Download Windows Support Tools from Microsoft's Download Center. (If you're curious about the other apps in the suite, check out the help file included in the Windows Support Tools Program group.)
To run the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, go to the command prompt (select Start > Run) and type msicuu.exe. You'll see a list of all applications with uninstall data. Select the ones you want to get rid of and click the Remove button. Obviously, you want to use caution here — don't clear the install data for an application unless you're absolutely sure you won't ever need it.
Tip 7: Run two displays on the same PC.
This tip is for the worker bee. Adding a second display to your PC won't quite double your productivity, but it will make your computing life easier. Walk around a cube farm these days, and you'll likely see at least a few power users doubling up.
Thankfully, Windows XP makes it extremely easy.
1. Plug the second display into your computer. (Many video cards today have a second Video Out port; if not, you'll have to install a second video card.)
2. Right-click on your desktop and click Properties to bring up the Display Properties window. Click on the Settings tab.
3. See the grayed-out box to the right of the black box? That's your second monitor. Click on it and then click the check box next to "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" to enable it. From here you can adjust the resolution of the secondary display. The goal here is to have a desktop that spans both of your displays, so if your second screen is physically located to the left of your primary one, drag and drop the #2 monitor to the left of the #1 display.
Tip 6: Force unresponsive applications to close at shutdown.
When it comes to balky PCs, few things annoy us more than the moment when we try to shut down Windows and it tells us it can't because some crashed application isn't responding, and that we have to do it ourselves by clicking the End Now button.
This registry hack changes that. Here's how it works.
1. Launch RegEdit (select Start > Run, type regedit and click OK) and browse to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
2. Find the string called AutoEndTasks. Right-click it, select Modify from the pop-up menu, and change the data value from 0 to 1. (If you can't find this string, create it by selecting Edit > New > String Value and set the data value to 1.)
3. Close RegEdit and reboot.
Tip 5: Automatically optimize your hard drive.
One of the keys to system performance is an optimized hard drive. Typically, you optimize your hard drive using Windows' Defrag utility. But there's a great registry hack that will force Win XP to automatically optimize the location of files when your PC is idle. Here's how it works.
1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ OptimalLayout
2. Find the string called EnableAutoLayout, and change its data value to 1. (If this string doesn't exist, create it and set the value to 1.)
3. Exit RegEdit and reboot your PC. Done!
Tip 4: Set a custom resolution.
Notice a trend in the second half of this story? If you answered, "They're all registry hacks," you are correct. Windows XP's registry loads an amazing amount of flexibility and customization in a fairly low-risk package.
Tip number 4 on our list is another one of our favorite registry hacks. Windows XP allows you to specify a large number of set screen resolutions based on what types of images your display can accept. However, in a few rare instances, you may want to specify a non-standard resolution for a clearer or more accurate picture. This tip allows you to do just that. It's one of those tips that doesn't seem all that handy — until you desperately need it. Plus, it's just plain cool. If you have a wonky projector or TV screen you want to use with a laptop or PC, you might want to give this a try.
Here's how it works:
1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VIDEO\ {the address of your primary video card...it often begins with "23A77BF7"}\0000\
