Right-click tips..

Right-click tips..
Lets say you have a bout 4-5 very useful applications which you use always. By placing them all on the first level menu will eventually crowd your start menu. Now why not utilize the right-click option instead? The right-click option gives you the ability to Open, Explore and Find. If you can add a shortcut to your application to that menu, it would be great.
To do this, crank up your registry editor and go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell. Right-click on Shell and create a new key. Type in an appropriate name for the key. On the right pane, double-click on the Default value, and add a title with a & character in front of the letter as an accelerator key. Right-click on the key you just created and create another key under it called command . For the Default value of command, enter the full path and program you want to execute in the Value data box.
For example, if you wanted Notepad, you would add that as the first key, the default in the right panel would be &Notepad so when you right click on the Start Button, the N would be underlined and you could just press that key. The command would be something like

 C:\Windows\notepad.exe. Now when you right click on the Start Button, your new program will show up.

Easy steps to enhance ur XP performance and looks
Hi i have got this stuff from another site and its very intresting tips about Windows XP. So i wanted to share with u guys. Now that I have your attention. Let's make a thread of everyone's favorite tweaks or things they do to make Windows XP run smoother, work harder, and perform better. So if you've got something to bring to the table, bring it and make all of us better with XP.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Configuration

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After Installing Windows XP follow these steps

Instructions:
Click Start
Click Control Panel
Click Switch to Classic View
Click View
Click Details

Click Display
Click the Desktop tab
Click Customize Desktop
Uncheck Run Desktop Cleanup, and then click OK
Click the Screen Saver tab
Choose (None) for the Screen Saver
Click Power
Change Turn off monitor to Never
Click Apply, and then click OK
Click the Appearance tab
Change the color scheme to Silver
Click Effects
Uncheck Use the following transition
Uncheck Show shadows under menus
Click OK
Click the Settings tab
Change Screen resolution to 1024x768 pixels
Click Advanced
Click the Monitor tab
Change Screen refresh rate to 75 Hertz
Click Apply
Click Yes
Click OK
Click OK

Click Folder Options
Click View
Check the following boxes:
Display the contents of system folders
Display the full path in the title bar
Display the full path in the address bar
Show hidden files and folders
Uncheck the following:
Automatically search for network folders and printer
Hid extensions for known file types
Click Apply
Click Apply to All Folders
Click Yes
Click OK

Click Internet Options
Click Use Blank, and then click Apply
Click the Content tab
Click AutoComplete
Check Forms, and then click Apply
Click the Connections tab
Click LAN Settings
Check Automatically detect settings, and then click OK
Click Setup
Type area code, and then click OK
Click OK
Click Next
Click Next
Select Set up my connection manually, and then click Next
Select Connect using a broadband connection, and then click
Next
Click Finish
Click the Programs tab
Change HTML editor to Notepad
Uncheck Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser, and then click Apply
Click the Advanced tab
Uncheck the following:
Enable Install on Demand (Other)
Enable page transitions
Notify when downloads complete
Show Go in the address bar
Check the following:
Use inline AutoComplete
Use Passive FTP
Do not search from the Address bar
Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed
Click Apply
Click OK

Click Mouse
Click the Pointer tab
Change Scheme to 3D-White (system scheme)
Uncheck Enable pointer shadow
Click the Pointer Options tab
Uncheck Hide pointer when typing
Click Apply, and then click OK

Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose No Sounds for the Sound Scheme
Click No
Click Apply, and then click OK

Click System
Click the Advanced tab
Click the Settings button under Performance
Select Adjust for best performance
Check the following:
Show window contents while dragging
Smooth edges on screen fonts
Use drop shadows for icon labels
Use visual styles on windows and buttons
Click Apply, and then click OK
Click the Error Reporting tab
Select Disable error reporting
Uncheck But notify me when critical errors occur, and then click OK
Click the System Restore tab
Check Turn off System Restore on all drives
Click Apply, and then click Yes
Click the Automatic Updates tab
Select Turn off automatic updating
Click the Remote tab
Uncheck Allow Remote Assistance
Click Apply, and then click OK

Click Taskbar and Start Menu
Uncheck Lock the taskbar
Check Show Quick Launch
Click the Start Menu tab
Select Classic Start menu
Click Customize
Check Display Favorites
Check Show Small Icons in Start Menu
Uncheck Use Personalized Menus
Click OK
Click Apply
Click OK

Click User Accounts
Click Change the way users log on and off
Uncheck Use the Welcome screen
Click Apply Options
Close the Window
Exit the Control Panel

Open My Computer
Right-click on the hard drive icon and select Properties
Uncheck Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast searching
Click Apply
Select Apply changes to X:\, subfolders and files, and then click OK
Click OK
Reboot machine

Protect Your Privacy - Facebook Security Settings


Facebook made a series of bold and controversial changes regarding the nature of its users privacy on the social networking site. The company once known for protecting privacy to the point of exclusivity (it began its days as a network for college kids only - no one else even had access), now seemingly wants to compete with more open social networks like the microblogging media darling Twitter.

Those of you who edited your privacy settings prior to December's change have nothing to worry about - that is, assuming you elected to keep your personalized settings when prompted by Facebook's "transition tool." The tool, a dialog box explaining the changes, appeared at the top of Facebook homepages this past month with its own selection of recommended settings. Unfortunately, most Facebook users likely opted for the recommended settings without really understanding what they were agreeing to. If you did so, you may now be surprised to find that you inadvertently gave Facebook the right to publicize your private information including status updates, photos, and shared links.

Want to change things back? Read on to find out how.

1. Who Can See The Things You Share (Status Updates, Photo, Videos, etc.)

Probably the most critical of the "privacy" changes (yes, we mean those quotes sarcastically) was the change made to status updates. Although there's now a button beneath the status update field that lets you select who can view any particular update, the new Facebook default for this setting is "Everyone." And by everyone, they mean everyone.

If you accepted the new recommended settings then you voluntarily gave Facebook the right to share the information about the items you post with any user or application on the site. Depending on your search settings, you may have also given Facebook the right to share that information with search engines, too.

To change this setting back to something of a more private nature, do the following:

1. From your Profile page, hover your mouse over the Settings menu at the top right and click "Privacy Settings" from the list that appears.
2. Click "Profile Information" from the list of choices on the next page.
3. Scroll down to the setting "Posts by Me." This encompasses anything you post, including status updates, links, notes, photos, and videos.
4. Change this setting using the drop-down box on the right. We recommend the "Only Friends" setting to ensure that only those people you've specifically added as a friend on the network can see the things you post.

2. Who Can See Your Personal Info

Facebook has a section of your profile called "personal info," but it only includes your interests, activities, and favorites. Other arguably more personal information is not encompassed by the "personal info" setting on Facebook's Privacy Settings page. That other information includes things like your birthday, your religious and political views, and your relationship status.

After last month's privacy changes, Facebook set the new defaults for this other information to viewable by either "Everyone" (for family and relationships, aka relationship status) or to "Friends of Friends" (birthday, religious and political views). Depending on your own preferences, you can update each of these fields as you see fit. However, we would bet that many will want to set these to "Only Friends" as well. To do so:

1. From your Profile page, hover your mouse over the Settings menu at the top right and click "Privacy Settings" from the list that appears.
2. Click "Profile Information" from the list of choices on the next page.
3. The third, fourth, and fifth item listed on this page are as follows: "birthday," "religious and political views," and "family and relationship." Locking down birthday to "Only Friends" is wise here, especially considering information such as this is often used in identity theft.
4. Depending on your own personal preferences, you may or may not feel comfortable sharing your relationship status and religious and political views with complete strangers. And keep in mind, any setting besides "Only Friends" is just that - a stranger. While "Friends of Friends" sounds innocuous enough, it refers to everyone your friends have added as friends, a large group containing hundreds if not thousands of people you don't know. All it takes is one less-than-selective friend in your network to give an unsavory person access to this information.

3. What Google Can See - Keep Your Data Off the Search Engines

When you visit Facebook's Search Settings page, a warning message pops up. Apparently, Facebook wants to clear the air about what info is being indexed by Google. The message reads:

There have been misleading rumors recently about Facebook indexing all your information on Google. This is not true. Facebook created public search listings in 2007 to enable people to search for your name and see a link to your Facebook profile. They will still only see a basic set of information.

While that may be true to a point, the second setting listed on this Search Settings page refers to exactly what you're allowing Google to index. If the box next to "Allow" is checked, you're giving search engines the ability to access and index any information you've marked as visible by "Everyone." As you can see from the settings discussed above, if you had not made some changes to certain fields, you would be sharing quite a bit with the search engines...probably more information than you were comfortable with. To keep your data private and out of the search engines, do the following:

1. From your Profile page, hover your mouse over the Settings menu at the top right and click "Privacy Settings" from the list that appears.
2. Click "Search" from the list of choices on the next page.
3. Click "Close" on the pop-up message that appears.
4. On this page, uncheck the box labeled "Allow" next to the second setting "Public Search Results." That keeps all your publicly shared information (items set to viewable by "Everyone") out of the search engines. If you want to see what the end result looks like, click the "see preview" link in blue underneath this setting.

Take 5 Minutes to Protect Your Privacy

While these three settings are, in our opinion, the most critical, they're by no means the only privacy settings worth a look. In a previous article (written prior to December's changes, so now out-of-date), we also looked at things like who can find you via Facebook's own search, application security, and more.

While you may think these sorts of items aren't worth your time now, the next time you lose out on a job because the HR manager viewed your questionable Facebook photos or saw something inappropriate a friend posted on your wall, you may have second thoughts. But why wait until something bad happens before you address the issue?

Considering that Facebook itself is no longer looking out for you, it's time to be proactive about things and look out for yourself instead. Taking a few minutes to run through all the available privacy settings and educating yourself on what they mean could mean the world of difference to you at some later point...That is, unless you agree with Facebook in thinking that the world is becoming more open and therefore you should too.

Windows 7 had created a special themes

for some reasons and it does get activated when we select the region while installing the windows 7, otherwise it just stays disable. But don't worry you can manually activate these themes by following simple 10 steps.

1. Open Windows Explorer

2. Click Organize, and select Folder and Search Options.

3. Go to View tab.

4. Select Show hidden files, folders and drivers and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). If prompted with confirmation, click Yes.

5. Click OK.

6. Browse to the following folder: \Windows\Globalization\MCT\

7. There are five folders in the name with format MCT-XX (where XX is AU, CA, GB, US, or ZA) which represents globalization settings for each region. Go into the folder that you want to activate its theme.
Note: AU, CA and ZA regions have the same themes.

8. Open the Theme folder inside the selected region folder.

9. Double click on the XX.theme file to apply the theme to the Windows 7 desktop system. Once a theme is ran and activated, the theme will be remembered and saved into Personalization options, so that user can change or select the theme again directly from Personalization settings screen.

10. Now to go to Folder Options to reverse the first 5 steps to hide the hidden and protected system files and folders again

Speed Up the Start Menu in Windows XP
The Start Menu take a quite a while to display the list of programs installed. In order to get Windows XP to display the list faster, you will have to edit some registry settings. Remember to back up your regitry before making any changes.

To speed up, goto Start > Run and type regedit. This will open the registry window. Then navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Scroll down in the Right panel and double click on "menushowdelay". In the Value Data box, change the default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number, such as 1 or even 0. Click OK You should now find a significant increase in the startmenu speed.

Changing text in clock
You can add your anything you like that consists of 8 characters or less. This will replace the AM or PM next to the system time. But you cannot do this if you are using any of our software during the trial period; it will corrupt the trial license.

1. Open RegEdit
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International
3. Add two new String values, "s1159" and "s2359"
4. Right click the new value name and modify. Enter anything you like up to 8 characters.