Posted in General

Is it possible to dial an ISP using the command line?

Yes, use RASPHONE -d or RASDIAL To disconnect you can type RASPHONE -h or RASDIAL /disconnect.

How can I extend the USB polling period on my laptop?

By default, your computer’s USB polling period is 1 millisecond (ms), which can sometimes cause problems–even if no USB devices are connected–when a laptop is trying to enter a hibernate state. You can extend this polling period up to 5ms by performing the following steps: Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe). Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlClass{36FC9E60-C465-11CF-8056-444553540000} […]

How can I configure my command prompt to display the machine name?

If you connect to multiple computers (e.g., by Telnet), you can configure the command prompt to display the name of the computer you’re connected to. The best way to do this is to configure the command processor to automatically run a prompt command at startup to evaluate the %computername% environment variable. To configure the prompt, […]

Where can I find my BIOS version in Windows?

When Windows starts, the OS loads information about the main computer BIOS and video BIOS and stores the following information under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINEHARDWAREDESCRIPTIONSystem registry subkey: SystemBiosDate SystemBiosVersion VideoBiosDate VideoBiosVersion This information appears in the registry for informational purposes only; changing these items’ values has no effect on the system.

How can I change the icon for drive letters?

Windows 2000 lets you assign a different icon to drive letters. To do so, complete the following steps: Start the registry editor (regedit.exe). Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer registry subkey. From the Edit menu, select New, Key. Enter the name DriveIcons. Select the new key, select New, Key. Enter the name of the drive (e.g., C). […]

How can I reset the “Always ask before opening this type of file” functionality in Microsoft Outlook for a particular file type?

When you open attachments, Outlook displays a dialog box that prompts you to either “Open it” or “Save it to disk”. The dialog box also includes an “Always ask before opening this type of file” check box. If you clear this check box, Outlook will in the future always open that file type without prompting […]

Why does Outlook take several minutes to start on my machine?

Several factors can delay Outlook’s start time. To troubleshoot this problem, begin by starting Outlook in Safe mode. Go to Start, Run, then type outlook /safe If Outlook starts quickly in Safe mode, the problem is most likely one of the following: * The outcmd.dat file in the application datamicrosoftoutlook folder is corrupt. Rename or […]

How can I clear the Google Toolbar search history in the registry?

The Google Toolbar is an add-on search tool for Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). To clear the toolbar’s search history, perform the following steps: 1. Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe). 2. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareGoogleNavClient1.1 registry subkey (yes, the registry subkey is 1.1, even though you might have installed version 2.0 of the toolbar). 3. […]

How can I disable the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) script debugger?

If you run a script in IE that results in an error, IE gives you the option to debug the script. To disable this option, perform the following steps: Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe). Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain registry subkey. Double-click the Disable Script Debugger value. Set the value data to “yes” to […]

How can I use the command line to move a user account in Windows Server 2003?

You can use the Dsmove command with the -newparent switch to assign new containers to Active Directory (AD) objects. For example, to move user johnsavill from the Users container to an organizational unit (OU) called Sales, type C:>dsmove “CN=johnsavill,CN=Users,DC=it,DC=uk,DC=savilltech,DC=com” -newparent OU=Sales,DC=it,DC=uk,DC=savilltech,DC=com The machine will return the following result: dsmove succeeded:CN=johnsavill,CN=Users,DC=it,DC=uk,DC=savilltech,DC=com