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Steve Sinchak

LOCK YOUR WINDOWS SUPER HOT

Protect Windows XP with

maximum-strength security Give your system a total makeover

That's one fancy boot!

Boost your machine’s boot speed Customize your boot screen

Hacking Windows® XP

Hacking Windows® XP

Steve Sinchak

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: permcoordinator@wiley.com.

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 MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF 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.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Available from Publisher

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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 technical, 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 experimenting 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.

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

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.

viii

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!

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