Daniel-J

Okay thanks. I've read some negative reviews about the latest WMP, but most of the reviews talked about tasks I don't normally use anyway. I think I'll give it a go.

I'm not sure if this would qualify as a graphic annoyance, but it is annoying and ugly (at least I think it is). I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 When I start my computer and log into my account, the My Computer icon is the first icon on my desktop. It has a dotted outline around the text, "My Computer". If I click the desktop anywhere and then the taskbar (in that order) the dotted outline vanishes and does not re-appear. However, the dotted outline does appear in some programs like WMP11, for example. The dotted outline is like that of the Windows 98 dotted outline. I think it's called a focus box and I think it's ugly. I never used to have it with XP. I can't remember when this started, but it seems to me not that long ago. I also don't remember if I made any system changes that might have caused this annoyance. I did play with MSCONFIG a long time ago and unchecked almost everything in the startup list except for about 5 items. I would like to get rid of this little dotted border once and for all! Does anyone know how I can? And what might have happened to make it appear? Thanks in advance! Dan

Hi, I have Windows XP Pro SP2 with Windows Media Player 10 installed as my primary MP3 player and am considering upgrading to WMP11. I think I did read somewhere that it's not a good idea to do because it makes you purchase a license for all your locally saved music. I currently have an MP3 collection of nearly 4000 songs, all ripped from CD's I own. I used Musicmatch Jukebox 9 to rip them all. Am I going to have issues with playing these MP3s using WMP11?

Recently, I decided to uninstall Nero SmartStart Essentials (7) due to problems with making an audio CD. I decided to install Nero Burning Rom 5 because I've used it in the past and liked it. However, after installing it, it would not see my DVD burner (probably can only see a CD burner). So, instead of uninstalling it, I decided to put Nero 7 back on. I noticed that some of my settings were retained which led me to believe the registry entries were not removed when I did the uninstall. My question is, does uninstalling and reinstalling simply "overwrite" any registry entries left behind, or are new entries created, causing the registry to grow larger? I also have TweakNow Registry cleaner basic installed and periodically check for errors. If and when it finds errors, I delete the safe ones, trusting the program knows best. Having done this (and assuming the enties were indeed safe to delete) does this cause other potential errors in the registry like large "gaps" or fragmenting? Is there a need to do anything about this? Thanks for any replies and sorry for the long post.

There should be jumpers on the back of each hard drive. You need to set one HDD as a MASTER and the other as a SALVE. I think the master will then automatically be C:\.

Hi, I'm looking for good freeware registry cleaners and tools for Windows XP. Any personal recommendations? I'm also wondering about registry defragmenters...are they good to use? Any good suggestiond for those, also? Thanks!

Thanks! Although, the article mentions that to access the registry editor I need to run regedit32, but I can't...I can access by running regedit because regedit32 was not found! I wonder if it was a typo? Does anyone else have regedit32?

When no profiles are loaded (at the welcome screen, for example) the the default screensaver is set to the Windows XP Professional (White text with the Windows flag on a plain black screen). How can I change that without loading a profile?

Balloon tips are annoying anyway! DISABLE 'EM ALL!!!

Thanks for the recommendations! I decided to use the Neowin patch to replace uxtheme.dll. Then I unzipped the Vista CG theme and browsed to point to it and applied it. VERY cool! But it wasn't enough for me...I needed Vista icons, too! So, I found a program called Vista Customization Pack. Splendid! I haven't had a chance to re-apply the Vista CG theme after installing of VCP, but I'm loking forward to see what else I can do. Here's a screenshot of what someone did to their Windows XP! I think I like it!

This Christmas, I gave myself a gift of a new-to-me computer. It had Windows XP preloaded on it. I really like it. Don't get me wrong, Windows 98 rocks, especially with the visual enhancements available from this site! It's just that I've got so many more options as far as supported programs now! So, I feel a bit sad to be leaving all my Windows 98 SE forums behind, this one being one of the better ones. I'm on to new horizons now. I'll still be checking back to see screenshots of RP8 when it comes out though! Later, all! Dan

I think these notifications are a part of the way I set up my Windows Live Messenger, but how do I disable them? You probably know the messages I am talking about. But if not, I'm referring to the Welcome screen where you choose a user account to log into. There's a picture beside the name, and under the name there's a new mail notification message. I don't want that message to appear anymore. Is that done through the messenger itself?

Anyone know where I can download free (clean and safe) XP themes and styles to enhance the appearance of XP? I've seen some which make the taskbar, start button and icons look similar to (actually, more like EXACTLY like) Vista. However, I need to find a patched uxtheme.dll file to use the themes. Where can I get this? The website which offered it had a bad link to the file. Thanks in advance!

I'm looking for DVD software in which I can extract the sountrack from a movie (without the dialogue and/or sound effects). I don't know what type of software this would be called, otherwise I'd do a google search. Any good suggestions? Freeware possible? Thanks in advance!

The first question gives various options, the last two being "No, I don't use WinVista" and "I use Win95/98(SE)/2000/XP". I was a bit confused since I could only choose ONE option, yet both the last TWO options were true for me! So, I just chose the 'true-er' option?

Very nice!

What, you don't like that! Just kidding! Right click the task bar and choose lock taskbar.

It looks good...except for the very plain start button logo. I'd suggest either the White Windows flag or a totally different concept, but the four squares just look kinda boring. Of course that's only my feedback. Otherwise from what we can see, it looks awesome!

Ah yes...I had the same problem after I removed Revolutions Pack Seven Componets. For the most part I had webview, but there were a few folders (Windows and System folders, for example) that did not have webview. In this case, What you need to do is go to Start > Run and in the box type Regsvr32 webvw.dll and then you have the option once again to have webview back! Next time you uninstall RP, try it! It should work. I had to uninstall RP for good. I'm back to the Windows 98 basics! I actually like it. It's a nice "old fashioned" feeling. One might even say...Retro. Isn't that right, RetroOS?!

I just did a reformat and fresh install....last night! Go to Start > Shut Down and choose Restart in MS DOS Mode. From the C:\ prompt type, format c: WARNING! This will erase all data on non removable drive C. Do you wish to continue? Of course you know what to type after that! Next, use your Windows 98 startup disk to choose option 2 upon startup. Option 2 = Start computer with CD ROM support. Once all the drivers have been loaded, then type X:\setup (X being your CD ROM drive letter). You're on your way to a brand new computer! *EDIT* I didn't think I needed to mention this, but make sure you have your Windows 98 CD in the drive before typing X:\setup! And as Chozo4 has mentioned, make sure you have the product key. I'd also add that you should have ALL installation discs for your various programs handy as well as device driver discs/diskettes, and a few hours of free time to reinstall everything, depending on how much you had on your system.

What does LAMEskin stand for? Does it stand for justice and truth? How about honesty and loyalty? Does LAMEskin stand for those things also? But seriously...What is LAME an acronym for? Lifted Above My Eyes Skin? Little Apples Making Echos Skin? Am I close?

As Tihiy said, they are not "skinned", but you can change the icons to reflect XP or Vista style icons.

Rockin' sweet! I like it! I do, however, have one sugestion for any future themes. Unless it's personal preference, could you include the Vista logo on the start button? Perhaps make a second bitmap which people can toggle between if they prefer one over the other. Just a suggestion. I actually like the new Windows flag. The "glow" looks nice.

Turning off LoadPowerProfile will prevent windows from loading the user-selected and/or defines power savings profile under 'Power options' in the control panel. Meaning removing that from loading will disable turning off the monitor or drives for instance after a certain amount of idle time. It can be turned back on by going into your power options, making your changes, and selecting OK but you'd have to do that everytime unless you enable LoadPowerProfile. At first that's what I thought, but it doesn't work that way for me. I have 2 load power profiles in msconfig (even after a fresh install) and I deselect both of them. Then I setup my power management profiles and save it under a different name and it works each and every time I start Windows...automatically. And in case you're wondering, LoadPowerProfile does not re-add itself to my msconfig startup menu. So, it seems LoadPowerProfile does nothing!

Why must one keep LoadPowerProfile checked in msconfig? I've disabled it and have done so for a very long time without problems. I'm just curious what exactly it does. I always check my system resources at system startup (for one, to make sure the resources free are the same from day to day, considering I have not done anything new to the computer. If my system resources go down considerably (a few percentage points even) I suspect something). My system starts up with 95% free resources. That's sweet! But now with RP7 installed, I saw a drop to 92% free. Still good, though! I use an IBM 300PL (PII - 355 MHz) with 192 MB RAM.