Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, and media centers. It was first released in August 2001, and is currently one of the most popular versions of Windows. The name "XP" is short for "eXPerience."
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5answers
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How to check if a port is blocked on Windows?
What is the easiest way to check if port 3306 on my localhost is being blocked?
36
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4answers
38k views
How can I find out what AD groups I'm a member of?
I'm running a Windows XP desktop in a corporate environment. How can I find out what AD groups I belong to?
15
votes
12answers
9k views
Is there an equivalent of SU for Windows
Is there a way (when logged in as an administrator, or as a member of the administrators group) to masquerade as a non-privileged user? Especially in an AD environment.
e.g., in the Unix world I ...
15
votes
10answers
37k views
How to tell what computer has a file open on a network share?
Environment:
Windows XP sp3,
Windows 2003 server
Problem:
We have several dozen kiosk machines each with the same logon name who occasionally and briefly a file on a share. The rate is several ...
14
votes
6answers
35k views
How to take ownership of files from the command line?
Every so often I run into a file that I need to take ownership of. I normally use cacls for changing ntfs permissions, but it doesn't seem to do ownership. Under *nix I would run something like ...
13
votes
5answers
19k views
Virtualbox booting from a real drive?
I'm about to take the plunge and install Win7 RC1 on my desktop machine. However I want to preserve access to my old HDD with XP on it. I don't really want to use full dual-boot since that would ...
11
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4answers
49k views
Is it possible to mount/unmount a physical hard drive in Windows XP?
Is it possible to mount/unmount a physical hard drive in Windows XP?
Ideally, I'd like to be able to do this from the command line so that I could have batch files to do it, ie: mount.cmd unmount.cmd
...
11
votes
4answers
17k views
VPN client connect/disconnect via command line in XP
In an XP Pro workstation, is there a way to start the native Windows VPN client and open/close a connection from the command line so it can be scripted in a batch file?
11
votes
2answers
3k views
Connecting two laptops through wireless adapters without wireless router
I want to connect two laptops through their wireless network adapters. I dont want to use any wireless router or access point. How can I do that. Both are running windows xp, where one has sp2 and ...
10
votes
8answers
7k views
How to clear Windows disk read cache?
For performance testing I need to clear Windows' disk read cache. I tried googling but I couldn't find anything other than rebooting or other manual stuff. Before I give in and do that, I'd like to ...
10
votes
3answers
4k views
How to configure “On-Access Anti-Virus” for a faster boot?
I am in the process of trying to optimize the boot process of our 700 Windows XP workstations, we regularly have complaints about the start-up and login times on site workstations.
Looking at this in ...
9
votes
8answers
9k views
How can I mount a hard drive as read-only on Windows XP?
I recently had reason to move a hard drive from a computer that blew up to another computer for the purpose of recovering data. Under the (unfortunate) circumstances, both the donor and the recipient ...
9
votes
6answers
46k views
How to lock down Windows XP for use as an internet kiosk?
One of our clients, whose website we built, is a manufacturer of ultra-high-end bicycles. They would like to distribute kiosks -- basically, locked-down Windows XP boxes from Dell -- at some of their ...
9
votes
1answer
215 views
For how long can a client be shutdown in AD?
We are setting up a training environment to be used after summer holiday. Management wants us to set up clients now before the vacation. Since the clients are to be shipped away, they will be off line ...
9
votes
4answers
25k views
How does one make Windows XP auto-reconnect network drives upon reboot?
I have a few network drive mappings that I want to be available to various programs upon reboot. However, they remain disconnected until I visit them manually.
If a program, such as OneNote which ...
8
votes
8answers
684 views
Crashed Hard Drive Data Retrieval
I recently had a laptop hard drive crash on me and am trying to rescue some of the data on the original drive.
As such, I've extracted my failed hard drive and installed it in a USB enclosure. I've ...
8
votes
11answers
11k views
HOSTS file being ignored
My (Windows XP, Professional, v2002, SP3) workstation is completely ignoring my hosts file.
Here is the code in my hosts file:
127.0.0.1 localhost
172.17.1.107 wiki
But, when I open a ...
8
votes
2answers
1k views
Domain login very slow 10+ minutes
We are racking our brains trying to figure this problem out an are currently stuck!
Basically we are having issues with some users taking ages to log in in the mornings, some times up to 20 minutes, ...
7
votes
13answers
2k views
Locking Desktop USB Ports
How do you lock out the USB ports on the desktop PCs so we can prevent usage of USB drives on the desktops.
I should clarify that these are Windows XP desktops.
We should also assume that like most ...
7
votes
4answers
17k views
Move Windows hibernation file to a different drive
Is it possible to move a Windows hibernation file to a different drive?
For instance, if I have Windows installed on C, I want it's hibernate file be on D.
I wanted to about hibernation file ...
7
votes
5answers
11k views
Tomcat 6.0 service does not start: java/lang/NoClassDefFoundError
I installed Tomcat on my Windows server but I can't get it to start. I start the service and I see the progress bar, but it fails.
I installed the Java Runtime Environment Version 6 and created ...
7
votes
4answers
5k views
Set uid for windows
Is there an equivalent of set uid for windows(XP)? The 'run as' option requires admin password each time it runs. I want users to be able to run that particular executable without knowing admin ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
How to remove all previous devices in xp?
On our computers, we use daily dozens of different usb drives from our customers.
This is bad because the registry hive is becoming huge as windows is so "smart" to save them forever
I set ...
7
votes
4answers
6k views
Is there a group policy that would push a new user name and password to all local machines on a network?
I work on a small network that runs on windows server 2003, and with machines running xp. Is there a group policy that could push a new user name and password to replace our old local administrator ...
6
votes
6answers
5k views
Windows “Run As” without knowing the password
We're installing a digital media system at the college radio station I work at. We're trying to give programmers (read; DJs, not coders) access to the music, without allowing them to copy any of it to ...
6
votes
4answers
5k views
How to create a windows service in XP
How can I turn a given normal application into a Windows service under Windows XP?
EDIT: This is a server application, so it has no GUI and does not require any input or output.
6
votes
12answers
643 views
Hardening a financially critical Windows computer
One of the risks to small and medium businesses is losing your bank credentials to bad guys by use of a key logger or other malware as Bruce Schneier blogs about. A particular threat is real-time key ...
6
votes
10answers
1k views
Best Network Antivirus for Windows XP
I'm maintaining around 10 PC's with Windows XP as their Operating System. Currently we're using antivirus within each PC. Now I want to upgrade our antivirus. I'm searching antivirus with these ...
6
votes
9answers
1k views
Starting managed Windows deployment
I want to start providing managed Windows XP images to my users, however I've only done this with Linux servers, and I'm unsure of where to begin.
Ideally, I want to start buying machines in groups, ...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
GPO to lock workstation after it is idle for X minutes without forcing a specific screensaver
I'm trying to lock XP workstations after a period of inactivity via GPO. From what I can tell, one of the requirements is that a screensaver must be set. It appears that the only way to force the ...
6
votes
6answers
10k views
How to troubleshoot slow Windows XP boot?
I have a Windows XP x64 SP2 machine that used to boot up really quickly, but now takes a very long time. If I enable the /sos boot switch it gets to the bit where it says:
2 system processors [8191MB ...
6
votes
6answers
12k views
Permanently removing Microsoft XPS Document Writer pseudoprinter object?
For reasons unknown, a great many of the (Windows XP SP3) computers I manage have recently started creating a new pseudoprinter object, called Microsoft XPS Document Writer, seemingly out of nowhere.
...
6
votes
1answer
663 views
Windows XP shows low disk space - WinDirStat shows 50GB <Unknown> entry
We run 12 Dell Optiplex 755 desktop computers. All of them have the exact same hardware and softawre, configured exactly the same. As such, they are all:
running Windows XP
on the same network
...
6
votes
1answer
3k views
GPO to disable Windows XP tour popup
Is there a way (GPO preferred) to disable the "Take a tour of Windows XP" balloon/popup when a new user logs in for the first time?
6
votes
2answers
872 views
Can a password change in Active Directory be reverted?
I often need to log in with a user's domain account to make sure that I've set up their profile correctly, but there's no easy way to do this other than to call them and give them a temp pass and ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Tell me the pros and cons of using WebDAV over SSL for file server access instead of SMB
In the organisation I'm in we have a mixture of OS X and windows XP. For years the Macs have also connected via SMB to the fileserver, however it's always been a bit flaky. On OS X it's prone to ...
6
votes
2answers
378 views
Is there a Pre-deployment Windows Workstation Verification Program?
When deploying machines in our enterprise we run through a series of checks before deployment. Some of these include:
Verify required files and folders have been copied to the computer
Verify all ...
6
votes
6answers
2k views
Remote desktop connection drops before login can appear
Someone asked this question a few months ago and I have the exact same problem. I have tried all of the suggested solutions in the other posting (in particular reinstalling the video card on the ...
6
votes
1answer
426 views
Server 2008 GPO not applying to Windows XP clients over site-to-site VPN
I have a Server 2008 R2 based Active Directory domain. Our default GPO has a few printer/network drive maps that both work fine locally for clients running Windows 7 as well as Windows XP (after ...
5
votes
9answers
4k views
Safe to delete C:\drivers?
Looks like a simple question right? But Googling does not reveal any definitive answers. I've got an aging laptop that I'm trying to free some space on and am wondering if anyone can tell me safe ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Problem with slow hard disk
We bought some new PCs in my company with the new iCore 7 and 8GB memory and the following hard disk: WESTERN DIGITAL WD8000AARS 800GB CAVIAR GREEN SATA2
The problem we have is that after installing ...
5
votes
6answers
15k views
Delete temporary files from batch script in xp
I'm looking for a good batch script that would quickly find & clean all the known safe temporary folders/files from Windows (as many variants as possible) machines (e.g. the windows temp folder, ...
5
votes
5answers
3k views
Can you remap “C:\Program Files” like you can with “My Documents”?
I'm not sure if this is possible, but I'm hoping you guys will know one way or the other!
I'm going to be reinstalling windows xp, and the primary master IDE is a smaller 10 gig drive.
I'm pretty ...
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votes
5answers
5k views
Dell OEM XP downgrade Keys
I am working with a small company that purchases the XP downgrade when they order there computers from dell. They then apply an image to the systems, and need a CD key when it is finished. ...
5
votes
4answers
25k views
What causes duplicate ACK records?
We're reviewing Wireshark captures from a few client machines that are showing multiple duplicate ACK records which then triggers retransmit and out-of-sequence packets.
These are shown in the ...
5
votes
4answers
7k views
How can I prevent a scheduled task from running if the same task is already running?
I have written a php script to check if there are any new files in a folder and, if any new files exist, upload them to a server. These files can be quite large. I want to run this script ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
XP users can unlock screen after account lockout
WinXP workstations on Server 2008 domain:
User locks screen and leaves computer for a break.
User forgets his/her password while away.
User makes a series of invalid login attempts and his/her ...
5
votes
6answers
2k views
Mapped drives not showing in first run of Windows Explorer
We have a handful of Windows XP SP3 users whose mapped drives don't always appear in Windows Explorer when they initially log in. "net use" shows the drives are mapped correctly and they can see them ...
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votes
7answers
7k views
Windows XP Full Disk Encryption - What are the options?
I've been ask to look at full disk encryption software for our mobile users. We're running Windows XP SP3 PCs on a domain and my understanding is that we will not be upgrading to Vista and have no ...
5
votes
5answers
409 views
How to boot quicker?
My WinXP computer takes a good 10 minutes to get to a usable state. Most of the activity will stop if I leave it at the log in screen, so I think it is some system level (as opposed to user level) ...
