PazSt_Ft2k ( Tip, Trick PC )

If you plug a USB 2.0 device into a USB 1.1 port, Windows XP will display a warning message indicating that it will drop back to the slower data transfer speed. (USB 2.0 clocks in with a data transfer speed of 480 Mbits/second to USB 1.1's 12 Mbits/second.) In order to find out what version of USB controller is on a computer before you connect a USB device to it, follow these steps:

Press [Windows][Break] to access the System Properties dialog box.
Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
When Device Manager appears, click the + sign next to the Universal Serial Bus Controllers branch.

If you see an entry containing the words Enhanced USB Controller, then the system has a USB 2.0 controller. If you see an entry containing the words USB Controller, the system has a USB 1.1 controller.

Note:
This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Professional editions.

Due to the security features built into Windows XP, it is virtually impossible to get back into the system without the password.

You have several options to try and get around this problem.

If you have access to another user account with administrator rights, you can use that account to change the password of the account that is locked out. You can also use the default Administrator account that is built into Windows XP.

First you need to boot the system into Safe Mode.
Restart your system.
When you see the blue screen, press the ( F8 ) key about 3 times a second.
You should get the Windows startup menu. Use the (Up or Down) arrow keys to highlight (SafeMode).
Press (Enter) on (Safe Mode), then press (Enter) on (Windows XP).
The system should boot to Safe Mode.

Once you are at the Account Log on Screen, click on the icon for the user account with administrator rights, or click on the icon for the administrators account.

Note : For Home the Administrator account isn’t normally shown & in Safe Mode you have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys twice to show. For PRO you can do this in normal mode

When the system has booted to the desktop, use the following steps to change the accounts password.

Click Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools.
Click Computer Management.
Double click Local Users and Groups, double click the folder Users.
Right click on the account name that is locked out, and click on Set Password.
You may get a warning message about changing the password, simply click proceed.
Leave the New Password box blank, also leave the Confirm Password box blank.
Click OK, and OK again.
Then close all Windows, reboot the system and try to log in.

There are also applications that can recover the password for you.

If the above information does not help in recovering the password, the only option left is to format the hard drive then reinstall Windows and the system software.

There is a certain virus that prevents XP users from viewing the hidden files.

The virus meddles with the ’Show hidden files and folders’ option in the Folder Options and the option keeps bouncing back to ‘Do not show hidden files and folders’, despite repeated trials.

Here is how you can set this problem right:

Navigate to the windows registry:
Go to Start menu
Click Run
Type regedit in the text box and then click Enter.

When the Registry Editor opens, perform the following steps:

Go to the following registry key:

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and then open Software.
Under this navigate to : Microsoft -> Windows -> Current Version -> Explorer
Then go to Advanced -> Folder -> Hidden -> SHOWALL
Delete the value CheckedValue.
(Its type should be REG_SZ and data should be 2 or 0.)

Create a new DWORD value called CheckedValue (same as above, except that the type is REG_DWORD).

Modify the value data to 1 (0×00000001).This should enable you to select the ‘Show hidden files and folders’ option without much problem.Do drop in comments if there are further queries and we shall try to find answers.

Windows-XP has a “feature” (???) with which it is possible to manually crash a system by simply holding the right CTRL key and pressing the “Scroll Lock” key twice. This feature can be turned on by the following steps:

1. Start regedit.
2. Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters
3. Create a new DWORD value and name it CrashOnCtrlScroll
4. Right-click on this newly created value and click on Modify
5. Enter 1 in the Value data field and click on OK.
6. Close regedit and reboot your system.
7. Now you can blue screen (crash) your system by holding the right CTRL key and pressing “Scroll Lock” twice.

Note:

Your system may reboot or show a blue screen whenever this crash is initiated. If your system reboots after initiating the crash, and you want to see the blue screen, follow these steps:

1. Go to Control Panel > System
2. Click on the Advanced tab
3. Under Startup and Recovery, click the Settings button.
4. Under System failure, uncheck the option Automatically restart.

Happy crashing ... and enjoy !!!