Microsoft Store Rejects IE 6

The Microsoft Store doesn't support Internet Explorer 6.

Fast User Switching

Windows XP Fast User Switching allows multiple simultaneous logons.  For PCs typically used by just one person at a time, disabling fast user switching will free up about 1 MB of system resources.

• Start button
• Control Panel
• User Accounts
• Change the way users log on or off
• Use Fast User Switching
• Apply Changes

Show File Name Extensions

In Windows XP, show file name extensions in Explorer:

• Start Button
• Control Panel
• Folder Options
• Click the View tab
• Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types 

Install XP on Dell Inspiron 1520

After struggling with MS Windows Vista on a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop, the decision was made to "upgrade" to MS Windows XP Professional.

The laptop has SATA drive, and the XP install media does not contain SATA drivers. While it is possible to "slipstream" SATA drivers into the XP install media, it is more convenient to change BIOS setting to emulate ATA. Doing so allows XP to install.

Upon installation of XP, the bluetooth device was working. Ethernet, wifi, and the camera were not working. Without network adapters, patches could not be downloaded.

This document from the Dell support website explains the order of drivers to install. Using the laptop service tag, 24 drivers were recommended. Downloading drivers one-at-a-time onto a USB flash drive was successful. The laptop recognized the flash drive, and drivers were installed in the order Dell recommends until installation of the Broadcom 440x network driver (R149798.exe) enabled networking. After that, the normal patching process was completed.

The SATA drivers were not correctly installing, so the drive needed to stay in ATA mode.

Using the Windows installer version of Ubuntu Linux, the installation was straight-forward, simple, and quick. It has it's own boot menu entry. Upon switching from ATA to ACHI (to use SATA), it boots and runs normally.
Compared to the MS Windows install, the Ubuntu install was unbelievably easy.

High CPU Usage From DNS Client

Some MS Windows installations run slowly for several minutes, particularly after start-up or resumption from power savings mode. After several minutes, CPU usage will drop and the system will run normally. This may be caused by local caching of DNS lookups, which can be disabled. There will typically be no detrimental effects.

In task manager, look for 100% CPU usage by svchost.exe. The user name is NETWORK SERVICE.

Start Button --> Run --> services.msc

Right-click on "DNS Client", and choose "Properties".
Change "Startup Type" to "Disabled".
Either restart the system, or press "Stop" button.

Recover Lost Windows System File

A virus scanner removed the MS Windows rundll32.exe file. The system still booted and would run, with many annoyances.

How to replace MS Windows \WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe

Error message identifying missing file:

File is missing:

Open a command prompt and run System File Checker.
Start Button --> Run --> cmd
At command prompt type: sfc /scannow

With the installation CD in the CD drive, expand the file from CD to the MS Windows installation.

File rundll32.exe has been restored, with a current time stamp.

While not necessary, set the file attributes to read only.

Google Encrypted Search

Google now supports encrypted search through the https protocol.

Those using Opera web browser can quickly change the search bar to use Google's encrypted search.
1) In the search bar (upper right hand corner), click the dropdown arrow
2) Toward the bottom of the list, click "Manage search engines..."
3) Highlight "Google" and press EDIT button

4) Press DETAILS button
5) Replace the address line with:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%s

6) Press OK
7) Press OK

On a related encryption note, mobile phone voice security has been improved to include end-to-end encryption when using Android phones.

Save Memory, Remove Java Quick Starter

jqs.exe is the Java Quick Starter (jqs.exe) task that runs in MS Windows. It uses 2MB of virtual memory.

For those who infrequently use java programs or who need the CPU cycles, jqs.exe can be disabled from the Control Panel --> Java --> Advanced and unselected Java Quick Starter.

Microsoft Security Essentials

While I have been satisfied with products such as Spybot and Clamwin, Microsoft Security Essentials is free and may be worth a look.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Windows Upgrade Stopped By DEP

While applying Microsoft's patches to a MS Windows Vista installating, the installer was stopped by Data Execution Prevention.

A screenshot was able to capture most of the message.

Faster Vista Booting

Press the start button and in the "Start Search" box type: msconfig

The "System Configuration" utility will run.

Choose the "Boot" tab.
Check "No GUI Boot". This will disable the splash screen during startup.

Click the "Advanced options..." button.
Check "Number of processors", and choose the highest number. This will allow multi-core (multi-CPU) processing during startup.

XP Memory Usage

While refreshing a Windows XP desktop, I noticed what would now be considered low memory usage. Compared to Vista desktops easily surpassing 1GB of memory usage, XP was using 81M while running IE. After patching, the XP memory usage increased to 107M.

USMint.gov Passwords

The US Mint website inexplicably disallows passwords that end with a number.

Windows Media Center Traps The Cursor

Running Windows Media Center (MCE) on Vista Premium with two monitors. When maximizing Media Center, the cursor would get trapped in the MCE window which made it impossible to work on the other monitor. Apparently this bug has been present since MSWindows XP, so it is a design feature.

MCEMultiMon (unzip it - no install program) provides a few commands to send MCE to different monitors and allows MCE to be maximized without trapping the cursor.

On this PC, the right monitor is #1 and the left monitor is #2. To make the program work properly, editing the configuration file to offset the window was necessary. The changes are in bold:
[Version]
Current=0.2
[Screen 1]
Enabled=1
Width=1280
Height=1024
X Offset=0
Y Offset=0
[Screen 2]
Enabled=1
Width=1152
Height=864
X Offset=-1152
Y Offset=0
[Screen 3]
Enabled=0
Width=1280
Height=1024
X Offset=2560
Y Offset=0
[Screen 4]
Enabled=0
Width=1280
Height=1024
X Offset=3840
Y Offset=0
[Default Screen]
Current=2
[Startup]
Run with Windows=0

The next feature of MCE that would be useful to change is to make the application volume control work for the application, and not change the volume for everything. For example, muting MCE mutes everything and this is not desired.

Blocking Web Ads

Firefox has add-ons to block advertisements. While these are effective within the specific browser, modifying the hosts file in MS Windows will provide a more complete solution that works in all browsers for all users of the PC.

Updating the HOSTS file in MS Windows Vista is described here.

Burn ISO To CD

I found isorecorder to be a handy utility to burn ISO images on MS Windows. Simply right-click on an iso file and choose "Copy image to CD".

Comcast DNS "Helper" Opt-Out

Comcast has started a domain name "helper" service that inserts a page of ads when a domain name does not resolve successfully.

Use this opt-out page to disable this new "feature". The page is accessible inside the Comcast network.

Microsoft Malware Scan

Running MSWindows XP Home on a laptop, there was a blue screen of death after attempting to start up from hibernation.

The following alert was displayed:
Malware alert: Problem caused by spooldr.sys, which might be malware

The system suggested a full malware scan. Microsoft has a malware scan tool available for free download.




Microsoft's tool removes orphaned registry entries and includes a disk defragment utility. Auslogics has a disk defrag that has been available for years.


Spyware Blaster provides some defenses to the Internet Explorer browser, along with flash ad blocking and custom system restore points.

Encrypted Password Storage On MSWindows

PasswordSafe stores passwords. The application for MSWindows is available at SourceForge.net.

The application is more than an encrypted notepad, it has entry fields specifically for password info. The info can be stored on one machine (in MSWindows registry) or as a file that can be shared.

Improving Laptop Readability On MSWindows

Text readability on LCD displays can be improved with the following applications available at no charge from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Look for download links:
ClearType Tuner (improve text readability)
Tweak UI (modify many UI attributes)