Tuesday, August 25, 2009

How to increase the maximum number of concurrent SMB requests

If you're using an XP Pro computer as a file server, you might encounter a problem because of the default restriction that prohibits more than ten concurrent server message block (SMB) commands, when "long term SMB requests" are used. There is a hotfix that addresses the problem, allowing you to set a registry value to enable up to 256 concurrent requests. Find out how to get it in KB article 926646 at Click Here

How to change the listening port for Remote Desktop

By default, the Remote Desktop Connection software in Windows XP uses port 3389. You might want to change that for security purposes or because you're behind a firewall that blocks that port. You can do that with a simple registry edit, but as always, be sure to back up the registry key before making changes. Find the step by step instructions in KB article 306759 at Click Here

How to restore the Show Desktop icon in QuickLaunch

Have you ever accidentally deleted the "Show Desktop" icon in the QuickLaunch toolbar, and couldn't figure out how to get it back. The procedure for getting the "Show Desktop" icon back if you delete it isn't exactly intuitive. Here's what you do:
1. Click Start | Programs | Accessories and click on Notepad to open it.
2. Type the following, exactly as shown:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
3. Save the file with the name ShowDesktop.scf
4. Drag the file's icon onto the Quick Launch toolbar (or the desktop if you prefer).

Friday, August 21, 2009

How to give Windows 7 the "Classic Menu" Look

It's true that Microsoft has eliminated the option to select the classic start menu, but you can still get a similar hierarchical menu on the Start menu, by following these steps:
1. Right click the task bar and select Properties
2. Click the Start Menu tab
3. Click the Customize button
4. Navigate to Documents and select "Display as a menu"
5. Click OK to close each dialog box
6. Right click Documents in the Start menu and select Properties
7. Click the Include a Folder button
8. In the left pane, navigate to ProgramData \ Microsoft \ Windows \ StartMenu and select the Programs folder
9. Click the Include Folder button

To see this process with screenshots, Click Here

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

How to fix a problem where you can't see other computers on the network

If your XP computer can't view other computers in your workgroup, but you can ping other computers and they can ping you, you may be able to fix the problem by editing the registry. As always, be sure to back up the registry before you make changes to it. Then follow these steps:
1. Click Start | Run
2. In the Run box, type regedit to start the registry editor
3. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ NetBt \ Parameters
4. In the right details pane, find the values named NodeType and DhcpNodeType and delete them
5. Close the registry editor and restart the computer.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

40 Most Popular Tools For Your System Admin Bag

Looking for a good list of sys admin tools (mostly free) all on a 1 page list with links to the home site? Look no further, you have found it here!
Click Here