Based on the XP file sharing guide at Microsoft, with the waffle and the blindingly obvious removed.

XP Home always has simple file sharing enabled.
XP Pro machines connected to a workgroup have SFS on by default.
XP Pro machines joined to a domain use only classic file sharing.

Turning SFS on/off in XP Pro:
Double-click 'My Computer' > Tools > Folder Options > View > Use Simple File Sharing

Simple file sharing uses 5 levels of access to share files:
Level 1: My Documents (Private)
Level 2: My Documents (Default)
Level 3: Files in shared documents available to local users
Level 4: Shared Files on the Network (Readable by everyone)
Level 5: Shared Files on the Network (Read/Writeable by everyone)

My Documents files are level 2 by default.
Levels 1 - 3 available to locally logged on users.

Sharing the root of your system drive isn't recommended (!)

If you upgrade your version of Windows or convert a drive to NTFS, check the status of your shares afterwards.

With SFS on, remote administration and remote registry editing do not work as expected, because remote users authenticate as Guest, and Guest accounts don't have admin rights.

Want to speed up a slow XP?

There's a service called cisvc.exe (or 'Indexing Service') which is a known resource guzzler. It is basically an update on the crappy FindFast from older versions of Windows, and is about as much use! If you have it, just get rid.

To kill it....

Go Start > Run > type services.msc

If there is a service called Indexing Services listed, right-click it, pick Properties and choose to 'Disable' it.

or...

You can also completely remove this service via Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup Programs

USB devices can't always be within a standard cable's distance of a computer. Luckily, you can get extension cables. You can even daisy chain certain kinds to cover serious distances.

How long do you need it?

Over 5 metres? You can string these active extension cables together up to a maximum length of 25 metres.

[If you want to extend a Net-LinQ USB Connection Cable (which is used for direct USB port to USB port networking), you can go up to 170ft (52 metres). Why you would want to do this when conventional networking is cheaper, and wireless networking is now almost as cheap and much more elegant, is a mystery.]

Longer than that?!!

I can't think of a real-world problem where a 25 metre USB cable would be the best solution. Anybody out there ever needed to do this?

A few digital video editing links, suggested by 'PC How To Digital Video The Essential Guide' magazine (or PCHTDVTEG, pronounced Puc-Ted-Ve-Teg, as it is affectionately known).

www.marcpeters.co.uk - Digital director site
www.desktop-video-guide.com
www.simplydv.co.uk
www.videosuccess.com - ignoring the home study course, natch
www.fastforwardclub.com - sounds a bit hobbyist, but is actually aimed at professional 'videographers'
www.digitaleditor.com

For what it's worth, here are my favourite DV top tips:

1. Plan it before you film it (Duh!)
2. Don't use the zoom, it's tacky
3. Try not to heavy breathe into the built-in microphone

This is my stab at putting all the most essential & free PC utilities into a single CD. Everybody loves a compilation!

PART 1: REMOVING UNINVITED GUESTS

All the software listed below is free for personal use, at the time of writing

--- Essential Spyware/Adware Scanners ---

Ad-Aware SE + the latest definitions
Also get the Adaware VX2 Cleaner Add On (to use once installed, go Add-ons > VX2 Cleaner > Run Tool)

Spybot Search&Destroy + detection and library updates

These cover similar ground, but running both is recommended.

--- Stop Future Spyware/Adware ---

SpywareBlaster
Can prevent the spyware being downloaded in the first place. Needs manually updating if you don't pay however.

Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta
Scans for existing spyware and stops it getting in to begin with. The Beta is free but the full program will almost certainly require a payment. This is getting very good reviews. You need to authenticate your version of Windows to download this.

Bug Off
Closes some loopholes used by browser hijackers to infect your machine.

--- Other Spyware/Adware/Hijacker Utilities ---

CWShredder
Removes all versions of a common browser hijacker called CoolWebSearch.
If this closes as soon as it opens then you may have a variant of this trojan which tries to dodge Anti-Spyware programs. In that case you might need CoolWWWSearch.SmartKiller Removal Tool. Use it, then run all your anti-Spyware programs again!

HijackThis
A homepage hijacker detector and remover, much loved by the pointy headed.

Toolbarcop
A browser extensions manager. Helps remove unwanted Browser Helper Objects (BHOs)

BHODemon
Allows you to enable/disable Browser Helper Objects (BHOs)

--- Anti-Virus Essentials ---

Stinger
Free standalone tool from McAfee that removes many major viruses. New versions are every few months.

Avast! + latest updates
Well respected antiVirus program which is free for home use.

+ Updates for all the main AV software - the PC owner may have any of them (or none!)

--- Other ---

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)
This deletes redundant files, and thus speeds up any virus/spyware scanning.

-----------------------------------------------------

For instructions on what to do with all these programs, read the excellent Major Geeks cleanup guide. My only slight amendments to this would be:

1. If you are in circumstances where the only internet connection available is via a company network, you really shouldn't connect an infested PC to this network. This means the online virus scanners are a no-go. Instead, step 1 should be to run Stinger in safe mode, then update and run a full system scan with an existing Virus scanner, if one exists, or install one (such as the free Avast) if not.

2. Sometimes, removing Spyware can cause registry problems which prevent you from using the internet. In these circumstances, try Winsockfix.

I recently had to turn off cached exchange mode on several copies of Outlook 2003, because it was causing strange delays to internal email sent from those PCs. After I did this, one user complained that her Global Address List (GAL) wasn't working anymore, giving an error "(0x8004010F) The operation failed - An object could not be found".

Solution here

send/receive > download address book

If you're reading this on a standalone XP or win 2000 PC, you are comfortable editing your registry and want to tighten up your security, here are a few tweaks to consider.

Disclaimer: Registry editing is a risky business - make a registry backup first and don't blame me if it all goes Pete Tong!

1. Restrict anonymous access (sort of)
Note: Keep a record of the original settings, in case these changes cause some services or programs to misbehave (eg. see this article).

Set the following two keys to values of 1...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ LSA \ RestrictAnonymous

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ LSA \ RestrictAnonymousSAM

and set this key to 0...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ LSA \ EveryoneIncludesAnonymous

2. Turning off hidden shares

If you go Settings > Control Panel > Admin Tools > Computer Management > Shared Folders > Shares, you may see all your drive letters listed, with dollar symbols afterwards. These are automatic hidden shares. These can be a security risk, and on a standalone system there should be no need for them.

To turn them off, set these two keys to 0...

HKLM \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ lanmanserver \ parameters \ AutoShareServer

HKLM \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ lanmanserver \ parameters \ AutoShareWks

This will not turn off the hidden IPC share. See this article for more details.

For flicker free rollovers, with no preloading required, try CSS.

For readers new to blogs, or who haven't caught onto RSS/Atom feeds yet:
Blogs can be syndicated, which means if you have feed reading software you can make new posts from your favourite blogs automatically download to your machine as if they were emails. This is a good thing because it saves you having to re-visit sites to see if there's anything new.

Interested?

If you want to get full benefit from feeds then you'll need either a dedicated Feed Reader or an email client that also handles feeds.

Feed Reader is a dedicated, er, feed reader. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and is free.

Thunderbird, the email client not the cheap and nasty wine, is the most elegant free solution. Brought to you by Mozilla, of Firefox fame, this email client lets you view your email, blog feeds and newsgroup subscriptions all in one place. It also includes very handy junk mail filtering. To set up a RSS/Atom feeds account in Thunderbird...

Tools > Account Settings > Add Account > RSS News & Blogs

Once you are set up with a feed reader, you just need to find some feeds. The easiest way is probably to look for something like this...



To get this feed link into Thunderbird, right-click it, and either 'copy shortcut' in Explorer or 'copy link location' in Firefox. Open Thunderbird, then...

Right-click your RSS/Atom account > Manage subscriptions > Add

...and paste the copied link into the 'feed url' box.

If you use Firefox you will see a special icon appear in the right-side of your browser status bar whenever you are on a site with a feed.



To transfer this feed into your feed reader...

1. Click the icon > subscribe to the feed > save it somewhere in your bookmarks

2. Find it in your bookmarks > Right-click it > Properties > Copy the 'feed location' and paste into Thunderbird etc as above.


http://www.iopus.com/guides/oe-backup.htm

1. Go calendar > File > Save as web page
2. In 'duration' put start and end dates, then in options set as desired.
3. Give it a name (no spaces)
4. In File Name put the path to where you want to save the files (prefixed with FTP or HTTP, depending on the protocol needed to get it where you want it!)
eg. ftp://username:password@ftp.yourserver.com
5. Save

See...
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=257984

In a stroke of genius, Microsoft built a 2 Gig limit into Outlook .PST files, but allow this to be exceeded. This means you can find yourself unable to access your email folders and unable to delete files to get it back down below 2 Gig.

What to do if you pass the limit?
You can either pay top dollar for a program to sort this out for you, or use PST2GB which is free. Be aware though that this program will simply delete a chunk of your PST to get it below the limit again. If this causes any corruption to your email, the Inbox repair tool may be needed (see below).

Related: Microsoft Inbox Repair Tool Info

Problem: Clicking an email hyperlink on a website, causes multiple pages to spawn and displays the message "default mail client not installed properly"

Solution:
1. Go Start > Run and type:
"C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /reg

2. Open Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Programs
then set Outlook Express as default email handler.

If it doesn't appear in the list, this free tool can restore it there...
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/oe_client.htm

If you hate balloon tips (those irritating reminders that pop up from the Windows XP taskbar) and want to stop them from happening, do this*...

1. Start > Run > Regedit

2. Find the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced

3. Right-Click on the 'Advanced' key and do 'New > DWORD VALUE'

4. Give this the name 'EnableBalloonTips'

5. Give this key the value '0'

* Disclaimer: Registry editing is potentially dangerous - if you make a mistake you could royally shaft your PC. If you're not confident editing your registry, don't do it!

Here's my new favourite Firefox feature.

1. Go to Technorati (or anywhere that has a search box)

2. Right-click in the search field and select 'Add a keyword for this search'

3. Tap in a name for the bookmark and a short keyword (I'll use 'tech' here)

4. Now, in the browser address bar type your keyword followed by something to search for, eg. 'tech computers'.

Firefox is a terrific browser, much better than Internet Exploder in many ways, but there's one area that IE still edges it - proxy handling.

Example:
We have a couple of laptops which have recently had Firefox installed as their primary browser. At work they are plugged into the LAN, and at home they use dial-up accounts. We use Mimesweeper as a proxy on our LAN, to protect against various threats.

In Explorer you can set a proxy to use when connected to the LAN. This proxy setting is ignored if dial-up is used.

Firefox doesn't care how you connected - LAN or dial-up, any proxy you set is applied to both. This give you 4 options...
1. the proxy has to be permanently off (not desirable)
2. the user has to be shown how to turn it on and off, and trusted to do this every day (!)
3. the user can't use Firefox at home (because it will fail when looking for the proxy)

or

4. Use a PAC file

PAC or Proxy Auto Configuration files are often used to block users from viewing specific sites, or sites with dodgy phrases in their URLs.

You can also use PAC files to check for a LAN and to aim at a proxy if one is found. Here's a basic PAC file to do it, taken from this site...

function FindProxyForURL(url, host)
{
if (isInNet(myIpAddress(), "192.168.1.0", "255.255.255.0"))
return "PROXY 192.168.1.1:80";
else
return "DIRECT";
}

Red text - Adjust to suit your network
Green text - Change to your proxy address:port

Save your PAC file, open Firefox, Go Tools > Options > General > Connection Settings. Then put the location of your file in the 'Automatic Proxy Configuration URL' box.


Recently I had various staff members reporting that emails they sent to others within the company (on the same domain connected via MS Exchange Server) weren't being delivered for hours or even days.

We managed to catch this happening a couple of times. The emails were sat in their 'sent items' folder but nothing had landed at the other end. Strangely, forwarding one of these emails to someone else freed them up and they finally landed. Also, leaving Outlook open for a few minutes also caused them to be released.

I didn't twig the solution to this until I realised all the users having problems sending were using Outlook 2003.

If you've used Outlook 2003 you'll notice there is an added 'Junkmail' folder. Previously, junkmail filtering between an Exchange Server and the end user hasn't been an option, because the end user isn't downloading the email. They just have a window into their email folder sat on the server. Outlook 2003 gets round this by adding a 'Cached Exchange' mode. When this is set as on (which it is by default) the user's email is downloaded to their machine. Outlook will connect to the server to do any send/receiving on a periodic basis. Another benefit of this is that if your Exchange server is offline your users can still read previously downloaded mail or cue up new mail to send.

The emails which weren't landing were being generated automatically by a CRM program. Outlook would open with the new email ready to send. The user then typically hit 'send' and immediately exited Outlook. So, the periodical connection to the server never had time to be established.

To fix this I have set Outlook to do an automatic send/receive upon exiting on each 2003 machine. At least I hope this is the fix - I'll let you know!