Unix version using command

How to check Unix version using command prompt?

surya# cat /etc/*-release

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 (x86_64)
VERSION = 12


surya# cat /proc/version 

Linux version 2.6.16.60-0.58.1.3835.0.PTF.638363-smp 

How to find out LAN card speed in linux ?

To Find full or half duplex speed:

You can use dmesg command to find out your duplex mode:


   # dmesg | grep -i duplex


O/P: 

eth0: link up, 1000Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0x45E1


So we can come to know that it has 

1. One NIC card, i.e, etho.  if it has 2 NIC cards , it will show eth1 
2. It is 1000Mbps speed
3. Communication is full duplex mode.


Use ethtool to display or change ethernet card settings.  To display duplex speed.


# ethtool eth0

Output:

Settings for eth0:
        Supported ports: [ TP ]
        Supported link modes:   10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
                                          100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
                                          1000baseT/Full
        Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
        Advertised link modes:  10baseT/Half   10baseT/Full
                                          100baseT/Half  100baseT/Full
                                          1000baseT/Full
        Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
        Speed: 1000Mb/s
        Duplex: Full
        Port: Twisted Pair
        PHYAD: 0
        Transceiver: internal
        Auto-negotiation: on
        Supports Wake-on: umbg
        Wake-on: g
        Current message level: 0x00000007 (7)
        Link detected: yes

Explanation:

So we come to know that , eth0 supports 10baseT/Half, 10baseT/Full, 100baseT/Half, 100baseT/Full and  1000baseT/Full.

But the network configured as 1000Mbps , Full duplex mode.

We can also use mii-tool to find out your duplex mode.   Type following command at shell prompt:

# mii-tool 

Output:

 eth0: negotiated 100baseTx-FD flow-control, link ok


Remember:

100baseTx-FD: 100Mbps full duplex (FD)
100baseTx-HD: 100Mbps half duplex (HD)
10baseT-FD:     10Mbps full duplex (FD)
10baseT-HD:    10Mbps half duplex (HD)

Differences between Ext2,Ext3 and Ext4 file systems.

EXT2 :
1.Ext2 was the standard file system for linux until the introduction of ext3.

2.It was introduced with the 1.0 kernel in 1993.Ext2 is flexible,can handle file system up to 4 TB,and supports long filenames up to 1012 characters.

3.It has sparse super blocks feature which increase file system performance.In case any user processes fill up a file system,ext2 normally reserves about 5% of disk blocks for exclusive use by root so that root can easily recover from that situation.Now our rescue diskettes use ext2 instead of minix.
 

4. much Fater

EXT3 :

1. Ext3 (Extended 3 file system) provides all the features of ext2,and also features journaling and backward compatibility with ext2.
 

2.The backward compatibility enables you to still run kernals that are only ext2-aware with ext3 partitions.we can also use all of the ext2 file system tuning,repair and recovery tools with ext3 also you can upgrade an ext2 file system to an ext3 file system without losing any of your data.

3.Ext3’s journaling feature speeds up the amount of time it takes to bring the file system back to a sane state if it’s not been cleanly unmounted (that is,in the event of a power outage or a system crash). Under ext2,when a file system is uncleanly mounted ,the whole file system must be checked.This takes a long time on large file systems.
 

4. On an ext3 system ,the system keeps a record of uncommitted file transactions and applies only those transactions when the system is brought back up.So a complete system check is not required and the system will come back up much faster.
 

5. A cleanly unmounted ext3 file system can be mounted and used as an ext2 file system,this capability can come in handy if you need to revert back to an older kernel that is not aware of ext3.The kernel sees the ext3 filesystem as an ext2 file system. 

6. ext3 file system is slower compared with ext2.

Ext4 :
1. Ext4 is part of the Linux 2.6.28 kernel,Ext4 is the evolution of the most used Linux file system, Ext3.
 

2. In many ways, Ext4 is a deeper improvement over Ext3 than Ext3 was over Ext2. Ext3 was mostly about adding journaling to Ext2, but Ext4 modifies important data structures of the file system such as the ones destined to store the file data. The result is a filesystem with an improved design, better performance, reliability and features.
 

3. slower compared with ext2

Features of Ext4 file system :  

1. Compatibility

2. Bigger filesystem/file sizes

3. Subdirectory scalability

4. Extents

5. Multiblock allocation

6. Delayed allocation

7. Fast fsck

8. Journal checksumming

9. Online defragmentation

10. Inode-related features

11. Persistent preallocation

12. Barriers on by default

Advantages of RHEL6 over RHEL5

1.Ext4 file system is introduced.
Ext4 has many new advantages than Ext3 which is used in earlier versions of RHEL. Ext4 is comparatively faster and easy to manage. It supports supports up to 100TB with the addition of Scalable Filesystem Add-one.
2. xen is removed and kernel virtualization machine (KVM) is introduced.

      RHEL6 introduces the use of KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) as its hypervisor. In the earlier releases Xen hypervisor was used. The main advantage of KVM is that a new kernel should not be installed like in Xen. It also supports the installation of many virtual operating systems like Windows, Linux, Solaris,etc. It is easy to manage.
3. neat command is removed.
4. portmap service is removed.
5. iscsi is introduced, which supports for SAN.
RHEL6 is released with improved and new networking features. It supports IPv6. It uses NFSv4 (Network File Transfer) for the sharing of files in the network rather than NFSv3. It also supports iSCSI (internet Small Computer System Interface) partitions. The network manager in RHEL6 supports Wi-Fi capabilities.
6. rpmbuild is available, which is used to create our own rpms.
7. File encyption is added.
8. palimpsest is available for disk management.
9. Virtual machine will run only on 64bit processors.
10. postfix service is recommended instead of sendmail service
11.Improved level of security
      
RHEL6 has advanced level of security. SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) features are improved and a new set of SELinux rules has been added to provide security to virtual machines from hackers and attackers. This new feature is called SVirt.

Squid proxy server configuration

1.SQUID PROXY
    BASIC
    TRANSPARENT SQUID PROXY
    CHILD SQUID PROXY

WITHOUT SQUID:
==============
ISP
 |
 |-----|SWITCH(Normal)|-----|---PC
                                       |---PC1
                                       |---PC2



SQUID PROXY:
=========

use: To share the internet through out the network with filter

[ISP] (dhcp/static)
  |
  |
[eth0]
  |
______
|        |
|        |
|        |--->(cache saved in /var/spool/squid)
|        |     ........................
 --------    |
  |           |
  |           |.........................
[eth1]--------[SWITCH]--|---[_]-->...{www.google.com}
                                  |---[_]
                                  |---[_]
                                  |---[_]

Profile: It is use for to share the internet throughout the network with filter

Package: squid, httpd

Port: 3128(default )

Demons:squid

script: /etc/init.d/squid

Configuration file: /etc/squid/squid.conf
 

Related: ACL

Service type: system-V-manage service

To configure squid we Required:

-->PC with 2 NIC cards names eth0 and eth1
-->ISP (internet public IP address) dhcp/static 51.73.171.26 provide to eth0

check 3128 port is open or not

#netstat -ntlp | grep 3128

RULES in squid server
    1. allow the network (eg: src )
    2. Deny the website (eg: dstdomain)
    3. Deny the Bad Words (eg: url_regex)
    4. Time resoritation (eg: time)
    5. password Auth for MD (eg: proxy_Auth)


STEPS to configure the SQUID PROXY:
========================

step 1. install squid ,http packages

#yum install squid* http* -y

step 2.Restart and enable services

#service squid restart
#service httpd restart
#chkconfig squid on
#chkconfig httpd on

3.To allow the Network
  ==============

  go to squid configuration file, i.e,

  #vim /etc/squid/squid.conf

  1.search for word "http_port" it is the squid listens port 3128 defalt( use   /http_port to search)

  2.search for word "INSERT" add below line

    acl mynet<rulename> src(keyword> 192.168.0.0/24

    http_access allow mynet

    save and exit

  3. restart service

     #service squid restart


4.To deny website
============

#vim /etc/squid/squid

#INSERT your own RULES: 

                              
acl mynet src 192.168.0.0/24
acl password proxy_auth REQUIRED
acl badsites dstdomain www.yahoo.com
acl badtime time 10:00-16:00 #(10am to 4pm)
acl badwords url_regex -i "/etc/badwords" #(create file /etc/badwords and write all bad words)
http_access deny badwords badtime
http_access deny badsites
http_access allow password
http_access allow mynet


To allowing users in bad time:===================

1.install a package htpasswd

#yum install http* -y
2. To allow user called bob

#htpasswd -mc /usr/etc/passwd bob

3. search for word called ncsa and write the following

auth_param basic program /usr/lib/squid/ncsa_auth /usr/etc/passwd
 

******************************************************


SQUID TRANSPARENT CONFIGURATION:=========================

Please follow these steps you will configure the squid with

#vim /etc/sysctl.conf

net.ipv4.ip_forward = 1

save & quit

#vim /etc/squid/squid.conf


##--please enable this options--##


http_port 3128 transparent

acl our_network src 192.168.1.0/24

http_access allow our_network

cache_mem 16M

access_log /var/log/squid/access.log

cache_log /var/log/squid/cache.log

store_log /var/log/squid/store.log

cache_dir /var/spool/squid 200016 256

cache_mgr user@desktop7.example.com

visible_hostname desktop7.example.com


save and quit

#squid -z

#service squid restart


#then if u want to make it transparent kindly add rules to iptable firewall##


#iptable -t nat -A PREROUTING -p tcp -i eth0 --dport 80 -j REDIRECT --to-port 3128


##If you would like to redirect the all http traffic through the proxy without needing to setup a proxy manually in all your applications you will need to add some rules,,


#ipables  -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth1 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT --to-destination 192.168.0.1:3128


#####......Note: eth0 is connected with your LAN switch.......##





CHILD PROXY CONFIGURATION:==========================

_________
|             |
|             |MAIN PROXY SERVER
|             |192.168.0.254
|             |
|             |
|             |
-------------



            __________
            |               |
            |               |CHILD PROXY SERVER
            |               |
            |               |
            |               |
            |               |
            --------------

#vim /etc/squid/squid.conf

##search word for cache_peer
##uncomment following line

        hostname     type   Proxy icp port  options
cache_peer 192.168.0.254 parent 3128   3130     default

#service squid restart

Samba server configuration

SAMBA(SMB server) is a file sharing server. Which is used to share files between Windows, Linux and Unix Systems. SMB(Server Message Block) is a proprietary protocol which is developed by Microsoft

This article explains how to install and configure SAMBA in Linux.

Requirement : Share a directory /sample with a share name linux throughout the example.com network to the user suri with the password redhat, and should have only read access

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

Step 1: Create a directory where you want to keep data and share with other remote systems(either windows/Linux/UNIX).
#mkdir /sample

Step 2 : Installing Samba server
#yum install samba* -y

Step3: Check the context of shared directory  with ls using ls –Z

[root@servername ~]# ls -dZ /sample

Change the context to samba, i.e,

[root@servername ~]# chcon –t samba_share_t /sample

 Step 4 : Now we have to configure the samba server. Edit the main configuration file (/etc/samba/smb.conf)

specify the work group where this server belongs 

#vim /etc/samba/smb.conf

search for workgroup word and specify your work group name

workgroup = SURYA

Why we require this workgroup? 
When windows user tries to access any network resource they first try to access my network places and then search for workgroup then to server. So definitely we have to specify this workgroup entry in smb.conf file.

Now specify the share details, which folder you want to share. To whom you want to share? Goto last line of the smb.conf file specify your shared folder details as follows.


[linux]
comment = "This is the Sample data which is shared with my windows users"
path = /sample
valid users = suri
writable = no (or) read only=yes
browseable =yes

Public=no 

Printable=no

Hostsallow=192.168.0.  (network ip of ur domain)


After giving this seven entries just save and exit the file.


Let me explain each and every thing what we used here.
a. [linux] -- This is the share name, so whenever any user accessed the samba server through network this will be visible as folder shared.
b. comment -- This is just a comment, which will help to know what is this share for.
c. path -- This is used to specify which folder on my samba machine to share.
d. valid users -- This will specifies which user is having access on this folder.
e. writable -- This will specify whether users are able to write or not, In this example the can just read the folder and copy..
f. browseable -- This is used to specify whether the folder content is browseable or not.

g. Public -- This will indicate whether this folder is public or not

h. printable-- This will indicate whether this folder is printable or not

i. hostsallow – give ip address of ur network, so that it will allow that domain

You can specify the Read-Only and Write Access to specified using keywords "read only" and "write list"


example: write list = user1, user3
              read only = user2, user4


Step 5 : Now create passwords for the users who are going to access this samba share remotely.
#smbpasswd -a suri

generate the passwords for this user and this passwords will be stored in /etc/samba/smbpasswd

Step 6 : check for the syntax for your smb.conf file if in case you did any mistake
#testparm

Step 7 : Restart the samba service
#service smb restart

Step 8 : Permanently on the smb service, So that after rebooting the system too our server will start running.
#chkconfig smb on

Step 9: To list all Samba users in local machine, use the following command

pdbedit –L

Step 10: To check it on server machine

Smbclient  //192.168.0.117/linux –U suri

It will ask password

Enter password

Then we can see the smb shell

Smb:/>

Thats all. You have done configuring the samba server.

How can I disable the Welcome Screen in Windows XP Pro?

 To turn the Welcome Screen on or off:
You must have a computer administrator account on a computer that is a member of a workgroup or is a stand-alone computer to turn on or turn off the Use the Welcome screen feature. Logging on at the Welcome screen is not available on computers that are members of a network domain.

1. Open User Accounts in Control Panel.

2. Click Change the way users log on or off.

Do one of the following:
· To specify that users log on to the computer using the Welcome screen, select the Use the Welcome screen check box. A user logs on to the computer by clicking his or her user account name on the Welcome screen. If a password is assigned to the account, the user is prompted to type it.

· To specify that users log on to the computer without using the Welcome screen, clear the Use the Welcome screen check box. The Welcome screen will no longer appear when you start the computer. To log on to the computer, type your user name (and password, if you have one) in the standard Log On to Windows dialog box.

Note: To open User Accounts, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click User Accounts. Fast User Switching is available only when the Welcome screen is turned on.

Note: To disable the Welcome screen you can also open the Registry editor and go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\WinLogon

In the right pane, remove the entry for Gina.DLL.

How do I remove the CD Recording feature in Windows XP?

I cannot imagine why anyone will want to do that but... Do this if you must:

1.      Start - Run - type gpedit.msc (not available in Windows XP Home Edition).

2.      Go to User Configuration - Administrative Templates - Windows Explorer.

3.      Look for "Remove CD Burning Features" and double click on it.

4.      Choose ENABLED and apply.

5.      You may need to reboot the computer for settings to take place.

Note for Windows XP SP2:

Reader Frode F. wrote:

Hey, just a notice. Might be for Windows XP Pro SP2 Only, but i noticed that the "Disable CD Recording Feature in Windows XP" (in the tweaks section) has or might been modified. Its in one more subdir. Group Policy -> User Configuration -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer -> and named "Remove CD Burning Features". Nice page!! :) Keep it up!

Thanks!

How can I delete the Recycle Bin icon from the desktop in Windows XP/2003?

To delete the Recycle Bin icon from the Windows XP/2003 desktop follow these steps:

1. Open Registry Editor.

2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace

3. Find the following key: {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Delete the above key.

Note: As always, before making changes to your registry you should always make sure you have a valid backup. In cases where you're supposed to delete or modify keys or values from the registry it is possible to first export that key or value(s) to a .REG file before performing the changes.

4. Close Registry Editor.

There is no need to reboot. Just wait a few seconds and see how the icon disappears from the desktop.

5. In order to restore the Recycle Bin icon to the desktop just re-create the missing key (or import it back to the registry in case you've exported it earlier).

In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace

Create the following key: {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

(just copy/paste, including the brackets).

How can I enable CD Burning in Windows Server 2003?

Windows Server 2003 has the CD burning drivers disabled by default. The IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service required by this peripheral device is disabled, so to make it work we need to enable it.
Note: With some third-party software, you may be able to burn CDs without starting the IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service. BTW, some people say that it is recommended you leave this service disabled if you want to speed up the Nero Burning ROM startup. I haven't tested this myself so I cannot say for sure.
Lamer Note: Yes, you DO have to have a CD burner installed or else this tweak will be useless for you. It DOES NOT turn a standard CD Drive into a CD-R or CD-RW...
To have CD burning capabilities on Windows Server 2003 follow the next steps:

1. Go to the Services applet in Administrative Tools (or click Start, then Run, and type "services.msc" (without quotes) and click OK).
2. Find the "IMAPI CD-burning COM" service, right-click and select Properties, select "Automatic" instead of "Disabled" in the startup type box.

3. Click Apply.
4. Right-click the "IMAPI CD-burning COM" service and select Start.

5. Click OK.

You can also modify start state and start it from a Command Prompt console by using the following command:
sc config imapiservice start= auto and sc start imapiservice or net start imapiservice

Key Board Shortcuts for windows'

Windows system key combinations

• F1: Help
• CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
• ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
• ALT+F4: Quit program
• SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently
• Windows Logo+L: Lock the computer (without using CTRL+ALT+DELETE)

Windows program key combinations

• CTRL+C: Copy
• CTRL+X: Cut
• CTRL+V: Paste
• CTRL+Z: Undo
• CTRL+B: Bold
• CTRL+U: Underline
• CTRL+I: Italic

Mouse click/keyboard modifier combinations for shell objects

• SHIFT+right click: Displays a shortcut menu containing alternative commands
• SHIFT+double click: Runs the alternate default command (the second item on the menu)
• ALT+double click: Displays properties
• SHIFT+DELETE: Deletes an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin

General keyboard-only commands

• F1: Starts Windows Help
• F10: Activates menu bar options
• SHIFT+F10 Opens a shortcut menu for the selected item (this is the same as right-clicking an object
• CTRL+ESC: Opens the Start menu (use the ARROW keys to select an item)
• CTRL+ESC or ESC: Selects the Start button (press TAB to select the taskbar, or press SHIFT+F10 for a context menu)
• CTRL+SHIFT+ESC: Opens Windows Task Manager
• ALT+DOWN ARROW: Opens a drop-down list box
• ALT+TAB: Switch to another running program (hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window)
• SHIFT: Press and hold down the SHIFT key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature
• ALT+SPACE: Displays the main window's System menu (from the System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the window)
• ALT+- (ALT+hyphen): Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window's System menu (from the MDI child window's System menu, you can restore, move, resize, minimize, maximize, or close the child window)
• CTRL+TAB: Switch to the next child window of a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) program
• ALT+underlined letter in menu: Opens the menu
• ALT+F4: Closes the current window
• CTRL+F4: Closes the current Multiple Document Interface (MDI) window
• ALT+F6: Switch between multiple windows in the same program (for example, when the Notepad Find dialog box is displayed, ALT+F6 switches between the Find dialog box and the main Notepad window)

Shell objects and general folder/Windows Explorer shortcuts

For a selected object:

• F2: Rename object
• F3: Find all files
• CTRL+X: Cut
• CTRL+C: Copy
• CTRL+V: Paste
• SHIFT+DELETE: Delete selection immediately, without moving the item to the Recycle Bin
• ALT+ENTER: Open the properties for the selected object

To copy a file

Press and hold down the CTRL key while you drag the file to another folder.

To create a shortcut

Press and hold down CTRL+SHIFT while you drag a file to the desktop or a folder.

General folder/shortcut control

• F4: Selects the Go To A Different Folder box and moves down the entries in the box (if the toolbar is active in Windows Explorer)
• F5: Refreshes the current window.
• F6: Moves among panes in Windows Explorer
• CTRL+G: Opens the Go To Folder tool (in Windows 95 Windows Explorer only)
• CTRL+Z: Undo the last command
• CTRL+A: Select all the items in the current window
• BACKSPACE: Switch to the parent folder
• SHIFT+click+Close button: For folders, close the current folder plus all parent folders

Windows Explorer tree control

• Numeric Keypad *: Expands everything under the current selection
• Numeric Keypad +: Expands the current selection
• Numeric Keypad -: Collapses the current selection.
• RIGHT ARROW: Expands the current selection if it is not expanded, otherwise goes to the first child
• LEFT ARROW: Collapses the current selection if it is expanded, otherwise goes to the parent

Properties control

• CTRL+TAB/CTRL+SHIFT+TAB: Move through the property tabs

Accessibility shortcuts

• Press SHIFT five times: Toggles StickyKeys on and off
• Press down and hold the right SHIFT key for eight seconds: Toggles FilterKeys on and off
• Press down and hold the NUM LOCK key for five seconds: Toggles ToggleKeys on and off
• Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK: Toggles MouseKeys on and off
• Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN: Toggles high contrast on and off

Microsoft Natural Keyboard keys

• Windows Logo: Start menu
• Windows Logo+R: Run dialog box
• Windows Logo+M: Minimize all
• SHIFT+Windows Logo+M: Undo minimize all
• Windows Logo+F1: Help
• Windows Logo+E: Windows Explorer
• Windows Logo+F: Find files or folders
• Windows Logo+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop
• CTRL+Windows Logo+F: Find computer
• CTRL+Windows Logo+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray)
• Windows Logo+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons
• Windows Logo+Break: System Properties dialog box
• Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item

Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType software installed

• Windows Logo+L: Log off Windows
• Windows Logo+P: Starts Print Manager
• Windows Logo+C: Opens Control Panel
• Windows Logo+V: Starts Clipboard
• Windows Logo+K: Opens Keyboard Properties dialog box
• Windows Logo+I: Opens Mouse Properties dialog box
• Windows Logo+A: Starts Accessibility Options (if installed)
• Windows Logo+SPACEBAR: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys
• Windows Logo+S: Toggles CAPS LOCK on and off

Dialog box keyboard commands

• TAB: Move to the next control in the dialog box
• SHIFT+TAB: Move to the previous control in the dialog box
• SPACEBAR: If the current control is a button, this clicks the button. If the current control is a check box, this toggles the check box. If the current control is an option, this selects the option.
• ENTER: Equivalent to clicking the selected button (the button with the outline)
• ESC: Equivalent to clicking the Cancel button
• ALT+underlined letter in dialog box item: Move to the corresponding item

Increase the FileSystem Memory Cache Size in Vista

I’ve always wondered why Windows doesn’t allow you to set an arbitrary size for the filesystem cache. What if you have a slow hard drive in your laptop, but loads of available system memory? Shouldn’t you be able to maximize that memory in order to speed up hard drive access?

I’ve found a slightly documented tweak that will allow you to tell Windows to use more cache for the NTFS “pool”, which should increase performance if your system opens and closes a lot of files all the time like mine does.

According to the Microsoft documentation:

Increasing physical memory does not always increase the amount of paged pool memory available to NTFS. Setting memoryusage to 2 raises the limit of paged pool memory. This might improve performance if your system is opening and closing many files in the same file set and is not already using large amounts of system memory for other applications or for cache memory. If your computer is already using large amounts of system memory for other applications or for cache memory, increasing the limit of NTFS paged and non-paged pool memory reduces the available pool memory for other processes. This might reduce overall system performance.

I’ll be testing this change out myself, and I really hope to get feedback from our excellent readers on this one. Please note that I’ve not run any benchmarks yet, so I can’t confirm yet that this yields any major benefit in real-world performance.

Command Line Hack

Open up an Administrator mode command prompt by right-clicking and choosing Run as Administrator, or type in cmd into the start menu search box and use Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

Type in the following command to increase the cache setting:

fsutil behavior set memoryusage 2

To check the current value, type in this command:

fsutil behavior query memoryusage

To change the setting back to the default, use this command:

fsutil behavior set memoryusage 1

As always, these “slightly” documented settings can screw up your system, so perform at your own risk. Also, you’ll likely have to reboot the machine to see any difference.

Manual Registry Hack

You can also set this value by changing a registry parameter. Open up regedit.exe through the start menu search or run box, and then navigate down to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

Double-click on the NtfsMemoryUsage key on the right-hand side and change the value to 2. Here’s the available values:

• Not Set: 0
• Set to Default: 1
• Increase Cache: 2

According to the documentation the default setting is “1″, but by default the key is set to “0″. Typically in that scenario the setting of “0″ means “Not Set”, which means the system uses the default setting. You should be able to change the value to either “0″ or “1″ in order to change this back to default.

This setting also works in Windows Server 2003.

Show Run in Separate Memory Space Option (Windows 2000/XP)

This setting controls whether the "Run in Separate Memory Space" option is shown in the Run box, which allows you to run 16-bit programs in a dedicated Virtual DOS Machine (VDM) process.

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called "MemCheckBoxInRunDlg" and set it according to the value data below.Open your registry and find or create the key below.

Exit your registry; you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.

		(Default)	REG_SZ	(value not set)
		MemCheckBoxInRunDlg	REG_DWORD	0x00000001 (1)

	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...

Registry Settings

User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
Value Name: MemCheckBoxInRunDlg
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = default, 1 = show checkbox)

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Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.

CD Writer is Not Fast Enough..?

Open My Computer, right-click the CD Drive icon, and then click Properties. Click the
Recording tab to display the settings. Under "Select a write Speed" Choose the "Fastest". If
still having a problem, then choose a speed like 18x or a medium speed. This will resolve
almost all the issues.

Enable/Disable CD Burning

If you choose to use a different CD burning program than the one supplied with Windows XP
this edit will disable the default burner. In most cases this isn't necessary even if you choose
an alternative burning program, but there are a few badly behaved burning programs out there
that insist on this modification.
Open the registry editor and navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
.Create a new Dword with the Name "NoCDBurning". To enable give a value 0. A value of 1
disables Burning.Exit Registry and Reboot
To Enable/Disable CD Burning for the Local Machine navigate to following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Ex
plorer. Create a new Dword with the Name "NoCDBurning". To enable give a value 0. A
value of 1 disables Burning. Exit Registry and Reboot.

NO option to send data to the CD-ROM drive…?

When you view the properties of the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive, you may notice that the
Recording tab is not displayed in the CD Drive Properties dialog box. To resolve this issue,
edit the Microsoft Windows registry to identify the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive as a
recordable drive. To do this, follow these steps.
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Expand the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CD
Burning\Drives
4. On the File menu, click Export.
5. In the File name box, type backup of drives key, and then click Save.
6. In the left pane of the Registry Editor window, click the Volume{GUID} folder under
Drives, where GUID is a 32-character hexadecimal globally unique identifier. If you have
more than one CD-ROM drive in the computer, an additional Volume{GUID} folder is listed
for each drive.
7. In the right pane of the Registry Editor window, double-click Drive Type.
8. In the Value data box, type 1 or 2, depending on the drive type, and then click OK. The
drive type should be 1 if it is a CD-R and 2 if it is a CD-RW.
9. Quit Registry Editor.
10. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
11. Under Devices with Removable Storage, right-click the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive, and
then click Properties on the shortcut menu.
12. If the Recording tab is displayed, Windows recognizes the drive as a recordable device.
13. Click Cancel.
If you have more than one CD-ROM drive, DVD-ROM drive, or CD-RW drive in the
computer and the Recording tab is not displayed, an incorrect drive may have been
configured as "recordable" in the Windows registry. To troubleshoot this issue, follow these
steps:
Follow steps 1 through 9 to edit the Drive Type value of the Volume{GUID} folder whose
value you previously changed. In the Value data box, type 3, and then click OK. The drive
type value of 3 indicates that the drive is a standard CD-ROM and is not writable. In the left
pane of the Registry Editor window, click the next Volume{GUID} folder. Follow steps 7
and 8 to change the Value data entry to 1 or 2, depending on the drive type. Quit Registry
Editor, and then follow steps 10 through 12 to confirm that the Recording tab is displayed in
the properties dialog box of the CD-R drive or CD-RW drive