Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

SYMPTOMS

When you restart your Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer, you may receive the following error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Note The letters "ced" at the end of the error message are not really part of the error message. The previous screen included these letters and was not completely erased when the error message appeared.You may also receive the following error message:
System hive error

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if one of the following conditions is true:

• A Promise Technology, Inc. ATA66 PCI controller card is installed in the computer. This issue typically occurs during the Windows 2000 installation process.

• The System hive in the registry is damaged or missing. Windows 2000 may be unable to load the registry if it is too large. This issue can occur when a process writes too much data to the System subkey in the registry. The System subkey is designed to contain only the information that is necessary to boot the computer. Computers that are based on Intel architecture or ARC (RISC) architecture can only use 16 megabytes (MB) of memory at this stage of the boot process. The System registry subkey has to share the 16 MB with the loader, kernel, HAL, and boot drivers. In some instances, the size of the System subkey may be 13 MB or larger.

RESOLUTION


WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.To resolve this issue, use the appropriate method.

Remove the Promise Technology ATA66 PCI Controller


If this issue occurs during the Windows 2000 installation process and a Promise ATA66 controller is installed in your computer, remove the Promise Technology ATA66 PCI controller card, check your BIOS settings to make sure that the IDE controller on your motherboard is enabled, and then run Windows 2000 Setup again.

Restore a Backup of the System Hive


IMPORTANT: This procedure will not work on an active directory domain controller, because if you use the REPAIR folder system hive, then you are no longer a domain controller.Use the Repair Console tool to replace the backup copy of the System hive from the repair folder. If the Repair Console tool is not installed on your computer, you can run it from the Emergency Repair process:

1. Use the Windows 2000 CD-ROM or the Windows 2000 Startup disk to start the computer.

2. When you see the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R for "repair."

3. Press C to run the Recovery Console tool.

4. Select the installation that you want to repair.

5. Type the administrator password. If the computer is a domain controller, type the password for Directory Services Restore Mode when you are prompted to do so.For additional information about the Recovery Console tool, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

239803 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239803/EN-US/) How to Change the Recovery Console Administrator Password on a Domain Controller

223301 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223301/EN-US/) Protection of the Administrator Account in the Offline SAM

6. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following commands,
pressing ENTER after you type each command:

cd system32\config
ren system system.old
ren system.alt systemalt.old

7. If you have run the Emergency Repair Disk Wizard from Windows Backup and Recovery tools, copy the backup of the System hive from the %SystemRoot%\Repair\Regback folder
.
If you have not run the Emergency Repair Disk Wizard, copy the default System hive from the %SystemRoot%\Repair folder.

IMPORTANT: You need to restore the most recent copy of the System hive. You also need to reinstall any hardware device drivers or programs that run as services that you installed since the last time that you updated your Emergency Repair Disk.
To copy the default System hive, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

copy c:\winnt\repair\system c:\winnt\system32\config

To copy the System hive that was backed up the last time that you ran the Emergency Repair Disk Wizard, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

copy c:\winnt\repair\regback\system c:\winnt\system32\config


8. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER to restart your computer.


Reduce the Size of the System Hive
If a large number of resources are shared on the computer, the registry may become too large. To resolve this issue, use the following steps.

1. Start registry editor (Regedt32.exe).

2. Locate and click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Share

3. On the Registry menu, click Save Key.

4. In the File name box, type Shares.new, and then click Save.

5. Locate and click the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

6. On the Registry menu, click Load Hive.

7. In the list of files, click the System.old file, and then click Open.

8. In the Key Name box type System.old, and then click OK.

9. Locate and click the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Select

10. Note the setting for the Default value.

11. Locate and click the following key in the registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System.old\ControlSetx\Services\LanmanServer\Shares

where x is the number that you noted in step 8.

12. On the Registry menu, click Save Key.

13. In the File name box, type Shares.old, and then click Save.

14. Restore the Shares.new key to the System.old registry hive:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System.old\ControlSetx\Services\LanmanServer\Shares

15. Click the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System.old key.

16. On the Registry menu, click Unload Hive.

17. Quit Registry Editor.

18. Restart the computer to the Recovery Console.

19. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:

ren system system.org
ren system.old system

20. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER to restart the computer

Disabling User Control In Vista

Disable User Account Control (UAC) the Easy Way on Windows Vista
I've previously written about a way to enable or disable UAC from the command line. This is an easier method that you can use to do the same thing from the GUI interface. To recap my earlier article, UAC is ANNOYING.
Note: Disabling UAC will lead to a less secure system, so be warned.

Open up Control Panel, and type in user account into the search box.
You'll see the link for "Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off". Click it.
Uncheck the box, and reboot your computer. You should be done with obnoxious prompts!

How do I rebuild a RAID 1 array on a Western Digital Serial ATA RAID card?

Question

How do I rebuild a RAID 1 array on a Western Digital Serial ATA RAID card?


Answer

To rebuild a RAID 1 array on a Western Digital Serial ATA RAID card please follow the steps below:
1. Press the Control and F keys at the same time to enter the card's BIOS.
2. Select the Define Array option and press the 3 key.
3. Select the failed array and identify the channel and ID of the failed drive.
4. Shut down your computer and remove the failed drive.
5. Replace the failed drive with another identical drive.
6. Reboot the computer and press Control and F again to enter the BIOS of the card.
7. Press the 5 key to select the Rebuild Array option.
8. Highlight the critical array and press Enter.
9. Select the replacement drive to rebuild and press Enter to copy the data onto the replacement drive.
10. Once the data copy is complete, reboot the computer after you exit from the card's BIOS

Anotomy of Blue Screen BSOD

Anatomy of a Blue Screen

The Error Message
The section circled (with a white box) in Figure A shows the actual error message. This message contains an error code number, the addresses where the error occurred, and a text code indicating the type of error. Below, I've listed some of the more common error codes and their causes.

DIVIDE_BY_ZERO_ERROR
This error is caused by an application trying to divide by zero. If you receive this error and don't know which application caused it, you might try examining the memory dump.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error is caused by a buggy device driver or an actual hardware conflict. If you've recently added new hardware to your system, try removing it and see if the error goes away. Likewise, if you've recently loaded a new device driver, you might try using ERD Commander Professional Edition, by Winternals Software, to temporarily disable the new driver and see if the problem goes away.

KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
An incorrectly configured device driver usually causes this type of error. As I'll explain later, you can use another section of the blue screen to figure out which driver is causing the problem.

REGISTRY_ERROR
Such an error indicates a catastrophic failure in the system's registry. However, this error can sometimes be caused by failure to read the registry from the hard disk rather than because the registry itself is corrupt. Most of the time though, if you get this error, you'll have to restore from backup.

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
Just as the name implies, this error indicates that Windows NT is having trouble reading from the hard disk. This error can be caused by a faulty device driver or a bad small computer systems interface (SCSI) terminator. If you've checked for these problems, but are still receiving the error, check to make sure that a virus hasn't destroyed your boot sector.

UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
This error message is almost always caused by your computer's memory. If you receive this error, check to make sure that all of your single inline memory modules (SIMMs) are the same type and speed. You should also check to make sure that your computer's Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) is set for the correct amount of RAM. If all of these suggestions check out, try replacing the memory in the computer.

BAD_POOL_HEADER
This is, perhaps, the most obscure error message. In most cases, if you receive this error, it's related to the most recent change you've made on your system. Try undoing the change to get rid of the error.

NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
An NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM error indicates hard disk corruption. If your system is bootable, run CHKDSK /F on all of your partitions immediately. If your system isn't bootable, try installing a new copy of Windows NT in a different directory. You can use that copy to run the CHKDSK program. When you're done with the second copy, you can edit your BOOT.INI file to make your computer start your original copy of Windows NT.

KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
This error indicates that Windows NT wasn't able to read a page of kernel data from the page file. Bad memory, a bad processor, incorrectly terminated SCSI devices, or a corrupt PAGEFILE.SYS file may cause this situation. The first step in correcting such an error is to recreate the PAGEFILE.SYS file and see if you can bring your system back online.

NMI_HARDWARE_FAILURE
This is a generic error message in which the hardware abstraction layer can't report on the true cause of the error. In such a situation, Microsoft recommends calling the hardware vendor. This error can sometimes be caused by mixing parity and non-parity SIMMs, or by bad SIMMs.

Modules That Have Loaded
The section that I've circled in Figure B shows the modules that Windows NT has already loaded into memory. You can use this section primarily to look at the modules that are already loaded, and be somewhat confident that none of the modules listed are causing your problem.

Modules That Were About to Load
The section that I've circled in Figure C shows which modules were about to load when the error occurred. Many times, this section can give you an idea of which module is causing your problem. This is especially true if you're receiving a KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED error. For example, suppose that the next module on the stack to load was tcpip.sys. In such a situation, it's likely that an incorrect network card driver may be causing your problem. If you happen to own ERD Commander Professional Edition by Winternals Software you could disable the network card driver, and try booting your system again. If the system boots, you could correct the driver problem.

Kernel Debugger
The section circled in Figure D indicates the current status of the kernel debugger. The kernel debugger enables you to link two computers running Windows NT via a RAS connection or a null modem cable. When a Blue Screen of Death occurs, the crash dump information is sent to the functional computer for diagnosis.

PUZZLE 1) BICYCLES AND TRICYCLES

Question:


BINARIES BIKES Shop has a total of 32 bicycles and tricycles for rent. The shop owner checked all 74 wheels at the beginning of the season to make sure they were in good condition.

Q: How many of them are bicycles and how many are tricycles?

Hints: Assume X for bicycles and Y for tricycles, now derive 2X+3Y=74 where as X+Y=32.

Answer:

By guessing numbers of each kind that add to 32, and calculating the number of wheels they
have, you will find that the bike shop has 22 bicycles and 10 tricycles



Solution:
As Bicycles have 2 wheels and Tricycles have 3 wheels
All the wheels must be equal to 74
So 2X+3Y=74 as One Scenario

And totals cycles are equal to 32
So X+Y=32
So from the above two 2X+3Y=74, X+Y=32
First take X+Y=32
X=32-Y

Thus substitute X = 32-Y Into 2X+3Y=74
2(32-Y)+3Y=74
64-2Y+3Y=74
-2Y+3Y=74-64
Y=10

Now substitute Y=10 In 2X+3Y=74
2X+3(10)=74
2X+30=74
2X=74-30
2X=44
X=44/2
X=22

Thus we got X=22 and Y=10 so total 32
22 Bicycles and 10 Tricycles

BIOS not showing total size physical memory RAM

Ur BIOS not showing the total physical memory(RAM)but it shows less that what u have this is because of disabled memory mapping in north bridge configurations......

This is so simple.,,Go to BIOS with DEL and do Check Memory Mapping North Bridge Configuration under Chipset Configurations......make it enable...........thatsit save and restart ...

Unable to change the Way of Logon & Logoff in XP

This might cause because of any one below

1. If service CLIENT FOR NETWARE NETWORKS is running along with ur TCP/IP in network connections .....in this case simply do uninstall this service from network connection properties..........

2. If any of files related to winlogon most propably files like MrvGINA.dll replaced by new drivers/softwares raises this issue leading to not change the way of winlogon and this even causes problem in initiation of remote desktop connections...........

to solve this problem simply

go to registry and search MrvGINa.dll under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWSNT/CURRENTVERSION/
WINLOGON path , then delete
and do a restart . .But be sure to take backup of registry before deleting it helps you..if not search here
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWSNT/WINLOGON
path, then delete it, reboot your PC and enjoy!

DDR –DDR2-DDR3-GDDR2&3 RAMs

RAM memory is also used on video cards to make the video memory circuit. Until recently the video memory used the exact same technology as the system RAM memory that is installed on the motherboard. High-end video cards, however, needed memory chips faster than the ones used on the PC. So the manufacturers decided to go for DDR2 and DDR3 technologies.

DDR2 and DDR3 memories used on video card have different characteristics than the DDR2 and DDR3 memories used on the PC – especially the voltage. That’s the reason they are called GDDR2 and GDDR3 (the “G” comes from “Graphics”).

In our DDR2 Memory Tutorial we explained the differences between DDR and DDR2 memories. As we mentioned there, one of the main differences is the voltage: while DDR works at 2.5 V, DDR2 works at 1.8 V. This leads to a lower power consumption and less heat.

GDDR2 memories continue to work at 2.5 V. Since they run at higher clock rates compared to DDR memories, they generate more heat. This is the reason why only a few video cards used GDDR2 memories – only GeForce FX 5700 Ultra and GeForce FX 5800 Ultra used this kind of memory. Shortly after GeForce FX 5700 Ultra was released many video card manufacturers released a GeForce FX 5700 Ultra using GDDR3 memories, maybe to lower the heat and power consumption effects.GDDR3 memories can work at 2.0 V (Samsung chips) or at 1.8 V (chips from other manufacturers), solving the heat problem. This is the reason why this kind of memory is used by high-end video cards.

DDR3 memories are not released to PCs yet, but they will probably work at 1.5 V, being different from GDDR3 memories.Physically speaking, both GDDR2 and GDDR3 use BGA (Ball Grid Array) packaging, the same used by DDR2 memories, as you can see on the figures. It is impossible to visually detect whether a memory chip is GDDR2 or GDDR3

Forcing Windows XP's Disk Cleanup to delete all temporary files

Takeaway: You may have found that Windows XP's Disk Cleanup utility misses a spot from time to time, retaining temporary files most recently accessed. Here's how to perform a clean sweep of your Windows XP files by forcing Disk Cleanup to get rid of all your temporary files. .

If you've ever run the Windows XP's Disk Cleanup utility, you probably discovered that your temporary files occupy a significant amount of space. You might select the Temporary Files check box in order to allow the Disk Cleanup utility to delete the files in the Temp folder, but the Disk Cleanup utility will not remove all of the files. The reason for this oddity is that the configuration for the Disk Cleanup utility does not allow deletion of files accessed in the last seven days.
By altering the LastAccess value in the registry, you can configure the Disk Cleanup utility to delete all the files in the Temp folder regardless of the last accessed date. Here's how:

1. Launch the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
2. Go to
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\VolumeCaches\Temporary Files
.
4. Locate and double-click the LastAccess value.
5. When you see the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, change the Value Data setting from 7 to 0 and click OK.
6. To complete the operation, close the Registry Editor and restart Windows XP.
Changing the value to 0 will force the Disk Cleanup utility to delete all the files in the Temp folder every time that you select the Temporary Files check box.
Notes: Since editing the registry is risky, be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes. This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.
Miss a tip?
Check out the Windows XP archive, and catch up on our most recent Windows XP tips.
Stay on top of the latest XP tips and tricks with our free Windows XP newsletter, delivered each Thursday. Automatically sign up today!

Viewing non-present devices in Windows XP's Device Manager

Takeaway: Find out how Windows XP's Device Manager can help you track down non-present devices, which may still cause problems even though they're not physically attached to your machine.

When troubleshooting driver problems in Windows XP, one of the first places you may look is Device Manager, which provides detailed information about every piece of installed system hardware. In light of devices such as removable USB drives becoming more and more common, you may need information about devices that are not currently connected; Device Manager recognizes these as non-present devices. Here's how to get information about these devices:

1. Go to Start, right-click My Computer, and select Properties.
2. In the System Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab and click the Environment Variables button.
3. In the Environment Variables dialog box, locate the System Variables panel and click New.
4. In the New System Variable dialog box, type DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES in the Variable Name text box and type 1 in the Variable Value text box.
5. Click OK twice.
6. To view the non-present devices, go to Start, right-click My Computer, and select Manage.
7. Click Device Manager, pull down the View menu, and select Show Hidden Devices.
Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.
Miss a tip?
Check out the Windows XP archive, and catch up on our most recent Windows XP tips.
Stay on top of the latest XP tips and tricks with our free Windows XP newsletter, delivered each Thursday. Automatically sign up today!

Launching remote desktop from the command line in Windows XP Pro

Takeaway: Remote desktop allows you to configure and connect to another computer running Windows XP Pro. Here's what you need to know about the remote desktop connection dialog box, including a few parameters you're most likely to encounter.
The Windows XP remote desktop connection dialog box provides you with everything that you need to configure and connect to another computer running Windows XP Pro. You can use the Save As button on the Connection Settings panel to save all your connection settings as an RDP file. Then, you can launch and connect to a remote computer simply by double-clicking the RDP file.
You can also script a remote desktop connection, as Windows XP's remote desktop connection has an executable file that can accept command line parameters and be run from a batch file. The remote desktop connection executable file is MSTSC.EXE, and the following are some of the most common parameters:
· /v:--specifies the name of the computer to connect to.
· /f--starts the connection in a full screen.
· /w:--specifies the width of the remote desktop screen.
· /h:--specifies the height of the remote desktop screen.
For example, to remotely connect to a computer named Kaltec in a 640 x 480 remote desktop screen, you would use the following command:mstsc /v: Kaltec /w:640 /h:480
You can type this command line in the Run dialog box, as well as use it in a batch file.
Note: This tip applies only to Windows XP Professional.

Launch System Restore from a command prompt in Windows XP

Takeaway: It's not unusual to use System Restore to fix strange Windows XP system behavior—but depending on how damaged your system seems to be, you may need to call for more advanced measures. Here's how to launch System Restore from a command prompt.
If your Windows XP system begins acting strange, a typical fix is to use System Restore to remove any system changes made since the last time you created a Restore Point. However, what if the problem is so bad that you can't start Windows XP normally, or even start the system in Safe Mode?

The good news is you can run System Restore from a command prompt. Here's how:
1. Restart your computer and press [F8] during the initial startup.
2. When you see the Windows Advanced Options Menu, select the Safe Mode with a Command Prompt option.
3. Select the Windows XP operating system.
4. Log on to your computer with an administrator account or with an account that has administrator credentials.
5. Type the following command at a command prompt:
C:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
When you see the System Restore window, the graphics may look odd, but you can still follow the onscreen instructions to restore your computer to an earlier state.
Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.

ACCESS DENIED Error in LAN WINXP

> OK, I've been seeing this same problem over and over again in the past few > days postings.
> \\P4p800\TEST02 is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this > network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if > you have access permissions. Not enough server storage is available to > process this command.

"Not enough server storage is available to process this command" This error indicates that you are falling foul of the IRPStackSize bug.
The problem is on the machine you are attempting to connect to, not the machine where you see the error message.
On the computer you are attempting to connect to, Check the event viewer for an event ID 2011.
Usual fix : You need to fix a parameter called IRPStackSize
On the computer you are attempting to connect to, Set the IRPStackSize back to the default (15 ). Perform the following steps:
1. Start the registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe). 2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ Services\lanmanserver\parameters. 3. Double-click IRPStackSize (or if this registry setting doesn't exist,create it of type DWORD and ensure the case is correct). 4. Change the base to decimal, set the value to 15, and click OK. 5. Reboot the computer.
Norton AV is usual suspect for breaking it.
There's a KB article about this, too.
Antivirus Software May Cause Event ID 2011 (Q177078) http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;177078

Recover from NTLDR Missing Error

Recover from NTLDR Missing Error
ObservationsYou power up your computer and receive the following message(s):
NTLDR Is Missing
Couldn't find NTLDR
Possible CausesThis problem occurs when one of more of the following boot up files are missing:
NTLDR
Ntdetect.com
Boot.ini
ResolutionGenerally there are 2 methods to resolve this issue.
Manual File Re-PatchingThis method attempts to copy and replace the corrupted file from the Windows Installation disc to your hard disk. To start, follow these steps:
Insert the Windows 2000 or Windows XP CD into your computer as default boot up media.
Enter Windows Recovery Console
At the command prompt, assuming drive D refers to your CD Drive, type in the following and hit Enter: Press Y when prompted to overwrite any existing file.

copy D:\i386\ntldr C:\
copy D:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\

Restart the computerIf the error message still persist, it is likely that your boot.ini file is corrupted. Try to fix your corrupted boot.ini file instead.
Using Windows Repair InstallThis Windows Repair Install overwrites all system files in your computer, leaving your installed applications, data files and settings intact. However, you will lose previously saved system restore points and service pack updates. You may need to re-apply the system updates after this procedure.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME in Win XP BSOD

Another Windows XP tip, from the dark corners of my own personal experience.
The problem: You turn on your computer, but Windows doesn’t start. All you get is a blue screen that says UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. What, oh, what do you do?
The solution: Boot into the Recovery Console. For this you need your XP CD, and go through the motions like you’re going to reinstall Windows, but look for the Recovery Console option instead. The Recovery Console is a command-line interface with diagnostic and repair tools. Once you’re in the console, enter these three commands in turn:
chkdsk /र
chkdsk /प
fixboot
The first one can take half an hour or longer, the others zip by really quick. After that, reboot your computer, and you should be golden

Playing DOS games in XP

Whizzing around in the vast 3D complexity of today's modern games, I often wonder if gaming
has really taken a step forward since the good ole' days of DOS and 3.1 in anything other
than graphics. Weak plots, frustrating challenges, lame puzzles, all attempting to cloak the
one and only intent: KILL EVERYTHING.



I have no problem with killing everything... its true, after a stressful day there are few
things I enjoy more, but other days I can help being bored and somewhat disappointed by it.
My mind can't help but think back to the days when games cost a few pounds on tape or
diskette, each bringing something new and exciting to the gaming world. This was back in the
days when gamers made games in their bedrooms, many a millionaire was created by such simple
means, even back when game tapes cost less than £5 and more people had model railway sets
than Personal Computers! I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest the the money driven mania
that is the gaming industry today is persistently failing its loyal customers more and more,
with every title formulaically spewed out.



But there is hope!



Why not get those old diskettes out from their dusty old boxes, filled with nostalgia and
get installing! Don't panic if you haven't kept the old disks, they're broken or you can't
find your favourite - Abandonware is here to save you. Games get the title of abanonware
when they are no longer published or discontinued. This means they are free to copy,
distribute and download.



In this guide I'm going to show you how to get your old DOS/3.1/Win95 games working on your
newer Win2000/XP machine and how to 'emulate' them if needed. I'm also going to show you
where you can find and download your favourite old games for free.




Downloading
How to download free games




If you can't find your favourite old game or have just thrown it away along time ago you
probably will still be able to find it on the internet as its almost certainly now
considered abandonware meaning it can now be legally downloaded for free!





Downloading Free Games - Legally!




There are literally hundreds of abandonware sites, but luckily the nice people at the
Abandonware Ring have compiled a continually updated and rated list of the top sites. The
folks at TUOL also have a huge list which includes links to various resources. Both have a
search engine and between these 2 sites you should be able to find virtually any abandonware
game you desire, along with enough other games to keep you playing for a lifetime. The Home
of The Underdogs is also a great site, however it's dedicated to games that never got the
recognition they deserve and not exclusively an abandonware resource (pop-up warning).

Clever Ways with Send to

One of the real Windows goodies is the Send To list in the pop-up menu when you right-click a file or an Icon. As it stands, the Send To options include some useful standards … send the file to a floppy, to an email recipient, to the desktop as a shortcut … and a couple more.

But you can easily add to those options. You might want to have a variety of different destination folders, plus maybe your printer. Send To for a popular application, such as Notepad, Word and image editor, are handy too.

Start by creating a shortcut to the thing you want to add … this is easily done by holding down the right mouse button while you drag it to your desktop. XP users can release it if the plus sign is showing; that creates a shortcut. Users of 98 and ME will have to release it and select “Create Shortcut Here”. Click the new icon, press F2 and give the shortcut any name you want. Alternatively, right click and “rename” it.

Do these as often as you need for the extra Send To items. By the way, printers can be dragged on to the desktop to create shortcuts in the same manner.

Now collect all the shortcut icons on your desktop … right-click on each while holding down Ctrl … and press Ctrl, X to cut them. Use Explorer (Window key + E) to go to C:\Windows\SendTo (for Windows 98/ME) or C:\Documents and Settings\[username] (for XP – it’s a hidden file so you might have to go to Tools, Folder Options, View and select Show hidden files and folders).

Right-click that folder and select Paste. You’ll see that you’re newly created shortcuts join the existing ones. Now try out your revised Send To command you’ll see your newly created shortcuts will be included in the list.An even quicker way...

There’s a neat trick that provides a quicker way to add a shortcut to the Send To menu: you add a shortcut to the Send To folder itself.

Here’s how, locate the Send To folder and drag it on to the desktop to create a shortcut. Then cut and past the shortcut into the Send To folder as before. Sounds odd, but it works.

Now, when you want to add a program destination to the Send To folder, right-click the program in Windows Explorer and choose Send To, Shortcut to Send To. That will put a new shortcut into the Send To menu.

WARNING: Don’t try using this technique to add folders to the Send To menu … you won’t get a shortcut there, you’ll move the entire folder there.

If your Send To menu starts to get unwieldy, just group the contents logically into subfolder. Use Explorer to go to the Send To menu and create subfolders as normal. The subfolders will appear in the Send To list, with their contents in a submenu.

Missing GPEDIT.MSC in WinXP

You can re-load gpedit.msc
from your Windows XP Professional CD-ROM. Boot from the CD-ROM,
run Recovery Console,
and enter this command:

expand D:\i386\gpedit.ms_ c:\windows\system32

If your CD-ROM drive isn't D:, substitute the appropriate drive letter.

Build a great PC on a budget with these parts and procedures

Build a great PC on a budget with these parts and procedures
by George Ou More from George Ou 2/22/07
Tags: Windows Vista Personal computers Pricing Computer components
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Takeaway: A Vista-capable system with quality components at a reasonable price can be yours--if you' 5262-6257-0.html?link="+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+" techrepublic.com.com http:>This article is also available as a PDF download and a TechRepublic photo gallery.
A lot of people don't realize that it's possible to build a dual-core workstation with good 2D graphics and even some decent 3D performance that's fully Vista capable for a reasonable price. In fact, you can do it for around $1,133. That price includes a massive 22" LCD and Vista Home Premium OEM software, as well as the cost of shipping. For that kind of money in the retail sector or mail order, you wouldn't get close to these specifications and you'd probably end up with lousy embedded graphics chipsets. The only catch is that you actually have to build it. But in this tutorial, I'll explain the parts you need and show you how to assemble it all. Not only do you get the satisfaction of knowing you've put in good components, you also get the satisfaction of giving the PC life with your own hands. I can't think of a better hobby to have. We'll start with the parts list. Note that the pictures shown aren't necessarily the same parts in the list, but they're close enough for the purposes of this tutorial.

Parts list
Mainstream home or office dual-core workstation
Cost
Biostar TForce965PT with Realtek gigabit LAN and 7.1 audio *
$105
Intel dual-core C2D E6300 (can clock very high) **
$184
Stock Intel retail CPU fan (included with CPU)

Seagate 400 GB SATA II HDD
$120
Cooler Master CAV-T03-UW
$70
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 PCI-Express with 256 MB (w/HDTV out)
$70
Patriot 1 GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2-667 RAM ***
$72
SeaSonic silent/efficient 330 watt PSU
$60
Lite-on 16x SATA-based dual-layer DVD burner
$36
Dell 22" widescreen 1680x1050 LCD monitor
$296
Vista Home Premium Edition OEM 32-bit (64-bit same price)
$120
Total (shipping included but not taxes)
$1,133
*You will need Vista drivers found on Realtek's Web site for LAN and audio. This is especially true if you get Vista 64-bit edition, since the sound drivers included won't run correctly without the updated drivers. All other hardware should run fine on a fresh Vista install, though it's recommended that you use the latest 32-bit NVIDIA drivers (64-bit).
** This CPU can typically safely overclock 25% over the stock speed with minor voltage increases to keep it stable in Vista and permit SpeedStep power saving mode to function. Some more aggressive overclockers have been known to push this to 50% and even beyond, with high voltage increases and massive cooling fans. Do not attempt more than 25% with the stock Intel CPU fan and stick with modest voltage increases if you want your system to be stable and without error. You can read more on how this type of hardware works with Windows Vista. This type of a mainstream system isn't meant for massive overclocking and a free 25% boost in performance (bumped up to 2.33 GHz) is very safe and doable. Also note that you'll need to bump up to DDR2-800 if you want to clock the CPU any higher.
*** 1 GB in Vista will offer good performance. If you double the RAM to 2 GBs, it will offer premium performance and allow you to work with much larger graphics files or run multiple virtual machines inside the free Virtual PC 2007.


Assembly instructions
We'll start by taking the PC chassis out of the box. The chassis shown is the Cooler Master CAV-T03-UW, which is solidly built and relatively cheap at $60. There's usually a small bag or box that contains screws you need to put the system together. In Photo A, it's lying on the chassis on top of the drive bays. I've also taken the power supply out of the box and laid it inside the chassis, shown in the upper-right of the photo Note how the power supply has the fan grill exposed toward the motherboard. That is the orientation you want.
Photo A
Next, we need to find the following kind of screw to hold down the power supply shown in Photo B.
Photo B
Now, we need to use four of those screws to screw in the power supply. Note the location of the four highlighting circles I drew in the bottom left of Photo C.
Note on the power supply: I'm using a SeaSonic S12-330 330 watt power supply, which can be had for $55. I swear by these power supplies, and I own five of them because they're super efficient at above 80 percent, they're dead silent, and they're very affordable. Most power supplies make much more noise and are typically in the 60-70 percent energy efficiency range. Many people spend upwards of $100 on a higher power supply, citing the myth that you need at least 400 watts and higher on a modern computer. That's utter nonsense even for a high-end PC. Even the highest-end PCs peak out at around 250 watts. The measured power consumption at the plug for the PC in this tutorial idled at around 73 watts and peaked out at around 110 watts during intense CPU loads. The high wattage power supply proponents will often cite video card manuals specifying that they need a 400 watt power supply, but those numbers were just pulled out of thin air and aren't based on actual power consumption measurements. 330 watts happens to be one of the smallest ATX power supplies you can find, and it's more than enough for what we're building here.
Photo C
Next, we have to find the following types of screws, shown in Photo D, to mount the motherboard in place. You'll usually need nine of them.
Photo D
You can mostly put these screws in with your finger, but you'll still need something like the tool shown in Photo E.
Photo E

Let Word format your document as you type

Takeaway: Word contains a variety of document formats to assist you in assigning particular styles to your pages. Mary Ann Richardson discusses how you can save time while creating a polished look with the help of Word's Style Gallery.

If you aren't sure how to format your document, Word includes a number of document styles that you can choose from, covering everything from spacing between paragraphs, when to indent, what type of heading to use, and table formats. All you need do is select the style you want from Word's Style Gallery, and Word will do the rest. For example, say you are typing an end-of-the-year department report and would like to use the Elegant Report document style. Follow these steps:

Go to Format Theme.

Click the Style Gallery... button.

Under Template, select Elegant Report and click OK.

Go to Tools AutoCorrect Options.

Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.

Under the Apply As You Type section, click the Built-In Heading Styles check box.

Under the Automatically As You Type section, click the Define Styles Based On your Formatting check box.

Click OK.

Now you can begin typing the text of your report; Word will automatically format the document text to conform to the Elegant Report style you have chosen.
To see which formats are active, follow these steps:

Click [Ctrl][F1] to display the Task Pane (or go to View Task Pane in Word 2002).

Click the Getting Started arrow and select Styles And Formatting.

In the Show box, select Formatting In Use from the drop-down menu.
If you disagree with any of the styles applied by Word, you can select the text and reformat according to your preferences.
If you have an existing document and you would like to apply a style from the Style Gallery, don't worry -- you don't have to retype the document. Follow steps 1 through 3 in the first set of instructions to select your style, and use these steps to have Word format your document all at once:
Go to Format AutoFormat.

Click AutoFormat Now.

Click OK.

As always, you can override any format Word applies.
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