When you are asked to intervene in many operations, you get a dialogue with choices like “Yes, No, Yes to All.” Did you know that you can choose “No to All” as well? To do this, hold shift while pressing “No.” Though it’s a simple tip, it has saved me much time (especially in file system operations).

In Internet Explorer, there is a little space where a logo is placed (usually the Internet Explorer logo). You can change this by going to Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc, selecting User Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Internet Explorer Mgmt -> Custom Logo, and setting the new logos. Notice that there is both a “static” and “animated”...

Windows XP includes an option to utilize more memory for file system caching. Go to Start -> Run -> regedt32, find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management, change LargeSystemCache from 0 to 1, press OK, and then exit. The result should be increased performance in systems with a lot of memory; note that if you are low...

One of the most common causes of long waits to shutdown is that XP by default will wait 20 seconds for an application to shut down! You can decrease this time to decrease total shutdown time. Go to Start -> Run -> regedt32, find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, change the value of “WaitToKillAppTimeout” to what you wish (in milliseconds),...

If you have XP installed on an older computer, chances are that you can benefit by disabling the vast array of subtle visual effects that XP employs. To optimize your system for “best performance,” go to Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Performance, choose “Adjust for best performance,” and click “OK.” The...

The control key is usually a very handy Windows keyboard shortcut key. It performs a similar function in almost every situation; when you hold down the control key and click (or double-click) something, it will typically open it in a new window. For example, if you hold control while clicking a link in IE, it will spawn a new window pointed to that link; if you...

You can change the default location where Windows Explorer opens up to. Windows Explorer opens to a default location, usually My Documents, but this is often not the location that you wish to see. You can change where it “points to” by default. To do this, right-click the shortcut to Windows Explorer and press “properties,” then change...

Ever want to change your boot screen? Make Windows look like OS X? Create a different style of logon page? StyleXP allows you to do these things and much, much more. Though StyleXP is a commercial program, the evaluation version is available at http://www.tgtsoft.com and allows you to tour all of the wonderful features that StyleXP offers. It’s definitely...

Between searching the Internet and the Earth, Google has found a new place to search for world dominance – your desktop. Specifically, Google Desktop Search allows you to index and search files, chat logs, emails, and even web history on your PC. You might ask yourself, “Doesn’t Windows already have such a feature?” The answer is yes, but...

It can be difficult to keep up with the latest media encoding packs (codecs) but it is necessary to do so if you wish to continue to view certain media files. Fortunately, the “defilerpak” project keeps an eye on all of the latest codecs and puts them neatly in one package, the defilerpak. Download it at http://hellninjacommando.com/defilerpak/....