B - Win XP Tips

: B :

Boot - Increase Bootup Speed
Right click My Computer Icon/Properties/Hardware/Device Manager. Go to IDE/ATAPI Controllers. Select Primary Channel/Properties. On the device that does not have a device type, select disable instead of autodetect.
This example assumes you have 1 Hard drive on your primary IDE channel and a DVD-ROM(or CD)
and CD-R on your two secondary IDE channels.

Bootup - Network

When your computer is connected to a network, booting up Windows XP can take a long time. A big part of this time is taking up by updating the group policies. This tweak lets you log on before this process is finished. Because of this, booting up is much faster.
Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system

In this key, look for the following values: SynchronousMachineGroupPolicy and SynchronousUserGroupPolicy
By default, these values don't exist. If you can't find them, create them as REG_DWORD values. Set both values to 0.
Boot - Problems
How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
How to Use Clean Boot Troubleshooting for Windows XP
How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_conflicts.htm

How to Disable a Service that Prevents Windows XP from Booting
Use System Files to Create a Boot Disk to Guard Against Being Unable to Start Win XP
Fast Boot /Fast Resume Design: A performance trace visualization tool for use with Windows XP systems.
Troubleshooting Bootup Problems and Edits

Backup VB Script
Move the folder/contents to another partition. Create a shortcut to it and place it on your desktop. Anything added will go to the new destination. It is merely a shortcut to the folder.

An added measure: Copy the four lines below into notepad and save as backup.vbs. Change NameofFolder to the correct name and create two backup folders according to the example below. In the done = change NameofFolder as well.

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

fso.CopyFolder "C:\NameofFolder\*.*", "C:\NameofFolder_backup"
fso.CopyFolder "C:\NameofFolder\*.*", "E:\NameofFolder_backup"

done = MsgBox("Done", vbOKonly, "Backup NameofFolder")
Belarc Advisor - System Inventory Tool
The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware. Download here. In the Software Versions section you'll see all of your installed software. At the end of each entry is a clickable asterisk that will take you to the folder the software is installed in.
Bios - View System BIOS Information

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DESCRIPTION\System

Value Name: SystemBiosDate, SystemBiosVersion, VideoBiosDate
Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
Bios - Commands
Bios Manufacturer Key Command(s)
ALR Advanced Logic Research, Inc. ® PC / PCI F2
ALR PC non / PCI CTRL+ALT+ESC
AMD® (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS
F1

AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS
DEL
Award™ BIOS
CTRL+ALT+ESC
Award BIOS DEL
DTK® (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS
ESC
Phoenix™ BIOS
CTRL+ALT+ESC
Phoenix BIOS CTRL+ALT+S
Phoenix BIOS CTRL+ALT+INS
Computer Key Command(s)
Acer®
F1, F2, CTRL+ALT+ESC
AST®
CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
Compaq® 8700
F10
CompUSA®
DEL
Cybermax®
ESC
Dell® 400
F3
Dell 400 F1
Dell Dimension® F2 or DEL
Dell Inspiron® F2
Dell Latitude Fn+F1 (while booted)
Dell Latitude F2 (on boot)
Dell Optiplex DEL
Dell Optiplex F2
Dell Precision™ F2
eMachine™
DEL
Gateway® 2000 1440
F1
Gateway 2000 Solo™ F2
HP® (Hewlett-Packard)
F1, F2
IBM®
F1
IBM E-pro Laptop F2
IBM PS/2® CTRL+ALT+INS after CTRL+ALT+DEL
IBM Thinkpad® (newer) Windows: Programs-Thinkpad CFG.
Intel® Tangent
DEL
Micron™
F1, F2, or DEL
Packard Bell®
F1, F2, Del
Sony® VIAO
F2
Sony VIAO F3
Tiger DEL
Toshiba® 335 CDS
ESC
Toshiba Protege ESC
Toshiba Satellite 205 CDS F1
Toshiba Tecra F1 or ESC
Standard Original IBM POST Error Codes
1 short beep Normal POST - system is ok
2 short beeps POST Error - error code shown on screen
No beep Power supply or system board problem
Continuous beep Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem
Repeating short beeps Power supply or system board problem
1 long, 1 short beep System board problem

1 long, 2 short beeps Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA)
1 long, 3 short beeps Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA)
3 long beeps 3270 keyboard card


IBM POST Diagnostic Code Descriptions

100 - 199 System Board
200 - 299 Memory
300 - 399 Keyboard
400 - 499 Monochrome Display
500 - 599 Color/Graphics Display
600 - 699 Floppy-disk drive and/or Adapter
700 - 799 Math Coprocessor
900 - 999 Parallel Printer Port
1000 - 1099 Alternate Printer Adapter
1100 - 1299 Asynchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1300 - 1399 Game Port
1400 - 1499 Color/Graphics Printer
1500 - 1599 Synchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1700 - 1799 Hard Drive and/or Adapter

1800 - 1899 Expansion Unit (XT)
2000 - 2199 Bisynchronous Communication Adapter
2400 - 2599 EGA system-board Video (MCA)
3000 - 3199 LAN Adapter
4800 - 4999 Internal Modem
7000 - 7099 Phoenix BIOS Chips
7300 - 7399 3.5" Disk Drive
8900 - 8999 MIDI Adapter
11200 - 11299 SCSI Adapter

21000 - 21099 SCSI Fixed Disk and Controller
21500 - 21599 SCSI CD-ROM System



AMI BIOS Beep Codes

1 Short Beep One beep is good! Everything is ok, that is if you see things on the screen. If you don't see anything, check your monitor and video card first. Is everything connected? If they seem fine, your motherboard has some bad chips on it. First reset the SIMM's and reboot. If it does the same thing, one of the memory chips on the motherboard are bad, and you most likely need to get another motherboard since these chips are soldered on.
2 Short Beeps Your computer has memory problems. First check video. If video is working, you'll see an error message. If not, you have a parity error in your first 64K of memory. First check your SIMM's. Reseat them and reboot. If this doesn't do it, the memory chips may be bad. You can try switching the first and second banks memory chips. First banks are the memory banks that your CPU finds its first 64K of base memory in. You'll need to consult your manual to see which bank is first. If all your memory tests good, you probably need to buy another motherboard.
3 Short Beeps Basically the same thing as 2 beeps. Follow that diagnosis above.
4 Short Beeps Basically the same thing as 2 beeps. Follow that diagnosis above. It could also be a bad timer
5 Short Beeps Your motherboard is complaining. Try reseating the memory and rebooting. If that doesn't help, you should consider another motherboard. You could probably get away with just replacing the CPU, but that's not too cost-effective. Its just time to upgrade!
6 Short Beeps The chip on your motherboard that controls your keyboard (A20 gate) isn't working. First try another keyboard. If it doesn't help, reseat the chip that controls the keyboard, if it isn't soldered in. If it still beeps, replace the chip if possible. Replace the motherboard if it is soldered in.
7 Short Beeps Your CPU broke overnight. Its no good. Either replace the CPU, or buy another motherboard.
8 Short Beeps Your video card isn't working. Make sure it is seated well in the bus. If it still beeps, either the whole card is bad or the memory on it is. Best bet is to install another video card.
9 Short Beeps Your BIOS is bad. Reseat or Replace the BIOS.
10 Short Beeps Your problem lies deep inside the CMOS. All chips associated with the CMOS will likely have to be replaced. Your best bet is to get a new motherboard.
11 Short Beeps Your problem is in the Cache Memory chips on the motherboard. Reseat or Replace these chips.
1 Long, 3 Short Beeps You've probably just added memory to the motherboard since this is a conventional or extended memory failure. Generally this is caused by a memory chip that is not seated properly. Reseat the memory chips.
1 Long, 8 Short Beeps Display / retrace test failed. Reseat the video card.



Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes
These audio codes are a little more detailed then the AMI codes. This BIOS emits three sets of beeps. For example, 1 -pause- 3 -pause 3 -pause. This is a 1-3-3 combo and each set of beeps is separated by a brief pause. Listen to this sequence of sounds, count them, and reboot and count again if you have to.

1-1-3 Your computer can't read the configuration info stored in the CMOS. Replace the motherboard.
1-1-4 Your BIOS needs to be replaced.
1-2-1 You have a bad timer chip on the motherboard. You need a new motherboard.
1-2-2 The motherboard is bad.
1-2-3 The motherboard is bad.
1-3-1 You'll need to replace the motherboard.
1-3-3 You'll need to replace the motherboard.
1-3-4 The motherboard is bad.
1-4-1 The motherboard is bad.
1-4-2 Some of your memory is bad.
2-_-_ Any combo of beeps after two means that some of your memory is bad, and unless you want to get real technical, you should probably have the guys in the lab coats test the memory for you. Take it to the shop.
3-1-_ One of the chips on your motherboard is broken. You'll likely need to get another board.
3-2-4 One of the chips on your motherboard that checks the keyboard is broken. You'll likely need to get another board.
3-3-4 Your computer can't find the video card. Is it there? If so, try swapping it with another one and see if it works.
3-4-_ Your video card isn't working. You'll need to replace it.
4-2-1 There's a bad chip on the motherboard. You need to buy another board.
4-2-2 First check the keyboard for problems. If nothing, you have a bad motherboard.
4-2-3 Same as 4-2-2.
4-2-4 One of the cards is bad. Try yanking out the cards one by one to isolate the culprit. Replace the bad one. The last possibility is to buy another motherboard.
4-3-1 Replace the motherboard.
4-3-2 See 4-3-1
4-3-3 See 4-3-1
4-3-4 Time of day clock failure. Try running the setup program that comes with the computer. Check the date and time. If that doesn't work, replace the battery. If that doesn't work, replace the power supply. You may have to replace the motherboard, but that is rare.
4-4-1 Your serial ports are acting up. Reseat, or replace, the I/O card. If the I/O is on the motherboard itself, disable them with a jumper (consult your manual to know which one) and then add an I/O card.
4-4-2 See 4-4-1, but this time is your Parallel port that's acting up.
4-4-3 You math coprocessor is having problems. Run a test program to double-check it. If it is indeed bad, disable it, or replace it.
Low 1-1-2 Your motherboard is having problems
Low 1-1-3 This is an Extended CMOS RAM problem, check your motherboard battery, and motherboard.



Boot - Disable Splash Screen
Right click My Computer, select Properties. Go to Advanced, Startup and Recovery, Settings and click the Edit button. Locate the line that loads XP and add /SOS to the end of it. The resulting line should look something like this:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /SOS



Alter BOOT.INI to remove secondary listings: delete the files for the old OS.
Right click My Computer, select Properties. Advanced, Startup and Recovery. Set the default OS and and the timeout.
Or...
Remove the line for the old OS in [operating systems] by going to Start/Run, and typing: C:\Boot.ini. Be sure 'default=' points to the new OS.
Or...
Press WinKey-Break,(or start/run 'sysdm.cpl'), Advanced Tab, "Start Up and Recovery" area, Settings button, then edit the old line out with the edit button. Reboot, and delete the files for the old OS.

Bootvis - Decrease Boot Time
Bootvis is a Boot performance trace visualization tool for use with Windows XP systems. It gives a graphical view of what processes are doing what and when during boot and allow you to optimize your boot up. A very handy tool.

Download Bootvis: http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/performance/fastboot/BootVis.asp

This is a self extracting ZIP file. Double click the file you just downloaded and unzip it to the folder of your choice. Locate Bootvis.exe click on it. You will now see the GUI of bootvis.

Now go to File/New and choose "Next boot trace" or "Next boot and drivers chase". Leave everything else as is and get ready for a reboot in 15 seconds. Then click on the Bootvis.exe, it will now output the results, once it has finished generating the report, you will see graphs 5 or 6 graphs. From the main menu .. Click on Trace >> optimize system, then reboot.

You will see a message box "Please wait for bootvis to load" ... about 20 seconds later another message box will appear "Optimizing system for boot performance" basically bootvis is rearranging the boot files for a faster startup. (T. Shuel)

Bootup - Reduce the Time the Startup List is Shown on Boot

Using Windows explorer find the file called BOOT.INI on your system drive. Change the attributes of the file from read-only, by right clicking on it and choosing Properties, and then under Attributes, uncheck 'Read-only'. Then double-click on BOOT.INI and it should open in Notepad.

Under the [boot loader] section is a value called "timeout=". The number after the "=" sign is the time in seconds Windows will wait for a selection. Change the value according to the options below.

Set the value to the number of seconds between 1 and 999. To make Windows boot instantly change this value to "0" (i.e. timeout=0). To make Windows wait indefinitely change this value to "-1" (i.e. timeout=-1). Save the file, and restart Windows for the change to take effect.


Browser Hijacking
Check your settings here: Start/Run/Regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main. In the right pane scroll down to Start Page. Double click and under Value data, type in (for example): http://www.google.com/.
Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel.
1. If a HomePage dword value exists in this key, select it.
2. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Restrict Web Sites from Installing Software

These restrictions allow you to block unwanted web sites from downloading software onto your system. This can be useful in disabling the installation of some common "cursor" programs.

Open your registry and find the key below. Start/Run/Regedit

Create a new sub-key for each site you want to block, naming it based on the top-level domain for the site. For example to block http://www.restricted.com/ you would create a new sub-key called:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings\ZoneMap\Domains\
restricted.com. Under the sub-key create a new DWORD value called "*" and set it to equal "4".

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains

Value Name: *
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (4 = restricted)

Restart Internet Explorer for the change to take effect.

Note: This setting can also be applied on a user-by-user basis by modifying the same key under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive.

Browsing - Speedup (Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer)
Start/Run/Regedit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace In the left pane find: {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} Value and delete it.