Remove ISP branding in IE

It's easy for companies to put their own "branding" on the IE title bar. Removing it is easy, as long as you're comfortable with editing the registry. As always, backup the registry before you make changes. Then navigate in your registry editor to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Main . In the right pane and you should see a value named Windows Title. In the Data column, you'll see the branding text (ie, ISP's name). You can delete this value to get rid of the branding entirely, or you can double click the value and change it to whatever you like (like your own name). After you make the changes, close the registry editor. Restart IE to see the changes.

Change Shutdown Timers In XP

Make XP shut down more quickly

Are you annoyed at the amount of time it takes Windows XP to shut down? If so, it may be that it's waiting on a hung program. You can edit the registry to change the amount of time that XP waits for a program to close. When editing the registry, you should back it up first. Follow these steps to change timers:
Open your registry editor, by clicking "Start" and then choose "Run", type regedit.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop
In the right pane, find HungAppTimeout and double click it
In the value data box, change the default value (5000) to a lower number (example, 1000). Click OK.
Next, find the WaitToKillAppTimeout and double click it
Change the default value from 20000 to 1000. Click OK.
Navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control
In the right pane, find WaitToKillServiceTimeout and double click it.
Change the default value to 1000 and click OK.
Navigate to:HKEY_USERS \ DEFAULT \ Control Panel \ Desktop
Find HungAppTimeout and doubleclick it.
Change the default value to 2000 and click OK.
In the same key, find WaitToKillAppTimeout and double click it.
Change the value to 1000 and click OK.
If you do not want the timeout to be short, change these values to something higher (example, 5000). Just make sure the value is the same for each.

Start System Restore in XP

If you're having problems that prevent you from booting, you can still use the System Restore tool to a previous state, and fix the problem.
Follow on:
- Restart the computer and press and hold F8 during startup to bring up the options menu
Select "Safe mode with a command prompt".

- If you have multiple operating systems installed, select the correct instance of XP
Log on with an administrative account.

- At the command prompt, type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe and press ENTER

Metamark - Free URL redirector

When TinyURL fails, as it does more and more, try Metamark. Works great!
The only time it hasn't worked is on Facebook. They won't allow any URL's with an "X". How messed up is that? I've emailed them, but they never responded. WTF!?
Metamark provides a shortcut you can drag to your toolbar, or bookmarks. When your on a site that you would like to shorten the URL, simply click on the shortcut.

http://metamark.net

Add wireless access point

If you have an extra wireless router, (the old "B" ones are plentyful and cheap!) you can increase your access by connecting it as follows:

In this example, the DLink (on the right) was added. The Linksys is the acting router. (see below)



They need to be set in the same range address:
The Dlink-514, 802.11b wireless router by default was 192.168.0.1
Using Computer 4, I changed it to a static address within the range of the Linksys, “192.168.1.200”, Subnet, “255.255.255.0”
This address should be outside the DHCP assignments used by the Linksys. I have the Linksys using DHCP assignments; 192.168.0.100 ~ 192.168.0.150
I deactivated the DHCP in the Dlink router. You don't want it assigning addresses.

You can use the same SSID for both routers. ( I chose not to. I called one Linksys and the other Dlink) You must use a different channel for both router to avoid collision. Linksys is channel 6, Dlink is channel 11. I live in a remote area, so I didn't use 64 or 128-bit WEP encryption, although you can.

I connected the Linksys to the the Dlink to normal ports (NOT THE WAN). Old routers can require a crossover cable if one router doesn't support MDI/MDIX. Most routers do.

Now the Dlink router is set as an access point and all connections to this access point is routed to the Linksys router which will do the rest. (assign IP)
In your laptops wireless configuration utility, you should see the two access points. You can have windows choose for you. If you would like to keep locked on just one, just turn off WZC.
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/2000.html

I like to be able to turn Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) on and off, so I've created icons on my laptop.

Wireless networks are becoming more and more common. It's not unusual to be within range of several wireless access points. If your connection stutters, WZC maybe trying to hook you up to another connection. I've found that if WZC is off at start-up, the system may not connect at all. Open Services.msc (click Start/Run type Services.msc). Scroll to the bottom, double-click on Wireless Zero Configuration, and click on the Stop / Start button. Or... you can create shortcuts to do this for you.
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32 (or C:\Winnt\System32 if you're running Windows 2000). Locate the file "net.exe". Right click and hold, and drag it onto the desktop and release. Then choose Create shortcut here. Rename the shortcut to "Stop WZC". Right-click on the shortcut, choose Properties, and click on the Shortcut tab. The Target field will probably show C:\WINDOWS\system32\net.exe. Add a space followed by [color=yellow]stop wzcsvc[/color] (don't forget the space before stop). Repeat these steps and create another shortcut to start the service; just replace stop with start.
Pretty Sweet!

Gateway MT6451 XP Driver CD

Great for us MT6451 users who down graded (really an upgrade) from Vista to XP.

Click Here

Modify System Restore Time

The three registry keys, to make changes to XP's System Restore feature are here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ WindowsNT \ CurrentVersion \ SystemRestore

Here, you can set the maximum time that a restore point exists before it gets deleted. The setting is specified in seconds, and the default is 7776000, which translates to 90 days. If you want to extend the time for the restore points, do this:

1. In the right pane, double click or create the DWORD value RPLifeInterval
2. In the value data field, enter a number in seconds that you want restore points to remain on the system before being deleted (for example, to specify a time to live of 60 days, enter the value 5184000).Close the registry editor.

To find out more, see KB article 295659 at
http://www.wxpnews.com/NW6G7Q/090310-Microsoft-Support

Registry Edits for XP

Here's a site with a lot of neat tweaks and tips. I like #148, removes items from the msconfig startup list.

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm