Nice Windows ShortCuts

to gtalk windows key + esc

Windows
Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)
WindowsLogo+D (Display the desktop)
Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)


CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
DELETE (Delete)
SHIFT+DELETE
(Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word) CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word) CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)


CTRL+A (Select all)
F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)

Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager) Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)
Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager) Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts
END (Display the bottom of the active window)
HOME (Display the top of the active window)
NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)
NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)
NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)

Remove SHORTCUT link from the desktop folder

how to remove short cut arrows on u'r desktop items
just go to >start>run>regedit>hkey_classes_root>u
find a file by name lnkfile click on that to that right
u can see a file by name is shortcut delete that and
again come to left click on pipfile u delete again is shortcut
then restart the pc u cant see the shortcut arrow

Make your wndows Xp GENUINE.!!

This will allow you to bypass the Microsoft Genuine Validation thingythis method works better than many others i've tried before.
forget the cracks and injectors etc... this is the BEST WAY:
1) start > run > "regedit" (without the quotes of course)
2) go to the key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents\OOBETimer...and doubleclick on it.
Then change some of the value data to ANYTHING ELSE...delete some, add some letters, I don't care...just change it!now close out regedit.
3) go to start > run > "%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a" (again, dont type the quotes)
4) the activation screen will come up, click on register over telephone, then click on CHANGE PRODUCT KEY, enter in this key: JG28K-H9Q7X-BH6W4-3PDCQ-6XBFJ.
Now you can dl all the updates without activating,
and the Genuine Microsoft Validation thingy won't bug you no more!!
Works with most WinXP versions though ther r some exceptions...

Remove Thumb.db file

Thumb.db is is a cache of the current picture in that directory.to remove it go for following

step1 > open "WINDOWS EXPLORER".

2>go to "TOOLS".

3>open "FOLDER OPTIONS".

4>go to "VIEW".

5>see 1st section "FILES & FOLDERS".

6>click on the "DO NOT CACHE THUMBNAILS".

now the thumbnail file will be removed from ur computer once u do this the file will be never created.

Remove the OEM link from the Start Menu

In many cases, an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) machine will have a link in the start menu that will either open a folder, web page or launch an application. If you find this feature to be annoying and have no intensions of using this link, you can hide this link from the Start Menu. Here's how:

1. Click the Start button
2. Right click the top of the Start menu
3. A "Properties" button should appear. Click the Properties button.

Note: If more than a Properties button should appear, then you are right clicking a program within the Start Menu.

4. Click the Start Menu tab
5. Select the Customize button
6. Choose the Advanced tab
7. In the Start Menu items list, uncheck the entry titled: Manufacturer Link
8. Click OK, then OK again.

In some cases, I have seen that the Manufacturer Link does not appear in the Start Menu Items list. If this is your case, you will need to edit the Windows Registry to enable the Start Menu Items list option. Before editing the Registry, be sure to save a backup copy to a file.

How to backup the Windows Registry

Enable the Start Menu item list option:

1. Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
2. Navigate to following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft \Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartMenu\StartPanel\ShowOEMLink

3. Click the "ShowOEMLink" entry once to empty its contents in the right pane.
4. Double click the entry titled: NoOEMLinkINstalled
5. Change its value from "1" to "0"
6. Exit the Windows Registry Editor and restart Windows

The Manufacturer Link should now be viewable in the "Start Menu Items" dialog. Now you can uncheck this item to hide it from the Start Menu.

Change the command prompt startup directory

By default, when you open a command prompt window (Start>> Run. Type in: cmd [Enter]), it opens to the default user profile directory (see fig #1). Changing this setting requires a registry change. Be sure to make a backup copy before making any changes.

How to change the startup directory:

1. Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK.
2. Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor
3. Single click the entry titled: Command Processor to empty its contents in to the right pane.
4. In the right pane, double click the entry titled: Autorun
5. Double click the Autorun entry.
6. Place the actual path that you would like the command prompt to start at in to the "Value data:" text box.
7. Exit the Windows Registry.

Example: To set the Startup Directory at: C:\Windows, enter CD /d C:\Windows in the Value data text box.

Note: If the Autorun entry is not present, create a new string. Here's how:

1. Right click an empty area of the right pane.
2. Select New>> String value
3. Name the new string value: Autorun
4. Continue with Step #5 above.

Restart Windows without Restarting ur Computer

When you click on the SHUTDOWN button,
make sure to simultaneous press SHIFT Button.
If you hold the Shift key down while clicking on SHUTDOWN button,
you computer would restart without restarting the Computer.
This is equivalent to "HOT REBOOT"

Change Directories Without Typing the Whole Name (Windows NT/2000) Popular

Changing directories at the command prompt can be a hit and miss process when long filenames are involved. This tip let you change directories with ease, not matter how long the directory name.

To change a directory quickly you can use wildcards, for example, to change to the 'C:\Program Files' directory simply type:

cd c:\prog*

Note: This will work in alphabetical order, therefore if you have two directories named 'c:\dir1' and 'c:\dir2' and you type cd dir*, you will be moved to the 'c:\dir1' directory.

Show Computer Manufacturer and Support Information (All Windows) Popular

This tip lets you include company and support information on the System Properties page in Control Panel. This is especially useful if you run a computer store and want your customers to be reminded where they bought their PC and where to get technical support.

To add the manufacturer and support information you need to create two new files in the Windows system directly, normally "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM" for Windows 95, 98 and Me and "C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32" for Windows NT and 2000.

The first file is a text file called "OEMINFO.INI". To create the file open notepad and copy the template below, make any changes and save the file in the System directory.

OEMINFO.INI Template

[General]
Manufacturer=Your Company, Inc.
Model=Your Computer Model
SupportURL=http://your.support.site/
LocalFile=c:\your\local\support\file.htm

[Support Information]
Line1=first line of support information
Line2=second line
Line3=third line
Line4=fourth line
...
LineN=nth line
; Create as many lines as you need by incrementing the Line number

The other file you need to create is a logo file. This is a standard Windows bitmap file (172 x 172 pixels), saved as "OEMLOGO.BMP" in the Windows System directory.

Once you have created both these files open System Properties from Control Panel and your company information and logo will be displayed. The details you entered in the [Support Information] section will show up when you click on the Support Information button.

Note: To display a logo you must create a 172x172 (pixel) bitmap image and save it as OEMLOGO.BMP in the Windows system directory.

Change the Start Button Text (All Windows) Popular

Would you like to change the Start button to say something else, perhaps your name, company or any other 5 or less letter word? This article explains the procedure to manually modify the text of the Windows Start button.

Manually changing the Start button requires the use of a binary file editor (or hex editor) to alter a critical Windows system file, it is therefore not recommended for inexperienced users. This method has been successfully tested on Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 and XP and therefore should be quite safe, although we do not accept any responsibility for system problems or data loss.

As mentioned before you will need to have a hex editor installed, there are many different products available and if you don't have one already a quick search of a shareware site should provide many choices, for this tweak we only require basic features.

1. The file that needs to be changed is Windows Explorer, and it is essential to make a backup before you modify anything. "Explorer.exe" can be found in the Windows directory, usually C:\WINDOWS for Windows 95, 98, Me & XP and C:\WINNT for Windows NT/2000. Make a copy of "Explorer.exe" and place it into another directory, C:\BACKUP might be a good choice.
2. Make another copy of the original "Explorer.exe" and name it "Explorer1.exe", then open "Explorer1.exe" in your hex editor.
3. You now need to find the word "Start", although there are many entries for "Start" in the file only one is used for to label the Start button. Use the search function in the hex editor to find all the strings equal to "S t a r t" which is represented as "53 00 74 00 61 00 72 00 74" in hex values. As there are many different "Start" strings keep searching until you find one located just before this text "There was an internal error and one of the windows you were using has been closed.". Below is a list of offsets to help you locate the correct text.
   • Windows 98
     Offset: 0x00028D6E - 0x00028D76
   • Windows NT4
     Offset: 0x00028BEE - 0x00028BF6
   • Windows ME
     Offset: 0x00033DDE - 0x00033DE6
   • Windows 2000
     Offset: 0x0003860E - 0x00038616
   • Windows XP (Enhanced Start Menu)
     Offset: 0x000412B6 - 0x000412BE
   • Windows XP (Classic Start Menu)
     Offset: 0x0004158A - 0x00041592
   • Windows XP SP1 (Enhanced Start Menu)
     Offset: 0x0004208E - 0x00042096
   • Windows XP SP1 (Classic Start Menu)
     Offset: 0x0004259A - 0x000425A2

   The result should look similar to the image below, depending on the display from your hex editor.

   
   
4. Once you have located the string, you can then replace the letters in "Start" with five other characters. You must use exactly five characters, if the word you want to use is less, replace the remaining characters with the space key. In this example we have replaced "Start" with "Guide", alternatively a three-letter word would look like "A B C" (note the spaces). Once you have changed the letters the result should look similar to the image below.
   
   
5. Now save the modified "Explorer1.exe" in the Windows directory, and confirm that you now have the two Explorer files in the Windows directory, they both should be the same file size but have different modified dates.
6. The next step is different depending on your operating system. Only do the step required for your version.
   • Windows 95, 98 & ME
     Exit to DOS (or use a boot disk for Windows ME) and at the command prompt change to the Windows directory and rename "explorer.exe" to "explorer.old". Then copy the newly modified Explorer "explorer1.exe" to "explorer.exe". Do a directory listing and confirm that "explorer.exe" has the most recent modified date and time. Restart the computer and Windows should reload along with the new Start button text.
   • Windows NT
     First close any open applications and open a new Command Prompt window, then switch back to the GUI and open the Task Manager. Find the "explorer.exe" process and end it, you should now be left with only the command prompt and task manager. Switch back to the command prompt and change to the Windows directory, rename "explorer.exe" to "explorer.old", and copy the newly modified Explorer "explorer1.exe" to "explorer.exe". Do a directory listing and confirm that "explorer.exe" has the most recent modified date and time. Switch back to Task Manager and launch a "New Task" called "explorer.exe" this should reload the shell along with your modified "Start" button.
   • Windows 2000 and XP
     Open your registry editor and find the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]. Find the value named "Shell" and change it to equal the filename of the new explorer "explorer1.exe". Exit your registry editor and restart Windows for the change to take effect. To reverse the change, modify the value of "Shell" and set it back to "explorer.exe".
   
   

7. If everything has gone successfully you will now have a new Start button, and also hopefully learnt something about the Explorer file structure. If you do have problems replace the faulty Explorer with the backup made during the first step.

Hide Control Panel Applets (Windows 95/98/Me) Popular

This tweak allows you to show or hide any of the applets found in the Windows Control Panel.

Open CONTROL.INI (usually found in the C:\WINDOWS) and add the following lines under the "[don't load]" subsection. If the "[don't load]" section doesn't already exist then create it be adding it on a new line at the end of the file.

For each control panel applet to be hidden add a new line with text in the format "applet.cpl=no" (e.g. fax.cpl=no).

Common Control Panel Applets:

• access.cpl - Accessibility Applet
• appwiz.cpl - Add/Remove Programs Applet
• console.cpl - Console Applet
• timedate.cpl - Date and Time Applet
• desk.cpl - Display Applet
• fax.cpl - Fax Applet
• hdwwiz.cpl - Hardware Wizard Applet
• irprops.cpl - Infrared Port Applet
• intl.cpl - International and Regional Applet
• inetcpl.cpl - Internet Settings Applet
• joy.cpl - Joystick Applet
• liccpa.cpl - Licensing Applet
• main.cpl - Mouse and Keyboard Applet
• mlcfg32.cpl - Mail Applet
• mmsys.cpl - Sound and Multimedia Applet
• modem.cpl - Modem and Phone Applet
• ncpa.cpl - Network and connectivity Applet
• netcpl.cpl - Network and Dial-up Connectivity Applet
• nwc.cpl - Netware Client Applet
• odbccp32.cpl - ODBC Applet
• devapps.cpl - PC Card Applet
• ports.cpl - Ports Applet
• powercfg.cpl - Power Management Applet
• sticpl.cpl - Scanner and Camera Applet
• srvmgr.cpl - Server Manager Applet
• sapi.cpl - Speech Properties Applet
• sysdm.cpl - System Applet
• telephon.cpl - Telephony Applet
• tweakui.cpl - TweakUI Applet
• nusrmgr.cpl - User Manager Applet
• wspcpl32.cpl - WSP Client Applet
• quicktime.cpl - QuickTime Applet
• S32LUCP1.cpl - Norton Live Update Applet
• cpqmgmt.cpl - Compaq Insight Agents Applet

Exit the registry and restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Close Multiple Windows : Note works in all versions of Windows

If you just opened a number of separate, related windows (a folder inside a folder, and so on), there's an easier way to close them all than one-at-a-time. Hold down the Shift key as you click the X caption button in the upper-right corner of the last window opened. Doing so closes that window and all windows that came before it.

Disable error reporting

• Open Control Panel
• Click on Performance 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

Adjust various visual effects

1. Open up the control panel
2. Go under system and click on the advanced tab
3. Click settings under Performance options
4. You can now change various graphical effects (mainly animations and shadows)

Win XP Won’t Completely Shutdown

• Goto Control Panel, then goto Power Options.
• Click on the APM Tab, then check the "Enable Advanced Power Management support."
• Shut down your PC. It should now successfully complete the Shut Down process.

Hide Your Hardisk Partition

The partition "samsOoL Laptop (C:)" is the one that we will hide. For those who has more that one partition, you can choose which one you want to hide


1. Go to Start > Run > gpedit.msc (to open group policy)
2. Click User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer.
3. Right click on "Hide these specified drivers in My Computer". Click on Properties.
4. Select Enable and then select the particular partition you want to hide. (e.g. C:)



Finally, you can see in you My Computer window. The partition is gone!!

Add Album Art to any Music Folder

This is easily my favorite tip! One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!


Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!

Scare Your Friend With Auto Shutdown !

1. Right click on desktop>select New>shortcut
2. In the shortcut window type : shutdown -s -t 60 -c "the message you want to display"
3. Select Next
4. Name it anything

Now, double click it !

Scared ???

Nothing happened !

Remedy :
1. Go to start>Run
2. Type : shutdown -a
3. Hit Enter

Oh! You are rescued !

Hibernate Your XP !

Hey your Windows XP has a very good but hidden feature !

Trick Advantage :
You can leave your work in between and shutdown the PC and resume it next time as it is !
Even I switched off my PC while writing this article and when I reopened it I resumed my article from where i left !

When you want to stop your work and shutdown(Keeping your programs open)
Do The Following :
1. Click start>Turn Off Computer
2. As the Turn Off menu comes up press 'Shift' and 'Stand By' changes to 'Hibernate'
3. Click Hibernate (Shift Kept Pressed)

Your xp will save the work and shutdown !

Now, when you switch it on again it will resume it again !

No loading of windows will take place and you will be resumed to your work as if you had just switched your monitor off and now on again !

Its Amazing !

Make Your Own Icons In Windows XP !

Now even personalize your ICONS with Windows XP !

To make your own ICON :

1. Start>>All Programs>>Accessories
2. Click Paint
3. In toolbar select Image
4. Click Attributes

--------------------- Note : The size of a icon is 32 x 32 pixels ! ---------------------

5. Type 32 in both Height and Width and sure that Pixels is selected under Units
6. Click OK
7. Now add your photo or design .
8. File>>Save As
9. Type name.ico
10. Click Save

Enjoy your New ICON !!!