WINDOWS ^XP TIPS

By Damon Slocumb

Usually, I try my best to keep my articles as simple as possible without a lot of “techno-babble” and other material that may be a bit boring to the average reader. This month, however, I decided to dedicate the Digital Divide column to some of the more advanced users that are out there. I wanted to post a few tips for Windows XP that can make it run better and/or accomplish some things that most people do not realize can be done.

I must first warn you that some of these tips require you to edit the registry. Registry modification is a serious matter and even a minor mistake can cause your system to crash or make it unstable or unusable. It is imperative that you back up your registry before you use the tips/tricks listed.

TIPS

Remotely access your PC from any Internet connected PC

This tip will allow you to log on to and use your computer from any internet-connected computer. First, make sure that you have the Internet Information Services installed. To do that, go to Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs and then click the Windows Components tab. When you select IIS, go into the details and select World Wide Web server and look at its details. Also make sure the web server and the remote desktop web connection are both selected. Install those components following the following instructions: Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Internet Information Services. Expand the main tree and then expand the web sites and right click the properties of the default web site and make sure it is started. Following that, go into your System Properties (Control Panel>System or right click My Computer and then click Properties) and choose the remote tab. Enable the Remote Desktop. While there, click the ‘Select Remote Users’ button and type in the name of the user, and then check names and then add the name.

Go to a different computer. To log on, go to http:///tsweb. You will be prompted to install an ActiveX control, so accept it. Now you are on the main page. The server is your computer’s network name; choose your screen size and hit connect. You will be taken to your windows log in screen.

Speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines

Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines. It’s actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improves significantly after applying it, since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore.

Here's how:

l Open up the Registry (Click START, point to and click RUN.

l Type regedit and press enter). In the registry editor, go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

l Under that branch, select the key, { D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} , and delete it.

l This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like, you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary.

This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing processes.

Securing your

WINDOWS ^XP

computer

You can provide an added level of security to your WINDOWS XP System. This is called securing your Windows XP accounts database. You can store all information related to your accounts in an encrypted form on a floppy disk. What this would do is that if you do not have access to your floppy disk, you cannot access the system. Even if you know your userid/password, you will not be able to access the system unless until you have this startup disk in the floppy drive.

The process of generating this secure startup floppy disk is simple. Go to START, click RUN and type syskey. A new window will open. Click on the Upgrade command button. Another window will pop up, which will give you the option of storing the encrypted accounts database either locally or on your floppy disk. Choose floppy disk and click OK and let the process complete. You are done. The next time you reboot the computer and get to the logon prompt, make sure that you have the floppy disk available in A: drive. If you do not have this disk available, you cannot log on.

Of course, this gives you added system security, but you run the risk of losing this disk or it becoming corrupted; therefore, I stress the importance of having a backup of this disk AND storing these disks in a safe location.

I will be adding the TIPS section to each month’s article. If you have questions, please contact me via email to povreaderquestions@comcast.net or via telephone at PC Solutions and Training at (413) 474-6384.