Control Startup Programs in Windows XP

Windows has an inbuilt tool which allows you to control startup programs.

1. Go to Start
2. Click on Run
3. Type msconfig
4. Press Enter

Once you have the program opened, go to the Startup tab at the top (the last tab). Here you’ll find a list of programs that are set to start with Windows. The ones that are checked are currently the ones that start with Windows. Un-tick any programs in the list you do not wish to have run when Windows boots.

If you are not sure what a program is in the list, you should probably leave it checked.

Shutdown, Restart, and Logoff Icons on Desktop

You can have shortcuts on the Desktop for shutdown, restart, logoff, standby etc.

Right-click on the Desktop and create a new shortcut by selecting New > Shortcut.

Then in the Type the location of the item box, enter shutdown.exe -s -t 00

where 00 is the delay in seconds (you can increase it). You will then be asked to select a name (call it “Shutdown”, for example).

After creating the shortcut, you can change the icon assigned to it by right-clicking on the shortcut and selecting Properties. The window that comes up next has a Change Icon option.

For a Restart shortcut, use shutdown.exe -r -t 00

For logoff shortcut, type shutdown -l -t 00

For Fast User Switching shortcut, use Rundll32.exe User32.dll, LockWorkStation

For Standby/Hibernation shortcut use Rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState

How To Show Your Name in Windows Taskbar

Though there are thousands of Windows XP tips and tricks but some of them are very easy to implement and at the same time very fun to do. Today I have a sweet Windows XP trick for you that will give your Windows a personal touch and will also let you show off your name branding in front of your non-geek friends. Basically this trick will let you display a name of your choice (preferably your own name) in the Windows Taskbar just beside the digital time clock.

Show Your Name in Taskbar near Digital Time

Follow the steps and see the sweet magic

1. Open Start Menu and then open Control Panel
2. Double click Regional and Language Options
3. Click Customize (besides English U.S drop down menu)
4. Go to Time tab and change AM/PM symbols to the name of your choice

and you are done. Now that was fast and easy wasn’t it? Enjoy. Here is what I came up with

How to Capture Screenshots from Windows Media Player

Yesterday I tried to use the extremely useful screen capture by ‘Print Screen Key’ to try to capture a wmv running file on my Windows media player 11. But whenever I tried to use the print screen, a blank image was captured from the windows media player. So grabing a screenshot from Window Media Player is not so easy as it seems.

Then I thought maybe the running video was posing a problem with capturing a frame. So I paused the movie and tried the print screen technique. But still got a blank screen.

Then I tried to capture paused and running movies in full screen (Full screen shortcut – using Alt+Enter). But again no luck.

So I decided to tweak some advanced options of Window media player.

So here is the free and simple way to capture Images from Windows Media Player

• Open Window Media Player
• Then go to Tools | Options
• In Options, select the Performance Tab
• Way below you click on the Advanced Button
• Uncheck “Use Overlays’
• Click Ok
• And you are ready.

Now run your movie in any size or screen resolution. Use the standard ‘Print Screen Key’ Method and you have captured a snapshot from your favourite movie on windows media player without using any special multimedia software. Enjoy!

CodecInstaller installs the missing codecs on your computer

Freeware app CodecInstaller searches your computer for commonly used codecs and displays which codecs you have installed and which codecs you need. CodecInstaller can even download and install missing codecs. Additionally, you can point CodecInstaller at a specific file and CodecInstaller will tell you exactly which codecs you need to play the file. CodecInstaller requires the .NET 2.0 runtime and is a free download for Windows only.

CodecInstaller