Last updated April 04, 2018

Tips for Windows XP and later

(This section is now obsolete, but kept here for government workers).

First Things to Change on a new XP Windows System
1. Turn off nagging "Delete Warning".
  Right Click on th Recycle Bin, select "Properties" and uncheck "Display delete confirmation dialog" box. You can always get the deleted file from the Recycle Bin anyway.
2. Turn on showing of extensions
  In Windows Explorer, select "Tools/Folder Options.../View" and unselect "Hide extensions for known file types". It's dangerous not to have it on. You can download a picture with a ".jpg" extension in the file name, but the real extension could be ".exe".
3. Rename the extension on multiple files
  To rename all xyz.jpeg to xyz.jpg enter "C:> ren *.jpeg *.jpg"
4. Turn on ClearType
  Start/Settings/Control Panel/Display/Appearance/Effects then set "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" to "ClearType". While you're there, uncheck "Show window contents while dragging", and "Hide underlined letters for keyborad..."
5. Download Firefox.
  Add these extensions: Linky, HTML Validator, Reload Every, Dictionary Search, Web Developer, Open Link In..., AdBlock, StumbleUpon, Linky, GreaseMonkey, Mouse Gestures Redox 2.0.3, Tab Mix Plus, Google Browser Sync, Tamper Data.
6. add "C:\WINDOWS\system32\taskmgr.exe" to the startup menu so it launches at reboot
  In Windows Explorer Select "Tools/Folder Options.../General/Double-click to open an item"
7. Download TweakUI.exe to skip the windows xp logon screen.
  Select "Start/Programs /Powertoys for Windows XP". Then select "Logon/Autologon" and check your main userid.
  
  Select "Common Dialogs/Places Bar" and enter your favorite download sites.
8. Install Unbuntu as dual boot.
9. Set Windows to be the default operating system to be selected by GRUB
  sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
  
  set the line "default 0" to contain the number of the windows boot, typically 4.
Easy (Fairly) Safe Steps to Make Windows XP Faster
1. Set XP for high performance.
  Right Click on "My Computer", select "Properties", select the "Advanced" tab, under the "Performance" area select "Settings", select "Adjust for best performance" then select "OK".
2. Disable Automatic Searching of Network Folders and Printers
  In Internet Explorer select "Tools/Folder Options.../View" and uncheck "Automatically search for network folders and printers."
3. Turn off Auto Indexing
  Windows comes with an annoying indexing service, it's better to turn it off and use Google or Yahoo's desktop search engine instead. In windows explorer, right click on your "C:" drive. Select "Properties", then look at the "General" tab. At the bottom uncheck "Allow Indexing Service..."
4. Look at your "Recycle Bin" and empty it if you really don't need those files.
5. Disk Cleanup
  On that same tab select "Disk Cleanup" and wait a few minutes. A window will appear with checkboxes. Check "Temporary Internet Files", "Offline Web Pages", "WebClient/Publisher Temporary Files", and "Temporary files". Check the others at your own risk. Leave the "Office Setup Files" as is. Don't make Office mad at you. Then select "OK".
6. Defrag the drive
  Whether or not this helps is up for debate, but it won't hurt your system. In windows explorer, right click on your "C:" drive. Select "Properties", then look at the "Tools" tab. Select "Defragment Now...", then select "Defragment".
  
  Better yet, you can schedule a job to defrag your drive. Create a batch file, defragger.bat,
```
date/t & time/t
C:\WINDOWS\system32\defrag.exe C: -v 
date/t & time/t
```
  And then schedule "defragger.bat > c:\defrag.txt" to run once a week or month (or if your obsessive like me, once a day at 2am). See note below for details on scheduling.
7. Remove extra startup processes
  Select the "Start" button, then "Programs", then "Startup". Look at the programs that are automatically started each time you reboot. Right click on any that are not necessary and delete them.
8. Remove extra programs
  Select "Start", "Settings", "Add Remove Programs" and waste anything you don't need anymore.
9. Remove SpyWare and Adware
  tips on removing SpyWare.
10. Remove extra graphical effects
  Right click "My Computer", select "properties" select "advanced", select "performance settings". Check "adjust for best performance" and uncheck every check.
11. Turn off error reporting in Windows XP
  When a process is dying, dumprep.exe will gather up the pieces and send them to Microsoft for an CSI exam; well that's the idea. Do you really think they look at millions of core dumps to make XP better? yeah, I don't either. Anyway, to turn it off, Right click on "My Computer", select "Advanced/Error Reporting/'Disable error reporting'". Your computer will be happier.
Installing a second hard drive
After phyiscally installing the drive select "Start/Settings/Control Panel/Admin/Computer Management/Storage/Disk Management". Find your new drive in the list, right click and select "New Partion...". Take the defaults of the Partion Wizard. (If a new drive you can select "Quick Format").
How to map drive to a directory.
This will create an "E:" drive and map it to the "C:\Edrive" directory.
```
subst E: "C:\Edrive"
```
How to schedule a task in windows XP
To schedule a task, click Start, select Programs, select Accessories, select System Tools, select Scheduled Tasks.
How to restart the audio
Annoyingly, the audio will just stop working for no apparent reason. Shut down all applications that could possibly think of using audio, like browsers and ITunes. Go to the services panel (Start/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services), select "Windows Audio", cross your fingers, start and stop it a few times. This sometimes works.
What version of the .Net Framework do I have?
Look at the directory C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework. Each version of .Net will have its own subdirectory. If you see a directory named "v2.0.50727", you have .Net version 2.0. You will probably have more than one version on your box. There are many copies. And they have a plan.
How to restart IIS from the command line?
```
iisreset
```
Set the Start Directory in Windows Explorer
Right-click on the Windows Explorer icon (on the desktop, if you've dragged it there or via the start menu). Select "Properties". To have Explorer start at the top of the C: drive, replace the value of "Target" with the following:
```
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /e, C:\
```
How to map a local drive to a disk drive letter?
The "subst" command makes a new virtual disk drive. Here we are mapping "C:\EDrive" to "E:". Use "/D" to delete a virtual drive reference, and "/?" to get all options.
```
subst E: C:\EDrive
```
Excel - How to extract only the date from a datetime cell?
Excel stores datetime as a serial number, e.g., 41154.3632011, where the decimal portion is the hours, minutes, seconds portion. So, by using the "int" function you can grab only the date, e.g., "=int(a1)"
Excel - How to exchange rows and columns?
Select the data and copy it to the clipboard
Click where you want the data - must be outside the selected area.
Choose edit / paste special and check the "transpose" box
Excel - How to interpolate missing data in a chart
Replace the empty or "NULL" cells with the special formula "=NA()" (not available).
Right click in your chart and select "Select Data Source", then click on "Hidden and Empty Cells", and set your preferences.
Excel 2007 - How to add hours to a date
To add two hours to the date in A1: =A1+"2:00"
or
=A1+TimeValue("00:02:00")
Certificates
1. How to create a self-signed certificate
```
makecert -r -pe -n "CN=mydomain.com" -b 01/01/2000 -e 01/01/2036 -eku 1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.1 -ss my -sr localMachine -sky exchange -sp "Microsoft RSA SChannel Cryptographic Provider" -sy 12
```
2. How to install the newly created certificate
  Open "Internet Information Services", right click on "Default Web Site", select the "Directory Security" tab, select the "Server Certificate..." button.
3. How to apply it to a virtual directory
  Open IIS, right-click on the virtual directory, select the "Directory Security" tab. Under "Secure communications", select "Edit..." then check "Require secure channel (SSL)".
To use 'vi' from the SFU package in the cmd shell
Set the terminal type to interix, i.e., set TERM=interix

Shortcuts:

Windows-F	launch the "Find" utility
Windows-E	launch Windows Explorer
Shift-F10	open the right click context menu. Useful for creating files in Windows Explorer.
Shift-F3	toggle selected text between upper-case, lower-case, and title case

How to get rid of that annoying "Send Error Report to Microsoft" popup:

1. On the "My computer" icon, right click and select "Properties"
2. Select the "Advanced" tab, and then "Error Reporting"
3. Select "Disable error reporting" and uncheck the "But notify me..." option.

To see what speed your processor is
In the file browser, right click on "My Computer" and select "Properties". The speed and RAM details are on the "General" tab.
To create an Emergency Repair Disk:
Start/Run/rdisk
To map a drive:
net use z: \\vulcan\development /user:MyDomain\myusername /persistent:yes
To access a cd drive from a distant virtual machine
When installing software on a virtual you often need to access a cd drive on a different machine. Go to the machine with the cd drive and share the cd drive as "d". On the virtual map a drive like "M:" to that other drive e.g., "\\mymachine001\d". Enjoy.
To view which programs are associated with which extensions
```
assoc
```
How to turn on showing of file extensions:
In Windows Explorer select "Tools/Folder Options.../View" and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types"
To print a window.
1. PrtScrn will put a snapshot of the entire screen into the Clipboard;
  "Alt-Print Scrn" will save only the active window.
  Ctrl-"PrintScrn" -- pastes the current window into the clipboard
2. Open "Paint" program and do a paste.
Display a complete tree
In Windows NT Explorer and in Microsoft Outlook, if you select a folder then press "*" on the numeric keypad (Num Lock can be on or off), the entire tree of sub-folders under the selected folder will be expanded. Pressing "-" on the keypad will collapse the tree again.

Miscellaneous

-----------------------------------------------------------
from http://www.jsiinc.com/reghack26.htm#T501
How do I pipe the entire contents of a batch file (commands and responses) to a log file?

The syntax is:
Drive:\BatFolder\BatchName.bat>Drive:\LogFolder\LogName.log 2>&1

If you wish to fully log a scheduled job, put the command in another batch file. Example: c:\zzz\batch0.bat contains:

c:\zzz\batch1.bat>c:\temp\batch1.log 2>&1

Then schedule c:\zzz\batch0.bat:

AT hh:mm cmd /c "c:\zzz\batch0.bat"
-----------------------------------------------------------
From http://ci.ml.org/ntsecrets/info/secrets.htm
Question: How do I schedule a batch job to run automatically?
Answer: Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scheduled Tasks

-----------------------------------------------------------
*******************************************************************
From ZDNet:

Scheduling a reboot of your server

If you would like to reboot your Windows NT server, but don't want
to have to be there to do it, you can use the shutdown Windows NT
Resource Kit utility, along with the at command, to schedule a
reboot of your server.

(You can download the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit Support Tools,
which include the shutdown utility, by going to
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/ntkit/
default.asp. The at command is included with Windows NT Server 4.0.)

The shutdown utility requires that you use several parameters.
These include /L (to specify that you want to shut down the local
computer), /R (to specify that you want to reboot after the
shutdown of your server), and /Y (to specify that you want to
answer "yes" to all questions). For example, to shutdown and reboot
your local server, you should type:

shutdown /L /R /Y

When you're ready to schedule the shutdown command to run, begin by
starting the Schedule service in the Services icon within Control
Panel. After starting the Schedule service, schedule shutdown to run
by typing the following command: at time /next:date command. For
example, to schedule the shutdown to run every Saturday at 3:00 P.M.,
type the command:

at 15:00 /every:Saturday c:\ntreskit\shutdown /L /R /Y

to change the title on a command window in NT
c:>title my new title

to change the permissions on the command line (like chmod)
attrib -r myfile.dat

To put multiple commands in a console, separate them with '&'

c:>dir & pwd

You can change the Start menu delay in displaying sub-menus. Bring up
REGEDT32. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ControlPanel\Desktop,
MenuShowDelay:. Set REG_SZ: to anything between 0 (fastest) and 4000
(slowest).

Launch Windows NT faster by adjusting the boot delay to 5 seconds or
less. To make the change, open Control Panel/System and select the
Startup/Shutdown tab. In the Show List For control, change the
setting to the desired boot delay value. To bypass the boot menu
altogether, set the delay value to 0.

To refresh explorer enter F5.

C:\>path=%PATH%;c:\fincher\bin

If you want to be able to depress the TAB key to complete the file name you are typing at a command prompt, edit:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Command Processor
Double Click on CompletionChar or add value of REG_DWORD, set it to 9. You will need to reboot.

c:>nbtstat -R
Successful purge and preload of the NBT Remote Cache Name Table.

c:>netstat -a
network status command for ports

net use z: \\othermachinename\c
to map a drive from another machine to z

c:> net use //shows mapped drives

c:> net user username // shows characterics of user like when the password expires

c:> net view /domain: mycompanydomain // finds machines on the net

c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\Hosts
is where the local dns filelookup table lives.

c:START notepad
does a batch invocation, like & in unix

CNTL-ESC is the same as the windows key.

net send mfincher howdy mitch
to send a message to mfincher on windows network

net send /users "this is sent to all users of the machine."

net send mfincher "this is a message only for mitch"

In Internet Explorer to expand all folders below the currently selected
one, press the "*" on the numeric keypad (not the "*" on the 8 key).

To have a batch file "sleep" or "wait" use:
perl -e "sleep(3);"

To start and stop IIS from the command line

net START "World Wide Web Publishing Service"
net STOP "World Wide Web Publishing Service"

End of line characters
```
		dos is CRLF
		mac is CR
		Unix is LF
```
recursively copy over a network:
```
xcopy /e mydir1\* \\venus\\usr\mydir1
```
Postscript command for duplex printing Right before the line starting with "%%BeginProcSet: ", insert the following two lines:
```
% Enable Duplex printing
<< /Duplex true >> setpagedevice
```
Windows NT reboot
You can force NT to automatically reboot after a crash by setting the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\CrashControl\AutoReboot to 1.
To remove a directory:
rd x:\folder /S
Replace x:\folder with the drive letter and name of the folder you want to delete. use
rd x:\folder /S /Q
to have rd use "quiet" mode so it won't give you all the messages and warnings.
To configure your ip settings
```
winipcnfg
```
To see your cached dns sites
```
ipconfig /displaydns 
```
To flush (or reset) your dns settings
```
 ipconfig /flushdns
```
To see your proxy settings:
```
proxycfg
```
Toimport your proxy settings from IE
```
proxycfg -u
```

Misc windows key settings: (from Ian P. Springer [ips@fpk.hp.com])

[Windows]F: Opens the Find dialog box
[Windows]M: Minimizes all open windows
[Windows]R: Opens the Run dialog box
[Windows][Break]: Opens the System Properties dialog box
[Windows][Tab]: Cycles through the programs on your taskbar
[Windows][F1]: Opens Windows NT Help (regardless of the program you're
working in--pressing [F1] by itself opens the current program's Help)


bonus: [Ctrl][Shift][Esc] start Task Manager

Why does only the first line of this Windows batch file execute?

Try putting a "call " infront of the first command.

call togglesql
osql -S MyBoxName -E -Q "drop database SwitchBoard"
osql -S MyBoxName -E -Q "create database SwitchBoard"

Command line programs

Description	Command
Add/Remove Programs	appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools	certmgr.msc
Check Disk Utility	chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer	clipbrd
Command Prompt	cmd
Component Services	dcomcnfg
Computer Management	compmgmt.msc
Date and Time Properties	timedate.cpl
Device Manager	devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel	(If Installed) - directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter	dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility	cleanmgr
Disk Defragmnt	dfrg.msc
Disk Management	diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager	diskpart
Display Properties	(w/Appearance Tab Preselected) - control color
Display Properties	control desktop
Display Properties	desk.cpl
Event Viewer	eventvwr.msc
Findfast	findfast.cpl
Folders Properties	control folders
Fonts Folder	fonts
Fonts	control fonts
Free Cell Card Game	freecell
Game Controllers	joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor	gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game	mshearts
IP Configuration	(Delete DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration	(Display Connection Configuration) - ipconfig /all
IP Configuration	(Display DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration	(Display DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration	(Modifies DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /setclassid
IP Configuration	(Refreshes DHCP & Re-Registers DNS) - ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration	(Release All Connections) - ipconfig /release
IP Configuration	(Renew All Connections) - ipconfig /renew
Iexpress Wizard	iexpress
Indexing Service	ciadv.msc
Internet Properties	inetcpl.cpl
Java Control Panel	(If Installed) - javaws
Keyboard Properties	control keyboard
Local Security Settings	secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups	lusrmgr.msc
Logs You Out Of Windows	logoff
Microsoft Chat	winchat
Minesweeper Game	winmine
Mouse Properties	control mouse
Mouse Properties	main.cpl
Netstat	netstat
Network Connections	control netconnections
Network Connections	ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard	netsetup.cpl
Notepad	notepad
Nview Desktop Manager	(If Installed) - nvtuicpl.cpl
ODBC Data Source Administrator	odbccp32.cpl
Object Packager	packager
On Screen Keyboard	osk
Opens AC3 Filter	(If Installed) - ac3filter.cpl
Password Properties	password.cpl
Performance Monitor	perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor	perfmon
Phone and Modem Options	telephon.cpl
Power Configuration	powercfg.cpl
Printers Folder	printers
Printers and Faxes	control printers
Private Character Editor	eudcedit
Quicktime	(If Installed) - QuickTime.cpl
Regional Settings	intl.cpl
Registry Editor	regedit
Remote Desktop	mstsc
Removable Storage Operator Requests	ntmsoprq.msc
Removable Storage	ntmsmgr.msc
Resultant Set of Policy	(XP Prof) - rsop.msc
SQL Client Configuration	cliconfg
Scanners and Cameras	sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks	control schedtasks
Security Center	wscui.cpl
Services	services.msc
Shared Folders	fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows	shutdown
Sounds and Audio	mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitare Card Game	spider
System Configuration Editor	sysedit
System Configuration Utility	msconfig
System File Checker Utility	(Purge File Cache) - sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility	(Return to Default Setting) - sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility	(Scan Immediately) - sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility	(Scan On Every Boot) - sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility	(Scan Once At Next Boot) - sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility	(Set Cache Size to size x) - sfc /cachesize=x
System Properties	sysdm.cpl
Task Manager	taskmgr
Telnet Client	telnet
Traceroute	tracert <hostname or IP>
User Account Management	nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager	utilman
Windows Firewall	firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier	magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure	wmimgmt.msc
Windows System Security Tool	syskey
Windows Update Launches	wupdmgr
Windows XP Tour Wizard	tourstart
Wordpad	write

Command looping in winnt

Consider the following command:

FOR /L %g IN (1,1,254) DO ping -n 2 200.200.200.%g

In English, this command states that we want to "do" the ping command as long 
as the %g variable is within the range from 1 to 254. We specify the range for 
%g by using the syntax (start, step, end). Start indicates the starting value 
for %g (1 in this example), step indicates the number with which we want to 
increment %g (1 in our example), and end indicates the number at which we want 
to stop pinging. We've also limited the number of pings to 2 by using -n 2 
(instead of the typical 4 for each computer. 

When you run this command, you'll see that your computer pings the following 
IP addresses:

200.200.200.1
200.200.200.2
200.200.200.3
...
200.200.200.254

This tip was contributed by Rafael Sanchez, fariceo@yahoo.com.

Create a CD disk that automatically launches a web page Create an autorun.inf file with the following contents and it will launch Internet explorer and show the "index.htm" page:
[autorun] label=Eagles 2000 open=explorer.exe index.htm
Simulate a sleep or wait call
"-n" is the number of pings, which could roughly be proportional to the amount of time to wait in seconds. This is not really elegant, or even recommended, but in a pinch, it'll work to wait 5 seconds.
```
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ping.exe 127.0.0.1 -n 5 -w 5000  > nul
```
Redirect std out and std error to the same file
```
MyCommand > My.log 2>&1
```

Embed the date and time into a filename

MyCommand > MyDataFile_%date:~10,4%-%date:~4,2%-%date:~7,2%-%time:~0,2%-%time:~3,2%-%time:~6,5%.log

This produces:

MyDataFile_2009-12-18-14-35-58.71.log

Loop over arguments using SHIFT in a command batch file

rem loops through the arguments and qparses the qqc file
rem example of how to use SHIFT to process arguments - also see FOR
@echo on
:LOOP
echo "Compiling %1"
cd C:\mrInterviewSource
cd %1
call c:\home\mfincher\bin\qparse.bat %1
SHIFT
IF "%1" == "" GOTO END
GOTO LOOP

:END
echo "All Done."

To see running processes (similiar to "ps" in unix)
"tasklist"
To kill a process (similiar to "kill" in unix)
taskkill /IM [BadExecutable].exe
To see which version of Windows am I running
Select "Start/Run" and enter "winver"
To view assemblies in the GAC (Global Assembly Cache) for pre-.Net 4.0 assemblies enter this in Windows Explorer
```
%windir%\assembly\
```
This will invoke the shfusion shell extension in Windows Explorer.

You can also use "gacutil.exe" to play with the GAC.

For .Net 4.0 check out %windir%\Microsoft.NET\assembly

Windows XP Tips

Tips for Windows XP and later