Disable The Notification Balloons

I hate them pesky balloons!

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.
2. Navigate to the following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\PortNumber
3. Right-click the right pane, create a new DWORD value,
and then name it EnableBalloonTips.
4. Double-click this new entry, and then give it a
hexadecimal value of 0.
5. Quit Registry Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on.

These steps disable all Notification Area balloon tips for this user.
There is no way to disable balloon tips for specific programs only.

Windows XP Reinstall With No Activation

Need to format your hard drive and reinstall XP, and don't want to have to go through the product activation process again? You can save the activation status info and then restore it after you reinstall the operating system, as long as you haven't made any changes to the hardware. Here's how:
Before reformatting, in My Computer, double click the drive letter on which you installed XP, and navigate to WINDOWS\System32.
Click "Show the contents of this folder" if necessary.
Copy the following files to a floppy, USB drive, CD/DVD or network location: wpa.dbl and wpa.bak.
After reformatting and reinstalling XP, select NO when asked if you want to activate Windows now.
Restart in Safe Mode.
In My Computer, open the WINDOWS\System32 folder and rename the existing wpa.dbl and wpa.bak files (if you have them).
Now copy your old wpa.dbl and wpa.bak files to the System32 folder.
Restart and you should not be requested to activate again.
This only works when you reinstall Windows on the same computer and the hardware remains the same.

Surf anonymously

If your concerned about protecting our private information while browsing, checkout Anonymouse.org.

Each site you visit can access information about your computer, such as your computer's IP address. This number uniquely identifies you on the Internet.

Fortunately, there are sites that will help you protect your privacy. Anonymouse is one such site. It lets you surf the Internet without revealing any of your information.

With Anonymouse, there's nothing for you to install on your computer. Just visit the site and start surfing!

The 'Box' is a lie. The 'Box' is a lie. The 'Box' is a lie. - Arts & Leisure

The 'Box' is a lie. The 'Box' is a lie. The 'Box' is a lie. - Arts & Leisure

Windows 7

PCWorld reported last week that Microsoft has started hinting around about releasing the next version of Windows sometime next year. The new OS will be called Windows 7. Umm... we may never install Vista. Click Here to read.

Bringo

You tired of calling a company only to wade thru a phone menu? Try using Bringo
Bringo lists more than 100 companies in a variety of categories. All you need to do is find the one you want. Then, enter your phone number. In a few seconds, you’ll get a call back. You’ll talk to someone without wading through the phone tree. Technology at its finest!

http://www.nophonetrees.com

How to make your own icons

You can make your own custom icons for your XP folders and shortcuts. Open MSPaint (Click Start / Run & type MSPaint. ). Click Image and choose Attributes to open the image attributes dialog box. Type "32" in both the Width and Height fields and be sure "Pixels" is selected. Click OK. This creates a new blank image the size of an icon. You can add color or text or use any graphics program to shrink a photo or drawing to 32x32 pixels and paste it into your document. When you have it the way you want it, click File | Save As and give it a name with the extension .ico. To assign the icon to a folder or shortcut, right click the folder or shortcut and select Properties, then Customize. Click the Change Icon button. Click Browse to navigate to the location where you saved your custom icon. Choose it and click OK. You may need to close and reopen the folder for the new icon to appear. * By default, Windows Icons are stored at "C:\WINDOWS\system32\shell32.dll"