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ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page i Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: Hacking Windows® XP ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page ii Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page iii Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: Hacking Windows® XP Steve Sinchak Wiley Publishing, Inc. ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page iv Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: Hacking Windows® XP Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2004 by Steve Sinchak Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana eISBN: 0-7645-7722-0 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4447, E-Mail: [email protected]. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY : THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEB SITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Available from Publisher Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page v Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: About the Author Steve Sinchak is an entrepreneur that has started several technology-related businesses and is currently running a Web development firm known as SSMGi that owns and operates several Web sites. As president of the small company, he is responsible for financial, as well as techni- cal, aspects of the business, such as application programming and infrastructure design and maintenance. Steve has been working with computers for more than 10 years. Starting with a desktop which had a 286-based processor, 1MB of RAM, and was running DOS & Windows 3.1, he taught himself how to make his computer run faster on the outdated hardware. Driven by curiosity to customize Windows and make it run faster, he spent countless hours researching and experi- menting with the inner workings and features of Windows. His primary claim-to-fame in this subject matter is as the creator of TweakXP.com,the number-one site for tweaking Windows XP.What started out as an idea for a new Web site that combined his interest in tweaking Windows and Web programming has grown into a massive database of tweaks and tips for Windows XP that attracts more than 3 million visitors a year. Currently, Steve is a senior at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, studying management IT and computer science. He splits his spare time between classes, running his businesses, and spending time with his family and friends. ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page vi Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: Credits Executive Editor Vice President and Executive Publisher Chris Webb Bob Ipsen Development Editor Vice President and Publisher Scott Amerman Joseph B. Wikert Production Editor Executive Editorial Director Gabrielle Nabi Mary Bednarek Project Coordinator Technical Editors Erin Smith Greg Guntle Wiley-Dreamtech India Pvt. Ltd. Permissions Editor Laura Moss Copy Editor TechBooks Media Development Specialist Kit Malone Editorial Manager Kathryn A. Malm Proofreading and Indexing TechBooks Production Services Vice President & Executive Group Publisher Cover Image Richard Swadley Anthony Bunyan ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page vii Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: This book is dedicated to my parents Larry and Mary Jo, my brothers Jason and David, my sisters Jackie and Kimberly, and my girlfriend Emily. ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page viii Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: viii ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page ix Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: Acknowledgments Writing this book while juggling classes and my business was often pretty difficult. Almost all of my free time for the last four months has been consumed by writing, leaving very little time for my girlfriend and friends. First, I would like to thank my girlfriend, Emily, for her love, support, understanding, and help when things got really tight. Thank you so much. You mean the world to me. I’d also like to thank everyone in my family for the love, support, and motivation that they have always shown me. Dad, thanks for bringing home that old IBM AT from work many years ago. Who would have thought it could start something that would lead me to eventually write a book? Mom, thank you for your constant motivation and love throughout all of the challenges in my life. I’d like to thank my close friends, Paul and Tom. Although they made writing this book very difficult at times, with their constant distractions, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Going to Miller Time pub with you two to take breaks from writing was priceless. Next, I’d like to thank everyone at Wiley for their work on this book. Chris Webb, thanks for giving me this opportunity and for your suggestions in the early stages. Scott Amerman, thank you very much for your help and suggestions with writing the chapters. Thank you for turning me into an author. Everyone at TweakXP.com also deserves a big thank you—especially Allan Grossman, the forum administrator of the TweakXP.com support forums. Thank you very much for helping me with the site and for turning the forum into one of the best support forums for Windows XP.I would also like to thank all of the forum moderators, news posters, active members, and daily visitors. You have all played an essential role in the success of TweakXP.com.Thank you very much! ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page x Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page xi Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: Contents at a Glance Acknowledgments. ix Part I: Customizing Your System . 1 Chapter 1:Customizing the Look of the Startup . 3 Chapter 2:Customizing User Navigation . 39 Chapter 3:Hacking the Desktop . 73 Chapter 4:Customizing the Appearance of the Windows Interface . 91 Chapter 5:Hacking Windows Explorer . 117 Chapter 6:Exploring Other Windows Enhancements . 137 Part II: Increasing Your System’s Performance. 157 Chapter 7:Analyzing Your System . 159 Chapter 8:Speeding Up the System Boot . 183 Chapter 9:Making Your Computer Load Faster . 209 Chapter 10:Making Your Computer More Responsive . 231 Chapter 11:Speeding Up Your Computer . 247 Part III: Securing Your System. 277 Chapter 12:Protecting Your Computer from Intruders . 279 Chapter 13:Fighting Spam, Spyware, and Viruses . 303 Chapter 14:Protecting Your Privacy . 315 Appendix A:What’s on the CD-ROM. 335 Index . 343 End-User License Agreement . 355 ffirs.qxd 7/15/04 9:06 PM Page xii Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: ftoc.axd 7/15/04 9:07 PM Page xiii Quark01 Quark01:Desktop Folder:WY026:FM: Contents Acknowledgments . ix Introduction . xix Part I: Customizing Your System 1 Chapter 1: Customizing the Look of the Startup . 3 Customizing the Windows XP Boot Screen . 3 Changing the boot screen . 3 Customizing the Logon Screen . 14 Working with the Welcome screen . 15 Working with the classic logon screen . 28 Global logon/Welcome settings . 34 Summary . 38 Chapter 2: Customizing User Navigation . 39 Customizing the Start Panel . 39 Using Group Policy Editor to customize the Start panel .