Windows Tips and Tricks by Pravin Sharma Part 2

Tip 1:
Stop Password Expiration message of windows xp
After you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this message when you log on: "Your password will expire in 14 days.."
By default, Windows XP is set up with passwords which will expire after 42 days. 14 days in advance, Windows will start warning you of this fact. If you do not want your passwords to expire:
Go to Start > Run and in the Open: box type control userpasswords2
Select the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window
Press the Advanced button below the Advanced user management header
Select Users in the Local Users and Groups.
In the right pane, right-click the user name for which you want to change the setting, and select Properties.
On the General tab, check Password never expires
Click Apply and OK, exit!
or
you can follow the following procedure:
1) Right click on My Computer and select Manage
2) Expand Local Users and Groups and click on Users
3) Right click upon the user name for which you want to change the setting, and select Properties.
4) On the General tab, check Password never expires
Click Apply and OK, exit!
Tip 2: Add Safe Mode to the Boot Menu Tip:
If you find that you frequently need to boot to Safe Mode, you can actually add it right to the Boot Menu, so you don't need to hit F8 to get to the hidden menu. Here is how to add it:
1. Right-click My Computer, and choose Properties (or press Windows Key & Break together).
2. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button, which brings up the Startup and Recovery window.
3. Click the Edit button, which will open the boot.ini file in Notepad. Look under the [Operating Systems] for your default OS. Copy the entire line, and paste it on the line below.
4. Change the description in the quotations to say "Safe Mode" or whatever description you want. Then add the following to the end of the line you just copied:
/safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog
If you want networking support, then change "minimal" to "network" without the quotes. You may want to make a copy of the c:\boot.ini file (which is hidden and read only) before you begin this process.
or
1) Open a command prompt
2) Copy the current c:\boot.ini to another name (just in case)
3) With your favorite text editor, edit c:\boot.ini
4) Copy then edit the current boot line to another line. For example:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WIND OWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
might copy and then change to:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WIND OWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safeboot" /fastdetect
5) Start MSCONFIG
6) Click on the BOOT.INI tab
7) Highlight the second line with the additional name of Safeboot
8.) Check the /SAFEBOOT box with option you want
Minimal - Minimal set of drivers
Network - With Network Support
Dsrepair - Directory Services Repair
Minimal (Alternate Shell) - Standard Explorer Desktop
9) You will now have this option every time you start XP
Tip 3: How to remove solid background behind desktop icon
1. Right click upon my computer select properties, click on Advanced tab,under Performance section choose settings,select Visual Effects tab,choose custom radio button,select use drop shadows for icon label on the desktop,click Apply and then ok, exit.
2. Right click the Desktop and select Arrange Icons by and make sure that "Lock Web items on desktop" is NOT checked.
3. Make sure that there is no live web content on the desktop. Right click the desktop and select Properties / Desktop Tab / Customize Desktop Button / Web Tab. Make sure that all checkboxes are cleared.
4. If you are using a desktop wallpaper, make sure that it is an image file (.jpg, .bmp, etc) and not an HTML (.htm) file.
Tip 4: Identify Faulty Device Drivers
If you are having problems with lockups, blue screens, or can only get to safe mode,
often the problem is due to a faulty device driver.
One way to help identify them is through the use of the Verfier program.
1. Start / Run / Verifier.
2. Keep the default of Create Standard Settings.
3. Select the type of drivers you want to confirm.
4. A list of drivers to be verified on the next boot will be shown.
5. Reboot.
6. If your computer stops with a blue screen, you should get an error message with the problem driver.
7. To turn off the Verifier, run verifier /reset.
Tip 5: Removing Thumbs.db Files
When viewing a folder with the Thumbnail view, WindowsXP creates a thumbs.db file.
This is a cache of the current pictures in that directory.
If you want to turn this feature off and save a little disk space
1. Start the Windows Explorer.
2. Go to Tools / Folder Options / View.
3. In the first section under Files and Folders, check Do not cache thumbnails.
4. Now you can search for the thumbs.db file on your computer and remove them. No more should be created.