For added security you should always clear the page file upon shutting down your computer. Windows uses this file as extra ram. Lets say that you are working on a confidential MS Word doc. When you load this document it is loaded into ram. To save ram windows places certain items in the page file. The page file can then be opened and the document can be extracted as well as any other open program or files. However Microsoft has implemented a feature that will clear the page file but they do not have it enabled by default. Please note, this will slightly increase the amount of time it takes to shut down your computer but it is well worth it.

Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Select ClearPageFileAtShutdown from the list on the right.
Right on it and select Modify.
Change the value to 1 to enable.
Reboot your computer.

A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.

Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction
Select Enable from the list on the right.
Right on it and select Modify.
Change the value to Y to enable and N to disable.
Reboot your computer.

I have recently installed Windows XP SP1 update and have found that the problem with avi files causing 100% cpu usage started happening all over again. I tried to do the original tweak shown on the site, but the registry key specified was already deleted. I searched around and found this tweak that fixes the problem, in both the original release of Windows XP and the SP1 update.

The ultimate solution

To correct the misbehavior in Windows XP, remove the following registry key.

“HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489- 5FE6850DC73E}\InProcServer32″

This will prevent Explorer from loading shmedia.dll in response to file property queries on these files. This will not effect your ability to play files, get file attributes, or even view thumbnails. I really think Microsoft is trying to make sure people only use mpeg

go into registry with REGEDIT.EXE, go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\
and (if not already there) add DWORD (without quotes) “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks” and change the value to 1. Restart.

Start MS Dos Prompt (Start run CMD)
CHKNTFS/T:4
where 4 is the amount of waity time

CHKNTFS/?
for more info

If you deleted a program instead of uninstalling it, most likely the program will still be listed in the windows uninstall list.  Follow the directions below to remove programs from list manually.

Start regedit, if you are unfamiliar with regedit please see our FAQ.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.
Delete the folder of the program.

You can use the Remote Desktop feature in Windows XP Professional to connect to your computer from another, remote computer. WARNING: The Remote Assistance feature in Windows XP may not work properly if you change the listening port. To change the port that Remote Desktop listens on:

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
Locate the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP- Tcp\PortNumber
On the Edit menu, click Modify, click Decimal, type the new port number, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.
NOTE: When you try to connect to this computer by using the Remote Desktop connection, you must type the new port.

Update: I forgot to inform you that you need to add this to the default.rdp file for the XP terminal client… Add this line anywhere in the file.
server port:i:your port number
ie server port:i:21

Right click on desktop and select new -> shortcut. Then copy and paste this in the program location box “rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation” Click next and enter a name for you shortcut and then click finish. Now you can copy and paste that shortcut anywhere you want on your computer.

This tweak stops windows creating the annoying “shotcut to” prefix when creating shortcuts to the desktop via either dragging/ dropping or right clicking and selecting send to . This means that you do not need to rename all those shortcuts on your desktop . Here’s how:

Start Registry Editor.

Locate the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Modify the data value of the Link value to be 00 00 00 00.

NOTE : For Windows 95, the Link value does not exist by default. Create the Link value as a Binary value, with a data value of 00 00 00 00.

Restart the computer.

One feature that I can do without is error reporting. Every time a program crashes I do not want to send a report to microsoft. Read below to find out how to disable this stupid feature.

Open Control Panel
Click on Preformance and Maintenance.
Click on System.
Then click on the Advanced tab
Click on the error reporting button on the bottom of the windows.
Select Disable error reporting.
Click OK
Click OK