On occasion, it would be nice to have Windows XP shut itself down (hey, now, watch Mac OS guys!) and restart. One occasion might be your work PC -- I find that restarting XP makes doing everything faster, from launching applications, browsing, and getting things done within apps.



But XP is a lot better than older versions of Windows (and don't kill me, I use both Mac OS X and Windows XP) and Mac, for that matter, in terms of uptime, stability, and the absence of memory leaks. It's these memory leaks that make any OS slower over time without a restart. Restarting frees up all that RAM that has been used in your previous session.



So, without further delay, here's how to schedule a restart of Windows XP, courtesy of TechRepublic --

1. Go to Control Panel | Scheduled Tasks


2. Double-click Add Scheduled Task to launch the Scheduled Task Wizard


3. Click Next and then click the Browse button


4. Access the Windows\System32 folder, select Shutdown.exe, and click Open


5. Follow the wizard through the next two screens to give the task a name and choose a schedule


6. Enter your user account name and password and click Next


7. Select the Open Advanced Properties check box and click Finish


8. In the task’s Properties dialog box, add the /r parameter to the end of the command line in the Run text box and click OK (Be sure to include a space between the last character in the command name and the first character in the parameter list)


9. Enter your user account name and password and click OK

Pretty simple.



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In Windows XP, you'll note that sometimes (okay, most times), your Start menu programs appear as an abbreviated list of all your programs (XP populates the list with the "most frequently used programs" you've used). However, you probably use the Calculator, for example, very infrequently and it doesn't really help you to have it listed on this abbreviated list. So here's how you can prevent it from appearing there:

1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).


2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications.


3. Right-click the Applications key and select New | Key.


4. Name the key the same as the application’s executable file.


5. Right-click your new key and select New | String Value.


6. Name the string value NoStartPage.


7. Close the Registry Editor.

There you have it, a quick and easy way to manage your Start Programs abbreviated list.



Original post in Tech Republic

Often times, builders of computers, like you and me, forget or misplace our Windows product keys (you know, those 25-digit alphanumeric codes on your Windows package). When we rebuild a machine, we must use the correct product key.



Before you reformat your hard drive, make sure that you use this utility on your PC, called ProduKey, to find out the product key. Write it down or store it on a flash drive for use later when you wipe your system and reinstall Windows.



This will save you the time with Microsoft tech support, reauthorizing a known-good Windows installation.



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In an unprecedented move, Microsoft has pledged allegiance to the Windows XP flag for an additional 3 years, extending support to 13 years.

Wow. If only car manufacturers did the same thing.

MS to extend support for XP

Technorati Tags: Windows XP

This is a great tweak for seeing what's going on behind the scenes during Windows XP boot time -- courtesy of Tech Republic --

You can accomplish this by adding a little-used switch to the Boot.ini file. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the Start menu, and right-click My Computer.
2. Select Properties from the shortcut menu.
3. In the resulting System Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab.
4. In the Startup And Recovery section, click the Settings button.
5. In the resulting Startup And Recovery dialog box, click the Edit button in the System Startup section.
6. When the Boot.ini file opens in Notepad, add the /SOS switch to the line that ends with the /fastdetect switch.
7. Save the file, close Notepad, click OK twice to close the dialog boxes, and restart the system.

To restore the splash screen, follow the same directions, and remove the /SOS switch.