1. How to minimize Outlook 2002 to the tray (not Outlook Express)
2. Disable the Shutdown option on the Welcome Screen
3. Annoying XP Folder Settings Problem Partially Resolved
4. Speed up that network and Internet access (it works, trust me)
5. Adjustment to DNS Resolution
6. Increase Internet bandwidth by 20% or more
7. Remove MSN Messenger
8. Higher Bitrate Decoding for Windows Media Player
9. Nvidia Overclock mode and Vsync Settings
10. Speed Up Your Diskcache
11. Unplug and Pray From Gibson Research
12. Allow more than two connections in MSIE v6
13. Bootvis- Your ticket to a faster boot sequence
14. Quick way to lockdown your system
15. Automatically Hide Inactive Tray Icons
16. Disable Disk Performance Counters
17. Remove Unwanted "Open With" Items in popup dialog box
18. Change XP search preferences.
19. Windows Keyboard Shortcuts
20. Command Console Shortcuts

How to minimize Outlook 2002 to the tray (not Outlook Express)

Start regedit.exe and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER Software Microsoft Office 10.0 Outlook Preferences

Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value Name: MinToTray

The default is "0", so changing to a value of "1" enables minimizing to tray.
Data: 1 (0 to disable MinToTray)

 Disable the Shutdown option on the Welcome Screen

Got o the Control Panel. Double-click Performance and Maintenance, then double-click Administrative Tools.
Double-click Local Security Policy.
Expand the Security Settings, then expand Local Policies, and then choose Security Options.
In the right pane, double-click  Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on policy, click the Disabled radio button, and then click OK.

After this, you cannot Shutdown without logging in, unless of course you just kill the power. Then all bets are off!

Annoying XP Problem Partially Resolved

There appears to be a bug within XP where it forgets your folder settings. There's a quick work around that lasts until the bug is triggered again.

Now, there's two ways to approach this::

Backup these two keys:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellNoRoamBagMRU]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsShellNoRoamBags]

Then delete them, and restart your computer. If anything is funky, just restore your settings that you've backed up earlier. (you did back them up didn't you?)

The above worked for me, but the correct way to do it (supposedly) is outlined below:

1. In Windows Explorer/Tools/Folder Options/View/clear "Restore
Defaults" and "Reset all Folders".
2. Reboot
3. In Windows Explorer [Not "My Computer"] go to the View Tab and
Reset the options you desire.
4. In Tools/Folder Options, "Do Not" enable "Remember Each Folder's
View Settings".
5. Close the View Tab. Make sure the View is still as you would like it.
6. Then go to Tools/Folder Options/View/"Apply to All Folders".
Also this edit: Start/Run/Regedit (Set the value to 0)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
PoliciesExplorer]
Value Name: NoSaveSettings
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = disabled, 1 = enabled)

Speed Network Browsing and Internet Speed

Open regedit.exe

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under that branch, find the key named {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

Delete it

This key instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks on remote computers. If you don't need it, why keep it. 99% of the people don't use it. Just in case, back it up!

I've found this to increase the speed of my small local network dramatically!

 Adjustment to DNS Resolution

Another adjustment to Internet Speed involving DNS resolution. (copy the following and save it as tweak.reg.)

======copy text below this line======

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesDnscacheParameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d

=====to above this line=====

Now that it's saved, double-click the file to enter it into your registry.
 

 Increase Internet bandwidth by 20% or more (QoS Packet Scheduler)

This tweak is designed for broadband users:

1.Log on as "Administrator".

2. Run - gpedit.msc

3. Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch

4. Then expand the "Administrative Templates" branch

5. Expand the "Network" branch

6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left pane.

7. In the right window pane double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting

8. On the settings tab check the "Enabled" item

9. Change "Bandwidth limit %" to read 0

10. Then go to your Network connections Start=>Connect to=>Show All Connections and
right-click on your connection. Then under the General or the Networking tab,
(where it lists your protocols) make sure QoS packet scheduler is enabled.

 It may take effect immediately on some systems. To be sure, just re-boot.

 Remove Messenger from XP

How do you remove Messenger from XP? It’s not listed in the ADD/REMOVE in the Control Panel under Windows Components.

Find the file named sysoc.inf in your Windowsinf folder. Open it with notepad or similar. Make a backup copy first before editing to be safe. Then go to this line:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

Remove the word “hide” but leave the commas in place like this:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

Save your file as sysoc.inf.

Go to the ADD/REMOVE programs in the Control Panel; then to Windows Components and choose Windows Messenger, click and it’s gone!

If you just want to disable it from starting without removing, just remove this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunMSMSGS

Higher Bitrate Decoding for Windows Media Player

. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/wm8/encoding.asp
 

Nvidia Overclock mode and Vsync Settings

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARENVIDIA CorporationGlobalNVTweak]
"CoolBits"=dword:00000003
 

Speed Up Your Diskcache

Modify the value in Hex, this depends on the size of your installed RAM
RAM: modified value (Hex)
64MB: 1000;
128MB: 4000;
256MB: 10000;
512MB or more: 40000.
After making changes, Reboot and enjoy!
 

Unplug and Pray From Gibson Research

This nifty little utility remove the vulnerable UPnP from XP:

Read about it here:

http://grc.com/UnPnP/UnPnP.htm

Direct link to file:

http://grc.com/files/unpnp.exe

Try it, you'll like it!

Allow more than two connections in MSIE v6

 Bootvis- Your ticket to a faster boot sequence

The first thing we want to do is download Microsoft's bootvis.exe utility. After downloading, open the self-extracting archive where it'll be extracted automatically to your TEMP folder. For ease, just copy it to your Desktop.

Start the utility and under File, choose "Next Boot Trace" or, "Next Boot and Driver trace". A "Trace Repetitions" screen will appear. Just click "Ok' and you'll be prompted to re-boot.

When your system comes up again, bootvis will automatically start and generate a file similar to TRACE_BOOT+DRIVERS_1_1.BIN. When it's done, choose Trace from the menu and select Optimize System. Allow it to re-boot again. This time when your system comes up, wait a few minutes until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Wait a few moments and the process is complete.

How much difference does it really make? Good question! On my system, it shaved about 15 seconds from a cold start.

 Quick way to lockdown your system

Create a shortcut by right-clicking the desktop. On the pop-up context menu, choose "New", then "Shortcut". Then copy and paste this in the program location box:

 rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Click "Next", and enter a name for your new shortcut, such as "QuickLock" or whatever. When you double-click that shortcut, you're logged off the network, and has the same effect as logging off. All running and open programs remain intact upon logging back in.

or....

Press the Windows Logo and the L keys simultaneously.

 Automatically Hide Inactive Tray Icons

Start regedit:

Add the following key to the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersion
Explorer

"EnableAutoTray"= dword

Now enter a Value Data where 0=display inactive and 1 = hide inactive.

 Disable Disk Performance Counters

To rid yourself of this counter do this:

Type in: diskperf -n then <ENTER>. (note the space between the diskperf and -n) 

This will take affect on your next reboot.

Remove Unwanted "Open With" Items in popup dialog box

After installing a ton of programs, I noticed that everything wants to be part of my "Open With" dialog when right-clicking the desktop. 90% of the time, I never use any of these, but it's cluttered none the less.

To remove these items, open regedit and make your way to this:

 HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerFileExts

Search for the file extension you want to remove by expanding the "OpenWithList". In the right-pane, highlight the program that you want disassociated and hit delete. Do this for each then close regedit and you're done.

Should you accidentally delete a key, no problem. Just associate it by adding it back with the "Open With" in the popup dialog box.

Change XP Search Preferences

As you may well know, Microsoft has embedded many ways for XP to keep in touch with the Mothership. Merely using this search feature makes that very call. You can change this, and that annoying little dog very easily.

Click "Run" then "Search", scroll down and click "Change Preferences". Here we can remove the pesky dog, choose what search engine to use for searches, turning off auto-complete, and removing balloon tips. The end result is a search dialog which resembles earlier versions of Windows. (unless of course you like the dog) This way if you search the Internet, you can choose Google over MSN and be assured of relevant search results instead of allowing MS to display what they want you to see first.

 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

While this isn't a tweak at all, it is a handy reference to XP's many keyboard shortcuts. I suggest displaying the shortcuts and printing them for future reference.

Click START, then RUN, type C:WINDOWSHelpkeyshort.chm then OK. Under Options, choose Print.

 Command Console Shortcuts

These can be launched from START, RUN, and entering the corresponding "msc" into the command line, or by creating shortcuts.

Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc

Device Manager - devmgmt.msc

Component Services - comexp.msc

Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc

Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc

Group Policies - gpedit.msc

Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc

Disk Defrag - dfrg.msc

Local Security Settings - secpol.msc

Resultant Set of Policies - rsop.msc

Disk Managment - diskmgmt.msc

Services - services.msc