E-RUSE 3

Disable the right click functionality on the desktop
Today tip is very useful particularly for home users who want to protect their system default settings against unwanted changes that other users can make. For example changes in system desktop appearance, themes, and screen saver as well as other display settings. Using registry editor, you can disable the right click functionality on desktop to access the "Display Properties" dialog box and this will also prevent users to access windows explorer.
Follow the given steps to disable the right click functionality on desktop:

To use this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.
Click Start button and type regedit in Run option then press Enter for next
Here locate the location to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Here in right side panel, right click to create a new DWORD value with the name NoViewContextMenu (it is case sensitive), then assign number 1 in value data box.

Now close the registry editor and restart your computer after any changes to go into effect.
But next time, if you want to enable right click functionality on desktop then simply change the value of data box or delete the NoViewContextMenu DWORD item.

E-RUSE 2

Turn Off the Dr. Watson Debugger
Dr. Watson is a program error debugger that detects and diagnoses program errors in Windows and creates log files that contain the diagnostic data.

To turn off the Dr Watson debugger, apply the following Windows registry change:

Always be sure to backup your registry before making any changes !

To edit the registry go to Start, then Run and type in regedit and click Ok. To backup your registry go to File then Export and choose a location and name for your registry backup.

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AeDebug
Name: Auto
Type: REG_DWORD
Use a Value of 0 to disable
Use a Value of 1 to enable

To re-enable Dr Watson, you can also type drwtsn -i from a command prompt

E-RUSE 1

Helpful DOS Commands

Sometimes when troubleshooting your computer you will need to use command line based utilities to find information or run programs that you can’t do within Windows. In this section we will go over some of the more helpful DOS based commands that you can use to solve your computer problems.

To get to a command prompt go to Start, Run and type cmd (command for Windows 98) and click Ok.

Some of these commands use switches which are different options that will make the command do different things. Switches are usually used by typing a / and then the switch after the command. For example: Command /switch. You can also type Command /? for help on that particular command such as the available switches and how to use them.

* Chkdsk - Creates and displays a status report for a hard drive based on the file system and also lists and corrects errors on the disk.

/f : Fixes errors on the disk.
/r : Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information.

* Copy - Copies one or more files from one location to another
* Del - Deletes specified files.

/p : Prompts you for confirmation before deleting the specified file.

*
Dir - Displays a list of a directory's files and subdirectories.

/p : Displays one screen of the listing at a time.

*
Exit – Exits the command prompt utility.
*
Gpupdate - Refreshes local and Active Directory-based Group Policy settings, including security settings.
*
Hostname - Displays the host name portion of the full computer name of the computer.
*
Ipconfig - Displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values and refreshes Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name System (DNS) settings.

/all : Displays the full TCP/IP configuration for all adapters.
/renew : Renews DHCP configuration for all adapters.
/release : Sends a DHCPRELEASE message to the DHCP server to release the current DHCP configuration and discard the IP address configuration.

* Mkdir - Creates a directory or subdirectory.
* Mmc - Opens Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
* Move - Moves one or more files from one directory to the specified directory.
* Nbtstat - Displays NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) protocol statistics, NetBIOS name tables for both the local computer and remote computers, and the NetBIOS name cache.

-A IPAddress : Displays the NetBIOS name table of a remote computer, specified by the IP address.
-n : Displays the NetBIOS name table of the local computer.
-RR : Releases and then refreshes NetBIOS names for the local computer that is registered with WINS servers.

* Netstat - Displays active TCP connections.
* Ping - Verifies IP-level connectivity to another TCP/IP computer by sending Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Echo Request messages.
* Print - Sends a text file to a printer.
* Rename - Changes the name of a file or a set of files.
* Shutdown - Allows you to shut down or restart a local or remote computer. Used without parameters, shutdown will logoff the current user.

-l : Logs off the current user.
-s : Shuts down the local computer.
-r : Reboots after shutdown.
-a : Aborts shutdown.
-f : Forces running applications to close.
-m [\\ComputerName] : Specifies the computer that you want to shut down.
-t xx : Sets the timer for system shutdown in xx seconds. The default is 20 seconds.

*
Sfc - Scans and verifies the versions of all protected system files after you restart your computer.

/scannow : Scans all protected system files immediately.
/scanonce : Scans all protected system files once.
/scanboot : Scans all protected system files every time the computer is restarted.
/revert : Returns the scan to its default operation.

*
Time - Displays or sets the system time.
*
Ver - Displays the Windows XP version number.
*
Xcopy - Copies files and directories, including subdirectories.

COMPUTER TROUBLSOOTING 47

Changing your computer’s boot order

There may come a time when you need to boot from a floppy for troubleshooting purposes or boot from a CD to install a new operating system.
To do this you can change the boot order in your computer’s BIOS (basic input/output system). The BIOS is built in software that determines what the computer is setup to do without using information from the hard drive or operating system.
To get to your BIOS settings, start your computer and look for what it says you need to do to enter setup. You may have to press the delete or F2 key. Not all systems are the same.
Once you get into the BIOS there will most likely be a section named Boot. From there you can change which drive the system looks at first to boot from.

COMPUTER TROUBLSOOTING 46

Funny Computer Trick

Check out these funny trick.

Copy and paste the java script code to the address bar of your browser

javascript:function Shw(n) {if (self.moveBy) {for (i = 35; i > 0; i--) {for (j = n; j > 0; j--) {self.moveBy(1,i);self.moveBy(i,0);self.moveBy(0,-i);self.moveBy(-i,0); } } }} Shw(6)

2: Press enter and watch your window's "shaking it". You can change the value of i if you wish :-)

COMPUTER TROUBLSOOTING 45

Increase the speed of your slow internet connection
Today broadband internet connection is available in all the major cities, but in some area people are still using slow dial-up internet connection. So don’t worry, you can enjoy your dial-up internet connection faster than its normal speed using internet accelerator. The Web Accelerator application designed to provide the full acceleration for your routine web sites browsing. With the help of Web Accelerator you can browse your internet 4 to 6 times faster than normal dial-up connection. Basically this services compressing the website text data, images and heavy graphics to open or download this data with high speed.

This technique is more useful for static websites and for email applications but don't accelerate with secure and downloading audio or video files. Some good web accelerator retains your system cache to reuse websites with faster speed and can also block windows pop-up. If you are using FTP sites and downloading any program using dial-up, then web accelerator is not for you. There are various web accelerator software are free available on internet, visit and download it to enjoy your connection.