A new beginning

I know it was a long time back , I have wrote anything in my blog. But from now on I will try to update atleast once every 15 days.

Lock XP

You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse.
Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter ‘rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation’ in the location field.
Give the shortcut a name you like.
That’s it — just double click on it and your computer will be locked.
And if that’s not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

Improve speed of of file search in WINDOWS XP PRO operating system

If you have not already noticed, you soon will. Default search for a file in Windows Explorer takes a long time to complete. Yes thats correct. I had to wait for some time before I could do that when I was creating the screen print of *.msc search on my computer (see the article on gpedit.msc in list of tools link). Anyway bottom line is default search would be slow in XP, In fact slower than even a Window 98 PC. But there is a reason for it and couple of ways to tweak it. First the reason: One of the reasons XP's default file search takes so long is it not only looks for file names in your directories, it processes compressed (.zip and .cab) files, looking for your filename inside of these zipped files! There are few ways to improve your search.
Disable ZIP and CAB search:
This tip was brought to my attention by James Heinrich.

To disable Compressed Folders for zip files:
regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll
For CAB files:
regsvr32 /u cabview.dll
All of a sudden it goes so much faster, and no need for indexing service,
or weird searching limitations.
Can always be re-enabled afterwards with the same command, minus the/u
Set index service on:
You can further improve the search bye turning the index service on ! Well it does not end here. You not only have to turn the index service on but also has to follow many do's and don'ts. Here are some of them.
1: Never search by putting criteria in the "All or part of the file name" box.
2. Enter your criteria in the "A word or phrase in the file" as described below - no matter what you want to achieve !
TO SEARCH FOR A FILE BY NAME:
Your search criteria must begin with:
@filename
or
#filename
followed by all or part of the filename you are looking for and you must put it in the "A word or phrase in the file: input area Wildcards * and/or ? are allowed:
TO SEARCH FOR A FILE BASED UPON A WORD OR PHRASE IN THE FILE:
Your search criteria must start with an exclamation mark
!yourcriteria
The exclamation mark forces use of the index. If the exclamation mark isn't used, Search Companion will begin a slow file-by-file physical search.
1

Disable CD Autorun

1) Click Start, Run ---> GPEDIT.MSC

2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.

3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.

Skip the Recycle Bin Confirmation Message

When you delete items by moving them to the Recycle Bin, Windows displays a message confirming the deletion: "Are you sure you want to send FILENAME to the Recycle Bin?" If you’re tired of clicking an answer to that question, you can configure Windows XP to skip the confirmation message whether or not you’re using the Recycle Bin.

1.>Right-click the Recycle Bin, and then click Properties.
2.>In the Recycle Bin Properties dialog box, clear the Display delete confirmation dialog check box, and then click OK.
3.>If you don’t want to use the Recycle Bin at all, in the Recycle Bin Properties dialog box, select the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted check box.

Change Out Your Pointer Scheme

Tired of seeing your pointer as an arrow or an hourglass all the time? Windows XP offers a number of alternative pointer schemes, such as Dinosaur, Ocean and Sports.
Open the Control Panel, double-click Mouse, and select the Pointers tab. (If you start in Category view, select Appearance and Themes, then click Mouse Pointers under "See Also.") Next to Schemes, click the down arrow and select a scheme to preview its pointers. Click OK to apply the scheme to your desktop. Simple as that.