You Can Fix It

Vista sets the Explorer window view settings and folder type template according to what folder types are in the window. This will show you how to reset the Windows Explorer folder view settings, turn off Automatic Folder Type Discovery, and increase the folder view cache to have Vista remember the view settings, folder type template, size, or position of a specific window for when it was last closed at the specific path location.

This resets the folder view settings for all folders with this same folder template type back to the default view settings.

Open the Control Panel
Click on Folder Options icon
Click on View tab
Click on Reset Folders button
Click on Yes to the confirmation
Click on OK to close Folder Options

To format a partition, logical drive or basic volume:

In the Disk Management window, right-click the partition or logical drive that you want to format (or reformat), and then click Format.
In the Format dialog box, type a name for the volume in the Volume label box.
This is an optional step.

Click the file system that you want to use in the File system box.
If you want, you can also change the disk allocation unit size, specify
whether you want to perform a quick format, or enable file and folder
compression on NTFS volumes.

Click OK

when you are prompted to format the volume. The format process starts.

If you are using Windows Vista the sidebar can be disables if you choose not use or want. This is a couple a simple clicks to remove.

To disable the sidebar, right click on the sidebar or sidebar icon, and choose properties

Uncheck the “Start Sidebar when Windows starts” checkbox

Then right-click on the icon, and choose Exit to close the sidebar

Restart Windows Vista

On Reboot
The sidebar should now be gone, and won’t start back up with Windows anymore

After you upgrade your Windows XP to Service Pack Two, you will constantly get nagging balloon popup window. The massage reads your computer might be at risk Antivirus software might not be installed, click this balloon to fix the problem. People ask why this message happens when they know they have Virus protection. Usually this means the AV is trying to check for an update and your computer does not have an internet connection yet. Then when your computer goes online the message goes away or you click the “x” to make it disappear.

There is away to disable this balloon so you do not have to see it again.

Click Start
Scroll to open up the control panel
Click on the Security Center icon
This will open the security center window
Under the resources section
Click the bottom choice “Change the way Security Center alerts me”

You can choose which alert to disable here
Then uncheck the bottom checkbox. The reads “Alert me if my computer might be at risk because of my virus protection”

No more yellow balloon

The first domain controller in a domain contains the built-in Administrator profile that contains the public certificate and the private key for the default recovery agent of the domain. The public certificate is imported to the Default Domain Policy and is applied to domain clients by using Group Policy. If the Administrator profile or if the first domain controller is no longer available, the private key that is used to decrypt the encrypted files is lost, and files cannot be recovered through that recovery agent.

To locate the Encrypted Data Recovery policy, open the Default Domain Policy in the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in, expand Computer Configuration, expand Windows Settings, expand Security Settings, and then expand Public Key Policies.

To export the domain recovery agent’s private key, follow these steps:
Locate the first domain controller that was promoted in the domain
Log on to the domain controller by using the built-in Administrator account
Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK
On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in, and then click Add
Under Available Standalone Snap-ins, click Certificates, and then click Add
Click My user account, and then click Finish
Click Close, and then click OK
Double-click Certificates - Current User, double-click Personal, and then double-click Certificates
Locate the certificate that displays the words “File Recovery” (without the quotation marks) in the Intended Purposes column
Right-click the certificate that you located in step 9, point to All Tasks, and then click Export
The Certificate Export Wizard starts.
Click Next
Click yes, export the private key, and then click next
Click Personal Information Exchange – PKCS #12 (.PFX)

Note We strongly recommend that you click to select the Enable strong protection

If you click to select the Delete the private key if the export is successful check box, the private key is removed from the domain controller. As a best practice, we recommend that you use this option. Install the recovery agent’s private key only in situations when you need it to recover files. At all other times, export, and then store the recovery agent’s private key offline to help maintain its security.
Click Next
Specify a password, and then click Next
Specify a file name and location where you want to export the certificate and the private key, and then click Next

We recommend that you back up the file to a disk or to a removable media device, and then store the backup in a location where you can confirm the physical security of the backup.Verify the settings that are displayed on the Completing the Certificate Export Wizard page, and then click Finish.

To export the recovery agent’s private key from a computer follow these steps:
Log on to the computer by using the recovery agent’s local user account

Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK
On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in, and then click Add
Under Available Standalone Snap-ins, click Certificates, and then click Add
Click My user account, and then click Finish
Click Close, and then click OK

Double-click Certificates - Current User, double-click Personal, and then double-click Certificates
Locate the certificate that displays the words “File Recovery” (without the quotation marks) in the Intended Purposes column
Right-click the certificate that you located in step 8, point to All Tasks, and then click Export. The Certificate Export Wizard starts
Click Next
Click Yes, export the private key, and then click Next.
Click Personal Information Exchange – PKCS #12 (.PFX)

Note We strongly recommend that you also click to select the Enable strong protection (requires IE 5.0, NT 4.0 SP4 or above check box to protect your private key from unauthorized access

If you click to select the Delete the private key if the export is successful check box, the private key is removed from the computer and you will not be able to decrypt any encrypted files
Click Next.
Specify a password, and then click Next.
Specify a file name and location where you want to export the certificate and the private key, and then click Next.
Verify the settings that are displayed on the Completing the Certificate Export Wizard page, and then click Finish.

Open the Start Menu.
In the Start Search white box, type regedit press enter
Click continue when you get the User Account Control (UAC) prompt
In regedit, scroll to following key:

HKEY_USERS
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

Find he key in the right panel

ScreenSaveTimeOut

Right click and choose modify

Type in how long you want the wait time to be for in seconds and click OK.The default time is 600 seconds (10 minutes). Just multiply how many minutes by 60 for the amount of seconds to enter.

Close regedit

Reboot to make sure change takes effect

This article describes how to configure Recovery Console so that you can gain access to removable media devices without restriction.

To enable the security option, start the appropriate security tool:
Local Security Policy (in Administrative tools)
Domain Security Policy (in Administrative tools)
Domain Controller Security Policy (in Administrative tools)
Security Configuration and Analysis (MMC snap-in)

In the MMC console tree pane, expand Local Policies, click Security Options, and then click the following security policy in the details pane:

Recovery Console: Allow floppy copy and access to all drives and all folders
On the Action menu, click Security.

When the Local Security Policy Setting dialog box is displayed,
click Enabled, and then click OK.

Start into Recovery Console, and then type the following command at a command prompt:

set allowremovablemedia = true

You can now copy files to and from a removable media source

This is how to recover a system that does not start because of corruption in the registry. This procedure does not guarantee full recovery of the system to a previous state; however, you should be able to recover data when you use this procedure.

This will not work with a computer that has an OEM-installed operating system.

The procedure that this article describes uses Recovery Console and System Restore. This article also lists all the required steps in specific order to make sure that the process is fully completed. When you finish this procedure, the system returns to a state very close to the state before the problem occurred.

Start the Recovery Console, create a temporary folder, back up the existing registry files to a new location, delete the registry files at their existing location, and then copy the registry files from the repair folder to the System32\Config folder.

Insert the install O/S disk and then restart the computer.
When the “Welcome to Setup” screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.

At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:

md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

Type exit to quit Recovery Console.
Your computer will restart.
During the boot screen Press the F8 key.

On a computer that is configured to start to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the Startup menu.

Use the arrow keys to select the Safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
select the installation that you want to access, and then press ENTER.
Start Windows Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Folder options.
Click the View tab.
Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these files appears.

Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder is unavailable and appears dimmed because it is set as a super-hidden folder.
Note This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as “_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}”.

Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There may be one or more folders starting with “RPx under this folder. These are restore points.

Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder. The following path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder:
C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot

From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder: _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM

Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as follows:
Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to SECURITY
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM

These files are the backed up registry files from System Restore. Because you used the registry file that the Setup program created, this registry does not know that these restore points exist and are available. A new folder is created with a new GUID under System Volume Information and a restore point is created that includes a copy of the registry files that were copied during part one.

Delete the existing registry files, and then copy the System Restore Registry files to the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder:

Start Recovery Console.
At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:

del c:\windows\system32\config\sam
del c:\windows\system32\config\security
del c:\windows\system32\config\software
del c:\windows\system32\config\default
del c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\tmp\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\tmp\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\tmp\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

Type exit to quit Recovery Console.
Your computer restarts.

Click Start, and then click All Programs.
Click Accessories, and then click System Tools.
Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous RestorePoint.

The following list is how to turn off all the system beeps your computer could make in Windows XP. These noises are made by the machine when something is wrong. You ned to change this in three places listed below, the device manager, registry and control panel.

The first place is Device Manager:
Open Control Panel
Click on System
Click on Hardware Tab
Click on Device Manager
Select View and Show hidden devices from the menu.
There will be a list of Non-Plug and Play Drivers
Right-click on Beep and disable it:
Say no to reboot, as this will be the last function
Right-click and choose Properties
Click on Drivers tab
Change the Startup type to Disabled

The second place is Device Manager:
Click Start
Click Run
Type Regedit enter
Navigate down to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound
Locate the Beep key on the right-hand side and change the value to no

The third place is Device Manager:
Open up Control Panel
Click on Sounds and Audio Devices
Choose the Sounds tab
Choose Default Beep
Change the sound drop-down on the bottom to None
Click Apply

Reboot the system