Remove the Username and Picture from Windows XP Start Menu

If you don't like that your username and picture are displayed in Start menu, then dont worry, there is a solution to disable that. Just follow the steps in this tutorial.

1. Start Windows Explorer and go to the folder C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures.
(The option Show hidden Files from Tools/Folder Options must be checked)

2. In that folder, rename the picture which corresponds to your user account.
For example, if your username is Cristian, rename Cristian.bmp to old_Cristian.bmp.

3. Rename the following folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\Default Pictures

to something else. For example:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\No_Default Pictures

4. Go to Start -> Run.


5. Type regedit and press Enter.


6. Navigate to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft\ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer and set NoUserNameInStartMenu value data to 1.

If you don't have this dword make it by right clicking on the key and select New.


7. After you Restart your computer you see that your username and picture are gone from your Start menu.

Shut Down Windows XP Faster

Previously I had posted an article on how to make Vista shut down faster and I hope it was useful. So today I bring a similar kind of tutorial after following which you will be able to shut down Windows XP faster.
Windows XP is a line of proprietary operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers.

To shut down Windows XP faster you need to do some changes in your registry.

1. Click Start menu button -> Run...
2. Type in regedit and hit Enter.

3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Control Panel -> Desktop.

4. Now you must look for HungAppTimeout and WaitToKillAppTimeout. Make sure that HungAppTimeout is set to 5000.
5. Double click WaitToKillAppTimeout and set its value to 4000.

Click OK.
5. Now navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> System -> CurrentControlSet -> Control.


6. Double click WaitToKillServiceTimeout and set its value to 4000.

Click OK.
7. Reboot your machine and the next time you shut it down it will happen a lot faster.

Make Internet Pages Load Faster

When you surf the net do your web pages take a lot of time to load? If it is so then this registry tweak tutorial is exactly the thing you have been looking for.
This little tweak will help your computer load faster the internet pages you are opening. Works well and it can be set very quickly.

1. Go to Start -> Run -> type regedit and press Enter.


2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\ServiceProvider for Windows XP Pro or to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ MSTCP \ ServiceProvider for Windows 98.

On the right side change this entries (all values are hexadecimal) to the value 1:

Class=1
DnsPriority=1
Hostspriority=1
LocalPriority=1
NetbtPriority=1


3. To change the value right click on the value and select Modify.


4. After you have completed doing that, reboot your computer and see how fast pages load.

And dont forget to tell me whether ir worked or not!

Tutorial - Add Control Panel to Right Click Menu

Do you think having to go through the Start menu or getting into my Computer to reach the Control Panel is a lengthy procedure? Then here is a Registry Tweak to help you place the Control Panel right at your right click menu to have an easy access from anywhere you want!
All you need to do is to modify the registry a bit.

Here are the steps that you will need to go through after which you will be done with getting Control Panel on your right click menu :

Step 1: Type regedit.exe in the Start menu search and browse to the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell


Step 2: Right-click on "shell" and create a new key called Control Panel.

Under that one right-click and create a new key called "command".


Step 3: Select the "command" key and then set the Default value on the right-hand side to:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL



Step 4: After completing all the steps above you can see immediately the new item (Control Panel) in your right click menu item.


Hope this information was useful to you. I would be eagerly waiting for your comments. Thanks to Helpero for the information.