Take advantage of the Windows XP Start menu's pinned items list

You're probably familiar with Start's left side menu—but do you know why the program list is divided in two? Here's what you need to know about the pinned items list found in Windows XP, and how you can customize it to easily access your favorite programs.

The left panel of the Start menu consists entirely of a divided list of programs that Windows XP thinks will come in handy for you: the pinned items list above the separator line, and the most frequently used programs list, displayed below the line.

By default, Windows XP places links to your Internet browser and your e-mail application in the pinned items list and will place as many as 30 shortcuts to the programs that you've recently used in the most frequently used programs list. (The most frequently used programs list is, by default, six shortcuts long.)

In order to really take advantage of the Start menu as a launching area for all the programs you use most often, you can configure the entire left panel as a pinned items list. Here's how:


1. Right-click the Start button and select the Properties command to display the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box.

2. Click the Customize button adjacent to the Start Menu radio button to display the Customize Start Menu dialog box.

3. In the Programs panel, use the Spin button to set the Number Of Programs On The Start Menu setting to 0. Click the Clear List button.

4. In the Show On Start Menu panel, you can clear the Internet check box because the Internet Explorer icon already appears in the Quick Launch menu by default, and maybe even the e-mail check box, depending on how you launch your e-mail application.

5. Click OK twice—once to close the Customize Start Menu dialog box and once to close the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog boxes.

6. Click the Start button and access the All Programs submenu.

7. Locate and right-click on a shortcut to a program you use most often and select the Pin To Start Menu command.

You can pin as many as 30 of your most often used programs to the Start menu, depending on your screen resolution setting. With your actual favorite programs on the pinned items list, you can now really take advantage of the Start menu.

Speed up Windows XP's defrag operations

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Professional editions.
A simple way to speed up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to restart the system before you launch Defrag. This allows the operating system to clear out the swap/paging file and reset it to the default size. This lets Defrag focus strictly on the necessary data on the hard disk without having to stop and manage a huge swap file loaded with unneeded data.
Another approach to speeding up a defrag operation in Windows XP is to configure it to occur immediately upon startup. Fortunately, you can do so easily with this simple registry edit:

1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce.
3. Right-click on the RunOnce subkey and select New String Value.
4. Name the value Defrag and press [Enter] twice.
5. Type Defrag.exe c: /f in the Value Data text box and click OK.
6. Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows.
The defrag operation will begin when you type in your password and press [Enter]. (Keep in mind that values added to the RunOnce key are removed immediately after the command has been run.)

How to Back up Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird

Backing up Firefox and Thunderbird is easier than you think....

Firefox and Thunderbird Firefox users need to regularly back up to guard against the possibility that their profile gets corrupted or wiped after installing a new extension or a new version of Firefox. If you use Thunderbird then it's even more important that you backup to ensure you don't accidentally lose your email correspondence and account settings.

There are two ways to backup: use a backup utility or do it yourself manually.

Backup Utilities
MozBackup is a free utility written by Pavel Cvrcek that will automatically backup Firefox and Thunderbird as well as Netscape and the full Mozilla suite. It works like a charm - the whole process is driven by a Wizard so easy to use that even raw beginners will be able to set up automatic backups. It also offers encryption of the backup files and a complete push-button restore option.

MozBackup only backs up the essential information rather than all the information in your Mozilla profile but that's fine for most users. You can get MozBackup here: http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/index-old.html

Manual Backup
Backing up Firefox and Thunderbird manually is as simple as copying their respective profile folders to another location. If you do that, you’ll have a full backup with all your setting and personal data saved.

The hard part is finding the profile folders. First up, they are not located where you would expect to find them. Secondly, they are located in different places for different versions of Windows. Thirdly, they may be assigned random file names that make them difficult to recognize.
On Windows 2000/XP machines the locations for your Firefox and Thunderbird profiles are respectively:

• C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\\
• C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\\

To back these up I copy the profiles to an external USB drive. It's as simple as that. I do it manually but you could also use Windows Scheduler or a backup manager to do the job automatically. Make sure, though, that Firefox and Thunderbird are not running before you backup.

Fix a registry on a dead system

Sometimes a registry problem causes a computer not to boot or to prevent logon. If you can't boot the computer, or you don't have any other means to restore the problem registry file, you might be able to open the registry on another computer, fix it, and restore it to the problem PC.

In order to fix the registry this way, you must be able to boot the system through a diskette or dual-boot configuration and gain access to the file system. You also need to be able to copy the registry file to a removable media with sufficient space to accommodate it or be able to copy the file across the network.


Here's how to modify a remote registry locally on your computer if you can't connect to it across the network:



1. Boot the other computer with a boot diskette or dual-boot OS and then copy the problem hive file to a removable media or directly across the network to your system.
2. Log in as administrator on your system and run REGEDIT.EXE.
3. In the Registry Editor, select either the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_USERS window, and then choose Registry Load Hive.
4. Locate the file copied to the system in step 1, select the file, and click Open. This loads the hive into the local registry as a subkey of the selected key.
5. Make the necessary changes to the damaged hive and then choose Registry Unload Hive.
6. Copy the hive file back to its original location on the problem computer. Restart to test the system.

Note: Editing the registry is risky, so make sure you have a verified backup before making any changes.

Recovering from a forgotten Administrator password in Windows 2000 Pro

It's the one of the worst things you can do, and it makes you feel like a complete idiot. You forgot the password for the Administrator account of your Windows 2000 Pro system. If you've just finished the install, check for an innocent mistake before you jump out the window or reinstall—enter the password in uppercase in case the Caps Lock key was on when you created the Administrator account.

Didn't do it? Hopefully you have another account that is a member of the Administrator's group. If so, just log on with that account and change the Administrator password. If that doesn't do the trick and you can afford to lose any other accounts contained on the system (likely with a workstation but unlikely on most servers), delete the SAM hive. On a FAT system, boot the computer with an old DOS or Windows 9x boot disk and delete the %systemroot%\System32\Config\SAM file (or rename it). On an NTFS system, you can use the Recovery Console to access and delete the file, but only if you have configured the Recovery Console for automatic administrative logon through the local security policy or through the inherited domain security policy.

Another option is to back up the system, reinstall Windows 2000, and then restore the system. As when deleting the SAM, you'll lose your accounts, but at least you'll have the system back with all your other settings intact. And if you absolutely don't want to lose your accounts, check out http://www.winternals.com/ for utilities that will enable you to reset the administrator password.

Recovering from a forgotten Administrator password in Windows 2000 Pro

It's the one of the worst things you can do, and it makes you feel like a complete idiot. You forgot the password for the Administrator account of your Windows 2000 Pro system. If you've just finished the install, check for an innocent mistake before you jump out the window or reinstall—enter the password in uppercase in case the Caps Lock key was on when you created the Administrator account.

Didn't do it? Hopefully you have another account that is a member of the Administrator's group. If so, just log on with that account and change the Administrator password. If that doesn't do the trick and you can afford to lose any other accounts contained on the system (likely with a workstation but unlikely on most servers), delete the SAM hive. On a FAT system, boot the computer with an old DOS or Windows 9x boot disk and delete the %systemroot%\System32\Config\SAM file (or rename it). On an NTFS system, you can use the Recovery Console to access and delete the file, but only if you have configured the Recovery Console for automatic administrative logon through the local security policy or through the inherited domain security policy.

Another option is to back up the system, reinstall Windows 2000, and then restore the system. As when deleting the SAM, you'll lose your accounts, but at least you'll have the system back with all your other settings intact. And if you absolutely don't want to lose your accounts, check out http://www.winternals.com/ for utilities that will enable you to reset the administrator password.