Prevent Windows from Creating the Thumbs.db Thumbnail Cache Files

Windows has an annoying habit of displaying thumbnails for folders that you may not want thumbnails for, like the My Pictures folder. For me, it’s better to have the My Pictures folder viewed in List or Details view and all of the folders underneath My Pictures to be shown as thumbnails.

The really annoying thing is that even if you go to Tools, Options, View, and click on "Apply to All Folders", Windows may still revert back to thumbnail view! This happens because Windows will show a folder in thumbnail view if it finds a THUMBS.DB file in the folder.

THUMBS.DB is a cache file that basically is used by Windows in any folder it finds a picture or video so that the next time you view the folder, the thumbnails will be loaded faster so you don’t have to wait. However, with the current speed of computers, it’s pretty useless and only takes up more space on your computer.

Disabling Thumbnails

You can delete the file and the thumbnail view will go away, but only for some time before Windows re-creates it. You can prevent this from happening by disabling the thumbnail cache in Folder Options or via a registry hack.

In Explorer, go to Tools, then Folder Options and click on the View tab.

More Fonts for the Windows Command Prompt

I dont know but we can’t just forget Command Prompt Can we ? Have you ever noticed that there are only two fonts to choose from in the Command prompt properties window? What you might not know is that you can use a simple registry hack to enable alternate fonts, including a very readable font that comes with Vista and Office 2007.

But that’s not all… you can enable a number of fixed width fonts if you really want to. We’ll cover how this works, as well as one of my favorite "interesting" fonts for the command prompt.

Changing the Default Command Prompt Font

To change the font, you’ll want to right-click on the title bar and choose Properties from the menu. If you want to set the defaults for all command prompt windows you can choose the Defaults option instead.

Map a Drive Letter to a Folder in Windows

Have you ever needed to repeatedly access a folder that is nested deep inside a giant hierarchy of folders? Sure, you can always create a shortcut to that folder, but did you know you can actually assign a drive letter to a folder instead? And we’l do that below …

This ability has existed in Windows via the subst command for quite a while, so this will also work for you XP users as well. - May seem dumb as why should we but hey read the title of Blog 

Map a Drive Letter the Easy Way

The easiest way to assign a drive letter to a folder is to use a simple utility called Visual Subst, which gives you a nice graphical interface to assign drive letters, but also does something that the command line version can’t… you can set your virtual drives to apply again at startup.

You can download and run the utility without needing to install it, and then simply use the Browse button to select your path, and click the green plus symbol after choosing the drive letter.

Create a keyboard shortcut to open a folder

Do you have a folder that you’d like to be able to open quickly and easily whenever you want? If you create a keyboard shortcut for that folder, you can open it anytime by pressing a key combination, no matter which other programs you have open.
To create a keyboard shortcut to open a folder

1.	Click on Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
2.	In Windows Explorer (the program that appears when you open folders such as My Computer, My Documents, My Pictures, or My Music), right-click the folder to which you want instant access, click Send To, and then click Desktop.

Folder selected in My Documents folder, with Send To and then Desktop selected on right-click menu

REGISTRY TRICKS

Structure of Windows XP Registry :
When you will open the Windows XP Registry , you will see it’s divided into two panes. On the left side there are Five main
Keys as shown below. These can be expanded to several Sub-Keys, which further has many Sub-Keys.
+HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
+HKEY_CURRENT_USER
+HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
+HKEY_USERS
+HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
Before you try out the Tweaks, learn how to Backup and Restore Windows XP Registry.
Types of Registry Backups :
It?s very important that before you do editing you make a backup of the current registry. If you ignore this warning, it might prove deadly for you?so better listen to me J
Open your registry. Go to Start>Run , type . When you invoke the Export function from File>Export, you are given a choice of different file types that can be saved :
Registration Files (*.reg)
Registry Hive Files (*.*)
Text Files (*.txt)
Win9x/NT 4 Registration Files (*.reg)
All Files
Each one of the different file types above plays an important role in how the data you export is saved. Choosing the wrong type can give you unexpected results. So let me explain you quickly these file types.

Vista Start Menu - Experiencing the new Start Menu

I have Windows XP installed in my PC and have a chance to try Vista Start Menu with pro registration. My first impression about this software is, quite difficult at the first time but very convenient after several times usage.

Missing / Disappearing icons in system tray or taskbar

This was the 2nd or 3rd time i encountered this problem !! Problem: The icons in the notification area of my taskbar did not "appear" !! For example the SOUND ICON (among a lot of others) !! It was random… sometimes a few of those ‘missing’ icons would appear and at times they wont !! Log Off the user (just log off… do not RESTART) and log in again and voila… 99% chance was that the icons "re-appeared" … it was damn annoying !! ======== Solution that is NOT recommended by me: I was googling around and found a number of 3rd party softwares that bragged about "fixing" this problem !! what they did… delayed the time when the icons (and their corresponding services) loaded !! WHY i do not recommend it ?? 2 reasons… Number 1: You just cant trust every other software because it "supposedly" *FIXES* your problems !!

Automatically Empty Recycle Bin

When we delete a file, that file will move into Recycle Bin. There, we have options whether to restore it or just empty the Recycle Bin.

recyclebin-01

How to dual boot Ubuntu and WinXP using two hard drives?

I really want to use Ubuntu. When new version is out, I will request free CDs from Ubuntu Shipit and will receive the CDs after two weeks from the request date. But yesterday, after struggling to install new hard drive into my PC, then I was successfully install Ubuntu and make it dual boot with my Windows XP.

My Ubuntu specs

Do not download Windows Genuine Advantage

My friend was having trouble with his PC and he had to format it. He decided to install not genuine Windows XP SP2 from the CD that he bought sometime ago. After everything has finished, he ran the security updates to patch his PC and there are various updates available. One of it is Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notification update.

100 Keyboard shortcuts

Most of all have mastery over it but it may help others in finding a smarter way of computing.

By the way, guys this is for micro$oft windblows

CTRL+C (Copy)
CTRL+X (Cut)
CTRL+V (Paste)
CTRL+Z (Undo)
DELETE (Delete)
SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
F2 key (Rename the selected item)
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of ****)
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select **** in a ********)
CTRL+A (Select all)

How To Add A Url Address Bar To The Taskbar

You can add an Internet URL address bar to your Windows XP taskbar. Doing so will let you type in URLs and launch Web pages without first launching a browser. It will also let you launch some native Windows XP applications in much the same way as you would via the Run menu (so you could type in calc to launch the calculator or mspaint to launch Microsoft Paint. Here's how you add the address bar:

1. Right-click on the taskbar, select Toolbars, and then click Address.

2. The word Address will appear on your taskbar.

How Long Has Your System Been Running?

Here's how you verify system uptime:

Click Start | Run and type cmd to open a command prompt.
At the prompt, type systeminfo

Scroll down the list of information to the line that says System Up Time.

Install Xp From Dos

Install Xp From Dos

If XP will not install from the CD or if you have a new drive with no operating system on
it yet try these:

Install Windows XP from the hard drive with Windows 98 already installed:

Boot Windows 98
Insert the XP CD into your CD reader
Explore Windows XP through My Computer
Copy i386 folder to C:\
Go into C:\i386 folder and double click on winnt32.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive

How To See Hidden Files From Dos

at command prompt just type dir /ah if the list is too long u can use dir /ah/p/w

Create Your Own Font

Go to Start > Run > and type in eudcedit - this will open up a font editor - allowing you to design your own custom fonts and characters to be used in things like MS Word. MS Microsoft Word Font Character Hidden Secret Program Windows XP..

Turn Off System

Have you ever been using your computer and your system sudddenly stops responding in ways like it if you try to open something it just hangs? One time I tried deleting a folder and it said it was in use, but it really wasn't. If this ever happens to you, you can follow these simple steps to 'reboot' your computer without 'rebooting' it.

Press CRTL + ALT + DEL

Goto the 'processes' tab and click explorer.exe once and then click 'end process'.

A Great Way to Speed up Your PC

CLick on: Start Menu
Go To: Run
Type: Regedit
Look For the Keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentConrolSet\Control \Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
Now Look For The DWORD KEY : ENABLEPREFETCHERA
Its Default Value Is: 3
Change The Value To: 6

Now Close The Registery Editor And Restart Your Computer

Note: If u Change its Value to 1 It will be very Slow