Windows XP
Tweaks + Secrets - Part 1
"I was a bit disappointed to find out XP could recognize and autoplay DVDs but
included no support for its little brother the VCD.
My disappointment was however short lived, when I stumbled upon a
Registry key I'd never seen before in Win9x. I wrote this document to show how I taught XP to recognize and automatically
play a VCD or SVCD when it is inserted into the CD/DVD drive.
For those who are unfamiliar with VCDs, it's basically a
CD that contains movie files. The VCD (Video CD) format is comparable to the VHS standard in quality and uses MPEG1
standard. The SVCD (Super Video CD) is closer to DVD quality and uses MPEG2 standard. A full length movie generally occupies
2 to 3 CDs in VCD format or 3 to 4 in SVCD format.
From the number of disk switching you can see why Autoplay recognition
is a plus.
The Registry key in question is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\ContentTypeSniffers\VideoFilesContentSniffer
and
the specific Value name we'll be modifying within this key is "RelPattern" which is REG_MULTI_SZ (Multiple String).
This Value type is properly recognized only by Regedt32.exe, NOT by Regedit.exe, therefore Regedt32 will be used in this
case.
Note that there are quite a few zero terminated strings already in this structure, and when we add our strings we
must take care to preserve those already there. The Edit box pops up with all elements in there selected, so it's easy to
type a single key and wipe out everything already present. Make sure to click once in the box or use a cursor key so the data
gets deselected first. Then we can add these 4 strings after the last one in the structure:
Click OK and
exit Regedt32.
All that's left is the association with the executable you want to use to play video files, such as WMP8 or
PowerDVD.
You could simply just leave it in prompt mode, so it asks what you want to use to play every time a file with
this extension is opened.
The VCD/SVCD standard is implemented loosely, but those 4 lines comprise the majority of disks
I've seen. As an aside, I'm of the opinion that this key and its siblings are responsible for that annoying bug in XP where
you're sometimes unable to delete media files.
They are currently being sniffed, so you get the "in use" error.
Another
possibility is they are being indexed with that Fastfind reincarnation called Indexing Service.
A quick fix I've found for
that is to open a command prompt to the folder you want to delete the file from, then open Task Manager and End Task on
Explorer.exe and/or Cidaemon.exe. Then delete from the prompt.
Afterwards you can restart the shell from the Task Manager
using the New Task button."
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"
standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"
manifestVersion="1.0">
<assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="X86"
name="CompanyName.ProductName.MyProgram"
type="win32"/>
<description>My Program Description</description>
<dependency><dependentAssembly><assemblyIdentity type="win32"
name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls" version="6.0.0.0"
processorArchitecture="X86"
publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
language="*"
/></dependentAssembly></dependency></assembly>
Save it into your program executable's
directory as "MyProgram.EXE.manifest" (no quotes). This file's extension MUST be manifest.
Replace
MyProgram.EXE with your actual executable name and extension.
Replace the "MyProgram" and "My Program
Description" strings above with your actual app/game name and description, respectively.
Optionally you can also
replace the "CompanyName" and "ProductName" strings above with the wording of your choice.
From now on,
whenever you run this program, you will notice that it "shows off" the currently used XP style theme.
Repeat these steps
for any other of your 32-bit installed apps.
FYI: XP style themes are NOT supported by all 32-bit programs, so don't expect all your apps/games (especially older ones) to "behave" this way. :(
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F3A614DC-ABE0-11d2-A441-00C04F795683}\LocalServer32
Start by backing up this
Registry key, in case you want to reenable it for some reason in the future.
Delete the entire line which displays the
path to MSMSGS.EXE from the "(Default)" String Value: double-click on it -> delete the entire Value data line
-> click OK or hit Enter -> close Regedit.
MSN Messenger will stop loading from now on."
-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{F3A614DC-ABE0-11d2-A441-00C04F795683}\LocalServer32]
@=""
------End cut & paste here-----------Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541}\InProcServer32]
@=""
"ThreadingModel"=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541}\LocalServer32]
@=""
------End cut & paste here------Use Notepad to save this as MSNON.REG:
-----Begin cut & paste here-----
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541}\InProcServer32]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Messenger\\msgsc.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541}\LocalServer32]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Messenger\\msmsgs.exe\""
------End cut & paste here------Run MSNOFF.REG to turn these
Registry keys OFF (speeds up OE6) or MSNON.REG to turn them back ON (default)."
[Thank you
Duke!]
RUNDLL32 ADVPACK.DLL,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\MSMSGS.INF,BLC.Remove
click OK or hit Enter."
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Messenger.MsgrObject
Right-click on the "Messenger.MsgrObject" Registry subkey above -> select Rename -> replace entire original text string above with this one (example):
Messenger.MsgrObject-DISABLED
-> click OK or hit Enter -> exit the Registry
Editor.
Alternatively you can delete this subkey, but BACK IT UP FIRST!
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client
Create if not present or modify if
present these 5 DWORD [REG_DWORD] Values in the right hand pane: right-click on an empty spot -> select New -> Key -> DWORD
-> name them respectively: "Disabled", "PreventAutoRun", "PreventAutoUpdate", "PreventRun" +
"PreventBackgroundDownload" (don't type the quotes) -> right-click on each one and type 1 in the Decimal box ->
click OK -> exit the Registry Editor.
These settings will take effect after the next reboot.
-----Begin cut & paste here----- REGEDIT4 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Messenger] "Start"=dword:00000004 ------End cut & paste here------
RUNDLL32 ADVPACK.DLL,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\MSMSGS.INF,msmsgs
click OK or hit Enter.
"Enable Internet Time Service behind XP/2003 Firewall:
The Internet Time Service (ITS) in its default state does not work with the Windows XP/2003 Personal Firewall
enabled on a dial-up connection.
To reenable this ability while maintaining your firewall follow these steps: go to My
Network Places -> Network Tasks sidebar -> View Network Connections -> right-click your account name -> select Properties ->
click the Advanced tab -> click Settings -> click Add -> type "Internet Time Service" for the description -> type
127.0.0.1 for the IP -> type 123 for both External and Internal port numbers -> select TCP -> click OK
until all dialog boxes disappear.
If you are online, a message will pop up stating that you need to disconnect and
reconnect for these settings to take effect.
From now on double-click the system tray Clock and select Update Now
from the Internet Time tab whenever you want to synchronize your computer's time with one of the available atomic
clocks.
More info."
FYI: See "XP/2003 FIREWALL GUIDE", also in TIPSXP.TXT [part of W95-11D.EXE], to learn how to enable/use Internet Connection Firewall (ICF).
"I hate that when you right-click on a graphic file to e-mail it via "Mail Recipient" from the
SendTo menu, you have to deal every single time with that annoying dialog box: "Do you want to keep the original size or
change the size?", and you are given 3 options to choose from. I also didn't like how right-clicking on file sending places
"Emailing:" in the Subject box.
In the Compose mail window you must also delete "Your files are now attached and ready to
send."
But I eliminated all these nuisances by altering WinXP's SENDMAIL.DLL
[26 KB, zipped].
Place the "fixed" file into BOTH your %windir%\System32 and %windir%\System32\DllCache folders
(default XP %windir% directory is C:\Windows), overwriting the original ones.
You may have to go to DOS to actually be
able to perform these replacements: see "MS IE 5.5 SP2 + 6.0 FIX" step 6. SOLUTION, also
in MYTIPS95.TXT (part of W95-11D.EXE), to learn how to replace Windows 2000/XP system files already in
use.
Reboot when done.
When trying to e-mail a pic, Windows XP may balk and refuse at first, but just click on the red
X to exit the error box, and then when asked if you are sure, just say Yes.
PS: BACKUP your unmodified SENDMAIL.DLL
FIRST!"
FYI: This similar fix automates the file replacement process, but uses an older SENDMAIL.DLL version.
THE MYTH:
It seems Microsoft
reserves/wastes 20% of your internet/network bandwidth for the QoS (Quality of Service) Packet Scheduler, even if this
service is disabled.
To increase your overall bandwidth do this:
THE TRUTH:
Microsoft does NOT reserve NOR use ANY amount/percentage of your
bandwidth for the QoS Packet Scheduler, UNLESS the QoS service is actively transmitting/receiving ANY data/packets between
your computer (which MUST use a QoS aware program) and the QoS enabled internet/network.
This is achieved through a series
of PATH and RESV refresh messages sent back and forth over the connection.
Therefore this is NOT a "bug" and its so called
"fix" above is NOT necessary!
Learn more about QoS from the "horse's mouth":
FYI: "This does NOT increase bandwidth whatsoever, UNLESS your network administrator (I have yet to find
any companies using QoS) is running on a QoS enabled network, and in this case you want it enabled anyway, to allow your PC
to take advantage of this service of higher quality packets."
[Thank you Nathan!]
Note that the registration process (optional) is NOT the same as the Windows Product Activation (WPA), which IS mandatory, except IF using a Volume License (VLK) a.k.a. Corporate version!
By registering your copy of XP OS, you actually allow Microsoft to add your personal information [name, company, address, phone number, e-mail etc... talk about privacy :(] to their database, for the purpose (among others) of providing you with technical support/help before (in most cases for free for a limited time) and/or after (for a price!) the warranty period expires. But registration is NOT mandatory NOR necessary in order to obtain technical assistance from Microsoft, ONLY IF you purchased your Windows XP Setup CD separately. This does NOT apply IF you purchased a new PC with Windows XP preinstalled [and pre-registered :(], in which case your warranty and tech support are usually provided by your 3rd party OEM/VAR/vendor/retailer.
To avoid registering your copy of Windows XP with Microsoft altogether [and keep your private information private :)], and to force XP into thinking you have already completed the registration process, just follow these steps:
[Unattended]
DisableDynamicUpdates=yes
ONLY AFTER
THAT run your automatic Setup batch file.
See "INSTALL XP UNATTENDED", also in TIPSXP.TXT [part
of W95-11D.EXE], to learn how to Setup XP in "hands-free" mode.
REGSVR32.EXE -U REGWIZC.DLL
Click OK
or hit Enter. Then click OK or hit Enter again to close the next confirmation dialog box, which effectively unregisters
(deactivates) this DLL, responsible for running the Registration Wizard, thus making it "invisible" to Windows.
Optionally,
you can also rename BOTH your REGWIZC.DLL files located both in %windir%\System32 and
%windir%\System32\Dllcache to something else [i.e. REGWIZC.DL@], to avoid having to repeat these annoying
steps all over again, whenever you install a Windows component/patch/update/etc that might re-register (reenable)
REGWIZC.DLL, which would force WinXP to register with MS in the future, without your permission.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
Right-click on the "RegDone" String [REG_SZ] Value -> select Modify -> type 1 in the Value data: box -> click OK or hit Enter -> exit the Registry Editor.
IMPORTANT: No matter which OS you upgrade to WinXP from: BACK IT UP FIRST!
If moving from your previous, stable, heavily customized/tweaked MS OS, you may need to spend some time
getting used to the new XP features (which was built on the more secure and less prone to crashes WinNT true 32-bit code),
especially if you were using Win95/98/ME exclusively.
If this sounds quite appealing or if it picked your interest even
remotely, please read on, you're in for a treat... :)
NECESSARY STEPS:
FYI: You DO own a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/CD-R(W)/DVD-R(W) drive, don't you? Otherwise you canNOT do this, because WinXP comes ONLY in CD-ROM format! ;-)
NOTES:
-----Begin cut & paste here----- [Data] MsDosInitiated=0 UnattendedInstall=Yes FloppyLess=1 UseSignatures=Yes InstallDir="\DIRECTORY" EulaComplete=1 [GuiRunOnce] "DRIVE:\DIRECTORY\PROGRAM.EXE /SWITCHES..." [Components] AccessOpt=on Appsrv_console=off Aspnet=on Autoupdate=off BitsServerExtensionsISAPI=off BitsServerExtensionsManager=off Calc=on Certsrv=off Certsrv_client=off Certsrv_server=off Charmap=on Chat=off Clipbook=off Cluster=on Com=on Complusnetwork=on Deskpaper=on Dialer=off Dtc=off Dtcnetwork=off Fax=off Fp_extensions=off Fp_vdir_deploy=off Freecell=on Freestyle=on Hearts=on Hypertrm=off IEAccess=on IEHardenAdmin=on IEHardenUser=on Iis_asp=off Iis_common=off Iis_ftp=off Iis_inetmgr=off Iis_internetdataconnector=off Iis_nntp=off Iis_serversideincludes=off Iis_smtp=off Iis_webdav=off Iis_www=off Indexsrv_system=off Inetprint=on Licenseserver=on Media_clips=off Media_utopia=off Minesweeper=on Mousepoint=off Mplay=on Msmsgs=off Msmq_ADIntegrated=off Msmq_Core=off Msmq_HTTPSupport=off Msmq_LocalStorage=off Msmq_MQDSService=off Msmq_RoutingSupport=off Msmq_TriggersService=off Msnexplr=off Mswordpad=on Netcis=on Netoc=on Noaccess=on Notebook=off Objectpkg=on OEAccess=on Oobe=off Paint=on Pinball=on Pop3Admin=on Pop3Service=on Pop3Srv=on Rec=on Reminst=off Rootautoupdate=on Rstorage=off Sakit_web=off Solitaire=on Spider=on StickyNotes=off System=on Tabletpc=off Templates=off TerminalServer=on TPG=off TSWebClient=on Vol=on WbemCrrl=on WbemFwrd=on WbemMSI=on WMAccess=on WMPOCM=on Wms=on Wms_admin_asp=on Wms_admin_mmc=on Wms_isapi=on Wms_server=on Zonegames=on [Display] BitsPerPel=24 Vrefresh=100 Xresolution=1024 Yresolution=768 [GuiUnattended] AdminPassword=* AutoLogon=Yes AutoLogonCount=4294967295 OEMSkipRegional=1 OEMSkipWelcome=1 ProfilesDir="DRIVE:\DIRECTORY" TimeZone=010 [Identification] JoinWorkgroup="GROUP NAME" [LicenseFilePrintData] AutoMode=PerSeat [PCHealth] Display=1 ER_Display_UI=0 ER_Enable_Applications=None ER_Enable_Kernel_Errors=0 ER_Enable_Reporting=0 ER_Enable_Windows_Components=0 ER_Include_MSApps=0 ER_Report_Path="DRIVE:\DIRECTORY" Headlines=1 RA_AllowFullControl=0 RA_AllowToGetHelp=0 RA_AllowUnsolicited=0 [RegionalSettings] Language=0409 LanguageGroup=1 [RemoteInstall] Repartition=No [SetupData] OsLoadTimeout=5 OSLoadOptions="/fastdetect /nodebug" LoadIdentifier="ID NAME" [SetupParams] SkipMissingFiles=yes [SystemFileProtection] SFCDllCacheDir="DRIVE:\DIRECTORY" SFCDisable=ffffff9d SFCShowProgress=1 SFCQuota=0 [SystemRestore] CheckpointCalendarFrequency=99 CheckpointSessionFrequency=24 CreateFirstRunRp=0 DisableSR=1 MaximumDataStorePercentOfDisk=0 RestorePointLife=0 [TerminalServices] AllowConnections=0 [UserData] ComputerName="COMPUTER NAME" FullName="FULL NAME" OrgName="ORGANIZATION NAME" ProductKey="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX" [Unattended] AutoActivate=No CrashDumpSetting=0 DisableDynamicUpdates=Yes DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore DUDisable=Yes DUStopOnError=No FactoryMode=No FileSystem=LeaveAlone Hibernation=No KeyboardLayout=US OemPreinstall=No OemSkipEula=Yes Repartition=No RunOobe=No TargetPath="DIRECTORY" UnattendMode=FullUnattended UnattendSwitch=Yes WaitForReboot=No NtUpgrade=No Win9xUpgrade=No [Uninstall] DisableCompression=Yes EnableBackup=No [URL] Help_Page="http://support.microsoft.com/" Home_Page="http://www.mdgx.com/" NoWelcome=1 Search_Page="http://www.google.com/" [Win9xUpg] Boot16=Yes DefaultPassword=* ForcePasswordChange=No ForceWorkgroup=No IgnoreNetworkErrors=Yes UseLocalAccountOnError=Yes UserPassword=* ------End cut & paste here------
All generic lines that need your input to
enter actual information between the quote marks are in CAPITAL letters.
You MUST replace all "X" symbols
on the "ProductKey" line with the Product ID number (25 digits in groups of 5 separated by dashes) found on your WinXP
CD sleeve.
All characters in both UNATTEND.TXT and XPSETUP.BAT are case insensitive, except user names, passwords and URLs.
IMPORTANT: If ANY of these lines are not valid, or do NOT match your system specific
configuration, Setup will display error messages and ABORT!
Example: I couldn't force my copy of WinXP Pro OEM Setup
CD to upgrade over my previous WinME installation, so I had to change the Win9xUpgrade="yes"
line to read Win9xUpgrade="no" under the [Unattended] section.
Note that if you are setting up XP (any release) on a computer running Win95/98/ME, and select to install XP in a different directory, XP Setup will detect your existing OS, and will allow you to dual-boot between them after installation, from the WinXP boot menu.
OPTIONAL: You can also force the default "C:\Documents and Settings" system folder to install on any
other of your (local) hard drives/partitions (provided you have enough free space), and eventually change its folder name by
typing the destination of your choice on the ProfilesDir="" line (between the quote marks), under the UNATTEND.TXT
[GuiUnattended] section.
More info @ MSKB.
-----Begin cut & paste here----- @ECHO OFF REM Use ONLY 1 of these 2 lines and REMark the other! REM Windows GUI mode Setup [ONLY IF (older) Windows installed]: D:\WINXP\I386\WINNT32.EXE /UNATTEND3:C:\UNATTEND.TXT /DEBUG4:C:\XPDEBUG.LOG /DUDISABLE /S:D:\WINXP\I386 /TEMPDRIVE:C REM Native MS-DOS mode Setup [ONLY IF NO Windows installed]: D:\WINXP\I386\WINNT.EXE /S:D:\WINXP\I386 /U:C:\UNATTEND.TXT /T:C ------End cut & paste here------
More WINNT32 info @ Microsoft.
BEWARE: The target drive letter and folder name where XP will be installed on your computer are dictated by:
Of course, if you care or need to customize an automated XP Setup even further, eventually for installing WinXP on more than one computer, you could use these handy programs, also included in DEPLOY.CAB, and explained in detail in both CHM help files listed above: OFORMAT.COM, CVTAREA.EXE, FACTORY.EXE, SETUPCL.EXE + SYSPREP.EXE.
More info:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
Close the Registry Editor when
done.
From now on, whenever you logon [ONLY IF you have Administrator rights to the computer you're trying to boot into
:)] you'll see the Administrator account on the Welcome display.
To properly enable Hibernation in WinXP: Start button -> Control Panel -> Power
Options -> Hibernate tab -> check Enable hibernate support box -> Apply/OK -> reboot.
NOTE: If the Hibernate tab is unavailable your computer does NOT support it!
For some reason Microsoft
did NOT enable the 4th option: (4) Hibernate, which should be available on power saving (ACPI) enabled PCs and
laptops. :(
But you CAN bring it back: just hold the Shift key while the Shut down menu is displayed on your screen, and
notice the Standby button being replaced by a new, fully functional Hibernate button, which can be clicked with the left
button of your mouse. :)
If you release the Shift key, the Hibernate option will disappear once again, to be replaced by
Standby. Hocus-pocus! :)
FYI: More info @ Microsoft.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl
Right-click on the
"AutoReboot" DWORD [REG_DWORD] Value in the right hand pane -> select Modify -> change it to read 1 (Auto
Reboot enabled) -> click OK -> close the Registry Editor.
Restart Windows for the change to take effect.
From now on
the OS will reboot upon locking up, right after writing to the crash log file (if enabled).
To disable it, change the
"AutoReboot" value back to 0 (default).
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Right-click on the "LameButtonEnabled" String value in the right hand pane -> select Modify ->
change it to read 0 -> click OK.
From now on you won't see the Comments? link anymore. :)
To reenable it, change
the "LameButtonEnabled" value back to 1 (default).
And if you would like to customize the Comments? link,
just change the text of the "LameButtonText" String Value to have it display whatever you want, but make sure
"LameButtonEnabled" is also set to 1 for this to work.
Restart Windows for the changes to take
effect.
NOTE: Microsoft removed the Comments? link from all final (Gold, RTM) Windows XP releases. :(
"This Registry hack affects the MP3 encoding save rates for the new Windows Media Player 8.0
(WMP8) included with Windows XP Gold (all releases).
To make this happen: open Notepad, save the text between the Cut
& Paste lines below as a REG file, and then merge it into your Registry by (double)-clicking on it:
-----Begin cut & paste here-----
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Settings\MP3Encoding] ------End cut & paste here------
REGEDIT4
"LowRate"=dword:0000dac0
"MediumRate"=dword:0000fa00
"MediumHighRate"=dword:0001f400
"HighRate"=dword:0002ee00
This corresponds to 56, 64, 128 and 192 KB/second
rates, respectively.
Moreover, you can change the rates using these DWORD [hex] values for each of the Registry entries
above:
Done."
IMPORTANT: You
need to install a dedicated encoder to be able to record/encode audio/music/video using
WMP.
Free Codecs.
