Invisible Folders

First of all create a new folder somewhere on your hard drive

when you name it hold down "Alt" and press "0160" this will create an invisible space so it will appear as if it has no name.

then right click on it and select "Properties" select the tab "customize" and select "change icon" scroll along and you will come across few blanc spaces click on any one and click ok when you have saved the settings the folder will be invisible.... to hide all your personal files....

Keep files private

If you want to encrypt the contents of an individual file or directory, Windows XP Pro will do the trick, provided you enable NTFS on your hard drive. To encrypt a file, right-click on it to bring up the Properties window. Click on the Advanced button, then in the Advanced Attributes dialog box click on Encrypt contents to secure data. This will encrypt the file (using either DES, which employs a 56-bit key on each 64-bit block of data, or 3DES, which uses a 56-bit key three times on each 64-bit block of data), and it will provide a certificate just for you. This certificate is key; if you reinstall Windows or otherwise lose your user account, your access to the encrypted files will be gone, too. You need to export your certificates to back them up: For detailed instructions, search on export certificate in Windows Help.

Windows XP does not require you to enter your password when you open the encrypted file. Once you log on to a session, encrypted files are available for you—and anyone who walks up to your system—to view.

Windows XP Home doesn't support this method. Both XP Home and XP Pro, however, let you create password-protected compressed files. To do this, right-click on the desired file and choose Send To | Compressed (zipped) Folder. Open the resulting folder and select Add a Password from the File menu; delete the original file. Note that this encryption is relatively weak. It should dissuade casual users but won't put up much of a fight against someone determined to hack it apart.

Install Xp From Dos

If XP will not install from the CD or if you have a new drive with no operating system on

it yet try these:

Install Windows XP from the hard drive with Windows 98 already installed:

Boot Windows 98

Insert the XP CD into your CD reader

Explore Windows XP through My Computer

Copy i386 folder to C:\

Go into C:\i386 folder and double click on winnt32.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive

Install Windows XP from DOS (ie. no OS on a new hard drive):

Boot with a Windows 98 Start Up disk

Insert the Windows 98 CD into the CD reader

Run smartdrv.exe from the Win98 directory on the windows 98 CD (file caching)

Type cd.. to back up to the root directory

Insert Windows XP CD into the CD reader

Copy the i386 folder to C:\

Go into C:\i386 folder on C: and type winnt.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive.

Increase XP folder settings

Windows remembers 400 folder settings. When that number is reached some settings aren't retained any longer. You can change this to 8000 by adding this edit to the registry.

1. Copy the following (everything in the box) into notepad.

QUOTE

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell]

"BagMRU Size"=dword:00001f40

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam]

"BagMRU Size"=dword:00001f40

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

"NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000

2. Save the file as folder8000.reg

3. Double click the file to import into your registry.

How to speedup a slow computer

Press your Start Button (bottom left) and go to "run"

now type in: msconfig

now you will get a box that pops up and will tell you bunch of stuff dont mess with anything else other than what I tell you otherwise you could do something really bad (possible) go to your "startup" tab on the top right of the screen where it usually is and click it.

Now you will have a closed in box with bunch of filenames n addresses and more boxes with checks in them. Now if your like me you dont want anything starting up when you start you computer up or while your even doing anything cause it slows you down. Now unless your like me right now 1 have 1 thing starting up when my computer starts up and thats my settings for my overclocked graphic card. But other than that uncheck every box and then hit apply and ok. Then  restart or wait till later to restart.

How to see hidden files

Every one wants to see the hidden files in a system....soooooooo use this commands 

Open command prompt

at command prompt just type

dir /ah 

if the list is too long u can use

dir /ah/p/w 

enjoy:)

How to fix windows installer problem

Do you experience this kind of problem whenever you attempt to install an application in windows box (2k, xp)?

"The Windows Installer service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance."

The ms website knowledge article 324516 gives 2 methods as a way of fixing this problem, but you might be very lucky if any of the 2 fixes the problem, alot of guys end up formating their systems and doing fresh windows installations or try wired ways of fixing it.

Well, the solution is very easy:

1. right click your root windows installation drive i.e drive where you installed windows

2. click properties at the bottom

3. select security tab

4. click Add and scroll down to SYSTEM account click add and click OK.

5. allow Full control permission and click Apply and then Ok.

This should solve your problem with windows installer.

How to fix corrupted files in XP

Introduction:

This tutorial has been made so people that are having problems with corrupted files, can learn how to fix them easy.

Required :

+ Windows XP operating system

+ Windows XP cd

procedure:

+ Place the xp cd in your cd/dvd drive

+ Go to start

+ run

+ type in 'sfc /scannow' (without the ')

Now it should all load, and fix all your corrupted file on windows XP :)

How to find Mp3's real quickly

Another good way of finding MP3s (or other formats) is using Google and typing the following:

parent + directory + mp3 + OR + wma+ #dido#

Replace #dido# by whatever artist you wish to find, for example:

parent + directory + mp3 + OR + wma+ #shahrukh#

You should get plenty of dirs with MP3s or WMA files (you could add OGG, etc, to the query).

How to find a remote IP

Method 1

To view someone's IP# when they send you hotmail email do this:

1) Click "Options" on the upper right side of the page.

2) On the left side of the page, Click "Mail"

3) Click "Mail Display Settings"

4) Under "Message Headers" select "Full" or "Advanced"

5) Click ok

Method 2

reg a dydns account and install the ip pointer, so each time you ping the host name you registered

for example:

you register the host name myhost.dydns.com, then you keep a little software running on the target host. The little software will keep update your IP to dydns.com server.

so at your pc just start cmd, and ping myhost.dydns.com, it will give you the most updated ip address.

Method 3

neverender, what doesn't work for you? Simply type in nc -vvv -l -p 80 on your box, which will set it to listen in verbose mode on port 80. Then give them a link to your IP address (for example: 111.111.111.11) and tell them to type it in their browser. The browser should resolve the address as well as append port 80 automatically. Just make sure that your friend is not very computer literate.

Method 4

Just download a very simple server such as this one and install it on your comp. Then run it and give your ip to the person you want and tell them to connect to it through a browser. Your server will log their connection and you will get their IP.

link:http://www.download.com/Abyss-Web-Server/3000-2165-10283992.html?tag=lst-0-6

Other Ways

-www.imchaos.com and make a "spy poll" to put in ur profile, this will tell u the IP of anybody who answers ur poll

-originalicons.com there is a page for doin it (i dont like it, but it works)

-or irc

Here is a more detailed tutorial about using NetCat.

http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2003/05/29/netcat.html

Windows users can download NetCat from here:

http://www.atstake.com/research/tools/network_utilities/