MaximumPC 2008 03

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Install Support Tools for

Advanced Diagnostics

To be a true IT ninja, equip yourself with

Windows Support Tools (free, http://tinyurl.com/

yja7vw ), a set of more than 100 troubleshoot-

ing utilities aimed at advanced users (view a

complete list at http://tinyurl.com/2k42ex ). Not

all of them are gems, but a few notable stand-

outs include pviewer, for gathering information

about running processes on remote computers;

msicuu, to remove installer information when a

program’s uninstaller gets borked (power out-

age, for example); and windiff, to compare fi les

and see which is more recent, along with line-

by-line code comparisons.

AUTO-KILL HACK

Automatically Kill Processes and Shut Down

Quicker

Teach Windows how to shut down without nagging you about unresponsive pro-
cesses. Open the registry and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\
Desktop. Double-click AutoEndTasks and change the value from 0 to 1. Then double-
click WaitToKillApp and change the value from 5000 to 1000. Finally, double-click
HungAppTimeout and change the value from 20,000 to 3000.

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Eliminate Lag and Speed up

the Start Menu

A fully loaded rig pays dividends in everything

from productivity apps to games, but no matter

how fast your machine is, the Start menu still

lags. To give the Start menu a much needed

speed boost, click Start, select Run, and type

regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_

USER\Control Panel\Desktop, double-click

MenuShowDelay in the right-hand pane, and

change the value from 400 to 5. Reboot and

watch your Start menu fl y!

GO UNIVERSAL

Apply One Folder’s View to

All Folders

XP allows you to view folders fi ve different

ways—thumbnails, tiles, icons, list, details—but

what you select for one folder doesn’t apply to all

of them. Sure, you can confi gure each folder indi-

vidually, but that takes far too long. To apply the

same view universally, Go to My Documents, click

Tools, then Folder Options, then select the View

tab, and click Apply to All Folders.

High Score!

Become the new champ at old games

I

t’s tough enough

getting through

the workday

unscathed, and to

make matters worse,

most workplaces aren’t

going to let you install

Counter-Strike to blow

off some steam—oh

the tyranny! That

means you’re stuck

playing Minesweeper

or Pinball, only Bob in

accounting holds the

high score in both and is quick to let everyone know. Here’s how you can stick it to Bob. To

freeze time in Minesweeper, minimize the app using the Windows Key + D combination and

then restore the window. Then fi re up Pinball and type 1max at the start of a new game for

additional balls or bmax for unlimited tries and an unbeatable score.

http://www.maximumpc.com | MAR 08 | MAXIMUMPC 23

WINDOWS TIPS