Faster Access to XP system tools
What do you do if you want to access one of the administrative programs in Windows XP? You click through various menus in the start menu, control panel or Windows Explorer to find them. If you wanted to reach the Device Manager you would have to click on Start, Control Panel, System, Hardware Tab and then the Device Manager which can take quite some time
And while you could use keyboard shortcuts for some of the operations, like pressing Windows-Pause and selecting Device Manager from the left sidebar, you often are left with no other option than to open the system tools manually.
The following method may be useful for experienced users who like to access those system tools faster. I'm going to list the filenames of many system tools. All you have to do is to hit Windows + R and type the name of the file to open it. This may be faster in most situations.
By knowing the names you can also create shortcuts on your desktop if you need one or more of those programs on a daily basis, or add them to a program launcher that you may be working with.
- Backup or Restore Wizard - ntbackup.exe
- Clean up Drive - cleanmgr.exe
- Command Line - cmd.exe
- Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
- Create a shared folder - shrpubw.exe
- Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
- Disk Defragmenter - dfrg.msc
- Disk Management - diskmgmt.msc
- Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
- File Signature Verification - sigverif.exe
- Group Policy - gpedit.msc
- Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
- Memory Usage - mem
- Performance - perfmon.msc
- Securing the Windows XP Account Database - syskey.exe
- Services - services.msc
- Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
- System Configuration Editor - sysedit
- System Configuration Utility - msconfig.exe
- User Accounts - lusrmgr.msc
- Windows Management Infrastructure - wmimgmt.msc
And if you do not want to enter the full file name of the system tool in the run box, you can make use a program like Add to Run to add aliases to the run dialog to open the tools by typing just a few characters into the run box.
Tips
- It is usually not necessary to enter the file extension in the command prompt. Just try to enter only the file name and see if it works.
- Most of the programs are also part of newer versions of Windows. This means that you can use them on these systems as well to open the system tools they represent.
- If you are using a newer version of Windows, Windows 10 for instance, you may also use the start menu to open these programs by tapping on the Windows-key, typing the file name and hitting the enter key afterwards.
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277
I try to disable the Diagnostics Tracking Service (Connected Devices Platform User Services) but it wont let me disable it, any help will be greatly appreciated.
Tank you for your help