Disable Windows Messenger At Windows Start-Up

If you don't want MSN Messenger to start at startup simply logon to your account and

go to tools --> options to disable it. If you don't have an account, as it won't let you change the options without first logging on to an account. Click on the Start-->Run and type in regedit, then go to, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Run Delete the key that says, MSMSGS - REG_SZ - "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background

Add The Administrative Tools Icon To The Desktop

To do so, first go to Start-->Run.
Type regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current
Version\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace. Create the following key: {D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153} (just copy/paste, including the brackets). Close Registry Editor. There is no need to reboot. Just wait a few seconds and see how the icon appears.

20 Things You Didn't Know About Windows XP

You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets.

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, was released in 2003, which failed to attract people and then came Black Combwhich again failed. Finally came Windows Vista which is nothing but the improved version of Black Comb.

Command Prompt Basics

For use in command prompt on you own computer or network:


CMD or command.com = use whichever works best or whichever one is available ( to open command prompt in the run command.
EXIT = exit the command prompt
PATH = displays the places that if will look for if not in the name first
CLS = clears up everything on command prompt page
TIME = displays time and you can change it if you want
HELP = displays help, more commands
DIR OR DIR /? = Shows a lot of information
CD\PROGRA~1 ENTER THEN DIR = Programs installed (1)
CD\ ENTER THEN DIR = shows installations of programs
(DEL OR COPY OR DIR) *.* C:\TARGET = you can either delete, copy or dir a program
NET = you get options to use it
SHUTDOWN –LETTER OR SHUTDOWN/? = you can shutdown

Your computer or another computer

NETSTAT = view the stats of the computers one feature is
to get people’s I.P. for more type netstat/?

FSUTIL AND FSUTIL FSINFO = shows you things like list of
all drives
BASIC OF CMD PART 2
ERASE C:\PROGRAM FILES = erases all program files or leave
just the c delete everything

NBTSTAT = GETTING INFORMATION ON YOUR COMPUTER
AND OTHERS

TREE = displays all files on program files and desktop good
for seeing if you have any keyloggers

TRACERT (IP) = to see if the I.P. exist
NET USE C: \\PCNAME\C$ /USER: PCNAME\ADMINISTRATOR
= to sign in as an administrator that’s not signed in

NSLOOKUP SET TYPE=MX EXP:HOTMAIL.COM = getting ips
from web sites

/WHOIS (SCREENAME) = only on a chat room, to find
information a that person which owns the screename an I.P.

For use in command prompt for path chanching

DISKPART = shows you stuff like the computer name and
takes you to disk part option

CD\PROGRA~1 ENTER THEN DIR = Programs installed (2)
CD \WINDOWS \SYSTEM = to look for stuff in this folders

BASIC OF CMD PART3
TELNET : remote controlling
NET START MESSENGER = start net send when it is disable
For use in command prompt only on a network or hacking

BOOTCFG = you can make changes to boot the computer ,
boot it mess it up

GPRESULT = shows all the information of a computer
DRIVERQUERY = list of drives and their properties
GETMAC = this gets the Mac (media access control) address
NETSH = good for hacking a network configuration tool
type netsh /? For more

OPENFILES = only for windows professional allows an
administrator to display or disconnect open files

REG = THE CONSOLE REGISTRY TOOL
SYSTEMINFO = info
TASKLIST AND TASKKILL = LIKE PRESING CTRL+ALT+DELETE

Command Prompt Codes

Some BASIC Commands:

1. Accessibility Controls - access.cpl
2. Accessibility Wizard - accwiz
3. Add Hardware Wizard - hdwwiz.cpl
4. Add/Remove Programs - appwiz.cpl
5. Administrative Tools - control admintools
6. Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl
7. Bluetooth Transfer Wizard - fsquirt
8. Calculator - calc
9. Certificate Manager - certmgr.msc
10. Character Map - charmap
11. Check Disk Utility - chkdsk
12. Clipboard Viewer - clipbrd
13. Command Prompt - cmd
14. Component Services - dcomcnfg
15. Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
16. Control Panel - control
17. Date and Time Properties - timedate.cpl
18. DDE Shares - ddeshare
19. Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
20. Direct X Troubleshooter - dxdiag
21. Disk Cleanup Utility - cleanmgr
22. Disk Defragment - dfrg.msc
23. Disk Management - diskmgmt.msc
24. Disk Partition Manager - diskpart
25. Display Properties - control desktop
26. Display Properties - desk.cpl
27. Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility - drwtsn32
28. Driver Verifier Utility - verifier
29. Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
30. Files and Settings Transfer Tool - migwiz
31. File Signature Verification Tool - sigverif
32. Findfast - findfast.cpl
33. Firefox - firefox
34. Folders Properties - control folders
35. Fonts - control fonts
36. Fonts Folder - fonts
37. Free Cell Card Game - freecell
38. Game Controllers - joy.cpl
39. Group Policy Editor (for xp professional) - gpedit.msc
40. Hearts Card Game - mshearts
41. Help and Support - helpctr
42. HyperTerminal - hypertrm
43. Iexpress Wizard - iexpress
44. Indexing Service - ciadv.msc
45. Internet Connection Wizard - icwconn1
46. Internet Explorer - iexplore
47. Internet Properties - inetcpl.cpl
48. Keyboard Properties - control keyboard
49. Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
50. Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
51. Logs You Out Of Windows - logoff
52. Malicious Software Removal Tool - mrt
53. Microsoft Chat - winchat
54. Microsoft Movie Maker - moviemk
55. Microsoft Paint - mspaint
56. Microsoft Syncronization Tool - mobsync
57. Minesweeper Game - winmine
58. Mouse Properties - control mouse
59. Mouse Properties - main.cpl
60. Netmeeting - conf
61. Network Connections - control netconnections
62. Network Connections - ncpa.cpl
63. Network Setup Wizard - netsetup.cpl
64. Notepad - notepad
65. Object Packager - packager
66. ODBC Data Source Administrator - odbccp32.cpl
67. On Screen Keyboard - osk
68. Outlook Express - msimn
69. Paint - pbrush
70. Password Properties - password.cpl
71. Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
72. Performance Monitor - perfmon
73. Phone and Modem Options - telephon.cpl
74. Phone Dialer - dialer
75. Pinball Game - pinball
76. Power Configuration - powercfg.cpl
77. Printers and Faxes - control printers
78. Printers Folder - printers
79. Regional Settings - intl.cpl
80. Registry Editor - regedit
81. Registry Editor - regedit32
82. Remote Access Phonebook - rasphone
83. Remote Desktop - mstsc
84. Removable Storage - ntmsmgr.msc
85. Removable Storage Operator Requests - ntmsoprq.msc
86. Resultant Set of Policy (for xp professional) - rsop.msc
87. Scanners and Cameras - sticpl.cpl
88. Scheduled Tasks - control schedtasks
89. Security Center - wscui.cpl
90. Services - services.msc
91. Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
92. Shuts Down Windows - shutdown
93. Sounds and Audio - mmsys.cpl
94. Spider Solitare Card Game - spider
95. SQL Client Configuration - cliconfg
96. System Configuration Editor - sysedit
97. System Configuration Utility - msconfig
98. System Information - msinfo32
99. System Properties - sysdm.cpl
100. Task Manager - taskmgr
101. TCP Tester - tcptest
102. Telnet Client - telnet
103. User Account Management - nusrmgr.cpl
104. Utility Manager - utilman
105. Windows Address Book - wab
106. Windows Address Book Import Utility - wabmig
107. Windows Explorer - explorer

NTFS vs FAT

To NTFS or not to NTFS—that is the question. But unlike the deeper questions of life, this one isn't really all that hard to answer. For most users running Windows XP, NTFS is the obvious choice. It's more powerful and offers security advantages not found in the other file systems. But let's go over the differences among the files systems so we're all clear about the choice. There are essentially three different file systems available in Windows XP: FAT16, short for File Allocation Table, FAT32, and NTFS, short for NT File System.

FAT16
The FAT16 file system was introduced way back with MS–DOS in 1981, and it's showing its age. It was designed originally to handle files on a floppy drive, and has had minor modifications over the years so it can handle hard disks, and even file names longer than the original limitation of 8.3 characters, but it's still the lowest common denominator. The biggest advantage of FAT16 is that it is compatible across a wide variety of operating systems, including Windows 95/98/Me, OS/2, Linux, and some versions of UNIX. The biggest problem of FAT16 is that it has a fixed maximum number of clusters per partition, so as hard disks get bigger and bigger, the size of each cluster has to get larger. In a 2–GB partition, each cluster is 32 kilobytes, meaning that even the smallest file on the partition will take up 32 KB of space. FAT16 also doesn't support compression, encryption, or advanced security using access control lists.

FAT32
The FAT32 file system, originally introduced in Windows 95 Service Pack 2, is really just an extension of the original FAT16 file system that provides for a much larger number of clusters per partition. As such, it greatly improves the overall disk utilization when compared to a FAT16 file system. However, FAT32 shares all of the other limitations of FAT16, and adds an important additional limitation—many operating systems that can recognize FAT16 will not work with FAT32—most notably Windows NT, but also Linux and UNIX as well. Now this isn't a problem if you're running FAT32 on a Windows XP computer and sharing your drive out to other computers on your network—they don't need to know (and generally don't really care) what your underlying file system is.

The Advantages of NTFS
The NTFS file system, introduced with first version of Windows NT, is a completely different file system from FAT. It provides for greatly increased security, file–by–file compression, quotas, and even encryption. It is the default file system for new installations of Windows XP, and if you're doing an upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you'll be asked if you want to convert your existing file systems to NTFS. Don't worry. If you've already upgraded to Windows XP and didn't do the conversion then, it's not a problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point. Just remember that you can't easily go back to FAT or FAT32 (without reformatting the drive or partition), not that I think you'll want to.

The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've booted a computer from a floppy disk. For this reason, many system administrators, myself included, used to recommend that users format at least a small partition at the beginning of their main hard disk as FAT. This partition provided a place to store emergency recovery tools or special drivers needed for reinstallation, and was a mechanism for digging yourself out of the hole you'd just dug into. But with the enhanced recovery abilities built into Windows XP (more on that in a future column), I don't think it's necessary or desirable to create that initial FAT partition.

Windows Password Files Torn Apart

All, Windows, users would probably be familiar with the infamous ‘pwl’ files or the files where the Windows login passwords are stored. Well, this manual is aimed at, simplifying how the authentication works when you type in your User name And password, what exactly .pwl files contain, where exactly they come into the picture and a whole lot of related things.

The *.pwl files are basically files in which the Windows Login Passwords are stored in. These files can be found in the \Windows directory by the name of the User, whose password it contains. For Example, if your Windows login Username is ankit, then the corresponding password would be stored in c:\windows\ankit.pwl Get it? These .pwl files are readable in any text editor like Notepad, but they are definitely not understandable. A typical example, of the contents of a .pwl file is as follows:

ã‚...-
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿR

p u.ÐX+|rÐq"±/2³ Êå¡hCJ‚D × `ÍY¥!íx}(qW¤ãƱ
#include

typedef struct tagPASSWORD_CACHE_ENTRY {
WORD cbEntry; // size of this entry, in bytes
WORD cbResource; // size of resource name, in bytes
WORD cbPassword; // size of password, in bytes
BYTE iEntry; // entry index
BYTE nType; // type of entry
BYTE abResource[1]; // start of resource name
// password immediately follows resource name
} PASSWORD_CACHE_ENTRY;

char *buf, *ob1;
int cnt = 0;

BOOL CALLBACK pce(PASSWORD_CACHE_ENTRY *x, DWORD)
{
cnt++;
memmove(buf, x->abResource, x->cbResource);
buf[x->cbResource] = 0;
CharToOem(buf, ob1); // for non-English users
printf("%-30s : ", ob1);

memmove(buf, x->abResource+x->cbResource, x->cbPassword);
buf[x->cbPassword] = 0;
CharToOem(buf, ob1);
printf("%s\n", ob1);

return TRUE;
}

void main()
{
buf = new char[1024];
ob1 = new char[1024];
puts("There is no security in this crazy world!\n"
"Win95 PWL viewer v1.01 (c) 1997, 98 Vitas Ramanchauskas\n"
"************\n"
"!DISCLAIMER!\n"
"!This program intended to be used for legal purpose only!\n"
"************\n\n"
"This program shows cached passwords using standard (but undocumented)\n"
"Windows API on local machine for current user (user must be logged in).\n"
"You may invoke pwlview in this way: pwlview >> textfile.txt\n"
"to save passwords in file (don't forget to press enter twice)\n"
"Press Enter to begin...\n");
getchar();

HINSTANCE hi = LoadLibrary("mpr.dll");
if(!hi)
{
puts("Couldn't load mpr.dll. This program is for Windows 95 only");
return;
}
WORD (__stdcall *enp)(LPSTR, WORD, BYTE, void*, DWORD) =
(WORD (__stdcall *)(LPSTR, WORD, BYTE, void*, DWORD))GetProcAddress(hi, "WNetEnumCachedPasswords");
if(!enp)
{
puts("Couldn't import function. This program is for Windows 95 only");
return;
}
(*enp)(0,0, 0xff, pce, 0);
if(!cnt)
puts("No passwords found.\n"
"Probably password caching was not used or user is not logged in.");
FreeLibrary(hi);
puts("\nPress Enter to quit");
getchar();

Create A Password Reset Disk

Here's an important tip… If you are using a password protected user account in Windows XP (and you really, really should be ) you might be nervous about forgetting your password. Well here's a way to put your mind at ease, at least a little bit. Windows XP allows users to create a password reset disk specific to their user account. This disk can be used at the welcome screen to reset your password in the event that you do forget it.
To create the disk:
Go to start\control panel\user accounts. Select the account you are currently logged in as. Under the 'related tasks' heading in the top left corner, click 'prevent a forgotten password' to open the forgotten password wizard. Insert a blank floppy disk and follow the instructions to create your password reset disk.
To use the password reset disk in case of emergency:
Once you have created a password reset disk for a specific user, the next time the password for that user is entered incorrectly at the welcome screen, a message will pop up asking if you have forgotten your password. At this point you can elect to use your password reset disk. Follow the instructions to reset your password.
Note: There are a couple of possible problems with the above procedure. For one, if you have used Windows XP's built in encryption feature to encrypt some of your files and folders, but have not yet updated to service pack 1, do not reset your password, as you will lose access to all the encrypted data. Once you have got service pack 1, it is safe to use the disk. Also, you cannot gain access to the reset feature if you have disabled the welcome screen on XP by using tip #31 above.
Keep your reset disk in a safe location, because anyone else can also use it to reset your password...

Use Your Computer Hard Disc As RAM

Everybody knows how costly is to buy a new RAM. SO, in order to get almost equal performance, we can also use some memory from our Hard Disc as virtual memory, which acts as a substitute to RAM. Follow the simple steps stated below to do so....

1. Right Click on My Computer & go to Properties

2. Click on Advanced Tab & go to Settings in the Performance Section.

3. Select the next "Advanced" Tab on the "Performance Options" window. On the advanced tab, click the "Change" button in the "Virtual memory" section.

4. Comprehend the implications of the virtual memory settings. On the "Virtual Memory" window, the "initial size" is the minimum amount of hard drive space Windows will allocate to virtual memory. The "maximum size" is the largest size to which Windows will allow your virtual memory to grow. If you set this setting too low and Windows requires more virtual memory than the maximum, Windows will likely crash or freeze and you will need to reboot. Thus, you should select (or keep the selection as) "System managed size." By allowing Windows to manage the virtual memory, Windows will increase and decrease the size of the virtual memory as-needed. It is not recommended under any circumstances to select "No paging file" because this can cause system instability.

5. Choose your virtual memory settings. On the "Virtual Memory" screen, you may modify your virtual memory settings in accordance with Step 4. Once you have made your settings, click the "Set" button. Windows will ask you to reboot. Once you do, your virtual memory settings will be changed.

REPARTITION YOUR HARD DRIVE WITHOUT FORMATING IT

If you are logged in as an administrator, you can repartition your hard disk by using the Shrink feature in Disk Management. You can shrink an existing partition or volume to create unallocated disk space, from which you can create a new partition or volume. (Note that the terms partition and volume are often used interchangeably.)

1. Open Computer Management by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, clicking Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking Computer Management.‌  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. In the left pane, under Storage, click Disk Management.
3. Right-click the volume you want to shrink, and then click Shrink Volume.
4. Follow the instructions.

REPARTITION YOUR HARD DRIVE WITHOUT FORMATING IT FOR WINDOWS XP

Friends, this post is specifically for people who are using Windows XP and want to repartition their Hard Drives without formatting them. All the Windows 7 & Windows Vista users can do it in a simpler way using Disc Management tool. For more info. you can visit the link: Repartition your Hard Drive w/o formatting it.

For all XP users, here's the procedure:

When you buy a new computer, the hard drive partitions are usually already set up for you. If you put in a new hard drive, you need to decide on the partitioning at set up time. The problem with both of these situations is that things change. You may decide you don't want everything in one big partition for a variety of reasons, but Windows gives you no options for changing your partitions other than reformatting and losing all of your data. There are excellent programs, like Partition Magic, that will let you resize and create partitions without losing data. But Partition Magic costs around $60 and it isn't a program you are going to use everyday.

There is a way to change your partitions without reformatting and without buying any additional software.

It uses a Linux live CD to boot your computer and prepare for a Linux installation. Don’t worry; you are not actually going to install Linux. Every Linux CD includes a program to resize your Windows partition to make room for Linux because Windows usually takes up the whole hard drive. Once we create the space for Linux, we can actually format it as a Windows partition, either NTFS or FAT32.

First, you need to download the Linux live CD. I recommend Simply MEPIS 3.3, available here: http://iso.linuxquestions.org/distro.php?distro=11 . These directions will assume you are using Simply MEPIS. Download the ISO and burn it to a CD as an ISO image. Check your CD burning software for info on burning an ISO. Once you have your CD, you are ready to begin.

Before you start- it is recommended to do a disk clean up, get rid of unnecessary files and defragment your hard drive to create as much continuous free space as possible. If your drive is very fragmented, you may want to defragment twice.

WARNING- backup all important files. Although unlikely, it is possible to lose data. Even the programs like Partition Magic give you this warning.

Set your computer BIOS to boot from the CD drive as the first option. Most computers get into the BIOS by hitting the DELETE key during start up. The start up screen will usually tell you what to hit to enter set up. Look for something that deals with boot options; it is often under advanced bios options. Boot from the Simply MEPIS CD, choose the 2.6 option unless you have a CPU under 1Ghz. It will take a couple of minutes, but you will eventually have a sign in screen. Sign on as root with the password as root. It will boot to a red MEPIS Linux screen (actually running from the CD)

Click the K gear wheel (lower left). Move the mouse to System, File system, QTParted

Click on QTParted, that will open the program you are going to use.

Click on the drive you want to change. If you have only one drive, it will probably be /dev/hda. That will open a window with info about your hard drive. (My screen shot shows several partitions because I have Linux installed)

RIGHT click on the partition you want to resize and choose “RESIZE”. The free space will be created after the existing partition. Fill in the amount of free space you want. Remember to leave enough space on the existing partition for anything you may save in the future plus about 20% extra for free space. Then click OK.

No changes are being made to your hard drive yet, so you can change your mind. To make the change- click on FILE, the COMMIT.

The changes will be made to your hard drive. Click on your hard drive again in the left column. The free space should now show in the display in the right column. Right click on the free space, choose FORMAT, then either NTFS or FAT32. Click on FILE, COMMIT. The partition will be formatted as a Windows partition.

Shut down by clicking on the K gear wheel, logout, and restart.

Before it reboots, you will need to remove the MEPIS CD, it should now reboot to Windows, your computer will probably give you a message about new hardware being found and require you to reboot one more time. The new partition should now show up and be fully usable.

Source:http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Computer_Basics/How_to_Repartition_Hard_Drive_without_Reformatting.html

Understand (and Get Rid of) the Mysterious Small Partition

If you install Windows 7 on a clean disk with no existing partitions, it creates a System Reserved partition at the beginning of the disk and uses the remainder of the unallocated space to create your system drive.That small partition isn’t assigned a drive letter, so you won’t even know it exists unless you look in the Disk Management console or use a low-level utility, such as Diskpart, to inspect the disk structure.

This “stub” of a partition, which is new in Windows 7, serves two functions. First, it holds the Boot Manager code and the Boot Configuration Database. Sec¬ond, it reserves space for the startup files required by the BitLocker Drive Encryption feature. If you ever decide to encrypt your system drive using BitLocker, you won’t have to repartition your system drive to make it possible.

If you’re confident you’ll never use BitLocker and prefer to do without the additional complexity of this System Reserved partition, your best bet is to make sure it’s never created. For a truly clean installation starting from an unformatted hard drive, you must use a different disk-management utility, such as the setup disk available from many hard-disk manufacturers or a startup disk from Windows Vista. Create a single primary partition using all unallocated space, and then point the installer to the newly created partition as the setup location. (Note that you cannot use the graphical disk-management tools available from the Windows 7 DVD to perform this task.) After you use the alternative tool to create a partition on the drive, you can point the Win¬dows 7 installer to that location and it will proceed.

If you’re comfortable with command-line disk management tools, you can use the Diskpart utility from the setup program to create the necessary partition. At the begin¬ning of setup, before you select the location where you want to install Windows:

1. Press Shift+F10 to open a Command Prompt window
2. Type diskpart to enter the Diskpart environment
3. Assuming you have a single clean hard disk, use select disk 0 and create partition primary to manually create a new partition
4. Proceed with the Windows 7 setup, using this new partition as the setup location

INTERNET EXPLORER 9 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

VIEWING AND EXPLORING WEB PAGES

To do this	Press this
Display Help	F1
Toggle between full-screen and regular views of the browser window	F11
Move forward through the items on a webpage, the Address bar, or the Favorites bar	TAB
Move back through the items on a webpage, the Address bar, or the Favorites bar	SHIFT+TAB
Start Caret Browsing	F7
Go to your home page	ALT+HOME
Go to the next page	ALT+RIGHT ARROW
Go to the previous page	ALT+LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE
Display a shortcut menu for a link	SHIFT+F10
Move forward through frames and browser elements	CTRL+TAB or F6
Scroll toward the beginning of a document	UP ARROW
Scroll toward the end of a document	DOWN ARROW
Scroll toward the beginning of a document in larger increments	PAGE UP
Scroll toward the end of a document in larger increments	PAGE DOWN
Move to the beginning of a document	HOME
Move to the end of a document	END
Find on this page	CTRL+F
Refresh the current webpage	F5
Refresh the current webpage, even if the time stamp for the web version and your locally stored version are the same	CTRL+F5
Stop downloading a page	ESC
Open a new website or page	CTRL+O
Open a new window	CTRL+N
Open a new InPrivate Browsing window	CTRL+SHIFT+P
Duplicate tab (open current tab in a new tab)	CTRL+K
Reopen the last tab you closed	CTRL+SHIFT+T
Close the current window (if you only have one tab open)	CTRL+W
Save the current page	CTRL+S
Print the current page or active frame	CTRL+P
Activate a selected link	ENTER
Open Favorites	CTRL+I
Open History	CTRL+H
Open Feeds	CTRL+J
Open the Page menu	ALT+P
Open the Tools menu	ALT+T
Open the Help menu	ALT+H

WORKING WITH TABS

The following table describes shortcuts used when working with tabs.

To do this	Press this
Open links in a new tab in the background	CTRL+click
Open links in a new tab in the foreground	CTRL+SHIFT+click
Open a new tab in the foreground	CTRL+T
Switch between tabs	CTRL+TAB or CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Close current tab (or the current window if tabbed browsing is disabled)	CTRL+W
Open a new tab in the foreground from the Address bar	ALT+ENTER
Switch to a specific tab number	CTRL+n (where n is a number between 1 and 8)
Switch to the last tab	CTRL+9
Close other tabs	CTRL+ALT+F4
Toggle Quick Tabs (thumbnail view) on or off	CTRL+Q

USING ZOOM:

To do this	Press this
Increase zoom (+ 10%)	CTRL+PLUS SIGN
Decrease zoom (- 10%)	CTRL+MINUS SIGN
Zoom to 100%	CTRL+0

USING SEARCH:

To do this	Press this
Go to the search box	CTRL+E
Open your search query in a new tab	ALT+ENTER
Open the search provider menu	CTRL+DOWN ARROW

USING PRINT PREVIEW:

To do this	Press this
Set printing options and print the page	ALT+P
Change paper, headers and footers, orientation, and margins for this page	ALT+U
Display the first page to be printed	ALT+HOME
Display the previous page to be printed	ALT+LEFT ARROW
Type the number of the page you want displayed	ALT+A
Display the next page to be printed	ALT+RIGHT ARROW
Display the last page to be printed	ALT+END
Specify how you want frames to print (this option is available only if you are printing a webpage that uses frames)	ALT+F
Close Print Preview	ALT+C

USING THE ADDRESS BAR:

To do this	Press this
Select the text in the Address bar	ALT+D
Display a list of addresses you've typed	F4
When in the Address bar, move the cursor left to the next logical break in the address (period or slash)	CTRL+LEFT ARROW
When in the Address bar, move the cursor right to the next logical break in the address (period or slash)	CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Add "www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of the text typed in the Address bar	CTRL+ENTER
Move forward through the list of AutoComplete matches	UP ARROW
Move back through the list of AutoComplete matches	DOWN ARROW

OPENING IE TOOLBAR MENU:

To do this	Press this
Open the Home menu	ALT+M
Open the Print menu	ALT+R
Open the RSS menu	ALT+J
Open the Tools menu	ALT+O
Open the Safety menu	ALT+S
Open the Help menu	ALT+L

WORKING WITH FEED, HISTORY AND FAVOURITES:

To do this	Press this
Add the current page to your favorites (or subscribe to the feed when in feed preview)	CTRL+D
Delete browsing history	CTRL+SHIFT+DEL
Open an InPrivate Browsing window	CTRL+SHIFT+P
Open the Organize Favorites dialog box	CTRL+B
Move selected item up in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box	ALT+UP ARROW
Move selected item down in the Favorites list in the Organize Favorites dialog box	ALT+DOWN ARROW
Open Favorites Center and display your favorites	ALT+C
Open Favorites Center and display your history	CTRL+H
Open Favorites Center and display your feeds	CTRL+J
Open and dock the Favorites Center and display your feeds	CTRL+SHIFT+J
Open the Add to Favorites menu (or open Subscribe to feed when in feed preview)	ALT+Z
Open the Favorites menu from the menu bar	ALT+A
Display all feeds (when in feed view)	ALT+I
Mark a feed as read (when in feed view)	ALT+M
Put cursor in Search box in feed view	ALT+S

EDITING:

To do this	Press this
Remove the selected items and copy them to the Clipboard	CTRL+X
Copy the selected items to the Clipboard	CTRL+C
Insert the contents of the Clipboard at the selected location	CTRL+V
Select all items on the current webpage	CTRL+A
Open Internet Explorer Developer Tools	F12

USING INFORMATION BAR:

To do this	Press this
Move focus to the Information bar	ALT+N
Click the Information bar	SPACEBAR