Trick to hide files and folders using Command Prompt
The most important thing is that, once hidden with this method, the files/folders cannot be viewed by any search options even if you click "Show All Hidden Files and Folders".

Hiding the most wanted files and folders is very important nowadays and it's really a tedious job too. In order to make this tedious job an easy one, i'm going to deliver you a the trick now.

For Example: You have a folder named "collegephotos" and this folder is stored in (Disk Drive E). You think that it should not be seen by strangers who use your PC.




For that you need to follow the following instructions

1. Press windowkey+R: Run command dialog box appears.
2. Now type "cmd" and hit enter. A command prompt window displays.
3. Now type "attrib +s +h E:\collegephotos" and hit enter.
4. The folder "collegephotos" will be hidden (Note: It cannot be viewed by any search options)
   
   (To view this folder again, use the same command but replace '+' with '-' on both flags 's' and 'h')

Want to have some fun with U-Sing-Along karaoke? you don't need to buy a fancy karaoke machine which, most likely, will disappoint you by the low audio quality but high... limitations.

I've seen many pricey karaoke machines out there that play thousands of songs, all from one single DVD disc. But the video scenes are boring since they're shared within the song tracks.The Midi audio quality from these players is not what you want (that's why such many songs can be stored in one single disc). And... it's impossible to manage the list of song tracks on the disc, for example, when you want to add your favorite songs or remove ones that you dislike.



This Windows Karaoke is a free software for non-commercial uses, so help yourself and enjoy. Feel free to send me comments/suggestions, as well as any questions you may have.Thanks to TheComputerTricks.com for their sponsorship.
With Windows Karaoke, you can turn your desktop or laptop to a karaoke machine, or even connect it to your home theater system. I suggest that you connect your laptop/desktop audio (line-out) to a mixer,which allows you to plug in a microphone. Then feed the audio from this mixer to your home theater system.
You can also use this player to play other media types such as MP3, movies, etc...
Download a copy of Windows Karaoke here.
System Requirements:

• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or newer.
• MS .NET Framework (recommend 3.5 or newer)
• Windows Media Player 9 or newer, which is available in most recent computers.

Installation:

• Installation is easy, just double-click on the Setup.exe and follow the instructions.
  

Configure Windows Karaoke:

1. Launch the Windows Karaoke after installation.
   
2. Press "Ctrl" Key for Configuration window.
   
3. Configure the keyboard keys. Some keys are fixed and cannot be changed (i.e. Stop, Play, etc...)
   
4. Manage your song list:
   • Select "Song List" tab, then either import a song list (in *.csv) format, or add song tracks manually. (Make sure you enter correct paths for the song tracks)
5. Set your language:
   • Select "Others" tab, then change your language.
6. Click "Save & Exit" to save you changes and exit.

Some Tips:

• To select a song track to play or sing:
  • Press the key that you assigned to "Play a select song".
  • Enter the song number on the pop-up window and hit "Enter"
  • To cancel, hit "Escape"
• To select a song track to add to waitlist:
  • Press the key that you assigned to "Queue a select song".
  • Enter the song number on the pop-up window and hit "Enter"
  • To cancel, hit "Escape"
• To play all the tracks from the beginning:
  • Press the key that you assigned to "Play All Songs".
• To browse the list of all tracks for selection:
  • Press the key that you assigned to "Browse All Songs".
  • Use arrow keys (Left/Right/Up/Down) to navigate to the song you like.
  • To select the song to play: Press the key that you assigned to "Play a select song".
  • To select the song to add to waitlist Press the key that you assigned to "Queue a select song".
• To stop while a track is playing:
  • Press "Escape".
• To pause/resume while a track is playing/pausing:
  • Press "Pause/Break".
• To exit the program:
  • Press "End". (at any screen)

Screenshots:

Song List Menu:

FAQ's:

1. Q: What types of files does Windows Karaoke play?
   A: Windows Karaoke uses the Windows Media Player on your computer to play the video/audio, so it plays most of the video/audio file types such as AVI, MPG, MP3, WAV, etc..
   
   
2. Q: Where can I buy Windows Karaoke?
   A: Windows Karaoke is free, you can download a copy here.
   Windows Karaoke is sponsored by TheComputerTricks.com, you can provide support by clicking on any ad on the site. Your support is greatly appreciated.
   
   
3. Q: Where can I get the karaoke song tracks?
   A: There are many sources that you can get karaoke song tracks. You can either download them from the internet, or extract them from DVD/VCD discs.
   There are some software you can use to extract those tracks from a DVD to individual *.avi or *.mpg files. I personally use Handbrake.
   With many VCD karaoke discs, you can simply copy those *.DAT files from the disc and rename them to *.mpg.
   If you extract the tracks from a DVD, video codecs DivX or XviD could help reduce the size of your video files.
   
   
4. Q: Can I use a remote control?
   A: Sure you can. You can use any USB remote and map the buttons to the keyboard keys. Some Media Center Edition (MCE) remotes are available on ebay.
   You might need a keymap utility to map the remote buttons to keyboard keys. Some of them are also free.
   Check out "LM Remote Keymap", "Intelliremote", "HIP" (Human Interface Programmer)
   
   
5. Q: Can I use this on my home theater?
   A: Feed the audio from your desktop/laptop to your home theater, then you're good to go. You'll need a cable that goes from your PC line-out (or headset) to the RCA plugs on your receiver/mixer

You can insert a watermark into a Microsoft Word document as either text or image.
Here is a sample Word Document with text watermark:






And here is an example of picture watermark:



Step-by-step to add a watermark to Word document (applied for Microsoft Word 97-2010):
Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP (2002)/2003:

1. Open the Word document that you want to add watermark to.
2. Select "Format" from the top menu, then select "Background", then "Printed Watermark".
3. In the "Printed Watermark" dialog:
   
   A. To insert a text watermark:
   • Select the "Text watermark".
   • Then, either select a pre-defined text from the drop-down, or type in your desire text on the "Text" field.
   • Customize your watermark with other options in this dialog such as text size, text color, etc, then click "OK".
   • Watermark is now inserted into your document.
   
   B. To insert an image watermark:
   • Select the "Picture watermark".
   • Then click on the button "Select Picture...".
   • Navigate to the directory where your watermark picture is located. Select it and click "Insert".
   • Select a customized scale if desired, then click "OK".
   • The image is now inserted into your document as watermark.

Microsoft Word 2007/2010:

1. Open the Word document that you want to add watermark to.
2. Select the "Page Layout" Tab from the top menu
3. In the "Page Background" group, select "Watermark".
4. You can now select one of the pre-defined watermarks, or if you wish to use your own text/image, select "Custom Watermark" at the bottom.
   At the "Printed Watermark" dialog:
   
   A. To insert a text watermark:
   • Select the "Text watermark".
   • Then, either select a pre-defined text from the drop-down, or type in your desire text on the "Text" field.
   • Customize your watermark with other options in this dialog such as text size, text color, etc, then click "OK".
   • Watermark is now inserted into your document.
   
   B. To insert an image watermark:
   • Select the "Picture watermark".
   • Then click on the button "Select Picture...".
   • Navigate to the directory where your watermark picture is located. Select it and click "Insert".
   • Select a customized scale if desired, then click "OK".
   • The image is now inserted into your document as watermark

This trick shows you how to share your internet connections on multiple computers within a workgroup with Windows XP. Windows XP has a built-in feature that called "Internet Connection Sharing" (ICS) that allows home users to share their internet connections on multiple computers.
If you are not familiar with the network configurations, the easiest way to share your internet connection is to purchase a router or hub. Use this trick only if you don't have a router, or don't want to use a router, or if you just want to try out the feature.
A simple way to understand this feature is, you are making your host computer (the computer directly connects to the internet) functioning as a router for other computers.

What do you need?



 A "Host" computer that running Windows XP. This computer must have at least TWO (2) network adapters. One adapter - let's call it "Adapter #1" - connects to the internet and another, "Adapter #2", connects to a hub or directly to other computers. 

• Client computer(s), which run any version of Windows. A client computer can be connected to the host computer directly by a cross-over cable or indirectly through a hub.
• This trick assumes that the host computer is connected to the internet and you are able to access the internet on this computer.

Configure the Host Computer

1. Logon the host computer as Administrator.
2. Click Start >> Control Panel.
3. Click Network and Internet Connections.
4. Click Network Connections.
5. Right-click the connection that you use to connect to the internet (the connection with Adapter #1). This connection can be either a high-speed internet connection or a dial-up connection.
6. Click Properties.
7. Click Advanced tab.
8. Under Internet Connection Sharing, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
9. If you are sharing a dial-up Internet connection, select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box if you want to permit your computer to automatically connect to the Internet.
10. Click OK. You'll reieve the following message:
    When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set to use IPaddress 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other computers onyour network. If these other computers have static IP addresses, it is a good idea to set themto obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable InternetConnection Sharing?
11. Click Yes.

Configure the Client Computer(s)
To use the shared connection from the Host computer, a client computer must be configured with "Automatic IP address". The main configurations are:

1. Configure TCP/IP Automatic IP
2. Configure Internet Connection

The steps for the above two configurations are vary on different versions of Windows.
The following procedures are for Windows XP client computers.

1. Log on to the client computer as Administrator or as Owner.
2. Click Start >> Control Panel.
3. Click Network and Internet Connections.
4. Click Network Connections.
5. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
6. Click the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the This connection uses the following items list, and then click Properties.
7. In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Obtain an IP address automatically (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.
   
   
   
8. Click Start >> Control Panel
9. Click Network and Internet Connections.
10. Click Internet Options.
11. In the Internet Properties dialog box, click the Connections tab.
12. Click the Setup button. The New Connection Wizard starts.
13. On the Welcome to the New Connection Wizard page, click Next.
14. Click Connect to the Internet, and then click Next.
15. Click Set up my connection manually, and then click Next.
16. Click Connect using a broadband connection that is always on, and then click Next.
17. On the Completing the New Connection Wizard page, click Finish.
18. Exit Control Panel and test the internet. You might need to restart the computer.

It's a good practice to create an image of your hard drive before you start using it. Especially when you had to build that computer from scratch and spent hours installing the operating system and all of your favorite apps...

As Symantec Ghost becomes more user friendly, people start to recognize this idea. The idea also works well when you need to clean your PC from viruses.In case anything goes wrong with the operating system, you just need to restore the image using the Symantec bootable CD.




However, the problem comes when we deal with the new version of those small laptops: The netbooks! which usually don't come with a built-in CD-ROM drive to bootup the PC.
The most simple solution would be buying an external CD-ROM drive, which costs you money. And in some cases, you just want to bootup the Symantec Ghost.... with whatever available!




The good news: Almost every recent laptop/netbook comes with a card reader, and even if you wasn't lucky enough, your laptop/netbook should have a USB port!

This guide will tell you how to create a bootable SD card or a USB flash drive with Symantec Norton Ghost.
This task can be done with several different versions of Symantec Ghost; however, the steps from this articles are based on Symantec Ghost 14.


What you need?

• Symantec Ghost 14 bootable CD. (Some other versions might also work)
• A PC with bootable CD/DVD drive.
• An SD card (either SD or SDHC), or a USB thumb drive. The size can be as minimum as 1 GB. You can also pick a large SD card if you want to store your hard drive image to the card as well.
• An SD slot or a card reader (for SD card) or a USB slot (for thumb drive)

Follow the steps in order. Use this guide at your own risks.

1. First, check to make sure your CD/DVD drive is bootable. (See your BIOS manual or PC user guide for details since this is out of the scope of this article).
2. - For SD card: Make sure the SD slot or the card reader is available. if it's a card reader, connect it to the PC. Also insert the card.
   - For USB thumb drive: Make sure the drive is inserted into one of the USB slots.
3. Bootup the computer using the Symantec Ghost CD (Details vary on different computers). On Windows XP, during the startup, you should see the prompt "Press any key to boot from CD...".
4. Once the Symantec Recovery startup is complete, you should see the main screen of Symantec Ghost 14 Recovery similar to this image:
   
   
   
   
5. Select "Analyze" from the left menu.
   
   
   
6. Then click on "Open Command Shell Window". A command prompt window will display.
   
   
7. At this command prompt window, type: "diskpart" (one word, without quotes) and hit enter. The prompt now changed to "DISKPART>"
   
   
8. Now type "list disk" and hit enter. You should now see a list of all available disks. Base on the size of each disk listed, find the one that matching your SD card (or thumb drive) and note its disk number under "Disk ###". If you don't see your SD card (or flash drive) listed, verify if it is inserted or plugged in (you might need to restart the computer and try again).
   
   
9. Type "select disk <n>" (replace <n> with the disk # noted from the previous step) then hit enter.
   Important!! Besure to select the correct disk (your SD card or thumb drive) as you will be erasing the drive.
   Sample image with a 4-GB SD selected:
   
   
   
   
10. Create a primary partition for the the disk by executing the following sequence of commands:
    clean
    create partition primary
    select partition 1
    
    
11. Set the primary partition active, type: "active" and hit enter
    
    
12. Perform a quick format with the following command:
    format fs=fat32 quick
    
    
13. Then type:
    assign
    exit
    
    
14. Your SD card (or the flash drive) is now bootable and will act similar to a local hard drive. In order to boot this card with Symantect Ghost Recovery, copy all contents from the Symantec Ghost disc to the SD card (or the flash drive). Besure to copy everything including any hidden files/folders.
    
    The SD card or flash drive is now bootable and will boot your laptop/netbook to Symantec Ghost Recovery utilities exactly the same way as of the CD (To boot with the card on your laptop/netbook, don't forget to set your bios to search for the SD card or USB external devices in the boot sequence).

If you have a piece of software that refuses to install because it says that you are not running Windows 2000 (such as the Win2K drivers for a Mustek scanner!!) you can simply edit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/ProductName

to say Microsoft Windows 2000 instead of XP and it will install. You may also have to edit the version number or build number, depending on how hard the program tries to verify that you are installing on the correct OS. I had to do this for my Mustek 600 CP scanner (compatibility mode didn''t help!!!) and it worked great, so I now have my scanner working with XP (and a tech at Mustek can now eat his words). don''t forget to restore any changes you make after you get your software installed

You do this at your own risk.

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.



2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors
Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

So i've been looking for a while on just how to close a port on a computer. I simply
couldn't find a way. Well, i finally found it. This'll only work for windows users (unless
your unix version OS has netsh).

it's actually quite simple. here's the command for it:

netsh firewall delete portopening TCP portnumber

it's that simple. Simply go to START -> RUN -> and type in that command up there,
and it'll close it for you.
or, you can also open up command prompt (START -> RUN -> CMD) and type in "netsh"
without the quotes to get to your windows firewall settings.
\
VBS Script
set ss = createobject("wscript.shell")
set ws = wscript
dim PORT
PORT = InputBox("Enter the port you wish to close:")
ss.run "netsh.exe"
ws.sleep 1000
ss.sendkeys "firewall delete portopening TCP " & PORT
ss.sendkeys "{enter}"
ws.sleep 500
'ss.sendkeys "exit"
'ss.sendkeys "{enter}"

.BAT Script
@echo off
title Port Closer
echo Port Closer
echo.
set /p port=Type the port number you wish to close here:
netsh firewall delete portopening TCP %port%
msg /w * Port %port% has been closed.
exit

Press CRTL + ALT + DEL

Goto the 'processes' tab and click explorer.exe once and then click 'end process'.

Now, click File > New Task and type explorer.exe

Everything should be fine now! If the problem is major, I would recommend actually shutting down then starting up again.

Now I am gonna show you how to make your pc faster than before. I can make your pc about 200% faster. To make you PC faster than before please folow the steps
# Go to start then click run and then type regedit


 
# Select HKEY_CURRENT_USER and then select control panel folder and then select desktop folder. Do it correctly
# You will see registry setting at your right hand side, after that select menu show delay and then right click and select modify.
# you will find edit string option -----> default value data is 400 , you have to change the value Data to 000
# Restart your computer. You will notice that your computer has become much more faster.
(Note : This will help you to start your computer start quickly,

This isn't a tweak, but a great little feature! For a great way to put your digital photos to work, try creating a slide show presentation for use as a screen saver. Here's how:

1. Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and then click Properties.

2. Click the Screen Saver tab.




3. In the Screen saver list, click My Pictures Slide show.

4. Click Settings to make any adjustments, such as how often the pictures should change, what size they should be, and whether you'll use transition effects between pictures, and then click OK.

Now your screen saver is a random display of the pictures taken from your My Pictures folder.

XP PRO has a lot of fun utilities. One of the most useful ones I have found to date is the ability to remotely reboot a PC. There are 2 ways of doing this. You will need to have admin access to the PC to preform these actions. That being said, here is the first way to do it:

Right click my computer, choose manage.
Highlight the Computer Management (Local) then click on Action, choose connect to another computer.



In the window that opens fill in the machine name of the PC you want to connect to and click ok.
Once connected right click on Computer Management (Remote machine name) and choose properties.
Go to the "Advanced" tab and click the Settings button under Start up and recovery.
Click on the Shutdown button.
Under action choose what you want to do (you can log off current user, shut down, restart, or power down. you can also choose if you want to force all applications to close, close hung apps, or wait for all apps to close by themselves).

The second way... Remember dos... that good old thing. Open up a command prompt and enter in the following:

%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r -m \\Machinename. The command prompt has more switches and options. I highly suggest using shutdown.exe /? to see all the possibilities.

Let's do some fun stuff today....

open notepad copy the following lines into it and save it with the name OEMINFO.INI  in the c:\windows\system32 directory:


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[General]
Manufacturer=Your Name Here
Model=Your Model Here
[Support Information]
Line1=Your Name Here
Line2=Your Address Here
Line3=Your Email Address Here

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Save the file.

2. Then make a right click on my computer select properties, in the general tab a button will be highlighted (support information) make a click on it, you will be able to see the changes.

3. Now if you want to display some more information then simply increase the line in the file.

ex: Line4=Your Working Hours Here

 In areas where you are trying to restrict what users can do on the computer, it might be beneficial to disable the ability to click on My Computer and have access to the drives, control panel etc.
To disable this:
1.Open RegEdit
2.Search for 20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D
3.This should bring you to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID section
4.Delete the entire section.
Now when you click on My Computer, nothing will happen.
You might want to export this section to a Registry file before deleting it just in case you want to enable it again. You can also hide all the Desktop Icons, see Change/Add restrictions.

• To enable this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights. 
•  
• First click on Start button to open "Run" and type "CMD" (without the quotes) then press Ok button to open Command Prompt.

But next time, when you want to unhide the D drive, just run assign drive F command after loading volume 2.

• To enable this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.
• First click on start button to open control panel and then click here on "Administrative Tools" option.

•  

• Now "Local Security Settings" panel will appear, on lift side of this panel click on "Local Policies".
• Here click on "Security Options" then double click on "Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile" option.

• Now small dialog box will appear with options, "Enabled or Disabled" the page file.
  
  
  • Select the "Enabled" radio button to set clear page file each time you shutdown computer.
   
  
   
  Press Apply button to save settings and then click on Ok button to finish.