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Thread ID: 29327 2003-01-16 22:55:00 WXPTFTW - Windows XP Tips for the Weekend Babe Ruth (416) Press F1
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114587 2003-01-16 22:55:00 WXPTFTW - Windows XP Tips for the Weekend

Tips are from various sources, with thanks this week to Microsoft, Windows & . NET Magazine

1 . What OE Identity?
2 . The 200GB disk drive blues
3 . XP Boot Disks - where?
4 . CMD and UNC with a Push and a Pop
5 . My Minesweeper
6 . Network Monitor, say what?
7 . DoS and WinXP

As always if you are going to modify the registry of your system, back it up first .
{START | RUN type Regedit and click OK
Within regedit right click on the My Computer icon (right at the beginning of the registry)
And select EXPORT . Give the exported registry file a realistic name to save . }

Cheers, Babe .
==========

1 . Changing identities in Microsoft Outlook Express after installing Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) .

Outlook Express lets you configure several different identities that have their own mail and news configuration and storage, which is useful for smaller environments if two users share a logon or you want to use different settings for mail and news . Typically, to create a new Outlook Express identity, you open the File menu, select Identities, then click Add New Identity .

Likewise, to switch identities, you open the File menu, select Switch Identity, then select the identity that you want to use . However, after you install XP SP1, neither setting takes effect and you remain logged on under the current identity .

To work around this problem, you can clear the option to automatically use a certain user identity by performing the following steps:
1 . Open Outlook Express and from the File menu, select Identities, then click Manage Identities .
2 . Clear the "Use this identity when starting a program" check box .
3 . Click "close", then restart Outlook Express .
When you want to switch identities, you can modify the default identity that you want to use by performing the following steps:
1 . Open Outlook Express and from the File menu, select Identities, then click Manage Identities .
2 . Select the user identity that you want to use when you restart Outlook Express and ensure that
you've selected the "Use this identity when starting a program" check box .
3 . Click "close", then restart Outlook Express .

2 . Want to use that shiny new 200GB hardrive under Windows XP? You need to configure Windows XP to allow access to ATAPI hard disks larger than 137GB .

Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) adds support for 48-bit Logical Block Addressing (LBA) for ATAPI drives, which lets the OS access hard disks larger than 137GB (the current limit) . For this to work, you must have:
* a 48-bit LBA-compatible BIOS
* a hard disk with a capacity greater than 137GB
* Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1)
To enable 48-bit support, perform the following steps:
1 . Start a registry editor (e . g . , regedit . exe) .
2 . Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\atapi\Parameters registry subkey .
3 . From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value .
4 . Enter the name EnableBigLba, then press Enter .
5 . Double-click the new value, set it to 1, then click OK .
6 . Reboot the computer for the changes to take effect .

3 . Do you need Windows XP boot disks?

Windows XP doesn't ship with boot disks, and you can't create these disks from the XP media . However, Microsoft provides downloads to create XP boot disks . As Microsoft continues to release service packs, the company will continue to update the downloadable boot disks, starting with new boot disks available for Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1) . You must download the
correct set of boot disks for your version of XP (i . e . , you can't use an Windows XP Home Edition boot disk with an Windows XP Professional Edition CD-ROM) . Windows XP Home SP1 boot disks are available at WinXP Home Boot ( . microsoft . com/downloads/release . asp?releaseid=42818" target="_blank">www . microsoft . com), and Windows XP Professional SP1 boot disks are available at WinXP Pro Boot ( . microsoft . com/downloads/release . asp?releaseid=42819" target="_blank">www . microsoft . com) .


4 . Need to use the CD command to change directories to a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path in a command window?

When you attempt to use the CD command to change directories to a UNC path, you receive the following error:

"CMD does not support UNC paths as current directories"

Although you can map a drive, use the CD command to change to the new drive, then disconnect after you're done working in the UNC location, this approach is cumbersome . A better approach is to use the Pushd command . For example, you can enter
pushd \\titcanic\data
The Pushd command automatically maps a drive and navigates to it . If you run the Net Use command after you run Pushd, you'll see a new drive mapping . After you're done working in the UNC location, use the Popd command to navigate back to your original network location before you ran Pushd .


5 . Want to always always win at Minesweeper?

You can configure Minesweeper to display either a white or black pixel on screen, depending on if the cursor is over a mine (black) or not (white) by following these steps:
1 . Start Minesweeper .
2 . Type xyzzy then press Shift+Enter .
3 . Minimize all windows and begin play .
The pixel in the top left-hand corner of the desktop will be black if the cursor is over a mine square or white if the cursor is over a safe square . This works on all versions of Minesweeper supplied with Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4 . 0, and Windows 3 . 1 .

6 . Installing the Network Monitor client under Windows XP .

Windows 2000 includes a Network Monitor agent for use with Network Monitor, but Windows XP doesn't include such an agent .

However, Microsoft included the netcap . exe utility as part of the Support Tools on the Windows XP CD-ROM .
Netcap is a command-line tool that provides capabilities similar to Network Monitor . On the first execution, Netcap installs the Network Monitor driver and binds it to all network adapters, which lets the full Network Monitor product operate against the machine .

For full Help, in a command window type:

netcap /?

To remove the Network Monitor driver, type the following in the command window:

netcap /remove


7 . Protecting your Windows XP system from Denial of Service (DoS) attacks .

Firewall products can protect your machines from DoS attacks, and you should use a firewall whenever possible . However, built-in Windows functionality can also help protect against DoS attacks and quickly time out SYN requests . To enable this functionality, perform the following steps:
1 . Start a registry editor (e . g . , regedit . exe) .
2 . Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Tcpip\Parameters registry subkey .
3 . From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value .
4 . Enter the name SynAttackProtect, then press Enter .
5 . Double-click the new value, set it to 2, then click OK .
6 . Close the registry editor .
7 . Reboot the machine .
The SynAttackProtect default value is 0, which offers no protection . A value of 1 limits the number of SYN retries and delays the route cache entry when the maximum number of open TCP connections (i . e . , the connections in the SYN_RECEIVED state known as TcpMaxHalfOpen) and retries (i . e . , TcpMaxHalfOpenRetried) have been met .

When SynAttackProtect has a value of 2, the effect is similar to when the value is set to 1 but includes a delayed Winsock notification until the 3-way handshake involved in the SYN process is finished . Because Windows invokes the SynAttackProtect value only after the system exceeds the TcpMaxHalfOpen and TcpMaxHalfOpenRetried values, it is recommended that you also create the TcpMaxHalfOpen and TcpMaxHalfOpenRetried values under the same registry key (both DWORD values) and set them to 100 and 80, respectively . 		Babe Ruth (416)
114588 2003-01-17 00:17:00 Dont forget to use the
-File
-Exit and Log off Identity in Outlook Express, otherwise you will remain logged in if you're account is not default! 		Chilling_Silence (9)
114589 2003-01-17 02:49:00 well now i want me a 200Gb disk :-( robsonde (120)
114590 2003-01-17 02:58:00 With DoS tip is there any point if you're already running a decent firewall(Kerio). Also will that create problems when running a server? -=JM=- (16)
114591 2003-01-17 06:09:00 -=JM=-,

No problem, as stated in the tip if you are already running a decent firewall then you can probably not bother with the registry changes. As for a server it wont harm at all.

Cheers, Babe. :-)

P.S. JM that site you were asking about last night in the chat session is Here (www.geocities.com) B-) 		Babe Ruth (416)
114592 2003-01-17 07:46:00 Thanks Babe, looks really good stuff. :-)
Fires up CardFile and opens the Win XP file 		Susan B (19)
114593 2003-01-17 08:08:00 > 1. Changing identities in Microsoft Outlook
> Express after installing Windows XP Service Pack 1
> (SP1).
>
> Outlook Express lets you configure several different
> identities that have their own mail and news
> configuration and storage, which is useful for
> smaller environments if two users share a logon or
> you want to use different settings for mail and news.
> Typically, to create a new Outlook Express identity,
> you open the File menu, select Identities, then
> click Add New Identity.
>
> Likewise, to switch identities, you open the File
> menu, select Switch Identity, then select the
> identity that you want to use. However, after you
> install XP SP1, neither setting takes effect and you
> remain logged on under the current identity.
>
> To work around this problem, you can clear the option
> to automatically use a certain user identity by
> performing the following steps:
> 1. Open Outlook Express and from the File
> menu, select Identities, then click Manage
> Identities.
> 2. Clear the "Use this identity when starting a
> a program" check box.
> 3. Click "close", then restart Outlook
> ok Express.
> When you want to switch identities, you can modify
> the default identity that you want to use by
> performing the following steps:
> 1. Open Outlook Express and from the File
> menu, select Identities, then click Manage
> Identities.
> 2. Select the user identity that you want to use
> se when you restart Outlook Express and ensure that
> you've selected the "Use this identity when
> when starting a program" check box.
> 3. Click "close", then restart Outlook
> ok Express.

Or you could just install the Outlook Express 6.0 SP1 Cumulative Update (www.microsoft.com) :D
A more user-friendly version of what it fixes can be found here ( 1. html" target="_blank">www.windows-help.net).

Note: You must have Internet Explorer 6 SP1 (www.microsoft.com) installed first! 		stevie_boy (478)
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