1000 Hacking Tutorials

Includes The Following:

Create Bootable XP SP integrated CD,Create One-click Shutdown And Reboot Shortcuts.txt Creating a Board aka Forum on your own PC !
Creating Universal Ghost Usb Boot Disk And Cd.
Data Capacity of CDs [Tutorial].txt ,Debug, Learn how ***** windows.txt,Delete An undeletable File.txt,Delete Files From The Recent File List In Windows. ,Digital Camera Guide.
Digital Faq -learn Everything About Digital, Capture, Edit and Burning and more.
Digital Photo Id Cards, Greate Info.
Direct Link To Any Page You Want To In Hotmail.
Directx Explained.
Disable Compression On Xp, NTFS partition, Disk Cleanup.
Disable The Send Error Report, to Microsoft.
Disable Windows Logo Key.
Discover New Music You'll Probably Love.
Download Free Music legally,, legally.
Download from a paypal site without paying a penny!.
Download From Ftpz, Using Ftp Search Sitez.
Download Mp3's Without Using Filesharing.
Download Music And Video With ,edia Player9, quick and easy!.


Download Timeframes.
Dual Boot After The Fact.
Dvd Copying-ripping Definitions.
DVD Regions Information.
Dvd-9 to Dvd+r Dl, Double Layer To Double Layer, 1-1 copies.
Easily Disconnect-reconnect From Broadband.
Easily Find Serial Numbers On Google.., easy to do and works like a charm..
Ebay Hack*****tip.
General Keyboard Shortcuts.
Get In Windows 2000 As Administrator.t
Get the Most Out of Your DVD Recorder.
Get The Music You Want To Hear.
Get unlimited bandwidth from your host for free.
Getting A 1gb Yahoo China Account.
Getting Counter-strike Source To Work.
getting movies, mp3,games using google.
Getting older programs to run on Windows XP.
Getting started with Linux for nOObs!.
Go to Windows updates anonymously.
Google ***** Search.
Google secrets.
Google Tips & Tricks, (utilizing search engine).
Graffiti On Walls 4 Adobe Photoshop Cs 8.0.
Guide For Getting Free Stuff.
Guide to IIS Exploitation.
Guide to Slipstreaming Service Pack 2.
Hard drive Gone Bad.
Hardware Firewall.
How To Add An Option To Print, the Contents of a Folder!.
How To Add Your Own Windows Tips.
How to Back Up the Registry.
How To Backup Ps2 Games.
HOW TO BLOCK PEOPLE ON WINMX WHO SHARE NOTHING.
How To Block Websties Without Software, block websites.
How To Boot Xp Faster (updated).
How to build a black box.tx
how to burn quicker in windows xp.
How to Bypass BIOS Passwords.
How To Bypass Web Filters, tutorial.
HOW TO CAPTURE STREAMING MEDIA.
How To Change A Cmos Battery.
How to change the serial number used in Windows XP, Valid for XP Corporate.
How To Change Thumbnail Size And Quality.
How to clear Bios info 2.
How to clear Bios info.
How To Convert File System, fat - fat32 to ntfs.
How To Copy A Dvd Which Will Play On A X Box.
How to copy songs from your iPod to your PC.
How To Customise Your start Button.
How To Delete Those Persistent Nasty Files.t
How To Directly Go To Inbox, Write Msg, w Hotmail, no need for How to find MP3's real quickly.
How To Find Serial Numbers On Google.
How to fix corrupted files in XP.
How to fix Windows Installer problem.
How To Get A Free I-pod Or Flat Screen Tv, check it out.
HOW TO GET ANY WINDOWS PASSWORD.
How to Get someones ISP password, Get free internet.
How To Get Top Ranking, Search Engines.
How To Hack Windows Xp Admin Passwords.
How to hack-change your Windows XP Boot Screen.
how To Hide Yourself From Network Users!, And give access to only specific users!.
How To Make An Animted Logo.
How To Make Free Phone Calls
How to make key generators.
How To Make Perfect Copies Of Maxis The Sims Discs, CloneCD Style!.
How To Make XP Go Faster.
How To make your own Radio Station 2.
How To Make Your Own Radio Station.
How to Remove DRM Protection for Video Files.
How To Remove Ms Java Vm And Install Sun Java.
How To Remove Signin Details Of Msn Passport.
How To Remove The Default Admin$ Shares.
How to remove the Links folder in IE Favorites.
How to Remove WinXP Splash and See Operations.
How To Rename Extensions With Ease, with a Renamer.bat file!.
How to Rename File Extensions.
How To Rename Multiple Files In Winxp.
How To Restrict Login Hours Allowed.
How to safeguard your files when computer crashes.
How to save Windows xp updates.
how to search google for RAPIDSHARE links.
How To See Hidden Files, Using Dos.
How To Set search For All Files In Winxp.
How to set up a http server running from you computer
How To Set Up A Proxy In Flashget, As Requested.
How to set up a server with Apache , PHP , MySQL , Perl , phpMyAdmin.
How To Set Up Direct Connect.
HOW TO SET UP FTP SERVER.
How To Set Up Proxies In Your Browser.txt 
How To Set Zone Alarm Settings!, Fix for ZA ports
How To Setup Your Own Dns (Domain Name Server).
How To Speed Up A Slow Computer.
How To Speed Up Http Requests On Internet Explorer, as above.
How To Stop Spam.
How to swear in all languages
How To Unload Cached Dll Files To Free Memory.
How to Use and How to Chain Multiple Proxies!.
How To Use File Compression In Windows Xp.
How To Use Google To Download Mp3's, and applications.....
How To Use Newsgroups.
How To Use You Gmail With Msn Messenger.
How-to Get Videos And Dvds Onto Your Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) for free.
HOWTO Change Windows XP Home to Windows XP Pro.
Important Faqs For Sp2.
Improve Doom 3's Performances!!, simple but efficient trick for every1.
Improve your dialup modem preformance.
Increase XP Folder Settings.
Insert Your Serial For Office 2k, auto install office.
Install A New Hard-disk
Install Xp From Dos
Installing Apache on Windows
Installing Gentoo Linux, Amazing step by step tutoria.
Installing IIS On Windows Xp Pro.
Installing Slackware Linux.
Instructions For Removal Of Advertising In Msn Messenger.
Ip Address Structure, Expilinatin OF IP Address {A short way}.
Irc How To Downlaod From, How to downlaod from IRC.
Irc Servers On nix, For people who want to start own IRC net.
Keep Files Private.
Keep Folders Hidden.
Keyboard Shortcuts Result in Excel 2000 - Movement.
Keyboard Shortcuts, Microsoft Word.
Keyboard Shortcuts, must read.
Kill Microsoft Instant Messenger.
Lamination Tips, Its a Fast TUT......
Leet Way To Get Your Ip In Windows Xp.
Linking Your Xbox To Your Computer.
Linux Howto's.
List Of Sites Not To Go To
Little help for anonymous mailer.
Lots Of Windows Xp Tips, Take A Look !
Lyrics With Google
Make A Autorun File For Ur Cd.
Make A Batch File To Clean UR PC!!, All In One!!.
Make A Roughly 16 Hour Video Dvd.
Make Acrobat Reader 6 load faster.
Make Dvd Iso From Suse 9.2 5 Cds Iso, Linux mode and Windows mode ISO creation.
Make Mp3 Files Smaller Without Losing Quality.
Make Your Own Ringtones For Mobile Phone, also logos, wallpaper, etc
Make Your Pc Faster, Guaranteed.
MakeXPgoFaster.
making a .cue file, in notepad.
Making A .txt Executable Server.
Making Bootable Floppy Disk to Boot into Windows.
Making Cd Version Of Doom3 Into Dvd Version.
Making Web Page Fonts Consistent and Uniform.
Manage Saved Ie Passwords
Mastering The Windows XP Registry.
Maximize Dial-up Modem Settings.
Microsoft's Really Hidden Files, Reveled Hidden files.
mIRC Not Just Another Chat Client, Download Anything You Want Almost.
mIRCcommands
Misc Linux Tips & Tricks.
Missing Administrator Account.
Mobile Secret Codes
Modify .exe Files And ***** A Program.
More Hacking/A beginners guide to Hacking UNIX.
More Hacking/A *****ing Tutorial/C101-90.000 
More Hacking/A *****ing Tutorial/C101-90.001 
More Hacking/A *****ing Tutorial/C101-90.002 
More Hacking/A *****ing Tutorial/C101-90.003 
More Hacking/A *****ing Tutorial/C101-90.004 
More Hacking/A *****ing Tutorial/ED!SON.NFO 
More Hacking/A Guide to Internet Security- Becoming an Ueber*****er.
More Hacking/A Guide to the Easiest Hacking there is.
More Hacking/A List Of Some OF The Most Useful UNIX Hacking Commands.htm
More Hacking/A Small Guide to Hacking HOTMAIL.
More Hacking/A UNIX Hacking Tutorial.
More Hacking/Almost Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Security (but.
More Hacking/An Indepth Guide in Hacking UNIX and the concept of Basic Net.
More Hacking/An Introduction to Denial of Service.
More Hacking/An Introduction to the Computer Underground.
More Hacking/Basic Networking.
More Hacking/BBS Crashing Techniques.
More Hacking/BRUTE- A brute force approach to hacking Unix passwords.
More Hacking/Closing the Net.
More Hacking/Compression and *****s for Dummies.
More Hacking/Computer Bulliten Boards and the Law.
More Hacking/Computer Chrime - Current Practices, Problems and Proposed So
More Hacking/Computer eMail and Privacy.
More Hacking/Computer Hackers News Articles.
More Hacking/Computer Rights vs First and Forth Amentment Right.
More Hacking/Computer Security.
More Hacking/Computer Security_2.
More Hacking/Computer Viruii.
More Hacking/Computerized Governmental Database Systems Containing Persona.
More Hacking/COPS and Robbers-Unix System Security
More Hacking/Copyright Guides for Photographers.
More Hacking/Crash Course in X Windows Security.
More Hacking/Crime and Puzzlement
More Hacking/Cultural Formations in Text-Based Virtual Realties.
More Hacking/Cyberspace and the Legal Matrix- Laws or Confusion.
More Hacking/Dark Angel's Phunky Virus Writing Guide 
More Hacking/Defamation Liability of Computerized Bulliten Board Operators.
More Hacking/Dept of Treasury Letter.
More Hacking/Electronic Bulliten Boards and 'Public Goods' Explainations o.
More Hacking/Electropolos - Communication and Comunity on IRC.
More Hacking/Ethload User's Guide.
More Hacking/Formulating A Company Policy on Access to and Use and Disclos.
More Hacking/Free Speech in Cyberspace.
More Hacking/Gender Issues in Online Communications.
More Hacking/Government Computer Security Techniques.t
More Hacking/HACKDICT.
More Hacking/Hacker Test.
More Hacking/Hackers A-Z.
More Hacking/Hackers Who Break into Computer Systems.
More Hacking/Hacking Bank Of America's Home Banking System.
More Hacking/Hacking Compuserve Infomation Service.
More Hacking/Hacking Faq
More Hacking/Hacking GTE Telemail.
More Hacking/Hacking IRC - The Definitive Guide.
More Hacking/Hacking PC-Pursuit Codes.
More Hacking/Hacking Techniques
More Hacking/Hacking TRW.
More Hacking/Hacking TYMNET.
More Hacking/Hacking Unix System V's.
More Hacking/Hacking Wal-Mart Computers.
More Hacking/Hacking Webpages.
More Hacking/How the Traditional Media Clasifications Fail to Protect in t
More Hacking/How to crash AOL.
More Hacking/How to dial out of a UNIX System.
More Hacking/How to find Security Holes.
More Hacking/How to get a Shell in 24 hours.
More Hacking/How to Hack UNIX System V
More Hacking/How to login to a C.B.I. System.
More Hacking/How to send ICQ Bombs
More Hacking/Information of Hacking AngelFire Websites.
More Hacking/Introduction to Denail of Service
More Hacking/IP addressing, and gaining IP's.
More Hacking/IP Addressing.
More Hacking/ISSN Numbers- An Introduction.
More Hacking/Junk Mail- How Did They All Get My Address.
More Hacking/LENROS~1.
More Hacking/LENROS~2.
More Hacking/MEMETICS.
More Hacking/MINDVOX.
More Hacking/MORRIS~1.
More Hacking/NEIDOR~1.
More Hacking/NFS Tracing.
More Hacking/Nightline- FBI,Privacy,and Proposed Wire-Tapping Legislation.
More Hacking/NY_2'S Guide to Obtaining An IP Address. 
More Hacking/Organizational Analysis in Computer Science.
More Hacking/PGP Startup Guide
More Hacking/Presumed Guilty
More Hacking/Raising Hell with Unix.
More Hacking/Remarks of the President and Vice President to Silicon Valley.
More Hacking/RIGGSB~1.
More Hacking/RIGGS_~1.
More Hacking/RIGHTS~1.
More Hacking/RIVERA.
More Hacking/Security holes.
More Hacking/Seisure Warrent Documents for Ripco BBS.
More Hacking/Site Security Handbook
More Hacking/SJ-DEC~1.
More Hacking/SJ-RESP.
More Hacking/SMTP-Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
More Hacking/Summary of FBI Computer Systems
More Hacking/SUNDEVIL.
More Hacking/SUPREM~1.
More Hacking/TCP packet fragment attacks against firewalls and filters.
More Hacking/Telenet-The Secret Exposed.
More Hacking/The Basics of Hacking- Introduction.
More Hacking/The Baudy World of the Byte Bandit-A Postmodernist Interpreta.
More Hacking/The Constitution in Cyberspace
More Hacking/The *****ing Manual.
More Hacking/The Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 - A Laymans .
More Hacking/The Greatest Hacker of all time.
More Hacking/The Hacker's League.
More Hacking/The Inner Circle Book's Hacking Techniques.
More Hacking/The Lamahs-Guide to Pirating Software on the Internet
More Hacking/The M.M.C. Guide to Hacking, Phreaking, Carding.
More Hacking/The National Information Infrastructure-Agenda for Action.
More Hacking/The Newbies Handbook- ' How to beging in the World of Hacking.
More Hacking/The Newbies-User's Guide to Hacking
More Hacking/The Pre-History of Cyberspace.
More Hacking/The Price of Copyright Violation
More Hacking/The REAL way to hack RemoteAccess.
More Hacking/The Secret Service, UUCP,and The Legion of Doom.
More Hacking/the UNIX operating system (Berkley 4.2).
More Hacking/Theft of Computer Software-A National Security Threat.
More Hacking/Thoughts on the National Research and Education Network.
More Hacking/Tips on Starting Your Own 
More Hacking/undocumented DOS commands
More Hacking/UNIX Computer Security Checklist.
More Hacking/UNIX Use and Security - By the Prophet.
More Hacking/UNIX Use and Security From The Ground Up.
More Hacking/UNIX- A Hacking Tutorial.
More Hacking/Viruii FAQ.
More Hacking/Virus-Trojan FAQ.
More Hacking/What Files are Legal for Distribution on a BBS.
More Hacking/What To Look For In A Code Hacking Program.
More Hacking/What To Look For In A Code Hacking Program.
More Hacking/What You Should Know About Computer Viruses.
More Xp Tips and tricks make your computer more faster.
Moving and Removing the Start Button.
Msn Messenger & Gmail.
My Flash Bookmarks, long list of tutorials.
Myth about WPA ( How it is done ), Windows Product Activation Technique.t
Your Own Home Server - Introduction.txt

...and much more!!!



1. 10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements  PC magazine.

Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (_http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates); have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.


3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."
_____________________

2.  -[ How to rip Dynamic Flash Template ]-

How to Rip TM Dynamic Flash Templates
by: Baisan

What you need:

Sample dynamic flash template from TM website
Sothink SWF Decompiler
Macromedia Flash
Yourself


1. browse or search your favorite dynamic flash template in TM website. If you got one... click the "view" link and new window will open with dynamic flash.. loading...

2. If the movie fully loaded, click View -> Source in your browser to bring the source code of the current page and in the source code, search for "IFRAME" and you will see the iframe page. In this example were going to try the 7045 dynamic template. get the URL(ex.
http://images.templatemonster.com/screenshots/7000/7045.html) then paste it to your browser... easy eh? wait! dont be to excited... erase the .html and change it to swf then press enter then you'll see the flash movie again icon_smile.gif.

3. copy the URL and download that SWF file.. use your favorite download manager.. mine I used flashget icon_smile.gif NOTE: dont close the browser we may need that later on.

4. open your Sothink SWF decompiler... click "Quick Open" then browse where you download your SWF/movie file. Click Export FLA to export your SWF to FLA, in short, save it as FLA icon_smile.gif

5. Open your Macromedia FLash and open the saved FLA file. press Control+Enter or publish the file... then wallah! the output window will come up with "Error opening URL blah blah blah..." dont panic, that error will help you where to get the remaining files.

6. Copy the first error, example: "7045_main.html" then go back to your browser and replace the 7045.swf to 7045_main.html press enter and you'll see a lot of text... nonsense text icon_lol.gif that text are your contents...

NOTE: when you save the remaining files dont forget to save with underscore sign (_) in the front on the file without the TM item number (e.g. 7045) if it is html save it as "_main.html" and same with the image save it as "_works1.jpg" save them where you save the FLA and SWF files. Continue browsing the file inside Flash application so you can track the remaining files... do the same until you finish downloading all the remaining the files.
_________________________________

3. 8 People Can Use The Same Msn Dial Up Account
its easy really. want to have an entire family on dial-up with just one bill?

step one. purchase 20 dollar a month subscription to MSN unlimited access dial up. This will include an MSN 9 cd which you will need. With the software installed, fill up your secondary account slots with new users. Make sure you pick @msn if it gives you the choice, hotmail email addresses will not work..

say the secondary account is johnsmith@msn.com type in the Dial up connection

USER : MSN/johnsmith
PASS: ******* (whatever)

connect to your local msn phone number and the other people you gave secondary accounts to will be able to do the same, while you are connected. Its a sweet deal considering everyone is paying about 2 bucks a month for internet access, especially if you cannot get broadband. if you wanted to sell off the access to people you could actually make money doing this.. but i do not suggest it.

I used to be an msn tech and this was a little known secret even to most of the employees.

After you do this you do not need the software any more. I would suggest keeping it on to micromanage everyone else's accounts. and for the simple fact that if they don't pitch in, cut them off HEHEHE

i'm on broadband now so i dont care if i tell you my little secret. anyone else knew of this?
____________________

4. 10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.
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5. 23 Ways To Speed WinXP, Not only Defrag

Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.


Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

Coming soon ......