Enable or disable Remote Desktop

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\fAllowToGetHelp

Enable or disable Remote Desktop.

Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
Value Name : fAllowToGetHelp
Value Data Type: DWORD
Default Value: 1
Description: Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance allows you (or other people) to access your computer across the Internet from other computer. If you know what remote desktop is and are using it, it is OK. However, if you don't know what it is for or have never used this feature, you are recommended to disable it.

To disable the Remote Assistance feature, set the fAllowToGetHelp value to 0; to enable Remote Assistance, set the value to 1.

Excel 2007 Macro Problem / Excel 2007 Macros Greyed out

Simple but often missed fix:

1. Use MSO2007 Installation CD.

2. Make sure the "Visual Basic for Applications" option is installed:

+ Office Shared Features

+ Visual Basic for Applications

3. Enable macros:

• Click on: Office Button | Excel Options | Trust Center | Trust Center Settings (Button on Right) | Macro Settings
  
  
• Make sure you "Enable all Macros"
  

Put the "show desktop" icon back in the Quick Launch toolbar

To get a show desktop icon in your Quick Launch toolbar you simply have to Enable the Quick Launch Toolbar However if you have previously had the Quick launch toolbar enabled but have deleted the show desktop icon, here is one way to get it back.

1. Open Notepad and type the following text. (or copy and paste it)

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

3. Save the text you typed as file name Show Desktop.scf to your desktop.

4. Now the show desktop icon will be on your desktop and you can drag it to the quick launch toolbar

Cannot open Outlook Express

Goto START, RUN

type: " regsvr32 inetcomm.dll" (sans quotes) press <enter>

reboot.

Work around fix:
(nothing else would work, BIOS update, fresh install, all for naught)

Disable the "SiS PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller" and poof! The computer should recognize all of the USB 2.0 mass storage devices.

You can also add an application to the "Open With" dialog box for all file types. Again, you head for the following Registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Applications

Display the subkey named after the application’s executable file. (If the subkey doesn’t exist, create it.) Now add the \shell\open\command subkey and set the Default value to the pathname of the application’s executable file.

• Navigate to this :
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\
  {4D36E965-E325 -11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
  

• DELETE "Upperfilters" and "Lowerfilters"

• Navigate to this :
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
  
  
• There should be only one entry here,
  • (DEFAULT) REG_SZ (value not set)
  if you find anything else, delete it.
  
  
• Click on the plus sign next to Policies, there should be only one entry: Explorer
  if you see any other folders, delete them
  
  
• now click on Explorer, this is all you should see:
  • (DEFAULT) REG_SZ (value not set)
  • NoDriveAutoRun REG_DWORD 0x00000091 (145)
  if you see any other entries, delete them
  
• Navigate to this :
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325 -11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
  

• DELETE "Upperfilters" and "Lowerfilters"

• 
  
• Close regedit and reboot, your wallpaper settings will now be back to normal :-)
  

The built-in Administrator account is hidden from Welcome Screen when a user account with Administrator privileges exists and enabled. In Windows XP Home Edition, you can login as built-in Administrator in Safe Mode only. For XP Professional, press CTRL + ALT + DEL twice at the Welcome Screen and input your Administrator password in the classic logon window that appears.

• To have the Administrator account display in the Welcome Screen:
• Click Start, Run and type Regedit.exe, Navigate to the following key:
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList
• Use the File, Export option to backup the key.
• Right-click in the right pane and select New DWORD Value.
• Type-in Administrator as the value.
• Double-click Administrator, and assign a value of 1
• Close Regedit
  
  You may use this procedure to hide/show users in the Welcome Screen for any user account. Type the account name accordingly in step 6.
  

• By Diana Huggins
If your drives are formatted with NTFS, you have the option of using encryption. Windows XP uses the Encrypting File System (EFS) which lets you encrypt your folders and files for increased security. Normally to encrypt a folder or file, you would have to do so from the folder or file's properties window and access the advanced attributes. Wouldn't it be great though if you could just encrypt or decrypt a file or folder using the shortcut menu?

Well here's a nifty little tip that does just that... it adds the encrypt and decrypt options to the shortcut menu for a folder or file. Of course, a word of caution: the following steps do require you to modify the registry, so proceed carefully:

Click Start, point to run, and type regedit.
Within the Registry Editor, navigate to the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Click the Edit menu, point to New, and select Dword value.
Type in EncryptionContextMenu. Configure the value as 1.
You should now be able to encrypt or decrypt any of your folders and files using the shortcut menu.

Create a shortcut with the following path:

c:\windows\system32\rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation

Open your registry editor and navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\My Computer\Namespace\DelegateFolders.

Locate the {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} subkey and delete it. Upon doing so, you will have successfully removed the Shared Documents folder from your computer.

Before applying this tweak, first check the amount of internal memory (RAM) installed on your computer.

Go to the desktop, select "My Computer" with the right-click of your mouse, then select "properties" and
on the Tab "General" you will see the amount of RAM-memory installed displayed (see picture 1).

To speed up your Disk cache follow the next steps:

"regedit".

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Session Manager/Memory Management/IoPageLockLimit

Double click on the key "IoPageLockLimit" and change the value data in Hex depends on the amount of installed internal memory on your computer.

64MB : 1000
128MB : 4000
256MB : 10000
512MB or more : 40000

The modifications you made will be in effect after you reboot your PC.

Fixing the dreaded "Parser Message: Value creation failed " at line 472" error. This is a problem with the file shellstyle.dll, which is included in most visual styles. Use the following steps to fix the problem:

1. Go to your /WINDOWS/Resources/Themes directory, or wherever you may have your themes located. Go into the directory of the theme your currently using.
   Example: Using 'Semplice' by KoL? Navigate to /WINDOWS/Resources/Themes/Semplice
2. Go into the folder called 'Shell" within the previous directory.
   
   
3. Inside you'll find a folder with a file called 'shellstyle.dll' inside. Now remember the name of the theme your using? (Example: Semplice). You need to rename this folder from Shell to the name of the theme your currently using. If you don't know the exact name, go to Display Properties, and try to Display/Show the theme, the name you see in Display Properties is the name you need to change the 'Shell' folder to.
   
   Example: Using Semplice as an example, the Shell folder for that theme is called 'Shell', in this situation you'll need to rename the folder to 'Semplice'. Easy enough, right?
   
   Note that for multi-part themes, aka themes with more than one variation or color, you'll need to rename each corresponding 'Shell' folder to what is displayed in Display Properties when you try to apply the theme.
4. Now that you've changed the 'Shell' folder name to correspond with the visual styles name, reapply the theme.
   
   
5. Go to Add/Remove Programs, and voila! :)

NOTE: Great fix, but u can also just remove your theme and go to a standard XP one, uninstall your program, then apply your theme again.

1. First Fix Option:

Goto Control Panel | Folder Options | File Types |
...Scroll down to and highlight "URL" in the Extensions Column.
...Click on ADVANCED | highlight OPEN | then click EDIT |
...Now make sure the following fields look as follows:

• make sure there's a Check Mark in "Use DDE"

• Application used to perform action: rundll32.exe shdocvw.dll,OpenURL %l
• DDE Message: "%1",,-1,0,,,,
• Application: IExplore
• DDE Applicatoin Not Running: <there should be nothing in this field>
• Topic: WWW_OpenURL

...Fill in the fields as above, then click on OK. That should fix it, if not, try the fix below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Second Fix Option:

• If that fix doesn't work, simply go to:
  Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs | Add/Remove Windows Components | Un-Checkmark Internet Explorer, click OK then Finish.

Then go back and Re-Checkmark Internet Explorer, click OK, then FINISH.

To rebuild the Driver Information or Hardware Information database:

• Rename the Drvdata.bin and Drvidx.bin files.
  
  

• Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.

• In the Named box, type drvdata.bin, and then click Find Now.

• Right-click the Drvdata.bin file, click Rename, type a new name for the Drvdata.bin file (for example, Drvdata.xxx), and then press the ENTER key.
  
  
• Repeat steps a through c for the Drvidx.bin file, and then quit the Find tool.
  
  
• Restart your computer normally.
  
  After you restart your computer in normal mode, you are notified that Windows is building the Driver Information database or the Hardware Information database. Your Plug and Play devices are detected again, those devices' busses are enumerated again, and then Windows receives the device information through the BIOS and prompts you to install the default driver for the device. You may also be prompted to insert a disk for the device. If the driver that you want to install is different than the default driver, you can choose the driver that you want to install.

When its file association is messed up. EXE's file association is itself... PROGRAM.EXE is needed for opening files of type 'Application'

• Fire up your Registry editor and navigate to:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Classes \ Exefile \ Shell \ Open \ Command

• Now, whatever value is in there needs to be replaced with the following: "%1" %* (exactly as shown). You should only have to do this when your EXEs have stopped launching properly. %1 in the string defines the object. As a matter of fact, you can also use the %1 trick to change the default icons for BMP, ICO, CUR, ANI, ICL, DLL, or CPL files. Look up at the exefile's DefaultIcon key. See how the data column has a %1? Peruse through the Classes key until you find the filetype name (its extension towards the top of the list will let you know precisely). For instance, BMP is also classified as Paint.Picture. Change its default icon to %1 and you'll have BMP thumbnails in all of Explorer's views instead of the default BMP icon.

You will need NIC Driver and Win9x CAB files.

• Remove everything in Network Neighborhood Configuration.

• Find and Delete/Rename: VIP.386, VTCP.386, VDHCP.386, VTDI.386, VNBT.386

• Backup the Registry, then do the following:

• HKLM | System | CurrentControlSet | Services | (delete both WINSOCK and WINSOCK2 folders)

• HKLM | System | CurrentControlSet | Services | VXD |(delete DHCP, MSTCP, WINSOCK and WINSOCK2 Folders)

• Reboot Computer.

====================
Export the OE registry keys
====================
Create another new folder to hold the registry files, for example
"D:\Data Files\Outlook Express\Registry\"

From Regedit, export these 4 keys as *.reg files and save them in your OE Registry folder:

• \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities
• \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Account Manager
• \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express
• \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab File Name

Question: I upgraded to Internet Explorer 6.0 and now I get an error message in Outlook 2002 whenever I click on a hyperlink that says, "this operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator." Is there a way to fix this or do I have to go back to an older version of Internet Explorer?

Answer: Don't worry, you won't have to go back to an older version of Internet Explorer. You are getting this error because the following registry key is either missing or went corrupt; HKEY_Local_Machine \ Software \ Classes \ htmlfile \ shell \ open \ command. There are two possible fixes so we will start with the easiest one first. The first fix involves resetting the Web settings in Internet Explorer. You do this by starting Internet Explorer and then open Tools|Internet Options|Programs. On the Programs tab you will see a button you can click that says "Reset Web Settings", click that, then choose Apply and OK. The second fix should only be used if the first fix doesn't work, as it relies on you exporting a registry key from another computer and importing that key into your registry. To export the appropriate registry you need to go to another computer with Internet Explorer 6.0 and then open the Registry Editor by clicking Start, Run, then type "regedit" (sans quotes) in the open box and click OK. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the above mentioned registry key and click on the command folder. To export that registry key just click on the File (or Registry) menu, click Export and choose the name and location of where you want to save the exported registry key (I recommend saving it directly to a floppy disk to save time). You can now close the Registry Editor and take your REG file to your computer. To import the registry key on your computer all you have to do is double-click on the REG file you got from the other computer and click Yes when it asks if you want to copy this information to the registry. All that is left is restarting the computer and you should be fine now.

Question: I am running Windows Millennium Edition with Internet Explorer 5.5 installed, and for some reason I can't print from any web pages. I have reinstalled my printer and it works fine on other applications. I even took the printer to another computer running Windows ME and it works fine. Is there a setting on my computer that I seem to be missing?

Answer: First, I just want to applaud you for your use of deductive reasoning when tracking down your computer problem. Computer technicians love when you can give them all the steps you have tried to resolve the problem as it can save a lot of time. As you have probably figured out by now the problem isn't with your printer or Windows ME because you can print from other applications, so that leaves Internet Explorer 5.5 as the culprit. I think this is just a simple issue of what encoding option your Internet Explorer is using. What you need to do is open Internet Explorer, go to the View menu and then Encoding. The encoding option should be set to Unicode so if it isn't then just click on Unicode to select it. Once you have done that I would close all instances of Internet Explorer and then try to open a web page you had trouble printing. You should notice that the trouble is gone now.

Question: When I click to open an image in Internet Explorer 6 the image doesn't look right, like it hasn't be sized properly, is there a way to fix this?

Answer: I had the same problem myself. I got frustrated with my own Web graphics because I knew how they were supposed to look. I finally went through my Internet Explorer setting and came to the conclusion that IE was trying to resize my images. While I can see how this can be a good thing, it also has some bad qualities.

To turn off Automatic Image Resizing you need to open Internet Explorer and then go to Tools|Internet Options|Advanced. Now if you scroll down to the Multimedia options, you will see how you can uncheck "Enable Automatic Image Resizing." Just click OK when you are done, then close your Internet Explorer windows. Now when you open an image in Internet Explorer, you can see it in the intended size and glory.

Question: When I visit certain web sites I have to keep adjusting the text size because they use different fonts and font sizes. Is there a way to fix this so that I don't have to keep messing with the text size?

Answer: So, you are sick of straining to read the small type too? We Gnomies know just how to fix up your Internet Explorer so this is no longer an issue. All you need to do is open

Internet Explorer and select Tools | Internet Options from the menu. Click a button called Accessibility. All that is left is for you to put a check in the box next to "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages."

Viola! No more font size troubles. If you are a more advanced user then you can even go as far in this window as to set your own style sheet for every Web page. This is a great option for the visually impaired as you can set more vivid colors and larger text then the Web designer specified.

Question: Is there a difference between gold and "regular" connectors on my sound card and will I ruin the computer if I plug the wrong metal jack into it?

Answer: There is a difference between gold and "regular" connectors, but you don't have to worry about damaging the motherboard by plugging in one or the other. The gold connectors are the best connectors you can get, because they don't oxidize as fast as "regular" connectors and they conduct electricity better, making a faster and cleaner signal to the motherboard. You're probably wondering why oxidation matters, so lets think of this non-technically for a minute. Imagine you are trying to talk to a friend on the phone, but you have placed a sheet over the receiver. Although your friend can hear you and probably make out what you are saying, it will sound muffled and your friend may have to strain to hear it. That is kind of what it is like for your computer to communicate to a card with oxidation on the connectors. Don't worry if you have "regular" connectors on your internal cards; make sure you take your computer in for regular maintenance or buy products online to de-oxidize the connectors yourself.

Question: Is there a way to stop JPEG picture files from losing resolution and looking bad?

Answer: This question is a little bit tricky to answer, but I shall do my best! JPEG picture format is a popular format for many reasons, but the biggest reason for most people to use JPEG format is the small file size. This small file size is also one of the contributing reasons as to why a JPEG file may not look the way you originally intended it. To achieve this small file size, the JPEG image has to be compressed, and this can affect the layers and the resolution of the picture. So essentially, to get a better JPEG picture, you need to make it with little to no compression and with the highest resolution possible. If you are going this far for a good picture, though, then you might be better off to save in another format like GIF or TIFF. On a personal note, I am a huge fan of using the PNG format whenever possible, because the file size is normally acceptable and the image looks excellent. (My second choice of file format would be GIF.) [BS]

Many people don't know that with Windows XP Professional, you can enable your machine to receive Remote Desktop Web Connections. This is great for being able to connect to your desktop machine (if you are on an always connection) from someone else's machine. Just navigate to

Start | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs | Add/Remove Windows Components | Internet Information Services | Details | World Wide Web Service | Details, and then put a check in the box for "Remote Desktop Web Connection."

Just keep clicking OK to get back to your desktop, and now you have Remote Desktop Web Connection installed! To open a Remote Desktop Web Connection to your machine, all you need to know is the IP address of your machine and then put that in the address field in Internet Explorer on the machine you want to connect from. (You may have to download an ActiveX control, it's OK to put on your machine.) If for some reason you can't connect to your machine, then you may want to right-click My Computer, choose Properties, and navigate to the Remote tab. Make sure that the "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer" check box is selected. For more information on Remote Desktop Web Connections, check out Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - Q284931.

Tip is for the Windows XP users in the crowd. Some users have noticed that Windows XP can be slow when trying to access a folder full of media files (i.e. AVI/MPEG/DAT). Although I can't find anything on Microsoft's Web site that addresses this problem, it was still brought to our attention that there is a fix. Now, this fix will require you to edit your registry so I will STRONGLY refer you to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - Q322755 for the steps on how to back up your registry (REMEMBER: registry tweaking can be tricky!). Click the Start button, go to the Run command, type "Regedit," and click OK. Once inside the Registry Editor, click Edit, then Find. In the "Find What" field, type in "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}" (without the quotes) and click Find Next. Once the Registry Editor finds this folder, you will see that inside it is a folder named InProcServer32. Click on this folder, and delete both registry keys inside. Now, just exit the Registry Editor and reboot. With any luck, this will get rid of this sluggishness for you Windows XP users.

How to Create a Script for the Rules Wizard

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q306108

This Microsoft Knowledge Base article tells you how to create a script for Outlook 2002 that would allow you to perform tasks that are not possible using the regular features of the Rules Wizard. The catch is that you can't create the script in Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) or any other scripting languages except Outlook Visual Basic for Applications. This article assumes that you already understand the programming language and understand your programming options. You also can't mass deploy your creation, as you will need to configure each users computer to use your custom code.

Question: I'm trying to install Windows XP and for some reason it stops responding while it is trying to copy files. My friend told me to use a DOS boot disk to install Windows XP, but is that causing the problem?

Answer: Actually that may be the cause of the problem. If you booted off that DOS boot disk and it didn't have something called smartdrv on it or if smartdrv has certain switches turned on then the Windows XP installation may hang. One fix is to make sure your DOS boot disk runs the smartdrv command without any switches. You may have to modify your autoexec.bat to edit how smartdrv is run. For more information on how to run setup from MS- DOS in Windows XP then please read Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - Q307848. I will propose that you use a different fix, and that is to run setup by booting off the Windows XP CD, assuming you have a bootable CD-ROM drive. You may need to modify your BIOS setting to reflect this and I would refer you to your system documentation for the steps on changing boot devices. Once you boot off the Windows XP CD then you shouldn't have this problem anymore and you can choose any number of install options.

Question: Why does XP disconnect network drives? I am using XP Professional logged to a Windows 2000 domain server, and after a period of inactivity, XP disconnects my network drives. I can disable and re-enable the network connection to reestablish the drive, but that is a pain. Any suggestions?

Answer: You shouldn't have to disable and re-enable your network connection to re-establish the mapped drives. If they are still listed in your Windows Explorer or under My Computer, but have a red X through them, then you just need to double-click the drive to re-establish a connection. The idea is that by closing the connection, it's one less connection that your server doesn't have to worry about, especially if it is not being used. If your mapped drives are disappearing out of your Windows Explorer or My Computer, then my suggestion is to remove your computer from the Windows 2000 domain, restart, and then add the computer back to the Windows 2000 domain. We had that problem at one of the companies I do some work for, and Microsoft acknowledged it as a problem and that removing and then re-adding the computer to the domain is the current fix. [BS]

Remove everything in Network Neighborhood Configuration.

Find and delete VIP.386, VTCP.386, VDHCP.386, VTDI.386, VNBT.386

Backup the Registry, then do the following:

HKLM | System | CurrentControlSet | Services | (delete both WINSOCK and WINSOCK2 folders)

HKLM | System | CurrentControlSet | Services | VXD |(delete DHCP, MSTCP, WINSOCK and WINSOCK2 Folders)

-----------------------------------------------
Host Name: cx246966-h
Firmware Version: 1.37, Jan 03 2001

LAN:
(MAC Address: 00-20-78-D8-AD-77)
IP Address: 192.168.254.88
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
DHCP server: Enabled

WAN:
(MAC Address: 00-20-78-D8-AD-78)
IP Address: 68.4.38.7
Subnet Mask: 255.255.254.0
Default Gateway: 68.4.38.1
DNS: 68.4.8.229, 68.4.16.30
-----------------------------------------------
IP Address: 68.4.50.221
Gateway: 68.4.48.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.252.0