Windows XP

How do I see someone else's screen on Windows XP so I can help them?

If both machines are running Windows XP, you can use Remote Assistance (instead of Remote Desktop) to see and control their machine, with their permission. Here is a writeup describing how to use remote assistance in Windows XP

There is another solution using VNC
Here is the link
VNC allows cross-platform remote control among Windows, Mac and Unix/Linux machines.

To have a solution which can cross all platforms and bypass firewalls, with or without administrative privileges, one would like to use WebEx (subscription based, free trial available).

http://www.webex.com
http://www.webex.com/solutions/online-support-svc.html

How do I get into SAFE MODE in Windows 2000/XP

  1. Restart machine
  2. Hit F8 as the machine is booting up
  3. Select “Safe Mode” or “Safe Mode with Networking” from the menu by using the cursor keys

Installation of TCP/IP Printer in Windows XP Using the Printer's IP Address

Using the IP address of a printer is one way to set up a printer on your Windows XP computer. You will need to get the ip address of the printer; ask your friendly technical support person for help in getting this information.

  1. Start → Settings → Printers.
  2. Double-click on Add Printer & press Next.
  3. Make sure that the Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer is NOT selected. Select Local Printer & press Next.
  4. If it for a printer with a newly designated IP address, select Create a new port & select Standard TCP/IP port from the type menu, and press Next.
  5. Type in the IP address of the printer & press OK.
  6. Select the manufacturer from the left pane & select the model of the printer from the right pane & press Next.
  7. Name the printer as you like & decide whether this printer is to be the default printer, and press Next.
  8. Decide whether to share the printer or not, and press Next.
  9. Decide whether to print a test page or not, and press Next.
  10. Press Finish to complete the installation.

How can you encrypt files on a Windows XP system?

Windows XP Encryption

Microsoft Windows XP Pro has built-in encryption as part of the file system (EFS). More info can be found here on how to encrypt files:

http://www.iopus.com/guides/efs.htmThe important part is to backup the encryption key to a floppy disk or other medium because if the Windows OS becomes unbootable or damaged, the data may be lost.

The Windows XP encryption does not protect the files if the specific user is logged in at the moment. It only prevents unauthorized access from other profiles or if the hard drive is pulled and plugged into another machine.

A simple way to encrypt files is use a compression tool such as WinRar

(http://rarlab.com/download.htm) and compress the files in RAR format with a password. Zip compression also supports password encryption, but it is more susceptible to dictionary attacks on the password. The upside to Zip compression is that it is more compatible without installing additional software (XP and OS X have Zip decompression built-in)

How do I disable automatic restarting when using Automatic Updates in Windows XP?

If you have enabled automatic updates on your Windows XP Machine, now the computer will restart by itself. Sometimes this causes problems because people will have programs open and can lose data!


Here is how to get around this problem, and it is only for WinXP Pro:


Ever since Microsoft release Windows XP Service Pack 2, the company keeps emphasize the fact that you should enable Automatic Updates on your computer.


Automatic updates are usually a good thing but there is a serious problem with it.


Sometimes updates need to restart the computer to finish the installation. Until SP2 Automatic Updates would not restart your computer automatically. But this is not the case with SP2.


Once you scheduled Automatic Updates to be installed (by default at 03:00 AM), if the update requires restart Windows will notify you that it needs to restart. If you are not logged in and do not restart within 5 minutes, Windows will automatically restart your computer.


This behavior can cause a lot of problems. Documents you left open and did not save will be lost, downloads you started that have not finished will be terminated, and even hard disk maintenance like defrag that is working will get terminated, which might cause lost of data.


Unfortunately Windows XP Home users can not do much to change this behavior, except saving all the data before going to sleep or disabling the automatic updates.


On the other hand Windows XP Pro users can tell Windows never to restart the computer automatically. In order to do that follow these steps.

Remove WinXP Printer Notifications

See below if you’re tired of the pop-up balloon everytime you print.

1. Click on Start, select Run from the Start Menu.

2. Type in “regedit”.

3. Browse to the key HKCU\Printers\Settings and find the key “EnableBalloonNotificationsLocal” or “EnableBalloonNotificationsRemote”.

If the Key doesn’t already exist, create a DWORD value with that name and set the value to 0.

4. Change the Value Data to “0”. Reboot or Restart the Print Spooler Service.

Access denied error when installing Windows XP Service Pack 3

When attempting to upgrade Windows XP systems to Service Pack 3, you get one of the following errors:

Checking the svcpack.log file in c:\Windows will probably show a:

Less common errors for Service Pack 3 installation failure include system hangs during installation— both during installation, file backup, and registry modification.

If you have followed MS KB 949377 and Windows XP SP3 still does not install for you, please read the entire article.

Per Microsoft Knowledgebase article 949377:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377

Follow the steps they recommend:

If Methods #1 and #2 fail, try Method 3:

If Windows XP Service Pack 3 still does NOT install successfully for you , please attempt Method 3’s last 5 steps (out of 6) in safe mode.

Change the Default NumLock State in Windows XP

Problem: Numlock is enabled in the BIOS but doesn’t work on the XP logon screen.

Solution: You can edit the registry and set the numlock to be enabled on login. The info from the link below says it enables or disables the numlock feature after login but it worked at login for the system I applied the registry change to. Previously that system would not enable the numlock on the login screen even though numlock is enabled in the BIOS.

Here are the Registry Settings:
User Key: [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard]
Value Name: InitialKeyboardIndicators
Data Type: REG_SZ (String Value)
Value Data: 0 = NUMLOCK is turned off after logon, 2 = NUMLOCK is turned on after logon

For more info check out this link:
http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/196

If that doesn’t work you might have to use a 2 line vb script file:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314879

Repair the Master Boot Record in XP

Use the fixmbr command, available in Recovery Console, to repair the Master Boot Record on an XP machine. If a computer won’t boot or sustained some damage due to a virus or other cause, this may resolve the problem.

Boot from your Windows XP CD and when prompted, press R to access the Recovery Console.

1. When you reach the command prompt, type the following and then press Enter.

fixmbr

2. The fixmbr utility will write a master boot record to the hard drive that you’re currently using to boot into Windows XP. This will repair any corruption or damage that the master boot record may have.

3. Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC.

Assuming that a corrupt master boot record was your only issue, Windows XP should now start normally.

Windows XP End of Life 4/8/2014

Microsoft will cease support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. Computers running XP after April 8 are at increased risk of being compromised. It is strongly recommended that users upgrade their operating systems well before April 8. Check Microsoft’s system requirements for Windows 7 and Windows 8 to see if an upgrade is possible for your computer.

See also,

Windows XP Transfer Tool from Microsoft

As the end of support for Windows XP on April 8th nears Microsoft is continuing to focus on ensuring customers are aware of the deadline and helping them to migrate to a modern operating system. The offering is from a partnership between Microsoft and Laplink—

XP Desktop Setup for AIS Remote Printing

1. Enable LPR printing services (Print Services for Unix).
Click on the Start Menu then Control Panel.
Click on Add or Remove Programs.
Click on Add/Remove Windows Components.
Select Other Network File and Print Services.
Click on Details.
Select Print Services for Unix.
Click on OK, then click on Next.
Click on Finish.

2. Enable TCP/IP printing services to start automatically.
Click on the Start Menu then Control Panel.
Click on Performance and Maintenance.
Click on Administative Tools.
Click on Services.
Double Click on TCP/IP Print Server.
Click on Start under Service status:
Change Startup type to: Automatic.
Click on OK.

3. Enable Port 515 under the XP Firewall.
Click on the Start Menu then Control Panel.
Click on Network and Internet Connections.
Click on Windows Firewall.
Click on the Exceptions Tab.
Click on Add Port.
For Port Name enter: AIS Remote Printing
For Port Number enter: 515
Select TCP then click on OK.
Click on OK again.

These steps needs to be implemented on the workstation for AIS Remote Printing services like IDOCS to function.

One the AIS Administration side. You will need to contact the AIS Help Desk at x66951 or by emailing helpdesk@ais.ucla.edu to ensure that they have the correct IP address for your workstation and queue name for the printer. I always make the queue name: ais (I believe the queque name is case sensitive).

To look up your IP address:
Click on the Start Menu then on Run.
Type: cmd
Then click on OK.
Type: ipconfig
Hit enter.

Your IP address should now be listed. Write it down.

If you have never had Remote Printing setup by AIS before you can go to this url:
http://media.ais.ucla.edu/printer_connect_request.htm
To fill out a request form or you can contact the AIS Help Desk.

SECRET CODE: 1001373 – Mike Lee
SUPER SUPER SECRET CODE (Hummingbird Explorer): 1002102
AIS Helpesk Number: x66951

NOTES:
Selecting the correct R-Printer
Have users log into Oasis
iddb
prnt
f8 to scroll through list
S (capital S) to select appropriate printer
double checked that you selected the right one because putting an “S” on the printer actually selects the one below that…

Tricky Tricky…

How to Change Your Computer Name in Windows XP

Here are the steps to change the name on your computer when you’re using Windows XP

1. Go to “start” menu and click on “control panel”
2. A new window will pop up with different options to select from. Click on “system” to go to system properties.
3. Another window will pop up with different tabs seen at the top of the window. Click on “computer name”
4. Click on “change” and enter the new computer name in the field that says “computer name.”
5. Click “ok” and your computer should be given the new name.

You can't add a printer and you have print spooler error in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324757

Download and run the tool Microsoft provides to fix this issue.

Recover from a Corrupted Windows Registry

When a Windows XP sp2 system cannot boot, but system restore had been enabled (as is now by default), How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting.

The procedure describes a method by booting from the Windows XP CD-ROM. Understanding the procedure, a technician can also perform the essential steps upon a hard drive extracted from the source computer.

How do I make a Windows XP PC automatically login?

If you want to have a Windows XP automatically log in (on a domain or not), you can use the Tweak UI tool available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

You’ll need to be an administrator to install it.

There will be a Login category on the left side where you can type in the user name and password that should auto login every time you start up.

Be aware that the password is stored plaintext in the registry, so do not use if that’s a problem. You could use this, for example, on TA lab computers where everyone knows the password anyway.

To avoid auto login, hold down the left shift key when Windows starts up.

If your computer is not part of a domain you can configure Windows XP to automatically logon simply by:

1. Click Start, click Run, and type control userpasswords2
2. Uncheck the Users must enter a username and password to use this computer check box.
3. Click Apply.
4. Enter the user name and password you wish to automatically log on with, and then click OK.
5. Click OK again and you’re all done.

This feature allows other users to start your computer and use the account that you establish to automatically log on. Enabling auto logon makes your computer more convenient to use, but can pose a security risk.

Check out this link: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
for more info on both the TweakUI and control userpasswords2 methods.

Check out this link: http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/13/
for more info on how the password is stored in the registry when you used the TweakUI method.

I have Windows XP, how can I restore my computer to a previous configuration?

You can use a feature called �System Restore� to restore your Windows XP PC to a previous working configuration.

Click Start → Programs → Accessories → System Tools → System Restore.

Remember that the Windows XP default desktop view and Start menu are different from the Windows Classic View.

The first time you use System Restore, two options appear on the welcome page:

Click �Restore my computer to an earlier time� → click Next.

On the calendar that appears, choose the restore point to which you would like to roll your system back. Click �Next�.

You will be prompted to close all applications before completing the restore process, because the computer will restart.

After the computer restarts, a confirmation screen will appear → click �OK� to continue using your computer.

The next time you start System Restore, you will see a third option, �Undo my last restoration�. This can be helpful if the restore point you went back to last time did not correct the original problem that you were having; you can easily return to the configuration from which you started troubleshooting.

Dell Optiplex 755's and Windows XP installation

Windows XP installer does a blue screen of death on installation, with a STOP: 0×0000007B error. Installation fails due to the BSOD and is not recoverable.

In this particular instance, it means Windows cannot detect and load the correct harddisk controller driver, because it does not support the default SATA operation mode in the Dell BIOS.

In BIOS, in the Drives — SATA Operation, you can change from the default RAID/AHCI mode to RAID/ATA mode (not Legacy mode), and Windows setup will now run.

This error occurs in both Windows XP and Windows XP x64, even with SP2 slipstreamed. As for the fix, I have only tried it with Windows XP x64 with SP2 slipstreamed.

—

A user online has reported the same problem, albiet with a slightly different solution: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=107364c :

The user there recommends installing the updated BIOS, which then enables a “Legacy” mode to be selected in the SATA Operation menu. Then the user loads Windows XP and with F6, loads the Dell SATA drivers. From my testing, you do not actually need to load the Dell SATA drivers, but I believe this user was using a different OS (XP SP2 32-bit) and that may be a factor.

The Dell BIOS update (rev A04) was released 6 November and is available on the Dell site at http://support.dell.com/ .

" 5. Added SATA legacy mode support for older operating systems. "

This update is labeled as “URGENT” according to Dell. It adds a “Legacy” mode support for the SATA operation, although we do not need to use this mode, so I am unsure if we need it or not.

—

Slipstream drivers as well as SP2 with the insturctions below, or use www.nliteos.com tools or similar.
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=414

—

If the system is configured with a recovery partition. It may need to be removed before you will be able to boot from the xp disk.

How to disable CD-ROM auto-run in Windows XP

  1. Run the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom
  3. Change the value of the key AutoRun to 0.

(Source: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article03-018)

A less invasive method for disks without autrun.inf (such as music, dvd, and picture disks) is to right click on the disk drive and select properties. Under the AutoPlay tab you can set different actions for different media types.

You can also hold down shift while inserting the disk to prevent disks from auto-running.