WinXP Tips

Services to disable for better security and performance

Computer Browser: If your system is not in a network, you have no need for this service
and you can disable it. If you are in a network, but do not habitually browse the network for
file shares, you can also disable this service. Disabling it does not stop you from accessing file
shares on other computers, it just prevents you from using my network places to browse to
them. Mapped network drives and direct connections (i.e. \\mycomputer\myshare) will still
work.

Distributed Link Tracking Client: This service maintains links to NTFS files that are moved
between disks or computers. Generally not needed except in larger networks, so you can set
to manual. I wouldn't recommend disabling it.

Error reporting service: Like E.T., it calls home to Redmond if a program crashes
unexpectedly. If you have a social conscience you can leave this enabled. Otherwise disable it.

Indexing Service: This can have a major effect on system performance if activated (though
it does make file searches quicker, if that's your thing). The best way to remove it is not
through services.msc though. Instead go to 'my computer', right click on each NTFS drive you
have and choose 'properties.' Now disable the 'allow indexing...' button at the bottom of the
'general' tab.

Messenger: Allows simple communication between networked computers by means of pop-up

text windows. This service is the source of those irritating pop-up desktop ads that flooded the
computer world a few years ago. One of the improvements Service Pack 2 introduced was the
disabling of this service by default. If you are running pre-SP2 Windows XP or Windows 2000,
disable this service immediately.

Net Logon: Used for logging into a Windows domain. This is not required in a typical home
network, and if you need it, you'll know. Disable.

Net Meeting Remote Desktop Share: Allows remote control of your computer through the
netmeeting application. Sound appealing or useful? Leave it at manual then. Otherwise disable
it as a potential (though currently unproven) security risk. Paranoia is a healthy trait when it
comes to your computer…

Network Provisioning Service: Not required for home networks; disable.

Performance Logs and Alerts: Disable unless you want to measure the performance of your
system using the performance monitor application.

Qos RSVP: Disable for normal networks. May be required for netmeeting.

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager: Has anyone ever used Windows XP's remote
desktop help feature? We thought not. Disable this.

Remote Registry: Enables remote registry editing on your computer over a network. Why
would anyone want this enabled? Beats me. Disable.

Secondary User: Allows access to the 'run as' command in the right click menu of application
executable files. This command allows you to run that particular program as another user. This
is a potential security hole for managed computers, and if you can't think of a good reason to
use this feature, disable the service.

Server: This service allows you to share files and printers from your networked computer. If
you don't want or need to do this, disable the service.

Smart Card: Enables the use of smart card authentication in Windows XP. Disable unless you
have a good reason not to.

System Restore Service: If you decide you want to disable system restore, use the
instructions in that article first, then disable the service.

TCP/IP NETBIOS helper Service: Safe to disable on most home networks. If you
experience connectivity problems, restore it.

Telnet: Remote console connectivity. Disable unless you know you need it.

Terminal Services: Disable unless you plan to use Windows XP Professional's remote desktop
feature .

Themes: This service provides the 'look' of the Windows XP desktop and toolbars/menus,
complete with various graphical effects. Disabling it will make your desktop faster, but it'll also
make it uglier. Stop this service for a preview, it won't do any harm.

Uninterruptible power supply: You don't need this unless you have a UPS attached to your
system, and you may not even need it then. Disable unless you know you need it.

Universal Plug and Play: Switched to manual by SP2. If you do not use SP2, we'd
recommend you change this service to manual anyway.

Webclient: Allows FTP-like access to hosted folders and data on websites. May be useful for
other things too, but not really necessary as far as I know. Disable unless someone give you a
good reason to do otherwise.

Windows Audio: Can be disabled if you have no soundcard. Otherwise leave as is.

Windows Time: Automatically synchronizes your computer's clock with a Microsoft time
server at weekly intervals. You can disable with no major ramifications unless you use your
system as an alarm clock.

Wireless Zero Configuration: Helps automatically configure wireless devices. No wireless

devices equals no need for this service.

Learn how to remove Windows Messenger

When disabling Windows Messenger isn't quite enough, rest assured that Windows XP offers two options
that will get rid of it completely.
Follow these steps to remove Windows Messenger:
1. From Notepad, open the Sysoc.inf file within the %systemroot\inf% folder.
2. Find the line that starts with msmsgs, and remove the word HIDE. Make sure you don't delete
anything else!
3. Save the changes and close Notepad.
4. Open Control Panel and select Add/Remove Programs.
5. Choose Add/Remove Windows Components. Check Windows Messenger, which should appear at
the bottom of the list, and click Next.
If you don't want to mess with the Sysoc.inf file, you can directly start the uninstall module for Windows
Messenger. Here's how:
1. Log on as a member of the administrators group.
2. On the Start menu, select Run.
3. Type RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove in the Run
box. Make sure to type that in one line and exactly as specified, including the spaces and
commas.
The uninstallation process for Windows Messenger will begin.

Learn how to disable Windows Messenger

Windows Messenger is a simple yet useful application for instant messaging (IM). However, if you use a
different IM application, such as ICQ, you may want to prevent Windows Messenger from automatically
running.
There are several ways you can disable Windows Messenger. For Windows XP Professional computers that
run Windows Messenger versions 4.0 and up, use the Group Policy Editor. Here's how:
6. Run Gpedit.msc.
7. Drill down to Local Computer Policy | Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates |
Windows Components | Windows Messenger.
8. Select Do Not Allow Windows Messenger To Run.
9. Within the dialog box, choose Enabled.
10. Click OK and close all the remaining windows.
To disable Windows Messenger, versions 4.5 and up, for Windows XP Professional and Home Edition
computers, you can edit the registry. Follow these steps:
4. Run Regedit.exe.
5. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft.
6. On the Edit menu, highlight New and click Key. Type Messenger in the dialog box.
7. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger.
8. Create another key with the name Client.
9. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client.
10. On the Edit menu, highlight New and select DWORD Value. Type PreventRun for the DWORD
Value name. Double-click this newly created value and type 1 in the Value data box.
11. Click OK.
12. Exit the Registry Editor and close Windows Messenger.
Note: Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before making any changes

Control Them All

If you use a keyboard that has a Windows key, you can simply press Windows-M to minimize all open
windows. If you later need to undo the minimization, press Windows-Shift-M.
You can minimize the active window using the keyboard by pressing Alt-Space-N sequentially. To
maximize the active window, press Alt-Space-X. If you'd like to close the active window using only the
keyboard, simply press Alt-F4.

Selecting a Line of Text without the Mouse

Having to reach for the mouse when you're typing always slows down your work. Here are a couple of
useful keyboard shortcuts for selecting a single line of text in Word 2000: To select everything on a line to
the right of the insertion point, press Shift-End; to select everything on a line to the left of the insertion
point, press Shift-Home.

Opening Favorites in Microsoft Internet Explorer

As with most Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 features, there are several ways to open your Favorites. You
can always choose Favorites and then select a folder. You can also click the Favorites icon in the Microsoft
Internet Explorer toolbar. And, if you prefer shortcut keys, you can simply press Ctrl + I to open your
Favorites in the IE Explorer bar. To close the Favorites Explorer bar, just press Ctrl + I again.

Send To Whatever
An easy way to add items to the Send To menu when you right-click a file name:
First, Here's run Windows NT Explorer and locate C:\Documents and Settings\User\SendTo (where User is
the current user). Let's say you've added a Zip drive (or similar product) to your system as drive X, and
you want to add drive X to the SendTo menu. Use the right mouse button to drag the drive X icon to the
SendTo folder. Release the mouse button and choose Create Shortcut(s) Here. When you right-click a file
and choose Send To, drive X appears in the menu.
If you prefer to add only one folder from drive X to Send To, simply use the right mouse button to drag
that folder to the SendTo folder. Choose Create Shortcut(s) Here, and that folder appears in Send To.

Hiding Mail in Outlook Express

If you're away from your computer for a few days, you could find yourself with a full Outlook Express
Inbox. One way to make a full Inbox less confusing is to tell Outlook Express to hide all the mail that
you've already read. To do this, choose View/Current View/Hide Read Messages. Once you make this
selection, all the already read mail will disappear from view.
Your hidden messages aren't lost, however. All you have to do is choose View/Current View/Show All
Messages to get them back again.

Outlook Express Templates

If you send mail to the same person, or group of persons over and over again, day after day, you should
consider building a template to speed up your mailing tasks. To do this, start writing your message just as
you normally would. Put in the addresses and any text that you always use. After you've entered all the
standard information (leaving space for any non-repetitive text) choose File/ Save As. Name your new
template using the EML extension and click Save.

To use the template, just double its icon. Make your additions and click Send.

Note that the message always open set to the default mail account. If you wish to use a different account,
click the arrow at the right side of the "From" list box and select a new account.

Kill IE's Debug Bugging

If you recently upgraded to Internet Explorer 6 from an earlier version of the browser, you may have
encountered an annoying new feature: script debugging. You're surfing along happily when suddenly a
dialog box pops up alerting you to a script error in the site visited. Would you like to debug?

Why Microsoft enabled this handy troubleshooting tool for Web site developers in its browser is a mystery
to me. Unless you're working the kinks out of a scripted Web site, it serves no purpose other than to slow
down your browsing. To exterminate the feature, choose Tools, Internet Options, Advanced, check Disable
script debugging, and click OK.

Perform a quick reinstallation of Outlook Express

Most of the applications that ship with Windows XP cannot be removed or reinstalled separately. However,
there are some tricks around this that are helpful in certain situations, such as the reinstallation trick for
Outlook Express (OE).

Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q318378 recommends using Sfc.exe to repair OE, but these instructions
may not always solve the problem.
Instead, follow these steps to reinstall OE:
11. Open the Start menu and select Run.
12. Type %SystemRoot%\Inf in the prompt and press Enter.
 13. Locate and right-click the Msoe50.inf file.
14. Select Install.
15. Close the folder window after the copy process is complete.
16. Run OE.
This completely reinstalls OE and lets you start over. Outlook Express does not have an uninstall option,
so it cannot be removed from the computer.
Note: These steps to reinstall Outlook Express are not supported by Microsoft, so be aware of possible
unforeseen issues in the future concerning this procedure.

All of my desktop icons just became corrupted - what do I do?

Delete the file ShellIconCache in your Windows directory, and restart (note that it's hidden, so you'll have
to show hidden files to find it).
TweakUI also has a feature to repair your icons, although it may not repair all of them (such as Internet
Shortcut icons).

My Taskbar has disappeared - how do I get it back?

Move the mouse to the bottom of the screen until the mouse cursor looks like you're about to resize
something.
Stretch the Taskbar up, so that it is visible.
Note: this is the most commonly asked question by new users of Windows 98.
To do this with the keyboard, type Ctrl-ESC, Alt-Space, S, and then use the Up Arrow to resize the
taskbar.