1. Impassable Passwords For Windows Operating Systems.

Use strong words:

A "strong" password mixes numbers and letters, and not in alphabetical or numerical sequence ("abcd1234" is not strong). Mix the case and throw in punctuation marks. Use an entire phrase if space allows; longer is better.

Don't use weak words:

Never use a word that you can find in the dictionary or that is a proper name. Pets, kids, and spouses make bad passwords. Don't use the date you changed passwords ("jan23"). By all that's digital, don't use "password or letmein" as your password.

Change it:

Alter your passwords regularly to stay one step ahead of those who might want to use them.  At least ever 45 days.

Be inconsistent:

Don’t use the same password on every computer you use or every site you surf. All it takes is one site to become compromised, and then someone will have access to all your accounts.

Create a master password:

For the memory challenged, create a single, strong password you can recall, then adjust it based on the name of the site or service. For Face Book, for example, "Blg1225" becomes "FacBlg1225." Or let technology handle it: A number of Firefox add-ons will combine your master password with the name of a site to create a new password for each site. 

Protect Firefox:

The Firefox browser offers the option of a master password that you must enter before you can access any stored site passwords. It requires entering two passwords each time.

Don't AutoComplete passwords:

Browsers will not only store your passwords but also fill them in for you. This is a bad idea on a shared or office-based PC. In Firefox, use the master password instead. In IE, go to Internet Options, click the Content tab, and go to AutoComplete settings to disable.

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2. Reposition Windows XP’s Quick Launch toolbar.

If you like using the Quick Launch toolbar but wish that it did not take up so much room on the taskbar, you can easily move the Quick Launch toolbar to any other location on the desktop. You can move it to the top, left, or right edge of the desktop. Here’s how:

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select the Lock The Taskbar command to unlock the taskbar.

2. Position your mouse pointer over the dotted vertical divider on the left edge of the Quick Launch toolbar.

3. When your cursor turns into a double-headed arrow, just click and drag the Quick Launch toolbar to any edge of the desktop and drop it.

After you drop the Quick Launch toolbar, it may appear as a window. If it does, just perform the drag-and-drop operation again making sure that toolbar anchors to the edge of the desktop. You may then need to resize the toolbar. Once you have it positioned where you want, right-click on the toolbar and select the Always On Top command so you can always access the Quick Launch toolbar just as you do the taskbar.

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3. To keep the Numerical Lock always on at start-up?

There are two ways to do this. The first requires access to your system BIOS setup. Most BIOS setup programs have an Enable NumLock entry you can set so that NumLock will be on at boot time.

The other way is to edit the system Registry. Note that you need to be comfortable editing the Registry, and you should back up your Registry before any edit.

If you have Windows XP, click Start | Run; if you have Windows Vista, type Run in Windows Vista’s search box. In either operating system, type Regedit in the resulting dialog box. In the Registry editor, find the Registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Keyboard. There you’ll find a key called InitialKeyboard Indicators. If it’s set to anything other than 2, double-click on it and set it to 2. Hit Enter.
 

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4. Configure the Windows XP logon screen saver.

If you ever work in a computer lab or an Internet café where systems regularly sit idle waiting for someone to log on, you know that Windows XP will display the Logon dialog box or the Welcome screen for 10 minutes before running the default logon screensaver, which is the Windows XP logo floating on a black background. You can change the default logon screensaver to something different, such as the OpenGL 3D Pipes screen saver, and you can even shorten the amount of time that Windows XP waits before activating the screensaver. Here’s how to do both:

1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to HK_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Locate and double-click the SCRNSAVE.EXE string value.
4. When you see the Edit String dialog box, type the name of the screensaver you want in the Value Data text box and click OK.
5. Locate and double-click the ScreenSaveTimeOut string value and change the value from 600 seconds to another number, such as 120 for two minutes.
6. Close the Registry Editor and restart Windows XP.

After the system restarts and you see the Logon or Welcome screen, leave the system untouched for two minutes to see your new screensaver in action.

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional. As always, remember that editing the registry is risky, so be sure to back up your computer before undertaking any registry changes.  

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5. Renaming The Recycle Bin For Microsoft Windows XP Users.

FIRST METHOD
1. Click Start / Run
2. Type regedit and press enter.
3. Open the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT folder
4. Open the CLSID folder
5. Open the {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} folder
6. Open the ShellFolder folder
7. Change the "Attributes" data value from "40 01 00 20" to "50 01 00 20". Once completed change the "CallForAttributes" dword value to "0x00000000" (double-click and change value data to 0). You must change both of these values to get the rename to appear.
 

After performing the above steps you will be able to rename the icon like any other icon. Right-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop and click Rename and rename it to whatever you wish.
 

SECOND METHOD:
Easily rename the Recycle Bin

If you (like me) would like to be able to rename the Recycle Bin to something else (Trash, Waste, Shredder, etc) then this tweak will make it easy to do so.

Open up your favorite plain text editor (notepad, for example) and copy the following text into a new file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20
"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000000

Now save this text file as a .reg file, such as "Rename Recycle Bin.reg" and put it wherever you like. Double click on the file, and when it asks you if you want to import it into the registry, choose Yes.

You'll notice a new option in the right-click menu to Rename the Recycle Bin. You can also rename it by highlighting the Bin and hitting F2, or by highlighting it and clicking on the file name (just like renaming any other file.
 

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6. To remove a Stored Password in Internet Explorer 7.

To remove a stored password or other stored information in Internet Explorer 7, follow these steps:
 

1. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, under Browsing history, click the Delete... button. You now have several options:
 

o To delete temporary Internet files (copies of web pages, images, and media that are saved for faster viewing), click the Delete files... button.
o To delete cookies, click the Delete cookies... button.
o To delete the history (the lists of web sites you have visited), click the Delete history... button.
o To delete form data (saved information that you have typed into forms), click the Delete forms... button.
o To delete passwords, click the Delete passwords... button.
o To delete all of the above, click the Delete all... button.

3. Click OK twice.

Do the same in Internet Explorer 6

To remove a stored password or stored form data in Internet Explorer 6, follow the instructions below:

1. From the Tools menu, select Internet Options... .

2. Click the Content tab, and then click the AutoComplete... button.

3. To remove stored passwords, click Clear Passwords.

To clear stored data that you have entered into forms, click Clear Forms.

4. Click OK.

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7. Prevent a shutdown of a Windows XP System.
 

By default, at three o’clock every morning Windows XP’s Automatic Updates tool contacts the Windows Update site and automatically downloads and installs updates for your system. However, that cannot happen if other people who use the computer shut it down at the end of the day. Fortunately, you can prevent anyone from shutting down Windows XP with a little registry tweak. Here’s how:
 

1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Right-click the Explorer subkey and select New | DWORD Value.
4. Name the key NoClose and press [Enter] twice.
5. Type 1 in the Value Data text box and click OK.
 

To enable the setting, close the Registry Editor and restart your system. Once your system restarts, you will not be able to it shut down by clicking the Shutdown button on the Start menu. This will prevent most users from inadvertently shutting down the computer.
 

When you do want to shut down your system, just access Task Manager by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Del], then pull down the Shut Down menu and select the Turn Off command.
 

Note: Since editing the registry is risky, be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes. This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.
 

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8. Take advantage of Windows XP Pro’s Remote Desktop Connection shortcuts.

If you regularly use Remote Desktop Connection to manage other Windows XP Pro systems, chances are that you’ve been working with a remote system in a window. If so, you’ve likely used [Windows] or [Alt][Tab] with the intention of controlling the remote system and then remembered that those keys control the local system. This happens because the Keyboard setting on the Local Resources tab of the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box is set to In Full Screen Mode Only by default; as a result, all of the Windows key combinations will only work when you view the remote system in full screen mode.

While you could easily switch to full screen mode or even change the Keyboard setting, it is definitely worth your time to learn the Remote Desktop Connection shortcuts. For example, you can activate the Start menu of a remote system by pressing [Alt][Home]. Likewise, you can cycle through the programs running on a remote system by pressing [Alt][Page Up]. In addition to these Remote Desktop Connection shortcuts, here are others that you might want to use.

Note: This tip applies only to Windows XP Professional.

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9. View Your Computer Specs.

Often when troubleshooting or upgrading a computer, you need to know the specs - information about the computer's OS, RAM, CPU, and many more. So where are you going to find this information? One way (slightly advanced) is to open the System Information viewer (Start>Run>msinfo32.exe). More ways to locate system information are explained below.

System Properties Window
How to access: Hold Start Key and press Pause/Break.
The Systems Properties Window is your portal into the hardware of your computer. On the General tab under System you can find the Operating System name, version, and service pack. Below that is the name of the person the computer is registered to and the registration key used to activate it. Below that is the model name (may not always be same as on box), processor name and speed, and amount of RAM. This is usually enough to get by with, but sometimes you need more, so read on.

Device Manager
How to access: Hold Start Key and press Pause/Break. Switch tab to Hardware and click the Device Manager button.
The Device Manager Window is the advanced portal into the hardware of your computer. From the available categories listed, you can find information regarding just about everything in your box. I cannot begin to list all of them or how to access them, so I will name a few commoners.

Display Adapters (Graphics Card)
If you need info on your graphics card, expand the Display Adapters node and right click on your card. Select Properties from the menu. From the Properties window, you can update/install/rollback the driver, troubleshoot, and enable/disable the card. There are also loads of details about your graphics card available from this window.

DVD/CD-ROM drives
If you need info on your DVD/CD drives, expand the DVD/CD-ROM drives node and right click one of them. Select Properties from the menu. From the Properties window, you can update/install/rollback the driver, troubleshoot, and enable/disable the drive. There are also loads of settings and details about your drive available from this window.

My Computer
How to access: Double click My Computer from Desktop or Click Start and then select My Computer
The most important information that you can find in My Computer is your hard drive size/free space. To do this, right click on Local Disk (C:) and select Properties. The amount of free space on the drive is next to the pinkish square (to the immediate left of GB). The size of the drive is located to the right of Capacity (to the immediate left of GB).
 

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10. Would you like to copy some files you update during the day to a network location before you log off and go home at night?

You can find a variety of small utilities that will automate tasks at shutdown, but for a straightforward task like the one you've described, you really don't need them. Just create a simple batch file to copy the updated files and end it with a command that shuts down the computer. You just have to remember to end your session by launching this batch file rather than by tapping the power button or shutting down via the Start menu.

Open a Command Prompt window and determine the exact commands needed to copy the desired files. Use the XCOPY command, as it handles big files better than plain COPY. If you back up the same files every day, you can hard-code the full path for those files in the command. For each file you'd use a command like XCOPY /Y C:\BIG\BIG.DAT \\REMOTEPC\BACKUPS. The /Y command line switch automatically answers yes if XCOPY asks whether to overwrite an existing file having the same name. If you've mapped the network drive to a local drive letter, the command might look like XCOPY /Y C:\BIG\BIG.DAT G:\BACKUPS. It may be that the set of files that need backup changes every day. In that case, establish a folder that holds only those files and copy all files from that folder: XCOPY /Y C:\BIG\*.* G:\BACKUPS.

When you've verified the commands needed to back up your files, launch Notepad and enter those commands into a new document. Save it on the Desktop as "MyBackup.bat"—include the double quotes, so that Notepad won't be tempted to rename it MyBackup.bat.txt. Launch the batch file and verify that it does the job correctly. Now open it in Notepad again and add this command at the end of the file:

SHUTDOWN -S -F -T 60 -C "Shutting down in 60 seconds"
 

Once the files have been copied, this line will start a 60-second countdown and then shut the system down. If you have a change of heart, quickly click Start, then Run, and type SHUTDOWN -A.
 

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11. Turn Off The Windows Sidebar.

The Windows Vista Sidebar is a vertical bar that sits, by default, on the right hand side of your desktop. This sidebar can provide 'at a glance' information depending upon the gadgets the user wishes to display on the sidebar. This can be anything from a simple calendar to information on CPU and Memory usage

By default the Windows Vista Sidebar is enabled during installation and should be visible on the right hand side of your desktop. While Sidebar is indeed a useful addition tot he desktop, allowing access to frequently used tools, some users may find it somewhat intrusive. This can be particularly so if you happen to be working on a small monitor screen.

To turn off the Windows Sidebar and reclaim your desktop's real estate, proceed as follows:

1. Right Click on the Sidebar

2. From the available menu click Properties

3. On the Sidebar properties window Remove the Check mark from the 'Start sidebar when windows starts' option.

4. Click OK to complete

5. The next time you boot your PC your desktop will be free of the sidebar.

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12. Turn Off The Vista User Account Control (UAC).

User Account Control is a new feature which help prevent unauthorized changes being made to your computer. Any time a change occurs on your computer UAC kicks in and asks if you want to allow this change. In other words you have to physically give UAC permission to make the change. This can be in the form of simply pressing an 'allow this' button to a more sophisticated form of permission, such as an administrator password. While this option can be a slight irritation it is certainly worth the effort for the casual user and, as such, although disabling details are outlined below, it is not recommended that you disable this option. If you are an 'expert' user then by all means disable UAC, but if you aren't then for safety's sake leave UAC enabled.

1. Click the Start button.

2. From the Start menu click Control Panel.

3. In Control panel click the User Account icon.

4. In User Account window click the 'turn user account control on or off' option.

5. Next click 'Continue' when the user Account Control permission box appears.

6. In the next window remove the check mark from the box next to the 'use user account control (UAC) to help protect my computer' and then press OK.

7. A message will now saying 'You must re-start your computer to apply these changes'.

8. Now click the Re-start button.

9. After your computer has re-started the UAC will be disabled.

10. To enable UAC again simply go to Control panel and click on the Security centre Icon. In the security centre window, in the section marked 'other security settings' a button marked 'Turn On Now'.

11. Press the Turn On Now button to re-enable User Account Control.

12. Finally exit the Security Center window and then Control panel.

An alternative method is as follows:

1. Click the Start Menu.

2. Click All Programs>Accessories>Run.

3. In the Run dialogue box type: msconfig.

4. In the MSCONFIG window click the Tools tab.

5. Scroll down the list of applications in the Tools tab until you come to 'Disable UAC'.

6. Highlight the Disable UAC option and then press the Launch button.

7. The Command prompt window will now open with the message 'This operation completed successfully'.

8. Close the Command prompt Window and you are done!

9. Incidentally after disabling UAC the Windows Security Center will flag that UAC is no longer functioning. The flag will keep popping up unless you change the way the security center alerts you.

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Windows Vista is the first Windows operating system to have a built in memory diagnostics tool. This tool helps analyze your install system memory (RAM) to ensure that everything is working as it should be.

There are two methods of accessing the Memory Diagnostics Tool:

From within the Vista Interface:

1. Click the Start button

2. From the menu select Control panel.

3. In Control panel click the Administrative Tools Icon.

4. In the Administrative Tools Window you will see a menu of items. Scroll down this menu until you come to the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool and then click on this option.

5. A new window will now appear with the following options:

Restart Now and check for problems (recommended).

Check for problems the next time I start my computer.

6. It is recommended that you choose the 'restart now and check problems option'.

7. The Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool will now start scanning your memory for problems.

8. After the diagnostic tool has finished checking the memory your PC will restart and details of the memory check will be displayed via an icon in the notification area.

9. By default the memory check is set  for 'standard'. If you want a more thorough check you can change the scan option by pressing F1. This will bring up the options window. From here you can change the scan from Standard to Basic or Enhanced. Please note that the Enhanced scan does take some time to complete.

Start Scan at Boot-up

This option is useful if you have a dual boot system - i.e. you have more than one operating system installed on your PC.

1. Reboot your PC.

2. At the Vista Boot manager screen press the TAB button to highlight the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool option.

3. When this option is highlighted press Enter.

4. The Memory Diagnostics Tool Window will now open and scanning of the memory will start.

5. Once scanning has completed your PC will restart and details of the scan will be displayed via an icon in the notification area on your desktop.

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14. Turn Off System Restore In Vista.

While System restore is a God send when problems strike, it can also have a downside. That downside is, quite simply, Disk Space. Every restore point takes up ever more valuable disk space, thus reducing available space required for other files/applications.

System restore is clever enough to realize that, once its space allocation (usually 12% of available disk space) has been reached it needs to start deleting some of its restore points and replacing them with later ones. However, there comes a time, assuming your PC is working satisfactorily; that it is much simpler to delete all restore points and start from scratch. Alternatively you may be the type of person that keeps an incremental backup image of your hard drive and are therefore not in need of system restore.

If you need to clear all system restore points (for whatever reason) or you simply don't want to use system restore (not a good idea unless you have an up to date backup image of your hard drive), you need to turn system restore off. To do this proceed as follows:

1. Click the Start Button.

2. From the Start menu click Control panel.

3. In Control Panel click the System Icon.

4. On the Left of the System properties window you will see a list of Tasks, click on the System protection link.

5. In the System Protection window remove the 'Tick' mark from beside the drive you want to disable system restore on.

6. A message will now appear asking: 'Are you sure you want to turn System restore off'.

7. Press the Turn System restore Off button.

8. System Restore will now be turned off permanently on that particular drive.

9. To re-enable system restore just click your mouse in the box next to the drive you require system restore to monitor ( a tick will appear in the box), the click the Apply button and system restore will resume monitoring the drive.
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15. Create New Partition Using The Vista DVD.

There are two basic ways of creating a new partition. The first is through Disk Management from within the Vista operating system itself or, alternatively, there is a way of creating a new partition using the Vista DVD.

To create a new partition using the Vista DVD proceed as follows:

1. Switch on your PC.

2. Quickly insert the Vista DVD into your CD/DVD-ROM drive.

3. A message will appear asking you to 'Press any key to boot from CD/DVD.

4. Press any key.

5. A black screen will now appear with a progress bar along the bottom. The legend say's 'Windows is loading files'.

6. After the files have been loaded the Language screen will appear.

7. Select your language from the list and press Next.

8. At the Installation screen press the Install Now button.

9. The product key window will now open.

10. Type your product key number into the available box and then press OK.

11. The End user License Agreement now appears. You 'must' accept this to continue.

12. The next screen to appear is 'Where do you want to install Windows'.

13. At the bottom of this window you will see an option marked Drive options (Advanced), click on this option.

14. In this Window select 'unallocated space' from the list of partitions and then click New.

15. A size box will now appear under the New option.

16. Type the size of the new partition into this box (or simply accept the default), then click the Apply button.

17. The new partition will now be created.

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