Repair XP

Windows Update Site Problems
Repair System Restore
How To Uninstall SP2 Using the Recovery Console
How To Use The Automatic Recovery Feature to Recover From a Bad SP2 Install
How To Remove SP2 using a Repair Install
How To Access Safe Mode
How To Access Last Known Good Config
How To Backup, Edit and Restore the Registry
How To Create a Boot Disk to Start Windows XP
How To Create a Slipstreamed version of XP
How To Fix :NTLDR is missing press any key to restart
How To Fix and "Invalid Boot.ini" or "Windows could not start........Hall.dll "error
Cannot Start Windows XP if the System or Software Hive Is Missing or Damaged
Password Problems and Windows XP
How To Fix The Cryptographic Service Error - Fix for "Error:Setup could not verify the integrity of the file Update.inf. Make sure the Cryptographic service is running on this computer"
System Cannot Access CD-Rom, CD-Recorder or DVD Devices
Error Messages After Removing Easy CD Creator from XP
Introduction to using System File Checker - SFC /SCANNOW
SFC (System File Checker) has a problem running - SFC /SCANNOW keeps asking for the XP CD
How to log on to Windows XP if you forget your password
How To Take Ownership of a File or Folder
How To Access Recovery Console
Recovery Console in Windows XP
How To Backup, Edit and Restore the Registry in XP - Microsoft Knowledgebase Article.
How To Create a Set of Emergency Floppies - If your computer can not boot from a CD-Rom create a 6 floppy disk set that corresponds to your version of Windows XP. Click here for Home Edition Click here for Pro Edition
How To Create a bootable CD to access the Recovery Console - this 7Mb .iso will give you a bootable Recovery Console rather than using the 6 floppy set above. Unzip and burn the .ISO file to disc. You can boot the CD and run the Recovery Console (use this link if the first doesn't work )
How To Repair Boot sector
How To Format
How To Partition
How To Exit the Recovery Console
How To Run a Repair Install
How To Uncover Windows XP Product Key
How To Change The Product ID
A better boot diskette for WinNT/2000/XP
Has XP Been Activated?
NTFS Reader for DOS (freeware) - lets you access an NTFS partition from a floppy and copy files off it
Known Issues with Windows XP Service Pack 1
AIDA32 - AIDA32 is a professional system information, diagnostics and benchmarking program running on Win32 platforms. It extracts details of all components of the PC. You can even uncover your Windows XP and Office 2000/XP Product Keys with this freeware app. READ the FAQ!!!
Tweaks&Fixes - From Kelly's Korner this is a fantastic set of registry hacks and fixes.
NTBackup Is Missing From My OEM version of XP (download)- Some OEMs don't include NTBackup - Bob Cerelli has it at his site in his Windows XP Tips section

How To Determine If XP was Activated?
You installed XP and then can't remember if you activated it. Go to Start->Run and enter the following
oobe/msoobe /a

View Product Key XP - Visit the Keyfinder Homepage by Aleks Ozolins
If you have more than one system running XP you have obviously purchased more than one copy of the Operating System. However you may have forgotten which Product Key you used for which system. It happens. I have 5 systems and have had all of them running XP at times. XP does not store the Product Key in a recognizable format in the registry.
Click this link and select "Open" and your Windows XP Product Key will be displayed
Keyfinder is a freeware utility that retrieves your Product Key. has the options to copy the key to clipboard, save it to a text file, or print it for safekeeping. It works on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Vista, .NET, Office 97, Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007. It even has the ability by using Microsoft's own script to change installation keys. See the Microsoft Knowledgebase article here Q328874
If your version of XP came pre-installed on your computer the revealed Product Key could be that of an image used by the manufacturer. If this is the case you will likely be unable to use it to install another version of Windows XP such as one purchased separately from the computer.

Known Issues with Windows XP Service Pack 1
Fix Switch Identities in Microsoft Outlook Express After Service Pack 1
HP/Compaq SP1 Notice - The System Restore feature in these computers seriously conflicts with SP1
Cannot Start Windows XP After Installing Service Pack 1 and Then Performing a System Recovery Operation
Fix for SP1 Problems and Compaq Pressario 6330
Microsoft Knowledgebase Articles Pertaining to Windows XP SP1
Setup Could Not Verify the Integrity of the File" Error Message Occurs When You Try to Install SP1
'The Password Is Not Valid' Error Message Appears When You Log On to Recovery Console in Windows XP

Schedule Emails for Future Delivery (Outlook, Thunderbird, Webmail)

One key feature most email clients have neglected to include is the ability to schedule emails for delivery at a later time. It's either hit the Send button now or come back later.

However, there are several solutions out there. Some can only be used to schedule email reminders to yourself, but others are more versatile. Let's get started.

Email Client Plugins

First off, I don't use Outlook so I can't really recommend any plugins in particular, but this guide walks you through how to schedule emails. There are also many shareware plugins that make the task a little easier.

As far as Thunderbird extensions that let you schedule emails, there are two:

Send Later: This extension modifies the "Send Later" option in your file menu so you can specify a time and date for your email to be sent. Otherwise, your email will just sit in your Unsent email box forever.


SendTools: This extension adds a "SendAt" checkbox to your compose window. Check the box to set up a time and date for delivery. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on Thunderbird 2.0b2.

The only downside to these two tools is that Thunderbird has to be kept open for the email to be sent, which is not the case if you use a webmail solution.

Web-based Email Scheduling

LetterMeLater: This is a very nicely designed site that lets you schedule both emails to yourself and others. Once you sign up, hit the Compose tab to begin scheduling emails for delivery any time in the future. There's also a recurring email option if you need to schedule regular reminder emails.


Remind Me Again...

The following sites let you schedule email to your future self:

FutureMe:. It adds in an element of PostSecret to email scheduling. FutureMe takes the classic write-your-future-self-a-letter idea into the Internet era with write-your-future-self-an-email. It's a neat idea useful for reminders if you tend to be forgetful or busy at the moment. It can also be good as a sort of time capsule.

By default, the email is private, but you can make it public too. You can even schedule delivery up to 2036 so your future self in 30 years might get a surprise in his or her inbox. Make sure you choose an address that you think will still be active if you do that though (gmail, yahoo, etc.).

You can schedule email for delivery to the future 90 days and beyond. This is not for short-term reminder emails. The social element to the site lets you make your emails open for public comsumption.


FutureMail: FutureMail is a more flexible email scheduler than FutureMe, letting you schedule emails at any time from now to eternity. The nicely designed site lets you set your time zone so you can make sure your emails get delivered on schedule and also offers an RSS feed of your future emails (if you choose to make them accessible).

Optimizing the Location of the Boot Files

The speed at which which your files are read is dependent on where files are located on your hard drive. Also, when a file is fragmented (which is when one file is scattered all over the disk), it takes more time to access that file than if all of the pieces of the files were side by side. Using tools that are available in Windows and other third-party utilities, you can defragment and place the Windows boot files on the disk where they will be accessed faster.

Windows XP has a new features called the prefetcher, which determines what files on the hard drive are used during the boot process and where they should be placed on the disk for optimal speed. Although this is not the only benefit that the prefetcher provides, it makes optimizing the location of the boot files easy.

Using Disk Defragmenter
Windows XP includes a boot defragmenter but it is a little tricky to get it to run. By default, it is run only in the background and cannot be started directly by a user. After your computer has been idle for some time between 5 and 30 minutes, the system will read the prefetcher's boot data and start the defrag. The system defrag is run in the background and is invisible to the user. Eventually, if you leave your computer on long enough, it will be defragment the boot files

Microsoft has a very talented team working for them and they even took into consideration that often your system boot changes. For example, you might install an updated device driver or add new hardware. To solve this problem, the system will re-defragment the boot files every three days.

Tip:
Windows keeps track of the last time it optimized the boot file so that it can calculate how often it should run the boot defrag. If you are interesting in finding when the last time was that the boot defrag was run, open up regedit and navigate to: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Prefetcher" and then look for the key named "LastDiskLayoutTimeString".

A operating system that takes care of itself? Yes, Windows is getting smarter and smarter. However, there is still one part of this problem: There is no possible way to directly initiate a boot defrag. The only way is to leave your computer on for a little while without using it at all. If you are impatient and do not want to wait, then I have a solution for you.

As I mentioned earlier, the system will only initiate the boot defrag when the system is idle. Typing in a command that will start the boot is not possible. However, you can tell your computer, even when it is not idle, to process the idle tasks. This will indirectly start the boot defrag. Although since the boot defrag is most likely not the only idle task waiting to be run, there will be other processes run as well which can cause your computer to appear to be doing a lot of hard work from a few minutes up to half an hour as it completes all tasks. During this time, your computer should not be used for any intensive activities such as playing games. If you try to use your computer while the idle tasks are being processed, you will notice slow performance until the tasks are completed.

Do the following to tell the system to start to process all idle tasks:

1. Click on the Start menu and select Run.
2. Type Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks in the text box and select OK.
3. Your computer will now begin working on the tasks.

Performing these steps will allow your system to defrag the boot files. However, since the boot defrag is done every three days. Processing the idle tasks more frequently that three day periods, will do nothing to help you boot because the boot defrag will not be on your idle tasks lists all the time.

Common Windows Services in Use

Common Windows Services in Use
Service Name	Service Use
Automatic Updates	Used to download and then install updates automatically without the user going to Windows Update manually. This service is not system critical and can be disabled but unless you check for updates regularly, it is not recommended to disable this service.
Background Intelligent Transfer Service	A service that transfers data in the background when the connection is not in use. One use of this service is to download updates automatically in the background. This service is not system critical but can impair other services such as automatic updates if it is disabled.
Com+ Event System	Basically controls the notification of certain system events such as log on and log off. The system event notification is dependent on this service. This service is system critical.
Computer Browser	Keeps track of the other computers on your network running the Microsoft Client for networking. This is what provides the list of computers when you are browsing your workgroup computer in My Network Places. This service is not system critical and can be disabled if you do not need the network browsing function.
Cryptographic Services	Basically manages system security certificates as well as provides a database of signatures of key windows files. This service is not system critical but it is required to install many Microsoft programs that want to check system file signatures. It is not recommended to disable this service because doing so would not allow Windows Update to run and install new updates.
DCOM Server Process Launcher	Basically is in charge of starting various other services. This service is required for RPC which is required for over 39 other services to run. Because of that, it is not a good idea to disable this one.
DHCP Client	Provides support for dynamic network configuration. This service is not system critical but is needed for those that do not set their IP address manually.
Distributed Link Tracking Client	Keeps track of links to files on a NTFS volume on your computer or across a network. This service is not system critical and can be disabled.
DNS Client	Resolves domain names into IP addresses as well as caches lookup results. This service is not system critical but you will not be able to browse the internet without it started.
Error Reporting Service	Allows users to report failures of applications directly to Microsoft so that Microsoft may fix bugs in its software if it is the culprit. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
Event Log	Allows event messages to be recorded to be viewed in Event Viewer. This service is system critical and can not be disabled.
Fast User Switching Compatibility	Allows users to switch to other users on the same system without logging off. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
Help and Support	Used for the help and support center. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
HTTP SSL	Allows the personal web server built into Windows XP (IIS 6.0) to provide secure data transfers over HTTP. This service is rarely used since most people never even setup the personal web server on Windows XP. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
Indexing Service	Creates a searchable database of the items on your hard drive. This service is not system critical and can be disabled if you do not search your drive often or can wait a few extra minutes to find a file.
IPSEC Services	Provides IP security for certain secure connections over IP. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
Logical Disk Manager	Detects and monitors new hard disk drives. This service is not system critical but it is used when you are upgrading your hardware and installing additional storage devices or using USB storage devices. If you do not plan on using any of the items above, the service may be safely disabled.
Machine Debug Manager	Provides support for program and script debugging. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled for most users.
Messenger	Allows users to send text popup messages to computers on the network. This service is abused by spammers to send you advertisements. It is highly recommended that you disable this service.
Network Connections	Provides support for network connectivity. This service is not system critical but it is recommended that it is not disabled.
Network Location Awareness (NLA)	Provides services to computers that share your internet connection. If you do not use the internet connection feature, then you may safely disable this service since it is not a system critical service.
Plug and Play	Allows your computer to detect hardware. This service is system critical and can not be disabled.
Portable Media Serial Number Service	Detects the serial number of an external media device. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
Print Spooler	Provides services to print. This service is not system critical but it is necessary to print from your computer.
Protected Storage	Provides basic security over certain system files. This service is system critical and should not be disabled.
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Provides services for other services. This service is system critical and can not be disabled.
Remote Registry (Not included in XP Home)	Allows the system registry to be connected to remotely. This service is not system critical and is recommended that it is disabled.
Secondary Logon	Allows programs to be started under different accounts. This service is system critical.
Security Accounts Manager	A database of local account information. This service is system critical and should not be disabled.
Security Center	Monitors your system security settings to notify you if your settings are insecure. You should keep this service running unless you are confident about your computer's security. No other services depend on this service and it can be safely disabled given you have a good handle on your security.
Server	Provides the ability to share files and your printer over your network. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled if you do not share file over a network.
Shell Hardware Detection	Used to detect external storage devices automatically. If you do not use any external storage devices such as external hard drives or memory cards, this service can be safely disabled.
SSDP Discovery Service	Looks for Universal Plug and Play drives on your network. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
System Event Notification	Tracks more system events. This service is system critical and should not be disabled.
System Restore Service	Keeps track of changes made to your system to make restore points. This service is not system critical but it is recommended that it is not disabled.
Task Scheduler	Allows users to schedule and configure tasks. This service is not system critical and can be disabled if you do not need to schedule any tasks to run.
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper	Allows the NetBIOS network protocol to run over the TCP/IP Protocol. This service is not system critical and can be disabled if you have no use for the NetBIOS protocol.
Terminal Services	Allows users to connect to the computer with remote desktop. This service is not system critical but is used by the remote assistance help feature. It can be safely disabled if you do not need the remote assistance feature.
Themes	This is the service that gives Windows the new look. It allows visual styles to be applied over the normal grey Windows 2000 style windows. This service is not system critical and can be disabled.
WebClient	This service adds support for web-based file management for technologies such as WebDav. Most users will never need to use this service. It is not system critical and can be safely disabled.
Windows Audio	Provides audio support for the operating system. This service is not system critical and can be safely disabled is you would like to give up your sound.
Windows Firewall / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)	Protects your computer from intruders and malicious programs attacking your computer via your Internet connection. It also provides the ability to share your internet connection among other computers on your local network. This service is not system critical but I do not recommend that you disable it unless you have another personal firewall application installed on your computer.
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)	Used to acquire data from optical devices such as a scanner or a camera. This service is not system critical and it can be safely disabled if you have no use for it.
Windows Management Instrumentation	Provides system information to applications. This service is system critical and should not be disabled.
Windows Time	This service is in charge of synchronizing the Windows time. If you do not need to have your time synchronized, this service can be safely disabled.
Wireless Zero Configuration	Configures wireless 802.11 devices. If you do not have any wireless hardware installed, you may safely disable this service.
Workstation	Allows your computer to make connections to other computers and servers. This service is not system critical but it is needed for any basic networking.