Identifying The Auto Startup Programs

The first step in stopping the auto startup is identifying exactly what is starting up and what its purpose is. To do so, you will use a cool little program called the system configuration utility, which is built into Windows XP, and the Google search engine (www.google.com), which can look up what the entries are for. First, you will need to start up the system configuration utility and write down what programs are listed. To do so, follow these directions:

1. Start up the System Configuration Utility by clicking the Start Menu and selecting Run. Then key in msconfig and click OK.

2. Once the System Configuration Utility has loaded, click the Startup tab.

3. Now that the list of the active startup programs is visible, make a list of all of the items listed with the name as well as the file that is loaded, which is listed under the command column.

4. Once you have your list made, you can start researching which programs should be removed from the list and which programs should stay. Because almost every computer has different programs starting up after logon, I recommend that you browse the Web and look for a specific program and what will happen if it is removed from startup. One interesting site to visit is a database of common startup programs called Answers That Work. It is located at can't present you with recommendations for each of the programs listed. If you can not find one of your programs listed on that site, just do a quick search on Google and most likely you will find several Web sites telling you what that program does and what removing it will do.

Assigning Alternative IP Addresses

One of the most common network-related delays occurs in the last moments of the system startup. The majority of computer users use dynamic network card configuration. There is nothing wrong with this feature, but under certain configurations, the user can experience delays when getting an IP address.

Every time you turn on your computer, it has to set up the IP configuration. Often, this setup can result in your computer pausing for moments during the loading process. The delay is a result of your PC waiting for the DHCP server (a DHCP server dynamically assigns addresse to computers connected to a network), which is the provider of the network information, to respond. In other situations, a user can experience a delay when a DHCP server is not present on the network.

If you use a dialup connection to the Internet, your computer will rely on getting a dynamic IP address from your service provider when you connect. When you first turn on your computer, it will search for a DHCP server to get an address for the local networking components of the operating system. This is occurring when your computer is still in the early boot stages and is not connected to your dialup ISP (Internet Service Provider). Because you are not connected to a network that has a DHCP server, such as when you are dialed up to your Internet provider, your computer may experience a delay, as the computer is searching for a DHCP server when there really is none available.

This hack will only work for users that have network cards and modems installed. It does not apply to users that just have modem connections to the Internet.

One easy solution to this problem is to assign alternative information to your network card. This task is actually pretty easy, as it does not require any major tampering. Follow these steps to specify an alternative IP configuration for your computer:

1. First, get into Network Properties. This can be accomplished by going to the Control Panel through the Start Menu.

2. Once you are in the Control Panel, make sure that you are in the Classic View,
and open Network Connections. If you are not in Classic View, just click the button on the left that states Switch to Classic View.

3. Now that you are in the Network Connections window, you will see a list of network adapters on your computer. Right-click the icon to which your network connection is hooked up and select Properties.

4. Doing so will launch a new window that lists the different protocols installed on the network card. Click the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to select it. Then click the Properties button.

5. Once the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties window is displayed, click the
Alternative Configuration tab. This is where you will have to enter in your data.

6. First, you will have to click the User Configured radio button to allow the text boxes to be edited.

7. Next, type in an IP address for your computer that will be used for the sake of speed in the event that your computer cannot get a DHCP address because you are using a dialup Internet connection. I recommend you use 192.168.1.X. Replace X with any unique number for each computer between 2 and 254. The exact IP address numbers that you choose do not matter. You just want to have a valid IP address filled in so that your

computer does not waste too much time looking for a DHCP address when there is no DHCP server giving out the address on your network.

8. Then, type in 255.255.255.0 as your Subnet Mask.

9. Your Default Gateway should be set to 192.168.1.1 because that is a valid gateway address. As I mentioned earlier, the exact numbers do not matter. We just want to have the computer assign some value instead of spending time searching when it will not find a DHCP server.

10. Then, enter in what your DNS servers should be. You can ask your ISP what they should be. But this information really isn't essential, as this configuration will almost never be used to connect to the Internet. It is just a default fallback in the rare case that you are having networking trouble. Feel free to leave these fields blank, as well as the WINS fields.

11. Click the OK button and then click the OK button for the network properties screen.

That's it; you are now finished.

Turning off the Logon Music

The music that Windows XP plays every time I log on is something that, frankly, I can do without. Hearing the tunes was really cool back when most people didn't have sound cards in their computers. But nowadays, everyone has a sound card and the logon music is starting to get old. Additionally, having it play slows down your system's loading. Less is more, and when your computer has to load a 500KB media file to play, it slows things down. I would highly recommend you disable the logon music. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Control Panel and select the Sounds and Audio Devices icon from the classic Control Panel view.

2. Once the control has loaded, click the Sounds tab.

3. Locate the Program Events scrollbox. Look for Start Windows by scrolling through the list and click it to select it.

4. Then, locate the Sounds drop-down box and click the down arrow on the right to expand it. Scroll to the top of the list and select (None).

5. Click OK and you are finished.

That wasn't too bad. Plus, you just shaved another second or two off your loading time.

Changing The Location of The Paging File

The paging file can be placed all over your machine. If you really wanted to, your PC could move it to one of those keychain USB thumb drives that use a compact flash card. Although this would be insane because compact flash cards are extremely slow compared to hard drives, it is possible.

If you have multiple hard drives in your system, and I am not talking about multiple partitions on the same drive, you may see a performance increase if you move your paging file off the main system drive.

Moving the paging file off your main drive will allow it to be accessed faster in situations in which your primary hard drive is busy. Also, often when users add hard drives to their computers, they were purchased after their computer was made and usually are faster because hard drives, just like everything else in the computer, get faster as time passes. Moving your paging file to the faster hard drive will also help performance.

Changing the location of the paging file is very easy. Just follow these steps and you will have it done in no time:

1. Once again, you will want to get back to the Virtual Memory settings. If you can get there on your own, feel free to skip to step 4. For those of you that would like directions one more time, follow this and the next two steps. Right-click the My Computer icon located on the desktop in the Start Menu and select Properties.

2. Then click the Advanced tab and click the Settings button under the Performance section.

3. Next, click the Advanced tab and then click the Change button under the Virtual Memory section.

4. Now that you have the Virtual Memory settings displayed, you will want to select the drive on which your current paging file is located from the list of drives.

5. Before you make any changes, write down what the initial and maximum size text boxes contain, if your page file is set to the custom setting. Then, click the No Paging File option and click the Set button.

6. Select the hard drive on which you want your new paging file to be placed from the list of drives by clicking it.

7. When the new hard drive is highlighted, click the Custom Size radio box and enter in the number that you wrote down before. If you are not using the Custom Size mode,

then click the System Managed Size mode but reconsider what was talked about in the last section, because it will really help your performance.

8. Click the Set button and then click OK three times to close all of the settings windows, and you are finished.

After a reboot, your system will be using the paging file on the new hard drive. Feel free to delete pagefile.sys from your old hard drive location because it is no longer needed there.

Disabling unneeded protocols

With every computer comes programs installed that you do not need. As with extra programs taking up space, extra protocols are just wasting your network connection and can actually slow it down. How is this possible? By default, a few different protocols are installed on your computer to allow for maximum compatibility with other computers on a network; these protocols each require bandwidth to operate. Most users will not use too many protocols, and their computers will use up a portion of their connection as they respond and transmit information for these protocols.

Additionally, with extra protocols installed on your network adapter connected to the Internet, you increase your risk of security-related problems. One of the most common risks for broadband users is that they have the Client for Microsoft Networks networking protocol enabled on their connection. This protocol allows everyone in their neighborhood to connect to the users computers and view any files that they may be sharing. This fact alone should be a good enough reason for you to turn off the extra protocols. But with them disabled, you will also save a little bandwidth as well.

Viewing protocols on your network adapters

Viewing the protocols installed and active on your various network adapters is easy. Just follow these quick steps and you will be viewing them in no time:

1. Right-click the My Network Places icon on the desktop or in the Start Menu and select Properties. If the My Network Places icon is not in either of those locations, then go to the Control Panel and click the Network Connections icon that is shown under the Classic view.

2. Next, right-click the network adapter with which you want to view the network protocols and select Properties.

3. This will bring up a list of the protocols installed as well as active on your adapter, as Figure 11-11 shows. The protocols that are installed but not active are indicated by the absence of a check in the checkbox.

Disabling a specific protocol

Now that you have the list of installed and active protocols on your screen, you are ready to disable a protocol. To do so, just click the check box to remove the check. Then click the OK button and the protocol is no longer active on the network adapter. I highly recommend that you disable all protocols except for the TCP/IP protocol (also referred to as the Internet Protocol). Doing so will optimize your adapter for speed and security.

Be aware that if you remove the Client for Microsoft Networks protocol and the file-sharing protocol, you will no longer be able to share your files. Additionally, you will no longer be able to connect to remote computers to view their shared files.

Also keep in mind that if you have multiple adapters in your machines, such as a wireless adapter, a wired network adapter, and a dialup modem, you will have to repeat the preceding instructions for each adapter.

Enabling the Windows firewall

The new Windows firewall is usually disabled by default on any computers running Windows XP, including those that upgraded to Service Pack 2, unless your computer manufacturer has turned this feature on for you. If you want to use the built-in firewall to protect your computer, just follow these steps to enable it:

1. Click the Start button and open Control Panel and Click on Windows Firewall.

2. When the Windows Firewall settings window loads, just select On and click OK to save your changes.

3. Click OK once more to save the settings for the adapter,and the firewall will be activated.

Now that you have the firewall set up, try using all of your common Internet applications. If you find that some of them do not work, then you can configure the firewall to allow them to pass through the firewall so that they can still be useful. Instant messaging programs can have problems with firewalls when a remote user attempts to send you a file. Sending files often requires the remote computer that is sending you the file to be able to connect to your computer. Because your firewall is designed to block all connections by default, you will have to configure it so that it will let certain applications work through the firewall. How to do so is described in the next section.

Configuring Windows firewall

Configuring the firewall to allow certain programs to work through it is not always the best thing to do, because it will expose your computer more to the outside world and increase your risk of getting infected with something. However, in the short term or for an application that you must use, you can make it work through the firewall. In the original version of the firewall, the only possibility was to specify a port number to open. Now, it is much easier to make an application work though the firewall. Instead of typing in a port number, users can just select the program on their computer that they want to have accessed through the firewall.

This capability makes the firewall configuration much more user-friendly. Additionally, in Service Pack 2, Microsoft left in the old way to open up the firewall manually by entering in a port number, so that users still have total control if they really want it. The end result of these two methods is the same; the only difference is the ease of use for less experienced Windows XP users.

Using the new feature to open up holes in the firewall is pretty cool. Follow these steps to open up the firewall for a specific application:

1. Open up Network Connections again by clicking the Start Menu and selecting Run. Then, type firewall.cpl in the box and click OK.

2. When the Windows Firewall settings window loads, click the Exceptions tab.

3. You will see a list of all of the different exceptions that are currently enabled, as signified by the check in the box. By default, a few applications will be enabled. I recommend that you uncheck all of the entries unless you use them. If not, then you are just taking an unnecessary risk by leaving those doors open.

4. If you want to add an application to the exception list so that it will be able to accept connections and data from the outside world, such as an Instant Message program that wants to receive files from other users, just click the Add Program button.

5. Select the name of the program from the list or click the Browse button on the Add a Program window to select the executable of the application that you want to open to the world.

6. When you are finished selecting the program that you want to be able to access through the firewall, click OK and it will appear on the list.

7. Now that the program is on the list, just check the box next to the name to open up the firewall for the application.

8. Click OK to activate your new firewall settings.

Windows Firewall also includes settings on how you want your computer to respond when several different standard Internet messages are sent to it. For example, one setting you can specify is the ping command, which is a network command used to estimate turnaround time between sending data to a computer and receiving a response. All of these settings are found on the Advanced tab by clicking the Settings button under the ICMP section. The screen is pretty straightforward. If you want your computer to have a stealth presence on the Web, as I mentioned earlier, you should uncheck all of the entries listed on the ICMP tab.