Starting a New Computer

Before connecting the computer to the monitor, look for one of these connectors. Three possibilities are:

VGA analog
DVI-D digital
Dual-monitor DVI
Do not use the RGB analog cord if you have digital connections on both the conputer and monitor because the picture will not be as sharp. See All About DVI and HDMI Cables for more information
If your computer has a dual-monitor DVI jack, you will need a splitter which can be one of three types.

Two DVI connections
Two VGA connections
One of each
Each of the three cables has a LFH-59 connector for attachment to the computer. See Wikipedia

Adjust Taskbar

Right-click the Taskbar and pick Properties
Put a check mark for Show Quick Launch
Click the Start Menu tab and pick Classic Start Menu
Click OK

Check monitor and video adapter settings and background

Right-click desktop and pick Properties

Select unique background picture for Administrator

Click settings tab

Check monitor and video adapter names

If correct, adjust Colors and Screen area

OK

Go back to Display Properties, Settings tab

Pick Advanced button

Monitor tab, set refresh tab higher than 60 Hz

Install Intellipoint Ver 4 mouse driver

Make an Explorer shortcut on the Quick-Launch bar

Find Explorer.exe in C:\WINDOWS
Right drag to the desktop and make a shortcut
Right-drag the icon to the Quick-Launch bar and pick move

Set Windows Explorer Features

You can see more information about files by changing Explorer
Start Explorer
Click the View Menu and pick Details. Now you can see the date and size
Click the Name column to sort items by name
Click the Tools Menu and pick Folder Options

Pick the View tab
Put a check by Display the full path in the address bar
Put a check by Display the full path in title bar
For Hidden files and folders, choose Show hidden files and folders
Remove the check for Hide file extensions
Click the Reset All Folders button
Click the Like Current Folder button
Click OK

Start in Safe Mode by repeatedly pressing F8

The Task Manager lets you control running programs

Right-click the taskbar and pick Task Manager or press Ctrl-Alt-Del to open
Pick the Prosesses tab to see resources used by running programs
Pick the Applications tab to close non-responding programs
Pick the Performance tab to look as CPU usage

Use Msinfo32.exe to determine the system properties. Click Start, Run and type Msinfo32. Also, make a link to it.

Search C:\Program Files\ for Msinfo32.exe
Create a shortcut on the desktop
Rename the shortcut System Information
Open C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu
Make a folder named Tools
Drag the new shortcut to the Tools folder
Win98 and WinXP also have Msconfig that can be used to disable programs

Error Reporting
To stop display of an error (like dwwin.exe-dll initalization failed) on shutdown

Control Panel, System
Advanced tab
Error Reporting button
Choose Programs button
Add
Add program name such as dwwin.exe
OK several times

Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl-F: Find text
Ctrl-Home: Move to document beginning
Ctrl-End: Move to document end
Double-click: Select word
Triple-click: Select line
Shift-space: Extend selection to right
Shift-Home: Extend selection to left
Shift-End: Extend selection to line end
Shift-Home: Extend selection to line beginning
Ctrl-Shift-Home: Extend selection to document beginning
Ctrl-Shift-End: Extend selection to document end
Ctrl-C: Copy text to paste buffer
Ctrl-X: Cut text to paste buffer
Ctrl-V: Paste text to paste buffer
Ctrl-Z: Undo Ctrl-C, Ctrl-X
Ctrl-right arrow: Move to next word
Ctrl-left arrow: Move to previous word
Delete: Delete selected text

Ctrl-A: Select all files
Ctrl-Shift-up arrow: Extend selection up
Ctrl-Shift-down arrow: Extend selection down
Ctrl-drag: Copy selected files
Alt-space: Window menu (M to move window)

Boot-up Commands

Press F8 to enter Safe Mode when starting up
Press Del or F2 to enter ROM BIOS
Press Ctrl-F11 for system restore
Also see Install Windows XP Professional

More information is at

Administrative Tools, Computer Management
System Information
Details are under System Summary, Hardware Resources, and Components
Get more information Start, Run, winmsd

Set up system sounds

Start menu, Settings, Control Panel, double-click Sounds
Asterisk=XP Error, Critical Stop=XP, Default Beep=Ding, Exclamation=Chord, Question=Kids, Start Windows=XP startup, except Administrator=The Microsoft Sound
Windows Explorer, Start Navigation=Crick
Repeat for each user
If Default Beep is missing and there is no sound from volume-control icon in tray, see below

Set up Ethernet connection. (If traveling, see If traveling with a laptop)

Start Menu, Settings
Network Connections
Right-click Local Area connection, pick Properties to get the Connection dialog box
Check Show icon in notification area when connected
Check Notify me when this connection has limited or no conne5tivity
Check mark on Client for Microsoft Networks
No check mark File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
Pick Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties button to get the Internet Protocol dialog box
Click Use the following IP address:
Enter the IP address (porter )
Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
Default gateway is IP address for first three parts xxx.xxx.xxx.254
Click Use the following DNS server addresses:
For Tech DNS servers use 129.138.4.63 and 129.138.250.10
Click Advanced button to get the Advanced TCP/IP Settings dialog box
Check that IP and Gateway are correct
Click DNS tab and check that DNS server address is correct
For DNS suffix put nmt.edu
OK, OK, Close

If traveling with a laptop

Follow the previous section up to Use the following IP address:
Be sure that File and Printer Sharing is not checked
Select Obtain an IP address automatically
OK, OK

Alternatively, install dial-up software (NM Tech)

Install Norton Antivirus

Right-click taskbar and pick Properties

Put check mark for Show small icons in Start menu
Uncheck Use Personalized Menus for showing all menu items
Advanced tab -- put check mark for Display Logoff
Advanced tab -- put check mark for Display Administrative Tools (Administrator)
OK

Set time for the display of list of operating systems (boot-manager time)

Right-click My Computer, pick Properties
Pick Advanced tab
Click Startup and Recovery
In Default operating systems pick "Microsoft Windows 2000"
Set Display list of operating systems for 2 seconds
Change Write debugging information to none
OK, OK

Check for DMA setting of CD-ROM drives (unless you have an IDE controller card)

Right-click My Computer, pick Manage

In the left pane, pick System Tools, Device Manager

In the right pane, click the plus next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers

If you have an IDE controller card skip the next step
Right-click Primary IDE Channel and pick Properties

Pick Advanced Settings tab

Set Transfer Mode to DMA if available

Repeat for the Secondary IDE Channel

Set Event Viewer

Right-click My Computer, pick Manage

In left pane, pick the plus next to Event Viewer

Right-click Application and pick Properties

Set Overwrite events older that 7 days
OK
Repeat for System

Move virtual memory from drive C to drive D

Check Used space on drives C and D
Right-click Drive D and pick Properties
Pick Tools tab and click Check Now
Click Start
Click Defragment Now
Click drive D and then Analyze
Click Defragment
Close Defragmenter
OK
Right-click My Computer, pick Properties
Pick Advanced tab and under Performance click Settings
Pick the Advanced tab
Click Change
Highlight Drive D
Set initial size and maximum size to what they are for drive C (Windows uses twice RAM for initial and four times for maximum)
Click Set
Highlight Drive C
Set initial size and maximum size to zero
Click Set
OK, OK, OK
Reboot
Drive C will now be larger by the former minimum virtual memory size
Defrag drive C

Install Wntipcfg for information about IP configuration

Download WntIpcfg.exe
Double-click to install in C:\Program Files\Resource Kit
Make a shortcut to it

Install SP4 at Windows Update
Install IE Web Accessories, ie5wa.exe (Version 5 is OK for Internet Explorer Version 6)

If you don't back up with Drive Image, make an Emergency Repair Disk (ERD)

Put a formatted floppy disk in drive A
Write Emergency Repair Disk and date on floppy label
Click Start Menu, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup
Click Emergency Repair Disk
Click a check mark in Also backup the registry ...
Click OK

Backup drives C and E
Run Regclean

Japanese and other Language Support:
See ¤ Vale for installing Japanese on Windows XP.
If this character 水 doesn't look like this one Install the Japnanese fonts MSGothic (sans serif) and MSMincho (serif) also Chinese Batang (traditional) and MingLiu simplified)

Start, Settings, Control Panel, Regional and Language Options
Pick the Languages tab
Below Supplemental language support put a check for Install East Asian Languages
Click OK, OK
Restart computer

To write Japanese characters with a US keyboard install IME.
(For Chinese, see ¤ Robert Y. Eng)

Log in as Administrator
Open Control Panel, Regional and Language Options
Pick the Languages tab
Pick Details to get the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box .
Click the Add button to get the Add Input Languages dialog box.
Under Input Language drop down the list and select Japanese
Check that Microsof IME Standard 2002 appears
Pick the OK button
Pick OK
The EN symbol now appears in the system tray for English
Put an Encoding button to the Internet Explorer tool bar so you can easily change to Japanese coding

Right-click the button bar and remove the check from Lock the Toolbars
Right-click the button bar and pick Customize
Pick Encoding in the left pane
Click the Add button
Move the location up or down as needed
Click Close
Right-click the button bar and add a check to Lock the Toolbars

To write Japanese characters (for any user)

Start, Settings, Control Panel, Regional Options
General tab, Language Settings for the System
Click on Japanese
Open Word, or create e-mail in OE, or open Input Japanese Text
In the system tray, click the EN icon and pick Japanese
Change Input Mode to Hiragana or Katakana
Set font to MS Gothic or MS Mincho
For OE, set Format, Encoding to Japanese (JIS)
Type Romaji letters and press Space bar to convert to Kana
Press Enter to keep the Kana or press the Space bar a second time for Kanji
Press Space bar again to select a different Kanji (there are 26 Kanji for go)
Press Enter to accept the current Kanji
Begin with letter L or X to get small kana.

To use Japanese menus in Internet Explorer 6
The Change button is not present in the Language Preference dialog box. The only way to use the International Language Menus and Dialogs component in Windows 2000 is by first installing the MUI for Windows 2000 (Knowledge Base Article - 274358). See MUI. You can, however, set a preference for web page language.

Open Internet Explorer 6
Click Tools and pick Internet Options
In the General tab, pick Languages
Click Add
In the Add Language dialog box, scroll to Japanese [ja] and pick it
Click OK
In the Language Preference dialog box, pick Japanese [ja] and click the Change button
Click OK
(This works with Win98 but not Win2000)

Set the HTML Editor for Internet Explorer
To make another editor the default for HTML pages

Get ¤ htmleditor.vbs
Right-click the htmleditor.vbs and select Open
Enter the location of the editor, e.g.,
C:\Program Files\TEXTPAD\TXTPAD32.EXE
Answer Yes to make this editor the default
Restart Windows
Start Internet Explorer and check that the new editor is the default
Click Tools, and pick Internet Options
On the Programs tab, HTML Editor drop-down list the new editor should appear

Alternative method using Windows Explorer:
Click Tools and pick Folder Options
Pick the Files tab
Scroll down to HTML in the list
Pick Advanced Edit action and click Edit
Select the editor

For Phone Dialer Icon use %ProgramFiles%\Windows NT\dialer.exe
Check running tasks, and startup programs

Right-click My Computer, pick Manage
System Tools, System Information, Software Environment
Pick Running Tasks
Pick Startup Programs

Check or stop running Tasks and see performance plots -- right-click Taskbar, pick Task Manager or press Ctrl-Alt-Del
Control Panel, Power Options, set monitor and hard disks time for shutoff
Set AboutTime to run on login

Download About Time and install it

Options tab: For server: Set time when starting, Exit after For clients, Set time at 120, Start hidden
Time Hosts tab: Add NM Tech, timehost-a.nmt.edu
or -b, -c, etc., Verify Entry

Open Scheduled Tasks (in Control Panel)

Double-click Add Scheduled Task

Add the program AboutTime

Perform this task When I log on to run as Administrator

Add password

More time servers are given at Public NTP Time Servers
Also see my list

Install SSH Telnet PuTTY

Download PuTTY from putty.exe
Start it up and set Host Name to rainbow.nmt.edu
Port: 22
Protocol: SSH
Under Window, set Rows to 35
Under Window, Colours, set Default Foreground to Black
Under Window, Colours, set Default Background to White
Under Window, Colours, set Default Cursor Colour to Blue
Read the PuTTY manual for more options
Type rainbow for Saved Sessions
Click Save
Make a shortcut to PutTTY and add
-ssh rainbow.nmt.edu -load rainbow
to the Target under Properties, Shortcut

As Administrator, right-click start menu and pick All Users to set up short cuts for all users

Install Quicktime, but disable it on startup

Start Regedit
Go to HKLM,Software,Microsoft,Windows,CurrentVersion,Run
Double-click Quick Time Task
put semicolon in front of
"C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
OK
Close Regedit

Install Shockwave
Disable other startup programs at HKLM, Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, Run by putting semicolon at beginning of line.
Install TweakUI (here too) and in Explorer tab, disable Prefix "shortcuts to" and General tab, Show Windows version on desktop

Set up Outlook Express

Start up Outlook Express and check that Outlook Express is set to Leave a copy of messages on server:
Tools, Accounts, Mail, Properties, Advanced, Delivery
Click Tool, Options, Maintenance
Click Store Folder and change Outlook Express to C:\Outlook Express
Close and restart OE
Go to Inbox and set up Toolbar with View, Layout, Customize Toolbar;
Send/Recv, Address, Mark Read, Mark Unread, Encoding, Print, Inbox
If Outlook is installed, Outlook Express will use Outlook for e-mail addresses. To make Outlook Express use its own address book do the following:

Open Outlook Express and its address book
Pick Tools, Options, Data Sharing, and click
Do not share information among Microsoft outlook and other applications
For more information see: Q156828
Outlook Express stores e-mail addresses at
C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\user.wab
The location is specified in the registry at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab File Name\(Default)

Create one entry in Address book
Close OE
Search Drive C for *.wab and sort by date to discover name of address book
Copy original address book and give it the new name
Copy old address book with new name to drive C replacing the new one
Start Internet Explorer and check for the default E-mail program

Click Tools and pick Internet Options
Pick the Programs tab
If the E-mail tab does not show Outlook Express, pick it from the drop-down list
If Outlook Express is not in the list, close Outlook Express, click Start, Run, and Type:
msimn.exe /reg

Restart Outlook Express and make it the default E-mailer if asked
In Internet Explorer, pick Outlook Express from the drop-down list
Open the address book and check that it is correct
Try to send e-mail to yourself
To read an EML attachment, press Ctrl-F3
Click File, Export, Address Book to make a backup
Click File, Export, Messages to make a backup

Setup OE to read MSN mail

Tools, Accounts, Mail tab, Add, Mail
For Display name, write Your name, Next
Enter E-mail address including @msn.com, Next
For My incoming mail server is a change to HTTP server
For My HTTP mail service provider is pick MSN
Incoming mail server should show http://oe.msn.msnmail.hotmail.com/cgi-bin/hmdata, Next
For Account name, put e-mail address including @msn.com
Enter password, click Remember password, Next
Finish
If there is a problem, go back through setup and compare to OE configuration

MSN Backup
MSN stores backup e-mail at C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\MSN\db30

Set up Outlook
To transfer the Outlook contacts to another computer don't simply copy the outlook.pst file, create the file backup.pst and use that instead.

Start Outlook on the original computer
Click Tools and pick Empty "Deleted Items" Folder, OK
Click File and pick Import & Export
Pick Export to a File, Next
Pick Personal Folder File (.pst), Next
Pick Contacts, Next
Outlook wants to create the file backup.pst in the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Pick this file name and press the End key to go to the end of line
Alternatively, pick Browse, steer to a recently exported file, and pick it
Change the name to something unique like backup01-06-07.pst
Replace duplicates with ...
Finish
Compressible Encryption, OK

Copy the file backupxx.pst to the new computer into the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Start Outlook on the new computer
Pick Contact
If there are already contacts present, delete them.
Click Tools and pick Empty "Deleted Items" Folder, OK
Click File and pick Import & Export
Pick Import from another program or file, Next
Pick Personal Folder File (.pst), Next
Outlook selects the file backup.pst in the folder
C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Click Browse, and pick your pst file, say backup01-06-07.pst
Pick Replace duplicates with items imported, Next
Pick Contacts, Import items into current folder, Finish

Error message: No Office Assistant Character Files Present on the System

Control panel, Add or Remove Programs
Pick Microsoft Office, Change, Reinstall or Repair

To set the click mode, open Control Panel, Folder Options, General. For the item Click items as follows, pick Single-click or Double-click to open.

Create a shorter name for Toggle Images.exe on the IE Links toolbar

Graphic images (Gif and Jpeg) can be turned on and off with Toggle Images.exe on the IE Links toolbar. (Refresh needed).
Drag the Toggle Images.exe shortcut left in the IE Links toolbar to make it more accessible
Locate the file Toggle Images.exe in C:\Documents and Settings\user\Favorites\Links
Create another folder in C:\Documents and Settings\user\Favorites\ called LinkSource
Move the file Toggle Images.exe to the new folder
Create a shortcut to the original file in the C:\Documents and Settings\user\Favorites\Links folder and name it Toggle Gif
Remove the original link from the tool bar by right-clicking and picking Delete
Right-drag the new shortcut Toggle Gif to the links toolbar
Click the Toggle Gif link on the Links toolbar and then Refresh to turn on or off the images

Internet Explorer

AutoComplete, To save passwords: Tools, Internet Options, Content, AutoComplete
Security: Tools, Internet Options, Security, Local intranet, Custom Level
Toggle Gifs: Put Toggle Images.exe in Documents and Settings\User\Favorites\Links

Set up other user accounts

Install Trayday and Moon
Make a shortcut to "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"

Set up other user accounts

Start Menu, Settings, Control Panel
Double-click Users and Passwords
Click Add
Fill out User name, Full name, and Description
Click Next
Enter password twice
Click Next
Pick access level: Standard User, Restricted user, or Other
Click Finish
Click OK
Right-click My Computer, pick Manage
Open System Tools and Local Users and Groups
Pick Users
In right pane, right-click the new user name and pick Properties
Click User cannot change password
Click Password nevers expires
Click OK
Close Computer Management

Copy Mshearts.hlp, .exe, and .chm and Cards.dll from Win98 to a Hearts folder
Download Microsoft Reader
Install Azz Cardfile and change to phone icon at %ProgramFiles%\Windows NT\dialer.exe
To install Lexar Jumpshot

Copy Lexar2k.in to C:\WINNT\inf
Copy Lexar2k.sys to C:\WINNT\system32\drivers
Plug in Jumpshot and insert CF card
Point installer to these files as requested.
Microsoft Reader
Install Azz Cardfile and change to phone icon at %ProgramFiles%\Windows NT\dialer.exe

Backup data files at the computer center

Click Start, Run
Type \\smbhost.nmt.edu and pick OK
In the dialog box, type username and password then pick OK
In the right pane of the Explorer that opens, double-click your account icon to open the folder
Right-click a blank area in the right pane to get a menu
Move down to View and move over for a new menu
In the new menu, pick Folder
Name the new folder Backup or something more appropriate
Right drag the Backup icon to the desktop and pick Create Shortcut(s) Here
Close the window
Double-click the Backup icon to open it
Drag items for backup to the new Backup
Files in this backup folder reside at the computer center and are automatically backed up each night
To add more items, double-click the Backup icon on the desktop
To retrieve items, drag them back

Environment Variables
To set Environment Variables

Open control panel and double-click System
Click the Advanced tab
Click the Environment Variables button
Click the New button
Fill out Variable Name and Variable Value
Click OK, OK, OK

Regular Maintenance

Delete temporary files

In Explorer, right-click a drive, pick Properties
Click Disk Cleanup
Total file size is shown for various locations
Click OK

Check directory structure

In Explorer, right-click a drive, pick Properties
Tools tab
Under Error-checking, click Check Now
Click Start

Defrag drives

In Explorer, right-click a drive, pick Properties
Tools tab
Under Defragmentation, click Defragment Now
Click drive letter
Click Analyze
Click Defragment if necessary

MS Word

To move a toolbar button hold Alt and drag.
To copy a toolbar button hold both Alt and Ctrl while dragging.
Add a button for printing envelopes

Click Tools, Customize, Commands tab, Categories: Tools, Envelopes and Labels
Hold Alt and drag the button from the Commands: window

To start with full width

Click Tools, Options, View tab
Uncheck Startup Task Pane

Brother HL-5280DW setup for normal and envelope printing

Other Tasks
Change location of My Documents folder

Right-click My Documents and pick Properties
Click Move
Steer to new location
OK, OK

Set user rights in Local Security Settings in Administrative Tools

Or Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Double-click Local Security Policy
Click the plus next to Local Security Settings
Left-click User Rights Assignment
In right pane, double-click items such as the system time

Right-click start menu and see Explore All Users if logged in as Administrator
Find and change which services are loading

Right-click My Computer and select Manage
In the left pane, expand Services & Applications
Click Services
Right pane shows installed services as Automatic or Manual
To change setting from Automatic to Manual, right-click the service and select Properties
In the Startup type field, pick Manual from the drop-down list and click OK
What about changing the following services from automatic to manual? See Tweak guide

DCHP Client
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Internet Connection Sharing
Messenger
Remote Registry Service

Message title and text for login

Administrative Tools, Local Security Policy
Local Policies, Security Options
In right pane, right click Message title for users ...
Pick Security
In Local policy setting, write the title
In right pane, right click Message text for users ...
Pick Security
In Local policy setting, write the text
You must change both settings

Do not display last user name in logon screen

Administrative Tools, Local Security Policy
Local Policies, Security Options
In right pane, right click Do not display last user name in logon screen
Pick Security
Click Enabled

Change the drive letter (See Q234048)

Right-click My Computer, pick Manage
Pick Storage, Disk Management
The drives are listed in the upper-right panel and shown in boxes in the lower-right panel
Right-click a drive or CD-ROM and pick Change Drive Letter and Path
Click Edit
Give letter and path
Click OK, Close

View CPU usage for processes

Right-click task bar, pick Task Manager
Click Processes tab
CPU column shows percent of time for each process

View IRQ settings and check for hardware conflicts

Administrative Tools, Computer Management
System Tools, System Information, Hardware Resources
Click IRQ to see values in right pane
Click Conflicts/Sharing to see conflicts in right pane
(IRQ 9 seems to have many conflicts)

To add start menu items visible to all users from Administrator, right-click Start menu and pick Open All Users
To view and change user and system variables

Right-click My Computer and pick Properties
Pick Advanced tab and click Environment Variables
Both system and User Temp locations are here
Find removable Hotfix folders like $NtUninstallQ280838 with Qfecheck
Download Qfecheck.exe installer Q282784_W2K_spl_X86_EN.exe from Microsoft
As Administrator, install by double-clicking
Open Command Prompt (in Start, Programs, Accessories)
Type qfecheck to list and verify the installation of Windows 2000 Hotfixes
Type exit
You should be able to safely delete folders not listed by Qfecheck
The following uninstall files are found on a clean install of Windows 2000 Pro with SP3
      $NtUninstallQ320206 (sometimes)
      $NtUninstallQ323172
      $NtUninstallQ323255 (sometimes)
      $NtUninstallQ324096
      $NtUninstallQ324380
      $NtUninstallQ326830
      $NtUninstallQ326886
Restore lost default sound
If volume control in the system tray doesn't give a sound and Default Beep in control panel sounds is missing, add a key to the registry.

use Regedit to find
HKCU\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default
add another key .Default so it reads
HKCU\AppEvents\Schemes\Apps\.Default\.Default
Start Sounds and Multimedia in Control panel
Click Default Beep that now is back
Set sound to Ding

If items in Open and Save As dialog boxes sort incorrectly

Open Explorer
On the View menu, click Details
Click the Name column to sort items by name
Click Tools, Folder Options
Click View tab
Click Reset All Folders
Click Apply to All Folders
Click OK
Hold CTRL and then quit Windows Explorer by clicking Close in the upper-right corner of the screen
Release the CTRL key
Restart the computer

Remove items from the Open-With menu
You need to change the registry to remove items inadvertently added to the Open-With menu

Use Regedit to find
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts
The programs have assigned names of a, b, c, etc
The MRUList at the end gives the current order of listing in the menu such as acb for items a, c, and b
Delete any key, but notice the name
Also remove the letter name from the MRUList
It might be safer to delete all keys after the letter you are deleting
In Explorer, hold shift and right-click a file type to see the menu
Add missing programs

Office Templates
Copy Microsoft Office templates to:
C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

System File Checker
Run System File Checker to verify system files with the command:
sfc.exe /scannow
See Q222471 for more information

Thumbnail Views Missing
Normally, Explorer will show a thumbnail sketch of JPG and GIF files. However, the thumbnails may not show after Microsoft Office is uninstalled.

For missing JPG images, use Regedit to associate the .jpg file extension in the registry:

Start regedit

Locate and click the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg registry key.

Right-click the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jpg registry key, point to New, and then click Key.
Name the new key ShellEx.

Right-click the new ShellEx registry key, point to New, and then click Key.
Name the new key

{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}

Click the new {BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1} registry key, right-click the Default value in the right pane, click Modify, and paste the following value data into the Value data box:
{7376D660-C583-11d0-A3A5-00C04FD706EC}

For missing GIF images, follow the above directions for JPG images, but change .jpg to .gif

Clear the Typed URL History in Internet Explorer

Quit Internet Explorer.

Delete all of the values except for the (Default) value from the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs

NOTE: Values in this registry key are listed as Url1, Url2, Url3, and so on. If you delete only some values and the remaining values are not in consecutive numerical order, only some of the remaining entries are listed in the Address box. To prevent this behavior from occurring, rename the remaining values so that they are in consecutive numerical order.

To remove U3 Launchpad from flash memory go to here
Local Area Network (LAN)

Connect each computer on the LAN to a hub using an Ethernet cord
Define Workgroup name

Right-click My Computer, pick Properties
Computer Name tab Click Change

Check Computer Name
Click Workgroup
Write Workgroup name
OK, OK
Set up LAN connection

Start Menu, Settings
Network and Dialup Connections
Right-click Local Area connection, pick Properties to get the Connection dialog box for

Win2000
WinXP

Check-mark on Client for Microsoft Networks
Check-mark for File and Printer Sharing
Check-mark on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Click Show icon in taskbar when connected
For Sharing tab, don't enable Internet Connection Sharing
Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties button to get the Internet Protocol dialog box

Win2000 Server
Win2000 Client or Select Obtain an IP address automatically and skip the rest of this section
WinXP Server
WinXP Client

Select Use the following IP address:
Enter the IP address 192.168.0.1 for server or 192.168.0.X for clients
Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
For clients only

Click Use the following Gateway and DNS server addresses:
Enter 192.168.0.1

Click the Advanced button to get the Advanced TCP/IP settings

Win2000 (no changes)
WinXP Server (Check that Metric is Automatic )
WinXP Client (Check that Metric is Automatic )

Click the DNS tab to get the DNS settings

Win2000 Server (no changes)
Win2000 Client (nmt.edu for Matlab)
WinXP Server
WinXP Client (nmt.edu for Matlab)

OK, OK, OK

Enable Guest user for remote login

Right-click My Computer, pick Manage
Expand System Tools and Local Users and Groups
Pick Users
In right pane, right-click Guest and pick Properties
Full name: Remote Login
Remove check from Account is disabled
OK
Close Computer Management

Setup Guest user for remote login

Start Menu, Settings, Control Panel
Double-click Users and Passwords
Check that Guest User Name is not disabled
Click Guest and click the Properties button
General tab, Full Name: Remote Login
Group Membership tab, Other: Guests
No password
OK, OK

Share folders D, E, and F

Open Explorer
Set up read-only sharing for drive D

Right-click D and pick Sharing
Pick Share this folder
Pick New Share
Type D for Share Name
Pick Permissions
Uncheck Full Control and Change
OK, OK

Repeat for drive E
Right-click FTP folder and set up for sharing as above. For permissions, leave X on Full Control and Change
Repeat for FTP2 and FTP3 folders
A hand should show under shared drive and folder icons

Make shortcut to LAN

Start Explorer
Open My Network Places
Open Entire Network
Open Microsoft Windows Network
Locate and click your Workgroup name
Check right pane for all computers on your LAN
Right-drag workgroup name to make shortcut

Send a message to all computers on the network by typing in Start, Run
net send * Your message here
See Sygate page for home network ICS

LAN Setup For Windows 98 Computers

Define Workgroup name for Win98 computer

Right-click Network Neighborhood, pick Properties
Click Identification tab
Computer Name must be unique for workgroup
Click Workgroup
Enter Workgroup name which must be the same for all computers on LAN

Set up LAN connection

Click Configuration tab
Delete dialup if present
Set Primary Network Login to Windows Logon
If File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networds does not show in network components, click Add and click Service
Click File and Print Sharing button and check the boxes for files and printers, OK
Click TCP/IP, click Properties

For IP Address tab click Specify an IP address
Enter the IP address 192.168.0.X for clients where X is from 2 to 253
Subnet mask is 255.255.255.0

Click Gateway tab, type 192.168.0.1, and click Add
Click DNS Configuration tab

Click Enable DNS
Enter Host name
Set Domain to nmt.edu for Matlab
For Tech DNS servers use 129.138.4.216 and 129.138.250.10
Click Add for each one
Leave Domain Suffix blank

Click Bindings tab and check both boxes
OK, OK

Felix is at Felix Screenmate