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As a Windows XP power user, I have been really disappointed with Vista - but that’s a story for another time (personally I view it as what XP SP3 be and not a new OS, but I digress). I had really high hopes for XP Service Pack 3 (XP SP3). I was really hoping that Microsoft included some great additions just like they did with Service Pack 2. I really wanted Windows File System (WinFS) and Unix Integration, so when I stumbled onto Hack Attack : Get Windows XP SP3 Through Windows Update, I flipped out!

Download XP SP3

The first step is to edit a Registry key in your system. Karthik Kastury has made it easy, he created a command file that does the work for you.

Warning: You should always be careful when downloading a command or batch file from the web. Upon clicking my link below, Firefox users will be able to see the code before downloading it. Internet Explorer users will be prompted to open or save the file. After you save it to your desktop, right-click and select “Edit” to view the contents. Never trust anyone!

1. Download the XP Service Pack 3 Registry Hack.
2. Save it to your desktop as a command file (.cmd extension) and double-click it to run the file.
3. Run Windows Update.

What’s Going On

What you are doing is adding a Registry Key that the Windows Update site reads. This key tells Windows Update that your machine is a beta tester and allows it to download SP3 before the official release, which is slated for release sometime in 2008. The version of SP3 (as of this writing) is Release Candidate 1.

Select the update and click “Install Updates”. The download should begin!

When the download is done, the Software Update Installation Wizard should launch.

Agree to the license agreement.

Installation should begin!

When installation completes, you will need to restart your machine.

When the machine boots, you can check your system properties by hitting the Windows Key+Pause/Break

SP3 Review

I must say that I am completely disappointed. First off, when Service Pack 2 was released there were a lot of improvements to the operating system: Wireless Zero was massively overhauled and the Windows Security Center was new and shiny - and that’s just two of them - and, in addition, it included all of the security patches. I was really hoping that Microsoft would include some new features into SP3 and I haven’t found a single new program. I’ve looked everywhere that I can think of and haven’t seen anything new. Microsoft has been very tight lipped about what will be included in SP3 and it is entirely possible (though not likely) that the there are different versions of SP3 on the Windows Update server and this is just the “security version” - hopefully there are new features on the official release….

Honestly though, I doubt it. With the poor adoption rate of Windows Vista, I really doubt that Microsoft would include any “wiz-bang” features into XP as that would just keep people from upgrade to Vista. Hopefully, Vista SP1 will as much as an improvement as XP SP2 was.

Bonus

You might have noticed that I have a “Black” theme. You can read about it and download the Microsoft Royale Noir Theme for yourself!

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The Windows Task Manager can show some basic system level information like your current running applications, processes, system performance and more - there are some applications out there that can replace the Task Manager^[1] (and can show you more information) but the Windows version is a pretty good piece of software.

How To Open The Task Manager

To open the task manager, hit these three buttons at the same time:
CRTL + Shift + ESC

Why Disabling The Task Manager Is Important

There could be a few reasons, mainly if you are running a kiosk PC and you don’t want people messing around.

How To Disable The Task Manager

As always, please read this important information on editing the System Registry.

1. Hit the Windows Key+R, type regedit into the run dialog and hit OK.
2. Now that you’re in the the Registry, navigate to this key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
   
3. Create a new DWORD value by right-clicking the right pane and click New, then DWORD
   
4. Name this newly created value:
   DisableTaskMgr
5. Double Click DisableTaskMgr and, in the Value Data text box, assign it this value^[2]:
   1
   
6. Close the Registry and reboot your machine.

The next time anyone tries to call the Task Manager, they’ll see an error:

Uninstall

To enable the Task Manger again, just remove this Registry key and reboot.

Download

You can download this Registry key and call it at will! Just download and double-click the entry you’d like to add to your system. Also, if you’d like to make sure that there isn’t any malicious code (which I suggest, it’s your system – don’t trust anyone!), right-click the downloaded file and click Edit (or open it in Notepad). The code should closely match the instructions above.

• Install - DisableTaskMgr
• Uninstall - DisableTaskMgr

Troubleshoot

Having trouble? Discus your problem in the Samanathon.com Windows Registry forum!

^[1] This hack will only disable the default Task Manager that ships with Windows - it will not affect third-party apps.

^[2] A value of 0 will enable the Task Manager.

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Why Remove My Recent Documents?

You could just remove the My Recent Documents icon from Start menu’s properties, but a smart user could always enable them again, this Registry hack would prevent your users (that you manage) from using this feature. This would be handy on a public computer (or if you’re a spy).

What Are My Recent Documents?

The My Recent Documents icon appears in your Start Menu and displays the most recent documents that have been opened on your computer. The list is composed of shortcuts to the actual documents, so deleting the list won’t affect the original files.

How To

As always, please read this important information on editing the System Registry.

1. Hit the Windows Key+R, type regedit into the run dialog and hit OK.
2. Now that you’re in the the Registry, navigate to this key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
   
3. Create a new DWORD value by right-clicking the right pane and click New, then DWORD
   
4. Name this newly created value:
   NoRecentDocsMenu
5. Double Click NoRecentDocsMenu and, in the Value Data text box, assign it this value^[1]:
   1
   
6. Close the Registry and reboot your machine.

You can now say goodbye the My Recent Documents Icon, and no one would be able to enable them through the Start menu’s properties because the option is completely removed!

Uninstall

To enable the My Recent Documents menu again, just remove this Registry key and reboot.

Download

You can download this Registry key and call it at will! Just download and double-click the entry you’d like to add to your system. Also, if you’d like to make sure that there isn’t any malicious code (which I suggest, it’s your system – don’t trust anyone!), right-click the downloaded file and click Edit (or open it in Notepad). The code should closely match the instructions above.

• Install - NoRecentDocsMenu
• Uninstall - NoRecentDocsMenu

Troubleshoot

Having trouble? Discus your problem in the Samanathon.com Windows Registry forum!

^[1] A value of 0 enable the My Recent Documents menu, regardless of the option selected in the Start menu’s properties.

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Why

I like to keep my Notification Area as clean looking as possible, and this hack will remove all of those unsightly icons – it’s doesn’t actually prevent the programs from running, it only disables the actual Notification Area. ^[1]

What Is The “Notification Area”?

The Notification Area (sometimes called the “Task Tray”) is where programs, which are running in the background (like anti-virus), store their icons. The Notification Tray is located in the bottom right of the screen, next to the clock.

As always, please read this important information on editing the System Registry.

How To

1. Hit the Windows Key+R, type regedit into the run dialog and hit OK.
2. Now that you’re in the the Registry, navigate to this key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
   
3. Create a new DWORD value by right-clicking the right pane and click New, then DWORD Value
   
4. Name this newly created value:
   NoTrayItemsDisplay
5. Double-click NoTrayItemsDisplay and, in the Value Data text box, assign it this value: ^[2]
   1
   
6. Close the Registry and reboot your machine.

When your machine starts up again, you will see a clean Taskbar without the Notification Area!

^[1] To keep your computer running efficiently, you should prevent all of these programs from actually starting up! Try these steps (programmers can be sneaky; hopefully one of these will work):

• Open each of the programs (that are running in the Notification Area) and dig through their options, looking for the “Start with Windows” option – but remember that not all of these programs will have this option.
• Looking in your computer’s Startup folder: Start-> (All) Programs -> Startup – deleting the shortcuts that you don’t want to launch at start up.
• Look in MSCOFIG (Start -> Run -> MSCONFIG). Navigate to the Startup tab and uncheck the programs that you don’t want to start up – but make sure you do a Google Search to identify what these programs are; some of them have cryptic names!

^[2] A value of 0 will keep the icons displayed.

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Why

This tip is meant for computers that are used as kiosks or another “unattended” machine, but you could use it for your own (good or evil ) needs as well!

As always, please read this important information on editing the System Registry.

How To

1. Hit the Windows Key+R, type regedit into the run dialog and hit OK.
2. Now that you’re in the the Registry, navigate to this key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
   
3. For each program that you want to stealthy start, right-click the right pane and New, then Sting value
   
4. Give the new key an appropriate name, then double-click it and set the Value data filed to point to the program path.
   
5. Click OK and close the Registry.

The next time the computer is booted (and every time from this point on), the computer will launch the program that you just specified!

This is also a great way to find programs that launch without you knowing - you never know what you’ll find!

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