Maintenance and Troubleshooting
|
087 | |
 |
|
|
|
Don't Reactivate After Reinstalling. If
you reinstall Windows XP, you normally have
to reactivate it, but there's a way around
reactivation. Windows XP maintains the
activation information in the file Wpa.dbl, which
you'll find in the Windows\System32 folder. After
you activate, and any time you add
hardware to your system, back up the file to
another disk. If you need to reinstall Windows
XP for any reason, go through the installation
routine, then copy the latest version of Wpa.dbl
to the Windows\system32 folder.
Reboot Without Launching Programs In The Startup Folder, When
you're troubleshooting a problem, it helps
to reboot without launching the items in the
Startup folder. In some cases, the problem may
go away, which indicates that the problem is a
conflict with one of those applications. In cases
where these items have no effect on the problem,
skipping the Startup folder may still speed up the
reboot considerably, which is convenient if you
have to restart repeatedly. To skip loading the
items in the Startup folder, hold the Shift key
down during boot-up.
|
089 | |
 |
|
|
|
Create a Real-Mode Floppy Disk. To
run a program in a real-mode DOS session,
just format a floppy disk and navigate to
C:\Windows\Command\Ebd. Copy Io.sys and
Command.com onto the floppy disk and it's
ready to be booted.
Keep Windows Up To Date. You
can update Windows XP manually by
choosing Start | All Programs | Windows
Update. In Windows 98, Me, and 2000, this
option is listed at the top of the Start menu.
Windows XP and 2000 offer an Automatic
Updates feature to ensure that you always have
the latest Windows fixes. In Windows XP, you
can turn Automatic Updates on from the System
Properties dialog box. Open the Control Panel
and choose System. Next, choose the Automatic
Updates tab; turn the feature on, if necessary, by
clicking the check box Keep my computer up to
date at the top, then choose one of the options
for how you want updates to be handled. For
Windows 2000, you set options by going to
Control Panel | Automatic Updates.
If you want a lot of control over what's being
installed (or don't want to be a guinea pig for
brand-new updates), choose the option to have
the system notify you before downloading
updates and again before installing them. This lets
you review what updates are available and
decide whether to download and install them on
a case-by-case basis. But remember, it's a good
idea to install security updates as soon as they
are available.
Clean Up The Add/Remove Box. Sometimes,
when you uninstall a program, its entry remains
in the Add/remove programs listing. Or you might delete
something manually and find that the entry remains in the list
of uninstallable programs. You can clean up the list and
remove programs that you've already uninstalled. Run
Regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. From
there, you can remove any unwanted items, which are
in the form of Registry keys.
Manage File Associations. A
file association specifies which application is
the default for a particular file type. When you
open a file - an MP3, for example - the
associated program launches. To change the
current file association for a file type, or to create
an association, right-click on a file with the
appropriate extension, and select Open with. (In
Windows 98, you need to hold down the Shift
key when right-clicking.)
In Windows 98, Me, or 2000, select the
program you want to use from the list that
appears, or Browse for another application. Windows
XP will show you a short list of
recommended programs or let you Choose
Program. Check the box labeled Always use the
selected program to open this kind of file, and
choose OK.
If you're using Win XP and not sure which
program to use, and you are connected to the
Internet, click on the link called Look for the
appropriate program on the Web to go to a Web
page that may help you find out the correct
program to use.
|
093 | |
|
|
|
|
Use Your Computer. This
sounds like a no-brainer, but it's worth
understanding. Windows keeps a record of the
applications you use most often and reorders
them on your hard drive to optimize their launch. This
record is continually updated in the file
Layout.ini; the actual file moving takes place
every few days, while the computer is idle.
In addition to moving files, Windows tracks the
programs and processes initiated immediately
after your system boots up, creating a list of files
to prefetch during boot-up (meaning that
Windows anticipates your next move and grabs
necessary files before the computer even needs
them). Windows performs a similar task each
time you use an application, because when you
launch an app, you're not just running the
executable file; a number of files and program
components load. In theory, these actions will
make Windows run faster the more you use it.
|
094 | |
|
|
|
|
Roll Back Drivers. Updating
a driver can sometimes have an
adverse effect on your system. You may
experience problems such as system crashes and
malfunctioning devices. If this happens, use
Windows XP's Device Driver Rollback feature
to restore a previous driver.
Go to the Control Panel and open the System
applet. Under System Properties, choose the
Hardware tab and select Device Manager. Expand
the menu for the type of device you want
to roll back. Right-click on the device, choose
Properties, and click on Roll Back Driver.
|
095 | |
|
|
|
|
Use boot defrag. Windows XP includes a boot defrag feature that speeds up the startup process
by placing boot files next to each other on the hard drive (see Tip 093). By
default this option is on, but there have been instances where Windows XP has
been installed with the option turned off. To make sure boot defrag is enabled,
go to the Registry Editor and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction.
With this key highlighed, look in the Name column on the right side of
the window for Enable, and check that the Data value for
Enable is set to Y. If it is, the feature is on, and you
can close the Registry Editor. If it's not on, right-click on Enable
and choose Modify. Change the value to Y, choose OK,
and close the Registry Editor.
|
096 | |
|
|
|
|
Check Event Logs. Windows
XP maintains logs of application,
security, and system events. When you're
troubleshooting, the application and system event
logs can provide valuable clues about the cause
of the problem. To view these, open the Control
Panel and choose Administrative Tools. Then
select Event Viewe. For an overview of how to
use this applet, open Event Viewer, then choose
Action | Help.
|
097 | |
|
|
|
|
Clear The Prefetch. If
you're using Windows XP, add
C:\Windows\Prefetch to the list of directories to
empty periodically. This folder is probably full of
prefetch directions for applications you no longer
use (see Tip 077). You can safely remove these
files; any files that are needed will be created
again automatically.
Control Your Desktop Icons. When
you temporarily change your desktop to a
lower resolution - while using Safe mode, for
example - Windows can wreak havoc with your
careful positioning of desktop icons. A free
download, available at
www.pcnineoneone.com/tweaks/layout.zip, lets
you save and later restore your icon layout.
Download Layout.zip and unzip it to extract two
files. Move Layout.dll to the Windows\System32
folder. Double-click on Layout.reg to add it to
the Registry.
If you now right-click on almost any of the
standard desktop icons you'll see two new items:
Save Desktop Icon Layout and Restore Desktop
Icon Layout. Choose the former whenever you
change the layout; choose the latter when you
need to restore it.
|
099 | |
|
|
|
|
Remove DoubleSpace and DriveSpace. Nobody
uses the disk compression utility
DoubleSpace or its latter-day replacement,
DriveSpace, anymore. Hard drives of immense
capacity have become so affordable that it's
foolish to do so. But by default, either
Dblspace.bin or Drvspace.bin loads into memory
when Windows starts. You can prevent this by
simply deleting those files from both the root
directory and the C:\Windows\Command folder.
|
100 | |
|
|
|
|
Protect Your Data. All
computer users should be careful to protect
themselves against the loss of data, and
notebook users should be extra cautious; laptops
are easier to steal and are more prone to being
damaged. Windows XP Professional makes it
drop-dead simple to back up your data.
To begin, click Start | All Programs | Accessories
| System Tools | Backup. You can then walk
through the Backup wizard to select which files
you want to copy, and where you want to write
the backup copy of the data.
When you get to the end of the wizard, there is
an Advanced button that provides more backup
options. Here you can choose normal or copy
(these both back up all marked files every time),
incremental or differential (both of these options
back up all files that have been changed since the
last backup), or daily (which backs up all of the
files that were created that day). Copy and
differential don't mark the files as having been
backed up.
As you continue through the wizard, you can
specify other options, such as setting up a daily
backup schedule that runs automatically.
|
101 | |
|
|
|
|
What's the Process? When
you're troubleshooting problems, it can be
helpful to look up information about the running
processes. You can do this from the Task
Manager, which you open by pressing
Ctrl-Alt-Del. But more information is available in
this view than you may think. After opening the
Processes tab, click View | Select Columns. Here
you can add useful information - such as
the process identifier (or PID), CPU time, and
peak memory usage associated with each
process - to the main Processes window.
Defrag. This
shouldn't be news. We have huge hard
drives with tons of data and programs, and they
need to be organized periodically - we
recommend at least once a month. Schedule disk
defragging using the Task Scheduler (in the
Accessories section of the Start menu) and you'll
never have to think about defragging again.
|
103 | |
|
 |
|
|
Use the Registry Favorites Menu. If
you repeatedly tweak the same keys in the
Registry, use the Registry's Favorites menu. Choose
Favorites | Add To Favorites. The next
time you need to edit the key, open the Registry
Editor, select Favorites, and pick from the list.
|
104 | |
|
 |
|
|
Back Up Critical System Files. Several
of the tips here require modifying the
Registry. Be very careful! Tampering with system
files can cause problems if not done properly. To
be safe, back up the Registry and other critical
files before making any changes.
Microsoft makes this easy. Just select Start and
click Programs in Win Me or All Programs in
Win XP. Select Accessories and System Tools
and System Restore. Choose Create a restore
point and Next. Give the restore point a
description, and press Next in Win Me or Create
in Win XP.
If your system develops any problems and you
can still get into Windows, follow these steps to
get back to System Restore, and choose Restore
my computer to an earlier time. If Windows will
not boot, press F8 as soon as the operating
system starts trying to load. If you're running Win
Me, boot to Safe Mode and run System
Restore. In Windows XP, you can use Safe
Mode or choose Last Known Good
Configuration.
Copyright (c) 2002 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.