This document contains several tips and tricks for customizing Windows XP, including: 1. Making folders invisible by renaming them with a special character code and removing their icon. 2. Speeding up shutdown time by modifying the registry to kill services faster during shutdown. 3. Making desktop icons transparent by enabling a visual effect setting. 4. Hiding the Recycle Bin icon and "User Accounts" control panel item from view. 5. Creating a shortcut to quickly lock the computer without logging off.

1. 1
Invisible folder
Another old XP trick…making a folder go invisble!
Create any new folder, rename it - press Alt and keeping it pressed type 0160. Your folder should now have a space as a name.
Next, Right click -> properties -> costumize -> change icon. Here, scroll towards right and select a blank as the folder icon. Press Ok n
PRESTO!
Folder invisible!!!!
Quick shout down
If you are one of the unfortunates whose Windows XP takes almost forever to shut down (lol…don feel left out…i assure you you are the
majority lot!)…..then maybe you can try this…
When a user shuts down Windows XP, first the system has to kill all services currently running. Every once in a while a service does not
shut down instantly and Windows gives it a chance to shut down on its own before it kills it.
This amount of time that Windows waits is stored in the system registry. If you modify this setting, then windows will kill the service
earlier. To modify the setting, follow the directions below:
• CLick on Start>>Run and type Regedit and hit Ok.
• On the left, Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
• Click on the “Control” Folder.
• On the Right, Select “WaitToKillServiceTimeout”
Right click on it and select Modify.
• Set it a value lower than 2000.
How to make your Desktop Icons Transparent
Go to control Panel > System, > Advanced > Performance area > Settings button Visual Effects tab "Use drop shadows for icon labels on
the Desktop"
Speed up your browsing of Windows 2000 & XP machines
Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines. Its actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that
scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared
files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that
though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both
the Internet & Windows Explorers improve significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore. Here's
how :
Open up the Registry and go to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace
Under that branch, select the key:
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
and delete it.
This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can
restore the key if necessary. This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how
much it speeds up your browsing processes.

2. 2
Remove the Recycle Bin from the Desktop
If you don't use the Recycle Bin to store deleted files , you can get rid of its desktop icon all together.
Run Regedit and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/explorer/Desktop/NameSpace
Click on the "Recycle Bin" string in the right hand pane. Hit Del, click OK.
Make your Folders Private
•Open My Computer
•Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer).
•If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
•Double-click the Documents and Settings folder.
•Double-click your user folder.
•Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties.
•On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box.
Note
•To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
•This option is only available for folders included in your user profile. Folders in your user profile include My Documents and its
subfolders, Desktop, Start Menu, Cookies, and Favorites. If you do not make these folders private, they are available to everyone who uses
your computer.
•When you make a folder private, all of its subfolders are private as well. For example, when you make My Documents private, you also
make My Music and My Pictures private. When you share a folder, you also share all of its subfolders unless you make them private.
•You cannot make your folders private if your drive is not formatted as NTFS For information about converting your drive to NTFS
How to Convert FAT to NTFS file system
To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.
Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.
In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type cmd and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.
Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.
NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full
backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the
integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).

3. 3
AVI File Fix in Windows XP
If you have any AVI files that you saved in Windows 9x, which have interference when opened in Windows XP, there is an easy fix to get
rid of the interference: Open Windows Movie Maker. Click View and then click Options. Click in the box to remove the check mark
beside Automatically create clips. Now, import the movie file that has interference and drag it onto the timeline. Then save the movie, and
during the re-rendering, the interference will be removed.
Hide 'User Accounts' from users
Go to Start/Run, and type:
GPEDIT.MSC
Open the path
User Config > Admin Templates > Control Panel
doubleclick "Hide specified Control Panel applets"
put a dot in 'enabled', then click 'Show"
click Add button,
type "nusrmgt.cpl" into the add box
How to Convert a FAT Partition to NTFS
To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps.
Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.
In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Run.
At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.
Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.
NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full
backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the
integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).
Disable CD Autorun
1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC
2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.
3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.

4. 4
Adding Programs To Stay On The Start Menu
Right click on any .exe file in Explorer, My Computer, Desktop and select 'Pin to Start Menu', the program is then displayed on the start
menu, above the separator line. To remove it, click the file on the start menu and select 'Unpin from Start Menu'. Below you can check the
before and after shots.
XP Animations
You can turn off window animation ("exploding" windows), displayed when you play around with minimizing/maximizing open windows.
This makes navigating Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP a lot quicker, especially if you don't have a fast video controller, or if you got
tired of seeing it all the time (like I did). :)
To do this, run Regedit (or Regedt32) and go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER | Control Panel | Desktop | WindowMetrics
or if you are the only user of your Windows computer go to:
HKEY_USERS | .Default | Control Panel | Desktop | WindowMetrics
Right-click on an empty spot in the right hand pane. Select New -> String [REG_SZ] Value. Name it MinAnimate. Click OK. Double-
click on "MinAnimate" and type 0 to turn OFF window animation or 1 to turn it ON. Click OK. Close the Registry Editor and restart
Windows. Done.
TweakUI, the famous Microsoft Power Toy [110 KB, free, unsupported] can also turn off animated windows.
Just remove the check mark from the "Window Animation" box under the General tab.
Turn off Welcome screen
Open User Accounts in Control Panel.
Click Change the way users log on or off
Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer
Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don’t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the
keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screensaver.
To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer:
Right-click the desktop.
Point to New, and then click Shortcut.
The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following:
rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
Click Next.
Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like.
Click Finish.
You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll).
To change the icon:
Right click the shortcut and then select Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button.
In the Look for icons in this file text box, type:
Shell32.dll.
Click OK.
Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK
You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but
it could be more convenient.

5. 5
How do I get the "Administrator" name on Welcome Screen?
To get Admin account on the "Welcome Screen" as well as the other usernames, make sure that there are no accounts logged in.
Press "ctrl-alt-del" twice and you should be able to login as administrator!
finally worked for me after i found out that all accounts have to be logged out first
Speed up the Start Menu
The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate
to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER Control Panel Desktop MenuShowDelay
By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.
Speed up the Start Menu (Part two)
If your confounded by the slow speed of the Start Menu, even after using the tip above, then you might try the following: Navigate to
Display Properties then Appearance then Advanced and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow . You will get much better overall
performance
Software not installing?
If you have a piece of software that refuses to install because it says that you are not running Windows 2000 (such as the Win2K drivers
for a Mustek scanner!!) you can simply edit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows
NT/CurrentVersion/ProductName to say Microsoft Windows 2000 instead of XP and it will install. You may also have to edit the version
number or build number, depending on how hard the program tries to verify that you are installing on the correct OS. I had to do this for
my Mustek 600 CP scanner (compatibility mode didn''t help!!!) and it worked great, so I now have my scanner working with XP (and a
tech at Mustek can now eat his words).
BTW, don''t forget to restore any changes you make after you get your software installed
You do this at your own risk.
Use your Windows Key
The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don''t ignore it. It is the shortcut
anchor for the following commands:
Windows: Display the Start menu
Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows + F: Display Search for files
Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center
Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all window
Windows + L: Lock the workstation
Windows + U: Open Utility Manager
Windows + Q: Quick switching of users (Powertoys only)
Windows + Q: Hold Windows Key, then tap Q to scroll thru the different users on your pc
Change your CD Key
You don't need to re-install if you want to try the key out ... just do this: 1. Go to Activate Windows
2. Select the Telephone option
3. Click "Change Product Key"
4. Enter xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx ( your 25 character product key)

6. 6
5. Click "Update" Now log off and log back in again. It should now show 60 days left, minus the number of days it had already counted
down.
Note: If your crack de-activated REGWIZC.DLL and LICDLL.DLL, you are going to have to re-register them