106 - shortcut faster shutdown Windows 7 and XP

106 - Make a shortcut for a faster shutdown on Windows 7 and Windows XP
==== [Sept.27.2011]

The excerpted info from the following will tell you how to create a quicker shutdown shortcut that shout work for Windows XP as well as Windows 7:
3 Ways To Speed Up The Windows 7 Shutdown Process
posted on June 15, 2011 by Tina Sieber
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-speed-windows-7-shutdown-process

Create a Fast Shutdown Shortcut
As of Windows 2000, Windows has come with a remote shutdown tool to shut down and restart Windows. You can control this tool through the command line, but a much faster alternative is to create a shortcut.

•Right-click your Windows 7 desktop and select > New > Shortcut.

•Enter > shutdown.exe -s -t 00 -f in the location field,

> click Next, > give the shortcut a descriptive name, e.g. "Shut Down Computer", and > click Finish.


The letters (options) added above tell the tool to:
•(-s): shut down with a
•(-t): timeout of
•(00): zero seconds , and to
•(-f): force running applications to close without forewarning the user .

... You can see a full list of options when typing > shutdown.exe into the command prompt, which you can open via > [WINDOWS] + [R] then type > cmd into the text field and click > OK.

You can move this shortcut from the desktop to your quick launch bar or pin it to the taskbar. Double-click the shortcut to instantly shut down the system.

This trick is courtesy of Seven Forums.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61294-shut-down-computer-shortcut-create.html
Shutdown time: 24 seconds

103 - Warzone 2100 Manhattan Cheat Challenge

103 - Warzone 2100 Manhattan Cheat Challenge
==== [written 2011.10.01 by JCPMA]

This article discusses setting up a single player game against the computer which may be challenging especially to Warzone 2100 newbies.
I came up with this challenge to take on the 7 computer opponents. Why I had to incorporate a cheat was to even the odds. The other 7 will form alliances and share weapons research at, relative to you, an exponential rate. Without a cheat, they will quickly attack you with superior weapons.
This is how you set it up. You only have to do this once. After downloading the game Warzone 2100 Portable 2.3.3 (from Portableapps.com), start a multi-player game with the 8 player map "Manhattan" against the computer. For the game settings, allow Alliances.
Enable cheats by going into debug mode (Shift+Backspace). Use the cheat "research all". This will give you all the research available. Press Escape and save this game and give it a name you can remember. Exit. Restart the game by loading what you have just saved. Now the other 7 will gradually grow in weaponry sophistication and will form alliances to get you. You already have everything researched and can concentrate on total annihilation.
(You can play this map without the cheat, and without allowing alliances, but what fun is that?)

101 - Life of an Averatec Laptop

101 - Life of an Averatec Laptop
A description of the history & events of resurrection of my Averatec 3250 HX laptop follows.
=== written Sept.2011 by JCPMA

[2005] I think it was in 2005 that I bought this laptop. It received good product reviews in computer magazines. I have never heard of the company Averatec, but someone had indicated it may be a Taiwan company. (Years later, I believe the internet says Averatec is a Korean company.) Browsing online product info and product features let me decide to purchase it. It is an economy/subMid-class product in a compact size. For this time period, compact laptops and laptops with smaller than 13"-14" lcd screens were not as common as they are now. This machine has a good size 500mb? memory, 80gb HD, wifi b-g card, and a dvd-burner! It comes pre-installed with OEM Windows XP sp2.

[2007 - 2008] I can not remember the year the lsass.exe boot error started. I guess around 2008. When booting, a small window shows there is an lsass.exe error. The window gives you one choice: click "OK". And, when you click OK, the laptop reboots and repeats this cycle, (much like a shampoo: wet hair, lather, rinse, repeat; wet hair, lather, rinse, repeat...). No information was found online whether this error is just a coding/software error, or if it is the result of a virus/worm. These two schools of thought cannot agree. I read somewhere that if the lsass.exe error is shown with a lower-case "l" than the problem is a glitch. If the Lsass.exe error is shown with an upper-case "L" than the issue is due to a virus.
What disappointed me was that several options of Windows XP booting wouldn't help: ie., Boot into safe mode; Boot into DOS (& even if I could boot into DOS, I am DOS-Stupid); Use System Restore; Use Windows Backup (This doesn't work as you need a working OS to do a restore); putting in a WindowsXP SP2 installation CD of which I don't have because the computer only comes with Recovery-Image-Discs.
I recovered from this error by several methods:
a) boot-option into "last known good profile" <-- this saved my bacon many times.
b) replace the corrupt registry with an older good copy using a BartPE CD in concert with ERUNT.
c) The least preferred method is to put in the manufacturer's "Ghost-like" recovery discs which will reinstall everything from scratch, and thus take your current data with it into oblivion.

[2009] The DVD-drive fails in late-2008/early-2009. Now I no longer have the use of the optical drive to recover from an error or the lsass.exe error. In the autumn of 2009, when the lsass error strikes again, I am still unable boot into Safe mode, or into a DOS-prompt. I bring the Averatec laptop to a big-name chain electronic shop. The techs say it is too expensive to replace the dvd-drive. What I could afford was to have them recover my data and reinstall Windows XP (but with SP3). The staff said future optical disc booting would be possible with an external usb dvd drive.

[2010-Spring] Seven to eight months have passed without concern and then the lsass.exe error shows its face again. An external DVD-drive was connected to the laptop. The bios however did not recognize the drive for booting purposes. I tried several variations in bios settings but with no success. It is too expensive to shell out another three hundred bucks to service this, so I put the laptop away for storage.
[2010-Summer] Using a live Linux usb stick with Ubuntu (10.04) on it, I tried booting the Averatec laptop. Again tweaking the bios did not help. The machine goes back into storage.

[2011-Summer] The big chain electronic shops do not have a laptop hd enclosure that will fit the Averatec3250HX. I went to three such shops. A medium sized computer shop DID have a suitable usb hd enclosure though. If you have not removed the hard drive from this laptop then it is quite intimidating. It involves removing about a dozen or so screws, unplugging some internal non-hard drive connections (for ease of access) and prying/lifting the front half of the keyboard laptop/plastic casing. Fortunately, some nice soul has posted a series of pictures on Flickr describing how to do this. At this stage I understand and appreciate why the computer repair techs charge an extra 25$ to access your laptop HD if it does not have a modern HD-access panel/door. (Usually these modern access panels involve the removal of only 2-3 screws!)
With the Averatec HD in the usb-enclosure I manually copy as many files as possible to an external HD. Windows disallows what it thinks are important system files in an effort to prevent piracy of its (buggy) OS. The HD imaging software XXClone recognizes the usb-enclosure as a source drive but will not see my external HD as a destination drive. I end up using DriveImageXML version2. It fails to copy the Averatec HD by "shadow copy" mode, and also fails by "locking files to copy" mode. However, it continues to copy an image to the destination external drive and it appears to work.
I restored the corrupt registry by manually (Explorer) copying an older ERUNT's registry over top of the current registry. (If you have no pre-existing backup of ERUNT registry files, try copying the 4 or 5 files in ...\WINDOWS\Repair\ to this folder, ...\WINDOWS\System32\Config\ )
Removing the HD from the usb-enclosure and re-installing it back into the laptop is just as unpleasant as removing it from the laptop! Now with fingers crossed, I tried to boot up the Averatec 3250 HX laptop. It works!

[2011-September01-September10]
*I set up another Admin Acct on WindowsXP without a password. (Could the password/login feature be something that promotes a lsass.exe boot problem?)
*Ubuntu 11 co-installed using WUBI. It seems to work, and doesn't require the hassle/knowledge of partitioning HD, or boot managers. If you are interested in boot managers, take a look at PLOP. The beautiful part of a WUBI installation is that you can access your WindowsXP HD files even though the HD is formatted as NTFS. I don't think the reverse is true however. Averatec3250HX cannot handle wubi-Ubuntu11. It seems not to have enough power to support the "Unity" theme desktop. It will repeatedly crash. Ubuntu, at this stage suggests you choose the less resource heavy "Ubuntu classic" theme desktop. This choice is better but still seems sluggish and may crash this old laptop.
*Instead of Wubi-Ubuntu11 I switch flavors to co-install Wubi-Xubuntu11. This is a less glitzy flavor of Ubuntu and Averatec3250 seems to accept it.
*A different brand of USB-external-DVD-drive than the one mentioned above was tried with some boot optical discs. It seemed to be bootable. (This DVD-Drive is externally powered and shows up in the bios as a "ramdisk cd/dvd-drive".
*puppy 5 live (Linux) recognizes Averatec's wireless card, whereas, DSL 4 (Linux) will not.
*JKDefrag3.3 is a no-install app which seems superior to WindowsXP's built-in defrag app. It defrags in 4 or more stages. Maybe it optimizes data placement better. It definitely is better as far as the GUI is concerned. Throughout the procedure you can look at the moving pixels which represent your drive's data. XP's app doesn't show a current process meter. When you are defragmenting it appears frozen and then suddenly after a long wait, it is finished. I'm not saying JKDefrag is a short process, only that the meter gives you something (animated) to look at.
*Ubuntu11-live-usb-flash-drive made with Lili-usb Creator 2.8 will boot up ok, but subsequently fails, because as previously mentioned Ubuntu11 is too powerful for Averatec.
*Windows-XP live usb flash drive made with Novicorp's WinToFlash0.7 on the Averatec fails to boot. Ironically this flash drive boots on a Windows7 machine though.
*BartPE live usb flash drive made with Novicorp's WinToFlash0.7 on the Averatec fails to boot. Ironically this flash drive boots on a Windows7 machine though.
*activate Clear Type font for the Averatec LCD screen. (This is probably the best tweak ever)
*This laptop hangs most of the time if you shut down by going into the StartMenu. This will take 1 - 2 minutes or more. If you shutdown by pressing the physical power button, shutdown is much quicker, 0.25 - 0.5 minutes or less. I try 2 apps to make shutdown quicker, but it's not apparent if anything was changed:
1) xpConfig 1.1 - by Werner Rumpeltesz
Performance Tab: boot/shutdown: change "close services on shutdown after max.: from 20000ms (20 sec) to 10000ms (10 sec).
check the box: "activate boot defragmentation" <-- (not related to shutdown)
check the box: "activate prefetching" <-- (not related to shutdown)
2) xpy 0.10.9 -
http://xpy.sourceforge.net
http://xpy.whyeye.org/
General: check the box "Enable fast shutdown"


[2011-September.11] The Registry Tweaks I applied to quicken the shutdown of Windows XP:
===================
http://www.johntp.com/2006/02/14/speed-up-windows-xp-shutdown/ From this webpage, I used instead the settings of "2000" (which means "2 seconds"):

Open REGEDIT and navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\’
Highlight the ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’ value.
Set it to ’1000'. [note: I used "2000"]
Now highlight the ‘HungAppTimeout’ value
Set it to ’1000' also. [note: I used "2000"]

The second part of this tip changes the same settings, this time for all users on the system.
Open REGEDIT and navigate to ‘HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
Highlight the ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’ value.
Set it to ’1000'. [note: I used "2000"]
Now highlight the ‘HungAppTimeout’ value.
Set it to ’1000' also. [note: I used "2000"]

In the third part of this tip, we will alter a second registry setting to decrease the amount of time Windows XP will wait before shutting down active services after receiving a shut down command.
Open REGEDIT and navigate to
‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\’
Highlight the value ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
Change this value to ’1000.’ [note: I used "2000"]

To allow Windows XP to close non-responsive applications automatically upon shutdown:
Open REGEDIT and navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop’
Highlight the value ‘AutoEndTasks.’
Change the value to ’1'

http://tweaks.disqus.com/shutdown_xp_faster/latest.rss
http://www.computingtweaks.com/2011/04/improve-windows-xp-shutdown-speed.html
http://blogs.howtogeek.com/mysticgeek/2009/03/12/make-windows-xp-shut-down-faster/ has similar info as johntp.com above.

http://oakroadsystems.com/
Kill Hung Processes Automatically
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Look for the value AutoEndTasks, and change it from 0 to 1.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/slowshutdown.htm
[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
Set ClearPageFileAtShutdown value to 0

http://www.optimizingpc.com/optimize/registrytweaks.html
Fix for shutting down your computer automatically
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
PowerdownAfterShutdown to 1

Fix for shutting down Windows slowly (or not at all)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
change the value PowerOffActive to 1

A faster NTFS file system
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem
DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate = 1 (last file access is no longer registered)

These preceding registry tweaks, seem to quicken shutdown, but subjectively, it doesn't seem consistent. Sometimes shutdown is fast ie, 15 seconds. (This happens if the computer is on for a short time, 1-2 minutes.); Shutdown seems to take longer, however, if the computer has been on for a longer time.

======================

Where to from here?
------------------
**Now I wait for the time when the next lsass.exe error attack occurs. In the meantime I try to pay attention to do a System Restore, backup my system state using MS "Backup", and also make a current version ERUNT registry backup. Most likely a future recovery from lsass.exe error would involve: external-dvd-drive and bartPE disc + ERUNT, or copying a good registry overtop of a bad one using a Linux OS.



An unrelated note:
Jolicloud, I think is another flavor of Linux which can be co-installed in netbooks using its own Windows-installer. But perhaps the Averatec3250HX can't handle something which is obviously made for newer machines. [I haven't tried Jolicloud];
Meego, is another similar netbook Linux OS. [I haven't tried Meego]

LH!t-1816

100 - E-text tutorial

This picture shows a tutorial for Etext version 1.1 text encrypter & how, if you must, use it on a computer with Windows XP or higher (Windows7).



http://i56.tinypic.com/2dueeee.jpg

alt.link:

099 - My Windows7 laptop dies

My Windows7 laptop dies
===
Date of Windows crash = The morning of Saturday May21,2011. There is some strange Karma today. This day is the prophetic Doomday/Rapture predicted by the religious people at www.familyradio.com . At Calgary International Airport, many experienced inconvenience as there was a ??power/computer?? disruption. This is also the Victoria Day long weekend (Monday the 23rd is Victoria Day). Thus the airport would be more busy than a typical weekend.
"
My Windows7 laptop dies. Windows states there is an error, likely an "incompatible driver". It starts into a self-diagnosis, and then suggests:
1) checking disk for errors. I do this as prompted. I am unable to boot into computer;
2) use last known good configuration. This fails. Windows can't do this;
3) use system restore. Windows says it can't find a system restore point. This is funny because I always keep at least 1 system restore point on the hard drive. Also, system restore is automatically active, by default, for the C:\ drive in a Windows 7 computer.

Now, I try booting into "safe-mode". This fails because, once again Windows says there is an incompatible driver.

One day prior, (ie., Friday May20, 2011), there was a reminder on my computer to install an Adobe upgrade, probably for flash or shockwave. I click OK but nothing happens as Adobe tries to connect to the internet and cannot find the connection. Also on this day, before shutting down, I had cleaned the drive C:\ simply by right-clicking on the drive C:\ icon, then on the Properties, and next choosing the Disk Cleanup button. This was straightforward and the process only took what seemed to be 1-2 minutes.

Two days prior (ie.,Thursday May19, 2011), at the public library, WiFi was very slow. My current antivirus software was, as usual, turned on.
(Come to think of it, my WindowsXP laptop similarly experienced a fatal "lsass.exe error", almost 1 year ago, on the evening of Tuesday May25, 2010. During the day, of May25,2010, I was also at the public library on their WiFi network, and my antivirus software was active too.) What kind of a coincidence is this?!
There is something else that is similar that may have occurred on these 2 dates. I may have intentionally or unintentionally switched wifi networks without shutting down the browser first. Windows may report an error with a router conflict of address or connection or similar jargon.

Back to the WindowsXP laptop and the lsass.exe error. No one seems to know exactly what an lsass.exe error is. I ask the computer technicians at the big chain electronics retailers and they don't know. The web has information that it is a software error resulting in a registry corruption. Other web sites claim that the lsass.exe error is due to a virus. Approximately, from the year 2007 to the Summer of 2009, this laptop has several times, encountered the lsass.exe error at the startup/boot stage. This was always remedied by my choosing the Windows-XP choice of using the "last known good configuration" or by restoring the registry via the ERUNT/ERDNT app (Written by Lars Hederer), using a (BartPE)live-CD. In the Summer of 2009, the CD-drive breaks down, so I am no longer able to restore the registry by this method.
In the Autumn, on September 06, 2009, the lsass.exe error strikes again. All Windows could show was a small box saying there is an lsass.exe error. If you click on the "ok" button, the laptop reboots & goes into this vicious cycle again. Now that I can't use the cd-drive to restore the computer, I had to use the services of the computer technician for a pricey $ data recovery and OS re-installation. As indicated above, the lsass.exe error happened again May2010 and the laptop remains dead.

I'm so cynical about Windows. As for my Windows7 laptop, I used the manufacturer's proprietary recovery software, and it worked like a charm. I did lose some data, but most of it had previously been backed up and my losses were minor. It's funny how Windows has frustrated me so often (ever since Windows 98), and yet reliable hardware and software all seem to come from non-Microsoft Brands or Corporations!

Conclusion
----------
Things which I speculate may cause Windows to get a major/fatal booting error:
- lsass.exe error;
- switching wifi networks without first shutting down the browser;
- trying to upgrade Adobe Flash player (or Shockwave?);
- Using Windows' Disk Cleanup feature;
- some unknown virus which strikes in the month of May? (note: I don't know if I got a boot error in May of 2009/2008/2007; I don't have it documented. If the error did occur annually, that would be freaky.)

The only preventative measures I can think of for boot errors:
- frequent antivirus updates;
- don't switch wifi networks without first closing your browser;
- don't update your Adobe software, unless you absolutely must;
- make frequent/regular backups of data
- avoid cleaning your hard-drive using Windows' Disk Cleanup button;
- don't totally rely on Windows' System Restore feature. It has failed me several times on two different machines, and with two different versions of Windows.



tags: incompatible driver, lsass error, windows xp, windows 7,

010 - some windows xp tweakers

some windows xp tweakers (most here don't require installation)
These allow you to tweak the operating system, or certain registry settings, or some security vulnerabilities.

Startup Control Panel 2.8 by Mike Lin: very very nice.

seconfig XP 1.1 - easy: (2007) secures some common threats to a windows xp machine & some ports too. very user friendly.

safe XP 1.57 - medium: a tweaker with a medium friendly interface; still, .. it is quite easy to use. This version is a little dated (July 2005) but I still recommend it. On its status bar, beside the pics of the international flags, is the area which holds the description of the tweaks if you hover your pointer over the item.


tweak ui 2.1 for XP - easy: This app is from Power Toys. It is elegant & excellent. most items are explained.


xp antispy 3.97 - medium: good explanations; colors of checkboxes can be confusing though. I think the green means profile choices, the check mark means what will be applied when you click the button; I think red means it does not match the profile. (other colors exist too.)


xpconfig 1.1 - medium: (May2008) This may appeal to some people. There is lack of description or help files/documentation, although the ui looks promising. (I haven't used it.)


xpy 0.10.9 - easy: This one is elegant too! On first run it saves an undo point. The colored check boxes indicate whether the parameter is already activated. the explanations are ok. i think green means the tweak WILL be added and red means the tweak is already in place. A white checkbox is neutral.