Fast "8" Windows XP Tips & Tricks

Fast "8" Windows XP Tips & Tricks

Delete Files Immediately
This will allow you to delete files from your system without sending them to the recycle bin first.Select Start > Run… type gpedit.msc then select User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Explorer then locate the ‘Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin‘ setting and set it.

Faster Start Menu Appearance
Ever wondered why it takes the start menu a few seconds to appear when you click on it? To speed it up, go to Start > Run… Type regedit then navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay section and change the value from 400 to 0.

Disable Unneeded Startup Services
Disabling these services will not only make your machine a little safer, but will speed things up a bit. To disable services, go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and disable the following:

• Alerter
• Clipbook
• Human Interface Access Devices
• Indexing Service
• Messenger
• Net Logon
• Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
• Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
• Remote Procedure Call Locator
• Remote Registry
• Routing & Remote Access
• SSDP Discovery Service
• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
• Telnet
• Upload Manager
• Windows Time
• Wireless Zero Configuration

Turning Off The Welcome Screen

Navigate to the Control Panel and select User Accounts then select the option that says Change the way users log on or off.

Speed Up Shared File Viewing across Network

Machines have been known to have a bit of a delay when ever trying to view files shared across a network, due to the fact that Windows is taking the extra time to search and see if the networked computer has any Scheduled Tasks. To prevent Windows from searching for scheduled tasks on a remote computer click Start > Run… Type regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace and delete the key {D62277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

Speed Up Shutdown Process

Many times, the shutdown process takes a while due to the fact that Windows is trying to clear the Page File. To stop Windows from clearing the Page File on shutdown click Start > Run… type regedit navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown and set the value to 0.

Add Your Own Folders To The Send To Menu

Having your own folders in the Send To menu can be a big help. This way, when you right click on something and select Send To you can choose to send it to your very own special folder. To do this navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo\ and simply add your own shortcuts to what ever folders you want to appear.

Launch Any Program From The Run Dialog

We’ve been running applications like regedit by going to Start > Run. Now what if we could launch any application by doing this. We can! To do so, we need to once again, go to Start > Run… and type regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_ MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\App Paths and 1) Add a subkey of the file name you wish to use. For example, Photoshop.exe. Set the default value’s data to the full path of the application. For example, C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop\Photoshop.exe. 2) Create a string value named Path that contains only the path. For example, C:\Progarm Files\Adobe\Photoshop\..

The above Windows XP Tips & Tricks should be used at your own risks'

Have fun and keep looking for ways to improve your Windows XP operating system!

Create One-Click Shutdown and Reboot Shortcuts

Create One-Click Shutdown and Reboot Shortcuts

First, create a shortcut on your desktop by right-clicking on the desktop, choosing New, and then choosing Shortcut. The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. In the box asking for the location of the shortcut, type shutdown. After you create the shortcut, double-clicking on it will shut down your PC.

But you can do much more with a shutdown shortcut than merely shut down your PC. You can add any combination of several switches to do extra duty, like this:

shutdown -r -t 01 -c "Rebooting your PC"

Double-clicking on that shortcut will reboot your PC after a one-second delay and display the message "Rebooting your PC." The shutdown command includes a variety of switches you can use to customize it. Table 1-3 lists all of them and describes their use.
I use this technique to create two shutdown shortcuts on my desktop—one for turning off my PC, and one for rebooting.


Here are the ones I use:
shutdown -s -t 03 -c "Bye Bye m8!"
shutdown -r -t 03 -c "Ill be back m8 ;)!"

Switch
What it does

-s Shuts down the PC.

-l Logs off the current user.

-t nn

Indicates the duration of delay, in seconds, before performing the action.

-c "messagetext" Displays a message in the System Shutdown window. A maximum of 127 characters can be used. The message must be enclosed in quotation marks.
-f Forces any running applications to shut down.

-r Reboots the PC.

Revolution next LCD

Revolution next LCD

LCDs and plasmas rule the consumer display market today. Desktops, televisions and mobile computing use LCD technology as it offers decent image quality with greater power-efficiency and economy. But LCDs aren't efficient in a brightly-lit ambience. A new display technology based on MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) pixels improves efficiency and response time without constant refreshing and backlight. This new technology is expected to give stiff competition to LCD technology.

Researchers from Microsoft and the University of Washington reportedly published the new pixel design, termed 'telescopic pixels design', in Nature Photonics. The telescopic pixel design is claimed to be more efficient, faster and brighter than those used in LCDs.Telescopic pixel design has a pair of disc-shaped pixel carrying micromirrors, one of which is stationary, with an aperture, and the other, a de-formable micro-mirror, is placed in front of the aperture. When the pixel is turned "on" with an electromagnetic force, the de-formable pixel bends to stop light or reflect it on the stationary mirror and let it surpass the pixel. When turned "off", light is reflected back to the source.

LCD transmits barely 5-10 per cent of backlight after passing through the polarizing films, the liquid crystal layer and the color filters. Displays based on telescopic pixels can transmit up to 36 per cent of backlight.

Telescopic pixel technology also has a faster response time of less than 1.5 milliseconds, while the LCD technology pixels take average 25 to 40 seconds for switching between black and white. Thus the ultra fast response time translates to simpler, low-cost color displays, claims Michael Sinclair from the Microsoft Research team.

Sinclair said that in telescopic design the pixels are fabricated in few layers and comparatively simpler than fabricating LCDs. Thus low-cost displays can be manufactured with a simplified production process and resultant displays would obviously be cheaper. Of course, this is still in the research stage, and its commercially viability and application have not been specified yet.

Cellphones greater threat than smoking

Cellphones greater threat than smoking

This, however, does not mean that smoking is better for health than using cellphones.

A top Australian neurosurgeon of Indian origin says that cell phones use is a greater threat to human health than smoking, which kills 5.4 million people each year. Dr Vini Khurana, a neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital, told UK’s Independent newspaper that there is growing evidence that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer.

Dr Khurana says that the cellphone threat is greater because far more people use cellphones than smoke worldwide, some of them starting use at the age of 3 years.

Over 3 billion people use cellphones, which is three times higher than the one billion people who use tobacco. In India, 250 million people use cellphones, second only after US’s 256 million users.

"The threat came from cell phone radiation having the potential to heat the side of the head or thermo-electrically interact with the brain, while Bluetooth devices and unshielded headsets could convert the user’s head into potentially self-harming antenna," said Dr Khurana.

He said that there have been increased reports of brain tumours associated with heavy and prolonged mobile phone use, particularly on the same side as the person’s “preferred” ear for making calls.

"Since cell phones were often a necessity," he says, "people should use them as little as possible and called on the phone industry to make them safer."

The World Health Organisation says that cellphones are safe but admits there are “gaps in knowledge” that need further research about health impact in the longterm. Three large international reviews have investigated and found no conclusive link between use of cell phones and brain cancer, tumours of the brain or leukaemia, and other cancers.

High power chip from Bangalore

High power chip from Bangalore

The world's largest chip maker Intel Corp has unveiled its most powerful six core microprocessor designed and developed at its India development centre in Bangalore.

The 45-nanometre chip boasts of a whopping 1.9 billion transistors, six processing cores and 16MB of shared cache memory in the Xeon family.

"The most powerful chip in the 45 nanometre space has been designed, developed, tested and validated in our Bangalore facility by the Indian team in a record two years," Intel India president Praveen Vishakantaiah told reporters at a preview of the 'made-in-India' product.

The Xeon server processor on which a host of applications can be built for virtualised environments and data-demanding workloads such as databases, business intelligence and enterprise resource planning (ERP) enhances performance by 50 percent, consuming much less power than its earlier versions - quad core and dual core processors.

"Platforms based on this enterprise chip can be scaled up to 16 processor sockets to deliver servers with 96 processing cores inside, offering scalability, ample computing threads, extensive memory resources and reliability for enterprise data centres," Vishakantaiah said.

Intel has released seven 45 nanometre manufactured Xeon processor 7400 series products to about 50 global vendors (OEMs) such as Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM, HP, NEC and Unisys and Indian vendors like HCL and Wipro for deployment in high-end enterprise servers.

End-products with the new chip will hit the market worldwide in a week.

The price of sequence processors range from $856-2729 for 1000 chips and can be deployed in the servers and CPUs (central processing units) of quad core or dual core versions.

"The new chip helps IT infrastructure to manage complex enterprise server environments, enhance performance of multi-thread applications. With new features such as additional cores, large shared caches and advanced virtualisation technologies," Intel South Asia sales director R. Ravichandran said.

Products with the new processor offer frequencies up to 2.66 GHz and consume just 11 watt power for each core, which is 50 watt less than quad core processors.

Codenamed Dunnington, Intel's first six-core 86 microprocessor was designed and developed two months ahead of its delivery schedule.

Intel India, set up a decade ago with over $1.7 billion investment, has also contributed to the development of Intel products such as Napa, Santa Rosa and Montevina mobile platforms, besides quad-core processors. It employs about 2,500 engineers.

Understanding IP addresses in Computers

Understanding IP addresses in Computers

Internet Protocol or IP addresses are common in today's world of networked computers. That's because every computer connected to a single network has an IP.

Washington: An IP address is a number that uniquely identifies a computer on a network. Every computer that's connected to a network, whether that network is the Internet or a private home or office network, has a unique IP address.

IP addresses consist of four sets of numbers, with each set separated by a period (dot), such as 192.168.100.111. Every domain name, such as www. microsoft.com, maps to a particular IP address.

IP addresses are meted out either as static or dynamic. A static IP address never changes. It's the type used by most major websites. A dynamic IP address is automatically assigned to a computer when you log on to a network. Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign dynamic IP addresses to their customers.

There are two types of IP addresses, internal and external.
An internal IP address is also typically referred to as "non routable". That means that it's an IP address which usually is not exposed to the outside world. Each computer in a home or office network has an internal IP address, and it's that address that you would use to make one computer in an office network, for example, talk to talk to another computer within the same network.

To find your internal IP address, open the Windows Start menu, and select Run. On Windows Vista, simply press Windows Key-R. The Run dialog box opens. Type "cmd," without the quotation marks, in the Run dialog box, and press Enter. A DOS command prompt opens.

From the command prompt, type "ipconfig," without the quotation marks, and press Enter. In a second, Windows will return a small report labelled "Windows IP Configuration." Note that one of those lines, labelled "IP Address," provides your internal IP address. Write those numbers down. To exit the command window, type "exit," and press Enter.

Note that if your computer is configured to obtain an IP address automatically, as many are, this number could change periodically, especially if you must unplug the network cable and then plug it in to another outlet somewhere in a corporation or your home. Therefore, remember this procedure for retrieving your IP address.

An external IP address has also assigned by your ISP to the computer or router that's connected to the ISP.

An IP address is normally no secret. Websites, your Internet Service Provider (ISP), and others can track your IP address, allowing or forbidding access to certain resources if they wish.
You can hide your IP address, however, by using one of the many so-called cloaking services available on the Internet. Cloaking services use what's known as a proxy server to conceal your identity online by providing you with a temporary fake IP address.

To use a cloaking service, you typically log on to the cloaking site and use a form field to type in the address of the website you'd like to visit. Once you click "go," you're taken to the website through the cloaking service, and your IP address is hidden. It not only disguises your IP but also allows you to determine the level of security you'd like.

Suspend auto-play

Suspend auto-play

To stop Windows from automatically playing a music CD /Flash Drive, hold the SHIFT key down while inserting them in system.

True size of a directory

True size of a directory

One of the quickest ways to find out the size of a directory (or a folder) -- including the size of the files and directories inside it -- is to press ALT+ENTER on it.
For example, to find out how much space your Windows directory is occupying:
Run "Windows Explorer"
Select "C:\Windows" (or whatever your Windows directory is)
Press ALT+ENTER or right click and select "Properties..."

How to shutdown your computer from a distance...

How to shutdown your computer from a distance...

There's a small utility called "SHUTCMD.EXE" included in the Windows NT Resource Kit that you can use to shutdown or restart a local or remote computer.
For example, you can shutdown the local computer by running:
SHUTCMD /L
to shutdown a computer on your network ("SERVER1" being the name of the computer you want to shutdown):
SHUTCMD \\SERVER1 /Y
to shutdown a remote computer connected to the Internet ("205.56.44.24" being the IP address of the computer you want to shutdown):
SHUTCMD \\205.56.44.24 /Y


NOTE: You must first logon to the computer that you're trying to reboot.

Mobile Phone Secrets & Tricks

.:: NOKIA ::.
Nokia Universal Codes
Code Description :These Nokia codes will work on most Nokia Mobile Phones
(1) *3370# Activate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) - Your phone uses the best sound quality but talk time is reduced my approx. 5%
(2) #3370# Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) OR *3370# ( F avourite )
(3) *#4720# Activate Half Rate Codec - Your phone uses a lower quality sound but you should gain approx 30% more Talk Time.
(4) *#4720# Deactivate Half Rate Codec.
(5) *#0000# Displays your phones software version, 1st Line : Software Version, 2nd Line : Software Release Date, 3rd Line : Compression Type. ( Favourite )
(6) *#9999# Phones software version if *#0000# does not work.
(7) *#06# For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number). ( Favourite )
(8) #pw+1234567890+1# Provider Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w"and "+" symbols).
(9) #pw+1234567890+2# Network Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w"and "+" symbols).
(10) #pw+1234567890+3# Country Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w"and "+" symbols).
(11) #pw+1234567890+4# SIM Card Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w" and "+" symbols).
(12) *#147# (vodafone) this lets you know who called you last.
(13) *#1471# Last call (Only vodofone).
(14) *#21# Allows you to check the number that "All Calls" are diverted to
(15) *#2640# Displays security code in use.
(16) *#30# Lets you see the private number.
(17) *#43# Allows you to check the "Call Waiting" status of your phone.
(18) *#61# Allows you to check the number that "On No Reply" calls are diverted to.
(19) *#62# Allows you to check the number that "Divert If Unreachable (no service)" callsare diverted to.
(20) *#67# Allows you to check the number that "On Busy Calls" are diverted to.
(21) *#67705646# Removes operator logo on 3310 & 3330.
(22) *#73# Reset phone timers and game scores.
(23) *#746025625# Displays the SIM Clock status, if your phone supports this power saving feature "SIM Clock Stop Allowed", it means you will get the best standby time possible.
(24) *#7760# Manufactures code.
(25) *#7780# Restore factory settings.
(26) *#8110# Software version for the nokia 8110.
(27) *#92702689# Displays - 1.Serial Number, 2.Date Made, 3.Purchase Date, 4.Date of last repair (0000 for no repairs), 5.Transfer User Data. To exit this mode you need to switch your phone off then on again. ( Favourite )
(28) *#94870345123456789# Deactivate the PWM-Mem.
(29) **21*number# Turn on "All Calls" diverting to the phone number entered.
(30) **61*number# Turn on "No Reply" diverting to the phone number entered.
(31) **67*number# Turn on "On Busy" diverting to the phone number entered.
(32) 12345 This is the default security code.
press and hold # Lets you switch between lines
NOKIA 5110/5120/5130/5190
IMEI number: * # 0 6 #
Software version: * # 0 0 0 0 #
Simlock info: * # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 #
Enhanced Full Rate: * 3 3 7 0 # [ # 3 3 7 0 # off]
Half Rate: * 4 7 2 0 #
Provider lock status: #pw+1234567890+1
Network lock status #pw+1234567890+2
Provider lock status: #pw+1234567890+3
SimCard lock status: #pw+1234567890+4
NOKIA 6110/6120/6130/6150/6190
IMEI number: * # 0 6 #
Software version: * # 0 0 0 0 #
Simlock info: * # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 #
Enhanced Full Rate: * 3 3 7 0 # [ # 3 3 7 0 # off]
Half Rate: * 4 7 2 0 #
NOKIA 3110
IMEI number: * # 0 6 #
Software version: * # 0 0 0 0 # or * # 9 9 9 9 # or * # 3 1 1 0 #
Simlock info: * # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 #
NOKIA 3330
*#06#
This will show your warranty details *#92702689#*3370#
Basically increases the quality of calling sound, but decreases battery length.
#3370#
Deactivates the above
*#0000#
Shows your software version*#746025625#
This shows if your phone will allow sim clock stoppage*4370#Half Rate Codec activation. It will automatically restart#4370#Half Rate Codec deactivation. It will automatically restartRestore Factory SettingsTo do this simply use this code *#7780#Manufacturer InfoDate of Manufacturing *#3283#*3001#12345# (TDMA phones only)
This will put your phone into programming mode, and you'll be presented with the programming menu.2) Select "NAM1"3) Select "PSID/RSID"4) Select "P/RSID 1"Note: Any of the P/RSIDs will work5) Select "System Type" and set it to Private6) Select "PSID/RSID" and set it to 17) Select "Connected System ID"Note: Enter your System ID for Cantel, which is 16401 or 16423. If you don't know yours,ask your local dealer for it.8) Select "Alpha Tag"9) Enter a new tag, then press OK10) Select "Operator Code (SOC)" and set it to 205011) Select "Country Code" and set it to 302 for Canada, and 310 for the US.12) Power down the phone and power it back on againISDN CodeTo check the ISDN number on your Nokia use this code *#92772689#

Change to a drive and expand its sub directories

Change to a drive and expand its sub directories
As you know, you can still run the good old Windows File Manager by running winfile.exe. In the File Manager, you can press CTRL and a letter to change to a particular drive. For example, to change to drive d, press CTRL+D. You'll notice that only the root directories on the selected drive is initially displayed making it somewhat harder to hunt for an unknown file or sub directory. Here's how to change to a drive and then expand all sub directories at the same time:
Press CTRL+SHIFT and the drive letter.For example, to change to drive C:CTRL+SHIFT+C

How to disable shutdown button on the Log-in screen

How to disable shutdown button on the Log-in screen

Unlike in Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation's log-in screen has a "Shutdown" button which you can use to shutdown the system without ever logging in. Here's how to disable Windows NT Workstation's "Shutdown" button on the initial log-in screen:

*Run "Registry Editor" (run "RegEdit.exe" or "RegEdt32.exe")
*Select the following key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon
*Add a value named "ShutdownWithoutLogon" of type "REG_SZ" and set it to "0".
*Restart Windows

Too lazy to type the full directory name?

Too lazy to type the full directory name?

Did you know that you can avoid typing full directory names when changing directories from the Command Prompt?

Let's say you have a directory named
MyNewYorkOfficeFilesFolder that you want to changed to. Instead of typing:

CD MyNewYorkOfficeFilesFolder

next time try:

CD myn*

If you have multiple directories starting with the letters "myn" then you'd have to use more characters before the *, until the name can be distinguished from the rest of the directory names in the current directory.

If you have multiple directories to change to such as:

MyNewYorkOfficeFilesFolder\AGroup\Outbox

you can use:

CD myn*\a*\o*

Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows

Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows




Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft WindowsAuthor: Scott Mueller, Brian Knittel Que 2005 English 720 pages CHM 9,55 MBFans of Upgrading and Repairing PCs, your call has been answered. Scott Mueller, author of the best-selling Upgrading and Repairing PCs, is now bringing you an equally in-depth guide to Windows troubleshooting. Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows explains how Windows works and how to fix it when things go wrong.This comprehensive resource includes information on:* Installation* Managing security* Optimizing performance* Recovering data* Configuring settings and the registry* Protecting Windows from viruses and spywareScott also includes references to helpful tools and scripting commands for maximum system controls. A DVD is included that provides you with additional resources and unique how-to video that brings Scott right to you. Find out how to make Windows work with you and not against you with Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows.

DownloaD:
http://w14.easy-share.com/1702420355.html

Reviewing SQL Server Permissions

Reviewing SQL Server Permissions

Permissions on data are one of the most critical aspects of database administration. If you’re too strict as a database administrator then your users will not be able to do their jobs. If you’re not lenient, then data can be compromised or even leaked. It is a very fine balance to control. The ability to determine these permissions on your database systems is absolutely paramount.

Who has access to my SQL Server?
First things first, you need to know which users are able to login into your SQL Server instance. Logins come in two flavors; Windows authentication and SQL Server Logins. Windows logins are tied to Windows accounts while SQL Server logins are housed in SQL Server internally. Whether the login is Windows based or is an internal SQL account, you can access login information by querying internal SQL Server views. To find the login information, the sys.server_principals system view can be used. The following script queries this view and returns login information along with the type of associated login.

SELECT name, type_desc, is_disabledFROM sys.server_principalsTo test this query, run the following script followed by the script above. The new login TestLogin should appear in the result-set.

CREATE LOGIN TestLogin WITH Password = 'asdevex33', CHECK_POLICY = OFFWho has access to my Databases?

Once a login is able to gain entry into the server, they then need access to databases. Before a login is able to access a database, a user must be mapped to that login inside the database. The following script queries the sys.database_principals system view, which holds user related information for the current database. Note that this information will likely differ for each database you run it in. Users are database-level, so different users will have different access in different databases.

SELECTUserName = dp.name, UserType = dp.type_desc, LoginName = sp.name, LoginType = sp.type_descFROM sys.database_principals dpJOIN sys.server_principals sp ON dp.principal_id = sp.principal_idTo test the above view, run the following script followed by the script immediately above. The new user TestUser (which is now mapped to the login TestLogin) should appear in the result-set.

CREATE USER TestUser FOR LOGIN TestLogin

Server Roles
Now that I have covered server logins and database users, I need to cover the different server and database roles on the system. A login can be a member of a server role, which gives the login elevated permissions for the SQL Server instance. The following query can be used to view which logins are tied to which server roles.

select p.name, p.type_desc, pp.name, pp.type_descfrom sys.server_role_members rolesjoin sys.server_principals p on roles.member_principal_id = p.principal_idjoin sys.server_principals pp on roles.role_principal_id = pp.principal_idThe following script adds the TestLogin I created above to the dbcreator server role. Once this script is ran, rerun the immediate script above. The new login role will be included in the result-set.

EXECUTE sp_addsrvrolemember@loginame = 'TestLogin',@rolename = 'dbcreator'Database Roles
The previous query illustrated which users had specific permissions inside of your database. However, when you’re a member of a database role, you’re given permissions that are not contained in the sys.database_permissions view, but are absolutely vital for knowing which users have permissions inside your database. You can use the following query to determine which users are assigned to database roles.

SELECTp.name, p.type_desc, pp.name, pp.type_desc, pp.is_fixed_roleFROM sys.database_role_members rolesJOIN sys.database_principals p ON roles.member_principal_id = p.principal_idJOIN sys.database_principals pp ON roles.role_principal_id = pp.principal_idThe following script adds the TestUser to the db_datareader database role. Once this script has been executed, run the previous script to see the new entry in the sys.database_role_members system view.

EXECUTE sp_addrolemember@rolename = 'db_datareader',@membername = 'TestUser'

What can these users do?

The following query uses the sys.database_permissions system view to indicate which users had specific permissions inside the current database.

SELECT
dp.class_desc, dp.permission_name, dp.state_desc,ObjectName = OBJECT_NAME(major_id), GranteeName = grantee.name, GrantorName = grantor.nameFROM sys.database_permissions dpJOIN sys.database_principals grantee on dp.grantee_principal_id = grantee.principal_idJOIN sys.database_principals grantor on dp.grantor_principal_id = grantor.principal_id

Creating the autorun.inf file for my CDs, DVDs & Flash Drives

Creating the autorun.inf file for my CDs/DVDs/Flash Drives.


Contrary to what you may have heard from the RIAA, burning a CD-R or CD-RW is not an activity restricted only to music pirates. In many business situations, the burned CD is the best way to distribute information to a target audience. For communications involving PowerPoint presentations, HTML, PDF forms, Flash animations, or a number of other applications, the portable and durable CD has become a common delivery method.

The compact disk drive auto play feature, common to most operating systems, is a good way to simplify user experience. Auto play is controlled by a simple text-only file called autorun.inf. While there are dozens of software utilities available that will help you create the file, all you really need is a text editor and some basic knowledge.

Solution 1:
Create autorun.inf
The basic configuration of the autorun.inf states the program to run when the CD is inserted in the drive and the icon to display when the disk is viewed by Windows Explorer or other directory listing software. The text-only file, which resides in the root directory of the CD, should follow this pattern:

[autorun]
open=myprogram.exe
icon=myicon.ico

The icon file should also reside in the root directory of the CD.

Variations
Often the program you want to run will not be located in the root directory of the CD. If that is the case you must include the path:

[autorun]
open=folder1\folder1A\myfile.exe
icon=myicon.ico

Sometimes you may need to pass an argument to the program to be auto played:

[autorun]
open=myprogram.exe /argument
icon=myicon.ico

It's Not a program
Sending customers, salespeople, investors, and employees presentations, PDF files, and HTML documents requires a slight variation to the basic autorun.inf file and the addition of a DOS batch file to the CD root directory. The autorun.inf file opens a batch file, which then opens the file using the default program designated for that file type. For example:

[autorun]
open=autorun.bat index.htm
icon=myicon.ico

And the autorun.bat file reads:

echo off
@start %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
@exit

There is a variation on this idea that takes advantage of the ShellExecute command:

[autorun]
ShellExecute=index.htm
icon=training.ico

Using the autorun.inf file to auto play your burned CDs will prevent another headache for your users and increase the likelihood of reaching your target audience. And because it is a simple text file, it can be created with a text editor and your normal disk-burning software.

Solution 2:
Create autorun.inf
While creating your autorun.inf file according to Solution One will work for most of your users, it will fail for a small percentage who have issues with the autorun function in their particular installation of Windows. The batch file in the first solution makes no allowances for errors and will merely fail when an error is encountered.

This is where a shell utility can save the day, because these third-party applications contain routines for handling common errors and will complete the autorun process even if an error is encountered. For this example, we’ll use autorun.exe, which can be downloaded from Tarma Software Research. Tarma has made autorun.exe freely available for both personal and commercial use, and there are no requirements for copyright notices, etc.

To use autorun.exe, you make a simple modification to the autorun.inf file by replacing autorun.bat with the .exe file. The basic autorun.inf under this scenario would look like this:

[autorun]
open=autorun.exe index.htm
icon=myicon.ico

The only other requirement is that a copy of the 8KB autorun.exe file be included in the root directory of each burned CD. This application also contains several options and supports an extended autorun.inf structure that provides more flexibility in how you design your CD package.

Structured Computer Organization

Structured Computer Organization



Structured Computer Organization by Tanenbaum is a popular book to learn computer hardware and architecture. The book presents a layered approach that will guide us through the fundamental concepts of computer hardware.
DOWNLOAD LINK:
http://rapidshare.com/files/161443916/Structured_Computer_Organization--Tanenbaum_4th.rar