Using Internet Explorer as FTP client

If you're looking for a free FTP client, you might be surprised to learn you've already got one: Internet Explorer can be used to upload files to your website using file transfer protocol (FTP). It's particularly useful that it's installed on most computers, so if your site needs updating at short notice, you can edit it without any additional software on the nearest PC.

You will need:

• Your upload server address - ask your webhost if you don't know this. It might look something like ftp.yourhost.com or homepages.yourhost.com
• Your FTP user ID
• Your FTP password

You should already know the name and password when you signed up with your ISP. The user ID might be called a username and the server address might be described as the FTP address for your space. They will most likely not be the same as the username and password you use to access your email.

Here's how to use them.

Method 1: slower, but more secure

This method is slower, but it does not expose your password to anyone else looking at the screen. Use this method if you're in a public place, or if your using a computer other than your own.

• In Internet Explorer's address bar, enter ftp:// followed by your upload server address. For example: ftp://ftp.yourhost.com or ftp://homepages.yourhost.com.
• You'll see a dialogue box pop up asking for your username and password. Simply enter them.

Method two: faster, but less secure

This method is a lot less hassle, but your password will be visible on screen, so I can't recommend this for use on a public computer. The information you type in the browsers address bar is usually saved in the history. This can compromise your user name and password.

• In Internet Explorer's address bar, enter ftp://your-username:your-password@homepages.yourhost.com.
  

Moving files around

Once you've logged in using one of the two methods above, the IE window will look like a folder on your desktop. Now you can drag files into it from your desktop and they will be uploaded to your server. Download files from your FTP space by dragging them from the IE window to your desktop. Right-click in the IE window to open the menu for creating folders on your server

Limitations

Internet Explorer is ideal for making quick fixes (especially if you need to quickly update your website while on the move), but it's not really a complete FTP solution. There's no feedback, so it's not uncommon for the software to apparently hang while it's uploading large amounts of data. It also seems to be much slower than dedicated FTP clients.

If it's not working for you, check your settings in IE. Go to Tools / Internet Options / Advanced and make sure that 'Enable folder view for FTP sites' is turned on.

IE is useful for quick edits and management of small starter websites, but you'll want to progress to a dedicated FTP application as your site grows. I can recommend ws_FTP, but there are many other free FTP clients available at Downloads.com.

This also works in Firefox browsers as well.

LocationMail

LocationMail is a program that tells you where e-mail was sent from. It utilizes the most accurate data in the world to analyze your e-mail, trace it, and look up the orgin of a message. LocationMail integrates seamlessly into Outlook or Outlook Express; once installed, it shows you location information next to each message. Click Here to Download

The Regular Guys at 100.5 FM

Disable the login prompt for password in XP

1. Click Start and Run
2. Type "Control Userpasswords2" and press enter.
3. Uncheck the box for "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer."
4. Click Apply and Ok.

Refer:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315231/en-us

Disable prompt for password when XP resumes from standby or hibernation

1. Click Start, Settings, and Control Panel
2. Double-click Power Options
3. Uncheck the "Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby" option.
4. Click Apply and then Ok.
   
   Disabling the Windows XP Welcome screen

1. Click Start, Settings, and Control Panel.
2. Open User Accounts.
3. Click "Change the way users log on or off".
4. Uncheck the "Use the Welcome screen".
5. Click "Apply Options"

Slipstream Windows XP

How to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 3 to Create an Integrated XP Setup Disk with SP 3

This tutorial takes you through the steps of integrating the Windows XP Service Pack 3 into the files from an existing Windows XP setup CD. A new setup disk will be created. This disk will have the full XP installation with SP3 already merged into it. Such a slipstreamed CD has a few advantages over installing your current version of XP and then running SP 3 afterwards:

• Saves Time

  Installing XP slipstreamed with service pack 3 is considerably faster than installing a previous version of XP and then running SP 3 separately.

• More Secure

  If your computer is always connected to the network or the Internet, and you do not have Service Pack 3 integrated, it is vulnerable to any malware that targets pre-SP3 XP. Although the window of opportunity for a successful attack of your system is small (the time needed to apply SP 3 and reboot), some people prefer not to take the chance.

• Uses Less Disk Space

  If you install XP first and then install SP 3, the service pack installer will create backup copies of the previous versions in your Windows directory. System Restore will also make a backup set of files on your computer. These backup files take up space on your computer, to the order of a few hundred megabytes. (Note that this advantage is minimal, since you can manually delete all these backup files yourself later if you are short of space.)

Prerequisites

1. Windows XP Professional or Home Setup CD

   You will need your existing Windows XP Professional or Home setup CD. This CD can either be the original Windows XP release CD, or one with either SP 1 or Service Pack 2 integrated.

   If your computer did not come with such a CD, but you created your own Setup CD by following the instructions given in howtohaven.com's How to Create a Bootable Windows XP Setup CD/DVD on a Preinstalled Windows System, you might want to try using that CD instead.

   WARNING: do not attempt to use this guide to slipstream your Windows XP Media Center 2005 disk. Slipstreaming of this version of XP is not supported by Microsoft.

2. A CD/DVD Burning Software, a blank writeable CD and a CD/DVD Writer

   After creating a new XP Setup CD that has Service Pack 3 integrated, you will need to write it onto a new, blank CD (such as a CD-R or CD-RW). You can also use a DVD+/-R(W) if you want. As such you will need a CD/DVD writer and a program to burn the new CD.

   For the purpose of this tutorial, I will describe the procedure for using the ImgBurn, a free utility listed on the Free CD and DVD Burners and Copying Software page on thefreecountry.com.

3. XP Service Pack 3

   Windows XP service pack 3 can be downloaded directly from Microsoft.

The Basic Steps to Merging SP3 into the XP Setup CD

1. Download and Save XP Service Pack 3

   If you have not already downloaded XP service pack 3, get it now, and save it with the filename of "XPSP3.exe" at the top level of drive C:. Actually, you can save it anywhere you want, and leave it at its default name if you wish. However, for the purpose of this tutorial, I will assume that you saved it so that it can be accessed as C:\XPSP3.exe. If you save it as some other name, you will have to change the command lines I supply below yourself to the appropriate one.

2. Extract or Download the Boot Sector of the XP Setup Disk

   You will also need the boot sector of an existing bootable Windows 2000, XP or 2003 setup CDROM. You can either extract it from your CD yourself, or just download a boot sector already extracted by others. To save myself some time describing the procedure for extracting the boot sector, this tutorial will just use the same method mentioned in my guide to create your own XP setup disk. That is, download the file wxp10.zip from one of the links on http://www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=wxp10.zip and save it somewhere on your computer.

   When you've got the file, open it by doubleclicking it in Windows explorer. Go into the "cds" folder and into "wxphome" (or "wxppro"; it doesn't matter which) folder, followed finally by the "files" directory. Drag the "w2ksect.bin" file into C:\ (the root directory/folder of drive C:). Don't get creative and place it in some other directory. If you do that, ImgBurn will not be able to find "c:\w2ksect.bin" later.

3. Create a Working Folder

   Create a temporary folder for the integration to take place. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will assume that you have created a folder called "XPSETUP" at the top level of drive C:.

   To create a folder, open "My Computer", go to drive C:, right click somewhere in the window and select "New" followed by "Folder" in the menu that appears. Then change the default name from "New Folder" to "XPSETUP". If you did this correctly, you will have a new folder, C:\XPSETUP.

4. Copy the XP Setup Disk intto C:\XPSETUP

   Put your existing XP setup CD into your drive. If the setup wizard appears, dismiss it. Drag all the files and folders on the CD into C:\XPSETUP.

5. Open a Command Prompt

   Open a command prompt window. You can do this by running the program "Command Prompt", found in the Accessories folder of your Start menu.

6. Slipstream the Service Pack

   From the command prompt window, which will be a black window with a blinking cursor, type the following, followed by the ENTER key.

   C:\XPSP3 /integrate:C:\XPSETUP
   

   Note that there is only one space character -- between the "C:\XPSP3" and the rest of the line. If you did not name the service pack "XPSP3.exe" and place it at the top level of C: as I described earlier, you'll have to modify the command line accordingly.

   The process will take some time to complete, so take a coffee break if you wish.

This completes the slipstreaming part of the tutorial. You will now need to burn it to make a bootable CD or DVD.

Create and Burn Your New XP with Service Pack 3 CD

1. Download ImgBurn

   If you have not downloaded ImgBurn, get it now and install it. You will find it listed on thefreecountry.com's Free CD and DVD Burners and Copying Software page.

   The version of ImgBurn I used to create this guide was 2.4.1.0.

2. Create the ImgBurn Project Configuration File

   Open up Notepad, and copy the red text below (make sure you select everything in red) and paste it into a blank Notepad window. Click "File" and choose "Save as...". Then save the file as "xpsp3.ibb" (including the quotes, which you need to prevent Notepad from adding a ".txt" extension to your filename) somewhere on your desktop (or anywhere you like). Do not add or delete anything from the file.

   IBB
   
   [START_BACKUP_OPTIONS]
   BuildMode=1
   Destination=0
   TestMode=0
   Verify=1
   WriteSpeed=0
   Copies=0
   FileSystem=1
   UDFRevision=0
   PreserveFullPathnames=0
   RecurseSubdirectories=1
   IncludeHiddenFiles=1
   IncludeSystemFiles=1
   IncludeArchiveFilesOnly=0
   AddToWriteQueueWhenDone=0
   ClearArchiveAttribute=0
   VolumeLabel_ISO9660=HTHSP3
   VolumeLabel_Joliet=HTHSP3
   VolumeLabel_UDF=
   Identifier_System=
   Identifier_VolumeSet=
   Identifier_Publisher=
   Identifier_Preparer=
   Identifier_Application=
   Dates_FolderFileType=0
   Restrictions_ISO9660_InterchangeLevel=2
   Restrictions_ISO9660_CharacterSet=1
   Restrictions_ISO9660_AllowMoreThan8DirectoryLevels=1
   Restrictions_ISO9660_AllowMoreThan255CharactersInPath=1
   Restrictions_ISO9660_AllowFilesWithoutExtensions=1
   Restrictions_ISO9660_DontAddVersionNumberToFiles=1
   Restrictions_Joliet_InterchangeLevel=1
   Restrictions_Joliet_AllowFilesWithoutExtensions=1
   Restrictions_Joliet_AddVersionNumberToFiles=0
   Restrictions_UDF_DisableUnicodeSupport=0
   Restrictions_UDF_DVDVideoAllowUnicodeVolumeLabel=0
   BootableDisc_MakeImageBootable=1
   BootableDisc_MediaEmulationType=0
   BootableDisc_BootImageFile=C:\w2ksect.bin
   BootableDisc_DeveloperIdentifier=
   BootableDisc_LoadSegment=07C0
   BootableDisc_LoadSectorCount=4
   [END_BACKUP_OPTIONS]
   
   [START_BACKUP_LIST]
   C:\XPSETUP
   [END_BACKUP_LIST]
   
   

3. Burn the CD

   Put a blank CD or DVD into your drive.

   Start ImgBurn. Select "Mode | Build" from the menu. That is, click the "Mode" menu, and select the "Build" item on the menu that appears.

   Then, select "File | Load Project". Look for the xpsp3.ibb file you saved in the previous step, select it and click the "Open" button.

   Finally, click the "Build" icon at the bottom of the window. To find out which picture the "Build" button is (there are no visual cues, even as to which picture actually represents a button), hover your mouse over the the pictures near the bottom of the window and wait for the tooltip to appear. When you hover your mouse over the correct picture, a tooltip will appear with the text "Build".

   If ImgBurn presents you with a dialog box giving you the statistics of your new CD, such as the number of files it will contain and so forth, just click OK to accept it.

Congratulations. You have successfully created a new XP setup CD. This setup disk will allow you to install Windows XP with Service Pack 3 already integrated in it.

Also a nice video using nLite found in this episode of DL.TV:

http://dl.tv/2007/09/episode_196_idf_more_diy_pc_te.php

Remove IE from desktop

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.
Data Type: DWORD // Value Name: NoInternetIcon
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]
Exit Registry and Reboot

Use online radio as an alarm clock

Excellent instructions by Kim Komando. Click Here.