1) Stop UAC being so annoying

Yes, I leave User Account Control on. I find it bearable with time and its just one extra security caution. However the most annoying thing about it for me is not the popup requiring you to proceed, but the way it blocks out the rest of the desktop.

With time I found it begins to slow down and become increasingly frustrating. Luckily it’s easy to fix:

• Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
  Policies\System\PromptOnSecureDesktop
• Change from 1 to 0

2) Auto Logon

Maybe not so secure a tip, but seeing as I have to reset Windows so often I wish sometimes it could just logon automatically so I could go off and do something else. This is a registry tweak to do jut that:

• Registry Key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\winlogon\AutoAdminLogon
• Now create a new String Value and call it DefaultPassword
  Set: DefaultPassword = "P@ssw0rd"
• Check for a REG_SZ called DefaultUserName. If it’s not there, then right-click in the right pane > New > REG_SZ and name it, DefaultUserName.  Set the string value to the required UserName to be auto logged in.

3) Simultaneous Downloads

This is a fantastic little tweak as I’ve run into trouble with this before… by default you cannot download more then 2 files from one web server.

• Registry Key: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
• Create two DWORDS (Right Click > New> DWORD (32-Bit) Value)
• MaxConnectionsPerServer and MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
• Set the value of the first to 000000a and the value of the second to 0000000a

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The extension Tabbrowser Preferences adds the menu entry Tabbed Browsing to the Firefox options. The extension can alter the appearance and behavior in Firefox directly – it contains five tabs, namely: Links, User Interface, Display Options, Features and Tab Focus.

• Links – Defines how links are handled, ie. if a new tab is opened for internal / external links, how javascript popups are handled and a option to force all left clicks to open in a new tab.
• User Interface – This one defines how new tabs are handled. You can specify that the new tab option opens a blank page, the homepage or the current webpage.
• Display Options – Set values for the minimum width of the tabs, if Firefox should disable the tab bar if only one tab is open. It is also possible to move the tab bar to the bottom of Firefox and disable the close button for tabs that are not in focus.
• Features – Handles warnings and sets values when warnings shall appear.
• Tab Focus – Sets the load and mouse / tab focus.

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Some of the features that I disabled yesterday are also mentioned in the pcstats.com beginners guide. I do not advice you to use each of the 99 tips, for example I would not recommend to overclock your pc. Categories worth taking a look at are “Windows XP Software and Registry Performance Tweaks” and “Improving Windows XP boot speed” which can have a great effect on overall speed of the system.

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