Takeshi

I think (but not sure) this is by design. This I think you can solve by disabling them in the BIOS first so that Mini-Setup won't detect them.

It's also necessary to delete the data Links (which is hard coded) from the registry. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar] "LinksFolderName"=""

This could be one of many: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;887816

You mean lnk (not ink)? http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/627/

I've been using RegMon and FileMon for a while. FileMon shows that every time you open a folder in Explorer or do something apparently very simple, Windows processes hundreds or thousands of query and write operations - quite a relevation. Likewise for RegMon.

Desktop settings in the registry including bit masks have also been explained in detail in Microsoft Windows XP Registry Guide by Jerry Honeycutt, MS Press. Good reading if you can get hold of a copy.

Thanks for the tip. Once set, I've never had the need to revert back to default!

Thank you! For my own satisfaction: Is any any distinct advantage using inf instead of reg for services tweak?

Yes. How does your method deal with PCs with different HALs (standard/ACPI etc.)?

The OS needs at least one administrator account. The built-in Administrator account can be disabled if there is another admin account. It can be renamed.

These restrictions can be set by malware or by Group Policy. The relevant registry key is: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Control Panel GeneralTab ProgramsTab Just delete these keys

It's related to svchost.exe, a common candidate for viruses. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;314056

I'm interested in this method as a means to using inf, not specifically about BV's settings. Does using this inf method mean I can or can't change the service setting manually in services.msc?

Please clarify the above, do you mean just putting the driver dirs there or is it to do with SET command? Also using D as directory might just be a little confusing to some with partition D.

How about the Media Player folder inside your profiles? There's a dat file there - not sure, just a guess.

Ah, I see, then you goal really is to stop other people from installing any programs but allowing Windows updates, I suppose? As to malware from browsing the internet it's not quite the same category. This one is not too hard to manage.

I find that adding RAM is the single most significant step in speeding up booting and searching for network causes the most delay. Of course you need to do the regular maintenance like defrag and keeping startup apps to a minimum. A lot of reg tweaks are of dubious benefit. Trimming System Services has only a small improvement. Bootvis had a minimal effect on my computer. Defragging the boot/system partition from another Windows installation in a dual or multi-boot system is also very efficient - it should defrag all the system files and the registry etc. The Prefetch can be a good and bad thing; if you enable boot and app prefetch (EnablePrefetcher =3) it prefetches every application you open but might only use sparingly, which is not really ideal. I only use boot prefetch (EnablePrefetcher =2).

Sorry I don't follow the logic. If you only install programs you're going to use and allow, there should be nothing left to restrict! That aside, any policy in GP on the computer (not joined to a domain) applies to all users.

My router assigns fixed internal IPs to both computers. Just typing the IP will do. I didn't have to configure ports 3389-3390 specifically in the router. I don't think RD will allow simultaneous connections to more than one computer.

It looks like you are a bit muddled about Sharing and NTFS permissions. Check under the Sharing tab (for file sharing on a network) - it should have Everyone in the Access Control Entry by default. Unless you need to tighten this, you don't need to do anything or add any user account or Group by name. You may have looked under the Security tab (for folder sharing on the local computer). This is the one with inherited permissions in the Adv button. If it inherits permissions from its parents (by default), if you are a member of the Administrator Group you should normally be able to disinherit child object permissions and basically do anything. Perhaps you are not an administrator or the owner of the folder? Leave Remote Desktop out for the moment. For troubleshooting, it'd be useful to have a direct wired connection without the router. Keep it simple. The Windows firewall should be OK to use unless you have SP2, then you need to include File and Printer Sharing in the Exceptions list.

If it's from DOS use winnt.exe.

I think the Recovery Console's fixmbr only fixes the MBR of the HD the OS is located as there is no option to choose other HDs as far as I remember. M$ Windows XP Support Tools Disk Probe (dskprobe.exe) can back up, edit and restore the MBR. You should do a chkdsk first as I'm not sure if the problem is really MBR related. If the partition table (part of MBR) is corrupt, sometimes repartition the HD to exact the same and type before will restore it and the contents.

There are various values in the registry policy key, all can be set from Group Policy: NoRecentDocsMenu ==> removes the link to the Recent Documents folder in the Start Menu but does not remove the contents or stop them filling; NoRecentDocsHistory ===> stops the contents of Recent Documents folder from storing ClearRecentDocsOnExit ===> clears the contents of Recent Documents folder when you shut down Windows NoInstrumentation ===> stops Windows from tracking your file usage in all the applications So it depends on your requirements. (value of 1= policy enabled) Actually, if you remove the [√] in Start Menu properties, Start Menu, Customize, Advanced: [ ] List my most recently opened documents, it has the same effect as NoRecentDocsMenu.

When you reduce the size (space) reserved for SR, it will purge the oldest SR points first until enough SR points are left behind to fit the new size. I personally find that the default 10% space reserved is far too big for the average user, esp. now most have enormous sized HDs and many have Ghost backups too! Depending on your needs, I find that limiting the space to about 500 MB (the % will vary depending on the total size of the partition) is enough to hold 3-4 SR points, which to me is more than enough. In the 3 years of using XP, I never need to restore to the SR point older than the last one. I leave the modified permissions in the SVI folder because I'm the only user but you're right to be cautious about setting the permissions back to SYSTEM only afterwards. I find it's easier for me to check on the size periodically. (Sometimes it exceeds the size you limit to!) I forgot about MS KB: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/

Don't think it works like that. Reg.exe is a command that edits the registry. Your script will add avipurge.vbs as a value rather than executing the vbs. But why make it so complicated when all you need to do is to read the vbs, find out what key it edits and directly use reg.exe to do it. (If I remember it deletes the InproServer (?) key so you'd use REG DELETE.) Or add the key to delete in Regtweaks.reg.