Langa List past issues

This newsletter has now been merged with WindowsSecrets but here you can find a treasure trove of info from past issues.

Optimize Windows XP Services

Windows Y2K and XP came out with a new configurable area. We’ll be dealing with Windows XP services here. You will find these services in your Start, Programs menu named, “Administrative Tools”. By Default Administrative Tools is not shown. You will have to enable it by opening Taskbar and Start Menu. Taskbar and Start Menu is accessible on the Classic Start Menu by clicking on Start, Settings, Taskbar and Start Menu. On the XP Start Menu you will have to get into the Control Panel and the Taskbar and Start Menu applet. Put a checkmark beside, “Display Administrative Tools. Click OK and then click on your Start, Programs, Administrative Tools and Services.

Precautions :

..  use a pen and paper to record your changes.

.. modify only a couple at a time and test your system before changing more.

Highlight what you want to print. Go up to the File menu in the browser and select Print…. On the Print dialog there is a section called Page Range. Check the Selection checkbox. That will cause only the selected text to be printed.

If you have 512MB of ram or more – this tweak should improve your P.C.’s performance.

go to start\run\regedit -and then to the following key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
Session Manager\Memory Management

1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 – this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive which results in faster performance.

2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernel to Run in memory which improves system performance a lot

Reboot to see the improvements.

Note: may cause problems with ATI cards

If you think you disabled Automatic Updates when you selected turn off automatic updates from within the Automatic Updates tab in My Computer – think again – the Automatic Update service still runs even when you select to disable it here. To really turn it off do this:

1. Go into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.

2. Select the service called “Automatic Updates”.

3. Right click select “stop” to terminate the service.

4. Right click on it again and select Properties. Half way down the first tab there is “Startup Type:” change this to disabled.

Now the services is really stopped and you have freed up system resources as well.

1. In any folder that contains files. Click on the tools
   
   Then click on the view tab.
   Locate where it lists Hidden files and folders and select Show hidden files and folders.
   Click OK.

Here’s a simple way to determine your IP address information using the IPCONFIG command:

1. Start / Run / cmd
2. IPCONFIG /ALL

You’ll need to take a look-see to pick out the I.P. address from all the other info.  displayed.

You can send the information to a text file by using the following command:

(IPCONFIG /ALL > c:\ip.txt)

Terry’s Place

A collection of Microsoft Troubleshooting tips.

Keyboard shortcuts for Windows

This article lists keyboard shortcuts you can use with Windows.

Get Vista upgrade from WindowsSecrets

This enables you to “clean install” an upgrade version of Vista to any formatted or unformatted hard drive, which is usually the preferred method when installing any new operating system. You must, in essence, install Vista twice to take advantage of this trick. But Vista installs much faster than XP, so it’s quicker than installing XP followed by Vista to get the upgrade price.