XP Links and Tweaks by Alakazam – 4112 days old

[Alakazam]

I've put together some info and links for tweaking and customizing Win XP from around the web that I personally use, and hope you can utilize some of these resources to make XP look and work your way. This is by no means all encompassing but merely my opinion on those sites and programs that have worked for me to get the performance, looks, and ease of use that I want with my XP system. There is some overlapping info on these various sites so some ideas are addressed more than once.

Tips, Tricks, & Tweaks Sites

• MDGx This is a huge site with about 100 pages of all kinds of info, tips, tweaks, tricks and links.
• Tweaktown-Part 1 Good basic info
• Tweaktown Part 2 Good basic info
• Paul Thurrott's supersite Covers all flavors of Windows.
• WindowsNetworking Another good site with tweaks, resource links, registry & user tips.
• Tweak-XP.com This is another large site with lots of info, articles, faqs, & downloads, definitely needs exploring.
• ExtremeTech Good basic info.
• MS Expert Zone I know it's a Microsoft site but there are tips, how to articles, and a wealth of info in the various newsgroups pertaining to XP only.
• WindowsXP2002 Another useful site with tweaks, programs, drivers, & utilities.
• BlackViper This individual's site is a great source of info on the'services' that are running on your XP machine. An explanation & dependency guide are listed for all the services XP installs including SP 2. His site is no longer up but these are archives of his work.
• Kellys-Korner Another excellent source for the ins and outs of XP--Highly reccommended
• OverclockersClub This is another site that covers the different services that XP uses.
• SpeedGuide.net Here, you will find specific information on how to optimize the Windows 2000/XP Registry for Cable Modems, DSL, or any similar type of broadband Internet connection.
• Modem Guide for XP This guide will take you through optimizing the performance, reliability & security of your Dial-up connection in Windows XP as well as several other tips.
• Annoyances.org A good site dealing with those little 'things' that drive you crazy with Windows. Lots of tips and tweaks pertaining to performance and a good list of links, a large collection of tips.
• DougKnox.com An extensive collection of vbs files for your registry to get things done in WinXP
• OneComputerGuy A nice site, easy to navigate with plenty of info

Programs for Tweaking

Caution: Some of these programs require careful use of their ability to change registry settings with their various options, so be sure to back up important files and initiate a restore point before proceding

• Xteq X-Setup (free) It allows you to change settings that are normally hidden deep in configuration files like the registry, easy to use but very powerful.
• Power Toys (free) From Microsoft, probably the best component here is Tweak UI, you can also download Here. A review of Powertoys is located Here NOTE: this version will only work on Windows XP.
• Tweak-XP Shareware but 50 uses before registration so it should be more than enough for the average user. It is actually a suite of 56 different utilities and the best advanced configuration utility I've seen for Windows XP.
• ClearType Tuner (free) Those of you who use the ClearType fonts under Windows XP might want to check out the ClearTweak utility. This program allows you to change the contrast setting under ClearType.
• Radeon Refresh Rate Fix (free) The main function of this program is to let the user specify optimal refresh rates under Windows 2000 and XP for OpenGL and Direct3D modes with Radeon display adapters.
• XP-AntiSpy The xp-AntiSpy is a little utility that lets you disable some built-in update and authentication 'features' in WindowsXP.

Eye Candy

There are quite a few programs available for changing the look of XP, the GUI is not easily modified as was the case with 9x & ME. Here are some programs (freeware & shareware} that allow you to change themes, logons, bootscreens, and also create your own. I've tried all the software listed so my comments accompany the descriptions.

• LogonLoader (free) This is the program I use for changing logon screens, it also allows for rotation of your different screens each time XP is started. . . .Works fine
• LogonStudio (free) Stardock's LogonStudio(TM) allows users to create logons for Windows XP as well as apply them. Rather than requiring a resource hacker and downloads of .EXE files, LogonStudio uses a scripting language to allow anyone to create customized .LOGONXP files. . . .works fine
• Windowblinds (free trial-60 days) It extends Windows XP, Windows 98, ME, NT, and 2000 to have a fully skinnable user interface. You can change the style of title bars, buttons, toolbars and much more. It gives you total control over your graphical user interface but I found it to be somewhat of a resource hog on my machine. . . .Works fine
• Style XP (free/90 days) Style XP is an add-on that customizes the way your XP system looks. You can edit your Themes, Visual Styles, Wallpaper, and XP Desktop Properties in one place. There is also a small free program to allow the use of visual styles with XP that I have not had time to check out thoroughly. . . .Style XP is the program I use to manage my themes & styles
• Style Builder (free trial) StyleBuilder allows you to build your own Windows XP styles to use in conjunction with Style XP. Style XP converts XML-based themes made in StyleBuilder into Microsoft's format, which is natively read by Windows XP. . . .A bit of a learning curve, but useful if you are into graphics for XP
• Resource Hacker (free) Resource HackerTM is a utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables. It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000 and WinXP operating systems. It can be used to extract the bmps in logons, themes, and boot screens for modding by any graphics program. . . .Not for the faint of heart, mostly for advanced users

Sites for XP Themes, Visual Styles, & Logons

Here are my favorite sites for XP graphics, themes, cursors, etc. I'm sure there are a lot more out there that need exploring but I frequent these a lot.

• ThemeDoctor A lot of really nice themes available including cursors, sound and wallpapers. Excellent site for themes.
• ThemeXP.org One of the largest sites on the web containing hundreds of themes, logon screens, boot screens, and wallpaper that pertain to XP
• DeviantART A good site but it is difficult to navigate in my opinion
• Wincustomize This site has over 1500 skins for Windowblinds, quite a few logons, and cursors to use with CursorXP
• ThemeWorld Another good site for themes, wallpapers, etc.
• Winxptheme Small site with some decent themes & logons

Special thanks to Muckshifter, Rando, and Ladypcer for a couple of the links that I use all the time.

Happy Tweaking, Alakazam

Updated May 2006

[AmStoned]

Damn Zammy, that's a lot of links. Sweet.:toocool:

[muckshifter]

Definitely...

[Emmkaye]

Wow! Zammy, what a list!
Sure nice of you to put together so many sites.
Mayhaps I shall find the proper tweek or fix that lies at the end of my rainbow.
Thanks so much...
Here's a Hug,

Emms

[ImaginAsian]

Another great article from Zammy. Will come in handy when I migrate to XP.

Thanks for all your hard work!

[Techvillage]

What a brilliant post Zammy - and beautifully executed, me likes very much.

[lurch63]

u r the man, awesome man on the sites, w/out this i could never swallow the xp pill, oh and zammy i missed ya by 20 minutes on teh forum, went to pick up beezer from the ferry, otherwise, me him and stoner would have been there, catch ya later, sinc .urch

[catcorpse]

OMG that's alot of looking I will have to do, but that is good for when I reformatted I thought I had my bookmarks saves, guess what, I am starting from scrach again.
we're not worthy

[Alakazam]

I fixed a couple of broken links today and played with their color. They seem to show up better for those of you using the blue background, let me know what you think. I also added a couple of items I'm now using so have a ball!!!!

[A Demons Vision]

thanx zammy, thats just what i needed, a change for my xp.

Dee

[Tuffie]

Some great links there Zammy ,I'll be a busy guy once I get setup here

[dubber]

Alakazam,

Very nice post.

They will be useful if I ever get to upgrade.

I may borrow a few links and put them here .

Thanks,

dubber

[Tuffie]

That's our man Dubber ,his page leads to anything ya want,well almost anything .The rest ya can find in my Private Offfice :dev:

[Troy]

Great job Alakazam,

[A Demons Vision]

thanx alot Kaz!

[Alakazam]

I updated this little guide today, some of the sites had moved and others went out of business. Even though I've had XP since it came out, I still refer to these sites a lot.

[Darcy]

tu, zammy. i'm glad there's peeps like u who keep track of these things. sure helps me out.

[poqal]

What a goldmine. Thanks Zammy - for all the work, and also for bringing it back today so I could see it.

[Ladypcer]

Thanks for bringing this back up Zammy. I'll bookmark and go through when I get spare time. Great post.

[phicks]

Thanks for all those links. I think that will keep me busy for awhile. Should learn a thing or two anyway.

[BlackHawk]

Since I'll be starting with XP for the first time within a week, thanks for doing so much homework for me!

Care to give me your personal top ten tweaks for security/privacy/sanity?

[Alakazam]

Two of my favorite places are:

http://www.annoyances.org/

http://www.tweakxp.com/default.aspx

There's so much info to be digested BH, have a look at those 2 sites first concerning security/privacy/etc.

[whipat]

Annoyances is one of my favs also...be prepared to take some time ..it's huge..you can even get 95 help there

[TJM4FUN]

Originally posted by Black_Hawk

Care to give me your personal top ten tweaks for security/privacy/sanity?

1. install linux. or:

2. remove nic card and burn it. if buit in, fill rj45 jack with epoxy.

3. if you have a modem, burn it too.

4. if you insist on going online, forget sanity/security/privacy in that order.

5. if you insist on using windows, install xp-antispy, then anti virus software, then a personal firewall. take the time to tune it to your applications, and don;t blindly allow access to the internet. don;t forget adawae ,spybot s&d, and spywareblaster!

6. keep everything updated.

7. see 6

8. see 7

9. see 8

10. did I say it enough? see 6.

[Alakazam]

Yep, TJ, I forgot about xp-antispy. Here's the link so BH has it, truly a must IMHO.

http://www.xp-antispy.org/

[BlackHawk]

Originally posted by TJM4FUN
1. install linux. or:

Used Grogans tutorial to install Slack with no problems. Been so damn busy trying to keep a machine on the internet for my wife I haven't been able to do anything else with it.

5. if you insist on using windows, install xp-antispy, then anti virus software, then a personal firewall. take the time to tune it to your applications, and don;t blindly allow access to the internet. don;t forget adawae ,spybot s&d, and spywareblaster!

Want to use this P2 box for Smoothwall or fli4l. Until then I will stick with ZoneAlarm.

Never heard of xp-antispy. Seems like the only people who like it are the Polish, Spainiards and Hungarians. Downloaded.

6. keep everything updated.

7. see 6

8. see 7

9. see 8

10. did I say it enough? see 6.

To paranoid not to.

[BlackHawk]

Thanks Alakazam.

[Michael_Horatio]

Many thanks Alakazam...

[ashaffer]

Great links....Thanks for the intel.

Drew

http://www.drewsnewsroom.com

[Alakazam]

I just finished updating all the info in this guide, added some and had to delete others, there were several sites no longer working or the urls had been changed.

[esrajarathinam]

Hi
thanks man some useful links. keep on update