Hacking Windows XP

That's one fancy boot!

Boost your machine’s boot speed Customize your boot screen

SUPER HOT

Give your system a total makeover

LOCK YOUR WINDOWS

Protect Windows XP with

maximum-strength security

Sure, Windows XP is already superior to its predecessors. But

what if you could make it even better? Well, stop reading the

cover and buy this book, because that’s exactly what it teaches

you. This is the serious

stuff—step-by-step hacks

that beef up speed and

security, customize screens

to make your life easier,

and kick per-formance into

overdrive. Roll up your

sleeves, make your backups,

and go for it.

Sure, Windows XP is already superior to its predecessors. But

what if you could make it even better? Well, stop reading the

cover and buy this book, because that’s exactly what it teaches

you. This is the serious

stuff—step-by-step hacks

that beef up speed and

security, customize screens

to make your life easier,

and kick per-formance into

overdrive. Roll up your

sleeves, make your backups,

and go for it.

Steve Sinchak is the creator and proprietor

of TweakXP.com, the number one online

playground for Windows XP hackers. He

owns and operates SSMGi, a Web develop￾ment firm. Steve is a self-taught hacker

and the victim of his own insatiable curiosity

about what lies beneath the Windows.

1. Build your own boot screen

2. Tweak task bar and start button

3. Speed launch and execution time

4. Unlock hidden settings

5. Supercharge network speed

6. Blast features you hate, for good

7. Create visual styles

8. Add special visual effects

9. Mod Internet Explorer

10. Lock down system security

11. Benchmark your hardware

12. Scrub spyware and adware

Detailed, step-by-step

instructions for these

hacks and dozens more

*85555-IIFHBe ,!7IA7G4-fgjcjg!:P;m;o;t;T

ISBN 0-7645-6929-5

Registry hacks ready to install

Any “undo” files available

Hack templates, and over 45 hacking tools and toys

that will help you get the most out of Windows® XP

System requirements: Please see the

"What's on the CD-ROM" appendix for

details and complete system requirements.

Operating Systems/Windows XP $24.99 US/$35.99 CAN/£16.99 UK Steve Sinchak

Sinchak

Sinch_HackXP-EXTC_69295_DF 5/25/04 10:39 AM Page 1

Hacking Windows® XP

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Hacking Windows® XP

Steve Sinchak

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Hacking Windows® XP

Published by

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

10475 Crosspoint Boulevard

Indianapolis, IN 46256

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 0-7645-6929-5

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States

Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy

fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the

Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN

46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4447, E-Mail: [email protected].

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY : THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO

REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE

CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT

LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR

EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN

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PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON

SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES

ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEB SITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS

A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE

AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY

PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET

WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK

WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department

within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

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and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the

property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

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About the Author

Steve Sinchak is an entrepreneur that has started several technology-related businesses and is

currently running a Web development firm known as SSMGi that owns and operates several

Web sites. As president of the small company, he is responsible for financial, as well as techni￾cal, aspects of the business, such as application programming and infrastructure design and

maintenance.

Steve has been working with computers for more than 10 years. Starting with a desktop which

had a 286-based processor, 1MB of RAM, and was running DOS & Windows 3.1, he taught

himself how to make his computer run faster on the outdated hardware. Driven by curiosity to

customize Windows and make it run faster, he spent countless hours researching and experi￾menting with the inner workings and features of Windows. His primary claim-to-fame in this

subject matter is as the creator of TweakXP.com, the number-one site for tweaking Windows

XP. What started out as an idea for a new Web site that combined his interest in tweaking

Windows and Web programming has grown into a massive database of tweaks and tips for

Windows XP that attracts more than 3 million visitors a year.

Currently, Steve is a senior at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, studying management

IT and computer science. He splits his spare time between classes, running his businesses, and

spending time with his family and friends.

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Credits

Executive Editor

Chris Webb

Development Editor

Scott Amerman

Production Editor

Gabrielle Nabi

Technical Editors

Greg Guntle

Wiley-Dreamtech India Pvt. Ltd.

Copy Editor

TechBooks

Editorial Manager

Kathryn A. Malm

Vice President & Executive Group

Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Bob Ipsen

Vice President and Publisher

Joseph B. Wikert

Executive Editorial Director

Mary Bednarek

Project Coordinator

Erin Smith

Permissions Editor

Laura Moss

Media Development Specialist

Kit Malone

Proofreading and Indexing

TechBooks Production Services

Cover Image

Anthony Bunyan

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This book is dedicated to my parents Larry and Mary Jo, my brothers Jason and David,

my sisters Jackie and Kimberly, and my girlfriend Emily.

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viii

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Acknowledgments

Writing this book while juggling classes and my business was often pretty difficult. Almost all

of my free time for the last four months has been consumed by writing, leaving very little time

for my girlfriend and friends. First, I would like to thank my girlfriend, Emily, for her love,

support, understanding, and help when things got really tight. Thank you so much. You mean

the world to me.

I’d also like to thank everyone in my family for the love, support, and motivation that they have

always shown me. Dad, thanks for bringing home that old IBM AT from work many years

ago. Who would have thought it could start something that would lead me to eventually write

a book? Mom, thank you for your constant motivation and love throughout all of the challenges

in my life.

I’d like to thank my close friends, Paul and Tom. Although they made writing this book very

difficult at times, with their constant distractions, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Going to

Miller Time pub with you two to take breaks from writing was priceless.

Next, I’d like to thank everyone at Wiley for their work on this book. Chris Webb, thanks for

giving me this opportunity and for your suggestions in the early stages. Scott Amerman, thank

you very much for your help and suggestions with writing the chapters. Thank you for turning

me into an author.

Everyone at TweakXP.com also deserves a big thank you—especially Allan Grossman, the

forum administrator of the TweakXP.com support forums. Thank you very much for helping

me with the site and for turning the forum into one of the best support forums for Windows

XP. I would also like to thank all of the forum moderators, news posters, active members, and

daily visitors. You have all played an essential role in the success of TweakXP.com. Thank you

very much!

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Contents at a Glance

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Part I: Customizing Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1: Customizing the Look of the Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter 2: Customizing User Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Chapter 3: Hacking the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Chapter 4: Customizing the Appearance of the Windows Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Chapter 5: Hacking Windows Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Chapter 6: Exploring Other Windows Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Part II: Increasing Your System’s Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Chapter 7: Analyzing Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Chapter 8: Speeding Up the System Boot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Chapter 9: Making Your Computer Load Faster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Chapter 10: Making Your Computer More Responsive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Chapter 11: Speeding Up Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Part III: Securing Your System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Chapter 12: Protecting Your Computer from Intruders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Chapter 13: Fighting Spam, Spyware, and Viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Chapter 14: Protecting Your Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Appendix A: What’s on the CD-ROM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

End-User License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

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Contents

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

Part I: Customizing Your System 1

Chapter 1: Customizing the Look of the Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Customizing the Windows XP Boot Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Changing the boot screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Customizing the Logon Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Working with the Welcome screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Working with the classic logon screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Global logon/Welcome settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Chapter 2: Customizing User Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Customizing the Start Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Using Group Policy Editor to customize the Start panel . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Adding and removing navigation icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Switching to small icons for frequently run apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Increasing number of recently run programs

displayed on the Start panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Hiding programs from appearing in the Start panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Pinning your programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Adding Web site links to your Start panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Customizing the Classic Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Turning the classic Start Menu back on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Customizing the classic Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Customizing the Start Menu/Panel Program Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Changing program listing display options for

users of the Start panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Changing program listing display options for users

of the classic Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Removing pop-up Help for users of both the Start

panel and Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Customizing the Taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Using and adjusting program grouping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Quick Launching your programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Hacking the Start button to replace the Start text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

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Modifying the taskbar location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Using the Taskbar Magnifier PowerToy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Removing the notification area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Removing the clock from the taskbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Chapter 3: Hacking the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Customizing Desktop Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Removing all icons from the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Customizing the icon drop shadow effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Displaying the traditional Windows icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Enabling large icons on the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Removing the text below the icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Renaming the Recycle Bin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Removing the shortcut arrow from icons on the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Changing the icons on the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Customizing the Behavior of the Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Using the Virtual Desktop Manager PowerToy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Fun with Active Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using the wallpaper PowerToy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Chapter 4: Customizing the Appearance of the Windows Interface . . . 91

Working with Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Changing the current theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Making your own themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Modifying the Visual Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Installing new visual styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Tweaking the visual styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Making your own visual styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Visual Style Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Using WindowBlinds to change the

way Windows XP looks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Installing additional Windows XP skins for WindowBlinds . . . . . . . . . 114

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter 5: Hacking Windows Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Hacking File Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Changing the default launch app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Changing the icon of any file type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Hacking the Context Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Removing items from the context menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Adding your own items to the context menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Modifying the Send To menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

xiv Contents

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