Devoted Geek

Hiding your files in a jpeg image

I found this the other day and I thought it was an awesome little trick. I’ve gotten to work with Winrar without any issues. All it takes is a zipping utility, the windows command line, and an image. You can pretty much hide anything you don’t want people to see. Let me know how well it worked for you.

The ultimate guide to tweaking useless Windows XP services

Windows XP services explained

Windows XP is made up of a bunch of different applications running side by side. These applications are broken down into services, DLL files, and registry entries. Before I get a bunch emails, I know it’s far more complex than this but I am trying to keep it simple. Today we are going to focus in on some default XP services that are completely useless, or close to it. These services run in the background and take up memory, so disabling some of them will increase the amount of available memory in your system.

I’m going to focus on Windows XP service pack 2 but if you’re running service pack 3 this article can still help you. If you are running on service pack 1 I strongly suggest you upgrade as soon as possible. There are major security updates implemented in service pack 2 that you need to keep yourself safer online. Services have three different settings you can apply; Automatic - Manual - and Disabled.

How to open the Windows XP services control panel

1. Click on the start button then click on run.
2. In the text box type in “services.msc” without the quotes and push ok.

At this point a box should open and all the Windows XP services should be in a list. The image below is a cut out version of my services currently running. You’ll notice the red arrow is pointing to that status of the service. We will get into this more later

If you can’t find the run button in your system menu here is an alternative way to locate the services panel. Click on the start button and go to your control panel. Find the icon labeled administrative tools and double click on it. Then, find the icon labeled “services” and double click on it, and you should have a box open with all the services listed.

If you want to edit the properties of a service you can do so by double click on it and a window will open like the one pictured below. The yellow arrow gives you a description of the service. This is important because if you decide to turn off non-windows services you could be disabling something you need. In the image you can see my development coldfusion server service. If I turn it off I won’t be able to load coldfusion pages on my local development server.

The red arrow points to the box you will use to change the startup functions of the service. As I said earlier you have 3 choices. Automatic - Will turn the service on every time you turn the computer on. Manual - Will turn the service on whenever a program needs it. Although this doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to. Disabled - Means exactly what it says. The service is disabled and cannot be turned back on until you change this.

The blue arrow (pictured above) points to the okay button at the bottom of the dialogue box. You’ll need to click this or the apply button to set your changes in place. If you just close the box nothing will be changed.

Computer Browser Service

Windows Description: “Maintains an updated list of computers on the network and supplies this list to computers designated as browsers.”

A better explanation: This is used in domain environments. In other words if you’re running a simple home network you do not need it. If you disable it you can still share files, and browse your network computers.

Distributed Link Tracking Client Service

Windows Description: “Maintains links between NTFS files within a computer or across computers in a network domain.”

 

A better explanation: This sounds like something you really need but chances are you don’t. Basically if you create files on one computer, and then put shortcuts to those files on another computer, and then move the original files around you’ll need this. But, I’ve got multiple PC’s on my home network, and I’ve never needed it, so I doubt you ever will. Plus this does not work on FAT32 systems. But if you’re stupid enough to be running on a FAT32 system go ahead and keep this enabled.

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Custom Vista Hard Drive Icons For Windows XP

When you work in an I.T. department you start to develop a negative bias towards Windows Vista. Personally I never use Windows Vista unless I’m troubleshooting a repair, or struggling to repair the continued damage their new print drivers have caused on our network printers. But, I will admit vista has some nice graphical features that, Windows XP is lacking.

You can use Vista hard drive icons on Windows XP

One of the nice graphical improvements is the new hard drive icons (pictured below). They display how much hard drive space you have left at any given time. Well now you can get these nifty icons without installing the dreaded vista operating system. The best part about is that you can do so for free with a small program.

Download Vista Drive Icon from Source Forge

Did your my computer icon disappear

So you’ve noticed your my computer, my documents, or my networks places icon has disappeared from your desktop. There is an easy way to get them back in a few short steps.

1. Right click anywhere on your desktop and select properties from the drop down list.

2. Look at the top of the window that just opened and locate the desktop tab and click on it.

3. Locate the button near the lower left corner of the window that says “customize,” and click on it.

4. You’ll notice 3 checks boxes. One for my computer, my documents, and network places.

5. Put a check mark next to the icons you wish to appear on the desktop and hit the ok button on the bottom of the window.

If all of your desktop icons are missing

- Right click on the Desktop, select Arrange Icons By, then select Show Desktop Icons.