Windows XP boot up problems

This article deals with the Windows XP support boot up problems which users are facing these days.Start your computer in Safe mode, Use Device Manager to determine if the problem is related to a device driver.

After this simply follow these steps:

1.Use the System Restore tool You can use the System Restore tool to return your computer to a previous working state. System Restore takes a "snapshot" of critical system files and some program files and stores this information as restore points. You can use these restore points to return Windows XP to a previous state.

2.Use the Last Known Good Configuration tool If Windows does not start, try to restore operation of Windows XP by using the Last Known Good configuration. To do this, follow these steps: Start the computer, and then press the F8 key when Windows begins to start.

The Windows Advanced Options menu appears and select Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked), and then click OK.

3.Confirm that your CMOS/BIOS settings are correct.Well this procedure may involve changing your CMOS settings and changing your BIOS. For information about the correct CMOS and BIOS settings for your computer and how to check and change these settings, see your computer documentation or contact the manufacturer of your computer.

4.Confirm your hard disk or file system well for this to need to troubleshoot XP Start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM, load Microsoft Recovery Console, and then use the Chkdsk command-line utility. This may solve your problem.

Note: If the Chkdsk command reports that it cannot gain access to your hard disk, you may have a hardware failure. Examine all cable connections and any jumper settings on your drive. For more assistance, contact a computer repair professional or the manufacturer of your computer.
If the Chkdsk command reports that it cannot fix all hard disk problems, your file system or Master Boot Record (MBR) may be damaged or no longer accessible. Try appropriate Recovery Console commands such as Fixmbr and Fixboot, contact a data recovery service, or repartition and reformat your hard disk.

Windows XP Maintenence Guidelines

Computers are like pets – they need care. We all want our computer to be fast, efficient, and responsive, this blog gives wonderful ideas on Windows XP Maintenance Tips:

1. Reduce recycle bin size

Nowadays hard disks are pretty large, so the default 10% for the Recycle Bin is way too much. Recycle bin also plays an important role in making your computer run quite well. Now do the following to make your PC run fast:
• Go to Desktop
• Right–click on the Recycle Bin icon
• Select Properties
• Use the slider to choose the required percentage
• Click Apply, and then click OK

Moreover you can visit this blog for Windows Vista Support.Though Vista is faster but it also needs to have some optimization in this regard.

2. Disable Remote Desktop and Remote Assistance
Windows XP has services that make it possible for other people to manipulate your system remotely and access your personal details. So, if your PC is not part of a Internet connection sharing network, it’s best to turn them off..Here’s how:
• Go to Start – Settings – Control Panel
• Double-click the System icon and select Remote tab
• Uncheck Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer
• In the same tab click Advanced
• Uncheck Allow users to connect remotely to this computer and then click OK.

3.Run Windows XP chkdsk (Check Disk) regularly

You can run a check disk.Well Windows XP support a chkdsk tool that should be run from time to time. It will scan the disk for errors, fix logical errors, detect and mark bad sectors, so that Windows will no longer try to use them. This will make your computer stable.
Check Disk may require a lot of time to perform its task. So it’s best to run Check Disk only if you don’t need to use the computer for some time.
Steps to run Check Disk:
• Find the My Computer icon on your desktop and double-click it
• Find the disk you want to check, right-click it and go to Properties
• In the Properties dialog box go to Tools, click Check now.
• A new dialog box will appear, check both options and click Start
• Most likely you will get a message that Check Disk wants exclusive access to the disk and wants to start right after your reboot. Click OK then restart computer.



4. Defragging

Defragmenter plays a vital role in system maintenance as well. Windows has a built in Disk Defragmenter. To use it go to Start – Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Defragmenter. Like any other defrag utility it gathers file fragments that are scattered all over your disk and writes them into adjacent clusters.In addition to this you should also visit this blog for details on Windows Vista shrinking and extending.It will also be helpful.However defragmenting is time consuming but it makes your system run just fine.

So just enjoy a faster,smoother,stabler Windows XP system!!!!

Setting up a shared internet connection in Windows XP

WinXP LogoInternet Connection Sharing (ICS) enables a Windows computer to share its Internet connection with computers on local area networks and has a remarkable benefit over the versions of ICS in Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows Me.Following are it’s advantages:

1. It's easy to set up and there's no software to install, and no network components or protocols.
2. It's much more reliable and much less likely to cause network problems.
3. You can create a Network Bridge connecting two or more local area networks and share the internet connection with the computers on all of them. This is especially useful if your XP computer is connected to both a wired and wireless network.
4. ICS client computers can use XP's Internet Gateway to monitor and control the server computer's Internet connection. If you have a dial-up connection, you can connect and disconnect when deciding whether to enable ICS.

Steps for setting up Internet Connection Sharing:
Well this blog gives a very simple approach on Windows XP Support allowing shared internet connection between computers with Windows XP:
• The ICS server computer must have two network connections: one for the Internet, and one for the local area network. The Internet connection may be a dial-up (PPP or ISDN), cable modem, DSL, or other broadband Ethernet connection. The LAN connection may be a wired, wireless, or even a USB Ethernet connection. Before enabling ICS:
• Set up your Internet connection and test it so that you know you can connect to the Internet.
• Decide whether to allow client computers to control the server's Internet connection using the Internet Gateway. This feature is automatically available on clients running Windows XP. On clients running Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Me, you must run XP's Network Setup Wizard to enable the gateway. If you have a Windows XP CD-ROM, you can run the Wizard from it. Otherwise, create a network setup disk containing the Wizard files.

In addition to this if you have Windows Vista then this is our blog which provides Windows Vista support for setting Internet Connection Sharing on Windows Vista.It is quite simple in Vista as well to setup an ICS.

Thus ICS is an amazing feature providing a great way of saving time and money: instead of needing a modem and a phone line each computer that needs Internet connectivity, you can get by with one modem and one phone line and is more efficient if you have a fast Internet connection such as a DSL or a cable modem (or the equivalent).

Accelerate Windows XP Startup and Shutdown Process

Are you facing the problem of slow startup and shutdown of your computer? Do you have to wait for a long period of time to have your Windows boot up? Then you need good XP support. Read this article to find out how to speed up the procedure of startup and shut down of your windows XP operating system.

You just need to go after the steps below:

1. Disable some avoidable startup items:
a) Open System Configuration Utility by clicking Start" and Run", type in msconfig" and click OK" to open System Configuration Utility.
b) Click on the Startup" tab. Select the redundant startup items and disable them.
This will stop unnecessary programs from starting with Windows System and extend the startup.

2. Correct Registry keys to patch up difficulty of slow startup and shutdown process in Windows XP.
a) Open Registry Editor. Click Start" and Run", type in regedit" and click OK" to open Registry Editor.
b) Open the submenus: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER] --> [Control Panel] --> [Desktop].
c) Finally find [HungAppTimeout], and change the value data to 200. Further change the value data of [WaitToKillAppTimeout] to be 1000.

3. Reinforce data prefetch to accelerate Windows XP startup process.
a) Open Registry Editor by clicking Start" and Run", type in regedit" and click OK" to open Registry Editor.
b) Navigate to the submenus as following : [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE]-->[SYSTEM]-->[CurrentControlSet]-->[Control]-->[SessionManager]-->[MemoryManagement]
c) Locate [PrefetchParameters] and look for [EnablePrefetcher] on the right window and change the value data to be 1 or 5.

When you have done the above stated steps, you will find that both the startup and shutdown processes are much quicker than before. To speed up Windows XP, you must modify various parameters and value data of Windows registry, accelerate internet connection, my network places, and troubleshoot browser errors, shell errors, system32 errors and other similar problems.

Impove your slow computer performance with Windows Xp Pro Lite

If you are have an older, slower pc you can learn how to tweak settings and remove some programs or functions. Another option I suggest is to reformat your desktop or laptop and install Windows Xp Lite. Windows Xp Lite is a slim-down version of Microsoft Windows Xp Pro. This mini version has all the major components, functionality and features essential to a average, basic user. One noticeable modification in this light weight operating system is that you can only use the plain Windows Classic theme. Windows Xp Lite is strip down to the core necessities. If your computer is old and lacks the processor speed and memory, then it is wise to sacrifice the awesome graphics and operating system appearance, which is all, looks anyways. System performance is the main priority if you desire an accelerated user experience when having a slow or old machine as your only option. This article will go in full detail on how to install Windows Xp Lite on your pc. I was motivated to write this article because I had to install Windows Xp Lite on my antique pc and it was hard to find instructions that a basic user like me would need in order to understand the reformatting (installing) process. So here is How to Install Windows Xp Pro Lite...


What You Need

• 30 Minutes of free time
• Internet Access
• Bit Torrent
• A blank CD
• CD burner/software

Step 1

First you need to download Bit Torrent, which is a free, peer to peer open source file-sharing application effective for distributing very large software and media on the internet. You can't download torrent files without it. Bit Torrent can be downloaded at bittorent.com or download.com for the low price of - free.


Step 2
So once you download and install Bit Torrent, visit: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3516657/Windows_Xp_Pro_Lite to download the Windows Xp Pro Lite torrent file. It shouldn't take too long
to download; it only took me 15-20 minutes, but that all depends on how fast your internet connection is. Windows Xp Pro Lite is only around 236 MB, which to me, isn't that big of a file. Try to remember to save the file on your desktop so you can easily locate and see the file when it is finished downloading.


Step 3

After you are finished downloading the Windows Xp Pro Lite torrent file, you will notice that it is an ISO image file. An ISO image file contains all the file system metadata including boot code, structures, and attributes needed in order to create a boot disk similar to the original Microsoft Windows Xp setup disk that comes with every pc or laptop when you purchase it. You will need to create your own Windows Xp Pro Lite boot cd.

Burn the Windows Xp Pro Lite ISO image on a blank cd. You will need a cd burner and software that has ISO image burning features such as Nero or Roxio. If not you can visit: download.com and download Cheetah CD Burner. Cheetah CD Burner burns cd's pretty fast and can burn ISO image files on cd for you. A lot of the basic, free burning software do not have ISO image file capabilities.


Step 4

If you have important data or media on your computer, now is the time to save it or transfer it to an external hard drive. You can also back up your system if you have back up software, but Ii usually don't do this because I'm not too familiar with using back up programs, I'm pretty sure it is simple to do, but I just never really had to go that route. Also have your original drivers ready, they should be included int the software package that came with your computer when you purchased it. If you lost it or don't have it, just google it, and download the drivers from your particular computer brand's website. You will need to install your PC's drivers after you are finished install Windows Xp Pro Lite.


Step 5

So now that you created your own Windows Xp Pro Lite boot disk/cd, that you have the Windows Xp Pro Lite boot disk/cd and saved your important data, it is time to reformat your pc and install Windows Xp Pro Lite.

Insert the cd into your computers cd drive and restart your computer.


Step 6
Right when your computer shuts down, press F12 to show the boot menu when it first starts up again. Usually you will see a splash screen with the logo of whatever brand computer you have that usually pops up for a
couple of seconds. So press F12 quickly before your computer fully loads up as it normally does when restarting it. Once you see the boot menu select cd drive. This basically means you are booting or starting up your computer with the cd drive, which is your Windows Xp Pro Lite boot disk.


Step 7

It will say: Press any key to boot from CD... (On the top of the screen) Press any key and then it will go to a blue screen that says: Windows Setup on the top left corner. Just let Windows setup, it will probably take several minutes.


Step 8

The next screen that appears will show you a list of the existing partitions where Windows Xp Pro Lite can be installed. Delete all the files on the partition with the existing Xp setup files you had installed in your system by pressing "D", then hit "Enter", then hit "L" to continue with the delete.


Step 9

Follow the instructions and select the drive you want to install Windows Xp Pro Lite on, which will be the C: drive.


Step 10

It will ask you what format you would like to use, select NTSF quick, which is the most recommended because of its security features and speed. Just follow the on screen instructions to continue with the format/install. This may take a while depending on your machine.


Step 11

As soon as it is finished reformatting and installing, it will restart and you now have fresh install of Windows Xp Pro Lite on your computer. One last thing you need to do is to install your drivers which should have come in a setup cd when you purchased your computer. If you don't have the original setup disk for your particular computer brand and model type, You will need to go on another computer and visit your particular computer brand website, for example: Dell.com and download the needed drivers to a USB flash data storage device or any other storage device and install it on your computer with Windows Xp Pro Lite. After that you should probably install the most recent Service Pack through a secondary site, not Microsoft.com. Now your all set, enjoy using your computer with a lightening fast Windows Xp Pro Lite.

Tip:

Alternatively, you can also avail online tech support services to make this procedure extremely easy.

When installing Windows Xp Pro Lite, there will be on screen instructions to follow, so don't worry if you are not familiar with installing operating systems through bios mode.

Make sure you save any important data or media.

Make sure you have all your drivers ready to install once you are finished reformatting your computer with Windows Xp Pro Lite, so your system can function properly.

IE9 will not feature Windows XP support

The new IE9 browser's features were demoed by Microsoft at Mix 2010, and while most features were impressive there was still a bit of bad news for PC users still running Windows XP: Microsoft officially announced that IE9 will not feature Windows XP support.

During Microsoft's demo of the new IE9 browser at Mix 2010, lots of Microsoft fan-boys were drooling at the mouth while looking all googly-eyed at Internet Explorer 9's new features, until a bomb was dropped on the crowd - all the cool features of the new Internet Explorer 9 browser won't feature support for Microsoft XP users. You might be thinking "yeah, big deal", but honestly, there are still lots of people that haven't migrated from Windows XP no matter how bad it seems.

Windows XP was released in 2000, but up until the release of Windows 7, 9 years later, XP was the only Windows operating system most PC users still had faith in. Many PC users viewed Vista as the worst operating system of all time and weren't willing to risk getting stuck with a bad operating system if Windows 7 was a dud like Vista -so lots are still sticking with Windows XP, which won't support the Internet Explorer 9 browser. Windows 7 isn't Windows Vista 2.0, but lots of XP users still fear the worst; which, unfortunately, leaves them unable to use the new features of the Internet Explorer 9 browser.

Microsoft seems to be on a campaign to rid itself of Windows XP with its lack of Windows 7 upgrade support, and now the lacking support of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 browser (and all its cool features). Microsoft is likely cutting support for the Windows XP operating system because it's sort of holding back the other operating systems. What Microsoft is doing with its lack of Windows XP support for Windows 7 and IE9 is similar to those Stride Gum commercials where Stride employees hunt down customers and force them to stop chewing their old gum (which lasts an incredibly long time allegedly) in order to drive new gum sales.

Lack of support for the new IE9 browser sucks for Windows XP users and if you're planning to hold onto Windows XP for a long time, beware because sooner or later Microsoft will ditch XP altogether.

Windows XP Startup and Performance Tweaks

Windows XP is now the predominant consumer OS of both gamers and power users. Sure, many of us still dual-boot with Win9x, because it is faster for many games, but the joy of a true 32-bit operating system with full consumer support is too much for many of us to remain loyal to NT 4.0 or Windows 2000. Now that Windows XP has matured past its infancy and many (but by far not all) of the bugs have been shaken out of it, PCCare247 brings you the first in a series of tweak guides for this illustrious and yet somewhat finicky OS.

This first guide aims to cover two main areas of contention: the boot process (sans the system services, which are an entire guide of their own) and a mishmash of general computing tweaks. The boot tweaks will be comprised of not only system settings, but also several under-utilized applications that can dramatically reduce load time. The general performance tweaks are simply various tweaks that do not quite fit in with the theme of this article, but still have a significant effect on system startup performance (because most any tweaks that one performs should have some kind of effect on the startup time of the system).

Before we begin, several pieces of laundry need to be aired out. To begin with, if you have already tweaked the services on the computer in question, please return them to the default settings. One of the applications I am recommending requires that several systems be enabled that most power users frequently disable (e.g., Task Scheduler). Once you have completed the tweaks mentioned in this guide, feel free to return said services back to your preferred settings, as they only need to be enabled for a short time.

Services to turn off:
Alerter
Application Management
Automatic Updates
ClipBook
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Error Reporting Service
Fast User Switching Compatibility
Messenger
Portable Media Serial Number Service
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Task Scheduler
Telnet
TPC/IP NetBIOS Helper
Uninterruptible Power Supply

Change "Recycle Bin" size to 1%

Registry Hacks:

Auto Sort Start Menu
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder

Go to Edit/Permissions, click Advanced, clear the "Inherit From Parent" check box, click Copy from the dialog box, click OK and then clear the "Full Control" for your account and now Windows will autp sort the start menu, but you can still do it too

Disable User Tracking
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Add or Edit DWORD = NoInstrumentation, Value = 1
Disables Windows user tracking; better performance, much better privacy

Cache Thumbnails
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Add or Edit DWORD = DisableThumbnailCache, Value = 1
Disables thumbnails in Windows, saving hard drive space

Kill Chrashed Apps Quicker
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add or Edit Sring = HungAppTimeout, Value = 1000-5000
Cuts time for Windows to recongize a crashed application and allow you to kill it; default is 5000(for 5 seconds)

Faster Start Menu
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add or Edit Sring = MenuShowDelay, Value = 0 - 400
Changes the delay that for Windows to show a menu in the start menu; value is in ms

Network Intelligently
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Add or Edit String = DisableTaskOffload, Value = 1
Frees processor from doing network-card work

Browse the Network Faster
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace
Delete subkeys {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} and {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Speeds up network browsing of old Windows machines on the LAN by ignoring their scheduled tasks and printers

Remove Compression Option In Disk Cleanup
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Compress old files
Delete the Default Value Key and the next time you start Disk Cleanup, it will skip the compression analyisis.

Go to Start --> Run --> Regedt32

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Locate the key called "MenuShowDelay" and it is probably set to 400.

Change that value to 150.

Reboot your computer.

You should notice a slight increase in the speed of your menus