Microsoft's Crazy Facts

MAGIC #1
Nobody can create a FOLDER anywhere on the computer which can be named as "CON".
This is something pretty cool...and unbelievable. ..
At Microsoft the whole Team, couldn't answer why this happened!
TRY IT NOW, IT WILL NOT CREATE "CON" FOLDER

MAGIC #2
This is something pretty cool and neat...and unbelievable. ..
At Microsoft the whole Team, including Bill Gates, couldn't answer why this happened!
Try it out yourself...
Open Microsoft Word and type
=rand (200, 99)
And then press ENTER


MAGIC #3
For those of you using Windows, do the following:
1. Open an empty notepad file
2. Type "Bush hid the facts" (without the quotes)
3. Save it as whatever you want.
4. Close it, and re-open it.
Is it just a really weird bug?
You can try the same thing above with another sentence "this app can break"

Explanation for Magic #1:
In windows the folder name and the special system variables share the same interface, so when you create a folder with a system variable name it will consider that folder already exist!!
These special system variables are available irrespective of path
You cannot create a folder with these names also:
CON, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3,COM1 to COM9 and LPT1 to LPT9....,PRN
CON means console, COM1 means serial port 1, LPT1 means parallel port 1Microsoft's Crazy Facts

Repair Install

If XP is corrupted to the point where none of the previous solutions get it
to boot,

you can do a Repair Install that might work as well as keep the current
settings.

Make sure you have your valid WindowsXP key.

The whole process takes about half an hour depending on your computer

If you are being prompted for the administrator's password, you need to choose
the 2nd repair option, not the first.

1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD
2. At the second R=Repair option, press the R key
3. This will start the repair
4. Press F8 for I Agree at the Licensing Agreement
5. Press R when the directory where WindowsXP is installed is shown. Typically this is
   C:\WINDOWS
6. It will then check the C: drive and start copying files
7. It will automatically reboot when needed. Keep the CD in the drive.
8. You will then see the graphic part of the repair that is like during a
   normal install of XP (Collecting Information, Dynamic Update, Preparing
   Installation, Installing Windows, Finalizing Installation)
9. When prompted, click on the Next button
10. When prompted, enter your XP key
11. Normally you will want to keep the same Workgroup or Domain name
12. The computer will reboot
13. Then you will have the same screens as a normal XP Install
14. Activate if you want (usually a good idea)
15. Register if you want (but not necessary)
16. Finish
17. At this point you should be able to log in with any existing accounts.

Speeding Up Network Browsing

There are a lot of things which can negatively impact how fast XP will browse
network shares.

One has been previously covered regarding browsing to Win9x computers.

Other things you can try, especially when there is slow browsing to network
shares with a lot of files:

1. Remove current shortcuts in My Network Places

2. Change the registry so shared folders on remote computers are not
automatically added to My Network Places when you even open a document from that
shared folder

1. Start Regedit
2. Create a DWORD value:
3. HKEY_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \
   Policies \ Explorer \ NoRecentDocsNetHood to 1.
4. I have also seen setting the following help as well.
   
   HKEY_Current_User \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \
   Policies \ Explorer \ UseDesktopIniCache to 1.

Download Reg file to do both

3. Increase the amount of data is buffered at one time to send to a client.
On the computer with the shared directory:

1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
3. Create a DWORD Key called SizReqBuf
4. Give it a value of Hex FFFF

Download Reg file

Blogged with the Flock Browser

How to Create an Invisible Folder!

1. Right click where ever you want the invisible folder to be and select create a new folder.

2 Right Click on the folder and hit rename. Erase the name of the folder so there is nothing there.

3. If you try to stop here windows will tell you that you need to provide a name. So to get around this… with the name field still active hold down ALT and press 0160 on the number pad (make sure Num Lock is on), release alt



You should now have a blank name with nothing but a folder next to it

4. Now click on the nameless folder and right click. Select Properties.

5. Go to the Customize tab.


6. Find and press the Change Icon button. Scroll through the icons until you find one that has no image.



7. Hit OK and you have an invisible folder!


With the invisible folder you can hide what ever undesirables you have. Be it video games at work, pictures of your family or anything else you can think of "wink".

The folder will show up for a brief second if you put it on your desktop. For that reason it might be smart to place it inside a folder or amongst a group of folders.

Run Commands

The run option of Start menu is used to run a program or to open a document directly. If you

do not know the exact location of the program or document then click on Start button to open

Run and type the programs shortcut name to open it directly.

Run Commands

appwiz.cpl — Used to run Add/Remove wizard

Calc –Calculator

Cfgwiz32 –ISDN Configuration Wizard

Charmap –Character Map

Chkdisk –Repair damaged files

Cleanmgr –Cleans up hard drives

Clipbrd –Windows Clipboard viewer

Control –Displays Control Panel

Cmd –Opens a new Command Window

Control mouse –Used to control mouse properties

Dcomcnfg –DCOM user security

Debug –Assembly language programming tool

Defrag –Defragmentation tool

Drwatson –Records programs crash & snapshots

Dxdiag –DirectX Diagnostic Utility

Explorer –Windows Explorer

Fontview –Graphical font viewer

Fsmgmt.msc — Used to open shared folders

Firewall.cpl — Used to configure windows firewall

Ftp -ftp.exe program

Hostname –Returns Computer's name

Hdwwiz.cpl — Used to run Add Hardware wizard

Ipconfig –Displays IP configuration for all network adapters

Logoff — Used to logoff the computer

MMC –Microsoft Management Console

Msconfig –Configuration to edit startup files

Mstsc — Used to access remote desktop

Mrc — Malicious Software Removal Tool

Msinfo32 –Microsoft System Information Utility

Nbtstat –Displays stats and current connections using NetBIOS over TCP/IP

Netstat –Displays all active network connections

Nslookup–Returns your local DNS server

Osk —Used to access on screen keyboard

Perfmon.msc — Used to configure the performance of Monitor.

Ping –Sends data to a specified host/IP

Powercfg.cpl — Used to configure power option

Regedit –Registry Editor

Regwiz — Registration wizard

Sfc /scannow — System File Checker

Sndrec32 –Sound Recorder

Shutdown — Used to shutdown the windows

Spider — Used to open spider solitaire card game

Sfc / scannow — Used to run system file checker utility.

Sndvol32 –Volume control for soundcard

Sysedit — Edit system startup files

Taskmgr –Task manager

Telephon.cpl — Used to configure modem options.

Telnet –Telnet program

Tracert –Traces and displays all paths required to reach an internet host

Winchat — Used to chat with Microsoft

Wmplayer — Used to run Windows Media player

Wab — Used to open Windows address Book.

WinWord — Used to open Microsoft word

Winipcfg –Displays IP configuration

Winver — Used to check Windows Version

Wupdmgr –Takes you to Microsoft Windows Update

Top 20 Tips To Keep Your System Faster

Top 20 Tips To Keep Your System Faster

3 March 2009 One Comment

Follow these tips and you will definitely have a much faster and more reliable PC! Most of the below tips works for windows

1. Wallpapers: They slow your whole system down, so if you’re willing to compromise, have a basic plain one instead!

2. Drivers: Update your hardware drivers as frequently as possible.  New drivers tend to increase system speed especially in the case of graphics cards, their drivers are updated by the manufacturer very frequently!

3. Minimizing: If you want to use several programs at the same time then minimize those you are not using.  This helps reduce the overload on RAM.

4. Boot Faster: The ’starting Windows 95/98′ message on startup can delay your booting for a couple of seconds.  To get rid of this message go to c:\ and find the file Msdos.sys.  Remove the Read-Only option.  Next, open it in Notepad or any other text editor.  Finally, go to the text ‘Options’ within the file and make the following changes: Add BootDelay=0.  To make your booting even faster, set add Logo=0 to remove the Windows logo at startup.

5. Restart only Windows: When restarting your PC, hold down Shift to only restart Windows rather than the whole system which will only take a fraction of the time.

6. Turn Off Animations: Go to Display Settings from the Control Panel and switch to the Effects Tab. Now turn off Show Windows Content While Dragging and Smooth Edges on Screen Fonts.  This tip is also helpful with Windows XP because of the various fade/scroll effects.

7. Faster Start-Menu Access: Go to the Start menu and select Run.  Now type Regedit and hit Enter.  The Registry Editor will appear on the screen.  Now, open the folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.  You should see a MenuShowDelay value.  If you don’t then do the following: right click on a blank space in the right pane and select New\String.  Change the name in the new value to MenuShowDelay.  Now that we have the MenuShowDelay value, double click on it and enter 0 in the value data field.  This sets the start menu delay to 0 milliseconds.

8. Resolutions: If you are willing to do anything for faster performance from your PC, then try lowering your display resolution.  The lower it is, the faster your PC.

9. Turn off Active Desktop: Go to your Display Properties and switch to the Web tab.  Uncheck View My Active Desktop As a Web Page.  Since the Active Desktop option under Windows 98 uses a lot of system resources, this option can have a dramatic effect on the speed of the whole system.

10. Defragment Often: Windows 98’s Defrag tool uses Application Acceleration from Intel which means that when you defragment your drive, data is physically arranged on the drive so that applications will load faster.

11. Take your PC to Bed: Using the Advanced Power Management feature under Windows 98 gives you the option to use the sleep command.  That way, you can send your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down and then restarting it.  It’s as simple as pressing a button and then pressing the same button to wake it up.  You can tell Windows after how many minutes/hours of inactivity to automatically sleep the machine in the Advanced Power Management section of the Control Panel.

12. Faster Internet Access: If you use the internet for reference and the sites you visit are rarely  updated then try the following.  In IE (the same can be done in Netscape) go to Tools, Internet Options.  Next, click on Settings… in the Temporary Internet Files  section.  Finally, select Never for the first option and double the amount of storage space to use, click OK!

13. Benchmarking: Benchmarking can be very useful when run frequently.  It can tell you how your PC’s components are performing and then compare them to other machines like yours.  For example, when you overclock your PC, you want to know how much more speed you have and whether it is stable.  All this and more can be discovered using benchmarking.  An excellent piece of software for doing this job is SiSoft Sandra which can be found in the Downloads File Archive!

14. Refresh the Taskbar without restarting: If you in some way change the taskbar, either in Regedit or elsewhere, you can refresh the task bar without restarting.  Hold down Ctrl Alt Del, and double click on Explorer.  Say Yes to close Explorer, but no to closing Windows.  This will refresh the Taskbar and system tray.

15. Quick CD Eject: Instead of pushing the button on your drive, right-click your CD drive letter in My Computer and click on Eject.  This will also remove any icons that have become associated with the CD drive.

16. Start Up Programs: Windows can be slowed down when programs run on start up.  To eliminate this, check your Start up folder.  You can access it from the start menu: Start, Programs, Start Up.  Another way to eliminate programs from loading even before Windows actually starts is by doing the following: Click on Start, then Run.  Type msconfig.  It will take quite a long time for this program to load, but when you finally see it on your screen, explore the different tabs.  They all have to do with how quickly your PC boots, so select what you want, and uncheck what you don’t want!

17. Fonts: When Windows starts, it loads every single font in the Fonts folder.  Therefore, the more fonts you have, the slower the booting process.  To get rid of unwanted fonts, simply go to the Fonts folder under c:\windows and remove whatever you don’t want.  Fonts that have a red letter ‘A’ as their icon are system fonts, so don’t delete them.

18. Stretching Wallpapers: Don’t “stretch” your wallpaper in Windows 98 since it actually slows Windows down when you drag icons around on the desktop.

19. RAM Matters: If you have less than 32MB then you should seriously think of upgrading it to at least 64MB.  Windows runs much more smoothly with 64MB or higher and tends to use less hard disk space for virtual memory.

20. Partitioning: A very nice little thing you can do to boost system performance.  By partitioning your hard drive, splitting one physical drive into several logical ones, you can gain several advantages.  1. If you get a virus or you accidentally format a drive, not all will be lost.  2. By placing the swap file (Win386.swp) on a separate drive, The swap file will be less fragmented and thus, faster. 3. Place Windows on a separate drive and whenever you need to reinstall it, you rest assured that your data is safe on a separate drive.  Partitioning can be done using a few programs such as FDisk which comes with DOS.  However, FDisk formats everything on the hard disk before partitioning. Alternatively, you can use Partition Magic from Power Quest to partition your hard disk without losing your data.

 

Google Search Tips

Google Phrase Search
Google provides phrase search using quots.
Examples:
"Cricket Schedule"
"Get HTML" codes in php

Google Book Search
Google helping to get the world's information online by bringing online books.
Examples:
Books about Health
Books about Water

Google Cached Links
Google takes a snapshot of each web page at any website. It shows that what Google has in its cache or index.
Examples:
cache:http://www.yahoo.com
cache:http://www.msn.com

Google as Calculator
Google is complete calculator and can resolve math equations.
Examples:
5+5*10.5
7^2 (7 raise power 2)
sqrt(25) (Square root of 25)
1 mile = ? yards
1 yard = ? cm
1 kg = ? pound
80 F = ? C

Google Currency Conversion
Google can convert any currency of the world according to fresh market.
Examples:
1 USD = ? PKR
1 Pound = ? USD
1 USD = ? Yen

Google Definitions
Google can define any word.
Examples:
define:book
define:internet
define:human

Google Weather
Google provides world weather. You can search weather of your location.
Examples:
Weather Lahore, Pakistan
Weather Toronto, CA

Google Stock Exchange
Google displays stock exchange statistics for any company. (Note you must type the ticker symbols, not the company name.)
Examples:
stock:MSFT
stock:INTC

Google Question Answer
Google answers straight forward questions.
Examples:
Population of Pakistan
Capital of Japan
Prime Minister of Canada

Google started another search about Blogger or BlogSpot which is still in beta mode.
http://blogsearch.google.com/