Windows XP Tips & Tweaks

Here's a few tips and tweaks to help you optimise and customise Microsoft Windows XP.

Hidden Treasure

How to Enable ClearType (Anti-Aliased Fonts)

Right-click on the Desktop > Properties > Appearance > Effects > Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts > ClearType.

Additional Theme for Windows XP

Sick of only having 3 themes for Windows? Now you can have... 4! (Update: 6!)

Webfroot » Royale Theme Leaked
Royale Noir: secret XP theme uncovered at istartedsomething (I recommend using it with a black-and-white wallpaper like this observatory against a starfield.)
Zune theme welcome to the social.

Show File Extensions and Hidden Files

Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View > Show hidden files and folders (protected operating system files (eg. thumbs.db) still hidden.)
Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View > Hide extensions for known file types.

Hot, Hot Transparent Windows (and Taskbar)

You will need nVidia video drivers for this one.
Right-click on the Desktop > nView Properties > Effects > Make windows transparent when dragged.
(Also Enable taskbar transparency)
If you're feeling crazy, you can also have a go at Mouse > Enable throw window action

Create New Folder Keyboard Shortcut

One of the most glaring oversights of Windows Explorer is that there is no keyboard shortcut to create a new folder. Here is a tool that lets you just hit F12 to create a new folder. Alternatively, you can find a few solutions in this forum. Here is a brief explanation of my current solution:

Make a file called something like createfolder.vbs and put this in it

Set WSHShell=WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WScript.Sleep 500
WSHShell.SendKeys "%(FWF)"

Put the file somewhere out of the way. Now, make a desktop shortcut of said file (right click, Send to Desktop.)
Right click that desktop shortcut > Properties > Shortcut Key, and give it a key shortcut of your choice. Unfortunately Windows seems to limit you to the F keys or ctrl+alt+something (try Z.)
Optionally, create a similar file but without the 3rd line and place that in your startup group - this may make the shortcut quicker to use.

Move the Paging File to a Secondary Hard Drive

An excerpt from Optimising Windows XP - ZDNet UK Insight. (To access these settings: right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Performance Settings > Advanced > Virtual Memory.)

The best performance increase will come from moving the paging file from the C drive to another hard disk. Of course, this requires more than one hard disk in the system. Keep in mind that you won't boost performance by placing the paging file on another drive partition on the same hard disk.

The performance boost from moving the paging file to another hard disk comes from the fact that while one hard disk is handling operating system functions, the other hard disk can simultaneously handle paging file requests. To move the paging file, select the C drive in the Drive list. Then, select the No Paging File option and click Set. Next, select the other hard disk in the Drive list. Then, select the Custom Size option, type the appropriate values in the Initial and Maximum size text boxes, and click Set. When you click OK, you'll be prompted to restart your system.

Use an old hard disk for your paging file
Finally, if you're like most IT folks, you probably have a bunch of old hard disks sitting in a box in the back room. These old hard disks aren't viable for today's operating system and software disk requirements, but they're perfect for a paging file. Just add the hard disk to your system as a slave, format it, and configure Windows XP to use it for the paging file.

Force Windows Explorer to Default to Folder Tree (Instead of Task Pane)

Windows Explorer, by default, opens to a Task Pane view. You might prefer the traditional folder tree view instead.

Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options... > File Types.
Select the icon for (NONE) Folder and click Advanced.
In the Actions list, select explore and click Set Default.
Click OK and Close.

Use Link Toolbar for Your Favourite Folders in Windows Explorer

Rather than navigating up and down your folder tree all the time, you can put your favorite folders onto the links bar of Windows Explorer - much as you would a web browser. Note clicking these bookmarks will launch a new window each time.

Ensure Windows Explorer > View > Toolbars > Links is checked.
In the same submenu is Lock the Toolbars and Customize.... Unlock the toolbars and drag them about to be more space efficient (remember to lock them again once you're done!) Use Customise to take away the buttons you never use (possibly all of them.)
Get rid of your weblinks (who uses IE anyway?) by either deleting them or putting them all into a single folder. Add shortcuts to your favourite folders.
Beware! Simply dragging the folder onto the link bar will cause the folder to be copied there, strangely enough. Either right click, Create Shortcut first and drag the shortcut on, or navigate to the folder you want and select Favorites > Add to Favorites...
Finally, you can customise the link icons if you like.

Windows Explorer screenshot with the menubar and addressbar on the top row and toolbar buttons and links on the next row.

Kill, Krush & Disable

How to Disable Messenger Service

You know those stupid little popup dialogs that say Messenger Service at the top? I got spammed with an infinite loop of them. Heres how to get rid of them for good. [source]

Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
Scroll down to Messenger, right-click > Properties.
Click the Stop button.
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar.

(Alternatively, try this PC Review article.)

How to Disable "Do You Want to Send an Error Report" Dialogs

When a program crashes in Windows XP it presents a dialog asking if you want to send an error report to Microsoft. It's possible to turn this off:
Control Panel > System > Advanced (tab) > Error Reporting (button) > Disable Error Reporting. (Note you can check the check box below if you still want the error message without the option of sending a report.)

How to Reduce the Size of the Recycle Bin

Windows Explorer > right click on Recycle Bin > Properties. Drag the bar all the way to the left. The default of 10% is way way too big for most modern hard drives. Who needs 6gb as a recycle bin?

How to Disable Network Connections Dialog

Windows XP will pop up the Network Connections dialog when a program wants to access the net. Unfortunately it can be anything from email clients pinging the server to Firefox pinging for RSS bookmarks. Furthermore, it will tend to pop up again and again without respite. What happened to Just Say No?

There appears to be a particularly well hidden setting - even by windows standards - to stop it, explained at jsiinc.com.

How to Disable CD Autorun

This is both annoying and a potential security hazard. Instructions here.

Kill Task Pane in Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer > Folder Options > General > Tasks > Use Windows classic folders

How to Get Rid of My eBooks

Stupid gumpy Adobe Reader makes a My eBooks folder every time it opens. Now, I dont want a fucking My eBooks folder, and how dare you spam my own hard drive. Also, there isn't an obvious option to turn this off. I have come up with a crude but effective solution:

Make a file called (eg) del_ebooks.bat. Put it somewhere out of the way. Now, make a shortcut to it and put that in your Startup folder on your Start Menu. This is the contents of the file:

rmdir "C:\Documents and Settings\dave\My Documents\My eBooks"

If you are not called Dave, you may wish to modify it.

Turn Off thumbs.db

To improve preview performance, Windows XP automatically creates a hidden thumbs.db file in image folders. If you feel this wastes space or something, it is easily disabled:
Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View > Do not cache thumbnails

Sundry

Security

Scobleizer's 14 layers of security.

Automatic Website Login

Some websites use cookies to save you from logging in each time you visit. Some don't, forcing you to load and submit a login page every visit, and some even block your browser from remembering your login credentials! I have made custom pages that will automatically log in to Auckland University's Horde webmail, Cecil and nDeva. You can easily adapt them for any other website that causes you similar problems.

Useful Shortcuts