab

2: Then click APM - Enable Advanced Power Management Support



Shutdown Windows XP Faster
When you shut down Windows XP, the OS tries its best to make sure that all services (they help run things like graphics, printers etc) are shut down. But there are times when they don't close, thus Windows XP tries to give it the chance to shut down itself. This amount of time that windows waits for the service to close is stored in the system registry. If you modify this setting, then windows will shut down the service earlier. To modify the setting, follow the directions below:

* Start Regedit.
* Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
* Click on the "Control" Folder.
* Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
* Right click on it and select Modify.
* Set it to a value lower than 2000, say 1000 as a test.



How to Prevent Windows Messenger from Running on Windows XP
Some of you dislike the fact Windows Messenger starts each time you start your computer. To prevent Windows Messenger 4.5 (or later) from running, use the following method:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Locate and click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft

3. On the Edit menu, point to New, click Key, and then type Messenger for the name of the new registry key.
4. Locate and click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger

5. On the On the Edit menu, point to New, click Key, and then type Client for the name of the new registry key.
6. Locate and click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client

7. On the Edit menu, point to New, click DWORD Value, and then type PreventRun for the name of the new DWORD value.
8. Right-click the PreventRun value that you created, click Modify , type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK .
9. Quit Windows Messenger.

This tip is extracted from article Q302089 of the Microsoft Windows XP Knowledge Base.